La Paris Tour (12th- July Day 1)

When I was planning my Europe trip the city which came up in my mind was "Paris", the worlds fashion capital, the city of Eiffel Tower etc etc. I asked my frens who had been to Paris abt the city and how to travel around, I got a lot of info some useful and most not so useful. I did a lot of Internet search and found some really interesting facts abt Paris, the hostel booking was done through Internet and even the Euroline bus tickets was booked from Internet. Me and my fren "A" were so excited from the moment we reached Paris, and thanks to my fren AD for mailing me the metro connection we reached and found our way till the hostel very easily. The hostel was not as good as the pic. in the Internet but in 25 euro's I didn't expected much either, it was okay and I think that hostel "Aloha" was popular with many backpackers I saw alot of people from all around the world.

Getting around Paris was easy all we did was follow the Eiffel Tower and asked people if we were going the right way, I found most people helpful and on the way to Eiffel Tower we came across this flea market or like a Sunday market sort of place, that was quite cool , I bought myself a bag some souvenir's and we bought french beans...we found veggies were much cheaper in Paris compared to Germany and I must have ate 1 kg of cherries..it was yummm and too good.

I was busy scanning the market to the point that I almost forgot to take pics. (which is very unlike me) we really had a good time at the market. I went to a souvenir shop which belonged to an Indian guy and we bought postcards and a coffee mug, I was quite thrilled and 10 mins of this shop was Eiffel Tower. I can't explain my excitement in words when I reached Eiffel Tower, this is one place I had only seen in TV, pics and magazine's....seeing it in real was quite an amazing and awesome feeling. I went till the 2nd level of Eiffel Tower and mind you I paid 4.50 euro to claim the tower. The view from top was amazingly beautiful and I enjoyed every moment of it, the 1st level of Eiffel Tower has many eating joints, theatre, souvenir shops and much more for all tourists. It was quite an experience for me to go all the way to Eiffel Tower and chill for sometime, I took so many pictures and had the longest sandwich ever (in Paris what I know as sub is sandwich). After came down from Eiffel Tower me and "A" just walked around the city and we took the cruise ride at river Seine, that was 11 euro per person but worth every cent, we enojyed it so much and went crazy taking pictures. The river was clean and unlike rivers and the cruise ride was very relaxing. We ended the day after spending some time back at Eiffel Tower and we walked all the way back to the hostel.

Tour Amsterdam-10th July 09

Amsterdam was the 2nd destination in my “Tour Europe” plan. My fren “A” visited Amsterdam sometime back but the train got delayed and she spent exactly 20 mins in Amsterdam .This time we had the whole day with us. It was raining when we reached Amsterdam but than thankfully rest of the day it didn’t rained, as usual I was super excited…visiting a new place that too a city like Amsterdam, I was there to explore the city and enjoy every moment. We started with visiting the various souvenir shops and buying postcards, wooden tulip, fridge magnets and few other interesting(here interesting also means affordable) things. I was so busy clicking pics. that "A" commented "I know why you wanted me to some with you" I asked WHY? her reply " To be your official photographer" hahaha thats "A" and her style. I called everyone from Amsterdam mom, "D", sis & boss, the phone was of course expensive 1 euro for abt 40 secs but then I found 3 euro in a coin operated phone booth....I got so excited that I used up all the money...I was trying to call "D" and the line the engaged so I hanged up and put my fingers inside to take my coin back...and then bingo....not just the coin I had put but I found 3 more euro's....hahaha that was the beginning of my lottery which I realized much later....

We walked and just walking down the central Amsterdam area and visited the most interesting place " The Red Light District", the most popular item on sale was the male sexual organ made in many forms, coffee mugs, coffee mug handle, sale and pepper dispenser, fridge magnets..you name it they have made it. It was lil too much for me, never in my life I have seen such display of male sexual organ so openly...I took pictures and loads of it...at Amsterdam the coffee bars were marijuana joints where people can smoke marijuana openly...since I was told earlier abt all these I was not shocked. After staying in Germany "A" felt Amsterdam is not as "CLEAN" as Germany, which I also think is true but then every place has its own charm and I liked Amsterdam. The french fries or Frites as they call it was yumm...and I loved the croissants.

