Take a look at Mumbai's highest rooftop lounge. Aer at Four Seasons!

Six women left alone in Thailand for six days! When I say Thailand, I mean Bangkok and Pattaya. The former is a shopping hub and the latter.. well well well...the place has got lots to offer! 

Lets talk about Pattaya first. The place is so well lit up, it almost feels like the city has been decorated for Diwali.. Its got shopping malls, play theatres, beach road and the walking street.  Almost everyone told me not to miss the Alcazhar show. I was obviously curious to find out what it is. I was hoping to see some cool striptees  show and guess what it turns out to be? 

Women covered from top to bottom, dressed in classic couture, dancing on songs from all over the world and they chose bhumro bhumro from India.  Oh yes and you know what, after watching the show, we figured that the ladies dancing there are not ladies but lady boys! Whoa.. Now thats what makes the Alcazhar show different. 

Walking Street – Oh boy - look left, look right or look up straight. All you can see is a sexy lady inviting you with her lustrous lips and flirty eyes! And that’s why I say Pattaya is a treat for men, mind you, single men! How much of a treat? Well, you gotta try for that. Also, rem,eber to try out the under water walking at the Coral Island.

The only thing I remember doing in Bangkok was hoping from one shop to another. Its a feast for Women! What clothes, bags, shoes, belts, clutches, accessories!!!

I would lose my mental stability every time I entered a shopping mall and then I would need two people to drag me out of the place. If you plan to make a trip there, here are two shopping places that you must visit – Soi Lum Night Bazaar and Platinum/Phatunum Mall.  Both are wholesale markets and if you buy more than 2 garments, you get a special price!

There’s more. Do visit the Buddha temple and the safari world. I am not a very animal’s person but I fell in love with monkeys, sea lions and dolphins after watching their show. Monkey boxing gets full marks. This is the only place where you get to see a lady monkey wearing a bikini, acting as a cheer leader for the macho monkeys who are boxing it out!

So, that was shit loads of fun and I needed to get out the trip with shit loads of relaxation.  Ended it well with superbly nice Thai Massage! 

But I must warn you, never come back home with a Swine Flu :-)

The competition has never been closer; the route has never been longer and the boats have never been faster. Such was the sight at the Volvo Ocean Race, India stop-over at Kochi. All cute phirangs (sailors) stopped by for 10 days at Kerala. I went to meet them and also to see the flag off of the leg 3 from Kochi to Sentosa, Singapore.

Stay: If I talk about the phirangs, I will have to start another blog. So, let me talk about the beautiful place instead – Kerela. To be precise, beauty was at the Hotel Le Meridien at Kundannur Jn, Maradu in Kochi.  Serene, peaceful, composed. I did not feel the need to explore much of the other places. I was so content. We had to take a boat to get to the hotel. Cool, innit? And the rooms, the prettiest. The sight from the rooms blows your mind. The hospitality makes you warm.

People: They are friendly and helpful though communication is a bit of a problem. Most of the times, you are confused. Should I speak Hindi or English? Generally, English works. They will all smile as you walk by. They would say hi, hello, where from? Would offer if they can take my picture?  Like I belong to a different specie who has accidently landed up in their land.

Food: The lunches and dinners for the first two days were with the phirangs so yes, it was a disappointing Angrezi meal. But last night’s dinner made up for it. From Curd-Rice to Fish Curry and Rice, the authentic keralite food on display was mouth watering and irresistible.

Cafe: Kashi Art Cafe was the only cafe I could go to. The most interesting thing about this place was its mirror placed above the wash basin. I couldn’t figure out at once but if you see it closely, it is made of a WC. Haha! But a nice place to chill out!

Beaches: The water is BLUE! I had never seen blue water in India before this. Pretty!

It was a short trip but a lovely one. I have to go there again!

     

♫ Nothing lasts forever. So live it up. Drink it down. Laugh it out. Take chances and never have regrets because at one point everything you did was exactly what you wanted :)

Few trips where I did all of this.

1. Pune, December 2004

First year in Degree college and with people who I hardly knew. I took a chance and I came back smiling. Made three special friends, who are still with me. Few more friends but lasted as long as the college did. Leaving the hotel at 11 pm and coming back at 4 am. I never did that in Mumbai but Pune had become a second home on the second day itself. We went to Pune every year after that for three years.

