Turkey_2014

For our vacation this year, the hubs and I decided to travel to Turkey. We traveled in October and couldn't have asked for better weather conditions! And that was one good decision we made! Turkey is so beautiful, vibrant and touristy :)
We(K!) had made a list of places to visit and of course, a detailed itinerary was drawn up much in advance. And hey in my defense, this time I did take time out to read and jot down places that I wanted to visit. And no, it wasn't just the shopping areas :D

Day 1 at Istanbul began in a frenzy and certainly not the way we anticipated. We flew Etihad Airways and we were told that our baggage was not traceable. We panicked. We had no jackets and it was freezing outside! I had another problem, a slightly more expensive problem. You see, the clever girl I am, I decided to leave my wedding ring(diamond) in my luggage and didn't bother telling K about it. Don't ask me why. I am very random that way!! K was super pissed off. Uh oh. What a horrid start!
We filled out some paperwork, gave all our details. We were told it was still at Abu Dhabi and we should get it within 24 hours. They would call our hotel to confirm and would drop it off. Fair enough. Saying all the prayers we knew, we left the Ata Turk airport.

Our stay at Hotel Ilkay 
This probably has to be the highlight of our trip. The place was extremely cozy and the staff very courteous and helpful. Everything was well taken of - rooms, giving us directions, recommendations to areas, tram routes.. everything.. The moment we landed, I spoke to the lady at the front office and asked her if she could help us out by calling the airport about our bags. She did not hesitate, and did the needful. Same response though. Wait was the key word. Sigh. This was going to be a long day.

The Suleimanye Mosque
On our first day, we didn't want to sit around and sulk, so decided to freshen up and head to see the Suleimanye Mosque. Take a look -

This is a very special place. I'll tell you why. It was around afternoon and the call for prayer had started. Unlike in India, where it isn't very musical, in Turkey the call for prayers is so calm, soothing and lovely to hear. K turned around and asked me if I prayed for the bags. I looked at him as if he was mad "Err, I don't know how to pray in a mosque". He gave me a disgusted stare and said "Just pray". So I did. I stood outside the mosque, didn't really care about who was looking and said a silent prayer(I will be honest, I did say that even if I don't get anything else, I must get my ring back:))))
Then we left.

How the saga finally ended! 
We did not get any confirmation even on Day 2 and we were convinced that we are not going to get the bags. Extremely upset, we just went about eating quick meals and staying huddled indoors, thanks to the cold weather. In the evening, K said he was going to step out to buy water. In exactly 5 min, he came in gleaming and said "Good news, our bags have been found and will be delivered around 10 pm tonight"! Oh god. That was the best news I had heard in a long long time. Apparently, he was ranting to the guy at the reception and was extremely upset. The guy was very sympathetic and had told him not to fret and that Insha Allah, the bags will reach us. At that moment, the phone rang. It was the person at the airport who said our bags were found and will be delivered. Sounds freakish no?

After that, there was no looking back. We went about with our plans!!

The major sites
The Blue Mosque is another beauty(Although personally, I  liked the Suleimanye better). I couldn't get enough of the Hagia Sophia(a church converted to a mosque to a museum). Loved the architecture and the detailing at the Topkapi Palace. Was amazed that something like the Basilica Cistern could be built at that point in time.

Shopping, Food, Road Side Vendors 
This has a very Indian feel to it - the little corn cob vendors, the Simit sellers(Turkish buns), the mobile lemon juice seller, the hustle bustle etc. We also loved shopping at the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar

Shopper's Paradise 
Istiklal Cadessi in Taksim is a must do! The place has tons of people, shopping and eating.. Makes you feel uber cool. Shopped at my favorite places - Sephora and H & M! :D
At the end of this street, there is a lovely church, St. Anthony's Padua.

Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar 
Psychedelic lamps, tea pots, spices, tea, fruits, vegetables, nuts, dry fruits... you name it, you get it! But it does involve a lot of haggling(which comes naturally to us Indians :P)

Izmir
We flew to Izmir one day to visit the Artemis temple and to walk around Ephesus. We had hired a tour guide to pick us up from the Izmir airport, she took us on a full day tour. We visited the ruins of the St. John's Basilica, the Sirince Village, the House of Virgin Mary and finally Ephesus.An entire day well spent!

Andalou Kavagi 
Isn't this such a hilarious name? Although it was pretty, I have the worst memories of it. Did I tell you that Turkey is full of cats? Yuck! They are all over the damn place!! It gave me such nightmares. At this particular place, the cats jump on the table. I am not kidding! We took a Bosphorous cruise from Sirkeci to Andalou Kavagi. It has a castle at the top of the hill(what a climb it was!) that offers some stunning views.

