Jeremy Lim Wen Jie.
26th April 1986
and blah blah.
cowfun@gmail.com
First day. 190609
At The Airport
Landed at Mumbai Airport at about 11am. So far so good, i told myself as i headed of the plane. As we were standing by the water cooler, i thought well this is the international airport of bombay so i guess the water here should be fine. So i decided to take a sip. And from behind me, i heard a guy say, "i wouldnt trust that if i were you. *smiles* Welcome to india" And that was the last time i touched any sort of water cooler.
From there we headed to the customs. Expecting a very long queue due to the health screening checks that were supposed to be carried out. However we got through that part rather quickly. We found our luggage and went to the queue for the customs check. And then unexpectedly there was a blackout at the airport. It was quite shocking because the whole airport was pitch black, i would have expected a backup lights or sort but there wasnt any at all. With that, the baggage scanning systems were not walking so they just pointed us through. and there we headed outside the airport. In Mumbai airport the arrival gallery is sort of the outside of the airport already.
There was a small confusion with the school so we were sort of stranded at the airport for sometime because i think once u come out u cant go back in. We waiting for about an hour and our transport came to pick us up.
The journey took us about 4 hours to finally reach the guest house that we'll be staying at which is at Symbiosis University.
Below is the picture of my room =)
Although we were so tried after the whole journey we every very excited about the place. We headed down to the international office where we were introduced to 2 ladies that were going to be in-charge/taking care of us for the 3 wks that we will be here. There she got a 4th year student, Muneer Mustafa from the college to help orientate us to the place. Straight after that we took a long walk from the campus to a street with shops so that we can do some shopping of some necessities.
This is the company where im going to be at for the next 6 months
First day in india.
2nd Day! Yes There is Cows on the streets =)
Today i woke up at around 8am. its easy to wake up early here because Singapore time is 2 hours in front.
When we woke up,i was shocked to see our breakfast already prepared and placed nicely outside our rooms. The food, drinks and utensils were all placed in a very nice formation. We had egg and cheese sandwich, Bread and jam, corn flakes for breakfast. I am still feeling very impressed with their hospitality.
After breakfast we went to meet the two ladies incharge and running our program,
Mdm Ila and Mdm Sujata. We got our FRO forms settled and we toured around the school campus. Meeting one of their arts and commerce prof. This period is just the beginning of their school term so we managed to catch a glimpse of their student registration procedure. We also caught the convocation of some ethiopian students.
We were later joined my Mahin, he arrived later then us because his flight has been arranged by his company.
2 of our seniors from the earlier GIP program came back to Symbiosis to look for us.We got introduced to them and then they brought us for lunch at a restaurant called the Blue Nile. We took the auto rickshaw there. Its called auto for short here. Its probably going to be my main form of transport. They sort of gave us an insight of their 5 months there and would be starting on their traveling soon. Each of them looking forward to seeing the airport in Singapore. I wonder when would this be my turn. =) Anyway. Lunch was really good. We ordered a Tandoori and butter chicken and ate with rice. The amount of rice they give for each serving is really crazy, im sure i'll put on weight here if i continue to eat like this.
The low point of the day came when it suddenly started pouring. We were told that it hasnt been raining in the pass 2 to 3 months. But now the monsoon season is coming, we have been told to be prepared for lots and lots of rain.
We at first wanted to wait in the shelter till the rain stop but sensing that it would not stop for quite a period of time, Muneer decided to just lead us to the nearby SGS mall which i am told is the biggest in Pune. When we reached there i saw some familar sights. Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut, Levi's, Espirt, Marks & Spensors, Guess. These were about the brands there. The Mall was only 2 levels. One practice they have that i was kinda irritated about is, every shop you enter u have to surrender your hand carry at a baggage counter.
The prices of the clothes there were a little cheaper but did not really interest us to buy anything so we left the mall empty handed. I just bought a tie because i forgot to bring on. It was 200 rupees which was about 8 dollars.
Later on we left the mall and continued our walking along the streets browsing at stores.
Before we know it was already 6 in the evening. We decided to head back to Symbi by auto.
Later on we left for dinner at about 2030, we walked to FC road to a vegetarian restaurant which i think is called Vishali. It was really really very good vegetarian indian food. I ordered a cheese masala dosa and so far i think its the best i had.
AND THE PHOTOS =)
This is the view from my balcony.
Breakfast right outside our room on the corridor. =)
Transport by Auto Rickshaw.
Lunch at the Blue Nile Restaurant.
Affected by the sudden floods.
Getting ready for dinner
After dinner, right outside the restaurant.
posted by Jeremy | 3:37 PM