People - Nidhi, Sumisha, Pooja, Gautam

2. Goa, May 2006

My first trip, only with friends - no teachers. My final year exams got over, we planned the trip 12 hours before leaving Mumbai and guess what - it worked! Only last minute plans work. I remember each and every minute of that Goa. After that I never saw Goa the way I did. The most adventurous trip. Four of us. None of us knew a shit about Goa and yet we discovered the most beautiful side of it.

People - Nidhi, Dimple, Priyanka (Rashna, Amit, Yash, Shiv, Priyanka)

3. Nainitaal, November 2006

So serene, calm and peaceful. The most beautiful part of India was discovered when I went to Nainitaal. I LOVE Nainitaal and I will go there again once in this lifetime. Images conjure up as I think about that place. I could sit there for hours and not talk to anyone. My most memorable trip with parents.

People - Paa, Maa, Lavina, Pradeep uncle, Nisha Aunty, Sheetal, Pooja

4. Goa, Jan 2007

:-) Let me begin with a smile. This Goa was what I had heard about. Loud, music, friends, masti, life! We did all of that. This Goa was full of energy. Six of us. All special friends. To bring all friends together is a task and I was successful. Though after this trip, I never did the planning. Goa never happened after this trip. :-(

People - Priyanka, Rinni, Nidhi, Sumisha, Lavina, Amit

5. United Kingdom, June 2007

I do not need to mention how sexy this place is but what made it sexier was - my friends from India, who were studying in Cardiff and their friends. What a trip it was! I would not want to go to UK again if I don't see my friends there. The place was beautiful because of them. I fell in love in 15 days and wanted to cry while going back My friends had to part with the country after living there for a year. The most memorable party of my life - Jamaica's birthday, 19th June 2007

People - Priyanka, Nidhi, Ruchi, Jamaica, Aditya, Ravish, Prateek, Tanu

6. Ladakh, June 2008

Oh my my! The place was so different than what I thought it would be. Bored of work, I had decided I will go and chill with the monks in Himalayas but boss, it was a jeep Safari. We traveled from Mumbai - Chandigarh - Manali - Keylong - Leh - Dishkit - Kargil - Srinagar. Awesome. I will always cherish this trip and all thanks to my friend Sumisha. We almost lost hope but she did not let us lose it. I met some of most wonderful people here.

People - Amit, Pooja, Nidhi, Vardhan, Sumisha, Sunaina, Sharad, Tej

These trips are my achievements. Big thanks to my mom-dad for letting me achieve my dreams and my friends for the execution. There have been many more trips like Murud Jhanjira, Water Kingdom, Amritsar, Haridwar and lots but the ones which I wrote about are CLOSE to my heart.

Yeah... It's been around a week since I have been back from Malaysia, truly Asia.  But a look at the pictures made me recall all the fun. Though it was an official trip, I can never miss out on the fun even if it means to sleep for only 4 hours in three days.

Kuala Lampur is known for its Twin Towers (Petronas) but there's lots more, which I discovered in this trip. Port Dickson, which is about 1.5 hours drive from KL is the place for water sports. A serene beach and tiny pebbles on the shore – that's the idea of a perfect holiday.

But hold on, it was not all that boring. I rode the jet ski myself and the instructions given to me by a local guy was, "There is a nob to start and stop the jet ski. You can accelerate as much as you want but there is no break!" No break! Which means ride the boat like it's your own peice of land, I mean sea.

And what an experience! Keep racing and racing, you hop along the waves of the sea and it is difficult to differentiate between a horse ride and this boat ride.

A deep blue sea seems incomplete if I don't get to see dolphins dancing in there. Could not stop myself from asking about them and the answer I got in a Malaysian accent was, "No, there are no dolphins but yeah if you want to see sharks turn left and go straight." And I did exactly the opposite. Turned right and back to the shore. Phew!

Although I rode for about only 30 minutes, but the tan on my skin said that its been 2 days that I have been out in sun. We, then departed for Eagle Ranch Resort, which is 15 minutes away from Port Dickson and that's where we put our lazy bones to stretch and ran around to save ourselves from the paintball bullets. If you haven't tried this game yet, there's something you have been missing.  

To explain more about this game would mean a real long blog. To make it sound simple, it just makes you feel like a soldier whose responsibility is to get his country's flag back to his own territory. So, good fun!

Paint ball even happens in Mumbai now. So, you don't have to go to Malaysia. Log on to http://www.actionforcepaintball.com/ to know more. Haven't tried it but should be good enough.

Ofcourse, shopping at China Town is the next best thing. All fake brands on this planet will be discovered here. Malaysia is really beautiful but I am not sure if I can call it truly Asia. Coz that's our very own India!

