Biz Trip Bangalore Shopping (May 2019)

There wasn't much to do once work was done for the day. So my boss took me to malls as he had so much errants and shopping to do. I was starting to realise what a shopperholic he was. This proves true even on our next trip together to Sao Paulo, but that's another collection of post that, hopefully, will be coming out soon! Anyway, there was one day we took the tub-tuk to the biggest mall in Bangalore, Phoenix Mall. I was pretty blown away. It was a super modern mall, and had all the big brands there. I did manage to do some shopping while I was there. Below are some of the things I got for myself as well as friends and colleagues.

First off, I told my boss I wanted to go to a bookstore. He gamely took me to one on the first day after work. I got the above three books. Each was like, less than SGD10. I got the first one from left to right because I love Rumi's poetry, and am hoping that this would be just as good. I'm a sucker for ancient romantic poems. Next was a 2-in-1 book by a religious guru? I don't know, but I do watch his talks from time to time on youtube and really enjoyed watching him talk. And lastly, a book recommendation by my ex-vendor/colleagues/friend. 

We also took time to go groceries shopping for snacks. I got the Lay's masala chips which is so addictive. There was an offer on and they gave the Lay's Maxx Chilli chips which was also equally addictive. I also got some Bru coffee cause it taste super nice and cause like SGD2 per glass in Singapore! 

Lastly, just before we left, I got all the super sweet condense milk candies from a shop just outside the airport. My boss recommended it as it's kinda like a cooperation that helps farmers with small volume of cows. All in all, I am always happy to travel to new places. I guess that would me one of the things I will miss most when I decided to go back and work from a local company. I am still pondering whether I would regret it. But since I am "sundowning" myself soon, let's contribute back to my host country one last time! lol. 

Biz Trip Bangalore (May 2019)

Since there is no more travelling for 2020, I've decided to start blogging about my past trips to, clear my back logs, re-live those wonderful trips, and to get my creative flow going. So for today and tomorrow, I will be blogging about my last minute business trip to Bangalore India in May 2019. I say "last minute" because it was totally not in my project schedule, and I even had my mum staying with me at that time. I had to abandon her for my 4 days trip and almost missed out on my Phantom of the Opera Musical which I bought VIP tickets for!

Flights were also fully booked since it was last minute, and one of the budget airline in India also decided to cease operation about the same time. So I could only manage a Thai Airways transiting at Bangkok. I didn't really minded, cause believe it or not, Thai Airways is my favourite airlines! Why? The next next photo will tell you why. 

I flew off Sunday evening just before sunset and caught this beautiful view of Singapore and Malaysia. It was such a powerful photo to me cause Malaysia is my homeland, and Singapore is my current home, separated by the Straits of Johor. Teary eye moment there....

And as I was saying, Thai Airways is my favourite airline. It was also the first flight I ever took to Phuket when I was a teenager. The reason I love it so much was the serve the best food in any airline I've ever flown! And that includes business class in Singapore Airlines! I'm a sucker for Thai curry I guess. Plus the Thai hospital is just so gentle and lovely. 

I arrived in Bangalore past midnight, and had to trust the hotel driver to deliver me safely to the hotel. There is always these horror story of ladies travelling alone in India, and how it was not safe to do so. This was my 4th trip to India, so I wasn't so nervous, yet the concern was always there in the back of my mind. Lucky for me, nothing happen. I reached the hotel, and was more than happy to settle in as I had to work the next day. 

Hotels in India has the best hospitality. It's like if you are rich in India, everyone treats you like royalty. The room was big, but with not much view. It was a Sheraton Hotel under Marriott Group. My boss wanted to stay here cause it was a newer hotel than Marriott. Plus it was also just opposite our office. 

The bathroom comes with a long bath, which I totally adore. I could soak in a bath daily, a bad but relaxing habit from my days traveling around Japan. It is just such a soothing ritual. I remember my last trip when I was in Gurgaon, they also have a long bath there, and it just washes away all the stress of the day when you reach home (a.k.a. your room).

Fluffy towers and wonderful ayurveda toiletries are just the norm in India hotels, and I love those as well as they always smell so wonderful. 

