This is the first time I've seen the male.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Andrew Spotting
The High Commission has a flock of peacocks on the grounds. You'll see them wandering around during the day. They're all called "Andrew" apparently.
This is the first time I've seen the male.
This is the first time I've seen the male.
Changing of the guards
On Saturday, a group of us went to see the Ceremonial Changing of the Guards at the forecourt of the grand Rashtrapati Bhavan (the official residence of the President). I hope you like the photos: 
The things you see
So....it’s Friday evening & I’m hopping into a taxi to go to the Australian High Commission to meet Tania for drinks when this herd of “sacred” cows decides they want to go for a wander up our street.
It was quite funny to see all the tuk-tuks, cars, taxis, motorcycles & cyclists doing their best to weave their way around these cows.
The next day, I’m in another taxi heading out with friends when I see an elephant going for a walk up our street.
The things you see indeed.
A group of us were discussing elephants the other day (as you do) & it seems that kid's birthday parties here have elephant rides.
This is India after all!!
It was quite funny to see all the tuk-tuks, cars, taxis, motorcycles & cyclists doing their best to weave their way around these cows.
The next day, I’m in another taxi heading out with friends when I see an elephant going for a walk up our street.
The things you see indeed.
A group of us were discussing elephants the other day (as you do) & it seems that kid's birthday parties here have elephant rides.
This is India after all!!
That was the week that was
Well....we’re now into the second week in our new apartment.
Things are starting to settle down after the madness of last week.
Being a new apartment, there are “teething” problems to be expected. Well...my week was spent looking after workmen sent to fix said “teething” problems. Some were minor, others weren’t but here’s a highlights package of what went on...
The electrician
We had the electrician in to remove “spare” switches that do nothing (in the end, they were left as spares, for future use) & to fix some power points that weren’t working.
Our electrician friend had an OMG way of checking if the power point was working: he’d simply plug two live wires into the point & if they lit up the light bulb he had somehow connected to said wires (best not to think about it folks), he was happy. Personally...I thought my way of checking things (plug in a power board with a surge switch – if power was getting to the board, it was okay) made much more sense.
But...then again...this is India!!
The washing machine
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post.....we have a washing machine that does its best kangaroo impersonation on the back balcony. It took a week of getting the plumber back every time, showing him videos of the machine doing its best kangaroo impersonation, running wash cycles with & without clothes before they finally figured out what the problem was: they’d forgotten to remove the stabilisers !!
The washing machine is quiet as now & doesn’t move anywhere near as much as it used to.
The bed
This has to be the best story & an example of the “normality” that is India.
We are allocated a bed for the main bedroom (along with others for the other rooms). We were told that we’d been given a “queen” size bed.
Now...let me digress a bit......the Indians have different sizes for beds...yet when you’re shopping for sheets...everything is “double” size. Even the king size is called a “double”...you have to look at the size listed in small print. Tania spent a frustrating time on Sunday trying to get an answer to the question: why is everything listed as double??
Okay.....now that I’ve ranted & digressed......the “queen” sized bed we got is really more like a double (& a smaller double than what I had in the house in Red Hill) which is quite “cosy” for the two of us (not that there’s anything wrong with that...but we also like our space).
Tania requested a bigger bed & so we were due to receive a “king” sized bed. The guys turned up on Wednesday & delivered the mattress with no dramas but then they disappeared.
Thinking that they’d done a runner (like the plumbers earlier that day) I went out onto the balcony & noticed their truck was still there. I could then hear them in the stairwell corridor. I figured they were having some problems with getting the rigid base up the stairs & that’s exactly what the problem was.
So.....the solution was going to be that seven guys would turn up on the Thursday with ropes & would lift the base from the driveway, up onto the side guest room balcony (it’s quite small) & into the apartment that way.
queue images of the base lying in a crumpled & smashed heap at the bottom of the driveway
In the end....they decided that wasn’t such a good idea (& here I was, all set to video the whole thing so I could share the adventure with you all!!). The next solution they came up with is that they get a base that could be broken apart.
queue images of some poor Indian, with a hack saw, cutting up the bed base in the driveway
But no...I’m being far too cynical here!! They will actually make a new bed (I’m assuming just the base but then again, this is India so who knows what’s going to happen) where the base can be split (& I assume, put back together).
So....now I’m sitting at home waiting on our new bed!!
Oh...before I forget....when the king mattress was delivered, the guys tried to then take away our existing double bed. They didn’t seem to understand the concept that we weren’t giving up the double bed until our new king bed was completely ready.
But...then again...this is India!!
Things are starting to settle down after the madness of last week.
Being a new apartment, there are “teething” problems to be expected. Well...my week was spent looking after workmen sent to fix said “teething” problems. Some were minor, others weren’t but here’s a highlights package of what went on...
The electrician
We had the electrician in to remove “spare” switches that do nothing (in the end, they were left as spares, for future use) & to fix some power points that weren’t working.
Our electrician friend had an OMG way of checking if the power point was working: he’d simply plug two live wires into the point & if they lit up the light bulb he had somehow connected to said wires (best not to think about it folks), he was happy. Personally...I thought my way of checking things (plug in a power board with a surge switch – if power was getting to the board, it was okay) made much more sense.
But...then again...this is India!!
The washing machine
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post.....we have a washing machine that does its best kangaroo impersonation on the back balcony. It took a week of getting the plumber back every time, showing him videos of the machine doing its best kangaroo impersonation, running wash cycles with & without clothes before they finally figured out what the problem was: they’d forgotten to remove the stabilisers !!
The washing machine is quiet as now & doesn’t move anywhere near as much as it used to.
