I arrived in Mumbai around midnight.  Our flight arrived early, but no gates were opened so we ended up sitting 30 minutes on the tarmac waiting for a gate to open up.

Straight through customs and out to my waiting car, the Mumbai adventure began anew.  My driver decided to do his best impression of a F1 driver, and we raced through the heavy Mumbai traffic and to the hotel.  I haven’t figured it out – maybe we’re all just too polite to complain – but seemingly all the chauffeurs in Asia think that driving like a maniac is what we’re after, and the fastest car will get the biggest tip.

The hotel is getting better. I’m still not a big fan of the Four Seasons here in Mumbai (it’s overpriced and the service isn’t up-to-scratch), but they made an effort this time.  I was greeted by name out of the car, my key was waiting and handed to me by the doorman (no check-in formalities, a blessing at midnight), and I arrived in the room to find fresh flowers, fruit, iced tea, and a note from the manager of the hotel, welcoming me back.  They’re trying to win my business, which is something.

I still refuse to pay their extortionate prices for ironing / pressing, more out of principle than anything.  My colleague tells me that he pays 3 rupees (about $0.10 each) to have his shirts pressed.  The hotel wants 600 rupees ($13 each) to do the same thing.  That would be on the expensive end in Switzerland, where labour costs about $25/hour.  But here, where wages are measured in single dollars a day, there’s no excuse.  So I resorted to the old traveler’s trick: I stuck them in the shower.

A very jetlagged Matt

Jetlag kicked in big time.  I managed to get a few hours sleep on the plane, which was a mistake as it meant I couldn’t fall asleep.  I finally drifted off at about 7am, just in time for my alarm to go off at 8am.  Monday was a long day in the office.

Workshops all day Tuesday and Wednesday, then off to Sydney on Wednesday night.  Stay tuned.

I’m writing this from a Swiss flight on my way from Zurich to Mumbai, and I’m currently somewhere over Abu Dhabi, looking down on the brightly-lit highways that cross the country. 

The good news is that the new Swiss business class cabin is much more comfortable than the old one.  The bed is totally flat, and the unusual layout of the cabin means that I ended up with a huge single seat with a table either side of me – far wider than any first-class seat I’ve ever sat in (although not as long, making the layout feel slightly claustrophobic). 

With only five seats in each row (compared with six or even seven on other airlines), Swiss are sacrificing a lot of potential revenue to give people their extra space.  I guess they’ve done the calculations of revenue vs. load and determined that if they can get people on-board and paying full-fare, it’s worth having fewer, higher-paying passengers.

Mine was like the solo seat on the right of the photo — with a table either side of the seat.

Despite the new seats, I still can’t bring myself to like Swiss.  It’s just a little too much like Switzerland.  You never really feel that you’ve gotten value for your money.

The marginal cost of providing catering can’t be that high.  On Lufthansa, they recognize the good German appetite and cater accordingly.  Portions are generous and you’re served at least two proper meals plus a snack on most routes.

But the portions on Swiss are incredibly small.  Half the menu is vegetarian (catered by the Hiltl restaurant in Zurich), which doesn’t meet my definition of food (it’s not a meal if it doesn’t contain meat or fish), and they’d run out of the meat choice halfway through the cabin, despite the plane not being full.  On my last flight, they fooled me twice – they served me a vegetarian meal of soup.  Breaking two of my rules: 1) no meat and 2) soup is not food.  Seriously, when you’ve spent several thousand dollars on a ticket, you expect something more than a bowl of soup.

If this were an American airline, with loads of upgrades and much lower revenue-per-seat, I could be more forgiving.  But nearly everyone on this flight has paid the better part of US$4500 for their seat.  At that price, everyone should be able to get a decent meal, and one of their choice.

I left my last flight on Swiss feeling the same way – that they’re cutting too many corners unnecessarily, especially with their catering.  I’ve booked the rest of my 30,000 mile trip on Lufthansa & Thai – revenue that would have gone to Swiss if they’d just spent another $20/head on catering.

Enough griping about the food.  It’s just that I get grumpy when I’m hungry.

Shifting gears, I’m secretly jealous of all my friends and family in Washington who are busy digging out of the deepest snow they’ve had since 1922.  Something about the way snow transforms a busy, noisy city is absolutely magical.

I left the house early this morning, walking up our road at around 6:45am on a Sunday morning.  I had the entire village to myself – dark, misty, and utterly silent.  I thought to myself that it’s the last time I’ll enjoy silence for the next week or so.

I’m mentally preparing myself for Mumbai – the cacophony of horns, the chaos of cars, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians and cows that are everywhere, the smells and sights.  I’ve managed to bring a decent camera this time, so maybe I’ll even get the chance to take a decent picture or two.  If I’m brave enough, I may even venture outside the hotel this time…

I knew it had to be too good to last.  I’ve been gloating over the past few weeks about how quite my travel schedule is.  No sooner had I thought about taking a week of vacation than I learned that I need to be in Mumbai for a few days, then straight to Sydney for a two-day workshop. 

Flight times mean that I lose two weekends away from home.  And Aude will have to add Valentine’s Day to the long list of events I’ve missed due to business travel (her birthday and my birthday being the other two events, recently).  And let’s face it, 21’099 miles in a week is a lot, even for a backside as calloused and travel-weary as mine.

Still, we’re headed out to the slopes for a week as soon as I get back from Sydney – hopefully without too much jetlag.  We’re just finalizing our plans for the trip, booking our apartment, and buying our skis!

As soon as we’re back from skiing, it’s straight onto a plane again — this time, headed for Beijing.  Yep, February is turning into a pretty brutal travel month.  Plenty of frequent flyer miles, though!