Starter
25 – 27th December,Mumbai
Actually, it started with Christmas night, with Silky coming in with the idea of a late night drive and we ending up in Barista…..chocolate excess….. :)
Some work, some study, one exam,a vroom drive back from college, pizza, choco lava and the mood seemed to be setting in…..
Another walk/ drive (within Airoli!!) for the 3 of us…….
What to do on New year was the question……original plan was rejected (too expensive), plan B got cancelled (mom dad decided to stay back), Plan C was in action (Trek, adventure sport….)…..then someone said, original plan was good….and we decided, we are going!! Bus tickets booked in a blink. Hotel ka dekha jayega….. Clint (4th member) informed ………his response……WTF???
Well, next day even hotel is booked…..
the break is on…….
The Break,
Monday, 28th December 2009,Mumbai
Got up at 11, like a lazy goose…….had lunch, spoke with parents, TV, slept again…..
& for the longest possible time, i did not check my mail…….then i did…..
Then went for movie, “3 Idiots”, with Bhargav (who was also on what can be called as a break)……
Contrary to popular belief, its not a very good or great movie, its just a set of funny jokes and situations pretending to give some message……
Tomorrow, we push off…….. :)
Tuesday, 29th December 2009,Mumbai
Nothing new happened, slept, woke up, slept, ate……….. :)
Nice cricket – SA v/s Eng, England batted well to get a over 200 run lead and then dismantled SA reducing them to 76/6…….i missed that part because someone gave a surprise visit….. but that’s fine, it had been a long Btime…..
And now i am off to Goa!!!!
Wednesday, 30th December 2009, Goa
Here we are…….me, Clinton and Bhargav…..and in true Goan style, walk to the hotel from the depot just because we have all the time in the world…..reach, check in, settle and move on……looking for bikes…..not available…….car??? not available……or for 3K/day, if you want……take a ric…..100 bucks to Colva!!!! Take it anyways…..
Clint wants flip flops, but he doesnt get any……..they are asking 150 bucks for a piece of cut out rubber he wont even use again!!! Not buying it…..
Colva beach……Boomerang……go sit…order some Carlsberg, Paneer Tikka, Seekh Kabab, 2 sandwiches, and god knows what not, after all we sat there for about 3 hours….doing nothing…… just looking around…….indians, foriegners, all kinds…..see for yourself….
After walking around the beach under a cloudy sky, next we push off to the CCD nearby….(after the auto guys told us they don't serve bhikaris, cos we refused to pay up 120 bucks to the city. Never mind) We could do with some cold cofee……
and then to the hotel…..
Me and Clinton both knew a great place each where we could eat……as we walked there , it turned out to be teh same place….Lounghinoes…..as laidback as place in Goa can be….if you dont call out, they will not attend you (On 1st, we left when our calls went unheeded for about 20 mins) …..the biryani was a bit dissapointing, but the caramel custard was yummmmmm…….
Head back to hotel, time to sleep……wats the time?? 10.30!!
You are on a real break if you dont know wat to do with all this time…
Thursday, 31st December 2009, Goa
Early in the morning, we are told the car we hired isn't coming. (The receptionist was pretty sweet about this, and even otherwise.) So off we go to Colva – our plans for the day depend on whether we get a vehicle or not.
Anyways, Savio was the savior, and his santro was ours….great, off we go looking for Varca Beach……but not before going about 10 kms in the wrong direction, but the road heading to Palolim beach was a joy….we decided to return there the next day….
Varca beach can be described in one word….pristine…..clean, empty, untouched by the crowds, mostly foreigners (not the drugged out bozos, proper, well fed,well behaved ones..)
We had a dip in the clear water, while Clinton napped (he says so, difficult to believe given the heat and all the beachwear clad people around!) ….before eating lovely Punjabi food…..
Akash joined us in the evening and we came back to South Goa, chilled out for sometime and headed for Calangute/ Baga beaches….the supposedly happening places……
Well, we know better now….
Had it not been for an obliging policeman who arranged for parking (at a price,ofcourse) we would have welcomed 2010 in the car struck in some traffic jam….but on actually reaching the beach (where the entire world and their friends were already present) it was a bit disappointing…..we had a feeling we messed up the new year, until we decided to enjoy the situation…….and it was fun…….never mind the occasional drunk you bumped into……or the repeated songs which everyone seemed to love so much….
Happy New Year brother was the sentiment, since most people did not know who the other person was……
Friday, 1st January 2010, Goa
The plan was to be up early and head for Palolim ……but we woke up by 12 and plans changed…..me and Clint headed for the market, Akash and Bhargav went to get the licence….then we headed to Varca for another afternoon of doing nothing…… :)
After dropping Bhargav and Clint for their bus, we came back in time for the sunset and some contemplative solitude, if you know what i mean, while Akash went trigger happy snapping waves,trees,beach,anything…..
It was all very peaceful till an Indian ran after stray dogs who were provoked by his pet dog……one foreigner lady got into the act, “You are a moron, are you??” The guys wife, “Get back to your country, you b#%*#”, some others join in, till one elderly uncle calms down everyone…….
Some of the things discussed during the day included how would we react if our wives insisted on wearing bikinis/beachwear, the life of a waiter, camera angles and zooms and so on…..
Another early night…….
Saturday, 2nd January 2010, Goa
Got up in the morning to find Akash missing….turned up after sometime….was trigger happy again, snapping chapels, buildings, roads…..anyways, last day in Goa and we head for a lovely drive to Palolim……another pristine but a bit crowded beach….fairly good, decent people, honeymooners, families, kids……soothing…..
Well, then that was it, and after another afternoon of doing nothing, we headed back to Margao….Savio took the car back without noticing the non functional horn or the broken/stuck together nunberplate, but he noticed the slight red scratch…..
and so after 4 lovely days, we are all set to say bye to Goa….
But not before Akash has made a 1000 attempts at catching the sunset from the moving bus!!!
Eventful ride home with some expensive tasteless food, 2 smart kids behind talking all the time and their father puking all night….
Getting back……
Sunday, 3rd January 2010, Mumbai
Back home, decided to rest (or the word Clint hates ,chillax!!)…….and did just that…..from tomorrow….
Back to life, as i knew it…..