Indian Travels & Adventures: India Day 15 (Trip 1

Ashlee and I got some rest today after work. Of course after hitting the breakfast buffet. We have started to help ourselves to the ketchup packets that are so neatly tucked away under one of the side cabinets. Come on now, you need ketchup with hashbrowns! Anyhoo, Vishal, Moumita, and Mansi came to meet us at the hotel around 2pm for Commercial Street shopping. We left at the peak of traffic…haha funny thought. We decided to eat at a Scrubway near our shopping destination while Vishal hunted for a parking spot. The scrubway was a little grungy but we were starved and thankfully didn’t get sick.

Commercial street is an area buzzing with excitement, especially since this was the weekend before the Diwali festival. I was on the hunt for a Saree and our first stop was Soch – that’s Pink in Hindi. After a few color checking I found one. The tailor was called and my measurements were taken. It would take two days to have it back, which was just in time considering we were dressing up on Tuesday night for work. We browsed a few other shops and I found the most adorable little Indian outfits for Shelby and Senya. Mansi, Moumita, and Ashlee had planned on doing more shopping while Vishal and I met up with Dada and headed out to meet the other guys for a night of drinking.

These are some pics of Commercial street…

Traffic was horrible on the way to the bar. Neither Dada nor Vishal drink, but they were determined to show me a good time. We met up with Praveen, Anish, Renold, Prajish, and one of my old team members whose reputation preceded him…the great Uthappa! So, once we got there (about an hour later) and were pulling in to the general area, someone turned and hit Vishal’s car. It was an old couple and all he did was say something in Hindi about watching where he was turning. I got out of the car and there wasn’t much damage. He said he didn’t press it since they were old. Wow! Praveen met us outside and told me that when you call the cops or the insurance you end up having to pay more, so it really isn’t worth it. Wowsa!

So, Legends of Rock we were. The place was quiet, but all my buds were there. They played the best 90’s rock mix ever. We had loads of beer and toasted to great times and great friends. We also ordered a shitload of finger foods. A particular type of chicken had so much spice to it I thought my lips were going to come off. They was on fire!

I got to meet Uthappa. He used to be on my team and then had switched companies. His reputation clearly preceded him and we had a great night together. I really think this was a great bonding experience for all of my team. Since most of the guys had been there for a couple of hours already I was given the challenge to catch up to them in drinking. Well, you know how much I love a challenge. . . . . I’ll let the pics speak for themselves. J

Uthappa, Renold, Anish, Me, Praveen and Dada

Me and Praveen!

The Pose

Dada Peer, the ultimate organizer/party get-together-er

Rockstars!

Srinivas and his little brother

We had all had a little much by this point…

The non-drinkers were tired and since everything closes early in Bangalore we were out of the Legends of Rock by 10pm. We said our goodbyes and Vishal and Dada dropped me back off at the Taj. When we had pulled up I was surprised at how many cars were around. You could hear the music from the Ice Bar thumpin and that was where everyone was headed. I saw a couple of my coworkers get out of the car in front of me. In the lobby I ran into Ashlee and my Dublin coherts. Everyone was going to run up to their rooms and head back down. I was still in the mood to hang out so I had only ran to Ashlee’s room then came back down to party! At this point I had already drank 11 beers so what the hell, right?! :)

I was so surprised at how busy the club was. Since we were Taj residents we got right in. woot woot! We headed straight to the bar to get our drinks. It was me, Ashlee, Colin, Melanie, Laura and Joana. We ended up going out near the pool where we weren’t brushing up on one another (or other people for that matter). Ashlee and I had some Kingfisher and we talked about how their dinner went and mingled with some friends we had met the week prior hotel. It was a great night. Colin from the Dublin office made us laugh so much, although I don’t think nearly as much as when Laura accidentally stepped into the pool. All in all it was a fantastic evening of laughs and friends, and good vibes.