Zindagi Everyday

Monday, December 22, 2014

Gajar Ka Halwa

Unknown 4:03 PM Cooking Adventures , 0 Comments

This winter season I tried my hands in making gajar ka halwa. By the way this is the first time I have made it in my whole life. Thanks to the google where every required recipe is easily accessible.
Though I am not a great cook, neither very experimental, but this time thought to try this winter special recipe. Googled the recipe, and started with it. The output was really awesome. Everyone was gaga over my dish..Yipee, the first experiment and that too deliciously successful.

Composing my recipe steps for future use :P
1. Grate the carrots.
2. Put the grated carrots in the kadahi or pressure cooker(lid open).
3. Allow the water in the carrots to evaporate.
4. When only a little bit of water is remaining, add milk as per your taste. For example, I added 2 full cream milk packets (without boiling) in 1 kg grated carrots. The milk can be increased or decreased as per taste.
5. The milk starts boiling within the carrot. Time to time keep stirring this mixture of carrots and milk.Make sure the milk doesn't boil outside the vessel.
6. The milk gets sticked to the walls of the cooking vessel, keep scratching it and mixing it again in the mixture within the vessel.
7. When the carrot & milk mixture reduces to approximate 75% of the original quantity, then put 1 or 2 tablespoon of ghee.
8. When the milk starts to get near to disappear, add some elaichi powder and sugar as per taste.
9. Keep stirring this mixture, and put raisins (optional). Allow this mixture to cook on a medium flame else it will stick to the walls and base of the vessel allowing it to start burning slowly.
10. Keep stirring and cooking till whole mixture gets a good consistency and whole boiling milk disappears.
11. Add cashews, almonds, pistachios, and grated coconut (optional). The delicious halwa is ready.

Posting the final pics of the halwa, by the way one may doubt why both halwas having different colors, then let me clear it. In one I added good amount of milk so it has got light orange color, while the more red one has only a little less milk as compared to the other one.This difference in milk composition caused the color difference, but no effect on the taste.Both are yummy.

Gajar Ka Halwa

Friday, December 12, 2014

Silent world of Introverts !!

Unknown 10:27 PM 0 Comments

INTROVERT --What does this word means is no longer unknown to each of us. Still, as per the dictionary,if used as noun it says:
1.a shy person.
2.Psychology. a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings (opposed to extrovert ).

I think, major drawback for introverts lies in having countless thoughts in the mind, but unable to speak them out, don't know what holds them back. May be extra sensitivity towards thyself & others is the culprit. It leads the introverts clueless when people start snapping on them, which in turn leads them to have their own world, own choices and preferences in terms of social bonding & relations.
Being an introvert, I too have faced many instances where I felt confused with people, their actions & attitudes. And frankly speaking it really sucks ...

Recently happened to land over a very nice and quite relatable article on the internet written by 'Carlking' on his website http://www.carlkingdom.com/10-myths-about-introverts
The myths which he has mentioned, not all of them but many are really identical and describes introverts in a better way.
Just for a brief, sharing the article here.For detailed one, please visit the shared website of Mr. Carlking.
Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.
Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.
Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.
Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.
Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.
Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.
Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.
Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.
Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down.
Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers.

Reel & Real

Relationships

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

It reminds me of my days of singledom (As per the dictionary, the state of being unmarried or not involved in a long-term relationship). During those days me and my bestie (my best friend ever, partner of all ups &downs, sins & crimes, joy & sorrow) were such a huge fan of this vampire series. Not to forget we both were enjoying our singledom.I use to read till early mornings, would sleep religiously around 3 or 4 wanting to read whole book in one go. My bestie, even though she was not a avid reader, better to say lazy to read, also managed to complete the series so fast. We both were such a huge fan of Edward and Bella. Actually we started day dreaming about how our would be life partner should be. I know thats so filmy, but you know girls are like that only, at-least we both were, totally mad about this character. To give wings to our dreams, the movies of this saga were released every year. Literally we both kept waiting for the month of November to get these movies released.

Yesterday I just put on the television, and this movie was up on the channel.It just made me sink a little bit, as I was really missing her and the craziness we shared for these movies and Mr. Edward Cullen. For once I thought of switching off the tv and go to sleep, but I ended up watching the whole movie till 2 a.m. By the way thats my normal routine these days to keep on watching these Hollywood movies after the kiddo sleeps. Thats a kind of relaxing time free from any work and baby blues.

