SIGHTED SITE : CSIA Terminal 2, Mumbai

THE NEW Terminal 2 (T2) of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai changes the way flyers experience airports. 

The terminal, which opened in January 2014, was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and features over 7,000 pieces of antiquities and contemporary Indian art displayed on the airport’s corridors and hallways.  This is the largest public art in any airport in the world, and is a veritable showcase of Mumbai's proudly organic culture amidst a spectacular use of natural light, which the city has so much of.

T2 has got to be the best-designed airport of our generation. 

TRAVEL TALES : A family wheeler in Hyderabad

THE FATHER takes his family on a day-off in Hyderabad. With India's congested roads and massive population, the motorcycle is the invaluable, affordable, and flexible choice for domestic mobility and public transport in India. In fact, the country has the fastest-growing and second-largest motorcycle market in the world (next to China). As this photo shows, entire families travel with it, making it a catalyst for keeping families together outdoors!

And the cab woes continue

MANILA'S TAXI operators must come to India to train taxi companies on efficiencies. After that grueling experience in Chennai with Taxi For Sure, I met another taxi disservice. At the Hyderabad airport, I kept waiting for the driver at the arrival gate . . . and he kept waiting for me at the departure gate. Oy.

My cab woes remind me of a time I landed in Chennai a few years ago. The driver was nowhere to be seen. When I phoned him, he insisted on being at the arrival gate with a placard. I insisted that I was at the arrival gate looking at all the placards. Then I suspected a different background noise on the phone, so I asked which airport he was in. He replied, "Bangalore."

To this very day, my colleague who booked that cab still wonders when Chennai ever became Bangalore.

TRAVEL TALES : In Chennai, Amy Sareehouse

GLAMOR WAS probably in the visual merchandiser's mind while creating a look for this mannequin at a saree store in Express Avenue Mall, Chennai. Unfortunately, the person had to manage a wig that is neither here nor there. From what could have been an homage to the late Amy Winehouse, the enterprise ended with Amy Sareehouse. Rated C for Confused.

Unsure about Taxi For Sure

FROM UNAPOLOGETIC tardy drivers to vomit on the car floor, it seems that every reason has been thrown at me to dislike cab rental start-up Taxi For Sure. I've been a most avid evangelist for the firm for the past 18 months, giving it the thumbs-up on every word of mouth and social medium possible. The group links commuters to taxi operators through online and mobile apps, and it does have a robust front-end facility. However, it seems to struggle in aggregating cab operators who share their brand promise of quality service.

I booked my cabs through Taxi For Sure for the entire two-day duration of my stay in Chennai. I often did this to guarantee seamless cab availability. On the first day, I was picked up half an hour late from the airport by a driver who barely spoke English and Hindi. After requesting for a driver who could understand English, I got one―and this one made me nervous by beating the red light and making an illegal U-turn. The following day, I rode on a cab thick with dust inside and dried vomit on the floor mats. The cab was immediately changed after my phone-in complaint. At the end of the day, though, the driver insisted on giving me a fake invoice. I naturally, angrily disagreed. It didn't help that the Chennai hotline was unusually arrogant and self-serving on the phone.

The experience left me confused, angered, and betrayed. I created online dialogs with Taxi For Sure, but they ended up nowhere. To date, no senior official from the firm has come around to offer an apology and a commitment to better service. Unless and until Taxi For Sure resolves its birthing issues and accepts the precariousness of their customer base as a fact, I will no longer continue to give them my trust and support.

TRAVEL TALES : In Chandigarh, materialist metaphors on Grand Trunk Road

TRAVELING TO Chandigarh to attend a wedding, I traversed the ancient, venerable Grand Trunk Road. The national highway is dotted with sprawling farmlands and huge car showrooms, particularly in Haryana. As I passed by the cavernous Audi and Mercedes Benz showrooms, I realize the reason why Delhi is grand, cold, and proud. It's populated by throngs of families who have built these farmlands, cashed in on them, and bought their material richness (and big cars) to the capital. New Delhi, of course, is more than happy to accommodate them, as their wealth is an impeccable match for the capital's symbolic power.

