Here are some Shanghai snaps
Raghuram Fri 24th May, 2002
I wake
suddenly from the slumber. I try to get
my
bearings. Where am I?
In the departure terminal of
Shanghai
Hongqiao Airport, awaiting the flight to Singapore.
It is 7
AM on Thursday, 16th May, 2002.
What am
I doing here a day before my engagement?
To
answer
this, we should go back in time - to a Friday
forenoon
in my office.
"Raghuram
here..."
"Hai! This is Bala, from HR. You are going to China.
You
need to submit your Passport today."
"Is
this some kind of joke?"
"No! Rangan is here. He suggested your name".
I need
to break this news - to my folks and to
my
"fiancee-to-be". My folks are
outraged, needless
to say
- China, of all places?
"So,
are you making it for your engagement?"
"I
hope to!"
It is
going to be down to the wire - the connections
are
tight. Anything can go wrong!
Friday,
10th May, 2002.
I take
an auto to the Airport, which is about 3 km from
my
home. People pride themselves on
staying close to
Railway
Stations and Bus Stands. My home is
closest to
the
Airport:)
Paul
and Jagdish join me in the flight to Chennai -
the
first of the three leg journey.
(Reminds me
of the
three-legged race, if you know what I mean!)
Saturday,
11th May, 2002.
The
Singapore Airlines from Chennai to Singapore leaves
at
midnight. Having travelled always by
Lufthansa, this
flight
is a revelation - individual TV screens, better
looking
air hostesses :) I can't say I liked
the dinner
time
though - 1.30 AM!
We
reach Singapore tired and sleepy at 6 AM local time,
after
3.5 hours of flight - losing 2.5 hours due to time
zone
difference! We try to catch up on some
sleep during
the
waiting time for the Shanghai flight.
This is at
10.30
AM.
4.5
more hours of flight - same movies, worse food -
and we
are in Shanghai. Immigration is easily
cleared
and we
find a gentleman brandishing a signboard with
all our
names on it.
To our
shock, he makes hand signals and gestures, implying
that
English language is not his cup of tea.
We've
a 40
minute ride from the airport to our hotel, which
is
Hotel Ramada, located in Pudong.
This is
a large and beautiful hotel. We check
in. Mercifully
the
Receptionists speak English (albeit broken).
After
struggling
to get the power on inside my room, I discover
to my
pleasant surprise that the TV channels include
Star
Movies, Star Sports and BBC! Way to go
China!
Shubha
and Asha are also in Shaghai and are staying in
the
same hotel as we are. We meet in the
lobby. They
take us
to Tandoor, an Indian restaurant, for dinner.
Who
says you can't survive as a vegetarian?
The food
is good
and we dig in. Conversations centre
around
the
adventures of Asha and Shubha in the non-English-speaking
world. A simple activity like taking a cab to a
place
is made
complicated when the driver doesn't understand
your
language. So, you enlist the assistance
of the Hotel
bell-boy,
who translates your requirement to the cab driver.
What if
you've a sudden change of plan during the journey?
Forget
it!
Anyway,
it is back to Hotel after dinner and time to sleep.
Sunday,
12th May, 2002.
The
Hotel serves complementary breakfast and an excellent
buffet
at that! There is enough choice for the
vegetarian
like
me.
8.45 AM
finds us at our office. What are we
doing in
office
on a Sunday? Well! working, of course!
It is a
full day's work, which is cut out for us,
interrupted
only by lunch. The lunch has been
delivered
to our
office, from "India Kitchen", another discovery
of
Shubha. The food is great - complete
with gulab
jamuns
for dessert!
After
the day's hectic schedule, we've just enough
time to
look in at Carrefour, the local supermarket,
before
proceeding for dinner to "Red Chillies" a
restaurant
with Asian cuisine. The dinner here is
made
special by the presence of a Tamil waiter, who
takes
particular interest in Paul and Shubha.
He
decides
our order and even goes to the extent of
offering
us "one metre tea".
Monday,
13th May, 2002.
We get
to meet the junta in the office - as also
some
visitors, who're here, for the formal inauguration
of the
centre on Wednesday.
It is
also the turn of weather gods to turn unpleasant -
it is a
wet and drizzling day today. The
evening
is no
better.
We're
in Shanghai City Centre and walk the street,
braving
the elements. It is Pizza Hut's turn to
host
us, and pizza it is, for dinner.
We also
have company in the form of Li Li - who
surprisingly
is an even stricter vegetarian than
all of
us! She is staying in the same hotel as
us,
and the
fact that she is pregnant means, more
attention
and interest from all of us.
It is
inevitable that the language problem catches
up with
us. Our car driver is not to be seen.
We see
one person, who looks like him - but we
aren't
sure. We've conveniently neglected to
note
down
our car number and we can't communicate to
any one
either. Fortunately, the car driver
recognizes
one of us (Asha?) and decides to drive
us back
to our hotel!
Tuesday,
14th May, 2002.
It is
the last day of our work. It is the
turn of
KY to give us a treat. This is going
to be
in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant
is
located in the heart of the city - and there
is an
excellent view of Shanghai high rises.
The
chief attraction is the Shanghai Television
Tower.
