Little thoughts about big places. Mumbai.
Mumbai was a really interesting trip for me.
I have always wanted to go to India to travel and to take lots of photos.
But for work..this was really an eye-opener.
I was warned of the insane long immigration queues i had to go through in mumbai, so it was a pleasant surprise that we got out pretty fast. (though there were numberous stops, the queue was pretty short)
There was supposed to be a pick up for us at the airport, and we were greeted by the driver who led us to the car.
AND then we realised that we are gonna have trouble fitting the 3 of us PLUS our luggages and boxes into the small car.
When we asked the driver about it, his reply was..."i didn't think that you would have luggages"
"-_- Nice.
Anw i saw many cute little cabs at the airport and along the streets.
Public transportation in India is prob still in the 60s i think. The one in the pix is considered relatively newer already.
The sight of some larger cab drivers squished in that space, is really incredible.
In many ways, India is a brilliant country. The culture, the exoticness, the passion.
But it is also a depressing country.
The gap bet the rich and poor is sooo wide, its gross. Plus its even grosser that the rich doesnt help because they want to keep it that way.
The caste system is still really strong even in these days. That is why i guess the country isn't progressing as much as they should have.
Around us, were dilapitated buildings, slums, beggars, child beggars..
Esp when i am a chinese and the two ppl i was travelling with are ang mors, we were simply walking targets.
It saps up a lot of energy just being in Mumbai.
The incessant honking (when i meant incessant, i meant incessant. It was like an avg of 1 honk every 2s?) nearly drove me nuts.
The stream of traffic, both human and cars was amazing. At ANY time of the day, 1am at night or 1pm in the afternoon, you could see people walking on the streets, sleeping on the roads..everywhere. (Imagine the scene in Little India on a Sat...multiply that 5 times) There were also several sleeping on the road barricades itself.
And there is a traffic jam anytime as well.
Plus if you not want to keep running to the toilet, you have to be superbly wary of the food you eat, and the water you drink.
And not to mention the sweltering heat. A freaking 42 degrees. I think it reached 46 deg at one point.
Now i understood why my boss always said inside our office was paradise, outside was african wilderness.
My wonderful colleagues, and very hospitable indian ceo who was kind enough to invite all of us for dinner over at his place.
His cooks were just brilliant, and i had the best briyani and curries ever!
And talking about food, i think that was certainly the highlight of the trip.
yes, no doubt i was sick of curries and naans after the trip, but they were certainly the best curries and naans i ever had in my life.
We had this superb dinner at Kebabs and Kurries which was conveniently located at our hotel...
and it was the best kebab i ever had! The kebabs were roasted to perfection in this vertical clay oven..and the flavour was so rich!
it was so good, my boss wanted to pack it home. haha. He actually ordered it already, only to find out that the flight was too long for it to stay fresh.
And because we were taking the midnight flight home, we had some spare time in the noon!! whee!
Visited the nicer parts of Mumbai..
The Gateway of India..
The Taj hotel. yea, the one that got bombed not too long ago..
Parts of it are still under restoration..
A few things i noted abt the Indians..
1. They regard foreigners with much interest, like some strange object they have not seen, and will be happy to strike a conversation with you. (and i think you will have some trouble walking away)
2. People from different parts of India treat one another differently. A lot of the snob factor in there. No surprise here, but to see it in action, was pretty intriguing.
3. People tend to stare out to nothing a lot. As our car passed buildings...i noticed many indian men and ladies standing out in the corridors, or looking out of their windows, staring into the sky or into nothing at all.
I heard from my colleagues that Mumbai is considered one of the safest places/cities in India.
In Delhi, an Indian woman will not be out at night because it will be v dangerous to do so.
Given the tremendous amount of stress we were under in Mumbai, Delhi would be worse i guess..sigh.
But i would still want to give Taj Mahal a go and explore some other parts of India! Would be interesting to do so...though i duno if it will be as depressing..
