Leela Palace..pool & room

Have you ever seen one of those 'flat' pools? You know the kind that look like they are just a sheet of glass, where the water appears to be the same level as the outside surrounding tile? Well if you can envision that, now imagine it be 25 meters long and who knows how wide (very). With the entire pool covered in tiny shimmering shades of bright aqua blue tile, and all of the water being at a depth of 4 ft. Surrounded by buff colored rough tile, and lots of lounge chairs with thick cushioning and brown and white striped towels. Strategically placed umbrellas and small end tables, with absolutely every kind of palm tree, flower and flowering trees that you can imagine.

On the north side of the pool are two fixed gazebos that have rattan shades that can be lowered on all sides and filmy white sheer muslin type material that also drapes down. The tops have domes that looks like copper, but I think its just painted to look like a patina. Two tables in each at waist height== and for the right price you can get a full body massage while you gaze at the pool while a nice gentle breeze flows over you. In between the 2 gazebos is a shelf that has the towels neatly rolled and placed ready for use, drinks, phone, and little misters that you can spray yourself with while you are lying in the sun (or shade).

The east side trails away down a little path, crosses a bridge an if you go left from there you walk along the outside of the hotel into a beautiful oasis of greenery, running streams and a pagoda. If you go straight, you enter into the hotel proper and if you hang a right, its the outside portion of The Citrus, one of four restaurants inside the hotel. That's right I said four.

On the west side of the pool there is a room that you have to go up about 10 steps or so to get into. The wall that faces the pool is entirely glass. It appears to be an workout room as it has a few machines in there and steps, which I presume are for step aerobics. I guess maybe that's the reward for working out..you can walk out and jump in the pool. If you go "under" the building, there are bathrooms and showers for pool use.

Yes, I was reflecting on all of this today as I was lying there eating my snickers bar, sipping my water and reading my book. Then I looked up into the crystal blue sky and saw a bald eagle flying overhead. Ahh..now this is living! I know you think I'm kidding, but I'm not. For all of you scoffers out there, I suggest you go to google and put in leela palace bangalore india and see what comes up. Believe me I really can't give it credit trying to describe it.

After spending the entire glorious day floating around in the pool,(basically had it to myself) (except for the waiters that came out occasionally and asked if I wanted anything) I decided to head back in and take a shower before Mike got back from work (mu-wha-ha-ha) Must be clean for dinner and playing billiards later. ;)

I decided to take the 'back' way in as I was still quite wet. I meandered down the little hidden path (near the workout room) and ended up at a back door. Opened and went down a rather long flight of marbled steps (by the way..its all marble here) Went through 2 sets of double doors and wandered down to the workout room and spa area. NICE, fully equipped (not that I would darken the door) where you can work your little heart out, or if you so choose get a major spa treatment. The have a whole book describing what they can do to you in that room. yikes Rounded a corner and ended up by the elevators (4 of them) pushed the button and was whisked off to the 5th floor. I do mean whisked, silent, fast and smooth. All brass and marble of course, with 3 sides mirrored and the 4th being the doors which are brass.

(I'll describe the fifth floor in a minute) I finally made it down to my room. Ah...my room. :<) If anyone knows me at all, they know I love Ethan Allen. My room looks like an Ethan Allen showroom! yippeee. Marble (surprise, surprise) when you enter the hallway and then gorgeous wood flooring that looks cherry stained. Large poster bed with two beautiful night stands on either side. On the nightstand a 2 tiered tray with chocolates on it (stamped with leela palace in gold) and a water bottles with a crystal glasses to drink out of. (replaced everyday...tempted to tell them to take it out..we are going to be so fat!)

A couch over to the right of that with a brass floor lamp. In front of the couch a glass coffee table on wrought iron legs with a tidbit tray with cookies on them. (sm. persian rug underneath) A silver bowl with water in it and rose petals and a glass tray with oranges, apples, kiwi, pear and I think a tangerine. Also 3 papers too choose from.

