India Trip - November 2005
Pictures
Day 1 and 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Thursday November 3, 2005 - Friday November 4, 2005
Today marks the beginning of my adventure to India. I woke up early enough to prepare the house and get everything ready for leaving. I had packed the night before so it was just getting last-minute items ready. I then donned my umbrella since I had to walk just a ways to the bus stop. My luggage got quite wet but by the time I reached the airport it was pretty much dry.
Checking in at the airport was much better than it ever has been before. This is because I got to fly first class for the first leg. They opened a special line for us so I was able to breeze through security. Since I was flying first/business class I thought I'd check out the Red Carpet Club to see how well I would not fit in.
The day-long of flights began with a "short" jaunt over to Chicago followed by Frankfurt, Germany and finally Bangalore. Landing in Germany was thrilling since this was the first time for me ever outside of the USA, unless you count Tijuana, Mexico and Vancouver, BC. My first shock was that I had to pay attention to signs not being primarily in English. My second shock was finding people smoking inside the airport and designated smoking areas that were not isolated.
The flight to Germany was nice since I got a few decent meals and great snacks. The seats were somewhat comfortable, but I am sure flying coach would have been much, much worse. Yes, I think I can get used to flying business class. Flying to Bangalore was not as nice since the seat did not have as many gadgets, but I had a window seat. I also met a fellow by the name of Mike from Buffalo, NY who was about my age and flying to Bangalore for business as well. He has been there before so I got some great information from him.
As we touched down in Bangalore, Mike was telling me about the custom's procedures at the airport. You just get into one line and stay in it. Once you get to the custom's official, just hand him the passport and form that was previously filled out. They almost never smile, but I got one from mine. They look over the passport, visa, and form to ensure I signed my name correctly, stamp it, and then hand it back. There is another guy who waits at the exiting door to check that the form was stamped and passport and visa looks good. I continued on to get my bag and exchange dollars into rupees. The last official to get by is the one who takes a piece of the form and once again checks that everything looks good. He also gave me a smile when I said "thank you". The place was also quite stuffy, no air conditioning and very humid. The papers I was holding were damp within minutes.
Right outside the terminal many people are lined up to pick up the passengers. After waiting a few minutes I was able to spot my driver. He got the car and we took off down the speedway. Riding in a car in India is quite an adventure. First of all they drive on the left side and are use their horn generously. Since I arrived in Bangalore at midnight the streets were quite empty so I did not get to experience the "bumper cars". I call it "bumper cars" since everyone is using their horn just to let others know they are there. Even though they do not actually bump each other, they get pretty close to each other and it looks like a bumper car amusement ride at times.
Finally it was nice to reach the Central Park Hotel. It is not the nicest hotel ever but is decent enough. It was nice to get into bed and go to sleep. Even though Bangalore is 13 1/2 hours ahead of Seattle, I was tired and it felt like night time. Overall today was quite exciting.
Saturday November 5, 2005
I got up pretty early this morning and did not sleep for too many hours last night. I started off the day with a nice warm shower and breakfast. The hotel has a complimentary breakfast buffet down in the restaurant. I really was not sure what to expect from this buffet but it was indeed delicious. Of course it was not your typical American breakfast food, but simply rice and meat dishes. However, they did have a few breakfast cereals but I love Indian food and now get to try authentic Indian food.
At lunch time I went back down the hotel restaurant and had their lunch buffet. This was much better than breakfast and the spices were fantastic. Of course seeing me as a western one of the waiters pointed out some other dish and mentioned it was not spicy. I tried it but the spicy dishes were the best. After I was all done the waiter pointed out the desserts. Too bad I got full from the meal but really is there any doubt that I could not pass up dessert. One dish consisted of squares that tasted like sweet pancakes with maple syrup and the other was chocolate soufflé.
