I hadn’t really thought the implications of this through – and it was only in the morning when we saw the devastation of the storm that we realised leaving Milwaukee could be a problem.

The whole airport was deep in water and closed till late in the afternoon when they managed to drain the water.

Flood

Flood

Flood

Unfortunately my house mate has caught Malaria – hopefully it wont be too severe and he will recover soon.

Waka waka eh eh - This times malaria. . .

So, it was nice to see my local supermarket had got some eco friendly bags – especially as they look so similar to a UK supermarkets version.

Every Little Helps

Yes, i find that funny.

The problem we face is that bars in Chennai:

1. Close at 11pm
2. Are couples only
3. Probably wont show football anyway.

The solution:

Build a screen in the garden, run an 80m cable from the satellite dish and watch it at home.

All hail Jumbotron !

Build it .. and they will come.

But still funny as f&*$

Last week was The Great Leaders Birthday and a whopping £25,000 was spent on giant posters and flags throughout the city that wouldn’t look out of place in Pyongyang.

My favorite poster depicted his bald head as a pearl in an oyster shell. Fallon, Ogilvy, Saatchi – you’ve got nothing on this !

Oyster Catcher

As we wandered around – clearly the only Londoners in a 4 mile radius -  I started to wonder what the London connection was exactly. And as nice as the replica “London Bridge” was – a quick search on google would have revealed it was in fact Tower Bridge.

London Shopping Festival

Austin Towers

My new house mate Austin has moved in, so instead of me wasting the day on my own resuing insects from the pool – we decided to get sporty.

First event – Lilo race

Second event – Surf in the pool

Third event – Kite surf.

Now, bearing in mind that being Western we attract a lot of stares in the street from locals, we knew that taking a 19 foot kite onto the beach was going to be an Indian magnet – and so it proved to be.

Still, with a crowd of about 70 watching us we were able to launch the kite and Austin was able to skid along the beach. Unfortuntaley the wind dropped so we couldnt try it in the sea, but nevertheless, much fun.

If everybody had a ocean . .

Lets go fly a kite . .

something funny...

And then something always reminds me why i shouldn’t.

We are driving through Goa and a car overtakes us, 2 km later . . .

Independence or Life? Hmmnnn..

It was such a serious power outage that it made the local TV and newspapers.

We need more power scotty !!

Every now and then there is a song that you will not be able to escape – it’s on peoples phones, in their cars or just blaring from houses. The latest one is from Slum Dog Millionaire Composer,  A.R. Rahman and its called Hosanna.

I would say I hear it at least twice a day, every day.

Groundhog Day.

His site was made by a BA crew member who had been using him and a Norwegian subsequently donated Samson a laptop.

Now the media have picked up on this and there was an article in The Hindu this weekend, followed by an interview on the radio this morning.

However, I am not in a rush to get a lift as I rarely use rickshaws and have been told that my frivolity when paying raises the prices for other Westerners!

I first became aware of him when I came home from work and felt the wind as he galloped past me – it’s not your average sized rat – he’s massive.

I’ve been approaching my porch with my laptop held above my head, ready to swing at him, but he seems to have gone into hiding.

Maybe I should arrange for the snake that fought and killed a cat in my garden last year, to fight the rat – and get Jose Luis Rodriguez to captue the moment!

We celebrated by having Pongal (sweet rice) a game of ‘smash the pot’ blindfolded and a Rangoli competition for the girls.

Dhoti look nice

Vetti Good Team

Bosh!

This isn’t a provincial station, its a big station in the city.

Shower - Alfresco !

Logo looks familiar

Appropriately, people are wrapping up. I have seen people with jackets, woolly hats and even balaclavas!

I am standing on the train platform, shorts and a t-shirt lapping up the sun, while the man next to me seems to think its scarf o’clock!

Bit chilly?

As we ate in the restaurant which the book centers on, I spotted the author. Unable to resist the temptation, I approached him and got my picture.

Extra scene in the movie needed now I guess  . . .

Gregory David Roberts

As we drive from the airport into the city I am soaking up the scenery with all my senses when I spot some graffiti that I recognise instantly as North Londons finest, Drax, living up to the World Domination name!

Brought a big smile to my face.

Didn’t get a chance to get photos myself, so these are courtesy of Drax’s Flikr account

Draxi

World Domination

I adopted my usual “uncomfortable oh shit I am gonna drop him” look which i have perfected over the years…

Sri Hari

On Wednesday, a member of staff found a 3 foot Indian python wrapped behind the headlight in the steering chassis of his motorbike.

The motorbike was wheeled to the road and tipped over, where I am sad to say it was then attacked with sticks and killed.

Badger Badger Badger

Snake, its a Snake . .