We have A/Cs!!!!

Pen went off to work at 9.30 a.m this morning and I got up and called the a/c guy to confirm that they were coming before 11 a.m as promised. The guy didn’t answer my call, but called me back about 10 minutes later to say they should be here by 11. There was no point in going back to bed, so I passed the time doing some housework and watching a bit of TV.

At 11.30 the a/c guys still hadn’t arrived, so I called again. He told me within one hour they would be there, then in the next sentence he said ‘Before 3 o’clock’. I told him between now and 3 o’clock is not 1 hour – it’s 3½ ! He told me that they were waiting for the motor blade to arrive but they would be here before 3. I called Penri and told him what the guy had said. He asked me to give him Soloman's number and he tried calling to see what the problem was. He was told the same as me.

Guess what ... 3 o’clock came and went and they still weren’t here. I called Pen at 3.30 to tell him that they hadn’t come and he said ‘Leave it with me, I’ll call you back’. He phoned back to say they should be with me any minute as they left the workshop ages ago. They arrived at 10 to 4 and fixed both a/cs! Yey! I was so happy!!

The a/c in the lounge (where the plug socket actually blew up and they had to peel it off the wall in pieces) was working, but instead of putting a new plug socket in, they’ve just put the wires straight into the hole in the wall. They told me they were finished work and I asked what about the hole in the wall – it doesn’t look safe. The guy called his boss and I was told that it was fine and they would come back in a couple of days with a new socket, but we could use the a/c in the meantime. I was just happy to have working air conditioners!

While they were here fixing the a/c I had a fainting spell. I started sweating and could just see white blurry dots, I felt as if I was going to pass out. It's a horrible feeling. I called down to the restaurant and asked Christine to bring me a glass of juice up and sit with me for 5 minutes till it passed. I didn’t want to faint while I had two repair guys here ... I probably would have woken up in some Government hospital! She came upstairs and sat with me till the feeling passed, which luckily it did.

Feeling fine now and all ready to go to the doctor's tomorrow morning for more blood tests! Fun!

Pregnancy

Everyone's been asking to see my bump, so here it is. 28 weeks pregnant (taken a couple of days ago).

Nightmare!

You won't believe this! I was just on the phone to Penri's mum and there was an almighty bang! Penri shouted from the other room to ask what the noise was. I had no idea either, but my first assumption was it was one of the cats. I got off the phone and shouted both Pepsi and Socks. Pepsi was asleep in one bedroom and Socks was asleep in the other (lazy cats).

I walked around the flat looking for some sign of what it could be. When I walked back into the lounge, there was a horrible gas smell and the a/c was off. It was the stabiliser box from the a/c which has blown. So, we now have two out of three a/cs not working ... fantastic!

Tomorrow I plan on getting them fixed which means staying in the house ALL day because there's no guarantee when the electrician will get here. I must be mad, cause I also have the plumber coming to fix two leaking toilets. Chances are - neither of them will turn up, but we will see.

Just had to write and get this off my chest. It is sweltering hot in our flat now!

Shopping, Cravings and more ...

We’re still plodding along here in Chennai. The weather is getting hotter now ready for the summer months. Our a/c in the bedroom is not working again – it wasn’t the current at all because it stopped working the same evening the guy told me that was the problem … there’s an internal fault on it. We had a quote from one company who said they could take away the parts and get it fixed in about four days. We decided to wait and get someone from the company it was bought from to come and give us a quote. They were supposed to come out to look at it yesterday but they never turned up. Consequently, we have been sleeping in the spare room on the small bed, which has an extremely hard mattress, but at least it is cool enough to fall asleep. The ceiling fans just don’t cool the room down enough which is why we can’t sleep in our bedroom. I’ll have to chase up the a/c guys tomorrow.

After the whole bookcase charade the other day, we decided to get a quote to have someone fit shelves into the three alcoves we have in two of the bedrooms and the hallway. Even just for a few planks of very cheap wood and some brackets it was going to cost Rs. 5000 (about £65)! So, I am going to hit the shops again on Tuesday with Gwen and try and find somewhere else to get one. The problem is you can’t even see the floor in our spare room for boxes and bags. I have nowhere to put the stuff and it’s just such a mess. It just can’t stay like that – it’s driving me crazy!!

We finally got our gas cylinder for our table top stove on Friday; it just needs to be connected now. It’ll be great when it’s working as it means I can boil eggs and make pasta and that kind of thing and I don’t have to rely on the restaurant for every meal! There is only so much you can do with a microwave and a toaster; although I did figure out that you can make cheese nachos in the microwave, which is quite cool as I had a craving for it the other day. My mum also sent me some custard powder as I’ve been craving a bowl of hot custard for months now (you can’t buy it here)!

