Golf, Delhi and Injuries

Today the Johnnie Walker Classics (JWC) have started in Delhi. For those of you who are not familiar with golf, the JWC is one of the biggest golf tournaments in Asia. Maersk is sponsoring Thomas Bjorn a Danish golf professional, who was supposed to play at the JWC. As part of the sponsorship with Maersk we are entitled to have Bjorn for one day and get him together with our customers.

As the event guy in our department I was in charge to get some senior folks together with the world elite golf player. Done as said. The venue was fixed, we finally got some costumers who where willing to spend a Monday morning at the golf course and I flew to Delhi with 80kg of luggage, mainly corporate gifts such as towels, gloves etc.

Saturday afternoon I was sitting at the Delhi Golf Club, having a coffee and discussing the last details when the manager of Thomas calls up. The bad news is that Thomas is injured in London and won’t come to India, neither for our event nor for the JWC. Puhhh. I requested him to call our MD and CEO and tell them the news, especially our MD who is quite straight forward. Finally we canceled the same. This was pretty sad, and embarrassing for Maersk as we were really pushing people to come to the event, and one day before you cancel it. Luckily I was able to cancel all arrangements with any occurring costs.

So I had some time and a car+driver for sightseeing in Delhi.

English speaking Rikshaw Wallah एग्लिश स्पेअकिंग रिक्षव वल्लाह

Today I was riding with a English speaking rickshaw wallah, which never happened to me before. He was actually a student and drive rickshaw for earning some pocket money. Interesting was, that he told me he makes round 300-400 Rs each day. (6-8€) Which is a monthly salary of 10,000 (200€). I should start the same here to earn some money ;-)

Singapore

Although my flight from Phuket to Singapore was at 9am in the morning, I could find hardly sleep the night before. I checked in and took a glance at the boarding card. Boarding was on 8.30, so there was still one hour to go and I went to an Internet cafe. After writing some mails and postcards, I finally recognized the little sentence on the card: please board before 8.30 otherwise you may not be accepted for travel. So it was some 8.20, more or less ten minutes to go. Never the less, I said to myself we are still in Asia, so they won’t be that strict and relaxed a bit. Then I had still to pass the immigration. And shit there was a crowd, I finally convinced a German family to let me skip the queue and there was still time for the mandatory duty free shopping.

Singapore is much developed, clean, pretty well organized. It should be from an urban point of view the Benchmark of Asia. The port of Singapore is a major point in its economical success, as it is strategically situated in Asia. The port and the recently the airport, which attracts freight and passengers, is the prime government instrument to help Singapore become an international player.




Furthermore there are no tensions between the inhabitants or social groups who are mainly 75% Chinese, 7% Indian, some 15% Malaysians and other minorities. You will find English, Tamil, Chinese, Hindi spoken there. Even though many residents say they don't like the fact that it is so organized, a guy on the plane told me. He was looking for a more adventures place to stay, so he choose Bangkok.

Besides some sightseeing I attended a chicken parade held on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Interesting was my Chinese horoscope. I was born in the year of the rooster, and according to this the upcoming year of the rat will be a lucky one for me. "Rooster will enjoy great prosperity... will experience good fortune ... it will be a hectic and stressful year as well. And finally they might just find their perfect match this year. BUT men should refrain from alcohol and womanizing. hhm ...

Thailand - wrap up

“Bangkok is an interchange of the past, present and future, and a superb subject for any urban connoisseur.” (LP) I stayed two days in the city which is always on the move. You will see ancient temples next to splendid shopping malls and passing an air conditioned sky train between. Highways usually have 6-8 lanes and above that another 6 lanes as elevated expressway. My first impression while getting into town was that everything is pretty well thought and organized. Even though there is a lot of traffic, it follows certain rules.

