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Indoor/Indore in 2012

 
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:34 pm    Post subject: Indoor/Indore in 2012 Reply with quote

Indoor/Indore in 2012
---------------------
This trip report can be found at the following URL:
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12835.html

The regular patroniser may recount my previous Indore trip:
Mostly Indoors, in Indore: AI634: DEL-IDR and AI633: IDR-DEL on AI

http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html

This was also to be an official trip.
This was also to Indore, also with heavy check-in baggage.
Steel trunks, just as in the previous trip.
17 people, instead of the 43, last time.
There was another difference.
Air India had announced a cut-back on food on domestic flights.
This was my first trip after the announcement.
I was not really looking forward to it, yet had a morbid
curiosity to see how bad the cut-back was.
Oh come on, I wouldn't give up on my favourite reason to fly!

We set out from our organisation at around 4pm, to IGI airport's
Terminal 3, better known as simply `T3'. The trunks were checked
in without much ado (at the extreme left side `heavy luggage'
counter, where they were checked, and dispatched, via a lift),
and we made it to Gate 32B. The well-heeled T3 traveller would
note that the OOG 1 counter was there for this purpose, so why
were we directed to the left extreme of the terminal? OOG we
guessed, stands for `Oversize, Overweight Goods'. We were told
that the OOG 1 belt was possibly a bit indisposed at that moment,
and we could use the alternative arrangement. The plane came
in a bit late, at 05:30 pm. I was pleased to see an old friend,
VT-SCC. This is an A319 in the `Indian' colours, with the
ochre-and-red seat covers, and no PTVs. I had flown this very
aircraft back from Indore to Delhi, on my last trip!
There wasn't much to see around T3 in terms of aircraft
movements. There were two Oman Air 737-800s, two Air India
777-300ERs - all parked at the international gates. An ugly
American Airlines Boeing 777-200ER came in on the new runway
29, and went on the far side of the international wing. There
were some `usual' domestic movements, which I clicked.



Above, is one of them. A common pleasant view at IGI T3, and Air
India A321, in the beautiful new flying swan livery.

This is one of the so-called milk runs of Air India, however the
flight was quite full! I noted only one seat empty.
Captain N. Jagya was in command.
Our itinerary for this part of the trip was as follows:

Set out 10 Feb (Fri) for Indore from New Delhi
AI 634: Air India (A319) [Seat: 03D; PNR: Z33WK]
IGIA T3, New Delhi - Raja Bhoj Airport, Bhopal -
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore -
New Delhi (DEL) - Bhopal (BHO) - Indore (IDR)
[06:00 pm - 07:15 pm; 07:45 pm - 08:30 pm]

Yes, I was on an aisle seat. It did not matter too much, as there
was hardly any light outside to take pictures. We took off from
the new runway 29-11 towards Dwarka, and I waited for my
favourite sound. The sound of the seat-belt-off bell, and the
announcement, related to food.
The first came, but the second was conspicuous by its absence.
Being in row 3, I could well see the goings-on in the front
galley, so I was not disappointed, either.
Our part of the plane was `manned' by a senior lady, and a young
gentleman, both of whom were cheerful, pleasant, and prompt.
The trays came in.
The snack was decent for a 01:15 hour flight, though the quantity
has reduced a bit. There was no choice (Veg/Non-veg).
There was some fresh Panini bread, with its centre having a
sufficient quantity of cottage cheese (paneer) in a mayonnaise
base, on a bed of some fresh and crisp lettuce.
The sweet was a dry chocolate cake slice, with dry fruit
pieces embedded in the inside.
A nice and strong coffee rounded off a nice offering.
Captain N. Jagya made a very smooth landing on Bhopal's Raja Bhoj
airport at Bairagarh, coming in on runway 30, and docking at
the new terminal building, which I have described in a previous
trip report.
The halt was described as a 20 minute one.
We 17 plus some 10 others were perhaps the only people left in the
plane, as we saw a crowd moving out of the plane. And equally
large crowd climbed in, leaving only two seats vacant, as opposed
to the solitary one in the last segment.
From the conversations, most of the incoming crowd was going on
wards to Mumbai, and not to Indore.
The DEL-BHO and BHO-(IDR)-BOM segments seem to be doing quite
well for Air India in terms of loads, it seems.
The leg-pulling was on in full force, among the 17 of us.
A colleague was not in a mood for food. Such people's company is
best avoided, they dampen one's enthusiasm for food, too.
This gentleman passed on his Panini sandwich behind, this went
another row back, and soon before he knew it, found it back in
his hands. Food recycling, as they say.
There was the mandatory baggage identification check.
A colleague had fallen asleep. (Remember the last time? No, it was
not Mr. Philos Offer in the thick of the action this time.)
The person performing the security check took out a laptop bag,
and asked around, looking for the owner. Two colleagues
volunteers, and vouched for...the fact that ti clearly did not
belong to anyone on the plane, and had been left behind by a
deplaning passenger. This commotion woke up Mr. Sleeping Beauty,
who sheepishly put forth his claim to the offending piece of
luggage. He was not Prince Charming, after all - at least, at
that moment.

