Thursday 31 December 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016!

Wish you all a very happy, prosperous and fun-filled New Year!

Monday 28 December 2015

Delicious dishes, good memories and an awesome airport!

Yummy...!

Friends, these are some of the pictures taken at KLIA -2 (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), Malaysia recently. Not many changes here since my visit about 4 years ago but it was thrilling to see everything again. I was hungry when I landed and decided to eat something from the food court. After browsing thoroughly and observing people buying food I decided to try this fish ball soup. I was right, Wow, delicious!

Interspersed with not so fierce red chillies, super cool broth, some vegetables and soft noodles this soup was simply great! It was very much filling too.

The ambiance was also good. Not much rush at that time in the afternoon and I sat there quietly and enjoyed this dish.

                 

Upon return, there was a lot of time to kill before catching Malindo Airways flight back home. Walked and walked every nook and corner of this sprawling airport, browsed each and everything at duty-free shops, bought some data for phone and spent time on it too, went to watch a movie being shown on an LED TV near one of the gates, dozed off and in between enjoyed these two delicacies. The first one is hot chocolate and the second is green tea. Nice, good memories😊

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Thursday 22 October 2015

Elephant safari at Munnar, Kerala

Nestled in the serene western ghats bordered by the Nilgiris, the mountainous regions of Kerala, South India you will find Munnar, famous for tea plantations, cool weather and many more attractions like small waterfalls, beautiful gardens, and elephant safari.

The Carmelagiri elephant park is only a few kilometers from Munnar town and it is a must see tourist spot. Here you can ride the elephant of your choice, feed it and take photographs.

It was our long cherished dream to do an elephant safari like this! We actually got a chance when we visited Thekkady before, but unfortunately, it did not work out. But this time we made it happen😊

At the end of safari which takes about 20 minutes in the forest, they will hand over a basket-full of pineapples and corn that can be given to the elephant by sitting on top of it. Kamala, our elephant coolly collected it like this 😊. Awesome!


Well, this place is crowded almost always. So get there early so that you can enjoy the ride leisurely. Never forget to feed the elephants; they like it :) Well, they charge you for the photos which will be given to you, copied on CD's, but only their official photographer will be allowed entry into the trekking spot inside the forest. So they only will be able to get good snaps.

There are platforms built at a height from where you can mount on them easily. The trekking was smooth, but when the elephant negotiated the turn to return back to the base by climbing down a slope we were clutching hard on the handles! But it was fun😊

A great experience, indeed!

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Sunday 5 July 2015

Houseboat cruise, backwaters of Kerala, God's own country

It was our long cherished dream to enjoy the scenic beauty of the backwaters of Kerala on a Houseboat. I wonder why all these years we could not go for such a thrilling journey that has become so popular among the tourists, both foreign as well as domestic! Moreover, so many people here nowadays spend their weekends in houseboats experiencing the cool breeze, savoring delicious dishes prepared onboard listening to their favorite music while the modified traditional houseboats of Kerala originally called 'Kettuvallam' smoothly glide along the backwaters powered by powerful engines.

We went for the cruise at Alleppey (Alappuzha), in Kerala, South India. Alleppey is said to be the 'Venice of the east'! I was told that there are about a thousand houseboats here alone and sometimes during the peak season there will be difficulty in getting one if you do not have an advance booking! There are many categories of houseboats like Luxury, premiumdeluxe etc. and some of the luxurious ones are furnished with almost all amenities like a five-star suite. Aircon, well...we might not need it because of the soothing breeze all throughout, still, they have it. Some prefer to stay overnight and that would be wonderful! Imagine spending the night on a traditional boat in the middle of still waters far and wide enjoying the moonlight getting reflected, the blue sky and cool breeze!


This is a 'snake boat' we spotted while cruising. Snake boat race (Vallamkali ) is another tourist attraction in Kerala. Such very long boats will compete during Onam, the festive season, in many places in Kerala. The most famous is the Nehru trophy boat race at Alleppey, the very same place where we go for a houseboat cruise.

Safety standards are excellent; staff extremely polite, courteous, professional and well behaved. The industry is well regulated by the authorities and all necessary certifications like periodic maintenance and environmental impact control etc. are taken care of. In the olden days, such huge traditional wooden hull boats (Kettuvallams) were used mainly as rice barges. I remember watching huge rice barges with thatched roofs sailing along the rivers and canals during my childhood. There was a time when these barges became a big liability to the owners with the advent of modern ways of transportation of goods. Then someone thought of converting Kettuvallams like this for tourism and it clicked in a very big way. Thus began the huge demand for old houseboats and nowadays people are 'building' such vessels. Some corporate companies conduct their meetings and conferences on houseboats these days!

Some high-end hotel properties also have come up here. Many are having their own private pier for houseboats. Enjoy in style!

 A honeymooner's delight :)

It is easy to book a cruise. There are plenty of online portals offering attractive deals. Or if you prefer to book one on the site then use this pre-paid counter. There is a comfortable waiting room also.

The backwaters of Kerala are a chain of lakes, canals, and rivers that connect with the Arabian sea. There are small villages, towns, and lagoons all along these strips of water. Vembanad lake, the largest, borders Alleppey, Kochi, and Kottayam districts. Our cruise was at the Punnamada lake at Alleppey.

Look at those huge boats waiting for passengers! This is the 'finishing point' area of Nehru trophy boat race. From here we boarded our vessel.

 A must enjoy boat trip! Very popular among honeymooners😊

Yummy! Lobsters, fresh catch....the chef onboard will cook this in any style you like! There are plenty of vendors en-route who will be happy to sell you such exotic fishes :)

These are Karimeen (green chromide) fried in coconut oil, a very popular fish here! One thing I am sure no one will disagree. The yummy dishes that you get onboard these boats prepared by expert chefs! The rice, curries etcetc .wow...!


What you see above is a dangerous fruit called 'Odallum'. Never ever eat these, it is fatalThey are poisonous. Sometimes boats stop at areas of lagoons for lunch where you will find these plants. They look like mangoes; be careful!                                                                                

An unforgettable experience!

Google tells me there are wonderful boat cruises similar to this in other parts of the world too. Please share your experience😊

Watch the videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3myBZWL0g
                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ED9_XNKwrE

Enjoy!

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Wednesday 8 April 2015

The Global village, Dubai - an amazing video!


I have blogged a lot before about the Dubai Global village and the Dubai Shopping Festival. While going through my old collections I noticed these videos that were recorded while I visited a while ago. So I thought of uploading these amazing videos.

Dubai shopping festival takes place in the months of January - February every year. The Dubai Global village is a popular attraction in Dubai, UAE. During the time of the festival, the place will be vibrant with cultural shows, fireworks, etc. filled with shopping pavilions of many countries in the world.

This year it will remain open until April 11. Three more days left😊

Awesome Dubai; amazing festival!

Watch these videos too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WywrN5I_qqg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9mMO8gvnxw

http://globalvillage.ae
http://www.mydsf.ae

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