Across from the couch is a oval desk (glassed top) with two chairs on either side. A brass colored lamp on that and immediately above it a thick beveled mirror. Beside the table is a magazine rack and then after that a stand for luggage. Across from the foot of the bed is an amoire which has a tv, stereo and a dvd player. And a binder that has a listing of about 40 to 50 dvds that are yours for the asking. Unfortunately most are the type we wouldn't look at anyway..still the idea. Also has cds that you can borrow if you didn't bring your own. If you want to use the stereo for wake-ups you can, or just ask the front desk to give you a wake up.

That pretty much makes the circuit of the room and then your back to the hallway which has a double door closet (including room safe) then a bombay chest (loaded with goodies and small fridge inside) then another double door closet. To the right is the bathroom. Floor & walls all marble, another Ethan Allen showroom. Large free standing vanity with a huge matching mirror and sconces above. A separate tub over to the right (say it with me..DEEP)(with another mirror the size of the tub over that) and then a free standing shower with glass walls. Separate room for the toilet. Maybe for the rich and famous its no big deal, but for me it has to be the most exquisite hotel I've ever seen.

Wait! I'm not finished. As I said we are on the 5th floor, we also have a walk out balcony. Two rattan chairs and table out there and we are also the only floor that has a running flower box around the hotel. The hotel is a U shape. I'm not quite up to snuff on my plants (mom would know) but its that fushia colored papery looking plant..bougevilla? (sp.) Anyhoo, I'll try and get Mike to put out some photos. Our room faces into the courtyard so we have a gorgeous view of the waterfalls and garden below. And we really do have eagles swooping around. So cool.

WEll, I've only covered the room and the pool and I'm exhausted. You'll have to wait for another day for the rest of the place. Hopefully not as long as my last posting! haa sorry...bout that.

Mary

...we're moving on up...to the eastside...to a deeeluxe apartment..in the sky-hiii, yeah moving on up...we finally got a piece of the... pi-hiiiiiiiii!
'weezy jefferson'

The Royal Afghan

Hello All:

Sorry we haven't been on here much lately, but..well...do you really want to hear how Mike went to work, and I lounged by the pool all day? Didn't think so.

Last night when Mike got back from work, we decided to check out the The Royal Afghan restaurant. The Afghan is actually one of the many restaurants located in the Windsor Sheraton & Towers Hotel. (beautiful!) It's only about a 5 minute walk to the hotel, so we headed out about 7:30. Unfortunately a lot of the restaurants don't even open until 7:30, which is a bit late for me.

The restaurant was poolside (nice) with an open kitchen and many grills. When Mike and I first approached the hotel we were bombarded with the delicious smells of shish kebab. The smell definitely reminded us of Turkey. As we were already quite hungry, that just about put us over. heh heh

When we got in (or is that out) there were some very interesting uniforms on the waiters and staff. Afghany? maybe. Anyway we were seated and the first thing that caught my attention was the copper. Copper all over the kitchen and copper drinking cups. Cool. Then the waiter came over and placed a very large bib on our laps. Some people left them on their laps, and some tied them around their necks. We opted for the lap. :)

The menu handed to us was also a bit unusual , it was a slab of wood. One side vegetarian and the other non. I choose chicken kebabs that were marinated in cheese, yogurt and spices. Mike choose a lamb type thing..also grilled. We also ordered drinks and nan bread. (have no idea if I'm spelling it right) Then we just sat back and waited.

Meal time here is a time of relaxation and sheer enjoyment of food. I believe that to be a lost art in the states (the hurry mode). It's actually kind of funny because I do think its hard to relax and spend at least 2 hours at the table. The looks of 'you can't be done' and 'you can't possibly want something else to drink, I just checked on you 40 minutes ago' and 'you don't want dessert?' all evoke my sympathy, but I'm so into the consuming, and moving on mode that its hard to change. But I'm working on it! I do feel bad for the Indians that come to the US after having this kind of treatment. Can you imagine going to the 'whadu want?' 'whaaa?' 'are you guys done yet?' 'here's the bill' after the exquisite treatment here?

