The end of January along with the beginning of February turned out to be a busy time for me. It is now the middle of February and I am just getting around to the January blog.. Because of the late post this month the blog schedule will change for the next couple of months. This blog will cover January and the first half of February, I will get a blog up after our vacation towards the first of March and then I will have a March blog up at the end of that month! So now, on to the January-Mid Feb blog.
January was a great month and as I had mentioned above it was a busy month for both Kaysi and I! We started the year off by ringing in the new year right here in our apartment looking over the Back Bay here in Bombay! It was great to see the many fireworks as well as people sending lanterns floating off into the sky. Our friends Steve, Meghan, and Holden arrived on New Years Day so we were able to do a little site seeing with them over that weekend as well as go to a few of the restaurants in the Colaba area, Cafe Mondegar and Leopold’s both famous tourist restaurants and one called The Table. All had excellent food!!
The second weekend of January Kaysi and I took a weekend trip to Goa which is a few hours south of Mumbai on the Arabian Sea. We stayed at a great Boutique Hotel called Soul Vacation near Colva Beach. The hotel was a nice getaway from the busy city with an amazing staff and great food! I had some of the biggest prawns (shrimp) that I have ever eaten in my entire life!!
On Saturday we were able to go to Old Goa and tour through a number of historic churches. Goa was at one point a Portuguese colony and has a strong Catholic influence. We toured through three different churches Basilica Bom Jesus, Se Cathedral, and Church of St Cajetan and saw a fourth St Francis of Assisi but didn’t tour it. Construction of Basilica Bom Jesus was started in 1594 and was completed in 1605! Its a fairly simple on the outside but has ornate carvings and paintings throughout the interior!
Se Cathedral is a massive church building and was began in 1562 but it wasn't completely finished until 1652! The interior has intricate carvings and paintings as well with high vaulted ceilings.
Our favorite of the churches we toured though was Church of St Cajetan which is supposedly modeled on the St Peter Basilica in Rome. It was a little further away from the other churches so it wasn’t as crowded and very quiet! We really enjoyed getting to tour the churches!
Upon returning to the hotel that afternoon we went and walked along the beach and were able to dip our feet in Arabian Sea! It was fun to watch the many Indians who were enjoying the beach, many who we assumed it was their first time in the ocean! They also had lots of different water sports you could partake in although we opted to just watch others. Kaysi and I both got massages and then went out to a lovely dinner at place called Jamies! The food was excellent!! (Have I mentioned I like food?!) Sunday we took it easy and went for a stroll along the beach and again dipped our feet in the ocean for a bit! We then had lunch on the beach before returning to our hotel and then heading back here to Mumbai!
The following week I was busy finishing up my reading for a course I was taking and preparing to meet a group of students and professors from Asbury in Bangalore. I met up with the group in Bangalore on the 17th after several delays from my flight but hey I made it!. While in Bangalore we were able to learn lots about Indian culture as well as some of the Christian history of India! It was a great week of conversation with students from Asbury as well as some other students I met while in Bangalore. I arrived back in Mumbai late on the 24th after a couple of delays I was sure ready to see Kaysi! That was the longest stretch we had been apart since we’ve been married (neither of us were a fan of it).
That weekend happened to be a long weekend due to Republic Day here in India falling on a Monday this year which gave Kaysi and I an extra day before she had to return to work. On Sunday after we went to church we went and ate The Pantry. Now, I’ve had my fare share of waffles in life but I am pretty certain that I may have had the best waffle of my life that Sunday! It was a Caramelized Banana Waffle and it was glorious!
We also got another massage that day at the Palms Spa which too was amazing! We did a little bit of site seeing that day as well. We went to the Gateway of India which is right close the The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The hotel is quite beautiful outside as well as inside! Kaysi and I took a short afternoon break in one of their restaurants for some hot chocolate (for Kaysi) and a cappuccino for me! Monday was a relaxing day with not too much activity! We hit up one of our favorite restaurants called Pizza By the Bay and then just relaxed at home the rest of that day!