We landed on runway 25 at Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar airport.
This was another very smooth landing, and we deplaned into the
nice 16 degree centigrade temperature, outside. I was hoping to
experience the new terminal, but that was not to be. We were
`bused' to the old terminal itself, in an old and highly crowded
Air India bus. I would have loved to walk to the terminal than be
packed like sardines in a creaky old bus. Outside the airport,
there were vans to take us to our accommodation. We took turns in
helping load the trunks on to the vehicles, and take them off at
our hotel. Our accommodation was at Hotel Ginger, Chhoti
Khajrani, LIG Square (Near Shaniwar Darpan), A B Road
(Agra-Bombay Road), Indore. This was my second stay at a Hotel
Ginger, the first time was in Chennai. Hotel Ginger is a business
hotel of the Tata group, and is standardised across the different
offerings in different cities. The organisation is similar, the
rooms are similar, and facilities are similar. Very good, I would
say.

The trunks.
We managed to get carts to push them along, to the lift.
Some wanted to take a flight of stairs (without the trunks, of
course), found the doors locked! Was that the fire exit?
A colleague commented that the doors had a thermal unlocking
system. In the event of a fire, they would burst open.
He volunteered to test it out, amidst peals of laughter.
He is a smoker, by the way.
We unloaded the trunks in our representative's room.
Mr. Chimney and I had a problem in our hands err...a trunk.
As I held a trunk behind me, and was putting it down,
Mr. Chimney commented loudly,
``Sumantra: please do not f*rt''

``Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you been?
I've been to London, to look at the Queen
Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, what did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse, under the chair.''

What did Sumantra do in Indore?
Apart from the official work, that is.
Nothing.

``This little pig, went to market
This little pig, stayed at home...''

I mostly stayed in the hotel, since I have seen a bit of Indore
before. There was a brief touch-and-go trip to the Chhappan
Market (Literally, `56' refers to the number of shops there are
some point in time), an area well known for snacks and the
mixture-namkeen items. Indore is famous for these savouries which
are somewhat sweet and sour. The taste is quite amazing. This
area is also well-known for some high-fibre items.
Not food, though.
Textiles.
This area is also quite close to the Indore railway station, and
Hotel President, where I have stayed on a similar official visit,
two years back.

Our return itinerary was as follows:

Set out 13 Feb (Mon) for New Delhi from Indore
AI 633: Air India (A319) [Seat: 13A; PNR: Z33WK]
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, Indore -
Raja Bhoj Airport, Bhopal - IGIA T3, New Delhi
Indore (IDR) - Bhopal (BHO) - New Delhi (DEL)
[07:45 am - 08:25 am; 08:55 am - 10:10 am]

This was the old terminal, again. We went into the old terminal
building again. We heard that the new one was possibly ready, and
there was a chance that this could be made an `international'
terminal. What? I do not think there is that much of demand, as
far as international connections go. My friends in the cities of
Indore and Bhopal usually go to Mumbai and Delhi respectively, to
catch international flights, and do not justify the need for the
cities to have direct international flights, though it would
certainly help them, personally! The terminal is a bit old and
shows its age, but the architecture from the outside (in
sandstone, with some nice arches, in the Holkar style) actually
looks quite nice and attractive.

