From India to Hong Kong

Hi Everyone -

It's another guest blog from me. I'm not as good at this as Tamara is, but I wanted to chrono my trip from India to Hong Kong. The trip started Friday morning the 25th. I went to the Noida Sapient office. Here is a pic of what the road looks like and the buildings and stuff- to put India and Hong Kong in contrast.

I went in to the office and I had a head cold - so I took some dayquil... Thankfully, Tamara had left me some Famous Amos - first time I've had something that reminded me of 'home'. That was nice.

Shortly after that, I came down with some sort of stomach bug... Hopefully not dengue fever or malaria or some crazy thing like that. But, anyhow, I had meetings with the Web Apps team all day long - and had to be on my toes... I had to explain to each sub-group how their project was going to be incorporated into the Content Management System... Lots of technical thinking, talking, questions, etc. It was HARD! Thankfully, this is my 'thing' - so, I was able to kick -butt. It's nice to finally have a 'thing' that I'm actually really good and knowledgeable on. Years of doing this has paid off and I'm not just talking out of my butt (sorry).

Ok, so, meetings and work went straight through to 730pm at night -at which point I went down stairs and got in a Sapient car/cab and got a ride to the airport. Going to the airport on a Friday night - VERY interesting. To say that the way they drive in India is scary would be an understatement. As Tamara has already mentioned - not only are there cars going in all different directions and honking (see her video from the Taj trip!), but there's people, and cows, and motorcycles, and and and! Insane!

So, I made it to the airport by 9:15pm (stomach hurting and all) - and I get past the Indian dude with the semi-automatic weapon (I wanted to take a picture, but didn't want to be shot, so I didn't). But, then I had to go try to get a seat... So, let me explain. The project I'm on is for an airlines. As such, when flying to their HQ (in Hong Kong), I am to fly on their plane - on their dime... They don't want to re-imburse Sapient for travel costs when they own their own planes! So, good news is that I was checked in for Business Class (seriously nice seats!)... Bad news is that I was 'waitlisted' - meaning all paying customers come first. So, when I got to the ticket desk they told me the flight was full, to go and wait until 10:30 (flight's at 11:50) - and come back and check then....

Ok, so, brief intermission in the story here... There were these elephants at the airport... So, here are a few pics of those elephants. Ziggy begged for an elephant ride!

So, I hung out on a concrete bench and tried not to be sick - couldn't eat dinner at this point... And finally went back to the ticketing counter at 10:30. They got me in an economy seat. It was one of those seats that backs against the bulkhead, so it doesn't lean back... Unfortunately. But, it was a seat..

So, then I had to go through customs. I don't know what the deal is with India and customs but they move at the speed of MO-LASS-ES... SERIOUSLY! Here's a blurry picture of that line:

So, I get through that line and then have to go through security. They asked me to put all of my things in a bin. Only, the bins at the Delhi airport are 1/5th the size of the bins in America. So, I jam all my stuff in the bin, and they have me put my jacket on top (the brown jacket that I love that you can see me wearing in the Taj pics)... and somehow, when the whole thing comes back out on the other side, the jacket is missing... Only, I didn't realize it because an announcement overhead said, 'last call for boarding for flight CX694 to Hong Kong'... and the terminal was the FARTHEST away... so, I start booking it...

It's only after I get into my seat that I, of course, realize I don't have my jacket... :( Between being sick and very tired, I felt like crying. I know that seems silly - to cry over a jacket - but, it was a piece of me - it was from Tam's mom a few Christmas' back - etc. and it had my passport photos (not passport, just photos, thankfully) in the pocket... GRRRR!!!!!! I asked the flight attendant and she talked to the ticketing agent, and they talked to security and there was nothing.. they told me security immediately throws stuff away... Oh well...

So, I don't know why - but, between my stomach and the loss of my jacket, I couldn't sleep. Thankfully the airlines has free in seat movies - so I watched a movie... the flight itself was only 4 hours and 25 minutes... So, I watched the movie and then slept for about 1.5 hours.

So, we land, and I get off the plane, and I'm pleasantly surprised by the view:

The picture doesn't do it justice, but mountains, clouds - clean looking air... Then I go to customs - fearing it's going to be a nightmare - nope - 1 person in front of me... The guy looks at my business letter - looks in my passport for a work permit, looks at the letter again (for like all of 2 seconds) and then stamps my stuff and says to have a good morning... That's it. 1 minute, max... and I'm in Hong Kong.

So, the terminal has burger king, starbucks, godiva, 7-11, etc. I got starbucks for breakfast (which, in retrospect was a mistake with the stomach thing):

But, finally, the pastry tasted like a PASTRY! My chocolate drink was a little odd - but, that's ok.

I then walked over to the Regal Hotel, which is attached to the airport. But, they told me that I had to come back at 10:00 to check in, it was only 9. With my stomach hurting, no sleep, loss of jacket, etc, I went and found free wifi back in the airport so I could say hi to Tamara.

Oh, here's a pic of the Hotel and the hotel lobby - far cry difference from India:

and

So - finally, got to check into my room. Here are a few pics:

and

and crashed out for several hours... I woke up to do this blog and have SOMETHING to eat. I ordered more water, 7-up, and... Haagendaas. I know - that's not the best thing to order - but, finally, ice cream that tasted the way it's supposed to! It tasted like actual ice cream!

Well, I'm still not 100% - but I'm feeling better after the rest. I'm going to go back to sleep (it's 10:45pm here) and then figure out how/where to get a jacket tomorrow - not sure what there is to do. Depending on how I feel, I'll either lay around or go out and explore - it's less scary here... FAR LESS SCARY!

Here are some more, bonus pics, of the journey to HK:

- Ziggy keeping me company (thanks Krystin!) -

- Random pic of me for Tam -

- Random bilboard -

- Godiva -

And, finally, chocolate ice cream...

Good night.