Phew where do I start??? Well I’m sitting here now, shaking my toe at the tunes coming from a bollywood film on my flat screen TV, in my uber plush room!!! Now that’s just a statement in its self, hehe. I feel calm and happy at the moment with rushes of excitement coursing through me!! What will tomorrow bring? I don’t know, neither do I want to, that’s the best way to feel I reckon.

So from the beginning,,,, here I am in Manchester on Saturday ready to jump the train to London, when I find out there is only one and its fully booked!!!! So flap starts to set in, then my precious boy Rich says that he will drive me to the airport! Ahh how good of him, not only will I get to see him up until I go but he will also keep me calm about the tragic goings on in India, it was a big worry for me, but I realise I need to keep it in context and grab this amazing opportunity I’ve been given by both hands and go for it!! So there I am at the airport with 20 mins to go heading to gate 30, only to discover when I’m nearly there and half way across the airport that its gate 03 I need!! Aghhhhh so the full on run around the airport begins, sweat coming on, flapping-levels rising, PLEASE DONT LET THE CHECK-IN CLOSE WITHOUT ME!!!! So in the nick of time I make it and get myself on the plane.... The flight was cool, not a drag like I expected, it was lovely meeting the other finalists and chatting about anything and everything.
So we arrive in Delhi airport and pick up our luggage and head out to the exit, where we see 3 well dressed men with our names on a board! How cool I’ve always walked past these board people thinking ahh wish they would be picking me up one day, and this day they where!!! So off to our luxury 5 star hotel we go, the journey there was an experience in its self, mad drivers on mad road, with zillions of people piled in to open back wagons, small monkeys hanging of trees, people bustling everywhere!!

The hotel is so nice and so was everyone we met, so polite and welcoming. My room is amazing, little posh chocys and everything!! You can imagine me shrieking with delight!!..lol The room had big massive windows which I instantly pull open to expose the smog lingering of little shanti town slums, such a stark contrast and a taste of what will come. So we all musta in the lovely restaurant down stairs and have the most amazing food at the best prices ever!!
A few of us decide to go for a little walk, which turned out to be the maddest sight ever, millions of people, well “MEN” haggling over clothes that where being sold from piles in the street, they were everywhere, I’ve never seen so many men shopping, in all my life!!!! or so many piles of clothes on the floor, not even in my room!!! On our mission we ended up getting a young lad latching on to us, which initially made us wary as people are coming up trying to sell you stuff and beg for money, but he just said he wanted to walk with us and show us around, we where still a bit wary, but he takes us to the bank, then to a some shops, he seams a really nice lad, so I gave him some money, as I felt that he had been very helpful towards us, and that maybe this was the right thing to do, which it would probably be normally, but he gave me the money back, he explained that he just wanted to hang with us for a bit and help us get round and that he wasn’t after payment!! How nice was that and how much did it alter my perspective, it was really humbling and made me take stock of some of my initial perceptions about “people on the street mithering you” he was genuinely offering to help, for the simple reason that he wanted to, not coz he expect payment in return, but to give good karma in order for it to return to him in abundance, now that made me smile and filled me full of wamth!!!

So back at the hotel I fell in “by accident” to the luxury spa!! Oh my god, the massage pages where to die for, so ermm I treated myself and had the best massage I’ve ever had!! 1 long hour of bliss followed by one long glass of mohito!! Mmmmm

Tired eyes now, time to re-coup for our first big business day tomoz, bring it on!!