hips don't lie

I'm at the end of my first full day back in India, and I had a lovely time. I likely had a more lovely time than my father, since I knew what to expect from the place and he didn't, although I must say that one thing at least has changed for the worse. In particular, I was unimpressed by brunch at the Taj; apparently most expats now go to a newer hotel that is much closer to the office and the apartments, but I wanted to go to the Taj for old times' sake. When I was here, they were getting later and later in their opening times; we showed up after 12pm, and it was almost 1pm before the buffet was actually up and running. Meanwhile, they have replaced the Sri Lankan band with some singer who sang Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" rather poorly and twice in a row, which was totally unwelcome. They also added a creepy clown making balloon animals outside the dining area (see photo below), and it was all even more strange than usual.

However, in general it was great to be back. Jaffer drove us around today, which made it surreal-y like I've never left. After brunch, we went to Mebaz, where I bought a couple of outfits for Adit's wedding, and then we went on an adventure to find a sim card for the unlocked phone and get some Diet Pepsi. We stopped off at a jeweler's, where I saw the longest pinky fingernail I've ever seen (likely verging on three inches), and then at the shop where I bought a carpet last time (although he failed to sell me a carpet this time, instead settling for a couple of shawls). We made it back to the hotel sometime after five p.m., and ended up having dinner here at 'La Cantina', the Novotel's attempt at Mexican food. They got it mostly right; the furniture and ambiance was nice, and the fajitas were tasty, but the tortilla chips were more like rice chips. But my sweet lime soda was tasty, and their constant efforts to keep the mosquitos down (sprays, incense-style bug smog, bug zappers, portable bug zappers, etc.) nearly worked.

Now, I should probably wrap this up and go to bed; I have to go to the office in the morning, which means I need to get more sleep than I got last night. Photos from Singapore are below for your viewing pleasure...goodnight!