Professional moneyspender

So, we were in Hyderabad, trapped between an early morning arrival for a very little amount of business to attend to, and a cancelled-and-rescheduled-for-later flight with Air Deccan - again opting to fly with the autorickshaws of the sky...It was more than annoying but they sent us an SMS on the cel phone just to make sure we were aware they'd cancelled our flight - at least they followed it up.

With our meeting at the Iranian Consulate finished in a matter of minutes we were left with more than nine hours to kill - and what better way to do so than to go shopping?

We went straight to Hyderabad Central, a bigger and better version of our own pathetic Bangalore Central. After gifting my darling with a Citizen watch than can only be described as a work of art we plunked the debit card down once more for a four piece set of lovely and delicate unmentionables (the first I've bought for over a year simply because they are nearly impossible to find here) and a darling small white round trotter-style handbag.

It was the second out of town shopping trip for me in a month, as my one day in Sri Lanka in early January ended up being just that as well. The thing about Sri Lanka that's so great is that because their currency, Sri Lankan rupees, is valued at about half that of Indian rupees everything appears as half price to me. It's like a big huge 50% off sale over there...I would just look at the price tag and mentally cut the price in half. Talk about instant gratifcation.

After blasting through Hyderbad's downtown mall we carted our purchases out of the life-sustaining air conditioning and into a heat that wilted us both back to our five a.m. wakeup. We decided to take a room at the hotel we'd stayed at on two previous trips to the city and were happy to find they would reduce the usual price for such a short stay.
With the crutch of a big bed, cable TV, room service, and hot showers we both crashed out after poring over my new passport and our recently acquired goodies.

Three hours later we woke up and went out for dinner at our favorite local restaurant, The Paradise (ironically housed in a typically stinkydirty neighborhood of the same name). With four levels of seating, one of which offering fast homemade Indian food at stand-up tables at street level, we opted, as usual, for the top floor. A more serene setting off the street, and ordered all of the delicacies we knew they could provide.
Hyderabad is famous for its Biriyani - one of Hamid's cravings and The Paradise also makes excellent veg and seafood dishes pour moi. We topped it all off with a freshly prepared beetroot juice (no sugar...divine) and fresh lime juice (also no sugar).

All in all it was like a little accidental holiday - a nice last visit to one of our favorite cities in India.