I really did not do much between breakfast and lunch since I did not have enough courage to step out of the hotel. But following lunch I decided to just go outside, walk around the hotel, and smell the fresh Indian air with lots of smog. No sooner than I walked outside the hotel there was a man trying offer me a taxi ride with his tricycle taxi to the palace, which I think is mainly the capitol building of Bangalore. These tricycles are basically motorcycles with a back seat and are quite small, but maneuver through traffic nicely. At first I felt uncomfortable going with him but then I thought I'd try and be adventurous. And it was only 10 rupees (about a quarter in dollars)! Since this was a spontaneous move, I did not get my camera.
Now to describe driving through Bangalore on a motorized tricycle. First of all these tricycles are practically lawn mower engines and have the worst emissions, but I bet they get great gas mileage. Also, whenever the tricycle I rode in died while idling at a stoplight, the driver would have to pull start it with a lever. Back to the actual ride I am surprised I did not see any accidents in just the short time I was riding. Everyone comes so close with each other and driving in your lane is an option. Actually, I do not recall seeing any specific lanes. Cars, tricycles, motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians all appear to just go wherever they wish. The horn is to be used when giving a warning to others you are about to cut them off and is to be used generously. Even as I am typing this I am constantly listening to the sounds of horns. They must use those instead of blinkers. I do have to say I am amazed how well they make the most use of their road and get very close to each other. I am also surprised to hear Bangalore traffic is bad since they seem to move speedily. Maybe this is the traffic solution to Seattle! Now you can see why I call it "bumper cars".
It was cool seeing the Bangalore capitol and being able to see much of the Bangalore life. As we were going back to the hotel the driver wanted me to stop at two craft stores. He said something about being able to get something for free if he was to take a passenger to two stores. I am not sure exactly what he meant but at least I got to see some of the crafts of India. I will have to come back to get some things.
That sure made the day much more interesting and I was glad to get out and see a small part of the town. Too bad I did not get pictures of the ride but I'll be sure to take some snapshots as I ride to work next week.
Sunday November 6, 2005
I awoke fairly early in the morning and got ready for church. As it turns out the hot water did not work so I had to go without a shower.
The taxi driver arrived just before 9am to take me to the local Bangalore Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As we drove to church we went through a fairly poor area and I noticed many people that lived in tents. It was quite sad to see the poverty. I gave the address to the taxi driver and he seemed a little unfamiliar where the building was. Luckily he knew where he was going and once he pulled up to the church I immediately recognized the church sign. I walked in just as they were singing the opening hymn, shook the Elder's hand, sat down and begun singing along to "Redeemer of Israel". It is amazing to be half-way around the world yet still being able to feel comfortable in a place I never have been and immediately feel like I was at home.
Many of the same nuances of the church in the United States appear here in India. It was the Fast and Testimony service just like in the states and even the testimonies themselves were very similar, except they kept theirs much shorter and to the point. One man that shared his testimony was just recently baptized the day before and then got confirmed with the rest of his family today. There were two Sunday School classes where one was taught in Tamil and the other English. Even though I would have loved to know Tamil I went into the English class where they were teaching from the Gospel Principles book. Just like in the United States a missionary who just received the assignment to teach had filled in for another teacher, yet gave a marvelous lesson on the Word of Wisdom. It was quite comfortable and met some great people.
Later today I decided to just go for a walk around the hotel. Of course just as I was leaving the man who drove me around on his tricycle (recently found out they are called auto rishkas) approached me again wanting to drive me somewhere. When I passed through again one of his colleagues again offered to take me around. I had to finally say, "I really do not want to go anywhere. I just want to walk around on my own." While strolling around a parking lot I got a great picture of a sign that said, "Horns Prohibited." I had to laugh since the horn is used so generously while driving here.
Tonight I ate again and Pinxx, the restaurant here in the hotel. I had a lamb burger, since I really enjoy lamb, and it was quite tasty. There was another fellow from the states, California actually, who sat in a table close by. We began talking for quite some time and exchanging stories and sharing geek talk. He was a software guy like myself who was working with Siemens. Finally we both got tired of talking and decided to retire to bed.
Tomorrow I finally get to go into the office. Hopefully the hot water works tomorrow morning. After letting the front desk know it appears to be working tonight.