Amsterdam was affordable, I bought loads of wooden tulips, fridge magnet, postcards and yeah even a T-shirt.... sadly I couldn't take the canal ride and open bus tour but then I am looking fwd to visiting the city again next year. The 2nd destination in my "Tour Europe" trip was awesome.

Amsterdam in Pics.

Random shot of Amsterdam

Waterworld-Nemo

Madame Tussaud's Museum-Amsterdam

The Boats at Amsterdam's Famous Canals

Germany

I was super excited this morning when the flight was touching down for Frankfurt, the immigration process took exactly 5 mins, unlike aapna India where it took more than 30 mins y'day for some weird reason....the funniest part was this guy asked me WHY ARE YOU GOING TO GERMANY WASTING SO MUCH MONEY?? I mean hallooooo dude its my money and whether I spend it on travel or on charity whats goes of your father....lol...since my fren "A" is here it was very convenient for me in terms of travel tickets and basic info.I reached Bielefeld dot on time and m super impressed with the Bahn ICE trains,its super fast and very, very punctual unlike trains in India. I am exploring the neighbourhood and I must admit m super impressed . Bahut saare aur photo upload karti rahungi and more post will follow after this post.

The 2nd Udaipur

We all know abt the Udaipur in Rajasthan but I am sure very few know abt the other Udaipur, the district Head qtr of South Tripura District. I go to Udaipur very often mainly because of the famous Kali temple "Matabari" or "Tripureshwari Mandir", I am not a very religious person but I often pray to Matabari. The most wonderful thing abt this temple are the peda prasad, its an ancient temple and people from all communities pray, making it even more divine. The temple is also a picnic spot and even the Govt. here has created infrastructure for people to enjoy the area. Infront of the temple is a small lake or a big pukur, the pukue is full of HUGE fish which we can see everywhere and I was always told that their are many tortoise but never really got a chance to see anyone of the many tortoise but this time since I had all the time I saw the tortoise. It was very cute, people were feeding biscuits to the tortoise, which I do not approve of but then kya kar sakte hai. My sis. even touched the tortoise,something we had never done before. I had a good time out y'day...visiting the mandir and watching those tortoise....

Food bonding

I find it not so easy to communicate with every people I meet, sometimes I gel very well even with a stranger and many times I do not even say hi to people I have known for ages. But many times its happens that I bond well with another person because we like the same stuff and here I am talking only abt food....I am really passionate abt food...good food and equally passionate abt travelling and visiting places I've never been to. Y'day I was travelling with one of the consultant designer and the whole trip, all we talking abt was FOOD and only GOOD FOOD...we talking abt cooking different ways of Bhape Ilish(My real all time fav), I shared my way of cooking and she shared hers...the Cheese potato chips of Budhani's at Pune....Shrewbury biscuits of Kayanis'...various types of dosa's from all over the country, I told her of all the dosa's I had till now and my fav. are the one in Bangalore and Mysore....she told me some real simple recipes, I particularly like the chicken soup one with a whole chciken and loads of veggies....we talking abt Biryani's and the bengali style biryani with boiled egg and potato's...ahh I had such a wonderful trip to the centers and all the way back...talking abt so much food.....we ended the conversation with Bhape ilish and chingri lunch at Sankar's...yummmmyyyy

Breakfast at Flurys, trams and the affordable taxi ride

I have been to Kolkata almost uncountable times starting from the time when I was a student it was a transit route then I started travelling for work very often and travelling for office related work meant...only work and no time to explore the city. This time since it was a personal trip I had all the time for myself and decided to explore the city and Park Street was first in list, I went to Westside, Pantaloon for some PLEASURE shopping and then Flurys, I’ve heard so much abt Flurys and its famous breakfast platter so I ordered myself the famous Flurys all day Breakfast and a filter coffee….the food was yummmmm or to use one word I really want to use, like Nigella Lawson from Nigella Feast uses so often “heavenly” sausage, bacon, omlette, toast and cutlet…it was really good and I enjoyed every bite of it. Next in my list was Elgen road and my fav. silver jewellery shop Chamba Lamba's at New Market, I have been to Chamba Lamba many time and everytime I visit I end up buying loads of silver jewellery. I recommend Chamba Lamba to everyone who's fond of wearing silver jewellery.

