2-0-1-3..Bring it on!

Gosh where has 2012 gone? Whoosh. So quick! To herald a brand new year that brings with it lots of hope, joy and holds promise, I'm doing a special post - 6 categories under which are listed 6 things- why 6? Coz 2-0-1-3 adds up to what again, silly? :P Alright, here goes..

6 "Awesomatic moments" in 2012 - in no particular order.. 

- Sne and Dee's engagement/wedding - 4 fun filled days with family and friends.. togetherness, fun, laughter, food. Just how a wedding should be. 

- Standing in front of the illuminated Eiffel Tower on a cold, windy evening, gazing up at the night sky - something I've always always dreamt of... 

- Waking up on 29th May 2012 and realizing I've completed one full year of wedded bliss with a man I love to bits! 

- Driving a new baby home.. Our Swift! 

- When my bestie told me she was getting hitched! 

6 songs from 2012 that gave me a real high.. 

- Nenjukulle from Kadal - I can't enough of this. Period. Waiting for the movie. 

- Pareshaan from Ishaqzaade - Lovely voice, awesome music by Amit Trivedi, hum worthy.. 

- The Disco Song from Student of the year - An eternal favorite, remixed really well. The dance steps are mind blowing and a great workout number! 

- Paani Da from Vicky Donor - gotta a very different feel to it.. Ayushmann has done a fab job with the vocals. Very enjoyable. 

- Skyfall - Adele - <3 div="div" nbsp="nbsp">

6 driving rules I will keep up this year 

I can't understand how indifferent people are while driving these days. It's no surprise that everyday we find someone dying. I mean it's as if people don't care! Well I do. I promise to drive safely and follow all rules! 

- Stopping at the red signal.. yes even if it is after 10 pm I don't care, I will stop. 

- Staying on the "slow lane" and let others overtake from the right and NOT FROM THE LEFT. People. It's basic driving rules. I get super pissed when this happens!! 

- Carry my papers correctly - including my license, insurance papers etc - err, ok K knows what I'm talking about! And oh yes, always always will wear my seat belt no matter how late I am!! 

- I will let pedestrians cross even if it means braking sometimes. I've seen that in certain roads, it's almost impossible for them to cross over. Of course this requires discretion because sometimes you see these retards that jump from one side to the other, I will never stop for them. But if I see some old person struggling to cross and if it means stopping for one minute, I will most certainly do it. Why? This is something I would HAVE to do if I was abroad. What stops me from doing this here in my own country?? 

- Not honk unnecessarily! Argh. Especially happens when you're waiting for the signal to turn green.. even before the other side traffic has stopped, the guys behind you start honking as if their dear life depends on it. It annoys the crap outta me!! So I will not honk unless absolutely necessary. 

6 things I will learn this year 

- Learn to click nice pictures in a bad@$$ camera ;) 

- Learn to stitch or knit 

- Learn to cook especially bake - yeah yeah - I have a long way to go.. 

- Learn to tie a saree - Stop laughing. Have a lot of weddings to attend this year! 

- Learn to decorate my house - I know the basics but I have a lot to learn in terms of making a house into a home like changing flowers everyday, dusting frequently and keeping things in order 

- Learn to be organized - Haha! ok I sneaked it in here.. It's almost next to impossible for me but hey I'll try. that's why the new year is special, coz it brings hope! :) 

6 "events" I'm looking forward to in 2013 

- Relaxing in a brand new home.. yes yes, my parents have bought a brand new house and the house warming is in January and I can't wait for it to be done up! 

- My bestie's wedding in February!

- Followed by a trip to Delhi for another wedding.. which means yummy chaat and lots of shopping! 

- A Pune reunion - Meeting Sne and Dee in March! Ashwin too, possibly. Hooray! 

- Possible travel to Hyderabad, a city I've never been to for another wedding! Biryani, chudi bazaar etc etc 

- Watching a Mani Ratnam movie and listening to ARR music on the big screen.. Kadal.. I'm waiting! 

