Tour to Delhi City ( I live at gurgaon)

Some kind of landmark thingy for the early freedom fighters of India. Took this picture from the car so they would look like they were running.
Ventured into Delhi City to meet the Tata interns. had KFC for lunch and watched a Hindi movie at the above movie theatre. it really is a grand affair for them. Bomb checks, Marble floored toilets, cool chairs that can slide so you can lie down to watch the movie. It costs 175 Ruppees for a ticket during the weekend. Very affordable if you ask me :)

This is the place where all the other SMU interns work at. I work at a separate office :(
Cute little public taxis which I doubt I will be able to withstand during the 1.5 hr drive to Delhi.
Dont know why, but I like this picture. It calls out to me. Love the pillars and rustic feel. It stands out against the rest of Delhi.

A typical scene from Delhi. Make sure to note that this is the modern Delhi. When and if I do make a trip down to Old Delhi I will put up photos to contrast the two. Qiqi- Orientation Group buddy.

Outside the famous bakery with a rich history (found on lonely planet) with Kangwei (one of the new Tata intern friends I made)
With backdrop of Delhi in the background. Bertrand and I finally found our way into the inner city radius to meet the rest. Our driver seemed clueless on how to get to our destination.
With Yinna inside the bakery. Trigger happy - Singaporeans... Tsk tsk
Some of the cakes on display. One thng I realised is that Indian food has loads of sweet stuff for desserts. (Mummy! your favourite!)
Definately looking happy with our purchases. The Bharti interns (Bertrand and I) bought 13 pieces of pastries! To eat for the weekend :)

A nice day at Delhi but there's nothing to buy!!! The malls here sell dresses for 80 Sing dollars! Amazingly expensive if you ask me. The Hindi movie was a funny experience. Had to have the movie translated to me in bits and pieces and cook up a whole picture. The movie "Shootout" was horribly gruesome. Loads of violent killing scenes admist the looking cool portions and macho Bollywood dance sequences. Im looking forward to watching a Romance show now.

Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Carribean will only come out on 1st June here :( Well I can save up and look forward to that...

Just to see 'her' again

Warm sand, Laughter in the sun, Cool waters, Summer lovin'

Let your hair down. It's FRIDAY!

I love this pic with the SC girls. So natural and surreal at the same time :)

Tired feet. I need some pretty shoes to wear here. They promised to bring me shopping. Cant wait!
Sex on the Beach. Awesome drinks! And fascinating company.

With Harsh, the senior VP who interviewed me. he's leaving the company. (He's been voted one of the best managers in India)
That's the bag the HR department gave him and I have the honour of taking the pic with him of course.
Ani is really cool. She has three chinese words on her right arm that mean: peace, power, influence. :)

More dedications

To Layshan, I wish you the clarity of thoughts.
To Cheryl I wish you eternal grace.
To my best friend Kun, Beauty and happiness.
To Tiff, forever cheerfulness and vibrancy. You do light up people's lives
To YF, a close up of dark handsome men. hehe... It's so fun teasing you!

Office Overlook

These are the people in my HR team. People with very impressive backgrounds and experiences of bringing companies to greater heights.
And they sure know how to party as well. You can see them grooving in the photo above to english pop mixed with bollywood beats. HAWT!

This is the only company sign I can find outside the office, where the guard sits.

They have this really cool mass company mobile phone charger station for the employees. Can you read the sign there? It says " Charge your mobile here" and that's my phone lying there looking pretty.
This is the place I hang out at whenever the office gets too cold. It overlooks a restaurant and a curved wall and garden maze.
Evidence of me doing work! That's my pc, with the ganola bars peeking from behind it (thanks for those bars, I feel pampered whenever I bite into them as they dont have them here).
Some of the men in my office. YF these ones are rich (they belong to the top 0.1percent here) I said i was taking their pic to show Singapore how good-looking they are and they asked me to bring them along when I go home. Haha...

It's a Beautiful Day, Blue skies coming my way

The busy city life - To Shufen
One of life's beautiful sights, sunlight streaming through the leaves - to Winnie.
Tranquity and peace - to Joanne
A beautiful place to settle in - To Huixian
Sitting down just to have a chat on green grass - To Reina

Dear daddy, just in case u say I miss mommy more than you.

Love,

-lin (No I do not have an Indian accent... yet)

Down to Business

Men cant really stand demanding lady bosses.

Power Women can take over the world, or have already done so. Haven't you realised that we already have with our charm, wit and supposed submissiveness?

