Germany, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore

I go to Germany every 3 years, 1998, 2001, 2004 and next i would go in 2007. These trips are basically to attend a very important exhibition in Dusseldorf. The first time I went there was with a tour organiser ( You know these companies organise tours to exhibitions..much alike to the holiday conducted tours). I was the last to book , hence, I could not get a room all by myself ( at a very small price you could get a single supplement as opposed to double occupancy otherwise). Anyways, this guy, who was to be my room mate was travelling abroad for the first time. When we reached the hotel..which was called The Sports Hotel, we found that it was nicer than our expectations. A plus point being that it had tennis lawns( which at that time I used to play). I usually do not get any jet lag, so while the rest of the group called it a day after checking in at 2 pm, while I decided to take a tour on foot of the place ( I swear it was just sight seeing..as I had been married only 6 months then and so no other sights for me ;-) ). Well I came back at about 6 PM. After dinner the tour guide called me aside and told me that I had to pay 40 Marks ( There was no Euro then). I was surprised and asked him to explain. He told me that I had watched a pay movie ..ahem...of you-know-what variety. I was of course surprised and refused the whole thing. It came out that my room mate, who was on the wrong side of 50..ahhhmmm wanted to do some research on 'sociology'..now who would one suspect..a 26 year old or a 50 + guy of watching such movie. Well at least i had a perfect alibi . For the curious readers..the English title of the move was " Naughty Neighbours"

It was in 1999 that I first went to Kuala Lumpur. The beauty of the city struck me. Petronas tower was on the verge of completion. Now before going there I called up the secretary of the Export manager of the company I was supposed to visit. I asked her to book a hotel room for me. She asked me about the type of room. I replied that it should be OK ( meaning that comfortable and not too very expensive). She understood very well, or so I thought. When I reached the hotel, i found that it stood on a huge land of about 150 square meters!! Its name was Hotel Agora. The room plus the breakfast came to US$ 20. Now the room..it was a double sized bed plus 1.5 feet of area around it. To take a shower, I had to sit on the pot ( WC). Not to mention that I changed to another hotel the very next day.

We have an office in HongKong(HK). So I need to go there very often. Normally, I would stay in a 3-4 star hotel. Last year I had to be in HK from 12th to 19th December, which unfortunately were the dates of the WTO meetings in Wanchai ( an area in HK). ll the hotels were packed. I was fortunate enough to get a room in the Holiday Inn @ US$ 150. Which was quite cheap, given he availability. Now, The travel agents we use had recently appointed a sales manager, a young MBA ( oh I hate the tribe ;-) ) . We are a good customer to them and hence this guy was assigned to our account. I told him in humour that he should get me a room in 145 $ otherwise no booking for me. The General manager joined in to laugh at that. Well, I reached HK and what do I find? You are right..no room for me. I called up this new manager and he curtly told me that since there was no room at $ 145, he cancelled the booking. Well..so much of my jokes. As I walked down the hotel, thinking what to do next, I came across a 'salesman' offering me a room in a guest house. Since ' beggars can't be choosers' I agreed to have a look. The room ( wardrobe would have been a more appropriate description)..a smaller version of Hotel Agora was in front of me. 50 square foot of room ( including toilet)! Well on the brighter side I paid US$ 20 for the 'grand room'. Now I have an official policy of telling all MBA's that I was joking after any joke. Hey no offence all MBAs I was joking!

Singapore, 1996. I took a taxi and as all Delhites ( the so called human beings who dwell and reside in Delhi, India) I always look at all taxi drivers with suspicion . Oh by the way, I now live in Delhi, although was born in Calcutta. Now as soon as I sat in the taxi, I begun to eye the meter. After 3-4 minutes..this bloke suddenly switched off the meter. As a delhite..i sensed something fishy. i almost shouted at him and demanded to know what was going on. This guy calmly told me that he had taken a wrong turn and to reach back the point, he had switched off the meter, so that I am not over charged. I felt that I have been drenched with ice cold water..I could not find words to apologise for my behaviour. That's 'honest' Singapore for you.