Theis was a series of blog posts I made when I had a job that required many trips to India. The blogging platform changed several times, and some of the old (pre-iphone) pictures were lost, so I reformatted this into one big post.
Fri, 14 Oct 2005
New Job. I take a new job which involves some travel to India. My first trip will be November 7.
Mon, 17 Oct 2005
I quit the old job today. Kind of painful since I like the team I’m working with, but sometimes you just have to move on. Things I obsess over: Books - I usually take about 5 books just to get to Europe and back, so I obsess on what I will do on the plane. The flight is twice as long, and I can’t take 10 books. I order a new video iPod and start looking for Audio books. Phone - I try and get a GSM phone so I can get a cheap India SIM card when I am there. But my provider (T-mobile) won’t unlock my phone for 90 days. So I buy a cheap unlocked GSM phone on e-bay. So far it works with my T-mobile chip from the new phone.
Tue, 18 Oct 2005
I decide to try Skype so I can do cheap calls from India to back home. I try and hook up my new Bluetooth headset to my PC. It doesn’t work with the Microsoft drivers, so I install some Widcom drivers. Now my Motorola phone tools won’t work over Bluetooth. Bluetooth feels like tcp-ip in the mid-80’s, you have to kind of know what you’re doing and it doesn’t work all at the same time. Everyone asks me if I know that it is flooding in Bangalore.
Mon, 31 Oct 2005
Last day of my old job. The team takes me out to lunch “so I can get used to Indian Food”
Fri, 04 Nov 2005
Today I went to the Consulate General India (CGI) in San Francisco to get my visa. I left San Jose about 6:45, and got to the Consulate around 8:15. I’m expecting something huge, like an embassy, but it is a small building between a pet shop and some residential homes. No problem parking at all. It opens at 9:00 AM, there are about 5 people in line. I wait in line for about ½ hour, then someone gives us a number and asks why we are there (Visa, passport, etc). It opens officially at 9:00 AM, and by 9:15 I’m out of there. I drive to Stonestown (because I know where it is) and hang out in a T-Mobile hotspot. We’re supposed to get the Visa’s any time after 4:00, but someone told me they have them early some times. So I get there at 3:00. There are probably 10 people in front of me. By the time 4:00 rolls around (it doesn’t open early), there are at least 50 people behind me. At least I’m out early. Pix taken with my camera phone
Tue, 08 Nov 2005
I take a 2:15 flight from SFO to Frankfurt, and then Frankfurt to Bangalore. How things worked: iPod – this works great. I listen to “1491” SFO to Frankfurt. This is crowded flight, so I can’t even look at my laptop, so I’m glad I have the audio book. But by Frankfurt I’m 2/3 down on battery. I have a 45 minute layover, so I pull out my laptop and top off the iPod battery from the USB port. Now I’m set for Frankfurt to Bangalore. Laptop – My old laptop was a Dell D600. Good machine, but you can not open it up all the way in economy class because the keyboard and screen are too big. So I buy a new Dell D610 which is the exact same size as the old one. Gee, this one doesn’t fit either. Who would’ve thought?
Wed, 09 Nov 2005
I try calling Lola with Skype using my USB headphones. It mostly works, but there’s a definite delay. But at 1c a minute vs. $3.00 a minute, it seems worth it. The call breaks up towards the end and then gets better. Lola says the delay is like talking to someone who isn’t paying attention, so it is must not be that different from talking to me when I’m in San Jose.
Thu, 10 Nov 2005
Yesterday was my first day in India. My hotel costs 900 rupees a night, which is less than $20. It is nice and clean, but not fancy. The staff is very friendly and speaks good english. A fancy hotel here costs over $300 a night, there’s a huge difference between bargains and high end costs here. Breakfast is 50 rupees, or about a dollar. Internet access is 350 rupees for 24 hours, which is a bargain. They were playing Bill Monroe in the hotel cafe. Ravi picked me up at the hotel, it took about 45 minutes to get to the office. Traffic is pretty bad, kind of like getting out of a big concert with everyone coming from all directions towards one exit. Some of the roads are in pretty bad shape (even worse after the floods two weeks ago) and there’s a lot of dust in the air. It is like being on a dirt road with seven million people driving in front of you. Yes, there are cows in the road. And lots and lots of dogs. On the way to work I see lots of people on scooters, some with women in saris riding side-saddle on the back. Lots of scooters, some western motorcycles and a few Royal Enfields (now made in India). We went out to lunch at a small cafe that was pseudo-american-european style. They have some indian dishs and I order one. It is good. Everyone keeps asking me if the food is too spicy, but it is just fine for me. They were playing Crosby, Stills and Nash in the restaurant. The dev team here are all really nice folks, I enjoy working with them. At 6:00 we have snacks on the terrace of the office building. Curry and some kind of sticky rice that I can’t remember the name of. It is really good, and I have double helpings of curry. People ask me again if it is too spicy, but it is just really good. I get back to the hotel around 9:00 PM. It takes about 45 minutes. The dust is thick. it looks like fog in the headlights. I’m stuffed after the big lunch and 6:00 snack, so I skip dinner. I do some office work for a while and then go to sleep around 12:00 AM. Jet lag is fine, god bless melatonin.
