Bangalore, Day 13
Feb. 12th, 2012 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisI tried to sleep in a little this morning, really I did. Still, I was awake at 7am despite being utterly exhausted still from the previous day's tours.
As previously planned, I cranked up my mobile phone, connected it to the hotel wifi (which is now functioning as it should, thank you very much) and skyped Kent & Michael back home to chat for a half hour before they went to bed Saturday night.
Since the wifi was working so well and I had little incentive to get out of bed, I caught up on the latest news from Canada and the US, handled some email, updated twitter and so on. If I hadn't been a little thirsty, I would have stayed in the bed the rest of the morning.
I was thirsty however and there were things still to do this last full day in Bangalore. I made myself somewhat presentable and headed out into the world, hoping to get my errands completed before the full heat of the day set in.
Because most of these errands were gift shopping, I won't say much about them here. Suffice it to say, I now have all the souvenirs I was planning to purchase.
Alas, I wasn't able to visit one particular shop as it was closed today; I'll try again tomorrow after work. And I wasn't able to get a second small suitcase: the only store where I've found luggage or indeed anything larger than a purse wanted what could only be called US prices, and I wasn't willing to shell out $125+ for a suitcase when a simple small gym bag would suffice. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about that.
The early afternoon was mostly spent catching up on my travelogue updates, sorting through photos and generally relaxing in the air conditioning of my room. I suppose I could do more with the day but really I just want to relax and look forward to being home again.
Something I noticed yesterday when out touring with the guys but neglected to report: wow, the locals Do Not Tip. I mean, jeez, I thought I was a lousy tipper but these guys are truly harsh. (Obligatory tourism joke: What's the difference between a Canuck and a canoe? A canoe tips.) I've been giving out 100 rupee notes ($2) to the hotel staff for room service and laundry delivery. To me, it's not extravagant. When we last ate together on our way back to Bangalore yesterday, I paid the bill and was prepared to leave the 15 rupee change behind but the guys actively discouraged me from doing so. I told them how most states in the US have a special minim wage level just for wait staff which is typically a small fraction of the regular minimum wage level and they seemed quite shocked --as would any normal human being, IMHO.
I haven't written much about the local newspapers so let me fill you in on a few things. My primary newspaper here is the Times of India, largely because that's the newspaper the hotel delivers to my door every morning. It's a good mix of local, national & international news: for example, the headlines today (Sunday) were about a controversy in local state high court appointments, speculation that the head of the commander of the Eastern Army may resign (and who will replace him) and Mitt Romney winning delegates in Nevada. At a glance one might guess the journalists here are nowhere near as deferential as American journalists tend to be. Take for example, today's harsh front page headline:
That said, I haven't been here long enough to know if the papers have political affiliations like many North American news outlets. For example, the Toronto Star is well known as a Liberal paper, the National Post as a Conservative one. Is the Times of India a Congress(I) supporter against a state gov't run by the BJP, or do they skewer everyone equally? I'd need more time here to say.
Valentine's Day advertising features prominently. At first, I thought this was a sign of western influence, but the more I think of it, the more I suspect it's marketing depts going the easy path to bigger sales & markets.
The astrology column occupies a full half-page and gives very detailed advice --if you're into that sort of thing. Each zodiac sign includes a celebrity name & photo noting their birthday, but not a single one of these celebrities is Indian: names include Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Daniel Radcliffe, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Charlie Sheen, among others. This despite the column being produced by a local astrologer. Go figure.
Sunday comics? Nothing local, not even an editorial cartoon. Just Garfield, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible and the Wizard of Id. Sorry, India.
Not a word on Whitney Houston but I suspect the paper went to the presses before the news broke.
I'm thinking more & more about my return trip, my logistics of packing, checking out, getting to the airport & such. In particular, I'm thinking a lot more about the list of things to get done nearly as soon as I return, including calling a C2 session on Wednesday. I have plenty of material still in inventory to use, but I should stop procrastinating and get back to writing some new choreo immediately.