An evening in Ortakoy 
Don't forget to spend an evening relaxing at Ortakoy. It is a busy area, filled with tourists who keep clicking pictures of the splendid evening shots. There is an amazing place to eat - Destan. They have hookah too and the best bit.. no cats!! My kinda place!

 The Asian Side 
We went and sat by the Asian side, overlooking the ships, watching the sun disappear in the Istanbul horizon, sipping on tea and enjoying the beautiful weather.

One of my favorite pics :) 

 K took some amazing snaps, but this one's my favorite! Thanks! <3 br="" nbsp="">

I've missed this space sorely!!!

I really and truly did! I viewed my stats now and I am shaking my head in shame - 6 posts in the full year? ONLY? Unbelievable!!
Considering how much I love ranting and venting and sharing my life out here, it does come as a surprise to me. It really has been a super busy year.
Work has really taken a strange turn. By strange I mean, I am not really sure how and where it is headed. I still like my job but there is just so much drama going on amongst the top management, that I feel tired being pulled into their arguments and what not. I want to do what is best for my people but unfortunately, it is being viewed very differently. I am constantly under so much stress. Nobody is really sure of what is going on and how long this is going to last. Anyway, I will not bore you about my troubles at work.
What I will instead focus on is something exciting that happened in October. The hubster and I took off on a vacation to the beautiful country of Turkey! It was a really random choice of destination but we totally loved every minute of it! Istanbul is such a vibrant and bustling place. I would totally love to go back and visit, someday. I shall not do justice by merely writing about how beautiful it was. I promise to write a long post on our entire trip with some pictures for you to feast on.
Another exciting event happened on 21st Nov, Friday. We bought home a new family member - A beautiful Volkswagen Vento!! She is a real beauty. I totally loved it the minute I saw it. K saw it at a dealer's place last week and was hooked. The sad part is our lovely Swift baby, which we absolutely loved, had to be given away considering we have no space to park her in our building. Will miss ya!!
But I am so looking forward to some nice getaways in our new car. Welcome home :) I am really and truly happy for K. He has been looking for a car for almost a year now and just couldn't make up his mind. He wanted to upgrade to a Sedan and I couldn't be more thrilled for him!! I am glad all that waiting has paid off :)

Feeling good!

I am alone at home tonight after ages! And believe me, it feels sooo good. When K he was going to be out of town tonight, I did not make any plans to go stay with my folks. In fact, his friend & wife felt I shouldn't be staying alone and that I should spend the night with them but I declined. Not that I didn't want to go. But I wanted to just come back home, read a book, take a long shower, wash and condition my hair, soak my feet in warm water, pamper myself with the latest Bath & Body Works lotion, listen to music, flip the channels to MY liking, browse and watch comedy videos on You Tube, chat with my bestie, blog about this incredible feeling and so much more!!
As you can see I'm on a roll! K and I spoke a while ago and when I told him how I felt, all he could say was "You do this every single day"! Err. Not true at all. For starters, I did not step into that god forsaken kitchen!! Yes. The idea of not cooking is so so liberating for me!
Excuse me now while I go back and enjoy my blissful state :)

Chugging along..

Life has been chugging along quietly the last few months. Nothing major going on. Which probably explains the lack of updates here. I'm just working during the week, working harder during the weekends(don't ask what I do but there just seems to be some task or the other). July was a great month socially. Ashwin, my younger brother tied the knot with Mythreyi(Mittu as she is affectionately called) and I couldn't be happier for him. Mittu is cool, sweet and good fun the few times I've hung out with her. They make a fab couple and I wish them all the happiness in this world :) It also meant lots of tamasha - we had a kick ass Sangeet function where I got everyone dancing again... Chikni Chameli, Gandi Baat, Tune Marri Entriyan and the likes... And the finale was the "Happy Song" to which I had the entire family grooving.. It was so much fun! And we were well appreciated by the crowd.. Fun stuff! Of course, this event wouldn't have been half as much fun without Sne & Dee who came from Pune.. We had an epic pre wedding partay chez moi, where a not so sober Ashwin Maplae wanted some egg biryani at a random 2 am. And believe or not, we did not disappoint him.. Topsee was TOP class! We had the time of our lives!! I truly love ma familia!
The reception and the wedding of course went by in a jiffy and before we knew it, everybody was ready to head home, back to their respective lives. How I hate that phase. Sigh.

Work has been ok ok. Just the usual mundane stuff. Nothing too exciting. But nothing to complain about either(thankfully). We had a fun event at work titled Ethnicity at Q Way where we got different teams to represent various States across India. How we laughed and cheered.. a good stress buster indeed!

