Familiar faces... and freedom

Kawan-kawan aku - Sam, Halim, Ajak dan kawan Ajak (Asri kot) sampai malam tadi pukul 12 malam. Dah la lepas touched down tu tak sms (sbb roaming problem kot) tup2 dah sampai lobi hotel. Terkujat dgr suara Sam via hotel phone "Welcome to India" (kejadahnye). It felt so damn good to see familiar faces in this kinda alien environment (not so much anymore after a good 5 weeks).

Anyway, today, while they are having fun going to attractive places in Mumbai (80% of which I myself have not been able to cover during my 3.5 weeks of stay in this city), I was battling thru the most hated stage in any audit - exit meeting.

And it is especially tough (and hated, once again) when you have to argue with the best-lawyers-ever, the people of the "d" land. i lose my cool (like i ever have one pun) before even getting to my second finding - after which things turn out rather easier (to my advantage for losing "my cool") hehe. The whole meeting, joined via teleconference by our manager in Houston, took more than 5 hours (poor guy, it's 4am in the morning over there when the meeting ended by 2.30pm Mumbai time - with Houston behind by 10.5 hours).

But anyway, everything is over now. Just need to follow up on some stupid minor issues remain open. I feel like screaming "Merdekaaa!" - like anybody here knows what it means pun (except Tio perhaps).

Only one thing I found interesting during the exit meeting - to watch two ppl, both from the land of the "d", arguing - one is manoj (from audit team) and another from management. haha. seriously rasa nak tergelak. dua2 belit sama power.

anyway... tomorrow is gonna be my last day in office in this country. so perhaps, this could be my last post to this blog. ever. unless there's another assignment... nah, that's too hopeful. won't happen again in at least 3 years.

danervar for reading this blog...

Selepas penat membanting padi...

Oleh sebab irina dan soo kim (apatah lagi manoj) tak masuk ofis hari ni (Sunday), tidak lah stress sangat, so kitorang bolehlah lepak2 sikit during kerja:


P/s: To Azhar... I still miss pool table kat slb KL though. Pool table slb mumbai tak best :)

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna... To Work

A slight change of plan. Instead of watching "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" today, am gonna kabhi alvida naa kehna to work (literally means "never say goodbye to work"):

So Aniza, please wait for my return, and we will be watching the movie together in KLCC. I can play the role of translator whenever there is a mention of words like tikke, acha, kyahe, kyahowa dan kudi.

....

I hate audit. And I hate auditors.

Whatever.

"Dey Chuttia "

Seperti yang biasa dilalui masa kat GIA TM dulu, masa dekat-dekat audit nak habis ni bermacam-macam isu timbul, especially ketidakpuasan hati dengan team leader (in this case, Irina).

Since Ricardo dah balik Brazil untuk uruskan visa dia ke US (dia transferred from Rio de Janeiro ke Houston), tinggallah aku dan Tio. Tak kira waktu breakfast ke ataupun di dalam kereta dari ofis ke hotel, Tio (dan aku juga) akan meluahkan rasa tidak puas hati terhadap apa yang kami lalui di penghujung audit ni - last minute review by team leader, unreasonable requests etc - dalam bahasa masing-masing.

Walaupun dia sedar yang banyak term-term Indon yang dia guna dlm conversation tu aku tak paham (siapa boleh tengok "Ada Apa Dengan Cinta" tanpa perlu baca subtittle?), terusan aje dia menceceh mengutuk the TL. Haha. "I love Bahasa Indonesia" kata Ain.

"Never Say Goodbye..."

