Dec 28, 2008

Mamallapuram Dance Festival 2008/09

The famouse Dance Festival is starting these days. Here we have the programme for you:



Dec 15, 2008

DAS GECKO ist 1 !! / 1 year anniversary!

Our Gecko-Cafe became 1. We celebrated the birthday on December 14th.
We wish to thank everybody, who helped making it the place which it is now!
Has been a good, thrilling year with many changes.



The full story of the GECKO Cafe in Mamallapuram you can find here (PDF):
HISTORY

Dec 3, 2008

DECEMBER 2008

The GECKO is ready.







The plants are growing fast. Soon we ll have a little jungle.


Again: Lake cleaning. "Delicious" work like every once-a-month. The hero of this time: Baskar.
Yes, for the nice lake-view, this work also has to be done.



The Herrnhuter Stern/Star, a gift from Germany, has been puzzled together and now enlightens the Gecko Cafe in the Christmas season. MAni says, he put the star together in only 6 minutes, but nobody believes him.






Im "Deccan Chronicle" wurde am 3. Dezember, nach den Attacken in Bombay, folgender Artikel zum Thema "Tourismus in Mamallapuram" veröffentlicht:
On Dec. 3rd the following article has been published in the Deccan Chornicle on Tourism in Mamallapuram:

Nov 4, 2008

November 2008

Die Einladung an alle Gäste / Invitation to all guests




Nach der Runderneuerung des Gecko Cafes  ist nun alles bereit für die Saison, deren Auftakt in allerspätestens Ende November erwartet wird.

After the total re-paint the Gecko-Cafe now is completly ready for the fresh season, starting end of November: 






Malermeister 1 / Master painter 1: Baskar



Der Malermeister 2 / Master painter 2: Mani
 


Painted steps with hero:



The GECKO CAFE is FRISCH GESTRICHEN!! FRESHLY PAINTED!!



Mani und seine Jungs waren nicht untätig während des kurzen Monsuns.. Das Gecko wurde neu gestrichen (darum auch neue BLOG-Farben!) und die Möbel gepflegt.

Mani and his boys have not been lazy in that very short monsoon. The Gecko got new paint (and so did the BLOG) and the furniture got a good polish, too.






Ramesh preparing all chairs and furniture:




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DER OZEAN VOR  MAMALLAPURAM WAR GIERIG IM SEPTEMBER!! / GREEDY OCEAN OF MAMALLAPURAM RETURNED THE BEACH IM SEPTEMBER!

Das Wasser ist aber erstaunlicherweise wieder zurückgegangen und hat ein bisschen Strand hergegeben. Sogar recht sauber. Jetzt kann man wieder spazieren gehen.
The water went back again and gave back a little bit of the beach, mostly clean now. Good for a walk.




Im Oktober hat sich der Ozean den Sandstrand einverleibt- das Wasser kam sehr nahe an die Strandrestaurants, so dass diese mit Sandsäcken befestigt werden mussten.

In October the ocean did steal the beach. The water came very close to the sea-shore restaurants. Walking along the beach was impossible for a while, sandsacks were needed to keep the water in control.



Oct 3, 2008

Oktober 2008

Mani, Baskar und Rames warten sehnsüchtig auf die neue Saison mit neuen und altbekannten Gästen. Immer noch ein Monat Zeit.
Mani, Baskar und Ramesh are eagerly waiting for the new season with new and well-known guests. Still 1 month to go.





Das Festival für Werkzeuge (und Küchengeräte!) wurde mit ordentlicher Ausschmückung des Cafes begangen, leider von Gästen völlig unbemerkt, da es total in der Off-Saison liegt und keiner gucken kommt.
The Festival for tools and working, Aida-Pooja, was celebrated with a nice decoration in the Gecko-Cafe. Unseen by guests, because it is totally in the Off-Season. No tourists in town.






Zum Geburtstag von der kleinen Nachbarstochter gab es ein Extra-Foto.
Extra-picture for the birthdaygirl of the neighbors.




Das frisch gelb-gestrichene Gecko ist schon von weitem zu sehen. Die Kokospalmen wurden abgeerntet. 76 Kokosnüsse warten nun darauf, in Coconut-Curry und Lassies zu wandern.

The freshly yellow painted Gecko-Cafe can be easily spotted from far away. The two coconut-trees have been harvested. 76 coconuts are waiting to go into coconut-curry and lassis.





Die Off-Saison gibt ein bisschen Zeit für einen kleinen Umbau in der Küche und Freizeitspaß. Cricket spielt dabei keine unerhebliche Rolle.

The Off-Season leaves time for a little change in the kitchen und sparetime. Criket seem to be the major part in this.






Der Kochbereich wurde vollständig gefliest und ein ordentliches Belüftungsfenster zur Freude der Köche eingebaut.

The cooking area has been fully tiled and a new big window for fresh air has been put in, to keep our cooks happy.

September 2008

Die Vorbereitung auf den Monsun sind abgeschlossen. Im Gecko gibt es jetzt einen Regenschutz, der seine Funktionstüchtigkeit schon bewiesen hat. Drinnen bleibt es gemütlich trocken  mit den angenähten Bastmatten.

The preparation for the monsoon have been finsihed. There is a rain-cover in the Gecko now, which prooved its usability very well. Inside it stayes cosy and dry!





Jul 17, 2008

July 2008

New things happened in the Gecko Cafe,
because Mani never stands still. The roof has been covered with thatch to preserve the palmleaves.




Some decoration things found its way into the cafe.
Now you can find something to read in the new book shelf, buy little gifts or postcards from the cafe.






A Watertank was purchased and installed on the kitchen roof.



Also 3 more cookingplaces were installed in the kitchen:



Finally one of the the fridges has been moved up to the roof-top cafe, for serving cool drinks faster.



Uma, manis brother, who is making bronce statues and art work, started to work downstairs from time to time, here finishing one of his beautiful bronce-statues.