Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 7: Catching Up With Old Friends

The best part about returning to Manila was the chance to see many great people that I know but seldom get to see. In addition to being colleagues I consider myself to be friends with many people in the Manila office. Saturday night I was greeted by two of them (Hegs and JM) and Sunday we added Miggy to the mix. Since Sunday was the only day to get out and see the city we made plans to get together around noon time.

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com/

After a hearty breakfast at Circles Cafe Alex and I met up with Miggy, Hegs and JM. We agreed to do some historic sightseeing, which is something that Alex did not get the chance to do on his previous visit to Manila. The destination was Intramuros, located along the southern bank of the Pasig River, and was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century and is the oldest district of the city of Manila. Its name, in Spanish, intramuros, literally "within the walls", meaning within the wall enclosure of the city/fortress, also describes its structure as it is surrounded by thick, high walls and moats. During the Spanish colonial period, Intramuros was considered Manila itself. If that description above sounds very textbook-like it was. You can check out more information on Intramuros at the following Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intramuros.

Since Intramuros is such a large area so we picked a few destinations within the boundary and went exploring. The first stop was St. Agustin Church where our timing was impecable because a big wedding was just about to start. Filipino weddings are elaborate affairs and all of the ladies were dressed in beautiful gowns. The church itself has a long history and is the oldest stone church in all of the Philippines. It was built in 1599 and has survived many natural disasters whereas another church in the nearby area was destroyed and rebuilt six times. yikes ! Click on the picture to the right to enlarge the image because it details the history of the church. The tour of the church was very interesting because there are many artifacts and other items to look at. In addition, there is a large collection of artwork and scupltures, most of which are several hundred years old at a minimum. It took a while just to view the first floor so in the interest of time we skipped touring the second. I guess that gives us something to look at upon our return. After heading out of the church we walked down the street to our next destination. Along the way we saw another famous church called Manila Cathedral (pictured left) although this one was not as fortunate. It is the one I mentioned above about being rebuilt six times. At least if anything happens to it again they've had plenty of practice putting it back together again. Let's hope they still have the blue-prints. Believe it or not but another wedding was in progress at this church. Apparantly these two churches are very popular and are like wedding factories on the week-end. One is usually in progress while another waits their turn. Continuing on our tour we crossed an intersection where we saw something other than historic buildings. Looks like a little accident took place but the good news was that nobody appeared to be injured. After seeing more finger-pointing than bleeding bodies we decided it was time to move on to our final destination in Intramuros called Fort Santiago. This fort is one of the oldest Spanish stone fortresses in the country and is located in the northern part of the walled city. It is located at the mouth of the Pasig River and it was once the premier defense fortress of the Spanish Government in the Philippines. During World War II it was captured by the Japanese, and sustained heavy damage from American & Filipino bombs during the Battle of Manila in February 1945. It was later restored by the Intramuros Administration during the 1980s. Today the fort serves as a museum which houses well-preserved legacies of the Spanish government, José Rizal (which is called the Plaza de Armas), Rizal Shrine, and the prison dungeons for criminals used by the Spanish officials. We enjoyed the walk and seeing all of the artifacts. It was a beautiful day so just being outside was great but to top it off with all of this history made it that much better.

After a great afternoon of touring the Intramuros area we needed some nurishment so we agreed to go to another historic site in Manila for some food ......

We enjoyed eating traditional Filipino dishes such as hot wings & shrimp, french fries and onion rings. Of course we had to wash it down with a cold, draft beer. It was a perfect way to end a great day. By the way, in case you know JM's girlfriend Cecile, please be sure to tell her that we were visiting sick children in the hospital instead of being with all of the pretty girls at Hooters.

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 6: The Fabulous Shangri-La

The hotel we are staying at is the beautiful Shangri-La located in Makati City. Makati City (a skyline view is shown to the left) is basically the major financial, commercial and economic hub in the Philippines and is often referred to as the financial capital of the Philippines since many global companies have their offices and headquarters in the city. The streets are filled with many stores and restaurants to fit every appetite and budget. As soon as you enter the Shangri-La's lobby you know it is a classy place. Shown below is a picture of the lobby.

