Barcelonaaaa!!!

We had a fantabuloussss holiday in Spain. It was sooo good that I was on a real high long after the trip was over. I never win anything that involves luck (though I believe that I'm lucky in many ways), but when I finally did win something, it was a jackpot!!! But I must add that the credit goes to my hubby. He is the one who registered my name with Unicare Health Centre, and my name was picked in a lot. I tend to think that it is his luck that actually got us there. If I win, he gets to join me, so yea, HIS luck.

Our flight was at 5.30 am from Dubai Airport, so we started from home at 2.00 am after sleeping for exactly 45 minutes. But one look at the gorgeous Nyla, and I was wide awake. (And I'm not gay).  What set this holiday apart was that we were travelling with a team of around 100 people. Can you believe that? And the icing on the cake was the fact that the RJs also joined us. For those who don't know, these RJs are  mini celebrities, some of them are even movie actors. It is one thing to get a glance of celebrities or click a snap with them, but it is an entirely different thing to travel to another continent with them and spend 3 solid days together. One of my friends commented, "I'm not jealous that you are going to Spain, but I'm jealous that you are going with Nyla". That speaks volumes about their popularity. I never imagined that we would get to be so friendly with the RJs. Nyla was the show-stealer and got all the attention. She is a lovely person - friendly, considerate, lots of fun and a true style diva!! As a listener, I always loved her voice and her chatter. When I met her in person, I found her to be refreshingly straight-forward and real. I found an instant connection with her. She reminded me soooo much of myself. With our love for shopping, movies, old movie songs, wicked sense of humour and honesty, I think we should have been soul -sisters!!! Mithun is a true whacko, and I always loved his sense of humour on radio. He was no different when I met him in person. He made sure that everyone around was always entertained with his witty one-liners. Arfaaz is a true sweetheart - so genuine and warm. Dona was so easy to talk to and has an air of lazy elegance Unfortunately, I couldn't interact much with Jean, Maya, Nimmy and Sindhu.

                                                               
                                                           With the gorgeous Nyla

                                                                   Flamenco Dance

                                             

                                                             La Rambla Street
                                               

Please do not ask me what I saw in Spain, because I don't  remember. Infact, we didn't really explore much of Spain the way we usually do on a holiday. Ofcourse, we covered all the main attractions, but yet we didn't really get to enjoy the place, cuisine and culture the way I wanted to. The itinerary was already set, that left us with very little time to move around on our own.  And we didn't have to go through that elaborate  process of researching about the destination and painfully dropping places that do not fit into our schedule or budget. (Trust me, even if we had time, we didn't want to. We were like star-struck teenagers, completely in awe of the RJs). Our food was already taken care of, so we missed the pleasure of going over the menu countless times, bugging  the waiter with exact details of the ingredients and having long, impatient discussions with each other to arrive at a decision while our tummies grumble and cry out for food. We were travelling with a large group, which means, we didn't get enough time to even get to know everyone. So there was no chance of striking conversation with random strangers  or clicking photographs with them.

                                                                        RJ Dona

                                                                           Awwww!!!    

                                               
                                                                 With RJ Mithun

Some of the HI - ghlights of the trip :- (Meaning, everything that gave me a high!!)

1. Nyla

2. Attempted selfie with Nyla. So I was about to take a selfie with Nyla, and then a horde of girls joined, crying ''me too.. me too...me too". Had the selfie really happened, I would have been a happy person. But ofcourse, there is an option to crop out exactly what you want. Gee;)

3. Nyla complimenting my eyebrows, not once, but TWICE!!. She said that my eyebrows are striking, and my kinda eyebrows are trending.

4. Nyla complimenting my nose pin. So I had to remove my regular nose pin, and it wouldn't go back in. But I just HAD to wear a nose pin to Barcelona, and I got a new, cheap one for myself.

5. Mithun and his hilarious one-liners.

6. Real selfie (not the cropped version) with Mithun.

7. Arfaaz and the warm vibes he exuded to everyone.
8. SANGRIA - And lots of it!!

Few of the other things that I loved about my trip :-

1. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant, on our way to another destination. Suddenly someone broke into a song and the rest of us joined. Then everyone was singing aloud, many drumming on the table, some one playing the guitar, the waiters dancing to our songs, many tipsy, many sober, someone accidentally breaking plates and glasses - it was whole lot of fun. It went on and on for hours, and we ended up missing the funicular ride I was looking forward to. But I really enjoyed that lunch.

