Bangkok - Day 1

I did a Bangkok trip with 3 other girls and it was amazing.

I booked Thai Airways, which costed around Rs. 20,000 per person. We decided to do Visa on arrival and we booked Deluxe Club room at Pullman, Sukhimvit. We were quite particular about Sukhimvit region and we quite liked this property.

Feb 8, 2018: We had an early morning flight to Bangkok leaving from Chennai by 1:30 am and we reached Bangkok by 6:30 am (local time). I somehow felt the air hostess were not that warm. I didn't quite like the entertainment system and the seat. But the company was good and didn't feel a thing. Visa on arrival was quite easy and it roughly took 45 minutes for the whole procedure to finish

We took the taxi from airport and it costed roughly 350 bhat but the traffic was quite bad in spite of taking the flyover. We had requested the hotel for early check in and they gave us our room by 11:00 am. In the meanwhile, we went to terminal 21 mall to get a sim card. The hotel does have handy phone, but it was unlike the one I used at Singapore. Only local calling was allowed and somehow we could never call that phone. There was no internet pack in that phone.

We had breakfast at the hotel and went to Pratunam Market. We took the BTS from Sukhimvit to Chit Lom. From that station, it was a good 1 km walk. On the way, we stopped at multiple stalls and food stalls and did some shopping.

Pratunam market was not a place for us. We didn't probably know where exactly to shop. After going through the market for quite sometime, we had our lunch at a small restaurant. She made lovely vegetarian thai food.

The tuk-tuk costs you quite a bomb but you need to negotiate a lot. After that we went to Siam center and shopped a lot again. There was a setup like China town and I had my first coconut ice cream with coconut flesh and peanuts. It was yumm.

We then took taxi (it was working out cheaper since we were 4 of us), freshened up and went to Terminal 21 for shopping. At out hotel, the club lounge had unlimited drinks and snacks from 6-8 pm. We snacked a bit before heading out to Terminal 21. Terminal 21 setup is like different regions for each floor. You can easily spend sometime here. We went to the Pizza/ Italian place for dinner near the BTS station. It looked good from outside and the place was crowded but the food was quite average.

Bandipur

This was a last minute trip that was planned just 2 days before our birthday. I had heard good things about this place and wanted to try this destination for long. Also, I wanted to do a safari. I got to know about a direct flight to mysore and decided to make the plan.

There were no rooms available online, but my travel agent got one for me. We booked a Mountain log hut room with all meals included for Rs.45000. I booked a round trip to Mysore on trujet for about Rs. 4000 per person. Regarding transfer, I decided to take a taxi from the airport. So all booking books were done and I was quite excited to go.

The trujet flight, which was to leave chennai airport by 11:00 am left only by 2:15 pm. There was absolutely no message sent to us regarding the delay. I felt it was more of a bus service. The flight lands. By the time passengers get down from the flight, the next set of passengers are waiting on the ground to board. The flight is on the ground only for 10 minutes!!! You get on the flight and they immediately serve you tamarind rice and water. Once you are done, its time to get off. While I was getting off the plane, I saw the next set of passengers ready to board.

Anyways, the mysore airport is literally empty. This is the only flight that operates from that airport as of now. So you have a handful of ground staff. So there are few taxi drivers waiting outside. We booked one for Rs. 2000 one way to the property. It took about 2 hours to reach. The last stretch to reach the hotel was quite bumpy. We took down his number and called him for our return from property as well.

As soon as we entered the property, the manager briefed us. Our room was beautiful. The whole resort was lit up in light and looked splendid. The food at the resort is quite good. There are quite a few activities like table tennis, carrom,  foosball, snooker, etc. There is a playground and kids play area. The swimming pool was quite cold but we still enjoyed ourselves. You can pick up cycles near the reception and can use it till 6 pm.

The only thing I would definitely recommend is getting a better masseuse at the spa. They do organize safari and nature walk. We did do the jungle safari but no luck, we didn't spot any big cats.

The staff were sweet enough to pack lunch for my kid for my journey back. We had a wonderful 2 day break. Luckily, our return flight was delayed only by an hour. Loved our short and sweet vacation

Last Stop Melbourne

Feb  21st  - My flight was at 10:00 am and we dropped our car at Europcar well before time. Luckily we didn't bang, so the formalities were done quickly. Our first problem started at Virgin Airline check-in counter. We were 5 of us and we had five bags to check in. Each bag had to weigh less than 22 kg. My bag had my kids stuff as well and it was weighing 28 kg. But my husband was checking in a luggage of only 15 kg. They didn't agree to compensate with my husband's luggage. I had to repack my suitcase to reduce the weight. I found that quite absurd!! Anyways, it was just an hour flight to Melbourne and it was ok. The inflight entertainment didn't work for me and the air-hostess was quite clueless. 

Again, I had booked a car at Melbourne at Europcar. Here, they didn't have the car that I booked. Funnily, my husband and I were recollecting the Seinfeld episode where he is in a similar situation. They gave us a Volkswagen car and we had to wait for such a long time, for them to arrange for a car seat for my toddler. Only after we started travelling, we realised how horrible the car was. Anyways, I had made my reservation at Punthill South Yarra Grand. I had booked a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 nights, which costed me about Rs. 42,000. It took us a good 45 minute drive in the traffic and it felt like I was in a city.

