Weekend Holiday at Bintan Villa 

Unable to contain the excitement for the weekend beach holiday, Mrinal, Satty and I spent the most of the Friday evening mix matching and trying almost our entire wardrobes to pick the right pair of clothes and most importantly hats.. Simultaneously on was the task of cooking aloo mutter ki sabzi contributing to the potluck lunch the following day for the ten of us. Confessed Narcissists, posing in front of the camera for ample pictures, at 2 AM we finally called it a day, and thought it was time we start packing our bags, as we had to leave the house in the next 4 hours.

The ferry, privately owned by the Bintan Lagoon Resort sailed through the South China sea, taking us to the resort in about an hour, leaving some of us terribly sea sick and nauseatic towards the end of it. Standing on the deck through the journey, watching the ferry creating a gushing jet of water propelling forward, and singing our favourite songs at the top of our voices, was a perfect kickstart to the fun-filled weekend holiday. At the resort, we were welcomed by a troupe of beautiful ladies clad in traditional attire with garlands and dancing to Indonesian music beats, giving us the feel of a classical Hawaiian Beach Holiday.

After gorging ourselves with lip smacking home-made food at the resort lounge, we timepassed doing some random activities and chit chatting until it was the time to check-in. Much to our delight, Mrinal and Pratik managed to cast a spell and woo the resort HRs to upgrade our accommodation from individual hotel rooms to a palatial four bedroom villa overlooking the beach. Tastefully furnished to a high standard, the two storey villa looked wondrous with a private swimming pool, surrounded by a beautiful garden with deckchairs and with a provision of everything that we could have ever dreamt of. The kitchen was sumptuously well equipped, attached to the living room provided with a big screen TV -loud speakers in front of warmly cushioned sturdy couches. We also had a 24*7 access to an awesome 8 seater battery charged buggy to commute inside the resort on our own and thus enjoyed the liberty to travel long distances effortlessly. On request, the master bedroom was elegantly decorated with rose petals and a chocolate cake, which pleasantly surprised Aninda-Dipanwita who were celebrating their six years of togetherness. 

                                    

Quickly refreshing ourselves, we all took a plunge into the pool which was the start of ultimate water fun, further taking sips of juices and small bites of Pringles at intervals- felt like living an aristocratic royal life with all the services just a phone call away. Saurabh busied himself sincerely teaching the non-swimmers the fundamentals of floating, breathing and swimming, while Ranjit-Pratik-Dhiren were practicing different swim strokes. Aninda- Dipa enjoyed the anniversary special couple swimming. As the dusk was falling, we decided to hit the beach and indulge in muddy wavy fun. Pratik-Saurabh-Satty-Dhiren and I went inside till permitted water levels, trying to stand upright against the strong water currents- singing, screaming and swinging to our favourite danceable numbers, while the others chose to remain on the shore.

  

Meanwhile, Ranjit and Raunaq got acquainted with riding the buggy and explored the whole resort sprawling over 4000 hectares, memorizing the route and important locations to show us around. Ranjit and Raunaq hit off well in this trip owing to their common interests, majorly buggy riding and cricket! The resort was self sufficient with 10+ restaurants, multiple shopping centres and also offered wide variety of options for water sports and other recreational activities for all ages. We ordered dinner from an Indian restaurant, primarily comprising bread and veggies, daal and soft drinks- it was such a homely feeling to dine on the table with the entire family, random discussions and humour filling in the conversations. Post dinner, we sat listening to music on the veranda, mesmerized by the beautiful moonlight trickling down the cloud veiled sky and peacefully enjoyed the pleasant sea breeze. At midnight, we revisited the deserted beach, sauntering along the shore, looking at the sky and counting the finite stars intermittently twinkling, playing hide and seek with the puffy clouds. Back in the villa at three in the morning, tired and lethargic, most of us went horizontal almost immediately, while Mrinal, Pratik, Saurabh and Dhiren being naturally nocturnal creatures sat by the pool chatting for a while more.

