Saturday 31 January 2009
NONDAS is getting married
I have it on good authority that Nondas is to be wed by next summer to a russian beauty. I think you will all agree in wishing him the best of luck and raising your glass "nastarovia"
Tuesday 27 January 2009
CATHAY PACIFIC RATING by Filipe
Many will know from the previous rating of British Airways how the rating system works, for new comers I have shown the various areas that effect us consumers on a flight. BA scored pretty low and generally we were unimpressed. WE will be catching two more BA flights so I am hoping they buckle up their ideas.
Service – Air hostess women ratio and how they served their customers.
Drinks – How free flowing the gins and tonic are i.e. number
Food – How tasty and delicious
Entertainment – The level of entertainment i.e. the system used and films available
Plane – Quality of the plane i.e. how old and finishings
Everything will be out of 5.
Service 5
Drinks 3
Food 4
Plane 3
Entertainment 5
Giving a grand total of 20 out of 25. It was a really pleasant flight with nice air hostesses.
This leaves the scoreboard as:
Cathay Pacific 21
British Airways 14
We all agreed that BA has a long way to go to meet the quality and service and of Cathay Pacific.
The Golden Temple by Filipe Martins
Off to the Sikhs Mecca equivalent the infamous “Golden Temple” in Amritsar. Early start for the third day running, we are on a roll like Japanese tourists fully equipped with the finest digital equipment money can buy, at the peak of the technology. We walk to the dreaded station, New Delhi Central Station. Surprisingly less congested and straight onto the platform where the train was waiting to depart. Instantaneous falling asleep from Weli and me left poor Mark Walker on his “Jack Jones”. He kept himself entertained with his 100th game of risk on Weli’s iphone. We arrive to Amritsar a completely different city (should I say large town) to Mumbai and Delhi. Instantly I notice an exponential increase of turbans and some sort of order. I must say in general the people from Amritsar a more smartly dressed and cleaner with a lot less aggressive begging. We have started to get the haggling technique and we would have got the taxi driver down to half the initial price had it not been for Weli who decided to collapse and cave in like a house of cards. Reasons were that he spoke pretty good English and we could converse with our newly appointed driver. Well we went on to find out that there was a secret parking charge of 50 rupees that he had conveniently forgotten to mention. Anyway just another wheeler dealer to add to the fine collection we are amassing on our journeys.
We get dropped off a good 500m from the golden temple, immediately from a distance we see a grand white gate similar to the Taj I guess. We take off our shoes and drop off our bags and we walk towards the spectacle. Separating the outside and the gate is a small puddle of water used to wash worshipers’ feet before entering. Having cut the underside of my feet I jumped over it in the hope of avoiding submerging my foot in the dark coloured water. Unfortunately to no avail I was warned harshly with a guard holding a spear, I did as was told instantly with a big smile on my face. Immediately the golden temple stood out like a white tourist in New Delhi downtown market. It is an amazing building surrounded by walls and a disused Mosque. As the name suggests it was very golden so there were no surprises on that front. The Sikhs were bathing in the glistening turquoise water surrounding the golden temple, immediately I drew similarities with other religions and the role of water. Inside the golden temple what I guessed as being the top people in the religion were sitting with one side filled with women and a band. Two guys on an accordion piano player singing (I think praying). Fists full of cash being thrown towards the officials it looked more like a central bank than a temple for one second. The site it amazing and worth the visit or should I say the 12 hour trains there and back. This part of India is not so well documented in the Lonely Planet guide and it shows. We saw very few if any tourists. Like the Taj Mahal the Golden Temple is magnificent. Off to Goa people!!!!!!!
I would like to say we are all pleased (Weli, Mark and I) with the reaction towards this blog. With all the long train journeys we have time to write and fill you all in on our experiences. Feel free to reply to the posts!!!! For those less articulate people that is a hint.
We get dropped off a good 500m from the golden temple, immediately from a distance we see a grand white gate similar to the Taj I guess. We take off our shoes and drop off our bags and we walk towards the spectacle. Separating the outside and the gate is a small puddle of water used to wash worshipers’ feet before entering. Having cut the underside of my feet I jumped over it in the hope of avoiding submerging my foot in the dark coloured water. Unfortunately to no avail I was warned harshly with a guard holding a spear, I did as was told instantly with a big smile on my face. Immediately the golden temple stood out like a white tourist in New Delhi downtown market. It is an amazing building surrounded by walls and a disused Mosque. As the name suggests it was very golden so there were no surprises on that front. The Sikhs were bathing in the glistening turquoise water surrounding the golden temple, immediately I drew similarities with other religions and the role of water. Inside the golden temple what I guessed as being the top people in the religion were sitting with one side filled with women and a band. Two guys on an accordion piano player singing (I think praying). Fists full of cash being thrown towards the officials it looked more like a central bank than a temple for one second. The site it amazing and worth the visit or should I say the 12 hour trains there and back. This part of India is not so well documented in the Lonely Planet guide and it shows. We saw very few if any tourists. Like the Taj Mahal the Golden Temple is magnificent. Off to Goa people!!!!!!!