Like in every other place, the apartment had air-conditioning only in the living room. It was quite hot and stuffy in the bedroom. But the location is fantastic. There is a tram station and railway station nearby. The eateries and shopping places nearby are fantastic as well. The people at the reception were very warm and helped us in planning our things to do. The day we landed, it was white night at Melbourne. We went around 5 to explore the place and the atmosphere was just mind-blowing. They were people performing dance, skits and various acts. The street food and shopping were brilliant. I'm so glad we went around 5 and explored the place. While we were leaving at around 9:30, the place was jam packed and there was no place to move.

Feb 22nd - We had tickets to watch India - South Africa Match. It was way too hot but a good match to enjoy

Feb 23rd - We did a bit of shopping. I had booked a table for hubby and I, at Vue De Monde. The experience was to die for. Oh boy, I forgot to mention that during the day I did eat at Adriano Zumbo. The desserts... I'm still drooling

Feb 24th - We checked out by around 10:30 to drive to Great Ocean Road. Here is the deal, you type Great Ocean Road on GPS, it takes you through the highway. While we were driving, we were wondering as to why we can't see the ocean. We then figured that the GPS always shows the shortest route. I then remembered the stops and we found our way to Torquay. From there on the drive was so inviting. We took pit stops at so many places to enjoy the view. It was almost 7:30 pm by the time we reached 12 apostles and it was the sun was just setting. You can just sit there for hours and enjoy the beauty. 

I had booked my stay at Best Western Great Ocean Inn, Port Campbell. This place is hardly 10 minutes drive from 12 apostles. I had paid Rs. 16350 for a single night for 2 rooms. The room was quite basic and nice. We had dinner at this place, which was right opposite the ocean. Good food and this was the only place which was open late. 

Feb 25th - You can order your breakfast at the hotel, provided to inform them by 8:00 pm previous day. Since we didn't, we checked out and headed for breakfast at a cafe. After that, we again stopped at 12 apostles to enjoy the beauty one last time. We then drove without any stop back to the city. We did a bit of shopping at the outlet mall. After all the shopping, we went to Queen Victoria Evening market. The place had brilliant food. We were all pretty tired just travelling so much. We headed back to the airport early. Guess what? I had bid for my return journey as well, and we had all been upgraded to Business Class.

Th travel back home was wonderful and we had such a good time at Australia.

My First Stop - Adelaide

After I had booked my tickets through Malaysian Airline, I got a mail stating that we might get upgraded to Business Class based on the amount we bid and we would get to know only 48 hours before departure. Bidding was done and my son & mother-in-law got upgraded. 

Feb 11th - Flight departed from Chennai at 11:45 am and we reached Adelaide on Feb 12th 8:15 am (local time). Hubby travelled in business class on behalf of my son, since he refused to sit there without me. The flight journey was brilliant. The crew from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur took very good care of my son. They were constantly smiling and trying to satisfy all our needs. The crew from Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide were less friendly when compared to the previous flight. But my hubby said, the staff at Business Class were extremely attentive and took very good care. I had requested for Hindu Veg Meal and the food option was quite good. My son preferred my veg meal to his child meal.

Feb 12th - We took the big taxi from airport. The taxi driver was an Indian and he was making fun of our luggage (Yes, I don't travel light). Actually in my defence, I was carrying a 30 kg suitcase, for my son & me!!! That's not bad. We were staying at Istay Precinct (also knows as Oaks Precinct). I got a fabulous deal from makemytrip, which was a 2 bedroom apartment, for 4 nights and it costed about Rs.36,000. I just couldn't resist the offer and I booked it. The only problem was there was no housekeeping service and it had a single bathroom. Since we reached the apartment by 10:00 am, they couldn't offer us the apartment immediately. But upon seeing my child, they gave us the apartment.

The apartment was decent sized and had all the basic amenities. The only problem was the 2nd bedroom, didn't have an air-conditioner. It was quite stuffy for the people, who were sleeping in the bedroom. We freshened up and set out to see the Gleng Beach. The tram station was about 10 minute walk from the apartment. The food around the place is just brilliant and the beach was nice as well.

Feb 13th - I had booked my Barossa Valley Tour through Taste the Barossa. Honestly I don't drink wine, but we were doing it just for my husband and neighbour, who wanted to do wine tasting. The guide was very informative and showed us everything that we knew on our way. I saw apple, pear and grapes on the way. I just wanted to pluck the apples and eat it, but I was just behaving myself. We first stopped at the Whispering Wall. When you whisper something on one end of the Wall, you can hear it crystal clear on the other side. All the vineyards were fantastic to look at. I did eat the grapes at the vineyards and they were super yummy. We stopped at about 5 vineyards and they had a good time drinking.

Feb 14th - I had booked my Zoo tickets online, since I thought it might be crowded because of the World Cup. But actually, it was not necessary. It was very hot day. We were able to see all the animals,which was nice. There is no point in taking a stroller for the kid, since they can't see anything from it. They anyways have to be carried. The zoo was nice, but I wasn't really excited by it. Probably it you have a kid, otherwise you can skip the zoo here. There were so many festivals happening. After zoo, we went to do some shopping. The whole place was just buzzing with music, skits and dance. The atmosphere was just electrifying. We did a mini shopping spree, before we headed back to our apartment. Here, all shopping places shut by 5:00 pm.

At night, we went to experience nightlife and casino. The place was filled with Indians & Pakistani. There were these cheers coming from all around, each one supporting their team. Fantastic time to be there.

