Monday 25 October 2010

Movies Seen: Alice in Wonderland, The A-Team



A 2010 film. Directed by Tim Burton, who is way off on this one. A spin-off/sequel that both follows and combines story elements from the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, this film takes us 10 years into the future, where Alice, now 20, returns to Wonderland to save it's innocent inhabitants from an evil queen. Boring.


A 2010 film. Directed by Joe Carnahan. Based on the T.V series, 4 incredible men come together, perform amazing feats no one else can or wants to, get framed, and break out of jail to prove their innocence.

An action-packed film with a ridiculous story and out of this world action sequences that don't make a lot of sense. You can tell that the writers have taken pains to add a bit of edge to the script, to prevent it from being cliched, and have succeeded to some extent, but at the cost of even more logical narrative. O.K for timepass purposes.

Plus, it seems like Liam Neeson is in everything these days.

Thoughts?
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Friday 1 October 2010

New Rickshaw & Taxi Tariffs for Mumbai


For those of you new to Mumbai or looking for meter conversion charts to make sense of the rickshaw and taxi meters in the city, this post will help.

Firstly, as a note to new visitors to Mumbai, the meters in the city are out of date. Meaning the number you see on the meter is not your actual fare. The actual fare is slightly more and you might need a tariff/rate/fare conversion chart to convert the meter number into actual rupees.

Furhermore, the autorickshaw and taxi rates in Mumbai were increased in June 2010. The minimum rickshaw fare is now Rs.11 (from Rs.9 earlier). For taxis it's now Rs.16 (from Rs.13) for the first 1.6 kms, with Rs.10 for each successive km. And a 25% increase from 12.00 - 5.00 A.M. 

You can view and download the new conversion charts for both rickshaws and taxis from the official Mumbai Traffic Police website below.  


All the ricks and taxis will have switched over to the new system by now, so even if the meters look old, they've been re-calibrated to the new rate, and you're supposed to be billed accordingly. Also, the drivers are supposed to carry the new tariff charts with them, so don't let them con you by saying they don't have any conversion charts because of the switch. They're just using that as an excuse to set their own rate.

I carry printouts with me for quick reference at all times. I suggest you do the same.

Comments?



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