I would like to say we are all pleased (Weli, Mark and I) with the reaction towards this blog. With all the long train journeys we have time to write and fill you all in on our experiences. Feel free to reply to the posts!!!! For those less articulate people that is a hint.
Delhi “Planes, trains and automobiles” The Real Surprise by Filipe Martins
Welcome to New Dehli Central Station, the thriving capital of the rapidly rising India. On a personal level I was expecting a fusion of old and new i.e. new high rise offices blended into the old down town (colonial style buildings) skyline, where is all this money going ? Definitely not Mumbai or infrastructure. The roads are truly horrendous; nothing is completely finished, it’s all half jobs, semi complete, unfinished. Mumbai and Delhi would look a hell of a lot nicer if the locals didn’t litter so much. They throw everything on the floor which then gets comprehensively mixed in with the cow shit to give modern day manure, regrettably not odourless. Down town Delhi does have a certain something, I just can’t put my finger on it.
An English backpacker (cliché backpacker with dreds) told me that India is a unique place in this world where the extremes are witnessed and experienced. For instance people have very good experiences and very bad experiences, the people are either very rich or very poor and so on. He unquestionably has a very long way in order to find himself (idiot).
My first impressions with Delhi were horrible; similar to Mumbai this place takes a day just to adjust to the cheap traders that swarm the white tourists like flies to a strategically placed cow pat. After a 16 hour train journey on the infamous 2nd AC coach, which in fairness was quite reasonable minus the heavy snoring from our neighbour Panesh. A chubby Indian businessman who has a skinny sidekick partner, looked more like little and large. A random man asked for our tickets outside the train station, as I proceeded to carry on walking and ignore him, he shouted “No ticket, where have you come from? Come here”, I followed with a polite reply along the lines of “where is your badge if you work for the station? %*ck off”. I guess the moment he told us the ticket office was down an adjacent dark alley way I smelled a scam.
As we are attempting to travel India minus a guide book we had a very vague idea of the whereabouts of the luxurious backpacker hotel we booked. Now came a series of harassing cheap traders from all angles, taxies on my right offering me rip off prices for 5min journey, travel agents trying to convince me that the painted “Govt. Approved” meant that there travel agents was official. He may not have realised that his neighbouring competitors also supported that logo. Finally we got to the hotel.
The best experience I can draw from India without a shadow of a doubt is the food. The traditional curries have been of the highest standard, even when eating from local eateries on the street in the downtown area where we are staying. In terms of “pleasant surprises” one would have to be not getting the dreaded Delhi Belly aka the squirts. The city definitely looks better at night when the beautiful old buildings i.e. Indian, British and Mogul don’t look so run down and neglected. One lesson that all visitors learn most probably the hard way is to haggle for better prices, definitely a way of life integrated into every local. The visit to the Taj Mahal has to be a highlight also, the site is unbelievable. Like the photos you see as a child it really is worth seeing up close even if just to see the sheer scale of the project and its perfect symmetry. The coach trip to Agra further confirmed Indian driving as being the most dangerous radical sport around. If you are a thrill seeker I suggest you rent a small to medium size car and do a road trip around India, making sure you experience Mumbai Madness and Delhi Traffic.
Just getting around Delhi is a mental and physical struggle. You can be smack in the middle of the downtown area which probably has the highest street seller per m2 in the world and have a small horde of cattle walk past you like a south west London gang. I can’t believe they have urbanised cows. I have yet to find a peaceful side of Delhi but I am sure they exist, almost certainly nearer the richer side of Delhi i.e. Embassy Road. However even the wealthier areas of Delhi lack that final finish that would have me making comparisons with Eaton Square or the Hamptons in NY. What happened to the grand houses with 100 caretakers and gardeners carrying out precision hedge cutting and maintenance to historical mansion houses? Is this a British Colonial myth that these stately homes exist in India?
The days in Delhi have been early starts with action packed intense days. I am writing this entry as we make our way by train to the North of India. Our primary aim is to see the Golden Temple. It is a smash and grab as we are taking a six hour train there and a six hour train back to stay for 2 hours. The Golden Temple better be worth it.
We decided to avoid catching the Delhi-Goa train like the plague. A grand total of 27 hours WOW 27 hours, that is a huge number, so we booked an internal flight to make sure we get a weekend in Goa. I can’t wait to go to the land of hippies. To conclude Delhi would have to be the land of the free........ oppps sorry I mean street hustlers, they could flog a donkey as a rare racing fully bred Arabian horse to even the experts.
Delhi....A Pleasant Surprise by Abdiwali "Wordsworth" Elmi
On arriving at Delhi, poverty stricken Mumbai was still fresh in my mind, I thought surely it can only get better from here...after all it is the capital? This thought however was sadly unhinged by a quick blackberry messenger chat with Bal who went about explaining his previous experience there, some 10 years ago.