Coming back to the movie, don't know what a bond both of them shared ( Edward & Bella ofcourse). The bond was just not the material one, that's a soul one, a pure form of love, where it is just both of them,no lust, no crime, no cheats. Yeah ofcourse thats a movie only, but is it possible to have such a real bond, a soulmate in the real life. May be yes , may be no. Or is it like the real life really sucks, all lost in meeting up the daily chores, deadlines, liabilities, responsibilities, kids, the ups and downs, sorrows, joys, celebrations, funerals....and so on. Aha impressive, I have really got a big list of life buggers :D

I guess those dreamy days are the only ones while you are madly in love, carefree yet liable, living the life to the fullest....Once you step in the institution of marriage things really change, we always trying to balance the mysteries of life.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Old Goa- A city of Churches

Unknown 2:55 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

Old Goa is a city of churches. It was the former capital and the principal city of Portuguese eastern empire known as the 'Rome of the East' and the 'Pearl of the Orient'.
As per some of the information from here and there, the monuments of Old Goa are considered to be the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the world.
The famous churches of Old Goa includes Church of St. Cajetan, Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and Basilica of Bom Jesus.
Both the churches are under some renovation except Basilica of Bom Jesus.

Church of St. Cajetan: It is a beautiful and calm place. The greenery and the garden are really soothing.
The Church of St. Cajetan as it is popularly known, (originally called The Church of Our Lady of Divine Providence) and the Convent of St. Cajetan were built by Italian friars of the Order of Theatines, (known in Portuguese as Clérigos Regulares da Divina Providência). Although the church altar is dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence, the church is named after the founder of the Theatine order, St. Cajetan, a contemporary of St Francis Xavier.

Church of St. Cajetan

The main Altar

Church of St. Francis of Assisi:
The Church of St. Francis of Assisi was built in 1661 by the Portuguese in the Portuguese Viceroyalty of India.
There is a museum too in Church of St. Francis of Assisi.It was established in 1964 and reorganized in 1981–82. Housed in the convent portion of the church of St. Francis of Assisi, antiquities displayed in 8 galleries include the objects from the prehistoric and early historic period to the late medieval period. The importance of this museum lies in the display of the portrait paintings of governors and viceroys, wooden sculptures, pillars, capitals, postal stamps likewise many other objects which belong to the Portuguese period in Goa.The showcases have been provided to display the important objects the pedestals are prepared to display the heavy stone and wooden objects. The portraits are displayed utilizing both natural and artificial light. { courtesy:google}

Basilica of Bom Jesus:
The Bom Jesus Basilica, perhaps Goa's most famous church and among the most revered by Christians worldwide, is partially in ruins but still a model of simplicity and elegance, and a fine example of Jesuit architecture.
This is the only church in Old Goa, which is not plastered on the outside, the lime plaster having been stripped off by a zealous Portuguese conservationist in 1950.
Located at Old Goa, 10 kilometres east of Panaji, the Bom Jesus Basilica is a World Heritage Monument. The church is called "Bom Jesus" meaning 'good Jesus' or 'infant Jesus' to whom it is dedicated. The façade has on it, at the top, the letters, "HIS" which are the first three letters of Jesus in Greek.
On the southern side is a chapel with gilded twisted columns and floral decorations of wood, where the sacred relics of the body of St. Francis Xavier are kept. The interior of this chapel is richly adorned with wooden carvings and paintings, depicting the scenes from the life of the Saint. {courtesy: google}

Basilica of Bom Jesus

body of St. Francis Xavier

Coffin of St. Francis Xavier

The main Altar

Apart from the churches, one of the best parts of Goa are the ferries. They are of great help for locals to transmit from one place to another on a daily basis along with their vehicles mounted on these ferries.

Ferries in Goa

Dolphin See-sighting:
One should takeout time to go on this wonderful trip of Dolphin sightseeing. There are these local boats to take you into the deep sea waters for an amazing sight of dolphins playing in water.
Visit them during daytime as during sunset, the Dolphins are rare to find. But anyway you will enjoy the sea sailing during sunset watching the beautiful sunset, the changing colours of the sky, the moving water, the hilarious waves sometimes scary too...