Thu, 10 Nov 2005
Another day of work. We had lunch catered on the patio (see picture). The food is really good, haven’t met a dish I haven’t liked yet. A follow-up to the poor skype experience the other day: it works way better when I’m not using the VPN. The lack of delay makes it seem like I’m actually paying attention. Everybody has these cool wireless mice with their laptops. But the office phone situation is not good, we have a phone conference with the US where we’re passing around a headset mic. Seems wierd to be on the India end of a US phone conference for a change.
Fri, 11 Nov 2005
Friday in India. I get my local India phone SIM card, so I guess I’m a local now. I sign up for a bus tour of Bangalore on Sunday. The office folks are incredibly accommodating about setting things up for me. Everyone insists I won’t be able to get around by myself, which is probably true. So I have a rented car & driver picking me up at the hotel to drop me at the tour and then bring me back afterwards. After work I went out with some folks for some beers. Bruce Springsteen is playing in the car. We stop at T.G.I.Fridays. Once we’re inside, you couldn’t tell the difference between Bangalore and San Jose. A few more indian faces, a few less caucasian geeky engineers (but not much less )and a few more women in Saris (but not much more). Probably the biggest difference is smoking is allowed. Saturday’s a work day here, so I’ll go into the office tomorrow.
Sun, 13 Nov 2005
Sightseeing in Bangalore. The car & driver (I borrowed him for Sunday) picks me up at 7:30 AM. It takes about 45 minutes to get downtown where he drops me off. After 20 minutes or so, a guy points me to the tour bus. Some more people get on the bus. About 9:00, we start off. I’m the only Caucasian on the bus. The bus has, without a doubt, the roughest running diesel I’ve ever heard. We drive around and pick up someone else, then we stop at another tour company. Turns out I’m the only one signed up for the “1/2 day tour”, so they pass me off to another bus. This is a little van with 5 other people on board. I’m still the only Caucasian. The driver gives the guide spiel in Hindi, and then repeats in english for me afterwards. I catch about every third or fourth word. First stop is the Tipu Sultan Palace. Everyone wants their picture taken where the sultan used to stand. Me too, so the guide takes my picture (nb: lost picture). Every once in a while someone asks where I am from, and I say “U.S.”. They smile and usually try and speak a little english. Around the corner is a historic temple. We take our shoes off in a little alcove on the sidewalk, then walk barefoot on the sidewalk to the temple entrance. This is a working temple, and many people bow before one of the alters. Back on the bus, we travel to Lal Bagh Gardens. This is very much in style of an english garden. It is quite pleasant, and really not very crowded. I see an American tour group go through when I’m there. After the garden we visit the tech museum. The museum itself is really not very interesting, but it is fun to see all the indian families there - they’re really into technology. I see the guide and he asks me if I want to visit some shops. I go with him and buy a few things - mostly some silks, and a pashima for Shonagh (I read afterwards to watch out for imitations, which I’m sure this is - sorry Shonagh). I’m sure I’ve paid outrageous prices for the silks, but oh well. The tour ends and the driver picks me up. I was going to some shopping afterwards, but since I’ve done a little bit already and I’m kind of india-ed out for the day, I go back to the hotel. People told me it would be hard to get around by myself here, and they’re right. Not anywhere as many people speak english as I thought they would (all the business folks do of course, but not all the drivers and shop keepers).
Mon, 14 Nov 2005
Busy work week, catching up for week’s activities. Mostly just work today, but heard a bunch of fireworks in the evening. Found out later it was National Children’s Day, a cause for celebration (at least with fireworks)
Tue, 15 Nov 2005
Pretty much work during the day. This evening we went out to Ravi’s neigborhood, Palm Meadows, which is the kind of a walled community that you’d see in San Jose. We went to dinner at the country club, which has two restauraunts in it. We ate outside. It was remarkably like being in San Jose, except there were a lot more germans than in San Jose (SAP has a huge facility about a mile away)
Wed, 16 Nov 2005
Pretty much all work today. I’ve come down with laryngitis and I’m supposed to do a presentation for the engineers on Friday. Hope it gets better. The office scores tickets for an international cricket match on Saturday. Cricket is a Really Big Thing in India. Everyone is excited.
Thu, 17 Nov 2005
My throat is much better, I can talk today. Other than that, no news.
