What we did: researched Goa hotels, ate at Theobroma, watched movie
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent: 3902R/$78
Today, finally, Patty woke up feeling a little better. So much so that we were able to go down to have a somewhat normal breakfast! It was at this point that we decided to book one more night at the hotel and leave for Goa on January 16. It's always interesting asking for things at this hotel, and, really, in India, in general. We had already extended our stay by two nights and with our stay breakfasts were included. However, there seems to be no actual record of breakfast being included, so when we went to book the night of January 15, I had to basically arm wrestle the guy into agreeing that we would get breakfast included.
Service in India is absolutely shocking. People will say anything just to make you feel better, even if it means that they are completely lying. Like today, we had been told our breakfast would be included in our stay, but when we went to leave, there was a bill waiting for us. When I went to talk to the person at the front desk, all he could tell me was that it was "one of the kids" (i.e., younger workers) that must have told me this, implying, without actually telling me, that they were just wrong. Of course, nothing is ever anyone's fault in India, except for the customer's, that is. I argued with the guy for about five minutes before I just gave up. The last thing he said to me was "I will talk to the boys about this." My response: "Well that doesn't really help me, does it?" There is only one competent worker at this place, and she is it's saving grace. Everyone else is a complete moron.
We spent some time today researching where we'd like to stay in Goa. Goa is a state just south of Mumbai and is known for its beaches. We had wanted this to be our break from India so are planning to stay in a resort that is a nicer than our usual hotels. Ivan and Izabela and Izabela's parents, Grazyna and Tomek, have given us the glorious Christmas gift of money to spend on treating ourselves to a nice hotel. We hadn't had a chance to put that money to good use until now, and we really can't thank them enough for their generosity and thoughtfulness!
Although we didn't book anything in Goa, we did some good research and narrowed down our options. At this point, Patty was feeling good enough to venture out into the world. We decided to find a place recommended by Lonely Planet, called Theobroma, which specializes in baked goods.
We weren't sure how far it was, but it was in the direction of the KFC we had eaten at so we jumped in a taxi and directed him that way. We decided to just jump out at the KFC because we weren't exactly sure where Theobroma was located. As we were crossing the street, a number of small kids swarmed us asking for food or money and as one kid tapped my arm I felt his other hand reach into my pocket. I smacked his hand away and got the hell out of there. It's frustrating because these kids seem so poor and their lives consist of begging on the streets, but at the same time they are taught to steal and probably give everything they receive back to either their parents or some handler that sends them out to beg in the first place. It's heart-wrenching to see these kids, and it's a real moral conundrum as to how to treat them. We had decided to give kids that approach us small packages of crackers, although this doesn't really placate them and they typically demand more. This time we didn't give the kids anything. I didn't particularly enjoy nearly being robbed.
Anyway, our decision to jump out at the KFC turned out to be a lucky choice. We talked to a security guard and he pointed us to Theobroma, which was literally two stores away!
The menu was thankfully a little more diverse than just baked goods and we ended up ordering an omelette and a fritatta. Both dishes were excellent and we decided we'd have to come back to try their baked goods on another day. We didn't want to push it today, since this was the first substantial meal either of us had eaten in days.
We wandered through a small mall after eating looking for an HDMI cable that we could use to connect our computer to our TV. We found a short one for about $8 and probably just should have bought it, but we're really cheap these days. The mall was small and there was not that much interesting there, so we didn't stay long.
We walked back to our hotel, which took about 30 minutes and Patty took note of a bunch of stores she would like to come back to. Once we got back to our hotel we watched the movie This is 40, which is a comedy about a couple that is turning 40 and their messed up lives. It was pretty funny, but not a lot of substance.
And that was it for the day. Tomorrow hopefully we'll be able to do some shopping if we're feeling up to it.
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent: 3902R/$78
Today, finally, Patty woke up feeling a little better. So much so that we were able to go down to have a somewhat normal breakfast! It was at this point that we decided to book one more night at the hotel and leave for Goa on January 16. It's always interesting asking for things at this hotel, and, really, in India, in general. We had already extended our stay by two nights and with our stay breakfasts were included. However, there seems to be no actual record of breakfast being included, so when we went to book the night of January 15, I had to basically arm wrestle the guy into agreeing that we would get breakfast included.
Service in India is absolutely shocking. People will say anything just to make you feel better, even if it means that they are completely lying. Like today, we had been told our breakfast would be included in our stay, but when we went to leave, there was a bill waiting for us. When I went to talk to the person at the front desk, all he could tell me was that it was "one of the kids" (i.e., younger workers) that must have told me this, implying, without actually telling me, that they were just wrong. Of course, nothing is ever anyone's fault in India, except for the customer's, that is. I argued with the guy for about five minutes before I just gave up. The last thing he said to me was "I will talk to the boys about this." My response: "Well that doesn't really help me, does it?" There is only one competent worker at this place, and she is it's saving grace. Everyone else is a complete moron.
We spent some time today researching where we'd like to stay in Goa. Goa is a state just south of Mumbai and is known for its beaches. We had wanted this to be our break from India so are planning to stay in a resort that is a nicer than our usual hotels. Ivan and Izabela and Izabela's parents, Grazyna and Tomek, have given us the glorious Christmas gift of money to spend on treating ourselves to a nice hotel. We hadn't had a chance to put that money to good use until now, and we really can't thank them enough for their generosity and thoughtfulness!
Although we didn't book anything in Goa, we did some good research and narrowed down our options. At this point, Patty was feeling good enough to venture out into the world. We decided to find a place recommended by Lonely Planet, called Theobroma, which specializes in baked goods.
We weren't sure how far it was, but it was in the direction of the KFC we had eaten at so we jumped in a taxi and directed him that way. We decided to just jump out at the KFC because we weren't exactly sure where Theobroma was located. As we were crossing the street, a number of small kids swarmed us asking for food or money and as one kid tapped my arm I felt his other hand reach into my pocket. I smacked his hand away and got the hell out of there. It's frustrating because these kids seem so poor and their lives consist of begging on the streets, but at the same time they are taught to steal and probably give everything they receive back to either their parents or some handler that sends them out to beg in the first place. It's heart-wrenching to see these kids, and it's a real moral conundrum as to how to treat them. We had decided to give kids that approach us small packages of crackers, although this doesn't really placate them and they typically demand more. This time we didn't give the kids anything. I didn't particularly enjoy nearly being robbed.
Anyway, our decision to jump out at the KFC turned out to be a lucky choice. We talked to a security guard and he pointed us to Theobroma, which was literally two stores away!
The menu was thankfully a little more diverse than just baked goods and we ended up ordering an omelette and a fritatta. Both dishes were excellent and we decided we'd have to come back to try their baked goods on another day. We didn't want to push it today, since this was the first substantial meal either of us had eaten in days.
We wandered through a small mall after eating looking for an HDMI cable that we could use to connect our computer to our TV. We found a short one for about $8 and probably just should have bought it, but we're really cheap these days. The mall was small and there was not that much interesting there, so we didn't stay long.
We walked back to our hotel, which took about 30 minutes and Patty took note of a bunch of stores she would like to come back to. Once we got back to our hotel we watched the movie This is 40, which is a comedy about a couple that is turning 40 and their messed up lives. It was pretty funny, but not a lot of substance.
And that was it for the day. Tomorrow hopefully we'll be able to do some shopping if we're feeling up to it.
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