Day 61 - New Delhi
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday 8th October
Day 5 Commonwealth Games
I've decided not to take breakfast at my hotel anymore, due to the hygiene reasons I discussed yesterday, although given the breakfast options around the hotel are non-existent, it's making me very hungry in the mornings! I had a good sleep-in today and then ventured out to Khan Market, where Denise and Lauren had visited yesterday and given good recommendations.
The market is not really a market - more an enclave of shops and restaurants aimed at the ex-pat and diplomatic crowd, given it's location in the diplomatic enclave. I was stoked to find an Aussie cafe where I had my breakfast (surprisingly, I turned down the vegemite on toast for eggs benedict). Walking on, I found a hair salon and decided to treat myself to a conditioning treatment. For an hour and a half, I was treated like a royal - shampoo, conditioning treatment, the BEST scalp massage I have ever had. Anything I wanted was mine - a coke? A coffee from the cafe downstairs? The latest British Vogue? My blow-dry was even done by two hairdressers: one, to hold the hairdryer, and one to hold the brush!
Feeling glamorous, I sashayed through the local shops, and happened to bump into Lauren and Denise in a jewellery store (the world really is a small place). As Lauren was leaving the next day, she'd wanted to come back to stock up on bracelets and necklaces, and Denise was purchasing some for Kim as well, who wasn't really able to leave the Athletes' Village. As their driver was picking them up at 1:30pm, I rode with them to Tyagaraj Stadium, wolfing down a delicious brownie I had treated myself to from one of the bakeries.
The Aussies were playing Malawi, and we were expecting the match to be similar to that against India - i.e., a complete thrashing. But Malawi has some skill! They really showed promise, keeping close in the first quarter and not at all being disgraced by their performance. The owners of the guesthouse the Greens' were staying at came for the match, bringing their young daughter, and were delighted when Sharelle McMahon gave her the signed match ball after the match (they had teed it up with Kim the night before).
I decided not to stay for the second match, instead wanting to do some shopping. I flagged down a tuk-tuk driver near the metro station, asking him to take me to Gurgaon for some shopping. He instead persuaded me to go to 'Ansul Plaza', a closer mall (looking at the map later, I realised Gurgaon is a bit too far for tuk-tuk drivers to venture). The mall was crap though, and after about 10 minutes I was out the door and back with my tuk-tuk driver (he had waited for me, despite my non-agreeance - but I was glad he had, given it was Friday 5pm and transport was hard to flag down!)
I asked for him to drop me at Khan Market, knowing now that this was the best place for cafes in Delhi. I had a delicious wood-fired pizza with blue cheese, mushrooms and caramelised onions, and called in at one of the ex-pat supermarkets to purchase some snacks. (The shops are all oriented towards the ex-pat crowd - Cadbury chocolate, Hershey's syrup, root beer all crowd the 'aisles'). My next tuk-tuk driver then tried to persuade me to go via one of the government emporiums (he must have needed the commission). In this case, I was quite happy to make a stop though, as I was keen to purchase the pashmima I had tried on there on Monday).
Pashmima in hand (it's surprising how, even at a 'fixed-price' government emporium, prices can come down very quickly), and night truly upon us, I returned to the hotel for another night of Games' watching. Except ... my remote control was missing. It seems like every night I return to the hotel something is wrong - the remote is missing; TV not working; air-conditioning not working - I feel like there's a vendetta against me for not booking any tours through them.
Day 5 Commonwealth Games
I've decided not to take breakfast at my hotel anymore, due to the hygiene reasons I discussed yesterday, although given the breakfast options around the hotel are non-existent, it's making me very hungry in the mornings! I had a good sleep-in today and then ventured out to Khan Market, where Denise and Lauren had visited yesterday and given good recommendations.
The market is not really a market - more an enclave of shops and restaurants aimed at the ex-pat and diplomatic crowd, given it's location in the diplomatic enclave. I was stoked to find an Aussie cafe where I had my breakfast (surprisingly, I turned down the vegemite on toast for eggs benedict). Walking on, I found a hair salon and decided to treat myself to a conditioning treatment. For an hour and a half, I was treated like a royal - shampoo, conditioning treatment, the BEST scalp massage I have ever had. Anything I wanted was mine - a coke? A coffee from the cafe downstairs? The latest British Vogue? My blow-dry was even done by two hairdressers: one, to hold the hairdryer, and one to hold the brush!
Feeling glamorous, I sashayed through the local shops, and happened to bump into Lauren and Denise in a jewellery store (the world really is a small place). As Lauren was leaving the next day, she'd wanted to come back to stock up on bracelets and necklaces, and Denise was purchasing some for Kim as well, who wasn't really able to leave the Athletes' Village. As their driver was picking them up at 1:30pm, I rode with them to Tyagaraj Stadium, wolfing down a delicious brownie I had treated myself to from one of the bakeries.
The Aussies were playing Malawi, and we were expecting the match to be similar to that against India - i.e., a complete thrashing. But Malawi has some skill! They really showed promise, keeping close in the first quarter and not at all being disgraced by their performance. The owners of the guesthouse the Greens' were staying at came for the match, bringing their young daughter, and were delighted when Sharelle McMahon gave her the signed match ball after the match (they had teed it up with Kim the night before).
I decided not to stay for the second match, instead wanting to do some shopping. I flagged down a tuk-tuk driver near the metro station, asking him to take me to Gurgaon for some shopping. He instead persuaded me to go to 'Ansul Plaza', a closer mall (looking at the map later, I realised Gurgaon is a bit too far for tuk-tuk drivers to venture). The mall was crap though, and after about 10 minutes I was out the door and back with my tuk-tuk driver (he had waited for me, despite my non-agreeance - but I was glad he had, given it was Friday 5pm and transport was hard to flag down!)
I asked for him to drop me at Khan Market, knowing now that this was the best place for cafes in Delhi. I had a delicious wood-fired pizza with blue cheese, mushrooms and caramelised onions, and called in at one of the ex-pat supermarkets to purchase some snacks. (The shops are all oriented towards the ex-pat crowd - Cadbury chocolate, Hershey's syrup, root beer all crowd the 'aisles'). My next tuk-tuk driver then tried to persuade me to go via one of the government emporiums (he must have needed the commission). In this case, I was quite happy to make a stop though, as I was keen to purchase the pashmima I had tried on there on Monday).
Pashmima in hand (it's surprising how, even at a 'fixed-price' government emporium, prices can come down very quickly), and night truly upon us, I returned to the hotel for another night of Games' watching. Except ... my remote control was missing. It seems like every night I return to the hotel something is wrong - the remote is missing; TV not working; air-conditioning not working - I feel like there's a vendetta against me for not booking any tours through them.
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