July 10 - In and around Bangalore

Hard Rock Bangalore

Today was a different pace. Woke up today at a decent time, 7 am. Worked out and stretched my legs so that my shoulder and knees could take the abuse of the upcoming day. Had an awesome filling breakfast and showered. We decided to check out my uncle's office. I guess I should explain what my uncle does.

My Uncle at his office

My uncle started a human resources firm here in Bangalore about seven years ago. He's done quite well for himself and his company has become one of the more established firms here in India working with companies like Microsoft, IBM, etc... My uncle has got an office in the main part of Bangalore. He and his wife employ about 15 people. Mostly women, and two guys as far as I saw. The rental is approximately Rs. 35000 for 2500 square feet. As I was taking photos in and around the various rooms, my uncle asked me to take a look at all the walls in the rooms and to provide some photos that inspired training and knowledge that he could use. Of course, I was delighted at this prospect so I went snap happy.

Tali at Nagurjana

As it was now getting to be around 1pm, we were all starting to feel pretty hungry. My dad wanted to dine authentic "Tali" style. Tali means that you get served a whole bunch of vegetarian dishes like lentils, chutneys, yogurt, etc... on a big banana leaf that you use as a plate. For carbs, the usual rice is provided. The cool part is it is an unlimited amount of food. You can keep stuffing yourself as much as you want, but I'll get to that. The women went ahead to grab us all a seat as us males navigated our way through busy traffic and small blocks. Auto Rikshas (Local taxicabs which are really motorbikes with a 2 wheel axle in the back) are plentiful in India. Now the funny thing is, the restaurant we were planning on going to was only about two kilometres away. Because drivers of these rikshas need to make as much money as possible they will turn you down if the distance is to close. As a result, we had to flag down about 15 rikshas before one driver finally caved and said he'd drive us over for an upfront amount which of course he gets to decide.

Traffic at commercial street intersection

Why the drive for only 2 kilometres? The roads in Bangalore are fairly clean, but traffic is insane. It's hard to cross the roads without being driven into by ever riksha, car, and motorbike trying to get to some place. Not the safest way to travel if you are a foreigner.

Waiter at Nagurjuna serving Rice

We arrived at our destination which was a restaurant called Nagurjuna. Not sure what it means but what the hey. We met the women and ordered ourselves some tali. To be on the safe side, my sister ordered the standard butter chicken lol. In hindisight I probably should have done the same thing. Anyhow, my dad insisted that I try all the spicy pickles as well as the fried chilis. I like to pride myself on being a big eater of spicy food back home, but I couldn't do too much. The spicyness wasn't apparent right away. About halfway through my lunch I started feeling too full. This is the result of too much spicy food haha. I barely managed to finish my first serving of food and decided to call it quits. I had the same amount of food as an EDO serving home. That's how heavy the food is. My sister who had the butter chicken with naan was laughing the entire time.

Our Parking Stall minutes away from Commercial Street in front of Disabilities Building

After lunch, we decided to hit "commercial district." My aunt drove us to a parking lot situated about ten minutes away from commercial street. The parking lot was beside a building for the disabled. I quickly learned that each parking lot had about a dozen "parking guides". These parking guides would regulate the usage of stalls and parking of the vehicle in the stall. As a standard, the service is worth a Rs. 5 tip, which is mandatory.

An alley in commercial street

Old Bangalore vs. New Bangalore

We walked to the commercial street and decided to do some shopping. I finally got some kurtas (indian style shirts). The whole shopping walk lasted about an hour or so. When we finally got back to my uncle's apartment I decided to lie down in bed for just ten minutes. Next thing I know, I wake up 3 hours later and it's 8 pm. I'm still not used to the new timings and I've been running on a grand total of 8 hours of sleep.

I stayed up with the uncle and my parents and the question of me seeking a girl for marriage came up lol. I explained I'm already commited to Becca and I'd probably marry within 2 years. My uncle was pretty cool with that and insisted that I bring her over to India sometime.