Travel Woes

The thought for today is where to travel...is familiarity and comfort more important than novel experience?

I've had this toss up before most notably in the Turtle bay vs Hong Kong debate which became a null decision since mother fell sick and had to cancel Turtle bay but the new place had won.

However this year, I did a new place and cannot say was impressed by it even though it came with many good reviews.In my life, where leave is an issue and money sometimes, it pinches to waste both on an average experience!

So the husband and his BFF and wife love Samui and thus want to go there all the time, in this case specifically for New Year's Eve! Now I loved the honeymoon and thought it had a fantastic vibe but I hate to go to the same place twice when I can try something new but was thinking, Thailand assures you of a fantastic experience and you cannot go wrong with it - whereas if I insist on someplace new for example Hampi and it does not work out, it seems to be self defeating! Also the other argument is that the value for money is much higher in a place like Thailand than anywhere in India where expensive rates are not a guarantee of good service or standard!

In other information, thanks to pinterest, I now have some very exotic locations on my to visit list.

addition # 1 Lake Bled in Slovenia - where the water is so clear, you can see under the boat!

this is a picture pinned by Lauren G which I think looks amazing....similar picture is the Hilton at Bora Bora.

addition # 2 Austria Green Lake in the Hochschwab mountains - would it not be amazing to take a break while diving and just sit on the bench waiting for you there?

Side note: ok so clearly my first time posting in this new blogger template and while it looks cleaner (much like gmail), it does feel too sanitized!

In my non missed absence:

• I got married - three times
• had a wedding after party in a fancy ass suite at the Taj Lands End with champagne flowing
• visited Thailand for the first time (Honeymoon)
• stayed in a Pool Villa
• bought fabulous and fabulously expensive shoes
• moved home (Khar)
• been sick for 3 weeks
• started playing House
• discovered maid trauma
• bought things like vegetables, masalas,
• obsessed about putting boxes away
• own 4 chairs too many
• attended 4 weddings - 2 on the same day
• ignored the sales
• started and finished the millenium trilogy
• started planning a trip to the States 

Since TheCharade now has me addicted to fashion blogs, I consider it my duty to opine on the fashion of major awards ceremony. Presenting The Golden Globes:

• Think Amber Riley looked superb 
• Julianne Moore - My God!who said Red clashes with Pink?
• Justin Bieber wears what I was trying to convince my husband to wear for the wedding - Suit with sneakers!
• I understand shoes not matching each other - but to then not match the dress as well! Helena Bonham Carter - explain yourself.
• These 3 look like left overs from Oscar 2010 - Carrie Underwood, Olivia Wilde,
• If January Jones ran out of material, she should have put the apron in front to better use!
• Jennifer Lopez returns to her Latin (read Mexican) roots - by wearing a Poncho!
• This year's icecream - Lea Michele!
• I know it's Glee - but polka dots and checks!! 
• Since I only bought the inner wear, I'll just drape the sheer curtains like a sarong: Halle Berry! 
• Competing for vampire of the week - Jayma Mays and  Piper Perabo!

That's all, folks! Stay tuned for further updates and the Oscars!

On the auspicious occasion of 20.10.2010

the Wedding Numbers for 12.12.2010

• Little under 2 months to the 3 wedding ceremonies
• 1 Bridesmaid missing
• 2 dress designers -0 number of fittings for the dress
• 1 pair of shoes bought
• 3 friends with weddings on the same weekend
• 300 wedding cards printed -5 cards distributed
• 250 favours bought -200 people on guest list
• 1 honeymoon booked
• 3 friends knocked up who cannot make it to the wedding
• 2 excited people - 1 Happy couple who cannot wait for it!

Feb+March 2010

I had the gall to ask the charade why she was posting in bullet points while blogging about her vacation only to realise that when I eventually sit myself down to write, I end up doing a recap post in bullet points or a to-do list in the same! I cannot seem to bring myself to end the cycle - the way I look at it, if I cannot use the blog to express my feelings/thoughts (about personal issues), it serves me well as a snapshot of my life at the time. When I read previous entries, It recaptures for me the person who I was at the time and if I cannot write that, let it at least remind me of things that I accomplished and also the things I let slide!

