Three years ago, I went to Koh Samui in Thailand. I went for a boat trip to a national park and during the trip, I met a couple from India. Normally, these sorts of meetings result in maybe an email or two, if that, and then it just kind of slips off into oblivion. But Pooja and I became friends on Facebook, and Jagrat and I had contact through her. I heard about their wedding. They heard about my goings on as well.
When I came to India, I let them know and they wanted to make sure I visited if I happened to come to Mumbai. Mumbai has always been one of those places that has a bit of mystique for me. I wanted to visit the city, and that meant that I could also visit with Pooja and Jagrat.
We set a time to meet for dinner and I went off to find the meeting place. It was across from a mall. In a lot of these countries in the south of Asia, there are difficulties with violent factions creating trouble. This has resulted in some really nice places being behind fences and all kinds of security. This is also true in India, and the Phoenix Mall is a very nice looking place. It has some relaxing qualities as well as being a fairly upscale place to go shopping. But to enter takes going through metal detectors and it sits behind fences with spikes and other deterrents to anyone trying to get in. It is kind of sad really.
I decided to walk to the mall, which was about 6 or 7 kilometers from my hotel. It was a hot day and it took a while to get there. It took a while also because I decided to look around another part of town as well. I walked up to the top of a hill and found a park with a nice view out over the southern reaches (and the historical areas) of Mumbai.
Then it was on to the mall. It took a full walk around the whole block to find the entrance and while doing that I saw one of the least effective billboards that I have ever seen. Yeah, I'd go there. How about you?
I met Pooja and we went to a nearby restaurant and had some dinner. Initially it looked as though Jagrat wouldn't be able to join us. He was stuck late at work. But partway through dinner, he called and said that he was on his way. Great!! I was going to see both of them.
We had a nice dinner together. We chatted about lots of things. Then they drove me back to my hotel and it was time for some photos. And now I have a really good photo of me with an attractive woman from India. It's about time!
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