happy new year

Saturday was an ordinary day. We missed the breakfast as usual.  Woke up at 11.00. We had been out for an Indian and went to bed at 2.00 so it was not surprising really.  Lazy mornings in a hotel room is not easy. We are trying to adopt a tv channel to watch. It is either in Hindi or News Channels. There is a constant irrelevant sound in the room if the TV is on. No radio yet.
 Went out to the nearest shop. Not an easy task. We do not have a city map, only instructions -go straight turn left- . There are no straight roads, we walk but there are man hole covers (mostly broken), sleeping dogs, dog poos, tree branches, rubbish and legs sticking out of sleeping tuktuks. One Stop Shop is the oasis.  There are security checks at the entrance. Your bags and your body is  checked by very polite security people.  The arcade has everything. YSl, MAC, all the names you know and don't know are there. even Austin Reed. We are trying to find school shoes for Kitty. Black pumps.  They are 1500 Rupees.  You have to divide it by 70 to get the £ converstion. I don't know how to make a Rupee sign on the computer. It is a capital R but the vertical side of the letter  is missing . As if it is broken into two pieces and added to the top of the curve of the R one beneath  the other. Google it and see if my description is right.
On the way back , a little girl approaches us. She touches Kitty's bracelets. I really do not know how to avoid them, what to say, whether to give money or not. Our driver says it is a good Muslim thing to give alms  to begging old people, transvestites, small children. I haven't decided what to do yet. There are a lot of them, and they are on every street corner.
Later we went to a big shopping arcade. There were three of them side by side. For two hours  went through shanty towns, derelict buildings, small street markets, lots of people, lots of dogs, green areas, millions of tuktuks, crowded buses and arrived at this three big Shopping Arcades side by side. There is not anything to differentiate  affluent areas and poor parts.  Most of the buildings do not give any clue on wheter it is an upmarket area or not.  We are on the North of Mumbai. There are signs about 'Greater Mumbai'.  We have not been to the South of the city where most of the tourist attractions are.
 The shops in the arcades do not represent any country at all. Mark and Spenser's, Benetton, Levi's ( no 501s) Accessorizes ... We could be anywhere. There is very loud Christmas music and decorations all around. I am expecting Nick to flip any minute. Post Christmas Christmas is worse than Christmas shopping for a man who dislikes crowds.
 The second building is a big supermarket. Guess what the brand is! Waitrose. Are we saved? You can have anything you wish for
but not marmite. Nick is not happy.

Turkce Mumbai 2

Bunu annem icin yaziyorum. Simdi o ablamin yaninda. Soz dinlemedigi icin ayagi iyilesmemis.  Daha telefonlarimiz baglanmadigi icin telefon da edemiyorum. Banu bunu acsin ona okusun.
 Bugun kendimiz yola koyulduk 10  dakika otedeki alis veris merkezine gidelim, yol yordan ogrenelim dedik. Yok ogrenilmiyor biraz. cunku cok kalabalik, kaldirimlar da iki adimda bir cukur  ve uyuyan kopek ve bolca kopek psiligi var. adim attigimiz yere bakmaktan nereye bakacagimizi bilemedik caikcasi. Sinemayi bulduk, onun yanindaki One Stop Shop u da. Kucuk bir alisveris merkezi Levis, Mother Care, Bennetton , makyaj malzemeleri vs. vs. het sey var. uc kat . en alt katinda kirtasiye ve muzik ust katta ayakkabi  giyim, ic camasiri. Kirtasiye yi ufaktan dolastik, kalem  aldik bir suru. ayin 4 unde Kitty okula basliycak ve siyah ayakkabida bulduk.  Geri donerken bir suru kucuk cocuk oramizi buramizi cekistirip para istediler, Kitty nin bileziklerine baktilar. kucuk arlar gibi viz viz dolaniyorlar etrafta. Bir sure sonra vazgecip gidiyorlar. Otelde Sofor bekliyordu bizi. iki bucuk saatlik yolculuktan sonra Kocaman uc tane yan yana alisveris merkezine gittik. Mark and Spenserden Accesories e kadar her sey var.   cok yorulduk aksama yilbasi partisine gidecegiz yukarda . sonra yazarim
 herkezee iyi  yillar, organize mutluluklar.

