Humidity. Sweat dripping down your back. Walking down shade filled avenues. Warm fizzy taste of shandy. Brunching. Barbeques. Ah, the smell of barbequed meat sends my stomach into a tizzy. More shandy. Air conditioning. I lived without it all my life in India. And now I have such a yen for it.
Heading to the beach. Splashing, playing in the blue blue waters of the sea. The waves and me play Tag. I win occasionally. Taste of beer on my lips. Pizza for lunch. The tomato sauce so fresh. The peppers crunchy.
Drinking cold coffee. Reading from my Kindle. The smell of books is lost on me now. I yearn for it again.
Ah summer....subarashii desu yo (its wonderful!)
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Travelling on
So I did Dali (as some of my friends call it) - didn't do anything exceptional but visited Gudgaon (yes yes this is the way I pronounce it) and oh man...its a maze of steel and concrete and Metro stations and big malls with really good microbreweries and half decent roads and no breakfast places which open at 9 am!! I mean wtf, I ended up eating masala dosa in bloddy Gudgaon man!!! My father laughed his ass off when I told him this over the fone.
Oh I am also recommending Kingfisher to anyone for a breakfast flight - I had the best upma (and that is saying something considering my S.Indian genes) on that flight. I don't know who made it but god bless that man/woman really! Soft and crumbly and just about perfect, I should have taken a photo to show the world really!
Ok now in order, took KF and watched Mallya and Yana what's her name do their thing. I thought Deepika became the brand ambassador (as an aside I hope she gets together with the younger Mallya - the best darn decision she will make in her lifetime!) so then why is Yana still saying 'Abhi cabin ki batti dim ki jayegi'!
Landed in Dali airport and the man ahead of me had a thick gold bead necklace like one of those Egyptian ones you see only in the movies on gunda types! Totally mins wot eet ees! So I thought to myself, 'Welcome to Dali yaar'! Took the Meru where the aircon didn't work!! Ghastly heat hit me from every angle possible and I angstily ended up calling the Meru driver 'Boss' which I am told is a big no-no in Dali!
Anyways, friend lives in a beautiful colony (please pronounce Dali way jee) - extremely green but like you have no car, you get screwed over! But it was nice and we walked and I took photos of all these garden furniture things. Oh and the maids come to work in a bicycle - imagine pulling that in Mumbai!
And the next morning the breakfast travails began ending with the masala dosa misadventure! But the best part about this morning was the visit to the microbrewery - Rockman's. So Rockman's is a pretty cool place - all vats and barrels right there for you. But the best part was this
Saw Aisha post this which was very henh & very Dali in some parts but I totally loved the fashion in the flick! So decent watch types and Abhay Deol rocks as always so go watch it for him for sure :)
Post that we did the drive back to Dali and this time propah Dali dahlings like Greater Kailash types. Had a very relaxing time and had the best mutton kebabs ever - the meat and the masala was just soo yummy .....makes me salivate thinking about it.
Morning brunch was at American Diner where my friend got hit on at like 11 in the morning! So totally not happening! But we had a fun brunch and ate and talked lots so all good. Went off to catch up with another friend in Kalkaji where I was spending the night. And guess what dinner was - aloo tikis!! Bahut hi changa tha jee!!
My last morning in Delhi saw me headed towards DLF Promenade which is uber-snooty and uber-if you are not rich, don't show your face here types! But I had brunch in the most awesome interiored place 'The Stonehouse Deli' - see photo below for more.
And then I traversed the course of Dali to get to CP where I was supposed to meet a friend but ended up meeting two ex-colleagues from the old workplace which was nice.
All in all a good trip. My Pune treep has been cancelled again (I am telling you its jinxed for whatever reason!) on account of ill health. Sigh..so no more trips for me now..only wedding preps...
But can't wait for September to start..yaaaay ...looking forward to becoming Mrs :)
Friday, December 25, 2009
The one where 'I almost lose my life'
7th October 2009. The one where I almost died, where I stood at 17,800 feet, the one where T had his full of adventures, music and conversations, snowfall and rainfall and Army guys! What a crazy day!
3.30 am start. Tenzing, our drive said, 'Madam, char baje nikhlenge'. 4.45 am and no sight of the guy. 5.00 am chap shows up. Says a cheery hi and says, 'Chale?' Looking at his smile I could not even yell at him.
Tenzing our driver in a pensive mood
We left at 5.00 am and stopped at several checkpoints. Destination Gurudongmar - a lake 17,800 feet where a friend said, 'I should forget about shit and show the world the finger!' (which I did btw). We reached Thangu located at 13,500 ft and stopped for namak cha and brekkie - Maggi - the yummiest I have ever had. Namak cha had the aftertaste of butter for some reason.
The place where we stopped was so small - barely 5 ft x 5 ft and all run by ladies. The men were nowhere in sight. 7.15 am, brekkie done we set off for Gurudongmar and it then started snowing by then!! T has never seen snow in his life and he was ecstatic to put it mildly. September - we had been told it never snows and here it was pissing down on us and the cold literally entered our bones. T, ever dramatic, said he could feel it in his bone marrow!! :D
Stopped at the final Army checkpoint before they let us through towards Gurudongmar. The Army guys were very polite - most of them had their snow gear on complete with sunglasses.
Then began the long ice-cold journey to Gurudongmar - took us more than a hour's drive from the Army checkpoint. We had almost got there and the driver informed us that the clutch had stopped working! Luckily another tourist vehicle came along and the driver helped us out. So, you climb a hill covered with snow - there were steps for those of the intrepid nature and you find yourself staring at this pale blue lake surrounded by snow clad hills.