Early morning, 7:30 am and my phone rings, I can't wait for the weekend to begin! and when I answer the call, some dumb ass is yelling at the top of her voice, "Why the hell are you still sleeping? We need to leave by 9 o clock's ferry!" I get ready in 10 minutes and leave. We reach Gateway of India at 9:15 am. As usual we are late! A long queue to buy tickets and a longer queue to get into the ferry.

We left at 10.15 am from Gateway of India and the ride begins. Refreshing breeze moving quickly and easily and I sung to myself, I can't wait for the weekend to begin. Ride to Mandwa is about 45 minutes away from Gateway. We then took a rickshaw and left for Murud Jhanjira. Alibaug came our way but we happily passed through it without stopping over.

Beautiful beaches, serene skies, smooth sand, rugged rocks and fragments spread across. If I had to walk barefoot here on this beach, I would reach the shore harmless. Yes, absolutely harmless. Talk about the pebbles on the beach or the people on the road, they are all painless. Infact, they are very helpful.

The ghoda-gaadi ride here was much much better than that of victoria in Mumbai. You just have to be there and chill, watch the sun-rise and bid a good bye to sun set. Each moment is worth capturing. But you just need a day here and if you are extremely bored with your routine life, then may be one more day but not more than that.

There's a famous fort called Jhanjira fort in the middle of the sea. I am sure it's beautiful but it was so crowded that getting in seemed impossible. We took a ride till the fort in a sail boat but came back empty handed in the same sail boat. Please do not try this stunt on a public holiday. Try it on a weekday.

Food: The best snack offered here is bhurji pav. Or just in case you are a vegeterian, may be you could munch on bhajiya pav or wada pav. For a full fledged meal, Malwani meal is best offered here. For non-vegeterians, I would recommended prawn curry and rice. For vegeterians, curd rice is the best bet.  I am sure there are better options but I tried that and I absolutely loved it. All your meals should be backed up with a chilled ice-cream or your meal will be incomplete.

Drinks: The wintery weather is sure to give you a high that you won't need any alcohol. But I insist, I really insist that you have to have the naariyal paani (coconut water)out there. Straight from the coconut tree, it's a bliss!

Stay: Golden Swan is the most popular resort in Murud. For a simple reason; its beautiful beach cottages that are adjacent to the beach. Obviously, it is not very easy to find accomodation here. So, you should do what I did. Reside in a hotel close to the beach called Sea Shell. Decent rooms, lovely sea view, affordable price and comfortable service.

It's  a good destination for all those who are have been spending their weekends at Lonavala, Matheran or Mahabaleshwar! It's time for some change :)

Saturday evening -- Stressed out -- already exhaused -- and I get a call.

"We are leaving for Shirdi. Come home asap!"

Seven hours of journey which would start at 6 pm, which means we would reach the destination by 1 am!!!

"No, I have a meeting to attend. Will be home late."

I get a call again in 15 minutes.

"We have decided to go to Pune... to the place you mentioned.. your college had taken you.."

"You mean..Pancard Club?"

"Yah yah"

Oh ok. I will be there in 15 minutes."

Quickly packed up everything, locked my computer and departed - I AM GOING!

It took about three hours to get there. Situated at Baner hills, 10 minutes after the express way ends, Pancard club is located up right up. You can see the entire Pune city from there although it is far from the hustle bustle of the metropolis. The way PANCARD CLUB is written, it is sure to remind of the way HOLLYWOOD is written (from what I have seen in movies). The breeze of Pancard club brings back a lot of college memories but the weather made me forget them all. It was COLD!

Cottages, garden, swimming pool, open air auditorium, lawn tennis court, indoor games, discotheque, restaurant - good food, all these and many more. This place is truly a perfect weekend getaway (atleast for all those who stay in Mumbai and Pune).

A lot of corporate picnics keep happening there and I am sure they take the employees there time and again because it is truly worth it. For non-members, the cottages cost Rs 1800 for two persons and a family room, which is with four beds costs Rs 2500. I would suggest go in for luxury cottages because they truly are luxurious and beautifully made. Members get about 25 per cent discount.

You can also have a bonfire setup in the open air auditiorium and jam as much as you want to. No neighbour will come haunting you, coz this auditorium is distantly located from cottages. Play music and dance, you can create Goa in Pune.

But originally, this place is for people who loves nature, silence and are really looking for a getaway and uroriginally, this place is quite flexible. You can make it what you want it to be!

Do make an advance booking before you get there. Here's the number: 91 22 566 22 777