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com/

The people here are warm and friendly, much like in the rest of the country and they attend to every need. If they see you carrying a package they offer to carry it for you. If they see you approaching a door they open it for you. If you are taking the evelator they call it for you and hold the door open. This place is a great example of quality customer service.

The rooms here are everything you could hope for and more. Take a look at a picture of a room which is virtually identical to mine.

One of the restaurants here is called Circles and serves food buffet style. The food choices here are almost endless and everything is very fresh. There is a section where a guy squeezes fresh juices and makes fruit smoothies. The next section contains an awesome supply of pastries along with freshly cut fruit. Next to this is a section with a wide selection of hot breakfast foods including waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, freshly carved ham, omlets, etc ... In case that isn't enough the next section is loaded with Indian food and the section after that Chinese. Have you ever had Dim Sum for breakfast ? I have and it was great !

Last but not least is a great concierge lounge where the appetizers, desserts and drinks are just what you need after a long day in the office. If I have to travel for my job places like this make it much more bearable. I haven't had time to visit the pool, tennis court, spa or fitness center so I'll have to save my review on those for next time. For more information on the Shangri-La follow this link: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/manila/makatishangrila

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 5: Off to Manila

After a week in Pune it was time to head to the airport and then it was off to Manila. The route from Pune to Manila is anything but direct so we first had to travel to a larger gateway city called Chennai which is located at the Southern tip of India. To give you an idea of the size I would equate the size of Pune's airport(pictured to the left) to our Clearwater-St. Pete Airport.

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com/

Luckily they had a lounge where we could enjoy a few ice-cold Kingfisher beers prior to take-off. Interesting enough after drinking a few Kingfisher beers we boarded a Kingfisher Airlines plane and yes, the beer and the airlines are owned by the same company. The beers were really good so we were hoping the airline was as well. Turns out that the seats in the plane must have been sized for the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. Alex had the aisled seat and I was the lucky guy in the middle. When I looked over at Alex I saw that his knees were planted squarely into the chair in front of him. It was one of those times when I was glad to be only 5'6". Other than the initial squeezing ourselves into the seat the rest of the flight was uneventful and we arrived in Chennai on time.

Chennai's airport was much larger than Pune's, mostly because it is an international gateway to many other countries. We collected our bags and cleared customs and then it was off to get checked into Singapore Airlines. Of course all we really wanted after being on the cramped plane was to find the Singapore Airlines lounge where an ice-cold beer would be waiting for us. If these pictures are starting to look redundant well they should because there's not much else to do when you are taking three different planes and traveling through four different airports before arriving at our destination. I am pleased to say the quality of the lounges continued to get better with each stop, thus making the long trip more bearable. Before leaving the airport Alex took advantage of a duty-free shop and purchased a bottle of Gin which was delivered to us as we got on the place. After nearly a three-hour lay-over in Chennai we were finally on our way to Singapore.

Alex and I were not sitting together on the flight from Chennai and I was just looking for some sleep so this leg of the flight was not very memorable for me. Alex, however, sat next to a guy who travels this area frequently and he was telling him about Singapore and how incredible the airport was. After we landed we discovered the guy was not lying because the airport was absolutely amazing. The place was like a combination of International Plaza, a fine resort and spa and an airport all-in-one. The place had fine shopping, luxury lounges and even several swimming pools. If you were tired and had a long layover they even had a short-term hotel called a transit hotel. The Singapore Airlines lounge was just as spectacular with a bountiful selection of food and drink. We hated to leave this place behind and vowed to return to the city someday in the future.

