Every time I go out into public I get stared at by women everywhere. When Beth goes out, she gets stared at by all the young men.
My theory is that the young guys think that Beth is a movie star as she is obviously Indian but she is so white. White is prized here, it is so funny watching ads on TV, they have creams that are supposed to make you whiter!! I think that women stare at me because not many women here have light coloured hair.
So I have been here for a week now and I decided that if everyone is going to stare I would give them something to stare at. I went to the shops today with my trolley, partly because the trolleys are too short for me at the supermarket nearby, but also I wanted to get a few bottles of water and didn't want to carry them all by myself.
So here I am at the supermarket with my trolley and with Beth, so the stare factor was in full swing. People would stop dead in front of me and even touch the trolley. So I figure that eventually they will get used to me being there with or without my trolley!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Dinner and Doctors
Doctors
Today Beth was a little worse, her glands were swollen on both sides of her throat and she could hardly swallow, so we decided it was time to find a doctor for her.
Previous to us arriving, Jason had located a hospital that is highly regarded here in Mumbai. The Dr L Hiranandani Hospital at Powai. So we hired a private hire car to take us all there as we felt that Beth would not tolerate a rickshaw ride with the way she felt.
I made an appointment with a doctor for 2.30pm and decided to leave around 1.30pm just in case we were delayed. The ride usually takes 30 mins. It was good that we allowed the time as when we got to the hospital it took about 30mins to register........it was more the language barrier and not knowing where to go. Straight after registering when went right in to see the doctor who was good, he prescribed some antibiotics and something for the pain and we were out of there. Then it was off to the chemist, another surprise there, they were so cheap, so much cheaper than Australia. Altogether with the consult with the doctor and the bill at the chemist it cost us 962 rupees, that converts to $29.50 AUD. If I had the same event happen in Darwin, It would have cost me $63 for the doctors and I would have got back $32 from Medicare, and then at the chemist it would have cost us $20 for the antibiotics and $3 for the other tablets. So the total would have been $54 AUD. So the difference was $24.50.
Dinner
After the excursion to the doctors Jason and I went and did some Christmas shopping, then when we got home we went to dinner. There is a little restaurant called Machiou Pichiou that Jason found before I arrived. The food there is magnificent. Tonight we got dinner for 260 rupees which converts to $7.97. This meal included a 1 litre bottle of water and dessert, we had galub jarmuns. The meal consisted of rice, vegetable curry, dahl, raither and 2 buttered naans each. You would be hard pressed getting a meal that includes dessert and drinks in Australia for $8.
Welcome to Mumbai!
Today Beth was a little worse, her glands were swollen on both sides of her throat and she could hardly swallow, so we decided it was time to find a doctor for her.
Previous to us arriving, Jason had located a hospital that is highly regarded here in Mumbai. The Dr L Hiranandani Hospital at Powai. So we hired a private hire car to take us all there as we felt that Beth would not tolerate a rickshaw ride with the way she felt.
I made an appointment with a doctor for 2.30pm and decided to leave around 1.30pm just in case we were delayed. The ride usually takes 30 mins. It was good that we allowed the time as when we got to the hospital it took about 30mins to register........it was more the language barrier and not knowing where to go. Straight after registering when went right in to see the doctor who was good, he prescribed some antibiotics and something for the pain and we were out of there. Then it was off to the chemist, another surprise there, they were so cheap, so much cheaper than Australia. Altogether with the consult with the doctor and the bill at the chemist it cost us 962 rupees, that converts to $29.50 AUD. If I had the same event happen in Darwin, It would have cost me $63 for the doctors and I would have got back $32 from Medicare, and then at the chemist it would have cost us $20 for the antibiotics and $3 for the other tablets. So the total would have been $54 AUD. So the difference was $24.50.
Dinner
After the excursion to the doctors Jason and I went and did some Christmas shopping, then when we got home we went to dinner. There is a little restaurant called Machiou Pichiou that Jason found before I arrived. The food there is magnificent. Tonight we got dinner for 260 rupees which converts to $7.97. This meal included a 1 litre bottle of water and dessert, we had galub jarmuns. The meal consisted of rice, vegetable curry, dahl, raither and 2 buttered naans each. You would be hard pressed getting a meal that includes dessert and drinks in Australia for $8.
Welcome to Mumbai!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Dogs, horns, the 14th floor and bananas
The incessant tooting of the horns and the barking of the dogs is manageable on the 14th floor, I am so glad we are up as high as we are.
It is amazing when you are in traffic, everyone is tooting everyone. Unlike Australia when you toot your horn to warn people that they are about to do something wrong here in India they toot there horn to let people know they are there.
In the next couple of days I will post a short video of a trip in traffic............lol. It sure can be an adventure/scary ride.
Also last night I think a dog got hit in traffic or was being eaten...........:-) He was barking then yelping and yelping, it was nothing like you have ever heard.
