Dharma & Nita travel blog

1st day of the new years, and we all woke up soooo late!! Just lazing around it hit us all, today was my last day in India, sad …. girls were getting a bit emotional realising that today was it, however we still had the entire day together. Had some breakfast then started some packing up for us all (Nita was heading off to Navsari tomorrow, she also had to get her stuff sorted).

Just fooled around and finally decided to head out for lunch @ 1pm – headed to the Italian place above INOX again – we had seen two young girls sleeping without parents on the streets the other night and Nita had wanted to give them blankets – I guess it struck a cord with her, as we also had two girls of similar age! (in fact the poor girls were younger).

As the taxi took off, asked him to make a detour via Hera Panna to pick up some McDonalds for Pooja. Am so glad we took that detour – required the taxi to take another route to INOX we had never used before, and on that route, stood out proudly Ambani’s amazing new residence! simply amazing the size of it! Took another detour to view his place from up close, has to be seen to be believed, a family of 4 reside in this 20 storey high rise HOME, complete with a HELIPAD.

(Ambani’s grand home…. is it big enough for a family of 4?)

Whilst taking these photos, the security guard from within the gates told me to stop taking pictures, by then I had already gotten a few, got in the taxi no worries, another security personal was taking the rego number of our taxi  – these guys are full on, must be keeping an eye on everyone. Would have loved to have a quick peek inside – will leave that till the next trip.

Got to INOX around 2pm , however no sign of the two little girls (from the previous night), no worries we will find them later, had lunch @ Spaghetti Kitchen, ordered some Pasta and had a great lunch there.

Next was time for Gelato, again in the Spoon food court in the same complex.

By the time we got out of there, it was close to 3, decided to head to Colaba causeway and roam the markets, and if lucky find some shoes for the kids. No luck with the shoes, however all the girls got lucky with watches!! Soon it was 6, had decided to have dinner at Hotel Status – a very good veg restaurant near INOX which we visited in 98. Got there ok, however the queue was loooong, wait times were close to one hour and people were happily waiting – time was one thing I did not have much off, had to be off to the airport around 9 – 9:30. Told the driver to go past INOX one last time then to a Chinese restaurant in Nariman point. We got lucky, one sister was there, gave her the blankets and told her to share it with her sister – they are sooo hardened by the streets, there was hardly any emotion, just a “acha”!!, am not blaming them, just impossible to imagine our kids in this situation.

As the taxi pulled up to that Chopsticks Chinese place – realised it was closed today!! Luckily few doors up, there was another Chinese place, looked good, took a chance there. Ordered some wantons and 2 chinese dishes. The Wantons were superb, however the others were nothing to rave about. Still due to time restrictions, were not complaining – the service was quick.

Back at the hotel around 8, firstly settled my hotel account – had to make sure Nita did not have to worry about all these tomorrow on check out. Confirmed again with Manga, on Nita’s transport.
Back in the room, finalised my packing. Dipesh (Chandrakant kaka’s son) had arranged a 4WD to drop me off to the airport, he was also coming to accompany Nita and kids back to the hotel at night.
Pooja had visited the toilet twice since our return and was having some loose motion – We decided it was best for them to all stay in the hotel – Dipesh would be dropping me off anyway, so no need for them to stress – if Pooja needed to go to the loo on the way, it would cause major problems!

Dipesh came around 9, he was fine with coming alone – five years back on our last trip, he dropped us both at the airport, this time it happened again!

An emotional farewell – Pooja was fine, however Nita and Neha were very emotional – finally left Gulistan – will not be seeing my girls again for a few weeks atleast, damn we had a great time!

Ride to the airport took close to 1 hour, lots of new roads being made near the airport, a big change from 5 years back. Thanked Dipesh heaps, then entered the terminal – in Mumbai, only travellers are allowed in the terminal!

Next obstacle was my check-in, my luggage (one bag) was weighed in @ 28kg, I was hoping for a miracle and somehow it did happen. The lady at the Jetairways checkin just nodded, asked if that was it and let the bag thru no questions asked!! I am always travelling Jet Airways now! Rang Nita – she was very relieved, Neha started crying again in the background, talked with her for a bit to settle her down.