Now for the funny part about our stay in Singapore. As we got to the gate area we had to go through another metal detector before boarding the plane. Remember the bottle of Gin I mentioned earlier ? It turns out the store in Chennai failed to mention that we could not carry it on the next leg of the flight leaving Singapore. The security guy inspected Alex's bag and found the bottle and told him that he could not carry it on the plane so he turned to Alex and said, "Would you like to step outside and finish it ?" We were both dumbfounded with the comment. Sure, let's run around the corner and finish off a liter bottle of Gin before boarding the flight. Something tells me that would be more of a security risk than letting us take the bottle on board. Makes me wonder if anybody else has taken him up on that offer before.

The final leg of our trip to Manila was uneventful and we arrived around 1:30 pm. During my previous trip to Manila in 2006 I arrived and departed in the dark so it was cool to be able to see the city from my window seat as we arrived. The picture below shows some of the rice-growing fields in addition to some houses.

After landing in Manila we cleared immigration and customs without incident and headed for the Shangri-La Hotel pavillion where our driver was waiting for us. During my previous trip to Manila I stayed in the Shangi-La Edsa and this time we stayed at the one in Makati City. Makati City is a hub of commercial and financial institutions so there is much more to see and do surrounding the hotel. But first things first ..... Alex and I were teased all week long in India by the following sign which we passed on our way to the office every day.

Of course we never saw the restaurant to go along with the sign so we both agreed we needed a good old-fashioned cheeseburger. We sat down in the restaurant at the hotel and enjoyed what seemed like the best burger that I've had in years. It was hard for Alex to contain his smile as we consumed our "Cheeseburger in Paradise".

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 4: Time to Say Good-Bye

The night before our departure Sarang graciously invited Alex and I him at his house for dinner. This time instead of taking the Accenture cab hom Sarang was able to ride in the cab along with us. During the ride Sarang mentioned that his brother and family would be joining us for dinner as well. Upon arrival to the Munshi Estates Alex noticed that we were getting a lot of looks from the local residents. Later we discovered that we were the first Westerners to visit Sarang's household so the local people were probably not used to seeing Americans visiting on a regular basis.

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com

Inside of Sarang's house we met his wife and sister-in-law. As for the two kids in the house, Sarang's 3 year-old daughter and his 7 year-old nephew, they were a bit shy at first and didn't want to come into the room where we were sitting. Even after a brief introduction and us presenting his daughter Mrunal with a new toy doll, they still scrambled off the the safety of the back of the house. It seems that I have that effect on kids by making them run in the other direction. After a little proding from Sarang (actually he put a bear-hug on Mrunal) she came to sit down in the room with us. I took the opportunity to photograph a nice father-daughter moment but I no sooner grabbed my camera and got ready to shoot when Sarang's nephew decided that he didn't want to miss out on the picture.



It seems that once I snapped the photograph that we were no longer strangers in the house so the kids started to act more their natural selves. It didn't take long before they were laughing and screaming and playing around. The two kids took the opportunity to show off for the camera like in the picture below:

After a short while Sarang's bother arrived and we sat down to a lovely meal. I seem to remember Alex telling me at the beginning of the trip that he was wanting to lose weight but after nearly a week in India and with all of the food we've been served I'm thinking the opposite might be happening. After dinner we gathered for a few photographs and then headed home to do some packing. We managed to take a nice family portrait of the Munshi family as shown below:

Departure day is usually hectic and this one one was no different. So many things to do and so little time to get them done! We had an uneventful check-out from the hotel and headed to the office but first it was time for a brief shopping diversion. I had mentioned to Sarang the day before that I was looking for a carved figurine of an elephant as a souvenir of my trip so he arranged for our driver to make a stop on the way to the office. We stopped at a store called Elegant Crafts Emporium where that had many hand-carved products native to India. The store-keepers were like a well-oiled machine for us travel-weary Americans so they practiced their art of sales and we fell into their trap like a bear to honey. Let's just say they consistently used phrases such as "Come here my friend, I want to show you something". Alex and I each purchased a few nice things and afterwards all I can remember Alex saying to me is that he was going to kill me for brining him here. For security purposes I cannot describe the items I purchased. For one reason some are Christmas presents and the other is because I don't want my wife to know how much I donated to the shop-keepers cause. Here is a picture of some of the items they had for sale:

After making our purchases we headed to the relative safety of the office. At least they would not attempt to sell us anything there. Once there we continued with our meetings and before we knew it we needed to head to the airport. Sriram was in a training class to become a Jedi Master of DB2 but since he is such a good student we got permission from the instructor to let him out early. After he met up with the rest of the team they walked us out of the building to say good-bye. We shook hands and wished each other well and then it was off to the airport.