Monday November 7, 2005
Today marked my first day coming into the office. The taxi picked me up promptly at 8:00AM and I got my first taste of Bangalore traffic. It really was not bad at all except for the roads. After last week's flooding there came many potholes and rocks and dirt in the roads. The only things the drivers here slow down for are potholes and speed bumps; other cars...no, pedestrians...no, children in the street....no. I came to find out later that since I left "early" traffic was not as bad. It usually can get pretty jammed up. Today it was just busy but not jammed.
Work was about 30 minutes away and we passed by many other large company buildings. We even passed by the other Honeywell building. I was hoping the driver knew where he was going. Finally I was relieved when he pulled up to a nice looking building that said "Honeywell".
As I entered the building I was quickly escorted up to the third floor where the security guard brought me to a conference room that had a sign of a few different people's names. My name was not one of them and he was confused and did not know who I was. He had me stay in the conference room for a few minutes when some other person came and asked who I was visiting. Finally I was relieved to see Sathyan, the contact person for our group. Phew...the driver brought me to the right place.
We moved down to the first floor where the group was and I got to see where everyone works. People usually do not arrive until 9:00AM where the company bus makes its rounds at about that time. Before I proceed one funny thing I noticed in the elevator was there is a -1 floor. The ground floor is floor 0 so the first floor is really the second. The -1 floor is the basement. The folks here had a laugh when I pointed that out.
Eventually I was able to meet everyone and it was great putting names to faces of people I had communicated with via e-mail. It was also refreshing to see those folks who had come to Redmond. I quickly got together with Sathyan (HTSL lead for our group) and Alok (Team 5 lead...the team I am a part of) and we discussed the agenda for my visit. I then got to meet the rest of my team and introduced myself. I also brought left-over Halloween candy, which I think they enjoyed since it was almost all gone.
Lunch time was quite fun here at HTSL. Everyone practically goes at the same time and there is a cafeteria on the top floor. There are "veg" (vegetarians) and "non-veg" (carnivores) choices. I chose the "non-veg" and enjoyed some great curry. The taste was very similar to Cambodian curry except that it had more hot spice. Following the lunch we went on a short walk around the building, probably to work off all the food just eaten.
I did my first training in the afternoon where I did an overview of BITE, which is the area our team is primarily focused on. I thought it went pretty well since a lot of people are already familiar with BITE.
This evening I was pretty tired. I think the jet-lag is starting to kick in. The drive home was pretty bad where it took almost an hour. I even fell asleep a few times. Finally when I came back to the hotel I just crashed and fell asleep. By the way, I am writing this entry the next day in case you were wondering.
Tuesday November 8, 2005
This morning I woke up quite early at 3:00AM since I went to bed pretty early last night. I think the jet-lag has finally kicked in.
My journey to work began just like it did yesterday and I still am not very familiar with what roads I have been traveling on. Maybe by the time I leave I'll kinda feel like I know where I am.
This evening I went to dinner again at my hotel but this time it was the restaurant on the top floor. It is called Paparazzi and has a nice atmosphere. On Friday there is even live jazz. There are large glass windows that overlook the city and actually there is quite a nice view. The food was great too. I had sate chicken with Thai curry sauce for an appetizer and charred lamb chops for dinner. The plate food arrangement on the plate was even very artistic.
After dinner I decided to be more brave and take a walk outside. Despite the traffic it was actually quite pleasant outside. It was nice where I walked since it was lit up and very bright. I stopped by a crafts store to check out the different things to buy. I am amazed at these small carvings within larger carvings all made out of the same piece of wood or stone. The salesman was very charismatic too. He reminded me of a '70s used car salesman but was quite good. He kept taking silk blankets out of the bag onto the floor to show me just how great they were. I felt bad I didn't buy any blankets after all that work but he said it is part of his job. I did buy a carving though. I was almost tempted to buy a chess set but I figured I have enough of those already.
Wednesday November 9, 2005
Today at work I held two training sessions where I got to explain CMF Interactive Mode, which is the main part of the AESS that I feel the most comfortable explaining. I got to use one of the Redmond test stations to help explain and give demos. I think these sessions went much better than previous days.