6 wishes I have this brand new year...

- A new job!! All my fingers crossed for this one. 

- To be able to wake up early and walk for 30 minutes. Not a big deal in reality, but so very tough especially the waking up early part. Yawn. 

- My family coming together. A sincere wish for this one. With this comes happiness and cheer.  

- Connecting with my friends from school - You know I've not met so many of them in a long, long time. Will be great to have a reunion of sorts! 

- Good health for all - physically and mentally. 

-  And last but definitely not the least, adding a new person in our lives, maybe? Just saying... but hey...you never know.. stay tuned ;-) 

Here's wishing you guys all good things this new year.. Laugh a lot, be happy and live it up! 

Happy 2013 folks :-) 

Happy Thanksgiving :-)

It's Thanksgiving Day in America. I've been fortunate to have celebrated this holiday each year with family & friends while I was in the US. It's that time of year when the family gets together for a nice, elaborate meal and each one takes turn going over what they are most thankful for, they express gratitude and usher in the holiday aka Christmas season. To me Thanksgiving is synonymous with yummy mashed potatoes and apple pie!! It's kinda like our Diwali where food takes precedence over everything else ;-) So I want to take this opportunity and wish all you wonderful people out there a very Happy Thanksgiving! :-) On that note, I will also do my yearly tradition of penning down the things I'm most thankful for...

1. My dear husband, K - I've been with you for over 1.5 years now. It's been a very interesting journey together. Each day has been a learning yet fun experience. I'm thankful for all the things you've taught me - learning to be patient, being more organized, systematic(ok ok I'm getting there!), not to simply waste time comparing our lives to others etc. I'm also so appreciative of the fact that you have started socializing so well with my family. I know it can be so overwhelming at times yet you have been so patient, so nice and understanding about the whole thing. Couldn't have asked for anybody better to spend the rest of my life with! Thanks to you also for all the lovely trips we've done this year - from Madurai to France...not to mention all the louueee u shower me with - thumbs up!
2. My family - If I have to describe my family, I will simply ask that you watch the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". They're exactly like Toula's family - big, loud, in your face... yet most lovable! I've seen members of my family going through up's and a whole lot of downs.. however, the thing I've learnt is that no matter what, you stand beside them. Whether it is financially or just emotionally. I am most thankful to have learnt this from my parents first and then of course a host of aunts and uncles. I'm most thrilled to see our generation of cousins also sticking together come what may, getting together at all functions and having a real blast! And most importantly, there is no negativity surrounding it - things like jealousy, malicious gossip, greed etc. Of course we talk stuff, we make fun but it's definitely all in good spirit. Something that is so rare these days... Super thankful to be a part of this family!
3. My extended family - I should have included my in laws in the previous post, however I felt like they deserve a special mention in here. They are like parents to me, they treat me like they treat their own daughter, they go out of their way to help us out when we need them. My mother in law is such a darling that each time she cooks something, she will ensure that there is something in the menu that I also love to eat. If she makes methi parathas(yuck) this week, the next week she will ensure she will follow it up with aloo parathas(yum). There is simply no differentiation between me and her son. Let me tell you, that is something so rare. Not all MIL's are like that. Period. And my father in law..what do I say about him? He's like a buddy!! He is funny, loud, mad as a hatter yet so caring,generous and lovable. He will do anything for you, anytime. They are both so large hearted and give us so much space. I can simply go on and on about their positive qualities. So thankful to have them in my life. Touchwood.
4. My friends - All of you in Chennai, Bangalore, Kerala, Bombay, US, China, Canada... whichever part of the globe you are in right now... a big shout out to you... After all, what I am today is because of you. We grew up together, we went to school, college, hung out as colleagues.... you've touched and been there for me at some point in my life and I'm so thankful to you..Movies, parties, sleepovers, shopping, gossip sessions, giggling away together... Life simply has no meaning without my buddies... 3 cheers!
5. My health - I am grateful that I am disease free and in good health. These days we read about so many weird complications and life changing medical conditions. I wake up each morning thankful for my physical and mental well being. I promise to take my health seriously and work out religiously and eat healthy.
6. Other materialistic things - Ok I don't know why I'm including these little things but what's life without them right? My lovely home with all the finest gadgets, my iPhone without which I'm so lost while driving(Google Maps ki jai!), my AC which cools me down and my blanket which then keeps me warm when the room freezes, my car which takes me just about anywhere I want to, Facebook which lets me connect with folks from around the world and helps kill time(!), people like Rahman who create god awesome music...I could go on and on. But I shall stop this insanely long post. Keep smiling and be thankful for who you are :-)

