Tennis Masters 2006

Tennis Masters in Shanghai has become one of the major sports events in Shanghai / China. Federer and James Blake were the finalists this year. Took the kids also this time to check out the way top players calibre. Well, federer creamed James in 3 straight sets and left him gasping for breath. I think Roger F is undoubtedly the best tennis player of this century. His shots and calmness on the court in unnerving for any opponent. The stadium is a master piece and if you have an opportunity, go and see it.

3rd Shanghai Indian Association Golf

The Third IA Golf tournament was held last Sunday at the Tomson Golf course. A total of 14 golfers registered for the tournament. This time the tournament was thrown open to other natives of other SE Asia countries also. Despite incessant rain in the previous days, all the registered members turned up and luckily the weather held and the round finnsihed without a drop of rain falling on our heads. There were many new golfers and some of those including uddin scalped a couple of prizes. Vinay came up trumps despite his home turf advanrage and shot his second best course record of 86. The dinner and tournament organisation went of without a hitch and the wifeys also were seen smiling at the dinner party held at Bukhara. Check out some of the pics from the days events

Food court in carrefour

Food court in carrefour
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Run by Da shi food company..has a range of japanese, chinese, korean, singapore foodstuff. Pay 100 rmb and take a card. ..pickup whatever u like and the card gets debited. A unique experience..

Air India takes off from Shanghai

All good times are ephemeral...and so was Vinit's stint in Shanghai. One of the most to-the-point, practical and helping kind of guy...who has helped many Indians in Shanghai with their flights in & out of Shanghai as well as in other fields and his deft handling of Indian Association program will be missed when VG takes off Calicut ( his new posting ). Shanghai's loss ..Calicuts gain. The cocktails concotions doled out by Anthony Bhai was a smash hit. Next time you go Bukhara ..ask for a B52 or Deccan Queen.

HSBC Shanghai Open 2006 - Indian Challenge

The HSBC Shanghai Open Championship is currently under way at the Sheshan Club. Sheshan is one of the best course in China. The course is dotted with some amazing luxury villas.

The day started with Jyoti Randhawa at the top of the leaderboard and teeing of with Tiger and Goosen..what a proud moment for Jyoti and India! The chinese crowd of about 7-8000 followed Tiger around the course, maybe because he was the only name they recognised. That left other players like cambell, montgomerie and many others free for our access. Saw tiger from close proximity and realised why he is, what he is. The man plays under tremendous pressure with regular buzzing from the surrounding crowd and manages to come up trumps. Unfortunately, he had a water hazard penalty at the 18th hole today and slipped to the 5th position. Jyoti also did not played so well today and slipped to 3rd position. Yang (Korea) and Goosen played really well. Yang, Goosen and Jyoti will be the lead pairing for tomorrow's final round. With tiger gone from the lead pair , jyoti should be able to breath a little easily and play his natural game tomorrow.

The most heartening part of the golf championship was commendable display of the Indian contingent. All 4 playes ( Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur & Gaurav Ghei) were within 7 strokes of the leader.

Hope Jyoti is able to come up trumps tomorrow and the others improve their position.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Most popular Hindi songs in China

Most popular Hindi songs in China
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Today while driving from taiyuan to Guxian in a lexus, our host played a hindi cd. I realised that the following songs must be the most populsr hindi songs in china



- Ankhein khuli ho ya ke band



- Awara hoon



Bollywood lai la!

Air Supply in Shanghai

Offlate quite a few, over the hill rock bands from yester-years are dropping into Shanghai. Today, went for the Air Supply concert at Shanghai Centre with a couple of friends. This 70's band was quite popular but honestly , did not recall their songs till the show.. and then realised that they had quite a few #1 under their belt. The duo of Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell enthralled chinese crowd which turned up and danced to their songs.

Diwali 2006

Morning started with inaugural diwali brunch at Bukhara. The spread in both veg and non-veg was quite exhaustive. Vinodji, as usual was the bride father for the day and took personal care of each invitee. Nowadays , with increasing Indian expat population, the number of parties being held in the city has also increased. Some of the highly mobile people (HMP), make an attempt at attending as many parties as possible. India lane had couple of parties and the crackers were heard till Sun morning. Even, the security guard in Kingswell started wishing every Indian who passed "Happi Deewali". Some pics of Diwali celebration in Kingswell are in this album..

Diwali

Ladki Badi Anjani Hai - Malaysian Version

Bollywood movies and songs are making an inroad into Far East also. Check out this performance of Ladki Badi Anjani Hai by the Malaysian Chinese.

