Panjim, Goa: 20 Dec, 15:43

Woken at 08:30 by reception calling on the room phone.
I couldn't really understand what was being said and so assumed he was asking if I was coming down for breakfast. I said "yes, I'll be down in 15 mins".

Still feeling drowsy I pulled on some clothes and headed down to the restaurant.

Freddy, the guy who met me at the airport was there and waved 'hello'.
Some 'Christmas' music was playing. This consisted of traditional Christmas songs sung with an Indian accent with accompaniment from a Bontempi organ.

Things became even more surreal when I realised I was about to eat curry for breakfast.

Buffet breakfast consisted of pilau rice with a bowl of daal. I grabbed a coffee too and noticed that toast was available. A waiter who was on toast duty that morning stood behind an ordinary kitchen toaster. I waited until the toast popped up. It took a while. The waiter peered in to look at the bread every so often as if to try and speed up the toasting process. When it eventually did pop-up he buttered it and handed it to me.

Whilst I was eating, Freddy came over and asked me if I was going to Koenig office this morning. I suddenly realised that it had been him on the phone this morning and that he was waiting to take me there in the taxi.

I explained that there had been a mistake as my training was not due to begin until tomorrow. Poor guy must have been waiting for me for over an hour. He smiled without a hint of frustration and went away.

I returned to my room and called Maria, the Koenig concierge. She confirmed that I start tomorrow and that I could hire a mobile phone which will act as a modem to connect me to the internet.

So, reconnected as of tomorrow...