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Divar Island 2024
So in one of my previous posts I had written about a trip to Divar island and this time again i wanted to show my daughter the La Isla Bonita ( The Beautiful Island ) and hence on a rainy day we set off for the place. We had a rented car and we reached the Old Goa Ferry Terminal and from there caught a ferry to Divar Island. There ferries are quite frequent, one every 10-15 miinutes during the daytime and you can take your 2 or 4 wheeler vehicle on the ferry too for a nominal fee. These ferries are the lifeline of the local community travelling between…
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Coorg , India’s Eden
So for the longest time I have heard so much about the natural beauty of Coorg In Karnataka in India and have been eager to visit the place and see if it lives up to the hype.. ( TL, DR ..Yes It Does. ) and recently just before the rains started I got a chance to visit it for a few days. I had also heard about the Taj Property in Madikeri and about how it was one of their most beautiful property and so I made a reservation there. The nearest Airports to Coorg are Mangalore 140 kms away and Mysore, around 120 kms away. We flew in to…
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San Francisco : Bridge to Bridge Cruise & The Palace of fine Arts
So recently I had a chance to stay for around a month in San Francisco, California. San Francisco is supposed to be an amazingly beautiful city with an amazing vibe and I found that to be certainly true, the whole city seems to be like a museum on display. One of the first things we decided to do was book a bridge 2 bridge cruise by a company called The Red & White Fleet. They are quite highly rated on Tripadvisor and that’s why chose them. All their cruises depart from Pier 43 1/2 in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf. This 90 minute cruise starts from near the Bay Bridge,…
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One Horizon Center , Golf Course Road, Gurugram
If you were to ask a Gurgaon resident which location has multiple fine dine joints at the same place, chances are the answer would be Cyberhub or 32nd Avenue or Sector 29 or Ambience Mall or even Worldmark Gurgaon. While all the above places have some excellent joints and are very popular with the Delhi / Gurgaon , One place which I often prefer above all these places is One Horizon Center at Golf Course Road Gurugram. It really has some Amazing Restaurants.. let’s take a tour of some of them Comorin Comorin was recently ranked 69th best Restaurant in Asia by World’s 50 Best and that certainly is a spectacular…
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Goa Feb 2022 : Antares , Titlie & Mikey’s Place
Antares Restaurant & Beach Club So even before going to Goa, I had a lot of buzz about Antares Restaurant & Beach Club. It describes itself as “MODERN AUSTRALIAN WITH AN ASIAN INFLUENCE” . It is helmed by Sarah Todd who was of course a Masterchef Australia finalist. Her love for Indian food and culture is well known and she has put her heart and soul into this venture. As we were celebrating a special occasion, we ended up for dinner there . The Stunning location is of course the stretch over Vagator cliffs where many posh joints like Bo Tai , Titlie , Yaha etc are situated. The famous…
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WorldMark Gurgaon : New Kid on the Block
WorldMark is a very well known name in Delhi-NCR and the First one came up in Aerocity, New Delhi and is a sought after destination. Now Gurugram ( Gurgaon ) has its very own Worldmark , situated in Sector 65 in Golf Course Extension. The new kid on the block is no slouch either. A lot of it is still under completion because it got delayed due to the COVID situation but it is already a go-to location since a lot of nice eateries and shops are already functional there. Some of the attractions already present there: PA PA YA PAPAYA is one of most popular Asian Bistro right…
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The Disney Parks : Stuff Dreams are made of…
So not so long ago we found ourselves in Orkando for a week and I have previously written about my experience at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaverel , The Universal Studios Park, Orlando and Helicopter Rider over Orlando & hoverboat tour , Everglades…. but one of the biggest ( the biggest ? ) attractions in Florida is the Disney Parks and we couldn’t go back without doing that…. Now there are countless places on the net which tell you the strategy on how to complete the various parks in 1/2/3 days so I wont go into that but I will say that you should certainly pick a weekday…
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Bangkok 2019 : City that Never Sleeps
So after a Koh Samui Trip which was very nice , we headed to Bangkok for some shopping and chilling before coming back to India . In the last couple of years this was my 2nd trip to BKK, you can read about my previous trip part 1 here and Part 2 here . Like Last time I had booked us in the Chatrium Riverside Hotel and the 2 bedroom river view suite there is something truly magnificent. You can read my detailed review of the hotel here. The first which I want to mention in Bangkok is Cafe Corgi in the garden . My kids told me about this…
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Kovalam : The Essence of Kerala