Happiness

Yesterday was a doubly happy day for me. I heard some good news from my bestie that made my heart happy in the morning. I can't reveal too many details in here until everything's official, however I'm elated. The day got better when I heard another piece of very surprising yet happy news from someone in the family. Again, I'm sorry but can't reveal what/when/who. You're probably thinking then why the hell blog about it. But like I said, I was happy. Like tears coming out of my eyes kinda happy. Delighted. Surprised. Thankful. I smiled a lot. I  heart my family and friends. The cherry on the cake was of course watching and listening to ARR on Mtv Unplugged. I heard "Nenjukulle" for the first time. Aaah... ARR + Mani Ratnam combo. Sigh. Was lovely. The rendition was so beautiful. Bliss!
Happy listening guys - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPbUfiMDE8Q

The other woman

She entered his life a few days ago and now she coos "Good Morning" into K's ears everyday... When he desires music, he goes to her and she sings his favorite songs... She's the one he goes to when he's bored.. He plays games with her and passes time... He holds her so tight and watches over her like a baby that it makes me all jealous. He gives her so much attention that he barely listens when I speak, I find myself repeating things over and over again! She's next to him all day and even sleeps right next to him at night... Damn you Samsung Galaxy 3!! I hate you with all my heart. 

Wine, Cheese, Haute Couture, Perfumes.. say FRANCE!

La Tour Eiffel! 

So K and I are back from the most amazing trip ever to France! I mean we reached a point where we just didn't want to return and had serious discussions of migrating there permanently. It's usually me that does all that drama when a trip is ending but I can see I am beginning to have an effect on the hubby :P With no further delay, I shall do my best at summarizing our lovely trip to France.
Pre Departure : I live with THE most organized person in the history of mankind. No jokes. Our itinerary was so brilliantly drawn up.. all thanks to him. And the best part was it all went to plan. We researched the net fully.. blogs, tripadvisor ratings, wiki links, iPhone apps which were super useful etc. As expected, K was fully packed 3 weeks in advance while I was still packing 3 minutes before we had to leave to the airport. It helped that K had packed a bag full of general medicines.... thank God for BP tablets ;-) 

Sept. 29th : We left to Paris via Frankfurt and the flight was pretty boring. Not a single good movie. Frankfurt airport was the usual - thousands of people running around to catch their transit flights, grumpy immigration officers and sleepy us. The excitement really kicked in when I heard a flight announcement to Charles de Gaulle in French. That's when it hit me that I'm really headed to a place where I've been wanting to go since I was a teen. I stepped foot on CDG and  I started clicking random pics, went to get our museum and metro passes at the airport counter and started rattling away in French. Not bad. We took at taxi to our Hotel which was in the Marais area, very neat coz it had 2 metro stations close by. You don't need a cab or bus in Paris, the metro goes just about everywhere! And we got a hang of it in no time. First day we did the Bateaux Mouches ride on the Seine. I was told it's called so because the people and the boats(Bateaux) look like ants(Mouches) from the top of the Eiffel Tower. The ride was nice, it was a cloudy, windy evening... we took nice pictures around the place. 

An evening view of the Seine - Bateau Mouches 

We passed out early that night, thanks to a tiring flight journey. 