The Air India officials came in on time, and our
heavy trunks were checked in without any ado. As we waited, a
JetLine flight came in (in the new JetLite colours, this was
VT-JLD, a Boeing 737-700). This would precede us to Delhi. A Jet
Airways ATR-72 came in, this was the `biodata' plane, VT-JCV.
Soon after, a plane in the earlier JetLite livery (light
blue and yellow) came in, this was the `Sharjah' plane, VT-SJH.



Here are the `Sharjah' plane going glug-glug on ATF, and the
`biodata' plane, behind it. This is as seen from the wing of the
our `unfair means' plane, and has a view of the new upcoming
terminal at Indore, partially visible behind.

The runway in use was 25. Our ride was to be VT-SCC, the
`Unfair means' (Carbon copy!) plane. The flight was much more
than three-fourths full, with a large number of Japanese
tourists, doing the Buddhist circuit with Sanchi an important
destination. The plane does BOM-IDR-BHO-DEL.
I noted that the Jet Airways ATR-72 frame which was written-off
following a hard landing, was no longer in view. It must have
been scrapped, and disposed off. Captain A. S. Dhaliwal (I have
flown with him before! that was NAG-DEL, 22 Jan, this year.) made
a powerful take-off from the runway, and did a complete 180
degree turn, and led us parallel to the runway, and then beyond.
We got a nice view of the old and new terminals at the Devi
Ahilyabai Airport, Indore. I was hungry and sleepy, but the
former got the better of me, and I dozed off on the 35 minute
leg. I awoke as the cabin was being prepared for landing.

We flew over the main lake in Bhopal, and Captain A. S.
Dhaliwal made a very smooth landing on runway 30. Our halt at
Bhopal would be for 20 minutes.



We docked at the impressive new terminal at the Raja Bhoj airport
at Bhopal. The loads on the plane were again impressive, as a
very large number of passengers got up, from Bhopal. The plane
ended up 100% full, without a single free seat. VT-SCC is in an
all-economy configuration. A fair number of British tourists came
on board. We lined up on the runway 32 with its undulation in
the middle, which is close to the old terminal, which wears a
deserted look (though there is some action there - only the M. P.
Flying club, I guess, and some offices, since some vehicles are
parked on the land-side. I wonder whether the old Fokker
Friendship F-27/50 is still there, at what used to be called the
`Bairagarh airport' before being christened the Raja Bhoj
Airport, Bairagarh, Bhopal. A Cessna Citation biz-jet sped and
took off before us. We climbed into a clear and featureless sky.

