Amit Sinha's Travelog

The main areas that I visited in 2006:

India : Ladakh and South India
Australia & New Zealand
China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
Europe
Central Asia – Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan

Auckland is like any major western city, with skyscrapers adorning
its skyline, well planned Central Business District, Starbucks,
payphones, and other amenities you associate with some of the major
European and American cities. However, in this city, home to about
75% of New Zealand’s human population of 4m (The 40m sheep have been
excluded from this analysis given their lack of appreciation for
802.1b internet protocol and other modern technologies. Additionally,
no sheep were harmed in the making of this posting), the basic
service that is so commonplace across the world, the simple little
tool known as broadband internet, is a) woefully inadequate, and b)
ridiculously expensive.

I am writing this post from the transit area in Auckland Airport’s
International terminal. My three and a half hour flight to Melbourne,
due to depart at an ungodly 6:50am, has an equally ungoldly delay of
about five hours, at last reckoning (its likely longer now). After
having read every single article in the weekend edition of the FT
(purchased at a ridiculous price of twelve kiwi dollars), and The
Economist, I finally decided to while the remaining three hours by
logging onto the internet, inspired partially by the large signs
proclaiming this to be a “hotspot”. After about fifteen minutes of
hitting refresh and walking around the terminal with my laptop in
hand and looking ridiculous, I was finally able to catch a feeble
signal, just enough to find out that an hour’s access cost a mere ten
kiwi dollars! With boredom getting the better of my financial acumen,
I decided to splurge on the one hour access, only to be foiled right
after putting in my payment details by a crafty network that did a
disappearing act, leaving me wire-less and with nothing to show for
my ten dollars.

Getting any help with my predicament was an exercise in futility. The
five people across the entire terminal who vaguely resembled
employees of the airport, feigned ignorance, despite my using words
such as Internet, Wi-Fi, and Help. They suggested I use the phone to
call a help desk, except there was no number for the help desk.

Used to dealing with the wireless networks of more advanced nations
such as India, I was a little more than peeved about the state of
events here. I continued to play with the network, catching a
fleeting glimpse of it here and there, and once even managed to get
to the front page of the internet provider. Yet, getting beyond that,
or getting help, appeared to be beyond the capacity of this modern
airport’s network.

In most parts of Europe, Wi-Fi is widely available, and generally
free. In the U.S. and Canada, its available almost everywhere, and
for a small fee, can be accessed at almost all airports. In India,
you can get good quality Wi-Fi in every airport, thought getting a
prepaid card to use can be a slight bother. Istanbul airport has free
wi-fi. In Auckland, you pay in order to get no Wi-Fi.

After this vent, I have another three hours to kill (the flight got
delayed by another hour while typing this), so I am going to head
over and try and find something else to keep me busy- maybe they have
dial-up somewhere.

On one of my galavanting trips to Melbourne, I made my way to the
Victoria Art Gallery. While wandering, I found myself in a section
where they were showcasing the use of geometric design in fashion,
when a quilt caught my eye. It was red and blue, and had simple, but
lovely geometric shapes on it. Turns out, it was an Amish quilt, made
in Lancaster County, Pennsylvannia. Lancaster is where I went to
school (Uni/College for my Commonwealth, European and readers from
the rest of the non-American world) and here, six years after
graduation, in the other side of the world, both hemispheres
included, was a quilt from there. Such is the beauty of life I tell you.

Its around 4am so pardon me if my judgement is partially tainted by
fatigue-infested neurons. On my visits to India, I normally come in
through Chennai. The airport may be small, not particularly slick,
but the staff is friendly, courteous, and efficient. I was therefore
a little taken aback earlier today at the Delhi Indira Gandhi
International Airport, where despite the modern facilities, the staff
still appeared to be from the dark ages, when flying in and out of
India was a nightmare.

It first started at the baggage screening, where the attendant at the
baggage area persuaded an Italian couple to give him a Rs. 500 “gift”
for having their bags moved through screening. This was in front of
higher officials who chose to turn a blind eye towards such activity.
A slight contrast to Chennai where I’ve not come across this, or the
Mumbai airport where staff would wear jackets stating that they do
not accept tips.

At the immigration counter, despite having ten open counters the
lines were moving slowly. The gentleman at my counter, Mr. Praveen
Kumar, decided that taking fifteen minute breaks in five minute
intervals would really endear him to weary travelers at two in the
morning. Of course there were no customer service or senior officials
around for us poor travelers to request either a change of line or
another officer. We waited, and subjected ourselves to Mr. Kumar’s
dedicated work schedule. I am sure he had certain reasons for taking
such breaks, but whatever they were, having them not affect the flow
of passengers would have been helpful.