Day 2 : We stepped out around 8ish. We discovered a lovely Croissanterie next to our hotel. We grabbed some freshly baked croissants, chocolate eclairs(which then became a routine each morning!) and set out to see the Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Bright and early next morning 

It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

Inside view of the Notre Dame when the Mass is in progress 

The best part was the choir. Their voices sounded heavenly!! Don't know if it was extra special coz it was Sunday but it was so amazing. We waited in line and walked to the top and got another lovely view of Paris. And what does K end up loving... The silly gargoyles!! He loved them so much that he kept hunting for table coasters throughout our trip.

The cute gargoyles that were all around Notre Dame 

And in case you're wondering, no they weren't available :-)  Had a hot chocolate at the famous Angelina :) Then for Thata's sake, we did a tour of the "Les Invalides" museum which has Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb, a World War museum etc. When Thata visited Paris many years ago, he had stayed at this particular locality and his wish was that we visit this place.

Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb at "Les Invalides" museum 

We then headed to see the Rodin Museum with its famous "Thinking Man" sculpture. 

Goofy K! 

In the evening we went up the Montparnasse Tower from which the Eiffel view is fabulous! 

The beautiful view from Montparnasse 

Day 3: Our destination was the Louvre museum.  I can see why it's so highly rated.... Fantastic place to spend an entire day. You leave your bags, coat etc at the front desk, grab an audio guide and you embark on a beautiful journey of paintings from different parts of the world. 

The sign says it all! 

Of course the Mona Lisa is very overrated, she's like tiny compared to so many other beautiful paintings :P 

The Mona Lisa 

I particularly loved the one of Napoleon's coronation, the audio guide told me a funny story about how his mother was annoyed that she wasn't invited to be a part of it more so because his wife, Josephine was present!! So finally she was invited and she is depicted with a sullen face in the paining. Cute na? These saas-bahu sagas are world over I suppose! :P Unfortunately, the painting was too huge to be captured on camera. We headed outside, the weather was just perfect. We lazed around a bit by the lovely fountains.

Outside the Louvre

We then headed to the Eiffel.This time we were taking the elevator up the Tower. The Eiffel experience is a must do, but just once in your lifetime is alright. Windy and cold, we got up there and felt on top of the world. Had a nice rose wine while I was up there ;-) 

Cheers! 

Day 4 : I woke up much before K could shake me out!! Guess why? We were visiting Euro Disney!

Yippeee! 

 Like 2 kids on a picnic, we scampered around the entire park, quickly finished all the rides, there was zilch queuing up since it was a working day and then felt as if the park was too small :-( I especially enjoyed riding the roller coasters(fully American style with hands up in the air only to get yelled at by K) sitting in close proximity to my hubby with the cool wind blowing on my face :-) My most favorite ride was the Space Mountain: Mission 2.. We didn't know where it was headed and totally unexpected thrills! 


Day 5: We woke up late and it was a lazy day where we were just going to be strolling to a couple of gardens. The Luxembourg gardens are a MUST SEE! 

Fall colors at the garden 

So beautiful, the flowers, the lawn, the colors and tranquility in the place... Loved it. K took some amazing pics in his D7.. his new lens was the hero!

Amazing colors captured beautifully by K's new lens 

 The Tuileries garden was also nice in its own way. 

I don't get tired of posing :) 

We then crossed across and walked to a row of shops. This area is what "Paris' T Nagar"! K went absolutely crazy.... he had found the perfect place to buy souvenirs. Ok now I need to tell you, he took about 100 Euros just to spend on those crazy stuff. magnets, tees, coasters, beer mugs and medallions!! Each and every place we visited he would buy and at one point I lost it and told him he needs to get a grip!! But I will agree, they had some of the cutest stuff.. Paris bags, coasters, medallions.... they were all super cute. We ate at a pizza place close to our hotel called La Massarra and it was fabulous! Cozy, warm, yummy.... a perfect end to a perfect day.

