A Visit to the Airport

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Last night I went to the Mumbai International Airport to pick Zhichao up. I must say the condition of the Domestic Airport is much better and newer than the International Airport.

On arrival at the Airport:

1. There are no signs to indicate that there are different terminals.
2. There are also no signs to indicate that there are different terminals for different airlines.
3. There are no signs to indicate which airline lands at which terminal.
4. There are no signs to indicate where each terminal is.

Then at the arrival hall of Terminal 2C, there is a signboard indicating the status of planes due in the airport. I always thought that planes were either delayed, confirmed or landed. Apparently, there are more statuses of planes especially of a particular airline.

Of the 5 landings of the airline that night, none had the same status.

The first was Indefinite.
What happened to the plane? Did it get lost or vanished over the bermuda triangle?

The second was Provisional.
Was the plane provisional or the pilot had a provisional pilot license or they would wait till the plane was filled before taking off?

The third was Tomorrow.
In other words, Delayed.

The fourth was Scheduled.
If the flight wasn't scheduled, how would people know to buy tickets for this flight or how would their friends and relatives know to go to the airport to pick them up?

The fifth was Arrived.
Finally! One plane that reached the airport. Then again, this plane could have been scheduled to arrive the day before.

My Understudy

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

I thought that I should introduce my understudy here so that if ever I hate my name, you would know that she was the reason for my hatred.

Of course, it is also necessary to mention that if my IT knowledge has improved or if I ever go into the IT line, it's all thanks to her.

For time saving purposes, let's just call her RS.

When she cannot log in to the Citrix network.
RS:"Ivy!"

When an error message pops up.
RS:"Ivy!"

When she cannot drag a promo into the log.
RS:"Ivy!"

When an error message pops up.
RS:"Ivy!"

When she don't know her password.
RS:"Ivy!"

When's there's no green blob on the tape icon.
RS:"Ivy!"

When an error message pops up.
RS:"Ivy!"

When there's missing material.
RS:"Ivy!"

When there's no missing material.
RS:"Ivy!"

When an error message pops up.
RS:"Ivy!"

When she needs to check how to do something even though she has written it down before.
RS:"Ivy!"

When she's not happy that I asked her to find out something for herself.
RS:"Shit!"

When someone replies to RS' email to ask her to give the channel and month that she wants.
RS:"Ivy! So I email her the channel and the month?"
Me (In my mind):"No. You can email her what you had for dinner last night."

When something is needed by 6pm Singapore time, she goes for lunch first even though she won't be able to finish it on time.

When I ask her to open the clarity file. She stares at me blankly for 3 seconds before my words register and she goes and open the file.

When I tell her to do something. I must do it step by step. For example, open your My Documents folder, double click on the file, click on the row, go to the tool bar, click Table, select Insert, select Rows Below. Then I must point to where I am talking about or else she cannot find it.

Now we even have a board to tell them when they must complete their logs and when to download. Of course, like everyone else here, the timeline is never followed.

To think yesterday, her Associate Director said I hired you for your brains. Hmm...food for thought.

Travelling Around Mumbai

Saturday, August 26, 2006

It can get quite tiring travelling around Mumbai, whether by car or by foot. Not that it's physically draining. It's just that everywhere you go, people keep coming up to you to sell things, to beg for money, to try to bring you around...

Along the street near our hotel, people would come up to you and ask if you want cashmere shawls or pashminas.

At Colaba market, stall holders do the same.

Even in a hotel's shopping arcade, people are doing the same thing.

I haven't even looked at what they are selling and they will ask you "Can I help you?" Can't they just let me look at things in peace.

Travel in a car and people walk up to you try to sell you books, flowers, toys, etc.

Beggars are everywhere too, whether you are walking along a street or in a car, nothing stops them from asking for money.

Even taking a cab is also a bother. The cab driver would ask where you are going and try to push some tour package at you. Or they bring you to somewhere you don't want to go.

