Japan once again! The first time it was through the books Murakami, Kiga Higashino, Ryu Murakami to name a few… These books showcased the simplicity of the locals and the dark side of the city and that’s one of the reasons Japan fascinated me as a place to travel and explore so in June 2018 was the first time, A time where everyone questioned us Why Japan? To answer it’s a place so little we know about.. The first time was a touristy visit going to the temples, streets and viewing the towers of each city we visited. Japan was coming alive through the pages I had read, the streets sounded familiar and some streets I specifically visited since they were mentioned and described in the books. The recent Trip to Japan was being an exploration of what all does the city has to offer besides the tourist sights and the humanity the people showcase in the country. The food was and still is the best in Osaka. The city was buzzing and full of tourists even closer to midnight, unlike Tokyo which seemed busy with people chasing their dreams.. Kyoto is still a small town where you can walk around and still discover the city. The vintage shops and the second-hand Market seem to be thriving in the country with more than 80% population that has aged over the age of 70 and living a minimalistic life. Retail was thriving with American, British and Asian tourists shopping at malls and brands that are relatively cheaper in Japan from countries like the US & India. The Osaka Expo was an experience like no other, an endless Snake line on a hot afternoon, which tested not just ours but quite a few people’s patience too. Since we had to register and get specific slots for pavilions we managed to only get one the Blue Dome, the others were long queues to enter and waitlists, The magnitude of the whole expo was huge 130+ countries participated and the tourism it brought to the city and country has been huge. The designs and the sustainable options used to create them were interesting. This was the first time we visited an expo abroad that had so many cultural influences on just design but food too the expo offered.
The Middle East city of United Arab of Emirates has been an interesting connection.
On my 18th Birthday, I had visited the newly opened Ferrari Theme Park and Experienced the fastest rollercoaster in the world Formula Rosso.
That visit to the city was all about Yas Island – The popular F1 Track.
After Thirteen Years. I visited Abu Dhabi yet again for a family friend wedding, this also happened to be my 31st Birthday weekend.
The city has transformed so much, The city felt so big. Each of the landmarks we wanted to visit would take us between fifteen-to Thirty Minutes. And the distances were about Twenty Kilometre maximum
The Roads were so smooth, you hardly realised the time flew by driving
The Corniche, an upcoming beach front space was too calm for a middle east city that buzzes during the night.
The Al-Qana a space that was like the Marina Dubai had Cafes, Restaurants with water front view and bridges to connect the either sides of the space.
Visited The Sheikh Zayed Mosque after a thirteen Years wait, A Beautiful white mosque with detailing kept in mind of the florals inside were nicely em-bedded.
The Walk in & out of the sheikh Zayed Mosque is a long one.
But, Golf Cart as an option for senior citizen available and and travelator to walk without any movement.
We visited Al- Watan a fairly newly promoted sight of Abu Dhabi.
It had the structure of the palace hotel from the outside.
But, inside the dome and the walls stole the show.
The seating outside during the exit, highlights soothing sit-down space with a view overlooking Palm trees.
You must definitely visit the site on your next visit to Abu Dhabi.
The visit to Emirates Palace, was a visit with mixed emotions.
Since we initially planned to visit the palace for lunch, but only ended with touring the property around the whole palace, a grandeur hotel with large spaces spread across for restaurants and shopping.
We ended up at an Art House Cafe, for a meal that had the Arabic flavours and good coffee
With Art Pieces from artist and a vibe that had creativity flowing around the space.
Abu Dhabi, has become one of the top tourist destinations with Global popstars and bands too making it a destination for their tours. The Recent opening of Warner Brother Theme park has Abu Dhabi becoming more of a family destination.
The new BAPS Temple too is a beautiful sight a Hindu Radha swami temple on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi that has become a landmark for all tourists and locals alike.