Nikon D50

Nikon D50 is one the best entry level Digital SLR cameras. After D80 launch, price of D50 and its accessories have fallen. For those who do not know terms like White balance , Noise etc. This is the right camera. Nikon has also created a nice tutorial for teaching all the nikonians on use of their products.

Diwali Party 2006 - AMIT+SUMIT KUMAR

This years Diwali Party was held at Pudong Shangri-la. Amazing, how things fall into place at the right moment. No wonder, most of the successful event managers are baldies. The evening saw brisk sale of tickets and overall there were about 500 attendees. By the time AMIT KUMAR made his appearance on the stage the crowd was restive and waiting eagerly to shake a leg. AK had no choice but to make a mid course correction and belt out some foot tapping numbers. AK takes on Kishore Kumar in every way ( even after a couple of pegs). His yoodling ( a KK patented  term) is par excellence. In order to ensure that people stayed late and danced their heart out, dinner was served at 10:30pm. Some felt, last years fare was better than this time. Who cares!....DJ Sarin tried his best to prolong the session....pity, the next day was a Monday!!

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Lion King

Lion King
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

This broadway show has been running for 3 months in shanghai. While we were planning to see it all along, the prospect of missing it altogether, spurred us to make a dash for it today.



The show was par excellence and worth every kuai of 480 rmb per head. Its light, music, pumba, timona, mombasa, simba, rafiki and hakuma matata will remain etched in minds of the audiences. Dont miss it if u get a chance.

Fireworks Show in Century Park

Fireworks Show in Century Park
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Century Park Fire worKs during the national day hols must be one of the most awaited event during the course of the week. The chinese have fine tuned the art n science of precision explosion in the sky. Do manage to cheer up the spirits of the hoi polloi albeit at a huge cost.

The new Xiang Yang Market

The new avtar of Xiang Yang market is called Fenshine Market and is located at 580 Nanjing Xi Lu. Its swanky , air conditioned, has atm machines, cola dispensers and best of all same prices. But the charm of old XY Mkt was diff, eh?

Lage Raho Munna Bhai

Finally saw LRMB, which has scaled the greatwall.. premiering in Shanghai tomorrow with an invitation only matinee show in bukhara. The movie does live upto its hype and billing. Has to be...many of my uncles & aunts went to a cinema hall after decades to see this movie. Do not really recall whether there was any other Indian movie with such a hit sequeal..rather a sequeal at all..pls share if you remember. Last heard..there is VV Chopra has already started on the third one.. "Bahut Hua Munna Bhai!"

F1 in Shanghai - 2006

Another year , another F1. This time also , we tried our luck with the Huang niu's ( yellow cows!)- went to the Hong kou stadium , the touts were there for sure but it seemed like the combination of Schumi's retirement plans and championship battle had given much fillip to the black market prices. After haggling with the touts in our broken chinese and having a couple of cups of coffees.. we decided to go to the Jiading F1 stadium hoping that the slight drizzle would bring down the ticket prices. Picked up chicken biriyani from Bukhara on the way. Luckily, SJ had reached and managed to get Main Low ( pit front ) ticks for Yuan 1000 apeice.

Went in just 5 mins before the race started. Renaults in 1-2 lead with Schumi at no.6. Luckily for ferrai+schumi, the slight drizzle stopped and the tracks dried up as the race progressed. Schumi drove brilliantly and came back from behind to win the race, ending the Shanghai jinx. The chinese were also happy ..finally the only team they understand ..won!

Schumacher's replacement next season...

Made It!

Here's some good news....

"As my dear close friends and well wishers, I
wanted to share some news with you from this part
of the world.

I have been promoted as a 'Business Director'
effective Oct 2, 2006. This means an increased
responsibility area within the McCormick US
consumer products division. Ofcourse alongwith
this comes the typical US corporate business
delivery pressures !!

Overall its exciting and challenging. Kushi iss
baat ki hai..ki ye gore logke desh me hum
hindustani ko samman mil raha hai..Jai Hind !! "

Hearty congratulations and best wishes from all of
us.

Satish Rao"

Lage Raho 'S Bhai....

Naiagara dekh liya !

Not sure whether these raincoats helped us from getting wet from the fury of Naiagara falls

Dangerous Wife

One of the person in our block has this signpost hanging on on the rear seat of his car. Now..if the wifey was really explosive would he dare display this?

68501911.jpg
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Hi5 Birthday!

