Prologue

This wasn't going to be a fun trip I know but I never knew it to be something so torturous to me. After hearing so many friends ending up with food poisoning, I finally experience it myself upon my return home. Horrible horrible feeling.

Also I found out how to embed some photos from my slide.com photos here so my travel journals will no longer be that boring hehe.

India, Day 7

I had the hotel gave me a wake up call at 430 am but by then I was already up. Basically only went for 3 hours sleep or less because I was constantly waking up to check the time.

Went down for my check out and then breakfast. Not sure if I can call it breakfast when the spread was lesser than yesterday. Also they didn’t even have proper takeaway service. This is something that really make me less impress with the hotel after so many days of impressive services.

The other thing was I confirmed my airport pick up before I head up to my room the night before but when I was doing my check out the person said there was no record etc etc. So another strike against this hotel.

As you can see, my day starts earlier and earlier with me leaving the hotel at 530 am when the sky was still dark until the sky turn bright when I reach the airport about 550 am or so. Quite a fast ride because there weren’t much traffic.

So here I am writing this while I am at the airport waiting for my flight to call me for boarding. I am absolutely sure I will grab some sleep the moment I am on board.

Is trying to connect to the wireless while here at the airport and finally managed to log in and it is free. At least I hope they don't charge me later.

Until the next trip, ciao!

India, Day 6

Woke up real early today at 515am just to make sure I am ready to depart for Taj Mahal. Had a quick breakfast because basically there were nothing much at the buffet table at that time, given that the official breakfast starts from 630 am. Finished early and went out to meet my tour guide. I was the first one to be picked up and just so you know I was also the last to be dropped off making me the one who stayed in the van the longest with the driver.

The day was hot and draggy, I know I am going to Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world but nonetheless I am not sure given the long journey and the heat, the whole journey was worth it.

Much as the place was beautiful, I am sorry to say I didn’t enjoy it that much cos I was constantly trying to find shade for myself but in the end, the heat still gets to me, a few times before we went for lunch, I actually almost fainted and we had to take off our shoes in order to get inside the Taj and the flooring was damn hot, initially we were walking but after a while and given the distance from the shoe deposit to the interior was a long way, we started hopping and jumping and saying ouch ouch ouch all the way. The temperature is easily 38 40 degrees I guaranteed and even so that’s not the hottest in Agra. The temperature can go all the way to 50 degrees. That’s crazy.

Anyhow, the Taj is just a mausoleum and housed the body of King Shah Jahan and his Queen whom he built the Taj in memory of.

It was a very crowded day because turned out it was World Heritage Day and the places of attractions we were going in Agra were all for free, guess it is a price to pay.

After the Taj, we went for lunch at a hotel but the food was mostly Indian and though my travel mates were all enjoying it, I was the only one who didn’t take much until I found out they have a counter that cook up pasta for you when you ordered so I was so happy but all I have was only a small plate.

After lunch, we head out to the heat to visit Agra Fort where the same King who built Taj Mahal was jailed for 7 years by his son who wanted to be the king and eventually the King died in the fort of natural causes at age 76. Actually from his ‘jail’, he can actually see Taj Mahal in the distance so he should be happy.

We visited 2 souvenirs places where none of us bought anything and eventually we headed back to Delhi. Although we didn’t stay long at the break stop because we were all eager to go back and have a shower, eventually I reached my hotel only about 1040 pm. Damn late and given that I have an early flight to catch the next day, it sucks.

To be honest, I am so looking forward to grabbing a cold shower, wash off the sand from my face and my dirty feet. In fact, my face was red like a lobster though it looks very glowing but it wasn’t fun and you can taste sand in your mouth as well. That’s the kind of weather we have to endure to see Taj Mahal.

But my hungry stomach reminded me of my priority so eventually I went up to the Chinese restaurant and had a plate of fried noodles before heading back to my room to shower and pack my luggage. Again, I got the cheese platter for the night. Sigh.

Eventually I believe I fell asleep with my water bottle in my hand around 1 something, later on the water spill and my shorts and bed got drenched. But being so tired, who will have the time to bother, I just put the cover over the bed and sleep on the covers itself.

India, Day 5

Was still planning to head to the office early but set the wrong time on the alarm so woke up 30 mins later than planned.

Anyway headed to the office and meet up with my Country Manager and had a very long day as well and after the end of the day, a group of us went to a drinking hole call Rodeo for drinks and snacks. It was a Mexican style kind of pub but not those typical dark and smoky pubs we know of back home.

By 930pm we called it a night and I was given a ride back to the hotel. I then went up to the 20th floor hoping to grab some light noodles but saw that the whole 20th floor including the lounge were reserved for some private events tonight so I had to go back to the ground floor to eat at the restaurant again.