The waiter brought our drinks and then a plate piled high with thinly sliced red onions, a token cucumber and a slice of tomato. Another plate with these chip like things that had chopped tomato and onion and spices on them. Mike said it was their version of chips and salsa. Indeed, the chips were extremely salty and unusual tasting and I have no idea what the spices were. For all of you salt fans, you would have loved it.

After awhile our food arrived. AAHHHHH yes, (the glorious food) two plates with the kebabs on them a basket with huge pieces of buttered and garlic nan bread (just out of the wood fire!)and a crock of dal. sp.? Dal is a lentil soup type of food. (this particular recipe cooks the lentils for 24 hours) Actually it's more like the consistency of a thick chili, its not too runny. WOW, the stuff looked great. After the waiter served us (they always serve you) Mike and I both just sort of looked at each other like okay..ummm...utensils anyone? The waiter took pity on us (as we had that extremely newbie look) and said 'here at the Afghan we believe in enjoying the food with the fingers'. Oh

Dig in boys, meat's back on the menu! Saying that the food was delicious would be a gross understatement. Already I'm saying..hey Mike, I think it's our duty (ah, yes..our duty) to invest Honeywells money into the fabric of this society, don't you? snort snort Seriously, it was great food and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Highly recommend it.

Then when we were all done, bowls of steaming water with lemon were brought out for us to wash our hands. Perfect ending.
Then we walked home.

hungry?

Mary

More Monkey Business

Nandi, Shiva's Bull
The guide book gives no indication of how old this is, but the one in Bangalore is from 1786. Nandi is the sacred Hindu bull, vehicle of Shiva. The one in Bangalore appears to be leaning slightly to one side (as bovines tend to do when resting) where as this one seems to be more upright. The shiny appearance is from coconut oil, that the priests apply to keep it moist. Nicely carved and HUGE (you just gotta see it in person)

If you don't put that camera away...

A Hindu god

Inside a Hindu Temple

Sri Chamudeswari Temple (13th Century)
Located on Chamundi Hill. The Sri Chamundeswari Temple on the summit is dedicated to the royal Wodeyar family's titular deity, the goddess Chamundi, an avatar of Parvati (Shiva's consort). The base of the temple dates from the 12th century; the ornately sculptured pyramidal gopuram (towering entrance) was built in the 1800s. (all info. taken from Fodor's book on India) *The temple's inner entrances are staffed by aggressive priests hassling tourists into buying flower offerings and bindis (decorative dots traditionally worn between the eyes, for women) Mike and I can attest to the aggressive priests!

Ever Have Chapped Lips?
If you've seen one temple you've seen them all. Intricate artwork, but depressing (to me) none the less. The monkeys were great comic relief. The were all over the place and not in the least afraid of people. In fact they were very curious of Mike when he was taking the photos.

Our Driver
Actually this is our favorite driver. He had offered to take us to Mysore before and we wanted to go this past weekend (the 5th). What we didn't know was that he had just gotten off of the night shift! To say that he was exhausted was putting it mildly! Mike caught him in this position when we came out of the palace. **the tour through the palace was done barefoot.

One of Four Hindu Temples on Palace Grounds

Another Palace Gate

A Gate to the Palace Grounds

Sultan Ali's Palace
By far the most impressive structure in Mysore is the maharaja's palace, a massive edifice that took 15 years to rebuild (starting in 1897) after an earlier structure burned down. One of the largest palaces in India, its on 73 acres and was designed by the famous Irish architect Henry Irwin (1841-1922), who was famous for practicing in India, and especially for his project in the Indo-Saracenic style-a synthesis of Hindu and Islamic architecture. *(all info from Fodors guide book on India)
This palace was fabulous. Unfortunately no photography allowed inside so I guess we'll have to buy a book on it. truly impressive

Fish Anyone?
Spotted these guys on the way to the palace. They had no problem in displaying their wares.

Little Market

Wanna Buy Some Postcards?
Talk about aggressive, this guy makes the priests look mild. Amazingly, he had perfect English, not sure if it was picked up from tourists or what. A born salesman, I just wanted to pack him up and take him home with me! So much potential wrapped up in that little dude, sure hope he gets an opp. to go to school and make something of himself.

