Back off the tourist trail

Our following day of sightseeing, also with Rupu, wasn't quite as successful as we headed first to the Marble Palace, which is closed Thursdays & Mondays. The driver suggested we go to the house of Tagore, a famous Indian poet, singer, philosopher and painter, which we all found interesting. By the time we left for stop three, the Jain Temples, the driver told us it was too late - they close at noon and re-open in the evening. So we headed off to lunch at an Italian restaurant Aileen had mentioned. We tried calling her to see if she could meet us, but couldn't reach her. So we were very surprised to see her eating inside when we got there! After our yummy pastas and pizzas, we headed home to get ready for the American Consulate Christmas party a few hours later. We tied for first place in a Christmas carol puzzle competition and were rewarded with MORE CHOCOLATE. Then home again to get ready for a night out at the fancy Park Hotel. Aileen hadn't been out late since arriving in Calcutta, since she'd been pregnant or with a tiny baby at home the whole time, but she was determined to use the two of us as an excuse to go out on the town. Rupu and Rahul went out for a drink first so we got a late start and couldn't eat at the first few restaurants we tried. Since we were due to meet up with another couple at the Park Hotel in the next hour, we decided to eat at a restaurant in the hotel. We sat down to look at Zen's menu, but Rahul didn't seem enthused and he's the foodie - we generally leave the ordering up to him. So we walked over to Saffron but found out halfway there that it's their Indian restaurant, which no one was excited about. Then Rahul said what he really wanted was Japanese. Which is of course what Zen is. So back there again for a quick meal before heading downstairs to the Roxy nightclub.

The few hours we spent at the Roxy were absolutely HYSTERICAL. We recognized the tune of the first song, but not the lyrics which were being mutilated. I kept looking for the person who was singing the karaoke when I realized it wasn't karaoke. Just a really horrible recording of someone ripping off a Robbie Williams song. Then we entertained Rupu by singing along to Billy Ocean's "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car" from the 80s, which she had never heard. She couldn't get over how funny the lyrics were. (Even if you don't know the lyrics, I think you can see how funny they are by the title.) I don't remember how it started, but Rupu, Susan and I also made up hand motions to "Sunshine, Moonlight" (is that the title of the song?) by the Jackson 5, further increasing the laugh factor in our group. The Gypsy King's "Baile Me" got everyone on the dance floor, including the most enthusiastic male dancers I have ever seen. A lot of flailing, jumping and aerobicizing. After more Jackson 5 and a spin through the entire 70s back catalog (including our own back catalog of bad dancing) we left the flailing men to the floor in search of a few hours' sleep before the next morning's early rise for our Sunderbans trip!