There's a temple there as well as a sign commemorating Gurudongmar's existence. T & me had 'actually' planned to stay at the lake for a full hour! What a laugh! We lasted five minutes to ensure necessary photos and jumped into the car as quick as possible.
The snow fell soft and thick and at one point, we almost skidded off the edge down a twenty foot snow covered ravine. But it was beautiful - the first time I have ever experienced snow in India and considerting it wasn unexpected, totally way out!!
We headed back towards Thangu - stopped again to warm our innards and gulp some hot namak cha which is a local speciality. I smoked a beedi too after a long time :) Then began the long drive back to Lachen - enroute snowfall became rainfall as we descended.
We were almost at Lachen - I remember thinking how desperately I wanted to pee at that point- when we got stuck behind a long convoy of vehicles. We could see an Army jeep stuck ahead. 5-10 minutes passed. An Army truck came along and hauled the jeep. Our driver comes up and we think - finally the hotel till he says, 'Kuch try karna hai!'
We forged ahead without the two of us realising what we were getting into. Next thing I know our solid sturdy Mahendra Maxx is in the path between a waterfull full of rocks and a forty foot ravine at the bottom. There's a whole lot of people around us - all the drivers who are trying to get the car out of the mess we are stuck in and confusion at the same time.
T offers help and steps out. I am sitting inside at this point. I see T walk away from the car and still lost in my own world. The driver Tenzing rushes up to my side, yanks open the door and yells at me, 'Madam abhi chaliye!' I jump out and he drags me by the hand away from the car getting my shoes all mucky. I go wtf! I see people gesturing, 'Come here, get to a safe place'. I am still wtf. I look up and I see a gigantic stone weighing a tonne atleast hurtling down with force towards the car. I'm thinking, 'Shit our stuff is gone!!'.
The stone deflects and ends up about ten feet away from the car at the side of the road.
I see people walking around the car - an Army truck comes and tries to life it off the muck its stuck in. I walk through the muck to the other side and see T shell shocked staring at me. I am bitching about my shoes and jeans and he's looking at me like I am crazy. He says, 'In those three seconds, our four year association flashed in front of my eyes.' That threw me and I actually stopped and thought, 'What if!'
I was three seconds away from dying. I would not have got the chance to say goodbye to my folks, friends - people I loved because some dumb rock decides to come down on me. None of this struck me until much later! T is still mindfucked about it and I went into thinking mode after a while. Life's too fucking short. You gotta grab every moment and live it. Ironically apart from T no one knows about my near death experience because my network ain't working here!
How do I begin to tell people without sounding too dramatic...How do I use this chance that I have been given (because its that - pure luck, fate whatever you wanna call it) ...don't know yet but it makes me more determined to do the things I have always planned for in life and make sure I live each day with joy.
An uneventful journey into Lachung - Yumthang Valley being our next destination - we have had diner and almost sleeping as I pen this down. Tomorrow a 7 am start. Thank God for that. Thank the Lord for giving me these precious moments of life...
3.30 am start. Tenzing, our drive said, 'Madam, char baje nikhlenge'. 4.45 am and no sight of the guy. 5.00 am chap shows up. Says a cheery hi and says, 'Chale?' Looking at his smile I could not even yell at him.
Tenzing our driver in a pensive moodWe left at 5.00 am and stopped at several checkpoints. Destination Gurudongmar - a lake 17,800 feet where a friend said, 'I should forget about shit and show the world the finger!' (which I did btw). We reached Thangu located at 13,500 ft and stopped for namak cha and brekkie - Maggi - the yummiest I have ever had. Namak cha had the aftertaste of butter for some reason.
The place where we stopped was so small - barely 5 ft x 5 ft and all run by ladies. The men were nowhere in sight. 7.15 am, brekkie done we set off for Gurudongmar and it then started snowing by then!! T has never seen snow in his life and he was ecstatic to put it mildly. September - we had been told it never snows and here it was pissing down on us and the cold literally entered our bones. T, ever dramatic, said he could feel it in his bone marrow!! :D
Stopped at the final Army checkpoint before they let us through towards Gurudongmar. The Army guys were very polite - most of them had their snow gear on complete with sunglasses.
Then began the long ice-cold journey to Gurudongmar - took us more than a hour's drive from the Army checkpoint. We had almost got there and the driver informed us that the clutch had stopped working! Luckily another tourist vehicle came along and the driver helped us out. So, you climb a hill covered with snow - there were steps for those of the intrepid nature and you find yourself staring at this pale blue lake surrounded by snow clad hills.
There's a temple there as well as a sign commemorating Gurudongmar's existence. T & me had 'actually' planned to stay at the lake for a full hour! What a laugh! We lasted five minutes to ensure necessary photos and jumped into the car as quick as possible.
The snow fell soft and thick and at one point, we almost skidded off the edge down a twenty foot snow covered ravine. But it was beautiful - the first time I have ever experienced snow in India and considerting it wasn unexpected, totally way out!!
We headed back towards Thangu - stopped again to warm our innards and gulp some hot namak cha which is a local speciality. I smoked a beedi too after a long time :) Then began the long drive back to Lachen - enroute snowfall became rainfall as we descended.
