Best Indian Meal Ever

Just returned from Chutneys at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel. They have a veggie buffet on Tuesday nights that we have kept saying we wanted to try, but for whatever reason always missed it.
Tonight we didn't.

http://www.cinnamonhotels.com/GrandChutneys.htm

First the ambiance of the restaurant is excellent, door man, host, server, the whole enchilada. They had three guys in traditional garb playing a guitar, flute (Recorder) and drums playing Indian music. Very cool background music.

The buffet was great. We started off with a salad plate then returned for a few spoons each of some of the different curry's. We both opted not to get any rice although I did get a few pieces of naan (Indian grilled bread).

Every bite of curry was delicious. It was difficult if not impossible to nail down any one curry as our favorite.

This was by far the best Indian meal I have ever had, bar none.

I love Indian food. Now don't get me wrong, do I miss a fat pulled pork North Carolina BBQ sandwich? Would I like some steamed and raw oysters? Would I like some back home diner food like meat loaf and fried chicken? Of course! But Indian food is in a category of its own. The spices, the flavors, it can't be ignored.

So drop by your local Indian place and give it a try!

New Blog To Enjoy

I stumbled upon a blog by way of a comment left on my blog and now I am a follower.
Please drop by http://nomadicjoe.blogspot.com for an enjoyable read about the expat life in Turkey.

Speaking of Turkey I gained one of my best travel lessons there. Trying to catch a cab from the Grand Bazaar to the Movenpick hotel. Could not for the life of us find a taxi driver who understood or knew where the Movenpick was. Our plastic hotel key provided only the name of the hotel.

Fortunately one of the cab drivers made a call and we were on our way. Lesson learned? When I check into a hotel the first thing I do is grab a business card and put it in my wallet, like clockwork!

If you have a blog that you would like me to read please leave a comment.

Speaking of comment, why is it every time I mention, comment, I get a few spam comments in my inbox?

Messy Place

My wife and I take a morning walk/jog along the Galle Face Green usually every morning. What a surprise that awaited us as we approached The Green. The place was a mess.

Granted it was Monday morning and it was a weekends worth of trash, but all over the place, not in dumpsters.

Now add the many crows poking through everything and it just looked like awful.

There are pineapple and mango vendors that serve them in little plastic bags (Like you get at the grocery store). So people buy them, eat the fruit, then toss the bag on the ground. Other vendors wrap the food in newspaper, yep, on the ground, along with plastic bottles and everything else.

This stuff makes it way to the "beach" and then eventually out to the ocean as well.

I have mentioned before that we have seen the Sri Lankan President walking along The Green in the morning and I can't believe he has never commented on the mess.

Tomorrow morning it will most likely be cleaned up.

Home Shopping Network - Expat Style

Thankfully my employer provides an additional shipment for consumable items, be it nonperishable food, pet supplies, cleaning supplies etc.

We took advantage of that and Chris purchased plenty of cleaning supplies from the dollar store and some bulk items from Sam's Club and pet supplies here and there.

We have 400 pounds of kitty litter, 100 pounds of dry cat food, cases of canned and pouched cat food, restaurant sized rolls of aluminum foil and plastic wrap, 2 gallons of olive oil, jars of balsamic vinegar, mustard and mayonnaise, tubes of toothpaste and shampoo and on and on.

Surprisingly we haven't put much of a dent in much of it. Our housekeeper has been making use of the starch, actually to much so. Chris has had to remind her a few times not to starch the dish rags.

Pictured: Our pantry, pick your cat food!