Family, Cultural beliefs, Political decisions, Relationships, Social Fairness, Inspiration, Religious (alternate) views, Agnostic Views, Humour and Just Random Thoughts. So watch out for some fireworks laced with humour
We moved from Baga Beach to Candolim for the last leg of the Holidays. Beautiful Hotel, slightly pricier and more up market than Acron. Can’t really fault any of the facilities. customer service, etc. Beautiful setting right on the beach, amazing gardens, decor etc, etc. however, I felt it lacked the personal touch.
HA.. Yes, had to snap that one.
Amazing spa, massage treatments. We got ourselves thoroughly spoiled. We didn’t do too much sightseeing after we came to Candolim. But we did roam the roads during the day and sometimes late evening/ early night.
We came across couple of great restaurants. Soi was one of our favourites. For many reasons – good food, great service and so close to our hotel. When the mercury hits high, along with humidity, you just don’t want to drag that leg of yours too far.
Loved the sign in front of Tuscany, showed that when you are on holidays just take it easy. Throw away that schedule. Gutsy move for a business though. We wanted to check the place just because of the sign. But neither of us were in the mood for Italian food. Maybe next time.
Months of planning, then finally the day arrives for our flights from opposite hemispheres to take off, then 1.00 am in the middle of Mumbai Airport, two 50 years old’s, hugging and almost shrieking like two teenagers, then the late night chats about our personal lives, we cried for each other, we advised each other, we laughed at each other and tomorrow it comes to an end. We say good bye to Goa and to each other.
Adios Goa.
I will make another post to cap off everything. Especially about my trip back via Mumbai, my misconceptions about India etc. I think I owe them that much.
As they say it’s been a long time between drinks. But in my case there has been many drinks but not much writing. What are the excuses that I can pin it on … broken finger, work and possibly a lack of interest or if I am to be totally honest and say addiction to Asian Teledramas. I know how stupid it sounds but I think it was an escapism. Started with watching Japanese dramas with subtitles with the excuse of learning the language, then I ran out of Jap dramas so I merged to Taiwanese so I started to learn a bit Mandarin. I have now progressed to Korean. Finding Korean hard to learn. Its a bit like French and German, similar grammar patterns but German has a stronger accent making it hard to pronounce than Japanese. The two subjects I started to write about has brought about the writers block. What I am finding out is that travelling is great but writing about it is not so much.
The other piece that I am currently writing is about my friend whom I lost in the civil war in Sri Lanka. In all my other writings/stories I hardly had to think about the audience. But, somehow in this one I am aware of the audience. Not necessarily because I am scared to upset the Sri Lankan readers, I think the issues that I am touching upon are necessary for reconciliation, it’s an actual snapshot of real life in a war torn country, along with other social issues, in my opinion an unbiased recount of evils of both sides. I am not by any means condoning Terrorism but, I do visit the possible reasons for the birth of one. In this regard feel it’s an important topic for the current climate in the world. Prevention is always better than a cure. My reason for writing this story is probably as most times to heal my heart of losing my dear friend Lalith. I have probably a lot of anger inside me regarding this. But the irony is I come from the clan that killed him. I haven’t settled on a title either. I have changed it so many times “Friendship and war”, “Friend from the other side”, “Friendship across enemy lines” the last one I have come up with is “Ammba Yalluwa” which translates to something like childhood friend/soul mate. I think I might settle with that.
I am usually not worried about offending someone when I write, but in this story I am and that is really having an effect on my writing. Discussing this with my son, he started to say, you can’t really worry about offending people, it’s your thoughts, it’s your reasoning, it’s your point of view. I get that but this subject is a hard one. This is not a subject where I tell a Christian what I think of his Anti Gay sentiments. The wounds go deeper than that in this. As a Tamil who lived amongst the Sinhalese and understood them way better than my own kith and kin from Jaffna (north of Sri Lanka) my so called unbiased views may not sit well with those who were tortured by the Sri Lankan Army. My views on why Terrorism grew in Sri Lanka will not be accepted by the Sinhalese either. My sister-in-laws friend and mum who had to witness her two brothers and her dad being burnt alive will never accept my theories and explanations about the Sinhalese. Lalith’s family never thought that all tamils were terrorists and they all had to die. However, wrong that theory is, I will have to accept that anger. Arj (my son) said something that really hit the nail. “Emotions aren’t rational, there is no way you could explain to kid in Syria that the Americans are nice people” All that kid has, heard, seen and experienced is the opposite. It is such a charged subject, I want to do justice to this story, but I am so torn as well.
