The Feinbaum Chronicles

India-last day

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

Darrel and I decided to venture out for some trinket shopping. It was quite an experience and words can not describe the honking, traffic and controlled chaos on the streets of Bangalore. Matt, Lori, Lee and our guide Raj were also brave enough to follow in their own taxis.

We all head out tonight on a midnight flight to Hong Kong. It’s about a 9 hour flight with a layover in Kuala Lumpur. We arrive in Hong Kong around 1 PM HK time after traveling all night. All we know is that they have a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Morton’s Steakhouse near the hotel in Hong Kong. Many of us will be making a mad dash for a steak upon our arrival!

Ron & Darrel in taxi

This self taken photo is of us in an open air taxi heading out for shopping.

My kingdom for a Big Mac

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

I think it’s fair to day that we’re all getting a bit tired of Indian food. We’ve heard that they have a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse near the hotel in Hong Kong. I can guarantee you that many of us will be there the first night (and perhaps the second and third).

Today we visited AVTEC, a manufacturing plant of large transmissions for buses, tractors, trains, etc. They produce products for Ford, GM, Caterpillar, Mitsubishi and others. They’ll do about $33 million US dollars in revenue with a 2012 goal of hitting $150 million. The plant workers make about $750 per month which is very good wage. We all found it quite interesting that they only produce about 4 transmissions per day with about a 15% margin. The 300 employees were well trained, had a cafeteria and seemed quite happy.

Tonight we are going to group dinner with traditional dance, pottery and of course Indian food. A few of us have grown fond of the pizza and French fries in the lobby restaurant.

Tomorrow we have some site visits and then take a midnight to Hong Kong (8 hours). We’ll land in Hong Kong around Noon the following day. It’s going to be a long day to say the least.

Click on the photo to see about 100 new pictures taken by Lee and Lori. Enjoy.

Rupee

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

In case you didn’t know, the Indian currency is the Rupee. The attached picture of the $500 Rupee is only worth about ten US dollars.

An interesting fact I learned today is that the average Internet Developer makes about $15,000 US dollars per year in Bangalore. A US based IT developer can make anywhere from $50K – 150K per year and higher. It’s no wonder so many US based companies are outsourcing IT development to India.

Also, the average staff person in a hotel in Bangalore makes about $200 per month (yes $200). Imagine living anywhere in the world making $2,400 per year.

We also visited the Dell facility today. Like many US based companies in Bangalore, Dell is growing at an enormous rate. They will interview about 150,000 job candidates in Banglalore and hire about 7,000 this year for the local operation.

Another interesting tidbit. Dell Bangalore will spend about $8 million dollars this year just on transporting employees via bus and taxi from work to home and back.

DSC00287

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

Click on the photo for more pictures from India.

Well, I’m about to embark on my trip to Bangalore, India, Hong Kong and Mainland China. For those of you who don’t know, I’m attending University of Tennessee’s Executive MBA program and a part of the curriculum includes a 2 week stint overseas. The University has created a pretty interesting agenda of which I list some of the highlights below.  

 I’ve had one hiccup while I prepare for the trip. It turns out that American’s have to get a travel Visa from the Indian Embassy to enter their country. As of last Friday, I still hadn’t received my Visa. Also, when you mail your Visa application, you have to include your Passport. After days of voice mail messages to the Indian Embassy in Washington, I finally got a call back from a nice Indian man who stated that they have no record of receiving my Visa application. After several follow-up calls and proof that the Fed Ex packages was signed for by an Embassy employee several weeks earlier, my Visa and Passport arrived by special mail courier this past Sunday.  

Another necessary evil of going to India and China is the need for the inoculations from hell. Over the last few weeks I’ve been injected with so many medications that I feel invincible to practically anything. <Insert Jinx Here>. I’ve had shots for hepatitis, tetanus, polio, typhoid, measles, mumps, rubella and malaria (pills). I also have a wide variety of prescription meds just in case I eat or drink something that I shouldn’t have. Oh the joy of international travel. 

More to come on my site visits in India and China but here are a few details.  I leave this Friday at 2 PM from Knoxville and fly through Atlanta, Paris and into Bangalore. The total flight time including layovers is about 25 hours.  I decided to pay a little extra and upgrade to business class. I figured I’m only doing this trip once and 25 hours in coach just didn’t sound that appealing.  

On our first day in Bangalore we are taking it easy so everyone can get adjusted to the time zone switch. Later in the week, we are visiting or having presentation from Proctor and Gamble, McAfee, Dell, Fed Ex and the Indian Institute of Management to name a few. More details on these visits once I have them.  On Saturday, September 23 we fly to Hong Kong for more site visits and some cultural outings. Again, more to come once I get settled in Hong Kong.   Check back soon.