I experienced the past while I was riding the express boat on the Chao Phraya River, which is not only a fast and cheap mode of public transportation it used to be the express way for centuries. While riding the boat you’ll pass all the sights of Bangkok. To name just a few: Grand Palace and the Wat Kalayanamit.

more pictures in the gallery

In Bangkok I met Vincent an old friend from the Parisian times. After dinner we went to the Bed which is definitely one of the best clubs worldwide. Check the website. From that day they banned smoking in public places across Thailand. So it felt a bit strange, everybody was walking out the club to have a puff. By the time I left Europe the smoking ban wasn’t in place. So I will have this experience back home. But in Thailand outside are 30Degress not -10 as in Germany.

After Bangkok I went to Phuket which is known for is clean, wide beaches and jade colored water. I stayed at the Karon Beach for some days with just relaxing and chilling at the beach. I enjoyed the time at the beach which gave some time to reflect as well. Beside that I rented a scooter and explored the island. I started being in love with a motor ride in the sun, but I still favor the Piaggio X9, which I drove in the streets of Paris.

more pictures here

Phuket

Obwohl Phuket oder besser der Patong Beach ja als das Mallorca Thailands verschrie'n ist, finde ich es hier ganz angenehm. Ich bin am Karon Beach und da geht es defintiv nicht ganz so zu wie nebenan. Ich finde hier mehr Europäisches als in Bombay. So habe ich es mir heute morgen mal beim Frühstück am Strand richtig gut gehen lassen. Croissants, Cafe Latte und endlich mal eine vernünftige Zeitung,
ok es ist nicht "Die Zeit" aber alles besser als die indischen Schmierfinken. In Indien kann man jeden Tag neues über die Bollywood Stars lesen, sämtliche Nachbarschaftsstreits werden detailliert ausgeweidet oder politische Demonstrationen, die in Indien gerne auch einmal in Tumulten ausarten. Der Auslandsteil beschränkt sich zur Zeit auf Nikolas Sarkozy oder man zeigt eine adrette Blondine aus Australien.

Von daher ein gelungener Start in den Tag. Was ich sonst getrieben habe? Ich hab mir ein Roller ausgeliehen und die Gegend erkundet, am Strand relaxt, Quad fahren. etc..

Thailand kurzes Update

Hallo zusammen, hier ein kurzes Lebenszeichen von mir. Mir gehts soweit gut, morgen früh gehts dann weiter nach Singapur und am Sonntag wieder zurück nach Bombay. Fotos gibts hier in der Gallerie

Bangkok

I'm traveling through South East Asia at the moment. You will see here soon some impressions.

After some sleep I escaped frosty Bombay (8 degrees at night) and flew to Bangkok. One of my first impressions were the organized traffic and the relatively cleanness - compared to Bombay. The weather is nice, although a bit too humid (33 degrees 85%hum) I visited the The Grand Palace and Temple and went on a river cruise. Check the gallery.

Like everywhere in world locals sell their stuff tourist spots, in a more or less direct or aggressive way. Cause you do not need any of the items sold there, approach yu in sometimes offensive way. A normal conversation with a local dude start like this: "Hello my friend, where are you from?" I'd love to reply that I’m coming from India, which is basically not a lie. They are usually confused or a bit puzzled. Which make me and the seller laugh.

Mandatory is as well in the city of love or others may say it is the city of sin, a visit to the red light district in Bangkok. People everywhere try to get you in one of the so called massage shops or in a strip bar. One of their biggest arguments is that one beer is only 100 Bhats (2 EUR). But then of course are you forced to pay everybody a tip who approaches you, no matter if you have received a service from them or not. In that case you might spend 500 Baths for a beer instead of 100.

Speaking of love, what you see here quite often, relatively old and ugly men accompanied by young and beautiful ladies or men.

My next stations are Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and finally Singapore.