Dressing up and getting down to work. These are some of the interns who are in the telecomms department. It's their first working day today while it's my third. Spent the first two days researching and talking to people to try to understand and comprehend the Indian retail Industry. The Internet has proven to be a hard tool to manipulate and people relations still rock the house. Made conversation with one of the MBA interns and he helped me out by giving me the retail reports and data he had collated before. This brief experience has left a deep impression on me as it is a stark contrast to the unwillingness to share one's work back home. Plus it made me feel accepted.

India has taught me a few beautiful lessons:
1) The People: They love their group identity and stay close together. The department makes it a point to all eat together everyday.
2) The Food: Wed and Fri are meat days. TGIF
3) The Service: I feel like royalty! But that does not mean we cant take a second to thank those who serve us.
4) The challenge: It is such a big country, I cant help but feel like a pebble in the ocean and what Im seeing is just the water surface.
5) The Blackouts: It has taught me to be comfortable in my own skin. It's these moments where I feel like I find the Celine inside.

PS: Thanks for believing in me. This journey will teach me gratitude and humility.

Down to Business (Day 2)

Work
These are some photos from work. I have been separated from the rest of the interns from day one. They are all in the Bharti Airtel telecomms office while I get to be in the excitable position to set up this retail business, or like a small piece of this big puzzle.

Cake
They are really close here, they celebrate each's birthday and send emails to celebrate each others' wedding anniversary. It's apparently a birthday tradition to smear choc cake all over the birthday boy's face. I was tasked to smear it but I didnt wanna step on anyone's toes, plus its a waste to use such nice choc cake.

Ashima
She's one year older than me, completed her master's and just joined two weeks ago. She's helping me get adjusted here. Her sweet smile is just the tip of the iceberg to her nice-ness. She gives me a lift home everyday and bought me a drink today!

Food with meat!

They knew I was in need of meat so they walked out to buy the chicken to cook intercontinental. Baked chicken with potatoes and mongolian noodles. The chicken was the star of the show obviously.

Three Great Men
These guys make the guest house perfect. One can see pure happiness when one acknowledges their work and thanks them. YF, you like any?

A Real Royal Welcome

That's my room and my side of the bed. These bouquet of red roses were hand delivered to my doorstep to welcome me into Bharti Retail! So sweet and thoughtful, I feel wanted and appreciated.
Here they are in full bloom. They made me feel like a Bollywood movie starlet. If only they knew that I was and am planning to take over the world. haha...

This is dinnertime and see how the interns look so happy to be served?

Well I was a little disappointed when I saw it was veg food third time in a row.

Welcome to My Palace

Touched down and had the most weird experiences. Two guys popped up from nowhere to help transport the luggages and asked for US$20 tip after carrying the bags for one metre into the car. Such business sense! Gave them some Rupees as I didnt wanna get hurt *just in case*

Anyway I think the heavens must have been smiling down on me cos low and behold, we were driven to this place called Beverley Parks. It's opposite a shopping mall and beside a cinema place. Have not ventured into the unknown yet as I have no time and have suddenly transformed into a hermit crab.

This is my room. Currently I get the big bed :) n get to sleep nearest to the air-con. Im still not getting good sleep. Weird that i cant sleep... Maybe the bed is too hard? hmmm

This is the walk-in wardrobe that leads to the bathroom. I think doors are very hard to open here. You must use loads of force. I got myself locked-in a few times when I was in the shower.

This is the Garden of Eden when I look out the window in the morning. The view from my balcony is not that nice :(

That's the swimming pool and gym which I have vowed to use cos someone said I have up-sized.

We have four male assistants to cook for us, make our beds, guard the house, do anything we want * like how i 'ordered' to have chicken*. And there's a mystery laundryman too! And I eat veg food most of the time with carbs. Kun! Im having what you eat!

My bags are packed

yet im not ready to go... spreading one's wings and flying is not an easy thing to do.
The flight to Delhi was a smooth one with just a mumur of turbulence. We stopped over at the new Thai airport for 20min to transfer to the Boeing 777 (which is not as nice cos we got the back seats, despite being served the food first). The food was nice and the service great! I think Thai girls are pretty and sweet, and very graceful. They gave me that bouquet of orchids to pin on my top. That small gesture made such a difference to a flight. It brightened up the impending night!
2) Bertrand, my fellow intern looked happy with my girly luggage - daddy you have great taste in picking luggages!
2) That's me at the airport (it's pretty but dirty) im allowed to look un-cool with the victory sign

3) oh how i miss my dear mommy!

NAMESTE!

hello world!

i am in incredible india now. Thanks to all you sweet people who came to send me off. Esp my family, all so beautiful and supportive.

n of course my sc frens who have always been there for me. sorry to have started the crying tradition. u overwhelmed me with emotions with your support

n to all the well-wishes, thanks! n to Mr G :)

i will get to posting more when i have time. everything has been so..... impressive. the place we are living in, the office people. But I still miss home