26/03/2007, Monday Flying again

A chill out day today, as I have yet another long journey ahead of me. Checked my emails for work this morning, as we are currently doing a couple of projects which makes it quite hectic. All under control, as Shaf is taking care of work. Things are going well at Vbeing. Lots of balls are rolling right now, and there are a couple of projects in the pipeline. Including a game for the Xbox 360, with all graphics being supplied from us. New recruits starting, as we are ramping up right now.
A surprise from Ricky, as he told me tomorrow the office will be closed as it's a public holiday in India. So I presume when I arrive in Delhi I'll refresh myself, and do some shopping and ease out. So my first day at work will be Wednesday. I forgot to pack my contact lenses case and my glasses :( Noa wanted to go to MacDonalds with us, and after that we went and dropped Noa off to school. We shortly visited the neighbors and left to the Station. As I already packed, and put the luggage downstairs, I totally forgot about my glasses. When I was already on my way to London it popped up in my head. I managed to get new solution and a case for my lenses at the Boots Pharmacy here at Terminal 3. Also I got myself an exit seat after asking, as the person behind the desk said all exit seats where locked in their system, but apparently it was not so busy on the airplane. Now I'm sitting at Chez Gerard, a brasserie and bar at the airport. I just ordered a coke and a hopefully nice rumpsteak with some fries and pepper sauce. Sitting in a non smoking area ofcourse.
Once onboard on the plane I removed my contact, and tried to get to sleep.

Cafe Coffee Day nearby Central market

27/03/2007, Tuesday Arriving in Delhi

Some nasty turbulence woke me up during the flight. I believe I woke up at about 05:00 CET, while flying over Pakistan. I refreshed myself in the toilet, which felt good. As sitting.laying in a economy chair for a flight like this is not very comfortable. No matter what chair I believe. Maybe I should try the business class chairs once to see how they are. Anyway, I arrived safely at Indira international, and once collected my luggage I could not find the driver. My mobile didn't work here, so luckily I had plenty of ruppees on me from my last trip. After one hour I looked up some phone numbers, and made a call to Sareen. He would contact the driver. The driver wa new to the company and was waiting outside. Basically they did not tell him to pick me up inside the terminal. And I didn't know what he looked like, also the fact he wasn't there and I could not see any sign with my name on it. A bit disappointed in leaving the airport late, but nothing we could do about it. It's holiday today in India, so I'm basically going to relax. Once we arrived at the flat, the driver helped me with my luggage. Shauhan was already in the flat cleaning, and has ordered a shopping list to fill up the fridge. And some bread for in the mornings. I refreshed myself again and walked to Defense Colony, which is roughly about 15 minutes walk from here. The weather was pleasant, 34 degrees Celcius. Went to have a Subway, and afterwards I took a rickshaw to Central Market. He only wanted 30 ruppees for the trip, I gave him 45 in the end. We had to stop everywhere, as the traffic was really busy. And a heavy dude in the back like myself doesn't really help. Anyway, had a look around some shops, but didn't buy anything yet. I walked to Caffee Cofe Day again and had a strawberry frappee with some vanilla ice. After that I went back to the flat. Shauhan was sleeping on the floor in Steve's room. I just left him there, and went to sleep myself as well in my room. I woke up at about 19:00 and was looking forward to some dinner, but Shauhan must have forgotten I wanted some dinner. Didn't matter, as I just made some noodles. Made a small to do list for tomorrow, as my toilet seat was still broken, and needs replacing. Also the water cooker seemed broken. Fix fix fix.
That's it for today, just hooked up my laptop to the "stereo" over here, and will be listening to some music while reading the newspapers I got on the airplane.

The chair from the Sculpting Teacher from Delhi College of Art.

28/03/2007, Wednesday. First day after India Holiday.

First day at work again, surprisingly I was not the first one who was in. Which is also a good thing. Anyway, I managed to install my things and gone through all my emails I missed the last two days. Once that was done, I said "Hi" to everyone and had a look what everyone wwas working on. Everyone was busy with work. New projects where going well. Have made some appointments for tomorrow and Friday, to ensure some future employment of new people from various sources in Delhi. Some new sources which sounded really promising according to Shafeq. So I'm looking forward to the meetings. Later on the day I went out to Central Market with some of the guys to get some dim sum.
Going to bed early, probably watch a movie and then catch some sleep. Another day ahead of me tomorrow.

Lodhi Garden

29/03/2007, Thursday. New producer.

Watching "Walking Tall", with The Rock I went to sleep at 22:00, having said that I probably didn't sleep until 01:00 as the airco was noisy, but it was still too hot to turn it off. In the end I got some sleep and had a good start of the day. Made a dayplanning, and have done most of the tasks. One task will shift until tomorrow, and was of no great importance. Ricky, Tarun, Akhil and myself went out with a new producer who is starting with us on the first of May to Ansal Plaza, to have lunch at Pizza Express. We discussed work and other plans. It was a nice meeting. Coming back there where a couple of assets waiting for final review, so we can send those out to the client tomorrow. More work came in today, but all manageable.

