1st day in India

For the first day, I mostly (and unashamedly) relaxed... Went to a local beauty parlor with Seema... I think it was called Hair We Are... and there we were, treated to an ever so relaxing oil head massage... Quite decadent and reviving after the 14+ hour trip from Newark the previous night.

Later that evening we went out to dinner... for sushi at Ai. Quite a unique experience... for example the starters were dumplings wrapped in edible rice paper... Even though I gamely ate it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was eating paper. But the rest of the food was delicious. Especially the soups, the noodles and the mango/avocado rolls (what's not to love about my favorite fruit and favorite vegetable rolled into one!?)

But what's with this new phenomenon of restaurants in exclusive shopping malls?
In my opinion it takes away from the charm of being in India... One could be anywhere in the world (except for the fact that I've never seen a high-end restaurant in a shopping mall in the U.S.) I guess it's one way to "keep the riff-raff out." Ah well... will have v. different experiences throughout this trip and this is but one.