Saturday, April 21, 2007

Socializing through eating

The dinner on Thursday was only the first of a series of celebratory meals. Friday night I took my hosts Debbie and Charles out to dinner at a restaurant of their choice -- the Karavalli seafood restaurant at the Taj Gateway Hotel on Residency Road.

All three of us piled into an auto for what should be a short 2 km ride, but due to the one-way streets, the trip was actually about three times that distance. That's probably the maximum I would like to ride in an auto with two other people no matter who they are. Two passengers are no problem, three is definitely pushing it.

The meal was super good, but as I am not a gourmet I will leave it to Charles to describe the meal on his blog -- I have the feeling he's going to, as he took pictures of the food.

Charles and Debbie's hospitality was so important to me this trip. Not only did they save me a ton of money on hotels, but they provided me with invaluable local knowledge. Without them, I might never have had the courage to take an auto on my own.

As we were seated and the maitre d' was handing out menus, the power failed. Total darkness for about seven seconds. No one moved or spoke. Then all the lights came back on, whether from a generator or from the main current I don't know. The maitre d' resumed handing us the menus with an unflappable smile, as if it happens every night. Come to think of it, there are probably seasons when it does.

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