The mumbai airport has been done up very nicely now, so much better than what it was 5 years back, infact it has lots more things to do, eat and shop than Brisbane Airport!! Flight was @ 1:50am, had 3 hours to kill, off to the IIFA bar for a BIG Kingfisher and a Tikka sandwich – my last Beer in India for this trip!

Boarded the aircraft on time, however flight was delayed by a further 3o minutes, I had nodded off soon after take off, and in 5 hours, was in Hong Kong airport. Had around 12 hours to kill there, but was still too tired, decided to hang in the terminal, checked in to the Travellers lounge – great place for $50 US, had access to the lounge for 5 hours, included a shower, unlimited food, softdrinks & coffee, plus 8 computers were provided for use – I could finish off my blog there.
Firstly had my hot shower and felt much better, found a computer and begun blogging, two hours into which, I was getting very tired and sleepy. The Travellers lounge also offered private rooms, hired one for 3 hours and was fast sleeping in my own private room, complete with showers, toilets the works – like a mini hotel studio room. The sleep did me real good, felt soo much better after 3 hours.
Was able to finish Day 29 Blog entry from there, then decided to roam about in the airport for a bit.
On to the Qantas flight bound for Brisbane !! Aircraft was not as polished as Jet Airways, well that is sort of expected now! Landed in Brisbane around 9:15am, Dad and Dada come to collect me, had lunch at Mums place, and was back at work around 1pm! Holiday was over back to reality….

Wrap up: Was a great vacation – not to forget too easily. Still missing Nita and Kids, but as long as they have a good time in India with Mum and Dad, I am happy!
Chetan (Kshatriya), thanks lots lots lots, for organsing hotels, trains making it way easy for me!! Really appreciate all you have done.
Also thanks to Paresh Kumar (aka Bhans!!), your blog was my inspiration to do this, cheers mate.

Second last day in Mumbai – times almost up for me!!
Let Neha and Pooja sleep in today, enough sleep would allow them to last through the new years night!!

I went off to the Taj to pickup the tickets for the evenings dinner – I would require this to gain entry on the night, and after waiting for the festivities desk to open, finally had my tickets!!

(Taj lobby area, tickets to our New Year Dinner)

We were to party, eat and drink at the Shamiana buffet restaurant with live music and unlimited drinks – yes alcoholic drinks!! Surprisingly of the 5500/rs per person, close to 2000/rs is taxes!!

Back at Gulistan hotel, Neha and Pooja were up, ordered room service breakfast for all – we after all wanted to take it very easy today. Around 1pm I got McDonalds for them again!!!

Decided to head off back to Bhuleshwar – Pooja had been whinging about not getting the Krishna metal murti with clothes for dressup, back at Hari Om Shringar, got the murti and got some additional Krishna shringar. I was happy she was soo interested in playing dressup with Krishna – rather have that then playing DS!!

Next stop was Zaveeri Bazaar, directly behind Bhuleshwar – wanted to buy something for Nita before I was out of here! It was close to 3pm, headed directly for Dwarkadas – recommended by a few, and I did not want to waste too much time. Whilst browsing & chatting with the salesman Pravin (I think) –  he mentioned how Mukesh Hazrat & family were also there for Poonam’s wedding shopping just last year – at that I made up  – “yes he did recommend this shop, so now make sure you give me a very good price!!!”… he was yes of course we look after our good customers!
Nita finally selected a couple of pieces she wanted –  this started the negotiating process – finally had them at a price I felt comfortable and all ok! Since they would be closed the next day, the guy promised to have the pieces and the chain (needed it shortened) to us by 8 pm tonight at the hotel – that was fine, as we would not be heading off to Taj till 8:30.

Reached back at the hotel around 5 pm, time to get Pooja and Neha some butter chicken and chapattis for dinner (The Taj new years dinner was to start @ 9pm, a bit late for kids to wait). Back in the room, the jewellery order did come around 8:15pm, all in tack and nicely polished!

