Nice ads 5 (click here)

Well, its been a while since i've updated anything here, and yes i am back to Mumbai for a couple of weeks to clear some unfinished biz. Hopefully i can be back home to M'sia by end November. Anyway, another ad that caught my attention is this ad about luggage. Actually this ad has elements of truth and this is what happens at the train stations and this is how people get in and out of the trains. If you have followed my earlier blogs, you could have read about my experiences taking the local train. Well now, you can see it yourself. If i'm not mistaken, this ad was shot at the train station where the dance scene of Slumdog Millionaire was. Its located at the south end of Mumbai. The name of the station is Mumbai CST. Take note of the tag line. SURVIVE MUMBAI, SURVIVE THE WORLD - Actually there is some truth in it.....come to think of it

That's All Folks

As they say, all good things must come to an end but i would not say that about my short stint here in Mumbai. Yes, I miss M'sia; family, friends, food and a host of things that i take for granted that i do not have the pleasure to enjoy it here such as movies etc...To say that i have accomplished my task is not exactly correct, but i feel i have learned something during my 6 months here. I don't mind coming back here again if i am asked to as i feel it would be good for my career and it is really a challenge both emotionally and physically. To be away for so long and being in a foreign country where the culture is so different is sometimes quite a challenge. Although I found new friends both local and M'sians working here, well you tend to be more opened to the people that you are familiar with.

Nice Ads 4 (click here)

This one is shot entirely at KLIA. HCL produces laptops, not quite sure what's the message of this advert.

Nice ads 3 (click here)

This is another commercial shot in M'sia and i guess its at Putrajaya judging by the bridge & what's looks like the Shah Alam Stadium. This commercial is bout the newly launch Suzuki K Series.

Nice Ads 2 (click here)

This one is from Reliance Broadband Service, India. Now the thing is that part of the commercial was shot in Malaysia. If i'm not mistaken, KL Sentral, the KL MOnorial and i think its some of the buildings on Jln Sultan Ismail. See if you can spot them :-)

Nice Ads 1 (click here)

Well, its sort of back to back. This commercial is rather controvercial and i am sure it won't be shown in M'sia coz its a bit rude for the M'sian culture. But come to think of it, we do it sometimes, just behind their backs. :-) enjoy it....

Nice ads Vodafone (click here)

Its evening and after a hectic day both at work and the horrendous Mumbai traffic, its time to lay back and spend some time with the idiot box. Typical of any satelite stations, they show movies over and over again until you get tired of it. There are close to 90 channels here, but only close to 10 channels are in English, so the choices are rather limited. One thing I "enjoy" watching are the commercials. The commercials here are quite creative and it can actually get stuck in your head. I notice quite a few commercials are shot in M'sia and i hope, i can search those on you tube and share it with you.

The first one i have for you is by Vodafone. Now I'm using Vodafone service on my HP but to be honest, the connection s@#*. However i would not say about the commercials. You be the judge & the jury...

EPL

Its that time of the year when I look forward to weekends. Not rest or zzzzzz longer..., but the EPL. Because of the time zone, the matches are shown earlier here, something like 8 something in the evening and the night matches are shown around midnight not too late for me. But of course hours of sleep will be sacrificed and since, i've got satelite TV at home i can watch in rather comfortable atmosphere than cramp up at some mamak joint if i am in M'sia. GLORY GLORY MAN UTD!!!!!.

King's Birthday

I should have posted this earlier but as they say its better late than never. This event was organized by the M'sian Consulate in Mumbai to celebrate the King's Birthday on June 6. It was well attended by most M'sians stationed in Mumbai. Its more of a networking thing. At least, we have some "buddies" so far away from home. The food was rather local, actually i was hoping for some nasi lemak, but anyway can't complain about the food. Typical of the M'sian culture, when there is food, it must be more than enough, so enough the M'sians live up to their reputation of having more than enough food for everybody. The cake looks nice and its taste not too bad either.

