Kerala in Review, part Deux

Ah, let me continue where I left off. Kerala and related items.

Le Meridian, Cochin

The Meridian Resort, like all resorts has its inbuilt advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are, they're beautiful, particularly this resort. It was on the banks of a backwater, and was surrounded by palm trees. There was a nice swimming pool, which had little ponds around it, and the backwater behind it, and there were geese all over the place. The geese were also unually quiet, and not as indignant, and protesting as the geese in Deer Park, who always seem to have a major grouse in life.
The disadvantages of resorts are that they are all far away from anywhere, and thus you must eat at their overpriced restraunts.
Now the buffet here was quite shabby, but there was a seafood restaurant named Lagoon, which had the most amazing fish I've ever eaten. Seriously.

Aquariums

Aquariums abound all over the place. In the Cochin Airport, for instance, one got to observe Clown Fish and anemone, a la Finding Nemo. At Lagoon, the above mentioned seafood restaurant(the irony of placing an aquarium in an eating joint which had exclusively seafood dishes is inescapable), had these grumpy fish, which reminded me and Ma of my brother. They were grey, with orange colorations, and seemed permanently moody. There were a few of them, and every so often, a couple would get really riled up with each other, and charge full force, with their mouths open and gaping. It was quite amusing.
Aquariums, I have found, can provide endless entertainment. Fishies are not only good to eat, but quite enjoyable to watch. I think I'm going to go snorkling on my next vacation, I feel I should do that very strongly.

Teletubbies

In the hotel room at the Meridian, my mother and I had the fortune to happen upon this wonderful program on Pogo. For the full ten minutes we were watching it, we simply could not contain our laughter. And this is why.
Teletubbies has the most simplistic plots in the entire world. I know they're meant for really young kids, but believe me, Sesame Street was a regular Lord of The Rings infront of Tellytubbies. Allow me to narrate the entire plot, running for a full 15 minitues.

Lala went to give Tinky-Winky a big hug.
Tinky Winky! Big Hug! (they hug) Again, Again! (this entire sequence runs for about 2 mins, and is accompained by really funny noises)
Then, Lala went to give Tipsy a big hug. Lala then proceeds to run around some hobbit-like dwelling for a couple of mins, while Tipsy is running at 180 degrees phase difference. Finally, they do catch up.
Lala! Big Hug!
Again! Again!
Then, Lala went to give Po a big hug.
Po! Big hug! Again, again! More weird noises.

All the tellytubbies love each other very much.
Big group hug.
You have to love what they're subjecting kids to these days. Makes you glad for your old days of He Man, G.I Joe, and Japanese Anime, with robots and spaceships and all-sorts-of-things-that-transformed-into-a-whole-range-of-other-things.

Muttancherry

Muttancherry is this old Jewish part of Cochin. Its one of the oldest living Jewish settlements in Asia, and has one hell of an antique market. The whole range of junk availible here was incredible, ranging from semi-pornographic Supari Nutcrackers(which I really was tempted to pick up for Manav), to old lighthouse lamps. The lamp, by the way, was a steal at Rs. 2000, though the transportation costs would be great.
There were also these old fashioned telephones, which really caught my fancy. Money matters prevailed, and I couldn't pick one up. Besides, it would mean giving up cordless existence, which would mean giving up pacing around the corridors. Good sense prevailed in the end.
Next, we went to and old Dutch Palace, of sorts, which housed the Raja's of Cochin, who were all named Ravi, Rama, or Kerala. The palace itself was painted with these wonderfully intricate murals.
Notable were the paintings in what I could only presume was the Raja's Honeymoon Suite. They were incribed with Krishna getting it on with big busomed gopis, a LOT of big busomed gopis, and a whole lot of people getting it on with each other on one wall, and Shiv getting it on with Mohini, while Parvati watched in disdain. This is understandable, as she was the only person in the room( including various animals in the murals) not having sex.
There was also and old synagogue in Jewtown, which unfortunately was closed at the time we came.

Oh, and yes, Sarika, I did have the Puffy Rice, which is perfectly designed for soaking up ishtew, and other currys.

Well, in the words of Forrest Gump, thats all I have to say about that.