monday, october 04, 2004. 06.02 AM.

i'm up pretty early, and i know i'll have to get some more rest before i go to work, but i'll probably head down for breakfast in a couple and then catch another nap. kamal and lara were to call us yesterday, so we could head out of the city, but after 2 pm rolled around, and i hadn't heard anything, i decided to call them up. turns out kamal was sleeping when i called, but he told me that lara and he would be at the hotel by 4 pm. we agreed that there wouldn't be time to leave the city, but we could always do a little shopping. on the way, we stopped as a place called reclamation. reclamation is a piece of land that used to be marshland, or something similar; a place where they could not build any buildings. they filled in the piece of land (i'm assuming they did this in order to connect the islands of mumbai), but never did build anything on the land. i guess you could call reclamation a seaside park, but really, it's mostly just a long road with a hairpin turn at the end, and a long road back. when they first drove out there, i was thinking that this was the only wasted land in mumbai, because the park could have easily existed without the road, but then lara and kamal explained: reclamation is a "lover's lane" of sorts, but one that is popular during the day. it is popular for walks, but there are plenty of cars littered along the sides of the long road, all with either tinted windows, or sun shades. i thought this was totally weird, and was a little relieved when kamal and lara agreed with me. we did make it to a shopping district, although i'm not sure where in mumbai it was. we passed what seemed to be a roadside flea market, and parked in front of a store called "the hide in", which appropriately enough sold leather. looking around, pretty much every other store in the area sold leather too, which i was sure would make for competitive pricing. matt was looking for a jacket for his wife, and i looked at belts and wallets, but didn't find anything that i liked. matt found several jackets that he liked, but was unsure if they would fit his wife. he mentions that i'm about the same size, and almost immediately, one of the store people starts putting me into a woman's leather jacket! i tried on several styles, and several colours, but truthfully, i don't think any of them suited me. =P hehe. anyways, i think matt did end up buying a jacket, but i was pretty traumatized by the experience. (just kidding.) we we're supposed to do more shopping, but kamal and lara were still pretty tired, so we headed back to the hotel. on the way back to the hotel, it was getting dark out, and lara decided to take us back on another scenic route. (he's lost.) we drove through what looked like a poor market, and down beside the train station. we also drove by a road which was quite narrow, but had hundreds of people on it, and stores lining the sides of the road. i told them it would be interesting to make my way back there before i left, but they seemed to think otherwise. once back at the hotel, i didn't really want to go down to the restaurants and eat, mostly because they are really expensive, so matt told me to order room service. i thought that would be expensive, but it really wasn't any more expensive than a normal restaurant in vancouver. i ordered a mushroom risotto, and an appy, and the meal came up to my room about 30 minutes later. i let the man in, and he set up a table in front of my bed, pulled out the food, and told me to call him when i wanted the table removed. this was my first experience with room service, and well, i'm not sure that i'll order it again. it's not that the service or the food was bad, but i feel that it's too intrusive. maybe i could convince them to leave the food at the door...

sunday, october 03, 2004. 12.00 PM.