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Welcome Anonymous Reader

Unknown 1:57 PM Random , 0 Comments

Random

Login to the blog, see the Live Traffic feed, and here get the details of the location and readers viewing your blog. This is a normal routine for me as a blogger.
Seeing the new readers arriving and leaving the blog, while some faithful anonymous readers who comes back regularly to check the updates on the blog, really feels good. Somewhere I do wish that if I would know them, or at-least they could leave a single comment anonymously to share their thoughts in what they are liking or disliking here, or what is making them come again and again in this space of mine...
But I guess this is what a blogger has to adjust with...Anyways dear anonymous reader you are most welcome on this blog...Keep reading...Stay tuned :)

Panjim,Goa

Unknown 1:33 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

Panjim is the capital of Goa. It too has many more things to offer to the visitors. The Panaji Church, the famous cruise and Casino on Mandovi river, the famous Dona Paula beach, and the last but not the least 'The Miramar beach'

PANAJI CHURCH:
Actually the name of this church is 'Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church'. Being one of the oldest churhces in Goa, it resembles the Portugese style and architecture. Photography not allowed inside the church :(
By the way, it is located on the main road inside the city. So not at all difficult to find it.
We happened to witness a young & beautiful bride and groom who were posing for their photographer.....you know the wedding album. They were looking so graceful and gorgeous that I couldn't resist from clicking them from a distance.

The bride and the groom

Discussing the pose !!

A view of the church

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim

DONA PAULA Beach:
It is say about 9 kms more from Panaji. There is a legend associated with this beach. Its believed that Dona Paula de Menezes was a daughter of the Viceroy, and she threw herself off the cliff as she was not allowed to get married to alocal fisherman named Gaspar Dias. While others believe that she was a virtuous wife of a nobleman, and some others believe that she was a lady in waiting to the Viceroy's wife and also that she was a mistress of the Viceroy's. Due to so many myths associated to Dona Paula, this place has earned the name of 'Lover's Paradise'
By the way there is no such sea beach like other beaches in Goa. Actually it is located on the headland (a narrow piece of land that projects from a coastline into the sea) between the Zuari and Mandovi river estuaries (An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea: Wikipedia).
One more fact which makes this place famous among tourists is, the shooting of some of the scenes of the hit bollywood movie Singham took place here.
There are many shops selling T-shirts, kids dresses, caps, sunglasses. You will also find the sweet/sour lime water shops. Actually it is such a relief to find this lemon water..its much needed. Here one can enjoy the water sports too but only Jetski option is available.
We had to park our car around 2 kms distance from the Dona Paula beach, due to some construction work, the road was all digged up. It was real discomfort to walk in the sun & sweat and kid.
Posting some of the pics:

The famous statue @ Dona Paula beach

View of Dona Paula

MIRAMAR Beach:

This beach is visible right from the Panjim city roads. We didn't stop here for long.But it is indeed a beautiful beach but with not much of shacks or water activites.

CRUISE N CASINO: The night life of Goa is incomplete without Cruise and Casino. We couldn't make it up to these floating casinos, but for people loving games and food ,that is worth a try. There are many cruises floating on the river Mandovi in Panjim where the Casinos are held. These cruises have their counters along the road which runs parallely to the bank of the river Mandovi. Some of the names which I remember are Deltin Royale,Crown Casino, and Casino Royale.
Posting pic of Casino Royale:

Casion Royale in the Mandovi River

Clicked from the parallel road

Finally Panjim city done. Now heading towards Old Goa.Post coming soon..stay tuned :)

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Vagator Beach & Anjuna Beach ,Goa

Unknown 11:36 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

VAGATOR Beach:
This is a rocky beach and is bit far from Calangute. But yeah it has its own beauty. Here also some shops are available selling snacks, refreshments, coconut water and stone jewellery. As we have already enjoyed too much of the beaches so we visited this one as a part of sightseeing.
Posting the pic which we clicked from the cliff.