I started to write about Goa and I have written two paragraphs of my other project. So, lets start about Goa. Today’s topic is Goan food, music and culture.
Maybe the reason I fell in love with Goa is due to the similarities of Goa and Sri Lanka. They were both Portuguese Colonies and hence the similarities I guess. But it’s just uncanny how similar Goa is to Sri Lanka and how different it is to the rest of India.
The above is stuffed okra. That was one of my favourite dishes (that I took a photo of before digging into it first). I don’t think Sri Lanka has a stuffed okra dish, but similar to stuffed banana chillies. Similar dishes are pan rolls (in sri lanka we call them Chinese rolls not sure why because I don’t think the Chinese are aware of that roll), muscat (Goan’s call it Bibinka) and Thothal
muscat thothal
The best thing about it is that they view these as possible breakfast items and it is on the hotel breakfast buffet. Yes, of course I thought I was in heaven.
The curries are so different to the normal Indian Cuisine. A curry with the Rechad spice mix a must try. Fish is big in Goa. Not sure, if the laws have changed in the recent months but at the time we were there, Goa is one of the places in India where you can buy beef and alcohol in Restaurants rather freely. Most places in India have a ban on beef due to the cow being a revered animal as most of them claim to be Hindu’s. Not sure which part of Hinduism says its okay to eat all other meats but not beef, per my understanding of the religion all meats were out as it was considered to be killing another animal. I guess that’s another argument/beef (sorry for the dad pun, couldn’t help myself) for another day.
Clothing/culture: Goa is still kind of part of South India. The South India that I know is very conservative. Goa not so much or not at all. It’s a party town. Again very similar to Sri Lanka, Negambo in particular. Night life is very alive, and not just filled with tourists, this is mainly by the locals. Ladies in pretty sexy clothes, having a drink or two or more. Nothing atrocious, but no conservative woman in a saree with flowers in her hair sitting quietly in a corner.
Music: At these live music places its all English music, the one place we were at was all 80’s gems. But their local music is very similar to the Sri Lankan Baila. Again I think we can thank the Portuguese for that.
Ok the above is just a clip from the youtube to give you an idea of the Goan music, next I will post one from the Sri Lankan Baila to show you the similarities
Memories are a bit vague now, but I think the two places that we tried out was Tito’s and Kohi bar. Personal preference is Tito’s but I guess for the young ones Kohi Bar may be more attractive.
Just like in Sri Lanka Goa produces a lot of Spices as well Cashews. Cashew snacks are very similar to Sri Lanka as well. They go one better and have produced an alcohol drink with it as well called “Feni”, Looks clear like Vodka, as a shot it feels pretty potent, but great in a cocktail.
I like to end it here for today. Adeus (good bye in Konkani – Goan language)
Sorry for the cliff hanger. Ok lets get ready with the mission impossible theme music for the build up. Sorry for the disappointment, no major buts (or butts), realised that to keep a travel blog interesting is harder than I thought. Also I was writing my blog at night after a long day, so I decided to stop right there after the but.
Jan and I were really tired, hungry at the same time excited. We were torn between admiring the view from our balcony or adorning the bed. Not sure of the order, but I think there was a shower, coffee for Jan and tea for me and then a bit of a nap. More like an attempt at a nap, we were both over tired and over excited to actually fall asleep. Both of us fighting jet lag from different hemispheres didn’t help either. The whole day one of was sleepy and the other wasn’t, the one who wasn’t kept the other one up.
What I loved about these rooms were that each one was a seperate unit. Its not a hotel where it’s just a big square building with a corridor in the middle with rooms on either side.
