"Brunch is Good..."

Or so exclaims Owen sleepilyafter spending 4 hours feasting and playing at the Taj West's amazing Sunday Brunch. After hearing about the delicious food and children's entertainment we made our reservations for an outside table. We prepared by skipping breakfast for ourselves and feeding the kids a few small snacks in the morning and we were not disappointed, to say the least! Table after table loaded with European, Lebanese and Indian fare and an incredible seafood buffet followed by 30 feet of desserts kept us going back for more. There was even a children's buffet with mini hotdogs, mini hamburgers and french fries out on the lawn. Plus they had a variety of small rides (most suitable for the youngest set), a jumper and a temporary tatoo artist so that the kids were kept occupied while the adults relaxed with coffee, tea and champagne. Wow!

So...the Taj obviously does not capture Indian or Bangalorean life and culture for most but it is a lovely way to get through jet lag and the confusion of moving overseas and the staff here have been so incredibly kind and tolerant of us and our very active children.

We had the chance to visit our villa in the Palm Meadows community and to attend a MN state fair Party on a Stick put on by two other expat Target families. It was nice to meet some fellow expats and the kids got the chance to meet some kids who have been where they are. Grayce was very tired and shy up until the end when she saw the Murphy's son, Jimmy, dancing to the High School Musical DVD...she was quite impressed! Owen was shy for all of 2 seconds and it was all over when he noticed a toy laser blaster and commenced with shooting it at all and sundry. Plus there were corndogs and beer. What more could a Minnesotan ask?

Palm Meadows is not India either but it is beautiful and full of expats from all over. The kids were blown away by the pools and park. Our villa is the last on a dead end street, which will be great for bike riding and playing. There is a teeny, tiny "yard" and a rooftop patio and thankfully all the windows have screens so that will help with the moquitoes (speaking of which, one place you don't want to be is outside at the Taj at around 6 pm...there's a reason we haven't seen many moquitoes here yet. Bob had the dubious pleasure of attempting to hold his breath while walking to the hotel suite as they were mosquito fogging the hotel grounds...!)

In many ways living at Palm Meadows will probably make getting to know Bangalore more difficult. I imagine it would be easy enough to insulate yourself from the real lives and experiences of the people here, if you chose to. On the opposite hand, there is comfort in an expat community. Many more thoughts on this at a later date...

Call us on our Skype phone (but remember we are 10.5 hours ahead of you!)...

The Fischers in Bangalore, India