We were almost at Lachen - I remember thinking how desperately I wanted to pee at that point- when we got stuck behind a long convoy of vehicles. We could see an Army jeep stuck ahead. 5-10 minutes passed. An Army truck came along and hauled the jeep. Our driver comes up and we think - finally the hotel till he says, 'Kuch try karna hai!'
We forged ahead without the two of us realising what we were getting into. Next thing I know our solid sturdy Mahendra Maxx is in the path between a waterfull full of rocks and a forty foot ravine at the bottom. There's a whole lot of people around us - all the drivers who are trying to get the car out of the mess we are stuck in and confusion at the same time.
T offers help and steps out. I am sitting inside at this point. I see T walk away from the car and still lost in my own world. The driver Tenzing rushes up to my side, yanks open the door and yells at me, 'Madam abhi chaliye!' I jump out and he drags me by the hand away from the car getting my shoes all mucky. I go wtf! I see people gesturing, 'Come here, get to a safe place'. I am still wtf. I look up and I see a gigantic stone weighing a tonne atleast hurtling down with force towards the car. I'm thinking, 'Shit our stuff is gone!!'.
The stone deflects and ends up about ten feet away from the car at the side of the road.
I see people walking around the car - an Army truck comes and tries to life it off the muck its stuck in. I walk through the muck to the other side and see T shell shocked staring at me. I am bitching about my shoes and jeans and he's looking at me like I am crazy. He says, 'In those three seconds, our four year association flashed in front of my eyes.' That threw me and I actually stopped and thought, 'What if!'
I was three seconds away from dying. I would not have got the chance to say goodbye to my folks, friends - people I loved because some dumb rock decides to come down on me. None of this struck me until much later! T is still mindfucked about it and I went into thinking mode after a while. Life's too fucking short. You gotta grab every moment and live it. Ironically apart from T no one knows about my near death experience because my network ain't working here!
How do I begin to tell people without sounding too dramatic...How do I use this chance that I have been given (because its that - pure luck, fate whatever you wanna call it) ...don't know yet but it makes me more determined to do the things I have always planned for in life and make sure I live each day with joy.
An uneventful journey into Lachung - Yumthang Valley being our next destination - we have had diner and almost sleeping as I pen this down. Tomorrow a 7 am start. Thank God for that. Thank the Lord for giving me these precious moments of life...
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The one 'where the inquisitive monk asks life changing questions'
5th October 2009. Mr Bhutia, the man designated to take us around Gangtok showed up around 9.30ish in the morning. 1st stop - the Flower Show which took like 10 minutes.
Post that, a visit to the Handloom Centre which is soo government like its unbelievable! The mist had come into Gangtok by then.
We then took the Ropeway Cable Car wich had supersonic crazy views - you were about 5000 feet high up in the air suspended and after a while the height got to me and I sat down on the floor of the car and watched - suspended mid-air in disbelief :P
This place was beautiful. It had well preserved Tibetan Buddhist artifacts like this one below
But it had also one more thing: 'The Inquisitive Monk' - this monk pestered T. He followed him around - asked his weight, height and what T did in Bombay. So T patiently answered and all this why they both turned the prayer wheels around. Let me illustrate my point here -
Then he asks T if I was his wife. T says no. 'Is she your girlfriend?' T says no. 'Would you like her to be your girlfriend?' T was flabbergasted at this point not knowing what to say to the 'agony aunty' monk!
Rumtek Monastery almost a hour's drive from Gangtok followed. Rumtek is sort of above cloud level. It was quite a forbidding place espcially because they had a lot of security at the entrance. The presence of the army at such a religious site was really disturbing. This was taken at the entry to Rumtek. Vehicles are not allowed inside at all so you make the long trek inside and uphill to the monastery.
They had a Golden Stupa here covered with actual turquoise and coral - the stones were as big as bird's egg and probably cost a fortune. There's apparently also some religious turmoil - the presence of two Karmapas adds to the problem and hence the need for such security.
Post Rumtek we went to Banjhakri Waterfalls - very developed. Its a perennial waterfall and the government has developed it into a picnic tourist hotspot. They have put in pagodas and what not jazz to make it exciting for the tourist.
We then proceeded towards Lingdum Monastery. I would recommend it over Rumtek anyday. It's beautiful, quiet and serene. Wonderful artwork and ever so quaint. Some details of the monastery here...
Tashi Point next stop. Completely pointless as it was misty as hell and I have photos to prove it as well.
Ganesh Tok was awesome. It really gave you a sense of perspective on how much mist had spread across the whole town. There's a heavy army presence in this are which is why we also managed to grab a cup of nice adrakwali chai.
Got back to M G Marg and wandered around. Had an awesome Tibetan dish at 'Taste of Tibet, at the corner of MG Road. Called shyaphale, these are fried momos with a mixture of meat and spices.
Dinner finished, we headed towards Cafe Live & Loud where we listened to a local band play. I consumed whisky to go along. Came back to the hotel and packed. North Sikkim starts tomorrow.....something I am damn excited about!
Post that, a visit to the Handloom Centre which is soo government like its unbelievable! The mist had come into Gangtok by then.
We then took the Ropeway Cable Car wich had supersonic crazy views - you were about 5000 feet high up in the air suspended and after a while the height got to me and I sat down on the floor of the car and watched - suspended mid-air in disbelief :P
We then visited the Chorten Stupa and the monastery nearby.