The hotel was a guarded property, and there was a mall just opposite it. We have our breakfast daily before headed to work. It has a pool and stuff, but I spend most of my time after work going out with my manager as he took me to wonderful restaurants to try out the food and shop for food. He seems to enjoy it so much there. I too enjoyed the food. I recall the tandoori panner we had that was just out of this world!

India hotel always have some small personal touch they give to their guess. On our last day before checking out, they even presented my boss with a "Happy Journey" pancake for his breakfast. None for me though. I guess they knew who is the boss! 

Lastly, here's a view of how near by office is :)

May 2019

Just as I was catching up on my monthly summary, I have to come across a month with 5 highlighted moments.... I mean, it's a good thing of course. May was such a busy month! Almost madness. And I guess I should be grateful for having so many interesting thing happening to me in a single month alone!

Above are the 5 highlights of May, and there will be no personal photos for this post as I find that keeping things mysterious is much more fun. It will also motivate me to blog the details faster if I want to share my photos on this blog. Photos that made it here are actually the ones that get remembered and view the most. The rest just dies in my hard drive or NAS. 

Guess which play I went to watch, AGAIN. This time I even got VIP seats! Hence the free mask and free program given. Went with my weird movie buddy to watch this legendary play. No matter how many times I watch it, I am always moved to tears by it. I don't know whether it's because of my link to it in my past, or the play is just too awesome. We sat in the 2nd row of the theatre! And it was an amazing experience being so close to the stage. Especially for this play what with all the costume and props and candalier just above our head! Bravo Bravo Bravo. 

As mentioned in April's post, I had a short 4 day trip to India. It was a rather last minute trip, for goodness know what reason. But since it was to a new part of India I've never been to, of course I look forward to it. This time it was to Bangalore. I even travel alone there and reach in the middle of the night! I spend 4 days there visiting my company's office as well as vendor's office. Since it was with my boss, and it wasn't a serious trip, I had quite a good time there, with good food and shopping. One day.... after all my India's post, I will post about Bangalore too! 

After a month staying in Singapore with me, I send my Mum back to Penang. It was another one of those Saturday reach, Sunday leave trip. And again I met up with my friend Pei Shi for some cafe hopping. This time we went a bit overboard and visited to many cafe that we were really tired by the end of it. So I decided to end our misery and went to the airport earlier just to sit down and be alone with my thoughts after a long day of drinking too much caffeine and sweet cakes!

After coming back to Singapore, it was UAT period for my project. Since the project was Brazil based, I had to follow the user's timezone and so I worked from 2pm to 11pm and had the morning free. I went out almost daily, to all the places that would have been crowded on weekend. I went for a walk around CBD area and met up with my friends for lunch. Above was one of my favourite shot of the Helix Bridge at Marina Bay Sand. I also went to catch a movie at Jewel, went to the gym and did some personal banking etc. Love every minute of my free day time!

Lastly, we also managed to find time to spend a weekend in Johor Bahru at our favourite hotel, eating our favourite Ramadan buffet for Hari Raya. My husband actually drove in, and the ride back was rather stressful. It has become an annual affair now, and apart from the traffic, it's really relaxing to be back in Malaysia always. 

Delhi - Rajghat (6-Aug-2016)

6-Aug-2016. The rain has started to stop when we reach Rajghat. This is the memorial park where Mohamed Gandhi, the first prime minister of India's cremation was held. To learn more about this place, refer the reference link below. This was a historical site I was interested in, so I was quite happy when our car finally pulled up here. It was near a quiet area, kinda like a big park.

A short walk from the entrance and you will reach the path into the memorial ground. You can walk in, or you can view it from above. I went in with my tour guide. Every city we reach, a tour guide is assigned to us, but our driver accompanied us all the way. And because you again have to take off your shoes before stepping into the sacred ground, my husband stayed behind and didn't enter .....

This is what it looks inside the ground. It is wet ground you are walking on. Luckily for me, I couldn't care less. And it is a good feeling the soft ground on your feet. My good friend Justin once said that I was kinda like a hippie child, just happy go lucky wherever I went. So walking barefoot was really something I enjoyed.

It was hard to get a good photo of the place as there were many people around, so I won't bother to post any here. Above is a close up of the memorial site made of black marble. Fresh flowers are placed on it, and a flame always burn there. Its very symbolic, a great honour to Gandhi. 

