My stay has been very plush as I mentioned, however, I did have a rather shocking experience the other day. I was just getting out of the shower, being only somewhat dried off, I reached for a shirt out of my closet and my hand hit the closet pole. The closet is very nice here, and it even has a light in it, except mine had burned out the day before. So standing with damp bare feet, grounded to a marble slab, I got the most intense shock of my life, electric shock that is. Somehow when the light had burned out the closet pole became “Hot” as an electrician would say. Feeling the current run through my hand, arm, body and clear down to my feet, I gave out a nice little yell. I was lucky enough that I did not actually grab the pole for whatever reason. When I finished getting dressed and later was leaving for work I decided to show an employee my new trick closet. Thoughts of “lick this metal pole, it tastes like candy, uh or mango chutney” did go through my mind, but instead I calmly explained to Ajit that I was nearly electrocuted. He made a bizarre head bobble and said, “I am sorry Mr. Mike, I heard you scream…” I asked him why he did not check on me; what if I had fallen and could not get up; yet again another confused head Bobble, but he said he would get it fixed. The light works again, but I have not touched the pole. I saw Ajit later and asked if he would touch it for me, and he said he already did when the electrician was done. If that is not love I don’t know what is!
I know a lot of you are worried about me and all that, but they did beef up security here in the hotel, no beef/cow pun intended. Our guards on this floor fall somewhere between the Indian equivalent to Gomer Pile or Barney Fife a.k.a. Mr. Furly. I don’t really think they could do much if there was a militant attack on our floor, but perhaps getting through these unarmed warriors would cause enough of a ruckus that I would be able to hide in the closet… if I did not electrocute myself in the process. Just kidding there, but perhaps I would have time to hook up a MacGiver like terrorist deterrent ‘thingy’ with hangers and the electricity from the pole and some chewing gum… oh forget it.
Lilly market, an Oasis in the Desert or (for you old D&D players) a Bag of Holding, you decide. Ashima, who I will discuss later, told us of her Cousin Brother’s store, Lilly Market, which is close to the hotel. A cousin brother is not as bad as it sounds, if you were conjuring up some sort of Appalachian family tree action… it basically means a cousin who is male. So I went to Lilly’s looking for cooking spices to bring home, and Cousin Bro had the works. I got Curries, six grams of Saffron, Chat masala, chicken masala, tikka masala, masala masala, and Mississippi masala!! Masala means spices mixed. So now I bet some of you have more appreciation for the title of the movie Mississippi Masala… which means what kids? Yep, a spicy relationship between an Indian woman and a Black man in the South.
Next trip to Lilly’s my colleague and I needed some Tabasco to enhance some of the bland dishes we were packing from the hotel to take to work for lunch, and now dinner. The Indian food at work is not that bad, a little high in oil, but not always the most hygienic. Others before us warned us, hence the packing of bland quiches and sandwiches from the hotel room service, and the need for Tabasco. Cousin Bro asked me if I want Red or Green, I took the red! I also bought two other chili sauces from him that a little man on a ladder was pulling out from seemingly unknown stocking positions way up the wall. The second chili sauce is now my new favorite in the whole wide world. It is like Sri Racha (some of you call it Rooster Sauce) and the chili paste that Mediterranean Wraps spreads on Falafel wraps in Palo Alto.
To give you a better appreciation of my appreciation of the variations of products Cousin Bro carries, he is yet ‘to not have’ something my colleagues or I have asked for. By the way, his store is smaller than most of your bedrooms, possibly half the size of my last room. I am so amazed by this man’s ability to have everything I want, I sometimes think of things to stump him. I asked for corn chips, thinking I might be able to make some salsa (I have not had Chips and Salsa since like 8/30) and he says Regular or Jalapeno. I am about to walk away excited when he asks if I want salsa, my eyes light up when the little man on the ladder hands it down. I see that it is mild, and I am upset until he has little man hand down Senor Pepito’s hot! I also had a colleague request for toothpaste without mint, he had that as well. Recently we have added Kodak Film, he has all speeds, Zippo fuel for a smoking colleague, a luggage lock, hot chocolate mix, and granola which was an unhappy adventure for the little ladder man. He had to shimmy up a fixed ladder, through a hole in the two foot wide shelf that encircles the top of the room, then avoid the blades of a fan that were spinning faster than any ceiling fan possibly should. He did not really know what granola was in any language and he had to throw down three very dusty boxes before he got the right one. I think that he honestly has every single thing I could possibly want while I am here.
So I just found a website for Senor Pepito. I think this marketing copy is priceless and worth a laugh.
Senor Pepito Tortilla Chips are processed from a modern sheeted line and are unique in taste, crunch and mouth fill. They are perfect meal substitute and when had with Senor Pepito Salsa, the experience is a gastronomic delight.
Senor Pepito Tortilla Chips are available in Nacho and Jalapeno flavours. Senor Pepito Salsa is available in 2 flavours, namely Flaming Hot and Slightly Spicy.
Ashima, the cousin sister, is a smart young woman that is a student of German language. She runs her father’s store in the atrium of the hotel. The store has nick knacks and stuff, and I bought a bracelet from her. My colleague Jen found the store and we have been there to chat with her numerous times and have tried to arrange dinner with her and her family at their house at their request. She is one of those folks that makes you want to use that word great aura and I cannot really describe her with words much more, so I won’t.
Back to what I do best: This is the part where Mike talks about the food part of the update.
We found a Pan Asian place called Lotus Pond. Tom Kah Gai was on the menu so I gave it a shot. I was not disappointed. For those of you that remember my cooking class experience in Thailand, this is the Thai spicy, sour, coconut milk, soup with chicken. It is a taste extravaganza. The stock is chicken and lemon juice, with coconut milk added in for a little cream to take the harshness off the juice. Chopped galengal (cousin of ginger), lemon grass, cracked open chilies, and kafir lime leaves are all in the soup, and not meant to be eaten, like a Bay leaf in Italian cooking. Then mushrooms chicken, cilantro, and a splash of fish sauce and you are in heaven. Oh, a touch of sugar may be needed to take that last extra sour edge off and then you are really in heaven.
As for some more Indian food, that is incredibly good, Aloo Brahta is right in line with plain Nan as a food of the gods. It is almost like Nan that has been more meticulously hand worked. A spicy potato, onion, herb/masala mixture is then somehow rolled into the center of a ball of this dough, the whole thing is rolled out twice the thickness of a tortilla, and grilled with some oil on a hot iron surface. I got to watch this entire event today since I have moved out of the hotel and I am now in the company guesthouse,
which comes complete with two Indian chefs. Yes, I know what you are thinking; this is the best situation that Mike could ever hope for. I am in heaven and they probably think that I am quite bizarre watching and asking so many questions, but hopefully it will be worth it. Enough food for now, because once again it is right before dinner and I can’t take it. Tonight’s menu is the chefs own Tandoori chicken, Aloo Gobi, Chapati, rice, and Daal… and yes he and I have already gone over the ingredients and marinating instructions in detail.
Ciao,
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