A taste of India
I spent the morning walking the streets of Mumbai, just to get the feel of India, a country that has for years intrigued me I have heard so many very different versions of travel in this country some love it, others cant wait to get home. Within a few minutes of leaving the hotel, deep down I felt that I am going to connect with this country. The second most populated on the planet and probably the most diverse. I quietly walked the streets of down town Mumbai and started to experience the city. In a way there were flashbacks of the diversity that I experienced in China, then the sudden shudder as the poverty that envelope’s you hits home. I could feel my emotions swirl up, you just want to reach out to everyone you see. I turned and decided to head back to the hotel, go for a run and internalize what I had seen.
I had spent the late afternoon on one of the hottest and most humid runs I have been on other than the southern tip of Madagascar, 38% and sun baking down. I headed from my hotel and ran the coastal promenade along the beach front while. Sorry, but eventually I headed into town, one street back as I could not handle the nauseating stench from the ocean.
Early evening I was tempted to venture into the city for a street food dinner but rethinking the meetings that were scheduled for the next day, I decided to not risk a bout of the dreaded street food belly. It was a bit of a cop out, but there will be plenty of time later in the year to experience the tastes of the pavement buffet.
Back at my hotel, the Trident, I decided to try the Indian/Asian restaurant. Normally one is a bit skeptical about the controlled environment under which hotel food is created and you often feel that you are not really going to get a good reflection of local cuisine, but surprising enough, it was really good, a tiny little food journey.
I started off with Malaysian Satay.
A plate arrived with 3 beef and 3 Chicken kebabs.
Marinated with Galangal, lemon grass and turmeric with a chunky satay sauce. The kebabs were soft, juicy and really tasty. The chunky satay sauce was brilliant.
(they could sure show up the tough Malagasy Zebu kebabs.)
This was followed with my mains,
Barbeque duck with sweet bean sauce wrapped in a translucent wrapping, steamed and served with some kick but ( don’t worry sir, its mild and tasty) Chilli and all the rest salsa.
The dumplings were tasty and the duck, freshly roasted barbecue flavour delicately wafted through each bite. Then I decided to dip the next one into the salsa and a generous scoop at that. With fire spewing out of my mouth and ears, coughing and spluttering, gulping down my glass of water I managed to ask for my bill and headed for the sanctity of my room to lick my self inflicted wound.