Free the grapes!There's always time for more wine for all of us as the freedom of grapes are so synonymous with our own sense of liberty.And what better occasion,than Live Cooking Event with Four Seasons Wine And Gingerclaps.Sip the wine,spill the wine,pour the wine and when all's over head back happy home with wine.For the last event of Four Seasons,check blogpost: Four Seasons Blogger Meet



The terrace adorned with beautiful open pool,the lovely tents and the table,inviting us for the gourmet,the barbecue and the wine,the association so amicable and friendly.By this time,we had already well known a few faces,thanks to the last event on Four Seasons.So it was all us "the Bloggers" ,"the Organizers" and wait.."A former Miss India Earth,Shamita Singha,also brand ambassador of Four Seasons".




The waiter served us a few glasses of wine,and as always,the wines were smooth and so was the weather.Bangalore is perfect for wines,neither too hot nor too cold,and that day the whole 4 hours in an open terrace was a delight.Then we started with our intros,a fellow food blogger,a fellow travel blogger,a fellow fashion blogger,after all it's not everyday you get to see so many like minded people.



We were then served the starters,the chicken starter with the sauce,a heady mix of spicy tangy,while,most of us were so into the food,not to mention we were there at 12 noon,and on Sunday,we were hungry,I know not many would admit it,but thanks to Four Seasons for understanding.So as I said,many were into the food,and some were clicking the best possible shot of food.How much I love the cameras in the event,and how much I love the enthusiasm of those who take best shots of the minutest detail..the food,the oil,the salad,the wine.



A little breeze of cool air swept in,when Mam' Shamita Singha came and introduced herself to the bloggers,making her way to each tent personally.Next was the session on wine and food pairing.The event was well planned,and the lady was a great speaker,who knew the intelligent talk and spoke from the heart.It's not always you see these things,a friendly Former Miss India Earth was never what I had thought of,but yes as I said this event was nothing of that sort.It had a more youthful,vibrant and fun touch.I even had my share of chit chat with the lady,on how she does her travel and how do I plan my Europe travel on a budget.




Next was..well if it's lunch time,and it's wine,there got to be food.Food served on platter is formal,food made live is wow.Yes it is,well before Four seasons cooking event,I had never known there's so much that goes into a Thai curry,I had a rare imagination which was that yes coconut does go in,and yes it looks green,but common it doesn't have to be all that rich and new ingredients.But I was wrong.The Thai curry is a delicacy and altogether different way of cooking.The salad with orange juice,lettuce,wine and cheese was a very new thing to us.And so when we had our salad,rice and Thai curry ready,we were the first to jump in,or say be in the queue.

The barbecued chicken was next with the sauce.The dessert was too inviting,and with all the knowledge on wines and pairing,we decided to pair up with a oh yes wine.Glad I met fellow indiblogger and travel blogger Indrani,travel blogger of dhempe.com,a fellow blogger vaibhav of onvab and many many others.



And finally,when all was almost over,I thanked Akshay and Sumath,for the lovely afternoon we had.Hope soon,we have more such open air fun event,I said open air,because it's lovely out here in Bangalore.We started up with wine,and ended up with one.



It did remind me of a song while returning back..

Good Friend and a Glass of Wine by Leann Rhimes

"Every now and then, every now and then
Every girl needs a good friend and a glass of wine"

What a great way to celebrate the otherwise lazy boring Sunday.Hope to see many more bloggers,in the future events and many more interesting way to celebrate life!Thanks Four Seasons :)

One of the newest retreat in Conoor is Tea Nest,run by the Kurumba Village Resort.We stayed at tea nest for half a day,and we found it to be adorable.It's a colonial bungalow in the middle of plantation.So when you get up in the morning,you can take a morning stroll in the tea garden.The cuisine served is awesome,we loved everything from starters to desert and they are all infused with tea.The rooms in tea nest have the names as tea names "silver tips,jasmine,green,lemon etc".





The staff is very friendly too..We also tasted varieties of tea at tranquility,and the information on how tea is made was very new to us.We thought its just the grind and the tea dust we see in the market,but the process can itself be written on another blog post,its so technical and lengthy.But then we tasted the best teas,so no complaints ;)












So with the pleasant memories of Kurumba and Tea Nest,we leave ooty!And yes,Ooty and no chocolates impossible.We got home made chocolates,and lots of them.I really like the original ooty chocolates,we get so many home made chocolates these days and everywhere,but the chocolates from ooty are class apart.Wish any of the blogger share their homemade chocolate recipes here,so we give the guys from ooty some real competition.



