One Small Step for Mankind...But Can I Eat in the Back of a Taxi?

I had heard about Chutney’s, a popular breakfast place that specializes in one of my favorites things in the world, idlis. So, I asked Khaja Basha to take me there before work morning to get some takeout – or takeaway, as they call it here. Khaja warned me to eat there because takeaway would not be as good, but I insisted that I get it to go so we could get on the road and I'd eat it on the way to the office.

I ordered four mini uttapam, which I had never had before. I also had no idea what they were, as I had ordered them by name alone off of the menu. I figured that anything that shared a space on the menu with an idli – was good enough for me! As it turns out -- it kind of reminded me of the Japanese okonomiyaki!

I was waiting in the reception area of the restaurant, excited about the mystery meal I was about to eat in the backseat on the way to the office. This is what I got:

This was extremely amusing and confusing at the same time. Khaja just looked at me with a smile like – I told you so. This technique for providing takeaway was extremely advanced – with heat-sealed bags, and a separate type of metallic bag for the uttapum to help keep them warm. Yet – the food was in no condition to be eaten on-the-go, unless you were in space!

I guess this is why they call it takeaway, and not to-go. This also seems to explain a difference in what Indians and Americans consider to be acceptable dining conditions. This bagged food is meant to be taken home and put into proper serving vessels for eating at a table. McDonald's Chicken McNuggets are meant to be eaten in the backseat of a taxi!

Even when I got to the office, I just laid the bags on my desk for a while and looked at them in wonder. I had no scissors to cut the bags open and they were durable, so I could not just rip them open. Frankly, I ended up tearing the corners open with my teeth and poured little bits of the chutneys and sambar into some tiny plates that were more like coffee filters that I found deep in one of the kitchen cabinets.

Needless to say, it was a sad meal and I'll definitely think twice the next time I have a meal from a styrofoam partitioned-container acting as a lame imposter for a plate, serving bowls, and table.

McLovin -- Hanji!

The Deccan Times was delivered with my breakfast to the hotel room every morning.

Because everyone in the hotel seemed to either be in real estate development, VC, investment banking, or racehorse breeding in Dubai, I assumed that this was a pretty reputable paper. According to Priya, it may be the equivalent to the New York Post. That's probably why I enjoyed it so much! ;-)

Anyway -- I was flipping through the entertainment section and saw this and had to post it:

McLovin in the House!

Chaat at Raheja Mindspace

One of the primary reasons I came to India was to meet my colleague Ameet Kumar. He is the webmaster of the site that I do information architecture for at Oracle.

Ameet and I have spent many early Oakland mornings/late Hyderabad nights on web and teleconferences discussing the details of development on our website.

He has been such a pleasure to work with – and after meeting and collaborating with him in person – I feel like our communication bond has grown by leaps and bounds, even if we were together for just a few days. I don’t mean to state the obvious – but talking to someone on a teleconferences and sharing presenter roles ;-) cannot compare to meeting them in person!

Ameet and I went to the cafeteria on the first floor of Raheja Mindspace Building 8. Everyday, the cafeteria serves three types of dishes: North Indian, South Indian, and chaat. This day – I had the chaat!

Here are the guys who made my chaat – they were more than happy to pose while prepping the chaat!
The chaat I had here was unlike any chaat I have had in the states, like at Vik’s in Berkeley, for example. The chaat at RMS was a potato samosa…mashed up on that skillet you see in the photo. Then they poured a soupy sauce on it and topped it off with crispies! It was a surprising concoction to me – but very tasty:
Here’s Ameet – looking good!

It was truly wonderful to have the opportunity to meet and get to know you better -- thank you for your hospitality in the office and in Hyderabad!

Wassup Rockers!

I went out to dinner at Barbeque Nation with Vishal, Sreejith, Sushama, Harsh, and Teja. It was delish! Endless skewers of meat and vege options!