This place was beautiful. It had well preserved Tibetan Buddhist artifacts like this one below
But it had also one more thing: 'The Inquisitive Monk' - this monk pestered T. He followed him around - asked his weight, height and what T did in Bombay. So T patiently answered and all this why they both turned the prayer wheels around. Let me illustrate my point here -
Then he asks T if I was his wife. T says no. 'Is she your girlfriend?' T says no. 'Would you like her to be your girlfriend?' T was flabbergasted at this point not knowing what to say to the 'agony aunty' monk!
Rumtek Monastery almost a hour's drive from Gangtok followed. Rumtek is sort of above cloud level. It was quite a forbidding place espcially because they had a lot of security at the entrance. The presence of the army at such a religious site was really disturbing. This was taken at the entry to Rumtek. Vehicles are not allowed inside at all so you make the long trek inside and uphill to the monastery.
They had a Golden Stupa here covered with actual turquoise and coral - the stones were as big as bird's egg and probably cost a fortune. There's apparently also some religious turmoil - the presence of two Karmapas adds to the problem and hence the need for such security.
Post Rumtek we went to Banjhakri Waterfalls - very developed. Its a perennial waterfall and the government has developed it into a picnic tourist hotspot. They have put in pagodas and what not jazz to make it exciting for the tourist.
We then proceeded towards Lingdum Monastery. I would recommend it over Rumtek anyday. It's beautiful, quiet and serene. Wonderful artwork and ever so quaint. Some details of the monastery here...
Tashi Point next stop. Completely pointless as it was misty as hell and I have photos to prove it as well.
Ganesh Tok was awesome. It really gave you a sense of perspective on how much mist had spread across the whole town. There's a heavy army presence in this are which is why we also managed to grab a cup of nice adrakwali chai.
Got back to M G Marg and wandered around. Had an awesome Tibetan dish at 'Taste of Tibet, at the corner of MG Road. Called shyaphale, these are fried momos with a mixture of meat and spices.
Dinner finished, we headed towards Cafe Live & Loud where we listened to a local band play. I consumed whisky to go along. Came back to the hotel and packed. North Sikkim starts tomorrow.....something I am damn excited about!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The one where 'Gangtok steals my heart'
4th October 2009. Its 7.40 pm and tis pissing down in Gangtok. I'm sitting in a cafe called 'Cafe Live & Loud' and even stole a coaster from there. Its up Tibet Road and definitely a good find.
We started this morning at 6.30 am and waited till 7.30 until our share taxi to Gangtok got completely full. Nice ride to Gangtok- we kept passing the Teesta on our way from Darjeeling.
Took us about 4.5 hours from Darjeeling (not helped by an army convoy on the way). Our hotel Mintokling is a palace compared to Birds Eye in Darjeeling. Running hot water makes all the difference in the world. It has a very nice view (not as nice as the Khangchendzonga from Birds Eye) but lovely place and kickass food. Had something called Dhoe - Bamboo shoot with chicken and roti. The dal fry was awesome too...
View from our room balcony
Slept after a fulsome lunch and headed towards M G Road - which is a kickass High Street. Its like something out of a English small town's version of High Street.
We were walking around deliberating which travel agency to choose from for our trip to the north of Sikkim. We finally picked Lama Tours and Travels for our 3 day, 2 nights trip scheduled to Gurudongmar and Yumthang Valley. We are going to be paying about 12k altogether which sounds decent for exclusive transport, food and lodging at Lachen and Lachung. Touch wood this goes well.
Tried to find a place recommended by a friend and gave up. Ended up at Cafe Live and Loud instead and drinking beer called 'Dansbery Blue' - a local brew and waiting for the rain to dissipate.
Beer done am headed back towards the hotel. A full day in and around Gangtok awaits.
We started this morning at 6.30 am and waited till 7.30 until our share taxi to Gangtok got completely full. Nice ride to Gangtok- we kept passing the Teesta on our way from Darjeeling.
Took us about 4.5 hours from Darjeeling (not helped by an army convoy on the way). Our hotel Mintokling is a palace compared to Birds Eye in Darjeeling. Running hot water makes all the difference in the world. It has a very nice view (not as nice as the Khangchendzonga from Birds Eye) but lovely place and kickass food. Had something called Dhoe - Bamboo shoot with chicken and roti. The dal fry was awesome too...
View from our room balconySlept after a fulsome lunch and headed towards M G Road - which is a kickass High Street. Its like something out of a English small town's version of High Street.
We were walking around deliberating which travel agency to choose from for our trip to the north of Sikkim. We finally picked Lama Tours and Travels for our 3 day, 2 nights trip scheduled to Gurudongmar and Yumthang Valley. We are going to be paying about 12k altogether which sounds decent for exclusive transport, food and lodging at Lachen and Lachung. Touch wood this goes well.
Tried to find a place recommended by a friend and gave up. Ended up at Cafe Live and Loud instead and drinking beer called 'Dansbery Blue' - a local brew and waiting for the rain to dissipate.
Beer done am headed back towards the hotel. A full day in and around Gangtok awaits.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The one where 'Tiger Hill goes bust and shopping happens'
3rd October 2009. Happy Valley - a visit rudely (at first interrupted by a landslide) but later taken up by Orjun, our taxi driver. Happy Valley is a tea plantation and factory whch exports tea exclusively to Harrods if you please. But I'm getting ahead of myself here....
Tiger Hill was a 'Virar' local at peak time and then some. It was utter madness and we paid some 30-50 bucks for some viewing platform thing which was utterly pointless. After a while, I could not bring myself to care if I saw the sunrise or not. The sea of humanity had taken care of that for me. I didn't feel the need to fight with people and their cameras merely to get a glimpse of this...This was taken at 5.25 am in the morning at Tiger Hill. Clouds completely obscured the view and we didnt see no sunrise!