On arriving at Delhi Station we were harassed by a few locals, but by now we had come accustomed to this hustle and so proceeded without care as they fought for our attention to no avail. Outside the station looked much like sights in Mumbai and so looking at Marks & Fil’s face I could see they were already thinking....not this again! Some guy at the exit tried hustle us majorly. With no form of ID or Police badge, he went about trying to order us to a dark alley, Fil politely told him to go and eat Camel Shit. We knew our hotel wasn’t far from the station so we took a rigsaw, you know just to do the touristy thing, as you do. Before starting off we agreed upon a fixed price of 40rupees but upon arrival, which was incidentally only 150m away (but the guy choose a 5min scenic route around the ghettos), he was trying to get 140rupees per person. I think the guy was just trying his luck, because once quizzed he laughed himself before riding off.
The hotel we checked into was pretty good, well by that I mean it looked like what was advertised online. But by following the lonely planet guide we inevitably ended up at backpacker grand central of Delhi. That afternoon after lunch and a quick power nap we went sightseeing. We order a cab to whisk us around from sight to sight. We visited The Gate of India..a poor man’s Marble Arch, Numerous temples, Parliament (pretty impressive) , home of the president, Red Fort (a mohessive structure, again pretty impressive) and a few others. During this journey one thing that struck me was unlike Mumbai, central Delhi is a functioning city with effective roads, traffic lights, parks, lights, buildings etc. Further unlike Mumbai Delhi had little or no beggars, which made walking the street alot more relaxing. I mean you still had the people who wanted you to come into their shop every 10m, but that I can accept, people got to get paid. One thing I’m still amused by thou is the number of cows you see just roaming the roads in Delhi..these guys are chilling.
On arriving at Delhi Station we were harassed by a few locals, but by now we had come accustomed to this hustle and so proceeded without care as they fought for our attention to no avail. Outside the station looked much like sights in Mumbai and so looking at Marks & Fil’s face I could see they were already thinking....not this again! Some guy at the exit tried hustle us majorly. With no form of ID or Police badge, he went about trying to order us to a dark alley, Fil politely told him to go and eat Camel Shit. We knew our hotel wasn’t far from the station so we took a rigsaw, you know just to do the touristy thing, as you do. Before starting off we agreed upon a fixed price of 40rupees but upon arrival, which was incidentally only 150m away (but the guy choose a 5min scenic route around the ghettos), he was trying to get 140rupees per person. I think the guy was just trying his luck, because once quizzed he laughed himself before riding off.
The hotel we checked into was pretty good, well by that I mean it looked like what was advertised online. But by following the lonely planet guide we inevitably ended up at backpacker grand central of Delhi. That afternoon after lunch and a quick power nap we went sightseeing. We order a cab to whisk us around from sight to sight. We visited The Gate of India..a poor man’s Marble Arch, Numerous temples, Parliament (pretty impressive) , home of the president, Red Fort (a mohessive structure, again pretty impressive) and a few others. During this journey one thing that struck me was unlike Mumbai, central Delhi is a functioning city with effective roads, traffic lights, parks, lights, buildings etc. Further unlike Mumbai Delhi had little or no beggars, which made walking the street alot more relaxing. I mean you still had the people who wanted you to come into their shop every 10m, but that I can accept, people got to get paid. One thing I’m still amused by thou is the number of cows you see just roaming the roads in Delhi..these guys are chilling.
First blog – Weli Elmi
Well here I am currently on an 18 hour train journey from Mumbai to Delhi. I apologise to those who have been eagerly awaiting my first blog....particularly Zish...... I’ve been busy snapping necks and spending those cheques (that’s right plural). Dubai now seems like a distant memory. Besides the over spend Dubai was nice and relaxing...chilli chill as some might put it. I think Fil did well in updating everyone on our whereabouts so I’ll leave my experience to his account. However I would like to reiterate The Burj colossal size....engineering has come far people. Also Habib/Firas’s crib gets a special mention...niiiiiiice(south park style) and finally special thanks to my Mum/Nasir n Bal for your efforts in ensuring we are reconnected with our malaria tablets and my credit card..much appreciated.
So India..MUMBAI...I disagree with the camp on this one. ...Here is my experience...
On arriving at Mumbai the first thing that hit me was the number of people outside, impressive I though bearing in mind our flight landed at 4am. The smell wasn’t the warmest of welcomes but manageable contrary to Fil’s blog...but still a shock. I think Marks views of the cab journey express my own. But amid the rush and confusion I did see order...it was what Massi would refer to as controlled hastiness. An order which was based on EVERYONE doing as they pleased such that, if everyone stuck to this system then it worked, but if just one person didn’t then it failed. By the end of the journey I felt safe in the hands of the driver as I began to understand the laws of the roads. I recall sitting back during this journey and being overwhelmed by everything around me with the thought of Zish and Ahsan in my head saying “this boy has never left England he hasn’t seen ghetto”(in their many Pakistan stories)....guys its true, before now I ain’t see shit!. It has been an eye opener though and probably the cultural highlight of my trip so far.
