My visit to India was an eye-opener experience. Being my first-time to visit a foreign country; I savored all the good things I’ve got to see and experience and kept notes along the way.
NAIA Terminal 3 Lobby
It was also the first time that I was able to walk through Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I was amazed by the spacious galleries, the natural light and the aura of freshness. What I disliked was the manner in which outgoing passengers had to snake through Immigration. The wait was long, although there were several Immigration Officers’ stations, questions such as "When are you coming back?" seemed a shock as though I was planning to go to India and stay there. Little did these Immigration Officers knew that I did not have any intention of doing that!
Changi Terminal
Changi Airport looked like the forest came to the city. There was a Green Wall, indoor garden and an orchidarium. Instead of walking and towing one’s luggage through the long walk between terminals one can try the Travelator or the Skytrain.
Changi's Sky Train
In the lounge, the Terminal even had things for everyone: free access for internet addicts; smoking bar for smokers; PS3 gaming stations; wide-screen TVs [then covering the Beijing Olympics], 24-hour open shops selling chocolates, cellphones, perfumes; and sky hotels. Never knowing any better, we did not try sleeping in one of the sky hotels but let the night passed us by at the terminal lounge, where Airport Police tried waking us up about three times to check on our passports.
Mumbai Airport
At Mumbai International Airport, however, chaos was the name of the game! Most of the signages were in Hindi and there were no visible English translations. Apparently, the airport terminal was still on expansion phase that we were led to a maze of alleys just to exit. In contrast to my sister’s observation in her visit to Hong Kong wherein she smelled the smell of money; outside Mumbai Airport, one is greeted by the putrid smell of sweat, rotting garbage and brown clay earth which stick to your shoes. On the horizon, you could see the rows of shanties protruding from the slums. Above, the sky was grey due to air pollution. And we forgot to change our dollars to rupees.
The next day, on our way to Nagpur, we were scheduled to fly Air India. Oh, the stewardess were older, the first time I saw stewardesses these old. Breakfast was served on white styrofoam trays and it smelled curry all around. Fortunately, there were English editions of newspapers to pass the time and the smell.
IndiGo Airplane
On our way back to Mumbai from Nagpur after three days in Kalmeshwar, having had the
detour, instead of the scheduled Air India flight, we flew IndiGo Air. At least, the stewardesses were young, sexier and beautiful. I wish I took one home, even suggested to my boss to take his pick, too! The only problem, having no rupees with us, we were not have to eat snack, much less dinner on flight. I should have listened to my wife to bring with me some MagicFlakes! The plane took too long to land; it circled for about ten times because of air traffic. On the plane, one could see the black pockets of pollution hovering above the airport. Thus, as soon as we landed in Mumbai before 11 p.m., we changed some dollars into rupees, hoping we could spend some while in Alibaug.
Common Raven
The ride to Alibaug was long and reached Ravikiran hotel past 3 a.m. [IST] Went to bed without food. Then toured the Dolvi plant four hours later. Went back to the hotel after 2 p.m., and ate a delicious lunch. There was nowhere to buy something in Alibaug, though.
By four, we were back on the road for our 11 o’clock flight to Singapore. It was a sightseeing road trip. Argued whether it was a crow or a raven, we’ve seen along the road.
Karnala Fort
Relieved ourselves while Karnala Fort was watching us. We reached Mumbai during rush hour. Traffic was at a snail pace: what with people criss-crossing the highway and holy cows resting on the streets. Tried window shopping for souvenirs and the proprietor sensed that we were foreigners, somehow marked his prices up almost instantly. I did not buy anything, committing the tourist mistake of computing the selling prices in rupees to its equivalent in pesos.
Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal
The flight to Singapore was uneventful, except that I had the luck of trying out the mouton dish, which unfortunately was cooked Indian-style. I should have chosen the chicken instead. Even the dessert tasted bitter. Arriving at Singapore, we only had an hour before our flight to Manila. Unfamiliar with the Changi Terminal, I found B4 gate after running, hopping, and dashing from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3. No time to buy gifts for home. As soon as I reached the gate, they already close it behind me.
Reached NAIA, bought chocolates as presents at the Duty Free, only to find out latter that they cannot be liquidated as expenses. Next time, no more pasalubongs for all my friends! Anyway, gave all the rupees to my wife; having bought nothing with it—charged it as personal expenses.
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