Vishal is showing off his GIGANTIC prawn on a skewer:
Here’s Sreejith holding up random pieces of food from his plate because I made him pose for this photo:
Here are Harsh and the lovely Sushama. I can’t tell what is on Harsh’s skewer – but he looks totally triumphant, regal even…
Teja, a satisfied vegetarian, was very kind to bear this shameless massacre of innocent creatures on our skewers! =)

We had LOADS of skewers and kebabs. I thought we were done and proclaimed that I was full, but those were just the appetizers…we still had a full buffet to attack. My favorite part of the buffet was dessert…which isn’t unusual for me. They had mini gulab jamun that I was told to put on top of freshly churned vanilla ice cream. It was truly…decadent!

After dinner, we went to see “Jumper” at the Prasads IMAX. There were hundreds of people watching this American film at 11 pm on a Tuesday night! I think it was sold out…luckily my hosts had thought ahead and pre-purchased tickets online. As for the movie – it was action packed and a very cool concept. As for the acting, I think Hayden Christensen is the next Keanu Reeves, if you know what I mean.

Looking at the parking lot after the show – it was evident how many more people ride motorcycles (two-wheelers, as they are called here) – as opposed to driving cars. It looks to me like it is 75/25 on the side of two-wheelers.

Here are Harsh, Teja, Sushama, and Sreejith before we headed home after the show.
Thank you to these rockstars for taking me out for a great night out in Hyderabad! They were the kindest hosts…and such fun to be around!

The Bimbo in the Bubble

Hyderabad is an incredibly vibrant and rapidly evolving city with some of the most thoughtful and fun-seeking people I’ve ever met!

But, I have to say – getting around is killing me. I've never felt so helpless in moving around a city before. I realized this Tuesday night when I was trying to go three blocks from the hotel to Barbeque Nation to meet Harsh, Sushama, Sreejith, Vishal, and Teja for dinner and could not convince the hotel staff to let me walk there.

The hotel staff, looking at me in my open-toed heels and generally unathletic build, were sure that I would be killed while crossing the street. And, I couldn’t say they were wrong after some of the manuevers I’d seen my driver make on the road. So, they attempted to hail an empty tuk tuk for me for 20 minutes, but were unsuccessful, so they stuck me in a car out of pity and sent me three blocks.

This traffic situation is not unlike the infrastructure pains faced by US cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix in the last few years. People and businesses are drawn to these areas for good reason – and the infrastructure just needs some time to adjust to meet new demands. There are flyovers (something like an overpass that bypasses local traffic) being constructed all over Hyderabad to fix the traffic situation – so, this issue is not something that will ail this city for much longer.

So, for what it is worth, I’m realizing that I’ve been experiencing much of Hyderabad from the backseat of a car. Here are some of the random shots I’ve taken from inside the bubble. Enjoy!

The Loo at Raheja Mindspace

I was not one of the girls in high school who spent a lot of time in the bathroom smoking Virginia Slims and stuffing her bra with toilet paper -- but I guess I'm making up for lost time by taking these photos from the women's bathroom at Raheja Mindspace Building 8, where I'm working from this week in Hyderabad.

Oh, don't you worry -- I haven't run short of topics. I may be alone -- but I thought these things were fascinating.

You can see this construction site out the bathroom window. They are building a 5-star hotel right next door. There are HUNDREDS of construction workers on site, all day.As with many construction sites, some folks are rushing around; some are pounding on stuff slowly, but steadily; and some folks are just kicking back! I'm just amazed at the sheer number of people working on the site. It is impressive and really illustrates something tangible about the way the high tech industry in Hyderabad has provided employment of all kinds to the area. My father was a construction worker and I believe that he would let out a big envioius cuss word looking at this photo!

I love the look of the loo here. It's says to me: toilet/slaughterhouse/fire hydrant.
I haven't had the guts to use the bidet nozzle thing. It just doesn't seem like the proper thing to be doing at work. Maybe I'll wash my hair with it tomorrow.

This is a photo of one of bathroom sink drains. There is a single mothball in each drain.
There is something really poetic about this to me. Visually, I think it is pleasingly melancholy in a 50's Robert Bechtle kind of way. And it makes the bathroom smell like my grandma's house in a sugar plantation camp in Hawaii, which has long since been torn apart and overgrown by wild sugarcane.

Pimp My Palace

Okay…I’m not so good at talking about history and historic places…but, here it goes. This blog needs to have some educational value –not just ramblings about McMaharaja Burgers!