So Mumbai...besides the shanty buildings and pot hole filled roads, it had a buzz similar to the narrow roads of Brick Lane in the evenings. Where every shop owner entices you to spend that much sought after foreign money. Only difference was, here there is no etiquette of approach, people instead Sam grab your ass and follow you until you go at least 50m past their shop....... O’ and then there is the NAGGERS. At first I felt sorry and so went about politely declining their advances, until I realised that’s the green light they’re looking for. From then on in, they follow you around and touch you up until you want to punch them away. I give them credit thou them guys are resilient and determined.
Mumbai potentially has the potential to be a great city, but first they need to start investing seriously, and I’m not talking about installing a metro or building skyscrapers (like Dubai), but instead something much simpler, just clean the streets and maintain the buildings. They have a scenic selection of old colonial buildings, still standing.............but barley and I mean barely! Anyhow the train ride is finally coming to an end and so until next time from Delhi baby....adios. Hopefully Delhi being the capital will offer more in the way of culture for culture vultures like us ;)
So India..MUMBAI...I disagree with the camp on this one. ...Here is my experience...
On arriving at Mumbai the first thing that hit me was the number of people outside, impressive I though bearing in mind our flight landed at 4am. The smell wasn’t the warmest of welcomes but manageable contrary to Fil’s blog...but still a shock. I think Marks views of the cab journey express my own. But amid the rush and confusion I did see order...it was what Massi would refer to as controlled hastiness. An order which was based on EVERYONE doing as they pleased such that, if everyone stuck to this system then it worked, but if just one person didn’t then it failed. By the end of the journey I felt safe in the hands of the driver as I began to understand the laws of the roads. I recall sitting back during this journey and being overwhelmed by everything around me with the thought of Zish and Ahsan in my head saying “this boy has never left England he hasn’t seen ghetto”(in their many Pakistan stories)....guys its true, before now I ain’t see shit!. It has been an eye opener though and probably the cultural highlight of my trip so far.
So Mumbai...besides the shanty buildings and pot hole filled roads, it had a buzz similar to the narrow roads of Brick Lane in the evenings. Where every shop owner entices you to spend that much sought after foreign money. Only difference was, here there is no etiquette of approach, people instead Sam grab your ass and follow you until you go at least 50m past their shop....... O’ and then there is the NAGGERS. At first I felt sorry and so went about politely declining their advances, until I realised that’s the green light they’re looking for. From then on in, they follow you around and touch you up until you want to punch them away. I give them credit thou them guys are resilient and determined.
Mumbai potentially has the potential to be a great city, but first they need to start investing seriously, and I’m not talking about installing a metro or building skyscrapers (like Dubai), but instead something much simpler, just clean the streets and maintain the buildings. They have a scenic selection of old colonial buildings, still standing.............but barley and I mean barely! Anyhow the train ride is finally coming to an end and so until next time from Delhi baby....adios. Hopefully Delhi being the capital will offer more in the way of culture for culture vultures like us ;)
Monday 19 January 2009
Photos Finally
Due to skinny bandwidths this has taken a long time. Apologies from New Delhi. Not sure why they call it NEW.
Dubai Part I
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155845&id=202904382
Dubai Part II
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155860&id=202904382
Dubai Part III
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382
Dubai Part I
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155845&id=202904382
Dubai Part II
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155860&id=202904382
Dubai Part III
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382&saved#/album.php?aid=2155861&id=202904382
Sunday 18 January 2009
I LOVE EUROPE by Filipe
Mumbai is a vivacious shit hole!! The smell is so thick it reminds me of my asthmatic days as a child where i struggle to breathe even with my airways open to their maximum. Thank god I bought a Palestinian towel to wrap round my head. The smell is a thick concoction of a man arms pits fused with a two day old curry which you forgot to leave in the fridge. The level of poverty hits you smack in the face. One positive I have noticed is that they make the best of their homes in the shanty towns making full use of colour. Having had a similar experience, although brief when I travelled to the Dominican Republic I look straight through the beggars and sellers as if they don’t exist. I find this works as the moment you make eye contact they harass till submission. Is it the responsibility of tourists to look after the Indian poor or the government who claim that their economy is the fastest growing in the world. Another issue I find myself asking is whether helping one poor child by slapping a sweaty wad of rupees in the palm of his hand will help. Will it really make an impact or will he run back to his crack head father to help get another fix. I concluded in not helping any and to be completely honest it bothers me less and less as the days go by.
