#there's probably more stuff i'm forgetting but off the top of my head it's fried rice sushi and chicken shawarma

[folkdances]

what's your favourite food that comes from OUTSIDE of your culture

[thekwanderer]

November 30 2019

Today was our last full day in India as we fly out tomorrow morning super early in the morning. One downside to our short trip is that we spent so much time traveling, and it has been wearing on our bodies. First thing at 9 am, we go to the next door spa to get a deep tissue massage. Supposedly we got there a little early, but our shuttle for the airport left at 11, and we didn't want to miss it. They were kind enough to accommodate us before their official open time at 10.

My lady did not hold back. She used her elbows to really get in deep into my muscles and seemed not to notice my sharp intakes of breath. Afterwards, I almost felt sore! I quickly rinsed off the lotion they used to massage, and we quickly booked it back to the hotel. We grabbed our stuff that we mostly packed before we left, and headed down to breakfast. Most of the time, we had gone early to breakfast, but we hit the busiest time and it was hectic. Folks were ordering all sorts of food and even the staff looked like they were scrambling. Bobby lucky found the expediter in the restaurant and was able to quickly wrangle food for us and I chowed down. Checking out was even a little stressful because they was a long line to do so.

As we should have anticipated, the shuttle did not leave at 11 sharp but closer to 11:30. Luckily that gave me time to quickly run off to the restroom although they told me I didn't have time. That's the benefit of arriving early! The ride was probably the best we had in India because we were on a large bus (that could accommodate about 15 people) that couldn't dart in and out as nimbly as a smaller car. Also the seats reclined to 120 degrees and Bobby and I squeezed in a quick nap.

Mercifully, we avoided any hiccups at the airport. Goa is too small to go to the wrong terminal! We checked our bags without the help of fast forward and got through security fine. On the other side, we hunted around for something to eat in the food court. Grabbing a table here is a competitive sport. You have to be wily and quick otherwise someone will undermine you. Debbie had a table stolen from under her nose, but she eventually emerged victorious. Debbie, Richard, and I got KFC and Bobby got a local biriyani rice. The KFC was pretty good and even the regular fried chicken sandwich had a light kick to it. We wandered around the airport to find a postcard to send, but to no avail. We had to board the plane. This flight was much better than the one to Goa. Maybe I'm getting used to India, but I do think that there were fewer people on the plane trying to bend the rules. Two hours flew by.

Once landed, we collected our bags without incident. The beauty of landing in the domestic terminal is that there are fewer folks trying to hustle us - those people are all in the international terminal. On our way to the uber there was someone who tried to help us with our bags even when we found our uber and tried to hold the door open for me. But we learned our lesson, and accepted nothing from this guy. We arrived at the hotel, and even though it was 7 pm, our rooms weren't ready yet. But we are used to it at this point and enjoyed the live music playing in the lobby and people watched. There was a huge and glamorous wedding happening with a lot of foreigners and it was fun watching them walk by in all of their finery. This wedding was much fancier than the one that we attended as the woman had beautifully beaded and bejeweled outfits.

Debbie and Richard had stayed next door to the hotel when we were in Delhi last for the wedding and they knew that it was very hard for Uber's to find this location. Aerocity is a brand new neighborhood and I think that many taxi drivers still don't know how to navigate it. In fact, we found an area called Worldmark which is a large shopping complex via the concierge. The mall wasn't even on the map it's so new. We did some shopping buying snacks to share with folks back home and we wandered around.

We finally decided on this one restaurant that caught Richard's eye because it said it was from the creators of the original butter chicken dish in India. When we peered inside, the front was a lot of Indian patrons even though it was pretty early for dinner. When we asked about putting our name down, they said it was going to be an hour. Deciding that we had time to kill, we put down our names and went to wander a little more as well as drop off the goodies we purchased. On our way back to the hotel, we passed the wedding procession for the groom from the wedding at our hotel. There were drummers and dancers and the groom was on top of a white horse. We stopped for a few minutes because we missed this tradition from Anna's wedding since we were with the bride rather than the groom. It was fun to watch. We quickly drop off our purchases at the hotel and by the time we get back to the mall, it's time for dinner.

The place is called Daryaganj and it was created by the great grandson of the supposed creator of the butter chicken recipe. We decide to take a chance on the name and three of us order the butter chicken. It did live up to the hype. It was delicious where the chicken was tender and you could taste the butter in the sauce. The sauce is a little chunkier than what we're used to, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Bobby noticed that there were long strips of ginger as well as peppers to give it a kick. On top of the garlic naan we ordered is heaven. The butter in both the naan and chicken are accentuated so the butter almost tastes like the butter on popcorn. We stuffed ourselves silly, and it was a perfect ending to our time in India.

This trip really tested Bobby and my patience as things went sideways and we had to roll with the punches. It was too short of a time and I wish we had a couple more days in Goa, but I'm so grateful that we had amazing travel companions to watch our back, keep our spirits high, and help smooth out any bumps that we hit along the way. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be a part of an Indian wedding in Delhi and it won't be one that I'll soon forget.