Walaupun tengah busy gila nearing audit completion, aku takkan melepaskan peluang watching a Bollywood movie in the Bollywood city. Since tomorrow is going to be our last weekend, nak tak nak terpaksa la korbankan waktu kerja (kerja ke weekend?) esok selama 3 jam untuk tengok gambaq (ppl here call movie as "picture") ni - Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna:

From Baroda with love…

Today, Tuesday 8.8.06, I went to Bopul, a 3.5-hour drive from Baroda, close to Ahmedabad, to perform asset count at one of the landrigs there (landrigs – pelantar minyak darat). The whole journey to and fro (campur break for lunch kat McD) took more than 8 hours! It was so tiring especially with slb driving limit i.e. 70km per hour in the case of India. Tapi sesampainye kat landrig tu, hilang rasa penat... hehe. Meet the site engineer-in-charge, Wei Jia from China:

Can you guys believe it that this girl has been living in bunkers at sites around Baroda for the past 3 years? I bet only few of us sanggup, melihatkan keadaan sites yang sebijik mcm bendang sawah plus huge trucks and equipments. Semoga one day dia berjaya jadi vice president slb ltd.

And meet the future-president-of-slb at work:

Uncommon scene

Bukan benda yang biasa ku jumpai – unta dan lembu berkongsi pinggan!


P/s: Aku selalu complaint kat org2 kat delhi "Delhi is similar to Kuala Lumpur in terms of weather and cleanliness of city. It is even nicer with all those green parks around the city where we can commonly see families picnicking in the evening even on weekdays after work. But i cant stand the sight of ppl easing themselves anywhere along the roadside - we can see at least 10 guys peeing in a 30-mins drive journey from hotel to office." Understanding that such is because of lack of public toilet in this city, strangely enough, i never saw a girl/lady doing such. Where do they do their business then? Tahan jer? Senak la. Then, yesterday after coming back from Bopul (where i performed asset count in one of the land-rig) to Baroda, i saw this lady, barely 20 metres from our car (moving of course), with her sari lifted up, and she was squatting doing you-know-what. It was gross! I was totally shocked i couldnt even lift my finger to get the camera. it's definitely more than i wished for. and... no picture for that hehe.

Banjir! Banjir!

Today, Monday 7.8.06, after conducting the fixed asset counts in Baroda base, I was working in the office (while Tio was away in Halol bunker – some 1 hour drive from here – doing inventory count), when someone came into the office at abt 4pm saying everybody needs to evacuate the base / office because they are releasing water from the dam, so Baroda town (def not city) is gonna be flooded. Now am safely working (err… not exactly) from hotel room. It’s kinda hard to believe that flood can really cause interruption to work such as this, but then, yeah, this happens at some places somewhere on the globe (these pics are taken from a 4WD so bleh imagine aa ketinggian paras air).

Airport Baroda in Gujerat lawa

Aku suka airport Baroda ni, unik la daripada airport delhi (yg mcm stesen bas) dan airport Mumbai (baru tapi still kecik) tu.

What am gonna miss most about Le Meridien

Despite tak sabar nak tinggalkan Le Meridien Delhi dan move to another Taj hotel (which eventually turned out to be not as nice as Taj Lands End in Mumbai), I am definitely gonna miss these 2 things so far only found in Le Meridien:

The 42" samsung plasma tv.. (and the FTV channel as seen here, of course)

The nice "paip ujan" as we kelantanese might call it... and this one is literally a "paip ujan"

Final tour on the last day in Delhi

Sunday morning before checkout ke Gujerat, aku amik riksha jalan2 sikit2 lagi kat Delhi.

Gate of India...

Kat Old Fort...

Sikandra

Last place that we went before going back to delhi was Sikandra(kalau tak silap aa ni aa nama dia), another tomb for another important person. Haha.

This is the gate to Sikandra

This is the real sikandra

These 2 are views inside sikandra

People that i met during the tour

Dlm tour group (lebih kurang 15 orang) aku berkenalan dgn beberapa personality menarik worth mentioning here:

Ini adalah jiran/geng atas bas sepanjang perjalanan to n fro delhi/agra yang memenatkan itu -environmentalist who works with NGO, travelling around the world to raise awareness among teachers and government officials on environmental issues.

Minah ni doctor from England, datang India to help setup a 20-bed hospital kat a very remote state (tak ingat dah apa nama state tu, nama mmg Indian abis), where tetanus n polio is still a major problem (dia aa cakap).

Dia ni plak nurse, also from England, pun ada assignment kat hospital kat India for a month, tapi bukan bersama2 dgn doctor kat atas tu.

