Woke up early in the morning but didn't feel well today also. Called up office and took day off. Slept till 2 pm. Woke up with a sense of guilt as I could have gone to office if I had pushed myself a bit. Decided not to waste the day anymore. Went to the Tesco close by and bought a cheap Nokia GSM phone and local simcard. As I have a reliance CDMA phone, it wouldn't have worked in China with a local CDMA sim. The international calling is still not activated in the mobile and it should start tomorrow hopefully. Thankfully, China mobile has an English speaking operator service or it would have been a nightmare to do anything. It was so difficult asking the sales guy at Tesco about the customer care number.
I think buying the mobile has been the sole achievement of the day. I ate the rice cooked yesterday (it was still fresh). Had Aloo sabzi with it (courtesy - Gits ready to eat). The weekend is here and I have not yet finalized my travel plan. I don't know where will I go tomorrow. The places are in mind , the Shanghai Museum, the Bund and the Oriental Pearl Tower. But haven't found out how to reach there. Want to try the Metro but am not sure if it will be easy enough. Another option is to take a cab directly. I think asking the reception desk of the apartment might help.
Good thing here is the speedy internet services. I swear i had not had such fast service anywhere except IITK. Also, I was impressed with how simple is it to have a local mobile number. I just paid 50 rmb (about 350 indian rupees) and got a sim card. There was no form, no registration. Just bought it off the shelf and it was working the next moment. Fantastic !!! In india, taking a sim card is still like applying for a government license. There are forms and then there are plenty of verifications which irritate me. When I had first landed in Amritsar, I bought an airtel simcard and after a week I was asked to give an address proof. I tried explaining them that I stay in a hotel and will do so for next two months and can't have an address proof. But they weren't ready to listen. I dumped the card and took one from Hutch (now Vodafone) because one of our stockist was also a Hutch dealer. He managed to get me a postpaid connection in his name and I kept paying the bills. You see, we just find a way out in India if the rules choke us.
Well, no more of India bashing. Good thing about India is that mobiles have really become dirtcheap and I think that's an achievement in itself. I think I should read the travel guide books once more to finally decide my saturday plan so that I have some good pics to upload tomorrow.
Happy weekend to me !!!
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