Big Shout Out to Melanie

It's been an insane week with random activities, nothing worth writing about. And it seems I'm always behind in my work.

The highlight of the week has been dinner with Melanie on Monday night. She won a free dinner coupon for two at Tutto Bene, and we went there to cash it in. I really like their food, and we were the only people on the whole floor, so we got undivided attention of the staff.

Tutto Bene has an interesting history. It used to be called Don Giovanni, and located where Cofee 11 is now, near Gulshan-2 circle. I regularly went there for their pizza and appetizers, and once treated my cousins and my niece Maisha with their take-out pizza. One of the funny highlights was waitresses who wore skirts, something not common in Dhaka. In its new incarnation, they've ditched the female staff, and it's now much larger than before, occupying two floors and a video room.

The dinner was perfect, and I got a kick out of their ambience music when Melanie pointed out that they were playing "My Heart Will Go On" again and again. Someone must really like Celine. And midway through dinner, I realized that it might be the last time I'll see her in Dhaka, since she was going on her vacation trip across Bhutan, Amsterdam and Paris. She'll be off to Madagascar when I return. I was so distracted by that thought, I forgot to take the picture of us that was gonna accompany this blog entry.

I haven't mentally prepared for good-byes, it's a small assignment for a year, so I was hoping to slip out quietly, but looks like I'm finally starting to realize all the great people I'll miss who make living in Dhaka bearable.

So, a big shout out to Melanie and David, and I really hope that we'll get to have dinner somewhere exotic next time. And I'll remember to take the camera out of the bag next time.