This evening I even got more brave. Before eating dinner I decided to take a walk even further from the hotel. I began walking down MG Road, which is the main street by the hotel. There are also a lot of shopping stores along this road and even a mall-like department store. I was expecting to see some sort of traditional Indian clothing but it was all modern. I then came to a clothing store where I was able to get a present for Mylie.
Walking along Bangalore's downtown streets is quite the experience. It really was not too bad except for crossing the street. The drivers really do not slow down much for pedestrians. Maybe they gave me a break seeing that I was a foreigner. After I crossed the street I then remembered I would have to get back on the other side when returning to the hotel.
I actually enjoyed walking down the street. I just kept my head up, watched out for other people and cars, and took long strides. No one gave me any grief. One thing I like about walking here is that people walk like they drive. Everyone appears to be quite aware of their surroundings and we move out of each other's way just when the time is right. The drivers are the same way-they are aware of other cars within their vicinity and move out of the way just in time when they are about to collide head-on with another vehicle. Also, the people walk towards the left instead of the right.
Crossing the street on my way back to the hotel was an adventure. The stop light was in my favor to cross except for the oncoming traffic that wants to turn left into the lanes. It is like playing the game Frogger where you step pass one car, then let the car pass behind you while a riksha passes in front, then continue on in this pattern until reaching the other side. It almost appears the drivers can anticipate your move as long as you are paying attention too.
Tonight for dinner I tried some room service. I heard the pizza was good so I ordered lamb and chicken sausage pizza (yum!) and gulab jamoon with ice-cream for dessert. Gulab jamoon is like a doughnut soaking in maple syrup. I'd definitely eat it again.
Thursday November 10, 2005
Today was my long day since I stayed late at work to join in the teleconference with Steve in Redmond. I did a training session with the entire AESS group here on the design and code review process. I do not think it went very well since I was not as prepared as I hoped.
Tonight before the teleconference we had a pizza party up in the cafeteria where they ordered a lamb pizza especially for me. It has been great associating with the folks here.
The teleconference was over at about 9:00PM and so I left to go straight back to the hotel. On my way back I had to laugh at a message painted on a wall and I wish I could have taken a picture. It said "No urinating here. Only dogs urinate."
Friday November 11, 2005
Today work seemed to go by quite fast. I held a meeting where we discussed methods of BITE fault monitoring testing followed by a few hours where I tested something I needed to finish before Monday. I spent the time in their lab where they have one test station. Remarkably enough the lab here is much nicer than the one we have back in Redmond.
Following work our team went out to dinner in a local mall. I first followed Sathyan to his house and then we went to the mall. He showed me inside his house, which had about two bedrooms. I also met his mother. I was quite interested to see what the Indian housing is like and it was very similar to a two bedroom apartment.
The mall had 4 floors including the bottom floor. It looked just like a typical American mall and even had a movie theater on the top floor. It would be nice seeing a movie there in the Gold Class since there are few seats and they are large. The cost is about 400 - 500 rupees and also includes snacks and drinks.
The restaurant had a great theme. It was as though we were eating at an old Indian train station on the platform. It even had a mock train car with tables for people to eat at. There were mirrors on both sides to make the platform and train extend much further. Also the servers were dressed as though they were conductors, ticketers, and engineers. The food was also very good. We all had a great time and it was nice getting to know many of the people I worked with.
Saturday November 12, 2005
This morning I woke up somewhat earlier to begin our trip to the countryside of India. This was organized by Sathyan and Srikan, another lead at HTSL. Adam Prewett, who is a fellow from Redmond about my age, was visiting Srikan also at HTSL. So five of us, Srikan, Adam, Guru, Sanath, and I reserved a resort accommodation out in Bandipur, about a four hour drive southeast of Bangalore. We were also going to stop off in Mysore to view the palace.