We are staying near the fort area in the Salvation Army Red shield hostel as recommended by the lonely planet guide. The morning we arrived we found ourselves waiting with other fellow backpackers in the common room so as to checkin. The service is shockingly rude with a mentality of “I don’t give a fuck”. It funny that because proudly mounted on the wall is a quote from Ghandi talking about service and how it is their honour to serve us my response to their mentality is “bullshit”. Weli and I realise as we scan the faces of the white middle class backpackers minus the two Israelis as foretold by Massi just how little we are prepared to ruff it out to their extent. As the reception desk we could hear two backpackers saying that they wanted to stay in the 12 man dorm and not take up the triple private room. We looked at the prices it was either 2£ or 4£ per night!! I have also realised that everyone is armed to the ready with lonely planet guides so I seem to see the same faces at all the hot spots and sites. Maybe an Idea would be to buy another travel guide as we might actually do something original.
Mumbai takes some getting used to. Now on my third days the stench is not so bad and the street beggars don’t seem so annoying. The buildings left behind from British colonialism are breath taking and similarities can be made with areas in London such as St. Pancreas and Holborn. I am disappointed to see that the buildings are not being maintained and everything is falling to bits. I guess they are injecting all their money into new Mumbai. I read in the economist not too long ago an article on India that it was a country composed of articulate and clever salesmen, I completely agree. When I look at the various construction sites around the city I realise just how far in Europe we have come with regards to safety and general organisation.
During the day we visited Elephant Island (a name given by Portuguese navigators), it was a nice boat ride from the Taj Palace Hotel which is complete boarded up with a heavy presence of military not doubt due to the terror incidents of the previous months. I forgot to mention that the Hostel over looked the Taj Palace Hotel which is a staggering building. Elephant island was beautiful from a far but like most tourist traps around the world had been completely ruined by cheap tradesmen and tacky restaurants.
At night we have been going to Leopolds Cafe. A very cool place with lovely traditional food, we had a beautiful butter chicken (thank you for the info Bal). The music is loud, mainly RnB which Weli found comforting (and the odd bit of house to). I suppose I am used to be a white European in Europe, I guess always the majority coming to India I am defiantly the minority and I like knowing what that feels like. The second night in Mumbai we visited the famous Tavern where they showed both Man Utd and Chelsea games. Again the food was immense our favourite dish being the chicken pineapple.
We booked the train tickets to New Delhi for Sunday. That was yet another experience. We discovered that foreign people or tourists had no right to 1st AC class and so 2nd or 3rd were at our disposal. I found this disgraceful and it pissed me off royaly. If I have the money what is their god dam problem. We found out that 2nd AC was not available and I find myself now writing this entry from 3rd AC. Its not horrible but for a 17 hour trip I will do anything in my power to get my hands on 2nd AC if we are to repeat this journey. Again the concoction of smells dazzles me, I am getting a whiff of Afghani feet with an old sandwich.
So far I reckon in India you can meet some 5 star people, the two guys sitting in front are really happy people. I have to constantly remind myself not to get offended with their manners or should i say lack of. I never hear excuse me or pardon me for instance the guy in front just dropped his meal tray on my foot with burning hot soup, luckily the soup was not hot enough to give me third degree burns, I heard nothing. If anything he was expecting and waiting for me to pick the tray from the floor. Politeness cost nothing. I must be part of their culture as I see it happening all around me.
If Mumbai is supposedly the more modern city I cant even begin to imagine what New Delhi has in store for us all. To conclude INDIA = ONE HELL OF A CULTURE SHOCK.
I will definitely think twice when I return to England or Portugal when I criticise.
We are staying near the fort area in the Salvation Army Red shield hostel as recommended by the lonely planet guide. The morning we arrived we found ourselves waiting with other fellow backpackers in the common room so as to checkin. The service is shockingly rude with a mentality of “I don’t give a fuck”. It funny that because proudly mounted on the wall is a quote from Ghandi talking about service and how it is their honour to serve us my response to their mentality is “bullshit”. Weli and I realise as we scan the faces of the white middle class backpackers minus the two Israelis as foretold by Massi just how little we are prepared to ruff it out to their extent. As the reception desk we could hear two backpackers saying that they wanted to stay in the 12 man dorm and not take up the triple private room. We looked at the prices it was either 2£ or 4£ per night!! I have also realised that everyone is armed to the ready with lonely planet guides so I seem to see the same faces at all the hot spots and sites. Maybe an Idea would be to buy another travel guide as we might actually do something original.
Mumbai takes some getting used to. Now on my third days the stench is not so bad and the street beggars don’t seem so annoying. The buildings left behind from British colonialism are breath taking and similarities can be made with areas in London such as St. Pancreas and Holborn. I am disappointed to see that the buildings are not being maintained and everything is falling to bits. I guess they are injecting all their money into new Mumbai. I read in the economist not too long ago an article on India that it was a country composed of articulate and clever salesmen, I completely agree. When I look at the various construction sites around the city I realise just how far in Europe we have come with regards to safety and general organisation.
