Waiting for the Bus

We saw these buses pull in at a stop and people madly running back and forth between the buses to tranfer to a new bus. People line up to wait like anywhere else. We were told women should avoid taking the buses as they are likely to be groped.

Bangalore Truck

I never got tired to looking at the paint jobs on trucks in Bangalore.

Sarah at the Fruit Stand

Finding good fresh fruit is a constant challenge in Bangalore. We found this stand on Brigade Road and have been fairly satisfied with their produce.

The Bull Temple

We decided to visit the Bull temple the other day. Like all Hindu temples, you need to take off your shoes to enter. Given that sometime you come out to find your shoes missing, Sarah and I took turns going inside. Of course, I was immediately accosted by a "helpful" person offering me a "tour" and commentary. At the end he wanted 500 Rs ( about $13) I said No. He then thought 300 Rs would be "fair" since my country was rich. I said no I would give him 200 (still about $5 and quite generous for what he did). I then said he could have another 200Rs if he gave Sarah a tour, which he did. Hoping she would give him more, he told her that US dollars were good and asked that she give him US dollars. Finding out that none were coming, he shook her hand and left.

Ganesh Neighborhood Party

The celebration brought out the neighbors and featured children performing song and dance for the crowd.

More work outside the house

Well, I seem to be fascinated by people working here. The man is clipping by hand, the grass "hair-plugs" I featured on an earlier post. Then he moved to trim the lawn in general. There are no power mowers, electric trimmers, gas leaf blowers. etc. Everything is done by hand. The women are sweeping up the "lawn" in front of our house.

Bangalorewalks.com

This is our guide, Mr. Vijay Thiruvady. He started Bangalorewalks.com He is a very knowledgeable guide; giving us a background in Indian history and all the flora we viewed on our tour. The Lalbagh Gardens are the most biodiverse in the world. Rulers from the past, like Haidar Ali and his son Tipu Sultan had their armies and ambassadors bring back plantings and seeds from the areas around the world. The British modified the gardens to look like England. In 1881, the Mysore Maharajah expanded the gardens, and had serial blossoming trees planted throughout the city. Once a Royal Garden, Lalbagh now belongs to the public.

This is a cedar tree from Lebanon. Bougainvilleas from South America
Silver Oaks from Australia
Indonesian Ficus tree

Where we almost lived

We didn't end up here thankfully. Although the outside areas were fine and the apartment was fine, the management was in a feud with the tenants. Apparently when the building was built, the agreement was that the common areas would be cleaned by management but now the management wants money and the tenants do not want to pay. So, the central areas are dirty and have bags of garbage in the halls. There was pornographic graffiti on the elevator walls. Not the kind of place we envisioned.

Street Scenes

Every time we drive though this city we find interesting things to see. The men gathered around the stand seem to be a group of "regulars". They were eating noodles and what appeared to be samosas. This stand is at the end of a parking lot where a shiny new mall is going up. I was particularly interested in the blue arch and the Coca-Cola logo on the top. I couldn't read the rest so perhaps it is a restaurant. I wish I could get night pictures to show how the activity level increases dramatically as Indians come home from work and enter the commerce fray.

IBM at the Industry and Tech Museum

I thought this was an interesting exhibit, especially since I am here because of IBM. These machines have to be from the 1960s, I'm guessing. No hands-on allowed, these exhibits are behind glass.

Chitra and Sarah

Sarah with our best friend in India, Chitra at her apartment in Bengaluru

Near Palm Meadows

These are some shots taken very close to the entrance to Palm Meadows.
Pepsi is actually more of a presence than Coca-Cola in India. Both taste different than in the US. I think they use different sweeteners.

These areas really come to life after dark. The shops are teeming with locals and stay open late at night. The streets are so crowded that the pedestrians spill over into the street making driving even more of a challenge.

Sarah's Birthday

We went to the Leela Palance Hotel in Bangalore, Home of the restaurant Jamavar, rated by Forbes as one of the top 10 power lunch spots in the world. We went there for dinner so I guess we missed the Power Lunchers like Bill Gates and Putin. This shot is the entrance to the hotel. I decided it would be cheesy to take a picture inside the restaurant. Sarah is posing at the fountain located in the Hotel Galleria of some high end shops.
This bowl of flowers is located outside the entance of the hotel.

Palm Meadows

We visited this gated community in Bangalore this weekend. There are about 100 units laid out in a grid around the clubhouse. There are a large number of Westerners here and some Indians. It is 3 years old. Three years ago a unit sold for about $100,000, today I'm told they go for close to $1M. The pool area is huge. There is a 24 hour restaurant that has filtered water so I was actually able to get a Diet Coke with ice. Something I had yet to be able to do.