My First Week in Mumbai

I still kind of cannot accept that I am in Mumbai now. Can't really detect the reason for feeling this way, is it because of the project, of my job, or of the place itself?

I've been quite "emotionless" for this week. Rather indifferent, more on the negative side

Really want to write something, but once I see this screen, I don't know what to write... I guess I'll just write in points whatever comes up on my mind now:

1. Had macaroni in our service apartment for dinner, yesterday we had plain porridge with preserved vege in can, and leftovers from Chinese dinner at Grand Hyatt on Friday. Earlier of the week we had quite a lot of Indian food - I'm starting to dread Indian food by now.

2. I still feel "suffocated" with the air here. When the plane was landing at the Mumbai airport, I could start smelling the air already. Don't really know how to describe it but the scent is consistent all over the city. The first few days I'm here, the feeling is really like I've got to live with this for the next couple of weeks. There's no place to go where I can escape the scent.

3. I had afternoon nap today, suddenly thinking of home and feeling the "suffocation" again. I then had a dream, I'm supposed to go to Cameron Highland to attend a meeting. So I took a bus there. GYTK was also in the same bus. Apparently a group of my Form 6 friends were meeting up for dinner (at Cameron??). I don't know who else was supposed to be there. But GYTK got off and I saw CMH was already there. Guess the rest of the party would be joining them later.

The route started to look funny after that. The bus went through residential areas, like 2 storey terrace houses. I started to panic - I am supposed to have a meeting at Cameron. This doesn't look like where I'm going. Did I take the correct bus?

Then we stopped at a rest station - a very old one. Well, a mixture of old and new. It's a wooden one, the toilet is a wooden hut, a very big hut, but there were glasses in the toilet. And the individual toilet is huge. It looked filthy. When I went into one, it was extremely huge and err, the stuff took a while to go down.

When I got out, I went to a shop. There was a huge doll on display - like almost 2 feet. It's body is made of plastic but the surface is rubbery so it felt quite real. It has yellow curly hair, can't remember if it's long or short. And it's wearing a blue and white dress. I fell in love with it. And I asked the doll, "If I buy you, would you be able to take care of yourself?" (Silly question - I wonder why would I ask a doll such a question). Then I thought that I would bring it to work, and place it in the passenger sit of my green Myvi. Funny, I also thought if it would get stolen if I leave it in the car in the MA carpark?

Then - this is when I realise my mum is also there. She said that there were nicer dolls, they had like 5 big dolls in that shop and there was one holding an umbrella. She also went to dismantled this particular doll we were looking at - I think she wanted to make sure the "parts" are ok. Then she went off to look for the doll with the umbrella. She did found one big doll - but it was a stuffed green figure of some cartoon which I don't like. Then I woke up.

It's a really weird dream. There are my Form 6 friends, Cameron, MA, my car, my mum, buying a doll with my mum...

4. I wonder if I'm feeling homesick. Yet I don't want to fly back - that will be 10 hours on the plane and I don't even want to think about that.

5. I received a piece of news from MY I should be happy about. Yet, how come I don't feel the excitement?

6. I'm starting to think from time to time - what's next?

7. I really feel kind of sad to have missed DnD.

8. This is bad - I just feel so "lost"

ttg