During the day we visited Elephant Island (a name given by Portuguese navigators), it was a nice boat ride from the Taj Palace Hotel which is complete boarded up with a heavy presence of military not doubt due to the terror incidents of the previous months. I forgot to mention that the Hostel over looked the Taj Palace Hotel which is a staggering building. Elephant island was beautiful from a far but like most tourist traps around the world had been completely ruined by cheap tradesmen and tacky restaurants.
At night we have been going to Leopolds Cafe. A very cool place with lovely traditional food, we had a beautiful butter chicken (thank you for the info Bal). The music is loud, mainly RnB which Weli found comforting (and the odd bit of house to). I suppose I am used to be a white European in Europe, I guess always the majority coming to India I am defiantly the minority and I like knowing what that feels like. The second night in Mumbai we visited the famous Tavern where they showed both Man Utd and Chelsea games. Again the food was immense our favourite dish being the chicken pineapple.
We booked the train tickets to New Delhi for Sunday. That was yet another experience. We discovered that foreign people or tourists had no right to 1st AC class and so 2nd or 3rd were at our disposal. I found this disgraceful and it pissed me off royaly. If I have the money what is their god dam problem. We found out that 2nd AC was not available and I find myself now writing this entry from 3rd AC. Its not horrible but for a 17 hour trip I will do anything in my power to get my hands on 2nd AC if we are to repeat this journey. Again the concoction of smells dazzles me, I am getting a whiff of Afghani feet with an old sandwich.
So far I reckon in India you can meet some 5 star people, the two guys sitting in front are really happy people. I have to constantly remind myself not to get offended with their manners or should i say lack of. I never hear excuse me or pardon me for instance the guy in front just dropped his meal tray on my foot with burning hot soup, luckily the soup was not hot enough to give me third degree burns, I heard nothing. If anything he was expecting and waiting for me to pick the tray from the floor. Politeness cost nothing. I must be part of their culture as I see it happening all around me.
If Mumbai is supposedly the more modern city I cant even begin to imagine what New Delhi has in store for us all. To conclude INDIA = ONE HELL OF A CULTURE SHOCK.
I will definitely think twice when I return to England or Portugal when I criticise.
WELCOME TO MUMBAI by Mark Walberg
As we arrive in Mumbai and the stream of sweat starts to drip down my face and the plane, with its door just opened, begins to fill with the stench of BIO and i’m knocked over by an angry Indian man in a rush to queue it hits me that this place may not be the eutopia I had imagined. Then came the cab ride....
The most horrifying experience of my life doesn’t begin to describe that cab ride. A tiny car with enough crap jammed in that the driver needed to get the bungee rope out and as we approached the first hill we began to worry about the obvious lack of horse (or pony) power, but it wasn’t until I noticed what felt like the sweet caress of Weli’s hand on my thigh that I turned to notice the fear in his eyes and the first of many buses hurtling towards. If as they say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger then i’ll be curling the Peugeots with Marius Pudzianovski tomorrow.
The most horrifying experience of my life doesn’t begin to describe that cab ride. A tiny car with enough crap jammed in that the driver needed to get the bungee rope out and as we approached the first hill we began to worry about the obvious lack of horse (or pony) power, but it wasn’t until I noticed what felt like the sweet caress of Weli’s hand on my thigh that I turned to notice the fear in his eyes and the first of many buses hurtling towards. If as they say whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger then i’ll be curling the Peugeots with Marius Pudzianovski tomorrow.
DUBAI FINALE
Ok the last days in Dubai were heavily dominated by Poker and Russians. Nondas on an innocent night of sheesha steped up to the plate against a pro russian poker player. Well what Nondas one is experience as well as shelling out 1000 of UAE crispest Dirhams. The following night we all agreed to go round Ahmed’s house (Habib’s friend) and play some poker , it was a 200 Dirham cash game. I started off really well but I couldn’t match Habib’s rebuy power. When the Russian arrived I cashed my chips (Weli and Mark’s Dirhams) and called it a night. In comes the Russian the Greek Dominator and Habib sitting on a large stack allows him buy in. A fun game now turned to a serious Las Vegas final (aka Jackie Chan Rounders style). Habib went on to clear the Russian out of his hard earned Roubles (2000 Dirhams to be more precise). GO HABIBI JIHAAADDDDDDDDDD you the man. With my earnings and Habib’s we decided to invest into the night so we returned to ROCKBOTTOM. Being already quite heavily under the influence we proceeded to drink copius amounts of alcohol. Again the live band came on singing the same ballads to those sang the previous week. We later confirmed that we all got the Rocket Feeling.
Waking up at 4 meant that the day was wasted, thankfully Habib’s mum saved the day with a fish barbq TOOO MACHHHHHHHHH. Nondas had worked up some appetite. What can I say about Dubai apart from car accidents it had pretty much all the elements of a great holiday. As I sit here in a cafe in Mumbai drinking a Kingfisher beer on tap I suddenly realise that travelling only really started here.
