Oktoberfest (a.k.a. The Best Cure for Chicken Pox)

Who would've thought that Bangalore would have not just one but two Oktoberfests? The Oktoberfest we attended on Sat., however, was much more in keeping with the real Munich traditions. I suppose the the difference is having an Indian beer sponsor the one and the Indo-German society sponsor the other. Apparently there are enough Germans in Bangalore to warrant having an Indo-German Society. So, nothing like going to a party to recover from the chicken pox.

Unlike the other Oktoberfest we went to, this one we could buy tickets through the OWC. At first I had thought it was an exclusive OWC event but once I got the tickets, I realized this was a much larger event. It was held at one of the hotels in town in one of their conference rooms. Some women even went to great lengths to dress in traditional German dresses having brought a picture to a tailor and getting their outfits custom-made. This is the scene we walked into:
There were rows and rows of benches and a stage up front for the Oompa Loompa band they had flown in from Germany. (Or, perhaps there are enough Germans in Bangalore not only to warrant an Indo-German Society, but also an IGS complete with it's own German band...) Outside the room were two bars set up complete with traditional German steins (and the Kingfisher logo) but to the disappointment of Sir, no German beer. There was a catered meal in another room where they served traditional German fare including sauerkraut, bratwurst, and other delicious combinations of animal parts ground up and shoved in slimy casing.

A bunch of foreigners in India + one old German tradition + lots of food and drink = a very good time. We hung out with our South African, Australian, Finnish and Swiss friends - oh and the American couple we ended up having dinner with a few weeks ago (the guy who looks like a ventriloquists doll). The other Americans are going home soon and seemed quite pleased about that. After I spilled red sauce on my white shirt, they were kind enough to offer me the Stain Stick they had brought from the States - for a discount of course. I told them luckily it was white an I could use the bleach I bought to clean my bathrooms. ("You mean that your maid cleans." They were appalled that I had to clean my bathroom instead of demanding the maid to do a better job.) Luckily there were enough other people there to serve as buffer people.

The Aussies however win the prize for the craziest nationality there. When we first arrived, we found Vanessa whose boyfriend Brendan, I have not yet met. When I introduced myself, he said, "Oh! So you're the Kathleen that Vanessa's always talking about. Nice to finally meet you." Vanessa seemed a little embarrassed by this and it took all my will power not to screech, "You mean you want to be my New Very Best Friend too?!" From that point, the Aussies soon proved that they win the prize as the craziest nationalities. Those blokes love the brew. There was lots of singing, chanting and dancing (which later moved to the tables, which by the end of the night were in bad shape). Enjoy the photos.

Vivian and Liam were noticeably absent from the party because his father had flown in that evening but we caught up with them for a long and leisurely brunch on Sunday afternoon. After brunch, we went to our local dodgy DVD seller to buy some movies. We walked in this tiny store with a selection of DVD in a glass case on one side and a counter on the other side - obviously with way more employees than necessary. There were four people behind the counter and with George and I on the other side, there was no room for anyone else. We walked up and said hello and one of the employees said, "you'd like DVDs?" We nodded and one of the other employees crouched down and opened a tiny trap door that opened to a room in back. He crawled through and came back with a huge bag. He pulled out a stack of over twenties movies - one pile for me to look through and one pile for George. When we finished looking through the first stack, the employees produced another stack. We must have looked through a hundred movies before settling on 6 for about $15. We probably could've negotiated and gotten them even cheaper but as Sir has said, at some point, arguing over 50 cents to a dollar doesn't seem worth it. We went home and watched Casino Royale. After fighting with the TV to hear the dialog (the background music was playing), we were impressed with the quality of the DVD.

We're off to Singapore tomorrow evening so if no post, be prepared for tales from Singapore next week.