However I did see this and this more than made up for the early morning madness we had indulged in.
We found Orjun by coincidence. We had planned a visit to Happy Valley, Darjeeling Zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. We started at the Zoo and it was very cool to see bears, snow leopards and the like at the Zoo.
But the people behaved atrociously. They whistled, made cootchie coo kind of noises at the animals like they were dogs! I could not understand this kind of behaviour and inflicting this on the poor animals. The cheetah I thought reacted admirably to this!
In the HMI, we checked out the Everest Museum. George Leigh Mallory and his expeditions stood out for us. 'Paths of Glory' by Jeffrey Archer eloquently brings out the story of Mallory's expedition to the Everest to life. It felt momentous to see photos of Gen.Bruce, the equipment they carried on their expeditions amongst other things.
Then off to Happy Valley. We get to hear of the whole process of manufacturing tea and paid 200 bucks(!) for 100 grams of tea. Quite a foolish thing to do I might add but we went with the moment of being at the tea plantation.
Got back and ate pork momos and chicken thukpa at Penang. Small restaurant near the Rink Mall and they were quite delicious. Did some tea shopping at Nathmulls and T did sword shopping at the Mall. Yes yes he bought a 'katana' which he intends to lug back to Mumbai!
Met a talkative shop owner - Nepal Curios Shop on Mall Road who sold T the sword and me some fabulous silver jewellery. Walked back to hotel where I desperately read and finished Ian Rankin's 'Exit Music' - something I had started to read on the 2nd. Packed and got ready for a 6.30 am start to Gangtok.
Tiger Hill was a 'Virar' local at peak time and then some. It was utter madness and we paid some 30-50 bucks for some viewing platform thing which was utterly pointless. After a while, I could not bring myself to care if I saw the sunrise or not. The sea of humanity had taken care of that for me. I didn't feel the need to fight with people and their cameras merely to get a glimpse of this...This was taken at 5.25 am in the morning at Tiger Hill. Clouds completely obscured the view and we didnt see no sunrise!
However I did see this and this more than made up for the early morning madness we had indulged in.
We found Orjun by coincidence. We had planned a visit to Happy Valley, Darjeeling Zoo and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. We started at the Zoo and it was very cool to see bears, snow leopards and the like at the Zoo.
But the people behaved atrociously. They whistled, made cootchie coo kind of noises at the animals like they were dogs! I could not understand this kind of behaviour and inflicting this on the poor animals. The cheetah I thought reacted admirably to this!
In the HMI, we checked out the Everest Museum. George Leigh Mallory and his expeditions stood out for us. 'Paths of Glory' by Jeffrey Archer eloquently brings out the story of Mallory's expedition to the Everest to life. It felt momentous to see photos of Gen.Bruce, the equipment they carried on their expeditions amongst other things.
Then off to Happy Valley. We get to hear of the whole process of manufacturing tea and paid 200 bucks(!) for 100 grams of tea. Quite a foolish thing to do I might add but we went with the moment of being at the tea plantation.
Got back and ate pork momos and chicken thukpa at Penang. Small restaurant near the Rink Mall and they were quite delicious. Did some tea shopping at Nathmulls and T did sword shopping at the Mall. Yes yes he bought a 'katana' which he intends to lug back to Mumbai!
Met a talkative shop owner - Nepal Curios Shop on Mall Road who sold T the sword and me some fabulous silver jewellery. Walked back to hotel where I desperately read and finished Ian Rankin's 'Exit Music' - something I had started to read on the 2nd. Packed and got ready for a 6.30 am start to Gangtok.
The one where 'we decide to toss about walking to Ghoom'
2nd October 2009. 6.30 am and we got hold of a Qualis (shared one at that) taking us to Darjeeling. Stopped at Kurseong where I get my first sight of the Himalayas. Sublime experience. They towered over the rest of the mountains - glistening pale. It made me understand why mountaineers do what they do - to conquer that would be an achievement indeed!
Got into Darjeeling at 10 - we were actually stuck in a traffic jam getting into Darjeeling. Reached our hotel - Birds Eye Guest House - which has a fab view of Darjeeling and more importantly the mountains towering above it. Run by a couple of brothers - Uttam and Gautam. Its a lovely place which is reasonably priced and if you ever go to Darjeeling, I would recommend you stay here.
Left almost immediately after freshening up and headed towards Keventers to get some grub. Kevs (as the locals call it) serves the wickedest pork sausages this side of the Himalayas. Brunch finished, we deliberated on how we should visit Ghoom.
Ghoom is the town next to Darjeeling which has interesting monasteries and the like. We tossed a coin and decided to walk to Ghoom. Took us three straight hours but it was kickass fun. We stopped at myriad places and took a whole lot of interesting photos.
Taxi back to Darjeeling and we almost ended up at a beef market because T thought (from a distance) it looked like junk jewellery hung up!!
Glenarys for dinner - well I got interested because I thought I would have a drink but well Gandhiji intervened in my plans... :) Indifferent dinner finished, we trekked back to our hotel. Did I forgot to mention that our hotel is on top of a hill so after eating, the uphill climb was like climbing Everest herself! I exaggerate but you get the point.
Tomorrow morning, we start at 3.30 am to get upto Tiger Hill for a 5 am sunrise. Should be fun..