On the ride to the airport Alex and I were reflecting that the time spent with the team was well worth the trip. We learned many things and enjoyed the face-time with the team. I'm sure we'll remember many things about the trip to Pune but for me most of the memories will be about the warmth and hospitality of the team and how they provided candid feedback to help us continue to improve the relationship with FPL.

Our driver for the week named Mukesh took us to the airport and helped us with our baggage. Before departing for the airport we took a picture to remember our faithful cabbie.

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 3: The Accenture Team

The drive to the office Monday morning was adventurous and could best be described as being similar to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Walt Disney World. Please note that Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride has since been shut down. Vehicles of all kinds travel the narrow streets and there is seldom a divider in the road to keep the oncoming traffic on their side of the road.

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com

After driving for 20 minutes or so we turned into a complex called Magarpatta City, which is a city of its own, and found a massive complex where many large buildings housed people working for International companies such as John Deere, Avaya, EDS, etc … Finally, we arrived at tower number 5 and were greeted by Sarang and Vipul, two members of our team.



After passing several security checks we settled into a conference room which would become our home for the week. Since we were anxious to meet the team Sarang took us to their seating area and we were warmly greeted. It was nice to finally put a face to a name and to meet some of the people that I had been working with for almost a year now. We informed the team that we’d be hosting a few team meetings during the week as well as wanting to take each one of them to lunch individually.

On Monday Vipul Tiwari was nominated to be the first to join us for lunch. I’m quite sure the restaurant we went to was not of his choosing because we had lunch at a Domino’s Pizza. Alex and I each had a spicy chicken personal pizza and as far as I’m concerned it met the standards of being spicy, Indian food. We enjoyed our conversation and then headed back to the office after lunch.




On Tuesday we had lunch with Karunakar Konne and ate at a restaurant located immediately next to our hotel called Rajdhani. This was certainly a more traditional Indian meal than our pizza the previous day. As a matter of fact the style was once again Thali but unlike our meal on Sunday it featured dishes from a different region of India. Seeing as this was another all-you-can-eat meal we lost track of how much we consumed and before we knew it we were full. Okay, so I saved a little room for dessert and I tried a small dish of cake-like balls which were soaked in a sweet sauce much like a rum-cake.

On Wednesday we had lunch with Sriram Vempati and ate at a restaurant which served meals similar to what he’d find in his home town of Guntar, which is relatively close to Hyderabad. The name of the place was The Hyderabad House and served meals which you would find from that region of the country. Alex and I both ordered a dish called Biryani, which is a family of primarily South Asian rice dishes made with spices, basmati rice and meat/vegetables. We had the choice of chicken, lamb or mutton and agreed that chicken was the way to go. The meal was very tasty and among my favorites from the trip so far. I had tried a version of Chicken Biryani at the hotel but this version was much tastier.



After lunch the ride back to the office was most interesting. The traffic on the road was much heavier than it had been on any previous day and we ran into the first grid-lock which we had encountered. At one particular intersection the traffic was not moving for several minutes but apparently the truck driver behind us didn’t care and rammed into the back end of the car. Our mild-mannered driver named Mukesh quickly sprang out of his car to confront he driver of the truck. I’m not sure what the result of the conversation was but you could tell that Mukesh was not happy. As we discovered later it appears that Mukesh might be personally responsible for damage to his company car if he can’t get the truck-driver to pay for the repairs. Alex and I both thought that it was ironic that just the previous day we discussed the topic of auto insurance and the lack of banged up vehicles on the roads here in India.



