all your secrets and your lies

After work tonight, eight of us were spontaneous for a change and decided to go out for dinner rather than eat in the apartments. We went to the Exotica, which was the restaurant we were supposed to go to on Sunday night; as you remember, we were thwarted because the elevator was broken (with people trapped in it) and the stairs stopped two floors short of their destination. We made it to the top tonight, and we just had to hope that there were connecting stairs someplace else in case of fire. Luckily, fire was not a concern. The restaurant was gorgeous--it's set up on the roof of the same building that holds Little Penang (the ridiculous restaurant with terrible service that we went to about a month ago) and Kafulok (the Chinese place we went to on Sunday). They have koi pools surrounding the tables, and the platforms for the tables are connected with little bridges. It wasn't hot tonight and there was a pleasant breeze, so it was really nice. Other people complained about mosquitos, but I'm so annoyed about not picking up the bubonic plague that I'm now inviting malaria just out of spite. The food tasted rather similar to the food we had at Kafulok; the waiters all claim that they're separate restaurants, but I think it's clear that they all share chefs (or at least recipes). In my opinion, there's nothing better than a romantic dinner for eight, and so I was quite pleased.

When we got back, I discovered that Ranjit had saved me 'Mexican' food since I hadn't called to say that I wasn't coming home; I managed to put a dent in it because I wasn't completely stuffed from dinner (I boycotted the tofu satay that everyone else ate, and so wasn't quite as full as they were). By Wednesdays or Thursdays I'm so sick of eating a tomato/cucumber sandwich at lunch and whatever crap is served for dinner that I'm psychologically famished and can suck up anything at that point that is mildly satisfying. By my standards, tonight was absolutely awesome.

I hung out and chatted with Heather, Salim, Regina, Rohit, Arod, Jessie, and the newly returned Alaskan Matt until about twenty minutes ago, when it became clear that those of us still hanging out should go to bed. I'm really looking forward to Mumbai--I intend to do lots of shopping, lots of partying, and lots of socializing with some of my favorite people before we all part ways.

Simultaneously, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again and having all that freedom that I so adore, up to and including the freedom to leave my bed unmade and my clothes strewn about without worrying that all of my possessions will be 'put away' and unfindable by the time I get home. I'm getting a chance to ramp back into my 'real life' this weekend--I'm meeting Vishal for dinner in Mumbai!! I'm getting in Friday night, and unfortunately he has to leave Saturday for business, but Friday night dinner has to happen. I doubt that he will be on his best behavior (and for Vishal, even best behavior can be shocking), but I've missed him a lot and am looking forward to seeing him in his native habitat. And on that positive note, it's time for bed!