Shopping, shopping, shopping…

Hello friends from afar!

Needless to say, this post is pretty much its heading… today we spent virtually the entire day shopping, crossing one thing after another off our moderately lengthy list.  Fortunately, we had a Ballal driver to help us with our swag.

Starting with a stop at the bank to get some cash, we then continued to Commercial Street.  Main reasons to go there were to return a voltage stabilizer that seemed to have been fried.  In a moment of total weirdness, the girl at the store plugged it in — and it worked fine!  I said, "But there was smoke coming out it it before."  "Ah madam, sometimes there is dust inside, and it was probably the dust burning off when it heated up."

Boy did I feel sheepish…but glad the stabilizer was fine.  So we also got a hot-pot (smaller than the other one we own) and two extension cords, plus a few fuses to repair one in a power strip I blew out early in our Penukonda stay.

Next, Fazal’s, where Stephanie needed to get some of her tailored punjabi dresses let out a bit.  They’d made them too tight in the chest area.  Meanwhile, I ordered four pairs of pants made to Ms. Alx Utterman’s style specification, which is WAY less baggy than normal punjabi pants and rides lower on the hips.  After that, we visited a hardware store and got some superglue for a friend and some Xacto knifes for us.  Another less expensive store to get a few clothes I could wear around B’lore and feel less conspicuous in.  Basially loose tops and flowy pants…a kind of simplified punjabi, but shorter.  I just felt like I was showing too much "T" with the clingy knit cotton top I’d been wearing.

After that, we got some small shoulder bags — just large enough for a cell phone and maybe some money and a notepad.  A bit bigger than string bags though.  Another large shoulder bag for Stephanie.  Some pillows to use for meditation.

Then we had to chase down our driver, who’d wandered off somewhere… eventually we found each other and then went to the Leela Palace for lunch.

Oh. My. Goodness.  I thought the Oberoi was ritzy.  The Leela puts it to shame.  Think Raj-era opulence, in the modern day.  Luckily there are lots of westerners there, in all states of dress, so I didn’t feel too much out of place in my jeans and with my backpack.  The food there was simply superb.  I gave in to my pizza jones, and had a great smoked salmon pizza, with basil, red onion, and cream-cheese.  Stephanie went for a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, with fries — which also looked excellent.

Afterwards, more shopping at the Leela Galleria.  Rather upscale there, too, and we each got a few things at the bookstore, but that’s all.  Most everything there on the three levels of shops looked insanely expensive.

Then to Lady Curzon Street, to order 11 custom frames for various pictures and yantras of ours, and to pick up some Ayurvedic medicine for an acquaintance.  Next, a lamp store we’d been told about, and bought a desk lamp and a small table lamp.

Back to Ballal, where we gave our driver our thanks and took a brief break.  But wait, there’s more!

After a brief rainstorm, we dared the streets again.  I needed to find some house-slippers and Stephanie wanted some sandals.  I went to Cauvery to buy incense and a holder, while Stephanie split off to find a bookstore on MG Road she’d heard about.  We met up there, as I finished first, and then got some office supplies at the same bookstore.  Then to Jamal’s for kitchen goods (bowls, salt & pepper shaker, bottle opener, and some nice glasses).

Back yet again to the Ballal to drop off more loot.  In the meantime, our friend Virginia had called, because we’d talked about having dinner again tonight — which we did do, not finding we’d felt quite as exhausted as we thought.  Guess what we had?

More pizza.  This time of a more ordinary variety, at a Brigade Road Pizza Hut.  Yum.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Indian food these days, especially the authentic stuff.  Give me a good masala over bland casseroles any day.  But in the last month or so, I have been craving pizza so bad, it’s insane.

So, here we are back again, with the bags and boxes in the room multiplying.  Not as bad as during our previous B’lore stay, but quite a lot anyway.  I think tomorrow is going to be mostly groceries, picking up our picture frames, and anything else we come up with.  Maybe try to find a gardening store, since Stephanie’s been helping a lot with Swami’s rose gardens at the ashram.

Alas, the wireless Internet still isn’t working, so I’m still on cell phone hook up.  Can’t have quite everything…

Until next time!