I am still very jetlagged so activity is limited but I am making an effort to explore South Mumbai as I usually stay with my grandma who lives in the North. The Peres household was empty this morning except for Eugene. I have been busy applying to internships to keep me busy during my time here even though I wish I could just play tourist all day everyday. Noel, Sonali’s friend, was visiting from Bangalore and I was excited to see him and to have someone to hang out with. I had last seen him in Bangalore when he so nicely took me around Bangalore for two days.
Noel showed up around 1pm and we picked Sneha up from college to go for lunch. I think I should know that any place Sneha chooses is going to serve continental food as that girl lives off of pasta and McDonald’s. We landed at an Italian restaurant called Nutcracker and I looked at Noel and said I really wanted Indian food since I have just arrived here. I also just love Indian food and will make it a goal to eat it all day everyday while I am here. Plus, all dairy and cheese taste much different here. Got to get my fill of Indian food while I am in the motherland.
Sneha ordered a mac and cheese and Noel and I watched her eat it until we could go grab Indian food. The next place we ended up at was Social. I had been there before in Bangalore and they serve Indo-Chinese. I ordered Paneer Tikka with paratha and Sneha got her usual peri peri fries and mozzarella sticks. The food was okay and the people seated next to us were really unruly. They were four businessmen all of whom were foreigners and they were talking so loudly it was like we were a part of the conversation. We were either laughing at their conversations or exchanging glances with the bartenders to help us since their conversation would turn wildly inappropriate and uncomfortable. None of us had the audacity to tell them to shut up or lower their voices but Noel did have word with the manager when we were leaving.
The other thing I found funny at Social was the napkins. I don’t know if they are real ads printed on the napokins but they are covered in marriage ads for brides. I think my favorite ad read “I want a girl with no drinks if she wants she can wear jeans in the house but while stepping out of the house she should give respect to our cast”. So oddly specific if you ask me but it was entertaining.
Noel warned me that he was as much a foreigner in Mumbai as I was so that I did not expect him to take me around. He later took it back since he said he could speak Hindi at least. Social was right across from the Taj Hotel so we snapped some photos there. It was a nice area filled with lots of good architecture and the Gateway right there as well too.
In the evening, when Sonali was off from work, she and Noel showed me the Hill. The Hill is exactly what it sounds like and is a small park near where Sonali lives. I am surprised I haven’t been to it before considering how much time I have spent here. When we reached I was greeted by two monkeys in the tree right above the entrance! They were so cute! I love all the animals here. There are so many stray dogs and cats I even saw a rooster.
The Hill was very lush and green which was a good contrast to the city skyline of Mumbai. I appreciated the greenery very much. The park has statues of the new 7 wonders of the world although I question what those 7 are now. They had the Taj Mahal, Roman Collesuem, Chichén Itzá, Christ the Redemeer and the Eifel Tower and Statue of LIberty which are definoitely not on the list of the 7 wonders. I have had the debate of the 7 wonders over and over and I still haven’t been able to nail it down but I know those two for sure don’t make the cut. It was funny to make jokes about what Lady Liberty was doing in India though. I walked around the park for about 30 minutes until the sunset and it got dark. It was nice to finally do some physical activity. I definitely need to find ways to still stay active while I am here.
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