Got into Darjeeling at 10 - we were actually stuck in a traffic jam getting into Darjeeling. Reached our hotel - Birds Eye Guest House - which has a fab view of Darjeeling and more importantly the mountains towering above it. Run by a couple of brothers - Uttam and Gautam. Its a lovely place which is reasonably priced and if you ever go to Darjeeling, I would recommend you stay here.
Left almost immediately after freshening up and headed towards Keventers to get some grub. Kevs (as the locals call it) serves the wickedest pork sausages this side of the Himalayas. Brunch finished, we deliberated on how we should visit Ghoom.
Ghoom is the town next to Darjeeling which has interesting monasteries and the like. We tossed a coin and decided to walk to Ghoom. Took us three straight hours but it was kickass fun. We stopped at myriad places and took a whole lot of interesting photos.
Taxi back to Darjeeling and we almost ended up at a beef market because T thought (from a distance) it looked like junk jewellery hung up!!
Glenarys for dinner - well I got interested because I thought I would have a drink but well Gandhiji intervened in my plans... :) Indifferent dinner finished, we trekked back to our hotel. Did I forgot to mention that our hotel is on top of a hill so after eating, the uphill climb was like climbing Everest herself! I exaggerate but you get the point.
Tomorrow morning, we start at 3.30 am to get upto Tiger Hill for a 5 am sunrise. Should be fun..
Monday, October 19, 2009
The one where 'I had an uneventful day in Kolkata doing touristy things'
29th September 2009. A day spent fruitfully. Victoria Memorial. Mocambo's. St.Paul's Cathedral. Bengali saris. Like dil se khush ho gaye hum. Walked the streets of Kolkata in the dirty sweaty heat. Victoria Memorial - gorgeous in the light and standing utterly majestic against the array of blue-gray clouds.
But on the inside, it was an entirely different story - the Museum was awash with a sea of humanity who had absolutely no clue about why they were here - one more tourist spot to take off the list.Thomas and Willam Daniell painted watercolours of an age gone by - to see India through their eyes - eyes belonging to the 1700's - 1800's - reminds me of a glorious past. A past which was well exploited by the romance of watercolours. The paintings are beautiful and the little details make them really interesting.
Old photos of Kolkata were also on display. I love the sepia-tinted nostalgia evident in photos like this. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Queen Elizabeth, Nehru, Jinnah - all real people - standing, waving and smiling through a black and white window.
Really really wanted to see more but the sea of people were starting to drown me and I was literally scrambling for air at some point.
The sea of people coming out after the rainsI literally ran my way out and ended up waiting at the steps as the rain came down on us. Five minutes and the sun shone with clear blue skies.
Headed towards Mocambo's at Park Street for grub. Food was decent but the ambience was brilliant. After a nice lunch spent in the company of T, went in search of St.Paul's Cathedral. Wandered around and got lost - ended up at some Tamil church in the bylanes of Kolkata.
A call to a friend in Kolkata made my life easier and lo behold stood St.Paul's. Old tablets inside spoke of young Englishment dying in cemeteries very far from their own homelands.
Then came the bestest part of the evening - sari shopping. Had been recommended 'Adi Dhakineshwari Bastralaya', near Kalighat Metro and I had such a happy time spending much monies on something that brings my Mom loads of happiness :) Dinner at a friend's place with some yummy methi chicken thrown in totally made my day.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The one where "I think I espied a tiger foot print"
28th September 2009. Sunderbans- the beautiful forests and beautiful it is. Especially at 5 am in the morning. We got up to catch the sun's rays and the water turned silver before our very eyes. Seeing things like this can change life perspective.
Ready by 6 am to go catch the second watch tower (Sajnekhali) which was a garish white and green - I mean if the watch tower needs to blend into the landscape, what is the point of painting it in such stark colours that every eye - human and animal can see for miles around!
Caught a deer and that was it - my only sight of jungle life around there. On our way back, we asked the boatman how deep the water was and he said no one had ever measured! However his anchor went down a hundred feet deep atleast. It gives you a very precarious feeling - sitting in a launch with twenty other people and the still waters around you - anything could topple it over and its not like we had life jackets or anything...
Then started the four hour ride to Netidopani - mangroves and water nonstop around us. Slept for a bit and got up in time to see the approach to Netidopani. This place was scary - lonely as hell and pure jungle. It had started raining by the time we began the trudge to the watch tower.
We walked upto the watch tower - twenty laughing and talking loudly people and expected to see a tiger which of course didn't happen! We joked hell of a lot about the tiger sighting but alas it was not to be. We did see a noticeboard which spoke of tiger sightings - two-three atleast had been sighted as late as 4 days ago and when we got there not even one! We kind of expected it if thought about it for a little bit.
People started drifting away eventually leaving about four - five of us hanging around. An eerie silence descended on us. We listened to the sounds of the forest. I realised how utterly lonely and desolate this place is - I didn't envy the Forest Guard on duty there at all. I felt like going back to civilization immediately.
Which we did after four hours of traversing through endless mangroves and swathes of water.
Another two hour bus journey and the smell of garbage told us we were in Kolkata. Dinner happened after a two hour wait at 'Peter Cat' - one of the oldest restaurants in Kolkata. I had 'Chello Kebab' - their signature dish. Mutton seekh kebab, chicken kebab, an egg and buttered rice - makes me salivate thinking about it now! I was too hungry to even take a photo of the food, attacking it almost immediately.
Got home with the idea to explore Kolkata tomorrow..
