First 48 Hours

The past 48 hours since we landed has been a whirlwind of new experiences and activities. As much as I like writing in journals, the thoughts in my head are coming so fast and thick that typing is really the best way.

Flight MI0478 was better than I had expected. Of course the crying infant was onboard but otherwise, it was an aircraft that had a good "PSI" level. If you know what I mean. :p

Service was great! and sad to say better than what I get from SQ flights sometimes. The plane feels like a budget flight with no in flight entertainment or extra amenities. The meals options were chicken briyani or vegetarian rice. So, I will pre-order special meal on my return flight! Didn't think that I will become a SPML passenger one day. 

Hyderabad has one of the nicest airports in India, if not the best but it is not a reflection of what the city is like. Sadly. Thanks to the really helpful advice from the owner of the service apartment that we are staying at, we found Meru/ Easy cabs which are the more reliable cabs in the city. It took us awhile to locate it but it did save us from the touts. 

As the flight arrives at 1130pm, the street lights have all gone off when our cab was going through the city. There is a new expressway which speeds up vehicles going to the city and just as we were thinking this is all going very well, the driver arrives at the road and ask us where is the place. Did he really think that we two Chinese people who are here for the first time know where the service apartment is? We made him call the service apartment but he didn't seem any much wiser after the call.

Once again, it was the instructions of the service apartment owner that rescued the day. Though I have no idea what or who Dr Batra is, I spotted the signboard along the road and made the driver return to the area. The email had said "lane between Dr Batra and Q-Mart" very clearly. Remember that there are no street lights and this looks like a dark dark lane... but of course the owner was right and we found the place - Nirvana Service Apartments.

Our room that had initially looked drab is now our sweet heaven at the end of the day. Its nothing fancy and at the price that we are paying, we would have expected more fanciful stuff but then again, this is Hyderabad. I cant be expecting flat screen LCD with iphone docking sound system right? The most important thing is that this place is very very clean and owners, friendly.

Nikhil, the person whom I had emailed with turned out to be this interesting pek-pek who gave us his two cents worth of advice. But the most spot on one was: You should slow down and take your time to be familiar with the environment first. Do not rush to rent a permanent place. Well, of course it is vested advice since he is probably earning a lot from us staying with him but it gave us a timely reminder that this is not Singapore where everything moves fast.

Our first destination was to the bank the next day and as taxis are not readily available unless you pre book them, we took what the locals would take - the Auto. It is very similar to what the Tuk Tuk is in Bangkok. But the similarities ends there. Traffic in Hyderabad is AMAZING!!! You hardly stop on the roads because there are hardly any traffic lights anywhere. Vehicles zip in and out of every corner and I think the term blind spot while driving does not apply here. Till I have the confidence to sit in an Auto and take a video, you can only imagine. Cars move at like 10-15km/h and if there is a Masters in Driving Skills, these guys will definitely get it. They can avoid anything/ anyone at any speed/ any distance. I am sure now that we will be awarded the best jaywalkers when we get back. We had viewed this on YouTube before we got here about road crossing and it is indeed what you see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9DLlMMXhKg

Also, you can throw addresses out of the window here cos it doesn't work. Imagine that you want to get to Orchard Road. They will bring you there but don't expect them to know where is the building. Its like no one will know which building is at 200 Orchard Road.

Every place is being referenced to by a landmark. So, to get to Heeren for example, you have to tell them a prominent landmark - Takashimaya. Once you are there, keep your eyes peeled for the place. After 2 days, we kind of know which are the landmarks they reference to in the area of Somajiguda (where the hubby works) and Banjara Hills (where we stay).

Oh, I now am a subscriber of an Airtel mobile number! Without going into much details, all I can say is that we had managed to get our numbers without too much hassle by exploring all different means. Guess, this is amongst one of the first lessons learnt here that when you encounter roadblocks doing things the right way, you just got to look for left ways to still get what you want.

On the more upbeat side, we are holding up good with no signs of stomach upsets. We are keeping to safe food, avoiding things like unbottled water, ice, milk, cut fruits, raw food. Have not really had local food yet and will probably start soon. Once you read about what we had for lunch, you will probably think that life here cant be too bad afterall. Yesterday lunch was Subway and dinner was Thai Express. Honestly, I almost want to bet that Crystal Jade is hiding somewhere in one of the malls!

This is barely half of what I have to say. But to avoid being too lengthy, this is my first update for you guys. :) Look out for the next!