Hyderabad used to be a Muslim kingdom, ruled by the Nizams, from 1719-1948. There were 8 generations of Nizam kings. This may be one of the reasons why the city has such a large Muslim population -- 40 percent Muslim, compared to the all of India, which is 13% Muslim.

The Chowmahalla Palace was the home of these kings and their families.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that it looked exactly like one of the dungeon instances I saw while, ummm, I played, ummm, World of Warcraft! Okay, I said it. I was a level 38 Human Warlock! And it is strange how many times I’ll be walking around somewhere and I will realize that it looks just like a place I saw while I was “doing” something in WoW. There were crews getting the palace ready for an event later in the day – they were laying down tons of astroturf!
The second thing I noticed was that they had a garden full of my favorite flower – the plumeria, which grows all over the place in Hawaii, where I grew up. They call it Tipanier in Polynesia. Frangipane in Italian.I think they call it the Temple Tree here in India.

The palace had gorgeous architectural detailing (another thing I’m bad at talking about is architecture!) and a receiving area for the king with a ceiling full of chandeliers.
Oooh…chandeliers.
This photo struck me as interesting. It is the last Nizam king (l) meeting the 1st prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru (r).

I think it was particularly interesting to me because it brought these 400 years of Muslim kings in Hyderabad into a frame with a recognizable contemporary icon. And suddenly, there was personal context and relevance. And these two things are what I believe make the difference between remembering dates and events -- and making history palpable and actionable.

Viva Los Idlis!

I'm having trouble updating the blog because WiFi access in the hotel is ridiculously expensive...$20 a day. You would think WiFi would be free in a hotel that caters to primarily visitors to Hi-Tech City. Or maybe just the opposite logic applies! So, I need to sneak in quick posts while I am at work at Raheja Mindspace (RMS) ;-)

Here's one of the idlis I had for breakfast. They were delicious -- but what made them over-the-top delish was this brown powder that I sprinkled on top because, well, it was included in my tray of food so I figured it was supposed to go on top! I asked Priya about this powder and she says it is commonly known as "gunpowder." Oddly enough, she says "gunpowder" may be a local's least favorite thing to have on idlis because it is kind of the easy way out. It is what your mom mixes with peanut oil to put on your idlis in the morning when she didn't have time to make anything else. =)

Idlis will always hold a special place in my heart -- from the moment I had my first one in the cafeteria at Oracle Building 600 to the first time I made them at home using the idli steaming rack and ready-made mix Annaji told me I could get at any Indian grocery.

Viva Los Idlis!

Sari Shopping with Srividya and Priya!

Thanks to Annaji's natural ability to connect people -- I had the good fortune and delight of being taken sari and salwar shopping by Priya (r) and Srividya (l) this afternoon!

They were so kind, gracious, and FUN to run around the city with! We started at a shop called Nalli, which had two floors of an incredible variety of saris, salwars, and other types of clothing. The saris were categorized and arranged in the store by type of material, which for the most part also corresponded to where the material was made.

Unusually, to me, the stores were primarily staffed by males. Tons of males. Young boys to young men. They were very helpful and didn't bat an eye at the number of saris that we wanted to pull out, unfold, and try on.

At Neeru's, another shop we went to, one of the sales people also modeled one for us:
All I can say is: FIERCE!

We finished off a very successful day of shopping with some lemon teas, chai, samosas, vege sandwiches, and a sizzling brownie! Delish...

Thank you so much to Srividya and Priya for spending their Sunday with me -- teaching me right from wrong in the world of saris! You two beautiful women ROCK!

Maharaja Burger and Fries

We had a food emergency at around 1 pm today. I needed to eat, but Khaja didn't think I needed to eat. I insisted that I needed to eat. He said that the hotel was about an hour away (safe food) and he still needed to show me MORE FORTS. I compromised with the man who had the keys to the car -- and we went to McDonald's, which was only a few minutes away.

Though most people may cringe -- I secretly wanted to go to McDonald's at some point while I was here in India because I am fascinated by the different takes McDonald's has on ethnic foods. Having grown up in Hawaii, I know that McDonald's served spam, rice, and eggs for breakfast to cater to the local palate. They also do a stunning haupia pie -- which is like their now obsolete fried apple pie -- but filled with a hot coconut cream.