Someday, I hope to see Delhi without the trappings of material wealth, and experience it for what it must truly represent: the capital of an undeniably spiritual nation.

Bikers and boxers

WHILE INSPECTING for a new house to live in, I passed by this pedestrian footpath and bike lane along the very busy Ambetkar Road in South Delhi. This is exactly what is needed for a city (in)famous for its impatient ways. The wide, well-cemented avenues get choked with Delhi's proudly big, arrogantly bigger, and insanely biggest cars, so having footpaths and bike lanes give the less-affluent public a chance to traverse the streets and stay alive safe.

And to point out the madness of New Delhi's roads, I saw a man alight from his bike on Ambetkar Road, approach the biker in front of him, and suddenly punch him massively in the face.

Delhi's roads also needs a separate lane for street boxing.

Hello, Delhi!

AFTER FOUR years in Mumbai and another four in Kolkata, I have moved to New Delhi for a new role with Biba Apparels. India's most happening city is also the center of Indian governance, Mughlai food, builder-floor apartments, car-park madness, flyovers, imperial buildings, and world-class museums. And did I say that the Bahá'í House of Worship for Asia is minutes away from work?

As Barbra Streisand would have sung, "Well, well, hello, Delhi! Well, hello, Delhi! It's so nice to be in your cold and crazy arms!"

The night I saw Barbra Streisand

EXACTLY ONE year ago, I watched Barbra Streisand in concert for the first time in my life. I've been a fan since 1980, and seeing her live 32 years later was a monumental rite of passage. As I write this, I can still feel the sensation of complete, mind-blowing, breath-taking bewilderment when she walked out and performed on stage. This was for real. It was a collision at the crossroads of memories of listening to her music, watching her movies, collecting every available memorabilia in Manila, and always getting inspired by her commitment and dedication to creative excellence.

TRAVEL TALES : Stuck in strike in Vijayawada

THE MOMENT I switched on my mobile phone after landing in Vijayawada City in southern India yesterday, five missed calls registered.  They were from the head office, wanting me to return to Mumbai immediately. Unbeknownst to me (and them), a three-day public strike had formed in Vijayawada on the day I landed. From what they'd heard on media, the agitation in the city streets was ferocious and therefore unsafe. The alarm bells rang too late: return flights were no longer available. I had no choice but check into the nearest hotel for overnight safety. Besides, I wasn't really keen on lugging back to Mumbai a humongous package of display materials that I needed for opening a Globus store in this city.

SIGHTED SITE : The Visaya, New Delhi

Facade of The Visaya

WHEN I first heard about The Visaya Hotel, I immediately thought, "Owned by Filipinos?" In the Philippines, the term Visaya refers to the archipelago's central group of islands, and to the language spoken by its residents. Digging further, I learned that the term came from the 7th-century Hindu empire called Srivijaya. In Sanskrit, "sri" means "fortunate" or "happy", and "vijaya" means "victorious" or "excellent". In the 12th century, these central (and a few southern) Philippine islands came under the Srivijaya empire, hence, the Visaya Islands. Et voilà! There's an Indian in every Filipino, after all!

Globus returns to Kanpur

Globus Kanpur Store Launch
Link reference: Paul Ancheta on Vimeo.

GLOBUS STORES, India's premier fashion specialty store, opened its 36th branch last Friday at Z Square Mall in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.  This also marks the return of Globus to this north Indian city, having closed its first (and highly successful) store there a few years ago.  See how the new store looks like in the video below.

TRAVEL TALES : High school reunion in San Francisco

WHEN PHILIP Belarmino messaged me on Labor Day (5 September) about changing the evening’s dinner venue, I realized the adeptness of my high school batch mates in organizing such gatherings in the Bay Area. Bong (now Bhoc) Chavez and Mel Favila had advised Philip about the closure of Intramuros restaurant in San Francisco that night, so the venue shifted to Kuya’s in San Bruno.