Vagator beach pic01

Vagator beach 02

By the way one of the interesting fact which we got to know from the coconut vendor is the coconut water sold here are not the real Goan coconuts, instead those are imported from Karnataka. The goan coconuts are dried from inside. Dont know how much true is it, but tht's what the local vendor told us.

ANJUNA Beach:
The first word of caution, this beach market is heavily priced. So before buying anything make sure you bargain to as lowest as possible.
So now about Anjuna beach, I did not find anything fascinating about it. Instead it occurred as inspired from Marine Drive in Mumbai..it has the same rocks used in its shore area.This one is also a rocky beach although. For your information Anjuna and Vagator beach are closer to each other. The sunrise and sunset are something to watch from these rocky beaches.
Posting the pic:

Anjuna Beach pic 01

Anjuna Beach pic 02

Some of the beautiful but heavily charged sculptures:

Sculptures made from coconut

Candolim beach, Goa

Unknown 10:58 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

The Candolim beach is one of the finest beaches too. In the morning it is not much crowded. But it is also violent, roaring, and a free spirited monster. Very very high tides, with clean water, shore, and golden sand. A perfect place to click the sea and its varied emotions.
Unfortunately, here we met with a small accident. My father in law while dipping in the sea waves, fell after the wave attack, you can imagine such is the power of the tigress waves. He had a swollen knee , face problem in walking comfortably. We had to take support of the Crepe bandage and the hot water bottle. :(

The wildness

The beauty

You must visit this beach..It has a serious charm !!

Baga Beach, Goa

Unknown 10:39 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

On the next day we decided to visit the Baga beach. This was also not far from our hotel.And the sign boards in Goa are really a time and money savior.You need not to confusingly roam around for any information, just keep an eye on the signals and you will reach your destination safely.
In the morning at 7 a.m. we reached the Baga beach. And I tell you the waves were real scary..Such a high tide that not many people wanted to touch the waves. But the serenity and the view it has to offer is something unique. On one end of the beach there is a hilly area full of greenery. And rest is all black sand, with a mix of small sea shells.

The baga beach

Scary but beautiful

The black sand along with small sea shells

This beach is really surprising for us. We wanted to see and do water sports. So we chose to come again during the day time. Actually you must be thinking why do we visit sea beach so much. The answer is personally I like the sea waves and sea too much. I love to watch them. So how could I miss the opportunity to be nearby so beautiful shores.
Now coming back to the water sports story, when we reached Baga beach during afternoon hours , to our surprise the sea which was literally roaring in the morning has sunken back to almost a kilometre or more. The waves have given way to the water as a shallow stream flowing constantly with so much calmness and peace. And after a kilo metre area, the sea waves were marking their huge presence making the spot best for water sports. Kiddo enjoyed wading in the shallow waters and me too :)
S opted for a motor ride, while me ....oh no...I am really scared of all these activities, and so taken a back seat enjoying the beauty, serenity, and happening factor of this beach.
There is a huge market at Baga similar to calangute beach market, but comparatively this one is bigger with much more varieties of items.
Posting one of the pic of Baga beach during the day hours.

In this pic, we are walking in the area which is too shallow and gives the feel like an island in the sea water.
Would like to mention something about kiddo. When she sees me wearing sunglasses she asks for hers and put it on the way I do..If they are resting on my head , then she will ask for the same, & if the sunglasses are on my eyes then obviously she will have hers too on her eyes. Ditto copycat of mumma :D , anyways that's what daughters are :D

Calangute Beach, Goa

Unknown 10:10 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

Now starting the sightseeing in GOA.
After our arrival and check-in, the clock was ticking at 4 O'clock of evening. Instead of staying in the room we planned to roam around the Calangute beach as we were near to it. Being a weekend, there was huge rush on the roads.So we decided to take a walk to the beach, but you know with kid in your hands its difficult to walk, so we thought of taking auto or bus or taxi whichever is available. But let me warn you the autos and taxi-walas are such a cheat. They as usual form groups and decide their charges, and if one of them refuses to take you, then others will also do the same.Also they support their colleague for the unreasonable charges. We had to pay 150 Rs to reach to Calangute beach which was just a walk-able distance from the hotel. I guess that's the side effect of being a tourist.

The directions for the beaches

Calangute Beach is a real pretty neat and clean beach. By the way almost all beaches in Goa are neat and clean. This particular beach has white sand and is also known as 'Queen of Beaches'.

