There's nothing I can write here to make this post more funny.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The concert we almost missed
OK, here's a story on how the simplest thing in India can get really complicated.
I bought 3 VIP tickets to a Bryan Adams gig in Bangalore many months ago from Kyazoonga, which is like a local Ticketmaster equivalent. Our driver runs a lot of errands for us so I chose venue pickup as the delivery method. On Tuesday of the week of the concert my wife went to pick-up the tickets. "No tickets, come on Thursday" was the reply. OK, on Thursday our driver went and the reply was: "No tickets, come on Saturday". The concert was on Sunday, so this was cutting it a bit tight. On Saturday morning we sent our driver again, and got the reply ... wait for it ... "No VIP tickets, come after 5 PM".
At this point we were a bit worried. I had looked into the matter and the going rate for VIP tickets was 8,000 Rs. while our tickets had cost 3,500 Rs. a piece. The tickets sold for 3,500 Rs. were now called Gold class tickets, but when I called the ticket office they said those had been sold out. Ouch.
On the morning of the concert I went to the venue either to collect the tickets or to get a letter to prove we had not been given tickets. After a very short wait I walked out with 3 VIP tickets. Cool! Well, not quite - we had made 4 trips to the venue at this point and it's an hour's drive - one way. MENTAL NOTE: next time take couriered or print-at-home ones...
All's well that ends well, however - the concert was very good. Adams has built a good playlist over the years and has found an enthusiastic and loyal fan base in India.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
License to shop
We finally managed to find a way to buy sporting goods with reasonable prices in Bangalore. The place to go to is Decathlon on Sarjapur Road, but they have this extremely odd membership scheme that until now has completely flummoxed me. They require your employer (the legal company) to register and only thereafter can employees register themselves to be allowed do some sports equipment shopping. In India it seems to be quite normal to require your customers to make piked double backflips with 1.5 twists to agree to sell something to them but until now this was the most extreme case. Well, apart from Airtel, obviously.
Well, my employer wasn't interested and that meant that e.g. new sports shoes for our son were really difficult to find. It's again Overseas Women's Club to the rescue as their members now can register in Decathlon. Yippee! Just need to remember to empty an ATM machine on the way there as paying with plastic is limited to cards with the OWC member's name on. Really, go figure as is usual, but finally our son has tennis shoes that fit again.
OWC has been really helpful in many ways already until now. Coming to Bangalore as an expat single man would be so much harder due to this fantastic resource not being available.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
My first cover shot
"A good photograph is knowing where to stand" - Ansel Adams
A picture I took made it to the cover of a magazine published by a Bangalore expat charity organization. Can't help feeling a bit proud after only a few months with a proper camera.
A picture I took made it to the cover of a magazine published by a Bangalore expat charity organization. Can't help feeling a bit proud after only a few months with a proper camera.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Southern Splendor on the Golden Chariot
Pictures from our trip on the Golden Chariot train to see sights in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Yes, we all got sick at the end and yes, because of overenthusiastic A/C use the temperature in the in train restaurant was near freezing point of nitrogen but there were some better moments too as the pictures hopefully convey:
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Trident Gurgaon, water feature
Sometimes a hotel can be too fancy for it's own good. Here we have an Olympic pool sized water feature from Trident Gurgaon. Looks and sounds nice when you're on your way from the car drop-off area to the reception, but is not visible from anywhere else in the hotel. I like architecture - a lot even - but here's it's just concrete sculpting on a massive scale (can you spot the lonely employee mowing the lawn?) without really any point.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
India night
Was in Taj West End with a bunch of expats in India last night enjoying local culture, food and drinks. All the westerners were dressed in Indian formals for this OWG charity dinner, but the performers still managed to outcolor us.
Future Raikkonen?
Went to the local go-kart track to celebrate our son's birthday. He's not as timid as he used to be, but it's still his friend who managed a most monumental crash to the tyre barriers. No bodily harm done, confidence slightly bruised...
Saturday, November 20, 2010
I like palm trees
I've always wanted to live in the shade of palm trees swaying in the wind. In that sense living in Palm Meadows is a winning proposition. Today was especially nice with a slow wind rustling the foliage in bright sunshine.
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