Diet Update and Two Week Progress

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After two weeks in Mumbai, I have made serious progress towards a consistent daily diet. Every day now, I...

• Eat a sweet potato and two bananas.
• Drink four or five protein shakes, with two liters of skim milk.
• Take two multi-vitamins.
• Drink at least five liters of water.
• Eat two big bowls of steel cut oats.
• Eat lots of chicken, and a few eggs.

I have resumed the flax seed oil, with the goal of having three tablespoons per day (I mix it with tomato juice).

So that's my baseline diet. And if I eat that every day, then I can snack on tasty Indian food whenever I come across it. I have not counted my calories recently, but I probably need to add in another meal if I want to gain weight. I am also doing my best not to eat carbs after 7pm, but that is difficult because Indian people eat very late at night.

Hanging Out in a Bollywood Sound Studio

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My friend invited me to visit a sound studio in Andheri neighborhood while she recorded dialogue for another upcoming Hindi movie that she is in. Over the course of four hours, I observed a few things.

A majority of all Hindi films have complete audio dubs. The video and the audio are recorded at two separate times. After the movie finishes filming, each actor must come to a sound studio to re-record their dialogue. This appears to be a tiring process. The dialogue is usually fast, and the actor must exactly match tone and pitch while keeping synch with her own lips.

• The building section we were in was partitioned into two areas: Recording Room, and Control Room. The Recording Room had a podium, a microphone, a video projector, speakers, a large screen wall, and a couch to rest on. The Control Room was about 20' x 20', was soundproof, and had two couches and three chairs.
• There were seven people, including myself, in the Control Room. These people were: Executive Producer, Lead Audio Editor, Audio Technician, Assistant Director 1, Assistant Director 2, Chubby Guy, and Foreigner (Me).
• It was freezing cold in the room. The audio technician even put on a white cotton snow cap.
• They were using some sort of computer-based digital audio editing software to record the dialogue. The Audio Technician was able to interact with the software with much fluency. There was a special keyboard with a wheel that allowed the staff to roll forward or backwards along the movie timeline.
• We ordered hot tea and sandwiches from the studio canteen. I had two cups of chai and an egg sandwich.

Assistant Director and Me, Outside the Control Room

Some Bollywood Sound Studio slang words that I heard:

• Pilot = Original audio that was taped with the video. Ex: "Play that back with the pilot." or "I want to hear the pilot."
• Taking = Rolling, recording. Ex: Taking!  (Like "Action!")
• Mind Blowing = Amazing. Great. Usually used in a sarcastic way.  Ex: The power goes out- "Mind blowing, man!"

New City Notes from a Wednesday Morning

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Here is a picture.

This is a look at Bandra (West) from the guest room in Akshay's apartment, where I stay. We are on the 6th floor.

• I promised myself I would not call this "The City of Crows," but they are everywhere in our neighborhood in Bandra.
• I went to visit a very popular Internet travel company here on Monday. They had hundreds of employees spread across three offices. I met with three different people in three different departments, and I was honestly really impressed by each person. Very, very savvy.
• Akshay's sister and I went into a cell phone shop last week and there were 12 attendants. We were the only two customers in the whole store. The store was less than 500 square feet! Imagine 14 people standing around in your bedroom or office. It was crazy - everybody was staring at us from behind the counter to see what cell phone charger we needed to buy. I felt like I was on stage at a concert.
• Akshay sent me an article that noted that because India has so many people looking for work, there are a lot of cheap and silly make work jobs.
• Despite living in a really nice apartment, I have experienced the following outages here: Water outage, Power outage, Elevator broken, and No Internet.
• I picked up 12 big green bananas from a street vendor in Pali Market for Rs20 (US$.50).
• Skim milk costs me Rs31 (US$.78) per 1 liter tetra pack from Magnet grocery.
• The offices I have visited in Mumbai all seem under-lit. Like a den.
• With any luck I will meet up with Kaushal in Dadar neighborhood soon and get re-introduced to the train system.
• I am feeling better from my cold, still eating fairly well, and hopefully on track towards a new city rhythm next week.

Having a Cold in Hot Mumbai

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I was hitting the gym very hard - twice per day, for three days in a row last week. And then I was exposing myself to the streets and the pollution and the dust. Never mind the irregularity of a new city and a new diet.

So it should not have been a surprise when I got a sinus infection on Friday. My symptoms are sore throat, runny nose, congestion, and lack of energy.

Health is very important to me, so this cold was a big blow to my psyche. But with enough rest and water, I am getting over the symptoms today. I hope this cold will build up some immunity so I can continue exploring the town on my schedule.

My Visit to a Bollywood Movie Set

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On Thursday I had the great opportunity to visit the set of a Bollywood movie. One of the Indian girls that I met in Atlanta a few months ago is an actress here, so I was her foreign guest on set for an hour.

The movie was filming in Khar neighborhood, which is near where I stay in Bandra. Two interesting things that I observed from my time on the set of a real Hindi film:

• The huge portable air conditioning units had to be turned off while the cameras were rolling, presumably so that they would not interfere with the sound equipment.
• Each take was simultaneously recorded to a DVD disc, so the director could see immediate playback. It looked like Off-the-Shelf components were being used. A secondary camera with MiniDV output was probably mounted to the primary film camera. Then each take was recorded as a new chapter onto a Panasonic DVD recorder. This is a really cool use of technology. It seems much more efficient than the taped dailies that I saw being made on the American Pie 2 and American Wedding sets. But maybe they use DVDs in Hollywood now.

