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About me

Am a contradiction of sorts. i love going out and having a good time with friends, and i can also stay home chill out over a book or a movie..

Am very passionate about writing, so give me a topic and watch me float away into wonderland... Love reading books- sometimes i read 3books simultaneously, crazy about music- need it all around me, all the time and ofcourse, i totally am ga ga goo goo over my 7yr old naughty brat- Floppy!! errr, Prince Floppy!! :)

Friday, January 22, 2010

[Skywatch Friday] Start Action..Drama

Watching the sun blaze
Up above in the 
mighty sky



colors, orange to blue
clouds swishing past 
as if to rehearse


as if on cue
they move and glide
coming to life... 












These 3 pictures taken one beautiful evening in Sankey Lake, Bangalore





A glimpse of the sun as it sets behind the clouds on the Candolim beach, Goa


For more beautiful skies, go to Skywatch friday ... 



Sunday, January 10, 2010

Quick Getaway.. Pondicherry!!

Sometimes you dont know which direction you are headed till you actually reach!! 


For us, it happened literally..It was the Christmas long weekend, and the plan was a trip to Karnataka, but Murphy came into action, so we did a U turn and breezed towards Pondicherry instead and what  fun the 2days were..!!


Completely unplanned.. no agenda... infact we dint know where we were gonna stay as it was the Christmas weekend and all hotels and guest houses were full, err lemme rephrase, they all had rooms available for 24th but we had to scoot on 25th morning... since we were planning on getting there on 25th, we took the only alternative available, and decided to gate crash into Apar's aunt's place!! 



Shimmering waters along the ECR


Every time i go to Pondy, its a whole new experience.... 


Different company, different atmosphere, different discoveries .... !! This time was no different.. Not only did we try a new restaurant - Lunch @ Haveli in Hotel Annamalai International, but also managed to fulfil our dream of having Baileys irish cream [@Rendezvous with yummy pasta dinner].. 



Part of the Christmas decor @ Ananda Inn


One of a kind experience was witnessing a whole brigade of people at the beach and on the streets [ had me wondering why, till my friend said - its Christmas/ long weekend-Duh!!] ... 



Windmill peeping from behind the walls of the cafe/shipping arena @ Auroville


Discovered Pondy had a Sringeri Sharadambal temple [ had to share that bit of news with folks at home and the instant words were out, they were all yelling - go visit the temple]... 

A canopy on the beach [ pic taken during my earlier visit]


Took friend and her son to Auroville, only to be told we cant go into the Matri mandir any more, not unless we had prior permissions or knew some big shots.... ;o) [Only big shot i know is Me...:D] .. we were shown a video footage of how the whole project began and has evolved over years.. the last few times i'd been to Auroville, we had gone inside the Matri Mandir, right up to the top, to see the crystal ball... !! but now, rules have changed!! for the better am sure!! 



Matri mandir at a distance... Auroville... after a lovely 1km walk!!


Had the most yummmmiest lunch @ Ananda Inn- buffet, the spread was delightful- starting with salad down to the desserts... Only disappointment was they were out of Chocolate eclairs and my friend wanted one, asked a couple of people, but alas we left without savoring one of them eclairs...!! Always a next time!! 



Waves lashing against the rocks at the beach


We did make a quick stop at the Aurobindo Ashram, sailed along the queue and swished right out.. never seen such a crowd in Pondy, ever...!! 



The lighthouse, standing guard


I truly believe - 


1.Travel to explore unexplored sights and scenes...


2.Get lost - literally and otherwise, for only then will you learn your way around and unravel hidden truths about yourself... 

The evening sky, moon shining bright..


3.Have no set agenda, that way you can go with the flow and see more... i love visiting unheard of, out of the order, non touristy yet interesting places...! 




4. Walk... thats the best way to enjoy a new town..
If you cant walk, use local transport.. good fun and you learn so much more about the place/history/must visit places and so much more..







Matri Mandir, in all its Glory @Auroville




We took the bus from CMBT, Koyembedu... not the volvo, but a regular one, costing about Rs55 per person.. and within Pondy, we walked or took the auto.Mind you, autowalas are as bad as in chennai, so be ready to haggle... 