Ready by 6 am to go catch the second watch tower (Sajnekhali) which was a garish white and green - I mean if the watch tower needs to blend into the landscape, what is the point of painting it in such stark colours that every eye - human and animal can see for miles around!
Caught a deer and that was it - my only sight of jungle life around there. On our way back, we asked the boatman how deep the water was and he said no one had ever measured! However his anchor went down a hundred feet deep atleast. It gives you a very precarious feeling - sitting in a launch with twenty other people and the still waters around you - anything could topple it over and its not like we had life jackets or anything...
Then started the four hour ride to Netidopani - mangroves and water nonstop around us. Slept for a bit and got up in time to see the approach to Netidopani. This place was scary - lonely as hell and pure jungle. It had started raining by the time we began the trudge to the watch tower.
We walked upto the watch tower - twenty laughing and talking loudly people and expected to see a tiger which of course didn't happen! We joked hell of a lot about the tiger sighting but alas it was not to be. We did see a noticeboard which spoke of tiger sightings - two-three atleast had been sighted as late as 4 days ago and when we got there not even one! We kind of expected it if thought about it for a little bit.
People started drifting away eventually leaving about four - five of us hanging around. An eerie silence descended on us. We listened to the sounds of the forest. I realised how utterly lonely and desolate this place is - I didn't envy the Forest Guard on duty there at all. I felt like going back to civilization immediately.
Which we did after four hours of traversing through endless mangroves and swathes of water.
Another two hour bus journey and the smell of garbage told us we were in Kolkata. Dinner happened after a two hour wait at 'Peter Cat' - one of the oldest restaurants in Kolkata. I had 'Chello Kebab' - their signature dish. Mutton seekh kebab, chicken kebab, an egg and buttered rice - makes me salivate thinking about it now! I was too hungry to even take a photo of the food, attacking it almost immediately.
Got home with the idea to explore Kolkata tomorrow..
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Chennai Cultural Experience
Two weeks back I decided to go to Chennai. CC is leaving country soon and I felt the need to experience Chennai through his eyes. He loves Chennai like I love South Bombay and walking then becomes pretty much a pleasure then. He was organising photowalks for Madras Week and I decided to go enjoy the celebrations. Which I did tremendously I might add.
But first my flight to Chennai story. Friday night I had a 8.20 pm flight out of Mumbai. I called the Meru at 6.00. I always prefer to be early than late being my motto. At 7.25 I was at Dharavi. U can imagine my state. Was totally panicking. I even called a friend and asked him to find me alternative flights. It was that bad. Anyways got to the airport at 7.40 and actually made it to the flight. Closest call ever that was.
CC came and did pick up. Dropped me off at the hotel. Next morning was up bright n early at 5.40ish to make it for the first photowalk which was at this point called Ripon Building.
Its like the BMC of Chennai and equally grand I might add. CC poor chap, running around got permission to shoot the building from the outside. Which the 20 of us promptly did. Good fun eet was. Ripon the man is also here. Well, his statue is anyways :D Have a closer look at him too.
I hated the fact that they had painted the whole building white- destroying all the intricate stone carvings forever. All the embellishments on the facade were now completely covered with white paint. Utterly disgusting!
Atleast 30 minutes of shooting ensued here following which we went to Victoria Public Place. Dilapidated and I might add under litigation. I am shocked that there are people out there who want to destroy this building. What the heck is going on in cities man? Red brick, blue skies - all perfect setting for the photographers assembled to shoot the building down if required...
Next on the walk came Central Railway Station. My camera started to behave strangely at this point. I had charged the batteries but to no avail. I also knew we had one more building to go before the walk ended so I didn't shoot as much here. The light inside the station and my camera settings wouldnt allow any good photos in any case. So didnt bother much.
Went to call Dad and other friends whose budday was on 22nd :) Duty done, brekkie time. Saravana Bhavan is heaven for a foodie. Sambhar in Chennai tastes like ghar ka sambhar not the sweet red crap you get in Bumbai. Kapi is brilliant too. Sigh I miss filter kapi in Chennai....
We then lumbered out towards Southern Railway adminstrative HQ. This is an extraordinary building and I loved it. So ordinary from the outside and sooooooooo pretty pretty from the inside. I had a blast and here are some fotos from the last part of my walk.
Post this, went to the British Council office to meet A. She is a darling and it was lovely to see her. Could not hang out with her much but had a lovely time anyways. Lunch at Zaras followed. For those of you think Chennai is only about idli-sambhar, kanjivarams and filter kapi, Zaras is the right place to disillusion you. You enter Zaras and you could be in a chic Mumbai/Dilli bistro/ristorante. Food was decent but music and ambience was brill. Oh also the wine was seriously overwhelmingly fruity - almost destroyed my taste buds!
Zaras finished, went back to hotel for snooze time. Up by 5 went to attend an evening lecture at a lovely hotel called 'Rain Tree' by Chitra Madhavan. She is an archaeologist who loves the city which is very evident. She spoke about four temples in Chennai and showed the intently listening audience images and connected them quite humourously. Good fun and very obviously passionate about her heritage. At the end she got mobbed like a rock star! :D Chennai's glitterati attended this talk. I was telling Mom, the only difference b/w Page 3 Chennai and Bumbai is no one said, 'Hullo dahling' and did airkissing and oh yeah and everyone wore pretty saris..or else pretty much the same. :) :)
Met S, CC's friend after this. She is totally funee and her Mom is even more howlarious! Landed up at her house and had a very enjoyable evening which ended at 12 in the night. :) Next morning was going to go for a walk which was going to begin at 6 am but no scope. Really tried but just could not get up. Had to meet both CC and Smriti for lunch so ended up at Landmark before I met them. Landmark was highly disorganised. Don't know why but it was so. In a seriously tacky mall called Spencers...sigh...anyways deed done, met CC n we headed out towards GRT Grand in T Nagar.