One of the three main buildings at Lodhi Garden

30/03/2007, Friday. University Trip

Another set of assets ready for a client, and uploaded. I'm proud to see the continues progress of the artists and management team here in Delhi. Some more raw assets came in, so we can set our teeth into those as well later on today.
All steam ahead, and the whole studio have soon their hands full of the work we're getting in right now.
We went out to meet up with people from the Delhi college of Art. The Head teacher of Sculpting and the principal of the college. We had a really good conversation and all plans we had are coming together. After the meetings, which took rather long we had a tour through the university and had the chance to see some of the work they have been producing. Some outstanding work I must say, and was impressed with the dedication these graduates showed (also the other students). I'm looking forward to train them further into the digital field.
It was 39 degrees today. We left the office at 20:00 and went to my place to drop of the bags, and quickly refreshed ourselves. Off to get some food (again) Just came back from Ego at Friends Colony. Had some lovely Tom Kha Kai Soup (chicken, red chillies, coconut milk and some other ingredients). After that a green curry with some steamed rice. Just lovely.

Myself at Lodhi Garden

31/03/2007, Saturday Weekend Palika

Woke up at 10:00 this morning, now am sitting behind my mac and surfing the web. Replied my email again, and in wrote down a couple of ideas that popped up in my head. Kishan is coming over soon, so we'll go to do some shopping. Already made a shopping list, and know where to go and have a look. I'm now starting to get the hang of Delhi's layout and where to go and not to go. Was just looking at Rick Bakers work on the pixelogic website, great stuff. I just turned of the AC's and switched the fans on. Summer is getting closer and closer here. Apparently they forecast this summer to become the hottest summer in years. 50 degrees Celcius. I need a swimming pool here on the roof ! Tomorrow I'm going to spend some time to get the wedding invitations done, which I want to print out next week, and send them as soon as I'm back home in the UK. Put a chair outside on the balcony and catched some sunshine. KD arrived at around 14:00, and we went with the auto rickshaw to Connaught Place, where we visited Palika Market again. After some shopping we walked in the inner circle to have a look for some Prada sunglasses, which I spotted in a shop at Heathrow. No luck, one shop pointed us to another place where they might have them. So we decided to have some lunch at Kwality's, after ringing Tarun for directions. Kwality's didn't serve lunch anymore, only snacks. So we ordered two fresh orange juices. Even after 15 minutes they did not bring us any, so we just packed our stuff and left. Off to KFC for the first time since I've been in Delhi. Not bad at all, so worth going back one day. We went to catch another auto rickshaw to South Ex 1, where we went to have a look for some Tiara's. The ones we saw where rather expensive for here, as they have not been made here, but imported from the west. And where not even silver. We also visited Levi Square, but that was not interesting either. So we ended up at a shop i used to go all the time, unfortunately they stopped doing silver. Although knowing the owner, as I used to come there often before he moved and renovated his shop, he offered to make me one of silver. I've got his email, as I want to discuss this first with Linda. We also went to the shops which was recommended to us before for the Prada glasses. Funny, the glasses where here more expensive then back in the UK, so no deal ofcourse. My feet where killing me, as I was wearing shoes I have not worn before. So we decided to go back to Central Market with another Auto rickshaw. We went to have a nice cold drink around the corner, and afterwards we did some shopping (coke and chocolat and some fruit juice) KD was about to go home, and he left me Casino Royal to watch. A good day, and 38 degrees Celcius.

A snapshot from my Weather widget. Pretty warm as you can see.

01/04/2007, Sunday Weekend Lodhi Gardens

After watching 95& of Casino Royale, the dvd refused to continue. So I turned it off and wen to sleep at about 00:00. I woke up on time, and had a shower. The shower seemed to have gained back pressure and warm water. I ordered a taxi for 12:00 and went to see Lodhi Gardens, where I have not been before. Beautiful maintained gardens with 3 monuments dated from the 14th Century. It was close to a few places I have been before, but somehow I missed these little gems of Delhi. Good to relax. After a couple of hours we drove to Khan Market which is quite close from there where I had some food. Tomato Basil Soup, Red Pesto Chicken, a Banana Vanilla Ice cream milkshake and a Pepsi. I was just in time as the place was getting very busy. I had a walk around Khan Market, but most shops where closed. I noticed another sunglasses shop, but unfortunately this was the same franchise as the previous shops I looked, so the prIces where still higher then the high street prices back in the UK. After that we went to Connaught Place again, where I walked in the inner circle. Back to Central Market, the taxi driver dropped me off home at about 15:00. So I quickly refreshed myself, and had a walk over Central Market where I bought some presents for the girls. Nearby 3c's at Lajpat Nagar 3 I bought two nice massive bed sheets and pillow covers. Very high quality sheets these are, and reasonable priced too. Back at the flat now, we ran out of water, and hopefully they're going to refill the fridge tonight, cause with this heat I drink a lot of water. I forgot to bring my swim gear as well, as I wanted to try out the club which is relatively close to here. Next time I'll bring them. I just turned on the AC in my room, as the sun is shining right on my balcony, and makes it very warm otherwise. Tonight I'll have an early night I hope, so I can get up on time for tomorrow.

