Power...

No fear folks....

If you find yourself in the elevator and the power goes out...well...just wait a bit. This sign would have cooled my nerves a bit when I was caught in a Delhi elevator last year. The power today has been erratic--to say it politely. Since 6am it has gone out about 5 times. And yes, it has been restored in about 7 seconds. Interestingly enough, they put a higher preference on the AC than the lights...so the AC is cranking and you are sitting in the dark.

So with all of these power issues you would think huh, they most attempt to conserve...NO. Check out the light show on the BANK next to my hotel.

Very similar to a Las Vegas scene...or perhaps something you would see in Miami to advertise a restaurant. Whats confusing about this? Again, its a bank, not sure why the building needs to be so exciting and why a bank would want to draw so much attention to itself.

My hotel room...

My hotel room is 290 a night here in Bangalore. That is US dollars. To place this price in perspective, the average Indian makes 400 US dollars a YEAR. I am staying at a new hotel, the Taj Residency, because the hotel I stayed at last year has increased their prices to 390 a night. Keep in mind, that hotel is just around the corner from this one....




What will 290 a night by you in Bangalore? The first surprise is the additional of an Aeron Chair. For those of you unfamiliar with the areon, its a fancy office chair that costs almost 2000 usd. So that would be like going to someone's home and seeing a 400,000 chair in their living room. This chair would support an Indian family for five years......YEARS...






Did I mention the TV? Yeah flatscreen...because I need to see Indian TV in widescreen mode(yes that is people dancing on the screen...lots of singing and dancing on Indian TV combined with really depressing news). Again, probably 3000...so here a family could live on this product for a little over 6 years. So you can see why I am spending SO much time watching it.

India again...

I have been studying...and neglecting my blogging duties. Or so I thought. Now I realize that blogging is a therapy mechanism I employ while in "Incredible India".

The trip over was rough--turbulence for the first 9 hours and then more during most of the next 8. We crossed our fingers that luggage systems would bless us with luggage on the flip side, last year we were not so lucky.

All worked out well and we departed from the airport with the essential NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, No, no. And so it goes. Everyone wanted to give us a ride or wanted money. All you hope for is the big sign that says MR or MS whoever...and whoever is YOU.

We find our driver and are led to the car. And well of course. We are parked with cars all around us and a large orange tarped pile of something in front of us. Thankfully, we did not arrive any earlier, as the locals had just "got on the problem" calling for the services of a HUGE tractor--like a farm tractor that is so prevelant here--to come and take away the big pile.

And we are off...to our hotel.