Main > Photo Gallery > Trips > New Delhi Page 2
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Looking back, we did a lot in our first seven days. I'm tired just reading it again. Our 2nd week really starts with Sunday after our Agra trip, when we all checked into the Delhi Hyatt Regency. Why? The Trident Hilton Gurgaon, although it offered great service, there was just nothing around it. The bad pollution around the hotel didn't help either.
Apart from the hotel change, Week Two was just a lot of work. In the office by 8:30am, late nights in the office until 8:30pm. By the time we finished a quick dinner, it always seemed to be 11pm. I didn't go to the gym for days, because I was just tired. Since we have so much work to do, and limited time, we stopped going out to lunch, and just ordered in.
It wasn't all work in the office. That Friday was Diwali, so Delhi was getting all dressed up in lights. On Wednesday, with the office closed Thursday & Friday, the office celebrated Diwali with "Best Dressed" contests and a holiday party. Don't get the notion that we had a 4-day holiday. On Thursday, we went to an empty office, and worked a full day until 8pm. Friday, we rented a conference room in the hotel.
On the weekend, we went shopping for family, friends, and coworkers. Throw in some impromptu sightseeing on Sunday, a Sunday afternoon massage, and that's a typically busy Ipe week.
Monday & Tuesday |
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On Monday, we went to an Irish pub @ the Maurya Sheraton. Kinda empty, but hey, close enough. Tuesday night, Sonali took us shopping for Indian clothes. |
Dinner/drinks @ the Dublin Bar in the Maurya Sheraton
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Sonali & her daughter
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I can't quite find the right pair of shoes that aren't
made of wood
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Men shoe-shopping. Never a fun time
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Wednesday |
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It's the day of the company office party, and we're all dressed up to party.... and continue testing controls.
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Cool design, right?
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Even better: they're all made up of colored rice
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Our floor is a little decorated
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Miranda helping Regina with her dupatta
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Bhawana working hard, in her own stylistic...idiom
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Jorge & Mary, Indian style
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Alex calling his mother, in front of the entire team
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Regina and her gnarly mendhi-decorated hand
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Testing a lock, I got slammed in the head by an opening
door. Ouch!
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Alex & Mahika (she's like family now!)
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Wayne the Mighty, sporting some fine threads
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That....would be me
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Mr. De La Cruz
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Group picture with the <deleted> (middle) and
Amar on the end
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Group shot in the lobby
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At the holiday party: Alex, Regina, Bhawana, Jorge
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Hmmm, drinks!
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Thursday & Friday |
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Everyone was off, except us. At least we had a nice Italian dinner @ Diva. We also had dinner at Dumppukth, but let's never speak of that dinner again. Both nights, a few of us went to Djinn's to blow off some steam. |
Everyone is working hard.... including Wayne
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Dinner @ Diva: Officially the worst spelling of Marilyn
Monroe I've ever seen
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Dinner @ Diva: Tiramisu and a Corona -- a classic combination
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Working in the hotel: Regina, Wayne, Jorge, Miranda
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Watch as Alex & Mary review financial controls!
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Saturday |
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The long-awaited weekend has finally arrived. Actually, our last weekend in India. Today, we visited Amar and Mahika's respective homes, and then we all went out for lunch @ Aroma. Finally, Amar and his wife went along with us into Delhi to help shop for gifts and stuff. At night, a few of us went out to the CJ's club @ the Le Meridian hotel. Good music, but my non-Indian friends were bewildered about the Indian music. I don't know why, but at least they made an attempt. It's Indian dance music, but at least it's dance music. I'm proud to say that I did 5 double shots of Jack Daniel's and Coke, and I survived. |
Lunch at Aroma with Amar's family & Mihika's family
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Mahika, her husband (the name escapes me), & her
son Dave
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Lunch @ Aroma with Amar & Mihika and families
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Thousands of dollars worth of pashmina shawls
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Shopping & haggling for handicrafts
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Looking for deals
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Wayne trying on the largest sandal in the world
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Sunday |
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Woke up this morning early, and met up with Wayne, Regina, Miranda, and Mary to do some quick sightseeing before our 2pm spa sessions. The plan was to quickly visit Qutab Minar and the Bahai Lotus temple. We were supposed to meet Amar at the hotel at 10am, but some hiccups occurred. We eventually caught up with him after visiting Qutab Minar, and then we all went to the Lotus temple. Then, quickly back to the hotel, and onto our massages and whatever. |
Qutab Minar, built in the late 12th century
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You can only try imagine what it looked when it was
all intact
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Qutab Minar (the tall tower) is just one minar. There
were a slew of buildings on this site: tombs, a madrassa, etc. All really
cool, all built more than 800 years ago by the Islamic Mamluk dynasty,
before the Mughal empire
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I love the detail
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It's friggin' huge!
