"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...

Tuesday
Day of rest
kids woke up late
started packing
dad went out of town
Walked around colony

Bus ride and sugarcane juice and bouncy house...Oh my!!!

Wow - it's hard to believe that it's our last week here.  This time next week, we'll be boarding our flight back to Seattle.  Better not think about it too much - makes me sad.

We took a bus ride today - just to take a bus ride.  We were hoping to catch the bus that comes right in front of our colony (subdivision), but it arrived a few minutes early, so we missed it.  (No, it doesn't wait till the right time).  My dad took us to another bus stop that is on a main road, but we had to wait there quite a while before the next bus came.  We skipped that one because it was too crowded.  Caught the bus right behind it, though...  B. was pretty excited about being on the bus.  I think J was too, but he couldn't enjoy the sights from the bus as much, since he was too short to look out the windows.  Eventually, the kids started wilting in the heat...this was not an air-conditioned bus.

Once we got to the station, also the bus depot, we decided to look around a bit before heading back.  We encountered quite a variety of goods on our little walk: sunglasses, watches, snacks, shoes and even score a couple pajama "suits" for B.  It was a hot day and i don't think the kids were able to handle too much more of it...so we took an auto back. 

Good thing too, by the time we got home, it was past 1:00 p.m. and we still needed to grab lunch and get a nap in before we headed out again at 5:00 p.m.  We had another dinner invitation this evening.  While Dad was filling up the car, mum and i were able to grab some sugarcane juice.  Man!  I can drink this stuff all day!  So can the kids!  Our hosts showed us a little park/playground behind their flats - with a bouncy house.  The kids couldn't get enough and didn't want to go in for dinner.  Fortunately, it was getting dark and the mosquitoes can be quite persuasive.

Yummy dinner!  Got home around 11:30...it's been a long day

Seen in our neighborhood....

One thing's for sure....they've got more covering their car than we do on ours back in the USA!

Seen on the way to relative's flat...

It certainly looks like a telephone pole....but we told this was a tree. It's preserved as part of a neighborhood "green" effort to....well....save trees. This effort called for the new road we were on to be laid around this tree without cutting it down.

The Arbor Day Foundation should be impressed.

*SLUUUUURP!* Ahhh!

Nothing like a nice cold bottle of badam milk
on a hot Indian afternoon!

Seen at a roadside store...

Pretty good deal, eh? 

Nothing crazy, just went to church and came home and rested.  It's been a busy weekend and since this is going to be our last week here, it's sure to be crazy as well.  I can't believe 7 weeks have flown by so quickly and it's time to start packing.  Have some last minute shopping to get done as well as experiences, hopefully we'll use our time wisely and be able to get everything done in time.  Here's to a fruitful week ahead...

Fish pedicure...yup, you read right

Wanted to start packing, but also spend time with the parentals.  Since we're coming to a close of our time here, mum's trying to cut down on too many grocery purchases and trying to finish off the stuff she has left.  I expect this coming week will be a lot of eating out, but that's the way it goes.

First we thought about checking out one of the buffets in town that my parents liked.  Now, i'm not too big on recommendations from "foreigners" about good Indian food, but if my mum says it's good, then it's good.  Well, she did say this buffet was good, but she couldn't remember it's name or where it was located...brilliant.  We spent a few hours trying to sort that out and in the end decided to drive out there. 

This restaurant was located a suburb quite far from us and once we got there, we discovered that the restaurant had closed and another one had taken its place.  Joke's on us!  There was a mall nearby, so we decided to check it out.  It was quite posh, with a lovely bookstore where we spent quite a bit of time.

This mall also boasted the only fish pedicure in the entire twin cities.  Not sure where the fish originate, i've heard southeast Asia as well as the Middle East.  Either way, you put your feet into a tank filled with these fish that are attracted to dead skin.  So, the theory is that, they eat away the dead skin from your lower legs and feet, leaving behind new skin - i.e. a pedicure.  This was so fascinating and we watched several people do it before we decided to have a go as well.  However, by the time this decision was made, the kids were hungry and restless, so we decided to grab dinner and then do the pedicure.  Dinner was McDee's (our annual visit) and couple of the sandwiches were actually good - kebab chicken with some great cucumber/spinach cream sauce...quite yummy.  (I can't believe i said that about McDees).  Alas, by the time we finished our dinner, we didn't have time for the pedicure. 

Well, we still have a week here, maybe we'll come back and "pamper" ourselves.  Stay tuned!

I don't think we can go to the park two mornings in a row...we need to desperately catch up on the sleep we lost the day before.  I could barely keep my eyes open this morning.

At breakfast, S. said that he did some research last night about the "investments" we were thinking about and felt quite uneasy about them.  We believe that the "salesmen" left out a few key details out.  Well, the deal WAS too good to be true.  In hind sight, we're quite glad that the power was out and we weren't able to make copies yesterday.  Once, we handed over our ID information, really, the whole thing would have been lost.  At this point, all they have are our names and signatures, but no money and nothing else tying us to those forms.  God is good...we were really saved from making a hasty decision. They were some pretty slick talkers.  Once S. and i talked about it, we decided that there was nothing here worth investing in that couldn't be done just as well stateside.  So, Dad and S. went to the bank and "talked it over" - really S. went to say that we were out, but had to do it in a manner that wouldn't affect Dad's relationship with the bank.  Yeah, it's all about guanxi here too.  S. said that they were pretty disappointed.  Of course, they were going to get a big commission and we would have left with a giant "SUCKER" on our head.  Yeah, for a gracious God, Who sometimes doesn't let us sink into the pit we dig.

While Dad and S. were there, i had troubles of my own, wasn't able to say "no" so easily.  Mum and Dad know a vendor who brings home made textiles to our home.  Mum and i have bought a whole bunch of stuff from him in years past.  Since they are textiles, they are not consumable goods, so we just keep accumulating these things - there's only so many napkins and placemats that you need!  This guy keeps showing up and we've even introduced him to other friends, so he'd stop coming over - no such luck.  I bought a couple things from him this time around and mum managed to keep her money.  No more!!!  We'll just have to tell him to stop bringing stuff.

After their nap, we decided to try out the park in the evening.  I'm not a big fan of evenings at the park here, but i was willing to give it a shot.  Mum wanted to check out another farmer's market, so they dropped us off at the park and would pick us up in a little while.  They didn't show up until much later and the kids were barely hanging on.  I'm so glad B. didn't have to use the restroom, cause there wasn't one around there.  By the time our ride (Dad) showed up, it was quite dark and the mozzies were in rare form. 

The kids are plum tuckered out...B. actually fell asleep by 10:00 p.m. - they ran around for almost two hours in the park.  J. took a nap this afternoon, so stayed up a little longer, but finally gave in.  Wow...my kids really have some energy - i have to practically run them raw before they'll willingly crawl into bed.  Well, they're there now and i'm enjoying some quiet time.