Dubai....

Dubai..... its quite amazing what wealth/money can do... once a barren land, a dessert.. that today stands as one of the most popular and populous cities in the UAE..

Our good friends actually decided on the location and I am always ready for travel and visiting new places.. so we decided to tag along with them. Its more fun when your exploring together with friends.. and boy.. we had a ball...

We were looking forward to get out of the cold London and go to a warm and sunny Dubai.. and Dubai did live up to our expectations and excitement.. It was about 20-25 degrees Celsius throughout and felt really nice to be able to walk around places without many layers of clothing..

We did not have a lot in mind that we wanted to see or do in Dubai... all we knew we should not miss is the Dessert Safari. Dubai is a city of malls and luxury hotels and resorts. There were a few malls that we were suggested to visit.. one of which was Dubai Mall..which we did..
We went to a place called Global village.. which is apparently only held during the shopping festival.. this place was fantastic.. they had designated areas for every country and they had shops within that area for clothes,artifacts etc from that country. It was massive and there was no way we could cover every country.. some of my favorites there was Kenya, Turkey, India (of course).. they had really good stuff..

The dessert safari was the best.. that is something one should not miss on their trip to Dubai.. Like the name suggests... its a safari withing the dessert.. We are all taken on a 4by4 (land cruiser) into the dessert.. We are taken up and down on sand dunes.. its like a roller coaster ride.. was real good fun.. :) MR was really scared for a little while as he hates these kind of rides.... I thoroughly enjoyed myself.. and I was really happy on that day since I had got my ACCA results that morning and I had cleared all the exams..

The Gold and spice souks were great too.. We could see some interesting spices.. and some of them had dried roses, Iranian Saffron and various other spices.. that can be used as scents/air diffusers or as herbal Hookah's....
Some parts of Meena Baazar (near spice and gold Souk) looks similar to Avenue road.. We also found a lot of duplicate goods, replicas.. of bags, watches..electronics.. you name it and they have it.. We also managed to shop some nice big bags...

The food in Dubai was fantastic.. there is no problems for Indians.. as there are lots of Udipi restaurants..and also a lot of Indian restaurants.... We enjoyed Indian tea wherever we went.. and some great coffee....
I also got to taste Arabian coffee.. which was very different... Altogether was a fantastic experience.. and a great place.. to visit..
I really don't mind going back there just to do the dessert safari.. !

25 Random things about me..

Randomly Random..... random...

• Food is my biggest weakness…
• Really jealous of people who are slim, I want to lose weight to wear the clothes they wear......:) I am perpetually reducing food intake or trying to find healthier options..and I hate it!
• Love playing outdoor games like Tennis,swimming,amusement parks, rides... etc
• Travelling is one of my biggest passion.. and want to be able to do it all my life.. From beaches to mountains, to valleys to cities of the world.
• Love coffee.. and I am in the verge of getting addicted to it.. Trying to reduce by drinking more hot water or herbal teas
• I keep in touch with friends from school, college etc. Keep in touch with some friends from when we I was in nursery.
• Wish to own and run a business at some point in life.. A nice coffee shop/s to be more specific
• Lived most of my life in Jeans, t-shirts, trousers, jogging pants and sneakers and this is difficult to change
• Don’t/Cannot wear more then 2-3 inches of heal even to save my life! Flats are my favorite
• Experiment with my hair quite a lot, have had long, short, very short hairstyles, various colours etc
• I get bored of a few things quite quickly, at present, I am bored of my living room couch… and the list kind of continues.. Its not a very good habit.. moreover sometimes can be very expensive
• Some of my clothes are never worn, I buy them, but never wear them for years.. I am a weirdo like that, although want to cut down on doing this.
• Forget some events that have happened in my life quite easily and then remember when someone else is talking about similar experiences… But there are somethings that is clear in my mind even to this day..
• Enjoy driving alone on a nice sunny day with some great melodious music on good roads.. I know I am asking for too much being in London.... But get to do it sometimes.. J I am great when it comes to roads, routes,maps etc… (this is what I think.. Don’t care if people around me think otherwise)
• I have shopped/bought all my life, but I still don’t have anything to wear.. ! Always have problems with finding the right clothes and don’t need a reason to buy clothes/stuff.
• I smile a lot, normally I am a very happy person, this is the feeling most people get when they see me, be with me.. and its true to a large extent.. One of my friend used to call me a chirpy like a bird …. :)
• Have been to most attics, lofts, enjoy climbing trees, mountains, going trekking etc.. want to try sky diving at some point in my life.. !
• I don’t tend to show my mood swings to others, I hate people who do that and think they are extremely selfish. Normally, tend to be easy-going and adaptable. Go with the flow.. is what I normally do. !
• I have been agony aunt for a lot of my friends and still am! At somepoint.. I used to think that I should give up studying finance and do a course on Counselling.. !
• I can massage quite well…legs, hands, back, neck, head Someone once told me that I should look at doing some Physiotherapy courses.. I thought.. Medicine.. .naaaaaa…not me
• Hate waking up early in the morning, and love to day-dream
• I love observing people, the way people talk, dress, behaviour etc
• I want to own atleast one platinum studded diamond ring, pendant and ear rings at some point in life...
• I am a clean freak.. but I hate cleaning.. I rather get someone else to clean the house.. if I can.. I want to see everything clean and neat.. hate ironing..!
• I am not a party person, I dont do loud music, lot of booze.. etc.. I am more a small parties person.. I enjoy when there are smaller groups of people.. and with people I know..
• Sometimes I feel I born to shop... shopping for myself is one thing.. but i also like shopping for others... Thats something I enjoy thoroughly..

I can probably go on.. and on...

Snow.. snow.. snow...

On Sunday evening when I looked out of my bedroom window at 5.45 PM… the road was a bit frosty with sleet…The sky was unusually bright for that time of the day and the year.