Having travelled by Air, Train and Road the only mode of transportation left to experience was to travel by Sea, The cruise experience, was one of its kind. We were very sceptical about travelling and experiencing the Cruise and the Sea Sickness, How were we going to manage on the ship for so long and how do we go about the whole journey? Fortunately, We bumped into the Man who would make the whole cruise experience seamless and memorable. From the moment we checked in to the cruise, We had surprises waiting to unfold. We had an invite sent for the exclusive meet-up with the team and a few guests who were part of the Heaven Suites. On our first day during the dinner at Manhattan Restaurant, Where the menu changes every day and doesn’t require a reservation, We had a table ready for us. We had meal suggestions from the chef. The meal had seafood dishes,0% Alcohol Wine and Mocktails with Meat and desserts. We had a team who had planned our next few days on the ship including our restaurant reservation for the whole journey. The first Dock at Cannes – Was another experience of priority guests for the tender boat. ( Cannes is a tender port on Cruises, The Ship docks at a distance Before the tenders are released in Slots and on Reservation only. ) We had the priority to get on board the cruise. Cannes, We do it again! A city known for the Film Festival is a beautiful stroll in the Promenade de la Croisette, The Cinematic painting on the walls and the walk through narrow steeped lanes while a red carpet awaits you to walk the steps of an auditorium that overlooks the French Rivera. While that was the glamorous walk on the stage, the walk off to the Marche Forville A weekend food Market was an interesting experience with so many fresh herbs and cheese available to taste, Before we headed to the beach. Back on the Ship, We took a break to explore the ship before we headed to change for Dinner. We explored the Reading Room – The Reading Room had an amazing collection of the new popular bestsellers with a view of the sea. Also a gaming room for ones who like to play chess with their mates. Walking around the bars, We had a photographer doing photo shoots with backdrops and Art being displayed on the sides while we walked.
The next day we visited another port Civitavecchia and it seemed like the hottest day!
The highlight was Naples! We had made a reservation for Michele’s pizza!Rated as The World’s Best Pizza.A 150 years old pizzeria ` Just 4 choices on the menu to choose from and order, Margheritabeing the original. Legend has it, that the Queen ordered and loved the pizza so much! That it was named the Margherita. If you don’t have a reservation? You can take a takeaway from The one-mile-long Queue side of the Restaurant. Braving the rain was worth it here!
And for those who are avid Football fans! Here, is an interesting Trivia. Mardonaa was from Naples, and there is a mural and Fan made space in Naples!
Cagliari, Sardinia though a beautiful town, We hardly had any time here! Spain Palma De Mallorca was the surprise city For us! It was beautiful with a mix of the Middle East, Tangier in Morocco and hints of Europe! The cathedral was beautifully built with the best view of the sea and a sunset worth coming back to! Ibiza! We would have liked to be here overnight to experience the Nightlife, but the day trip! Reminds you a lot about Greece.
Coming back to the cruise!
Each dinner meal was an experience! Right from Indian delicacy Butter Chicken, Samosa and South Indian style Jumbo prawns and indian style Fish that were specially curated for us. The dessert Gajar ka Halwa! Couldn’t have been a better conclusion to our Indian Meal. The French Meal at Le Bistro on the Escape ship was esquite with Jumbo size lobster and nice chunks of Sea Bass! With French onion Soup and herbed butter that was made of snails. The Italian Meal at La Cucina- The pizza was at par with Michele’s we had in Naples! Our Italian meal were with Risotto fungi mushroom truffles, With Amaretto liqueur and limoncello on ice on the sides. For dessert, we had one of the best Panna Cotta till date, Tiramisu It was so good, that We went again the next day to Only have one more slice of tiramisu. Teppanyaki – The Japanese Experience! This was Very good + Entertainment. A table of ten with a total of seven of us and it was a fun interactive dinner for us with tricks while our food was being prepared. Tried a Wasabi Cocktail! And it was a sweet and spicy fusion drink. The Moderno – The Brazilian steakhouse was reliving our Brazil meal again that we had a few months ago! And it was as good as that one! With meats and bread. Cagney Steakhouse: a signature Restaurant that is there is most of the NCL cruises was an American steakhouse experience where we had very good Crab Cakes, Lobsters and calamari! The last but not the least Bayamo was the best seafood dinner meal with very huge size shrimps! And fish! That just melted away! And the birthday Surprise meal with a huge cake was the highlight of Dad’s 60th. They also set up the room to celebrate the birthday to an amazement with chocolates, A spa voucher and a bottle of Wine and champagne!
