Obamalicious

Well, it seems that there may be hope after all. Obama (shown at left) stormed the gates of the White House last night (yaaaayyyyy!), and delivered a resounding defeat to the right wing fundamentalist regime that has been dominating global politics for the last eight years. Huzzah!

Hopefully, Sarah Palin will return to what she does best, which is driving kids to hockey and blasting away at moose. Actually, Sarah Palin gives moose a bad rap. I grew up on the stuff, and it's fantastic. I can't wait to go and bag one of my own in the fall when we return from our trip. When I was a kid, my folks would say "go downstairs to the garage and grab a loaf of bread from the freezer", which meant squishing in between the boat that was parked there and 4 big hairy quarters of some hapless ungulate hanging from big hooks in the ceiling. Mmmmm... the smell. I'd brush the coarse hair off of my pyjamas and return upstairs with a loaf of freezer-burned shitty white bread, thinking that of course, every family hung dead creatures in their basements for extended periods of time.

But I digress. This is a food and travel blog, after all...

After another delicious thali lunch at our friend Chindi's Chutney Villa restaurant (see post below) we had a chat with her about our flight booking issues for the last leg of our trip (Mumbai to Cochin). As a result, we have finally contacted a reliable travel agent who seems poised to make our stress levels dip a little. Interestingly, booking a flight for three adults and two kids from a travel agent in Vancouver would cost in excess of $1400.00. If the travel agent in India books the exact same flight, the total cost is closer to $500.00. The differential would pay for three months rent in palatial digs somewhere in Cochin. Yes, I'm cheap. I freely admit it.

The response I got from the travel agent this morning warmed my heart. The Indian use of English always fascinates me, as it is a peculiar hybrid of very proper raj-era expressions and modern-day fractured slang. So I had to smile when I read this...

Dear Robert Bailey,

Greetings !!
At the Out Set , we thank for the mail & Ms. Chindi for recommending us,
We Assure you , We can able to book your Flight tickets

Please find the cost & schedule
Air India express ( 06Dec 08 ) : Mumbai - cochin Dep:1630 Arr:1815 total
fare: INR Rs : 24250 for 03Adults +02 Child ( below 12yrs ) .
child fare is applicable for child below 12yrs ..

Please note 12 yrs & above is calculated as Adults fare, )
Please Advise the Ages of the child

Please confirm the fare with name & ages which enables to book the
necessary Flight
Again, These fare are Subjected to Change. The mentioned fare are available
as of now .

Have a nice day !!

Thanks & regards,
Bharathi

Absolutely fantastic stuff. This is a pretty mild example, actually. Laurel and I "collect" Indian signage with amusing grammatical errors and malapropisms. I'm not being snooty about it, I have a genuine love of this use of language. When you see a sandwich board on an Indian street that advertises tutoring for students of English, and more than half the words in a badly formed sentence are spelled incorrectly , you just smile and go "Aaahhhh..."