I woke up and got up at 7:30 and went for a quick workout in the local gym, involving some 40 minutes of fartlek on the treadmill. I managed to forget my towel and therefore had to walk back to our apartment in my sweaty clothes - brilliant, that - only one thing stands out more than a white person walking down a road in Chennai and that's a drenched white person in his workout gear with sandals on - and there were plenty of stares to go around from everyone passing me ;-)
We then went for a quick breakfast and were soon on our way out for some more sightseeing. This time we had decided to start out at the Marina Beach, which apparently is the second longest urban beach in the world at 14km. We took the suburban train from Kodambakkam and got off a station too early (Park) due to my excellent navigation skills, not! So we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next train, which took us to the next station up (Chennai Fort) where we could connect to the coastal suburban train down to the Marina Beach. Once there we walked down to the beach and spent about 20 minutes walking along it, fishing boats and people swimming and playing by the (very!) treacherous waters - as well as those in the midst of romantic sessions in the shade of various wagons, boats etc. It soon got too hot to trot there and the appeal wasn't great because you as a woman need to wear full attire (so no sun bathing) and the waters really are too dangerous to swim in.
So next we stumbled upon the Vivekananda house and we decided to go in to the museum to have a look around. I will say that one thing thoroughly impressed me there; and that was the holographic projection that they were running in a pyramid shaped glass house in the next room behind the entrance - it really looked as close to 3D as any holographic projection I have ever seen and it appeared on every surface of the pyramid, i.e. it appeared at least to me to be a "true" projection - quite the engineering feat and something I must look up at some point to try and understand the underlying method & technology - filed for later retrieval... ;-)
While the museum and exhibitions were nice enough my old cynical self quickly got to work as I was moving around from room to room - the 2nd floor containing a bit of Indian culture indoctrination soon became a full fledged propaganda display for Indian culture and how it was superior to Western culture, amongst other things because of its in-ward looking spirituality (much of it displayed through religious paintings), which at one point was also described as science of the mind - and (seriously) compared to the science of the world and universe surrounding us, daily examined & probed by scientists around the world - and as a result, India's rejection of materialism. Now, that last point did bring a smirk to both Claire's and my face - after all, you only need to go outside and have a quick look around to see how a fair bit of India has become a landfill site for this alleged rejection of materialism. I really don't see much difference in people's perception of wealth here (in any form) compared to the West.
Anyway, from the displays, I do take the point that there have been some great Indian scientists around who did discover things well before the West did - and I also take the point that perhaps awareness of your own mind and "spirituality" can lead to a better life. 'Nuff said...
Afterwards we walked further south past the (modern with a radar on top) lighthouse and came down to a Catholic Church where Claire bought and lit a couple of candles. We were also inside and I managed to sneak out a couple of pictures with my camera.
Then we were off down Kutchery Road where we spotted another temple and took a couple of pictures of that. At this point we were a bit hungry and came past a bakery, which was selling some nice vegetarian burgers with some kind of an onion-based relish and some fresh peppers and onions - very nice snack and only Rs.10,- a piece! ;-)
At this point we had had enough sightseeing for a day as the heat was really starting to get to us - we were both drenched in sweat at 14:30 in the afternoon. So we decided to go to the nearest suburban train station and after a 15 minute wait shipped out via Chennai Fort and back to the apartment. However, we had previously agreed that we'd go out in the evening for a good meal so on the way back we booked a restaurant called Teppan on TTK Road, which Claire had spotted in the newspaper - it had a so-called Sushi&Yaki festival on. We also decided that afterwards we would go to the Sheraton hotel for a few drinks and to have a look at the Dublin pub, which will also be in Kolkata for St. Patrick's day.
So back in the apartment we slowly got ready and I asked reception to book us a cab for 18:45. At 18:45 we were ready and down in reception waiting for the cab - which turned out to be 15 minutes late - not good when it's rush hour and you have a booking for 19:l5. When he finally arrived and we had gotten in the car, his first port of call was reception to ask for directions - not a good indicator either. Anyway a couple of minutes later we were on our way but as I started to suspect he had taken a bit of an arse-ways route - although he did manage to get to TTK Road it was in the wrong end so he stopped at a Chinese restaurant and told us we had arrived. We had been very clear in the booking and when initially talking to the driver about where we wanted to go so we would have none of it (as get out) and just opened the door to talk to one of the guys outside the Chinese restaurant about directions - he was really nice and gave the driver a full rundown of where to go and how to get there and then turned around and told us this.
So the driver had no choice but to go off again and after a further 10 minute drive we finally arrived, more than 15 minutes late. Anyway, we got to our seats, which were a fixed sitting until 21:15 and in front of the chef that would cook our food Japanese style on a large hot yaki surface.