So recently I had a few days to spare and since I have visited Goa and Kochi/Kumarakom mutiple times in recent years, I decided to head to Pondicherry ( Puducherry ) and Kovalam. After staying in Pondicherry for 3 days, we drove down to Chennai Airport to catch a flight to Thiruvananthapuram . After a short flight of around 50 minutes we landed at our destination and the first thing i liked about Kovalam is that it is situated so close to the Thiruvananthapuram airport from where it is a 20 min. drive depending upon where you want to go in Kovalam. I had booked us in Taj Green Cove…
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Bangkok Confidential Part 2: Wat Arun, Sky Bar at Lebua & Asiatique the Night Market
In my Previous Post I showed you the Canals of Thonburi and the Orchid Farms in Bangkok. One question which often gets asked about Bangkok is which area to stay in. While the answer to that is more complex than I can tackle, I do feel that if one is going mostly for tourism purposes, it makes sense to stay by the riverside. The Chao Phraya river is an integral part of the local ecosystem, not just a scenic river which flows through the city. I has booked myself in a Hotel / Apartment called The Chatrium Riverside and my suite was on the 32nd floor.It was more of an…
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Bangkok Confidential : Life in the Canals and Orchid Farm
So in my previous 2 posts I showed you the Exotic Beaches of Phuket and the Wondrous Phang Nga Bay Before going to Phuket, I was in Bangkok for a few days and from what I had read about the place, I was fascinated by the The Khlongs ( canals ) of Thonburi in Bangkok . Having stayed an independent province until it was merged into Bangkok in 1972, Thonburi – the old Bangkok capital situated on the western banks of the Chao Phraya River – has avoided much of the modern development seen elsewhere. Its man-made network of khlongs, including Khlong Mon and Khlong Bangkok Noi, retains much of…
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Phuket : The land of Exotic Beaches
In my previous post I showed you the peerless beauty of Phang Nga bay and the amazing island of Ko Panyee. Apart from that I spent a couple of days in Phuket roaming around the place and I was very impressed with not just the natural beauty but also how good the infrastructure and cleanliness . the roads are very good and the beaches as you will see in the pictures below are immaculately maintained. After doing some research I decided to stay in the Holiday Inn Resort at Patong . I generally prefer staying in the middle of town , not far from the madding crowd. I stayed in…
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A Day in Phang Nga Bay , Phuket, Thailand : Paradise Found
Let me say it right upfront…I have never seen such natural beauty such as I saw in Phang Nga Bay. Distinguished by its limestone karsts jutting out of the emerald-green Andaman Sea, Phang Nga Bay is a must-see excursion from any trip to the Thai islands of Phuket or Krabi. Beach and nature fanatics will be in their element, with caves, lagoons, and secluded beaches all part of the stunning landscape. Phang Nga Bay tour is one of the several full day speedboat tours you can take from Phuket and I believe all the other choices are also very good, some of the other choices being Phi Phi– which…
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Jodhpur Diary Part 1 : Umaid Bhawan Palace & Mehrangarh Fort
So with a couple of friends I traveled to Jodhpur, never having been there, fascinated by the desert to which I had never been. Jodhpur is also known as the Blue City . I was fortunate enough to stay at Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace . This hotel was voted by Trivadvisor in 2016 as the Best Hotel In the World. That’s right, In The World. I must say the interiors as well as the grounds of the hotel/palace really exudes luxury and royalty at every step. Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the world’s largest private residences. A part of the palace is managed by Taj Hotels , Named after Maharaja Umaid Singh, grandfather of the…
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Taj Mahal Diary ..Pictures unseen and the hidden symbols you did not know about
So since I had some friends over from overseas who wanted to see the Taj Mahal in Agra, on a friday morning we left New Delhi for Agra. We took the Yamuna expressway by which you can reach the Taj Mahal in less than 3 hours from New Delhi. While it is among the best expressways in India, I would strongly suggest you to travel on this road during the daytime as far as possible because it is an extremely accident-prone road and it should be especially avoided during the extreme foggy periods of December end to January beginning. Soon we reached the majestic monument and our very knowledgeable guide…
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Thalassa and The Fisherman’s Wharf : amazing restaurants in Goa.. Part 1
If there is one restaurant which gets talked about a lot in Goa among visitors, I would say it is the greek Taverna, Thalassa. Cuisine: Greek, Mediterannean Started by Mariketty who hails from the beautiful island of Corfu,Greece ( Gerald Durrell anyone? ) it has a view to kill for, looking out into the Arabian Sea over the hills of vagator. And trust me, the food is as good as the view and while I have been there only during the daytime, I believe they have amazing greek dance performances in the evening. I personally think the best time to go to this restaurant is just before sunset as you can…
