Oct 10th: Happy hour near the CG's

Before I get into events of the day... I have some good news! I have figured out how to actually embed the photos I want into this website WITHOUT uploading them. This is great news for the formatting here, and means that by the time anyone sees this I will have things fixed up much better than when I began. And it works for videos too, which is super cool! That means that I can share loads of stuff here without having to upload to WIX or Youtube. Youtube would have just been a hassle, and WIX would have started charging me for space once I reached a certain point; so I'm pretty glad that this worked out!

Onto the day! This morning was rather uneventful. Only thing that really stands out is that I got a call from one of the fellas in the networking department to make sure that my router had worked right when I set it up. Which was a little embarrassing, because I hadnt got around to actually plugging it in at all the day before. I guess it isnt too unbelievable, since I was very busy - but it did mean that I couldnt tell him anything useful. After that I worked on getting it configured and as luck would have it - ended up having issues :p

Luckily the router worked, and I could easily sign into the network. My issue was that I couldnt get into the admin side of it, and that is where I really wanted to be. My goal was to swap up the passwords and stuff to really make it mine, ya know? Anyways. I managed to find out the contact info for the guy who helped me set it up and started asking him questions via my non govt email - on account of not being supposed to use my govt one for anything. My trouble was that he had written out the password for the admin portal, but not the username. And any of the usernames I was testing - like admin or administrator - didnt work. I dont think that he really understood the issue. Eventually I just gave up and said that I would bring it over to him in the next week. I was already scheduled to return to the consulate for my RSO (Regional Security Officer) briefing Wednesday the next week. That is an important briefing that you are really meant to get asap once you arrive in the country and I'd already gone over a week without having it.

I decided to run to the grocery store to restock on filtered coffee and snacks, maybe even the components of a meal if I could find anything good. The walk was hot, but now I was prepared with sunscreen and big spray and that made things much more pleasant. The shop didnt really have what I was after, but I did get some more fruits and coffee at the very least. On the way back I happened to pass a store that seemed like it was selling luxury rice? I am not 100%, but what I am certain of is that they had a sign advertising sourdough bread and that sounded delicious. So I popped in and managed to snag their last loaf. From what they told me this bread somehow had some local rice integrated into it? I didnt really follow, but bread is bread and this was some really nice bread!

I also tried to stop by somewhere for dinner. I saw a spot on google maps called "Sizzling Hog" that looked pretty good from the photos and reviews. Getting there was very much not good though. The direct path was blocked by construction, so I had to go the long way around. The best way I can describe it is that the restaurant was on a side street that could only be accessed from the main street. And that access point from the main street was totally blocked off on both sides by construction. I had to go all the way around and try getting in from the opposite side. Then when I got there, I couldnt find the place! I just gave up and went home. Took a nap.

Next up was a "Happy hour" event over near the Consul General's place. I didnt really know exactly where it was, but someone had given me the tip that since it is hard to find just google maps your way to The Madras Club and I will be basically there. So I hiked down that direction and happened to come up on The Madras Club just as the CG Chris and his wife Jocelyn were coming out. They were a bit surprised to see me because I was at the wrong place. Apparently the spot I wanted to go was the area with a huge fence and gate just around the corner, the one that I passed without a second glance on the way over XD

They walked with me over to the proper place.

It was a very laid back event, and not what I would describe as a happy hour lol. This was more of a lawn party. Some dude had a few tunes playing, there were lawn chairs and games, and a table with alcohol options. The invite had encouraged BYOB and that had been an element of my journey over that I failed to mention. You see, one of the few places you can buy alcohol here in Chennai are spots called TASMACs. I have no idea what that is meant to mean, but if you want to buy your own spirits that is the only spot to do it. I have heard that they are a bit of an experience, so on my way to the party I loaded one up in google maps that was sorta on the way. I actually passed it because it was so well hidden, had to circle back around to the spot on the street. I took one look inside and knew that it was not a place for me. Dingy dirty walls and floor, packed to the gills with people, I want to say there was smoke in the air, and a rusty cage between the alcohol sellers and buyers. I just walked the other way.

Back to the party! I met plenty more people. Some who I had run into before, and many new ones. Unfortunately I dont remember any of their names really; just little tidbits of personality. Like a really tall fellow from Idaho who chatted with me about his ranch that he is set to inherit back home. Or the husband EFM (Eligible Family Member) of one of the consulate officers who also really likes board games and has some cats. Lets see... Who else stood out... I got to meet many of the marines who guard the consulate. For context there is a local security force who helps guard things, but there is also a detachment of about eight marines who all live together and maintain a 24/7 watch as well.

Darn... I guess that is what happens when I take the time to write these things up much later down the line. I forget a lot of details. The next best thing I can mention is that everyone here seems to be very friendly. I'm glad that there is a solid community in place! Especially since it seems like in this town you really need to make your own fun. A few of the people I chatted with said that the night life and events here are somewhat lacking. The final note I can really mention is that I am happy to say that there is a lot of support for boardgames here! It seems to be a popular pastime, even if they havent held an official boardgame event in a while. Just means that I have something to put together once I finally have my collection with me!

As the party was winding down I helped clear away some of the mess and geared up to walk home. On the way out I got a text from Willy (he had been there I just missed him leaving) asking if I wanted to pop over to his place to hang out. I wasnt quite ready to call it a night yet, it wasnt even 9:00 PM afterall so I headed over. His spot at the Pink Houses is only a ten minute walk or so from this place so it didnt take to terrible long to get there. The plan was to use his new karaoke set up and jam to some songs. First we needed alcohol though, so we walked to a nearby TASMAC that he has used a few times. This one seemed much more tame compared to the one I had visited. Though we were cutting the timing VERY close on purchasing anything. These spots close at 9:00 PM, and I wanna say that we managed to get in "line" at like ten till.

Similar to the spot before, there was a gate separating people buying from people selling. It seems that you arent really allowed to browse in these sorts of places. You just yell your order to the dude behind the counter who goes and fetches it for you. The reason I had to put line in quotes before is that it wasnt anything that you could think of as a line. It was more of a mob of dudes just pressing forward trying to be the next person in range of the seller. So, you didnt necessarily need to fight your way to the front... but you did need to be assertive in keeping your place steady. A bunch of the dudes around were curious about us and made conversation, again being a westerner means you stand out a bit here. But all told it was a pretty painless process. Took a while but very interesting.

With our prize in hand we made our way back to his place, and shot one of his neighbors - Danny - a text to see if him and his wife would like to join in. Only he ended up coming by, but we all had a grand time jamming out some songs. The setup was pretty simple, just a speaker, a pair of mics, and youtube on the TV - but thats all it takes to have a good time. I think we all hung out till about 12:00 in the morning and then decided to call it a night. I grabbed my things and started walking back to my place.

Once the night has settled in here things really quiet down. It was like a whole other world walking home. There were no cars in the streets, no one milling around. Just stray dogs and empty roads. I was shocked to see it on a Friday of all nights, I would have thought that things would have still been hectic all the way to the AM AMs. But I suppose the word on the street about the night life here was true, it is limited after all.

Got home took a shower and went to bed. I'll need to check my journal to make sure, but I am pretty sure that I didnt get up to much of anything over the weekend. Probably just hung about inside. I wish that I had photos to share, but I have found that I'm not taking mane here. I think it is on account of how freaking humid it is. It makes it annoying to pull my phone out when it isnt necessary, and a bit difficult to use the screen. So I tend to avoid it. I need to try to get back in the habit.