We asked the manager how this would work and what to order but it didn't work out so well in terms of explanation so instead we decided to take the "deep dive" and rather than go for a set menu we went for Tuna & Salmon Sushi (2 dishes) and Chicken-based Yaki (2 dishes, prepared in the kitchen) for "starters" - the restaurant btw. turned out to be a non-alcoholic one dashing our hopes of a cocktail ;-) It turned out to be a lot of food and for main course I therefore went for Udon Sabi noodles with chicken and Claire went for fried rice and chicken - we also shared yaki-fried vegetables - the fried rice/chicken never materialized (thankfully!) but there was more than enough in the noodles/chicken and our fried vegetables and we were completely stuffed as we finished. The chef was very good there I must say in terms of the quality of food cooking - but not so much on the display side of things. I had seen much better in the Japanese restaurant in Utrecht a decade ago where knifes and cooking gear was flying through the air in sync between two chefs. But I suppose the food is the most important bit compared to the entertainment value ;-)
At this point it was just after 21:00 and we were asked to leave for another section of the restaurant as they were preparing for the next sitting. There we just had some Jasmin tea and finally asked for the bill and paid. I will say that the food there was fantastic and we had a good time watching stuff getting prepared by a very friendly chef - but the service was pretty naff and they definitely want to shape up given the cost of the experience, which is a couple of orders of magnitude higher than normal Indian restaurants. I'd give a 3.5 out of 5.
Afterwards, we walked to the Sheraton (ITC chain) and found the Dublin "pub" - however, we quickly established that the place had turned into a night club (we even spotted this outside, where numerous dressed-up Indian women were hovering and getting body scanned at the entrance - for a night out in the hotel) with loud music and we therefore didn't even bother going in. Instead we headed straight for the Westminster bar where we ordered a nice bottle of French red wine in the form of a Rothschild Merlot. We were sitting and talking and also talked a bit to the staff about the fact that we would be visiting their ITC Sonar Banga hotel in Kolkata for St. Patrick's day. The staff even offered to investigate if they could arrange for draft cans of Guinness for Paddy's for us so we left our mobile number with them. After polishing off the bottle of wine and being told that it was last orders at 22:30, Claire had a Jameson whiskey with a hint of Sprite and I went for the Sambuka and coffee beans - I even managed to persuade them to leave the lighter with me, on the promise that I wouldn't light up the place, so that I could set it alight myself.
Afterwards we paid and given our tip they even offered us a shot on the house - not sure what it was but it involved some multi-coloured stuff and a shot of red wine ;-)
Then it was time for home and we were encouraged by the staff to get an auto-rickshaw as cabs at that time of night would be Rs.1000,- (by the looks of the large queue of people waiting for drivers outside the hotel we quickly took their point) and we went outside the hotel and found a pleasant enough driver who would take us back for Rs.200,-. 20 minutes later we were back and went to sleep shortly after and long but very nice day!
We then went for a quick breakfast and were soon on our way out for some more sightseeing. This time we had decided to start out at the Marina Beach, which apparently is the second longest urban beach in the world at 14km. We took the suburban train from Kodambakkam and got off a station too early (Park) due to my excellent navigation skills, not! So we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next train, which took us to the next station up (Chennai Fort) where we could connect to the coastal suburban train down to the Marina Beach. Once there we walked down to the beach and spent about 20 minutes walking along it, fishing boats and people swimming and playing by the (very!) treacherous waters - as well as those in the midst of romantic sessions in the shade of various wagons, boats etc. It soon got too hot to trot there and the appeal wasn't great because you as a woman need to wear full attire (so no sun bathing) and the waters really are too dangerous to swim in.
So next we stumbled upon the Vivekananda house and we decided to go in to the museum to have a look around. I will say that one thing thoroughly impressed me there; and that was the holographic projection that they were running in a pyramid shaped glass house in the next room behind the entrance - it really looked as close to 3D as any holographic projection I have ever seen and it appeared on every surface of the pyramid, i.e. it appeared at least to me to be a "true" projection - quite the engineering feat and something I must look up at some point to try and understand the underlying method & technology - filed for later retrieval... ;-)
While the museum and exhibitions were nice enough my old cynical self quickly got to work as I was moving around from room to room - the 2nd floor containing a bit of Indian culture indoctrination soon became a full fledged propaganda display for Indian culture and how it was superior to Western culture, amongst other things because of its in-ward looking spirituality (much of it displayed through religious paintings), which at one point was also described as science of the mind - and (seriously) compared to the science of the world and universe surrounding us, daily examined & probed by scientists around the world - and as a result, India's rejection of materialism. Now, that last point did bring a smirk to both Claire's and my face - after all, you only need to go outside and have a quick look around to see how a fair bit of India has become a landfill site for this alleged rejection of materialism. I really don't see much difference in people's perception of wealth here (in any form) compared to the West.
Anyway, from the displays, I do take the point that there have been some great Indian scientists around who did discover things well before the West did - and I also take the point that perhaps awareness of your own mind and "spirituality" can lead to a better life. 'Nuff said...
Afterwards we walked further south past the (modern with a radar on top) lighthouse and came down to a Catholic Church where Claire bought and lit a couple of candles. We were also inside and I managed to sneak out a couple of pictures with my camera.
