First Weekend in Mumbai

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Just passed the first day of my first weekend in Mumbai.

Charlotte's driver, Steve (nicknamed Stevie Wonder), brought us to Charlotte's apartment to meet her. We went up to take a look at her apartment. Aaahhh! We acted like country bumpkins who were in the city for the first time. I took out my camera and snapped everything, from the lift to the kitchen, to the room. The beds in her apartment looked so comfy that I wanted to jump into it and sleep my whole day away.

It reminded me of something my ex-manager said. She said that her Indian counterparts are the most un-(my company name)like people. In other words, their culture and working style are really different from offices based in other parts of the world.

Charlotte's budget is from Singapore and ours is from India. Hence, the difference. When we saw the hotel our boss was going to stay, our morale just went down. Firstly, their hotel is in such a good area. Secondly, they are living so comfortably.

I'll stop talking about the upsetting stuff.

We visited Gate of India and passed by a Mosque that is in the middle of the sea but most of the time was spent shopping, as expected of girls. Steve brought us to 2 pasar malam like place, only they were open in the day as well. 1 was in Colaba (Charlotte's area) and 1 in Brandra (our area). I bought 2 skirts (each less than $5). BUT, because the markets were by the road, the skirts were really dusty. They definitely have to be washed before they can be worn. They we went to another place that was sort of like a wholesale area for punjabis and other traditional clothes. The clothes were really nice and bright but not for me.

Steve has been really helpful.

We asked to visit the Bollywood studios and he said he would bring us there when there was filming going on. Then he brought us around the rich man's estate and pointed out all the mansions of the Bollywood stars. Shah Rukh Khan, etc. I felt like a stalker...stopping outside their homes and looking at the huge mansions when I didn't even know who they were.

Then he introduced his friend who owned a restaurant near our apartment to us. He made sure we got his number and the menu so that we could order from them the next time we needed dinner.

He even recommended a driver to us at a discounted rate.

I am really thankful that we met Charlotte and Steve.