Return was also via bus, except this was wee bit better, and airconditioned, so tickets were Rs145 each... Bus takes about 3.5 to 4hrs, with one pitstop... And buses ply from Chennai & Pondy every 15mins!! 


Off i go to yet another familiar yet unfamiliar town tomorrow... Will come back with more stories.... Till then, adios!! 

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Exploring 2009

Every year brings with it new adventures, and this year 2009 i think brought me so much more... Absolutely loved it just for the fact that i spread my wings a bit more than earlier, and took off to explore new terrain- literally and otherwise!!!!


2009 began with me getting enthusiastic about photography... and took the step to go for a Photowalk around Egmore area in February... [Was using my uncle's Canon Film camera..]



Wesley Church



A chariot awaits...


From there, the year saw me fly across the country to Bombay, March end, for nearly a month....  
Spending time with my friend, helping them as they moved from Colaba to Karanja .... 






Sunrise from the boat as we sailed towards Karanja 



The castle near the jetty in Karanja


and then ofcourse the highlight being the trip to Pune in April for "Vipassana"!!





It was time for yet another Photowalk with the Chennai Photowalkers.... This time we hit Casino theater and walked it down a bit... 








Next stop was Bangalore for the Hoysala Trail on 29th & 30th May ...[Inaugurated my Sony w220 digi camera :)]



Hulikere, temple tank....

Belavadi


June 1st i was back in Chennai, and  on 2nd we were off to Sringeri, for a family occasion- me,mom & dad... 



Vidhyashankar Temple


June was also when my Uncle and co came down from Delhi, and off we went to take a tour with Story Trails - Peacock Trails around Mylapore... 


The Santhome Church                                       Kapaleeshwar Temple


July had me back in Bangalore, this time for a reunion of sorts with the gang that travelled on the 1st Hoysala trail organised by TravelWise!!



The gang @lunch


Also managed to do a bit of birding at T G Halli prior to the lunch...






And a visit to LalBagh garden before we heading out for a fun Play followed by dinner


August was when  Lakshmi & I headed off to explore a few Heritage sights around Chennai. - Chengelpet, Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram, And Mahabs...



Colorful silk threads @ the weaver, Kancheepuram



Kailashnath temple, Kancheepuram



Singaperumal temple,Chengelpet


Was already on the road to Ambur once again before Aug came to an end... Aug 31st was Uncle's 60th bday celebrations... 


Uncle - Aunt with gramma n aunt!!


Couldnt wait for September 30th to come.... We were off to Coorg... what a fun memorable trip it was... 



Bylakuppe...



Omkareshwara temple, Madikeri


Work kept me busy through the month, and once again excitement was in the air as October 30th came around the corner.. Was packing my bags to set sail to Goa...






Bom Jesus Church



Moon glistening in the night sky, during the River Mandovi cruise


Finally, December came upon us... Mahabalipuram, the 1st weekend was the impromptu plan... ;o)












Beautiful sunrise in mahabs... 


To finish it off, a short quick trip to Pondy happened over the Christmas weekend... :)



Pillars around Gandhi Statue in the beach



The Matri mandir in Auroville.... 


This year has been a definite high in my life... Loved every minute of it, and now, 
Am looking fwd to 2010... 


Hoping to cross the ocean, and set sail further into new unexplored terrains...
To Fly away...far... far.... far into the horizon!!! 

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Coromandel Coast... Mahabs!!

It was a bright cool saturday, i was all excited for i knew it was gonna be a fun weekend! my bag was packed, camera battery charged and all pepped and ready to go!!! There came the call i was waiting for -

"lets meet for lunch at 1 at New Woodlands and then can scoot from there", he said..

"Wokie dokie", i chirped... before bidding adieu to all at home and stepping out!!!

Antique car parked in New Woodlands parking lot...

