16K Airmiles

2^nd Trip to New Delhi.

31/05/2006

Yesterday I arrived after a good flight to New Delhi for the second time. At Heathrow Terminal 3 I treated myself with TGI Friday’s and did some shopping. Got myself 3 psp games and some after-shave. Once on the plane I was lucky enough to have 4 seats all for myself, so 5 minutes after take-off I already dozed off.

When I arrived I dropped my baggage off at the appartement and went to the office. Steve, Tarun and Ricky took me out for lunch at a nice restaurant. I can only remember the sign outside as it “Quality restaurant”, if it really was the name of the restaurant I can not recall.

The new Air-conditioning in my room was lovely; I woke up at 10:00 local time again and got myself ready to go to work. Without having any breakfast. I got used to this. At lunch Steve and myself got a fish fillet burger from McDonalds, as we didn’t want to upset our stomachs. The Chinese “Golden Dragon” always has an effect on us after we’ve been there. The “toilet effect” that is. Walked to the twenty four seven to do some shopping and here it is always cool after the 10 minute walk from the “Golden Dragon” in the Heat outside. We went to the Coffee place to get ourselves some more strawberry frappees. Getting back home, Steve played GTA San Andreas and we watched the England vs. Hungary match. I almost fell asleep, so I decided to go to bed after 10 minutes. Today was really hot and humid. All power generators had problems keeping up and our ISP had gone down, so no Internet connection. It did get fixed however later on the day. And it started to rain heavily, which was really nice. The Monsoon season is coming soon. So it’s cooler but more humid, so sweating next month. Went back to the appartement and had a nice long shower, food was calling as well. As Sjohan prepared us a nice meal (again). I’m not making it too late, as I have yet another busy day tomorrow.

01/06/2006

Work has been very busy again today, and went home at about 20:45. As there was a power failure in the apartment we just dropped our bags and went straight to the coffee place where we are becoming regulars.

Tomorrow I’ll be giving Basic Modelling Class to the Artists, and take two of the guys out for a nice dinner meal for their commitment towards some of the work they have been doing over the last few weeks. Had a beautiful lunch today, but I’m not sure my stomach liked it that much as I was visiting the toilets more often than usual. Even visited the toilet downstairs in the basement, and that is quite an adventure J it was another hot day today. Haven’t spoken to Linda yet, as we haven’t tried the Internet connection in the apartment. Just hope my laptop will be fixed soon again before my next trip at least. Just played some pool with Steve, and he boated me. I’m so crap at pool but at least I show progression and getting better at it.

Another good day passed. I woke up after a nice long sleep at 06:45 and went back to sleep again. Eventually I got up at 09:00. Had a nice long shower and got myself pineapple juice, which I’d bought. All things, which we planned for work today, got done. For lunch we had some pizza, although mine was cold when I started because I did not take the time for lunch, as I was busy. Did a basic Modelling class for the Artists and a Q&A Session, which they filmed. Steve went back home, while I went out with Mukund, Kishan and Arvind to a popular Italian restaurant called “Fortuna” in Defence Colony. The food was lovely, and it was fully packed. I took the guys out as I promised this before. Mukund drove us all home. Steve and I were talking about games and played some GT4 and GTA San Andreas again on the old PS2.

Samrat and Mukund went to jantar Mantar with my camera for an intense photo shoot.

Shame I had not time to go, as I’d love to see that as well. Better luck next time. They shot 350 images on 3 Mega pixels, which remind me to charge the battery for this weekend. Still have to do some shopping, as I lost my Hindi Phrase book last time on the plane.

03/06/2006

I love Indian food; although this is the 6^th time I’m visiting the toilet. Just went out to the office today to clean up some work and had tea with Steve and Sati Singh.

We had a really nice chicken dish again, which was comparable with Tikka Massala back in the UK, but slightly more spices in it. Dinner was already cooked, but I’m not hungry yet. Watched the England vs. Jamaica match and played some pool again. Looking forward to tomorrow. First of all no work J and we hired a cab with a driver for Tomorrow. We’re going to visit some of New Delhi’s monuments. I only spend 12.000 rupees yesterday for the 4 of us at Fortuna’s, which is £50, -

I’m going to get another Strawberry Frappee again at the Café. The weather was pleasant today as it was cloudy and not as hot as the days before. Going through some coursework tonight, to see what’s it about.

