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Bangalore, Day 6
Feb. 5th, 2012 10:52 amThe "morning person" transformation brought about by the change in time zones is swiftly losing its charm. What's the point of waking up at 7am on a Sunday when there's nothing to do?
I slept well and was feeling much better this morning. Last night, my feet didn't just hurt: they were pure agony. A hot shower and foot soak before bed did wonders. My face, forehead and scalp are definitely pink from sun exposure but I think I've avoided a burn. Again, a cool damp cloth on the skin helped sooth the worst.
I took a few minutes this morning to inventory my laundry, bag & tag it, and call for pick-up by the laundry service. Dry cleaning & pressing isn't available on Sundays but all I needed is a wash-and-fold anyway:
trousers: 85 rupees each
shirt: 70 each
t-shirt: 70 each
underwear: 35 each
socks: 35 (each? per pair? Dunno.)
Presuming socks are by the pair, my total should come to about 1265 rupees, about $25 USD. Because I put in my order before 11am, I should have it all back by 8pm without a convenience surcharge. Same day service after a noon pick-up would have a 50% surcharge, after 3pm a 100% surcharge. See how conscientious I am about my employer's costs and shareholder value? I deserve a raise. :-)
Once the laundry was on its way, I went on out a walking tour again. Until now, I'd been concentrating my touring to the east of the hotel in the commercial areas. This morning, I went for an extended walk to the west, around & through a 250 acre park. I had the place mostly to myself since most sane people aren't out on the town at 9am on a Sunday. I took some nice pictures of the park, statues of Queen Victoria and one of her past viceroys, the state legislature, the state central bank and so on. I got some photos of the exteriors of some local temples & monuments, a few shots of the indoor sports stadium too.
I also got a little smokey. A lot of leaf and paper garbage is simply collected into a pile and burnt on the spot. If you're lucky, the winds blow the smoke away. Today was not one of my lucky days.
By 11am or so, I was wandering back towards the hotel. Taking more care to avoid excessive sun (yes, I was wearing a hat today), and tanking up on bottled water, I put my feet up and rested a while with a book.
About an hour later, I headed east again to do a little shopping. I readily admit I'm a terrible shopper. I have no ability to go into a store, look at their merchandise, immediately evaluate what I like or not and how much I'd be willing to pay. Rather, I prefer to have done the research in advance, determined my price-point and then go directly to the targeted shop to purchase the previously researched item and absolutely nothing else.
That doesn't work so well here.
For starters, I didn't really intend to do any clothing shopping while here so I did no prior planning. Most local shopkeepers like to chat and aggressively upsell the customer to other products: I'm ok with haggling when purchasing something large like a car or a house, but not so much on small (to me) trivial items. And it certainly doesn't help that I have to translate the list price in rupees into US dollars so I can plan my spending & budgeting.
I could tell that business was comparatively slow on a Sunday. About 25% of the shops weren't open today. Maybe it was the camera case over my shoulder marking me as a tourist but the auto-rickshaw drivers who wouldn't give me the time of day the rest of the week are now actively pulling over to offer me driving tours of the local highlights for 30 rupees. Shop keepers were out on the street, urging me to enter their stores or directing me to alleys & courts of shores off the main road. Yes, today my wallet and I were much in demand. Feel the love.
I only bought one item, something I saw being sold a couple of days ago which stuck in the back of my head as a household present to Kent, Michael & myself: a really cool table runner and six place mats. The color scheme should be sufficiently neutral to work with our dining room but not so neutral as to be completely bland.
The local currency is a bit of an adventure in itself. For casual use, it's about 50 rupees to $1 USD. I have 1,000 rupee bills, 500 rupee bills, 100 rupee bills, 50 rupee bills, 20 rupee bills and 10 rupee bills. For my small day-to-day purchases, I probably use the 100 rupee notes the most. But the coins! I have 1, 2, 5 and 50 rupee coins. The snag is that coins of the same denomination can be various sizes: In my hand right now, I have three different sizes, weights & colors of the 2 rupee coin and two different styles of the 1 rupee coin. Worse, one style of 2 rupee coins is exactly the same size, shape & appearance as one type of the 1 rupee coin: you have to look carefully to ensure you're offering the right one. And since the 1 rupee coin is worth about half a US penny, one needs an awful lot of them for them to be useful. Most prices in the unofficial economy are rounded to the nearest hundred so coins just accumulate in my pocket. Even if I had a use for them, it would take me so long to figure out which is which that the line of locals behind me would run me out of town. When I'm on my way back to the airport on Feb 14, I might just leave them here at the hotel as a tip to the housekeeping staff or make some beggar's day.