There were also wordings around the area which was supposed to inspire, I assumed. With words like the above, I read it and resonate with it. But at the same time, I recall how sad this place is. Cause although there were places where you could put your footwear for free, nobody uses it cause nobody trust that their footwear would still be there when they come back to collect it. And that itself, is the saddest thing about this sacred ground. Gandhi had a vision for this country, and it still has a long way to go before that  materialise... I didn't want to prove a point either, so I also paid someone a small token to keep my footwear safe....

Ref:
Rajghat

Delhi - Masjid Jamal & Parliament Road (6-Aug-2016)

6-Aug-2016, rainy days as we drove into Delhi. I won't say most of my photos I posted here are spot on, or clear, or even in focus, but they are definitely from my perspective, and represent the mood that I want it to represent. I have brought along my slippers for this trip, and they were the perfect wear for wet weather, and places where you have to constantly take off our shoes.

Masjid Jamal was inside Delhi, and this is the view as we pull up near it. I think this is the very first mosque that I have ever entered in my life even though I grew up in an Islamic country. I had to cover up, and they lend you some cloth to cover your "aurat" or "unclean parts". You also have to take off your shoes before entering. My husband didn't follow us in. For the next few days, I entered a lot of mosque. That was when I realise how islamic this whole trip was, and that India although was known as a Hindu country, had a lot of islamic influence, especially on the places that I visited. It come to the point that I was thinking maybe an Islamic civilisation may not all be that bad after all, judging by the beautiful architecture and mathematical science they put into building these beautiful places.

Anyway, here is a photo of me outside the mosque. No photo taking as allowed inside, so I'll just leave some reference link before in case you're interested to see what's it like inside. It's basically just a big square made of red bricks, and there were lots of pigeons everywhere. The floor wasn't marble or anything, but red clay. It was my first encounter, so I accepted it at face value. This wasn't one of the places to visit on my checklist anyway, it was just an introduction into India.

We also visited a grand road where the parliament house and all the important government buildings were situated. Above is the view of us driving there. The road was so straight and wide it reminded me of how Roman's build their road. It was so huge, and the road so long

It was also crowded with tourist. This is the other end of it. The architecture was unique. People were selling snacks from car to car. People were bargaining about transport places on the road. Tour guide parked by the road letting tourist down to take some photos of the beautiful place. It wasn't the India I came to see, but I rather fascinated by the long road and the view from one end of it to the other end. It was very impressive. And you wonder, if they can do this so nicely, why don't they do it everywhere in the country?

 

Anyway, here are two courtesy shots of the parliament house area with their manicured gardens. You can't really go inside. So we didn't stay long or took much photos. We have places to go before the sun sets!

Ref:
Masjid Jamal New Delhi
Parliament House

India Road Trip (6-Aug to 9-Aug 2016)

Technically my business trip to Gurgaon ended on 5-Aug-2016, and the beautiful famous sights of India was actually quite nearby as Gurgaon is near Delhi, so with the use of the weekend, and the Singapore National Day holiday, I decided to extend my stay in India and book myself a private 4 days 3 night tour. It was those decision which I thought over daily before deciding that if I don't do this, I will regret it. So I went ahead and book a tour for one. Yes, for ONE. That was how important this trip was to me. But my overprotective husband decided to join me in the end, and his flight there was probably more expensive than our whole tour package! So from today onwards I will be blogging about my road trip in India. And what is more fitting as a header photo than a sign of Highway Masala pit stop along the beautiful highway of India!

Here's my tour programs to give you some idea of where we were headed. I booked via India n Holiday Private Limited, and it comes with a car and a drive that will accompany us through out the trip. Hotels are included for all 3 nights, which covers the daily breakfast part of the trip. I requested to stay at Trident Hotel since I was comfortable with the level of service there, and they booked for me 2 out of the 3 nights. The driver took us to restaurants for lunch based on his recommendation, and we either find dinner on our own or have it at the hotel, or skip it all together.