Pakcik ni plak dari Hongkong, tak sempat plak interview apa kerja dia, tapi aku yakin ada kaitan dgn kebajikan / noble work la.
Mamat ni plak accountant kat slb kat kl. Kerja dia takde langsung unsur2 kebajikan ataupun membantu alam sekitar.
Is it time to start thinking about changing job? Hermmm…

Agra Fort

Lepas Taj Mahal, pegi agra fort. Agra fort basically contains the palace where Shah Jehan and his ppl (including his 5000 harems [gundik kot]) lived. Surprisingly we spent more time kat agra fort than taj mahal. Byk benda nak tgk kat sini. Tgklah sdiri hehe.

Gate into agra fort...

Must be a ballroom where shah jehan held his party...

Tempat semayang harems (gundik2) shah jehan... (guide aku cakap la)

P/s: agra has a lot of nice things to see... these are just some previews... of course the pictures wont do enuff justice to the real thing that u can see... (this i guess is quite in contrary to taj mahal - lagi cantik dlm pics lepas dah balik hehe)

Taj Mahal et al - Part 3

Lepas Taj Mahal, pergi tgk cara2 diorang buat corak kat marble kat taj mahal tu... demonstrasi a'la buat papyrus kat mesir dulu... it was kinda neat, the have to shape very small pieces of semiprecious stones, then cungkil marble putih tu utk lekatkan2 stone2 yg bermacam2 kaler tu to make corak2... none is painted... stones come from various parts of the world (not india alone)

Teknik cungkil tahap 1...

Teknik membentuk kepingan semi-precious stones... kesian aku tgk mamat ni struggle nak terjungil mata...

Inilah antara hasil yg dah siap... korang imagine berapa bulan nak siap masterpiece ni (yg ni meja bulat diameter 1 meter kot, and ukiran dia sumer halus2)

Ini plak carpet yg penuh bertatah semi precious stone.... lawa gile aku ingat nak beli for my mum... sekali tgk harga dia INR140,000 (lebih kurg rm12 ribu... pendamkan aja la hasrat tu)

Taj Mahal et al - Part 2

This is the guest house that flank Taj Mahal on the left side...

This is the masjid.. on the right side of taj mahal... exact symmetry of the guest house earlier...

Ramai gile org dtg taj mahal, and most of them are ppl of mordor itself...

Sedih nak meninggalkan taj mahal... sob sob

Komen – aku selama ni imagine taj mahal tu a kind of palace. Bile sampai, baru tau yg dia cuma house Mumtaz Mahal’s mausoleum (wife Shah Jehan) and nothing else. So agak kecewa di situ. Cuma architecture dia mmg gempak la.

Taj Mahal et al --- Saturday 5/8

Oleh sebab the travel agent tak dpt bawak aku ke fatehpur sikri but instead taj mahal n agra fort jer, I cancelled the car reservation n called hotel to join the group tour instead. At least much cheaper n ada gak kawan2 – takde aa loser sgt pegi taj mahal sorg2.

Sbb jenuh meround new delhi mengambil org2 lain kat hotel2 lain, we left Delhi by abt 7am. The whole journey from delhi to agra (where the monuments are) took about 6 hours! Penat gile atas bas tu. And oh, am not the only lone ranger in the group. Ramai lagi losers lain haha.

First, we went to Taj Mahal.

The red arch above is the main gate to Taj Mahal - even gate pun lawa

Taj Mahal seen from inside the gate - teringat Petra city kat Jordan dulu...

Tu dia....

Mafus yang hitam di depan taj mahal...

aku takde allowance

Slb bukan mcm TM. Kalau kena assignment oversea mcm aku di India ni skang, mana ada allowance apa2. Apa yg dia bagi cuma – accommodation, and apa2 yg aku makan dia tanggung. Tapi subject to actual receipt aa. Means kalau aku makan and ada resit USD100 for per day, dia bayar USD100. Kalau makan dan resit cuma RM20 sehari pun, RM20 lah dia bayar aku.