for caroline and peter's last night, we had dinner at a restaurant (aptly called spices) which had a large variety of east asian cuisines. i don't have a high tolerance for spicy food, but i felt that i did alright. kamal and lara joined us for dinner as well, but didn't find the food spicy at all. in fact, kamal said it tasted too sweet. i can only imagine how bland he'd find the food in the average north american restaurant. the food was great, the conversation was great, and after dinner we ordered ice cream for dessert. kamal and matt ordered strawberry, and i ordered green tea flavour. they were only brought one scoop a piece, and i was brought two scoops. this was a bit shocking, as out in the lotus cafe, a mere twenty metres away, an order of ice cream has three scoops. kamal called over the waiter, and explained that we could have just have gone there for ice cream for the same price. a couple minutes later, another scoop of strawberry makes its way to the table, and we all just kind of stare in disbelief. kamal motions to the waiter again, and the waiter explains that they thought matt and him were going to share the ice cream. after a short exchange, the waiter leaves again. two more bowls of ice cream are brought to the table, this time, with three scoops apiece. kamal explained to me that this was probably one of the more expensive restaurants in mumbai, and so they expect their patrons to accept that they will get less for more, which i agreed was consistent with vancouver. however, it was still much cheaper than a comparable restaurant in vancouver (about 40% cheaper). after dinner, we said goodbye to caroline and peter, and lara drove us to an upscale nightclub at the renaissance hotel. for one, entry to these nightclubs (or lounges, as they are referred to) is very expensive. the nightclub in the hotel, also upscale, is about $50 canadian (hotel guests get free entry). second, it is extremely difficult for a guy to go into the club without a woman. this is because single men are often viewed as "high risk" by the loss prevention department. so, as you can imagine, lara, kamal, matt and i probably wouldn't have too much luck getting in. lara was a member of the hotel, so he tried playing that card to get us in, but the hotel wasn't budging. the renaissance hotel is owned by the same person as the marriott where matt and i are staying, so kamal called up our hotel, and told them that they would not be registering any more guests of the company because of the service we were getting (the company's contract with the hotel had just expired, so this was incredible timing), and they promptly made arrangements to let us inside. as i mentioned, the lounge was more of a nightclub, with a large dancefloor, and people all squished together standing around with drinks in their hands. a few scattered tables outlined the small room, which would be about one-sixth of the size of a decent vancouver club. another thing i forgot to mention is that the drinking age in mumbai is 25, but like the traffic laws, it almost seems like it isn't heavily enforced. half of the people in the club couldn't have been 25. we didn't stay too long, and afterwards took a drive through a part of the city which was still heavily under construction. this end of the city looked extremely expensive, and lara confirmed that it was. lara also let matt drive his vehicle down the almost deserted roads, which i felt still would have been quite the challenge, as you would have to remember to turn into the correct lane, as well as try to shift gears with the opposite hand. by time we made it back to the hotel, it was almost 4 in the morning, and i came home and crashed on the comfy bed.

saturday, october 02, 2004. 10.48 AM.

today is caroline's last day in india, and she will be heading back to vancouver early tomorrow morning. i'm here for another week, and matt is here for another two weeks. caroline was lucky, and her husband was able to come along for the trip, but matt is here for almost a month in total, and he has a family back in salt lake. i'm thinking that's got to be pretty tough, and if i was in his position, i'd probably be racking up quite a phone bill. i've been here a week, and i don't miss home or vancouver so much, but i am beginning to miss certain people. i know i can just send them e-mails, but it's things like the freedom of being able to pick up the phone and call that i notice i cannot do on a whim. maybe one of the reasons why i feel this way is because i have so much more time to think about things back home. even though the pace of mumbai is faster than that of vancouver, my life here is not. back home, i used to think that i really didn't have all that much going on all the time, but i guess i really do.

friday, october 01, 2004. 1.18 PM.

i think i'm finally adjusting to the time schedule and the environment, as i worked the entire evening, and i wasn't tired at all. afterwards, we even went out to visit an old cathedral for st. mary, and were supposed to go out for a walk on the seawall by the beach, but lara (an acquaintance from daksh), felt that it would be best to stay away from the crowds. i asked why there were such large crowds at 4 am, and benny told me there was a muslim celebration happening. yesterday, both caroline and matt had mentioned that they weren't feeling well, but both seemed to be holding up. i've noticed slight stomach activity, but it only last for a few seconds here and there. none of us are able to pin down what could be causing it, as most of the food we eat is western, and i seem to the be only one using tap water, and that is only for brushing my teeth. the only other thing that i can think of is that is may be from the shower water, or in some of the food we eat at breakfast or from the bakery. i also had some time to leave the hotel on my own, so i went for a walk up to the bank. i made the mistake of wearing my dress shoes, not because they would get dusty or dirty, but because i had to keep my balance on the median in the middle of the road for quite some time while i waited to traffic to slow. the median is probably just over a foot wide, and the traffic comes whizzing by on both sides, honking like mad. it wasn't too uncomfortable or anything, mostly because i haven't seen anyone get hit, or any accidents since i arrived, which is another thing i find extremely odd. tomorrow is saturday, so i'm hoping that we get to go out and eat again, as well as see more of the city.

thursday, september 30, 2004. 1:11 PM.

