Organise chaos (aka New Delhi)

On one of my regular trips to Khan Market I wanted to buy a 'Time Out Delhi' and find a book to attempt to learn some Hindi. Can you believe when I requested the books in question the shopkeeper said 'certainly madam' and walked straight to the section and selected the book as requested. This is what the bookstore looked like.




Organised chaos

 Slightly more organised at the shoe store.... Quite a small store, with me as the only customer and 7 male staff all very eager to help.



Shoe store at Khan Market


From the selection of sparkly sandals, glittery heels and slip ons. I managed to find two pair - one a touch on the colourful side.




S loves them!

 But alas I can't do all my shopping at Khan market, there's always the groceries, fruit and vege etc.... I have decided this is my main man at Sarojini for vege. He's always got a smile on his face (probably because he is stitching me) and they have everything I need but if they don't it manages to appear from somewhere!




My greengrocer at Sarojini Market


And unfortunately shopping isn't all I do, I also lose strollers when I come off flights from Perth. Then I have to go to the airport to collect them. I went to the airport 3 times to try and collect said stroller and finally on the third visit - hurrah - I actually managed to pick it up. Admittedly I had to wait 2 hours in the 40 degree heat (in jeans!) as I wasn't allowed inside the airport. But I did take it home so it was a win. However what was more interesting was that while I was waiting I saw these bags, wrapped in canvas and sealed with wax, no locks for these guys. Ingenious!


Yes that is wax sealing these suitcases



Endless Moet....... and some pretty great duck

Last Sunday was S's first birthday, a big milestone for her father and me so after a little party and some present opening we put S to bed for her little sleep and slipped off to China Kitchen at the Hyatt Regency to celebrate. China Kitchen does a weekend lunch for Rs 3200 (A$65) and you have unlimited Moet, dim sum, duck, Sichuan cuisine and fondue. Of course you can have the lunch without the delicious bubbly but why would you do that?



China Kitchen menu



So with just a little bit of excitement in my voice I ordered the Moet lunch and waited with anticipation for the first glass to be poured and it was delicious. Congratulations to us, one year successfully completed and we don't seem to have done much damage - excellent result.



Moet bubbles - first of many



I love dim sum and have done so for a long time. When we lived in Melbourne going into Chinatown on a Sunday was one of my favourite things to do. I haven't eaten it since we arrived here and I figured this was a good place to start. The entree dim sum was very delicate compared to the trolley laden dim sum I am used to and it was beautiful. I hate to carry on about a spring roll too much but this one was perfection.



Delicious spring roll



Waiter: Would you like the entree again Madam or would you like to move on to the next course?

Me: I think I will have the entree again thank you. 



and again......



After that was the soup....it was really good but no competition for the star attraction.... THE DUCK!



Very slick duck presentation.... just like Old Kingdom :)



Accompanied with the usual suspects - pancakes, spring onions, cucumber and hoi sin - I devoured the duck.... piece after piece..... pancake after pancake. I love duck and this duck was superb.

Following the duck was the completely unnecessary Sichuan selection. Only unnecessary as I was so full of yummy duck and Moet. However I pushed through and enjoyed the selection of lamb, noodles, chicken, vegetable, rice, prawns.

After this course was the chocolate fondue........ I did my best. Marshmallows, dried apricots, fruits, profiteroles, brownie, ice cream. It was amazing but we really couldn't do it and oh how we tried but I did have one more glass of Moet just to seal the lunch off nicely.



Fondue action



So three hours of lunch later and we were two very happy parents, recharged and ready to go home and play with our little one year old. China Kitchen was such a lovely experience - delicious and decadent and a must do.







Back in Delhi - free food, farmhouse and frivolity

After a wee break in Oz (and a 14 hour flight) I am back to the land of heat and humidity. I flew Thai airlines which was going fine until they decided that stopping by Phuket, as well as the planned Bangkok, was a good idea. A few delays in Perth and Phuket meant S and I were 30 minutes late for our connection but thankfully the plane did wait for us and our bags.

Once we got off the plane I unsuccessfully waited for our stroller to arrive but did see the most incredible amount of TV's get off a plane .... clearly cheaper deals on TV's in Bangkok.




TV, TV, TV's and no stroller


After a brilliant sleep we are back in the swing of things here. There has been a bit of rain around which is making it pretty steamy. Hot and humid - nasty combination....

Anyway back to Delhi news. Since I have been here I have noticed that there are often free food stalls set up under basic tents on the side of the road. Here is a picture of the one at Khan Market. It was set up on Thursday and it is my understanding it is a Hindu offering when they make a 'wish' to the gods. The line was so long and the offering looked like a vegetarian thali on a disposable silver tray.



Queue for freebies at Khan Market


Also at Khan Market I spotted some amazing mangoes. Delhi has gone mad with  mangoes, they are everywhere, a zillion varieties and they are all delicious...


This week I also visit a 'Farmhouse' in Chattapur. It was amazing! Chattapur is about 30 - 40 mins from our place and the idea of living here is you have a lot more space, beautiful gardens and great houses. It was lovely to be able to spend a hot steamy day by the pool and recover from jetlag here.




Stunning garden at the Farmhouse


It's also been busy with S turning 1 today - big day for Mum, Dad and S. She has a new bike so is pretty chuffed with herself. Mum and Dad are celebrating with some Dim Sum.  Finally a picture of the birthday girls party - Happy Birthday little lady!