Monthly Archives: April 2008

Daily Scribble

Back to Bangalore

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Love it or hate it, I am back to Bangalore.  I will spend my April living in this strange world, again.  This time I am much more well prepared.  I bought lots of food supply, medicine, face mask.  I don’t feel as disoriented as the first time when I got off the plane.  Living here is far from comfortable, but at least I am not as miserable as last time.  It is only a month anyways and time flies, soon I will be heading home.

This time when I arrive, I am not the only one staying in the guest house.  My colleague, Mark, has already spent a week entangled in this straight place by himself.  I guess he must be glad to see me.  Just like my first week, Mark was feeding off from the Forum Mall.  Mark must be pretty sick of Indian dinner, so we head out to M.G. Road for a nice dinner in a real restaurant after work.  Here is my dinning rule, I will only dine at restaurants serving real food.  I will not have Indian food anywhere except at a 5 star hotel and I will only have Indian dinner at most once a week.

This weekend is the Indian New Year and we have a four days long weekend.  I will be visiting Taj Mahal with Mark.  Although Taj Mahal is the symbol of love, two guys visiting Taj Mahal together does not imply gayness.  No, we will not be holding hands like the Indian guys.  You can see Indian guys holding hands on the street.  They look gay but they ain’t.  I guess it is culturally acceptable here for friends holding hands walking down the street.  Stay tuned for my report on the New Delhi and Taj Mahal trip.

Daily Scribble

Singapore

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Singapore

Thanks to the connection flight schedule of Singapore Airline, I can spent a day touring this small island before heading off to India. My flight from Vancouver arrive at 11p.m. and the daily flight to Bangalore leave at 8p.m., so I got a free night of hotel staying in Singapore.

Pat has a relative in Singapore, so I bring the wedding invitation to them in person and her auntie is so kind that being my tourist guide for the day. I am not interested in any tourist attraction, my focus is having my last meal of good food before having curry every day. I had the infamous pork bone tea for lunch. The resturant is very popular that it has an attitude to turn down celebrity guests. When the governor of HK visit Singapore last time, he wanted to try the pork bone tea. Unfortunately, the resturant is closed that day of the week. The resturant refuse to open and serve the governor for interfering with their rest day.

After lunch, we took tour the city by taking the bus. I get to see the real Singapore. It is clean and tidy everywhere. The city is well planned with wide roads and lots of green spaces. I had an early dinner before taking the shuttle to airport. We went to have the legendary Hainanese chicken rice at the Chatterbox at Meritus Mandarin Hotel on Orchid Road. The chicken rice is delicious, much better than those I have in Vancouver. On top of that, it is a revolving restaurant at 38th floor with a pararanma view of the city. It satisfy both my eyes and stomach at the same time.

Too bad that I only have time to try two restaurants. I wish I could stay in Singapore a little longer and visit more places. It is kinda irony that I am flying from the cleanest city in the world to the dirtiest city in the world. It is only a few hours but I already miss Singapore, especially seeing the mess in Banaglore.

Daily Scribble

Singapore Airline

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Singapore Airline

I am flying Singapore Airline to India this time instead of Lufthansa.  The flight takes longer, but unless you are really in a hurry, I would recommend taking over Lufthansa any day.  Singapore airline is voted as the best airline in the world and I am really impressed by its service.

The seats of SQ is more comfortable than other airline with more leg rooms and wider seats.  The SQ plane feels so spacious compare to the planes of other airlines.  There are also more space in the toilet and the kitchen area.

The food service is super.  It is the first flight meal actually taste close to a real meal on ground.  Once on board, they hand out a menu listing all food and drinks available, so I know what I can order when the air hostess come by.  The air hostesses serve drinks more often than other airline.  They run the drink cart down the aisle twice back to back every time, so I can refill my drink.

I think the crown jewel of SQ is their entertainment system.  Not only each passenger has a mini TV, there is a huge collection of movies and TV.  This plane probably have more movies than the downloads in my hard drive.  All movies and TV are on demand, so you don’t have to work around the movie schedule.  You can start watching anytime you want and you can pause or fast forward in the movie.  On top of the in flight radio broadcast, the system also keep a library of complete CDs.  There are over 10 Chinese CDs of the latest albums from famous singers in HK or Taiwan.  The entertainment system is so overwhelming that I don’t know what to watch.

The ticket of Singapore Airline is more expensive, but extra comfort definitely worth the premium, especially when the ticket is paying by the company.