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Published: December 18th 2007
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Dhruv
The star of Mumbai First of all we wish we could share some more Mumbai specific pictures with you here, but at the time we arrived in Mumbai we have totally given up on sight seeing. The accommodation prices in Mumbai were dizzingly high, especially as we decided to stay in the Airport area in order to be close to Vicky, our friend from Mumbai. On Saturday we had the pleasure to meet his whole family and within seconds we felt like part of it. There are not many people who give you that warm feeling, as if you have known them for ages, you feel immediately comfortable and Vicky's family certainly belongs to that rare species. We went out for lunch and did some shopping with the great assistance of Pooja. It is amazing how the indian women can bargain, we have still a long way to go. We decided to go out in the evening, so after we changed into some more presentable clothes we returned to Vicky's for some home cooked delicacies. Indian food in India is great - but home made Indian food in India is THE BEST. We went out to "The Olive" - a swanky restaurant/bar and enjoyed some
Catching up
... with Chris and Mangesh brilliant cocktails. Mumbai is such a modern city with plenty opportunities to entertain you. On the other hand though, it still holds it's identity and you will never forget that you are still in India.
The following days the panic set in - Oh my god, we are actually going home! - In the desperate try to take a piece of India and sunshine with us, Josie went crazy with the shopping. It turned out that the market by the Vile Parle East station was just perfect for all our needs. Andy bought himself some tiffin boxes and other cookery utensils, whereas Josie stocked up on bindis, mehndi cones and other little treasures.
It so happened that one of Josie's work colleagues was out in Mumbai on business and so we all met for a dinner to catch up. It was great to see someone from back home out here and exchange experiences and opinions. When we dropped Chris off at the Renaissance Hotel we were staggered about the level of security checks including cars being searched for bombs. Necessary? A show? Who knows.
We know that some people will not understand why we would not make
Boys...
... will be boys :) more effort to see the sights of Mumbai and there was actually one thing that we could not miss - a visit to the cinema. So one morning we got ready to see "Om Shanti Om" a very typical bollywood movie. We chosen to go to the early screening at 10 o'clock which assured us tickets and a very cheap price for them. The evenings are supposed to be very popular and you end up paying twice the price if you actually manage to get seats. So there we were, ready for a nearly 3 hours movie all in Hindi, sitting snug in our seats when suddenly the audience raised their bottoms - Ladies and Gentlemen! The national anthem! Aehhhhhhemmmm... ok... We would have probably been stoned to death if we would have not followed the crowd. So we did 😊 When the film finally started we were overwhelmed by colours, absolutely stunning looking women, Shah Rukh Khan's endless charm, unbelievably catching music and incredibly skilled body movements. Now that was fun!!! Even though the film was longer than most hollywood movies, we were not bored for a single minute. Actually, due to perfected facial expressions and body language we
totally understood what was going on and didn't feel like we missed out by not speaking Hindi. What a great experience! From now on Andy was so much prouder when people were pointing at his ripped jeans (which were whole when we left!) and saying "Ah! Like Shah Rukh Khan!"
Some more last minute shopping later - including Hindi movies and music - we reached the dreaded day - the flight home. To treat ourselves and our new friends we invited them to the Peshawari restaurant in the ITC Hotel Grand Central Sheraton & Towers. Very exquisite venue, but it was a very special moment for us and we did not want to miss trying a place that claims to be the best indian restaurant in the world! Not that we are experts or anything, but we like to believe that we know something about food. So we were more than tempted to check if a statement like that lives up to it. Peshawari is a very rustic restaurant, with a tandoor area behind big glass windows so that you can observe what is going on. We ordered paneer tikka, murgh kebab, a leg of lamb and their speciality
Shopping - new glasses
We are in Bollywood in the end - just waiting to be discovered :) Andy was very popular with his Shah Rukh Khan Troursers Dal Bukhara (a thick black dhal), all with naan breads and pudina parathas. At this point we are probably risking losing our blog readers, but we need to try ourselves at restaurant reviews 😊 The dal bukhara was indeed very tasty. It did remind us of the dal we had in four seasons, just for less than 1/10 the price. The paneer tikka was amazingly soft and moist but the taste of the spices didn't really come through. You would expect a pudina paratha to be made with fresh mint for that price but it wasn't. The waiter strongly recommended the chicken kebab, and even though it was cooked well, the flavour did not explain the price you paid for it. Now the leg of lamb, that was something special. It must have been cooked for a very long time the way the meat was falling off the bone. The spices penetrated the leg very well, so it was very flavoursome and juicy with an interesting hint of cinnamon. Overall opinion - go, have the leg of lamb and save the rest of your money.
Having discussed the dinner in great length, Vicky finally drove us to the airport.
Our last night
All polished for the grand venue With a very strange feeling in our stomachs and that was partially due to the dinner, as we were not used to eat that much meat any more, we entered the departure hall. Our flight was early in the morning at 2:40 am, so we had a bit of time. We went through the security, as you do, but were stopped due to dangerous objects in our hand luggage. Of course! Andy had a big metal bowl and a fleece covered drum stick in it - how could we have possibly not recognised the potential to kill somebody with those items?? Next we progressed to the check in desk and handed over our little books of tickets for the last ticket to be ripped out. After a while the friendly lady announced that we were not booked on the flight - WHAT?! Count to ten - breathe in - breathe out - and luckily there were still seats on the flight and we were issued our boarding cards. Quite a while later, we passed what we thought was the last security check but on the way to the aircraft there was one more hurdle to take. We didn't think anything of it, as we passed the other security checks, but we have underestimated the indian workforce or rather imagination we should say - this time it was the chappati pan that was identified as a killing weapon. As we were far beyond the luggage check in point, we had to leave the whole bag full of goodies to be checked in somewhere "special" by the cabin crew. All good, as long as it will arrive at the other end. We boarded the plane, exhausted but full of excitement to see our folks again very soon. A year so long suddenly felt not longer than a day. Tired and full of emotions we fell asleep.
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