Day 6: Another early start as we had to take the first train out of Paris to Normandy. Took about 2 hours, I just gazed at the beautiful countryside on our way while K snored. We had booked a full day guided tour at Normandy to take us around the D Day landings, explaining the history of it and so forth. Roelle(pronounced "Rule") was fabulous. I must rate him on Trip advisor, haven't got around to doing that. He chatted non stop, K felt he was putting too much mokkai. But in his defense, he was so passionate about the D day history, in fact he left Netherlands and moved to a place like Normandy just to be close to it and started a business out of it.. this was the first one hour of his mokkai talks! We also had a bunch of others in our van, all of them Americans. No offense, but as expected they asked a zillion questions, 50% of which were so lame! :P Until Roelle finally made up rules and said "Wait to ask your questions coz I will be covering them a little later"! The D day history is not something I was too familiar with nor passionate about. But just standing on that Omaha Beach sort of gave me a weird eerie feeling.... 

The historic Omaha Beach in Normandy

Like he said the day after June 6th, the entire beach turned red in color. Wow..God bless them. And the winds were so strong.. I can't imagine them fighting in that chilly, ice cold water. The German soldiers are crazy. Period. The memorial was serene. The first parts of "Saving Private Ryan" were shot here. And I ensured I came back and watched it and wow! 

The US Veterans Memorial at Normandy 

Post our picnic lunch, we also visited the "Pointe Du Hoc" which was the second series of attacks by the Allies against the Germans during World War II. 

Pointe du Hoc



The beach was lovely. The waves were fierce and it felt so poignant knowing that I was standing on historic soil. 

I took a shell from there as a souvenir, will definitely share this with my kids and grand kids. Before we knew it the day had come to an end and K and we had a late night train into Paris. So we walked around town, ate yummy apple tart with ice cream in honor of Sneha and Mosh's birthdays!! :D 

Normandy's famous apple tart with cream 

Day 7 : My most anticipated day ever.. We were visiting the Chateau de Versailles!! I've learnt and read and watched and heard so much about the place that I've been dying to visit. And let me tell you, it's worth every single minute we spent there. It's massive, it's beautiful, it's fabulous and it's got so much history! 

Front view of the Versailles Palace 

Another view of the sprawling lawn 

The gardens, the paintings, the little nuggets of information you gather.... they all make your visit worthwhile. And I walked so much. First we covered the palace.. The famous Hall of Mirrors included.

Inside the palace 

 Then we walked all the way to visit Marie Antoinette's estate. And then finally to King Louis's private estate.. Apparently this is where he would go to relax.. I'm like dude!!! Trust me, it is gorgeous! 

A view of the garden on the way to the private estate 

I loved being there, reading all the sign boards and enjoyed myself thoroughly. The best part is that I noticed school teachers bringing in kids and explaining France's history via an interactive session. Wow. I would have loved to learn Indian history sitting in front of the Taj or the Qutub Minar.. how interesting does that sound? K spent half the time taking so many pictures, I'm telling you no camera would do justice to this palace. 




And it's no wonder Mr. Mittal chose this palace for his baby girl's marriage.. Lucky Vanisha!! Very reluctantly, I left the palace. I vowed to go back someday :) We ate at Hard Rock Cafe, Paris that night! Wohoo!! 

HRC, Paris!! 

Day 8 : By now, I had seen most of what I wanted to see and I was getting grumpy that it was time to head back to Chennai. Our last day in Paris was here and I didn't want to go back!! The only thing that cheered me up was that K said I was free to blow some money shopping. Yay! First we visited the Orsay Museum which was nice.. but the problem is I'm not much of an art lover so a little hard to describe what we saw!! But if you like art, seriously visit this place.. It was phenomenal! And then to my delight, we headed to Boulevard Haussman to shop which houses some nice brands such as H and M, Mango, Galeries Lafayette etc. I bought 5 bags, 4 shoes, lots of make up and some clothes(most of the clothes out were sweaters/jackets etc and hence didn't do much justice in that section). K also got himself some tees. We were nice and bought stuff for friends and family as well. The finale was at Champs Elysees... 

The most famous avenue in the world! 