Now GRT Grand has a restaurant which every self-respecting Lebanese food loving person should go to. Azuleah is brilliant. Ambience is pretty although the hostesses dressed in some kind of Lebanese head gear saying Marhaba is slightly OTT for me :) Food is brilliant - the bloddy best I have ever tasted. Kick ass food - the chef is Lebanese which showed in the quality of food. He gave us strawberry sorbet on the house - which was the yummiest thing ever...
It was time to leave Chennai which I did with heavy heart and heavier stomach for sure. My perceptions about Chennai have changed quite a lot. People's attitudes still suck but the face of the city has changed quite a lot for me. There is a lot to the city and I have opened my eyes to the fact :)
But first my flight to Chennai story. Friday night I had a 8.20 pm flight out of Mumbai. I called the Meru at 6.00. I always prefer to be early than late being my motto. At 7.25 I was at Dharavi. U can imagine my state. Was totally panicking. I even called a friend and asked him to find me alternative flights. It was that bad. Anyways got to the airport at 7.40 and actually made it to the flight. Closest call ever that was.
CC came and did pick up. Dropped me off at the hotel. Next morning was up bright n early at 5.40ish to make it for the first photowalk which was at this point called Ripon Building.
Its like the BMC of Chennai and equally grand I might add. CC poor chap, running around got permission to shoot the building from the outside. Which the 20 of us promptly did. Good fun eet was. Ripon the man is also here. Well, his statue is anyways :D Have a closer look at him too.
I hated the fact that they had painted the whole building white- destroying all the intricate stone carvings forever. All the embellishments on the facade were now completely covered with white paint. Utterly disgusting!
Atleast 30 minutes of shooting ensued here following which we went to Victoria Public Place. Dilapidated and I might add under litigation. I am shocked that there are people out there who want to destroy this building. What the heck is going on in cities man? Red brick, blue skies - all perfect setting for the photographers assembled to shoot the building down if required...
Next on the walk came Central Railway Station. My camera started to behave strangely at this point. I had charged the batteries but to no avail. I also knew we had one more building to go before the walk ended so I didn't shoot as much here. The light inside the station and my camera settings wouldnt allow any good photos in any case. So didnt bother much.
Went to call Dad and other friends whose budday was on 22nd :) Duty done, brekkie time. Saravana Bhavan is heaven for a foodie. Sambhar in Chennai tastes like ghar ka sambhar not the sweet red crap you get in Bumbai. Kapi is brilliant too. Sigh I miss filter kapi in Chennai....
We then lumbered out towards Southern Railway adminstrative HQ. This is an extraordinary building and I loved it. So ordinary from the outside and sooooooooo pretty pretty from the inside. I had a blast and here are some fotos from the last part of my walk.
Post this, went to the British Council office to meet A. She is a darling and it was lovely to see her. Could not hang out with her much but had a lovely time anyways. Lunch at Zaras followed. For those of you think Chennai is only about idli-sambhar, kanjivarams and filter kapi, Zaras is the right place to disillusion you. You enter Zaras and you could be in a chic Mumbai/Dilli bistro/ristorante. Food was decent but music and ambience was brill. Oh also the wine was seriously overwhelmingly fruity - almost destroyed my taste buds!
Zaras finished, went back to hotel for snooze time. Up by 5 went to attend an evening lecture at a lovely hotel called 'Rain Tree' by Chitra Madhavan. She is an archaeologist who loves the city which is very evident. She spoke about four temples in Chennai and showed the intently listening audience images and connected them quite humourously. Good fun and very obviously passionate about her heritage. At the end she got mobbed like a rock star! :D Chennai's glitterati attended this talk. I was telling Mom, the only difference b/w Page 3 Chennai and Bumbai is no one said, 'Hullo dahling' and did airkissing and oh yeah and everyone wore pretty saris..or else pretty much the same. :) :)
Met S, CC's friend after this. She is totally funee and her Mom is even more howlarious! Landed up at her house and had a very enjoyable evening which ended at 12 in the night. :) Next morning was going to go for a walk which was going to begin at 6 am but no scope. Really tried but just could not get up. Had to meet both CC and Smriti for lunch so ended up at Landmark before I met them. Landmark was highly disorganised. Don't know why but it was so. In a seriously tacky mall called Spencers...sigh...anyways deed done, met CC n we headed out towards GRT Grand in T Nagar.
Now GRT Grand has a restaurant which every self-respecting Lebanese food loving person should go to. Azuleah is brilliant. Ambience is pretty although the hostesses dressed in some kind of Lebanese head gear saying Marhaba is slightly OTT for me :) Food is brilliant - the bloddy best I have ever tasted. Kick ass food - the chef is Lebanese which showed in the quality of food. He gave us strawberry sorbet on the house - which was the yummiest thing ever...
It was time to leave Chennai which I did with heavy heart and heavier stomach for sure. My perceptions about Chennai have changed quite a lot. People's attitudes still suck but the face of the city has changed quite a lot for me. There is a lot to the city and I have opened my eyes to the fact :)
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