Tamil Nadu, India - Day 4

No! Don't scroll down yet. You have not missed a post. I made a mistake with the days sequence (didn't realise I used parts instead of days at my day 3...). Edited the title to the other posts & here we are at day .

We slept like a log. It was a refreshing morning but for our troop of 6 to be on time for breakfast with everyone else was like a miracle ;-) 6 persons taking turns using 1 bathroom is time consuming indeed! Though the elder girls opted for their grandparents' bathroom, we were still late... OK! OK! Woke up late. Our fault... Hehehe!

Had breakfast. How excited the girls were to have koko krunch, sausages & toast that morning. Even I enjoyed my continental breakfast.

Us having breakfast

Well... I can spot Kak Yasmin, Kak Wardah & Hadi in this picture. So this must be your hand Balqis!! Too big to be Nadeen's...

An attempt to swallow all the rock sugar on the tray!

Cousin Riaz (Aunt Mumtaz's & Uncle Ibrahim's son) dropped by the hotel right after we were done with breakfast. He was working in Chennai & took the day off to spend sometime with us.

The itinerary of the day was not other than shopping!! Woohoo.. I like! Uncle was taking us to a textile shop. I was trying my best to cover my excitement but I guess this shot by Balqis gave it away... :-D

Yes, Balqis had shown interests to use the bulky cam! The problem was... once Balqis had gotten hold of something, her little sis would want the same. Glad that Nadeen agreed to have the point & shoot instead...

These shots were taken when Yasmin had the possession of the dslr. I didn't even realised when she snapped these.

Yasmin's shot..

Since Yasmin is in the picture, who made this shot? It was Uncle! Good Job... :-)

We boarded the same mini bus to take all of us shopping. Everyone was really in a good mood. I managed to capture these on our way to the shops.

Our destination was at.....

I love this place! It housed varieties in one roof. Almost all the things I planned to get I got them here. Air-conditioned, prices were fixed (no ridiculous prices for us tourists) & guaranteed for qualities...

These security guards offered for their photos to be snapped ;-)

I managed to get cotton material... Isn't the best cotton come from India? So the theme next raya will be cotton, shades of orange & Porthys mari ;-) HB loves his Kurta. Yes, that one is in cotton as well. Even the Saree I fell in love with was in cotton silk!

I had in mind to get the girls some ready made blouses & long skirts for Yasmin. But dear Balqis had already set her mind of what to get. Obviously she had been admiring the attires her cousins put on & once she saw the one she loved, she didn't want to look at others. I am still not sure of what it's called.... Churidar is it? A long blouse worn in long pants. But it is really the shawl that captured her heart. She put it on & it looked great on her. Really! ;-)

When HB saw Balqis in the Indian attire, he told his other girls to choose one too. It surprised me that even Yasmin (who kind of picky of what she wears) didn't hesitate & started looking for the one she liked.

At the fitting room, we were the only customers there who were guarded with a personal security. Hahaha! It was either she was scared of us shop lifting or she was entertained by me handling those girls. In the end, apart from the blouses & skirts they chose we ended up with all the girls with a Churidar (right?). Nadeen, I got her a 2 pieces of blouse & skirt, heavy with beadings. It was her choice & she too looked good in her choice.

They came out from the fitting rooms wearing their new unpaid Indian clothing with their own clothes stuffed in the shopping bags ;-) Well... that should explain the security concerns. Once, I was done with the girls, I passed them to their grandparents & I continued what I had too ;-)

At this point, there were only the men babysitting the young ones. The ladies were still at it ;-) Look at Yasmin & her new attire. Great choice!

Nadeen, modeling hers :-)

My MIL had retired from her shopping & Balqis there was looking annoyed but I was still at it ;-)

At last with a heavy heart I had to bid farewell to Porthys. I could see my SIL was having trouble parting too :-) She was leaving for KUL that night but I still had another 2 days to spend in Chennai. But HB made it clear that it was the only day we were shopping... The day after would be sight seeing :-(

We stopped for lunch. It didn't thrill me much when the ride put a halt to this restaurant... Whenever I travel, I prefer to taste the local food.

A pose with Auntie Parween

My love affair with auntie continued ;-)

It was lunch time & the place was really a hit! Section closed girls...

Managed to get a table, 4 to be exact... & we had a feast. Little did I know how I missed home. After 5 days in India, nasi kandar really made my day!

... sirap limau too!

Tata entertaining his young grandchildren

HB with cousin Riaz

A family portrait

On the way back we stopped at a few small shops for souvenirs. Uncle was always around to guide us so our price was for the locals ;-) Everyone retired to their rooms to pack since they were catching the flight home & Uncle with Auntie were leaving for Thanjavur once they sent off the others to the airport.

I had a peaceful time re-admiring the stuff I bought because the girls were at Tata's room. Decided to join them & I found them snapping pictures using the point & shoot. They were loads but too bad we lost it on our way to the airport the day after...

When it was time, we all gathered at the lobby & here are the photos shot...

It was time for them to leave. We sent them to the mini bus. Auntie Parween was no longer talking at this point. It was hard for her to say goodbye & it was not easier for me.

Just look at her in this picture. I dropped a tear seeing her so devastating like that. When she asked "You, remember me?", it hit me. How will I forget you Auntie dear... You had been way too wonderful to us!

This was uncle playing translator again :-) See Nadeen aiming the cam at her Tata?

Once they left Nadeen was in a bad mood. She was tired... I tried to have a shot of all of them together in their Indian attire before they changed but Nadeen wanted to be the one taking photos, not the one posing..

Anyhow, I tried my luck again when we were in the room...

Hmmm... was crying for something which I can's recall

Managed to get her in the mood but Wardah & Balqis were distracted!

At last! Though Nadeen lost her posing charm :-)

*to be continued