Again shopped a bit for others and it started raining so we decided to head back and start packing :-( Dinner was at our favorite Pizza Pino where a waiter chatted with us in Tamil(yup you heard that right!). He thought we were Sri Lankans and he mumbled off a few words in Tamil. We quite enjoyed listening to his prattle. We went back and started packing up.... Oh boy. Paris was too good to be true. I didn't want to come back. And I'm convinced I was Parisien in my previous birth. Reasons :
- I've always had an affinity toward this country... more so when I learnt the language really well. 
- I love shopping. It seemed like the people(note : both men & women) there are always shopping!! 
- I've always had a thing for perfumes and makeup... and needless to say half the good perfumes come from France. 
- Cheese..... their French Onion soup had so much cheese, it's not even funny! 
- They seem to have a thing for history and in case you didn't know.. I love it too. 
Oh so you get the drift right? And I tell you K was German. For sure... Like he loves his automobiles, he can guzzle beers nonstop and he fights with me all the time... German Vs French.. u get it? Iyyo. Ok I'll stop this nonsense. Had a fabulous trip!! This country brings out the romantic in you... whether you are romantic or not! I'm definitely going back there again! Au Revoir Paris.. A bientot! =) 
PS Thanks a ton, K for doing everything possible to make this a super comfy trip for us! Muah! =) 

The world's best hubby!! Thanks a ton! 

Our first ever international trip together!

Guess who will be seeing the Tour Eiffel from the hotel room tomorrow this time? Guess who is going to gorge on desserts in the lovely street cafes? Guess who is going to go maaddddd shopping in Paris? GUESS WHO?!  Ok I seriously need to calm down. But yes, hubby and I are off to France for a vacation tonight.. YES! The country I've always dreamt of visiting since I was a stupid teen at L'Alliance. We leave in a few hours and I can't wait to see every nook and corner of the oh so lovely country of France. Hubby has excelled by preparing a super duper itinerary, will post in here once I'm back.. pics, stories and much more. Stay tuned :-) Au Revoir et A Bientot mes amis! =) 

You'll be missed in Chennai....

Errr. Less than a week to go for my baby sister’s wedding. She leaves to Pune then. I’m sitting here wondering how the hell am I to fit all that I wish to say in one blog post. I mean there’s just so much that I want to tell her. Like tons and tons!! Here’s my feeble attempt though:

Sneha and I grew up together. As only kids to our folks, it was but natural that we hung out together, went to the same school, had a common group of friends, played, watched movies and so forth. I’ve said this in a previous post – Sne was a star! At school, outside, in our family..man she was all over the place! I can’t believe that this lil’ one’s about to be married and is going to be someone’s wife. Shudder. How quickly they grow up! When I was in the US for about 4 years, Sne would be the one to keep me posted on every single happening in India – she’d constantly mail me pics, write on FB and generally would do her best to ensure that I didn’t miss out much. I remember every single mail of hers would end with ---- “Wish you were here, missed you shit loads”!! Haha. That’s Sne and her stupid lingo for u.

We’ve done this together for over 15 years now!  Can’t tell you how much I’m gonna miss you. Here’s to our craziness, Sne...

Younger Days at Trichur Zoo with Vivek, Ashwin & Rajaram

Fun times at Annanagar – school, Achala Vihar, Hema ma’am’s paatu class where we used to speed on our cycles (needless to say in our silly shorts!), movies, having a blast at Thata and Thati’s house with Vivek & Ashwin and then later on with the fun twins, sleepovers at both our homes, giggling away at family get togethers, dance classes with John Britto(!), French classes at Alliance, chaat at Gangotree and Shree Mithai, random pizza moments, hogging away at weddings, engagements and what not(yea we are foodies, what to do!), drives to the beach, kuthu night at Pasha and all the after parties, celebrating festivals – Diwali, Golu hopping, making fun of random mamis(oops), cricket matches at Chepauk and at home, all the fun at my wedding esp DJ Jiju’s dance night, all our trips so far – Kulu Manali, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Yercaud, Coimbatore, Bombay, Goa, Delhi, Simla, Agra, Jaipur, Shringeri..Gosh I could go on and on... but most importantly being there for each other come what may.

