Weekend activities (4/8 & 4/9)

Saturday night (which is like a Friday night, since our office works Tuesday - Saturday) I went along with some people to see the movie "300" at the IMAX theatre. Wow, was that an intense movie to see on the largest movie screen imaginable! It's funny....they have intermission at movies here. For about 5-10 minutes, they turn on the lights and stop the movie. Just as you are getting into it.

Sunday I was very excited to sleep in - an extra 5 hours or so! I hung out at the pool with other US expats and had brunch at the hotel - very comparable to a good Sunday brunch in SD! Later on, we ventured to the middle of the city and had dinner at the Waterfront (next to a big lake separating Hyderabad & Secunderabad). Very cool.

Monday was shopping day! Two girls from the office wanted to take me shopping - Swathi & Sudeethi. So, we met at the office at 11 and they took me first to a place where different vendors set up shop - like a flea market. All hand-made handicrafts. They sure can get some good deals! I would end up paying about 1/2 of the starting price, thanks to them bargaining with the shop owners!

Then we went into the center of town and shopped at a few places that had some quality gift items. After that, we went to the new mall in town - City Center. Not really any different than any US mall. By the time 2:30 rolled around, I was starving. I held out as long as possible because I know Swathi & Sudeepthi are used to eating late. We had another good, authentic Indian meal - Chicken Tikka & Lamb Biryani (a Hyderabad dish).

Monday night we were planning on going to Charminar (a historic part of Hyderabad with famous temples), but plans fell thru due to the fact that one of the guys we were planning on going with is Muslim and they were holding some sort of rally in which he would not be welcommed. A little strange, but we were glad we found out beforehand.