I have only one week left in my  Bangalore assignment.  I started days remaining counter on my white board in my cubicle, counting the days that I can go home and see Pat.  I swear I will never come back to this country, unless there is another work assignment with enough incentive.  Staying in India for two months is definitely  over my tolerance level, even with a 2 weeks break back home after the first month.  I think the maximum  duration  to work in India is 3 weeks.  2 weeks is too short, you couldn’t get much done.  3 weeks is just right and you have two weekends in between to do some traveling.

Mark asked me if I can go back in time, whether I still sign up to the Bangalore trip.  I think the first month is very critical.  Knowing the Indian team, ramp them up, get them on the same page as the Canada team will make my life down the road much easier.  However, the second month is a waste of time.  Yes, face to face mentoring is nice to have, but I can do it over the phone with net meeting too.  I don’t have to be physically present in Bangalore.  Face to face meeting is more efficient, but inefficient of traffic in Bangalore and sickness from the pollution out weighted whatever benefit we gain from face to face meeting.  I can do a lot conference calls using the 3 hours I stuck in Bangalore traffic every day.

Having a nice meal after work is the only way to keep my sanity.  I have no choice but the crappy curry at PMC canteen for lunch.  If I have to eat equally crappy curry for dinner as well, I would rather jump in front of a tuck tuck and kill myself.  The real benefit for my 2nd month in Bangalore is the weekend travels.  We planed weekend trip for every weekend.  I have been to lots of places in India and get to see the real India, the beautiful India I would enjoy, instead of the garbage piling India I encounter every day.  It would be too sad if you have to spend your weekend in Bangalore with nothing to do.

So long Bangalore, so long India.  6 days left and counting…

There are many nice restaurants to have good food in Bangalore. I have been trying out new restaurants every night after work. The company has save a lot of money by outsourcing to India, I figure I should help them spend some of the saving on gourmet food. It is nice when you can expense your dinner to the company account, you don’t have to worry about whether the dish worth the price, you only have to worry about whether the food taste good or not.

Eating local food in Bangalore is very cheap. A very nice Indian dinner is only 200 rupee, about $5. However, having real food in Bangalore is relatively very expensive, the price is still slight cheaper than Vancouver. It cost $30 to have dinner in a fine dining restaurant and $50 in a 5 star hotel. The average daily wage in India is 100 rupee, so my dinner costs an Indian’s salary for the whole month. Well, the company is paying for it, who cares about the price?

In Bangalore, most restaurants only open for dinner after 7p.m., some restaurants won’t even open until 8p.m. The guest house is located in the out skirt of the city, so it is about 30-45 minutes away from most of the good restaurants. Even though I have to spend an extra hour stuck in traffic to have some nice food, the long journey definitely worth the long journal.

Here is the record of my quest for good food, highly recommend to all business travelers to Bangalore: I only list the name of the restaurant and my comment here. Please look up the address and phone number in Google, it should be easy to find.

Blue Ginger in Taj West End Hotel – Taj West End Hotel is like a forest inside the city. You can enjoy real South East Asia food sitting next to a beautiful lagoon under the tree. The air quality in the hotel is really good, you don’t suffer from the pollution on the street.

Mainland China at Church Street – This is probably the best restaurant in Bangalore you can find real Chinese food, instead of crappy Indian-Chinese food.

Mandarin Room in Grand Ashok Hotel – Another restaurant with real Chinese food. It is on the top floor of the Grand Ashok Hotel overlooking the whole city. Very nice view.

Sunny’s at Lavelle Road – Nice French and Italian cruise. I had my first steak in Bangalore here.

Windsor Grill in Windsor Manor Hotel – Pool side BBQ in a luxury hotel. Yes, you can also order steak here.

Zen in Leela Palace – Leela Palace is the most luxurious hotel in town. Go figure.

Fiorano at 100 Feet Road – Nice Italian restaurant close to the Forum Mall, which is next to the guest house.

Via Milano at 80 Feet Peripheral Road – Another nice Italian restaurant close to the Forum Mall.

I.T.Alia in Park Hotel – Probably the best Italian restaurant I had so far. It is very small, don’t forget to make a reservation.

Bangalore Bistro – This roof top restaurant offer an unique dining experience with close-enough French cruise.  The tables are carved out of stone and have a peddle of water in the middle with floating rose paddle and candle.  It is very hard to find, better call them to ask for direction.