Sne and I surrounded by juniors at my wedding - Can it get any cuter? :) 

Snuggy, you’re about to be married and I can’t think of a better person that you could have chosen. The few times that we’ve hung out with D, he seems so apt and perfect for a nut job like you! ;-)   I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, togetherness, fun times and everlasting love!

All Smiles - At Sne's engagement on Jan 29th 2012 

Hangin' out with Sanju at Mysore 

Congratulations darling and sending lots of good wishes your way! Waiting to have a blast this week. 

Love you tons and stay happy always. Muah! J

Leaving you with a song that we tripped on at Pasha - will make me think of you each time I listen to this. Damn!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4DtUy_mp_o

Burberry's new fragrance!

K and I went shopping this weekend. Well actually he wanted to buy some shoes, perfume etc. I just tagged along. And needless to say I got distracted when I reached the perfume section. I was off in a jiffy to try out some new fragrance.. And then I came across this one.. Burberry Body. My next buy for sure! Try it.. I assure you will love it! :-)

A feel good factor

I recently started dance classes at a nearby gym. More from a workout perspective rather than actually learning to jive. The first couple of classes were quite normal.. as in I would go, do the warm up exercises, learn the moves and get back home. The crowd was ok, I really didn't feel like making conversation with any of those people. During my 3rd or 4th class, I was casually chatting with my instructor who is one of those "super shy guy types". The dance masters that I have met  are usually strict and speak only in English, hence whenever I speak to this guy, I would converse in English. During this particular conversation, I happened to say something in Tamil and he looked at me in real shock. So when I quizzed him on his horrified look, he said he thought "I was a North Indian, from Madhya Pradesh". Dude. Wtf. Clearly, this was a shocker for me too. Coz anyone that's seen me would never agree to this. I look every bit South Indian as far as I'm concerned. So I just smile and say "Ille Sir, I'm very much from Chennai only". And then we continue talking.  And then as most dance instructors do, he also tends to extend class beyond the one hour time frame and I start getting restless because I have to get back home and feed the poor hubby. So one such class, I put my foot down and told him "I'm sorry I need to get going 'coz I have a starving husband at home whom I need to feed".

What's the point of this entire nonsensical post -- Read on...

When I walk into my next class, he calls me and says " You know you don't look married at all!! The entire class agreed! I thought you were a 3rd year engineering student. You look so young". 

Whoop! Whoop! Point made. Off u go now. Sorry to have wasted your time.. But I'm singin' "I feel good".. 

Love Smchove!

The hubby and I share what I would like to call a "love hate" relationship. There are times when we love each other so much that you'd think there couldn't be a more perfect couple and could make you wanna gag.  On the other hand, we have such scary fights and we literally throw things at each other that makes me wanna believe that the so called "love" flew out the window! We are extremely incompatible in most things. It is always a struggle for us to come to a decision even when the matter on hand is as simple as booking a movie ticket. Sigh. I know we both need to grow up! I should have listened when I read that Taurus and Gemini are completely mismatched.. Can u tell I came straight here fresh from a fight? Urgh. 

Our lovely getaway to Kodai!

As a kid I would visit Kodaikanal at least once every 2 years I think. My memories of that place are so vivid. This time I visited with the better half to celebrate one year of putting up with each other! ;-) 

We stayed at the Villa Retreat which was a perfect choice(pat myself on the back). Do check out my review of the place in Trip Advisor. This was the first time we traveled together by train and that was quite fun. We went by 1st AC and had an entire coupe to ourselves, we were good kids I promise! ;-) 

We reached on Saturday morning and boy the weather was fantastic!! We freshened up, relaxed, gorged on hot rotis and dal, read and slept. When we woke up, our room offered a lovely valley view and we took in the beauty of the place....