The ship had a lot of other offerings, the gaming arcade, Table Tennis , Pools, The Mini Golf course, a Jogging track, Water slides for the kids or the kid in You! Rope walking For the adventurous one. For the one’s who like to drink, there are about 15 odd bars to choose your drinks from and many spots you would like to Keep hanging around ,While you enjoy your drink. Many other interactive activities are scheduled throughout the cruise, and you have the freedom to attend or skip them! If you haven’t cruised yet! Now is the perfect time to take control of your cruise Break.
Cruise Route:
Travel to Barcelona
9 Days
Barcelona – Cannes – Livorno- Civitavecchia-Naples- Cagliari-Palma De Mallorca – Ibiza- Barcelona
Mediterranean Cruise…
Port of Call: #barcelona Day 1: #Cannes Day2: #Livorno- #Florence and #Pisa Around the port Day3: Overnight at #Livorno Day4: #Civitavecchia – #Rome is close to this port Day 5: #Naples Day6: #Calgilari Day 7: #Palmademallorca Day 8: #Ibiza Day 9: #Barcelona
Barcelona sightseeing:
Parkguell
Gaudi
sagradafamilia
Casabatlo
Cafes: @nomadcoffee
Food: @tapatapabarcelona
Food:
Churros #patatbravas
Cannes:
Marché Forville -Food Market
Livorno: Cathedrals
Naples: @pizzeriadamichele : Bucket list, Done after a decade!
Five Years later, Hyderabad had transformed into a city, Since I had last visited for an event in 2019. Flyovers, so much of construction happening. And a Metro too! This city felt like another city altogether. The huge spaces of cafes, Restaurants the long wait In Queues. Was this Hyderabad? The Knowledge City, A landmark that Housed offices, Restaurants and a Cafe was like What BKC is to Mumbai! Hi-Tech City and Gochibawli landmarks were like the Magarpata township of Pune. The Jubilee Hill cafes and restaurants were like the Indiranagar and Koramangala of Bangalore or Koregoapark of Pune. And this was just one side of the city I had visited. The retail showrooms were huge, and like how Linking Road Mumbai has standalone stores the Hyderabad city too had them with luxury brands on the main road. Katha cafe felt like Subko in so many ways font, Styling of the space and branding too. The cafes Toops & Katha two of the ones I visited had Corridor Seven coffee being served, A coffee roaster from Nagpur, Mithilesh V and One of the first Aeropress championship winners from India started this. Surprisingly Hyderabad had more vegetarian food options, compared to my last visit. Manam Chocolate Kharkhana. Was an experience. A Chocolate Cafe, Store and Chocolate Factory Experience in Hyderabad. You could taste all the chocolates Bars, ice cream, Chocolate flakes and Barks, Hot chocolate too, A complete chocolate Paradise. The Hyderabad we know as Charminar, Ramoji Film City and Golconda Fort felt very long from the side we were stationed in Hyderabad. The Taj Hotel Falaknuma too was another side. Hyderabad city had become a huge city from what I had travelled to the last time. Hyderabad is surely a city to watch out for! In India.
Does India Read? Do Indians Read? And if they do what do they read? Well, India is slowly getting into the habit of reading books! And a lot of them have been enjoying reading books. But, this India that I am talking about is not the one that is into literature books. But, a new emerging audience of readers is discovering reading books is not for the joy of it. But, to improve my English speaking skills, Vocabulary and diction. These readers are the ones who make up the large population that we have. But again are we growing in numbers? Who enjoy reading Mythology, Romance, and Young Adult books. The authors who have successfully managed to capture their audience are the likes of Chetan Bhagat, Preeti Shenoy, Durjoy Datta, Ravinder Singh, Anuja Chauhan, and Robin Sharma to name a few…Others like Amrish Tripathi and Devdutt Patnaik are Gaining popularity amongst new readers who are interested in reading books. But, what are the avid literary Indian readers reading today? They are the ones who like reading Amitav Ghosh, Sudha Murthy, Chitra Banerjee, Arvind Adiga, and Arundhati Roy, which are some of the books which the other Indian audiences are reading. But, the positive side of the reader reading in India is they have started reading books of Indian authors from India.
A K H I L N A N D A 