To begin the trip Adam's driver picked up me and we proceeded to meet the other three at Honeywell. Unfortunately the driver thought we were driving out to Mysore so we began on the Bangalore-Mysore road. Luckily Adam reminded the driver before we were too far outside of Bangalore that we were going to Honeywell.
The drive out to Mysore was much better than driving within the city but can still be pretty scary. There is no speed limit but the maximum speed is about 100 km/hr, about 60 mi/hr. An average speed is about 50 km/hr. Imagine driving on a road where construction alternates between the left and right side and driving in lanes is an option. In fact there are no "lanes". The driver is required to continuously swerve back and forth between each side, which goes from having a barrier to not having a barrier. To top off the experience there are no seatbelts in the Mazda Qualis car and when you are driving along an Indian road where people walk alongside the highway, it feels like it is much faster. We are also passing through towns and villages without slowing down much.
A few of us were hungry so we stopped off at a local restaurant and had a short breakfast. The food was quite good where we ate an Indian pancake stuffed with vegetables. The atmosphere was nice and it was much less crowded than in the city.
Before reaching Mysore we stopped off at an historical site where it was a garden house of Tippu Sultan and later the residence of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, who was the Duke of Wellington. It was built in 1799 and was amazing to see that it is still in reasonable condition.
Later we stopped at a bird sanctuary, which was just an experience in itself. We did not see a whole lot of birds because of their migration pattern but did get to ride a boat in a lake. The rower took us to a rock where a crocodile was just relaxing with one eye open. The rower then turned to where we got pretty close to it. Just a little too close for my taste. We then rowed around and got some good pictures of birds and a crocodile swimming. There was another crocodile on a rock and the rower thought he would produce some excitement. He splashed water using the oar where the crocodile growled and opened its mouth to threaten us. That was exciting!
Upon reaching Mysore we went to eat at a local hotel and the food was fantastic. I loved the different gravies and what they can do to vegetables to make them taste very good. The naan is also extremely tasty and I could eat that all day. The total including tax and tip came to be about 900 rupees, or 20 dollars for five people.
In the city of Mysore there is a palace called the Mysore Palace. This was built sometime in the 18th to 19th century. We had to take our shoes off and walk through the palace barefoot. The architecture was amazing and it was great to see all the paintings and structures in decent shape. This was quite a large palace and I enjoyed being able to imagine what it would have been like living there. Too bad we were unable to take pictures inside. We did not want to stay around until nighttime where the entire palace is lit up like the house from Christmas Vacation. It would have been some sight to see but we wanted to get to the resort before too late so we could relax a bit.
The resort was about another two-hour drive. Bandipur is a place where there is an Indian national park and they have a wild safari. Part of the resort stay included this safari. The resort is not too bad; the hotel was actually nicer. But for being far away from the city and in the middle of the jungle it is not too bad. I would not necessarily call it a "resort" but it was livable. Adam and I were in one cottage and the other three were in another. The bed mattress was quite thin but it was actually comfortable. We did not have any bugs but did have a toad or frog in the bathroom for some of the evening. That evening they had a snack prepared for us along with a National Geographic movie that depicted the jungle we were going to visit on the following day. Afterwards we just came back and went to sleep to prepare for the 6:30AM safari the following day.
Sunday November 13, 2005
This morning we got woken up from the "wake-up call", which consisted of pounding on the door. I am sure they love that part of their job. We first had a small breakfast and then started on our adventure. We rode in a 2-wheel drive jeep that could hold 9 people in the back. It had an open top and open sides. The roads we drove on were back jungle roads, of course, but when you're taking passengers through the jungle the day after it rains, you'd think it would be 4-wheel drive. The driver first stopped to allow us to take pictures of some tiger tracks they saw. When we tried to start again the vehicle was stuck in the mud. They called for us all to come out to see if that would get us out of the mud. Oh yes, just right next to where we see tiger tracks and are currently in the jungle. Then we had to help push it while the driver was working hard to get going. Finally after all of us helped along with putting sticks under the tires for traction we made our escape.
The safari was quite nice even though we did not see any tigers. We did see a lot of spotted deer and bison. There also was a wild elephant and her calf that got fairly close to us.