The world's cheapest car

A buzz 2 days ago was the delivery of TATA Nano, the world's cheapest car to the first selected 3 customers and my collegue already has saw one on the road yesterday. I personally have sat in this car when it was displayed at one of the shopping malls here and all i can say its value for money. You can't expect anything spectular for that price and i can say its affordable to the middle/working class here. FYI afer the conversion rate to Ringgit its between RM 10,000 & RM 12,000 depending on the variant.

According to the website, its fuel tank holds a max of 15 litres, 2 cylinder 624cc engine with a max speed of 105 km/h which is below the 110 km/h of the NSE. I don't see this car as practical for M'sian roads as its is the Kancil has its set of issues already.

Expect more traffic congestion in Mumbai. As it is now, its already over populated, over polluted and extremely congested. The effects of the increase in motor vehicles will not be felt in the short term, but the problem will come in the long run.

http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/

Over here, a very common sight at traffic lights are the beggars. You can see children, men, women, handicapped person, or a woman carrying a child begging for money when vehicles stopped at traffic lights. (BTW here they call it signal). In picture 1, a woman and a child is getting ready to "prowl" on any vehicle that stop near them and the second picture is a girl approaching a motorcyclist. As you know, my transport is the "famous" ricksaw, so its kinda easy for them to come to you. If you are a foreigner they tend to come to approach you first before the others. I remember a valuable advice given by a friend of mine, Priscilla Patrick (yep the traffic gal) NEVER give them a dime however pityful they look (infact they all look pityful) as when you give 1, you stand the risk them coming in droves as they are usually in a group. I myself had a rather uneasy encounter once. It happen when i got down from the ricksaw and reach for my wallet to pay the driver. The minute i took out my wallet, they just came surrounding me. To make matters worse, that bloke (driver) does not have any loose change. He went around asking for change while these "scavangers" crowd all round me asking for money. I scolded them, they won't go away, and they dun understand English and i can't speak their language. I was tempted to throw a bundle of 10 rupees that was in my shirt pocket so they can go away, but decided against it. Throwing money, naw not really the right thing to do. So the moral behind the story is make sure you have loose change when sitting in a ricksaw. Anyway if you have watched Slumdog Millionaire, the movie shows these people being owned by a master. I spoke to a local friend of mind who also happened to have watched the movie confirms that this is a fact and its a business.......Can you beat that?........

Food Glorious Food

So far i have my meals at shopping malls and food stalls and occasionally at fine dinning rest. This time, its buffet and eat till you drop paying a single price. The place we (me & my colluegue) went to is in Bandra West. This place is basically something like our Bangsar where richer ppl leave here. The restaurant is call Chinagate. Basically there is Sushi and Oriental Food. The funny thing is there is different price on weekends and weekdays. Since we went there on a Friday, the weekend charges applies so we had to pay more. Its Rs 650 per pax (RM49) per pax w/o tax. You see in the pic there is a glass of actually mango juice, we have to pay Rs100 (RM7.50)each. At the end i have to fork out RM 70 for this glatonous meal. I have a funny feeling we will be back again next month(wait for salary loh). Can't afford to eat here often....

Anyway, here we can see how the rich dine and with a price like that i can say only the more well to do can afford to dine here(I'm not saying i'm well to do). :-)

Food Part 2

Well this is part 2 of the food segment and food is something of a concern to anyone coming to India. My advice is be brave and have faith and as long as you dun take food from the side stalls, you should be ok.To be save, its better to get some "cirit" pills on standby. If you are looking for chinese food, forget about India. OK the first pic is Chicken Manchurian sold at the food stall near my place. Its chicken and the gravy is green in colour and a bit spicy(compared with the others), the 2nd pic is chicken manchurian combo (kinda set lunch) i had at the shopping mall near my place. And the final pic is chicken dosa (tosai) my colleague had. Tasted a bit and its not too bad. The soup here is different as it looks like those campbell soup you get from the can.

Kalian

Went to a place call Kalian last Sat, a town located on the outskirts of Mumbai. Went there by train, you know my "torture" whenever I get onto the train. Well went to visit this Mall call Metro Junction, nice place, peaceful and serene, but biz wise not too good if you know what i mean. The first thing, when we step out from the railway station is to see this horse or it is donkey (cud not differentiate) with the cart. I suggested to my colluegue to take this as our mode of transport to the mall, but looks like some one beat us......Anyway, dun think I'll be going to this place again...its just too far.

