A rescheduled flight to Thailand meant that I got to revisit the joys of Halloween. Lucky me.
Oslo did his first ever solo baking, making biscuits while Ed filmed him for a school project. As you can he can see, he was very proud of himself. He is looking super skinny at the moment though. I think he should probably eat the whole lot.
Ed and the boys went to watch one of the new Indian Super League (ISL) football games at the stadium down the road from our house, with our friends Matt and Baz. Delhi Dynamos were playing Northeast United and it ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw. They still loved it though!
Meanwhile we have occasional visitors on our balcony at work. One of my colleagues is concerned that they will learn how to open the door. The baby was very sweet though.
Painting and decorating Indian stylee. This man was balancing on the rail of the balcony while he papered up the windows and walls of this flat. I'm not even sure why he was papering them as they didn't seem to do any painting afterwards.
Three weeks behind with my posts - that's got to be a bit of a record I think. I've been busy, as the photos will hopefully show. I'll post the missing three weeks over the next three days so as not to clog up too many inboxes.
This Sunday we had a lovely picnic in Lodhi Gardens with badminton and chipmunks. Until they started on the irrigation system which always smells distinctly of sewage, so we had to move.
Alas, the sun doesn't always shine in Goa. After two sunny days we had monsoon rain all night and all morning ... so we made an executive decision to fly back a day early as the rain was set to continue for the Sunday as well. We stopped in the state capital Panjim on the way to the airport - I'll post a photo of some of the old Portuguese buildings next week, they're so lovely.
After a bit of motorbike riding yesterday and visiting Arambol beach (nice, but Mandrem is nicer), we came to the market in Mapusa today. It's brilliant. Ed had a shave.
And now to Goa. We arrived last night. We're staying on Mandrem beach this time which is virtually non existent when the tide is in but enormous when the tide is out. It's beautiful. It's been good to explore North Goa a bit having been to South Goa last time. I think we prefer the South on the whole though ...
International Day at school today with all the kids dressed up in their national costumes (at least, the kids who come from countries which actually have a national costume). I always find these events so emotional, particularly at the school in Delhi. It's odd. I haven't figured out why yet.
We had drinks and dinner at Delhi's Gymkhana Club this evening. I love this place, it's so easy to imagine its history. It was built in 1913 as a club for the British. This room has a sprung floor for dancing and somehow when you stand there you can picture it full of people. I've just finished reading The Fishing Fleet by Anne de Courcy about British women who came out to India between the 1700s and 1900s to find a husband, spending a lot of time at parties in clubs like this. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone interested in the Raj.
Diwali lights are up in the market and looking lovely. The square 'picture' is of a diya or candle that is traditionally burned on Diwali night.
Back to the indoor climbing wall this afternoon. I didn't go but I will next time - the boys are getting really good!
We didn't do a huge amount today but I did buy some vegetables. I will always love these scales and weights. Also note the karela (bitter gourd) in the front right of the photo, with okra just behind it. Bitter gourd is very bitter but when it's cooked right, it's delicious.
The office Diwali party! Very much the equivalent of an office Christmas party in pretty much every way except for the enthusiasm (and style) with which almost everyone dances to Punjabi bhangra music.
I went to pick up my sari from the tailor who was making the blouse today. The market where he works (Shankar Market - see Day 571) is full of little shops with lovely hand painted signs like this one.
The buffet in the hotel restaurant in Chennai was as elaborate as ever, including this spread of various Indian sweets. This is only a selection of what was on offer. I'm going to attempt to tell you what they are but I might be wrong. Clockwise from the top left: phirni (maybe), rasgulla, halwa, sevian (maybe). What I can tell you is that they all taste more or less the same(i.e. extremely sweet and buttery), just with different consistencies. I could probably get in lots of trouble for saying that.
Here's the other statue. I think it's Murugan, also called Kartikeya, who is the son of Shiva and Parvati (so is Ganesh, incidentally). You can't really tell, but the statue is about three feet tall. So brilliant.
Back to Chennai today for a meeting. I'm staying in a different hotel to usual which is just down the road from the Presidency Club. The club was established in 1929 and probably has all sorts of stories to tell, but outside there is a little temple and this fantastic statue of Ganesh - note the rat at its base, Ganesh's vehicle. There's another statue which is even better - I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.
We had a really lovely day today ice-skating, playing tennis and swimming but I didn't take any photos of any of those things so instead I'm posting this one. It's an Ambassador that has the most brilliant seat covers which you can only see a glimpse of here. It also curtains around the back windows and these stickers around all of them. I love it!
We went to a Diwali handicrafts market today. Louie bought a wooden bird with flapping wings to hang above his bed because it reminded him of Dumbledore's bird Fawkes. Oz bought a glass deer because it reminded him of the petronus charm that Harry Potter does. They're still obsessed.
The kids had the day off from school today because there were parent-teacher meetings. Ed took them to the other side of town to a mega sports shop. They bought a punch bag and a table tennis set. I was more thrilled about one of these purchases than the other.
Then the next day, my colleague and I walked to the nearby (ish) Shankar Market which I hadn't been to for years. It's a brilliant collection of fabric shops selling salwar kameez suit pieces, and with tailors to make them. I took my new sari (see yesterday) to have the choli (short blouse) made and the petticoat that goes underneath.
All the buildings along the front of the market have recently been painted with slightly mad murals.
I went to the huge Cottage Industries Emporium near my office to look for a sari for the Diwali party next week. It's government run and there's a complicated but efficient system of billing, packaging and collection, as is to be expected. I love these stamps. And the highly dangerous metal spike to hold the receipts (only the appropriate copy, of course).
And another one. There are a couple of others that I've seen which I haven't yet managed to get photos of. I'll post them when I do so you have a full set :-)
Here's another one. You see these posters all over the place in small town India. I've never actually seen any circus tents but they must get around quite a bit.
I'm starting a new mini series of photos of Indian circus posters. Clearly there are animal rights issues, but I love the graphics and style. It says 'Apollo Circus' in Hindi at the top.
We went for a bike ride around the fort - it was really lovely. Just not too hot.
Today is Dussehra - the day to celebrate the defeat of the demon Ravana and the reuniting of Rama and Sita. I've written about the Ramayana several times before (for example on Day 216). We are at Kesroli Hill Fort with friends. To celebrate Dussehra all the kids did a play of the Ramayana (which was surprisingly good) and then we burnt this effigy of Ravana that they had made, complete with firecrackers.
It's Gandhi's birthday today and a day off from work. I love these little figures of 'the leaders of India' - I found them in the Cottage Industries Emporium - a five storey handicraft extravaganza around the corner from my office.
October brings blue skies in Delhi ... although I don't get to enjoy them much as I'm now working in the basement of our office building. But not for long! Two more weeks and I'll be moving upstairs again into one of the newly refurbished office floors. I can't wait!