Feb 15th - I was super excited about India - Pakistan match. I don't know what exactly it is, but something just kicks in. The weather was initially hot, but soon enough it started cooling. My 2 year old son just enjoyed himself to the core. I was super thrilled about the result. I rushed back to my apartment an hour earlier than the match was to end, since my son was getting super hungry. Sad thing was the television in the apartment was not working. Was upset that I couldn't see the final wickets falling, but I knew the result while I was leaving.

The experience of watching the match live was just FANTASTIC. We packed our bags and were good to leave the next day early morning to Tasmania. The Indian Taxi driver had shared his number. So he picked us up and dropped us to the airport.

My Big Aussie Holiday

I recently came back from a 2 week Aussie trip. I have been planning this trip for almost a year. It all started when hubby said he wanted to go for Australia for 2015 World Cup. We managed to get the tickets for India-SA at Melbourne and India-Pakistan at Adelaide. We were initially to do this trip with friends, but due to various changes, we did it with MIL and neighbour.

Australia is huge and we wanted to do just a 2 week holiday. The number of places to visit at Australia are too many but we had less time. I certainly didn't want to go about visiting all the places, without really exploring it. The main places that I wanted to visit was Adelaide (because of the match), Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Great Barrier Reef. With a toddler, I knew it would be difficult to do the activities at Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef. 

My travel agent, then told me about Tasmania. After reading about it, I felt I had to visit the place. I then narrowed down my list to Adelaide, Tasmania and Melbourne. Everyone were surprised that I left Sydney and Gold Coast. I just thought this itinerary would do justice to the number of days that I had. I roughly saw the places of interest in each place and I had calculated 3 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne. I then saw a deal on makemytrip for Adelaide hotel and I got an extra night free for the same price. So I was finally doing 4 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne.

Around August, we wanted to start booking our flight ticket. Malaysian Airline had put up a sale, with each ticket costing us Rs. 45,000 return. Now that was super cheap, when compared to Singapore Airline that I was getting at Rs. 65,000 return. By this time, we had decided to leave the little one with my parents. I was not confident about my decision, but I thought it would be better for the little one, considering the amount of travelling to do. And I really didn't book his ticket as well!!! 

Around last week of October, I booked my internal flight from Adelaide to Hobart in Qantas Airline. The ticket was charged Rs. 12,500 per person. Around the same time, I booked my flight from Launceston to Melbourne in Virgin Australia Airline. The ticket was Rs. 4500 per person. After a month passed, my son tells me that he will not stay with my parents and he would also travel with us. I called each airline and booked his ticket as well. Luckily for internal flight, it was almost the same price. But his ticket at Malaysian Airline costed Rs. 62,000 return. Now for a child, that was super expensive!! I was almost paying what I was paying for myself with internal flights!!

The next post will have details of all my bookings and what I did at Adelaide.

A short Break

Hubby and I wanted to go somewhere for our birthdays without our son, but work came by and the plan dropped. We realised that it was 2 years since we both went on a vacation alone and it was always with family. So we planned to go somewhere on our anniversary.We had decided on a 3 day vacation, since we were leaving my son for the 1st time. I so badly wanted to go to Taj Madikeri property, but the travel to that property would have taken up most of our 3 day vacation. So, we decided to go to Vivanta by Taj, Kovalam. Somehow everyone was telling me that I should stay at Leela, Kovalam but the recent reviews didn't seem that appealing and I stuck with going to the Taj property.

I got my booking, both Hotel and Flight done through Fernweh. As usual, they were great.  I booked the Superior Charm Room with Sea View under Advance Booking. The rates were much cheaper than breakfast inclusive rate. My flight was at 9:30 am and I reached the airport by 8:45. We were the last person to check in and they gave us seats which were not together :(. Why didn't I check in online?? God knows how I can be so stupid at times!! Anyways, it was a long 2 hour flight and I got super bored. We took a cab at the airport. Turned out to be a very wise decision. Yaj was charging us approximately Rs. 1500 for one way for a 15km distance. The cab costed us around Rs. 500. We reached the resort by 12:15 and it was well before our check in time.

Mr. Ganshyam, took us around and showed us the property. We realised they had booked the twin bed room. He said he would change the bedding style. By then, we went to have our Lunch at Jasmine Bay restaurant near the pool. The food I thought was average and was reasonably priced. Our room was very nice on a lower level and you have a sit out from where you can see the sea at a distance. I took a nice nap while hubby went around exploring the place. We were informed about the complimentary tea & coffee session in the evening and also a complimentary boat ride on the lagoon. We went for the tea & Coffee session on the beach and ended up spending amazing time there. 

Later that night, we went out to Bait for dinner. It's supposed to be their best restaurant and the setup was truly amazing in the night. They gave me a free mocktail and the food was very nice. 

The next day, we went to Jasmine Bay for breakfast. The breakfast spread was good. And guess what?? They gave us complimentary breakfast!! I have no clue why though. After lazing around in the pool, we went for our Spa treatment. It was brilliant and I just slept through. After that we had our lunch in our room and went around exploring the places nearby. There are auto and cabs right outside the property but we started walking to check out the place nearby. We walked to the beach and just lazed around. 

We made our dinner reservation at Leela. They informed us to be there by 7:30 pm to avoid cancellation. The distance between Taj and Leela was about 5 km. We caught an auto right outside our property who gave us his number to call him for our return as well. The view from The Terrace restaurant was just brilliant. I started thinking if I made the right decision by staying at Taj. The dinner buffet spread was lavish but the service was ok and the food tasted good. When I went back to Taj, they had done a beautiful room decor to surprise us on our anniversary. 

