Glug! Glug! Chomp! Chomp! Giggles galore!

Yesterday I went to the Taj Connemara for lunch. Nothing unusual in that, you might think, except I had received an invitation addressed to ME. Not My Darling, not Mr and Mrs - just me. 'Come for lunch' it said, 'Sushi and Tequila'. I RSVP-ed that I would be there, but when I got up yesterday, I did not feel up to it. Have been feeling a little unsettled the last week or so. I told My Darling that I won't go, but he insisted. In fact The Ray spent the afternoon with her Dad just to make it easier for me to be footloose and fancy free!

I walked in feeling a little weird - not sure I would know anyone, not sure of the game plan, then being greeting by the staff there like a long lost friend and not recalling any one's names! Nightmare!
Anyway - I spotted 3 faces I knew, who were sitting at one table, in a room full of clucking women! Chennai's social elite was present, GM's of other hotels, wives of GM's etc. All women, all dressed up and all smiling!

I sat down and was presented with a margarita to smooth the way. Green apple to start. I decided I didn't care for the apple puree at the end. So they brought me a pomegranate one, an orange one, a lemon one and they kept on coming!! A small salad starter was served, and I caught up with the friends I was with.

The sushi platters were beautifully presented. Lucky for me I love sushi and know what most of the seafood is. Poor buggers who had no idea, or were sushi virgins, were all at sea with a bunch of fish!! (pardon the very obvious puns!!) The taste was fantastic.

Then came the shooters - ginger and Cinnamon, lemon, orange and plain - well how could I waste drinks that were poured already???!!! This was about the time that the tempura arrived. Yum Yum Yum! Prawn, calamari, unidentified fish and a variety of veggies. Dipping heavenly fried food in a scrummy sauce while starting to go numb around the teeth and tongue areas was a miracle of manual engineering! I can proudly say I did not spill anything! However suddenly almost anything anyone said was uproariously giggle-worthy! Great way to spend the afternoon with a whopping great big grin on your face!

Around 2pm, I started making leaving noises - needing to go to school and pick Nikh up. but the Thai food was whooshed onto our plates - who can resist a Thai chicken green curry and lemon rice? Not I!! the veggie curries were a little on the spicy side for me, but helped sober the lush up a little! I downed a glass of Pepsi with the vague idea of diluting the 80% proof shots that had been like bullets at a firing range repeatedly hitting the bullseye in the pit of my stomach!

I finally got up on wobbly legs, desperately needing to pee, at 3.20. Piled into the car and slept all the way to school! (poor driver - what must he have thought!)

I used to be derisive of the 'Margarita Mums' who literally rolled into school around 4pm every Friday (you know what Aussies are like - hee hee!!) and here I was doing exactly the same thing! Do you know how blisteringly bright the sun is across the AISC football pitch on a Friday afternoon?!

Some kindly, very amused and sympathetic mums bought me a large ginger tea with enough sugar to drop a bull elephant into a diabetic coma! But I have to say it almost did the trick! By the time I got home with Nikh at around 7pm, there was just a dull throb in the middle of my forehead and it's twin in the back of my head! No dinner for me! Just bed!! Hic! Hic! Snore!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ - or lack of!

I wonder what it is that makes me wake up after I have gone into the deepest sleep? I have nothing to think about, nothing to worry about and absolutely nothing to stress about - and yet I am awake at nearly 1am .... again!

Admittedly things are not going swimmingly at The Ray's main play place, and the sheer helplessness I feel about the goings on there are creating a knot in my tummy. But I know I have viable options should it all go to hell in a hand basket - and I am a believer in things being meant to be....

I miss my mum and dad and the Angel. I miss Lisa, Jen, Danie, Marcela, Ania, Asha, Patty, Aisling, Jane, and others too numerous to mention. I miss being able to go to the mall and just walk, walk, walk and then stop for a Starbucks hot choc with tonnes of whipped cream on top! I miss driving myself to the shops or to the club - I miss playing tennis everyday (or as often as!).

I feel so grateful that friends enter my life with such ease and I feel like a real Meany to still be yearning for those who have moved onwards and around the world-wards! But yearn I do! Does this needing and wanting and missing ever fade, I wonder?

I have been trying to wear myself out - I bounce! Yup literally bounce on an adult trampoline that sits just behind the sofa in the sitting room - so I can watch TV or listen to music etc with no-one turning back to look at me! OK this does not always work out when Nikh or The Ray try to join me! Chaos ensues! I have lost one one single gramme of weight - but I will continue my Tigger impression because I feel as though it is making a difference .. not that you can tell!!