after three days of work, i felt like i could have passed out for two days. we're working long hours, and the work is fairly fast paced. i thought i was getting enough sleep, but there were times when i felt my vision blur, and times when i just had to go wash my face so i wouldn't miss something when i was helping the reps out. after work last night, i went straight to bed, and woke around 8:30 for breakfast. was supposed to meet matt, caroline, and caroline's husband peter, but only matt came down for breakfast. today, matt and i tried some indian food for breakfast. after breakfast, we both headed back up to catch another nap before work. i just woke up from my nap not too long ago, and i've discovered that the power cord for the laptop reaches all the way to the outlet from my bed. too bad the internet connection doesn't do the same. yesterday, i met peter for the first time after his return from goa, a beach town south of mumbai. while there, he rented a motorcycle, and traveled around the area. as i may have mentioned, motorcycles make up a good percentage of the vehicles on the road, but during the entire time i've been here, rarely do a see a rider with a helmet. peter rode without a helmet, but was pulled over by the local traffic police for not wearing the proper safety gear. he told me while the officer was writing him up, many locals rode by without helmets, and without consequences. eventually, the officer did pull one over, but after a short interaction, the man rode off without a fine. peter was told that the fine was 700 rupees, but would be reduced to 100 rupees if he paid immediately. he paid, and was given a pass by the officer which stated he had two days to acquire a helmet, and was not to be fined within that time. imagine that! a traffic fine which costs less than $3 canadian! well, i only have about two hours before i have to head down and grab my lunch for work. gotta start getting ready..

wednesday, september 29, 2004. 12:03 PM.

after my first night of work, we arrived back at the hotel around 3 am. i slept until 10, which i felt was extremely late, so i jumped out of bed, and got ready to go down and have breakfast. i wanted to make it down to the lotus cafe for buffet before breakfast ended. had a bunch of fruit, a waffle, some cereal, a muffin, a danish.. yeah, my breakfast was pretty big. i think i'm going to have gained some weight by time i return. other than that, tuesday was a relaxing day, mostly because i was tired, but also because i finally was able to connect to the internet and catch up on what i had to do online. just so you get a better idea, the number of e-mails i had received to my personal account over the previous 5 days was exactly ZERO. so really, there wasn't much to catch up on. another weird thing.. the power kept going out in my room and in the hotel. it would flick off, and then come back on almost instantaneously. no one really seemed to mind, or even notice, so i just thought it may be something that happens every so often. this morning, i went to get ready to go to the bank, but noticed that some of my clothes ended up really soiled from something. so i packed up a bunch of my clothes and sent them off for laundry service. i'm still finding it a little odd that i don't have to do anything. in fact, it kind of bothers me still that i can't put my bags in the trunk of a car myself, i can't open doors for myself, and i have to let someone do it for me. i guess i feel spoiled when i'm not doing things for myself. since i've arrived, i've charged various things to the hotel room, such as my lunch that i take to work, and the internet connection, so i've spent some money, but in regards to actual cash, i only took out the equivalent of about $30 canadian (approximately 1000 rupees) from the bank, and still have 250 rupees left. if you check the currency converter on the eBay site, $100 canadian is about 3600 rupees. things are definitely cheaper here (although not always in the hotel) - for example, the pants i bought the other cost me about $30 canadian, where in canada, they would have cost about $90. I've been sitting here long enough typing.. it's matt's birthday today, and i can't get in touch with him. i was going to see if he wanted to go have lunch, which i'd later just expense anyways. =)

tuesday, september 28, 2004. 3 pm.

last night was my first night of work at daksh. we started early, at 5:30 pm, because many of the roads were going to be closed due to the ganesha festival. monday was the last day of the festival, where those who worship ganesh make their way to the water for the immersion of huge ganesh idols into the sea. the good thing about starting earlier is obviously that we were able to come home earlier, but it also meant that we did not get to see the immersions, because we were starting early, i thought it would be okay to wake up early. little did i know how exhausted i would be when i got home. monday was also the 350th birthday of the taj mahal in agra. i'd really love to have some time to visit agra, but there really isn't enough time on the weekend to make it up there. i'm not that disappointed though, because i know i will want to come back someday. you may recall that i said i was a little disappointed when i first arrived at the hotel. by now you've probably seen the photos of the hotel, so you realize that the disappointment can't really be that great. i didn't have the chance to go out much on monday, but i did have a swim in the fabulous pool which you can view on the page of photos. i realized that i'm really not in very good shape, because i really couldn't swim too far without being totally drained. maybe it was the sun i wasn't used to. i'm probably just in terrible shape. can't blame it on the sun after my swim, i went for buffet breakfast. maybe i've never stayed in a hotel like this, but this buffet is amazing. i'll have to get some pictures one morning for kevin and kieran who seem to like pictures of food. anyways, the first night of work went well, and i met many of the people who work there, including those who i talk to on the phone from the office in vancouver. by the end of the night i was totally beat, and by time i got home, i was really happy to see my bed. the way it looks, it will be a little difficult to actually head out too far on workdays, but we'll see. i'd really like to spend some more time driving and walking through the various parts of the city.