On my to the hotel, I stopped for lunch... at McDonald's. Oh, don't start on me: I wanted to see how the local menu is different from the North American version I've known my whole life. There are some items which are the same: you can get a filet-o-fish or an egg mcmuffin, for example. But you can also get a veggie mcmuffin, the mcaloo tikka burger and (my order) the chicken maharaja big mac. The CM big mac is built the same as the usual US big mac but had chicken patties and a spicy tangy sauce instead of the usual ketchup/mayo secret sauce. The mac with a large fries and large coke came to 174 rupees, about $3.25 USD.
I was back in my hotel room again around 2pm, resting my feet and generally avoiding the heat & sun of the midday. I have my eye on a gift for my grandmother but I'll go take another look later in the week.
---
And now it's nearly 6pm local time. I went out for another walk into the commercial area, looking at light short-sleeved shirts to wear instead of my long-sleeve office wear for the remainder of my trip.
Apparently, even without my camera, I'm easily pegged as a tourist/ATM. No, dude, I'm not buying your collection of ancient coins. Not for $150, not for $100, not for $75, and I'm not buying your story about your brother in the hospital with outstanding bills. Sorry, mister, I'm not interested in your laminated map of India. Or your friend's carved wooden cobra toy. Or your array of scarves & shawls. Wow, these folks are persistent, but I'm very good at saying no and sticking to it.
I did, however, discover I'm getting the not-so-unexpected raw end of one particular deal. The hotel charges 50 rupees for a 300mL can of Coke; I just bought two from a street kiosk for 42 rupees. So much for my keen skills in providing good shareholder value (but I finally had a chance to use a 2 rupee coin!).
I'm spending the rest of the evening in my room. I chatted with Michael via skype (it was around 9:30am eastern time) and now I'm going to read a little and, if I feel energetic, I have some work-related writing and/or server work I can do. If I need a distraction, I can always write more C2 choreography.
I slept well and was feeling much better this morning. Last night, my feet didn't just hurt: they were pure agony. A hot shower and foot soak before bed did wonders. My face, forehead and scalp are definitely pink from sun exposure but I think I've avoided a burn. Again, a cool damp cloth on the skin helped sooth the worst.
I took a few minutes this morning to inventory my laundry, bag & tag it, and call for pick-up by the laundry service. Dry cleaning & pressing isn't available on Sundays but all I needed is a wash-and-fold anyway:
trousers: 85 rupees each
shirt: 70 each
t-shirt: 70 each
underwear: 35 each
socks: 35 (each? per pair? Dunno.)
Presuming socks are by the pair, my total should come to about 1265 rupees, about $25 USD. Because I put in my order before 11am, I should have it all back by 8pm without a convenience surcharge. Same day service after a noon pick-up would have a 50% surcharge, after 3pm a 100% surcharge. See how conscientious I am about my employer's costs and shareholder value? I deserve a raise. :-)
Once the laundry was on its way, I went on out a walking tour again. Until now, I'd been concentrating my touring to the east of the hotel in the commercial areas. This morning, I went for an extended walk to the west, around & through a 250 acre park. I had the place mostly to myself since most sane people aren't out on the town at 9am on a Sunday. I took some nice pictures of the park, statues of Queen Victoria and one of her past viceroys, the state legislature, the state central bank and so on. I got some photos of the exteriors of some local temples & monuments, a few shots of the indoor sports stadium too.
I also got a little smokey. A lot of leaf and paper garbage is simply collected into a pile and burnt on the spot. If you're lucky, the winds blow the smoke away. Today was not one of my lucky days.
By 11am or so, I was wandering back towards the hotel. Taking more care to avoid excessive sun (yes, I was wearing a hat today), and tanking up on bottled water, I put my feet up and rested a while with a book.
About an hour later, I headed east again to do a little shopping. I readily admit I'm a terrible shopper. I have no ability to go into a store, look at their merchandise, immediately evaluate what I like or not and how much I'd be willing to pay. Rather, I prefer to have done the research in advance, determined my price-point and then go directly to the targeted shop to purchase the previously researched item and absolutely nothing else.
