Hey (Mumbai)

Hello there,
I am new to this group, so just wanted to say Hi to everyone here. I am from the US, and am visiting Mumbai for a few weeks.

It is taking some time getting used to, I am mostly hiding behind closed doors with the air conditioning set to 67 degrees.

Last time I visited India, 5 paise was a valid form of currency and you could buy things with it,... even with 2 paise! My images and memories are not really coinciding with ground realities...

It just seems like Yosemite Sam found a cloning machine and copied himself a billion times over and made them all drivers in Mumbai Traffic... I have no other explanation as to why people use the horn so much here.... Also, it has been a lot of fun paying 4 times of what a thing is normally worth, even when I am (and look like) a Brown South Asian.

Also I find the "fairness" cream ads here to be fascinating... I literally fell off my chair when I first saw the ad for "Fair and Handsome"... Wash your face and change your ethnicity... Wonderful!

But it is definitely a welcome change from LA and LAPD where they would love to shoot your face for making a wrong turn while driving, or give you a $175 ticket for jay walking... Its true, I paid 2 of those... one on Hollywood Blvd, other on 3rd & fairfax.

It is also nice to be able to buy natural materials.. cotton, silk and such, instead of things made in a lab.

But I do miss real milk, bacon, Italian sausages, Little Caesar's $5 one topping pizza (That shit rocks, And you know it!), world of warcraft, romps at the doggie park with my GSD, buying Versace for $75 at TJ Maxx and diet carbonated drinks. I was laughing when I saw Cheddar Cheese and Ham at the Gourmet deli section of an upscale grocery store in Colaba.

And one more thing... Is it just me, or does the Diet Coke in Mumbai taste like Thums Up and not real Diet Coke...?

Well, if you people have any events, meetings, visits to strip clubs.. let me know. Not sure if I will go along to an Indian strip club.... but I would definitely be up for the rest of it.

Adios,
Kaz.