Some of the big things in this year have happened - Friend's wedding in Goa  (ref pic above) and the BIG event at the end of the year is my own! 

However in between are little bits of joy as well - in 2 weeks time, I will doing a road trip with my parents and the FANCY! I know I know, HUGE risk but the way I look at it, they are stuck with each other, the same way I'm stuck with them, they may as well learn now how to get along in confined spaces! so essentially, A and I are taking the train to Jodhpur - my parents are going there for a course reunion (Airforce/Maruth for those interested). From there, we will drive to Jaisalmer (my last posting as an AF brat), Mt.Abu, (never been) Baroda (to see the fam), Daman(also never been). Now, I love road trips - having been twice from Bombay to Ooty and also year before last to Bijapur! I find travelling through the countryside exhilerating and edifying.....cannot say the same of the Fancy who has never been on one and cannot seem to fathom why one should be on one! since he claims I'm the only one he can holiday with - the other person being tied down with wife and baby, he has grudgingly agreed to try it out this once! I'm crossing my fingers for it to work out - the more new things he learns to like, the easier travelling will get once we are married!

I've realised people are not kidding when they say the more things you have in common, the better it is! I love being my own person but when you have to come from opposite directions, the middle is that much further away!

So many things - so little time!

I'm finally motivated to blog....couple of things have happened in life - went on holiday, got engaged, parents met etc etc but let's focus on my favourite subject - travel.

The bride is planning a 10 day vacay in Italy - making me incredibly jealous - very excited for her but still incredibly jealous and we got to discussing our top travel destinations that we want to visit. All of The Bride's currently seem to be in Europe. (1. paris 2. rome/ venice (though now florence also) 3. london 4. dublin 5. scotland. 6. moscow. 7 prague. 8. berlin).

I have a travel agenda for the next 3 yrs where I plan to strike off 1.New York 2. Istanbul (Turkey) 3. Angkor Wat/South East Asian island preferably Koh Samui. Post which, I will be looking at South America - Inca and Mayan civilizations{Machu Pichu- here I come!!] and also torn between the Eastern European countries like Prague etc. This list does not even include a trip to New Zealand where I will spend more than 6 days this time and explore the South Island.

There are so many places in the world that I will never get to see and this really causes me pain!

I will get down to making a comprehensive list of where all I need to go in the world and post it so I can have the pleasure of ticking it off/striking it through when I'm done!

Also, I have discovered new music after quite a while - In addition to the love of my life Robert Pattinson, 'Twilight' film also introduced me to a band called Muse whose track 'Super Massive Black Hole' is in the soundtrack. I really like the sound and realised how much I missed knowing good music or just hearing different things. In the middle of these discussions, I learnt about Damien Rice and also the sound of Gomez both of which I'm currently enamoured and listening to on loop on youtube. It's music like this which makes me realise why I need a Mp3 music player and why just radio on the phone is not enough!

I also appear to have given up reading - the last books I read were on holiday - Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of my dreams - eminently skippable and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go which I found very interesting - I also remember watching a movie on the same thoughts - 'The Island' starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johannsen. Since then I have started a Joanne Harris 'Rune Marks' and the last in the Thursday Next series 'First Among Sequels' - both of which are still pending completion.

Astrological help?

I've been having one of those months where nothing seems to go my way - it's not necessarily a major catastrophe but it's one of those season's where I overlook all the little things and land up not in trouble but with a leaden weight of guilt in my stomach - this in turn leads to wanting to drown my sorrows in alcohol which further leads to late nights and the cycle continues.

This has always been my biggest problem - I used to have a higher than average intelligence and I can retain information - I'm willing to work hard and I can work smart but I lack an attention to detail! so it will always be the small slips that catch me and these will always come at a time when I am facing a larger issue which is not necessarily my fault but compounded by this minor infraction, in totality gains a larger meaning.

I've discussed this with friends who also screw up and from their experience, we are not the only ones who screw up - others do it too! they are just more proficient at denying it or avoiding the issue altogether. It's just lucky few, who seem to do it consistently and feel it majorly. The best solution is over look it and pretend it never happened. Yes - good in theory, in practice crap - coz I'm one of those people who admit fault and always with an expressive face, cannot drum up cheer in the face of flaws.