I was informed by some of my friends on Saturday that Britain is expecting highest snowfall since 18 years.. And here I was thinking that the weather forecast guys have got it wrong again.. as there are a number of instances before.. Like one of my friend always says ‘Weather report staff are the only ones.. who retain their jobs even after getting it wrong most of the time’

But this time, the weather report was spot on and there was plenty of snow. Something that Britain was not ready for. It started Sunday afternoon…I could see snow flakes flying everywhere and then finally gently settling on the grass in my garden, on pavements, on my car etc. I was all excited to see the snow, sat there staring at it for sometime. After a little while I decided to read a book as there was no way we could get out. Dozed off a bit, woke up to look outside and there was about 3-4 inches of snow at around 9.00 PM and the colour of the sky was unusually orange..

I thought to myself… Hmmm. How I am going to get to the office tomorrow.. hope the trains are working… hope there are no delays.. etc etc.. Finally I decided to worry about it the following morning and take it as it comes.. Went out in the snow.. clicked a few more photos.. played with it and got back inside and retired for the day…

Every morning, as soon as I wake up, I look out of the window to check what the weather is like, how bright it is etc.. Did the same Monday morning (02FEB09)… and guess what… I can see my car completely covered in snow.. roads have about 9-10 inches of snow.. and its still snowing… Switched on the radio to hear that most roads are jammed, London Buses are not working, most trains are cancelled due to adverse weather.. Here I am thinking to myself ‘God, what am I going to wear, how am I going to get through this snow to get to work, are my trains working.. what am I going to tell my manager.. Etc’ MR looked out of the window and happily decided that he would work from home and is not making a trip to the office and started persuading me to stay home as well.. and started scaring me that If I ended up going to London, I might not be able to get back etc.. So,Guess what I decide.. to stay home and enjoy the day at home.. I could have worked from home, but my remote connection decided not to work that day.

Anyway, we went out.. Played with snow for a few hours.. all the kids in our neighbourhood were out on the street as their schools were closed.. We made snowman, threw snow on each other.. had a great time.. J Well worth the stay at home…!
Here you go.. some more pictures.. of the wonderful snow day in London.. after 18 years.. !

Scotland....

We decided in Oct 2007 that we wanted to visit Scotland.. so started making a plan to visit some parts of Scotland... Did some research on the internet, decided that we should take a flight to Edinburgh and then hire a car from there rather than driving from London... moreover it did not look feasible to drive all the way with the time we had.. So we started off planning.. what to see.. where to go.. etc..

As per the plan.. Got to Edinburgh.. Got a VW Passat.. It was a brand new car.. it took us about 15-20 mins to figure out how to start the car.. and get used to its features.. etc.. Was a good learning experience too and was hilarious.. as we had to call the guy from the hire car counter.. to ask him how to ignite the car.. It was indeed funny.. The guy had such a weird expression on his face.. he must be wondering.. and hoping his car comes back safe, in one piece.. !

This was one of the first pictures, we took as we headed out on our driving trip around Scotland.. The weather was promising.. atleast when we started off.. we were hoping it would stay like that...

We headed to a city called Inverness, where we had booked our first night stay..... and decided to visit a few places on the way..

We first went to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness.. It looked beautiful on the internet while I was doing my research on places to visit in Scotland.. And indeed.. it was beautiful.. the lush green grasslands.. the lovely looking Loch ness... and this castle is on the banks of Loch ness.. It was a beautiful sight.. we spent time clicking photos and discovering about the castle...

Incidentally, also remembered.. that one of the songs in Hindi Movie 'Kuch Kuch hota hai' was shot in this castle.. I loved this place....... sometimes.. The camera did not do justice to this place, or that experience or that moment.. It was one of the best few hours that I spent.. was wonderful....

Scotland is such a wonderful place.... we just travelled along the road to get to inverness.. and found a lot of interesting places to stop and watch....

This is a canal kind of a place we found on the way.. Its not a tourist spot or anything like that.. we could see some waterfalls close by and so, we decided to stop and check it out.. a little further down that muddy slippery path.. looks what we see.. a beautiful spot.. I could stand there staring at this place all along.. Lovely.... a wonderful place.. Imagine waking up to this every morning, sipping a cup of coffee looking at this.. how peaceful...

Its full of surprises.. we found a lot of such small waterfalls through out our trips... It was a wonderful experience.. all together... ..

Our trip had many many stops.. one such stop was to take this picture.. where we could see many lovely colours.. Lovely colours.. some of the places were mind-blowing..

It was an experience of a lifetime.. I look forward to go to Scotland one more time.. as we could not cover all parts of the country..

We also went to a few places like Ben Nevis..Loch Lomond, Fort William, Glen Coe.. etc.


This was the view on the way to Loch Lomond..

It was a great trip.. where I enjoyed every bit of it.. :)

Lazy Lovely Sunday..

Perfect way to spend a Sunday.. lazing around...woke up late in the morning..had some nice filter coffee.... late breakfast.. we had crumpet and baked beans.
Oiled my hair.. had a nice long hot water shower/bath... relaxed... Had a late lunch.... some jeera rice with some channa masala.. that I made..
Caught up with some of my friends online.. chatted for hours with one of my close friends after such a long time... she was telling me that she and her hubby are planning to visit London.. and I was really excited about it.. looking forward to that..
Just now.. had a nice hot strong filter coffee... and a shared a black forest cake with MR as there was only one left... The weather is not that great outside.. its snowing, cold and windy.. therefore we decided to stay indoors... dozed off a bit reading a book.. woke up when my friend called...

It had been such a long time... that I have had a relaxing Sunday.. I look forward to more of these in the future..

Altogether.. a lazy lovely sunday.. almost coming to an end....