Decided not to eat so much since I wasn’t that hungry, opted for a salad and a light main. Even so I didn’t finish both. My main was prawns and turned out it came in a bed of vegetable cooked Indian style, I just took the prawns and gave up on the rest. When the waiter came by, he noticed I did not at the vegetables and decided to get me a naan complimentary of the kitchen. When he was away taking the naan, another waiter came by and asked if he can clear the plates for me and I say yes.

Finally when the waiter came back with my naan he was shocked to find out that my plate was gone and I told him another waiter took it, thus started a chain of miscommunication. The waiter went up to his colleague and asked why his colleague clear my plates and it was not the same waiter so they went to another waiter and finally I called them over and said not to blame the poor guy cos even if he didn’t clear my plates I wouldn’t have eaten the vegetables.

I love the plain naan though, warm, crunchy and fresh. Indeed there is nothing to complain about the service of this hotel and restaurant so far. Eventually the waiter still asked if they can get me any curry to eat with the naan and was stopped by me because I frankly swear off Indian food. Sorry to say, even while I am typing this, thinking of the taste of the spices makes me want to throw up.

The funny thing is my colleagues back home are really concern, they will message me over our internal messaging system and reminded me not to eat this, not to eat that, don’t eat out, eat in, don’t cross the road etc etc because they have bad experience after they suffer from food poisoning during their trips here.

Anyway just for your info, I got another cheese platter in my room tonight. It is really interesting, so far this is the only hotel I stayed in that didn’t give chocolates but it is a nice change. Although I will love for tomorrow night’s to be something different and no more cheese.
Tomorrow I will be departing for Taj Mahal and am looking real forward to it but I will have to wake up at 5 something in the morning to get ready. Not easy for a non-morning person like me. The bus departs at 615 am and we will not be back until 10 11 pm tomorrow, super duper long day.

Hoping to get a good night sleep though but can hear some music from somewhere away from my hotel room, hope it doesn’t affect my beauty sleep.

India, Day 4

Was awaken in the morning before 8 am by my colleague telling me she will come and pick me up and it was actually quite nice of her and the office was actually next to this hotel only which is fantastic. I actually ran back to my room to get a bottle of water since I have so many bottles in my room due to the generosity of the housekeeping guy.

Nothing much to say except lots of meetings throughout the day, my colleague ordered in pizza for me for lunch and after which was back to work and left the office only at 8 pm, 10 hours after I arrived at the office.

Came back to the hotel to have dinner and decided to have it at the restaurant where they served breakfast.

Decided to order salad Asian style, beef, dessert and coffee. The food was ok but it was slightly bland which is quite different from what I experience in Bangalore, so much so I have to ask for chilli and soya sauce but unfortunately they don’t have the soya sauce and the waiter doesn’t even know what I am talking about.

The service though was good, although I didn’t take the buffet but I was very tempted by the pappadums they have at the buffet table and I even ask the waiter to give me some if they can and they did and even top up for me again later on.

One of the waiter was obviously flirting and it makes me feel awkward, he was asking if I have explore Delhi and I said no, perhaps on Saturday and he quickly say he is available on Saturday because he is off and I pretended I don’t know what he was talking about.

While waiting in between courses, I was observing the restaurant since I never had time to observe during breakfast. And found some interesting things like wooden pillars and ceilings that looked like they made of stainless steel, really chic. Even the aircon vent is so unique.

Anyway I had too much to eat and ended up with leftover and decided to call it a night and come up to write my blog while doing my face mask.

Another good news is my chapped lips has more or less recovered, albeit swollen looking though I am far from looking like Angelina Jolie haha.

Tomorrow is another long day and it is already 11:30 pm and I have yet to shower so adios.

India, Day 3

Checked out of my hotel and spent time in the office until 130 pm before I head out to the airport. The airport shopping and food is pretty limited. I bought some natural fruit rolls and I kind of regret not trying out one before buying more. Now I ended up with so many which I may not even eat. How do I know it doesn’t taste fabulous? I tried 1 in the plane.

Anyhow I was glad I took Jet Airways for my domestic flight, I heard most domestic flights are budget airlines so they don’t serve food. However much to my delight they do and the stewardess was kind enough to show me the contents of the vegetarian choice and the non-vegetarian choice. In the end I took the vegetarian because the non-vegetarian is mutton which again is something I don’t consume. The vegetarian was ok, there were Indian spices inside but it was not that strong a taste and there were potatoes that I can eat.

I didn’t finish all of course and when the stewardess came by to clear my tray, she was very nice and ask if it was something that doesn’t fit my taste since I have leftover. I told her it was ok because normally I don’t take Indian food and I have already taken a big portion of it meaning it is reasonably ok. In the end, she actually talked to her colleague in the galley and asked her colleague if they have any non-indian selection on the plane and viola, there was and it came with 2 pieces of chicken, a pie and a potato. The stewardess was telling me it was a specially requested meal by a passenger and the passenger didn’t want to have it so lucky me. Later they still checked back with me to ask if the food was good and it was and after they cleared my tray, they served me Coke in a can which I don’t see any passengers getting haha.