My pregnancy is going well and my ‘bump’ just keeps on growing, which is great. Trying to keep fit and active, but I must admit it’s getting harder and harder! I have to go back to the doctors next week to get my glucose test done and also have to have my second tetanus injection. They advise all pregnant women here to get a tetanus shot as a precaution. I’m really glad I decided to do it as last week Pepsi scratched my stomach by accident, but she drew blood. Having the shot while you’re pregnant protects the baby as well, so it’s worth it. Also, I guess with the amount of street dogs here (although I don’t really come into contact with any) and germs and infections everywhere, it’s worth it just to be on the safe side.

I had a lovely birthday (even though I didn’t really want to celebrate). I’ve just finished the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that I got for Christmas, so Penri bought me a 9000 piece one for my birthday. It is MASSIVE! It’s really cool but I’m not sure how I’ll ever finish it. I have just started sorting out all the edge pieces – I spent over an hour and am not even a quarter of the way through it. Here’s a picture of the finished product:






Not much other news here really, so I’m going to go now and I’ll write when I have more news. Hopefully I’ll be able to post on here on Tuesday saying that I’ve finally found a bookcase … we’ll see!

Shopping

I went shopping with my friend Gwen yesterday. She is also expecting a baby so we decided to visit baby shops around Chennai and price a few things up. I didn't really intend on buying anything and I haven't bought anything yet as I didn't want to get anything too early on in my pregnancy.

Anyway, I saw this lovely baby glider that can be used from newborn. It glides back and forth or side to side and plays music and also has a mobile across the top with some toys hanging down. It's made by Fisher Price as well, which made me even more keen to buy it as I know the brand.









A lot of the things we were looking at here were made by unknown brands, which I wouldn't feel happy about using. Some of the stuff was Avent or Fisher Price, or at least brands that we knew. Anyway, I bought the baby glider and a few little babygros and wash cloths and things. The only big shop we didn't get to was Mothercare as I've heard how expensive it is, however we are going to go and look on our next shopping trip.

I also bought a couple of things for the flat ... some paintings to hang up and a couple of bedside lamps. It is always easier and more fun shopping when you have someone with you.

Final piece of news ... great news actually - all my kids passed their piano exams with Merits and Distinctions! I was so happy to hear that - and so proud!

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

I went out this afternoon with the sole purpose of buying a bookcase. A pretty easy task, you would think! It was a NIGHTMARE! I found a couple of nice teak bookcases with glass doors, but they were very expensive and there's no guarantee we could take them with us when we leave so I decided to look for something cheaper.

I went around so many furniture stores and none of them stocked just simple bookcases - just shelves in a frame - that's all I want. The options are either really extravagant or really cheap. In the end, I decided to go and check out the cane or bamboo shelf units they sell on the side of the road. Because I knew I would get ripped off, I took an Indian guy with me to help me negotiate. It didn't really help - as soon as the guy making the stuff saw me, he quoted a ridiculous price that was nearly as much as the teak units!

I told him there's no way I would pay that much. The guy who was with me negotiated with him and he managed to get the price down a little bit, but even then, it would only cost a little bit more to buy the teak ones - what's the point of spending that much money on cane furniture (that we wouldn't take with us when we leave)? I got very frustrated in the end and got back in the car and said 'Forget it' and I came home.

When I got back to the flat, the air conditioner in the bedroom wasn't working and it was quite hot today as well as me being angry and frustrated over my uneventful shopping trip, so I called the electrician. I think he must've realised how annoyed I was because even though he said he'd be here at 5.30, he arrived at 4.45 (which is unheard of in India)! He turned it on and guess what ... it worked! He told me the reason it wasn't working before is there wasn't enough current in the building. I guess too many people had a/cs on or something. Anyway, the main thing is it's working now.

So, still no luck with the bookcases and I still have all these boxes of books lying around which is driving me crazy, but I plan on getting it sorted somehow this week.

Wireless Internet

So, we finally got wireless internet! It's really cool. After Airtel (the Internet company) promising us they'd come last Wednesday, then it was 150% they'd come on Friday and guaranteed they'd come on Saturday, they finally turned up this week. It was a job that took about 10 minutes and the internet was working straight away. I'm really happy (and so is Pen) cause now we can use the net anywhere in the house on our laptops and we don't have to wait for the other person to finish in the office to use the net.