We then headed for a stroll to "Coakers Walk" which was right next door and then took a nice long walk to the famous "lake". Boy. It felt as if the entire South India converged there. Kodaikanal is of course one of the most popular "honeymoon" destinations in India. With its great weather, summer time always pulls in crowds from all parts of the country!! Hence it was so crowded and needless to say, K freaked out. We were lucky to find a nice quiet spot and he started clicking away.. And finally got some pics as pretty as this.... 

Next morning the dude at our resort suggested a trip to "Manavanoor Lake". Like I said, I've seen it all in Kodai. At least that is what I thought. Until I discovered this beauty!  Manavanoor is about 45 km away from Kodaikanal and wow.. we thoroughly enjoyed the drive. It takes about an hour, but we took almost 2.5 hours to reach.. that is because we kept stopping on our way to take in the beauty of the place... 

Enroute.. a scenic view overlooking the Palani Hill... 

Pine Forests with a small stream on our way to Manavanoor... 

Don't miss the "Poomparai" village on your way. It is completely green, surrounded by mist sometimes and has lovely terraced grass fields. Apparently vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower and even garlic are grown here... 

We then reached closer to the lake and were told we could "horse ride" close to the actual lake. And of course I didn't miss this opportunity! And once we reached this is what we saw... 

Needless to say, this is said to be a popular spot for directors to shoot movies... our guide said movies like Adhavan, Tenali, Manmadhan Ambu etc have been shot here. But what was lovely is that there was not a single person in sight. It was just the two of us, surrounded by a lovely still water lake, lush greenery around us and birds chirping.... So pristine it was! We finally decided to head back and thanked our driver who was extremely courteous and informative - he even pointed out a flying squirrel on our way back, which unfortunately we couldn't click. 

Day 2 we decided to head to another unknown spot called the Berijam Lake.This is actually a forested area and hence we had to get prior permission to visit. And we got lucky again :) 

En route to the lake, we stopped at various "points"... and wow. Breathtakingly beautiful views!!! 

Unfortunately, it started pouring and we couldn't get as many pics as we would have loved to-- sample this.. 

Err.. yes that is me.. posing like an idiot thinking my husband is shooting my picture... Oh well! 

We then enter the actual forest area, the cute little houses are actually places where travelers can stay.. Would love to stay there someday! 

Then we keep walking and keep on walking until we reach Berijam Lake... Unlike Manavanoor, this seemed to be quite a popular spot and there were tourists thronging the place... and with that comes litter, rubbish, garbage, plastic and lots of noise!! However, I was mesmerized by this lovely lake.... 

Another view from a different angle... 

After spending about half an hour taking in the beauty of the place, we decide to take a short walk and went through what looked like a nature trail.... thankfully there wasn't a soul around and it was back to being quiet again..just how we like it... 

We then head back coz by now the clouds are looming and we know it is going to pour!! On our way back out of Berijam, we see this... Apparently called "Caps Valley" because the story is that if you throw a cap, it will come back to you!! Wished I could have tried it...

The next day we did the usual "touristy" spots which were nothing compared to these two places... I am for once glad that the Tamil Nadu Government isn't actually promoting any of these places aggressively... because I realize the more exposed they are to humans, the sooner they lose their charm. However, the next time you head to Kodai, please visit these without fail! And Do Not Litter for heavens sake! ;-) 

You can certainly give the likes of Guna Caves a miss! 

A lovely surprise was eating at "Tava".. I've eaten here with my parents and the rest of my family years ago.. It is still the same small eatery that serves delicious parathas, dal makhani and the likes... K and I treated ourselves to a yummy meal after completing a full round of 7kms in our bicycles around the lake! Missed my family so much.... reminded me of our Sterling Resort days... I really want to do a trip with them soon!! 

Leaving you guys with a few more pics that tell us how wonderfully blessed Mother Earth is...... Nature at its absolute best! 

PS I almost forgot.... thanks a ton, Karthik for these lovely lovely pictures!! Keep on clickin' :-)