Ishu's Birthday!

How time flies...kids growing up faster and people moving on to greener pasteurs.

Ishu's bday bash promises to be an eventful one.

Weekend blitz!

Weekend blitz!
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Huai hai zhong Lu is the place where shanghainese like to hang out. Come friday evening the crossings esp one on huai hai zhong lu and shanxi nan lu becomes stage for fashion show. With xiang yang gone the crowd has thinned somewhat.

Indradhanush

Managed to lay my hands on a few old issues of Indra Dhanush, the Indian Association, Shanghai's Newsletter...makes for good reading for old times sake.

Jan-Mar 2005 Sep 2006

Apr-Jun 2005

Aug-Sep 2005

Dec-Jan 2006

Vawna

Vawna
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

His stint as commercial consul in CGI, Shanghai has been one of the best. Leaving back for india on sep 2. zaijian...

Raja Bhau's Farewell

Nehal's mouth watering customised designer food menu had all the guests licking their fingers starting with the starters. Voila - check it out..Pani Puri (pudina pani), samosa chat , raj kachori, fish tikka, kathi chicken, kima pav. After dinner shots! were made using Swiss Schnapps.

Check out the candid shots take by Shireesh.

Return Gift

Return Gift
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Thought of picking up something for better half on my way back from shenzhen. ..imagine my plight when she discovered this on opening the package!

Squash

Squash
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

A great game, now a regular fixture for the weekends with gang of four..raja, manish, ashish

Feedback Anybody!

Jack welch in his latest book mentioned, Key to success is to take constant feedback from everybody..and then decide what to do with it. JW takes feedback from his cook also!

We also had a feedback session last Sunday afternoon..and discovered why we were not Jack W

Super Weekend!!

The Raos from US are in town for Rajas Farewell. Catching up and partying alongwith FM and peripheral activities are on. Today is Ruhan's 4th birthday. How time flies!

Chup chup

A very nice comedy. Rajpal Yadav is unstoppable. Worth the time. Highly recommended!

Bangalore Art

We met with a computer Leonardo da vinci at the Garuda Mall. While waiting for the shopping to finsih, we found a small vendor with a computer , cam & printer...who made this pencil sketch. Hope it does not put the real artists out of job.

One Night @ Call Centre

Know who is the best selling author in Inda these days? Chetan Bhagat.

Both his books have become smash hits. CB picks his topics which have mass
market and ensures there will be a demand for his books. More at his
website.

Karandikars in USA

Longest Bridge

Longest Bridge
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Indian Association organised a cruise for all its members to see the longest bridge connecting lingang to yongshan island port. The bridge is 32 kms long and is an engineering marvel worth the trip.

Sur Shanghai II

It was a day of dilemma. 2 major events in Shanghai on April 8, 2006. ROLLING STONES AND SUR SHANGHAI. Had to choose the later one over the RS 2006 tour as the oldies were clearly not in form. On hindsight it was a wise decision. All the hard work that the gang had put for the last 6 months and the midnight practice sessions bore fruit .The audience could not stop clapping after the inrto video was played. Nehal suggested audience be given a hand massage after the event. Frangipani? Take a look at the stars of the evening...

Consulate Bazaar

Consulate Bazaar
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

This years consulate wife bazaar was organized at Shanghai centre. While the turnout was quite overwhelming, the organizers choice of the venue was poor. There was less participation from the consulates. Saw an canadian staff selling T shirts emlazoned "Visa Section" :-)



The highlight of the show was Indian dance choreographed by bhavisha on "Dhol baje" number.

Bukara Grand Opening

Finally the d-day arrived! What once started as a day dreaming concept by hum-panch on the Wa-bar drinking session became a reality today. Bukhara- Indian Grill and Lounge made its mark on the Shanghai fine dining scene today. Whole of shanghai Indian community came trooping and danced till midnight on foot thumping bollywood numbers. As usual Raja bhai took the centre stage followed by Manish ,Bhavisha, Preetiji and a very flexible argentinian middle aged baldy who showed what dancing was all about. The spacious expanse coupled with the nice ambience of the place wowed everyone present. Food was par excellence esp. the Biriyani and the mutton curry -rounded up with hot jalebis and gulab jamuns. Guess what the most amazing transformation was - DD moving around sober without a glass in hand and taking care of all the guests. Aisa bhi hota hai!! Slideshow

Taranya's 8th Birthday

On with the theme birthday parties. 25th was a sat..so called a few friends and kid and had "Sports" as the theme for the birthday. Running race, hula hoops, potato race, skipping etc was entusiastically performed not only by kids but also elders. Now for lesson chinese creativity. T gave an order at the M cake shop for the birthday party. She took the print out of a picture from a website called "clipart.com" to give to the cake shop for copying it on the top of the cake. " the prinout had a footer mentioning clipart.com. Here is what they delivered :-)

Bukhara Nan! ( 2' x 1')

Kriti and Taranya went for a grande tour of Bukhara, under construction. They found the Kitchen to be very interesting especially the its huge tandoor ovens.. So much so...Nidhi got inspired and wrote this poem..

