Day 03: A little bit of Sharing

I woke up at 6am, it was not a normal time for me to wake up that early. I went down to join Govert, Andrew and Joe for running. It was unusual for me to run during mornings but want to go around in the area, see new things, get to know my team mates more.

"The running/walking circle" (From andrew's cam L-R: Joe USA, Me, and Govert USA)

After we did some exercise, we waited for Allison to arrive, and greet her since she just arrived Sunday morning. After meeting her, we went to a temple and ayurveida center here in Coimbatore. I want to try their oil bath, we will definitely go back.

Our feet inside the temple in Ayurveida Center (guess who's foot was it?)


Inside the temple

"The Holy Man"

Sandra (Colombia )and Jeong Ran (Korea)

We ate lunch at our hotel and it was an indian pizza and i love it! After lunch we had a 3 hour sharing session with kabi and the team to get to know more each other, share our stories, how did we arrived on this journey/path and it was an awesome sharing. I realized that its not only me who is experiencing a lot of changes, and needs to re-evaluate career path/life after this assignment.

Our lunch"India Veg and Non-Veg Pizza at our Hotel"


Aya(Australia) and Bernd (Germany) working on their blogs

I have an adorable team, i never had a dull moment with them, never felt left-out. I know it's only 2 days that I'm with them but they are so accommodating, caring and loving. for that it gives me more reason to love them :)

In the evening we just went walking and eat somewhere near at the race course! Arrghh i forgot the name of the restaurant! I just remember what i ate, its paneer tikka with vegetables and it was great! After that we went back to our hotel. Me, Jeongran and Joao stayed in the hallway helped them with social aggregator(which is not working for couple of days now) and we just talk afterwards, and around 11pm andrew went out of his room and joined us for a little chat. At 12mn, we all went back to out room and had a good night sleep :)

Andrew's Dinner

Paneer in Tikka Masala with Rice(My Dinner)

Our sizzling molten chocolate dessert. Yummy!

Love and kisses from Coimbatore,

Grazey

#ibmcsc

#india15

Day 02: Yehey for Coimbatore!

I went down at the reception around 8:15 am and Finally, I met Sandra was so happy and excited to meet her in person after 4 months of chatting, exchanging mails and whatsapp messages. After breakfast we decided to have a walk near the hotel area, and saw a small market and a temple. The market in Mumbai was like a talipapa/palengke in the Philippines, quite interesting saw some vegetables/ crops that I never seen before.

View from my Hotel in Bombay

Around 11:15 Kavari was at the reception to accompany us to the domestic airport. After 30 mins of waiting and excess baggage of 9 kilos (domestic flight) we already checked in. I like Mumbai domestic airport. I was told that it was a newly constructed airport. They have a lot of good shops and its quite big for a domestic aiport, maybe because Mumbai is one of the busiest city, and financial capital of India.
Sandra and I arrived in Coimbatore around 3pm. We were excited to meet them since most of our team mates were already there in the Hotel. After 15-20 mins drive from the airport we finally arrived to our final destination. Joe was the 1st to welcome us, and we so were excited that we already went straight head to the “lanai” (patio)area where the rest of the team was having afternoon tea/coffee. All of them welcomed us, and I was happy to see them all in person. After few hours Bernd and Timea arrived then around 5pm we left for a short rather a long walk. I was so happy that most of us really did make time and exerted effort to go around in the area even though most of us just arrived Saturday (considering the time differences from their home countries, the long flights and lay-over we didn’t mind them.) We were all excited to get to know each and every person within the team. We were even often changing partners while we were walking, just to make sure to get to know each one of other personally. After the long walk we finally arrived to the restaurant where we supposed to have dinner. I ordered chicken tikka masala and its super spicy! Haha! After dinner we went back to the hotel riding a rickshaw and it was fun! Memorable experience on my 2nd day in India.

My small in-flight refreshment from Bombay- Coimbatore (bottled water)

View from our Car going to our Hotel


Autorickshaws!

We arrived at our Hotel around 3:30 pm after 2 and a half hour flight, and my 1st meal of the day was chicken fried rice, I know it was not Indian food but it has Indian twist on it. Picture from the left: L-R (Joao Brazil, Bernd Germany, Valeery France, Joe US, Barbara and Kabi from CDS)


After settling down at the hotel and eaten our late lunch, we decided to walk around Coimbatore, and yes it was a long walk

Time to order our dinner after our long walk


while waiting for our food (from Andrew's cam L-R: Grazey Philippines, Aya Australia,Kabi and Barbara from CDS)


Our team in "ACTION" (from Andrew's cam)

Going back to our hotel after dinner (from Andrew's cam)

Love and kisses from Coimbatore,
Grazey

#ibmcsc
#india15

Day 01: A touch of Bombay

I left Manila around 2pm. Had lay-over in Bangkok for 3 hours and from Bangkok I arrived in Bombay (Mumbai) around 1015 p.m. Just had minor delay in our luggage but other than that had no problem with immigration or the queue in the customs. Met 3 Filipinos that were also waiting for their luggage, I didn’t know until then that we were on the same flight going to Bombay. I had to ask them if their roaming working because mine was not working at that moment. Went out from the airport around 11pm and it was a relief that Kavari was already there and waiting for me because I was bit nervous because this is my 1st time to travel to India, like in every country when you are traveling alone and you don’t know anyone, it gives a sense of feeling of a little bit lost and nervousness.

My First Indian Vegetarian in-flight meal.


To give an idea how Mumbai International airport, it’s something like the Manila International Airport terminal 1 for me, when it comes to structure/architecture. I arrived at the Hotel around 1130pm, it was just 10-15 mins away from the airport. When I arrived in the Hotel, I just went straight ahead to open my computer, connect to the internet and send messages to my family and friends that I arrived safely in Mumbai. Around 1230 am, started watching local TV,I was so fascinated with their local program.I saw one movie trailer that catch my attention was London, Paris Newyork. It was a story of a couple and their journey to the 3 cities. I will research more about it as I want to see the movie. I saw also couple of Indian Music Videos, it was good! The Production and the cinematic were so close from the music videos in the US.
After 45 mins, I felt sleepy, call the reception and left a message to call me when Sandra arrives. Finally, I got a call around 3AM that she was already at the Hotel and immediately talked to her. I’m glad to hear that she arrived safe after 2 days of flying, lay-over, and change of flights. We planned to have breakfast together in the morning.
That’s my story for now, i didn't take a lot of pictures during my flight but will post more soon…

Love and Kisses from Bombay,
Grazey

#ibmcsc
#india15