Did i also mention that Mumbai was a ridiculously expensive city?
I have always wanted to go to India to travel and to take lots of photos.
But for work..this was really an eye-opener.
I was warned of the insane long immigration queues i had to go through in mumbai, so it was a pleasant surprise that we got out pretty fast. (though there were numberous stops, the queue was pretty short)
There was supposed to be a pick up for us at the airport, and we were greeted by the driver who led us to the car.
AND then we realised that we are gonna have trouble fitting the 3 of us PLUS our luggages and boxes into the small car.
When we asked the driver about it, his reply was..."i didn't think that you would have luggages"
"-_- Nice.
Anw i saw many cute little cabs at the airport and along the streets.
Public transportation in India is prob still in the 60s i think. The one in the pix is considered relatively newer already.
The sight of some larger cab drivers squished in that space, is really incredible.
In many ways, India is a brilliant country. The culture, the exoticness, the passion.
But it is also a depressing country.
The gap bet the rich and poor is sooo wide, its gross. Plus its even grosser that the rich doesnt help because they want to keep it that way.
The caste system is still really strong even in these days. That is why i guess the country isn't progressing as much as they should have.
Around us, were dilapitated buildings, slums, beggars, child beggars..
Esp when i am a chinese and the two ppl i was travelling with are ang mors, we were simply walking targets.
It saps up a lot of energy just being in Mumbai.
The incessant honking (when i meant incessant, i meant incessant. It was like an avg of 1 honk every 2s?) nearly drove me nuts.
The stream of traffic, both human and cars was amazing. At ANY time of the day, 1am at night or 1pm in the afternoon, you could see people walking on the streets, sleeping on the roads..everywhere. (Imagine the scene in Little India on a Sat...multiply that 5 times) There were also several sleeping on the road barricades itself.
And there is a traffic jam anytime as well.
Plus if you not want to keep running to the toilet, you have to be superbly wary of the food you eat, and the water you drink.
And not to mention the sweltering heat. A freaking 42 degrees. I think it reached 46 deg at one point.
Now i understood why my boss always said inside our office was paradise, outside was african wilderness.
My wonderful colleagues, and very hospitable indian ceo who was kind enough to invite all of us for dinner over at his place.
His cooks were just brilliant, and i had the best briyani and curries ever!
And talking about food, i think that was certainly the highlight of the trip.
yes, no doubt i was sick of curries and naans after the trip, but they were certainly the best curries and naans i ever had in my life.
We had this superb dinner at Kebabs and Kurries which was conveniently located at our hotel...
and it was the best kebab i ever had! The kebabs were roasted to perfection in this vertical clay oven..and the flavour was so rich!
it was so good, my boss wanted to pack it home. haha. He actually ordered it already, only to find out that the flight was too long for it to stay fresh.
And because we were taking the midnight flight home, we had some spare time in the noon!! whee!
Visited the nicer parts of Mumbai..
The Gateway of India..
The Taj hotel. yea, the one that got bombed not too long ago..
Parts of it are still under restoration..
A few things i noted abt the Indians..
1. They regard foreigners with much interest, like some strange object they have not seen, and will be happy to strike a conversation with you. (and i think you will have some trouble walking away)
2. People from different parts of India treat one another differently. A lot of the snob factor in there. No surprise here, but to see it in action, was pretty intriguing.
3. People tend to stare out to nothing a lot. As our car passed buildings...i noticed many indian men and ladies standing out in the corridors, or looking out of their windows, staring into the sky or into nothing at all.
I heard from my colleagues that Mumbai is considered one of the safest places/cities in India.
In Delhi, an Indian woman will not be out at night because it will be v dangerous to do so.
Given the tremendous amount of stress we were under in Mumbai, Delhi would be worse i guess..sigh.
But i would still want to give Taj Mahal a go and explore some other parts of India! Would be interesting to do so...though i duno if it will be as depressing..
Did i also mention that Mumbai was a ridiculously expensive city?