The beautiful Calangute Beach

On the way to the beach, there is a whole market set up selling all the items like pretty caps, hats, dresses, sunglasses, beautiful beaded accessories, variety of eatable items right from corn, bhutta-wallas, tea to ice cream, bhel, popcorns and much more. Oh I forgot to mention, the show of Goa 'feni' and 'kajus' are available at almost every second shop in the vicinity. Many varieties of kaju (Cashewnuts) you can find here.
Goa is more of a place of youngsters, newly wed couples, college students. But that doesn't matter families and old group people are not welcomed...Actually Goa is a kind of place where everyone enjoys as they want. We encountered many families with their young kids who were staying in our hotel itself. As it was long weekend so almost whole of Goa was crowded with people of almost every age group.
Even though the beaches are crowded, there is still place for everyone at the Goan beaches.After witnessing the people enjoying and getting drenched in the sea waves, & the sunset at the Calangute beach, we finally decided to get back to the hotel as kiddo was getting sleepy and tired.And yeah she was damn scared to get into the water,started crying and screaming.So we just wandered on the beach.
One thing to mention, after sunset there are high tides in the sea, so the Lifeguards are on a routine visit at all the beaches warning people to come out of the sea and remain at a distance from the sea water. Actually the work timings of the lifeguards gets finished after 7 pm so they warn people to stay away from sea in order to prevent any accidents.
We decided to have the dinner on the way itself and then reach hotel to take rest. As we are pure vegetarians, we were in doubt that if vegetarian options will be available for us as we wanted to taste the local food too along with the hotel food we stayed. Goa surprised us a lot. There was not even the smell of fisheries on the beaches, no fish nets , nothing visible .Along with that there are many Pure Veg restaurants to try on. At some places the food is really good. We looked for a decent looking pure veg restaurant. Found one , had dinner, and reached our hotel.The food was good, but yeah they charge much for it.
To roam around freely,we hired a car for our stay in Goa. We booked it from the next day on-wards. We pre-booked the car on rental basis for 4 days, and we had to pay Rs 1100 per day for the car. Luckily we had a brand new Wagon R just out of the showroom. This new car made our vacation a real treat on the GOA roads. The car owner delivered it at our hotel and after that no looking back to the taxi-walas.

We decided to play with sea waves on the next day morning when the beach will not be crowded.And this decision of ours proved to be good. Next day morning itself we reached the sea beach to get the best natural smell of sea. We played, clicked, made kiddo play and enjoy. In the beginning she was scared and adamant not to get down even, but slowly she started to get into it. But she hated the sand mixed salty water which got into her mouth with the waves..

The innocence

The little footprints

Waves all around

Lets try

After the dipping in the sea waves , we reached hotel with all sand filled in our clothes. The hotel bathroom converted into mini sea beach with all sand collected from our pockets and bodies :P. But that was real fun with the waves !!

Hotel Neelams The Grand, Calangute

Unknown 1:22 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

Pics of the hotel:

The Reception Area

View from our room Balcony

We made prior reservations in 'Hotel Neelams The Grand, Calangute'. About the hotel, it is good and its location is the best advantage. Other than that it has pathetic staff and room service. Sharing one of my review I posted on HolidayIQ.com

"The hotel is built in a large area and the location is perfect as its close to the Calangute Beach. There is swimming pool also for the guests. But not sufficient parking. Many times we needed to park our car in their other hotel 'neelams the glitz'. Before booking this hotel, we were already apprehensive about it after reading the reviews on the internet, and the hotel's stay proved all our fears true, rather should say horrible.

Now comes the worst part of our stay. The hotel staff was pathetic. I can say that there was no coordination between the front desk and the upper level management. On our arrival we were assigned two rooms in there G block 'Room no 18 and 19'. We just entered the room no 18 and there was so much smell of cigarette smoke. The staff was not even aware of this. On our complaint they started spraying room fresheners in our presence. On our continuous complaint and persistence finally they changed our room, for changing the room they were quite apprehensive and tried to convince us that there is no smell, like we are feeling the smell even doesn’t exist for their nostrils.