What am I looking forward to next? My MIL's 60th birthday bash, which is just around the corner. K and I have decided to go "all the way" and invite lots of people and make it an event for her to remember. Fingers crossed that everything goes on smoothly :) I'm currently listening to Aashiqui 2 songs and I don't think I'll ever ever get bored of this album.. Totally in love with most of the songs!

Le Pondy!

One of K's constant cribs has been that I never plan any trips for him. It is always him that plans our getaways. So for his birthday this year I decided to plan something that he would like. Considering we had no leave available yet and considering how much he lurves Pondy, I thought I would start finding out some new resorts in Pondy where we could spend the weekend. I googled and read reviews on Trip Advisor and finally decided to try out "Le Pondy". Le Pondy is a luxury resort on the outskirts of Pondicherry. It had fabulous reviews and I must admit, the minute I saw some pictures, I was hooked. I wrote to them and got all the details and finally decided to try out their "Luxury Pool Villa". That was good decision I made. The pool villa is to die for! It is pricey let me tell you(when my folks knew, they were shocked). But I would say it is worth every penny if you are doing it once in a way for a special occasion. It is big, sprawling, comes with a lovely private pool and a couple of lounge type chairs, has an open shower and is super charming. We fell in love with our villa as soon as we stepped in. The villa also comes with a living room and a bedroom which were equally big. As soon as we checked in the afternoon, we decided to jump into the pool which looked super inviting. The cool water amidst the warm rays of the sun gave me such a fuzzy feeling.. I enjoyed it thoroughly! Post a good 1 hour in the pool, we got hungry. We headed out to their restaurant and had their lunch buffet. We did not have high hopes on the taste but we were taken aback. The food was surprisingly good. The salads were fresh, the breads were warm and the desserts were yum!
In the evening, we took a stroll to their private beach. The beach is clean and has a life guard on duty as well so it is perfectly safe. It was so nice to sit on the shore, watching the waves and just dreaming. In the evening, I had asked for a birthday cake for K to be delivered at midnight, which was promptly done. Mango cheesecake was the perfect start to his birthday ;-) He was totally surprised and I enjoyed seeing his gleaming face. The only hitch to this entire place was that their AC tripped twice - I have written to the concerned managers to take action. But other than that, I would totally recommend this resort. It is perfect for all kinds - couples on a getaway, family with kids, business folks who want to meet, elders and the likes. Service is also very good! Do give this place a shot if Pondicherry is your next destination. Leaving you with some pictures of our villa(please excuse my pic clarity, they were taken on my cell phone) - Cheers!!

The pool

A front view of the pool villa

The entrance to the rooms

3 years up!

Dear Chintu,
Ahem. Yes you heard me right. That is what I call you these days.. Unlike Year 1 or Year 2 where I just referred to you as plain vanilla "Karthik". Does this imply that we have come closer as a couple? Hmmm. Frankly I don't know. And I haven't thought that far.All I know is that you are Chintu to me and will be life long!
This past year has been all about work and career, for both of us. You had a big project at work which you headed, I got my long awaited break last July and there has been no looking back ever since. Chintu, you are a funny guy. While I wouldn't term you as one of those men who overly encourages me to give my all at work, you are also not one of those chauvinistic types. You lie somewhere in between - where you "quietly" push me to do my best wherever it may be - be it at work, home or otherwise. Keep on pushin' I say!
As I look back to how this year has been, I feel that it has been somewhat peaceful. At least compared to the last 2 years. We know each other's taste, we know what pisses each other off(not that we don't manage to do it, but still, knowing it is at least a start!)
I've thoroughly enjoyed all the travel too - doing the Angkor Wat temples, standing at Victoria Peak, waiting for you to patiently capture that "windswept look" of mine, gorging on yummy street food at Siem Reap and "partying all night" at Mumbai. That epic night where a very "not so sober you" ran up and down in the lobby of ITC Grand Central at 2 am still flashes across my face and I cannot stop laughing at that image! You are truly crazyyy! Such fun times!
Chintu, this is one of those few moments in our life where I let you know how much you mean to me. I know I am not expressive and that does annoy the hell outta you but then this is how I am! I may continue to annoy you, I will continue being irresponsible in a lot of ways, I will still fight with you but always remember that I love you to bits and I am nothing without you!

I just get the feeling that the best is yet to come ;) Leaving you with one of our best pics taken this year. Pic courtsey: APPA! :D
Happy 3rd anniversary Chintu!

