I have too much to say about my visit to Mumbai. So I will say this in different posts..
Friday 10th September 2010
We started early from our house, at approximately about 6:30 am.. We reached Nedumbassery international airport at about 7:45 am. We got our boarding passes and went through security clearence. We had some issues there because I had my mom’s ticket with me.. But it was soon sorted out. We boarded the flight at about 10:15 am. We were flying Spicejet – it was the cheapest one I could find online at that time. I got the window seat. As you guys know this was our first flight. I was a little scared. I believe my mom was scared to death even though she didn’t show it. The sudden accelartion during take off was a adrenaline rush for me and scary for my mother. The ride was not exactly smooth as we hit some turbulance during the flight. I loved when the pilot announced that we are cruising at an altitude of 35000 feet at a speed of 900 km/hr. (the best speed I get from my car is about 120 km/hr). Even though the flight was scheduled to be 2 hours, we reached within that time with about 15 min to spare. But we had to wait a long time to get out of the flight and then to catch the bus to the terminal. My Mom and uncle was there to meet us there..
We went first to get some chow as we were very hungry. During the way the driver – Nandu – took us through Juhu beach and showed places where the big stars like SRK, Slaman Khan etc lived.
After our lunch we went to Sky bridge. Little we know that we are getting into trouble. I wanted to get a photo of the bridge. We parked the car and I got out to get a photo off my mobile phone. The next thing I know is a police vehicle zooming past me and the officers calling out for me in Hindi. I am not a very good Hindi person. I can understand Hindi but not speak very well. He caught my mobile and told me that this is a no parking zone and photography is prohibited – now he was about to give a Rs 5000 fine.. My aunt came out from the car and pleaded with the officers saying that I am a idiot village boy (absolutely true – I missed out the no parking and photography prohibited signs..lol..) The officers agreed to let me go if I deleted the photos. I deleted them in front of the officers.. Of course I recovered them afterwards.. I may be a idiot village boy but I do have some basic computer skills.
Next we went to Nariman point. We have a look at the Oberoi Hotel which was attacked by terrorists. It was rebulit and looked good. We spend some time at Nariman point – it rained for some time – which took the heat away..
Then we went to see my Uncle’s New Office. He had retired from Fisheries Survey of India – and this was the building that he got sanctioned before retirement. We saw the fishing station next to it..
Next we went to gateway of India. Next to it is the Taj Hotels – which too has undergone renovation after the terrorist attack. We spend some time over there after which we started our journey to my Uncle’s flat located at Belapur.