So, as I found out today, the crown jewel of McDonald's India is the Chicken Mahajara Mac! Here's a photo of Khaja having his. It is like a Big Mac -- but instead of beef patties, it has some kind of reconstituted chicken patties, and instead of the 1000 Island-like Big Mac sauce -- it has a curry-flavored dressing. It was yummy for the first couple of bites and then I felt a little ill. But, they had bhangra blasting in the dining room and a woman wandering around whose job it was to hand out ketchup and chilli sauce packets. When she saw me having trouble opening one of the packets she came over and opened it for me and squeezed its contents out onto my tray. So gracious! I talked to the manager for a bit and he was very proud to hear that his location was much more festive and colorful than any location I had visited in the US!

And like any self-respecting McDonald's in any country -- Hello Kitty was given her rightful position as queen Happy Meal toys!

Birla Temple and Bare Feet

Khaja Basha, my driver, took me to Birla Mandir this morning, a beautiful marble temple on top of a hill in Hyderabad.

I had to take my shoes off in the car and walk around this place barefoot...where hundreds of other people were walking around barefoot.

It was a beautiful temple with lots of families and friends walking around in amazing outfits, enjoying a relaxing Sunday morning. But cruising around this place with bare feet ignited my OCD and by the time we got back to the car and the ground was littered with really sharp shattered coconut shell fragments, I was about to lose it. Here's a dog lying next to some of the coconut shell fragments:

Mango Pickle and Bollywood Music Videos on Lufthansa!

I was a little awed on the idea of getting on a plane in Oakland at 10 am on Friday and not arriving in Hyderabad until 1 am on Sunday.

No matter how you look at it -- das a loooong time, girlfriend.

I sat down in my seat on the Oakland to Los Angeles leg of the trip and the woman already sitting in the seat next to me was eating lettuce. She was eating lettuce directly from a big ol' head of lettuce! She had several heads of lettuce being stored in a big white garbage bag. Then she started eating hard-boiled eggs.

She thoughfully apologized to me for having to eat hard-boiled eggs on a plane. Special diet. I told her that I love hard-boiled eggs, which is true. Elaine sells Magic Water Wands and does frequency healings. She was headed to a health expo in Long Beach. I wish her the best!

The Los Angeles to Frankfurt leg was a little rough -- Michael Clayton was the inflight film. Bo, James, and Anita know what happened when I watched Michael Clayton the first time. So, I was out like a light, the second time as well.

But then, things turned right around as soon as I got on the Frankfurt to Hyderabad flight.

We had Bollywood music videos playing on the inflight monitors!







And, it seemed like they fed us constantly. Decent to good Indian food: cauliflower korma, saag paneer, perfectly done rice, all accompanied by DELIGHTFUL packets of mango pickle and mukhwas:

Namaste Lufthansa!

Goodbye Giant Databases!

A view of the Oracle HQ Giant Database Buildings as I leave the Redwood Shores CA office on Thursday evening.

Aishwarya Rai is My Homegirl

I am leaving for Hyderabad, India tomorrow morning. The primary reason I am traveling there is to attend the wedding festivities of my colleague and friend, Rohit, to his lovely bride, Srividya.

Congratulations to Rohit and Srividya!

I am also in India to work for the next week in Oracle’s Raheja Mindspace office in Hyderabad. I can’t wait to meet my co-workers there. Unfortunately, Arvind is going to be delivering training in Singapore this week, so I’ll miss meeting him.

At the excellent advice of my friend Annaji (he gives a LOT of good advice – about BPEL extensibility AND saris) I have requested the help of our colleague Priya in the Hyderabad office to help me find an appropriate set of saris and salwars for the upcoming events. Priya has graciously agreed! I am so lucky. Thank you, Priya...

It is odd that Annaji intuitively knew that if left to my own devices…I would buy something horribly inappropriate. Does Baby Phat make a sari?

I am now obsessed. I analyzed every sari and salwar I saw on my flights from Oakland to Los Angeles to Frankfurt to Hyderbad.

This is a Pandora’s box that may never close…

All I want is a sari that will make me look like Aishwarya Rai working in a cubicle at Raheja Mindspace. Is that too much to ask?