Christmas Vacations- Day3- Karwar

We were 11 people alltogether. 7 adults, 1 boy and 3 children. They had water sports at the resort. snorkelling, banana boat ride, tube surfing etc. 4 of them wanted to do snorkelling. so, they went at 11am in the morning on 26th december. the remaining members went for a dolphin ride around the island and tried our hand at fishing but were not lucky. By the time the team returned from snorkelling it was time for lunch. we had lunch, waited for some time and then went to the beach again. Had a great time going on the banana boat ride (not me - once was too much for me when i did it 5 yrs ago in Goa). then we went tube surfing which was really good. Speed boat ride and by the time we finished all this it was so dark, the sun had set in the horiaon leaving behind a bright orange-pink sky. The kids were also tired for trek back up. So, we took a speed boat to the jetty as it was easier to climb a few steps. Had a lovely dinner and the kids went to sleep early as they were really tired after a full day and playing in the water. the adults got to sit and chat late into the night and we ended the day with a lot of fun & frolic.

Christmas Vacations- Day2- Karwar

We left Dandeli at 8am on 25th Dec to go to Karwar. We had our booking done in "The Great Outdoors" private Island resort. We had a group of friends whom we were joining there. They came by sleeper coach as the kids were too wired to travel by car. We had breakfast on the way and reached Karwar at 11am. We went to the jetty and the boat was waiting to take us to the island. Our friends who were with us in Dandeli had not got the booking in the island but someother resort. They dropped us to the boat and went on their way. The boat ride to the island was about 20 minutes. We reached the island and our friends had already settled there and gone to the beach. I just fell in love with the place at first sight. Wherever u turned, you just saw a vast expanse of clear blue water. It was so calm and peaceful there like the time had stilled completely. I never checked my phone for time for the 3 days we were there. We had sumptuous buffet lunch, rested for a while and went trekking to the beach. we had to walk across and down the island to go to our own private beach. It was simply out of this world. it was more like a small beach with huge rocks on both the sides and there are no huge waves and the water is not salty at all. We could just leave the kids also to play without any worries. We were there till about 6pm and then started the trek back up which was really tiring with 3 small kids in tow. We finally made it to our tents and took bath and changed. There was a camp fire and gud food. The kids were also on their own. It was very easy for all of us to feed the kids and be done with it. finally we settled in for the night with the sounds of the night which is difficult to find here in the middle of the concrete jungle :-)

Christmas Vacations - Day1- part 2

We got refreshed after the night journey and my hubby had to have a nap as he had driven the whole night. We had lunch and were resting there in the guest house till about 2pm in the noon. We did not do the white water rafting as we had small kids with us. We went to see the Synthery Rocks falls which was about 20kms from where we were staying and the drive was beautiful with narrow, winding roads. we had to go down for about 150 odd steps and the falls was simply breathtaking. Synthery rocks are huge rocks which are carved over time due to the water force. It was an awesome place. The climb up was very difficult. From here we went to Ganesh Gudi which is the place where people go to do the rafting. Some of the best resorts are there. We went in to the Bison River resort to check if we could atleast go for a coracle ride but they had just finished the last ride for the day.
We went back to our guest house and those people had organized a camp fire and the temperature was freezing cold. We had dinner and slept a little early as we had to go to Karwar next morning.

Christmas Vacations- Day 1- Part 1

In my earlier organization i used to have shut down during Christmas. Unfortunately after changing my job to a different company I dont have any holidays. So, earlier in the month i had decided I would take a few days off to coincide with my daughter's holidays. My friends told me in the beginning of December that they were planning a trip during the Christmas weekend and they were off to Karwar. So, I had a brilliant idea as usual and suggested my husband that we shud travel on friday night and go to Dandeli as we had never been there. So, the day finally arrived and we left on friday night at 11.30 from BLR to Dandeli. We made it to Dandeli by 7am in good time.

right now, my husband is taking rest as he drove all the way from BLR to Dandeli. so, we are also kind of resting now after the journey. Not planning to go rafting but we are going to check out a few places of interest after lunch. So, I will update the 2nd half later

Chao

My New Nikon D3100

2 weeks ago, on sunday - the day of my cousins wedding. The festvities were all over and we were sitting and chatting away. Earlier in the morning, was telling hubby dearest that if we had a SLR we could have clicked real good quality pictures. So, when we are all sitting & chatting he suddenly says -"come, lets go check out an SLR camera"! I should have known better after being with him for almost 8 years, the meaning of checking out -
1. The model has already been checked and researched on the vast internet
2. It is also checked out from various outlets
3. Not less than a week has been spent on this exercise
4. then the final verdict has been reached to buy the camera
5. That is why all this - "come lets go check out for a SLR" :-)
So, Off we went to the nearest Croma outlet. He goes to the camera section directly, looks at the Nikon D3100 nothing less and says we will buy this. Gets it packed in minutes, comes out and says - "here, this is your gift - advance valentine's gift!!" :-)))))
I am the proud owner of a Nikon D3100!!!! hurraayy!!!!
Now comes the most difficult part. I NEED A TUTORIAL!!! QUICK!!!!!!
Anyways, the wedding is over and there are no more photos to click so everything is left to practice. I see the manual which is like 200 pages. 200 pages??? are you kidding me? I cant possibly read all that.......I need a tutorial quick as I am off on a holiday - Christmas weekend! it is almsot around the corner now!

Mother-Daughter Dinner Out!

The other day, I came back home from work and on the way called hubby to ask what time he is back from work so we can go to the gym early? he tells he might need to go out of town right away on some urgent business. So, I was put off and decided my daughter and me would go out for dinner. Just the 2 of us. We decided on "Eurasia" - the veggie Italian Reatuarant closer to home. We took an auto as I was afraid that she would fall asleep on the bike, on the way back. But still she had her 10 minutes of zzzzzzzzz on the way to the restaurant :-)!
We went into the restaurant. I ask her what soup she wants and she comes back saying, "TOMATO SOUP" - same old, same old I say, just like her father - doesnt want to try anything new at all!!!! Then inbetween all this, she goes and stares at other's plates - I mean really!!! what should they think?? that I dont feed her and so she does that!!
I had to get up from my seat like thrice to bring her back to her seat in a span of 30 minutes.
For main course I ordered the 4-cheese Risotto on a friend's suggestion - and it was super yummy!!! both of us enjoyed it a lot and got a doggie bag home as i couldnt completely finish it on my own.
We went to Polar bear after for an ice-cream and then went back home - 2 hours well-spent.
Qualitywise!!! I am thinking we should do it often now that she is growing older!!!!

"Ghazalon Ke Kaynat Ka Chamakta Sitara"

The title is how the 94.3 radio one folks described Jagjit Singh. He has been gone on for journey towards the after life. May his soul rest in peace!
Its been a few days since Jagjit Singh passed away but he has left us all with treasure trove of beautiful songs to depict our soulful moods and melancholy...
I was thinking about the rich songs of his and thought I should give an Ode to him by picking some of my favourite songs from his collection.
1. Hoton se choolo tum mera geet amar kar lo -
2. Hoshwalon ko samajh kya
3. tum itna jo muskura rahe ho, kya ghum hai jisko chupa rahe ho
4. Jab koi baat bigad jaaye, jab koi mushkil badh jaaye
5. tum ko dekha toh yeh khayal aya
6. Shaam se ankhon mein nami si hai
7. jhuki jhuki si nazar
8. Kiska chehra ab main dekhoo tera chehra dekh kar