Summer Time in Pune and a Few Firsts

It is now officially summer here in Pune and that means extreme heat and it's only March. Apparently it will continue to get hotter and hotter over the next few months until the rains start in June. Fortunately a great friend has introduced me to the perfect partner for this summer's weather....

This "Tender Coconut" ice cream from Natural Ice Cream is amazing! This company is a serious rival for Graeter's back in Cincinnati.

I also took a trip to the local slaughterhouse on Friday. I think I smelled it before I seen it. The market was an open air slaughterhouse where the meat is cleaned and cut in front of the patrons on large tree stumps. The visit reminded a little of Sinclair's The Jungle.

The trip to the slaughterhouse preceded my dinner plans to a sushi restaurant here and I really hoped these little sharks wouldn't end up on my plate later in the evening....

Fortunately I couldn't recognize the sharks if they were in roll form later in the night. The sushi and sushimi were amazing and the unagi was pretty tasty as well. Probably the coolest part of this place was that sushi is served on a large, battleship-like boat where the chop sticks serve as oars. As you can see my friend was thrilled when the SS Deliciousness showed up. Unfortunately I didn't see octopus on the menu, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open on the next visit. I've taken a real liking to Harajuku and plan to visit whenever my longing for Mr. Sushi comes back.

Just a warning for all my readers: Do not be fooled by made-for-TV movies for sale at Landmark for $2. While initially it appeared "Megasnake" was going to be an epic adventure that would open my eyes to the global threat of megasnakes, I was sorely disappointed with this choice. I do not have a PhD in zoology, but I'm starting to doubt the existence of megasnakes as well after watching this film ;-)

Of course Saturday was the World Cup match in Mumbai between India and Sri Lanka. I was completely hooked to the match the entire 9 plus hours. For the first time in a long time I felt like I had a real connection with cricket and while happy that the match ended with India victorious, I was sad to see the match end for the night. The celebrations throughout the course of the match were epic and really fun. There were times during the match that I was having so much fun and felt so chill that I thought "there is nowhere else in the world I'd rather be than right here, right now."