In Mumbai, Day One (Nov 15, 2011)

Hanna and Ten Little Indian Boys: Cricket Team in Colaba

It has been more than a month since my Mumbai trip. Dreadful blogger :-( I hope to catch up this holiday season. I was in Mumbai from Nov 14-18 for a company global meeting. It was totally interesting , both on-the-job, and off-the-job.

The sequence of this entry may be a bit magulo because some were written in real-time while I was on the plane, waiting in line, etc etc...

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How does one even begin to describe Mumbai? Words are not enough ... It is an overall experience : the smells, the sounds, the spirit, the atmosphere... I am so overwhelmed with all the stories I want to tell.

F58 was our gate for Mumbai ( writing this here in case I forget, I heard Changi is huge!). Must be a busy day. We spent 30 minutes going around in circles over Singapore, waiting for a free runway. And 25 minutes circling above Mumbai. When we finally arrived, I felt like the airport was very much like our vey own NAIA 1, once named one of the world's worst airports. A colleague remarked that the ---- looked even better.

Had my first taste of Indian food on the plane!

Mutton biryani with braised masala eggplant - yummy but super spicy
Rawa kesari ( semolina pudding) - yumyum like Cassava but not as sticky

(I was not able to keep track of all the Indian food I ate during the trip: one thing for sure though, I was not biologically created for Indian food. It could be good... But I think my tummy could not digest all that spice! I was woozy by Thursday so I opted not to be adventurous and ate the familiar dishes)

My hotel room has a red color scheme. HOT! I think it' s very expensive, though. Separate review on the hotel, the Trident Bandra Kurla, in another entry ...

November 15th

Typical Indian taxi. No air conditioning , runs on CNG.
(They also have air conditioned cabs that are blue and more expensive)

I have a free morning. Can't wait to see Mumbai by day. Last night it seemed like Manila. Only with wider and dustier roads, crazier drivers ( also right hand drive) and really quaint taxis with personality.

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I met with my colleague from Manila, Milan and from Dianjun (DJ) from China and we decided to embark on our own Mumbai adventure. We hired a cab to take us to an area called "Colaba," which is about 45 minutes away from our hotel. We were a pretty interesting bunch: tall Caucasian guy, small Chinese man, and a Filipina. we definitely stood out from the sea of Indians.

According to one brochure I got from the hotel, Colaba is often considered the prettiest part of Mumbai. Many of its buildings date back to colonial India, and this is where the most well known of Mumbai's icons are to be found: The Gateway of India, and the Victoria Terminus, or more commonly known by locals as the CST (Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus) station. I never did my research before but i was blown over by the massive structure which is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The 45 minute cab ride to Colaba proved to be interesting. Traffic was heavy, but still moving. I loved the vintage look of the standard Indian cabs, and worthwhile to mention that they are ALL made in India and powered by compressed natural gas. I was amazed by how the air here seemed cleaner than the air in Makati.

Top: CST from across the street
Bottom: Bright entrance going to the trains..

When we reached the CST area, I felt the Amsterdam vibe because of the mishmash of people , the colorful signs, and the amazing colonial architecture. It was not rush hour, so I didn't see the scenes I was expecting to see (trains filled up to the roofs!!) Took some pretty interesting photos. I was a bit shy at first because of my big camera - ah but better to be stared at than regret not taking photos!!

Here, I also had my first Indian public toilet experience :o) pretty tolerable.

Since we were walking aimlessly, we were able to really see Colaba... The University area, the sidestreets, and the wide cricket field. A couple of Indian kids called out to have cricket photos taken. Well I had my photo taken, with an Indian slap on the butt as a bonus ( heyyyy!!! ) , we hurried away soon after. Walang silbi mga lalaking kasama ko :oP They were kids tho, so no worries.

Lost in Mumbai. DJ was a good navigator

After getting lost a little bit, DJ got us back on track as we searched how to get to the Gateway of India. The Gateway is a monument in Mumbai - named as such because it was the first structure to be seen in Bombay when people traveled by water . It was a massive, intricate structure that was very photogenic. The plaza sort of reminded me also of Milan, Italy - up to the pigeon-feed being forced upon tourists for some money! It was interesting that most tourists were really local. I spotted very few foreigners hanging around.The Gateway of India: "worth getting lost just to find it"

Hot and tired, we returned to our hotel at around 2pm. We didn't have the courage to try and eat in the sidewalk eateries. we had a few minutes to spare for the IFC organized walking tour of another area in the afternoon.

When I got back to the hotel, the guidebooks said that where we've been (Colaba) was the prettiest part of Mumbai. Okay then, we had 4 more days left in Mumbai... What else would be there to see?

(to be continued!