Kolkata is one metro city where Taxis are very much affordable, everytime I take a taxi in Delhi or Mumbai I do that with a heavy heart, thinking abt the hole in my pocket after reaching my destination but in Kolkata I can always take a taxi without any worries, the ride to Alipur from Airport cost me abt 250 bucks. I was told to try other means of public transport like trams, metro, local buses and the local trains but till date I have tried only the local train maybe next time I can use the trams and the buses just for thrill...till then lemme prepare for my next leisure trip.

2nd home in delhi

Travelling to Delhi would have been boring if it was an alien place to me but since I've lived there earlier and most of my frens are there I do not mind going to Delhi despite the heat, dust and everything else. Living is a small town has made my mind limited in terms of distance I travel between my house and office, house and market and places to need to visit but when I come to Delhi and if I stay with my sis then I travel for 2 hrs then I reach office, I travel for 1 hr to meet my fren at Def. col and if I have to meet another fren at Mayur Vihar then my whole evening is spent reahing her place and I meet her for 1 hr and again rest if the time I spent in getting back. I realize its a horrible way of living and after staying in Agartala for more then 2 yrs I ever more dislike the distances I cover and time I waste to do basic things like meeting a fren for lunch or dinner. In delhi the only place I like to stay in JNU mainly coz its close to office and also close to most places I want to visit , whether it Vasant Vihar, Sarojini Nagar or even Def. col, JNU is once place I really feel at home. My very good fren"A" stays at Ganga hostel which despite all the water problems is super convenient and 10 mins by auto from my head office .I like the Ganga Dhaba, it reminds me of DU days and the campus is so lively even after mid-night that one will not know abt time and at this point I remember one quote what stduents of JNU say "JNU jeene nahi dega and ganga dhaba marne nahi dega" and looking at the JNU campus I think its true.

A true nomad

I am back from one trip and I plan for another but this time its going to be my best travel plan till now. If everything goes well then I am sure this will be one trip I will always remember. I don't know why but I always look fwd to travelling and keep planning abt some trip or the other, thankfully my job gives me the opportunity to travel and visit places of my interest, I wonder what I would have done if I had to work in just one place day in..day out with no travel....I sure would have gone insane..lol, I get so excited thinking abt my travel plans and I really think I am a true nomad at heart and I will always be...amen to that.

Beautiful things in summer

Khagel-leihao

Gulmohor Tree

April and May is no doubt one of the hottest month and temp. soared to 39 degree with humidity level as high as 85% but then on my various trips to all the clusters our project is promoting I get to see some lovely sites like these pics. above I don't know the names of most of the flower trees but the site is worth capturing in my camera, the first pic. is of "Khagel-leihao" as its called in Meitei lon, 2nd is Gulmohor and 3rd m not too sure of the name. The way to katlamara was full of these lovely flower tree's and I stopped for few moments to enjoy the beauty, their were alot of other flower trees in the many tea garden's but sadly I didn't had the time for photography..... but I hope the tree's are still in full bloom when I come back from Delhi.

Travelling to Delhi again...

Delhi seems to be the only destination in my life I get to travel when others are getting to travel the world....I travel to delhi once every 3/4 months, its not that I don't want to go to delhi lekin summer mei Delhi unbearable ho jata hai and this year its very very hot. Anyways lets hope dilli mei bhi barish ho jayeh jaise yahan Agartala mei suru ho gaya kal se...its super pleasent and m enjoying after the dreaded 39 degree and 85% humidity level the previous two weeks.