When I say the 'office' it's a very loose term. It's a tiny room which has had a desk put in it and you can literally touch all four walls if you spread your arms out, so there's definitely no room for the two of us. It's cool though, somewhere to sit and work or surf the net.

I drew a floor plan of our flat as it's really hard to explain the layout (see below). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to take any pictures of the flat as there is still SO much to do. I desperately need to buy a bookcase cause I have about 8 boxes of books that need unpacking and then I need to move a few things around and just get all the rooms looking good. The problem is, I just don't have the energy or the motivation at the moment! I will get round to it soon.





Not much other news here really. Nothing exciting happening. Will write soon.

Playing Cards

I just had to write a post to attach this photo. Earlier on we were playing cards and Pepsi decided she wanted to play. She loves the game where Penri throws the cards in the air and she pounces for them. I got a great photo of her chasing a card ...

Moving House

Our move was a bit of a nightmare … we had agreed that the movers would come at 6 a.m on Tuesday 18th to load up the van and then we’d miss rush hour traffic coming into town (as we’ve moved nearer the centre of town, the traffic can be horrendous). On Tuesday both Pen and I were woken up at 1 a.m by the most terrible storm … thunder, lightning and it was absolutely pouring with rain. It was so bad that the windows of our bedroom were rattling constantly. We couldn’t get back to sleep because it was so loud! The removal guy called me at 5 a.m and told me there was no way they could come because even if the rain stopped all the roads would be flooded, consequently the traffic would be worse. We agreed that there was no way we could move that morning, so agreed on 5 p.m the same day providing the weather cleared up a bit.

Since we were already awake and there was no way I was going back to sleep, I decided to load the car with things to bring to the new house. I had a few suitcases of ornaments and ceramics, our laptops and electrical appliances (such as DVD player) and all of our files of letters and bank statements etc that I wanted to move myself. You hear such horror stories about removal companies in India and even things in the mail – how things always go missing. There are a few things I wouldn’t take any chances on. So, I got up at about 6 and started loading the car. Unfortunately, Penri was really ill – he had fever and a cold, but he decided to help (even though I told him to stay in bed). He dosed himself up on the last of our Lemsip Flu Capsules (which we brought back last time from UK) and helped me and our security guard load the car.

We decided to take the cats in the first load so they were out of the way when the removal van arrived and due to the fact that one of us had to stay at the new flat because we were having Sky TV installed and they told us it would be any time between 11 and the evening! We were also getting the air conditioners installed in the afternoon. So, we got the cats loaded onto the backseat and Pen drove us all over to the new place. I think the cats were kind of relieved in a way because they were freaking out for the two weeks prior to moving with all the boxes and suitcases everywhere. I think they were also worried they’d be going back on an aeroplane again.

It was still raining quite badly, so both of us were wet through from loading the car, but luckily, because it was so early, there wasn’t much traffic on the roads. It took us 40 minutes to get here. We unloaded everything and settled Pepsi and Socks into one of the rooms, then Pen decided to lie down on the bed (that luckily was already put together) and I decided to drive back to the house and bring another load over.

The drive back wasn’t too bad and it only took me just under an hour. The rain was getting heavier again and I got soaked loading the car the second time. Luckily the security guard was there and able to help me load the car. He was laughing at me because I literally packed the car to overflowing! The boot, back seat and front seat were full and piled high to the ceiling. He kept saying ‘Full madam’ and ‘Finish madam’ and I kept saying ‘No! More! There is space there’. The problem with moving stuff like bedding and pillows is it takes so much room and it couldn’t have gone in the van as it would have got filthy.

Anyway, I set off from home about 9.30 a.m and started the drive back. It took me about two and a half hours with the crazy traffic, rain and flooded roads!! By the time I arrived at the flat my left knee was so painful from all the clutch control. The air conditioner guy was there, which meant one of us had to stay in the flat with him, so we took it turns to go down to the car to bring a load of stuff up. It wouldn’t have been so bad except the lift wasn’t working and our apartment is on the fourth floor … a lot of stairs!!! We couldn’t leave it in the car because we didn’t want it to get broken into and also one of us had to drive back to the house to meet the delivery van at 5.

We finally managed to get it all in and I made up the bed for Penri (who was really suffering now). He had a nap while I sat with the air conditioning guys in the lounge. They couldn’t install the split a/c in the lounge because we needed to buy copper pipe and the bracket was missing to attach it to the wall. At 3 p.m Pen went back to the house so he could meet the delivery truck and I stayed in to wait for Sky. They arrived about 10 minutes after he left and spent the next hour installing our dish and all the relevant wires for cable TV.