Having barely slept in the past two days, I woke up groggy to a pleasant Sunday morning, and strolled along the beach in solitude.. Took the opportunity to do my breathing practices and meditation by the sea - it was blissful with the sound of the sea waves hitting the shore in background. After everyone was awake, we went to the Breakfast buffet, which  comprised of countless assorted delicacies, breads, fruits, juices etc, that even after stuffing our tummies for 1 ½ hrs, we still couldn’t manage to try some of them. The discussions were so full of Pratik-Dhiren’s one liners that we couldn’t resist splitting our sides the entire brunch. Their influence was substantial enough to induce someone like Mrinal to start being punny-funny and play along, after unsuccessful attempts to ignore. Excited by the prospect of not being penalized for my bad jokes, I too exploited the opportunity to spew up all my puns, bad jokes that have been blocked inside me for a long time now, owing to the recent piggy bank rules.

After going bellyful, Raunaq drove the buggy touring us the resort which fanned out over a lushy green area of land, with a couple of golf courses being a part of it. We constantly swapped our positions in the buggy so as to get a complete picture of the area from different angles on the slopy terrain. There was not a moment when people weren’t laughing or making comments, Saurabh joined Pratik-Dhiren in re-repeating the very versatile yet clichéd Andaaz Apna Apna dialogues in different ways and every possible situation, inspite of us girls showing our annoyance. Raunaq clearly enjoyed the absence of his driving contender Ranjit, and sang along with us the exclusive travel and holiday songs..

 

At noon, we finally relented in our itching urge of playing in the pool and took a dive into the cool water. Pratik-Dhiren–Saurabh crouched in the pool with both their palms close to their nose, mimicking a “crocodile” and would slowly come to us and start splashing water until we were out of breath. I mostly stayed on the periphery, but Satty dared to provoke the guys repeatedly by trying to take revenge and always ended up being the victim, gasping for breath. Mrinal joined us later and bravely went to the middle of the pool only to be the next scapegoat. It was a more gender biased game, with us girls being underdogs not knowing to swim or survive in the water.

Dhiren-Saurabh-Ranjit started playing pool games assessing their swimming skills and under the water breathing proficiency, one of which made them go inside the water, one person would scream a word in the water, and others had to guess the word. Pratik taught me a couple of ballroom dance steps and toured me around the pool with I floating like a dead man, and I did the same with Satty and Mrinal. We were so overwhelmed by the company and fun, that we never realized sun’s scorching heat hitting us straight, until we took a shower. Terribly tanned with sun and chlorine water’s cumulative effect, all of us are ruddy faced with burning and peeling skin, so I call this holiday as “Burntan at Bintan”.

 

Lazing in the lounge with everyone doing arbit things, we had a rushed up dinner at an Italian restaurant in the resort. The gracious resort managers arranged a private bus for our group to reach the ferry terminal, leaving us wondering the reason behind all the special treatment and pampering through these two days. Recapping the events, jokes, new witty one liners still continued during the ferry ride, incessantly targeting our kiddo Satty. Saurabh and Aninda revealed their palmist-self, with everyone pushing each other and queuing to show their hands eagerly. We reached Singapore late on Sunday night and we did not stop talking, punning, or laughing through the immigration line, nor did it stop while we all were waiting for cabs to head back home.

The trip couldn’t have happened with a better company or better timing, with everyone super frustrated with their work lives.  Everything still fresh in our memories and talking about it over and again since we returned, this intoxicating trip has given us such a high, that it has just left us craving for more. Looking forward to some taking more such relaxing fun trips. Cheeers guys! 

                                       Serene Lanka

My excitement and thrill awaiting the holiday to Srilanka was boundless, this being my first ever overseas trip with friends. Unsurprisingly, Sri Lanka tops the tourism charts offering a wide variety of visiting places for enthusiastic excursionists.

I refrained from declaring myself a Tamilian, albeit I found the Srilankan locals quite hospitable and affable. Sarees worn by women professionals here differ from the conventional Indian style in a pleasantly unique manner. The cuisine lacked diversity, the fiery food burning its way down the foodpipe discouraged us from venturing much. Of all the facts l encountered about this country during our trip, the one that astonished me the most was the financial security provided by the govt to farmers, tour guides etc in the form of pension schemes- a rare incentive in developing countries.