The reader would have guessed something, by now.
Yes, the new Air India regulation had come into action.
A meal, only on flights of duration 90 minutes, or more.
As has been the case for quite some time, the IDR-BHO segment
does not have any food and beverage offering.
I was almost completely taken aback as I heard that breakfast
would be served on the flight.
Soon, marvellous smells filled the cabin.
Yes, I guessed what an offering would be - up(a)ma!
I was on seat 13A, and was now, wide awake.
The lack of conversation between the cabin crew and passengers
meant that there would be no food choices on board.
That was perfectly acceptable for me.
I had woken up at 04:15 am, and was absolutely famished by then.
A few explanations came in from the cheerful young cabin crew, on
the contents of the meals, when the Britishers asked them about
the contents of the foil packets.
There was a very impressive fruit offering.
A slice of `sweet lime'/mousambi, with its skin carefully
removed. This nestled between an un-pitted sweet black grape, two
slices of the marvellous `Disco' variety papaya (commonly
available in Bengaluru and Mumbai since quite some time), and one
slice of honey dew melon/musk melon/kharbuja - this is certainly
not the cantaloupe variety. Since the plane was coming in from
Mumbai, and the fact that the food tray had a card from
`Ambassador', the in-flight catering organisation at Mumbai and
Delhi, it was a no-brainer that the food had been loaded in
Mumbai, itself. There was a butter chiplet, and a small pack of
preserve (mixed fruit jam). There was a bun, which was not
exceptional, but at least, tasted fresh. I was simply waiting to
attack the hot main course aluminum container.
I was completely engulfed by the aroma.
The up(a)ma was simply marvellous, generously embellished with
small pieces of dry fruits (cashew nuts, almonds, and the small
and light brown Nashik raisins). It had a nice coconut chutney to
go with it. I pitied the two foreigners sitting beside me - a
Britisher, and a Norwegian, who were eyeing the heavenly
concoction, with a lot of trepidation.
I would be aghast to see that the duo wasted all the lovely food,
as I would turn my attention to the world around me, from the
cosy confines of a delicious meal in front of me.
Wait - the meal was not done! There was another smaller aluminum
carton inside, which I simply tore open, and... tore into.
(Medu) Vada and Sambhar!
The observant reader would remember this leg on my previous
journey: `Most Indoors, in Indore'
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html
I was pleased to have my nose confess that this was indeed
Sambhar - but a Bombay/Mumbai variant, and not simply Arhar/Tool
Daal (a delicious variety of pulses which are a favourite among
Indians in the states of Madhya Pradesh, and every other state
down south - more than the other regions of India). This was
understandably thick, lest the goodness flow away. It was thick
and delicious, and went well with the Vada. This was done a bit
in the Bombay/Mumbai style - their version of the incredibly
tasty South Indian delicacy. The Vada has a fermented rice and
Urad Daal (a sticky variety of pulses, popular all over India,
from the east to the west, and the north to the south) paste
fried into a doughnut shape. This has quite a few variants -
there is a crisp variety dusted with a fine concoction of spices,
another is a lightly fried one, which is best had with some fresh
sambhar. The Bombay/Mumbai variety corresponds to a sub-variant
of the latter, where the Shettys of Mumbai (who have captured the
Udupi-style fast food business in tinsel-town since time
immemorial) decided to make a sub-variant, with the tangy sour
taste coming from tomatoes rather than the distinctive
additional tamarind water/paste. Additionally, the amount of
Sambhar powder added in the concoction was kept well within
bounds, for those with a fragile digestion/disposition. In my previous trip
report, I had lamented that the offering (which was very similar)
was not really Sambhar.Indeed so, but I had failed to write that
there was no trace of Sambhar powder in that offering, in
addition to missing out on the tamarind taste. What about this
one? Yes, this had the heavenly smell of Sambhar powder, but just
a hint of it, for the meek eater. It brought back some very
pleasant memories of having the heavenly preparation in my six
years in Mumbai. Was I simply ravishing about this food because I
was incredibly hungry? No, not quite - it was simply very tasty.
No doubt about it.
A nice and strong instant coffee rounded off a good meal.
The duo beside me did not even have any beverage.
What a complete waste of delicious food, and time!
They do have cast-iron stomachs like many of us Indians, I know.

Captain Dhaliwal made another very smooth landing on the new
runway 11-29, as we came in from the west, and got the closest
gate on the domestic side, which is bang opposite the
international wing. That meant a very short walk to the baggage
belt.



IGI's T3 horticulture department has some nice and exciting
offerings - there is something new almost every time!
The baggage took some time to come, and we got our heavy
steel trunks from the OOG 1 counter, thoughtfully located bang in
front of the exit gate. The temperature outside as a pleasant 17
degrees centigrade. We had some official vehicles to pick us up,
so we trudged along with our trunks to the car parking, and
boarded our vehicles for our destination. This concluded another
nice Indore trip.
---
Links to my previous trip reports:

32. Colour Range over the Orange City: NAG, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12803.html

31. AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12781.html

30. Regressive TR: Shuttling between Delhi and Mumbai
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12742.html

29. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part II: Mysore Memories; HAL Museum
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12730.html

28. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part I: Mysore
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12686.html

27. Hampi Hamper, Part 2: Hampi!
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12661.html

26. Hampi Hamper, Part I: Banashankari, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12623.html

25. JAI Ho! Jaipur, Sep'12, My Double Standards?
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12592.html
(This is out of sequence, only to report on something that is
very recent, circa Sep'12)

24. PNQ: PeNning Queued Reports, Dec 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12557.html

23. Little BHO-Peep, Nov 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12496.html

22. The Call of the Vaigai! Madurai, Oct 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12465.html

21. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Beijing, 2011 Part 3
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12452.html

20. No Panda-monium: Beijing, 2011 Part 2
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12389.html

19. North By Northwest...er, AI and CA: Beijing, 2011 Part 1
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12348.html

18. Going Bananas over Oranges: Nagpur, Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12333.html

17. To the City of Joy and back, on Air India: Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12238.html

16. To Chennai, Mar'12 with a Celebrity Captain!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12196.html
(This is out of sequence owing to sheer excitement, and nothing
else!)