Thanks to Kurumba and Tea nest for lots of memories to bring back.

Did you know?

What's so common for the word "Druk" and what does it mean?We have Druk Air,Druk Hotel and Druk Pickles in Bhutan.The Druk (Dzongkha is the "Thunder Dragon" of Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the Bhutanese Flag, holding jewels to represent wealth),hence the popularity of the word.

Things to keep in mind


1)Bhutan is fairly remote,it's best to withdraw money from the nearest ATM at Jaigaon,than risk finding a one at Bhutan.It's also safe to keep 8-9k for a trip of 5-6 days.

2)The roaming charges are dam expensive,best is arrange a local sim either through a hotel or a taxi cab.They would require you to hand over a copy of permit,and pay Rs 65 and you get the sim.The talk time is 50 Rs and is valid for a month.The local call charge is Rs 1,Bhutan-India Rs 5.

3)Although travelers are free to wear what they choose to,almost all monasteries in Bhutan follow a strict dress code of full covered arms and legs.Also,even in spring,the passes could be very very cold and chill to the spine.Best is to carry an all round jacket,with a shawl to cover up(in case you are wearing sleeveless in town) and no shorts or Bermudas in the temple premises.

4)Shopping at Jaigaon is cheaper,So if its a artifact or a jewellery you would love to buy,but couldn't afford in Bhutan,this place is the best bet.Though you wouldn't find many shops,and its best to ask your taxi driver to drop you at the souvenir shop.

5)In case you fall ill,the general hospital in Thimpu run by the Indian Army could be your immediate help.

Ways of Transport in Thimpu,Bhutan


                                                                  Voila! And we reached.

Phuentsholing to Thimpu(Capital of Bhutan) takes 7-8 hours by bus/car/taxi.




                                                      Phuentsholing to Thimpu is a scenic Drive
                                                                   Worth giving your heart to !


1)From Phuentsholing,it generally takes Rs 60 to the interstate bus stand.The bus stand is fairly large with several ticket counters.As there are very few buses that takes you to Thimpu,you have to try your luck at the various ticket counters.It takes around Rs 200 from Phuentsholing to Thimpu by Mini Bus.

2)In case,all the buses are running full,they sometimes do,best is take a cab to the taxi stand which costs around Rs 50 from the bus stand,and get into a shared taxi which would cost you Rs 500.

3)As we were 4 travelers,we chose to hire a car exclusively for us.A small car costs around 2k and the big one 4k.

Currency in Bhutan

The Bhutanese currency is Ngultrum(BTN) or locally known as "Nu"

1 Rupee = 1 Nu

Phuentsholing.Also,sometimes Rs 500 is not acceptable,its best to carry as many Rs 100 notes as possible.

Bhutan Time Zone

Bhutan Time is 1.5 hours ahead of Indian Time.

Bhutan Dress Code



Bhutanese are smart and well dressed.The girls usually wear Kira(skirt) and Taego(Jacket).The guys wear Gho.One of your best souvenir could be the Kira which costs around 1000 Rs(Minimum) and 300Rs(Taego),the very affordable ones ,we can get at Thimpu main market.


The Kira is long dress usually made from finely woven fabrics with beautiful coloured patterns and designs. A wonju (blouse) is worn under the Kira and the Kira is held in place over the shoulder with a koma (silver buckle). Usually are made from fine silk cloth. Over the dress a taego (open jacket) is worn. The men wear the gho, although a long flowing robe but which is worn at knee length, tied in place at the waist with a small hand-woven kera (belt).
I know,you all must be so eager to know more on Bhutan,and yes during the course of the time,I would be taking you through. Tomorrow we soak in the wind of air,as we travel through the roads of Bhutan, ,but for now,it's the time to leave.

 Remember the cute flutter of hearts,the day when DDLJ songs seems like a perfect staple,the day when you have had ever eye on someone?It's called the age of teens,the age when your mom advices you sheepishly on things you would know but wouldn't want to hear,pretending to be one of the most ignorant teens ever.The feeling is uncontrollable,the desire unexplainable.To spice it all a couple of your friends jokingly and mockingly says "combine the line of your hands,and aha you have the complete half moon" and then you have the whole gang of gals behind how many kids you gonna have,how many relationships you gonna have all written on your palms.We believe,yet we know its for fun.Then we take out our notebooks,write on the last page in big letters FLAME ,we all have done,well most of us have, writing names of our friends,counting the alphabets and tick tock coming up the FLAME answer as FLAM(Anything which fits in first four alphabets sums out to be LOVE).But for reasons true to teens,not all turn out to be fairy tales,some beautiful friendships some a lesson.