Wednesday evening was designated for a team outing and the destination of choice was a bowling alley and game center. On the way to the outing Sarang thought that it would be fun if Alex and I join him in an auto-rickshaw instead of the usual transportation method. Sometime during the trip I had a feeling that I was in a Peter Seller's movie because we vacated a perfectly good car to get into a rickety, cramped auto-rickshaw. At one point during the drive we were following the cab which we had just vacated because our driver was meeting us at the bowling alley for the return trip home. Alex and I could only laugh when I saw our old comfortable car in front of us. Don't get me wrong because we did enjoy the experience but it just seemed surreal to be following our own cab driver. In addition to the current team members our former Team Lead, Krithika Krishnan, was able to join in the fun. Since we were a small group we were able to occupy just one lane at the bowling alley and that made the event more enjoyable. We quickly discovered that none of us were good bowlers but somehow Sarang managed to keep the ball in the lane more than the rest of us and was the ultimate victor. His prize was a box of popcorn and the right to proclaim himself champion of a bowling-impaired team. In spite of the low scores we still managed to have many laughs and a good time.



After bowling we went upstairs to an adjacent restaurant and had a large meal. I was not very hungry because I munched on the many snacks they served while we bowled. One thing that I've noticed about my experience in India is that I've never encountered a shortage of food at any of the restaurants that I've been to.

On Thursday we ate lunch with the team's Social Coordinator, Paromita Chakroborty, whom we discovered helped all of the guys plan where to take us for lunch on the days when it was their turn. Originally we were going to go to one of Paromita's favorite restaurants but due to time restrictions because of an upcoming conference call we stayed closer to the office. We settled on a Chinese restaurant and had a delightful meal and some good conversation. This time we had an uneventful drive back to the office.

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 2: Exploring Pune

Our hotel in Pune is called the Royal Orchid Central and is part of a chain of hotels found throughout India. The accommodations are equivalent to a standard Marriott or Hilton and the people there are very friendly.

Pictured below are the hotel exterior and a room identical to mine:

For more information on the hotel use the following link:
http://www.royalorchidhotels.com/Central.Pune.Overview.html

For additional perspectives on our trip be sure to keep up with Alex's blog at http://topdownviews.blogspot.com/

On Sunday when we arrived at the hotel it was around 4 am, so Alex and I agreed to catch a little sleep and then meet for breakfast at 10 am. After breakfast we decided to take a brief walk outside of the hotel just to see the local area. We had no sooner crossed the street next to the hotel when about 6 children surrounded Alex and started begging him for money. For some reason they left me alone (but that would all change soon enough). Alex and I continued walking and all but one of the children gave up on us except for this little girl who was probably 4 or 5 years old. She kept tugging at Alex’s arm and putting her fingers up to her mouth to indicate the she was looking for food, money, or both. The only way we were able to ditch her was to duck into what appeared to be a shopping complex but turned out to be a movie theater.
Attached to the movie theater was a McDonald’s so I felt compelled to go in and take a look.


The menu certainly was nothing like the one back home. Nowhere to be found was a double-cheeseburger, a quarter-pounder, a Big Mac, or anything else beef-related. Instead there were several types of chicken sandwiches, a fish sandwich and even a veggie-burger but no beef for the beef-eater. Since I found myself in a McDonald’s I figured I might as well order something so I got a Coke and a hot-fudge sundae. Little did I realize that I should have finished my order in McDonald’s instead of taking it for carry out because I was no sooner out the door when all of the children who previously were begging from Alex saw that I had food and drink and started chasing after me. There were several occasions where they had their hands on my coke and they tried to take it from me. I had to resort to holding both items above my head so they could not reach them. Alex, of course, was walking briskly away from me and seemed to relish in the fact that he was not the center of attention this time.

