Category: Movie

Hyderabad!!

 

City Of Pearls –  Known Because of the trading of Pearls and Diamond. 

Today Hyderbad is also known as an IT Hub & the first city in the country to have IKEA- The Swedish Furtniture store in the country.

Earlier this month.I had travelled to Hyderbad for the  second time and until then had no idea about the City,Trafiic and the distances between each of the places. But, Had heard about the Hyderabad Biryani was one of the delicaces of the city. 

 Hyderbad biryani was invented/Introduced during the Nizam Period. 

Nizam was known as the king of Hyderbad. The Current Nizam is Mukkaram Jah and he is the Grandson Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII and has been the nizam since 1967 and is the owner of Falaknuma Palace which is now leased to Taj hotels. 

The Palace has 60 Rooms, And a dining Table  that can seat 101 guest. And is also the world’s largest  Dining table. A Dining Table   made of a single piece of wood. And the Acoustic of the Dining room is so good. You can hear each and every guest from one end to another.

Hyderbad besides the Palace is  also known for  it’s main landmark that  you can identify to begin any conversation with  the local. The first one being Charminar.Until very recently I wasn’t area what Charminar  signifies exactly. Did you know it is a mosque?And the second The Golcando Fort. I am sure the name sounds familiar. The Indian kids have learnt it in History books. 

Besides some historic Palaces and Landmarks the city also has the biggest single rock statue in the world.18m Tall (54 ft) and weighs  around 450 tons-Monolithic Buddha Statue!

Kohinoor , a 105 karat priceless diamond is one of the most expensive diamonds in the world is believed to be mined in Hyderabad too. Now How many of you knew that ? 

The city is also known for the world’s Biggest Film Studio. Ramoji Film City . A sight that Is the only faint memory I had of the city.Which I visited after 20 years.

And last but not the least. The worlds biggest snow world theme park.

And with India – Myths & Believe are always part of the travels and its believed 

A fish medicine prescribed by the Bathini Goud brothers to asthma patients claims to fully cure asthma. This magic fish medicine is only served once a year in the month of June. This medicine is believed to have cured a million patients suffering from asthma.

Hyderbad besides the mining diamonds,is   been mining business students  from  top business schools like Indian School of Business, IIT and BITS.

 

Russia!

The Moment we landed, and got off the aircraft, walking towards the passport control. We knew we had arrived and waiting for Russia & Russians to welcome us. 
At the passport control, the representative kept scanning the passport and kept looking at me, without my glasses, with my glasses and what seemed to bother him the most, I believe was my Red Yankees cap. It had been fifteen minutes both my parents were now cleared, It was only me from the family that was waiting to be cleared and I guess because it was my first visa on my new passport and that too a Russian, that bothered him way too much,I guess that he couldn’t find anything more suspicious besides my “Red Yankees” that he finally set me free. And that was my “Warm welcome to Russia” 
Moscow is the capital of Russia and is named after the river  Moscow and pronounced Moskva.
The city famous landmark includes the Redsquare -The name Red Square has nothing to do with communism but derives from the word “Krasnyi”, which meant “beautiful”.
St.Basil Cathedral that was made by Ivan the terrible one of the landmark that is recognized as Moscow. The story goes Ivan the Terrible blinded the architecture after he constructed the st. Basil Cathedral. Another interesting fact about the cathedral. It was painted white to match the colour of Kremlin, the word ‘kremlin’ is used to describe a castle or an important Russian fortified complex. But, in 1700 the colours were added. And since 1990 St.Basil Cathedral has been part of Unesco Heritage Site. Moscow’s sightseeing is all around the red square, making it accessible to walk around all the sights. 
The other beauty of this city and country lies deep down underground. “The Underground Metro station” is a sight in itself with the detailing in design to the colours and style of each metro station being different right from the ancient design to the modern design the metro stations are all worth visiting. 
The Escalator lye minimum 150ft deep to 300ft.
The St. Petersburg Admiralteyskaya metro is   2nd deepest in the world.
Russia as a country was even more challenging than Japan, As here they just couldn’t understand English one bit. 
It’s a fact there are around 11 million more women than men.
We used the local “Gett” App Uber for Russia and the drivers too couldn’t understand anything, we had to always stay stationed around hotels like Four season & St.Regis to have our drivers meet us. Else we would have been fleeced and literally being taken for a ride. Traffic in Moscow is so bad that wealthy Russians hire fake ambulances to beat the jams.
St.Petersburg after being in Moscow for the last five days, we travelled to st. Petersburg- Was once named Petrograd  ‘Peters’ city but in 1991 it was renamed to its original German name “Sankt-Peterburg” in English it’s pronounced “Saint Petersburg”, It’s also the  Cultural capital of Russia with a lot of Museum’s. 
 The hermitage museum is one of the world’s largest art museum. Where even if you spend a minute admiring each art piece, you will take eleven years to see the complete collection. 
50 cats are employed in the State Hermitage. To protect the items from rats and mice.
Saint Petersburg will remind you a lot “like Venice” “Budapest” a little like  “Prague” “Germany”  and “ Amsterdam” With the bridges and the water all around The Neva river and Fontanka River. The Kazan Cathedral is best viewed from Dom Knigi “House of Books” Singer Cafe. 
The Midnight cruise from one am to two forty am is the best way to see the city by night, you can see the drawing bridges not one but a couple of them. And enjoy the sunrise at three am.
Interesting Trivia about Russia:
  • It has more time zones (11) than any other country, but only nine are used now.
  • The first railway of Russia appeared in Petersburg
  • Christ the Saviour Construction of the temple lasted for almost 44 years: it was founded in 1839, and consecrated – in 1883. It’s a unique cathedral with a height of 103,5 meters, The temple is visible from any point of the city, its bell ringing was resounded far beyond Moscow. 
  • The Hotel Astoria in St.Petersburg is where Hitler planned to hold a huge celebratory banquet once he’d conquered the city
  • Writer Alexei Tolstoi gave the cellar its name as he and others looked for a cultural refuge in the city, saying “Why are we running around like stray dogs?” And the name stuck.“The idea of the cafe was to establish a place where young creative people, maybe not always well-known, could get together, talk to each other and become inspired to create something.”

