New Delhi
December 3rd, 2005 -- Posted in travel | No Comments »
India Gate at New Delhi
Finally, after a tiring 2-day conference meeting in New Delhi, I’m back at homebase office in Singapore. Due to the intensity of the conference and the impact it has on the new joint company, there were much work to be done and issues discussed.
The first night when I arrived at New Delhi was a tiring one. After a whole day of work at Singapore office, I took off with my colleague to rush for a 6:50pm flight (meaning we had to be at the airport by 4:50pm at the latest). Though my flight was on Raffles class, there was nice business class dinner and on-demand movies onboard. Now this is where the problem is… Flight duration was 5 1/2 hours. It was too early to get any sleep. When I arrived at Delhi, my adjusted watch told me it was only 10 plus (habit to adjust my watch ahead on planes). After the immigration, custom and finally transfer to Oberoi Hotel, it was almost midnight local time by the time I get settled down in my hotel room. Now being a nocturnal, midnight was still early… Wrong. Time difference between Delhi and Singapore is 2 1/2 hours. It was already almost 3am Singapore time by the time I showered and ready for bed. Was already dead tired but the watch kept playing trick on my mind.
Comfy bed… was so tired it surprisingly took me only 5 mins to fall asleep
Next morning. Woke up late! Die! 1st day of the conference and I’m 10 mins late! Nevermind. Quietly sneeked into the conference of 40 over participants. Then when it came to self-intro, the conference leader had to comment “nice to have you here, Allen” when I did my self-intro. Great…
After a long day of meetings upon meetings, the local team arranged for a quick visit at India Gate for a group photo (it’s sitting on my workstation now). India Gate is supposedly a monument to commemorate the brave Indian soldiers who died defending their country during WWI. Then we had a short sighting of the city onroute to our destination, a nice restaurant on rooftop with Indian cuisine buffet dinner. Time to mingle, though I was already exhausted. Who wasn’t? I believe most at the dinner who flew in were equally tired.
If you look close enough, you’d notice dark circles around my eyes
A little entertainment we had was a palm-reader who accurately described the personalities and past of many who gave it a try. Though not really a devout of palmistry, I gave it a try to see how accurate this guy can be… Overall, I’d give him a 70% accuracy of what he mentioned about me, but I do like how he interpreted my future. I do agree on one thing he mentioned about my life in the future… life is not going to be easy for me. I will be working very hard in years ahead, then I will eventually reap my reward. Who would enjoy an comfortable life without the hard work? (This is not a question.)
Personally, I do not think I will enjoy any luxury if I know I had not worked enough to deserve it. If this is what I earn from my career at this moment, this is the kind of reward I appreciate in return. If life is indeed hard, the hardship and bitterness can only a priceless experience to help me overcome any other hurdle to come…
(Yikes… Digressing again.)
Anyway, the thing I like about the palmistry session wasn’t the amazement of how accurate he had described me (or not) or what he said about my future, but how he made me think about my life and how I should appreciate what I have worked for and achieved. Bringing up my past only told me that I should put whatever I had regret or remorse for in the past behind. Describing my personality only helped me focus on what I should prioritize in life rather than the unrealistic dreams I have.
Called it a night by 10:30pm. Went back to hotel. Long day, eh? About time to wash up and head back to the comfy bed… Salah! Had homework to do. I was in the last minute allocated to give a presentation 1 1/2 hour long! I had only an hour or two to prepare myself before going to bed. How to sleep?
Anyway, I did my best giving the presentation first session in the morning. Imagine presenting accounting concepts in finance language to a whole room of HR peeps… I’m glad nobody yawned, but I feel bad coz I don’t get any question during my Q&A.
Shrini, my smoking buddy who used to work in Singapore, then now in China…
After a whole day of other presentations and discussion sessions, the 2-day conference finally ended. Thereafter, I had to catch a quick dinner at a posh Japanese restaurant at the hotel (posh=elegant=slow) before rushing to the airport to catch my flight back. Fortunately, the transfer car was driven by an experienced driver who is used to rushing hotel guests to the airport. We made it just in time to check in Singapore Airline (a minute late and you won’t get any compromise). I calculated the transition time from outside the arrival hall (where vehicles drop off passengers) to the boarding gate to be (counting fingers) about 1 hour & 5 mins:
- To enter building : 10 mins
- Check-in luggage x-ray: 20 mins
- Checking-in at counter: 15 mins
- Immigration counter: 10 mins
- Metal-detector & hand-luggage x-ray check: 10 mins
Don’t get me wrong. It’s great security to help foreign travellers feel safe in the airport. I don’t suppose it will be much different from other 3rd world nations. Just have to get used to it.
Anyway, it’s good to be home. Don’t mind another trip to Delhi, but hopefully the next time I’d be able to see the street and everything else in DAY LIGHT.