It's rather weary trying to fend off all these people. Yes. They add colour to the city but it's a little too much colour for my liking.

It's Official

Checked my office email the first thing on Wednesday morning and saw this email in my inbox:

Traffic Lights

Monday, August 21, 2006

Figure this out...

1. At a round-about, a car stops in the circle because there is a red light. When a car behind horns him, he moves off even though the light has not changed.
2. At a T-junction, the green man light is on. I start crossing the road and the cars start moving. So I have to stop crossing. On another day, at the same junction, the red man light is on. So I wait for cars to move. But the cars don't move and a fellow pedestrian starts to cross the road without any cars horning.
3. At a cross junction this morning. The traffic light is red and the timer starts to count down. 89, 88, 87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78.Then suddenly the light turns green and the timer starts from 89 again.

What's the use of the traffic lights and the timers???

Buses in Mumbai

Saturday, August 19, 2006

I took a bus in Mumbai for the first time today.

The entrance of the bus is in the back and the exit is in the front. The doors don't close I think because on a crowded bus, people need to hang out of the bus. If you are slow in getting up the bus, the bus starts to move and you need to hang on tight to get on.

The bus number in the front of the bus is in Hindi. Only on the side, near the entrance of the bus, do you see the arabic numbers and the destination of the bus.

If you want to take a bus, you need to findout the bus number from a local first because not all the bus stops have signboards that tell you the bus route. Even if there were signboards, they may not be in English. Also, since there are no road signs, you won't know which road the sign is talking about. Up till now, I still don't know the names of the roads I pass by everyday simply because there are no road signs around.

Conductors still operate on the bus and it's really cheap. The starting fare for a bus ride is only 4 rupees, not even S$1.

So now, I have tried the domestic plane and the public bus in India. I have yet to try their inter-state trains and their subways. Hope to do so one day.

Potholes, Potholes Everywhere

Friday, August 18, 2006

Not sure what is used to lay the roads over here. But after one day of rain, previously smooth roads are now full of potholes. Traffic is worse now as cars have to slow down or avoid the potholes.

Gokulashtami Celebrations

A continuation of my previous blog...

Lord Krishna's Birthday

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Yesterday was Lord Krishna's birthday. A festival that involves human pyramids and getting some pot hanging in the air. Not sure what it's really about but from our office on the fourth floor, we could hear drums and cheering the whole day. Truck loads of people in yellow t-shirts were passing by the area every few minutes.

On our way home in the evening, there was some sort of celebration by the road. A huge crowd was gathered under a flyover and on the roads. When cars passed by, the crowd automatically gives way to them. The cars also automatically slow down to give way to the crowd.

I believe this is known as order in chaos.

In Singapore, any activity on the road would require the traffic police putting up tons of barricades. Without barricades, anyone walking on the road would be horned till he gets of the road.

Independence Day

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

India celebrates its independence from British rule today.

A public holiday for me.

I went out with a colleague who was going back to Singapore and needed to buy some curtain material. A local colleague in the office suggested going to Crawford Market. So after lunch, we hailed a cab and told him to bring us to Crawford Market.

The cab driver asked us what we wanted to buy at the market. I thought it was because the market was really big so he wanted to know where to drop us. After we told him, he said that Crawford Market was closed because it's a public holiday today. He offered to bring us to a shop nearby. We didn't want to but he insisted so we said we will just see where the shop is and go on to Crawford Market.

Instead, we brought us to the shop and turned off his engine. Being nice people, we went into the shop and took a look. When we came out, we just paid him 50 rupees and told him we didn't want to go to Crawford Market anymore.

In the end, we ended up shopping at the streets behind our hotel. My colleague didn't get what he wanted to buy but at least we both bought something else for ourselves.

How infuriating. Even on my day off, away from the office, I still meet people who just don't listen. What is it with these people?

