Meeting Tom's work buddies

On Friday 11th February Tom rang me on his way out of work and invited me out for drinks with him and some of his workmates at ABC Farms. I tried to get an auto rickshaw there but every driver I asked either refused to go that way or wanted 70 rupees for the journey, which was ridiculous because it should only cost 15 max! They can be quite grumpy and stubborn sometimes! So in the end I just had to walk. 

It was about 8.30pm, so it was quite dark and I was a bit worried about walking over the bridge in the dark on my own. I decided to make sure that when I was walking, I was just behind a couple that were going in the same direction, so that if anything was to happen, at least they would hear and help me. The walk was actually not as scary as I had anticipated though, it was quite light and there were lots of people around both on the path and on the road. I felt quite at ease and enjoyed the breezy night and the dark scenery.

When I arrived at ABC Farms, Tom and his friends were already there in The Shisha Cafe which is a trendy restaurant/bar above a jazz cafe. The place was really nice, warmly lit, with candles everywhere and lots of foliage. It seemed that it was maybe a bit too dark to eat a meal but it was quite a romantic setting and you could easily have privacy as each table was not too overlooked by anyone else. There were loads of people around smoking fruity tobacco from Shisha pipes and the whole place had an amazingly pleasant aroma.

Various views of the place.

Tom was sitting on a small square table in the middle of the main area with two of his workmates, Cush and Hiren (sorry guys if I've spelt your name's wrong). They both seemed really nice, jolly and were genuinely very interested in us. 

Tom and Cush.

Tom and Hiren were both drinking Kingfisher beer and I ordered the same for myself. When it arrived, 'OH MY GOSH' the size of the glass it came in was enormous! I think they called it an Umpah pah. It must have had at least three pints in it, maybe more! It was quite heavy and I had to hold it with two hands whenever I wanted a drink! After just one glass of beer I was feeling the alcohol quite a bit and thought I should have some food. I naughtily had a large bowl of chips, which were good, but I would like to go back sometime and try some of the more interesting food they serve.

Hiren and the Enormous Glass!

Kicking out time was 11pm and the place seemed to empty out really quickly, there was none of that 'just two more minutes for me to finish my drink!' fuss that goes on in the UK, everyone accepted it and left.