Comparing cities
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The lunch Bill had yesterday, also here on the breakfast buffet, is uttappam, which is a pancake made of the same batter as a dosa, but not spread thin like a dosa, and with chopped onions dropped into the uncooked side before flipping the pancake. A dosa starts with batter poured on the griddle and immediately spread thin with the back of a ladle.
In addition to cantaloupe and pineapple, there's fresh papaya on the buffet.
I set my alarm later today, to 8, to let me sleep in. Woke up 5 minutes before the alarm. Bliss.
I woke in the middle of the night and, based on the silence, guessed it was 4am. Nearly right: about 4:30. There were still cars on the road. The sound of engines never abates. But the constant honking had stopped. My greatest writing challenge will be to convey for you what the traffic is like.
***
Our driver this morning talked throughout the ride. I loved the insight this gave me.
There is a tiger preserve about 15 kilometers away, with elephants, too, so I'm sure we'll try to visit that. Mysore, the royal city, is 150 km (many, many hours; remember that most of the roads outside Bangalore are not paved) and features a great palace. Mohan, the driver, offered to take us on a day trip there on Sunday, but it's probably too far for us.
And then we talked about Bangalore...
Bill provided the factoid that Bangalore is the same geographic size as Austin, but instead of 1 million inhabitants, Bangalore has 8 million. Mohan lamented the changes in his city over the last 15 years (sounds like Austin). Because of cutting trees, paving streets, and building large offices, the climate has changed. Less rain, more heat, and now The Garden City is instead called Silicon Valley. (In Austin, we talk about the 'heat island' effect of paving all your green spaces.)
Now the driving force is "money, money, money." Mohan used to make less money and live a happier life. This life, the new generation's, is a very bad life. Always "money, money, money," no time for family; working through the weekends, drinking through the evenings. They used to be farmers, healthy and strong, and now they are stressed, working all the time and always chasing money.
Sounds like Austin...
The lunch Bill had yesterday, also here on the breakfast buffet, is uttappam, which is a pancake made of the same batter as a dosa, but not spread thin like a dosa, and with chopped onions dropped into the uncooked side before flipping the pancake. A dosa starts with batter poured on the griddle and immediately spread thin with the back of a ladle.
In addition to cantaloupe and pineapple, there's fresh papaya on the buffet.
I set my alarm later today, to 8, to let me sleep in. Woke up 5 minutes before the alarm. Bliss.
I woke in the middle of the night and, based on the silence, guessed it was 4am. Nearly right: about 4:30. There were still cars on the road. The sound of engines never abates. But the constant honking had stopped. My greatest writing challenge will be to convey for you what the traffic is like.
***
Our driver this morning talked throughout the ride. I loved the insight this gave me.
There is a tiger preserve about 15 kilometers away, with elephants, too, so I'm sure we'll try to visit that. Mysore, the royal city, is 150 km (many, many hours; remember that most of the roads outside Bangalore are not paved) and features a great palace. Mohan, the driver, offered to take us on a day trip there on Sunday, but it's probably too far for us.
And then we talked about Bangalore...
Bill provided the factoid that Bangalore is the same geographic size as Austin, but instead of 1 million inhabitants, Bangalore has 8 million. Mohan lamented the changes in his city over the last 15 years (sounds like Austin). Because of cutting trees, paving streets, and building large offices, the climate has changed. Less rain, more heat, and now The Garden City is instead called Silicon Valley. (In Austin, we talk about the 'heat island' effect of paving all your green spaces.)
Now the driving force is "money, money, money." Mohan used to make less money and live a happier life. This life, the new generation's, is a very bad life. Always "money, money, money," no time for family; working through the weekends, drinking through the evenings. They used to be farmers, healthy and strong, and now they are stressed, working all the time and always chasing money.
Sounds like Austin...