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.  

                         

                          

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!!!

Beautiful Birthday!!!

I had a beauutiful birthday, with lot of surprises thrown along the way. I can easily say that it was one of my best birthdays. A few days before my birthday, we went out for dinner with my aunt and family. And there my aunt handed over a beautiful watch for me, a birthday gift send across by my parents. I didn't expect that coming at all. I was really surprised. My birthday fell on a working day and V had to go to work, so I was a tad bit disappointed with that. But soon V called me from work and asked me to pack our bags and be ready. We r staying over somewhere, that is all what he would reveal. I didn't probe further, because I thought let the surprise remain a surprise. I sooo badly wanted to be surprised. Lol!

We started our drive and reached our destination in a couple of hours. It was a lovely beach resort at Hamra Village, Rasalkaimah. After we checked in, and inspected our room AND the washroom (this is almost like a ritual for us), we settled in. V pointed out to the table, and I saw a pretty, gooey chocolatey 'happy birthday' cake. Now any girl whose heart doesn't melt at the sight of chocolate cake, please put your hand up. No one? I thought so. (And if you are one of those girls who don't like chocolate cakes, then I don't think that you and me can ever be friends). I cut the cake and V gave me my gift -LG G3 - a beautiful phone in white. It stole my heart with its sexy looks and impressive features, And I love it to bits. I got a bit emotional on receiving my gift. My current phone was perfectly fine, and I didn't really need a new one. So I was overwhelmed and thrilled to the core.

After fiddling with the phone, feeding each other the cake, we headed to the private beach. It was evening, and the sky was a beautiful hue. We walked on the beach holding hands and talking to each other. We played in the sea - went from wetting our feet to getting fully drenched, and still talking.And when no one was looking, managed to kiss while in sea. (I have this fascination of kissing and being kissed at different locations, and sea was on my checklist) I loved my life completely at that moment. Life is indeed beautiful. We went back to our rooms, tired, but heart feeling so light and happy.

We had a quick shower and dressed up for dinner. Before setting out, I took one look at the inviting,  sinful,unfinished chocolate cake and made a mental note to polish it off after we get back.  Well, that is what happens to us foodies, One look is enough to make our hearts go weak and cloud our judgement and calorie-counting abilities. Sigh...
     

V took me out  to a Mexican restaurant, because Mexican cuisine has been on my mind for a very long time now. We placed our orders and there came our fajitas, quesadilas, tortilla, complete with  mashed potatoes, guacamole, salsa, sour cream and margarita to wash it down all with. It was a hearty meal - rich, heavy and full of calories.

After the dinner, we went for a long drive,with love songs playing in the car. It was sooo romantic. I am a big time lover of long drives at night, . Dinner and drive make for a great date. We bought some wine on our way back to the room, drank the wine and polished off the cake. Yes, I have an elephant memory when it comes to food.

The next day, we had our buffet breakfast. I made it  point to eat light, to make up for the previous day's calorie overdose. After that, we spent some time in the pool, which reminded me how great it would be if I could actually swim. My activities in the pool involve walking, sitting (as if I am seated on a chair) and sit-walking (new word coined from sleep walking). But anyways, I enjoyed myself. After spending some time walking around the hotel and clicking photographs, we headed home. We lazed around at home, and suddenly V wanted to go out and watch a movie. But the show was in 10 mins. We got dressed in 3 minutes ( a record for me, I tell you) and drove to the movie hall. The movie began precisely at the time we landed. What a timing!!

Next day, we hit the gym, and I religiously worked out to burn all those calories. Before we left for the gym, I saw V spotting a nervous look on his face and working on his laptop. Some last minute office work, he said. I also knew that he was making some calls. I was surprised that he was tied up with work on a friday, but thought it must be something really important. Even after I returned from the changing room in the gym, I saw him talking on his phone. I climbed on the treadmill and started my walk. I was waiting for him to appear, but he didnt. Twenty minutes, and he is still not seen. "Is he still on the phone?", I wondered. I started getting a bit worried. Something must be terribly wrong. And then I looked at the screen where our myzone belts show how many calories we are burning ,along with our heart rates. V's heart rate seemed really low, and it was going lower and lower, and finally it disappeared. I really panicked, and was about to climb down, and then saw V walking towards me, He told me that he was working out upstairs and that his myzone belt was acting up. I heaved a sigh of relief. I thought he heard some bad news, and his heart stopped breathing. Phew!!

After our workout, V told me that he had bought a lunch voucher from a restaurant, and the validity was expiring this day. So we could just go out and have some lunch. I wanted to protest initially, because of all those calories, but I decided to play along. And after we reached the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friends there. V had teamed up with my friends and gave me a surprise lunch. All those phone calls and worried expressions happened when the restaurant he had booked called up to say that they made a terrible mistake and were out of reservation. I had a tough time making V and my friends narrate out how they planned the whole thing. I was trying to remember all the conversation in the recent past to remember which of that was a cooked up story to cover up this surprise. 

We had an awesome lunch. Again a mex restaurant. Fajitas and quesadilas did a repeat. And lot of other yummy dishes followed. But what stole my heart was the yummy and crunchy cheese stick. After our lunch, we went to the aquarium and marvelled at the water beauties.