Other things were similar to the Hollywood sets I have visited, like special VIP trailers for the cast and free water and fruit snacks. And, of course, lots and lots of people pottering around :)

I met the Director, the Writer, the 1AD, and a few other people. Everybody was really nice to the farang (foreigner) on set.

Random Thursday Notes from Bagel Shop in Bandra

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I am going to try and type a little something here whenever I get on the internet. Here are a few random notes.

• The big bananas have green and brown skin. I thought they were spoiled, but I found a perfect fruit inside.
• This morning I bought 2 dozen eggs and 5 kilograms of chicken. That is 11 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken breast for Rs912 (about US$23) from Joseph's in Bandra. Akshay's little sister helped me find the place; it is right across from Gold's Gym.
• Vegetables are crazy cheap.
• Most families eat dinner REALLY late here, like 8pm or 10pm every day.
• A few notes about toilets now... 
• All of the Western toilets I have seen have cheap plastic seats, while the remainder of the bowl is usually a nice porcelain.
• When you flush, it is like Niagara Falls. I think 30 or 40 gallons must pour down the drain.
• Most all of the restaurants and coffee shops and gym bathrooms here in Bandra have had toilet paper. But hardly will you ever find towels to dry your hands.
• Auto-Rickshaws are awesome.

My Time in India Thus Far

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Some of you noticed that the gymnasiums I reviewed in my last post were very expensive (US$100 per month). It is true that these gyms are the creme de la creme of Indian offerings.

The same could be said about my current living conditions. I am very spoiled right now in an awesome neighborhood that has many Western conveniences.

If you were hoping to see me review cheap dhobi wallahs (Indian laundry men) or the best street food, I am sorry to disappoint.

I plan to try to live and document a very cosmopolitan two months in Mumbai. India gets a bad rap in America as a dirt-poor, lazy, third-world country. And there certainly are those elements all around me.

You can find Old Meets New in a lot of cities in this part the world. But what I love here are the arts and the intellectuals and the media in Bombay. And I think there is a special mix of New here.

Notes from Gold's Gym and Talwalkar's Gym in Bandra

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Here are some notes from two gyms I have worked out at in Bombay. The two gyms I have visited are Gold's and Talwalkar's. Both are in Bandra, a neighborhood in Mumbai.

Talwalkar's Gym in Bandra, Mumbai, India

• The gyms have an abundance of personal trainers on the floor. Their advice is pretty good. I was instructed to "Full range of motion!" and "Push and breathe out" and "Two more!"
• It is fun to work out while listening to the soundtracks of my favorite Bollywood movies over the loudspeakers.
• Both gyms also wouldn't let me do free weights until I had warmed up on the treadmill for five minutes. That is awesome and a good practice.
• After working out at Talwalkar's for the past three days, I can say that the trainers there are very knowledgeable about exercise techniques. 
• One major complaint with both of these two gyms - The free weights are totally unorganized. I always have to hunt for the other 10 kg barbell. Hardly anybody re-racks their weight on the bars, too. It is a mess.
• Talwakar's gym has a shaker machine! I actually saw someone using it today. The trainers told me it is a good massage after you work out.
• Gold's gym had a nice water cooler, but what caught my eye was the two other unique free workout beverages - Lime juice and Sugar water.

Talwalkar's offers visitors a free 3-day Membership plan. Gold's offers a 1-time workout pass. Both have a one-month rate of Rs4,000 (approx $100).

About the Food That I Packed for India

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Scott and Billy asked me about the food I packed for India.

Why are you taking that much food? Is none of that (easily?) available in India? -Billy

Thank you for asking. I love having a rhythm to my life, and an important part of that rhythm is eating and working out. So I brought the fish as an insurance policy in case I needed to eat some healthy meat for two weeks while I got situated.

To my knowledge, you absolutely cannot get flax seed oil or steel cut oats here in Mumbai. I found advertising posters for the same brand of whey protein that I take (ON brand, vanilla flavor) at a Gold's Gym here. But there is at least a 300% mark-up in cost because it is all imported from the USA. And I have been told that the Indian-brand whey protein is very low quality and doesn't have the glutamine or BCAAs like ON brand whey.

Can you remind us avid readers why you love steel cut oats so much? -Scott

Sure, and also thanks to Scott for asking. First, the oats keep me regular and have lots of fiber. But mainly I love them because steel cut oats are a GREAT source of carbs. They are much better for you than regular oatmeal because steel cut oats are more nutritionally dense than regular rolled oats. It has to do with breaking down the starches.

First Update from India July 2007

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What I Packed for India

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* 20 lbs of steel cut oats ...
* 15 lbs of canned salmon and tuna ...
* 13 lbs of whey protein ...
* 10 lbs of flax seed oil ...
* 6 lbs of peanut butter ...

Plus a laptop, lots of gadgets, a SnorriCam, vitamins, medicine, and a
full week's worth of clean clothes.

Upcoming Travel to Mumbai, India

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I do not have any plans to become a yoga master or to convert to
Hinduism. With any luck, I will even find an apartment with air
conditioning and a Western toilet.

Everybody asks me, "Why are you going to India?" And I have been telling
people that I am going to juggle, I am going to work out, and I am going
to cook a lot of oatmeal. I am going to do what I love.

Testing 123

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Upcoming Travel to Niagara Falls

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We have a family reunion on my dad's side! So this weekend I will be in Buffalo, Lewiston, and Niagara Falls, New York.

My sister Emily is going to be my partner in crime as we harass and torture our little cousins.