Open sandals

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 09:18:21 +0800

My sandals landed me in trouble twice in December. And that’s not uncommon.

Mr Krishnan and I were meeting. He suggested:

Good morning. Sunday 07/12/25 breakfast at 09:00 am at the Bangalore Club Residency Road (not far from Koramangala)?

… but knowing me, he also added:

These clubs are peculiar and may insist on no round necked t-shirt or no open sandals. If you have ideological issues with that, no problem and I will suggest another venue.

I shared this in reply…

… and we met at Ballal Residency instead.

I’ve been buying the same sandals for 8 years now. About twice a year.

4 Aug 2018
27 Feb 2019
14 Dec 2019
6 Feb 2020
4 Dec 2020
16 Sep 2021
(Hmm…. what happened in 2022?)
4 Feb 2023
23 May 2023
6 Apr 2024
(Bought at a store, not Amazon)
29 Jan 2025
5 Nov 2025

They work remarkably well. Comfortable (no break-in period, good to walk in, doesn’t slip off.) Durable (though the bottom center wearing out after 6 months.) Cheap (and staying cheap, around ₹500 over the years.) Maintainable (just wash them.) All-weather (though socks helps when snowing.) Stylish (well, at least to me.)

The only hitch is that other people don’t always like them. Usually Naveen gives me his spares for important meetings or TV. We even kept a spare for me at our Hyderabad office though I never used them.

Where I get into trouble is usually in places with… “too much atmosphere”.

On 31 Dec, my wife booked us for a New Year party at Ce La Vi - the tallest spot in Singapore, and with a great view of the fireworks.

And a dress code we were not aware of. “Gentlemen must be in a shirt, covered shoes.”.

After 5 minutes of trying to persuade the gentle yet firm manager, I wished my family a happy new year and walked back home enjoying the fireworks along with thousands of others on the streets.

In open air. And open sandals.

Tea at the Ritz

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that “Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea”, my reaction was rather like Calvin’s.

But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I’ve seen in London.

My new suit

Thu, 25 Jan 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Fashion lessons paid off. After reading about business wardrobes for men, and how gentlemen dress, I shopped for a suit, hoping to look my professional best. Ended up with a grey single-breasted polywool suit from Louise Phillipe.

dress-code on S Anand

Open sandals

Tea at the Ritz

My new suit