However, the person who really made me upset with Delhi Airport was
the security guard allowing people to board. Once the announcement
came for boarding, as usual a long line formed at the entrance.
Business class passengers were being let through the side, and
Turkish Airlines staff were checking boarding passes to verify that
it was indeed business class passengers who were boarding. Unlike
flights to the UK and Europe from Chennai or Mumbai, Indians in
Business Class were the minority here, i.e. just one, me. Despite
having my boarding pass checked and verified by the staff, the
security guard, without even checking my boarding pass rudely asked
me to head over to the back of the line.

Overall, I was a lot more satisfied by the professional service of
the smaller, less-equipped Chennai airport than the large, fancy, yet
human-unfriendly Delhi Airport.

Got into Mumbai on Sat night, April 1st, visiting friends and family.

Here are the places I went to, in case you decide to make your way here. If my friends who took me to these places are reading this, kindly add your comments and correct my errors

1. Asia Wok (Bandra, above Shopper’s Stop) : Restaurant, Casual, yet well appointed, and shanghai prawns to die for. Order at least two plates per person. Good view. Reasonably priced for Bombay ($10)

2. Out of the Blue (Bandra or Pali Hillish I guess, next to Olives, off Carter Road) : Excellent afternoon place. nice decor, simple, and not in your face. Nice pastel colors, outdoors are nice as well. sizzlers are absolutely great here. If going in groups, definitely order a pitcher of mimosa- its made with freshly squeezed orange juice. A little on the higher side, but definitely worth it. ($10-15)

3. Taj Lands End (Bandra Bandstand, next to Searock): Their breakfast buffet has one of the largest offerings of any breakfast buffet. Omlettes, dosas, multiple types of cakes, muesli, you name it, its here. Go early as they close by 10:30am, and definitely on an empty stomach. Good view of the sea as well.

4. Zensi (Bandra, near the ICICI Bank branch, walking distance from Shoppers Stop): Excellent decor, very mediterranean feel. comfortable couches outside to relax, good for chilling for a few drinks. Have heard that it gets pretty crowded on fri and sat, but on sunday it was prettty quiet. (About $7 a drink)

5. Great Punjab (next to Shoppers Stop): Good Indian food. Excellent paneer and kababs. Decor is ordinary but food more than makes up for it. Very reasonably priced for the food (Four of us ate for $30)

6. JPMorgan’s Technopolis Campus Cafeteria: A full Indian meal, with yummy mutton curry, dal, palak paneer, rice, roti, and vegetables for Rs. 30 (a little less than a dollar). A compelling reason to join the firm I’d say.

7. Cafe Coffee Day: Local answer to Starbucks, all over India. definitely have the Ethiopian Kava

8. Candys: relaxed breakfast place. Nice sandwiches and pastries and coffee. Very european feel with greenn leafy outdoors. Right next to Lilavati Hospital.

9. Brittannia Coffee House: Iranian coffee house that takes you back in time. In the town area, its a short walk from the high court near the customs house. I don;t remember the name of the area. Incredible food. Had berry pulao and boti-”something that means potato chips” which were out of this world. You have to go here if you are in the town area. Its just a very traditional place.

10. Mocha: Was taken to the one near Church Gate, but they are all over the place. Its the answer to Starbucks and its clones. Moroccan feel, with sheeshas if you are interested, but its also a coffee shop with comfortable cushions on the floor ergonomically placed so that you can comfortablly lie down and have a cofffee and a conveersation. If you are not a fan of half a glass of sugar with a little water, I would avoid the country lemonade.

11. Soul Fry (Bandra): Absolutely heavenly seafood (and meat as well, but seafood takes the cake). We ordered about seven or eight different dishes amongst four of us and every one of them was outstanding. The flavors were unique for each, the fish/prawns/crabs etc. were fresh, and for the first time in my life I had cooked fish that I liked (Fish Tikka). Probably my No.1 recommendation

12. Toto’s Garage (Bandra): Cool bar with a garage theme. Great for hanging out and having a few drinks after dinner

13. Hawaiian Shack (Bandra): Small place with good music, and space to dance. Very east villagy feel.

Also spent time at the JW Marriott poolside- luxurious, but also felt a little guiulty, seeing all this wastage of resources (water, electricity) when compared to places like Timbaktu in Andhra, where they used solar power and eco-friendly architecture.