arriving in chennai : all advice welcome

new2chennai

Hello all

Should be arriving in chennai in a few months for an expat posting for a few years. No idea what to expect, but know other cities in india quite well.

Any recommendations where to rent an aprt or house ? I think budget between 2 and 3k euros/month. Want Western-standard accommodation

Where do other expats hang out ?

Any night life to speak of ?

My wife not likely to be happy sitting at home , any idea what other expat wives get up to ?

Thanks to all for their replies

mairangi_vice

Welcome to Chennai! (Almost). Im in the same situation as you, here for a year or two. Where you rent depends on where you will be working, but 3000 euros will put you in the absolute top of the line accomodation.

I rent in alwarpet, and there are a few expats around this area, also there are quite a few clubs/bars around and some good restaurants.

Mrs Vice has a job, so thats what she gets up to.

new2chennai

Thanks for the reply , Mt Vice.

Are there any gyms or clubs that you can recommend in chennai, anywere that I can go to work out and swim ?

I'm also interested in any details of "hardships" beyond the obvious because i am busy negotiating what I can with the human resources dept .

Are there any Western-type supermarkets or do you entrust food-buying to a cook ? From the 6 months or so that i've spent in india I anticipate going vegetarian anyway .

do you rate chennai as safe for my wife ? I guess she'll be obliged to go everywhere by car anyway but it would be nice for her to feel at ease.

What else ? Any recommendations on bars, restaurants outside of the big hotels . Anywhere that I can watch the Premier lgue ?

thanx again for all hints

Nick-H

I rate Chennai as being very safe for your wife. You're likely to be in nicer areas anyway, on an ex-pat salary, if not the nicest! Get her out of car, doing some walking, learning to haggle with auto drivers! There is no need to stay confined inside that AC car!

On which point, one thing I'd insist on if I was coming here as an expat worker, is a car and driver, preferably available to family while not taking me to/from work.

I think the pair of you will want to experience buying food and stuff, rather than trusting a cook. There are supermarkets where you can buy stuff easily without knowing the local-language names, by just choosing from the shelf.

There's nothing you'd quite recognise as equivalent to Sainsbury or Tesco, though. I can't pretend that there's a way to make your kitchen cupboards look just like back home. There are a couple of shops that sell some imported stuff, though.

On problem with sending staff to shop is they can never believe the amount of money you are prepared to spend, and will economise too much, buying cheap stuff. An exception to this is that our gardener gets us lovely lean mutton, whereas Mrs N went out yesterday and came back with a bag of bones!

Bars, hotels and football: pass.... not my thing!

Restaurants outside hotels; yes I think there is a fair variety, although I tend to stick to the 'local' places. Give them a whirl: you may well end up liking their food, at a fraction the price of five-star places.

Just to confuse, by the way, these eateries are called, by locals, hotels!

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Earthling

Areas - boat club road, harrington road, santhome bungalow by the sea, ECR bungalow by the sea. I remember these areas as places with relative calm and larger space.

I think the expat community is very very small.

Night life OK but jades quickly. There is only so many times you can visit a discotheque (that is all the nightlife) with music louder than a rock concert and share space with young, frustrated, rich boys...some getting heavily drunk and sometimes spoiling for a punch-up. As a white couple (if you are) you'll prolly be a novelty for a while..

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Trini

I am told that there is an expats woman's club here - I am recently arrived myself and have not called the number yet. I will try to get an e-mail address for your wife to contact.

mairangi_vice

Ive seen a few gyms around, but I haven't been to any, so no recommendations, but they are there. Swimming pools seem to be the domain of 5 star hotels, they will probably want to charge you a lot for the privelage of using them. Or you could just sneak in.

Hardships? There are many things that are 'different to what I am used to to' but I cant think of anything that I would say is a 'hardship'! You should though try and get a car and driver, as transport can be a problem sometimes.

There are plenty of supermarkets around, imported stuff can be expensive, but there is usually an indian version that is just as good.

Chennai is perfectly safe. Well, at least as safe as any other large city. The night life isnt that bad, again its confined mostly to big hotels, but there are some good places.

new2chennai

Thanks to all for their replies, plaese keep any miscellaneous advice coming.

By "hardship", I just want to identify things that I can't do in the West , those that will incur a few more costs than I have in paris.. obviously the car and chauffeur , presumably some things that my wife might consider essential are not available and we will have to bring them .. medicines ? electrical devices etc .

I live in the centre of Paris so the first thing I will need to get used to is not being able to walk around easily ( if chennai is like the other indian cities I visit for work ), not to mention power cuts etc .

few more questions :

• are there any French expats in chennai ?
• what do you absolutely recommend that i do not forget to pack from home ? { presumably a stack of French books , i know English books are cheap and available everywhere ).
• can I g

et a French cable channel ?

Nick-H

You can walk around very easily: why would you expect not to be able to?

