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Bukhara Diwali 2008

Bukhara Diwali 2008
Originally uploaded by Ek Chin Tan

The fireworks never seemed to stop. We all had a neck sprain from
watching all the fireworks (mostly airborne ones ).

Bukhara Diwali tradition has become a mainstay amongst shangjai who's
who.

Diwali 2008 - Simply Euphoric

Euphoria set the floor ablaze right from the word go and held the audience captive for nearly three hours. Being a band, their medleys and impromptu jamming were more refreshing than listening to playback singers.

Palash was surprised to note that his songs had made it to the indian crowds in china. He belted out nearly 40+ songs and seemed to have more energy than the audience members.

An enjoyable evening...Wishing all a very Happy Diwali

Street food

Very popular among the locals, street food can be found in some important crossings, after 7 pm. It's fascinating just seeing the range of delicacies on offer.

Shanghai Adda "Puja"

The Indian Bengali group "adda" in shanghai has been organising puja since last couple of years at Indian kitchen on minsheng lu.

The cultural program on navami is one of the highlights where toddlers to semi pros (of sur shanghai) showcase their talent.

Don't miss it next time.

Olympic soccer game @ shanghai stadium

It was fun to watch with kids. Womens soccer has come a long way . Result brazil won 4-¹against Germany.

Bindra wins Gold @ Beijing 2008

Cool guy Bindra ( with steely nerves ) won the first ever individual olympic gold by an Indian. Abhinav won with an overall score of 700.5. He and Zhu Qinan ( china ) were both tied till the last shot. Abhinav's last shot of 10.8 was his best shot of the day and helped him tip the scales. For the cricket fans, its like hitting a six in the last ball of the match for a win. Zhu had to contend with a silver. Now, the indian media will start shooting all over bindra..poor AB :-)

Canara Bank opens branch in Shanghai

Canara Bank's Shanghai branch was inaugurated by MS Gill and Vishnu Prakash on 6th Aug. Gill ( Sports Minister ) was on his way to Beijing to take part in the Olympics opening ceremony. Hope he learns something about sports development and organisation from the chinese. The event was held in Shangrila hotel Lonyang ball room. The view of Bund from its Balcony is breath taking.

Thermax Plant Inaugurated in Jiaxin, China

Thermax China Ltd (TCL), started operations in jiaxin (Zhejiang), china yesterday. The plant setup at a cost of about USD 12 m is the only plant in china which uses "absorption technology" in chillers. It was good to see some young company heads ( Meher Padumjee), taking risk and investing in a highly competitive market like china, which is also the largest market for chillers in the world . This thermax's first foreign venture. Other Indian companies in Jiaxin are Sundaram Fasteners & Elgi. Proximity to Shanghai and familiarity with the local processes combined with genial attitude of the Jiaxin govt official is an incentive to invest in jiaxin.

Kudos to Ashish Vaishnav and the thermax team in erecting the plant in a record time of 18 months. The game begins now ( quest for sales ..not Olympics). Wishing TCL all the best!

Kebabs on the Grille

Shanghai is a gourmet's delight. You can find best of any cuisine here. Top class Indian restaurants are also springing up. The new kid on the block is "Kebabs on the Grill" and the man himself (promoter ) is Arun Bahirwani. Located at 479, Zhongshan nan lu, "Cool Docks" promises to be the next xintiandi on the bunds within 6 months. The spanky new rectangular square houses new restaurants like Starbucks, banni, fusion restaurants ( & some whose names i am not familiar, yet!).

KOTG is a theme restaurant focusing on the famous northwestern frontier kind of kebabs. The tables have small central cutout where a small grille inserted with carcoal will be kept for the guests to give the finishing touches to kebabs.

The kebabs were succulent and tasty. The menu has usual complement of Nan, black dal, paneer etc. While the name suggests non-veg focus for the joint, veggies should also find something to cheer about.

Interiors are well done and functional. Spread over 2 floors, it has a seating arrangement for 80 people including a bar area.

Dont't forget to notice the "Ganesha" (boy-elephant as per Times) as you enter KOTG and while you are exiting lookout for the imported paki mouth freshners.

Sunil Gavaskar in Shanghai

Cricket is a religion in India and for Indians outside India. In the last couple of months, we had Kapil and now Sunil Gavaskar dinner events in Shanghai. The smooth talking Sunny fielded questions from the crowd with a finesse and impressed everyone with the depth of his knowledge on the subject. Who's next - Srikanth?

China's Creative Imperative

Sometime's its little difficult to notice stars when you are too close to them. One of them is Kunal (Sinha) who stayed in Kingswell Garden, Shanghai for over 4 years. We knew Kunal was different and had many avocations (music , photography etc) but unfortunately we had not witnessed it first hand. His most recent book "China's Creative Imperative" has received rave reviews from within and outside China. Congratulations to Apna own "kunal"! for the book and for the new member in his family.

Teppenyaki on hongmei lu food street

Tried out the new tepornyaki joint on the food street. The english speaking Japanese waitress helps in deciding the order with some choice recommendation.

Earthquake in China

The earthquake in wenchuan (Sichuan County) has taken a great toll. Every day the newspaper’s report larger fatality figures. TV channels are on an overdrive in documenting the relief work. Many companies and individuals have donated large sums towards rehabilitation and restoration work. One of my Chinese colleague thanked me when I donated some amount for charity. Was pleasantly surprised since I thought it was natural on part of every person to contribute something. Or was it because I was a lao wai.

 

The shanghai red cross charity collects donations through credit card and as soon as someone makes a payment, the donor’s name is listed on the website which can be used in case there are some tax breaks etc which the govt may announce.

Indian kitchen Hangzhou

While haveli is the more popular Indian joint in Hangzhou, IK on 77 nanshanlu near west lake is also a treat.

Tunnels

We crossed 11 tunnels on our way to qiandao hu. The tunnels are top class, well lit and maintained nicely. The standardization of design is quite apparent.

Qian dao hu

Thousand island lake is located 140kms south west of Hangzhou. This huge lake was formed due to the construction of a dam. The place is scenic and good for a short trip. The city is developing and after 10 years this may become a hot destination. Sheraton is opening here next year. Being only foreigners in a predominant Chinese groups had its ups and downs. We missed our boat and group on one of the island.

Carrefour and olympics

Marketing professors will be citing examples of this case in the
coming years. Was surprised to get an empty checkout aisle free today
on a Sunday evening.

Indian golfers in shanghai

Shanghai tournaments have become regular ones for the indian pros. DD's fascination with golf ensures that there is at least one Bukhara dinner with the golfers. Bmw china open saw a couple of Indians making the cut, however, it was digvijay Singh who was leading the Indian pack
with 3 under going into the final Sunday.