Well, I have arrived. The plane trip was long, but it wasn't bad. 12 hours on Emirates Airline was a beautiful thing. I watched about 6 movies-X-Men Class 1, Last night, Pirates of Caribbean, Super 8, Thor and can't remember 6th movie. The food was spectacular. About 2 hours into the trip, I had smoked tuna appetizer, which my flight attendant had a tough time pronouncing. She kept trying and getting frustrated. Until finally she pointed to the menu. For main course, I had the sea bass with risotto. Wow that was scrumptious. They gave you several snacks. They came around with hot towels that had some kind of herb that was very refreshing. Breakfast was blueberry pancakes. It was a nice touch. We landed in Dubai, which I thought was part of Saudi Arabia, but I was wrong. Anyway, we had a 3 hour layover, which we went to the Business Class Lounge and snacked and drank beer-Amstel & Heineken, Blue Sapphire Gin & Tonic, Champagne and russian vodka on ice. It kept us comfortably numb. We got on next plane which was much smaller than our first plane. It also didn't have all the amenities as the first, but alot less people. But throughout the whole 17 hour plane flight, I didn't sleep at all. When we finally arrived in Bangalore, our driver was waiting for us. Pretty neat to finally see a guy holding up a sign and seeing your name. I always wanted to be the one the limo drivers were picking up. Although this vehicle was not a limo but a very small sub-standard compact car. Pretty crowded for 4 people plus luggage, but he made it work. The drive is hard to explain but I will try. Imagine yourself driving in a Nascar race going the opposite direction with scooters and motorcycles driving along with you. The driver only took his freakin hand off the horn maybe a total 5 minutes during the 45 minute trip to our hotel. I stopped counting the horn honks the high beam flicks and the almost t-bone collisions that were avoided. There are no lanes, so everyone makes their own lane. When you pull up to a light, you can have almost 8 cars across waiting for the light to turn green and you can guarantee as soon as it does, someone is beeping his freaking horn! When we arrived at our secure complex with a gate, we were searched and then checked in. We unpacked and hit the Slounge bar. It was painted red and had a pool table. We drank King Fisher Premium pilsner beer. Excellent home brewed in Bangalore, which we are trying to get a tour. We snacked on mozzarella cigars, fried shrimp and fried chicken. It hit the spot. We were all ready to collapse from jet lag. I woke up around 5am Indian time which is about 12 1/2 hours ahead of EST. I couldn't fall asleep and watched some TV, but power went out twice. So I hit the gym on the top floor. They have a beautiful pool. They have great view on 1 side of the hotel. The other side look like Sanford & Son neighborhood. Alot of slums with stray dogs and occasional cow on the side of the street. We had breakfast with eggs Benedict and very strong coffee. Whew! Forget about red bull, this stuff like rocket fuel. After breakfast, we had some time because they didn't want us to show up until 2pm. Our CEO was touring and they thought it was wise to hold off on our training until he left. We were on a mission for 1 of the guys needed a belt. We walked the streets which meant stepping over sleeping dogs and enjoying the smell of India, which smells like barbecued hot dogs.We were unsuccessful, but then went back to our hotel and got a driver who took us to the commercial district. I bought several nice things and souvenirs. But, my co-worker found his belt. One thing I noted, there are alot of walkers. We ran into a guy who was walking on his hands. No lie! His feet were backwards, so he walked on his hands. Didn't want to shake his hand, but there are alot of beggars on the street. On the way back, our hotel driver told us to watch for certain taxi's by the way we look. My co-worker thought it had something to do with his weight and though they weigh us and charge us extra. This confused our driver and he said no, but we were Americans! Well that's day 1 and part of day 2. Stay tuned for more. Tata for now! HAHAHA! I am laughing because Tata is a major company that runs alot of industries in Bangalore. You see it all over billboards and houses and cars and trucks.