That's when I realised that the service and the food was so much better than Leela. Next morning at breakfast I got a surprise cake :) I was beaming like a small kid with all the complimentary things that I was getting and again another free breakfast!!! We checked out that afternoon and had lunch at Curries restaurant. The food was brilliant and the service brilliant. 

They have us a small take away home gift and this break turned out to be the best we've had in recent time. I'm sure to go back again

Lessons learnt from Maldives trip

There were quite a few hitches that I faced while planning my Maldives trip. Just jotting it down, so that I don't repeat the same ones again.

1. Ask many travel agents at once. This will help in analyzing cost and also one can get a better deal. I made the mistake of contacting just makemytrip.com and my air fare increased by the time they responded.
2. I always thought it's best to book by oneself but travel agents do give a better deal. I made my booking directly at Four Seasons. I was surprised by the deal I got from my travel agent. 
3. It's better to work with people who are flexible. While working with big companies like makemytrip.com (Mentioning only their name since I've personally interacted with them), they work on fixed time like 10 am to 6 pm and only on weekdays. Getting the quotation and making the booking becomes difficult once it's weekend. My experience with Fernweh and my previous travel agent(who made my booking for Bora Bora) is they are flexible with timing. They work anytime during the day (and night), you can contact them anytime. They treat every customer like king. They come home to pick up documents and other details required. You end up having a personal relationship with them and this goes a long way. I'm definitely going to check the rate with Fernweh, every time I go for my vacation.
4. Never book indian airlines. At least in my case, they had no benefit at Spice Jet like front row for babies. Good thing the flight duration was small. The variety to choose meals is limited unless you pre-book. 
5. Indian airports are not that great. I'm not talking about Delhi, Mumbai or others that I'm unaware of. But Cochin airport was very bad. There is no way one can while away time there. Not many stores, the international airport wore a deserted look. In the domestic terminal, while we were returning to Chennai, the check-in process would not happen before 2.5 hours of flight departure. There was no place to eat inside the airport. We had to request the airport authorities to let us out of the airport, so that we could eat and relax at the food court at the airport. Also, there was no baby room near the check-in counters. The restroom facility that we have in our Indian airports are pathetic. The restroom facility at new terminal of Chennai airport was so bad that it was full of water. 

My stay at Four Seasons, Kuda Huraa

The previous night was bad with zero cooling in the room. We headed out for breakfast while they were repairing. Breakfast was good and I could get everything I wanted for my Little One :) We were informed that there is something wrong in the AC and we would be shifted to a suite by evening!!! Now that was amazing. 

One can relax by the pool or beach. Snorkelling on the beach was quite nice. We went for Dolphin cruise in the evening. It was such a good sight to see so many dolphins swimming. Four Seasons has a turtle corner, where the injured turtles and rescued and given life. The sunset lounge is to die for. The one bedroom suite that we were shifted to was gorgeous and spacious. This was one of the few room from where sunrise and sunset could be seen.

On the 3rd day, my husband went for Scuba. He felt the corals were a bit dead and the experience he had at Bora Bora was mind blowing, when compared to the one here. My mother-in-law went for Male city tour and she had fun exploring the city. It was my mother-in-law's birthday. She was flooded with personalized gifts from all departments. They even sent a complimentary cake, which truly made her day even more special. 

The next day, my husband again went to another location for Scuba, where he felt it was not that great. I, along with my mother-in-law and son, went to the nearby village. The guide explained the lives of people in the village and gave us some time to shop

We tried the spa and the experience was mind blowing. One needs to take a cute boat ride to the spa. I just wished I had tried the spa on an earlier day. Would have absolutely returned to try out more massages. During our stay, we dined at all three restaurants for dinner and each was good in its own league. My mother-in-law loved the yoga and meditation, that she didn't miss it for anything :) On day day we were departing, the instructor, wrote the list of asanas for my mother-in-law to practise at home.

While we were going for our spa, I asked if I could check out Two bedroom Royal Beach villa. It was a massive beautiful villa and had a private beach. 

View of Sunset Lounge: 

View from my room:

Morning Yoga Session:

On my last day, we went for kuda huraa reef snorkelling. We could see so many fishes and it seemed like a good end to our holiday. The service of Four Seasons, like always is amazing and I absolutely cherish my stay here.

Finally Maldives

Maldives Flight Details:

Onward:
Chennai (8:00) -> Kochi (9:00)
Kochi (12:50) -> Male (14:10)

Return:
Male (14:45) -> Kochi (17:05)
Kochi (21:10) -> Chennai (22:35)

I was excited to see the new terminal of Chennai Airport. The airport looked nice and swanky from outside. The check-in process was so slow. The person trying to check-in was confused whether we have to take the luggage at Cochin or at Maldives. He did ask us to collect it from Maldives. The baggage belt at Check-in counter was not working. So you could see everyone getting frustrated. We had our breakfast at "Balaji Stall" before the security check. It was super yummy. The aroma of Sambar was lingering around that we ordered Idly and satisfied our craving :)

The airport looked nice inside and you could see a lot of work was still pending. There was a baby care room, but it was locked. When you have so many passengers using the airport, how can it not be functional. There are many passengers with babies, who are going to use the facility!!! Anyways my flight was delayed by more than an hour. When we reached the Cochin airport, we enquired with the ground staff. They advised us to take the luggage and then shift to International Terminal. 