Love,
Aishu 

I.Me.Myself

Strange title I know. But I kinda feel like I am reaching a situation where I just want some "me" time. In fact, craving for it. The past few weeks/months have been uneventful yet awfully busy. The fact that I had not blogged until March should have told you the kind of life I was leading. I have been hearing complaints from everyone. To start with, my dear hubby. Well, he feels like I haven't spent enough time at home, I haven't cooked him a proper meal, I haven't done anything "fun" with him in a long time like a movie or a long drive. He has been incredibly busy with a project at work and has been getting home late over the weekdays. Which meant, weekends he just wanted to lounge around and do nothing(Read: Meet nobody!!). Aah well. You see, that can never happen with a family like mine. Post the office party on the 15th, my folks had organized this big puja at home which involved like a 100 people(no I am not exaggerating). He simply did not want to attend. My folks made a big deal out of it and went to the extent of texting him and asking him to show up.. Needless to say, all hell broke loose. K went mad and it was hungama at home! Well then, the next one week we just kept bickering at each other. Sigh. Next up, was the parents. They simply refuse understand the kind of person K is. They cannot believe that he can be so fussy(at least that is how they look at it), I tried explaining his personality to them but in vain. So they were annoyed and irritated and I had to bear the brunt of it. Next up was the in laws(read: Mother in Law). She was annoyed that K & I had pretty much stopped visiting them over the weekends and she called me one Sunday and screamed on the phone. She was super duper pissed and wouldn't even let me speak a word. I was stunned. I did not know how to react or what to say. This weekend started with my granny calling me and inviting me home for a dinner where some ladies were coming(Oh No, not again!). I politely declined and told her I had already made plans with another friend(Of course, she went to the extent of inviting my friend also for the dinner, yes my family is crazy ;-)) - She was really annoyed that I declined and asked me to reconsider my decision. I was firm. I told her no because in my mind I had decided to spend the entire weekend with K. She gave me a big lecture as to how I do not visit her anymore, how I do not call her like I used to and how she needed my help. Iyyyoooo.
The one person I have been absolutely dying to meet is my Thatha. He is all by himself now and not a day passes where I don't think about him. I wished I could meet him and spend half a day talking, finding out how he is coping with life without Thathi and how he is pulling along. In fact, my cousin from Pune speaks more often to him that I do #hangsfaceinshame
I also haven't visited Maxi Chitti and Shankar Chitappa in their new house.. something which I've been promising them I would.. That's just the family.. My college friends have pretty much given up on me and my school friends are probably the only ones who come close to understanding what I am going through right now.. So even they have been demanding...Work is busy busy. I come home late(another of K's problem), my colleagues in fact call me "Cinderalla" because I just run out of the doors once the clock strikes 7 pm. Haha! Crazyyy! But I kinda feel like I'm disappointing people by leaving early. I wished I could stay back and meet more people but I cannot afford that luxury now.
Right now, all I want is to be left alone. I don't want to make plans with anyone. I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to meet anyone. Just want to be left alone. Just want to pamper my tired feet with a soothing pedicure. Just want to listen to music without any interruptions. Just want to have a nice hot oil hair massage and pamper myself with the latest conditioning treatment. Just want to close my kitchen and not cook or clean for 2 days. Just want to enjoy a cup of coffee standing in my pretty balcony amidst all that beautiful plants. So calming. Just want to curl up with the AC on and watch back to back movies and fall asleep in my bean bag. Just want to spend an entire day with Tobster boy. Aah. #wishfulthinking

2014 so far

We are in March already? Where did the first 3 months go? Gosh. It truly has been one busy start to the year. Work has pretty much taken up most of my time. K has also been super busy with an engagement project at work which is due end of April. We barely see each other these days. He leaves home around 8:30 am, I leave around 9:30 and I am back around 8 pm, he is back even later, sometimes as late as 9 pm. We just have time to eat and crash and start all over again the next day. In short, 2014 has been very uneventful. A little boring too. My boss told me that I am not allowed to take any leave this year. Err. Yes I agree I took off on a 10 day trip last October but hey in my defense, it was planned way before I took up my new job. Anyway, no point in cribbing. The good thing is, I love my job. It involves meeting a lot of people, it keeps me going, I get a lot of freedom in terms of decision making, I feel like my bosses place a lot of trust in me.. All these make me feel good! Yes I do have my rough patches here and there, but hey whats a job without a challenge, right? And I must say I've made a lot of friends at work. Last weekend, we took off to a beach house to party and I must say it was amazing. We danced, laughed, made fun of each other and generally went a little crazy! Good times.
K and I are ok. Like I said, we've been way too busy. That doesn't mean we don't have the time to fight. We somehow manage to squeeze in time for that  -  Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi! ;-) He still cribs about mundane things - me not getting his shirts ironed on time, my cooking which is still a work in progress, and other random things which don't even cross my head. #mygrumpsterboy
Excuse my extremely pointless post, but I felt like if I don't find the time to blog today, I just never will. Will be back soon, hopefully with a better post. Tripping on the "Baby Doll" song from Ragini MMS feat. Sunny Leone. Very catchy!