1st Leg of Mr Holiday - Chennai

Alright! After 2 weeks of hols, here's THE report. 1st off: Chennai
(For those who's expecting a whole lot of pic, sorry to disappoint. I'm simply too lazy to upload...)

We took the train from Salem to Chennai. Quite a new experience for me. U know those little compartments u see in old english movies? Well, its something like that. Except ours is the sleeper class, so we have beds instead. Sry I didn't get any photos in the train. Was err...zzz-ing whole way through.

Anyway, we arrived in Chennai at 4 in the morning. After checking in n resting, we set off for the horizon! (Quite literally. We were heading east, n I didn't have a clue when & where we're gonna arrive...)

Well, breakfast 1st, of course! How can heroes go off without breakfast?! It IS the most important meal of the day! We had ours in Anandha Bhavan. Its suppose to be a high class veg restaurant. Here's a sample of the breakfast.

It has dosa (thosai in Malaysia), chatni, sambar n some sweet stuffwhich I have no clue what its called. Note, in India, most delicacies are sweet till I swear I can get diabetes melitus within the hour, while the dishes are so spicy that u'll wish for a huge water tank to drink from. Just to save ur tongue.

So, chowdown time!
Btw, that's Wye Luun beside me. I found out the hard way that he's a camwhore. A little too late for my memory card when I did...

After breakfast, the beach side! I forgot the name of the beach side that Persis told me, but it seems like it is still part of Chennai. Unbelievable? Well, I was informed that Chennai was formed by the merging of 7 little towns. So it is possible, I guess...

Anyway, there's this thousand year old temple here. I didn't went in, because its 10 rp for a local, 200rp or so for a foreigner. I insist on not getting my money cheated. (20 times more for a non-local? What r u trying to do? Suck our wallet dry?) But still, I got some pics.




There's a lot more pics, but they're riddled with cam-whoring. Oh heck, y did I have to be stuck in such groups? Anyway, the temple is located at the beachside. The moment we came down from the van, we were swarmed by peddlers, all trying to sell ur something. 1 even tried selling me statues depicting sex poses ( I am currently suffering from mild amnesia, hence the proper name still eludes me...), then he pointed to the group of girls travelling with me (who were in front of me at that time, n say 'look, then try.' I was properly speechless after he said that.

Sadly, the beachside was just another PD look-alike. Full of people. I took a look n left. Didn't even bother with pics.

We had our lunch in a restaurant called Moon Rakers. Seems like its the best seafood restaurant available there, but the price quoted is still expensive, India currency wise, but then Persis ordered a lot of seafood, claiming its way cheaper than Malaysia's. Welk, 300rp for a small lobster. She said its RM90 in malaysia, n after conversion its barely RM30 here, so MUST order. I didn't order, sad to say. Too concerned with the health being of my wallet to splurge on seafood...
Here's lunch. On the right is our Badminton pro + warcraft3 freak, Zong Lin!

Anyway, the afternoon was spent in Dizzyland. Yes, it is really named Dizzyland. Believe me, after listening to accounts of those who actually went in, they were dizzy enough after 3 hours inside. But Wye Luu said it was boring... Only one or two rides that actually makes ur adrenaline rush, the rest just make u just feel...well, dizzy.

Dinner was in a Ascendes. Its more like a office complex with a food court filled with fast food restaurants. McD, KFC, Pizza Hut, Subway to name a few. We were all tired, bored after dinner, n bored somemore cause we were waiting for Persis finish...so this is the product.

Tugu Negara!

2nd day was spent in shopping malls. It was boring to me, I didn't want to shop, just wanted to see more of Chennai, but then the trip was planned by Persis, so I din't argue. Its something like 1-Utama, just a whole lot more shops, in a smaller place. So more squeezing was called for...

Dinner was in a surprising place. PELITA!!! OMG!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! Pelita, n it actually mentioned that its from Malaysia! I actually felt proud of Malaysia then. But the thoughts of our politics instantly diminish that feel. It was saddening. Here I am in an international restaurant, n all I could think was the contrast of my childhood image of Malaysia n the Malaysia that I see now. All I could see is how the Malays wanted us non bumis out, whereas my childhood image of Malaysia is that of a unified country. Malays, Indians n Chinese as ONE. But now...

Ok, enough of politics. Here's the pics.



Persis, Hor Yan n Geetha
So busy taht they even forgot to camwhore...

ABC!!!! Gosh, after so long, this was a heavenly sight!. Mmm...I enjoyed every single bit, even though it wasn't as nice as the roadside ones, n wee bit overpriced, but still... YUMMY!

Ok, that's all for Chennai. I'll post up Pondicherry next, so watch out for my next update!

=)



Calvin