During our check in at Chennai airport, the person issued our ticket for Cochin to Male as well. This made our check-in process at Cochin easy. We had to wait for about an hour at Cochin Airport. The airport was quite deserted and i didn't find staff at few of the stall. My MIL got a cute baby umbrella at one of the stall. Thank god there was a baby room at this airport!! There was limited option to eat at the airport. After an hour wait at the airport, we boarded the flight. The flight duration was again short. The flight was not full, so each of us occupied a row. It was a blessing in disguise when you have a baby :)

Finally we reached Maldives and Four Seasons has a lounge at the airport. One can refresh with water, tea/coffee, fruits, snacks like nuts, energy bars, etc. Since we were the only one to arrive, we left the airport immediately. We were offered cold towel (Badly needed one) and water on the boat. And yes, they had wi-fi. The ride lasted for about 30 minutes. Upon reaching the hotel, there was a band playing to welcome us. There was a refreshing drink offered to us. What was extra special, was the drink offered to my son in a cute cup and straw.

They informed us about the upgrade to Sunset Water Bungalow from Sunrise Water Bungalow. The room was nice and spacious. They had placed a crib with diaper, a fish toy  and few other accessories for my son. We had the 1st room, so we could see the adult pool from our room as well. They informed my MIL about yoga and meditation. So she was off for her evening yoga, while hubby and me enjoyed the adult pool.

We tried the Indian restaurant "Baarabaru". It was fantastic. The food served was brilliant. One thing that I love about Four Seasons, is the service. It's outstanding. The best I've seen in hospitality service so far. When we returned to our room, we found the cooling of air-conditioner to be bad. But the night had to be passed and we were hoping the next day would be better

New destination - Maldives

The quest for a holiday started after I delivered my son. We couldn't go on our birthday holiday, since my son was too young. Post new year we decided we could go on a family holiday with my MIL as well. Our initial plan was to go to Singapore & Bali and made plans around my MIL's birthday. We decided to surprise her and changed the destination to Maldives (She had been wanting to visit Maldives for a long time). For hubby and I, it would be a similar experience as Bora Bora and there is bound to be comparison in our head.

While I was making the plan for Singapore & Bali, I had contacted makemytrip.com. I later informed them about changing the destination to Maldives. There was so much confusion in our head between Four Seasons, Kuda Huraa and Mirihi Island. Since we were taking my MIL to an exotic location, we thought we'll take her to Four Seasons. The makemytrip agent was giving me very good deal. Upon confirmation, she would say it is not available. I would have hardly taken couple of hours to confirm. I was fuming mad as to how it could not be available. She answered saying this was the quotation and upon confirmation from my side, she would check for availability. That seemed absolutely absurd. I did post a complaint at their website. The makemytrip team did apologise but I guess it didn't really matter then.

I had three flight options. A direct flight from Chennai to Male provided by Maldivian airline. The flight timing was inconvenient, so we had to let go of this option. The other one was Sri lankan airline and Spice Jet. I remember Sri lankan airline to be much more expensive than Spice Jet. So we went ahead with Spice Jet (Later when I did check, Sri Lankan airline was cheaper). Anyways I had booked and I didn't want to worry about the difference.

I contacted Four Seasons, Kuda Huraa for reservation. I informed that we would be 3 adults and an infant travelling and I would require the Sunrise Water Bungalow. The price quoted by the team was pretty expensive and I made the reservation for 3 night. It was just a Bed & Breakfast deal and I didn't get any deal that I got at Bora Bora. I was going to be charged close to $5300 for just 3 nights!!! The tax is a killer here, where in you are paying 18.8%+GST. I personally feel, Maldives is much more expensive than Bora Bora. But when you are in a holiday mood, I don't mind splurging once in a while.

All booking made and we were waiting for April 15th to come. During the course of time, my MIL got to know about we travelling to Maldives and the whole surprise got spoilt. A week before we were leaving, I pinged my friend, who is a travel consultant and owns a company called Fernweh. I had completely forgotten about her while making the booking. I casually asked her what is the best rate that can be offered to me and she gave me a quotation of 300$ lesser than that was offered by Four Seasons and an extra night. Now that was a bonanza and I immediately accepted the deal.

Now the painful process was shifting my confirmation from Four Seasons to them, but Four Seasons did do the needful and my plan was changed accordingly. In the last minute I had to change my flight detail and we were geared up for the much awaited holiday :)

Last Day at Dubai

We were lazy and got up pretty late :) We then headed out to check where we could have our breakfast. The spread at Kaleidoscope was ABSOLUTE BRILLIANT!!! One of the biggest I've ever seen and tasted brilliant as well. Overall, our stay at Atlantis was very nice but the highlight was food here. Fantastic restaurants :) Th check out process was smooth and we headed to the airport to catch our return flight to India.

Overall a great trip and lots of memories to cherish :)

Back after a break - Dubai

I'm preggie now and I didn't quite like the thought of writing about food. But that still didn't stop me from going out for lunch / dinner. Due to my restricted liking (blaming it on my child), we used to go to the same place over and over again. Honestly, I was getting bored and we were thinking of making a trip somewhere close by, to make sure I get a break from my monotonous doctor visits and of course, thinking only about the baby.

