Christmas In Mumbai

I'd absolutely love it if it snowed. This season I was an absolute Grinch! At work and at home...
Christmas in Mumbai is well boring. It's up to you to spread that Christmas cheer.

Hoping it will snow

At my cubicle at work, all decked up

Ha! 

A few days to...

my favorite festival in India - Ganesh Chaturthi  

Preparations begin months in advance, sometimes a whole year goes in designing the idol for the upcoming year. But rest can be assured of creativity hitting greater heights every single year. 

This time on I have my friend Mangesh Bhadye on board, sharing his pictures as he captures the festivals in its true element. See more of Mangesh's work on his blog.  

In a few days it will be time for the festivities, till then check out these pictures which will give you an insight into what goes into the preparations.

An artisan coating the Ganesh idol with plaster of Paris

The idol of Lord Ganesh under construction

Work in progress

Showering blessings on all

Lord Ganesh, the God of wisdom and prosperity

Lonavala. Khandala #fail!

The weekend was supposed to provide the perfect break from the hustle and bustle a metropolitan city like Mumbai can engulf you in. My brother was in town and so we decided to drive down to Lonavala and chill out there for the next two days. Unfortunately for us, the rest of Mumbai also thought about the same.

So here we are in Lonavala, caught in a terrible traffic jam. If I wanted a traffic jam, I would have spent the day in Mumbai! That’s the  #fail moment no.1.

#Fail no 2 follows soon.  The places of interest – lake, Kava caves, some monkey feeding point and views of the valley below are all such big letdowns. I went with low expectations and came back with even lower opinions of these places.

#Fail no 3. Accommodation in these places suck. Hotels were crappy that we packed our bags and made our way back by evening. Even a 3 star was freaking expensive. I wasn’t going to pay 5K for a night and that too for a room that wasn’t well maintained.

Lonavala was crappy and so was Khandala. By mid afternoon my brother’s friend joined us from Pune. The lunch was sumptuous – Chicken Tandoori, Butter Chicken and Rotis. We checked out a couple of other places to stay, not worth a mention, and then decided to head back.

The only thing that was worth this trip was the drive out of the city and being able to put some much needed miles on my new car. On my drive back, I couldn’t help but think about the Lonavala years back when we had come here on our school summer break… so beautiful and untouched. Now it’s simply commercialized! 

When Jo goes to Boot Camp!

I just love it when my job takes me places. I love to travel and get super excited at any given opportunity to do so. So come Friday and we get to travel to the outskirts of Mumbai for the Toyota Fortuner Boot Camp. I have always been a fan of Toyota since I was a little girl and my uncle used to work for them. I’ve heard it all from a young age how Toyota cars are awesome with great engines and superior technology. Now was a chance to actually witness it all.

We had to left Mumbai city by 9.30am, just as everyone was getting to work (ha ha losers). Hitting Pune-Mumbai expressway we were lashed with a heavy downpour. But that aint stopping us. An hour and half later we were there. The Boot Camp was held just off the Khalapur toll booth, off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

From boot camp

Spotting some signs to the camp we drove to the track. The event saw an introductory session of the Toyota Fortuner to the media… Oops! That’s us. It was real weird being considered as “media” them press types. I could wait for this to end and the raw action to begin. Grr... I had to remind myself that we were also here on work. I had to blog officially when all I wanted to do was jump around in the mud.

From boot camp

The Boot Camp saw the Toyota Fortuner’s going all out on a 3-km obstacle course.  We clicked some pictures of others in action before it was time to test the track ourselves.  Options to have an instructor drive you through it or drive yourself. Uh for us, all of us wanted to drive. Even I. But these boys I tell you! I might be just over 5feet but for the record I can see well above the wheel and my feet reach the pedals :P

The drive gets started in the Toyota Fortuner with Mihir behind the wheel. Well even sitting in the backseat one could feel the true power behind this machine. We went through a big puddle, where in you almost sunk to the bottom and the slush drowning you. Tackling steep ascents and incline, to driving the car at angles you feel it will topple, you just cannot help but feel amazed with the capabilities of the 4WD. It was my first ever experience in a 4WD being driven through an amazing and challenging track and I must say I was all WOW about it.

From boot camp

Oh and I did get to also experience a Toyota Land Cruiser. Man oh man, what a car! You just sink into the leather and there’s nothing the car doesn’t have. I was almost tempted to sell everything I own and live in this car. The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado too was on display. Again I must it is an awesome machine.

Not too soon, the proud owners of the Toyota Fortuner's came rolling in and it was really wonderful to see the anticipation on their faces of putting their 4WDs through what it is meant to do.

From boot camp

Do check this pics to see how our day unfolded.


All good things come to an end. And it was time for us to pack up and head back to Mumbai.

