I've already made a few calls to loved ones back home, using my new found Skype skills. What a fantastic service. My cell company (thanks AT&T) wants to charge me $2.29/min to call anyone while I'm here; and that's after paying them $15 for the "international calling plan". Phone hand-cuffs. Psah I say, psah. But, with Skype I can call free to anyone who has Skype and I can call for $0.021/minute to anyone else! I surprised a few folks calling their cell phones from Delhi (via Skype). I've even set up a direct line through Skype so that people can call me directly. If you want that number, shoot me an email (phils949 at live.com) and I'll send it to you.
At the moment, I'm enjoying my hotel's breakfast buffet. (Here's a picture of my plate - Ms. Linda Oakes would not forgive me if I failed to post a few food pics.)
On my plate is an assortment of the best fruit and melon I've tasted, some strange looking bacon, a nice coriander idli with coconut and tamarind chutneys, breakfast pudding, watermelon juice and coffee "with milk". Of all of these delights, I must comment on two of them.
First, idli. (Yes Mickey, I'm thinking of you as I ingest this delicate Indian delight.) These little flying saucers of love are probably hell on my new-found girlish figure. I simply cannot resist them. Made from lentil and rice, steamed into heavenly little disks, and garnished with whatever chutney you like (I prefer coconut and tamarind), they go down very easy and leave me wanting more. Today, I will limit myself to two of them (such restraint).
Second, coffee "with milk". The "with milk" is said like a joyous surprise. Like a little boy saying to his mother, "and candy!" I agree with my Indian friends. The way they make their coffee "with milk" is definitely a joyous surprise. They heat the milk, and make their coffee strong. So, about 2/3 of the cup is strong coffee, and 1/3 warm milk (and I don't mean skim milk). Needless to say, it is one of the first ideas to penetrate my mind when I sit upright in bed... "I must get some coffee 'with milk'". (As a random aside, I did a search on "coffee with milk india" on google to see if anyone else was as taken by this phenomenon. Alas, it seems I may be alone on this one. However, I did find a rather comical post about the mystery of the disappearing milk in this man's coffee: Click here to go tangential.)
But, I digress.
Please allow me to continue (albeit mundanely linear) the story of my trip to Delhi. In my next post... ;-P
(Re-edit post: So, I've been sitting in the restaurant since 7 AM -- it's now 9:15. My bags have arrived, and my friend Ashish has made arrangements for a driver to take me around Delhi all day today. The driver is picking me up at 10 AM, and I already have a full itinerary. Jeez... I'm getting backlogged on my blogging. I promise to catch up tonight and post more pictures. My nice camera should be in my bags too, so I'll have something better than a bunch of iPhone pictures to share with you. Stay tuned...)
----------- A few books on Indian cooking & Coffee -------
Okay, so I work in advertising. Do you really think I'd post a blog without playing with ads? If they bother you, please, please, please do me a favor: Don't click on them. Clicking on them only encourages people like me. And, in case you were rudely curious why I would do such a thing, I really need the $0.10/mo I'll get from this... No, really. The web is a playground, and I would be sadly remiss if I did something on the web and failed to use it as an opportunity to experiment and learn something more about my trade. Now, stop reading this paragraph, as it should have lost your interest at least 3 sentences ago. Delhi and coffee "with milk!" is far more interesting than advertising. Go on. Read a different post, or go pay some bills or something useful.
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