Lonesome!

I often go to coffee shops and sit by myself on a table. But,Whenever I have visited and just sat at a coffee shop,the waiters and service people keep asking me if anyone is coming or for that matter the other people out there wondering if anyone would be coming before they could grab the chairs for their friends or business meets.Go into any Starbucks, and you’ll probably see two kinds of tables: round tables and rectangular tables. There’s a reason for the round tables. According to Reader’s Digest, the round tables are supposed to make you feel more at home when you’re by yourself.Then why do the service people question,When you are by yourself at coffee shops or for that matter restaurants.Why can’t I go to restaurant and occupy a table and have a meal by myself. I mean,Where in The rule book is it written,That you need company to enjoy a meal? I completely understand it’s considered logically that meals are eaten together,But haven’t you heard or experienced teenagers eating meals by themselves when watching television or streaming online websites ?Is it to difficult to accept and welcome people who are loners.Is this a reason why a huge number of people around are preferring to order food online and be socially isolated rather than going out and enjoying a meal at the restaurant or cafe and experience a meal with all their sense being involved ? The Visual appeal,The fragrance,The taste and the feel of the meal with the freshness sizzling around. I completely understand occasionally this would not make sense commercially,But you don’t have to be rude to the one’s who would be having meals by themselves.

Go Goa!!

Goa seem’s so huge.In the last one year have visited Goa thrice and haven’t really gone to the same place twice. In terms of the geography too! When we last visited we were at the Candolim beach,The beach closest to Panjim(City side) we were only around Taj exotica and Aguada and hence only explored that area. But,This time we explored the Morijim beach North of Goa,
51 Kms from Panjim the capital of Goa.
This Goa Visit was more for Food & Party and that’s why  we had some of the  finest food in Goa.Sublime in Vagator for continental food must  try the Fish Bass.Gunpowder or Black Pepper Prawns,La Palage for Sunset & Dessert, chronicles for Partying & Drinks and Burger Factory’s Prawn Burger is Must with the other burgers that are to die for. These were some of the places we tried & loved. 
Next time hoping to explore yet another side of Goa. 

Amritsar -25th Birthday! 

You really don’t realise how long it has actually been,Until you sit down and think when was the last time… As my parents have been visiting the Golden Temple for years but for the last 5 years and I have missed the opportunity of visiting Amritsar , because of work commitments.This Year I decided for my 25th I wanted to visit the Holy city of Punjab,Amritsar.
It’s been more than two weeks already since we have got  back.But,my birthday weekend was a memorable one.Eating the typical street food from the city,Having the Banta (Lemon juice+Soda+Shikanji) a type of Lemonade.But you just don’t get the same taste.This time I watched him closely,Should try again making at home. 
The Chole+Kulcha and the Kulcha’s had the perfect weather to digest them all,When you  could  Hogg  all day.The Weather being all breezy and Cold.Couldn’t have been a better time to visit the city. 
The Visit to the Golden Temple on our first day in the evening was the calmest and most peaceful visit to any temple so far. 
With just the family-4 of us Mom,Dad,Sister and Me of Course it was a great trip! 
Oh! Not to forget our Amritsar Guide -Ggunjan  for the hospitality and warmth made it a Memorable trip to remember.