Our trip kick started with educating sessions at historic places, essentially an insight into inception of Buddhism here, followed by an adventurous hiking and finally we found unwinding ourselves by lazing in the gleaming sun-warmed beaches;  perfectly amalgamating all aspects of an ideal holiday! We were guided by our chauffeur Daminda, a graduate in archaeology, who had a sound knowledge about the country's history, and regaled us with interesting stories; interactions with him made our learning experience much enriching!

Sigiriya- Rock Fortress

The city housing the fortress was a short lived capital of Srilanka in fifth century AD, providing king the requisite defence infrastructure (built with interesting tactics) against adversarial attacks. We saw the remnants of various pleasure activities the king lavishly spent and indulged in – like huge swimming pools for his 500+ wives and keeps to bathe in. Half way up the fortress, a mirror wall was constructed which reflected the frescoes of seducing ladies painted inside the fortress- a sight visible to the king while relaxing in the pleasure gardens.  

The summit of the lion shaped citadel after climbing thousand and odd steps, provided an all embracing view of the entire city. The sweat due to the exhausting trail was blown away by the strong wind currents at the high altitude and the panning scenic beauty.

Dambulla Cave Temple

Situated atop hill, it also demanded an arduous task of climbing uphill, with periodic breaks to catch our breath. The cave is divided into five parts, decorated with Buddha statues sculpted in reign of several kings. The cave has different poses and sizes of statues, the unique one being the passing away pose of Buddha after attaining Nirvana. It was interesting to see a Vishnu statue in a Buddhist temple, signifiying the influence and relevance of Hinduism with respect to rituals and beliefs.

 

Kandy

Planted high above sea level, the view from our hotel was an eye “candy” - overlooking the Kandy lake, with the tree branches extensively drooping, almost touching its own reflection in water.

We watched a cultural so-called aristocratic upper Kandyan dance, which in ancient days was performed to drive away the evil spirits. It included the most commonplace tribal stunts - on fire, balancing on the plate etc, and also some classical bollywood steps, and thus was far from entertaining.

The tightly guarded Buddha Tooth Relic temple preserves the canine tooth of Buddha in an ornate casket which is believed to have journeyed various places in last 2000 years. The walls of the temple are designed with intricate carvings and paintings of the annual Kandyan procession (Periraha) of dancers with royal elephants, wrestling games, bull fights etc. The culture of offerings to deities is similar to Hindus, casket rituals being performed by the white attired Monks, present very few in number. Moonstone statues of Buddha gave a brilliant look, also present were Buddha paintings with all the imaginable facial expressions. The huge gold plated Buddha Statue was symmetrically embellished with preserved elephant tusks; the SL govt has banned ivory exchange/trading.  

Elephant Orphanage at Pinnawala

Being the first and one of finest elephant orphanages in the world, it boasts to shelter the baby orphan elephants along with any aged disabled elephants and to provide them nourishment and care. Pushing our way through the throng, we saw sixty plus elephants feeding on humungous amounts of green leaves and fruits- like any vegetarian, they too have fewer options! The plight of the chained baby elephants was pitiable, they now have become a mere source of revenue for the orphanage, with tourists pouring in just to watch them bottle feed and shower.

 

Obediently following the commands of its mahout, a thick skinned elephant with long hard yellow coloured tusks lied down on the water, and let us shower and scrub it hard with a coconut shell. We then took a short yet fun filled elephant ride around, after which the elephant posed for pictures with us like a professional! The elephants from this orphanage are often donated to temples for royal processions.

Nuwara Eliya

The meandering elevated road leading to the hill station had bamboo and avocado trees planted on one side, and plants with exotic multi coloured flowers on the other. We halted by one of the biggest tea plantation factories called Mackwood tea, spread over several kilometres, where they briefed us on the manufacturing and processing of tea from raw leaves. We were mesmerized by the breathtaking view down the step tea plantations with narrow river flowing through, simultaneously gulping the not-so-tasty Mackwood sample tea.

Excited to see the location of mythological epic Ramayana, we headed to the Asoka Vatika aka Sita Eliya. Contrary to our imagination of a garden with a stone bench under a stout tree where Sita sat, it turned out to be a Sita temple located adjacent to forests, with the priests diligently performing the pujas- it was a bit disappointing... The only minor hitch in the trip was when we realized we booked the wrong dates for the hotel here – to our dismay, the issue was resolved soon without much hassle, when we found a seemingly haunted villa in proximity.