Here's a photo of us before the start of the trip at Taj Vivanta Hotel Gurgaon. My husband arrived on 5-Aug-2016. I have booked an airport transport for him from the hotel, and the concierge asked if I would like to follow the car to the airport. I said yes and took a free ride to the airport with the driver. His flight was late for 2 hours. Luckily I took some bananas from the room with me and share it with the driver. I spend 2 hours walking around the airport just exploring and ended up buying two books there because they were so cheap: a Murakami, and a Rumi. Love them both. Each was around SGD8 to SGD10. I found out later that printed book prices are subsidised by the Indian government. Why don't we have such things in every country? Awesome policy.

Our first day was a tour of Delhi (another post), and the book us in a hotel at ITC Hotel Dwarka. You know the warning not to wonder outside at night in India, and not to eat the food outside? Yeah, that went out the window on our first day as well. Thankfully my husband was rather well trained by now and we took a walk to the shopping mall just next door to the hotel. Above is what it looks like, kinda reminds me of any Malaysian mall actually. And things were very cheap there! We also had our dinner there at a family restaurant. Nobody seems to care much about us, although we did over ordered in terms of food.

There was a supermarket at the mall, so we took a walk inside as well. Look what I found! Singapore Curry instant noodle! I didn't even knew that was a thing here. 

I also found that you can buy canned Indian desserts home with you. I love both these two desserts! But I didn't buy any cause they were so heavy. 

Next are some sights of India as seen from our trip. Above is the Tut-Tut cab you can find everywhere in Delhi area. I didn't managed to take one before cause well, business trip always provide us a car, or the hotel would provide us some transport, or we took a taxi cause there was always a group of us going out together, or we walk.....Maybe one day, I'll try this...

As were were travelling on the highway, we saw lots of trucks and lorries, and they all were colourfully decorated with signs on them. Most have the "Horn Please" sign on them. Maybe its to keep the driver awake on their long drive? The whole road was an orchestra of horns. But strangely they were less loud than in Mumbai, so I was actually quite ok with them. 

The towns we pass through on our way to attractions were also quite fascinating. For example this was my first time seeing an actual camel on the road, being used as a transport animal like a horse or buffalo. In the past, I've only seen camels in zoos before. I love camels, cause one of my favourite character from Discworld is You Bastard the camel. Yes, that is the name of the camel. So every time I see a camel, I tend to call it You Bastard, and people would give me a disapproving look, lol. I'll leave a reference below in case you think I'm bluffing you!

There were also the usual carriage being pulled by horses, cows etc. They look so cowboy town.

And we also saw some farmer pilgrimage along the way. These were mainly on our way towards Jaipur. It was nearing the Monsoon season, so our driver told us that they were mostly farmers, walking towards a worship site in prayer of rain for their crops. The whole highway has a festive feel to it when we were headed to Jaipur. There were pit stops for these pilgrimage people, and at each stop, there were music to cheer them on, free drinks, fruits and food to fuel their journey.

Herds of goat crossing the road reminded me of home as well. Don't believe me? See this post here. So I guess, I felt pretty much at home here. 

Road side shops selling traditional cakes and fruits. These are sights that I love seeing cause these are so different from anything I've seen before. Isn't these what travel is about?

And lastly, here's me at the Delhi Airport on the last day before flying back. I looked so tanned! I actually threw up from food poisoning the night before in celebration of Singapore National Day (I did the merlion, get it?). I wasn't angry or worried about being sick. In fact I was quite happy about it cause now I had experienced the true India experience! Hahaha. 

I slept at the back seat on the ride back to the airport, and that too reminded me of my childhood where I would sleep at the backseat and look out the window staring at the sky, wondering where I was. At the start of the trip, I sat next to the driver and chatted with him all the way and he was just happy someone was keeping him company. I get a lot of stares from passing car. Interesting enough, I got used to it and it doesn't bother me any more. It's interesting how travel change your mindset. After surviving through the rough of India, or China, or the mafia Italy, the crime of UK, nothing really shakes you up. And you just kinda feel at home no matter where you are. You just blend in. 

It was a wonderful trip. And I have no regrets. Next stop? Kashmir? Varanasi? Iran! But before another crazy adventure in India, the next few post will be on the places that I visited in this road trip. Stay tune!

Ref:

Indian Holiday Private Limited

ITC Welcome Dwarka

Discworld - You Bastard