For non work related issues, a classic example, cheap deal to fly to HKG - ticket for Rs.15K. Grabbed it, trying to work out dates and find out when the juggler is going to be in HKG. The first set of dates I chose had expired by the time I finally went to pay. When I decided on the next set and got leave approved, I went ahead and booked. 30 minutes later, it turns out the juggler will be in HKG the week after me....and 3 days later, during a discussion with my parents about how I think I won't have to change planes at the halt in SQ since it's only a 15 min difference, it turns out yes, it is a 15 min difference with an additional 24 hrs!! Yes, I have a whole day in SQ - which is not such a bad thing since, I've never seen and I have a cousin there so it all turned out ok but it's the attention to detail thing again!

I'm hoping that my moons were not in alignment this fortnight making the coming week, a pleasant experience otherwise as my twitters often read, this day/week/I need to curl up and die!

Taj Fort Aguada is Fabulous!

I'm sorry - I had to say it upfront so it's very clear - if you have not understood let me repeat...
FORT AGUADA VILLAS ARE FABULOUS!
So anyway, as we landed, my room partner and I were given a room within the hotel which is nice since its on the cliff but its still a hotel - 5 minutes in, we realised we had been given the handicapped room with a steel chair near the shower and handles near the loo - which makes it impossible to use. I wish I had taken some pictures to explain.So we stated our discomfort and to appease us, we were given a villa but we were given one of the fancy ones reserved for CEO's etc - we entered into a little patio then a hall + a massive as bedroom and of all joys! 2 Bathrooms! this is a blessing in disguise when 2 girls are sharing and all activities are constantly delayed so you are rushing to get ready for the parties in the night.

First view of Villa from gate:

Entrance of Villa:

Hall:

Bed Room:

View of Other villas:


Hotel Terrace:

View from hotel terrace:

Goa Baby

So, In case I have not announced it earlier, I am going to Goa for the annual company conference.We are putting up at the Taj Holiday Village/Fort Aguada Resort from Thursday through Sunday. In case you are not clear what the place looks like, please find images below

Highlights of the Event:

• Moisti Kar Soiba - casual Goan evening on the Taj lawns - I is going to wear the lovely cotton strapless dress I got stitched in Vietnam in the tailor town [Hoi An]
• Outlandish - white and bling themed party at Paradiso in Anjuna - in this the girls have the option of wearing black so I can wear a black mini dress with black crystals or my white lace strapless dress with a gold belt and gold keds
• Gala dinner - Taj Ballroom - very safe options here of a neutral hued knee length dress or a black fine pinstriped knee length fitted sheath dress -will see which way I go eventually

In addition, there will be telegames and actual conference along with a new addition this year of workshops/training manuals but still....the sun, sand and sea. And the company has a policy of alcohol drinking compulsory.
In the not so good news, since the tickets are non refundable, I am unable to change my tickets to stay back for an extra night which is only an issue since the 'girlies' [previously known as the 'apostles'] will be in the state at the same time - one of whom is researching wedding venues and the other 3 are along for the ride. It appears to be a fun vacay but since I need to save leave for Hong Kong which I have to do in June, I cannot make it. Will meet them for a little bit on Saturday evening in all my finery. P will also be in Goa at the same time but not looking like I can catch her at all unless I nip out quickly on Friday which since it's the actual conference seems highly unlikely.
Anyway, gotta say, still looking forward to the trip and here's to not getting burnt!

Dilemma - Help needed!

***DECISION MADE*** going to Turtle bay.


Ok as I posted earlier, I was supposed to go to Turtlebay on the May 1st weekend. However this has become option 1:Let me note the approximate costs:
Tickets: Rs.6260
Ticket forfeited by Juggler: Rs.2050
Stay: Rs.5000
Food + Drink: Rs. 4000 minimum
Shopping: Optional but accounting for Rs.700 minimum
Total: Rs.18000
Benefits:

• New location
• Friends
• Beach
• Good food
• Sea + Ocean activities
• Loads of alcohol

Option II: The juggler is going to HKG on the 4th - my birthday is on the 8th.
Fly in on the 7th and come back on the 11th.
Ticket: Rs.25000
Stay: Free
Food + Drink: Free
Shopping: Optional but taking Rs.5000 just in case
Total: Rs.30000
Benefits:

• SAMARA
• the Juggler for the birthday and in Hong Kong at the same time
• Good food
• Excellent shopping

Help with the decision making!! please feel free to let me know what you would do!

