Blogs from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 13

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Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai March 10th 2010

Trichy to Chennai. We arrived in KL easy...the flight to Trichy was a little delayed but nothing major...the flight was actually the worst I have had and maybe I was uneasy all the way as I was sitting down I asked the flight attendant to put my bag up for me she asked "is there anything valuable in there?" I said a baby laptop she was like "mmmmm best you hold onto anything valuable put it securely by your feet....The flight was almost full and we saw one other foreign couple the rest were returning home to India...at the airport I got a few looks from the ground staff (I was fully covered long pants and long sleeves I guess the blonde hair and blue eyes is enough) We eventually got through customs although it was ... read more

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai March 9th 2010

Two street kids I'd seen around, he about 9, cocky and wild, she maybe older or just bigger, a sister? come into the restaurant while I'm having lunch. I notice 2 or 3 of the staff approach them, known obviously, but not welcome. Dirty hair, ragged clothes. Then the kid starts flashing bills about, Mr. Big Spender, and the waiters look at each other, unsure. They sit at my table. I suppose some people would think I was paying. The boy starts giving orders, pani, meals, clean this table. Pretty soon half the restaurant is chuckling to themselves, not wanting to encourage his insolence, but also enjoying his few minutes of fantasy land. He is particularly rough on the youngest waiter, still a boy himself, more rice, more sambar. Hurry! The meal was prepaid, but they ... read more

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai March 8th 2010

At long last! the craziest week of our lives! Vandana's wedding was one in a lifetime experience! Monday night was mehendi night and from there it was a downhill ride! Packing up from our gorgeous apartment in Nande Enclave we woke up at 3am on wednesday morning to get our bride ready and down to the Chaltry... uh thats the massive marriage hall they get married in here... and there are seperate rooms like dorms for all the guests to stay in. Its like a massive camp... but a wedding! covered in lights and flowers and such :) So Vandu has about 100 sari changes a day... ok maybe like 5... but for each whole new outfit you have a thousand aunties and uncles trying to get into the tiny room to tell us everyone is ... read more
a blurry mehendi!!!
b's new sunnies
sisters last night!

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai March 7th 2010

RE: Say hello to each other I may have inadvertently given a wrong impression of my true regard for someone in that blog. So. in my tradition of telling you way more than you need to know, f you would kindly go to the third last paragraph, the one that begins "Saving..., please change the word "good" to"Great" Cheers Back in Chennai!!!... read more

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai February 10th 2010

Arrived in Chennai yesterday after a 2 hour flight from Kolkata. It is certainly hotter with the temperature in the upper 20s and very little cloud in the clear blue sky. Madras was the start of it all for the Brits in India with the East India Company setting up its first trading post in 1640 in the form of a fort known as Fort St. George. The fort is now used as a government complex and it is difficult to imagine its original layout which included parade grouds, barracks and a church. The church still remains but is in need of some love and care. However, the memorial stones on the walls make interesting reading as quite a few were erected in memory of officers who died in action defending the empire. Scattered around the ... read more
St. Andrew's Kirk
Kapaleshvara Temple
Colourful figures on the temple

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai January 15th 2010

Me again. I seem to write when I'm hangdog about something or other, so on a day like today when I feel really great, thought I should enter your inboxes. After last night's entry, went out to eat and discovered every place I could have eaten was closed for Pongal. Suddenly decided I'd had enough, having seen the Broad-billed Sandpiper I'd traveled thousands of kilometers to see, and in 2 hours was on a bus to Chennai(Madras). Realizing that one of the things that makes my heart sing is the ability to do spontaneous things, and travel certainly gives me that. Face it, when was the last time you decided all of a sudden, to get on a night bus and just go? Try it, I dare you. Long night, but careful driver, I got some ... read more
Not lunch
After Adarsha's operation

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai January 11th 2010

We have been on the road for 2 weeks...and this morning, the weather has reminded us that it's time to head back home. I had planed a full day to visit Chennai. Over the last few weeks, I asked people around what were the highlights of Chennai. The only only replies I would get is "not much", it's a messy city. So helped by our concierge, we managed to put a plan ahead the night before. I hadn't plan for the rainy and windy day. We ended jumping from one rickshaw to another one...till we had enough and retired to our room and a proper hot bath. I didn't imagine that a jacket and umbrella was part of a traveller kit in Chennai, and we were simply not equipped. I did not realised before that Tamil ... read more
sometimes, rickshaw do have a meter...well, if they are in working conditions....look at this one!
fish market
Elliot's beach

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai January 9th 2010

Planning has not worked with both us most of time!!..So we do all thing when it clicks to anyone of us:) That's how we did this weekend too. This was again a special weekend as be were in the celebrating our sweet 200th day staying together as Husband and Wife. It all started as a normal Lazy, dizzy Saturday with having lots of Household plan ahead to do....We both were enjoying the non working day after 5 days of kid dish way of running to office!! After having our brunch at 11:30 AM..thinking whether to shop in the busy timing of Pongal,....feeling bored we suddenly thought will go to Vendhanthagal....!!!! With no preparations..even without having a Helmet, rain wear....with little charge in camera..with climate not certain when it will rain...we started our trip around 12:15 PM...With ... read more
5_01_Jan_2010_2_Vendanthagal

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai January 7th 2010

As we came out of Chennai's Anna domestic terminal, we met a guy with a Vikram travels signboard, the company whose tour package we had bought. He was a short, bearded guy wearing a yellow lungi and a white shirt with a massive three banded marking (namas) on his forehead and without footwear, possibly due to the Pongal festival. Not that everyone was wearing a lungi on the airport, just a couple of guys (Yeah, I do not want to sound stereotype). As he guided us to his Chevrolet Tavera, he picked up the lower end of his lungi and tucked it in his waist like a South Indian movie hero does before he floors down some 30 goons bare-handed. The ensuing 45 min drive to the hotel was nothing less than a pure South Indian ... read more

Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Chennai January 4th 2010

What should have been a fantastic day out was spoiled by the driver of our tour. The day before he seemed very friendly, wanting to help but a few little alarm bells were ringing/. We thought it was a 2 and half hour journey was 5+ and the friendly driver turned in to some sort of perv. telling us things we didnt want to know. We were both getting worried so read up on what to do when we stopped for lunch. We made a code word in case we felt in danger and had a plan to "escape". Digusting man!! The Taj Mahal was beautiful and difficult to fnid the right words to convey how amazing it really is. Some people wanted their photo taking with us which was funny, got some great photos but ... read more




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