15. Marble Rocks, Marbles Rock; Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12157.html

14. The Fish-Eye Beckons! Madurai, on Air India. Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12136.html

13. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 3: Monino!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12091.html

12. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 2: The Central Museum
of the Armed Forces
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12016.html

11. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 1: The Overall Trip
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11717.html

10. The City of Lakes: Mother's Heart, Heart of the Motherland
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11556.html

9. Mostly Indoors, in Indore:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html

8. Inter-metro Shuttling on AI: DEL-BOM on AI810, BOM-DEL on
AI888
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11449.html

7. On the cusp: DEL-BOM on IC863, BOM-DEL on AI660
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11160.html

6. DEL-BOM on IT308, BOM-DEL on IC166
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10986.html

5. DEL-MAA on IC439, MAA-DEL on IC802
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10809.html

4. DEL-PNQ on IC849, PNQ-DEL on IC850
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10510.html

3. DEL-MAA on IC429 (A321), MAA-DEL on IC7602 (CRJ7)
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10401.html

2. DEL-NAG-NDC, NDC-BOM-DEL on G8
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10169.html

1. IGI T3, AI 314 DEL-HKG and AI 311 HKG-DEL
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10018.html
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ameya
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Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 3671
Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was surprised as I started reading the report, VT-SCC had no name.. only to realize it has been named in the return section – Carbon Copy !

The American airlines change in timings was in WS-11 to facilitate seamless connectivity on KF network, instead of around 2200 hours they started getting their flight in at around 1730 hrs so as to facilitate connection on the late evening bank to HYD/CCU/BLR/PNQ/AMD/LKO. Well, poor AA, poor KF !

It looks like on the return leg, the coffee hasnt ditched you ! and go glad to know that coffee can be good as well !
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Spiderguy252
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Joined: 10 Aug 2007
Posts: 4259
Location: Indian Ocean

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the share, yet again. Easily the most prominent poster on the TR forum these days, you. Smile

How come the VT-SC* series of 7 birds (or is it 6?) hasn't been painted over to the AI colours yet? I understand that they're leased, but so were a majority of IC's old A320s in the orange and white livery and they were painted just fine.
_________________
Yeah.
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shivendrashukla
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Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 1354
Location: Mumbai, India

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR there Sumantra. Btw it is pretty evident that you were a good student throughout as you still remember all the nursery rhymes when you were a child Razz.

I too flew VT-SCC on BLR-BOM sector earlier this year.

Cheers
Shivendra
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ameya
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Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 3671
Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shivendrashukla wrote:
Nice TR there Sumantra. Btw it is pretty evident that you were a good student throughout as you still remember all the nursery rhymes when you were a child Razz.

I too flew VT-SCC on BLR-BOM sector earlier this year.

Cheers
Shivendra


Or it could be the effect of The Junior !
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ameya wrote:
I was surprised as I started reading the report, VT-SCC had no name.. only to realize it has been named in the return section – Carbon Copy!


This speaks of a hastily-put together report Smile
Anyway, I like to believe that planes have `personalities', hence love the naming. If planes do not have official names, my bad puns and PJs come to the fore!

ameya wrote:
The American airlines change in timings was in WS-11 to facilitate seamless connectivity on KF network


That is a good bit of history I did not know about, at least. I had always wondered why the timing had been advanced, since on my 2008 December US trip, it was nice to see AI 101 precede both the AA ORD flight, as well as the CO EWR flight on the main runway 28 at DEL. It was my first 77L flight, the date was 06 Dec'08 (the day after the mock drill `shootout' at DEL), all flights were delayed owing to the very thorough security. And then...I saw the AA flight coming in in the afternoons. Thanks for the explanation to something which had puzzled me!

ameya wrote:
It looks like on the return leg, the coffee hasnt ditched you! and go glad to know that coffee can be good as well!