sunday, september 26, 2004. day's end.

today i went to the elephanta caves with kiran, benny, and caroline. matt from salt lake was supposed to go with us, but it turned out that he wasn't feeling too well. we met the driver outside, and drove toward the gateway of india, where the boat to the caves departed mumbai. there were hundreds of people on the seawall. many people were selling ice cream, little snacks, balloons, which i assumed were for the ganesha festival. before we made it to the boat, caroline and i were stopped by some men who started tying red and yellow dyed string on our wrists, and put a small amount of paint on out foreheads. benny and kiran explained that it was for the festival on our way over to the boats. once on the boat, i took some photographs, but soon found out that i was in a little trouble. i had been taking pictures of the shoreline, which included the navy installation at the south end of the city. a man on the boat came over, agitated that i was taking photos. kiran had a word with him, and explained to me that i shouldn't be taking pictures off the side of the boat where the navy was based. the boat ride was an hour long, and we had to walk down a long pier to the entrance of the village. we also had the opportunity to take a short train, but by the time the train arrived, we were pretty close to the entrance. we passed a bunch of tourist stands, and a police station, and started up the stairs to the caves. it was more of a hike than a walk, and every foot along the sides of the stairway were occupied with tourist stands. we walked through the caves, which had beautiful sculptures of shiva, ganesh, and other idols. many of the sculptures were in fairly good condition, but some had deteriorated quite badly. please see the photos for more on the caves. on the island, there were many people who appeared to be residents, wild dogs, goats, cattle, and monkeys. lots of monkeys. a word of advice if you ever decide to visit elephanta: don't eat food in front of the monkeys. a woman was eating a banana, and we watched this monkey run up, jump and snatch the banana out of her hand. she jumped and screamed, and the monkey swung up a tree to enjoy his newly acquired food. we caught the boat back to mumbai around 4:30. once back in town, we went to take some pictures on marine drive, and then headed into one of the more popular shopping districts. oddly enough, i bought a pair of pants! after a short time looking around, we ate pizza, and then came back to the hotel. i'm pretty tired, and may have a bit of a burn from being out in the sun all day. i don't think i've ever sweat so much in my life.

sunday, september 26, 2004. 9:52 am. mumbai.

last night i arrived in mumbai about 30 minutes late, as some passengers decided to check luggage, but not actually board the flight. i slept most of the trip, missing the stewardess as she came by with the declaration card to enter india. after i found one in the airport, and returned to customs, the lineup was pretty long. i quickly realized that it was the line for residents, and made my way to the much shorter line for foreign nationals. the baggage carousels were easy to find, but with the amount of people, and the amount of luggage, i had quite the time trying to track down my luggage. turns out that business class and first class had their own carousel, and by the time i made it through to the carousels, everyone from those classes had already claimed their luggage, except for me. upon seeing that the first carousel had stopped, i moved on to the others, while my bag had been taken off the first and set on the floor. only after all the carousels had stopped did i manage to find my bag. on my way out, i noticed a lot of people who were just sitting about, but very focused, and didn't seem to be waiting for anyone or have any visible luggage of their own. i turned to see what they were looking at, and it was a cricket match on the television between the west indies and england. i was tempted to stop and watch, but i was already a little late. outside, there were about a hundred people standing in the entrance, but the hotel driver spotted me almost immediately. the first person i met from daksh was benny, whom i had never talked to before. he introduced himself, and told me that he would be following me back to the airport. i went to help place my bags in the car, but the hotel representatives told me they would handle it for me. i jumped in the back of the car, and sat back, ready for a leisurely ride to the hotel. now anyone who has been to mumbai knows that a ride through the city is anything but leisurely, but i wasn't ready for that. leaving the airport was somewhat calm, but soon enough we were on a four lane street with eight lanes of traffic. the symphony of car horns perfectly accompanied the chaotic flow of vehicles, which oddly enough, moved more quickly than the best day in vancouver rush hour. i noticed the lack of stop signals, and the common rule of the road: yield to vehicles bigger than your own. cabs and motorcycle rickshaws accounted for most of the vehicles on the road, and the regular family sedan was a rarity, as larger vehicles definitely have a harder time making their way around the city. anyways, i was completely in awe of the beauty of the traffic, the shops and the people, so when the car pulled up to the hotel, i was a little disappointed. i wanted to keep riding around through the streets and the lights that were up for the ganesha festival. after i checked in, benny let me know we would be having dinner, and i told him i would be down to meet him and caroline after i had the chance to shower and change. i went to grab my bags to take them up to the room, but the bellhop wouldn't let me. he told me that the bags would be on their way up, but i didn't see any problem with taking them up myself. benny intervened, and so i made my way up to my room. the bags arrived shortly afterward, but it was just little weird that i couldn't take my own bags to my room. dinner was at a punjab restaurant, which we had a little difficulty finding. i didn't mind though, because it gave me the chance to see more of the city. there was what seemed to be a huge lineup in the doorway to the restaurant, but nobody was really in line. the were all watching the cricket game that was on earlier when i had arrived. while we waited, the game ended with the west indies upsetting england, and winning the championship. after meeting benny, and after an excellent meal, we headed back to the hotel. today, we plan to do some sightseeing with benny and kiran, another supervisor at daksh.

