The crew and I arrived there very late on a Monday night.. I wasn't as tired as I thought I might be because I got lucky.. I got a whole row of seats together in economy class on the flight there!
zzzzzzz..... such peaceful sleep at 30,000 feet....
Knowing this was a rare occasion, I took full advantage of it and had a good sleep!!!
Our producer, Kama and her assistant Shahrul met us at the airport.... It took forever to claim all of our baggage, equipment and props together before we could board the bus to the hotel... Just imagine, there are 25 of us icluding crew and boxes and boxes weighing hundreds of kilos!! This is not an easy show to co-ordinate!
As we were on our way to the hotel, I asked Kama, "Hotel cantik tak?"... She replied very casually, "Boleh lah..."... I worried we were going to be staying in a really low budget hotel...
Then we pulled up at this beautiful hotel called the Taj Palace... It really was like a palace... I went back to Kama and said, "You made it sound like this hotel is below average... this is luxurious!!!"..... She just smiled... All of us crew really appreciate staying in nice hotels! All of us thanked her for making the arrangements at such an exquisite hotel... (www.tajhotels.com)
The following day we started to recee all of the task point locations... We saw beautiful buildings from bygones eras such as the Jama Masjid, visited locals restaurants such as Karim's restaurant and the World Heritage Sites, Humayun's Tomb and Qutab Minar...
But the highlight for me was visiting the majestic Taj Mahal in Agra.
Kama assigned the compere team consisting of myself, diretctor Shahrul, technician Hazizie and cameraman Mokhtar were assigned to head to Agra to shoot the introduction to the race in India and come back to Delhi, all in one day.... What an extreme journey we were in for!
First it took us 6 and a half hours to get there!!! It was SOOOO hot too...
Once we arrived at Agra, we picked up the tourism officer who accompanied us to the Taj Mahal. As we all know, unfortunately India has been a victim of violent attacks so security to all of the locations was very high... Due to our camera and sound equipment, we were thoroughly checked... but we still had to wait a VERY long time til we were allowed into the Taj Mahal...
Hazizie (the technician standing next to me), Mokhtar (cameraman sitting down) and myself waiting to be allowed into the Taj Mahal area to begin shooting.
When we were FINALLY allowed in, this is the picture perfect view that we saw that took my breath away.... 
There were a lot of people there.. both locals and tourists.. and lots of cameras taking pictures.. Shahrul chose a relatively empty spot to shoot the opening. I will never forget the feeling of a waterfall (yes... waterfall!) of sweat running down my back the whole time we were shooting.. It was about 40 degrees!!! HOT, HOT, HOT!! I could feel my skin burning...
I completed 3 takes (without fumbling on my lines thank goodness!) then we spent some time taking photos.. I went and sat on the strategically positioned bench placed in front of the Taj Mahal (the same bench Princess Diana, Bill Clinton etc.. sat on) and had this picture taken..
I went inside the Taj Mahal and it was then that I realised the incredible detail that is featured in this building.. no wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world and took over 20 years to build!!!
I would have been more than happy to stay longer, but it was starting to get later in the day and we had to get back to Agra.. It took us another 5 hours to get back to Delhi.... I was tired, sticky from all the dried sweat on my skin but so thankful that I had the privilege of seeing one of the most beautiful and romatically inspired buildings in the world...
In amongst the beauty of India though, there is also extreme poverty... People are literally starving on the streets... I've appreciated every meal, no matter how big or small since I saw people living like this there...
I also don't think there is anywhere else in the world where you will find men... hmmm, how do i say this politely... relieving themselves/ answering nature's call at 'toilets' with no walls by the side of the road...
The morning of the race day, we were all very concerned that we would face many problems shooting the race due to heightened security... thankfully, everything went smoothly..
All of the contestants taking part in the finals arrived to me at the ending point at Qutab Minar safely... The heat of the day was very taxing and draining on all of us... but we all had smiles on our faces for a job well done...
From left to right : The finalists Masita, Misbah, Cee Yee, Weng Aun, myself, Reezman and Azhari at the finishing point in Delhi, the World Heritage Site, Qutab Minar
This is a snippet of my behind the scenes story. I won't tell you the tasks the contestants endured because you can see it all on
TV3, Thursday, the 14th of September 2006 at 9.30 pm....
You really don't want to miss this..
By the way, shopping is great in India! For glitter and ornate loving individuals out there like myself, take EMPTY bags there, as much money as you can afford, and buy as if there is no tomorrow....