Horton Plains (World’s End)- Early next morning at 5, we drove up the hill station to a hiller and chiller place, from where we started hiking. It was a challenging drive on the curved treacherous path blanketed with opaque mist ahead. Shivering in the chilly climate outside, with all the determination and efforts we started walking on the uneven terrain. The muddy-slushy path had rare species of herbs-shrubs and ponds with multicoloured pebbles disposed on either sides of it, ultimately leading to a narrower course enclosed with dense bottle green trees. Trekking 4 km along the craggy path ahead, the trees gradually opened up revealing the sky leading to the Miniature of World’s end- aptly named so. The view of mountains and trees with clouds and mist flowing across was exhilarating. Walking a km further up led us to World’s end; unfortunately the view was marred by a shroud of mist. The second half of the hiking was the highlight of the trip, strolling along the bumpy dense forests slowly unveiled a panoramic view of the Horton plains. Watching the birds flying, sambar deer grazing, moss laden rocks, with narrow stream of water making its way through the enormously spread lushy green plains was an absolute wonder. The 10 km nature hike just didn’t seem to exhaust us, and left us craving to do it again..

 
Hikkaduwa Beach

Long road journey down the hill to Hikkaduwa beach was spent playing Antakshari, conveniently flouting the game rules only to sing our favourite numbers! We finally reached our fancy and luxurious hotel having a provision of private beach and offering a vicinal coastal view of tall coconut trees along the sand, strong waves hitting and making their way through the partially submerged boulders; forming a picturesque seascape. We spent time relaxing in juice bar facing the short length sea shore past midnight, and fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of high tided waves.

After having barely a four hour nap, we rose before the dawn to see the first sun rays falling on the water making the sea shimmer. We all took a plunge into the water, wallowing in the numbing cold sea water and slushy mud. The ultimate fun started with Pratik and Mukund splashing water on me incessantly, till I was assured a rescue from Mrinal and Surabhi who rused me to go closer to them for protection. To my horror, all of them conspired and starting sloshing the wet sand -saline water on me to no end, leaving me gasping for breath. I was the first victim, but was glad when the ritual  was religiously followed by taking turns for others as well, prolonging it to a 4-5 hr long relaxed fun session. Drenched thoroughly in the water with mud sticking onto us, our unsuccessful foray into making sand castles, eventually throwing mud balls on each other only resulted in a completely disheveled looking us. Parthiv was enjoying his own company, practising different swim strokes against the sea waves. Aninda engrossed himself in taking pictures, Many Thanks to Aninda for forgoing the beach fun, but for that we would not have had these beautiful moments captured.

After spending our own sweet time performing the ablutions, we had a sumptuous multi course buffet at the hotel. The sluggish afternoon was followed by a short walk along the shore to watch the nuances of the transitioning sky at dusk. Peacefully appreciating the beautiful sight of the sun setting, we bid adieu to Srilanka and our short fun filled holiday!

Every day of the trip was lively and enjoyable in its own kind. Thank you all my friends for making this vacation such a memorable one.. Cheers to us!! 

Uncle Sam's America

Welcome to the most exciting, thrilling and "educating" holidays of my life- my trip to US of A- and of course compelling enough to share my experience through this travel blog. The trip was enriched with learning about the history, geography, politics, exploring the diverse culture, cuisines and lifestyles practiced in different parts of this huge and vast country. Contrary to my notion about Americans, I found them generally warm, polite (even the cops!), intensely patriotic, and loved their culture of road trips.. 

                            New York City (Manhattan)

Walking through the bustling streets of NYC, gives you the real feel of the fast paced and busy lifestyle of the city.  Rich in history, modern in culture, the city offers myriad places and activities for a first time visitor.

Empire State Building- planted in Midtown Manhattan, is the tallest building in New York after the newly constructed World Trade Centre. The elevator took us to the observatory at 86^th floor in a single quick shot. Covered triple layered, I made my way in the chilly periphery to get a panoramic view of Manhattan. The view was breathtaking (literally), with differently sized skyscrapers forming beautiful skyline of the city.