Food

Food, something that I took some time to get use to. To be honest, the food here is rather tasty. The curries are much tastier, spicier and there is more variety compared to the nearest mamak joint in M'sia. Besides McDonalds, the other dishes are typical local indian food at shopping mall and shops. The Maharaja Burger (probably the local version of BigMac) cost only Rs65. (RM 4.70). Dun know if the BigMac is cheaper or the Maharaja is cheaper. Tasted the capati the other day, well not too bad if you take it with the egg masala. The capati costs only Rs 3 per piece (RM 0.22). Extremely cheap and its no wonder the locals here eat capati more than rice. I have yet to taste the Dosai (local version of tosai). One thing that I'm am looking for an answer is why do they serve onions? Need to know...BTW one of the pics above shows 5 little drumstick. Its actually chicken wings, I've been told. I have tasted it myself a couple of times and its not too bad. Its called chicken lollypop.

Riding the train in Mumbai.

OK, one of the main means of transportation in India is the train. When my colleague suggested that we take the train to Thane, the venue of the family day organized by the M'sian Consulate, the first thing that came to my mind was a cramp journey. Well, I was partially correct. The train routes here in Mumbai is divided to 3 different lines, the Central Line, Habour Line and the Western Line. I have no idea which line to take as its so confusing and complicating and no proper signages at respective stations.

The journey was fast, as the trains come every 7 mins. Compared with our infamous KTM, these trains are really punctual. The locals use the trains often as it is more convenient compared to the forever congested Mumbai traffic.

The coaches here are segregated by the sex. So the women have thir own coach and vice versa for the men. As you can see from the pics, the men coach is packed to the brim while the female coach looks rather empty. A fine will be imposed on anyone who breaks this rule.

OK back to my journey, I boarded the train at Jogeswhari station (near my place) to Dadar and then change to another line to Thane. The journey from Jogeswhari to Dadar is like sardin. I have to pratically pushed myself inside the train, however from Dadar to Thane, I sat comfortably(pics enclosed). I bought a first class ticket for the entire journey.

In a nutshell, it was an experience sitting on a train here. After the ride, I can't really complain much about our KTM Kommuter. Afterall, it is airconditioned and here the trains have natural air.

Life in Mumbai

When you take the auto rickshaw as often as I do, you are bound to come across interesting things like I enclose in the picture above. I have no idea what this guy is carrying but the way is being carried calls for respect. When I took this picture, this guy was walking and is anyone's guess how long or how far has he been walking. The afternoon sun here is scorching and maybe the way he is carrying his stuff, his head is protected from the sun. Talk about back breaking job, this is more like neck breaking job.

We are well aware of the social status of the people. The rich are extremely rich and the poor practically have no roofs above their heads. Some will take any jobs they can find and the wages are low. But anyway survival is the main thing on everyone's mind. You can see one of the pictures of, i assume a family living on the side of the main road with only a canvas above their heads. This sorry sight is rather common here.

Auto Ricksaw in Mumbai

This is my first posting in my blog...well still learning. Not to say that I have nothing to do here in India, but I'm just sharing my experiences here with all my friends over in Malaysia. Got a camera the other day and snap a few pictures and tada.....up on my blog.

The first thing you encounter is the famous auto rickshaw in India...Well if you have been to India, don't know if you have sat on in any one of these. The minute they agree to take you to your destination, yu get in and they will start with 10 rupees. Then as you go along, the rate increases and this includes you sitting in a jam. The jam here in Mumbai is worse than that in KL. Its really disorganized. To make things worse, they are in the process of constructing an LRT line and the road is pretty much narrowed down.

The auto rickshaw drivers here I can catagorized them as hell drivers. Some are OK, but the majority are worse than the mat rempits of KL. They drive without care about the guy sitting behind (mind you no seatbelt). I dun know about the brake & tayar conditions but sometimes they scare the h!@# out of me. Somemore some of this drivers see that a foriegner is sitting in the rickshaw, they tend to take you the long way so they get extra Rupees and you more.

Some of the pictures here to give you an idea.