Yet another image from Lodhi Garden

02/04/2007, Monday Another week

Got up nice and early today, and was in the office at 09:10. Had to roll out new work today. What else ? We had 2 post graduates coming in for an internship. Went home at 20:00

A straydog resting on a tomb at Lodhi Garden

03/04/2007, Tuesday 34 today

Busy busy busy. We've just put quite a lot of our workforce onto one project. Ordered lunch, so I could oversee work. 21:00 everyone home.....

04/04/2007, Wednesday

work, forgot to write what I did today....

05/04/2007, Thursday New Renders online

Put some new renders online on the Vbeing website.

06/04/2007, Friday

work work work

07/04/2007, Saturday Weekend

I got up at 08:30 and started the day with a nice long shower and shave. Kishan was coming to my place at 12:15, and Tarun was going to pick us both up to go to Nehru Place. I prepared some files to be printed. Quite amazing prices. For a A3 size full colour print on 250 gr. Mat paper you pay 18 rs each. You pay the same price for any other paper. So up to 300 gr paper you can print (doublesided if required too). After that we went to the Intercontinental Hotel to have Chinese. It was an impressive building and also inside looked nice. The restaurant itself had a nice atmosphere, and so we ordered some food there, and drinks. The fresh orange juice was refreshing, and also the soup with tomato and egg drops tasted very nice. For mains we shared a couple of things, and we also had some scoops of ice as desert. Well worth a visit this place if you're in Delhi. But......it's not cheap (even for Europeans). After that Tarun dropped us off at Palika where KD had to exchange some movies. Half an hour later we where in an auto rickshaw again back to South Ex 1, where I got some more presents for the children. We took another autorickshaw back to my place and KD went home, and I had no dinner waiting for me, as they did not call me (I should have called really). So I went out to 3c's, a place where I've been before (close to central market) where you have some shops, a hindi cinema and some restaurants at the roof. Had some MacD's. Well, no plans for tomorrow. Oh yes, it was another hot day today. 37 Degrees Celcius.

Lodhi Garden

08/04/2007, Sunday Weekend

I stayed close to home today. I got myself a rickshaw to Defense Colony and got a compliment from some women driving a car. A nice start of the day. Off I went to Subway, after that I went back to Central Market to have a wonder around. Had a nice refreshing frappee again and went home afterwards. The servant phoned me up prior to coming home, to say he was going away for some hours and would be back at around 17:00. But when I came back at 17:30 the servant was not back. After some phonecalles he finally showed up at 19:45. I was hungry, but if I knew this I would have gone outside to eat something. Anyway, he made some lovely soup again with some paratta's. I went to bed early....

The bridge over the pond at Lodhi Garden

09/04/2007, Monday Mozzies in da house

Went out to Defense Colony again with TK, and RK. But as Subway was full, we decided to visit the restaurant next to it. I got some chinese Won Ton Soup, and a Hong Kong Style chicken dish, with 2 coke's for under 300 rs ! Also it was good enough to come back here. Worked untill 23:00 tonight, as all the guys went home, and we had to deliver a character. So RK and I stayed late to get it done. RK ordered some Domino Pizza which we shared and some softdrinks. Back in the flat now, and just killed about 20 mozzies in the flat with the batm while chatting to Linda on skype. Now I'm safe behind my mozzie net on the bed. About to watch a movie, and probably fall asleep. Four nights to go untill I can fly back to my family again.

Papa John's in Noida, recommended

10/04/2007, Tuesday work.work.work

11/04/2007, Wednesday work.work.work

A market at Nehru Place, look at the DVD's

12/04/2007, Thursday Wrapping up tasks before the flight

Last day at work, so lots of things to wrap up. Things are going relatively smoothly with work, and the studio has yet again progressed a lot in a few months time. Proud of the staff, expanding again. Went out with Tarun and Ricky yesterday for lunch at the Miini Moghul, and bumped into Ricky's cousin Pax and his friend. The meal was outstanding yet again, I have not taken pictures of the food this time. Ricky dropped me off to the flat and I had my dinner (from Yo China!). After that I started packing most things, and to bed at 23:30

Look at that ! Outside some shops at Nehru Place.

13/04/2007, Friday Flying home again

After a good sleep, getting refreshed under the Shower I packed the rest up. The taxi driver arrived at 09:30. After dropping off the flat's cell phone we went straight to IGI. The driver was new, which you could notice in his driving skills and directions. Anyway, we managed to get to the airport. There was a huge cue, as there was a party of people from Belgium in front of us. After checking in the luggage straight to the Subway to get my breakfast, and basically that's all I'm having untill I arrive in London again. I can't wait to see the family again. Three weeks fly by when I'm in Delhi, as work is so busy. But still it is a long time from home. So now, I'm waiting in the lobby untill we can board. This weekend I'll update my blog, also the previous trip which i haven't posted with some images again from both trips. More and more mozzies in the flat btw, so Shaf can do some workout with the mozzie racket we have in the flat, to fry them. I believe I fried over a 100 of them while out here.

Closeup from the doorhandle from my bathroom