As we drove along the ECR after a fun meal, the cool breeze kept us company, soothing music from the radio and our phones/ipods kept us in high spirits..!! We had no agenda, dint have any plan of any sort, but all we knew was it was going to be a good weekend...!! Woohoo... :-)


Pretty butterfly art on a rock near the toll booth on ECR


Now, have i known these looney bins long? nope... 2 of them I've known little over a year, and the 3rd, the Senor ;o) well, met him thru the other friend sometime in Aug and we just hit it off...

Where were we headed? Not far... Mahabalipuram aka Mahabs.....



 Interesting stall, dont u think?

Only smart sensible thing about this trip was Senor and moi had done a bit of research and i had called ahead to check if Golden Sun Resorts had rooms, which they claimed they did and we could just drive in, and no advance booking was required!! Oh well, we sure hoped their word was good..


 Terracotta horse standing tall outside our room

Drove on past the Golden sun, reached A2B -adyar ananda Bhavan - had a coffee and fed the kiddo some dosa... experimented some with our cameras and were on the road once more, this time back to the resort to make sure that room was available.. after a quick tour, peek a boo, we found a room.. Room 14, alas, discovered the front door wouldnt shut...up we went to Room 12, and there we found key wouldnt work in the lock.. what a bummer , right? nope, we were enjoying this!!! :D


playing around with the lights in the beach

Finally settled into Room 11, the one we saw 1st.. the french door opened out to the pool, and a few steps away was the ocean.... beautiful.... we were 3 and half happy contended souls !!

Why not check out the Shore temple? we thought and made our way out the resort towards the beach... it was nearly 7pm, dark and so couldnt shoot any pics, but the place was beautiful.. could make out the silhouette of the shore temple against the night sky...



Pathway to the ocean

The mommy and kiddo took a ride on a friendly horsey called Santhosh.. the horsey took liking to senorita, licking her hands like Floppy does to me..hehehe..following which we had a bit of adventure..Mommy discovered her phone was missing, and we set about looking for it in the beach, while a brainwave struck me and i called her number only to hear a guy's voice telling me he had the phone and had just called her home, told her mom the same thing!!

 The 3.5 stooges

Phew.. such a relief... but that kinda took the zing off the evening, and we walked back to the car park to return to the room...


Golden sun reception area

Armed with camera, and our wacko mood, we walked to the beach.. playing , cracking up, clicking pics... playing in the swing.... grooving to the romantic numbers that floated in the air... What timing- hunger bells were just about starting off in our tummies, as took us to the open air restaurant.... The buffet was what we had opted for, Rs200 per head- naan, a kebab kinda starter, couple of side dishes, rice, pappad, and curd rice with pickle were the order of the night.... lazing by the pool, just letting our thoughts flow, we were chilled out completely.....

Pic of Shore temple a friend had taken during her visit a year or so back...
We were tucked in by 9, but sleep was nowhere in sight... Senorita suggested we play cards, and that we should go buy a pack[ well, what happened there shall remain a secret, that is until any of the looneys come around reading this post....:D] ... which ended up on me, the brave one! hehe... so, out i went into the dark night to buy a pack of cards... the game began around 10, and suddenly the pros wanted one more pack, so off they went this time... we played Rummy for an hour or so... before calling it a day, or rather night and snoring away.... :-)

The next day dawned bright and early... 5.30am.. Senor and moi, took our cameras and headed off to witness the sunrise, capture the moments on our cameras... It was beautiful, breath taking and an amazing sight that never fails to leave me speechless... !!



Sunrise at Mahabs beach

Time sure flies when you are having, a phenomenon that i see happening over and over and over again!!!  it was 9 by the time we showered, and got ready to hit the road.. back to Chennai.. not before making a stop for breakfast at A2B... that place is just amazing - hot food, good quality and not very pricey... right next to the Radisson Temple Bay and walking distance from the Shore temple, it draws quite a bit of crowd...

A pic by senor...

Savoured the ride on ECR... laughing, having a good time we reached the city... That was one fun weekend... sometimes, it pays to just up and go, esp with a bunch of equally nutty adorable caring sweet nuts called friends... :) Thanks guys for yet another rocking trip!!! :)


Trying my hand at clicking diff kindsa pics with my camera!

[Next time, lets do Mahabs and actually get around to visiting the heritage sights and beaches]