saturday, september 25, 2004. 8:29 am. hong kong airport

it's approximately 5:30 pm back home in vancouver, and while my friends and family are thinking about what they will be eating tonight, i really have no idea when exactly my day is going to end. i'll be here for about five more hours, before i depart for mumbai, via bangkok, and only then will i be able to attempt to adjust my internal clock. i've been awake for about seven hours now, managing almost six hours of sleep on the plane. my first impressions of a business class flight are mixed; the seating and leg room is great, and the service (should you need it) is top-notch. but when i board a plane at three in the morning, all i really feel like doing is catching up on a bit of rest. turns out that the stewardess comes by every 7.32 minutes, and offers food, wet towels, blankets, coffee. when she isn't bringing something by, she's picking something up. again, its great unless you don't want to be disturbed. near the beginning of the flight, the stewardess asked me if i was japanese, and i confirmed that i was half-japanese. i don't remember, probably because i was really tired, but i guess she came up to me, and started speaking in japanese, and i must have nodded or shook my head or something to answer her question. after i had awoke hours later, she comes by, and starts speaking to me in japanese (which i barely recognized as being japanese), and i'm trying to figure out what's going on. i mean, exactly how long have i been asleep? it took me a second, and when she went to repeat herself, i caught on, and let her know that i didn't understand a word she was saying. she looked at me with an odd stare, and so i explained that i was probably too tired to comprehend what was going on earlier, and apologized for the confusion. when i got here, i went to plug the laptop in, but cannot, as the outlets are different here. i also found out that the battery life isn't the greatest either. oh well. when i get to mumbai, i can plug it in at the hotel. so far, that's about all.. i'll see if i can put up some of the pictures soon.

friday, september 24, 2004. 2:19 am. vancouver, b.c., canada. yvr

in about 30 minutes, i'll be boarding my first flight to hong kong. right now, i'm sitting in the business class lounge in a comfy leather chair. there are snacks and free drinks at one end of the lounge, phone and internet rooms in the middle, and a quiet, dimly lit room at the other end. that's where i am, as the lighting is perfect for this time of night. i arrived at the airport early, checked in, and strolled through security without any trouble. i've never flown out of north america before, but this was certainly easier than preparing to fly to the usa. and business class (or what i've experienced so far, is much more comfortable. i'm sure that by the time i return, i'll dread that which is economy class.

wednesday, september 22, 2004. vancouver, b.c., canada. pre-trip

in less than 48 hours, i will be in the air over the pacific ocean, headed for mumbai (bombay), india. i haven't packed a thing, but everything is neatly piled up on my couch, ready to be stuffed into my suitcase. i've had vaccinations for polio, diptheria, tetanus, hepatitis a, typhoid, and am currently taking malaria pills. so far, the only side effects have been one strange dream, and x-ray vision (ask someone from my team, or ask me when i get back =P). all the details have been taken care of, so all i have left to do is find my way to the airport around midnight on friday morning. as most of you know, i am headed to mumbai to help train some employees who work for our outsourcing partner, daksh, and to work with their quality team. the duration of my trip will be 17 days, in which i will be working the night shift, and hopefully sleeping a little during the day. (mumbai is about 12 hours ahead of vancouver.) over the next couple weeks, i'm going to do my best to be a shutterbug and document my trip, focusing on the experience rather than the work. i don't know how much time i'll have to explore, but i'm going to go with the attitude that i will have plenty of time to sleep when i get home.