Tag: travel

2018 Dairies !!

2018 has been a Journey filled with lots of travel Stories. Right From Jaipur to Jodhpur in India to Monoco and Morocco for Work. And not to forget the highlight –  Japan for Family Holiday. 
Culture
Experiencing the Rajasthan culture in India to experiencing the Japanese culture and living the  Moroccan life. 
All these places either had Food, lifestyle or architecture. And these  Culture  became another Journey in itself.
Books worth the Read In 2018. 
Journeys through the books. 
Starting from Exiting West to Landing at the port of Mokha and Many reads in between from open by Andre Agassi to “Killing Commendatore by Murakami  below are the top 5 reads of 2018.
1.Exit West – by Mohsin Hamid  stories of immigrants. 
2.Homo Deus – by Yuval Harari  How the Technology  is collecting data and using it. 
3.Born a Crime – by Trevor Noah A true story of a comedian born in South Africa with a mother being a black and father a white. 
4.Monk of Mokha –  by Dave  Eggers – Story of how The port of Mocha coffee travelled across the international waters.
5.Killing Commendatore – by Murakami
Noteworthy Movies of 2018 
1.Puzzle -How a simple gift of a puzzle changes the perspective of one individual 
2.Crazy Rich Asians – The Big fat Indian wedding going global 
3.Searching – How technology helps track down a father daughter and her murderer. 
4.Ben is Back – A  young drug addict and his mother’s story to come in terms with reality. 
And the Hindi film industry had many movies to choose to watch this year! 
But there a few out there you couldn’t miss at all . 
1.Pad Man by R.Balki was one of the great stories the year began with and continued till Raid, The income tax issue can sometime come as a surprise-Ajay Devgn needs to experiment.
2.Hichki -Though a inspiration from the west.Brought Rani Mukherji Back as a actor and the production house for their content. 
3.Missing the only missing from this psychology thriller was the audience who missed one of the best thrillers of the year.
4.October – Simple stories are the most difficult to tell.And October by Shoojit Sircar was one such story.
5.Beyond the cloud by Majid Majidi -Had the world  take notice of Ishan Khattar as an actor & performer 
Raazi,Soorma,Parmanu,Andhadhun,Badhaai Ho ! And Manmarziyaan were a few movies to watch out. 

La Mamounia the destination !!

La Mamounia –La Mamounia hotel is an experience in itself. I can’t think of hotel that I have been to that has so much character and culture. From the moment you enter the hotel,Step into the porch and enter the hotel lobby.You have so much to take in. Every corner,The Guard wearing traditional outfits is worth photographing. 
The lobby is got one of the most “Modern hotel feel” but the rest is very cultured and design oriented. 
The Bars-Churchill & Piano Bar. I just did not want to move from here. Even though I don’t drink.I kept visiting these venues for coffee & orange juice.The worlds best orange juice is found in Morocco,No wonder the hotel had so many orange trees planted in the garden with lemon trees. Everyday having the freshest orange for breakfast or anytime of the day.
If that’s all you thought was the pampering the guest received while staying here. 
Well Pierre Hermé From Paris is right in the hotel lobby,Where you can enjoy some of the best Macrons & Chocolates. 
The restaurants in the hotel have a Moroccan touch in so many ways -From thr stencils glasses to the the velvet upolestry for the chairs and the lamp lighting to set in the mood during the dinner in the evenings. 
The swimming pool too has a worthy view for the ones who just want to laze around for a sun bath.
The most soothing places out of all is the spa.It’s a heaven and paradise in itself.
The Suite in the hotel known as the Riad’s is enough to call it home for many.The hotel has only 3 of these. But,The way it’s done up it’s nothing over the top like many luxury hotels.But is very spacious and tastefully done.Morning you can enjoy the view of the orange trees or rather Enjoy the sunrise between the coconut trees. 
The Moroccan restaurant in the property is one of the best places to enjoy the sun set

Trivia: 
1.Winston Churchill– Has a Bar & Suite named after him here as this was his favourite place in the world-He described the place as the most lovely spot in the world. Winston Churchill would visit often and paint during his stay- His painting are in the Moroccan museum.
2.La Mamounia is named after the prince Al Mamoun.Who was gifted the  gardens, that was attached to the hotel  as a wedding gift in the 18th century.
3.The Most Instagramable Place in #Marrakech 

The Monk of Mokha -Book Review !