The gardens werew well kept. The pool looked clean. Slowly the fear of being in India was disappearing. The major plus with Acron was that the breakfast was extended till 1.00 pm. I think for those on holidays with teenagers who are usually an off shoot of the sloth family, this would be a definite plus.
Jan and I slowly descended down the stairs to have some brunch. There is something to be said about eastern hospitality. But at acron it was more than just eastern hospitality.
I like to add something I wrote on”trip advisor”. For this jogs my memory of individual names and events. Please note I am not paid for this segment/endorsement. I am writing purely for the benefit of the readers who may be enticed to make a visit to Goa.
“No 1 in Goa, Should be No 1 Anywhere”
I am not surprised that this place is rated number 1 in Goa at present. I am looking for a word higher than Excellent to describe their customer service. There is customer service and then there is Goan Service and then above that would be Acron Service. We were treated like queens from the very beginning and it didn’t end even after we checked out.
We arrived very early from our flight. They were still willing to pick us up that early. After 3 back to back flights we were extremely exhausted. Taking this into account, they got our rooms ready and let us check in straight away. And this was at 8.30 am. They did not charge a penny more for such an early check in. Paul and his comrades see to it that the pampering and special treatments start from then on.
We booked Acron because we couldn’t get all of our stay in another 5 star hotel. So we were going to stay here for the first 3 days and then move to the other. I am glad the other place didn’t have the availability which made us come here. Else we would have missed this gem.
Ashwini and Gautam at front office make anything look possible. They organised us a trip to see a spice plantation, churches and temple. Our driver Avinash was with us the entire day. A very polite and knowledgeable man. Anytime you want to step out of the hotel to see the beach or get a bite, they will organise a free shuttle car. The beach is only a 10 min walk, so you have the choice of walking or they can organise a vehicle.
You’re treated with Breakfast from 7.00am (I am not sure, we never woke up early enough to find out) till 1.00pm. You will be greeted by Rajesh the tall elegant lad, Chinmoy a really sweet natured human being, Sooraj sweet but cheeky as well, I am smiling as I recall. There were many others whose names have escaped my jet lagged memory. Along with all of them looking after you and having a chat you will also get a visit by Mildred. Mildred is like the icing on the cake. You are in this happy place, your room is perfect, your view is amazing and the service is faultless and you think nothing can top this nor does it need any topping. And then they send you Mildred. She is a breath of fresh air, full of energy, anything you need, and she will make it happen even suggest things to do, places to go and she will organise and make it all possible. She fits the job and the job the fits her perfectly. I am not sure the word Customer Service is adequate with the staff here. As it is so genuine it transfers to another level. I have to congratulate the management as well. They have picked the right staff with the right attitude and given them the confidence and latitude. Which we found lacking in the 5 star hotel.
Loved the architecture of the place. Losing the corridors and mass building, it gives the illusion that you are living in your own town house. The pool with a look of overflowing into the river, again gives that illusion that you are one with the river. Pool chairs inside the pool, well that’s a novel idea, but works as well. Free drinks and live music at the pool side from 7.00pm – 8.00pm is again a nice touch.
I could keep on writing. If you are thinking of visiting India, I think Goa is a must and if you are visiting Goa, stay at Acron.
I think in my bnext blog I will talk about the food, culture and everything else.
We were really tired after the million flights and we wanted to get to our hotel asap. We were concerned if we could find our driver from Acron Waterfront amongst this massive crowd. Just then we saw the name board with our names on. Hard to explain our feelings at that time. It was a combination of relief and excitement.
We walked to our van. I don’t think it was parked legally. But I think that was the norm. Our van started off surrounded by a lot honking. I put my seat belt on. My sister in law Jan tried to put hers. But her side belt was broken. I joked that was her punishment for making me marry her brother.
Our actual holiday was now starting. Our driver didn’t speak much English. But seemed like a nice guy. He smiled a lot for the million questions we were asking.
We were trying take in all the scenary of Goa. Looked pretty green. But we also saw snippets of poverty. Modern billboards adorned the sides of the freeway. Battle between modernisation and poverty were rather evident.
