Nectar of the Gods, more Lush, and other topics

Hiya folks,

Again, sorry I’ve been remiss here on the regular posts.  Truly, the loss of Airtel GPRS service in Penukonda’s been a huge hassle, and we still haven’t been able to get the tech guys to fix the local tower there.  But also, I’ve been super busy with seva (service work) for the ashram, as well as my spiritual studies, meditation, and so on.  Not to mention continuing to try to get a brand new apartment set up even as construction continues all around.

So that brings me to B’lore — partly normal supplies shopping (groceries and whatnot), partly household items, and also taking care of other business, such as booking our flight to Singapore for May (our tourist visas only let us stay in India for six months at a go, then we gotta go someplace else, even if it’s just for a few days — hence the nickname ‘visa jump’).

Being here also means a nice, cool air-conditioned hotel room, and proximity to shopping.  (Obviously)  Been pretty nasty up north of late, weather-wise.  Temperature over 40C (that’s well over 100F for you American folks), humidity sometimes also rather high.  Quite unpleasant.  Also, the electrical infrastructure there is such that we really can’t run our apartment AC all the time — and even HAVING the AC is considered a huge luxury.

On the other hand, the power situation here in B’lore isn’t much better just now.  Frequent power outages and brownouts.  Makes downloading my iTunes TV show subscriptions (Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and Heroes) rather tedious (have to restart every time the connection goes down…which this evening has been no less than 10 times, easy).

Now, ‘Nectar of the Gods’, you ask?  And, "when is she gonna get around to explaining what that means?"  Okay, here ya go:  My Imaginary Readers know how oft I’ve waxed poetic  on the joys… nay, ecstasy — of really good fresh-brewed coffee.  And the difficulty in acquiring good fresh-ground coffee here in India, where the preferred drink is masala tea (tea with milk and sugar).

Well, India is fast entering the modern world, especially in urban places like Bangalore, and one trend is people here want good coffee, like they can get in the west. (To be honest, the best damned cup of coffee I ever had was in Seattle.  They know how to brew coffee there like nobody’s business.)  Last year, it was possible to buy good coffee, brewed to drink, at shops like Barrista and Coffee Day — but not so easy to acquire the coffee beans to brew for oneself.  Believe me, I tried.

Yesterday, Stephanie and I were checking out The Forum, a modern, western-style shopping mall, near the City Market.  Lo-and-behold, but I found a place that sold not just coffee to drink — but also COFFEE BEANS GROUND TO ORDER!!!  Okay, so it’s Indian-grown beans, but I knew when, about 3 months ago I was in town and saw signs for some sort of "Coffee Connoisseurs Convention" at a hotel, there could be hope for us consumers of the Elixir of Life.  I bought half a kilo of this store’s "signature blend" (Mysore Nuggets), for 100Rs per 250g, and half a kee of another less expensive type (Crescendo is its name).  Yah, a full kilo of really good-smelling fresh ground coffee for just 334Rs (including tax).  I haven’t brewed a cup with it yet, but honestly, the aroma is really great.  Furthermore, I knew I was on to something when the clerk asked me if I wanted it ground for French press.  "Oh yeah… nothing but."  (Secretly in my imagination, I was doing the Snoopy dance.)

Now, on to my other newly favorite thing: Lush products.  Oh man…last visit when I got some for myself for my b’day, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.  I have never used bath products that smelled so good they make me smile every time I take a shower.  Seriously, they’re like an instant aroma-gasm.  What’s even better is that a tiny amount goes a long, long way.  In four weeks of washing my hair almost daily, I’ve used maybe 20% of a 250g bottle of "I Love Juicy" shampoo.  At first, I thought I’d have to use as much as I normally did with my old Nature’s Gate shampoo, but no need with the Lush.  Same thing with the shower gel (jasmine), hair conditioner (vanilla), and even the foot cream (delightfully smelling of cloves and cinnamon).  I literally can’t say enough good things about Lush… except possibly to add this:  Hey guys?  Really want to melt your wife’s or sweetie’s heart?  Sure, sure — chocolates and roses are great.  If you really want to make an impression, give her some Lush products.  Like a bag of "Bath Bombs".  Or some skin cream.  Or this faboo shampoo and conditioner.  Or heck, a gift certificate will do in a pinch…but you’re missing that opportunity to be there when your female companion’s lizard hindbrain lights up like a Christmas tree.  (It’s true:  The olefactory nodes of the human brain are the most ancient part of our neurology, and the most prone to changing our mood or mode of thinking without conscious interaction.)

So anyway…what else?  Oh yeah.  Finally, finally, FINALLY I got to pamper myself today.  I went to the M&W salon at the Leela Palace and had myself a morning of luxury.  A full pedicure.  Facial.  Brow work (threading).  And a full body massage.  This last was sure something else… in the US, certified practitioners usually have to keep certain parts of the body covered, so as not to break decency laws.  Here, well, um… it was me, two cute Indian girls, and a bowl of hot oil.  Plus a towel that almost never really covered much of me, except to keep parts not being worked on warm.  First time my, er, chestal protrusions got a massage, too.  Felt really nice, too… and NO, it wasn’t erotic or anything like that.  I’d have to say really that what I liked was how complete the massage felt.  What was really amazing was the whole deal only cost me 2100Rs.  Back in the States, for that facial alone I’d have had to fork over $100 or more (usually way more for anything any good).  And my masseuse, Laura…I used to pay her $60 for an hour, and always felt like I was under-paying her.  According to my bill from M&W, the massage was 700Rs.

Alas, I undid some of the good relaxation with further running around this afternoon, running more errands, buying more groceries and whatnot to weigh down my previously relaxed back and shoulders… but hey, it was still worth it.  I’ve a feeling I will be paying return visits to M&W…and possibly for longer.  Got my eye on maybe some hair coloring…be nice to be vivid red again, rather than red-brown (yeah, the red-black treatment from a couple months ago is long gone…).

That’s that… I know, nothing really deep or spiritual.  Still owe you that, actually, and in fact I’m pondering a post on just that topic — spiritual stuff.  See, this trip has also included a trip to a huge Shiva temple, next to the Sari Kemp-fort store.  And I’ve been reading biographies of Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.  And a certain Swami has been showing up in my dreams, only I can’t seem to remember the context.

Anyway, time to test-drive some of those new Lush products I got… Old Blue Sky (shower gel), more of the Juicy shampoo, and some Vegan conditioner.

cheers,
Becca