The last week of January was full of me getting book reports and papers turned in for my class and Kaysi working throughout the day and then also doing a good bit of work at night on an inservice she will be hosting soon! By the end of the month we were both pretty tired but it was a great month! Oh and one other thing I cannot forget about January.. Natural’s Ice Cream! Our friend Jatin introduced it to us and Kaysi and I are hooked! If you know me, you know I love ice cream!! Naturals is a Ice Cream Company based here in Mumbai and they have absolutely great ice cream! Their chocolate cream flavor is like having a Wendy’s frosty, only better, and their strawberry rivals some of the best homemade strawberry ice cream I’ve had! If you’re ever in Mumbai definitely give it a try! Now on to February!!
February snuck up on me this year, and has almost snuck past me! With February comes my brother and I’s birthday sandwiched in between sister in law and sister, and two nephews birthdays! Jerrad and I turned 32 this year! Thats just crazy!! And since we are about 12 hours ahead of family here in India I told Kaysi that it was only proper that I celebrate my birthday for 36 hours and she agreed whole heartedly!! (Upon her reading the blog before posting she disagreed with the last statement..) Here in India its a tradition that a person gets “caked” for their birthday! That means that after you have cut into your birthday cake everyone takes turns cutting a piece, feeding you a little of that piece and then they proceed to place the cake all over your face and in your hair! Kaysi got the first shot at me and she was super nice to me.. just place a little cake in my beard.. Next it was our friends Jatin and Bruce’s turn. They weren’t as nice but still I’m sure, no I know, it could have been worse.
The second weekend of February was a busy one! We celebrated my birthday dinner on the Friday at a place called Ellipses… (sorry that was a lil redundant) anyhow it was a great meal! Kaysi had some Australian Beef Tenderloin and I had Chicken and Waffles! I can never seem to not order that combo if its ever on a menu! We also had a bread pudding desert that topped things right off!
On that Saturday a woman, Mithila (almost pronounced Matilda), who works for the Times of India took us around to several different places for some sight seeing! We first went to the Dhobi Ghat which is an large outdoor clothes washing area. Its a big area with many different stalls for the washing and drying of the clothes!
New we went to Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (formerly the Victoria & Albert Museum which show cases many of the things that are produced and sold here in India! It was originally opened in 1872 and was recently renovated.
Next we went to the Times of India main building here in Mumbai. There we were able to see the main news room, which was a ghost town since we were there around noon. We were served an amazing meal! We were served what we thought was the main portion and Kaysi was so proud she finished it all… then the next phase of the meal came! The meal concluded with a chocolate moose and fresh strawberries! After lunch we were able to tour through parts of their archives which was quite interesting and also look at a newspaper which was from August 15, 1947 which was the day India became an independent nation!
After touring the Times of India building we went to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) it is directly across the street from the Times of India building. (which is a very busy and historic railway station and the headquarters of the Central Railways). The CST main building is beautiful as you can see in the pictures! We tried going up to the very top of the main building to see the stained glass windows but it was not open for visitors on that day. We were able to go to the main platform where you catch trains and it is a huge area! If you’ve watched Slum Dog Millionaire this is where the final dance scene was recorded!
Next we went to The Prince of Wales Museum also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. The main attraction we went to see there were some Saris that were from the mid 1800’s. The Saris were special because unlike traditional saris that are usually just designs these Saris depicted many of the things that people saw in every day life including a lady smoking hookah, a steam locomotive, a sail boat and numerous other things! They were very neat!
The last stop of our site seeing tour was the Afghan Church (also known as Church of St John the Evangelist). This church is away from the tourist area so it looked almost abandoned as we approached. Luckily our friend Mithila was able to find the woman who was the care taker of the church and she let us inside to tour it. We were the only people there so that made if quite nice! It is a beautiful church both inside and out!
One funny part of the day came towards the end after we had a little bit to eat at Starbucks. As we were walking out Mithila told Kaysi that she had thought in preparing for guiding us around that we were probably in our 60s! Apparently in the description given to Mithila and her co-worker Kaysi was referred to as a very senior Therapist and as Miss Kaysi. I think much to her relief we are not in our 60s!
On Sunday after church we were able to go on a tour of the Elphanta Caves which are on an island about an hours ferry ride from the Gateway of India! Again, Mithila accompanied us on the adventure! I had envisioned a very crowded ferry ride, but thankfully on each ferry there were enough seats for everyone to sit down during the ride. On our ride to the island we enjoyed getting to see numerous boats and even saw a submarine coming into port! Once we arrived on the island we took a small little train up to where you begin making your way up a long stair case up to the caves.
