Pokeno!!!

For those of you who have never played Pokeno...well, neither had I....at least, not until I moved to Bangalore.  I already have plans of bringing this fun game back to the US and starting it up with a group of friends from home!

A Kiwi friend of mine (that means someone from New Zealand!), Megan learned how to play the game when she lived in Malaysia and she brought the game with her to Bangalore and taught us all how to play.  Think Bingo meets Yankee Swap and you've pretty much got Pokeno.  We meet once a month on a Friday night and eat and laugh and eat and laugh and eat and laugh.  You get the idea! It's been a great way to get to know people from all over the world!  YAY FOR POKENO!!

The "Original 12" Ladies!

We've seen members of our group come and go but this was the initial group! 

A DOUBLE Pokeno Winning Card - That NEVER happens!

So happy when you win...

 So annoyed when someone steals your "Fancy Lantern" ;0)
When you almost have Pokeno (4 in a row but not 5) you say, "Fishing"  This card is fishing, fishing, fishing AND fishing but still wasn't a winning game!  :0/
Everyone in the group takes a turn at hosting and I recently had my go at it.  We had CRAZY power cuts all night long but that didn't stop us.  We played by candle light and used cell phones to see our playing cards until the power came back on.

Daleen yells, "POKENO!"

Forget "Poker Face" we've all got on our very serious "Pokeno" faces! 

Uh Oh!  Power's Out...Meghan is that you!?

Thanks girls for a fun night!

And Thank you Megan for sharing your past Pokeno experiences and bringing the game to Bangalore and teaching us all how to play!!

What's for dinner?

So, Mom's out there, you know that age old question, "What's for dinner?"  Well, in India it is no different, my kids walk in the door from school and want to know, "Hey Mom!  What's for dinner!?"   The only difference is that in order for me to get a decent cut of meat I have to travel about 45-60 minutes to a place called, Bamburies where we are able to get chicken, fish, beef and pork.  And although we've had nothing but positive experiences with Bamburies we did hear a horror story about pork awhile back and haven't eaten it since.

There are lots of local stalls where you can buy meat but of course there is no refrigeration and the slabs of raw meat are hung from a wire in the shop where the sun bakes down on it and hundreds of flies buzz about and attach themselves to the raw flesh.  Chickens are kept in small little cages on the roadside and according to my driver who used to work at a chicken stall he claims the "dark feathered chickens" are much tastier than the "white feathered chickens."

Chicken anyone?  How about mutton?

Oink Oink!  Oh yah, that's fresh pork available!!!

We also have a shopping option that isn't too far from our house that is about as close as you can get to a Wal-Mart type store.  It's called Hyper City although many of my ex-pats friends have so affectionately re-named it "Hyper $hitty"....so that gives you an idea of the calibre of shopping that is available here but I will say - I am able to find a lot of my staple items like toilet paper and paper towels there.  One thing I do NOT buy from Hyper City is their meat!  Although they have quite a selection, and you can purchase "fresh fish" and many of the items are shrink wrapped like you would find in an American grocery store but I will tell you one thing that is NOT like a US meat section - Hyper City smells...well, $hitty!  :0/  Although you can watch the employees filet a fish and all of the fish is on ice the SMELL that comes wafting to your nostrils the moment you near the meat section is a complete assault on your nasal passages.  Arggghhhh!  Absolutely wretched and it's kind of comical b/c they have a small section of imported goods from a British grocery store called Waitrose and here you can sometimes find cleaning supplies, baking goods or canned goods that you wouldn't be able to otherwise find in Bangalore.  So, you have to sit there and think....How badly do I want to browse the Waitrose section b/c that will mean I have to brave the Hyper City meat section.  Should I walk throught the Waitrose section to see if they have imported any little treasures recently?!  Because I inevitably know what will happen, As I start to walk close to the Waitrose section my gag reflex kicks in from the stench of the Hyper City meat section and before I know it - I'm pushing my cart around, wretching and dry heaving!  So, yep.  I now have it down to a science,  I can browse in the Waitrose section for as long as I an hold my breath and quite frankly that's not very long and in actuality most days it's just not worth it and I just skip it all together.  NASTY!

Yep.  It's shrink wrapped & will cost you less than $2.00 USD but I don't think when the kids walk in the door and ask, "What's for dinner?" and I reply, "Mutton Brain!!!" that anyone would be too happy!  :0)

Okay.  Game Time!  Can anyone figure out what this one is?  Yep, I know the label says "Goat Mutton" but what part of the goat are they selling?

Did you figure it out?  The other label that isn't in the photo called this "Trotters".....Hmmmmm....Trotters?!  OH GOSH!  It took me a minute but if you look closely - Those sure enough are "trotters" aren't they?!  You can actually see the hooves!  Yep!  Thinking this would also NOT be a hit at our dinner table.  Then again, I have not tried them and I always tell the kids, "Try it first and if you don't like it - That's okay."  In all honestly, I don't even know if this Momma would be willing to put a trotter up to my mouth!? 

So, when your kids come home from school and ask, "What's for dinner?" and immediately start to complain that you are having spaghetti AGAIN, remind them - They could be eating mutton brain or trotters instead.  I'm thinking spaghetti sounds pretty good, right?!  Hahahaha!