Fri, 18 Nov 2005
I give my talk to the engineers today. I speak for about five hours. I make it through 35 of my 37 slides and my voice gives out completely. One of the dev leads completes the last two slides for me. After work we go out to an english style pub. I try a hookah pipe they bring to the table, and (surprisingly) that does not restore my voice. I end up writing on a paper placemate to communicate with people. Which is quite entertaining after drinking lots of beer.
Sat, 19 Nov 2005
I wake up this morning and find the hotel overrun with Japanese tourists. I know they’re Japanese because they are all dressed in white with orange scarves that say “Japan” on them. Looks like some kind of tour or organization on tour. My voice is completely trashed. I can barely talk. Later on we go to the cricket match. Everyone is very excited, this is the first international cricket match in two years in Bangalore. The crowd is loud but in general pretty polite, kind of a cross between a US baseball and football crowd. Many people have their face painted with the India flag colors, and lots of other people have India flags they wave around. They don’t allow bottled water, but they do have plastic cups you can fill from “purified” water. Looks a little dubious to me, but I have to drink something. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Most folks recommend I don’t eat the food (it isn’t the most hygienic cooking environment) so I skip lunch and snacks (“snacks” is kind of like english tea, only at 6:00 and doesn’t involve tea, just the snacks) In the evening it gets down to 68 degrees or so and people put their jackets on. No one is used to cold here at all. Towards about 9:00 it is clear India is going to win. Sudhir (my co-worker from the US) shepherds me out to dinner and later to the airport. India has the second largest english speaking population in the world (US is first) but for some reason none of the taxi drivers speak english. I get my first ride in a three wheeled “auto-rickshaw”, we got out dinner than later back to the office to pick up my bags and then finally to the airport. Turns out I’m probably an hour earlier than I need to be, so I work on the blog. It is 12:30 AM IST, now I’m up to date. An hour and half before my flight.
Mon, 12 Dec 2005
Seoul, 11dec05 6:31 PM (1:31 AM PST) Back to India again. I take Singapore airlines for this trip. There’s a one hour layover in Seoul. No wireless access here, so I’m doing this offline (there’s an internet café, but I’m too lazy to sign up and use a strange terminal) The aircraft is great. There’s a movie screen in the seat in front, with 60+ on-demand movies. I watch a few movies (thumbs down on “forty year old virgin”, but “the wedding crashers” was pretty good on the airplane move scale). The food and service is excellent. Seoul is an ultra-modern airport. Nicer than Denver, probably on par with Munich. When I walked around I passed a food court with Subway, Burger King, KFC. Signs are in English and Korean. Their re-boarding, so I’ll pick this up again in Singapore.
##Mon, 12 Dec 2005
Singapore 12dec05 5:40 PM (1:50 AM PST) I arrived in Singapore last night around 1:00 AM local time. I’ve been up for a while (this is 9:00 AM PST and I didn’t sleep for more than a couple of hours on the plane). I stumble into the transit hotel, but they don’t have my name. They suggest I get on a wait list for some other people waiting. But wait! Help arrives, it turns out I’m in the transit hotel in the other terminal. I take the tram to the other terminal and by 1:30 AM I’m asleep in bed. First clever move of the day: Before I got to sleep, I plug my laptop in to charge it and charge my phone from the laptop. I’m very proud of myself for having the right cable and right socket adapter. When I get up the next day I realize there’s a switch to turn on the socket, which I forgot to turn on. My laptop is dead. I leave it charging while I go find coffee. Singapore airport is really big. There are more shops here than I can imagine in an airport. I find coffee and croissants. I check out of the transit hotel, leave my laptop case in the left luggage locker and take the free bus into Singapore city.
The free bus takes us to a huge shopping complex downtown (I assume the bus is subsidized by the shopping center). The shopping complex is huge. There are five towers with three story walkways linking all the towers. I walk around for a while and break to have lunch in a Thai-style restaurant; I get the beef satay (and some very sweet ice tea). It’s quite good. The beef tastes funny until I remember that it is in a fish sauce. Actually quite good, but I’m glad they mentioned the fish sauce or I would have been worried. So far all the signs are in English. Everyone I’ve spoke to speaks English. Accents are no worse than at the San Francisco airport. I’m trying to find the esplanade walk. I walk outside and go across three more huge shopping complexes (having, in order, a Care Bears Christmas, a Garfield Christmas and a Barbi Christmas). I’m completely lost, so I decide to retrace my steps. When I get back to where I started, I discover if I had gone right rather than left, I would have been on the right road. Well, that’s what I get for traveling without Lola, who usually corrects me on these things. Right before the esplanade is a place called “theatres on the bay”. This is like a slightly smaller version of the Sydney opera house (architecture is a little different as well), but it is quite impressive.