Kalau macam TM, masa gi Cambodia dulu, dia bagi RM220 per day, fixed. So ada lah peluang utk buat duit, i.e. makanlah berjimat sikit, say rm50 per day, dah dpt RM170 duit extra per day, kalau 2 mggu dah RM2380.

So one might ask - apa yg bestnya assignment oversea with slb? Takde untung apa2. Makin habis ada la sbb sure nak kena spend nak jalan2 sikit2 masa weekend and beli souvenir utk anak beranak sekampung. Hurmmm… mmg takde untung dari segi duit la. Tapi, yg bestnya, dpt hidup dalam luxury (wlpn temporary hehe). Naik keter power yang chauffeur-driven, laundry takyah susah2 hantar kedai but at the press of a button dan kompeni sponsor plak, dan paling bestest – makan kat restaurant fancy tiap2 malam, contohnya Spice Route ni, lauded as one of the best restaurant in Asia. Heh heh heh:

The Imperial

owh... semalam sambil aku pegi The Imperial tu for dinner at Spice Route, aku mintak nak tgk bilik diorang, konon2nya kalau berkenan aku nak tuka hotel la (i wishhh... mcm la slb ada deal dgn hotel yg class habis mcm ni)

checked out the room - mmg colonial aa... big wardrobe, arrangement dlm bilik dia aku rasa mcm bilik2 kat carcosa sri negara.

room rate? USD400 per nite!

no thanks... hehe

eksaited

harini habis audit kat delhi! woohoo! esok aku akan melawat tempat2 pelancungan menarik di agra seperti taj mahal, fatehpur sikri dan agra fort! woohoo!

actually ada jer group tour arranged by hotel tapi disebabkan trip diorang tak cover fatehpur sikri, am gonna take slb travel agent (a'la kotamas to TM) - sewa keter alone at a very good discount. sbb bayar sorg2, agak costly aa tapi bila compare dgn group tour punye cost pun tambah sikit je lagi bukan beza sgt pun. lagipun kalau amik travel agent ni diorang can provide free tour around delhi this sunday, before my flight at 5pm. takperlah alang2 dah datang negara ni. tak mungkin aku akan dtg balik if semata2 nak melancong (atau beli sari??? lagilah).

tonite, i will be going to spice route yet again for 4th nite in a row for dinner. tonite is gonna be the last though since i might be reaching delhi by 12am tomorrow nite after the trip to agra (entah2 tidur kat hotel agra). i want to get a tour around the restaurant.. to know what each of 7 different sections of the restrnt signifies. they said they can give me a tour tonite.

owh, last nite at dinner i met a backpacker from denmark, he has been backpacking around India for 1 month! sorang2 pulak tu! gilelah! apa la yg mamat ni cari kat negara ni. considering last nite was his last in India, he went to spice route because his guide(book) said this is one of the world-renowned best restaurant in asia. biar betul! aku rasa food quality a'la amarin je haha... well, ok thats a bit unfair to say. maybe a lil bit better. tapi ambience definitely couldnt be found elsewhere la.

will be posting pics of spice route and those agra places maybe this monday when am back to civilization...

suxx

as i was savoring every drop of green curry (prawn of course - no more poultry for me after that incident in phoenix cafe in le meridien) in spice route, irina called to say that she is badly down with fever, and that she has to cancel her trip to delhi . owww this suxx. that means am gonna be here all alone till end of week? takde member nak gi taj mahal together this saturday? pergi kota cinta (aku reka jer term ni, taj mahal kan dibina oleh shah jehan sbg lambang cinta kat bini dia) seorang diri? "apa makna" kata aniza. huhu...

i will flip thru the escort-girl ads in the local newspaper later...

aku memang selekeh

before i came to delhi, the chef in taj hotel told me not to miss dining experience in a classy thai restaurant in delhi by the name of "spice root", it's in imperial palace in janpath (same area with le meridien anyway).

