The Jones's at No. 43: April 2008

Baby Dylan - born 20.04.08

Nice pictures

On our way home from McDonalds, we went across a bridge over the river. I managed to get these two nice photos. Anywhere else in the world, this would be a beautiful setting to stand and watch the sunset. In India, I only had the window open for a few minutes to take the photos and Penri was complaining about the smell. It does look nice though, doesn't it?

McDonalds has come to Chennai ...

Finally! McDonalds has opened in Chennai! We decided to take a trip over there yesterday to test it out and I was really looking forward to it. It's quite a drive from where we live - it's near to where Penri works - so it took us about 45 minutes to get there.

When we went in we looked at the menu. We knew there were no beefburgers because they don't serve beef because the cows are sacred, so I knew I couldn't have a Big Mac. However, I was very disappointed to discover that they also don't sell McDonalds milkshakes, apple pies or McFlurry ice cream. I mean What's a McDonalds without a milkshake?! And I LOVE those apple pies.

To make up for not having those - they have extra items on the menu! You can have a McAloo Tikki, which is a potato burger; or a Chicken Maharaja Mac (which Pen had and is like a spicy-ish chicken burger); or finally you can order a Paneer Salsa Wrap (paneer is a type of cheese they use here a lot). My thought was - why would I go to McDonalds to have Indian-influenced food?

I ended up having a McChicken Sandwich meal, which was very nice and I must admit tasted pretty similar to back home. It was just sad that their menu was so limited. I guess I'll just have to wait another four months till we leave here to enjoy a proper McDonalds meal.

Moving furniture

After Danielle's baby shower, my friend Tania picked me up and took me to a shop called Saravana Stores. It is in the middle of T.Nagar - right in the centre of town. It is so busy and always heaving with people. I'm so glad I had someone with me as we were bombarded by beggars and autoricks. We made our way through the crowd and down a small alley full of tiny shops.

I was sure we were in the wrong place as Saravana Stores is huge (it spans over four floors) and they sell everything from furniture to toys, and electrical goods to pots and pans! Anyway, after asking an auto driver we found it.

We went straight up to the fourth floor (to look at furniture). I wanted to buy a chest of drawers or cupboard to put in our bedroom for baby clothes. It didn't take me long to find something. The choices were quite limited, but I was happy with what I picked and it was a bargain price. As soon as I decided which one I wanted, we got them to write up the bill and arranged for same day delivery.

They delivered the flat packed boxes at 8 p.m and told me that they would be back at 10 o'clock in the morning to make up the unit. On Saturday morning I woke up at 9.45 wondering if these guys would actually turn up at 10. They didn't! I waited until 12 p.m and then tried calling them. No-one spoke any English and I couldn't understand them so I went downstairs to the restaurant and one of the waiters called for me and spoke in Tamil. They told him they would come at 5 p.m that day.

So, I decided there was no point going out, I would just hang around the house. 5 o'clock came and went and no sign of them. I waited till 7 and went downstairs again to ask one of the waiters to phone for me. They told him that it would be Monday morning.

On Sunday, we called them again to confirm they were coming on Monday, to which they replied 'Yes'.

So, this morning at 11 a.m I went downstairs and they rang again to see when they were coming. They said definitely before 5 p.m. At 6 p.m when they still hadn't arrived, I went downstairs yet again. Do you see a pattern forming here? And every time I had faith that they were coming! The guy finally arrived just after 6 p.m this evening.

It was quite funny because the unit didn't come with any instructions (of course) and it was in a dressing table box so the picture on the box didn't help. The man asked me what it was he was building. Luckily, I had taken a picture of it while I was in the shop and so I showed it to him. He seemed happy with that and got to work. It only took him about an hour and it was built.

He helped Penri carry it into the bedroom and off he went. Then Pen and I rearranged all the furniture in the bedroom (again) to make it work. I'm glad we did - it is much better now and Pen can actually get out of bed without having to climb over the cot and bedside table! The cot is now at the end of the bed and the cupboard/drawers are where the cot was.

I took some photos:

I put the new mosquito net on the cot - it's really good and goes all the way down to the floor:

Once the cupboard was in place - I brought in the baby stuff. Penri hung up the nappy stacker and hanging pocket thing:

I filled the cupboard with baby clothes and bedding and then we put some toys in the cot:

Socks

I forgot to put this photo on my blog before. The other day when Danielle took photos of my bump, we were trying to get one of me with both the cats. With Pepsi, we had no chance as she wouldn't come out from under the bed but Socks graced us with her presence long enough to get a few photos. This one is my favourite - she's looking directly at Danielle.

All the small things ...

Pen and I were out shopping the other day when we found these:

Salt'n'vinegar crisps!

They were a bit expensive - about 5 pounds for the packet, but it was well worth it. We really enjoyed them! You still cannot get salt'n'vinegar crisps anywhere in Chennai (not pringles, walkers - nothing!) So, it was a real treat for us.

Danielle's Baby Shower - 04.04.08

From having never been to a baby shower, I have now been to three in the last month! Today was Danielle's 'SURPRISE' baby shower. She had no idea about it and was completely shocked when she walked into Karyn's house and all her friends were there. I took some photos which I want to attach.

We had some lovely food that Karyn had made