Math lesson of the day!

Possibilities of Travel:

• Hong Kong over the Dussehra weekend with the boy on his way back from Bali
• Vienna with the boy again - with the option of stopover in Zurich/Amsterdam/Paris
• Goa in October with MT friends
• Goa over the Diwali weekend with S and company
• Also option of traveling with parents

Probabilities of going: 0
No money, No Travel - I'm starting a relief fund for me - please feel free to contribute anytime.

Home Sweet Home!

Before I recap the holiday, I am going to recap all that is wrong with me - it seems to me that on a holiday,my body goes on a break as well so I am just like falling to pieces.

• Skin issues - sunburn & hives
• Teeth - mouth ulcer & gum swelling
• Regular allergies - sneezing

So did the doctor's rounds on the way back and im on internal anti histamines and external steroids for the skin, anti biotics for the teeth since I'm having them extracted!! Yay! Now that I have finished bitching, I can go on a bit to the actual holiday which was quite fantastic. I know this because, in spite of all my problems, for the first time in my life, I was not as grateful to be back as normal, I could have stayed on a bit more! Normally, I can't wait to get home and tho I missed the boy and the parents, did not miss the actual house for once and did not need to look out of the window in awe at Bombay when we land and did not breathe a sigh of relief to be home!
To start already, Hong Kong as usual was fantastic - but this is mainly due to the God mother and her daughter. The daughter is a bundle of joy and I swear you want to eat her - I was telling R that she should send her daughter to S for cuteness lessons - this is not to imply that R's kids will not be cute but S is just so cute.....espescially at night, when her hair is not tied up in many little braids and it's her last burst of energy, she just is enchanting!!
Anyways, this time in HKG, I did a little bit of sightseeing other than the markets and shops! I went to the peak, I admit later than I wanted but HKG by night is still a very pretty sight and I also went to Stanley which is like a little seaside fishing village type place -very quaint - it reminded me a bit of Fisherman's wharf in San Fran but since I did that very many years ago, I may be slightly fuzzy in memory! I do remember the yummy clam chowder tho but sorry, I'm talking about a different holiday here! I did do quite a bit of shopping again but mainly hung around the house a lot - playing with Samara and chatting with the girls till late at night about really arbid things that have no impact on anyone's life!
* I have decided to post this coz it's been getting saved for 3 days - I will do Vietnam with pictures later!

Random musings - Part V

After the show on blogging on 'We the People', there has been lots of debate on the issues - the privacy, the opinions, the 'morality' etc - I have different issues - how much of myself can I put out there? My mother thinks I'm crazy to have a blog - how can you discuss your life with random people - now I know pretty much everybody who reads this and they know most things in any case so it's ok - I just like to write it but still.....anyhoo, my mother thinks I discuss too much with my friends as well so that's a different story!
I have issues with my identity, individuality being lifted - there are some things I like to think of as mine - the way I dress [tho heavily influenced by cousin since she provides 1/2 wardrobe but still...], the things I chose to do and I hate, reiterate hate it when people do the same things!

Dressing the same way is definitely annoyance # 1. What's sad is that many people don't even realise that they are lifting off from the way I do it - moving from ready made salwar kameez's to the mix and match version that I use [or buying the same gaberdine's - insert musical note here!]. I should have grown out of it - I know I know but somehow this still irks me to the nth degree - luckily this has not happened at work so I have managed to have a peaceful working life.Other stuff also that I consider particularly my own within a set - I hate it when other people adopt. I have always shopped at OMO when everyone else ran for the Westside and the Shopper's stop - even when I could barely afford it - I would shop at 'Either Or' in Pune [ did I mention the time when Sameera Reddy bought everything I picked up - literally I would look and put away dependent on price, size etc and she bought it all - I nearly decided to join Bollywood after that!]

