No excuse for not writing something while I'm stuck here!
Been in hospital since Monday, but just got my
laptop yesterday. I'm quite surprised that they let me use it actually, but
what's the difference between me and my 3G dongle and the hundreds of iPhones
going round here?
Hum - Doctor just came round and when asked if I could go home he
said NO! Boohoo, thought today was the day.
Nevermind, let’s keep busy another day – the surroundings of my
bed are starting to look like my bedroom: stuff everywhere, messy. I’ve got so
much with me compared to other people! I have book, 2 magazines, newspapers
(that I haven’t read still) iPhone, iPod, mobile phone, laptop… Somehow as a
good Brit, I manage to always have a thermos of hot water and a few tea bags at
the ready, and I’m struggling to find space for my legs now. Add to that my
“attendant” Roman spending his whole day with me – sitting on the bed too…
Everybody else seems to spend their time sleeping or looking very ill… They
must all be wondering why I’m here.. I’m eating, laughing, chatting, texting,
etc… Why am I here again? Oh yes, because of a 1 month long stomach-ache! Make
that 5 weeks now actually.
Anyway, moving on from my health status!
Some little things I took note of in the last month or so and
haven’t shared yet..
So on the way back from Daramshala to Delhi, 3.5 weeks ago when I
was going back to work, leaving Amelie & Anais to themselves, the bus I was
travelling in stopped at this hotel/restaurant. It was about 10.30pm by then, and
the place was pretty much dead, until the whole bus load entered their dining
room and started ordering.
The one waiter, trying to act smart and gain time, decided to use
the same order sheet for all the orders, regardless of table numbers etc…
I saw him doing this, wondering…
5 minutes later, as the food is starting to come
out of the kitchen, confusion. Waiter stands in front of the naans, dhals,
biryanis, chais… and scratches his head, looking at his list. Then another guy
– there’s never only one guy – starts
asking him questions – Possibly reasonable questions such as: “Who’s
this for?!” And the poor guy has no idea, and suddenly he’s running around, and
getting told off, and telling others off, and – bringing my food cause the
foreigner’s is memorable – asking people what they’ve ordered again… And I’m
here, sitting and sipping my tea, thinking of John Cleese and Fawlty Towers!
It didn’t end there… It was taking ages for him to figure out
tables and orders, and we were supposed to be on our way sharpish, so the bus
driver comes into the scene, and starts calling people out… I see that coming
and don’t wait for the bill to come to me, but I go to it. But here, same
problem! There are a few of us waiting at the desk now, and along with the fact
that they don’t know what we’ve ordered, they don’t have any change either, so
suddenly John Cleese rushes us out to the reception area to get the change from
there and we all follow him like a herd of cows… but as we get there, the man
responsible for the change shows up and hop, John Cleese turns the troops
around again and we’re back in the dining room… So funny, everybody is getting
frustrated, I’m just smiling observing the whole scene… Some people I think
also tried to take advantage of the whole mess and rejoin the bus without
paying… I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d managed! I just hope the poor John
Cleese still has a job – He messed up big time on the bus load!
Other little things that have made me smile:
Bank Facts:
Clerk: “I’m 6 months old in the bank” – the world’s youngest
banker?
Security: The guard wanders around with a double barrel rifle…
Precision shooting in the branch?
Procedures: Depositing a cheque at the bank may require
signatures… a good 5 of them – on the cheque…
Various…
Roman found himself riding his Desert Storm in a Desert Storm on
his way back from Manali – thought that was worth noting…
Car parking in Khan Market, and in most places: Park your car
behind other cars, just leave the handbrake off and stick it in neutral – that
allows the parking attendants to move it forwards and backwards and free the
other cars… Sometimes you leave them the keys too, so when you come back you
car might be on the other side of the road etc… Good technique, and service for
10rs
We’ve figured out why people beep/honk so much: to travel at the
speed of sound! Ok it’s pretty poor, but we giggled!
Melody and I saw a policeman up on “stage” at a junction, kind of
dancing with the traffic – wearing a cowboy hat. Where was my camera!?
Frenchman in Goa: “you know the moon and the sea, when it’s full
moon something happens, you know, something – I mean, sorry I left school when
I was 12 you know” – hum. Do you mean the tide? And are you not from the west
coast, by the Atlantic Ocean!? Priceless Ludo…
Bobby's workshop where he rebuilds and
customises Enfields (where I may get mine done…) – Check out his FB page: “Old
Delhi Motorcycles”
L’Opera, French bakery in Delhi that makes
croissants sometimes better than a French bakery in France – Best weekend breakfast
place; and my birthday breakfast last week (the last nice meal I’ve had!)
Oh and I almost forgot the tree that almost fell
on top of the car Saturday night! Out for a little ride cause we’d been in all
day. 11.30pm, out of the flat, into the car, raining, lightning, thunder… Quite
exciting. Straight at the junction and BANG, this happens right in front of us!
Check out the parked car on the right, now lifted by the tree roots!
Had we been a bit faster at the junction, we’d had it!
Just had update on tree situation: The car is still there, parked a bit further on the road, looks fine. The tree has been cut in two, and pushed to the right side of the road, but that's it, it's pretty much still all there!
That's it, back later...
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