Life in India can be so ridiculous that you just cannot take it too seriously or else you will be miserable. The service at the resort in Kerala for example, was without a doubt the slowest, most inefficient service I have ever experienced. The resort itself was worth every penny because of its location right on the beach, but the only on-site restaurant was a joke. The food was pretty good although it got old after several meals there, but it was the fact that it took at least 3 hours to eat one meal. We would wait until someone came to take our order (interesting since we were the only guests there), then wait at least an hour before a couple meals would reach the table. The group of us (11 in total) always sat together but never ate at the same time. After requesting our bills we would wait about another 20 minutes before we were able to sign them and leave. After a couple of these situations we decided that we should order our meals way ahead of time so they would be ready when we wanted to eat. So at 3pm on Tuesday I wrote down everyone's order on a piece of paper and sent it over to the restaurant, instructing them we wanted the food on the table at 8pm. We expected this would allow us to eat around 8:30, but of course we arrived at that time and waited another hour before anything was brought to the table. It was unbelievable really, but ultimately just hilarious.
It should be no surprise that we sought to eat one dinner in town instead of at the resort, so on Wednesday night we packed into our cars and drove to a restaurant called Paragon which Dad had read great reviews of. Our first impression of the place when we pulled up was that we would be eating in a squishy little dingy place, but we were quickly shuffled through many different rooms, past lines of people waiting and up the stairs to a secluded A/C room where we received the most amazing service and food. I mean AMAZING! We didn't know what to order so the chef offered us a banquet through which we received individual servings of different types of delicious seafood and other Kerala specialties (apple salad, prawns,squid,curried chicken, fish, fruit platter and mousse). Not only was the service and food fantastic, but after what seemed like an endless amount of expensive cuisine, we each paid 400Rs (less than 10$ Cdn). It more than made up for our other food experiences in Kerala!
On the drive home from Paragon I was desperate to pee. I like to avoid public restrooms in general but in India I am far more hesitant to use one, so I figured I could hold it for 15 minutes. Well those 15 minutes were long extended by not only a major festival that backed up traffic for a mile, but also a train which resulted in the train tracks being blocked off for another 10 minutes. I was dying!!! It was a big joke for everyone around because of all of these random delays, but this was a time where my sense of humour in India was severely tested. I was able to laugh about it after we made it back to the resort where I booked it to my room.
Another thing you can't take too seriously in India is the attention Western people tend to receive from all sorts of people. Seeing white people in Bangalore in pretty common due to all the business men who work here, but in Kerala the group of us were quite the site. This was especially true when we were on the beach wearing far less clothing than everyone else and swimming unlike everyone else! Our afternoon swims drew many spectators - none of whom hid their interest in us. For the most part we all found it pretty funny, although I was a little uncomfortable getting out of the water each time, and there was one point where Kelly and I were approached by about 30 young men who wanted to take pictures with us - they were far too grabby and I was quick to make my escape.
There are just so many things in India that might make you uncomfortable and would merit some harsh words in Canada, but you have to laugh and that's something I definitely do.
It should be no surprise that we sought to eat one dinner in town instead of at the resort, so on Wednesday night we packed into our cars and drove to a restaurant called Paragon which Dad had read great reviews of. Our first impression of the place when we pulled up was that we would be eating in a squishy little dingy place, but we were quickly shuffled through many different rooms, past lines of people waiting and up the stairs to a secluded A/C room where we received the most amazing service and food. I mean AMAZING! We didn't know what to order so the chef offered us a banquet through which we received individual servings of different types of delicious seafood and other Kerala specialties (apple salad, prawns,squid,curried chicken, fish, fruit platter and mousse). Not only was the service and food fantastic, but after what seemed like an endless amount of expensive cuisine, we each paid 400Rs (less than 10$ Cdn). It more than made up for our other food experiences in Kerala!
On the drive home from Paragon I was desperate to pee. I like to avoid public restrooms in general but in India I am far more hesitant to use one, so I figured I could hold it for 15 minutes. Well those 15 minutes were long extended by not only a major festival that backed up traffic for a mile, but also a train which resulted in the train tracks being blocked off for another 10 minutes. I was dying!!! It was a big joke for everyone around because of all of these random delays, but this was a time where my sense of humour in India was severely tested. I was able to laugh about it after we made it back to the resort where I booked it to my room.
Another thing you can't take too seriously in India is the attention Western people tend to receive from all sorts of people. Seeing white people in Bangalore in pretty common due to all the business men who work here, but in Kerala the group of us were quite the site. This was especially true when we were on the beach wearing far less clothing than everyone else and swimming unlike everyone else! Our afternoon swims drew many spectators - none of whom hid their interest in us. For the most part we all found it pretty funny, although I was a little uncomfortable getting out of the water each time, and there was one point where Kelly and I were approached by about 30 young men who wanted to take pictures with us - they were far too grabby and I was quick to make my escape.
There are just so many things in India that might make you uncomfortable and would merit some harsh words in Canada, but you have to laugh and that's something I definitely do.
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