Mosque at Sultan Ali's Tomb
The tomb of the Sultan is immediatly to the right of the mosque in the photo. All of this is set in a beautiful garden (all the gardens here are beautiful!)While standing there admiring the incredible tomb, the 'cantor' (?) started the call to prayer. Eerie, but interesting sounding... I did hear "Allah", but that was the limit on understanding what he was saying. :<)

Sultan Ali's Tomb

The Good, The Bad, The Funny

What do you do with a gal who has waaaaaaaaayyy too much time on her hands? Why you give her a blog assignment of course. Mine is to write about the church services here, but since I don't feel like it right now, I won't. **I'll tell you about how it boosted our immunities later**

What I do want to tell you about, are some of the services that are offered here at the hotel. I'm sure Mike already posted a photo of the hotel so I wont bother with that.

A typical day.
The guy that comes to clean the room. First of all, you know how in the states the hotels are always leaving those little notices in the room that basically say. "Save the world and don't make us clean your room". Well...maybe it just says "we're lazy butts and we don't want to do your laundry'...'so think of our natural resources and don't make us wash your towels". Something like that, you know what I mean. India laughs in the face of such nonsense!

EVERYDAY the guy comes and completely strips the room down. I mean it. Everything, off it comes to be replaced with the new (not the fluffy white down blanket) sheets, pillowcases, towels anything that is not nailed down. If its movable and washable, it goes.
Next he remakes the bed so quickly and so tight, it would make any drill proud. Bouncing quarters off that puppy.
Next dusting, EVERYTHING gets dusted. Down to the legs on the chair at the desk. No shamming here, everything gets picked up, cleaned underneath and then neatly placed back down in dress, right, dress. Seriously (can I take him home with me??) Even our shoes are put in order. (Jame..He's your kind of organizer)
Next vacuuming. Self explanatory
Next the bathroom. Lets face it..We are all pigstys in the bathroom, esp. @ hotels. Mainly because there is really no other place to put all of our bathroom junk. Somehow it just meanders across the vanity doesn't it? Imagine my surprise to see a little neat ultra white (reminds me*) hand towel on the right hand corner of our vanity with ALL of our bathroom supplies organized in perfect order (I'm positive he's in med school) according to size and shape. I'm NOT kidding. I was scared to use my stuff cuz it would mess up his neatness! ha
He of course cleans everything in the bathroom, dumps the trash, opens our paper(The Hindu, hanging on the door every morning) and puts it neatly on the end table. Then he cleans the floor down on his hands and knees. It's marble. I see him backing out of the bathroom and into the little 'hallway' and out the door. All of this is done very fast of course. I bet he's out of here in 10 minutes max. But it always perfectly done.

The second person to come is the head of housekeeping. Let me tell you something bub, I know why those guys knock themselves out cleaning the room. She goes to all of the rooms and inspects them to make sure that the rooms are to the hotel standards. By the way, I noticed that the sheets have a little color coded mark on one edge, so it had better be the right color on the right day! I guess there is potential job security on the line.

The 3rd guy to come is the 'fruit guy'. He comes everyday and says the same thing: 'good evening Madame, would you like your fruit changed?' And I say WHAT?! How dare you! And then I slam the door in his face. Just kidding. I say 'sure'. And everyday he comes in with a fruit basket (full of fruit of course) and walks over to the little table (that has the fruit on it of course) looks at me in disgust as barely any of the fruit is missing and changes perfectly good fruit for more perfectly good fruit. I guess it doesn't occur to him to take the 'old' fruit out and put it in with the new. I did say 'no thanks' to him once, but he looked so disappointed I decided to not do that anymore.
He looks like he's in a tux. Now that's service!

The 4th guy to come is the mini-bar guy. He's caught on to us by now and realizes that we are not going to drink the kingfisher beer in the little fridge, so he only occasionally checks that. However a look of sheer joy did come over his face when he realized that 2 chocolate bars were missing! I confess...It was a moment of weakness. He hasn't come today YET,but he'll be happy when he sees that I did have peanuts last night while watching Life is Beautiful. And it is, isn't it?