2. Wearing actual winter clothes - the jacket, boots and shawls. Given the fact that I was raised in Kerala which has no winter any time of the year, and I'm currently residing in UAE, where winter warrants just  a light jacket, it is a pleasure to wear winter clothes.

3. Me, V, Nyla, Arfaaz and a few other ladies went for a short walk. After a while, the ladies sat on the bench talking and the men went for a walk. I never imagined that we would get a chance to take a walk with Nyla and have such a long conversation with her.

It was truly a great holiday with awesome company, beautiful location and lots of fun.  

                         

                          

Won a trip to Spain!!!

Guess wot people! Me and my husband won an all-expense paid trip to Spain. This trip is sponsored by Hit 96.7, the most popular radio channel in UAE. For the uninitiated, Hit 96.7 sponsors a trip every year and this time we got really lucky. Last year, they took their listeners to Paris. We have been planning to do a trip abroad, but  things didn't work out. I was a little unhappy about it, that is when I got a call saying that I won a trip to Spain. Honestly, I thought it was a prank and  hid my excitement so that nobody gets to tease me about it later. Gee! But what is even more exciting is that we will be travelling with their RJs. They are a bunch of pranksters. So I have already warned my husband to not join them in pranks and make me a butt of all jokes. Buhahah! Hope to have an enjoyable time. See you all on the other side of the holiday!!!

Few of my Favourite Things....

Solitude.....a long drive at the night, with the windows rolled down....... deep & meaningful conversation that makes me feel connected.........celebrations........the rush of love...... rain, the resultant smell of earth and chill in the air........ breaking into uncontrollable fits of laughter...                                      stolen kisses.....sunshine....dressing up.......listening to soulful music with lights off.....romance...... chocolate..... cuddles.....teasing fondly.......dance......freshly painted nails.......companionship..... sitting at the window seat in an overnight train or bus journey, and letting the breeze caress my face....... knowing smiles.....beach.......getting lost in a movie/book.......holding hands.......spa........love stories......mindless banter..  these are some of my favourite things!!!

Weekend Brunch...

The moment we heard  there is a 'Sangria Brunch' happening at Meydan Beach, we pounced on it. We went over our schedule for the day (which initially included a visit to the gym) and reworked it to the last detail, so that V could drink without worrying about driving after the drink. But obviously, we had to cancel our trip to the gym, because it is not very sane to work out when you are too tipsy to even hold your plate.

                                                               (enjoying my sangria)
   

                                                       (loving the beach view)

                                                (the after effect is always more love - and I am not complaining!)

                                     
                                          (just holding hands - but don't  I look like the boss here?)

(my kisses to all)

                                                                         (solo pic)

(I swear this is all I ate)

                                     
                                                   (finishing it off on a sweet note)

                                                              (love by the xmas tree)

                                                                    (lovely interiors)


We had a lovely time enjoying our drink and taking in the beach view and obviously checking out the swimmers ;)

Christmas is here!!!

Christmas is here. For most people, this is undoubtedly one of the favorite seasons . It is winter in our part of the world. Not surprisingly, that chill in the air adds to the happy feeling that the season brings along. Finally, we can  enjoy some fresh air and not get roasted by the UAE heat. It feels great  to step out and be greeted by a pleasant weather.

Apart from being able to hit the beaches and parks, attend barbecue parties, the excitement revolving around the Dubai Shopping Festival, Christmas and Newyear, this is my favourite time on a personal level too. My hubby, sister and dad celebrate their birthdays around this time of the year. How lovely, is it?

One of the highlights of this season is the Christmas Market.  We hit the Christmas Market at  the Dubai Media City and was taken in by the festive spirit - lots of interesting stalls, performances on stage and plenty of freebies.

                                                           (can't agree more..)

                                                         (my niece writing a letter to Santa)

Dubai Grand Parade

It was a fun weekend. The open spaces at Meydan, the parade, display and drifting of luxury cars, food stalls, games, pleasant weather and catching up with a good friend. What is not to like?