We also did some shopping yesterday, that was an experience. For one, the food you are so used to is in the International section and it is very costly. So you look for a local equivalent...........lol. Some foods are similar but not quite the same, like yoghurt, there is lots of plain yoghurt but if you want flavoured I have only been able to find strawberry or mango. It is not the same, it is like they baby yoghurt in Australia.
I also bought some fruit and veggies. Most things were well priced but I wanted some pears and as they were imported were so expensive. They were 5 times the price of say the bananas. Bananas here were 14 rupees per kilo. That equates to about 45 cents a kilo............so much better than Darwin. I wont feel guilty eating bananas here........lol
It is amazing when you are in traffic, everyone is tooting everyone. Unlike Australia when you toot your horn to warn people that they are about to do something wrong here in India they toot there horn to let people know they are there.
In the next couple of days I will post a short video of a trip in traffic............lol. It sure can be an adventure/scary ride.
Also last night I think a dog got hit in traffic or was being eaten...........:-) He was barking then yelping and yelping, it was nothing like you have ever heard.
We also did some shopping yesterday, that was an experience. For one, the food you are so used to is in the International section and it is very costly. So you look for a local equivalent...........lol. Some foods are similar but not quite the same, like yoghurt, there is lots of plain yoghurt but if you want flavoured I have only been able to find strawberry or mango. It is not the same, it is like they baby yoghurt in Australia.
I also bought some fruit and veggies. Most things were well priced but I wanted some pears and as they were imported were so expensive. They were 5 times the price of say the bananas. Bananas here were 14 rupees per kilo. That equates to about 45 cents a kilo............so much better than Darwin. I wont feel guilty eating bananas here........lol
Monday, December 22, 2008
Day 2 & 3
If we had tried to plan it we wouldn't have been able to do it. Our possessions from Australia arrived yesterday, we spent the day unpacking and arranging all our stuff. You feel a tad guilty when you see all your irrelevant possessions being unpacked and you look out the window and people are sleeping on the streets with nothing...........:-(
We almost finished sorting everything out last night, just the study to go and help with the girls rooms. We do have to to get a few things to survive here, like a stove, the kitchen only comes with a sink and benches..........lol
Its so funny what is normal here and what we see as normal that isn't. There is no laundry either, Jason bought a washing machine that is a dryer as well, we have to keep it in the kitchen. The kitchen isn't very big and is about the size of my kitchen from when I lived in Sydney.
We almost finished sorting everything out last night, just the study to go and help with the girls rooms. We do have to to get a few things to survive here, like a stove, the kitchen only comes with a sink and benches..........lol
Its so funny what is normal here and what we see as normal that isn't. There is no laundry either, Jason bought a washing machine that is a dryer as well, we have to keep it in the kitchen. The kitchen isn't very big and is about the size of my kitchen from when I lived in Sydney.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Day 1
Sunday after waking up was fun, Jason took us to the Oberi Mall and we had a look around at all the upmarket shopping. It was interesting the prices of things. Some where on par with Australia and some were just so expensive for the simplest of things. Like coat hangers, the price here was $10 AUD for 6, whereas in Australia you can get them for $3 AUD for 12.
We ate lunch which took awhile to choose because I wanted to eat everthing. Keira opted for KFC, she was hungry and couldnt wait to decifer all the choices. Beth and I had butter chicken and chicken rogan josh with roti. We also ate freshly made julabys (sorry about the spelling). They were magnificent.
We went back home after that as Keira was feeling unwell and Beth was just tired (jetlag I guess). Keira was sick most of the night throwing up and everything. We tried to get something for her at the chemist but they tried to sell us car travel sickeness tablets........lol. We decided to trust God with her and prayed for her and monitored her all night. She got better as the night progress, all glory to God.
Beth has a sore ear as well, so more trust in God is required.
We ate lunch which took awhile to choose because I wanted to eat everthing. Keira opted for KFC, she was hungry and couldnt wait to decifer all the choices. Beth and I had butter chicken and chicken rogan josh with roti. We also ate freshly made julabys (sorry about the spelling). They were magnificent.
We went back home after that as Keira was feeling unwell and Beth was just tired (jetlag I guess). Keira was sick most of the night throwing up and everything. We tried to get something for her at the chemist but they tried to sell us car travel sickeness tablets........lol. We decided to trust God with her and prayed for her and monitored her all night. She got better as the night progress, all glory to God.
Beth has a sore ear as well, so more trust in God is required.
First Impressions
Our first impressions of India were on the plane from Singapore to Mumbai. We flew with Jet Airways who are an Indian company.
On the plane the food served was Indian, we had a choice of (actually we had no choice as we were seated right down the back) International cuisine or Indian which was divided into vegetarian and non vegetarian. The two options were chicken curry or paneer curry and other assorted foods of indian origin. Keira loved it all but Beth was hesitant.....lol
On the plane the food served was Indian, we had a choice of (actually we had no choice as we were seated right down the back) International cuisine or Indian which was divided into vegetarian and non vegetarian. The two options were chicken curry or paneer curry and other assorted foods of indian origin. Keira loved it all but Beth was hesitant.....lol
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