We (me and hubby) were thinking of various options like Ooty, Kodaikanal, Kabini, etc., But I felt I could go to these places once the kid is born for a easy family holiday. Then we realised, we'v not made a single trip with my mil and we could go some where with her. She immediately said Dubai and the date was also fixed on the same day. Now it was all up to me to plan it all out. 

We were planning to go along with my sis-in-law's family and we decided we'll go for 3 days. I knew 2 night-3 days would be difficult, since there are so many things to see there. I was given complete freedom to plan what ever I wanted but with a budget in hand. I  first listed the things to see, keeping in mind the crowd that is going. Then I started searching for hotels to stay. 

We were 7 of us travelling in total. So I was looking out for 1 suite and a triple occupancy room or 2 double rooms and 1 triple occupancy room. I was very close to booking Grand Hyatt, as it seemed okay for the price they were charging. For the kind of hotels I was looking out for, it looked like I had to shell out minimum 12 - 13k per night per room. That would mean approximately Rs. 36k - 40k per night for our family. That's when I started searching for apartments. I wanted a 3 bedroom apartment and my first choice was Somerset / Ascott. The reason being, I had seen the rooms at Somerset in Chennai and quite liked it.

I searched the website for any of their [properties in Dubai and I narrowed it down to Ascott Park Place. I saw the layout of their 3 bedroom apartment and liked it. It felt like a spacious apartment, which measured approx 2300 sq ft. When I contacted them for details, they informed me that they would charge AED 1440 per night for the 7 of us, which included the breakfast as well. This seemed like a great deal (when compared to the hotels I was checking out) and also thrilled about the fact that we would all be staying together. I made my confirmation through online and booked it for 3 night stay.

While I was doing my booking, I had enquired about transportation from airport to the apartment. They gave me a costing of AED 230 per car. Since we were 7 of us, we would require 2 cars. While I was browsing through tripadvisor and checking through Google maps, I found that it would take AED 50 per car when I take the taxi from airport. So, I cancelled my transport option and just booked the room with breakfast option.


In the meanwhile, I had made a list of things to do at Dubai. We had narrowed it down to dining at Burj Al Arab, Ferrari World, Desert Safari, Dhow cruise and of course shopping :)


We wanted to stay at Atlantis after seeing the pictures online. So our 3 day trip was being extended to 5 days :D


I'll continue this post as to what I did at Dubai and my experience out there. 

The Serai - Chikmagalur

My husband was born exactly a day after me. Since this was the first year we were celebrating our birthday together, we wanted to go out somewhere. More so, because we were scared if any of his family members will throw a "birthday party". I was debating between Kumarakom and Chikmagalur. I chose Chikmagalur, considering the cost as well as staying at Bangalore for the weekend. 

I was planning to stay from 14th Dec to 17th Dec. The first time I called, they said they were sold out. Later when I did tell them I wanted to spend my birthday there, they said they would confirm and get back to me. Later she did get back to me saying 16th was unavailable. I told her it was my husband's birthday and I'd want to stay there. She later did take in my request and gave me a confirmation. I made an online payment to confirm the booking. I booked an Estate pool villa for 3 night, which was about Rs, 38,499 and included all meals for both of us. 

Next came the hurdle of booking tickets. I appreciate the fact that Indian Railway ticket can be booked online, but it is so damn slow. I left on 13th Dec through Bangalore Mail and reached Bangalore at 5:10 in the morning. I then caught a train from Bangalore and reached Birur by 10:00 am. The train was late by about 40 minutes. I had asked the resort to arrange for a car to pick me up from Birur station. The driver who came to pick us up spoke good english and was really nice. It was 1.5 hr drive from station to the resort. My husband was unhappy about the fact that we were travelling so much and said I was not going to plan trips any more. 

We reached the resort by about 11:30 am and the resort was beautiful to look at. Christmas decoration was up everywhere. The welcome drink was Cold Coffee and it was super yumm. We were taken to our villa and it was gorgeous. It was a huge villa. As soon as you open the gate to your villa, there is a path that leads you to your room. Opposite to your room door, you have a pool and a place to lie down. The landscape is dressed beautifully with grass and plants. As soon as you open your room door, the first thing you notice is the huge bed. There is a TV, a sitting area, mini bar and wardrobe in the room. When you open the bathroom, you are in for a treat. First, it is soooo big!!! You have washbasin on either side of the bathroom, so we don't have to fight for the place to get ready. There is a bathtub in the middle. The right side door leads to the shower area and left side door leads to the washroom. There is a small passage between the bathtub and shower area, which leads to the outer shower area. If I ever get a chance, I would definitely build such a huge bathroom for me. 

The food here is ok. I really enjoyed my breakfast here, especially Masala Dosa. They do have lot of options like Indoor Games, Outdoor Games, Swimming Pool, Gym, Billiards, Library, Movie option, etc. The sad part was it was a bit cold out there and I couldn't use the Swimming Pool that much. Should have booked the villa with Jaccuzzi :(. We hardly stepped out of the resort as we wanted to just relax in the resort.  The resort did arrange for us to go to the Siva Temple nearby, where you need to climb about 500 steps and its the highest peak in Karnataka. The view from there was brilliant. We tried the spa at the resort and it was good. 

View from Shiva Temple:

The resort does offer romantic dinner option for a couple, which includes candle light dinner under a tree and in the swimming pool. We didn't take any of the option and wanted to surprise each other. The surprise that we planned for each other, didn't turn out so well but we did have a hearty laugh about it.