The stairway leading up to the caves is lined on both sides by vendors selling all sorts of things. There is also a variety of wildlife on the island. The most prevalent are cows, dogs, goats, and monkeys! As we began our ascent up the stairs we saw a sign that said “BEWARE OF MONKEYS” with monkeys sitting on the sign.
Mithila told me that I should put my sunglasses in my backpack which I did along with a coke we had just bought. Soon after she told me that we were all caught off guard by one of the clever monkeys. Im pretty sure two of them had worked out a plan! One distract and the other snatch! Mithila was carrying an orange juice in her hand down by her side as she was looking out for monkeys above, right at that moment I see a monkey dart across the path snatch the bottle out of her hand and scaled up a tree! We wondered what he would do with the closed bottle.. well we were shocked as he proceeded to open the bottle, tilt it on its side, and then drink her orange juice. They were right about those monkeys!
After making our way up the remainder of the stairs navigating past vendors, goats, dogs and those pesky monkeys we reached the first of five different caves. The first cave has the most carvings as well as the most intricate of designs! It took about an hour to get through all of the caves. We made a quick stop between some of the caves and were entertained by more monkeys fighting over food as well as a cow climbing stairs! It was a great day of adventure!
Kaysi and I have enjoyed our time here in Mumbai! It has been rather refreshing having a change of pace in life! Kaysi has really enjoyed her patients here in Mumbai! Its so much fun for me to see her in her element and loving what she does! I have enjoyed the changes as well although most of my days are pretty predictable they are quite fun! Our driver Kapil has been great for us and he pretty much has my routine down! I always enjoy getting to look at all the different nice car’s Kapil and I come across on our daily drives! We’ve seen everything from a Lamborghini to Rolls-Royce! I have also become known to a good portion of the baristas at the Fort Area Starbucks here in Mumbai, which has been a normal place for me to go most days of the week!
We are winding up our time here in Mumbai and its bitter sweet! Mumbai is a city that’s easy to fall in love with! The people here are so great and the weather this time of year is impeccable! We have loved Eden Springs, the church our friend Pete and Katie got us connected with! They have been such a loving church family here and I was even able to be a part of the service this past weekend! Below is a picture of the Halyburton's and us after church a few weeks back.
Our apartment here is also great! You cant ask for a better view overlooking the back bay here in Mumbai! We have been truly blessed by getting to spend the last two months here! So what comes next? We will be heading back to Delhi shortly and then off to an amazing vacation we have planned!! You’ll have to check back in to the blog or catch us on Facebook to see where we are going!! Its going to be #epic! Oh what the heck.. if you’ve read this far you deserve to know where we are going! We are checking off another place off our bucket list and going to New Zealand!! Check back in March for our adventures from Middle Earth!
Oh and one final quick story! If you know Kaysi you know she is an animal lover! We come across many dogs and cats and even elephants that she desires to have as a pet. Often I am the Debbie Downer and always tell her why we can't take said animal home or keep them as a pet! Well… I finally gave in… We now have our very own pet here in India! His name is Theodore and he is a pigeon!
The end!
These links go to Photo Albums if you want to see more pictures!
Mumbai Goa Elephanta Caves
The second weekend of February was a busy one! We celebrated my birthday dinner on the Friday at a place called Ellipses… (sorry that was a lil redundant) anyhow it was a great meal! Kaysi had some Australian Beef Tenderloin and I had Chicken and Waffles! I can never seem to not order that combo if its ever on a menu! We also had a bread pudding desert that topped things right off!
On that Saturday a woman, Mithila (almost pronounced Matilda), who works for the Times of India took us around to several different places for some sight seeing! We first went to the Dhobi Ghat which is an large outdoor clothes washing area. Its a big area with many different stalls for the washing and drying of the clothes!
New we went to Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (formerly the Victoria & Albert Museum which show cases many of the things that are produced and sold here in India! It was originally opened in 1872 and was recently renovated.
The last stop of our site seeing tour was the Afghan Church (also known as Church of St John the Evangelist). This church is away from the tourist area so it looked almost abandoned as we approached. Luckily our friend Mithila was able to find the woman who was the care taker of the church and she let us inside to tour it. We were the only people there so that made if quite nice! It is a beautiful church both inside and out!