As previously planned, I cranked up my mobile phone, connected it to the hotel wifi (which is now functioning as it should, thank you very much) and skyped Kent & Michael back home to chat for a half hour before they went to bed Saturday night.
Since the wifi was working so well and I had little incentive to get out of bed, I caught up on the latest news from Canada and the US, handled some email, updated twitter and so on. If I hadn't been a little thirsty, I would have stayed in the bed the rest of the morning.
I was thirsty however and there were things still to do this last full day in Bangalore. I made myself somewhat presentable and headed out into the world, hoping to get my errands completed before the full heat of the day set in.
Because most of these errands were gift shopping, I won't say much about them here. Suffice it to say, I now have all the souvenirs I was planning to purchase.
Alas, I wasn't able to visit one particular shop as it was closed today; I'll try again tomorrow after work. And I wasn't able to get a second small suitcase: the only store where I've found luggage or indeed anything larger than a purse wanted what could only be called US prices, and I wasn't willing to shell out $125+ for a suitcase when a simple small gym bag would suffice. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about that.
The early afternoon was mostly spent catching up on my travelogue updates, sorting through photos and generally relaxing in the air conditioning of my room. I suppose I could do more with the day but really I just want to relax and look forward to being home again.
Something I noticed yesterday when out touring with the guys but neglected to report: wow, the locals Do Not Tip. I mean, jeez, I thought I was a lousy tipper but these guys are truly harsh. (Obligatory tourism joke: What's the difference between a Canuck and a canoe? A canoe tips.) I've been giving out 100 rupee notes ($2) to the hotel staff for room service and laundry delivery. To me, it's not extravagant. When we last ate together on our way back to Bangalore yesterday, I paid the bill and was prepared to leave the 15 rupee change behind but the guys actively discouraged me from doing so. I told them how most states in the US have a special minim wage level just for wait staff which is typically a small fraction of the regular minimum wage level and they seemed quite shocked --as would any normal human being, IMHO.
I haven't written much about the local newspapers so let me fill you in on a few things. My primary newspaper here is the Times of India, largely because that's the newspaper the hotel delivers to my door every morning. It's a good mix of local, national & international news: for example, the headlines today (Sunday) were about a controversy in local state high court appointments, speculation that the head of the commander of the Eastern Army may resign (and who will replace him) and Mitt Romney winning delegates in Nevada. At a glance one might guess the journalists here are nowhere near as deferential as American journalists tend to be. Take for example, today's harsh front page headline:
That said, I haven't been here long enough to know if the papers have political affiliations like many North American news outlets. For example, the Toronto Star is well known as a Liberal paper, the National Post as a Conservative one. Is the Times of India a Congress(I) supporter against a state gov't run by the BJP, or do they skewer everyone equally? I'd need more time here to say.
Valentine's Day advertising features prominently. At first, I thought this was a sign of western influence, but the more I think of it, the more I suspect it's marketing depts going the easy path to bigger sales & markets.
The astrology column occupies a full half-page and gives very detailed advice --if you're into that sort of thing. Each zodiac sign includes a celebrity name & photo noting their birthday, but not a single one of these celebrities is Indian: names include Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Daniel Radcliffe, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Charlie Sheen, among others. This despite the column being produced by a local astrologer. Go figure.
Sunday comics? Nothing local, not even an editorial cartoon. Just Garfield, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible and the Wizard of Id. Sorry, India.
Not a word on Whitney Houston but I suspect the paper went to the presses before the news broke.
I'm thinking more & more about my return trip, my logistics of packing, checking out, getting to the airport & such. In particular, I'm thinking a lot more about the list of things to get done nearly as soon as I return, including calling a C2 session on Wednesday. I have plenty of material still in inventory to use, but I should stop procrastinating and get back to writing some new choreo immediately.