I guess this is the good part of sitting close to the galley BUT and it is a BIG BUT…I did my internet check in the day before and I specifically asked for the front row seat and the no. I chose turned out to be on the last row of the flight, just in front of the 2 toilets that emits the smell of moth balls which is a huge turn-off.
Above that, there is a guy who suffered from stroke sitting right in front of and he kept making noises when he is uncomfortable or communicating with his family. It sounded like someone screaming without voice cords. Terrible. And he can’t keep his food down so he kept making vomiting sound to throw out his food, anyway maybe this is too much details and it is really horrifying.

Good thing is, this is just a 2.5 hours flight and I am typing this on the plane and as I am talking there is a huge queue right next to me, waiting to use the toilets. One of the girl has her scarf almost in my cup with the Coke in it. I had to remind her and she kinda look at me strangely. I don’t mind if you knock it over or spill my Coke but I cannot accept if you wash your scarf in my cup. I don’t need that additional flavor.
By this time, I already developed full blown chapped lips and it was bleeding though not badly. This makes me feel uncomfortable cos I can’t open my mouth wide and I feel a bit awkward of people looking at my lips.

Flight arrived early into Delhi and the luggage wait was no longer than 15 mins, but one of the turn off was the terribly hot heatwave the moment the airplane doors were open….arrrghhh and it was 37 degree Celsius. That’s crazy right? Back home although we are sunny year round, we don’t encounter 37 degree Celsius.

Nonetheless the airport looks new and I was told the domestic terminal was only built like 2 months ago so that’s great. But not sure how the international airport will be like unlike I fly off this Sunday.

Enroute the hotel, I was practically on the phone the whole way settling a business matter and thus wasn’t in the mood to observe the historical site. Closer to the hotel, the driver told me the hotel was 80 years old and I got a shock (it was actually 20 years old) and seeing my shocked face, the driver said however the hotel just underwent a renovation and in my heart I was thinking regardless, how will it be like after my encounter at the Bangalore and this was the same hotel chain.

Instead of horror of horrors, it was the total opposite. The hotel lobby was not extremely huge but it has very high ceiling making it look like a cave with blue lighting. To be honest, the hotel continues to surprise me everyday I stay in this hotel.

Let me tell you more. Upon check-in, the Front Desk person brought me to my room, initially I was abit worried because the person was a guy. But he was rather cute hehe.
They were pretty nice cos I request for a room near the lifts so I won’t have to be in some hidden unseen corner ala Bangalore experience. And they actually gave me the first room next to the lifts, you can sometimes hear people walking by or opening their door but for the convenience, I don’t care.

In the lift lobby of the floor, I can see a beautiful tiled wall and upon touching it, it feels like rubber and the seats in that lobby was really designer chic. I am sure I have seen these chairs in some décor magazines or websites before.

Moving on, the room is gorgeous, the wall and floor are all wood panels and looking like a log cabin or country style house. But that’s all the similarities. The bathroom has bronzy, brown tiles that are reflective, similar to some spas I went before. The tiles were all the way from the floor to the top of the walls. Best of all, they have nice cabinets with marble tops and they have a towel rack that I have been eyeing for a long time and a rainforest shower.

Now to the room itself, it has a wardrobe by the side of the bathroom door which looks conspicuous that you really don’t notice it. With this design, it looks very much like your own room back home. They have a huge designer chair unlike the chaise lounge you see at usual hotels. You get a bowl of fruits (unfortunately all apples which I did not consume because I do not want to wash it with tap water) AND get this….a bottle of Shiraz Cabernet (red wine for those who don’t know what that is) and it is free for consumption. Though I don’t drink but you could have kiss the floor in gratitude for the thoughtfulness of this hotel.

In fact, just so you know, I spent almost 1 hour after I checked in snapping photos of the hotel room…marvelous. You get also some almonds soak in water overnight and it comes with a card that states it is good for the mind if the almonds are soaked overnight and consume in the morning. Not sure how much it works I tried it the next day and it taste quite nice actually. There is a also a glass panel behind the headboard and it comes with mood lights that you can control. Wow.

You would have thought that’s the end right? But it is not, there are more. On my bed there is a booklet telling you the numerous type of pillows they offer guests and you can choose which pillows you want based on your preference….it was unbelievable. Needless to say, I asked for The Ultra Foam Deluxe pillow and now as I type and look at it, I realized the housekeeping brought me the Ultimate Neck Support Pillow instead. However I am not going to call the housekeeping again because the housekeeping guy freak me out. He is overly friendly, I have a strong feeling he wants me to provide him tips. Tonight when he came to pass the pillow, knowing I wanted water, he brought in 3 bottles and start to pass me rose water (saying for my skin) and also lip balm (this is really a god-send because I forgot to bring mine and this was really helpful, way helpful for my bleeding lips)…in actual fact, he passed me 2 sets of each. Insisted on giving me another pair of slippers which I don’t need and I make it very clear to him but he just can’t take no for an answer.

