Howdy-
Wednesday and Thursday were normal days, though filled with interesting moments… thought I’d share…
Wednesday started like most other days, woke up 8:15, walked for 25 minutes to meet up with the company car, headed to work… once I got here, I was invited to a lunch, and so we all left for that around 12:30… it was a combination, say hi to Jonathan/thanks for working so hard creative team lunch, and we went to Ivory, which was pretty awesome… Their lunch at Ivory is an all you can eat gourmet buffet (lots of shrimp, lamb, etc.) and I will tell you, I ate all I could… The highlight of the meal was threefold… First off, they had a proper cheese platter… actually, that’s not really true… the cheddar was pretty crappy, as was the swiss, but they had smoked gouda!!! which as some may know, is one of my favorite cheeses in the world… Needless to say, this was my first smoked gouda in at least 5 months, so I gorged myself on it… The second highlight were these shot glasses which had skewered shrimp, apple, and more shrimp, with a citrusy sauce on the bottom of the shot glass as well as 2 pomegranite seeds… eat the skewer, shoot the sauce… delicious… the third highlight were… shit, what are they called… they are called either phuchka, or pani puri, they go by both names, but basically they are puff pasteries, filled with delicious filling and then dipped in a tamarind sauce… here’s a picture
I had like 20 of these, they were so freaking good…
Either way, feeling a bit sleepy, we went back to the office, and finished off the day… I got home, paid my next 2 weeks rent at my guesthouse, and went out to grab a light snack, and a beer at the local pub… At the pub, I ended up chatting up a guy named Yann, who is from Nagaland, which is the smallest state in India… we had a good time, ended up drinking probably a bit too much, but in the end, he has invited me to come up to Nagaland for the Nagaland festivals which take place in the beginning of December… I am going to try my best to get up there, but the problem is that to get into Nagaland, you need a special permit, and to get one of said permits from the government, you need to be with a group of at least 4 people… so I am going to have to spend the next month trying to find some people who will be going to Nagaland the same time as me… Nonetheless, he has offered to put me up in his house, so it seems like it could be a really great experience…
Thursday started a bit hazy, but I made it through the workday without any real incident… I then headed home, and out to the bar, because I had promised Yann I would meet him there around 8ish… When I walked in, I saw my gun running Amsterdam friend, so I sat down with him, and chatted for a while. After a few beers, we decided to head back to his place to continue our conversation… We went back to his guesthouse (he’s been in Calcutta for 4 years, but moves from guesthouse to guesthouse to change things up), and we had some charras and continued talking, conversation ranging from religion to money to life in general… all told, very pleasant. The more I learn about this guy, the more interesting I am finding him… Either way, in the end, he agreed to teach me about options trading (how he keeps up his comfortable fiscal state), and I’m pretty excited to begin learning about it… as I walked home I realised that one of the reasons that I have begun to take a real liking to this city is the fact that it is a city perfectly made for pedestrians… Despite there being 5-6 different modes of semi-public transportation, an incredible number of people walk, and unlike in the areas of South East Asia where I visited, the sidewalks are purely pedestrians domain. There aren’t motorbikes and cars strewn everywhere, rather a steady stream of people walking around… The people sleep on the streets, get pampered with cologne, get shaved (face, as well as armpits actually (I saw that a few days ago, and I thought it was awesome… I’ve never seen someone up close getting their armpits shaved by another person, much less on a sidewalk in a major city)), use the bathroom (yes, this is very common out here… walking down the streets I have seen a great many people using the toilet on the sidewalk, or on the side of the street… some blocks reek of human waste, but it’s a fact of life…), and in the end, it all combines to make me happy… So yeah… the weekend is coming up, which should be fun, and I also apparently have a holiday off of work on Tuesday, so double weekend!
yup… I hope all is well… till next time…