Things I Will Never Understand About Indians

Monday, August 14, 2006

1. There is a row of market behind our hotel. It is just like the pasar malams in Singapore. Most of the stalls are makeshift. Yesterday, me and Winnie stopped in front of a stall selling accessories, looking to see if there was anything we liked. The very helpful shopkeeper came and stood in front of us and asked us if we wanted anything. There we were trying to look at his products and he stands in the way. How do we see if we wanted anything?
2. In a crowded lift, someone comes in and sees her friend right inside. She squeezes past everyone just to stand with her friend and talk to her. Can't she wait till they reach their office? They've got the whole day to talk after that.
3. There are birthday celebrations in the office almost everyday. They can splurge on a cake instead of celebrating all the birthdays once a month or something. Yet, they stinge on our accommodation and transportation. They also have so much time to stand around and yet they can't submit their work on time.
4. I wonder what soon, ten minutes, doing now or do it now means to them.

• Last week, Manish said he will transfer the commercials at 3pm. The actual transfer was at 7pm. Most of the time in between, he was chatting or not at his seat. He doesn't care that people are staying behind to wait for his work.
• Nitin said he is going to transfer the commercials soon but it will take time. So is it soon or a while later?
• Winnie asked Sowmya and Lawrence to import breaks once they switch on their computer. They said ok. Then they started to work on their logs. Then when she asked them again, they said they will do it at the end of the day.

Chewing Gum Ad

Thursday, August 10, 2006

An Indian man is seen chewing gum on his way to work. A rich man is seen eating in the dark. The Indian man takes up his position at work. When the carema zooms out, you see that the Indian man is part of a chandelier. He is acting as a spot light for the rich man.

In the second scene, two smiling man are hanging from the car bonnet, their teeth acting as headlights.

In the third scene, smiling men are seen hanging from lamp-posts, their shining teeth acting as light for the road. The camera zooms out and you see the whole town being lit by men with shiny white teeth.

Then you see that the ad is for a teeth whitening chewing gum.

Perhaps the man below could try the chewing gum...

Memory Loss

Monday, August 07, 2006

Last night I went back to my room. Winnie told me the hotel sent me a slice of cake.

I asked her, "Nice annot?"
Winnie, "Ya."

I went to her room to talk to her, Charlotte and Wendy. Saw her finished plate of cake.

I asked her, "Nice annot?"
Winnie, "Ya."

Walking back to my room, I saw my cake on the table.

I asked her, "Nice annot?"
Winnie, "It's quite sweet."

Then her replies began to sink in. I realised I asked her quite a number of times. Must be here too long. I am becoming like them. Keep asking the same questions.

Hectic...Hectic...Hectic...

Saturday, August 05, 2006

I heard that I have a "fan" asking why I didn't update my blog. (woohoo...my first fan)...

"Thanks fan, for reading my blog!"

Everything seems to be a blur the past week. I only remember working till 1am in the morning on Thursday. Other than that, I only recall working, working, working and working...No time to go to the toilet, no time to surf the net and no time to update my blog. We even had to work on Saturday.

Oh. And I remember our boss telling us that Aditi wants us to extend our stay for 2 more months. Isn't it wonderful to feel needed by smart people?

My mum asks me why I don't want to stay. Well, if you see the way they work, staying here for 2 months, 6 months, six years or even forever, is not going to improve things. So why waste our time here instead of doing more constructive things back in Singapore? Not that our work in Singapore is really constructive but at least we do it in the comfort of our homeland.

Some of our colleagues, not Indians, often work in different offices. I would say they are very used to working with people from different cultures but none of them can stand working here. I totally understand why. Nobody wants to take responsibility and make decisions. Nobody can agree on anything. Nobody can stand firm and not change their minds every other day. Nobody double checks their own work. Nobody communicates changes. The list goes on...

Even though the transportation is not as convenient as Singapore, and the streets are not as clean, I still find Mumbai a nice city. But working in the office makes me want to leave the place as soon as possible. I am a really tolerant person and I have never felt this way about a place before. When I say a place is unbearable, it must be really unbearable. So just a warning to everyone. If you want to work here, do think twice.

Laundry Service