Day 24 – 1st January

First day of the new years! Not as fun as last night, my throat was not getting any better – felt like it was worse . Also the team was much smaller now, Jayesh, Priya & family had already left for Navsari.
It was already close to midday, we headed off to Cafe Moshes in Palladium Mall (Phoenix mall). Nita and Neha ordered Pasta, whilst Pooja could not resist the Pancakes, myself I was happy simply getting a coffee – did not want to feel the extreme pain that any solids created in my mouth. Food was very good (I am told), my coffee was ok but I could not drink it – the hot liquid was burning my mouth .
We sat for a while there, it was good to be relaxed and not be in a rush at all.
Next a walk around the Pheonix mall area, ended up at the Cinemas, nice way to kill off a couple of hours in the afternoon, off to see Jumanji in IMAX. Seated, kids were not expecting the Indian Anthem to come up before the session started and everyone was standing for that, Pooja was like – why??? For those that do not know, in India, before movies, the National Anthem is played and everyone in the Cinema stands for that – very patriotic indeed.
The movie was great, loads of family fun – highly recommended. Neha & Pooja gave it 5 stars.
Out of there, Pooja noticed an electronic department store, in there to play with the ipads, good opportunity to call back home, mum was worried about my throat.
We finished off with an early dinner at Social in the same mall, Nita loved their Kitchde, Neha wanted the Nachos, Pooja was happy with the cheese loaded fries and their Sweet corn soup was perfect for me!

On the way back Nita noticed a nice cafe across the street from Phoenix mall – hmmm good place for breakfast tomorrow!!

Day 25 – 2nd January

Same story with my throat, still not improving , Nita was getting very worried now, I was trying my best to calm her down, and kept telling her – physically I was fine, no headaches, soreness etc, it was only my mouth/throat that was the problem – which was prevent me from eating …. just a small problem .
For brunch we headed to the Rolling Pin opp Phoenix mall – the place Nita saw last night, and was it a good decision!

This place had the best pastries and chocolates!! Unfortunately I did not take many pics, but Neha has a great glimpse in her VLOG , you can view it there.
Neha ordered a Paneer wrap, Pooja just wanted the FREAK Shake with Salted Caramel, and Nita settled for one of their yummy muffins with coffee.

(Pooja’s amazing Freak Shake!!)

Food and drinks were good, but Nita was too concerned with my throat issue – she was adament I call the first doctor who sorted me out at Novotel on my second day in India. He was in Juhu, gave him a call and he said he could see us in an hour. Called an OLA and headed off to his Office. Traffic was not too bad along the way.
There he suggested I see a skin specialist, but that would not be till around 6.30pm that evening.  No problems, got the appointment booked and then back to the south side of Mumbai. Along the way I called Chetan and told him about my throat situation and if he knew a good skin doctor, was surprised when he was like, yes I do, his family visited him often. He tried to sort out an appointment but unfortunately the office was closed till 5pm, it was now a waiting game.
We stopped over at Siddhivinayak temple. Being a Tuesday, it was super crowded, now it was about making sure kids were all with us, did not want to loose them in the crowds.

Finally had our Darshan, time to take kids back to the hotel, they had been tagging along with us all day and were very tired now. Drive back to Juhu and back was over an hour each way! Lucky OLA fares were not too bad!

Back in Gulistan, we were contemplating leaving for the Juhu specialist (it takes over an hour to get there) or wait for Chetan’s call.
Decided to wait till just after 5pm and decide then. It was about that time when Chetan called and informed us that his specialist could see us in an hour – we had to go to Dadar. Got the address and called our OLA. Whilst waiting for that, ordered McDonalds home delivery for Neha & Pooja, they were fine staying back and honestly I did not want to trouble them running around the place with me.
Finally got to Dr Valia – Chetan did tell me, say you want to see the “old man” cause his son is also a skin specialist and he is also Dr. Valia .
Dr. Valia seemed very knowledgable, he examined me and determined this to be a severe allergic reaction, put me on steroids, vitamins and antacids, however no antibiotics. Also as we were leaving on the 4th for our Rajasthan tour, he game me the address of his friend in Ahmedabad (we would be there in 6 days), and to see him if my throat got worse or did not improve – great news, at least I now had a backup doctor in case things got worse.