We hit the city’s most glittering stretch of roads-The Times Square. There is a splendid transition from the dull and gloomy evening to the scintillating colourfully lit buildings in the night. Apt place for dropping the crystal ball every New year’s eve- an event watched by thousands of people in spite of freezing cold. We also shopped (and window shopped) in the country’s most posh and fancy shopping area- the Fifth Avenue.

A ferry ride across the Hudson River took us through the one of the oldest steel wire suspension bridge- Brookyln bridge, briefing on its history and engineering. The main attraction was ofcourse the gift by France- Statue of Liberty, holding torch in one hand and tabula ansata inscribing the Declaration of Independence on the other. 

Ground Zero- Visit to the museum built in the memory of innocent victims of 9/11 twin towers attack was very touching... BUT the good news is, the whole country stood up together and the shining new WTC stands as the tallest building in the world now!

                                          Washington DC

Known as the City of Magnificent distances, ironically houses the most touristy destinations within a small distance. We took a day tour around DC, in "hop on hop off" bus, with live commentary on the history of the city, and exploring places of interest.

Washington monument - dedicated to the first American President George Washington, happens to be the tallest obelisk in the world. Constructed of marble and bluestone, gives
the white stone structure a brilliant look against the dark night background. 

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum- had amazingly real looking statues of celebrities including the American Presidents. Since we have already visited the original Madame Tussauds at London, we didn't spend much time admiring them. But Oh yes, I did meet Tom Cruise! 

The White House- made of white painted sandstone, gives the President's House a magnificent Neoclassical appearence. Unlike India, where the Rashtrapati Bhavan is cordoned by scores of cops, I would say White House is quite "exposed" to the public with no security guards in the near view. 

Holocaust memorial museum – dedicated to the Jews who were subjected to the brutal killings of Hitler. There were pictures, text and short documentaries showing the atrocities of Nazi Party in mass murdering them in the concentration camps, plummeting the Jew population down within a span of 12 years.  I wondered why the Holocaust Museum is in the US, and not in Europe? Apparently, most of the wealthy and powerful Americans today (like bankers etc) happen to be Jews, some of them being survivors of the Holocaust.

National Archives Museum- Original documents and parchements dating 1700's (signed by Lincon, Madison etc) are preserved , made at the time of the formation of America, the most important one being the "Declaration of Independence" from Britain on July 4th- contained in the book held by the Statue of Liberty.

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum – It was a bonus to have a space physicist father to have you explain the concepts and the significance of even trivial events in the history of space science. There was a whole section dedicated to the Wright brothers, and how they came about designing and developing aircrafts. 

            

Thanks to the talk my father had at the Satellite meteorology research institute at DC- the sole reason of us taking a trip here...

                                                        Niagara

This was the favourite part of my US trip- We drove to Niagara (upstate Newyork), which is around 500 miles from Boston. 

One of the must to-do things in Niagara is "Maid of the Mist" boat ride offering an exhilaratingly proximate view of the three waterfalls comprising the Niagara. As it went closer, all I could feel was powerful mist of the waterfalls splashing on my face leaving me gasping for breath. Flying across the falls, were countless fortunate white birds, with their niche carved in nature's one of the most beautiful creations. The river was shimmering in the sunlight forming a beautiful rainbow, which was considered to be the legend of Maid of the Mist.

Cave of the winds is a walk into the waterfalls at different gradients, abutting the cascade. I could feel the momentum of the flushing fall standing directly under it. The water was gushing from the top hitting the rocks, then onto my face, leaving me thoroughly drenched and hands frozen. An IMAX show on Niagara featured its history as to how Native Americans came upon discovering it and how people challenged it by performing life threatening insane stunts, and still managed to survive miraculously!

Montezuma Winery, cheese and wine tasting- There were over 500 varieties of Cheese- some of them being very spicy, went along well with crackers and different varieties of wines. We then hit Cayuga Finger lake, where we did Kayaking to get an amazing view of the countryside America. On one side of the lake were beautifully built wooden houses (with American flags dug) where families spend their summers in, and on the other side were tall trees with recently sprouted green leaves, making the whole view picturesque. 