The bed
This has to be the best story & an example of the “normality” that is India.
We are allocated a bed for the main bedroom (along with others for the other rooms). We were told that we’d been given a “queen” size bed.
Now...let me digress a bit......the Indians have different sizes for beds...yet when you’re shopping for sheets...everything is “double” size. Even the king size is called a “double”...you have to look at the size listed in small print. Tania spent a frustrating time on Sunday trying to get an answer to the question: why is everything listed as double??
Okay.....now that I’ve ranted & digressed......the “queen” sized bed we got is really more like a double (& a smaller double than what I had in the house in Red Hill) which is quite “cosy” for the two of us (not that there’s anything wrong with that...but we also like our space).
Tania requested a bigger bed & so we were due to receive a “king” sized bed. The guys turned up on Wednesday & delivered the mattress with no dramas but then they disappeared.
Thinking that they’d done a runner (like the plumbers earlier that day) I went out onto the balcony & noticed their truck was still there. I could then hear them in the stairwell corridor. I figured they were having some problems with getting the rigid base up the stairs & that’s exactly what the problem was.
So.....the solution was going to be that seven guys would turn up on the Thursday with ropes & would lift the base from the driveway, up onto the side guest room balcony (it’s quite small) & into the apartment that way.
queue images of the base lying in a crumpled & smashed heap at the bottom of the driveway
In the end....they decided that wasn’t such a good idea (& here I was, all set to video the whole thing so I could share the adventure with you all!!). The next solution they came up with is that they get a base that could be broken apart.
queue images of some poor Indian, with a hack saw, cutting up the bed base in the driveway
But no...I’m being far too cynical here!! They will actually make a new bed (I’m assuming just the base but then again, this is India so who knows what’s going to happen) where the base can be split (& I assume, put back together).
So....now I’m sitting at home waiting on our new bed!!
Oh...before I forget....when the king mattress was delivered, the guys tried to then take away our existing double bed. They didn’t seem to understand the concept that we weren’t giving up the double bed until our new king bed was completely ready.
But...then again...this is India!!
Monday, March 7, 2011
K-Mart gone feral
On the weekend, Tania & I went to another one of the shopping malls (to get stuff for the house). This was just across the New Delhi border & in the next provence (Gurgaon). After wandering around & picking up some bargains for clothes & having a lovely meal in one of the restaurants (yes...the shopping malls here have restaurants), we ended up in a place called “Big Bazaar”. We needed household things like clothes airers, mops & other stuff.
Seriously...the place is like K-Mart gone feral. I imagine this is what “Walmart” would be like except here....they’re way better dressed !!
Seriously...the place is like K-Mart gone feral. I imagine this is what “Walmart” would be like except here....they’re way better dressed !!
An observation on bike safety in New Delhi
I don’t know if anyone knows the meaning of that phrase !!
I have seen an entire family on a motor cycle: Dad driving (& the only one wearing a helmet), mum holding baby in the back (riding side-saddle) & older child in the front helping dad to steer.
I have seen a bike loaded up at the back with a child sitting on the load, clinging to daddy (who is, of course, wearing a helmet).
I have seen guys on push bikes with three big gas cylinders in the back (two by the side & one over the back): didn’t want to think about whether they were full or not.
I have seen an entire family on a motor cycle: Dad driving (& the only one wearing a helmet), mum holding baby in the back (riding side-saddle) & older child in the front helping dad to steer.
I have seen a bike loaded up at the back with a child sitting on the load, clinging to daddy (who is, of course, wearing a helmet).
I have seen guys on push bikes with three big gas cylinders in the back (two by the side & one over the back): didn’t want to think about whether they were full or not.
The "T&S Taj" is now open for business
The T&S Taj (conveniently located in Vasant Vihar) is now open for guests. Yes..we finally have moved in. Yay !!
The furnishings are somewhat bare at the moment: our furniture is ordered but won’t be arriving for at least a month. We’re making do with a temporary kit.
The kitchen is somewhat bare at the moment as well: our stuff from OZ (all our kitchen goodies & cookbooks) won’t be here until the end of the month (we hope).
The place has had a few niggling problems (electrical & plumbing)...as to be expected with a new place. The funniest is our washing machine on the back balcony. It’s a brand new washing machine that advertises itself as being less noisy & having less vibration. Well..this “less noisy & less vibration” machine is certainly trying to do its best kangaroo impersonation. Tania took a video of me trying to explain why I was sitting on the washing machine: it’s so noisy that you can barely hear what I’m saying & the thing is really throwing me around: it’s like being in the rodeo !!
But that aside...we have guest beds & lots of bathrooms. So..if you’re thinking of heading over to the Indian sub-continent, just let me know & I’ll put it in the calendar.
The furnishings are somewhat bare at the moment: our furniture is ordered but won’t be arriving for at least a month. We’re making do with a temporary kit.
The kitchen is somewhat bare at the moment as well: our stuff from OZ (all our kitchen goodies & cookbooks) won’t be here until the end of the month (we hope).
The place has had a few niggling problems (electrical & plumbing)...as to be expected with a new place. The funniest is our washing machine on the back balcony. It’s a brand new washing machine that advertises itself as being less noisy & having less vibration. Well..this “less noisy & less vibration” machine is certainly trying to do its best kangaroo impersonation. Tania took a video of me trying to explain why I was sitting on the washing machine: it’s so noisy that you can barely hear what I’m saying & the thing is really throwing me around: it’s like being in the rodeo !!
But that aside...we have guest beds & lots of bathrooms. So..if you’re thinking of heading over to the Indian sub-continent, just let me know & I’ll put it in the calendar.
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