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I see you....
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....but do you see me?
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The Bahai Lotus temple
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Nice grounds
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Oooooh, temple
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Pools at the foot of the temple
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Amar, me, Regina, Mary, Miranda. Wayne took the pic
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This is our last week, as we're flying out Thursday night at 3am. As the week continues, come back here for new pictures.
Monday - Tuesday |
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Our last week. |
Team lunch Monday @ Pind Balluchi with Amar & Sonali
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Monday Dinner @ The House of Ming: my fried ice cream
with Hennessy cognac
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Fire makes it better
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The adventure continues Tuesday -- our taxi overheats
in the middle of rush hour traffic
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Alex helped, I went to take a picture, but Regina was
safe in the car
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Wednesday |
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Our 2nd-to-last day in India. Busy, busy, busy. Finalizing our fieldwork, presenting to the client, and much running around. Stress levels are up. All recipes for drinking tonight. The only other highlight was a surprise party for Regina's birthday next week. She was definitely surprised, since we're four days early. |
Alex, Regina, & Mary working on non-IT stuff. I
say, "Who cares?"
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Bhawana & Alex.... "Is it 8pm yet?"
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I'm hunky-dorry. More hunky, less dorry
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"Note to self, remember to...."
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Bhawana getting our secret party ready
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One chocolate, one pineapple
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Surprise! Happy Birthday, Regina!
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Group shot
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It's your birthday, but give us some cake
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Amar & Mahika, partners in the conspiracy
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Alex and his best friend, the coffee boy
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Drinks @ Djinn's
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We were the normal ones at Djinn's too
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Awww, sho' cute!
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Thursday |
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Last day! We had our closing meeting (pretty uneventful), and I feel that I did a pretty good job at the closing. I think that's preferred over looking like an idiot. After packing up our last batch of files, we headed to the Odyssey restaurant in the Sahara Mall for a team dinner with some folks from the office. Funny thing about the Sahara Mall -- this is the 1st time visiting it, after driving by it plenty of times. Turns out, not only is there a supermarket inside, there are numerous clubs/lounges there that stay open until 4am. We find this out on our last night. Funny. |
Odyssey restaurant and lounge
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Mahika & Amar
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Miranda & Sunil
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Regina & Bhawana, ready to enjoy our last dinner
in Delhi
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As you can see, Alex can truly sleep anywhere, anytime
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Sunil talks, while Miranda listens intently
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Jorge, Mahika, & Amar -- beautiful smiles all around
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Time to chow down....
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.... while another Sunil picks up the 3-page bill
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New York, New York |
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After our dinner, we headed straight to the Hyatt, to get our suitcases from the bellstand, change into comfortable clothes in the lobby restroom, and then off to Indira Gandhi Int'l airport. Fairly uneventful trip. Stopover in Frankfurt, 3 hours in the Lufthansa Business class lounge, with a small sprinkling of duty-free shopping. The highlight of the trip would be our Frankfurt-JFK leg, where we flew on the new Airbus 300, which has the new seats. Awesome. I could have used the fully-reclining seats the whole trip. Now you'll understand why we're all friggin' giddy. |
Airport security check-in line: "Are we there yet?"
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Frankfurt airport: We're halfway home!
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Aw, check out the seats. We're absolutely giddy!
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So roomy!
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Miranda can barely reach the seat in front
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Cool console with wired remote
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What is with us men and the remote control?
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Congrats to me, I figured out how to recline
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Smarty-pants Regina already figured it out, but loves
it anyway
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Alex & Mary are go for launch!
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I bet Jorge would love this in his office after a big
lunch
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Alex and Jorge, catching some zzzzz's
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"Ewww, dessert."
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Look at Miranda, hard at work
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