When changed the room we were shifted to adjacent room no 17, and from their the nightmare of our stay started. The bathroom was not in the proper working condition. The controlling knob for shower/tap switching was missing. We complained to the front desk, and they said they are just coming. But after that we needed to make 2-3 calls to remind them as we needed a shower badly after such sweaty noon. Finally one person came in the evening around 7 or 8 pm, and he just switched the shower mode to tap mode without even fitting the missing control knob, mentioning that the store was closed, and he will repair it in the morning.

The very first thing of my concern, why didn't they check their rooms before the person checks-in, also it was our job to get the fittings done, allow their staff, technicians to break our privacy. For god sake, that's a hotel and not our home where we need to take care of the amenities. So poor and careless attitude of the hotel. The second day also the shower issue was not worked out till afternoon in spite of our continuous calls. The front desk kept us redirecting to room service, and room service kept on saying person was coming. After having breakfast, we left for sightseeing instructing the lady at the reception to please make sure the fix was done. But I guess that was of no use. As around 2:30 pm when we were back to the hotel, the same issue was existing. And now the cherry on the cake was the room AC was not working.

This all made us so furious and uncomfortable stay. On each phone call the room service would say they have sent the technician in our room, while no one ever visited us. Finally after 2-3 more calls some of their senior managers arrived with the technician and worked upon the AC showing their ignorance about our complaint. Don't know if it was the communication hiccups between the front desk, room service and the management, or everything was just so ignorable to them that they didn't even bother about their clients discomfort. After almost half an hour and in between so much words exchange, finally both issues got resolved.

On our continuous persistence to change our room, they didn’t even let an ear. As per them if they do not succeed in repairing the AC, they will change our room. Oh wow such a kind thought they had at least. At the end we had to adjust with their maintenance, compromising with our privacy and rest time to their maintenance work. Totally this behaviour was so unprofessional and unacceptable on the hotel management part. Again, a new story on the next morning was waiting for us. One of the lampshades stopped working, but this time we ignored it, as we were tired of getting the issues resolved. At another instance the lift of this so called G block was under maintenance, and we had to take another block's lift to go downstairs.

If by any chance you get to book this hotel, please make sure all things are working before you check-in. We had such a terrible experience with this particular room no 17 of G block. Also about the Wi-Fi part, they do have free access to it, but that is not accessible in the rooms, you have to remain in the lobby downstairs at the reception to get the range. Now, don't they know who was going to sit their like if its a cafe for internet. Everyone likes to access the internet in their own comfort zone, rather than sit publicly holding the devices or they are smart enough to limit their Wi-Fi usage.

In between all this mess up, the only good part was the breakfast, and the cab pickup and drop. They had many varieties and delicious breakfast. The food they offer for dinner was also good, but the room service was so pathetic, they even forget their etiquette’s and on our request to serve soon, they didn't forget to mention ' jab banega tabhi to ayega'...this is how they treat their guests...So pathetic."

So I would suggest that do make sure the hotel arrangement do not spoil your vacation mood.Ok now enough of it, let me stop being the agony aunt and come back to the vacation in GOA in the next post.
By d way the kiddo was so cranky when she saw her teddy bear in this situation (see the pic below) :D

GOA- Lets begin the trip !!

Unknown 1:15 PM Vacation , 0 Comments

Again a late running post making its way to the blog.
So during the Dussehra vacations, we went on a vacation to GOA..

Goa was one of my dream vacation place right from the day I started working in Mumbai, and then in Pune. Inspite of being so close to Goa (close as compared from delhi), this dream somehow couldn't take its wings...may be you can say never got a company to get it done...Sighhh. The bachelor days in Goa would have been quite happening and full of adrenaline rush as the spirits were really on the highest peak few years back. Those are the years where you feel completely free, and can really feel wings on you to fly and catch whatever you think of. You are financially independent, no responsibilities and carefree. Anyways let it be , whatever is gone in the past..let it rest in peace :)

So finally coming to our vacation, the dussehra week happened to be a very long weekend due to many holidays (Gandhi Jayanti, Dussehra, Id) all falling in the same week. So we had a lavish 4 days time in Goa. But this long weekend made the flight ticket rates, hotel rates soaring so high. Since we had already made up our minds for it, so we booked the tickets via mumbai to Goa.