Turkce Mumbai

 Sabah 7.30
 Havlularinizidegisteribilirmiyim adami geldi. 'rahatsiz etmeyin' isigini acmamisim. Uykumun arasinda havulalari kucaklayip yataga geri dondum.   Galiba uc gun oldu buraya geleli.  ucaktan iner inmez sofor bizi buldu. bavullarimizla arabaya yuruyoruz. Uc kucuk cocuk, -uc dort yas civarinda yanimiza sokuldu cukulat cukulat diye civildasiyorlar. Sofor onlara bakmiyor bile. Dokunmuyorlar cekistirmiyorlar, bir sure sonra gittiler. Bu kadar kucuk bu kadar kirli ve bu kadar yalinaayak nasil olunur?
Hotel cok buyuk degil. Apart daire iki odali ama iki yatak odaso yok. Kac kere recepsiyona gidip ikiz oda , extra yatak istedik anlatamam. Saaat sabain 5 i idi 8 de yattik ancak. Nick e ayri oda verdiler. Bu yatak isi uziyacak derken uzadi. Simdi bir kat asagidayiz. Kitty inin ayri odasi var.
 Mumbai inin kuzeyindeyiz. daha Guney'e Turistik Merkeze inmedik. Ev bakiyoruz, Kitty ynin okuluna gittik, sinava girdi, siyahokul ayakkabisi ne kadar zor bulunurmus megersem!... Yollar genis ve tozlu. Her kose basinda bir grup insan oyle ayakta durup, yere comelip muhabbet ediyor. Nerdeyse orda yasadiklarina inanasim geliyor diyecekkken evet orda yasiyorlar. salkim salkim cocuklar- altlari ciplak, kopekler , anneneleri, daha kucuk daha buyuk cocuklar ortalardalar.yerlere bez sermisler sarileri ile uzanmis muhabbet ediyorlar. Dun Kitty ynin okulundan sonra Costa Cafe yi bulduk. Karsidan karsiya gectik. Kitty ile el ele tutustuk kosarak 'ay, ay, ay' diye bagirasarak karsiya ulastik. Iki kedi, bir suru kopek, bozuk kaldirim taslari yiginla tuktuk  arasindan Cafe yi gorduk. Bu yoksullugun icinde, kosede  yeni bir binada duruyor. Iceri girdiginizde her yerdeki Costa standarti var ( tuvaleti haric). Disarisi Hindistan.
 Bir Supermarkete gittik, krem, cukulata , kola gibi en gerekli seyleri aldik. ve sipidik terlik.  Daha neye ihtiyacimiz oldugunu tam bilmedigimiz icin  o supermarketin var oldugunu bilmek bizi rahatlatiyor.

Aksam yemeklerini otelin ust katindaki Restaurantta yiyoruz. Nem den koltuklar islak. Buzlu mu sogutulmus su mu istersiniz diye sorularlar ve siseleri sarap sisesi gibi ikram ediyorlar.   Yemekler lezzetli ama tabii ki baharatli. Evde yemek pisirmeyi ozliyecegim galiba . ve annemin mercimek corbasini.
 Bu aksam yilbasi. Yukariya 'roof top' 'Azok' Restauranta gidecegiz.  Acik bufe istedik. Acik bufe icki de var. Sinirsiz Icki! sinirsiz yemek daha kolay. Otel yuksek bir yerde oldugu icin havai fisek ( bunun daha yeni Turkcesi var mi acaba) gosterisi guzel olacaga benzer.
Simdi gideyim biraz daha uyuyayim. sonra yazarim....

street life

I have no idea what they are selling, what they are buying. If they wear Saris, they are Hindus , If they wear shalvar kamiz, they are Muslims. I have not seen people wearing skirts, or  dresses yet. Oh I have seen one (1) white person.

