New Delhi 1: Three saga continues with some redemption, Imperial Hotel, Shopping
I woke up the next morning and first thing I did was to get a brand new phone. The concierge had a driver take me to a nearby tuck shop-like store, where I picked up a Nokia 1100, a super basic phone with an IRp1,000+ sim. I had to get my photo taken and give them a passport copy for the service application. They had me sit on a stool in the middle of the shop, which is just an aisle really, while a guy held a red sheet behind me and another guy took my polaroid. It only took 15 minutes to sort out and one of the guys in the shop dropped me back at the hotel.
Imperial Hotel bills itself as "India's Museum Hotel", because it was in the hotel that Jawaharlal Nehru and others discussed the founding of modern India. The hotel has the feel of a Raffles in Singapore, Peninsula in Hong Kong and Claridges in London, that old, British colonial feel. I'm staying in a Heritage Room (published rate is US$400/night, but online you can get rates as low as US$220 depending on availability) and its nice and spacious with king bed, sitting area, desk with wifi, large-screen plasma TV, dressing room and bathroom. My only complaint is that it doesn't meet the JR rule of luxury hotels -- separate walk-in shower and tub and double sink. Decor is simple colonial, a few prints of India in colonial times. Otherwise, not very inspiring. They have an interesting pillow menu, but I have yet to test it. I like the public spaces and there's a signature Imperial scent which is very welcoming and uplifting after a dusty day around Delhi's markets. It's a comfortable hotel and service is as one would expect of a historic, five-star property -- friendly staff, willing to accommodate, but not quite at the level of anticipating need.
Back to my Three saga. I called Three to have them forward my HK no. to the new Indian no since I couldn't do it online (the online forwarding is only for HK no.s). Of course, the woman had to put me on hold to check whether it could be done. Eventually, she got it done. I im-ed a friend to test it out. It worked and I was happy once again. The Nokia 1100, while basic, has a nice feel to it. It's been a while since I've had such a small and light phone with a monochrome display and does little else aside from make/receive calls and smses. I set the clock to local time (to avoid having to reset my watch), so I guess that's another useful function.
Since my HK no. was forwarded, I didn't really wasn't in urgent need of my HK sim card, so I decided not to bother FY with having to pick it up and sending it to me. Just as I thought all was sorted, another Three customer service rep called me. Mr Wong, handles Supreme accounts and he was very friendly and tried hard to please. He was calling to follow-up on my situation and asked if everything was taken care of. I told him I had gotten my HK no. forwarded and he was surprised that was the case. He told me they don't usually do that after a card has been lost and that it involved a HK$11.50/minute charge. He asked whether I was going to have my friend pick up my sim card. I told him I wasn't, because I didn't really want to bother a friend when not absolutely necessary and emphasised again that I thought it should be their job to take care of something like this. Well, after a few more phone calls over the course of the morning, Mr Wong told me that they would DHL my new sim to Singapore. I would need to send me my HKID copy with an authorization letter authorizing them to forward my HK no. to an Indian no. and acknowledging the charges as well as authorizing my friend EO in Singapore to take delivery of my sim. Fine, whatever. I was in a rush to meet Sanjay from Reebok who was going to supply the guy's cricket gear.
In the afternoon, I headed out for some shopping. First stop was Santushti Shopping Complex, lots of cute, little high-end boutiques (frequented by well-heeled Delhites and expat wives) run by Air Force Wives in a nice garden setting. Next, the taxi driver insisted that I should check out Padma Arts & Crafts, which was a total dud of a tourist trap. So I decided that I would dictate the next stop, which would be FabIndia in N Block Market, Greater Kailash I. But as soon as I got out of the cab, I headed into Ravi Bajaj, a rather chic menswear shop. I must admit, it was the "Le Cafe Terrace" sign that attracted me. And the illy cappucino I got while waiting for the my purchases of men's kurtas to be rung up proved to be a welcome respite from the watery coffee at breakfast. The guy's kurta's were not cheap, but very stylish. The Kasa Gelato kiosk across the street also served up a tempting array of flavours. I opted for coffee.
Imperial Hotel bills itself as "India's Museum Hotel", because it was in the hotel that Jawaharlal Nehru and others discussed the founding of modern India. The hotel has the feel of a Raffles in Singapore, Peninsula in Hong Kong and Claridges in London, that old, British colonial feel. I'm staying in a Heritage Room (published rate is US$400/night, but online you can get rates as low as US$220 depending on availability) and its nice and spacious with king bed, sitting area, desk with wifi, large-screen plasma TV, dressing room and bathroom. My only complaint is that it doesn't meet the JR rule of luxury hotels -- separate walk-in shower and tub and double sink. Decor is simple colonial, a few prints of India in colonial times. Otherwise, not very inspiring. They have an interesting pillow menu, but I have yet to test it. I like the public spaces and there's a signature Imperial scent which is very welcoming and uplifting after a dusty day around Delhi's markets. It's a comfortable hotel and service is as one would expect of a historic, five-star property -- friendly staff, willing to accommodate, but not quite at the level of anticipating need.
Back to my Three saga. I called Three to have them forward my HK no. to the new Indian no since I couldn't do it online (the online forwarding is only for HK no.s). Of course, the woman had to put me on hold to check whether it could be done. Eventually, she got it done. I im-ed a friend to test it out. It worked and I was happy once again. The Nokia 1100, while basic, has a nice feel to it. It's been a while since I've had such a small and light phone with a monochrome display and does little else aside from make/receive calls and smses. I set the clock to local time (to avoid having to reset my watch), so I guess that's another useful function.
Since my HK no. was forwarded, I didn't really wasn't in urgent need of my HK sim card, so I decided not to bother FY with having to pick it up and sending it to me. Just as I thought all was sorted, another Three customer service rep called me. Mr Wong, handles Supreme accounts and he was very friendly and tried hard to please. He was calling to follow-up on my situation and asked if everything was taken care of. I told him I had gotten my HK no. forwarded and he was surprised that was the case. He told me they don't usually do that after a card has been lost and that it involved a HK$11.50/minute charge. He asked whether I was going to have my friend pick up my sim card. I told him I wasn't, because I didn't really want to bother a friend when not absolutely necessary and emphasised again that I thought it should be their job to take care of something like this. Well, after a few more phone calls over the course of the morning, Mr Wong told me that they would DHL my new sim to Singapore. I would need to send me my HKID copy with an authorization letter authorizing them to forward my HK no. to an Indian no. and acknowledging the charges as well as authorizing my friend EO in Singapore to take delivery of my sim. Fine, whatever. I was in a rush to meet Sanjay from Reebok who was going to supply the guy's cricket gear.
In the afternoon, I headed out for some shopping. First stop was Santushti Shopping Complex, lots of cute, little high-end boutiques (frequented by well-heeled Delhites and expat wives) run by Air Force Wives in a nice garden setting. Next, the taxi driver insisted that I should check out Padma Arts & Crafts, which was a total dud of a tourist trap. So I decided that I would dictate the next stop, which would be FabIndia in N Block Market, Greater Kailash I. But as soon as I got out of the cab, I headed into Ravi Bajaj, a rather chic menswear shop. I must admit, it was the "Le Cafe Terrace" sign that attracted me. And the illy cappucino I got while waiting for the my purchases of men's kurtas to be rung up proved to be a welcome respite from the watery coffee at breakfast. The guy's kurta's were not cheap, but very stylish. The Kasa Gelato kiosk across the street also served up a tempting array of flavours. I opted for coffee.
posted by 10000miles at 23:41
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