I truly had a wonderful birthday that I am going to cherish for a long time.

Europe... Here we come!!! - Part 1

This was the trip that marked last year.  Yes, we took this trip last year, and that too at the peak of winter. Where we crazy??? Yes, we were!!!  I cherish this holiday sooo much that I wanted to relive every moment and document it here.  I wanted to hold on to every memory, and didn’t want any of that to slip into spaces of my mind, from where it cannot be retrieved. Now that kind of detailing requires a whole lot of time, energy.. and well.. patience to go with it. So I waited for the ‘right time’. But even after five months, the right time never came.  Gee! So here Iam, penning down the most exciting parts of my holiday, taking you all through it and reliving it!!

For me, any event or holiday is divided into three exciting parts – 1. Planning for it. 2. Actually experiencing it. 3. Sharing it with people.  Planning for an upcoming event that I look forward to gives me an amazing high, sometimes higher than the high the actual event gives!!!  I remember the time when my sister got married. I drove my then  to-be bro-in-law (now bro-in-law) up the wall with my endless questions, nagging and attention to detail. He still teases me about it, and I precisely remember what he said about my need to discuss about what I want to discuss with someone. Lol! And when my parents and sis toured Europe, I was the one who was most excited about it. I spend hours and days researching about it, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I wanted them to have a great time and also, I was very scared that they would get lost! But when me and V toured Europe, it was a completely different scenario.  V is in the Airline industry and  not surprisingly, he has lot of contacts with the travel industry. So he sorted everything out, sadly with very little input from my end. This dampened my spirits a little. Add to it the fact that, I was down with a vicious attack of gut-wrenching cough.  I had a course of antibiotics, and several other medicines, but with little result.  And V also fell prey to the same kind of cough and was on antibiotics too.  Nobody in their right mind would travel to a cold destination during winter when plagued by bad health. But we did. The travel tickets were booked, hotels were confirmed, leave was sanctioned, and we had dreamt both separately (before we met each other) and together (after we met each other) about this holiday for a long long time. We wanted to explore Europe, experience snow in all its glory and enjoy a white Christmas. So this was the right time. So we packed our backs, said our prayers, resumed our antibiotics and  set off to Europe!!!

                                                   

                                                               (the view from the flight)

                                                     (clicked inside the flight)    



                                            

                                                                    (view just before landing)

Our first destination was  Switzerland. After 7.5  hours of flying,  we landed at the Zurich Airport.  We had booked our hotel at Lucerne, and so had to take a train from Zurich to Lucerne. So without wasting much time, we hurried out of the Zurich Airport. We were  not in winter clothes, so we quickly put on our jackets and gloves.  But as soon as we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted by bone-numbing chillness. As we walked pushing our luggage trolleys, little circles of smoke escaped from our mouths and noses. We looked at each other with wonder and amusement, and giggled like school kids. We walked to the Zurich metro station at the other end, just in time to miss the train to Lucerne. “ If only he hadn’t waited to click that pic at the airport”, I thought to myself. “If only she had walked a bit faster”, I am sure he would have thought to himself.  Anyways, we both were too tired, too sleepy, too excited, too hungry to voice our opinions. So we checked at  the enquiry and realised that we had to wait for half an hour to catch the next train to Lucerne. But the next train from Zurich was in 5 mins, and we could get off on the way (forgot the name of the place) , and catch a train from there to Lucerne. So we did the math and climbed on the next train. Actually, we didn’t do the math.  I thought I did, and he agreed without offering much resistance. And our choice of the train did precious little in time-saving. It didn't help that we both are alien to the art of travelling light. The airlines allowed 30kgs of baggage per passenger, and that is precisely how much we both carried. Switching trains meant that we had to carry that much weight in and out of the train one extra time. That is no piece of cake, I tell you.  But we were bewitched by the scenary that greeted us on our way to Lucerne. That lifted our spirits considerably.
                                                   

 So we reached Lucerne, and walked to our hotel pulling our trolley bags.  Our hotel was too close to hail a cab, and too far to go by foot. But we didn’t want to spend money on the cab. That was an unsaid rule between us. So walked we did.

                                             (yes, we clicked pix while hunting for the hotel)

 

                       
       
                                                    (  All lit up - after all, it was christmas time!!!)

 We climbed a looong flight of stairs carrying our luggage (actually, he carrying)only to realise that we didn’t really have to climb that stairs.  We couldn’t locate the hotel, so I waited at a side-pavement with the luggage offering me company, while he hunted for our hotel. I waited for quite some time, but V didn’t  return. It was getting dark, and there weren’t many people around. The ones around looked a bit..shady. Maybe I imagined that. I began to grow restless. I didn’t have an international number to call him. What if someone had mugged him? I dismissed that thought. But what if someone mugs me? I felt stranded in a foreign land. We had to catch an early morning flight from Dubai. And we spent the whole of previous night packing and repacking, and managed to catch just a couple of hours of sleep. I managed to watch two movies during the flight. Anyways, the cabin crew won't let you sleep, so I thought I might as well watch movies. Eight hours flight, plus two hours of the train ride, and the walk made my legs numb. Oh damn!! I was sleepy, hungry, tired, and did I say I was HUNGRY?  My legs were aching and I sat on the stairs. My ass froze, and I got up with a start. I realized I was nor properly dressed for the winter. I just wanted to cry. There I was .. in a foreign land… alone..  feeling stranded… scared…  tired and hungry… feeling cold.. I just wanted to go home…..