Then we were off down Kutchery Road where we spotted another temple and took a couple of pictures of that. At this point we were a bit hungry and came past a bakery, which was selling some nice vegetarian burgers with some kind of an onion-based relish and some fresh peppers and onions - very nice snack and only Rs.10,- a piece! ;-)
At this point we had had enough sightseeing for a day as the heat was really starting to get to us - we were both drenched in sweat at 14:30 in the afternoon. So we decided to go to the nearest suburban train station and after a 15 minute wait shipped out via Chennai Fort and back to the apartment. However, we had previously agreed that we'd go out in the evening for a good meal so on the way back we booked a restaurant called Teppan on TTK Road, which Claire had spotted in the newspaper - it had a so-called Sushi&Yaki festival on. We also decided that afterwards we would go to the Sheraton hotel for a few drinks and to have a look at the Dublin pub, which will also be in Kolkata for St. Patrick's day.
So back in the apartment we slowly got ready and I asked reception to book us a cab for 18:45. At 18:45 we were ready and down in reception waiting for the cab - which turned out to be 15 minutes late - not good when it's rush hour and you have a booking for 19:l5. When he finally arrived and we had gotten in the car, his first port of call was reception to ask for directions - not a good indicator either. Anyway a couple of minutes later we were on our way but as I started to suspect he had taken a bit of an arse-ways route - although he did manage to get to TTK Road it was in the wrong end so he stopped at a Chinese restaurant and told us we had arrived. We had been very clear in the booking and when initially talking to the driver about where we wanted to go so we would have none of it (as get out) and just opened the door to talk to one of the guys outside the Chinese restaurant about directions - he was really nice and gave the driver a full rundown of where to go and how to get there and then turned around and told us this.
So the driver had no choice but to go off again and after a further 10 minute drive we finally arrived, more than 15 minutes late. Anyway, we got to our seats, which were a fixed sitting until 21:15 and in front of the chef that would cook our food Japanese style on a large hot yaki surface.
We asked the manager how this would work and what to order but it didn't work out so well in terms of explanation so instead we decided to take the "deep dive" and rather than go for a set menu we went for Tuna & Salmon Sushi (2 dishes) and Chicken-based Yaki (2 dishes, prepared in the kitchen) for "starters" - the restaurant btw. turned out to be a non-alcoholic one dashing our hopes of a cocktail ;-) It turned out to be a lot of food and for main course I therefore went for Udon Sabi noodles with chicken and Claire went for fried rice and chicken - we also shared yaki-fried vegetables - the fried rice/chicken never materialized (thankfully!) but there was more than enough in the noodles/chicken and our fried vegetables and we were completely stuffed as we finished. The chef was very good there I must say in terms of the quality of food cooking - but not so much on the display side of things. I had seen much better in the Japanese restaurant in Utrecht a decade ago where knifes and cooking gear was flying through the air in sync between two chefs. But I suppose the food is the most important bit compared to the entertainment value ;-)
At this point it was just after 21:00 and we were asked to leave for another section of the restaurant as they were preparing for the next sitting. There we just had some Jasmin tea and finally asked for the bill and paid. I will say that the food there was fantastic and we had a good time watching stuff getting prepared by a very friendly chef - but the service was pretty naff and they definitely want to shape up given the cost of the experience, which is a couple of orders of magnitude higher than normal Indian restaurants. I'd give a 3.5 out of 5.
Afterwards, we walked to the Sheraton (ITC chain) and found the Dublin "pub" - however, we quickly established that the place had turned into a night club (we even spotted this outside, where numerous dressed-up Indian women were hovering and getting body scanned at the entrance - for a night out in the hotel) with loud music and we therefore didn't even bother going in. Instead we headed straight for the Westminster bar where we ordered a nice bottle of French red wine in the form of a Rothschild Merlot. We were sitting and talking and also talked a bit to the staff about the fact that we would be visiting their ITC Sonar Banga hotel in Kolkata for St. Patrick's day. The staff even offered to investigate if they could arrange for draft cans of Guinness for Paddy's for us so we left our mobile number with them. After polishing off the bottle of wine and being told that it was last orders at 22:30, Claire had a Jameson whiskey with a hint of Sprite and I went for the Sambuka and coffee beans - I even managed to persuade them to leave the lighter with me, on the promise that I wouldn't light up the place, so that I could set it alight myself.
Afterwards we paid and given our tip they even offered us a shot on the house - not sure what it was but it involved some multi-coloured stuff and a shot of red wine ;-)
Then it was time for home and we were encouraged by the staff to get an auto-rickshaw as cabs at that time of night would be Rs.1000,- (by the looks of the large queue of people waiting for drivers outside the hotel we quickly took their point) and we went outside the hotel and found a pleasant enough driver who would take us back for Rs.200,-. 20 minutes later we were back and went to sleep shortly after and long but very nice day!
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| An endless stretch of sand on Marina Beach |
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| The usual compliment of fishing boats on Marina Beach |
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| A few Indians around and either bathing or hiding in the shadow of a fierce sun and 30+C |
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| Vivekananda House |
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| A statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the beach |
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| A impressively sized Catholic Church on Kutchery Road |
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| Inside the Catholic Church |
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