04/06/2006

Got up at 10:45 this morning and had 15 minutes to get ready. So had a quick shower. Out taxi arrived at 11:00. The taxi driver was very punctual and did a good job waiting for us. Although later on he wrote down more hours and more kilometres then he actually did, which was cheeky. Cheap anyway for a full day, so we didn’t really mind.

First we went to see the “Red Fort”, which was very impressive to see. Entrance fee was 350 rupees for tourists. At the gate there were some guards fully armed. They checked my bag when I went through the gate to see if I didn’t carry any weapons or such. We visited the harem’s place, which was nicely architecture. It was very hot, so we decided to take a little brake from walking underneath some large trees in the shadow. After 1.5 hours we went to the exit again. We skipped the Indian Military Museum, as it was A) Busy, and B) We were very hungry at that point as we both didn’t have nay breakfast.

Towards the exit we went into a small hand carving shop. Very impressive work they showed us, all hand made. I bought myself a little wooden elephant, and Steve was examining the slightly more expensive ones. Euros 1.000. I got a 40% discount, but that’s normal in India anyway. The owner’s shop was from 1951, and he gave us his business card. So next time we can go in for free. We took the taxi to the other side of Delhi to go and eat at Tonino’s. Another Italian restaurant close to Qutab Minar. It was buffet time, and it was gorgeous food. After Tonino’s we went and see Hamanan’s Statue. The statue and the temple where impressive, but the surrounding area was not well maintained. We did not bother visiting the other side, as we had to take of our shoes at the entrance, and the floor was boiling hot. Got back into the cab, and we drove to Qutab Minar, which was very impressive again. A high tower build around 1200 AD. By the Muslims in India. So well worth a visit when you’re in Delhi.

It was 18:00 and we were ready for nice refreshment, so we went back to Connaught place to Qba. We had nice lemon and mint drink with ice. Very refreshing. Went back to the apartment to chill out and played some pool again. I lost 4-0…

05/06/2006

Another good sleep and start of the day. After having a shower. I left at 18:00 with Mukund to do some shopping, but when we finally arrived my stomach didn't feel well. So we decided to go home and Mukund dropped me off. So I was skipping the shopping to a later date. Wanted to go to the Golden Dragon later, but skipped it due to my stomach. And Steve didn’t feel well either. He cached a cold. Just captured a baby gecko and released it at the balcony. After that I electrocuted some mosquitos again. Only 2 days left at work now, and still plenty of things on the to do list. I hope I can squeeze it all in before we returning to the UK. I see a lot of progress at the guys work. And their workflow is improving every visit. There’s still a lot to teach.

06/06/2006

Number of the beast almost. Three sixes in the date today. It’s not too warm, but then again it’s only 09:00. What I did forget is that the office is not open until 09:30. There is a nice breeze in the park opposite work, it’s really relaxing. Nice shades from the trees.

Steve and I went mosquito hunting again last night, there were so many of them. I think they left the door open. Especially in the kitchen. My stomach feels slightly better today. Took two paracetamols this morning. Hope I feel better again today. A couple of things on my schedule today, as shifted some of my priorities. So set those ones an s soon as possible, so I can get on with the other tasks still left open. I’ll have to document all this for the Vbeing Art Bible. So everyone can have a look into this for reference, guidance.

07/06/2006

Went shopping with Mukund for 2 hours at a place nearby Nino’s. Bought the girls some nice things. After that we went to South Extension to buy Linda a nice silver necklace and Ivar some nice T-shirts. We went to have some lunch at a bar, where I saw some nice cups and saucers, which I took home afterwards. I just bought a whole set J

Going back to the office, we wrapped up all things, and went home at 18:30. As Sati Singh send his driver around the apartment to pick us up to take us out art his Club where he lives. Impressed with the club, as at was a nice place to retreat and relax. A nice swimming pool, tennis court, bar, library, Snooker place and some other activities that you could do there. Sati Singh took us home at 23:34, and we stayed up until 02:00. Packing our stuff for the flight again to go back home.

08/06/2006

The driver picked us up, and I quickly hopped in the office to book my seat for the flight. Said goodbye to the guys and off we went to the Airport again. We got ourselves some nice seats with plenty of leg space at the exits in the plane because Steve started flirting with the girl at the counter J So Thanks Steve for that. Had a good flight, and Flight VS301 landed at around 18:00 on London Heathrow again. Back home……