All Aboard for Christmas! With Chriselle in Bombay and Dinner With Close Friends!

Sunday, December 23, 2018
Bombay

All Aboard for Christmas! With Chriselle in Bombay and Dinner with Close Friends!

     Namaste from Bombay!
     It does not matter how little one has to do for Christmas--it always seems stressful!
     Up at 4.30 (I know! Ridiculous!), I blogged, read Twitter and then dressed quickly and walked off to Dad's where I had told them I would make breakfast for them before Dad, Chriselle and I set off for Mass.
     I was at Dad's at 7.30 and I began immediately fixing them French Toast--which everyone (except Russel loves). He had his daily fried egg instead. We sat and had breakfast together and then left for the 9.15 am Mass in church. Back home, I gave Russel his vada pau and was just about to read him the weekly notices, when a family friend, Fr. Conrad, who happens to be a Jesuit priest from St. Peter's Church, came over for a visit.
     I excused myself and went back home while Chriselle went to The Bagel Shop to use the internet (as there is none at Dad's). I got home and promptly fell asleep! Blame the crazy early rising for this change in routine! Dad's call woke me up, about a half hour later, to tell me that the priest had left. I consulted with Chriselle as to what we should get for lunch from Bandra Gymkhana--she chose Indian-Chinese and I ordered Vegetable Hakka Noodles, Prawns in Hot Black Pepper Sauce and Vegetables in Garlic Sauce. When Samir from the Gym called me to tell me that my order was ready, I  left home, picked it up and took it over to Dad's. The four of us (Russel, Dad, Chriselle and I) then had lunch together.

It's Christmas!
     Right after lunch, we tackled the putting up of the Christmas Tree--Dad, Chriselle and I--while Russel watched. It was fun to do it together and we finished pretty quickly. When that was done, we left the house to go to Venus Bakery to pick up the forty cakes that cakes buys each year to distribute to his neighbors and various friends. In a rickshaw, the three of us (Dad, Chriselle and I) went but when we arrived at Venus, we found that the type Dad usually buys were over. We were told to wait for half an hour.

Dad's First Starbucks!
     To kill time, we decided to go next door to Starbucks where Chriselle treated us and where Dad had his very first Starbucks coffee--an occasion that was photo-worthy! And now that he has been "corrupted", as my friend Barbara in London says, let us hope Chriselle will not be responsible for a guilty habit! Thankfully, he was not that impressed! As I wanted to avoid caffeine, I had something called Big Red Hat (only available at Christmas, I was told) and so I ordered it.  It turned out to be the most delectable chocolate milk shake with the red hat being a swig of raspberry syrup on the top of a swirl of whipped cream. Lovely!
     Half an hour later, the cakes were bought and picked up. I bought about 10 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates to give to the many little children in my building with whom I am very friendly.  They come up to me each evening and call out to me and then chat with me and I really love and enjoy their presence and thought that Christmas would be a fabulous time to give them all some chocolates! I also picked up a vegetarian Rich Fruit Cake to gift to my next-door neighbors who happen to be strict Jains. Dad's forty cakes were loaded into the rickshaw and taken home. I jumped off at my place and spent the next hour wrapping gifts for a few folks. Much as I said it is stressful, it also felt good to do something that was Christmassy as I seem to have taken a holiday from The Holidays!

An Evening with Friends:
     I carried all my gifts in a big bag and took them over to Dad's to be placed under the tree. It was about 7.00pm when I got there and we left soon after in a rickshaw as Chriselle and I were invited for drinks and dinner to our friends Anil and Ninaz's place. I had taken Anil rum balls and a cake--honey, almond and fig Cake--from Fleury's in Calcutta which Anil knows well as he grew up in Calcutta! Their home looked lovely and festive with Ninaz's potted Christmas tree beautifully strung with lights on her terrace and a few subtle decorations themed around reindeer strategically placed around their home--so lovely! We started off with drinks--Anil always makes me a great G and T--while the rest had red wine. They had a nice tray of nibbles (guac and sour cream dip with crackers and cashnewnuts) and we sat chatting about everything as the evening passed under the light of an apricot moon.
     For dinner, we adjourned to House of Mandarin on Hill Road where, because Chriselle loves prawns, we ordered Singapore Noodles, Chicken in Black Bean Sauce and Prawns. We also had Pepper Prawns as a starter.  For dessert we went next-door to Naturals and had ice-cream--tender coconut for Anil and Ninaz, choconut for Chriselle and mango for me. What a lovely evening we had with dear friends whose company we all adore!
     Anil had actually driven his car yesterday and so they dropped Chriselle and me over at my place so that she could spend the night with me. We reached home a little after 11.00 pm and after brushing our teeth, fell fast asleep after feeling a tad bit tired. Christmas has a way of doing that to you!
     Until tomorrow...