so semalam, lepas melawat pasar di sarojini nagar, aku pun amik took took pegi la sana. lawa gila hotel imperial palace tu, confirm usd250 per nite. (aku rasa la). bangunan mmg colonial british tak hingat aa... bila sampai front desk:
m: can i know where is spice root restaurant.
f: yes, let me escort you there (wah, nak kena escort pulak, mmg bertatatertib habislah staf hotel ni) do you have a reservation sir? (shit, kena reservation plak ke, mcm citer friends aa plak)
m: am afraid i dont.
f: thats ok sir we'll see if we have a table available for u

masuk2 je restaurant yg lavish tu, semua staff mcm pandang semacam. lepas dah duduk diam2 kat meja, baru aku terpk apsal la diorang stare2. i was wearing a t-shirt with ex-sdarian logo, a khakis short, dengan selipar nike brand india harga 12rp (rm10), whereas patrons lain sumer pakai proper habis - paling kurang shirts. then baru aku perasan jugak so far kalau gi dinner kat taj / le meridien, mmg ini la uniform aku - tshirt, short, selipar or loafers. well, tak kisah la restaurant high class ke apa ke. to me, i just go there, order some nice things to eat, makan, sign bill, then chiow. hurmm....

maybe it's time to make a little more change in image - dress properly everytime i want to go for dinner, be it alone or with a company. wear some properly pressed shirt, no more shorts, and no more sandals/slippers..




nah i was just kidding. haha. i'll stick to the comfy clothings. ;)

delhi vs bombay

english proficiency among ppl - mumbai much better, kat delhi ramai gile hotel staffs yg bila ckp english susah kita nak paham... driver lagi la... dalam 100 words yg dia sebut tu maybe 3 jer comprehensible, yg selebihnya either english diindiakan or mmg perkataan hindi/maradi/tamil etc...

lagi satu... mumbai ppl lagi bersopan-santun dari delhi... kat sini main langgar je.. staff le meridien pun mcm siot aje.. haii... i was being pampered so much in taj mumbai... kalau from malaysia direct dtg delhi sure takde complain2 mcm ni hehe...

weather - delhi panas (mcm malaysia), mumbai - hujan lebat gile, berhenti/start hujan secara tiba2 takde warning

tapi delhi town dia lagi lawa n bersih la generally compared to mumbai... mgkn sbb sini admin capital where govt offices and corp offices are... a'la putrajaya la... whereas mumbai tu mcm pj (but much worse, of course)...

apa lagi aa... semalam terpk byk perbezaan...

welcome to new delhi

lepas sampai new delhi, check in le meridien... area lawa sbb dekat presidential palace, parliement house, room rate even much higher than taj.. am now worried abt my credit limit..

mula2 front desk nak bagi aku bilik 14th floor, tapi dgn berlagaknya "ada bilik atas lagi tak?" (dgn harapan dapat view lawa) "yes sir, on 18th floor" "okei".. sekali naik2, nak pitam aku. tinggi sehhh...
le meridien - buruk dari luar, cantik dlm bilik.. dgn 42" plasma tv... shower yg mcm air hujan tu... haiii, kalaulah slb nak sponsor honeymoon kat hotel camni... duk sorg2 takde makna..
room view 18th floor... Gate of India...

complimentary wine... "ape kejadahnye" kata wan kamarudin ntv7

dah la tinggi gile... bilik jauh gile dari lift.. aku pun merayu la kat front desk "can you put me on lower floor please" "we dont have any vacant room anymore sir" "please, i think am gonna kill myself by jumping down from the corridor if you keep me on the 18th" finally malam tu around 10.30pm diorang call aku ckp ada bilik on 6th.. well, much better... at least dkt dgn human being.. aku bleh dgr org makan2 kat bawah tu..

bilik pun theme colour putih (much better than previous one i.e. darkbrown/hitam - so dark, so mordor)...

petang semalam... jogging ke gate of india... hurmm... takde la magnificent sangat... aku rasa mcm Pintu Gerbang Darul Naim kat KB ajer.. haha...

(takde gambar sbb malas bawak camera sambil berlari2 anak)

this is presidential palace a'la JPM / Sri Perdana di PUJ