Waking up at 4 meant that the day was wasted, thankfully Habib’s mum saved the day with a fish barbq TOOO MACHHHHHHHHH. Nondas had worked up some appetite. What can I say about Dubai apart from car accidents it had pretty much all the elements of a great holiday. As I sit here in a cafe in Mumbai drinking a Kingfisher beer on tap I suddenly realise that travelling only really started here.
DUBAI LOCAL FOOD by Filipe Martins
As arranged with the guys I will be responsible for giving an insight as well as our opinions on the best and local food. This will involve a rating on the following:
Service
Quality
Taste
Value
Everything will be out of 5.
Ok in Dubai we ate the best food without a shadow of a doubt at Habib’s house, pure home cooking. A fusion of Lebanese and Palestinian flavours. Now to the serious talk.
The best food in Dubai will have to be Al Jaza on the Beach Road. This is considered the best canteen in Dubai and a whole meal of wraps and sandwiches set us back a ground total of £5 each. This included the following; 3 wraps, fries and a juice of your choice. Loved it.
Service 5
Quality 5
Taste 5
Value 5
The worst place will have to go to the Lebanese place that Habib took us on the penultimate night (apparantly Firas said it was the shit). Hmmmm welll apart from making 4 grown men plus half a man (Mark Walker) sick....... I dont quite think so. Well thats being picky generally the foood is quality in Dubai.
To conclude the prize for best local food will have to go to AL JAZA on Beach Road.
Guys Weli will cover the Western Food (being a fat shit) and Walker the drinks.
In addition we have also decided to rate the airlines.
BRITISH AIRWAYS RATING by Filipe Martins
We will be rating BA on the following criteria as we are going to use various airlines in our travels:
Service – Air hostess women ratio and how they served their customers.
Drinks – How free flowing the gins and tonic are i.e. number
Food – How tasty and delicious
Entertainment – The level of entertainment i.e. the system used and films available
Plane – Quality of the plane i.e. how old and finishings
Everything will be out of 5.
Service 2
Drinks 5
Food 3
Plane 1
Entertainment 3
The service was shoddy with a large number of the staff being men (quite camp men in fact). To much chit chat in the kitchen area for our liking. They took a long time to answer the call (you know the button on the arm rest) and were pretty peed off when they got to our seats. Whatever happened with service with a smile. The drinks were class always free flowing and topped up whenever asked. The food was a Moroccan chicken for the main meal with a ploughman’s cheese sandwich as a snack. The entertainment system was substandard with a basic touch screen technology with terrible resolution and covered in grease from the previous flight. The plane was old and basic (747) and lacked the finishing touch that many other airlines have.
I guess this flight explains why BA are in a terrible state financially and why they are always waiting on government hand outs. They are definitely on a red slope skiing their way down as other airlines such as Qatar are on expensive ski lifts going to the summit.
Service – Air hostess women ratio and how they served their customers.
Drinks – How free flowing the gins and tonic are i.e. number
Food – How tasty and delicious
Entertainment – The level of entertainment i.e. the system used and films available
Plane – Quality of the plane i.e. how old and finishings
Everything will be out of 5.
Service 2
Drinks 5
Food 3
Plane 1
Entertainment 3
The service was shoddy with a large number of the staff being men (quite camp men in fact). To much chit chat in the kitchen area for our liking. They took a long time to answer the call (you know the button on the arm rest) and were pretty peed off when they got to our seats. Whatever happened with service with a smile. The drinks were class always free flowing and topped up whenever asked. The food was a Moroccan chicken for the main meal with a ploughman’s cheese sandwich as a snack. The entertainment system was substandard with a basic touch screen technology with terrible resolution and covered in grease from the previous flight. The plane was old and basic (747) and lacked the finishing touch that many other airlines have.
I guess this flight explains why BA are in a terrible state financially and why they are always waiting on government hand outs. They are definitely on a red slope skiing their way down as other airlines such as Qatar are on expensive ski lifts going to the summit.
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Last few days in Dubai
Ok a lot has happened since the last update due to speradic internet access and desert camping. Some heavy nights have been had and very much enjoyed. A night at the nightclub in the Atlantic hotel must go down as a memorable event if not for the three bottles of Finlandia and the top class sheesha using a pinaple fruit as the head. The nightclub was called Sanctuary, it was a trendy place but we all prefered to be on the terrace a bit like trilogy for those who came on the first Dubai trip. We all proceeded to go back to Habib’s house for after hour drinks on the beach. This involved some midnight dipping in the pool and beach (Nondas was supporting Panithinaikos underwear) I have been told by Habib that this footage has been captured by his CCTV. In terms of waking up early its been a complete shambles but then again Dubai is a 40 year old city and we have agreed that site seeing is pretty limited in a place which is purely materialistic. This was Thursday last week.