I walk down the esplanade into a little pier area. There are mostly tour boats and some working fishing boats. Quite nice. Pictures attached (from my camera phone, so not very good quality) It is time to go back so I retrace my steps. I wondered why it was so uncrowded this morning, but now it is 4:00 and the shops are filling up. Folks are mostly Asian, the Caucasian folks are mostly Australian (I can tell because (a) I hear Aussie accents (b) their shirts have a lot of Australian logos, and (c) it is December and they’re wearing shorts). The shorts are probably a good idea, because it is about 80 degrees with 95 percent humidity. But none of the locals are wearing shorts. Maybe this is cold for them. I’m writing this in an upstairs café and bar called the Orchid lounge (augmented by two Carlsberg beers, life is rough sometimes :) . So far I’ve found some internet kiosks where I could check my mail, but no wireless access for my laptop. I’ll have to upload this in Bangalore. (Second clever move of the day: when I get to B’lore, I realize my wireless card is shut off. I probably had access all the time) Well, off to my plane now.
Sun, 18 Dec 2005
Well, a quick week in Bangalore. Lots of work stuff. I’m in Singapore now, waiting for my San Francisco flight.
Not much to highlight for the week, just a few things.
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Had lunch at Samarkand. But it was set up like a “northern borders” interior. The cups were wrought copper. We had some wonderful kabobs, best I’ve ever had. Ravi said the wait in the evening for dinner can be up to three hours.
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Had Sunday brunch with a friend from the US at the Leela Hotel. This was definitely a side of Bangalore I had not seen. The Leela is a five star hotel with rooms around $500 a night. Inside is modeled after some temples in Mysore, but it is a new hotel. Inside is 6 acres of gardens and courtyards. Quite impressive.
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In the wildlife department, in addition to the ever-present cows and oxen, I saw a group of donkeys by the side of the road, sleeping back to back. They weren’t pulling carts or anything, they were just sleeping.
That’s it for now. Off to take my 20 hour flight to San Francisco now.
Mon, 23 Jan 2006
If this is January, this must be Bangalore.
Actually Singapore right now.
Flight was good as usual on Singapore Airlines. I slept about four hours going Seoul to Singapore. Just enough so I was good and tired when I got to the Singapore transit hotel at 1:00 AM local time, so I had no problem going to sleep.
I tried some new ear plugs designed for airplanes. They have little baffles in them and they supposed to equalize pressure more gradually during descents. They seemed to work, usually the side of my head feels like it is going to explode, but this time it felt like the top of my head would explode. But I could hear when landed, which is a huge improvement.
I walked down Orchard road in Singapore this time. It’s the main “shopping road” with lots of huge hotels and shopping complexes on the road. Plus a few historic buildings.
Sun, 29 Jan 2006
Saturday Night at the Ritz.
Well, not really the Ritz, but the Bangalore equivalent: the Hotel Oberoi. My friend from work (also traveling from the US to India) and I decided to stay there on Saturday night (at the “reduced” weekend rate). In Bangalore there’s not much available in between two star and five star hotels. Since we were staying at the former during the week, we figured one night at the latter balanced everything out, expenses-wise. When we checked in we were also upgraded to suites, I guess the weekend is slow for them.
For contrast, here are pictures of where I stay during the week (the “Indie One”)
and the Hotel Oberoi
Very pleasant hotel.
We walked over to have a drink at the famous “ice bar” at the adjecent Taj Residency hotel. The signature drink was a test tube full of creme liqueurs, sitting in a iced vodka chaser. Very fancy.
I also ordered a “singapore sling” since I kept seeing it on the airline menu (from Singapore Airlines). Turned out it was a fru-fru drink with a little umbrella. I drank it anyway. It was actually pretty good.
For dinner we ate at the Taj hotel. When we ordered wine (I let my friend order since he’s a winophile), he asked for a Chianti they had on the menu. Turned out they were out, so he asked the Matre’d for comperable wine. He suggested a Chardonnay (true, it also started with a “c”), but we decided to go with a Sangiovese instead. Drinking wine in India is always a little adventure.
All in all, a fine saturday night. On the slightly scary side, here’s a (nb: not a picture) picture of the hotel courtyard when they spray for mosquitoes around 7:00. You can see the cloud of spray coming up through the trees. They don’t fool around in India.
Sat, 26 Aug 2006
I skipped a may trip, and nothing much to report for June.
Here are some pictures from a trip to Mysore with a stop by the Cauvery River
Sun, 15 Jul 2007
Finally was able to go to Delhi over the weekend and travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Absolutely the most incredible man made structure I’ve ever seen, looks as just amazing from a mile away and 5 inches away. Two galleries here because we mixed cameras (which is a story itself, we lost one camera and one broke the viewfinder. Some of them are from a cheap disposable film camera)
Some leftover pictures
These didn’t seem to make it into the original blog