KY
takes special care to make sure that there
are
orders for vegetarian dishes. They turn
out to
be
excellent and we've a feast!
Wednesday,
15th May, 2002.
The
official inauguration ceremony happens in
Hotel
Grand Hyatt - an 82 storey hotel in the city
centre.
It
starts with a Press Conference, followed by
a small
inaugural ceremony. Both the programs
are
fully in Chinese, which means entertainment to us!
The
main event is, of course, the luncheon - which
is a
formal affair. We've problems with the
dishes,
which
are mostly of the "moving creature" variety -
but the
hotel staff rise to the occasion and dish
our
some veggie stuff. An Indian consulate
staff
turns
up for the event, as well.
Having
dispensed with the event, it is now time
to
check out Shanghai. We've about two
hours to
do
it. From Grand Hyatt, we walk to the
nearby
Shanghai
Television Tower. You're taken to the
top of
the tower by lift for a fee of 100 RMB (
around
Rs.600/-) It is a two step process -
Lift 1
takes you upto 265 metre, from where you've
a
wonderful view of the City. Another
lift takes
you
further up - to 350 metres.
It is a
beautiful site from the top - the high
rises,
the river, the ships.
The
tower reminds me of Eiffel Tower...
Anyway,
we get down to terra firma and walk back
to the
Hotel. We also make a short visit to Yu
Garden. This is an older part of Shanghai with
traditional
buildings. While the gardens are
closed,
we walk
around the place.
At 6
PM, we're in a pub, where an "informal"
office
celebration is on! KY spearheads the
party,
which goes on upto 9.30 PM. For once,
food is
a problem. But the rest of the party -
including
dance - is quite welcome - and we
even
belt out some Indian tunes on the
unsuspecting
locals!
We're
back in the hotel, but not done yet -
we go
to the restaurant and order dinner - having
exhausted
what little we could eat, in the
dance
and merrymaking.
After
this, we need to pack our luggage, as we
start
at 5 AM, from the Hotel.
Thursday,
15th May, 2002.
We
check out from the Hotel, only to be told by
the
Receptionist - "our computers are down, Sir, could
you
please wait?"
"Well!
do you expect our flight to wait until
your
computers are up?"
They
see light and agree to mail us our bills and
let us
go!
The cab
ride to the Airport is uneventful and so is
the
Emigration. We're in the departure
terminal and
two
hours for our Singapore flight. I
decide to
catch
up on some sleep...
"SQ
815 to Singapore ready for boarding..."
It is
time to say goodbye to Shanghai - and a fine
visit,
it has been.
We're
in Singapore at noon - and we've 8 hours to
go for
our Chennai flight.
We take
the "free city tour" offered by the Airport,
and are
treated to a fantastic tour of Singapore,
including
a 30 min boat ride.
We kill
the remaining time, dozing before
agiant
TV
screen, showing a football match. It is
foot
ball fever all over - with the World Cup just
weeks
away. Changi Airport has World Cup
contests
on.
As the
time for our flight nears, we see familiar
faces -
Indians in various attire, carrying various
items,
moving towards our flight.
Singapore
- Chennai flight is packed to the brim -<
I even
worry there may be some standing passengers!
Many of
them are Tamilians - lots of ladies, crying
children
- it is like a local bus! The air
hostesses
are
hard pressed to cater to them.
It is
the same movies, the fourth time for me.
I've
already covered "The Lord of the Rings",
"The
Beautiful Mind" and "Vanilla Sky". (The last one
is a
Tom Cruise movie - I still can't figure out what
it was
all about - as I was half asleep each time I
saw the
movie)
It is
raining in Chennai when we descend. I
re-confirm
my Cochin flight - as it is the most
important
flight of my life! We're checked in at
Hotel
Radisson. I set the wake up call for 5
AM
and go
to sleep.
Friday,
16th May, 2002.
I'm
well in time in the Domestic Departure Terminal
of
Chennai Airport. I don't see any sign
of
the
Cochin flight. Some mistake - I think,
and
proceed
to check-in at the Indian Airlines counter.
"Your
flight starts from the International Terminal"
What do
you know! Since when did Chennai-Kochi
become
an international flight? I'm
enlightened that
it is a
Chennai-Kochi-Muscat flight.
Fortunately
it is
Chennai, and not Mumbai or Delhi - the
International
Terminal is only a five minute walk.
I need
to clear "Customs" - which is, of course, only
a
formality.
I call
up home finally - to let them know that I
am on
my way - there is 8 hours to go for my
engagement.
It is
my first flight in Indian Airlines and I
realise
how different it is from Jet. Not only
are the
waitresses old enough to be my mother, the
in-flight
announcements are rare and abrupt as well.
The
flight takes off, without any notice and I am
surprised
the steward(esse)s have any time to strap
in at
all!
Looks
like I've brought rains all the way from
Shanghai
- it is raining in Cochin as well, as my<
flight
lands.
Later I
realise how lucky I am to have landed
safely
and in tact! On Saturday, one Indian
Airlines
flight
is diverted to Trivandrum, due to bad
weather,
while another bursts all its four tyres while
landing.
Here are some Shanghai snaps