Random Resort pics:

Overall, this resort is fantastic and would recommend it to anyone for 2/3 night stay. I did check out on 17th Dec at 8:00 am to catch my train from Birur at 10:00 am. Stupid train came to the station more than an hour late and I reached Bangalore by 3 pm. I spent the weekend with my friends in Bangalore and came back to Chennai.


By the way, my husband did say the trip was worth it and I'm back to planning all the trips again :D

Finally... Bora Bora

I checked out on 6Th Feb from Auckland and drove back to the airport. After finishing my formalities, I boarded Air Tahiti airline. It was about 5 hour flight and reached the capital of Bora Bora, which is Papeete at 10 pm. The interesting part is the time difference between Auckland and Papeete is about 23 hours, which meant, it was still 5th Feb at Papeete. 

I didn't book any overnight hotel. The reason being, I would get out from the airport only by 11pm and would have to return to the airport at 5:00 am, to catch my flight to Bora Bora. We did check out the motel opposite the airport but seemed too expensive for about 5-6 hrs.  If I remember right, I think the motel was charging us $150 per night. From the outside, the place looked dingy. I could be wrong considering I didn't check out the rooms. Anyway, it was a bit past mid night and I didn't mind spending the time at the airport. Oh, also, me being a vegetarian and in spite of my travel agent specifying vegetarian option for me,  the airline didn't have vegetarian for me. 

I was starving by the time I was done searching for a place to stay. Even at the airport, I had just 1 option to eat, which is, milk and honey loop cereal. When I started eating, I found it to be yumm. As my stomach started filling up and I came to my senses, I realised it had no sugar and I was not liking it. I ended up sleeping at the airport and woke up early to catch my flight. 

I boarded Air Tahiti Nui flight at 7:30 in the morning and reached Bora Bora by 8:20 am. The airport was so small. 

Four Seasons had sent us their yacht to pick us up and it felt like the ones in Hollywood movie. They offered cold towel and drinks. It's about 15-20 minutes drive from the airport to the resort. Upon our arrival, we were given our welcome drink and they showed us the property. The property is huge and beautiful. We were then taken to our over water bungalow. It was mind-blowing and the property was treat to the eyes. The whole place was too good to be true. It was like one of the screensaver that we see or the picture has been manipulated. 

There was so much calmness around and it was just peaceful to be away from the city and work. The first thing that we did as soon as we checked into the room was to jump from the room to the water. I must admit, I was first reluctant, considering that I didn't know how deep and cold the water was. After my husband jumped and saw him having fun, I knew I had to do it. The Four Seasons did have life jacket and water tube in the room. 

As soon as you enter your room, you would have a big living room. The living room opens out to a deck, from where you have the view of the sea. Next is the dressing area, which I can segregate into 3 parts: shower, dressing and bathtub. The view from bathtub is again the sea!!! Next is the bedroom, which is again quite big and opens out to a deck. The deck has the view of the sea and you can plunge into the water from here. 

View from my room:

View from bathtub: I did take this picture from Four Seasons Bora Bora facebook page. Trust me, the view is the same :)

 We chose the "Short package", which includes breakfast and dinner. What was surprising was there was a separate vegetarian menu!!! Every day, we would get a letter from the manager, with details about any for our booking and breakfast and dinner detail. 

We stayed there for 4 nights and each day they had arranged for dinner at each of their restaurant. The food and presentation was very nice. At each of the restaurant, we could order a starter, main course and dessert for each. The view from "Sunset restaurant and bar" and "Tere Nui" were brilliant. In one you could enjoy the sunset, while the other had a beautiful view of the beach. On one night, they had arranged for a French Polynesian show, which was fantastic. The breakfast spread was really nice. 

Every one in the hotel is really friendly and nice. They have a smiling face and are always ready to help. They helped us in booking for snorkelling and scuba. My husband enjoyed scuba a lot. We had a lot of fun doing snorkelling as well. We were first taken to the middle of the sea, where we all jumped to see the beautiful creatures. They then took us to a small island, where we could relax for sometime. Next to a place, where we could swim with sting rays. I quite didn't like the slimy creatures...

I must mention about the spa here. In my opinion, the spa is very expensive but worth every bit. I must admit, that was the best spa that I've experienced. I did forget to mention that our there was moisturiser and sunscreen through out the property and that too with different SPF option. We did like their L'occitane products a lot that we went to the spa to buy them. Unfortunately they didn't have the shampoo and conditioner there but they gave us so many soaps, that lasted for good 4 months.

This is the best property at Bora Bora and the service is fantastic. The manager ( who happened to be an Indian) did make it a point to talk to each of his guest. I've been bugging my husband to go back for our 1st anniversary. I'm sure that's not going to happen but I do know I'll visit this place again. 

The general checkout is 12:00 noon but they were sweet enough to let us use the room till 4:00 pm. 

Return Flight Detail:

Bora Bora -> Papeete: 10th Feb 6:40 pm -> 10th Feb 7:40 pm

Papeete - > Auckland: 11th Feb 01:50 am -> 12th Feb 06:50 am (Remember the time difference?).