After a short while we met our driver named Mukesh and headed out to meet up with Sarang. Since we had no agenda for the day we left it up to Sarang to decide where to take us and what to see. Our first destination was a restaurant called Zen Chinese and our stay turned out to be very short. As soon as we were seated the power went out and then we discovered it would be 3 hours before it would return. It probably would have been bad Karma to eat Chinese food in India on our first day so we moved on to another destination.


Our second attempt to have lunch was at a restaurant name Sukanta which was popular for it’s Thali style of dining. According to Wikipedia, Thali is an Indian meal with contents varying from one regional cuisine to another. A thali is a selection of different dishes, usually served in small bowls on a round tray. The round tray is generally made with steel with multiple compartments. Typical dishes include rice, dhal, vegetables, chapati, papad, curd (yoghurt), small amounts of chutney or pickle, and a sweet dish to top it. The food turned out to be very tasty but it was difficult to know how much I had consumed because the servers constantly kept our bowls full.


After our big meal we needed to walk so we strolled down the streets for a while. Sarang gave us the history of the area and we soaked in the sights of the people and surroundings. Alex, who collects key chains for his daughter, found a vendor on the street where a couple of key chains caught his eye. After making his purchase we continued our walk.



The next stop was a famous landmark called Shaniwarwada which is a palace fort in the city of Pune in western Maharashtra, India. It covers six and a quarter acres in central Pune. It was constructed in 1732 as the seat of the Peshwa (prime ministers of the Maratha Empire), and remained the political capital of the Empire until its annihilation. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but has the surviving structures are now maintained as a tourist and archaeological site. Below is a picture of the entrance of the Shaniwarwada.


Another historic site which we visited was a temple called Shreemant Dagduseth Halwai Ganpati Mandir. It is one of the most famous places to worship Lord Ganpati. During the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi people from all over India visit "Shreemant". As we passed by the temple many people stopped to say a brief prayer and to give their thanks to the gods. Pictured below is the temple.


After the sight-seeing it was time for some shopping, Pune-style. Sarang took us to a local market-place that reminded me more of a permanent flea-market than anything else. Since the market place was very crowded we could not take our car to get there so instead we rode an auto-rickshaw once we could convince one of the drivers to accept our fare. Check out this crazy video of the drive (be sure to press the play button).



At the market place there were hundreds if not thousands of people in the streets and all I could think to myself was that if we lost sight of Sarang that we may never find our way back. I purchased several silk scarves for family members and a few outfits for my wife and daughter.
In addition, Alex and I purchased several small carvings of a Hindu god named Ganesha. According to Wikipedia Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and his image is found throughout India. Although he is known by many other attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles, patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom. Pictured below is a scene from the marketplace.

Sarang gave Alex and I an education on many Indian customs and traditions. In addition to stories about Ganesha he told us about another god named Krishna, who is most famous for having more than 16,000 wives. In my opinion only a god would even consider such a feat because I find it challenging enough to please one wife --- 16,000 ? You can forget about it! After a long day of walking and touring the city it was time to head back to the hotel for a few beers and then sleep. Sarang was a great tour guide and I would highly recommend him for future tourists coming to Pune. Pictured below is a painting of Ganesha.

Eric's 2nd Big Adventure - Part 1: The Trip

My second world-wide journey, a little more than 2 years after my first world trip, is literally and figuratively a trip around the world. There are two primary destinations this time around, the first is our Delivery Center in Pune, India and the second is our Delivery Center in Manila, Philippines. The itinerary was as follows:

- Depart on Friday, Nov. 7th Tampa to Washington (Dulles) then Washington to Frankfurt, Germany and finally Frankfurt to Pune, India, arriving on Sunday, Nov. 8th

- After a week in India then on Nov. 14th we travel from Pune to Chennai, India then from Chennai to Singapore, Changi and finally Singapore to Manila, Philippines, arriving on Saturday, Nov. 15th

- After a week in the Philippines we return home on Friday, Nov. 21st going from Manila to Los Angeles, CA and finally Los Angeles to Tampa, FL, arriving on Saturday, Nov. 22nd.