One funny part of the day came towards the end after we had a little bit to eat at Starbucks. As we were walking out Mithila told Kaysi that she had thought in preparing for guiding us around that we were probably in our 60s! Apparently in the description given to Mithila and her co-worker Kaysi was referred to as a very senior Therapist and as Miss Kaysi. I think much to her relief we are not in our 60s!
On Sunday after church we were able to go on a tour of the Elphanta Caves which are on an island about an hours ferry ride from the Gateway of India! Again, Mithila accompanied us on the adventure! I had envisioned a very crowded ferry ride, but thankfully on each ferry there were enough seats for everyone to sit down during the ride. On our ride to the island we enjoyed getting to see numerous boats and even saw a submarine coming into port! Once we arrived on the island we took a small little train up to where you begin making your way up a long stair case up to the caves.
Mithila told me that I should put my sunglasses in my backpack which I did along with a coke we had just bought. Soon after she told me that we were all caught off guard by one of the clever monkeys. Im pretty sure two of them had worked out a plan! One distract and the other snatch! Mithila was carrying an orange juice in her hand down by her side as she was looking out for monkeys above, right at that moment I see a monkey dart across the path snatch the bottle out of her hand and scaled up a tree! We wondered what he would do with the closed bottle.. well we were shocked as he proceeded to open the bottle, tilt it on its side, and then drink her orange juice. They were right about those monkeys!
After making our way up the remainder of the stairs navigating past vendors, goats, dogs and those pesky monkeys we reached the first of five different caves. The first cave has the most carvings as well as the most intricate of designs! It took about an hour to get through all of the caves. We made a quick stop between some of the caves and were entertained by more monkeys fighting over food as well as a cow climbing stairs! It was a great day of adventure!
Kaysi and I have enjoyed our time here in Mumbai! It has been rather refreshing having a change of pace in life! Kaysi has really enjoyed her patients here in Mumbai! Its so much fun for me to see her in her element and loving what she does! I have enjoyed the changes as well although most of my days are pretty predictable they are quite fun! Our driver Kapil has been great for us and he pretty much has my routine down! I always enjoy getting to look at all the different nice car’s Kapil and I come across on our daily drives! We’ve seen everything from a Lamborghini to Rolls-Royce! I have also become known to a good portion of the baristas at the Fort Area Starbucks here in Mumbai, which has been a normal place for me to go most days of the week!
Our apartment here is also great! You cant ask for a better view overlooking the back bay here in Mumbai! We have been truly blessed by getting to spend the last two months here! So what comes next? We will be heading back to Delhi shortly and then off to an amazing vacation we have planned!! You’ll have to check back in to the blog or catch us on Facebook to see where we are going!! Its going to be #epic! Oh what the heck.. if you’ve read this far you deserve to know where we are going! We are checking off another place off our bucket list and going to New Zealand!! Check back in March for our adventures from Middle Earth!
Oh and one final quick story! If you know Kaysi you know she is an animal lover! We come across many dogs and cats and even elephants that she desires to have as a pet. Often I am the Debbie Downer and always tell her why we can't take said animal home or keep them as a pet! Well… I finally gave in… We now have our very own pet here in India! His name is Theodore and he is a pigeon!
The end!
These links go to Photo Albums if you want to see more pictures!
Mumbai Goa Elephanta Caves
Great stuff, Scott! You are doing what I would do: sampling the cuisine (and you're right about chicken and waffles: they rock!). Glad you got to meet up with the Asbury folk; generall the seminary sends a group there at least once a year, and you probably know there's a number of Indians enrolled in the seminary (church planting guys). The photos are amazing. You got to see some of the greatest (native) art in all of Asia in those Island caves you went to. Wow. Glad you're going to N. Zealand next. What a blast! (New Zealand is I believe the third or fourth freest country in the world behind Hong Kong and Singapore).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've ventured out and tried several different things! Even ate friend lungs back in December! Yeah it was great meeting up with Asbury folk! Yeah there is so many different places to see great art and architecture here! We are looking forward to New Zealand! Have some pretty awesome activities lined up for our trip! Thanks for reading!
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