Nagamapal Keithal Revisited

I love to cook and equally love to shop for veggies so this time when I was home last week I went to the Nagamapal vegetable keithal (Market) with mom one morning. We bought fresh local veggies for to take it back to Agartala, veggies like maroi nakuppi, thambou, maroi napakpi, yendem and alot of other veggies. I took this opportunity to capture some good pics. for my blog and in general. The best part about this market is, its operated only by women both from valley and the hill, the infrastructure is not good but at 7 in the morning its lively and full of people. I wish I could contribute in development of the market, development in terms of making the shed's better and providing basic facilities to the women, if not now then maybe latter for sure I wish to contribute at the level best.

The week that was in Tripura

After my series on the week that was in Delhi I thought why not start a series on "The Week that was in Tripura" to upload all my travel pics and thoughts during and after the travel, so here's the first one updates on past two weeks. Thanks to the MTR team from Hyd I travelled across the state like crazy, the entire project team went a lil nuts with too much travelling and working all holidays and sundays esp. me, first it was the team from Chennai and then the MTR team from Hyd, it was too hectic and diffcult to handle lekin kya karen paapi pet ka sawl hai kaam toh karna padega jo bhi ho. Anyways coming back to my travel updates the most exciting was my trip to Damcherra again...my third visits in 2 yrs and I absouletly love that place, the bamboo raft and the bridge connecting Tripura & Mizoram. The river divides all and its so different in terms of culture, religion, food and everything....Tripura side is still very traditional....once we cross the bridge Mizoram is hap and happening...people listening to western music and not bangladesh but Moreh acchapot and other goods from Myanmar available in all shops. Damcherra is a melting pot of three different states and cultures the Reangs, Bengali, Tripura and the Mizo's, its one of my fav. place in Tripura and despite the distance I love going there, the Bamboo transported through the river is an amazing site.

Thanks to my sony digicam I captured some really good pictures this time, I will soon graduate to a Digital SLR till then I'll have to manage with my sleek and trendy Sony T70.

The week that was in Delhi-Series lll (Back to school)

Back to School in Delhi........ not my school silly my sister's school in Delhi, one of the oldest Missionary schools in Delhi, started in 1908 ....gawd its older then any of the educational institutes I studied. " Queen Mary's School" located in Tis Hazari, very close to the ISBT. Last time I was in Delhi I couldn't meet her as I had to return from the gate (thanks to che for not submitting the application). This time I went personally at 7 in the morning to drop the application and thank gawd I got the permission to meet my sis. The school is nice, not very crowded with students in each class, clean, very old building and yeah the red bricks like DU colleges and my previous college.
Going to any school makes me happy, I remember my school days and miss every moment of it. The huge football and all games ground, the horrible school canteen, the not so great class rooms, assembly ground and my frens, I guess my school was one of the best place to study in Manipur. I haven't been to my school since many years...sala time he nahi milta jab bhi ghar jaati hun, ish baar ghar gaye toh jaruur jaoungi.....amen to that

The week that was in Delhi-Series II

During my visit to Delhi we also visited the 27th Indian Handicraft and Gift Fare at Noida, I was visiting IHGF for the 1st time and it was an eye opener. What was more intresting about the fare was it was meant only was buyers from abroad, the products and the way the products in each of the stalls were displayed were just too eye catching and I understand where we stand now. Exports does generate alot of revenue but it involves alot of hardwork, networking, knowledge and confidence, I learned India and China are one of the major sourcing countries in the world that was sure a good piece of information. Most products and companies with stall at IHGF sure knows how to packedge their productsand sell, some of the stall were displayed so well and the collection!!!! too good. I liked one stall which had put bags, I just fell in love with their collection. The prints were very eye catching and quality...too good. From silver jewellery to scarves, home furnishing, furnitures, home deco, women accessories the collection on diplay was amazingly beautiful. It was sure a nice experience and an eye opener to visit the fare.

The week that was in delhi-Series 1

Roasted sweet potatos and momo's two of my all time fav items, I never miss having these two items whenever I am in delhi. I went to sarojini nagar market to do some shopping (some shopping!!!!!!!thats under statement lol) and I ended up eating alot of roasted sweet potato's mixed with masala and loads of chicken momo's. The best thing which has happend in Delhi in the past one or two yrs is momo's become the ultimate street food in delhi, you'll find it everywhere. At Kamala Nagar I saw it in every possible food stalls price ranging from Rs 40 to Rs 70, at Sarojini nagar it was much cheaper Rs 30 for full plate and it has abt 12 momo's and despite my great appetite I couldn't finish it.Sarojini Nagar market is good not only for shopping but now for food as well.