The 5th guy to come is laundry. Ahhh yes, laundry. What can you say about those guys? Well, at first I was in heaven, realizing that I didn't have to do laundry for 2 months! Bliss! Remember me telling you about that ultra white hand towel? Yes, unfortunately I think everything in laundry undergoes....the bleach treatment. tahh dumm (said with scary music in the background) sigh...I can't say we weren't warned. Mike had a friend that told him that the laundry service is really hard on clothes. Not sure why, but its true. Mike had bought this really nice shirt and it underwent 'the treatment'. Sorry to say its a tad smaller now, and a few shades lighter. Perhaps we will have to repurchase right before we leave. That or I'm going have to do laundry in the tub. *there is a line there*
The amazing thing is, when we get our stuff back, all of the shirts are in those little cardboard things. I mean ironed and folded and looking like you just got them home from the store. We have lots of cardboard in our room, I'm thinking of offering it back to them. They even cardboard his undershirts!

The 6th and final guy..And my personal favorite++Room Service! For the life of me I couldn't understand why this guy came by our room EVERY night and asked if we wanted room service. ??? EVERY night I would say 'no' and just look at him. He would look at me then hand me a chocolate and say 'very good Madame'. I'd look at the chocolate, look at him,then shut the door. Every night this goes on "...Good night Westly, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning.." Sometimes (if it was late enough) I'd make Mike answer the door and HE would get the chocolate. :) Finally one night (we actually HAD ordered room service) and sure enough, right on schedule. Ding dong. He said 'good evening Madame, room service?" And I said 'actually we've already called room service, thanks'.(with a smidge of sarcasm in my voice) He just looked at me and burst into laughter. He said..."No, do you want your bed turned down?" OHHH for those of you with no couth, no class, no... sigh. whatever.
He did manage to get in here last night though. When Mike and I got back from dinner both side of the bed were folded down into neat little triangles, and there were TWO chocolates by the bed.
Got one on me I guess! heh heh

Of course these are just the regulars. There are various and sundry (I've always wanted to use that word) others who have some kind of agenda. One day I asked for a safety pin, so about 5 minutes later a guy brought up 2 sewing kits (hence 2 safety pins) about 5 minutes later, another guy brought up 2 sewing kits. About 5 minutes later the head of housekeeping came up and wanted to know ...did I get them and was it enough? Why didn't she just bring them herself?

wow. what can u say about the service here?

That's obviously the good, the bad is the laundry :( and the funny is that I try to 'hide'! I've found that the only way I can have any peace is to either leave the room, (and let them do their thing) or to use the Do Not Disturb sign. It's my protection. In fact I'm using it now or I'd never get this posting done.

Well..(oh yeah)..I kept hearing this "ppffttt" noise. And I could not figure out what it was. Thought maybe it was air in the water line or something that. Mike never heard it, so he was no help. Then one day as I was standing in the bathroom (admiring my vanity) there came the pfft. Air freshener! What a unique place. ;)

Well seriously. I mean it this time.. gotta go.
later,
Mary

BSF EW CLASS

Hello Gals,

Just thought I would pop on here and let you know about my bsf class. I should have went Jan. 25th (for my 1st class) but the taxi guy said he didn't know where the church was. By the time I went back up to my room to find the address it was too late. Traffic is horrendous at rush hour and I knew I would never make it in time. oh well..anyhooo...back to bsf.

Feb. 1st ended up being my first night at the local evening women's class. Yep, I said the first..they have it on Tuesday nights here. (starts at 6:20)The driver I had this Tuesday did know where St. Johns was, and had no problem getting me there on time. The church where BSF is held is very old, I think the guy told us it was 150 years old. I'm hoping some day to get down there and take a bunch of photos of the place. If I get some decent ones, I'll post them with this.

