Our tour today starts at 9.30 and we woke up at 7.30, after having a little rushed breakfast in Best Western Mumbai we meet our tour guide, a white hair-nice-old lady in her sixties who speak fluent English. On our way she show us a “dhobby” where Indian people washes clothes and bed sheets in bulk number, a piece of clothes cost 10-20 rupee ($0.4). Next we visited the Hanging Garden and the other garden in front of it facing Chopatti beach and the “queen necklace”, the coastline of Mumbai. The garden was quite big and clean, but the view were not very special.

Dhoby or laundry complex in Mumbai

Millionaires house in Mumbai

The Queen’s necklace, coastline of Mumbai

Hanging Garden

We also visited the house where Gandhi used to live from 1917 to 1934, Mani Bhavan. It is Mahatma Gandhi’s house and museum, three stories high. This Gujarati house is painted brown and yellow, located in a Parsi neighborhood on Malabar Hill. Now it is overseen and maintained by the Gandhi Institute, ithouses a library and a small museum about Gandhi’s life and birth. Inside the house you could see the room where Gandhi spent his time reading Quran, Bible, and Hindu Book. There are also letters he wrote, two of them to Hitler and President Roosevelt.

Gandhi’s house

The minimalistic Gandhi’s living place

Twenty minutes ride to The Gateway of India, an elegant 26 meters stone archway, hastily erected as a symbol of welcome to Queen Mary and King George V of England on their visit to India in 1911. In the years following, artisans added decorative carvings and lovely Jharopka work (window carvings) and completed it in 1923. From the complex we could see boats and the Taj Hotel, one of the luxurious hotel in Mumbai with over 100 years of history. Today the hotel host several stores of luxury goods such as Louis Vuitton.

Taj Palace Hotel Mumbai, one of the most luxurious hotel in Mumbai

Gateway of India

The city tour is over, so we headed to the Hermes store we had gone to yesterday for shopping. As I’ve told you yesterday we have to spend $5000-6000 to order a Birkin bag, which cost another $14000. So today my mother planned to do some shopping there, she bought a shoe for $1200 and picotine bag for about $3400. We spent an hour or more in the store, order the Birkin and pack the boxes back in our hotel. We have lunch in the hotel, drove to the airport and wait for our flight at 23.55. As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting in The Square cafe waiting for check in.

At the airport we went check in three and a half hours before departure, then proceed to scan our bags and immigration. The line was long, it took us thirty minutes to the desk. Chharapati Shivaji Airport is not very large, they sell some luxury goods such as Longchamp, Boss, watches (Omega, Frederique Constant, Tag Heuer, Baume Mercier), Mikhael Kors, etc. There are some cafes and foodcourt consists KFC, Pizza Hut, and Asian-Indian foods.

Singapore Airlines A380

This is also the first time I’m going to fly with airbus A380, the biggest commercial airplane. The plane is huge, two decks, wide wingspan, and double engine. We have our seats on the upper deck middle row, the entertainment on Singaporr Airlines was great, new movies and song albums. On the back of the plane, near toilet there is a stairs to get down to the lower deck. Our flight was delayed by 30 minutes, but we arrived in Singapore on time. Good job SQ!