Then I unpacked the stuff I had brought over and waited for Penri to return with the delivery guys. Penri arrived back at the house at about 7.30 p.m and the delivery guys arrived about an hour after that. There were six of them unloading the van and bringing everything upstairs. Luckily, by then the lift had started working again, so they just piled the lift high with boxes and suitcases and sent it up to one guy who was upstairs with Pen and they emptied it. It was pretty fast actually and they had emptied the van in just over an hour. When I came back upstairs I couldn’t believe it. All the boxes had been dumped in one room and were piled high. You could hardly get into the room because they had them right up next to the door. Anyway, at least they were all there and I started unpacking a couple before calling it a night and going downstairs to get some dinner.

We only lost two things in the move. One small bag and a bottle of alcohol (which was in the fridge) but somehow between leaving Harrington House and coming here it miraculously disappeared. Not bad really considering!

The day after moving in, we went out shopping and bought a sofa, two armchairs, a small dining table with six chairs and a fridge. We still have to buy curtains, rugs, decorations etc, but I can do all that in my own time. Obviously the sooner the better but there’s really no rush and I can just do it all in my own time.

The first thing I did when we moved in was unpack the Christmas tree and set it up. It is so nice standing in lounge, and made it start to feel like Christmas. I spent two days unpacking all of our belongings and finding homes for everything, which wasn’t too difficult because all the bedrooms have fitted wardrobes which allow for a lot of storage space.

We have three bedrooms (two with en-suite) and a third bathroom (which has become our laundry room). In India, bathrooms are so basic, so when I say en-suite, it literally means a room with a toilet, sink and shower head (not even a shower curtain). Then there is a kitchen, separate dining room, lounge and poojah room (prayer room), which has become our office. There are two balconies (one a lot bigger than the other), but I don’t think we’ll be using them. Now we are in the middle of the city, it’s very noisy and the air is not as clean as down by the beach. I will take some photos once we get a bit more established in the new place.

Not much more to add than that at the moment.

Happy New Year 2008!

It’s been a while, I know. I apologise for the delay in writing on my blog. Things have just been so hectic here!

For those of you who haven’t already heard our good news – Penri and I are expecting our first baby in April. We couldn’t be happier and are getting really excited now that my bump is starting to show.

Christmas was pretty good – we had a nice relaxing day with just the two of us. We decided we’d spend the day at home and just played computer games, watched TV and then went out to the Park Hotel for dinner, which was lovely.

Penri's mum sent the cats some catnip and because they haven't had any since February 2007, they went crazy for it! We gave them some in the morning and then decided to put a bit away for later. Well, that was the plan ... however, I went in the kitchen to get a drink and Socks had found the packet of catnip. She'd gone crazy and eaten most of it. I managed to catch her on camera ...

















Aren't her eyes amazing?

I had my Drama Show (MADRAS Kids) on December 8th, which went really well and I was so pleased with the outcome. There were 31 kids involved and they all did a fantastic job. For me though, that’s it for my Drama Club. I have passed it onto a friend of mine who is going to run it from January. I wish I had more time and effort to put into it as it could potentially grow to be something huge, but with the baby due, I just don’t want to commit to something that I can’t see through. I must admit I have really enjoyed setting up the Drama group and both the shows I did were really successful, so I guess I’ll always have that to take away with me as fond memories of living in Chennai. I'll really miss running it as well; the kids are fab!


















Madras Kids December 2008

I am still helping out with the OWC (Overseas Women’s Club) till February when we have the annual Garden Tea. It’s a very posh event, which I was involved in last year (playing the piano) but this year I’m on the Entertainment Committee so there’s a lot more to organise. There are only two of us on the committee and the other lady is on leave from the end of December till February, so I’m pretty much on my own on the committee. Luckily, the president of the OWC is Stephanie, who’s a really good friend of mine and I know we'll be working together and she has it all in hand, so that's cool.

The last reason I have been run off my feet, is we have just moved house! We decided if we are going to be here for another 9 months then we are going to move somewhere a bit more manageable and a bit more baby-friendly, which our last house was not! With all the power cuts and water shortages and the winding staircase, it just wasn’t suitable, especially with the baby being due in April – it’s the hottest time of the year! So, I spent two weeks packing boxes and suitcases in preparation for our move. I was trying to take things slowly as I don’t have the energy I used to have, but I never actually realized how much stuff we have acquired and what I thought would possibly fit in 10 suitcases and the same number of boxes ended up being a whole truck full!!

I'll write about our move in another post otherwise this one will be incredibly long!