Got taxi to Taj around 8.45 pm, kids were super excited to be going to there – (I had hyped about it a bit too much!!). Getting near Taj, security were everywhere, lots of Police at every intersection.  The main entrance to Taj had been closed from 5pm, tonight everyone going to Taj was to use the rear entrance, which was as per Taj’s standard grandly decorated and also heavily secured by security personal.

(outside Taj, road blocks and more security, Shamiana – our restaurant & party venue for the night)

(Neha in Taj hotel)

Our table location was great – close to the dance floor & live band, and directly next to the dessert bar!!! All tables had party hats and trumpets – this Neha & Pooja loved – after all the night was meant to be loud!!
First were drinks – and did they have a good variety of drinks on offer, however me being a beer man, had to start with a Kingfisher, Nita went for the Champagne and kids went for Coke.

Time to eat… Dinner buffet selection was amazing, cuisines included Malaysian, Chinese, Italian, roasts, Indian and then seafood – lobsters and crabs….. damn the range was big!! Roast also included a Peking Duck, which was mind blowing!! Slow and steady did it for me. Neha got into the chicken tikka , whilst Pooja was loving the Gnocchi. Nita tried a bit of everything, she was waiting for desserts!
All along the live band consisting of a two person team were playing some great western tunes – kept the feet tapping all night.

(Rianna , she kept our feet tapping all night with great tunes)

Operation Dessert was next!! Nita took the lead and I was more than happy for that. Too many varieties, we just had to try em all! It was crazy with Pooja, she wanted to taste some and was helping herself but then placing the ones she did not like back on the serving trays!!, had to follow her closely to avoid that! Neha loved the chocolate fountain

(dessert madness)

I had now switched to Scotch on rocks – it was less filling than beer – after all I had to have space for desserts!! Nita had already had a few champagnes, now it was time for Cocktails. Neha and Pooja had already hit the dance floor and were having a blast

(lets party)

We joined them soon after – lots of crazy dancing, and lots and lots of fun.

(Neha & Pooja got a big hug from Rianna – was waiting for mine!, then Nita came!)

(could not get Pooja away from the ice sculture for long!)

Soon it was countdown time, and New Years was welcomed with lots more dancing & drinking. Today I fly back!!! lets now worry too much now, just continue drinking and dancing!
Around 1:45 we all quite tired started to make our way out, still Neha wanted to go on!!! how much stamina does she have – am very worried about her teens.

(goodbye Taj)

Outside @ 2am, the road near Taj was not overly crowded, however that was only due to the police restricting people from coming there, past them, lots more people and cars, took us about 10 minutes to find a taxi – everyone was looking for one.

(outside Taj rear entrance, kept cleared by Police)

New Taj @ 2am New Years, looking for taxi

In the taxi – Neha tells me this was one of her best nights, and she would like to do New Years again in Mumbai – seems like my next holiday plans are already being made!

Nita and I both agreed, we are all coming back for another new years here, nothing like New Years in Mumbai!… question is when???

Kids were very excited today – Dilesh & family were in the same hotel – hence the chance of meeting Jeetal and Sachin. Did not really want to disturb them – they had only checked-in around 3 am! Nita and I went down for breakfast and hopefully meet foi/fua before they departed for Navsari – found out foi had an upset tummy, no problems – went to our mobile dispensary (we were carrying lots of medications for the just in cases!!) for the same stuff that fixed Nita – hopefully that would work for foi. Bid them farewell soon after – they were off to Navsari in Manga bhai’s car.

Back in our room, Neha told me how Jeetal had rang our room – obviously she must have been excited the same. Was a big reunion in their room, chatted about each of our holidays so far, kids were running mad, they were all very happy to be together. Sachin was still the chubby one, had to squash him a bit!

Met Kaka and Kaki, they were very happy to see us all, they were seeing the kids for the very first time!

Next Dilesh took us to a wonderful Chinese restaurant, now that we were 8 in the group, took 2 taxi’s, I travelled with all the kids, Dilesh, bhabhi & Nita came in the other. Along the way Sachin commented on how the cars kept sounding their horns – just wait till he goes to Navsari, it is horn madness there.
The Chinese restaurant was in SOBO Central – next to Hera Panna, and luckily there was a McDonalds directly under the restaurant. Quickly got 2 Maccas meals  – for Pooja and Sachin.
The Chinese place was brilliant, however the service was shockingly slow -which did not help Dilesh, he had to be at the airport by 7 and still had lots to do. Food when it did arrive was very nice.