So basically, bringing it back to the blog, my fear is that I if put it out there, it's easier for someone to lift your life - it's all there in black and white! Not that I don't do the same thing, I understood what a blog was after 'the charade' started one and then out of sheer boredom, I started one on spaces and after she moved and worked out blogger, I moved as well but she is a nicer person and it does not bother her [or if it does, she does not let it show!].

Moving on to pleasanter thoughts of vacations, Vietnam might not happen again... tho this morning I was reading about the noodles Pho [pronounced 'Faw'] and R and I were discussing how if we don't do Vietnam sometime in the coming future, it might not retain it's current charm and it's not a place you can do with kids. Tho I do have alternae options if Viet does not happen, one of my french friends is getting married in July and since 'the escapist' is already there, it would be a nice holiday and always to see the Samara in the Hong Kong is a constant need so we will go somewhere this year just where and with whom remains to be seen!!

P.S. The boy wants to go to the New York.....

Vacation - Delhi

So once we took the Shatabdi from Jaipur to Delhi where we were plied with food non-stop [included in the price of the ticket]. There was (a) snack (b) drink (c) complimentary water (d) dinner (e) dessert. We landed at New Delhi station at 11 in the night where immediately we were surrounded by touts exacerbated by the 'Gora' with us. We finally got a cabbie who agreed to take us - the others having refused having realised we already had hotel reservations. This guy however kept plugging another hotel saying it's like a 5 star and dissing Hotel Grand Godwin - where I had made the bookings. As it its, with the hotel reservations off the net, I was a bit apprehensive of where we were going to land up so I was considering taking up the cabbie on his offer when the others said to at least check it out. The access route the cab took us through was suspect to say the least with hotels advertising rooms at Rs.250 for A/C Deluxe and worse when I realized they meant by the hour!
However, the hotel was excessively decent with nice clean bathrooms and a fridge as well. We were upgraded the first night to the suites and decided to keep them for the 2nd night as well. The rate was inclusive of breakfast which was a really good spread of eggs, sausages, French toast/pancakes, cereals, coffee/tea, indian options and toast and all of it unlimited. There was even laptops with free internet access in the lobby which was wi-fi enabled. The only drawback was the location is not that great in Paharganj but it's really central being not more than 10 minutes away from Connaught place or any other monument except for the Qutub Minar.

The first day we decided to go to the Red Fort by cycle rickshaw - where we wandered around for a bit admiring the architecture...
then we decided to go for lunch to Punjabi by Nature which everyone recommends for the food and the Vodka golgappa's so we did both. We spend an inordinate amount of time there but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves feeling the holiday mode finally sink in on us. The next morning before we departed for Agra, we did a tour of the Rashtrapati bhavan, India Gate and Connaught place where we went to Wenger's the bakery and I might have bought out the shop but their fruit tart is to die for! [P.S for Chocolate stuff, there is nothing to beat Cookie Jar in Kolkata].

All in all, I think Delhi is the place where we chilled out the most and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

So many things - so little time!

I've just going to list all the stuff that has happened...not in exact chronological order!

• I got lasik surgery done on Saturday
• I was no longer blind by Sunday
• To make up for the loss of glasses, I went shopping [bought 2 tops, green & cream and a pair of shoes, pink & brown in the same shoes]
• Went to Club IX on Sunday where the waiters outnumbered us 6:1, I'm serious and I remember those days when one could not get a waiter to serve you for hours
• Revisited Harmony thrice a week and still wasted food
• Finalised weekend plans for Goa with the Manali Gang and Holiday plans with R
• Met A & K at Toto's where I drank a small glass of wine which was equal to the price of a whole pitcher
• for the first time ever, I tried to tell my dad something [I normally let my mom do this job] and he cut me off b4 I began
• I think I made someone write again
• Went to Toto's on Thursday and got my best friend back
• and I defined a new space in my life - semi semi thing thing!!

The thing is the old saying is true - when it rains, it pours! I'm kinda finding it hard to balance my life the way I want it- normally I have the least stress on priorities since I can weigh up everything but in some cases I'm learning, one cannot rely on the past and one needs to look at the future. I hope it gets easier with time since I like the life that I had but I want the life I can see!