When I arrived it was just like the greetings at home. The CA was there to welcome me and make sure I had a name tag, and of course the ladies that force you to sit up front! heh heh After the standard opening, I was sort of in limbo. I had not been told what class to go to, so I sort of drifted my way(short drift-2 rows) up to the front to the TL. I told her I had not been assigned to a class, so she said...ummmmm Lets put you in Karunas class. (Go figure..Karen..Karuna) **I'll have to check that again..not sure about the name** I said okay. So I followed that lady out and low in behold...just like in KC..placed in a class where all the women are at least 20 years younger than me! What's up with that???? It must be a TL thing! (just kidding ladies...about the tl thing I mean..)

First let me describe the classroom. Ahh yes..the classroom. I guess my first impression was surreal. The lighting was really weird ..sort of cast a bluish light everywhere, gave the gals a ghastly appearance! (I'm sure I was the worst..blue off of a white face is really sickly looking!) One whole wall was glass windows (that were open), and obviously faced the street. If you've read any of our previous postings, you must know that the noise from the street is tremendous. The only time we didn't hear screeching, whining, honking and whistle blowing was when Elizabeth shared her answers. As it was almost quiet everytime she shared, I decided that she must be worth listening to. Actually she was just visiting as she is a children's leader. That just goes to show ya the value of those childrens leaders! ***Hi Rose, Hi Jill***

The sharing was really great. But it was a typical class, some did their lessons, some didn't. The DL said she wouldn't call on anyone for the 'personals' but gave a look that said she certainly would if no one volunteered. *See Karen...its every dl's bane* If this were yahoo, I'd put a smiley face with big teeth, but since its not...... The dl had no problem on calling on me (and me being a stranger in the land!) as there weren't too many to choose from. It was a class of 8 so those who did the lesson had a lions share to answer.

I started getting nervous when ever I gave an answer because they all just stared at me with a weird look(other than blue I mean) on their faces. *silence* *brief pause* *anyone else want to share?* I thought sheesh moneesh, my answers must really suck. Then I realized that I was doing the EXACT same thing whenever they answered. I had to put all of my concentration into translating! yeah...it was in English..sort of. :<) No seriously, it IS in English, but I'm sure I sounded weird to them and they were trying to figure out what I said, just as Iwas trying to figure out what they said. It must be their accents. har har ...sigh oh well, I'll get with program soon enough.

Oh, the seating. There were these little 'mini' benches to sit on. (about knee high) I thought it humorous when the dl said lets take a bench out! wink

Unfortunately I didn't think to check my watch, but it seemed as if we had all the time in the world to answer. No rushing here! or is that Russian? just kidding (Hey...I have to amuse myself here!) When we went back to the sanctuary some groups were back and some werent'. hmmm Then, just as I sat down and was getting ready to write down the outline, they turned off the projector and started. ??? "wassup"??? (said with the appropriate accent)

The lecture was great. The teaching leader had great illustrations and I managed to get 4 pages of notes. Fortunately for me, she had a clear voice and I didn't have to strain to figure out what she said. Unfortunately I did have to strain to hear! Just about 10 minutes into the lecture a band or something started up. I don't know if it was partiers or a radio, or what, but all of the sudden about 75 heads (including the tl's) swiveled the the right. (her's to the left) then some kind of traffic guy started blowing his whistle hysterically. Finally after some drama by one woman, another woman got up and went and shut the shutters covering the window. Shutters, yes...not glass. I guess it did help a bit. ...you'd almost think that someone had an agenda....

The lecture over we all got up, trooped out and picked up the next lesson. Which by the way is lesson 22. Slight gap here. They start early and finish early.

So as you can see, its a typical bsf class. I really did enjoy it, and look forward to getting to know the gals there. I guess when I get back I'll have to tromp the same ground again. Then the ladies in my class can give me weird looks and then I'll know my answers really did stink!

Hey..I still have the 17th's prayer requests, so I'm hanging on to those till I get back. hope you all are doing great. yawn...I guess its time for me to go out and hang by the pool!! heheeeheheh (scooby doo laugh)

later,
Mary