Poverty is confronting, especially if you are from the western world. But, only a few of us want to really get involved. Most of us our sympathisers from a distance. Jan and I belonged to the same hypocrisy club.
We were hoping and praying that our hotel was somewhere nice. Acron was on the other side of Baga bridge or beach or both. It was a fair distance away from the airport . The road was becoming more remote. Our concerns were hightening.
Eventually we entered into Acron. It looked really beautiful. We were greated by more smiling faces at their outdoor reception/ office area. We were immediately offered a drink. I think it was Gauva juice. We were sceptical about accepting the drink due to all the warnings re water. We were assured this was clean and safe. I took a few sips. It did taste nice but was scared to take in more sips.
We booked the garden view rooms, as they were a few bobs cheaper. It was still pretty early in the morning, but they announced that they had a Waterview room ready and they were going to give it to us and didn’t charge us anything extra for early check in nor for the upgrade of the room.
We were both so tired this gesture was heaven sent. Good start to our holiday. But…
Passport – check, Tickets – check, Phone – check, Phone – charger check, Ipad – check, Thyroxin – check. I was anxious that I was going to leave something behind. I was already anxious about this trip but to make things worse, just days before the departure, the Indian Government called in all the 500RS notes. This in turn caused a massive shortage of money in the country. Also couldn’t buy any Indian currency in Australia. And we heard reports that there were massive queues at atm machines and banks. “just our luck” we thought.
I was anxious of the unknown safety issues, I was excited about meeting my buddy and having a well earned break, I was sad about leaving hubby, son and my baby dog, (well I had to include and hubby and son to avoid judgement. But then again no shame in admitting that I was glad to lose them for a week or so to get a bit of rest, but my doggy on the other hand, I am really going to miss him). Those droopy eyes were telling me “mummy don’t leave me”.
Australian immigration – it took me all of 5 minutes to clear. Just like Jim Jeffreys said, Aussie airport and it’s security practices/measures are rather unique. Not exactly unique but definitely very different to most other airports. Don’t get me wrong, it is safe as anywhere can be. But, just don’t have the same panic and stress ridden atmosphere. The guy checking your passport, no sorry there is no guy checking your passport, a machine does matching for you. You have almost no human contact. You see plenty of humans, but no one seems to care about you, they just want you to just piss off, without giving chance to form a queue. You will be rushed through automatic sliding door after door and you are now way too early for your flight.
Took my tablet out and started to write, continuation of my story “friendship and war…” well I haven’t settled on the heading yet. With all the travel plans I hadn’t touched this for sometime. Read the last page I had written, did some editing. Then continued on with the story. Couple of times I stopped and glanced around to see what everyone else was doing. It looked like they were practicing boredom.
Finally time to board. Once again I had to smile sheepishly at the young good looking guy, well not sure if he was good looking, but he was definitely tall and ask him if he could put my hand luggage up in the overhead locker. He was only too happy to oblige. Again not sure if he was happy as such, but nevertheless helped the short damsel in distress.
The problem with living in Australia is that, it is really down, down down there. And also it is a such a huge country. And if you are from South Australia, it takes nearly 3 hours before you can leave your own fricking country. I watched a movie and some comedy skit on a tiny screen, with screen moving as per the front persons movements. It was better to get back to writing. I put the tablet on my lap rather than on the moving tray table.
Drinks cart was a welcome interruption. “Sav Blanc” didn’t taste like any “Sav Blanc ” I’ve ever tasted. But it was free. Also, this was the beginning of the “girls” holiday. So, I convinced myself, “holiday begins now”. So rubbish Sav blanc or not I had to have it. But all in all it wasn’t too bad a flight. Spoke to hubby from the airport. Sent a couple of messages to Jan. But she didn’t answer. She must have been still mid air.
I did some window shopping. I planned what to buy on my return journey. Had a cup of tea, a massage, visited the butterfly garden and time passed. Time for my next flight. The one that I was most anxious and nervous about. Mumbai here I come.
muscat 
thothal
Uma's life and thoughts 