MUMBAI STAR

Sunday, 14 Oct - Got up at 7.30am latest since my arrival at Mumbai! Must be the tiredness after spending the whole day at EsselWorld yesterday. It was really wonderful that Sukriti, HR/SIS called us on Friday night, to tell us that a car would be fetching us there at 7am on Saturday without us booking for it. Thanks to Sukriti for her great understanding. Also thanks to Elvin and Dr Vanitha for providing hints to her about EsselWorld.

The ride was an eye opener indeed. The car took us down to end of Mira Road, which was fairly well developed with modern buildings and brand new apartments. Then it entered a small road and we were in the middle of a slum! Yes, really poor people live here....makeshift tents and shacks lined the road. People were just sitting by the roadside, some having a bath (yes, in the open but clothed lah!), some cooking and children having fun. These people were indeed carefree and happy. Clearing the slum, we continued along a narrow, meandering road all the way to EsselWorld, which took us about 45mins. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast at one of the many bed-and-breakfast type "hotels". The place really reminded of my kampong days again, haha!! It was really nostalgic....when as a boy, I used to walk through a forested road in the midst of a Chinese cemetry, to reach a small provision shop to get groceries for the family. Got the creeps? Not me, lah...I remember studying hard, like many of the graduating students in Greenview now, for my O levels ( was known as School Certificate then) in one of the graves next to my attap hut! Now, you all know how poor I was then back in the 50s and 60s !!

OK, back to the present...EsselWorld is a theme park, like Disneyland, but not as grand! Entrance ticket costs s480 each (about S$20) including all rides but excluding Water Kingdom, like Sentosa's defunct water theme park, Fantsy Island, closed down after a fatal accident there some years back. I was surprised that the park was kept clean. It was real big and literary took us a day to walk and went on the rides. Yes, there were the roller-coasters, many rides which make you want to throw out, a water ride which plunged down to a pool and got fully drenched! ( yes, many rides were similar to rides at Wild, Wild Wet at DowntownEast but more terrifying).

Dr Vanitha, Elvin, Siddarth (our SIS Support Staff and guide) and I really enjoyed our stay there. Elvin and Siddarth especially as it was their first time on many of the terror rides. Both took some time to recover their water balance and composure, but did not, like some student visitors, throw out after the rides. Dr Vanitha was the wise one as she stayed away from these, but poor from the experience, haha! Also, the three of us, guys, played 4 games each in their 6-lane bowling alley. Yeah, I had the highest score at 137 ! There was a free discotheque next to the bowling alley and Elvin especially and Siddarth had a wonderful time boogying to the extremely loud music...even Dr Vanitha got into the act for awhile, haha! Believe it or not, I did not get to the dance floor....maybe miss my wife lah....haha hope my "laupor" is reading this, hahaha! The pics are in Elvin's camera and will post them once I get them. For lunch we had chicken bryani and it was yummy, just like ours, but the helping of chicken meat was meagre!

In the evening, we wanted to go to The Taipan, a chinese restaurant we saw earlier, for dinner but it was closed by then...what a pity. Siddarth and I had bryani again while the other two had some veg meal, as all the other restaurants were closed. That was the opportunity cost we had to pay for all the dancing. After dinner, it was to the open air concert where a Dandiya festival was organised. Dandiya is the 10-day of festivities before Diwali (Deepavali). There were dances by performing artistes and there was supposed to be some Bollywood performances but we did not stay to watch these as it was getting late. We got out of the park at about 8pm but the driver was not able to come into the entrance by the security. So we had to walk about 300metres to the security gate-post but I took the opportinity to jog this stretch. It was a wonderful feeling really... jogging in the faintly-lit road to the car where our driver had been faithfully waiting for us.... the past 10 hours? Speak of dedication and devotion to duty, this is it, Bublu! .hope I got the driver's name correct! The ride back was ANOTHER NOSTALGIC experience....driving through a dimly-lit country road littered with the occasional village huts, pedestrians and motors.

It was a real exhausting Saturday and the Singaporeans must indeed thank the kind and wonderful hospitality our Indian hosts shower on us. Three cheers to Sukriti! Hip, hip, hooray!!!

So this whole Sunday morning was just resting and blogging. Just prepared my own "larp cheong" rice with "bak-hoo" & egg for lunch. hmmmm...taste great, man!!!

The house-maid came to clean the apartment at 4pm as usual. At about 5pm, set out for my Sunday walk. This time around, I chose to walk on the opposite side towards Hotel SunShine Inn, which supposedly was to be my place of stay for my PDL stint but was switch to this apartment at Timber Green Homes. It was a better walk than the other routes taken. There were lots of shops and eateries in better shape than on the other side of the road. also happen to come to an auto rekshaw makeshift passenger terminal...haha! Rekshaws were lining up neatly in a long line barricaded off on one side of the road and passengers at the end of the line queued to board and off they go. Believe this! They ride against the flow of very heavy traffic on the expressway and somehow managed to cross over to the opposite and correct side of the highway! Speak of dare-devils and these rekshaw riders take the cake anytime! Inspite of all the dust and dirt, I remained rooted witnessing the scene of chaotic criss-crossing of passengers and rekshaws on the supposed expressway. What an experience! On the way back I had to cross this expressway and the dare-devil in me simply had to take over and then found myself on the same side of my abode. Bought a bunch of 13 big, green bananas for Rs18, dirt cheap lah.

Dinner was again my own larp cheong, bak-hoo and tomato with white rice as no SIS dinner was delivered. Thank God, I was prepared with these "imported" products from my beloved Singapore.

Below, some good read............

Balance Sheet

Our Birth is our Opening Balance !
Our Death is our Closing Balance!

Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities
Our Creative Ideas are our Assets
Heart is our Current Asset
Soul is our Fixed Asset
Brain is our Fixed Deposit
Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital
Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade
Friends are our General Reserves
Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned
Love is our Dividend
Children are our Bonus Issues
Education is Brands / Patents
Knowledge is our Investment
Experience is our Premium Account

The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.
The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.

Some very Good and Very bad things ...

The most destructive habit......................Worry
The greatest Joy...............................Giving
The greatest loss................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work...............Helping others
The ugliest personality trait.............Selfishness
The most endangered species.........Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource...............Our youth
The greatest 'shot in the arm'..........Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome.................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill........Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease............Excuses
The most powerful force in life..................Love
The most dangerous pariah..................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer........
The brain The worst thing to be without................... Hope
The deadliest weapon.......................The tongue
The two most power-filled words...............'I Can'
The greatest asset..............................Faith
The most worthless emotion..................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire......................SMILE!
The most prized possession................Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.....Prayer
The most contagious spirit.................Enthusiasm
The most important thing in life..................GOD