 It's insane.I am a die hard romantic,and back then I truly believed if I ever have a marriage It has to be a love marriage,or no marriage,so much so that my parents always re-confirmed if I even had a crush,was I in for a marriage?The next 4 years of college life was beautiful,I had the best times with my boyfriend and though we were truly into each other,we never thought of marriage.It was either too early ,or we weren't too compatible.Also,marriage is a responsibility we weren't prepared for.We pledged whatever happens between us "we'll remain best of friends",and "never never marry each other".


 We broke up after 4 years of dating for reasons unexplained.We thought our parents are too serious about us,and its time to not joke.I registered my profile in shadi.com,and even though a grip of sadness was still in me,I recovered and heard about all the prospective grooms my parents did present to me.And happily,the prospects were interesting,though I had my mind set on love marriage.

 We are born and spoon fed with romantic movies.I was determined to get my boyfriend back,inspite of the prevailing difference in communities and region,we did manage to convince our parents and we got married.It's been a mix of sad and happy moments,but over those 3 years I have learned a lot to cope up and enjoy the life and take it as it comes.It's been an interesting transition.People say every marriage requires a certain amount of adjustment,but for us,we are still going strong,and are still the friends we used to be.The difference is,I no longer watch TV,he does.I sometimes cook,sometimes he makes breakfast for me.Sometimes he loves me,sometimes we fight.But don't all friends do the same?I love to be in the love marriage.Though I would have also never said "no" to an arranged one.My perspective on marriages changed drastically over our breakup,and you'd ask me why?

 "The breakup gave me an ample time to analyse.Dad loves Mom.Nana loves Nani.And its not love marriage.It's arranged,then where did the love come from?I love when my mom with due to respect to dad calls him,and says "aap mat karo ye,I'll do it","I also love it when mom and dad pose together,they look so picture perfect".I love when Nani respects Nana and I also love it when they were still by their side in their old age."

Love happens.Marriage makes it beautiful,love or arranged.

 I no longer,envy my friends who have had better marriages than me.I am also looking forward to my friend's marriages, that are arranged.We know,it works,sometimes even better,sometimes not so much.

 A little what I have learnt on marriages

 -Be yourself.Adjust when need be,but do not push too hard,you'd miss yourself when you lose the real you.

 -Make some decision mutual,some independent choices.But give space too.

 -In arranged marriages,ask your parents to not hurry up.Take a gap of a year after your engagement,know the person,fall in love,understand you are compatible and then marry.

  Example :Recently I have seen many of my friend's and relative's parents do the above and it did the trick.

 -In love marriage,understand that the person is bound to change a bit.

 -In love marriage,its best to know your in laws before marriage and live with them.Only then you can understand the differences or relate to them.

 -In today's age,it's important to be not be totally dependent on each other,that ways,you shine as a more confident person who can support your mate in tough times.

 -It's also important to mutually agree upon your choice of work,babies,and other decisions before marriage.

 -If a marriage turns out to  be depressing and not all promising,Step out.Even if it's an arranged or love. After all,you wouldn't want yourself to be in your worst state for the rest of your life.

  On Why The Success Rate Of Arranged Marriage Is More?

 Reasons are many.We all know it.The grooms are screened and over screened,we get the best of the lot as our selection and we choose.It's our parents best effort.They know us,and they know the best for us.Most of the times as the arranged marriages are from the same community,the lifestyle before marriage and after marriage is identical and hence,we do have to adjust less.But that's not true in every marriage.

In love marriage,we are ruled by our hearts.We seldom enquiry the person's background,community,religion.For us, it doesn't matter.But the truth is,it does.

 The silent marital cupid that hurts:LOVE or ARRANGED marriage?

 In India,it's common to sometimes adjust for the sake of it.An alcoholic husband,beating a wife.The wife doesn't complain.The husband doesn't love the wife anymore,but the wife is there for the kids.The husband pays no attention,but the wife is there because her parents have arranged the marriage.In such cases please do not overdo the word "ADJUST".Try to make it work,but understand that marriage is for your sake,and not your parents or your kids.Don't take marriage for granted.It could work well as a shadi ka meetha ladoo or a silent marital cupid that kills.