After which I went for a late dinner at the Chinese restaurant which is at the top floor of the hotel, at the same floor, there is a lounge that seems suspended in the sky and connected to the actual building by just 4 bridges that led to the lounge.

The Chinese food was ok, much better than I expected especially the noodles…very Chinese like although the soup I ordered still has a bit of Indian taste.

After dinner, I came back to shower and spend some time sitting on the designer chair reading my story book before I head to bed

India, Day 2

On my 2nd day in Bangalore I had a very busy schedule and thus I went out with my colleague to a Chinese restaurant to pack some food back and even so I had to wait 2 hours for my meetings to finish and managed to eat my lunch close to 3 pm. The Chinese food was reasonable ok and my colleague was saying it seems that Chinese doesn’t use much oil and that’s why I think it makes it more suitable for my palate. The thing however was that the whole mall that houses this restaurant smell of you know, those coconut oil or olive oil..gez

Soon it was back to work and meetings abound, I was only able to leave the office at 8 pm for my hotel whereby I have to do another teleconf and then go for my dinner at the hotel’s restaurant because I have another teleconf that night.

I didn’t choose their buffet dinner and instead go for ala carte and ordered tom yum soup and oyaku don..both of which I didn’t finish again because they were so salty.

It is truly very hard to get something I want or like to eat in india thus far.

India, Day 1

Flight was delayed as mentioned in the earlier entry and guess what? It was so not an enjoyable flight, as we all know night flights are always subject to much turbulence due to the winds and weather and this flight was not an exception. Given I fly SQ so much, this is the first time I truly hate the food they served. For the non-Indian selection, there are only stewed lamb and I don’t take lamb so I asked for the chicken ala Indian style. In the end the stewardess gave me the tray for the India food rather than the tray for the international meal meaning I don’t get to get the pasta salad that was in that tray. Thus it resulted in me not eating anything at all and the chicken was not to my taste. Stewardess told me if there are any international trays left she will come back to me and of cos she didn’t. Service sucks if you ask me.

Flight touches down in Bangalore airport at 12 midnight which is basically Monday already and by the time the luggage came out it is another 1 hour and by the time I reached the hotel it was already 2 am in the morning.

I was staying at le meridien and there was this spooky feeling when I first got there because it looked so old and the whole hotel was almost dark even inside the hotel, turned out it was just their way of saving electricity. On the other days after when I arrived at the hotel, it was quite well lit and thus you don’t feel the spookiness anymore.

Although the hotel was pretty old looking but the amenities and room design was acceptable, modern and high tech. But it wasn't really fantastic enough for me to snap photos of it also.

And best of all, it was only 2 mins away from the office allowing me to wake up late and still get to the office on time.

Had pizza for lunch on the first day because given a choice, I will avoid Indian food and my colleague knows of my preference. Poor him had to ask the driver to drive slowly so he can look out for non-indian restaurants along the streets for me.

Even so, the pizza still taste of Indian spices but it was at least not totally Indian taste. Didn’t finish the whole pizza so we took back 2 slices and see if anyone in the office wanted to have them.

That night itself, I decided to take my work back to the hotel to do so I can check out one of the malls supposingly big but it was just a shopping centre with no other shops and it is disgustingly small versus those back home.

After which, we went off for dinner and we had a hard time finding a non-indian restaurant and finally I told my coll I will settle for Indian and we stepped into this restaurant call Tandur I think which serves a lot of tandoori dishes and one big consolation was that there were a lot of foreigners inside so it was cool. The food was surprisingly good and the portion huge. Anyway again we didn’t finish the food at all.

At the end of the meal and in the days to come I realized the Indians like food that are very sweet or very salty and it was so different from what I am used to back home.

After dinner, I head back to the hotel and clear my emails till 12 midnight. Travelling on business is always very tiring.

Just great!

Errr, came early to the airport so I can have my dinner before departing for my flight to Bangalore and one glance at the tv screens up on my return, I noticed that my flight has been delayed, by 2 hours...that's just great!

Now instead of arriving at 10pm India time, I will arrive there at 12 midnight and 2 hours journey to the hotel will make me check in at 2 am...there goes my beauty sleep.

Had to call the hotel to ask them to pick me up later and I can hear other fellow passengers do the same.

Upon my enquiry, then I found out it was because we are waiting for a delayed flight from Japan carrying 100 over passengers who will be boarding this same flight Bangalore.