We packed our bags along with kiddos teddy bear...yeah he has to come with us as she is not ready to leave the tedyy. On the D day we reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. Let me mention that, this is the first flight journey of my kiddo and officially my too first one :D
Kiddo was super excited to roam in the airport premises, checkin queues. She was so happy to walk around see all the new things and grasping it all. She loved to watch the aeroplanes visible through the glass panes. It was so difficult for us to make her get seated on the chairs in the waiting zone. everytime she would pick one of us to accompany her and roam with her.
Posting the pics of her activities at the airport.

Kiddo with her Jiya !!

She loved these poles

Busy with teddy and planes through the glass

This is so much fun

Finally we boarded our flight from Delhi to Mumbai. We made a night stay at Mumbai , and then next day headed to Mumbai airport for boarding our flight to GOA.
During the whole journey kiddo was super active..Being 2 yrs age she had her very own seat with us. She made full use of it , she sat, ate laddoos, read the magazine, and slept for some minutes..proving us wrong who thought she might make this journey a little difficult.No crying, no fussiness,all smiles and chatters...thts wht she was...my lovely kid.And the most she was excited to push the trolley herself,and also to sit on the baggages on the trolley. Posting pics of her activities during the flight journey.

After reaching GOA, the Dabolim Airport we had the cab waiting for us from the hotel. We stayed at the hotel 'Neelam's the grand' at Calangate . The feedback for the hotel coming in my next post.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Motherhood- a courageous but fruitful path

Unknown 11:51 AM Random , 0 Comments

Random

Just now happened to encounter a Cesarean baby birth video circulating on Facebook. Clicked on the link, and can't believe that i just paused it even before it could complete the buffering. Seriously, I was not able to convince myself that I can watch this one, though I too have given a cesarean birth to my baby. On one thought there is curiosity to see how my baby came into this world, and on the other note the sight of blood is really making me sick. But the motherly instinct overpowered my fear, and i decide to watch this video, to know what we both have went through to survive safely in this world !!

Sharing the link of the video here. Hope it is accessible till the video isn't removed...
Do watch this one..I had goosebumps watching it.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=648061361881207
After watching this video, all I can say is "Salute to all the beautiful and courageous mothers". We the mothers take rebirth with our kids birth. May be this is the reason why the kids are always attached to their mothers like their pre-birth umbilical cord, a special bond which intertwined both of them.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Kido's hairstyle

Unknown 11:55 PM Pari , 0 Comments

It is so much fun to try to tie so so short hairs of kiddo. I love to put cutie hairpins on her hairs, rather it will not be wrong to say that the day she is born I was dreaming of tying a pony with her hairs and she knowing my thoughts never put on enough hairs to tie :P.

By the way she has got some sort of brownish hairs, not exactly black ones. And these days I am trying new hairstyles and hair accessories for her. Kudos to the kid, she is so sporting and participating during this whole hair exercise .
I have got some colorful beads, very small clutchers, and pretty hairpins for her, all of them makes her look fantastic. We both just love to play with those colorful accessories :) & She appears more and more cute in her styled hairs :D .
Loads of love my kiddo !!

Thts BLUE :)

Beads plus hairclips

Playing with the colorful beads !!

Belated Happy Diwali !!

Unknown 7:33 PM Random , 0 Comments

This post is running very very late, but the thought of ignoring it doesn't go well with me so thought of writing this one. Diwali and kiddo was a great fun. During the day time we made small rangoli with colors, and kiddo was so interested in it that she didn't left my side till i finished it, also in between picked up the color packets to help me in finishing it.
After performing the Diwali pooja and other rituals we had the fire crackers time. By the way, this time we decided to have a eco friendly diwali. We minimized our usage of fire crackers to almost nil. Only we had 'anars' and 'fuljhadis'. Kiddo loved the lights of anars and asked her father S to do it again and again...but yeah we had decided to be in limits so just few times we could repeat it for her. Then was the time for fuljhadis, barring our fears aside, kiddo hold them in her hands and enjoyed instead of getting scared. Watching the rockets and cracker lights in the sky made her happy....This diwali celebrations ended up with she all in giggles and laughs..
Posting some of the pics.