That doesn't work so well here.
For starters, I didn't really intend to do any clothing shopping while here so I did no prior planning. Most local shopkeepers like to chat and aggressively upsell the customer to other products: I'm ok with haggling when purchasing something large like a car or a house, but not so much on small (to me) trivial items. And it certainly doesn't help that I have to translate the list price in rupees into US dollars so I can plan my spending & budgeting.
I could tell that business was comparatively slow on a Sunday. About 25% of the shops weren't open today. Maybe it was the camera case over my shoulder marking me as a tourist but the auto-rickshaw drivers who wouldn't give me the time of day the rest of the week are now actively pulling over to offer me driving tours of the local highlights for 30 rupees. Shop keepers were out on the street, urging me to enter their stores or directing me to alleys & courts of shores off the main road. Yes, today my wallet and I were much in demand. Feel the love.
I only bought one item, something I saw being sold a couple of days ago which stuck in the back of my head as a household present to Kent, Michael & myself: a really cool table runner and six place mats. The color scheme should be sufficiently neutral to work with our dining room but not so neutral as to be completely bland.
The local currency is a bit of an adventure in itself. For casual use, it's about 50 rupees to $1 USD. I have 1,000 rupee bills, 500 rupee bills, 100 rupee bills, 50 rupee bills, 20 rupee bills and 10 rupee bills. For my small day-to-day purchases, I probably use the 100 rupee notes the most. But the coins! I have 1, 2, 5 and 50 rupee coins. The snag is that coins of the same denomination can be various sizes: In my hand right now, I have three different sizes, weights & colors of the 2 rupee coin and two different styles of the 1 rupee coin. Worse, one style of 2 rupee coins is exactly the same size, shape & appearance as one type of the 1 rupee coin: you have to look carefully to ensure you're offering the right one. And since the 1 rupee coin is worth about half a US penny, one needs an awful lot of them for them to be useful. Most prices in the unofficial economy are rounded to the nearest hundred so coins just accumulate in my pocket. Even if I had a use for them, it would take me so long to figure out which is which that the line of locals behind me would run me out of town. When I'm on my way back to the airport on Feb 14, I might just leave them here at the hotel as a tip to the housekeeping staff or make some beggar's day.
On my to the hotel, I stopped for lunch... at McDonald's. Oh, don't start on me: I wanted to see how the local menu is different from the North American version I've known my whole life. There are some items which are the same: you can get a filet-o-fish or an egg mcmuffin, for example. But you can also get a veggie mcmuffin, the mcaloo tikka burger and (my order) the chicken maharaja big mac. The CM big mac is built the same as the usual US big mac but had chicken patties and a spicy tangy sauce instead of the usual ketchup/mayo secret sauce. The mac with a large fries and large coke came to 174 rupees, about $3.25 USD.
I was back in my hotel room again around 2pm, resting my feet and generally avoiding the heat & sun of the midday. I have my eye on a gift for my grandmother but I'll go take another look later in the week.
---
And now it's nearly 6pm local time. I went out for another walk into the commercial area, looking at light short-sleeved shirts to wear instead of my long-sleeve office wear for the remainder of my trip.
Apparently, even without my camera, I'm easily pegged as a tourist/ATM. No, dude, I'm not buying your collection of ancient coins. Not for $150, not for $100, not for $75, and I'm not buying your story about your brother in the hospital with outstanding bills. Sorry, mister, I'm not interested in your laminated map of India. Or your friend's carved wooden cobra toy. Or your array of scarves & shawls. Wow, these folks are persistent, but I'm very good at saying no and sticking to it.
I did, however, discover I'm getting the not-so-unexpected raw end of one particular deal. The hotel charges 50 rupees for a 300mL can of Coke; I just bought two from a street kiosk for 42 rupees. So much for my keen skills in providing good shareholder value (but I finally had a chance to use a 2 rupee coin!).
I'm spending the rest of the evening in my room. I chatted with Michael via skype (it was around 9:30am eastern time) and now I'm going to read a little and, if I feel energetic, I have some work-related writing and/or server work I can do. If I need a distraction, I can always write more C2 choreography.