We are going out to have dinner. An Indian Restaurant is the choice. For a change

Kitty test

 We woke up to a panic. There is no sign of Kitty's iphone. Looked everywhere but had to go to the school to take the test. the driver left us there. I waited for her for two hours.  There were three receptionists in an empty school. Each of them answering a different phone. For two hours no one offered a cup of tea, nor a glass of water.  The school is big. There is a big Laxmi at the entrance. She even has eye lashes painted. We looked at each other. Her fingers curved nicely , sitting happily,eternally surrounded by ringing of the lesson bells...  She faces the school entrance. There is a football ground and two goal posts. You enter the school :three security men. A few yards a ways  a security lady. We gave our  your names etc. then  walked under  the rain cover and we are in. Three receptionist ladies on the left, Laxmi opposite me. 'I know'. she says. 'I know'...
 The test is over. I have read every single Times, News Week, Life in India magazine. We need something to drink and wait for Nick and the driver to pick us up. 'Cafe Costa is over there'. 'Follow the road it is on the corner'. We pass several sleepy dogs, numerous men on the street corners, dangerous man holes and find the main street. Kitty and I are holding hands, I am wearing my respectablemumhighheelblack  shoes.  We manage to cross the road, wiggle through millions of tuktuks, jumped over manholes and on the corner up the steps Cafe Costa. I have never been happier to see a designer Cafe before.
  We have tea, chocolate cookie ice smoothie.   Paneer pieces in mint sauce. Crispy cheese blocks. Nick comes and he has panini with roasted veg and Cheddar cheese.' A prolonged spicy sensation at the back of your throat'. whatever you eat, this  is the feeling.
 We need to find black school shoes for Kitty.

Friday

We found a Supermarket!. We did not. we were taken there. We have a driver. Salim. He takes us here and there. very used to Expats and their unhappy wifes. He takes us to the Supermarket and i buy the essentials: Coke, chocolate, biscuits, crisps, moisturizer and we manage to buy a melon! Good juicy Melon. There is a Tesco counter. I was told cheese was difficult to be found but there is a selection of cheese.  We are a proud owner of a Star Clubcard. points galore.
We had dinner at the hotel. At the roof top. I put the photos on Facebook. It was 9.00 wet with humidity. I had to sit on a cushion. Nick and i washed down the spicy dishes with ice cold Kindfisher.  The bottles are brought and presented  to you as if they are bottles of very expensive exclusive  wine. You have to say 'yes, it is fine' and it is poured in the glass with a head wobble.  The beer is  Pilsener , a bit like Efes. lovely and cold . When you order water they ask you if you want it chilled or with ice. Our first conversations are awkward. Not knowing the answers the the questions. 'adjacency pairs', one of the rules of happy conversation fails every time.
We change rooms. They can not find a room for Kitty next to ours. We change floors too. Kitty is happy to have a room to herself.
Kitty will have the entrance test to the school tomorrow. It was past 12.00 when we went to bed. No New Year's Eve plans yet...

hello, hello....

Here we are. In Mumbai, in Oakwood apartments room 308 . Oh no!. we wanted a room with two bedrooms, but we have an apartment with two rooms.  Kitty has to sleep on an add on bed. Life is never easy. To have an add on bed we had to go to reception 5-6 times.  They never say 'No'. everything is  'yes', 'yes', 'will do.' but you keep waiting.  There is a sweet smell of Indian Restaurants in the rooms, in the lobby, in the hotel.  We finally see the add on bed. It is a bed base!. I open my Mediterranean mouth. They listen.  A mattress is found. I grunt. They are very sorry. We sleep like a log. AC full on...

First Post

Mumbai, here we come!