Ok Friday, hmmmm what did we do.......... We woke up and decided to go camping in Oman. The planning began. Habib, Nondas and me went about getting food and camping equipment for 10 guys with Habib’s friends attending to the Sheesha and alcohol. Four jeeps set out to the boarders near Fujierah. Dissapointingly we got to the boarder where they had decided to carry out boarder patrol. Well not everyone had passport in addition to a militant guard we were requested to turn back (finger strocking the trigger of the M16 MUGGGGG). We decided to just drive into the nearby desert and set up camp. Inflation of the tyres began and we drove in. We found a nice place just above a sand dune, parked and set up camp. Amazingly we were very well organised and the feat was accomplished in less than an hour. Drinks, chilly chill and more drinks followed by barbq and sheesha got everyone nicely merry. We (thats is Weli, Nondas and Mark) decided to go down the cheap route and get half open tents, ended up being a good option except for the spooning that followed. Woke up to a blazing heat which managed to get habib up nice early from his one man individual tent. Off we went Back to Dubai!!!!!!
Saturday was a chilled day to be honest I think i have confused the dates and so cant realy remember. Hmmm Sunday what happened Sunday. Sunday was a trip to emirites mall with sheesha and cinema. We have finally arrived to today Monday the 12th Jan. Today we decided to go cayaking around the palm we didnt make it past a leaf, due to reduced lung capacity and some capsizing we decided to turn back and proceed with our cardiac arrests. We ate at the most famous canteen in Dubai (place for wraps and sandwiches) tooooo maccchhhhhhhhh. Words cannot describe as well as the prices (50p a wrap).
Well our last days approach and I promise Mark and Weli will be adding to this blog!!!!!! We arrive in Mumbai on the 16th at 4.00 am.
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Hit ROCKBOTTOM
Well here we all are in Dubai. It certainly has changed a great deal when Weli and I were here almost 2 years ago. The skyline is beautiful with the Burg Dubai at 800m dwarfing all the other super structures. Habib lives on the palm island. The palm island had me owe struck, how can man move so much dirt/earth and make a man made island of this size. All the houses follow various architects across the world such as spansish villas still looking for a portuguese style quinta. Went for shisha and wraps last night everyone a bit razzeled from the 7 gins and tonic on the flight.
Went out for a few quiet drinks last night!! ended up being a full night on zi razzel until 6am. Started off at 360 a bar in the middle of the sea stuck bang in the middle of the Burg Al Arab and the other fancy hotel. A bottle of vodka later we found ourselves going to Rockbottom which is the Rocket equivilent of Dubai. Full of english people!!!!
Today Habib's mum cooked the most unbelievable feast of lamb and lots of other fine dishes we ate like kings, even better than the last feast two years ago (never thought that was possible). We are chilling at Habib's house soacking in the luxuries that I am sure we will lose for some time in S. E. Asia.
Went out for a few quiet drinks last night!! ended up being a full night on zi razzel until 6am. Started off at 360 a bar in the middle of the sea stuck bang in the middle of the Burg Al Arab and the other fancy hotel. A bottle of vodka later we found ourselves going to Rockbottom which is the Rocket equivilent of Dubai. Full of english people!!!!
Today Habib's mum cooked the most unbelievable feast of lamb and lots of other fine dishes we ate like kings, even better than the last feast two years ago (never thought that was possible). We are chilling at Habib's house soacking in the luxuries that I am sure we will lose for some time in S. E. Asia.
Three travellers NO malaria tablets
Currently flying on the B.A flight (flight number BA 107) to Dubai our first destination. I have the aisle seat, Weli the window and marK is sandwiched between us like a slim lean piece of chicken. Our last minute packing has proved to be unsuccessful as out of the three of us no one has brought malaria tablets. The plan will be to get Marc and Weli to also write on this blog and to keep all your people back home up to date, as well as giving different opinions on stories that will undoubtedly be posted. Right now I can’t even imagine what to expect i.e. South East Asia.
I think the onboard drink of choice will be a gin and tonic. Can’t wait to see Habib. Will have the chance to polish my acting skills when I pretend to be shocked at seeing Nondas at the airport. Unlucky Nondas nice try with the surprise muhahahahaah. Thank you Weli and Nef for spilling the beans. I am planning on reacting like Jerry McGuire.
Feeling the exchange rape sorry i mean exchange rate, have lost 2 UAE Dirham for every pound. The plan is to lay low until we get to India. Very unlikely.
I think the onboard drink of choice will be a gin and tonic. Can’t wait to see Habib. Will have the chance to polish my acting skills when I pretend to be shocked at seeing Nondas at the airport. Unlucky Nondas nice try with the surprise muhahahahaah. Thank you Weli and Nef for spilling the beans. I am planning on reacting like Jerry McGuire.
Feeling the exchange rape sorry i mean exchange rate, have lost 2 UAE Dirham for every pound. The plan is to lay low until we get to India. Very unlikely.
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