We spent an enjoyable evening in a cottage near a not-so-tourist, yet so beautiful place-- Skaneatales finger lake. It was serene, green and photographic- simply lying on the grass provided us the much needed relaxation after the eventful trip. The nights were spent playing board games, enjoying with smoked Marshmellos and Hersheys. 

                                                     Boston

The most striking feature in the old fashioned metro stations of Boston is the Graffitis- picturing the history of invasion and formation of the city, its universities, education etc. MIT station has a coupled pendulum which allows us to test our skills in making the rhythmic pattern of the swinging pendulum. 

Duck tours- an amphibian bus ride takes you along the various places mostly of political and historic significance, first on the roads, followed by the same vehicle into the water. I wasn't very impressed with the tour guide's quirky ways of trying to entertain us, in all it was a bit disappointing!  

Freedom Trail- was a well entertained and informative walk trip through the Churches, Granary Burying ground with the graves of people like Paul Revere, James Otis etc, some of whom were instrumental in the freedom of America from Britain.

Musuem of science- With general exhibits of models and live presentations, I re-learnt the unused and forgotten secondary school fundamentals in an exciting way. I was amused by the bunches of school kids jumping around their teachers, with their inquisitive minds popping up with numerous questions, and by their enthusiastic participation in the interactive learning sessions. I could positively see the young kids in the making of curious scientists. 

Boston is probably the only city in the world, with two of the world's best universities dwelling in as neighbours- MIT and Harvard.

Harvard offers a guided tour of the university escorted by the alumni and graduate students. The guide tour was entertaining, funny and regaled us with the history of the university with interesting and unheard trivia. Like- The statue of John Harvard, which is world's 3rd most pictured statue, is actually not John Harvard, no one knew what he looked like when it was sculpted! One of the most shocking facts is that sexism existed in the university until 1999, only after which women received degrees from Harvard.

Why is MIT mighty?

Unlike the conventional tourists, I had the opportunity to visit labs at MIT to have a glimpse of the kind of scientific research happening at the nobel laureates producing university.

Anjan's (my brother) lab works on Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (pardon the jargon!), with all hi tech instruments in a room, which along with the table floats in the air while the experiment is on (yes it floats in air- I felt it!). Far from knowing Physics, I could hardly appreciate the science behind the experiments, but watching something floating in the air did seem magical to me!

Pavira's (my sister-in-law) group focuses on different aspects of neuroscience and she works on reading the content of dreams, how the patients can be made to respond in the operation without the waning of analgesic effect. Mice (undergone brain surgery) are attached with electrodes to activate/inhibit specific brain regions and study their functions. Would be a perfect place for Robin to “cook” up his next novel!

MIT Media science has cool and fancy stuff made by MIT students like foldable cars, 3D printed objects, electrical prosthetics and this is the same place which invented the e-ink Amazon uses for kindles! My brother gifted me one of these- the Alarm Clock with wheels, which would fall from your table and ram onto the walls and corners of your room, until you are awake enough to switch it off correctly- totally serves the purpose! 

Graduation Ceremony

Hooding ceremony – an event attended by only the PhD graduates, Anjan was hooded in full doctoral regalia by the MIT Chancellor and the Chair of the Physics Dept.

Graduation ceremony- finally came the day which determined our purpose of our trip to US. The procession began with all the 3000 graduates and undergraduates walking towards the venue. It was amazing to watch the invited parents and relatives, their chest bloating with immense sense of pride- watching their young geniuses graduating- as so was the case with us.

MIT commencement speaker was Drew Houston (MIT alumni)- the very creator of Dropbox, which has revolutionized the world with the "instant online backup" technology of files . His speech about what drove him to make this was awe inspiring, people cheering him at the completion of every sentence! My lucky brother managed to get a picture with him..

Catching up with my undergrad friends Anusha and Vidya, was icing on the cake. Quality time spent reminiscing the good old college days.

Unfortunately, every vacation comes to an end. It was a super-organized, spoon-fed dream holiday which allowed us to only relax and enjoy the best places in New England, without us needing to plan any bit of it. All thanks to Pavitra and Anjan - it was an experience of a lifetime!