The Monk of Mokha is a true story about Mokthar alkhanshali who did many odd jobs until one day when a lady asked  #Mokhtar have you seen the statue across the street?  and she was surprised he had never seen the statue. 
That’s a statue of Yemini dude Al Shadhili  known as the monk of Mokha. drinking a big cup of coffee, she told him. 
That’s got to mean something.May be this is your thing.You’re 25.Pick a direction for your life.
And thus began the journey for Mokthar and Port of Mokha. But it wasn’t easy and all the struggle during the civil war in Yemen is narrated and the final escape from Aden to US to exporting the grounds is nail biting.Just like as if you are reading a thriller.
Trivia:
1.Port of Mokha – Was  the primary point of all coffee grown in Yemen.
2. 2014 mokhtar became the worlds  1st Arab Q grader of arabica coffees.
3.Q Grading program :The Q grader program was first launched in 2004, It’s six full days of intense training.The certification is useful for purchasing coffee, selecting roast profiles and production/processing methods, understanding coffee origins, and more.
4.In 80 years it was the 1st time coffee left from the port of Mokha in Yemen during the civil war 
5.As of spring 2017 farmers replaced 17,000 qat plants with Coffee trees.
6.The 1st container of 18,000 kg of port of Mokha was sold out across 4 continents in 45 days.
7. February  2017 -Coffee review awarded port of Mokha’s haymah microlat 97 rating the highest score issued in the publication 20 years.
8.The first coffee house was called Qahveh Qahveh

Travelogue!

Travelling has been the constant change that keeps teaching  me a lot.
The recent event in Sri Lanka.Was another such trip that taught me that it doesn’t matter how much time and effort you give into something.If on the the day you can’t execute and deliver it’s of no use.
And doing events in other countries & states teaches you a lot about the attitude of the people.About an individual and about the place through experience.You live through the whole experience rather than just hearing it from a third person.
Travel also teaches one that people are the same everywhere.You just have to be a good judge of their character.
Colombo,Sri Lanka,I learned how to play pool over the three days I was there.
Every afternoon we played pool at Pebbles restaurant in Taj Samudra and in the end I finally learnt how to strike the ball and position myself for the perfect “Pot”.
Played Table tennis after so many years.It’s was one of the best workouts to chase the ball and concentrate on the ball.
The three day break in Colombo has been the best time during the “Event” time so far.
Sri Lanka is a good place just for a weekend .Otherwise it could be a challenge to live there since it’s an Island and people are lazy and very laid back.
Travelling has made me sure of one thing that I like buzzing cities More than towns.

Sacred Games -Season 1

The  sacred Game, is now On Netflix and the first Web series from India in collaboration with Netflix and produced by Phantomfilms .Sacred Games doesn’t disappoint you at all. The Action,The thrill and the interest of  the  viewers can be challenging.If you are working on a storyline that’s done to death.But the whole angle of how big business politics really is ,and why it’s important aspect is highlighted.

The presentation of the graphics introducing the show is at par with the “Netflix Originals”

The show that’s split into 2 seasons has episode of 45 minutes each.Each ending at the moment! Where you want to know what happens next and this hooks you on to the show.Each episode has the title of what the episode means in Sanskrit and represent how closely every story is related to the Hindu mythology.And the show  connects the underworld characters with the Hindu mythology.

Sacred Games based on the Novel by Vikram Chandra who’s plot -A Gangster and Cop story and the Corruption that lies within the system of Politics in the country.

The Casting is one of its kind ,since we haven’t really seen SaifAliKhan  portray the Role of Cop  Playing the Character “Sartaj” and Nawazuddin playing role of The Gangster  “Ganesh Gaitonde.”and Radhika Apte as a intelligence officer to assist Sartaj.

It’s a first of its kind Thriller Show with a huge star cast and Director like Anurag Kashyap & VikramAditya Motwane who are known for their Filmmaking style like Gangs of Wasseypur & Udaan.

Sacred Games is written by Varun Grover-Who you would know as the Stand up comedian.

the first episode establishes the series to know what exactly happens next ? And Why Ganesh Gaitonde chooses and gets in touch  with Sartaj and gives the lead of saving this city “Mumbai”

And tells him if he could in the  next 25 days.