An Expat Centre - a life-saver!

I know I said I was going to take some time off after the hectic stresses and activities of the past year, but clearly the saying about old dogs and new tricks is true! I clearly have no self control and am a slave to my imagination!

I am helping to set up and organise an expat centre here in Chennai. It will have events, activities, workshops and sessions based on Indian dance, cuisine, art, craft etc etc etc. It is like a blank canvass and I get to help write on it! Exciting!!

I think the expats living here in Chennai, whether they took a relocation package or not, love to find out more about the culture, religion, festivals and way of life of the host nation. This centre (the Indian Immersion Centre - IIC) is going to be so central to this. Any expat that wants to find out more about the gods and goddesses, or myths and legends of India can sign on to an event or activity that covers that. If there is someone who wants to find out where to buy their netlon, the best broadband supplier etc or just where to get multi grain bread can simply call or email the IIC and get the answer relatively quickly!

Wow! When I think of the days and weeks I spent simply asking everyone I knew about things or driving around to find what I needed. this IIC will be the one stop shop for everything an expat in Chennai could possibly want!

One of the nicest things about helping set up such a stimulating new venture is working with people who are full of inspiration, who like to brainstorm and that feeling of mutual respect just cannot be beaten!!

I am off to try and talk to as many people as I know to get them to join the IIC as it will be one of the best things they ever do!

Fun Day

Today was what I would call another day in the life of an expat wife! We are having a few people over for dinner tomorrow night, and as we have no cook at the moment the Head Chef in the house is yours truly.

So menu set, shopping mostly done, schedule duly laid out - I decide to make Tiramisu as one of the desserts. Note to self - sponge fingers are not available in the shops here, Amma Naana had no marscapone and the Nilgiris fresh cream (single at best) seemed to have a distinct set of hard bits in the packet!!

Undeterred, I went home, baked a cake for the Tiramisu base, decided to use the last of the chef's supplied double cream in my freezer and set a couple of kilos of chicken out to defrost.

Now comes the good bit - I meet two good friends at the Salon for a little mani-pedi action and plan a lunch for straight after. In the meantime, a journalist for The times of India paper has called to say they are running a column about various clubs and groups in the city and would I answer some questions on The Tiffin Club.

The pedicure was divine - fabulous massage and my feet feel like the proverbial baby's bum! A warm chicken salad and the requisite french fries made for a lunch that hit the spot and then the journalist showed.

She had questions galore and as my friend Danie and I answered, I realised how much I have done with the Club over the last few years. We started listing off some of the Tiffin sessions including Chef Willi cooking at 601 in The Park, Chef Rajesh showing us Mediterranean food at Aqua, Chef Basu clearing up the mysteries of Chaat (Indian street food), the chefs at the Marriott - Chef Sunil and his pastries and then a Lebanese session, Chef Prakash with soups and salads and then an Italian session and a trip to the Taj Flight Kitchen where the meals are prepped for many different airlines.

On alternate months we have had Tiffin Club at each others' homes. For example, i did a baking session this year, last year I showed some Indian dishes and talked about the Indian spices used in cooking. We had a Valentine's Day Tiffin with a 'Red' theme and we all brought dishes with red ingredients! Each December the Tiffin is a cookie exchange and one comes away with 10 -12 dozen different cookies ... scrummy!!

The best part about the Tiffin Club is the every member and the Chefs all share their recipes with each other. Those closely guarded secrets suddenly become common property! I love it!

Well, after talking for a good 40 mins, our journalist disappears to cover another story and we go back to our now cold french fries!! Meena, my other mate in the mood for some salon, joins us looking ultra glam as her hair has been cut and styled to within an inch of it's life! She clearly looked and felt great - to a man the men in the Cappuccino could not take their eyes off the back of her head! I swear one nearly did himself an injury trying to stare at her!!

Then off to school in time for pick-up and finally taking Nikhil to an audition for the soundtrack for a story-tape on Karadi Tales! Yep - just an average day living in Chennai!!

Came home around 6pm, finished making the chicken curry, channa masala and prepped the raita and the rice for tomorrow's dinner.

went to bed as usual, but woke up just past midnight as a power cut has obviously tripped the A/C in our bedroom - no more shut-eye for tonight!

Sejal
28th May 2008