The hills are alive in San Francisco

THE MOST delightful surprise about San Francisco is how such a compact city (49 square miles) of hills and waterfronts can accommodate endless diversities in seamless manner.  For example, on the last day of my weeklong stay, I dined in a quaint neighborhood called Little Italy, at the open-air Pinocchio on Columbus Avenue.  Later, as I walked past cafés and gift shops with lovely little windows, I turned abruptly right on the corner and realized that I had just entered Chinatown.

TRAVEL TALES : High school reunion in Toronto

GEORGE DEL Rosario and Lois Kimwell-Mijares organized a last-minute dinner gathering of high school batch mates in Toronto, and when I asked for it to be postponed due to tangled schedules, Lois didn’t seem to be too sure about reorganizing it. On hindsight, I don’t blame her: it’s not easy for those living outside central Toronto to travel downtown. While public transportation is accessible, it gets confusing if you’re not familiar with the city streets and the subway stops. If you do have a car, there are car-parking issues and confusing one-way street directions. Most of all, it’s always a challenge to organize last-minute gatherings of friends living all over a big city.

Up and down Toronto

FIRST, THERE'S that lake next to Toronto. Viewed from the 23rd floor of the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel where I checked in during my last week in Toronto, Lake Ontario looks like a sea, not a lake. It’s vast. It’s dotted with yachts and ferryboats. It’s blue. Lakes are supposed to be green, but this one’s blue. I’m told it’s not even the largest of Toronto’s bodies of water. Lakes in the Philippines suddenly look like ponds.

Well hello, Toronto!

I FINALLY landed on North America, by way of Toronto. Arriving on a sunny Friday afternoon, I immediately saw the familiar pleasantness and graciousness that endeared me to the Canadians whom I worked with in Israel many years ago. Even their sense of autumn fashion was mannered: with navys, grays, and blacks around me, I stood out like a sore thumb with my red sneakers and denim jacket.

Jet Airways bounces

JET AIRWAYS, India’s second largest airline, has always been consistent with its excellent quality of service in both domestic and international sectors. This is why I had to praise then scold the airline teams last week, when I flew from New Delhi to Toronto.

SIGHTED SITE : Monarch Hotel, Bengaluru

Situated along the very busy Brigade Road in downtown Bengaluru, Monarch Hotel is value for money for travelers who wish to stay in a central location. It is neither frilly nor modern, but it is clean and safe, tucked away above a commercial building, with friendly front-desk service. There are restaurants within the vicinity, and for travelers who are excited with bargain-hunting opportunities at Brigade Road, this hotel is very convenient.

Sighted sight: St. James Hotel, Bangkok

Located on quiet, leafy 18 Soi Sukhumvit 26, St. James Hotel provides the best value for money in an expensive vicinity. The lobby of the elegant 3-star hotel, which is part of the global Amari hospitality chain, gives a preview of how remarkable the rest of the hotel is designed. The swimming pool is big enough for several laps and accessible through an outdoor staircase, giving you a comfortable warm-up by the time you reach the pool! The room is clean and spacious enough for a couple. The fittings are modern, and I particularly like how the shoe rack is elevated from the floor for easy reach. I also like the tiny anti-theft signs inside the room that politely advise the guest that bathrobes and towels are available at cost. The front desk staff speaks fluent English, and the concierge is polite and attendant.

Outside the hotel is a food stall that serves fabulous noodles; if you prefer Japanese food, there are three places to choose from down the street; and if you really want a proper restaurant, a fabulous food court beckons from the glitzy Emporium mall within walking distance away. The Phrom Phong skytrain station sits just near the corner of 18 Soi and Sukhumvit Road to take you up up and away.

St. James Hotel
18 Sukhumvit 26 Klongton, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
www.amari.in

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