Om Shanti Om drives German fans crazy

The Popular Hindi blockbuster 'Om Shanti Om' (OSO) was shown last night at the 58th Berlinale in presence of actor Shah Rukh Khan (SRK). I wouldn’t exaggerate if I say that the Berlinale the most famous Film Festival in Europe beside Cannes. OSO which was a blockbuster in India, see the earlier post, now finally hits Europe. All tickets for the public viewings were sold out within minutes; some of them were sold on Ebay for 25 EUR.

Surprisingly no other film at the Berlinale has created such a big interest as OSO. What rarely happened before is that accredited journalists were denied permission to attend the official premiere. A lot of German fans were keen so see a glimpse of SRK.

Winter in Mumbai

Zur Zeit friert ganz Mumbai, zumindest Nachts. Die Temperaturn sinken bis auf 10 Grad, gestern morgen hat es sogar kurz geregnet. Es ist in den Abendstunden fast wie ein europäischer Herbst. Für die Mumbaiker ist das natürlich fast so schlimm wie -20 grad bei uns. Aber wer im Sommer an bis 45 Grad gewöhnt ist, hat natürlich weder passende Gaderobe noch eine Heizung. Wenn Die Temperatur unter 20 Grad fällt werden dann auch die Mützen ausgepackt. Ich persönlich findes das ganz ok, da die Tageshöchsttemperaturen bis auf 30 Grad klettern.

Rendezvous With French Cinema

Die letzte Woche war sehr ereignisreich und ein durch und durch europäisches und indisches Erlebnis. Am Anfang der Woche war ich auf dem French Film Festival habe mir Caramel, Avatar (Crysalis), La Science des rêves (DE: Anleitung zum Träumen EN: the science of sleep) mit Charlotte Gainsbourg angeschaut. Recht gut war außerdem Le Concile de pierre (The stone concil) mit Monica Bellucci, Catherine Deneuve, und Moritz Bleibtreu. Ich war recht erstaunt über Bleibtreus akzentfreies Französisch.

Letzendlich habe ich mit Bedauern festellen müssen, dass von den dort gezeigten Filme es nur einer ins deutsche Kino geschafft hat. Es wäre schön mehr französiches Kino in Deutschland zu haben, es muss ja nicht gleich synchronisert werden, ein deutscher oder englischer Untertitel reicht ja schon..

Das Wochenende setzte sich dann mit einer typischen Bollywood Disco fort. Lustig ist es schon wenn auf einmal 10 Weiße zu den aktuellen Hits von Bollywood abgehen. Dann werden sofort die indischen Handy Kameras gezückt und drauf gehalten. Aber man post ja doch gerne. Vielleicht schaffe ich es so als Star nach Bollywood?

Am Sonntag war dann die große Eröffnung der Pferde Renn Saison beim Mc. Dowell Indian Derby. Wir haben uns alle Schale geschmissen um uns unter die Hogh Society von Bombay zu mischen. Ich habe mich auch beim Wetten probiert allerdings haben mir ‚Beyond Belief’ und „Diabolical“ kein Glück gebracht. Am Ende hab ich anstatt mein Geld beim wetten zu verliren lieber in Drinks mit der Bombay High Society investiert. Für Fotos hier und hier klicken

Zur gleichen Zeit war eine Delegation aus Stuutagrt in Mumbai um deren Städtepartnerschaft mit Mumbaui zu zelebrieren. Dies klang mit einem Weinfest und einem klassischen Konzert des Stuttagrter Kammerorchester und der Philharmonie von Indien aus. Durch das relativ kalte Wetter in Mumbai fühlte sich das ganze wie eine Herbstag an. Dazu noch badische Weine der Sonntag Abend war ein Genuss.

Mittlerweile hat mein Schweizer Mitbewohner Sabi das Feld geräumt und wurde gegen eine chinesisches Mädchen Names An An Na eingetauscht. Und die Wohnung wirkt auf einmal leerer. Ich werde am Sonntag eine Woche nach Thailand fliegen, deswegen wird der nächste Post ein wenig auf sich warten lassen.