" I Visit the Kitchen the Indian

bread flapping up and down

I visit the party time floor

so warm and nice still still

getting build still have much to do

so nice and warm and

so beautiful and soft

which restorant have you

explord the best?"

Holi 2006

Holi 2006
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Indian kitchen Jinqiao was the venue for this year holi action. Luckily it was a bright and sunny day so the gathering was more than expected. IK pulled out all the stops to make it a success. Rangoli competiton drew participants from 4 to 40 year old. babita's ganeshji! was the best!

Nimi's First Birthday Bash

Third March (Tata's Founder Day), is also coincidentally, Nimi's birthday. Celebrated both the events at the corner coffee shop, OK Pie with friends and office colleagues. Nimi's mobile phone shaped cake with Priti's delicious home made brownie cake, were lapped up by the invitees. IK's food quality ( esp rogan josh) was worth mentioning. Amidst all the hulla gulla...nimi went off to sleep..

Pizza Salad!

Pizza Salad!
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Guess, the unlimited, all you can eat salad bar at the pizza hut is one of the main reason for its success in shanghai. Today, at the huai hai lu outlet, witnessed a teenager making, what must be the biggest salad tower. Some of the females there were quite envious of this feat and set about trying to break the record while the poor pizza hut manager looked on.

Cindrella Ball

Nehal ben raised the birthday bar in Shanghai with the Cindrella bday bash. Kings, Queens, prince and princesses. Could not resist and crashed in with Tuhina to check out what was going...amazing. Check it out..

Munich

Got hold of an original copy of 'Munich'..Am a fan of Steven Spielberg and this movie which has won a couple of Oscars in 2005, is not one of SS's best. The movie is technically brilliant and forces one to take a re-look at the times and events which took place during and after the munich olympics.

Blue Frog

Blue frog Restaurant on the Hong Mei Lu boasts of the best Blue Burger in the town. One BF Burger is enough to sustain you for the whole day. One of the few joints which has a toddlers bar ( 'lil frog).

Cocktail Evening

Cocktail Evening
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

Priti with the first concoction of Bukhara!

Salaam Namaste!!!

Are mere priya mitroonn.
Hum vahi purane Satish aur Jyothi hain... Its only that we are a bit caught up in resettling ( which these people call it with pride as..we do our home this weekend !)at this new place. Finally last week we have got all our household goods in its right places. Now ..get all set for a barrage of mails and photos....
Harbin photos were simply superb..I was waiting eagerly to see the massage photos...Tipa drinking wine,Raja dancing on the snow, Shireesh taking pictures of the stars, Lok thumbing on his palmtop( Hope he must have graduated to this new toy by this time),Aditi driving the van and Priti yelling at my dear Rishabh !!
Ha!ha! we REALLY REALLY miss all these fun moments, gossip times, daaru sessions, ragging times...
Kahan aa gaye yaar ?!! Chalo aaap log yahan aana shuru karo..to fir hum iss desh ko bhi...Shanghai Indu galli bana dete hain !!
Cheers
Satish

Harbin!

Chinese New Year in Harbin is like icing on the cake. The lantern festival and snow monuments in this 'little moscow' city is touted as a must see in china. So here we go....check out the regular updates here...from the road...live!

Moon River Diner!

For those desirous of having an American cuisine ( there is one!), Moon River Diner, is the right place to go... as we did. It was full on a working day after noon also and we waitied a while to be seated. Try out the Maharani Taco veggi salad and Chilli Italian chow! fab...The menu has some interesting tid-bits which you can read while waiting for the food....MRD's claim, they make everything on the plate from scratch...!

60P50062.jpg
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

ID26 in Shanghai

ID26 in Shanghai
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan.

First time in four years, the indian community had an 'open house' flag hoisting at the consulate at loushanguan lu. Kids and parents savoured the unfurling of the tiranga. Hope that the tradition is maintained in years to come...