Unlike my previous world trip where I traveled by myself, this time I am with my colleague and friend, Alex Nesturrick. Together we are prepared for an adventure unlike anything we've seen before. Alex has created a blog as well and he welcomes you to view it at the following address:

http://topdownviews.blogspot.com

The first leg of the trip was an uneventful trip aboard a TED flight from Tampa to Washington - Dulles. Typical of American domestic trips these days the service included beverages and snacks for sale, but no real food to eat.

Upon arrival in Washington we killed time in United’s Red Carpet club along with 500 of our closest friends. We wandered around the room searching desperately for two unoccupied chairs and finally spotted several which were relatively close together. Knowing that we were headed into foreign lands with unknown menu items, Alex and I gathered the complimentary crackers, cookies and cheese like a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter.

After a short stay in Washington we boarded a United Airlines 777 headed for Frankfurt, Germany. The Business Class section was divided into two parts and we were in the forward-most section closest to the first class passengers. The first thing we noticed was that the biggest difference between first class and business class was the lay-flat beds provided to the first class passengers. Not to complain with the business class because it was like sitting in a high-tech lazy boy recliner, complete with a personal audio-video system.

Alex and I were sitting aisles across from each other with Alex in seat 9B and me in seat 9D (see seat map). We had no sooner taken off the runway when Alex leaned over to me and said “I hope I don’t have to listen to this the entire flight”. That’s when I realized the passenger sitting next to him was already using the air sickness bag. That guy proceeded to get sick for the entire 7+ hour segment of the flight. Thank God for the Bose noise-cancelling headphones that we both were wearing.

Dinner aboard the plane was served shortly after take-off and turned out to be quite tasty. We both ordered the sirloin steak which was topped with blue-cheese crumbles and served with a wine sauce served with baby potatoes and a squash medley. The level of service the flight attendants provided was very good and when we had our fill of food and drinks it was time to catch a movie and some sleep.

Somehow Alex managed to cope with the guy throwing up next to him but nonetheless he was glad when we landed in Germany and left his new friend behind. We didn’t get to see much of Frankfurt while we were there. The airport seemed to be remotely located from town so we couldn’t see much of the city from our vantage point. There were plenty of shops at the airport but the Euro seemed to be too strong for the U.S. dollar and therefore bargains were difficult to find.

We once again killed time in the Business Class lounge, this one operated by Lufthansa Airlines. There was a decent selection of snacks and drinks so we found a couple of chairs and settled in for a two-hour layover. There were plenty of foreign newspapers to read and I was not surprised to see how many of them had articles about Barack Obama. Inside of one of the German Sunday papers there was a magazine which mostly featured two naked people running around in various spots in the country. I could only think to myself that if that insert was placed in an American paper that there would be an uproar from so many people they’d have to shut the paper down.

The final leg of our journey to Pune was aboard a Swiss-owned airline called PrivatAir. The plane was a uniquely modified Airbus A319, which was configured entirely of 48 business class seats in a 2x2 arrangement. This leg of the flight featured the best food of the trip with an appetizer of Jerk Chicken Roulade with Yogurt Sauce and Mango Ginger Chutney. The main course was a tasty dish of roast goose with red cabbage, potato dumplings and herb crumb butter.

The flight arrived in Pune around 3:30 am after an 8+ hour flight and we quickly found ourselves going through the Customs check. All of the other passengers on the plane passed through the checks without issue but of course they took a special interest in one of my bags and wanted to search. My camera was in the bag they were checking and the custom's agent wanted to know all about my camera: How old was it? How much did I pay for it? He checked it over for at least one minute and then returned it to me and gave me permission to leave.

We were greeted at the airport by our friendly host and Accenture Team Lead, Sarang Munshi. While we were loading up the vehicle we discovered that the guy sitting behind on the flight worked for Accenture in Frankfurt and that he and his girlfriend were traveling to India for a 3-week vacation. Sarang helped them with some directions and then it was off to the hotel for some rest.