Of food and security in Chennai

I was away since Sunday afternoon, returned only on Friday morning. That Sunday morning I ran in the adidas King of the Road half marathon. Then I took a night flight to Chennai, India for a business trip. In total I had 4 trips to India since December 2008.

It was my first time in Chennai. My previous trips were all to Delhi. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu state, the biggest city in south India. The weather was quite hot and humid. Luckily I spent most of my time there indoor.

The food in Chennai is similar to those found in Indian restaurant in Malaysia, particularly in Brickfields KL. It is spicy, Chettinad style served with banana leaf, instead of plate. You can find vegetarian food quite easily here too. I like the Chennai filtered coffee, served with two stainless steel containers, for you to "tarik", as seen below. You can find this in Brickfield, KL too.

Chennai filtered coffee.

I also enjoyed the orignal roti canai, paratha, in Chennai. Seen below is the potato paratha.

Paratha, the original "roti canai". Ever wonder where's the word "canai" came from?

One thing I found out that in India was the security measures were tight. In public places like shopping malls and some offices, there was a metal detector and X-ray scanner installed at every entrance.

Metal detector at the entrance of a shopping mall, Spencer Plaza in Chennai.

These security detectors and scanners were installed in the hotel that I was staying. After passing through the metal detector, then a security guard will body-search you some more.

The X-ray scanner at the hotel that I was staying.

All the baggage and luggage will be required to pass through the scanner. The security was tight, it was necessary from the Indian government point of view. Since the bombing in Mumbai, the security in India became a big concern. People in big cities were living in fear of being bombed again. The tightened security was a necessary measure.

To give you a view of how tight the security was, everyday I went through the metal detector at least once, maximum three times. At one time when I was in Delhi, I was body-searched twice at one entrance to a shopping mall. The feeling was similar to being molested, physically and mentally.

It made me think how lucky I am to live in Malaysia. I hope I will not have to pass through a metal detector entering hotels and shopping malls in Malaysia, ever.