So the title of this entry is a little misleading. Although I woke up in Manila, this was the day I would be transitioning to the major portion of this trip, Indiaaaaa. So, I call it Madras/Chennai Day 1, even though I was only there for 2 hours of the day. For that reason, not much to this post. BUT, important to document nonetheless.

So I woke up, did a little Y&M, and then went to this buffet.

OH MY GOODNESS, this buffet was unreliable. Yes, they had your omelette stations and bacon and what not, but they also had Cinnabons, pralines, hummus, roasted cauliflower, all types of fresh fruits, A FREKIN’ HAM.

Needless to say, I went HAM.

I was supposed to be there for 30 or so minutes so I could eat up, get back, and write here.

Didn’t happen.

I was at the buffet for 90 minutes.

Two different green teas, and 3 plates later, I made my way back to the room.

Full isn’t even the appropriate word.

BUT, because I was traveling I rationalized it as the correct thing to do.

They took me back to the airport after a magical night in Manila, and I was on my way to Chennai (formerly Madras, India).

First flight went from Manila to Singapore, then Singapore to Chennai.

At the Singapore airport, had to munch!

Got in at around 10:30PM, and was texting with my primo Srinivas. My goodness he was so helpful. He called the hotel to make sure they were sending someone and let them know that I was in the immigration line (for about 45 minutes).

I was trying to prepare myself for India, but you can’t really do that. My experiences here before definitely helped, and traveling in Cambodia and parts of the Philippines and Thailand did too, but India is INDIA.

First thing is the heat here. I got out around 11:30PM, but it was still cookin’. Next, you got everybody trying to hustle. Then you have allll the smells. It was wonderful.

Got my bag, and after the usual gambit of hustlers outside, found my guy, and made my way to the Lotus Hotel Anna Salai.

Walked into a really nice room, with a huge bed and TV. Took a quick rinse and messaged with Srinivas to see what we might do the next day. he told me that he would come to the hotel around 9AM to get me, and that we would probably see this temple, a museum, and then see what was what. Sounded great! I promptly then went right to sleep.