Back at the hotel, it was only 7pm and Nita had not eaten, looked up Zomato for a good Italian and found one in Nariman Point – Ristorante Prego. Even though I could not eat, no one else was going to suffer on that point, we were still continuing to enjoy our food safari!
Arriving there, we realised this place had replaced Ruby Tuesday!
Nita and Neha settled for a Pasta dish, I was on a non solid diet- soups it was, picked the Slow Roasted Bell Pepper and Tomato soup (I know I have never tried tomato soup before, this will be interesting), Pooja did not order anything other than Garlic bread – she was full from McDonalds.
Food arrived and it was WOW!!! This would have to be the BEST soup I have every tried. It was an explosion of flavour, if only I had asked them to remove the bell peppers – as the spicyness of that was affecting my mouth/throat, nevertheless the amazing taste of this soup had me finishing it all – wow what a soup!! The pastas dishes were also great – I am told .
Highly recommended:Ristorante Prego @ Nariman Point.

Next we decided to head to the Gateway of India – it was just around the corner – well a taxi ride away! 6 years back we visited this place during the day, this was a different feel and much calmer during the evening!

Day 26 – 3rd January

Last full day in Mumbai today, tomorrow we were flying out to Udaipur. For breakfast, we headed to the Leopold Cafe for the Pomegranate juice. We had only been there for a few minutes when they started closing the doors and asked all to vacate. Turns out Mumbai city was in lockdown due to possible RIOTS being caused by the political parties. Essentially Taxis, Shops, Malls were all being closed till around 5pm .
Walked out of the place and were trying to find a Taxi with no luck, then found the Indigo Cafe still open, got in just in time as there were also closing their shutters, however they allowed their customers to stay in and also served them – brilliant this would work for us. They also had free wifi – it would keep Pooja occupied.
The place had great pastries – Pooja ordered the chocolate crossiants and Vanilla milkshake, Neha went for the Eggs Benedict, Nita had her eggs with Toast and they were able to make me a Pomegranate juice – drinking hot coffee/tea was not good for my mouth/throat which was covered with ulcers! – anything cool was perfect! We spoke to Chetan during that time, he informed us of the riots on his side of the town, and recommended we get to our hotel and stay in until atleast 5-6pm.
Finishing our brunch, the staff showed us out via the back door and also helped us find a Taxi – I highly recommend the INDIGO Cafe, great food and the BEST service.

We were stuck in the hotel till around 5 when the city reopened. Took a Taxi to the end of Marine Drive, Pooja was whinging not wanting to go, but once there, we could not keep her off the sea wall!
A must do – watch the Sunset on the Arabian Sea!

We were on the Marine drive for over an hour, now to head to the Taj and try the famous Chinese restaurant there. Sitting in the lobby, we met Kirit – Dhansukh kaka’s son from Auckland, turns out their entire family were there including Dhansukh kaka.

Was good catching up, now to head to our dinner. The Golden Dragon unfortunately was fully booked , bummer!. Now what! Nita pulled out her listing, she had marked a few eating spots – picked the All Stir Fry @ Gordon House, which was literally a 5 minute walk away. This place looked good, and had an option for all you can eat stir fry or a La-carte. We opted for the menus, and ordered Dim Sims, couple of Stir Fry’s and ofcourse soup for me – Nita was adament with the waiters to ensure my soup was not spicy at all! Food was very good, Pooja especially loved the Caramel Milkshakes !! Something about Milkshakes in India, they are soooo good!!

A good finish to our last night in Mumbai, tomorrow we were off to Udaipur .