Beaches,Fish fry and more

I love beaches for the simple fact that I can sit at the shore for hrs an hrs without getting bored for a single moment....watching the never ending waves ebbing and enjoying a good roasted corn....awesome..... I've visited many beaches.....Juhu,Mumbai was the first beach I saw in my life (before that I had seen only in film and posters) I was not so impressed, it was very dirty and me and my fren "A" just chilled for sometime and came back....that was when I was in Mumbai.....then Bandstand, Bandra, Marine Drive and alsmot all the beaches within city limits of Mumbai I visited.....Alibaug was 2nd....then...3rd was Puri, I'll never forget the trop to Puri beach coz I dropped my phone on the beach and found it....4th was Marina Beach...then Pondy where some of my ex colleagues went gaga over the beach and one ex colleague didn't liked sitting at the shore...this person was like "Chalo aap log kya kar rahe ho, bore nahi ho rahe kya" that was lil too much.....then the Kovalam trip....the best were our class picnic to Alibaug and yeah Kovalam, Kovalam was a paid luxury trip, stay at Leela...backwater ride it was like a dream come true.....My first trip to Marina Beach in Chennai was memorable...the trip was abt 3 yrs back...it was so much better then the Mumbai beaches WHY??? Marina beach still has a lot of sand left.....and the best part abt the visit to Marina beach was the pomfret fish fry I had and of course the butta...this time too I had the same thing again but didn't bought anything....last time I had purchased corel, to gift to colleagues back in Ahmedabad...my colleague "K" bought pearls...she was of course thrilled with the buy as she was planning to get married....and she had elaborate plans to use them in her jewellery....it was sure fun and I did had a good time.......this time also I enjoyed every single moment and would love to go back again....just watching the never ending sea and people going mad in the water...kids, young couple, old couple, whole village gang and me enjoying one happy moment in life....

A wedding to remember....

A grand Meitei wedding, the best part about the wedding or the highlight is the bride's attire, the potloi, the jewellery, the mandap, the rituals followed are all so grand and done so beautifully that one feels in love with that. The above pics. are of my frens wedding, I flew esp. to attend the wedding and I am glad I was a part of the grand wedding....the first Manipuri wedding I attended from begning to end..., I've never attended any of my other school frens wedding and this one I wanted to attend. The songs sung were very modern I have heard all kirten type earlier,now people sing all krishna and radha songs and the funny part was the manipuri films playback singer's were singing the wedding song, I got to knw from my frens younger brother that these days the playback singer sing at all weddings...which to me is very interesting. After the wedding when the bride was going to grooms house, on our way alot of people had lined up to see the bride some kids commented "hema malini man le ko" hahaha that was funny....my fren "B" looked very very beautiful in the wedding attire and the couple looked like just made for eachother.Over all I did had a great time and did managed to take some good pics. which was of course my priority.

One of my Kalakari pics.

Like food and travelling I enjoy some bit of photography.....not that I've a great camera but just a simple Sony digicam....but I do manage to take some interesting pics. like the one above. This pic. was taken at Kalapania Eco-park...a very beautiful and well managed garden...at Sabroom, South Tripura.

Neermahal at Rudrasagar lake

Mumma enjoying the boat ride...

I visited NeerMahal...a summer palace build some 70 yrs back...it was awesome...mumma ke saath mujhe bhi tripura ghumne ka mauka mil raha hai...I have been to Melaghar side soooo many times but never got a chance to visit Neermahal...looking at the mahal I must say the Raja's during those days must have been living such luxurious lives...I mean a palace in almost middle of the lake....like those at Udaipur....the boat ride till the palace was the best I think....and my gawd...so many thangjings...now I knw the thangjings in Agartala market kahan se aata hai..