April 3, 2011, Saturday. 10:10 AM
Today I'm taking 8 hours city tour in full knowing that the traffic will be at the frenziest coz ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be held this afternoon at 2:30 PM. It's a final match between India and Sri Lanka and if India wins, they will finally hold a cup after 7 or 8 years waiting. Well, anyway, here I am in a taxi and as I'm sitting comfortably in spite of the almost-not-working AC, I'm struck at how Mumbai never fails to amaze me everyday by its dryness. Especially today, it seems to be even more drier than yesterday. Smoke and dust are visible and some people selling food in a side road, some people are eating. I mean, how could you eat outside in this environment? I guess they just so used to it or merely don't bother at all.
.: Haji Ali Mosque :.
We're not even near the city yet and the traffic is crawling. It took us an hour to reach half the journey to the city that normally takes only 45 minutes. The cab driver is pointing to the Haji Ali Mosque located a few hundred metres in sea from the coastline near the express highway. It's awesome especially with the mist around us *now let's assume that the dust is a mist. That way you can really see how magnificent the mosque is - wink* The cab driver asked me whether I'd like to walk there and see it from upclose which I refused politely. This morning, I came out with my mind set that I will try my best to avoid breathing outside air. So I'm perfectly content with my video cam at hand, shooting the city from my taxi window :p
.: Gateway of India :.
We arrived at Gateway of India at exactly 12 PM. I went out and walked among the crowd to get as closer I can to the gateway. Since in two hours time the match will start, the police baricade some roads near the stadium and Gateway of India is fairly close to the stadium. This monument was built to welcome Queen Mary when she arrived in Mumbai on December, 1911.
There is this clothes store in front of the Gateway and I bought one knitted olive green cardigan. They're having 40% off price. And after some shoppings, I went to an Italian cafe next door, bought home a sandwich and quickly retreated to the taxi.
.: Colaba :.
Colaba is a shopping district located very near the Gateway of India. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to actually shop there. My taxi driver only showed it to me when we passed by it. The main road in front of the beach is bustling with people waving India flag. They're queueing to get inside the stadium. I've never been in any matches before *high school basketball matches don't count* so to actually be among them is an experience I never forget as I can feel their anxiety and the excitement of the final match. It is the highlight of the day. People are waving, laughing and shouting.
I still have until 6 o'clock of this city tour but I decided to go back to end the day and go back to the hotel. If it took us almost 2 hours to reach city at 10 o'clock in the morning, I simply cannot imagine how many hours will it take for the ride home in this crazy traffic in a midst of Cricket supporters. It's worse than Jakarta, mind you.
Today I'm taking 8 hours city tour in full knowing that the traffic will be at the frenziest coz ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be held this afternoon at 2:30 PM. It's a final match between India and Sri Lanka and if India wins, they will finally hold a cup after 7 or 8 years waiting. Well, anyway, here I am in a taxi and as I'm sitting comfortably in spite of the almost-not-working AC, I'm struck at how Mumbai never fails to amaze me everyday by its dryness. Especially today, it seems to be even more drier than yesterday. Smoke and dust are visible and some people selling food in a side road, some people are eating. I mean, how could you eat outside in this environment? I guess they just so used to it or merely don't bother at all.
.: Haji Ali Mosque :.
We're not even near the city yet and the traffic is crawling. It took us an hour to reach half the journey to the city that normally takes only 45 minutes. The cab driver is pointing to the Haji Ali Mosque located a few hundred metres in sea from the coastline near the express highway. It's awesome especially with the mist around us *now let's assume that the dust is a mist. That way you can really see how magnificent the mosque is - wink* The cab driver asked me whether I'd like to walk there and see it from upclose which I refused politely. This morning, I came out with my mind set that I will try my best to avoid breathing outside air. So I'm perfectly content with my video cam at hand, shooting the city from my taxi window :p
.: Gateway of India :.
We arrived at Gateway of India at exactly 12 PM. I went out and walked among the crowd to get as closer I can to the gateway. Since in two hours time the match will start, the police baricade some roads near the stadium and Gateway of India is fairly close to the stadium. This monument was built to welcome Queen Mary when she arrived in Mumbai on December, 1911.
There is this clothes store in front of the Gateway and I bought one knitted olive green cardigan. They're having 40% off price. And after some shoppings, I went to an Italian cafe next door, bought home a sandwich and quickly retreated to the taxi.
.: Colaba :.
Colaba is a shopping district located very near the Gateway of India. Sadly, I didn't have a chance to actually shop there. My taxi driver only showed it to me when we passed by it. The main road in front of the beach is bustling with people waving India flag. They're queueing to get inside the stadium. I've never been in any matches before *high school basketball matches don't count* so to actually be among them is an experience I never forget as I can feel their anxiety and the excitement of the final match. It is the highlight of the day. People are waving, laughing and shouting.
I still have until 6 o'clock of this city tour but I decided to go back to end the day and go back to the hotel. If it took us almost 2 hours to reach city at 10 o'clock in the morning, I simply cannot imagine how many hours will it take for the ride home in this crazy traffic in a midst of Cricket supporters. It's worse than Jakarta, mind you.
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