Auckland -> Hong Kong: 12th Feb 2:40 pm -> 12th Feb 8:40pm

Hong Kong -> Chennai: 12th Feb 10:35 pm -> 13th Feb 01:35 am

The travel back to India was long and painful but memories of Bora Bora kept me at peace 

Bora Bora - Part 2

I got my plan charted out, which did include a huge bomb for my husband :D..We didn't get our Visa until a day or two earlier. At a point I was wondering, if I would be going for my honeymoon or not. The "D-Day" arrived and I was super excited. On 3rd Feb, I took off to Auckland through Cathay Pacific flight, which had a brief pit stop at Hong Kong. I did some shopping at Hong Kong airport (Forgot to take my sunglasses and ended up buying a new one)


Day 1 Auckland: Reached Auckland at 7:30 am, 4th Feb. We rented a car at the airport and had GPS installed. We just thought it would be easier for us to navigate in Auckland. We found our way to the hotel, Hyat Regency, which is renamed to Pullman Auckland. I would have to say, this hotel is an average for a 5 star. They first, checked us in a room near the lift and which was not yet clean. When we asked the front desk about it, they shifted us to another room in the same floor.  The room was an average one. We decided to go out and have our lunch. We enquired and got to know about Sky City at Victoria Street, which is a must visit place.  Here, you can either walk or jump from the tallest place in Auckland. I absolutely ducked out and didn't do it..


View from Top:

The place had very nice view and we enjoyed our lunch out there. We then got to know about a cruise dinner and wanted to go there. We were having problem finding the exact ship to get on a cruise and missed going on the cruise by reaching 5 minutes late :( I was too tired from the walking, so we ended up having yummy pizza from a local eatery, drove down to the famous Auckland bridge, got lost on our way back but ended up reaching the hotel somehow


Day 2 Auckland: We got up really late and went down for breakfast just 5 minutes before they were going to close down service. Gobbled up food and were ready to catch a ferry to see the nearby places. That's what I thought.. But my husband had other plans. He being a cricket fan, has a dream of watching cricket in every country, wanted to watch a match between Pakistan and New Zealand. Watched the match for about 3 hours. The stadium is fantastic, so clean and it's pretty small. The food stall was great, It had self service, so no hassles waiting in queue.

We drove back to our hotel to park our car and walk to the port to catch the ferry to Devonport. The picture above was our beautiful walkway from our hotel to the port. It was about 10 minutes from our hotel. When we got off from Devonport, we took a bus to go to the beach there. It was a scenic drive and the beach was clean, but with dogs around. There was one perfect house that I fell in love with. I would love to have my bedroom with a beach view. We spent sometime at the beach. While, we were waiting for our bus back to the ferry, we had yummy pasta and thai food. 


View from restaurant & ferry ride:

Finally the bus arrived and we reached our hotel late in the night. 


Day 3 Auckland: We wanted to do bungee jumping from the Auckland bridge. The hotel had made a reservation for us. My husband was quite confident that I wouldn't do it and he knew the only way to make me do it was placing a bet. The bet was if I did do the jump, I could buy myself a Gucci bag (I love bags!!! Can't get enough of it..) We reached the place early, where they would pick us up in a van. We were given safety instruction and given the gears to wear. Also, to sign a document that they are not responsible, if anything happens to us. We started climbing the bridge and it was a long walk. All I could think was the beautiful Gucci bag that I could buy if I did jump. I definitely didn't want to look down as I was climbing up. Before I jumped, I did look down and it was freaking scary. I finally did it and it was an amazing feeling. 


Bungee Jump View:

On our way back, we did have our brunch. We hurried back to the hotel to check out and leave to Bora Bora. I had a wonderful time at Auckland but I did feel the place was a bit pricey. I would definitely go back to Auckland to explore the place more and also stay at a better hotel


Shall describe Bora Bora in my next post :)

Bora Bora - My heaven

As soon as I got engaged, I started thinking of places to go for my honeymoon. Since my better half loves island, I was trying to narrow down my searches related to Island. While I was browsing, I came across this place named "Bora Bora". It looked too good to be true. When I searched on Google, I found that it was a part of French Polynesia island in Pacific Ocean. When we told our parents about it, the reply was like "Why can't you go to a normal place than to go to an unknown island. What if there is Tsunami. How would we even contact you for emergency" The questions were just too many to post here

Something told us we had to go there and we started doing our research. By "we", I just mean "I" :D . I want to make him feel like he planned. I had to be there in February 2011 and I started my booking process by October mid. Once I started searching more about the place, I realised it is not as remote as what I had imagined it to be. It was connected by an airport and all the major hotels were located there. I thought it's easy to plan the itinerary and book through a travel agent. When I did call SOTC, Cox and Kings, etc there was no response from them. Of course, Thomas Cook was the only one who responded to my enquiry, but the package was not very expensive.

I was talking to a friend of mine at work, who happened to know a travel agent. I got the contact info and trust me the big names in the market neither give you a proper response nor do they give you a good deal. This lady was fantastic. She was extremely frank, hard working and flexible. I had told her my requirement and she had planned one beautifully. I know she had to stay awake in the night, so she could speak to the person at Bora Bora, to co-ordinate my trip. 

Coming back to the trip... It takes almost 35 hrs to travel from Chennai, which happens to be the shortest distance. The route that I did take was Chennai -> Hong Kong -> Auckland -> Papeete -> Bora Bora. So that was one hell of a travel and I decided to take a pit stop at Auckland. I had decided to stay at Hyatt Regency at Auckland and Four Seasons at Bora Bora. I was so excited, since it was the first time I would be staying at any Four Season property.

I think this post is way longer than I expected. Next post will be about my travel and stay at Auckland and Bora Bora. Enjoy the aerial view of the place ;)