Hey also do check the Toyota Fortuner Blog for more updates.

Day 35: London - Turkey - Mumbai - Goa

It was time to go! Our bags packed we rode the tube for the last time to Heathrow Airport. Thankfully Ryan came to drop us. I was sad to go but excited to be at an airport. Simply because it takes me to newer places. And Heathrow airport is mighty and beautiful. A lot of people might not think so, but I loved it. It's no way flashy like the Dubai Airport but a mighty one it is. 

Stepping off the Tube, we walk into the airport. I say bye to my cousin Ryan and thank him for sheltering us while in London and also for feeding us with amazing dishes. But I have to leave, reality is calling me back. 

Damn I am overweight in luggage. Lucky the Turkish Airlines official let me go without paying a pound. Did I say, I gave her my widest smiles? 

After some duty free shopping which involved picking up brandy for my papa, some chocolates for my mama and brother, all we had to do was wait to take off. Not soon we come to know our flights beeen delayed. Holy shit! I have connecting flights all the way to Goa. London - Turkey, with a stop over for 3 hours at Istanbul. Our flights delayed again at Istanbul. That gives me a bracket of less than 2 hours to make it from the International airport to the domestic one in Mumbai, from the initial 7 hours. In Mumbai I had to request security to cut line as I had to hurry to catch my connecting flight to Goa. 

So preoccupied I was here, that I failed to see Bonnie, then my bestest friend and now my husband, waiting to welcome me back. Tanaya spotted him and I was so glad to see him come. We then raced our way to the domestic airport, where you can say Jet Airways was practically holding the flight to Goa for me. I was whisked away in a special van to the aircraft and got a lot of dirty stares from passengers for delaying them. Not my fault I say. 

In Goa, my Mama and Papa were there to welcome me. How happy was I to see them. Hugs all around. So many questions. And my Mom still aghast that I went half the world across alone. :) Anyway there was a homecoming party. My extended family was there to know where I went, what I did and how I achieved this dream of mine. The end of it, everyone was envious. I can only look back and think WOW!

Day 1: Mumbai – Istanbul - Rome

LOST! – 2 brown skin girls in Europe

A mini-adventure series starring me & Tan

Mumbai, 2;30 am IST

I am sitting at the Mumbai International airport, immigration checks all done. And I am super excited as one can be. It is my first solo trip to Europe, without family, just me and my girlfriend Tan. It was my dream to roam the streets of Europe and today I am on the way to doing just that. Still got an hour and half to leave this country, so till then bear with me.

Well the evening started with a relaxed goodbye-have-a-blast-dinner at Six Degrees. For those of you who don’t know where that is, it’s at the Leela’s in Mumbai. Freaking expensive (thank God I dint have to pay for it :P), but I so enjoyed this time spent together, considering I would be away for the next 35 days without anybody stalking me :).

We then made our way to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and then it was all goodbyes.

From here on it’s the usual shit the make you go through. And there are damn huge mosquitoes in the airport! Looks like they are making the most of sucking on my brown skin.

Ok cool its time for my flight, Turkish Airlines here I come. Bye bye Mumbai!

I have no memories of my journey across the skies. I was out as cockroach, or Tan says.

Istanbul Airport, Turkey, 11.15 am Turkish Time

(Applause)Tan sets afoot on foreign soil for the first time & … she felt cold! For all of you wondering Tan is, well she is my colleague at work and a good friend and a person who had the misfortune to be my travelling partner.

I for a matter of fact, couldn’t care less. I wanted to spot the Turkish GP circuit from the skies, which I think I did. My head is hurting as hell. I am super hungry. And amazingly I am homesick! And trapped for the next 6 hours at Istanbul International Airport.

So with nothing better to do, we eat. I just spent some 12-11E on food!!! Everything is expensive and its not even day 1. But I am lovin’ it! And here are some lines I came up with while drowning down my lunch.

So many faces

So many different nationalities

Yet we come together in one place

Everybody has a place to go

Everybody has to destination they must reach

And then there’s me

Who wants to see

David, the Monalisa & the Sistine Chapel

as far as my eyes will allow me to see

The next few hours were spent in a blur, sitting opposite the duty-free shop and watching everyone go bye.

Ta-ta Istanbul it’s time for my connecting flight to Rome :)

Rome, Italy, 9.15 pm Italy time

We finally made our way. After getting lost a million times at the terminal! From Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport to Roma Termini, surprisingly we made our way unscratched. Finding our hotel was a task but we did it. Got help from a hot Italian guy and life was beautiful :)

Later in the evening once I freshened up and all, Tan and I sat in a bar. Not a bar bar per se just a hangout joint. Anyway since we were lost finding our hotel, I got to see Rome and the living quarters side of it.

Tomorrow we explore Roma...