Up on the housetop

Since we last visited in 2010, Tha-tha and Ammama added another story to their home, pushing their top terrace to a higher, better view....

....within reach of the neighbor's coconut tree (even for "A")....

....and plenty of space to party and dance!

Frontyard Papaya

Amamma planted a papaya tree about 3 years ago. A few attempts to plant in the past weren't successful, but this one flourished, providing luscious fruit year-round. So far, it's reached the 2nd floor in height, so picking papaya requires one person holding onto the legs of another person standing on the railing. As long as you don't fall, it is sooooooooo worth it! Ambrosia!!!

Happy 2014....

....rangoli-style!

At a nearby roadside kirana shop....

....slurping cold pop.....and "J" giving his "thumbs up" to "Thums Up"!

Seen outside the Hyderabad Airport...

Who knew guns and airports could mix so recreationally?

Heard inside the Hyderabad Airport....

.....the sweet, familiar strains of Christmas hymns played throughout the airport intercom.  "Silent Night"....."O Come All Ye Faithful"...."Hark the Herald Angels Sing".  And likely not to be heard inside any US airport on any New Year's Eve.

*** Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year from India! ***

Riding a fast tail wind!

It's not often that I check an airliner's onboard air-flight status. So when I did, I was surprised to see us riding a rather speedy tail wind....

Now maybe I'm just not up-to-snuff about weather patterns at 39,000 feet, but isn't this hurricane-force winds? Is this normal at these altitudes? I'll have to consult my pilot and Boeing friends about this....

At any rate, it was nice to know it was a TAIL-wind rather than a HEAD-wind, pushing our overall speed near 700 mph....

Apparently, at 39,000, that put our plane past Mach 1.0 (i.e. the speed of sound)! Didn't realize passenger planes had that capability....

Seen on the way from London to Hyderabad.....

Kuwaiti gas flares. Individually, they illuminate up the night sky below many times brighter than any city light. Apparently, this is well-known to space satellites.

Dubai at night. 

Red arrow = Burj Khalifa. 

Green arrow = Palm Jumeirah.

Back to India!

Well, it's been almost 4 years since our last trip there.  And now it's official once again....we're all going back to India in a couple of weeks.  "A"'s visa to India just came in....our last obstacle overcome.  This will be "A"'s 1st trip there....and "J"'s 2nd....and "B"'s 3rd....and "S"'s 4th.....and "L"'s ?-th).

And of course, Mom and Dad think "A" has the cutest visa photo in the world!

"Kids" day off.  My cousins and our kids went for a day ride by taxi to Charminar. We got a charter taxi and since it was based on time and a fixed rate - i think he ripped us off.  He went the long way...argh!  Unfortunately it's a holiday, so Charminar was closed.  Double argh!  Soooo...went to McDees and got a Rs.10 cone.  It's like getting an ice cream cone for $0.10.  Remember those days?!  Proceeded on to the connecting mall, but since it was too early in the day, it was pretty empty.  Only thing that seemed available to participate in was a fish pedicure.  (REF: S. entry)

Once our feet were all dead-skin-free, we checked out GVK - the "largest" mall in S.India.  My favourite part was the GIANT aquarium right as you walk in.  

Next stop - General Bazaar, then home for a movie marathon.  Watched the Scarlet Pimpernel while eating Indian Chinese (YUMMO!)  Then some ice cream (Mango and Lychee flavours).  Continued with UP for the little ones and then 1/2 of Counte of Monte Cristo...

Fun, but long day...forgot what it's like to be a young "adult" with no kiddos...