Day1-Bombay/The Fam

Last night, our final night in Singapore, we decided to have dinner back at Clarke Quay. We took the MRT, of course, and decided on a Spanish restaurant called The Tapas Tree, located right on the River. It was an absolutely stunning place to have dinner. Just wait for the video! (I'll post the video here within the next few days. Watch for it.)

We then took our Singapore Tourist Pass cards back (which are 3 day passes for the MRT), and got a $10 refund from the Ticket Office. This is my Singapore Tip! The card costs $34 Singapore Dollars...so with the refund, it’s only S$24. If you use the card HALF as much as we did, you’ll totally get your money’s worth.

I gotta tell ya. I got NO sleep last night. Not only do I have insomnia, but my husband is a snorer. So I’m told that I made an absolute fool of myself at the airport this morning and that I looked like a drunken sailor until I was able to pull myself together and wake up myself up enough to act like a human. I’m told I said some pretty funny stuff. I really only have one word for it: Ambien.

So while I after I managed to sober up, we flew to Bombay. It was another manageable flight on Singapore Airlines...their service is excellent, and their bathrooms are pretty clean. And, actually, the food is pretty good, too. Another tip! Request the Indian Veg Meal when booking your tickets. The meal quality and flavor is so much better than the other “International” meals they serve. Believe me. I’ve seen and tasted the other stuff.

When we got to Bombay, customs and immigration was very straightforward, as was baggage claim. As we stepped outside into the sun, I immediately saw my mother-in-law and gave her a big wave and a smile. The other thing I noticed was that the weather is considerably cooler here than in Singapore. Bonus! When we arrived it was about 70 degrees here. :) Lovely. We all (Usha Maushi-my aunt, my mother-in-law, my husband, Abby, me, and the Taxi driver) squished into the Taxi and drove to the Hotel, where we were semi-sniffed by a bomb-sniffing dog, driven through a metal detector and frisked, and forced to put all of our bags through an x-ray machine- all in the name of security. Hey, I’d rather have that level of security than have another incident like the Taj Bombing.

Our hotel is, I would say, equally as beautiful as the Marriott in Singapore, although since it’s only Abby and me staying there, we are staying in a much smaller room. :) My husband is staying with his mom in Vikhroli, about 30 minutes away. We’ve stayed at this hotel before, as some of you might remember, when we were here on our last trip. This time our room has a beautiful lake view, and when we got to our room, we gazed out the window and saw a herd of water buffalo swimming across the lake (and a mean little boy throwing rocks at them!)

After resting at the hotel for awhile, we (Abby, my husband and I) took an autorickshaw to my mother-in-law’s (let’s call her Aai, which is what I call her, which means “mom” in Marathi) house. Aai and Usha Maushi (Usha is her name, “Maushi” means Aunt in Marathi- Actually, if we’re being correct, it’s spelled, “Mavshi”) have made us a delicious dinner of Dosas, Chicken, Pullao and Chapatis. Usha Maushi even got us some Butterscotch Ice Cream for dessert. (If you’re not familiar with Pullao, it’s akin to Pilaf with vegetables in it. Chapatis are kind of like tortillas...but of course, they’re an Indian tortilla.) We’re all going to have dinner together....actually, we’re all going to have dinner right about now, so I’ll write again tomorrow when I’ll tell you about our 2nd full day in Bombay. TTFN!