..To be continued...

I feel your love...

"Love is not love, unless it is mad"!!!

​I feel your love..

in ur warm embraces..

in those urgent kisses..

in the half-hearted good byes

and the ecstatic meetings...

I feel your love...

when you hold my hand,

in the midst of mad traffic...

and when you walk behind me

protecting me from the crowd..

I feel your love

when you tip toe outta the room

giving me uninterrupted sleep 

and when u let me stay in the shade

and walk in the sun alone..

I feel your love

in those lingering gazes

in the gentle touches

in your soothing words

and those moments of silence...

I feel your love.

in the stupid fights we make,

and the passionate patch ups that follow,

and when we together pick up

our trampled egos...

​Times will change,  and so will our love...

to more serious, profound and a matured kind

but for now, let us enjoy this love,

while it is still mad, senseless and a crazy kind...

P.S - To our unmarried friends - we are not always 'lovey-dovey'. We do fight like two people who are possessed!

P.P.S - To our married friends - you should know.

Valentine's Weekend Getaway

  

Valentine's day was surprisingly surprising :) You might wonder what that means. I shall explain. Sometimes I 'know' that there is some 'surprise' in store for me. I just don't know what the surprise is. So I just sit back, relax and wait to be surprised. What the heck? I was lying. I get totally kicked about the impending surprise, and keep wondering what exactly the surprise would be. But this Valentine's Day was surprisingly surprising.

My husband is big on the 'days' - Birthdays, Wedding anniversaries, Christmas, Newyears and the likes. Me on the other hand, has been brought up with enough 'wisdom' and  a steady diet of 'cynicism' to think that it is all one big marketing strategy. Buhahaha!! We rarely celebrated such days in my family. Except, maybe birthdays. Birthdays were slightly more elaborate affair. But all other special days mostly involved door delivery and watching Television.  My dad didn't believe in such days. Hence the lack of huge celebrations. My mom believed in all those. Hence the door delivery. And I grew up as a confused child, at the worst; and a flexible child at the best. I was okay with treating all these days as just another day. I didn't get depressed (may be a tad bit disappointed) if I was alone on any of these days. I could easily convince myself that it is not a big deal. But I would secretly wish for a celebration. So yea, flexible that way.

But once I met V, things changed dramatically. Every special day has been made special and memorable hence. But we never celebrated a Valentine's day. Mostly because we were never together for any of the  Valentine's Days. We were away for our first V-day after wedding, and he sent me a cake and a bouquet of flowers. But somehow, I expected this V-day to be a dull one, because we were around 20 months into our marriage - 4 birthdays  (mine 2, his 2) 1 Valentine's day and 1 wedding anniversary down. So I didn't make any grand plans and just bought a card for him.

V called me from work on Thursday noon and told me to pack my bags AND get dressed AND that we were going on a small holiday AND he was going to get me in a couple of hours AND that he will be home for lunch. I should have been excited and jumping with joy. But I hated it. To begin with, I was feeling under the weather and was planning to take the day a little easy, not cook anything for lunch and just eat some leftover. But if V comes home for lunch, I would want to make some proper lunch. That problem was sorted when he offered to get some food delivered at the door. But that doesn't solve everything. A girl needs to pair the right kind of clothes, match it carefully (but should appear carelessly) with her shoes, bags and  accessories. She needs to make sure she doesn't forget her sunscreens. moisturisers and lip balms. And above all, she needs to FIND all those things in her cluttered wardrobe, without that resulting in a clotheslide.(something that can be equated with a landslide). But thankfully, she did  manage successfully. I managed successfully. So off we went to Golden Tulips, Ghantout, Abu Dhabi. We had a very beautiful stay and had a beautiful Valentine's weekend.

                                             The aesthetically-designed interiors

                                                       
                                                                 The surprise V gifts :)

                                             The beauuuutiful pool in which I we spent hours on  end                                      

                                                 My favourite pic clicked on the day

                                                        It is awesome to be surrounded by water

                                            This really makes me want to live in a water-villa :)
 

                                    
                                                    The lovely-looking restaurant

                                             The Valentine's Day dinner - The juiciest Rib eye
                        

                                               Rich & creamy Penne Carbonara

                                          Complete with desserts -Yummy Yummy  Strawberry Cheese Cake

 

                                          And just so-so Caramel Pudding

I had a splendid Valentine's Day - Spectacular locale, cozy room, surprise gifts, lip-smacking food and couple-time. Sorry honey, for throwing a fit and almost calling off the getaway, just because I didn't quite feel like it. :(

       

Hope all you guys had a wonderful Valentine's weekend!