Chennai is in a brilliant location, and there's plenty of really interesting places that you can reach from the city. Mamallapuram is a great for some relaxation, with amazing shrines dotted on the beach. It's a kind of hippie hangout too, and it's only a couple of hours south of Chennai by car. Pondicherry is another couple of hours further south (so a total of around 4 hours from Chennai), a wonderful jumble of French and Indian influences and a bizarrely misplaced European cafe culture. Hmmm. Where else? Well. It isn't difficult to head inland and reach Madurai, as the train connections are very good, and - if you really need to get away from everything - you can take a few days out and make your way up to one of the hill station - Ooty or Kodaikanal. These are more of a trek, and will involve overnight journeys, but it will be fresh and welcome break after the city air. In a nutshell, you definitely won't be short of things to fill your weekends... Any more of those jobs available? I'd be there in the blink of an eye. Hope that helps.