I was so much fitter a couple of years back when I bought myself an Eicher Chennai City Map (essential) and 'discovered' Southern Central Chennai on foot. These days I have a car.

You'll be able to get many gadgets here, but nothing like the range that you'll find in Europe. I just brought an expensive juicer back from UK, for instance. You'd probably better bring a set of good kitchen knives, if such things are important to you.

The trouble is, you're not going to find out what you can't get until you try!

On what scale are you packing? A couple of cases plus some excess baggage? Or a house-moving container?

new2chennai

Well my experience in Mumbai and Pune is that you can't walk around as in a Western city because in general there are few pavements, no public transport and in the evening the place is overrun with stray dogs - hence car or autorickshaw everywhere. I get the same feedback from a friend who's just completed 2 years in Mumbai . But if chennai is better than this all the better !

I expect to bring out as much as I need or can't find, so just trying to get an idea of that right now : my company should pay for this.

Anyway, I've travelled enough to not expect to recreate Paris in the east , and nor do I expect Singapore, but i want to have as comfortable a life as i can , I'm no longer in backpacker mode - and less so my wife.

Nick-H

I never was in backpacker mode, so I have some sympathy!

Streets... often there are pavements, sometimes not. Often the pavements are obstructed by dangerous steel structures for things like electricity transformers and sign boards. They are also frequently ...errr... unhygienic! Sometimes one feels safer walking on the road, rather than the pavements and one has to get used to and beware of the traffic. But you are not a stranger to Indian cities; I don't think you will find it a problem.

Another reason to walk is that it removes the necessity of bargaining with our infamous auto drivers. They are infamous among native locals, not just foreigners.

A car and driver achieves all this too, of course and when you have a business appointment, the last thing you will want is a half-hour sweaty walk first!

We have dogs too, but they are unlikely to trouble you unless you take to the streets in the late hours of the night. Mostly they will just look relieved that you have not kicked them, and pleased if you mutter a friendly word in passing! Certainly we are not overrun with them.

You are most likely to be living in a leafy suburb. We still have a few that have not been turned into apartment blocks! You should certainly be able to stroll to your local shop.

new2chennai

Well a car or 2 will definitely be on my company's list then !

My wife would definitely like to meet some French [or Swiss/Quebcois/belgian ] expats, so if there are any out there , please let me know.

Anyone else have any "wish i'd thought of that before coming" thoughts, they are all welcome.

Any practical addresses with websites ?

Flats/houses to rent ? and any to avoid ..
Any sports clubs to recommend ?
Any medical advice : a good doc to sign up with , similarly dentist [ I have seen the inside of an Indian hospital ..]

I'm looking forward to coming and hope to share a beer with some of you soon

mirjamd

I can recommend a great place for swimming. The GRT hotel in T.Nagar has the best indoor swimming pool. It does not get crowded, is very clean and the staff is friendly. They also have a gym. You can become a member for Rs. 2000 a month, for which you can use the pool unlimited. The gym will cost you another Rs. 2000 a month. I used to go there everyday, and I loved it.

Nilgiri's supermarket has a good selection of Western food.
And don't worry about only eating vegetarian, meat is available in supermarkets (mostly deepfrozen). Even beef is readily available. And there are many many Indians who eat meat, vegetarians are many times a minority...

And I agree about the walking, it is perfectly possible. Just dont wear too fancy shoes

Nightlife is good. There are many bars, only confined to the 5 star hotels (by law). Places I like are bike and barrel at Residency Towers, Ten Downing Street (a pub on Boag Road in T.Nagar), Distil, Leather Bar in the Park, to name a few. These places are not just abt drunken rich boys, here people just have a drink. If you go to clubs like Pasha (the Park) or Dublin (Park Sheraton), you will find more of the drunken party crowd. But isn't that what clubs are all abt??

All the best with adjusting in Chennai!

theubiquitousmick

howzit?
my girlfriend in french & would like to meet some compatriots while we're here: until april. PM me.

Trini

Amar Naana is the best supermarket for western food but it is more expensive than Nilgiri's. Go to Nilgiri's first and then to Amar Naana for what you cannot get at Nilgiri's! You cannot get 'Rolled Oats' here in Chennai. You can get most medication over the counter in a pharmacy. You do not need a prescription for most. There is an absolutely lovely cafe called Amethyst.

Fruits and vegetables are very cheap here and very plentiful. Almost all the food in restaurants is very spicy.

Traffic is really bad. You may want to consider that when choosing somewhere to live. I would suggest that you stay in an hotel to start off and then look for somewhere to live.

You can hire an auto rickshore with driver for about IRS 100. per hour (very cheap by European standards) - the concierge's at the big hotels know where to get everything!! They may or may not be getting a bit of kickback.

Come with an open mind - I am a newbie too and I find it a wonderful and fascinating place.

PS I met a French lady for a few minutes who will be moving into one of the apartments within the block where I 'live'. I will not see her again until end January when she moves in.....I could try for your wife then for them both to make contact.