Mario’s World

I was pretty impressed when we visited Citi Centre in Chennai. Quite posh. I never expected to see anything like this in Chennai. There is a “Landmark” which is like the Virgin stores at Marina and another store similar to Center Point in Kuwait. In fact I think its the same since it looked very much alike and had all the same brands, but cheaper. The food court on the top floor is nice but very cramped. Hope to see more of these malls soon.

Decided to try a mini-thali for breakfast while in Madras. Yummy! The amazing part is this mini coffee that you get. Its really small.

While we were in Madras, we visited the Science and Technology Centre. We opted for the package that included everything. 

First up was the Birla planetarium. My first visit to a planetarium. When you enter there is this “studded” missile aiming at you. Seems its the “Zeiss projector” that plots all the stars on the dome above. A great experience from those reclining seats. Some other graphics get projected onto the dome as well like a huge mouse pointer and some low-res graphics and photos too.

Next was the 3D movie. Another first for me. I found it very cool though it scared my wife silly. There were scenes where this snake comes into you face and another one where an army of mice run towards you. Too bad it was only a 15 min show.

Last on the agenda was the Science center. This was extermely disappointing. A lot of exhibits, but hardly anything worked. The only thing that looked good was me sitting on that tractor!

On our way out we swung by this garden of science with various exhibits. One of them was this rat wheel. Fun till you slip and fall.

I’m back in Kuwait after 2 weeks of vacation in India. Will post more on my trip over the next few days.

My ears are blocked from the flights I took to get back. My hearing volume is at 30% or so.

Note to self, DO NOT FLY when you have a cold.

Seems that cabin pressure and cold don’t go hand in hand. The flight back was via Colombo and Dubai, so that was 3 take offs and 3 landings and six times the ear-block effect.

Found this info on the net… 

“When you get something like a cold it can block the eustachian tube so you can’t release the pressure in your ears which causes the pain while flying. Give it a day or so, it should clear up. If you have any ear ache, temperature etc on land in the next few days you should maybe go to the doctors as sometimes it can develop into an ear infection. Short answer is try not to worry and good luck, no needles, knives or sharp implements needed.”

Ro will hide all the knives for sure just in case I get any bright ideas.

There are candles available to solve this problem it seems (photo above). How on earth does it help? By blocking it some more with wax?

This is how garbage is disposed of. All dumped into a large concrete bin and then set on fire. If you need to practice your smoke signals, get an oxygen mask along.

We visited this fish farm on the Divar island. New ponds are under construction in the background. I took a pic of this cross since it’s in a very prominent place overlooking the whole farm.

Or is it? Took this pic in Panjim. This mutt was just staring at me. Do I look like some terrorist when I’m unshaven?
Love the brightly painted house.

Our pet dog enjoys his frequent massages. Ro took this pic of my brother and myself were giving “shorty” his back massage while he gazes out the main door.

Took this pic while driving down to the airport in Dec. Looks a bit like the YSL logo.

This is truly the best decorated place in the whole of Goa. Every year a new decoration during Christmas time. This year we had the Von Trapp Family (Sound of Music) by the Crib on the first floor and Snow White with the 7 dwarfs all dressed as Santas on the ground floor. If you are in Goa, swing by their place in Porvorim.