Following the safari we went to ride an elephant. They had two female elephants with platforms that support four people sitting. There was also a baby elephant who loved attention from all the people. They sold sugarcane that you can feed the elephants. They first smell it with their nose, grab it with their trunk and start chewing on it. The elephant ride was amazing. They even guided the elephants into the bushes and so we were riding on top of the bushes. It really was quite the experience.
On our way back we went to the top of the tallest hill around and got a good view of the land. It really is an amazing site. I also enjoyed riding through the villages. On the top of the mountain is a very old Hindu temple.
As we came back through Mysore we stopped off at the same hotel to eat lunch once again. This time I got some Gulab Jamoon for dessert, which is quite the treat. This is the dessert that is like a donut hole soaking in maple syrup. It was crazy being in a small town of India. There is still a lot of people around to where the most crowded place in Seattle still does not really compare. The drive back seemed to take a long time but it was good getting to better know some of the people from the HTSL team. We all seemed to have a great time with each other. But it was good getting back to the hotel to where I could just relax in the quietness.
Monday November 14, 2005
Today seemed to go quickly. I began reviewing the code for the ADIS subsystem to prepare for the code review this afternoon. The review was over a little after 4:30PM and I was planning to leave at 5:00PM. First I got to say goodbye to everyone and give a quick summary of what I experience with the team here. They were quite kind where they presented me with a gift from India that consisted of a picture made out of a variety of gemstones. I sure did not expect this.
After work I wanted to do some last-minute shopping and Adam and I went out to dinner. The dinner was very delicious and the restaurant had a great theme. It looked like something from the Flintstones where the tables were the chairs were a little lower for comfort and it looked like we were eating inside a cave.
I then went back to the hotel to pack so I could leave at 10:00PM. People kept telling me to get to the airport three hours early. I actually go there about three and a half hours early and got through security and customs in about 30 minutes. So, now what do I do for the next three hours until the plane departs. I guess I can finish up my journal since I have been behind a few days.
Overall my experience here in India was remarkable. It was great meeting people from HTSL where I could put a name to a face and get to know them personally as well.
Tuesday November 15, 2005
My flight home was quite long. It would have been much better if I did not have a cold and stomach flu. My flight from Bangalore to Frankfurt went quickly but my next flight from Frankfurt to Portland, OR seemed to take forever. This flight was a little better because the chairs were much more comfortable, but it was difficult to sleep and my appetite was gone from having the stomach flu.
Once I got to Portland I had to go through customs. Luckily I was the first one in line and it went very smoothly. Since I went from the international terminal to the domestic terminal I had to retrieve my luggage, which took forever to get. Finally I was able to exit the international terminal. The one problem, though, was that our flight was about 30 minutes delayed so I only had an additional 30 more minutes to catch my final flight to Seattle. First I had to drop my luggage onto a conveyor belt in order for it to get to the domestic terminal. I then had to go through security again and try to wrestle my way through because another guy on my previous flight was also in a hurry to get to the same flight to Seattle I needed to get to. He cut in line giving the excuse he had to catch a flight so I muttered, "I'm on that same flight too." Oh well, what can you do when dealing with rude people?
Running down the terminal when you just came from an international flight with very little sleep and not much food in my stomach, along with a stomach flu and cold is not very fun. I finally got to the gate and was quite winded but got onto the puddle jumper for my final flight leg. I begun to wonder, if I barely made it to the plane, how quickly will my luggage get to the plane before taking off? Oh well, I couldn't think about that now since I was dead tired.
The flight from Portland to Seattle is only about an hour and is actually quite a nice flight. It was great to finally land in Seattle and be home. I went to the baggage claim hoping to retrieve my luggage quickly but it turned out it never left Portland. All this time I was paranoid about my luggage reaching and leaving India. Who would have thought I had problems with my luggage in Portland. Of course the problem was going through customs and it having to get rescreened. At least I got to see Karli and Mylie again. It sure is great to be home. My luggage finally arrived at my house at about 11pm that night.