Yes Smile

Spiderguy252 wrote:
Easily the most prominent poster on the TR forum these days


Thanks, Varun - quantity at least, if not the more desirable Q-word Smile
As for the repainting, I think Nandan's team is doing the management quite well, and trying to avoid unnecessary expenditure. Would these birds be returned in the near future? The narrowbody fleet is quite good in terms of numbers, and utilised reasonably well.

shivendrashukla wrote:
Nice TR there Sumantra. Btw it is pretty evident that you were a good student throughout as you still remember all the nursery rhymes when you were a child


Thanks, Shivendra, I *AM* still a child Razz
I wish some of the memory extended to remembering more useful things at home, for which I get regular hollerings. Further, it is said that one forgets one's spouse's birthday not more than once. I've managed to exceed this limit, and yet...hang on Razz

ameya wrote:
Or it could be the effect of The Junior!

Just as I was basking in the glory of being complemented, comes the reality check Very Happy Ha ha, this is quite true. While I knew the second paragrah of Nursery Rhymes such as `Twinkle twinkle little star' and `Jack and Jill', I did not know that the former had a *THIRD* paragraph! Interested?

Cheers, Sumantra.
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jbalonso777
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its been quite quiet in this forum for the last few days.
Typical Sumantra type TR again here, the nursery rhymes were the icing to the cake for this one.

Looks like 2012 has just started for Sumantra sir, waiting for more!

Regards
Jishnu
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbalonso777 wrote:
Looks like 2012 has just started for Sumantra sir, waiting for more!

Thanks a lot, Jishnu, but I am surprised, I have SIX reports of my 2012 travels up on AI.net including this one:

33. Indoor/Indore in 2012
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12835.html

32. Colour Range over the Orange City: NAG, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12803.html

31. AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12781.html

30. Regressive TR: Shuttling between Delhi and Mumbai
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12742.html

25. JAI Ho! Jaipur, Sep'12, My Double Standards?
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12592.html
(This is out of sequence, only to report on something that is
very recent, circa Sep'12)

16. To Chennai, Mar'12 with a Celebrity Captain!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12196.html
(This is out of sequence owing to sheer excitement, and nothing
else!)

Of course, there are many more to come. Both mundane, as well as exotic destinations. I am struggling with the backlog, somewhat.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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jbalonso777
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright, I'll be honest, I don't see the dates you give, I always get taken over by your style of writing! Its simply amazing!
Looking at the 'February' dates here, I thought, well, its just beginning! But yes, I'm sure there are more!

Regards
Jishnu.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Jishnu - I'll try to put these up soon. I wish I could write as nicely (and quickly, too!) as you!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great report - and good to read that AI is doing well for itself on this "milk run" routing of DEL-BHO-IDR-BOM.

Do you guys need to pay "excess baggage" for the undoubtedly heavy steel trunks? Or given it was 17 pax, there was no excess baggage charge involved?

I personally find the Ginger hotels to be perfect for a single business traveler, but quite horrid for a family traveling for tourism. The room's simply too small, and the moment you have to take 2 rooms, the cost advantage is completely squandered away.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
Great report - and good to read that AI is doing well for itself on this "milk run" routing of DEL-BHO-IDR-BOM.

Thanks Nimish, once again!

Nimish wrote:
Do you guys need to pay "excess baggage" for the undoubtedly heavy steel trunks? Or given it was 17 pax, there was no excess baggage charge involved?

Yes, Nimish, AI makes a handsome package from the huge cargo loads on the flights whenever this happens! This route possibly gets good loads as well, given my experiences on this route, and parts of this route over the years. At times, the passenger and cargo loads forced our organisation to look for private airlines (and the long permission procedure from the Government).

Nimish wrote:
I personally find the Ginger hotels to be perfect for a single business traveler, but quite horrid for a family traveling for tourism. The room's simply too small, and the moment you have to take 2 rooms, the cost advantage is completely squandered away.


You are spot-on, Nimish. I am recently back from a conference trip in Japan, where Toyoko Inn also shares the same room design principles. Ginger at least gives you an almirah as storage space. Toyoko Inn assures its patrons that they can use the space under the beds for luggage. I know a bit about the basic Ginger design policy as my brother was involved in the design, under the set of guidelines the Tata group had given then.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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