The Almost Perfect Background For Marriage

I say it's almost perfect,because it is my own experience,observation and lessons learnt over the years.

1)If you have a background of your dad being in a transferable job,and you have been pampered to the core,the best and the most suitable match is marry the one who is in a transferable job or someone who has similar background than yours.That ways even if you both are from different communities,the background helps you to connect comfortably.

I have seen many of my friends do it,and they have had the best marriage till date. Touch wood.

2)If you are in love and your backgrounds don't match,like in my case,my dad is in transferable job and my hubby's parents as joint family,there are bound to be differences.Accept it,but also allow each other to grow.

3)If you and your hubby both has a background of joint family,that works well too.

4)If you are introvert and your husband extrovert or vice versa.It's best to respect each other for the differences.

5)If you and your hubby are from different religions,respect each others religion as well.The tendency is to change,change out of your will,not by force.If you think that you need not change anything,stick by it.It'll take time,but your spouse will understand.

6)Never try to burst the bubble of the male ego,but at the same time be mutually agreeable.

As one of my friends said,marriages work depending on individuals mindset and their needs,and the fact is true 100%.


Choice is yours!And make it wise.After All It's a once in a lifetime event.

Arranged or Love doesn't matter.What matters is how you make the most of it.

This post is a submission to "Love Marriage or Arranged Marriage"by Indiblogger and Sony Entertainment Television for their new TV Show 
www.facebook.com/LoveYaArrange.

           
                                                 Bhutan will amaze you with the change that it offers

"We'd love to,but we can't travel everywhere.Or we manage to,just to wander around."

Sitting in front of computer along with my brother and making plan for an international journey or an adventurous Indian one,yet cheap was on our list.We noted down a few places we had in our mind:

1)Andamans/Lakshwadeep by ship
2)Thailand by Air Asia
3)Malaysia by Air Asia
4)Nepal by road

We were puzzled.Puzzled to the extent that we googled every possible keyword on cheap + travel option .Andamans by ship was exciting and new,though it was all rains and droplets at Andamans. The best season is Jan-Mar.The last thing we wanted was to get ourselves drenched or flooded in Indian ship bunkers.Besides I had already been to Andamans once.Thailand was equally promising,though I had already availed the Bangkok + Pattaya option before.Malaysia by Air Asia,not bad.But travel in Malaysia is expensive ,at least Langkawi is,which I was more interested in.Nepal,is on my to do list.

On Why Bhutan?


                                                        Bhutan was an interesting choice indeed.

The call of the mountain did not wait any longer when I told my brother "Bhutan,its so near to India,must be cheap!"

Google "Bhutan" and you find the packages that were expensive to our standards,well not as expensive as Maldives,Europe or US but not as cheap as Thailand.Truth is,if you are out to experience International and if you are comfortable by road,there is no better alternative than Bhutan for Indians.In some ways it's similar to Ladakh and Sikkim,but different as its more developed and clean.It's even cheaper than Thailand in some ways,no airfare cost,the travel by public transport is cheap,the currency equivalent,no language problem,and it's squeaky clean and well maintained.

Downside is :

1)Shopping is unbearably expensive(clothes,jewellery,artifacts)
2)Roaming charges are very high.We chose to use a local sim for our calls
3)There isn't much information on Internet.

Advantage is

1)In case,you are sick or ill during your travel,you can contact the Indian Army Representatives at Thimpu. There is a general hospital run in the army premises,the staff is very helpful ,the doctors excellent and they treat the Bhutanese locals as well as Indians.
2)The trek to Tiger's Nest is worth the 2.5 hours uphill and once in a lifetime experience.
3)You get to see a strange animal called Takin,which is also a national animal of Bhutan.

Let me take you through different aspects of Bhutan through my video and the write up in the next post.Till then stay happy,we are entering into one of the world's happiest country soon :) . If you have been there,do not forget to share your experiences.

Recording Live Independence Day Celebrations By Dominos,Bangalore

Shweta Gopinath,shares her experience on her first attempt at Skydiving,and encourages more and more Indians to try out the thrilling sport,once in a lifetime.

We have next Skydiving camp from Independence day to Eid(16th-22nd) in Dhana,MP.Experience the blue skies.