(Nita and Bhabhi having a great time)

From there, we split up, Dilesh was heading to Chetans office, we had to go to Bhuleshwar to finalise the murti’s.
Were now headed to “Hari OM Shringar”, same place Vinod kaka bought his murti’s from. (Had spoken to kaka earlier to get the name of the shop and its location), Taxi dropped us off @ the edge of Bhuleswar – apparently the place is sooo crowded it is not a good place for cars – and correct he was. Lots of people in the market. This place is packed with small stores, and lots of em. Finally found the store we were after, luckily 2pm is not a very busy time for them, we all could seat and then the slow process of selecting the murti’s and then all the Shringar – took us close to 3 hours there, was surprised Neha was enjoying the browsing with Nita, however Pooja had a difficult time, she was getting bored and annoying Neha for time pass!! The guy at the store were great, ordered softdrinks for them, then some chocolates – they wanted Pooja to be calm so we could spend more!!

Finalised all and headed back to Gulistan around 7 pm, all very tired. At the hotel, we all just crashed, very long day it seemed.
Had also forgotten to organise something for New Years tomorrow, rang a few other places with no luck for entertainment with kids, finally got lucky @ Taj Hotel, they had a special New Years dinner with live band, unlimited drinks (alcholic as well!!) all till 2 am and the best bit kids were very welcome, Taj has around 11 restaurants and this one was specifically catered to families – awesome struck gold. Made a tentative booking – wanted to check with Chetan first (was told payment was required by end of day to retain booking!!)
Tonight we were invited @ Chetans place for dinner. From the moment I mentioned to Neha & Pooja that Chetan kaka had two daughters – they wanted to meet them (this was before our holidays started). Tonight they were excited at the chance of finally meeting them. Reached his place around 8:30. Bhabi looked the same since we last saw her 5 years back, however the girls had grown – 5 years is a long time!! His kids were gorgeous, and Sneha (grade 12) also got in to entertaining Neha Pooja, she brought out lots of their board games – it was great.
Re: New Years dinner, Chetan recommended the Taj, rang in and paid for our table of 4, it was 5500/rs per person, luckily Neha and Pooja were free (Had to pay to reserve it, they were not holding any reservations without payment), was told to pick up the tickets tomorrow morning – which would be required for the Dinner.
Back @ Chetans dinner, a wonderful dinner it was, although Bhabi was vegeterian, she had cooked an amazing chicken dinner for us – and the best part – they also prefered not too spicy, just want I wanted and also prefered by the kids!

Neha and Pooja with Sneha

with Henna, playing Wii

Left Chetans place around 11pm, by the time we got to Gulistan Neha and Pooja had dozed off in the cab.

Nita was feeling much better today – no more upset tummy, had to rush everyone and got out to breakfast around 9:30. Had hired an AC taxi to take us around Bandra, Juhu and abouts – we had hoped to leave by 10….it was more like 10:30 by the time the car arrived!

The car was bigger than Mumbai taxi’s, so definitely more space for the 6 of us (Nita’s foi/fua were with us) to squeeze in! First stop was Hari Om murti’s, we needed to pick some Murti’s for our home mandir and needed to start browsing. On the way there, we stopped at Aakaar, another murti gallery. They had some great pieces, however they must be totally catered to the high end, prices were beyond us! Hari OM was better in its range, however the browsing was taking too long – fua was getting bored, back in the taxi, headed towards Juhu for lunch – the place where the driver suggested did not seem like much, luckily Chetan had suggested a good seafood outlet in Juhu – Mahesh Lunch, asked driver to take us there – a bit further from where we were in Bandra, but definitely worth it.

Ordered Lobster, King Prawns & Fish, Neha and Pooja had Fish-n-Chips. Lobster was very nice, however the best was the BALTI Fish – a goan dish! Perfect with a chilled Kingfisher. Whilst in there, Pooja remembered she had left her toys in the taxi and was getting all upset over it, rang the driver – he promptly dropped it off at our table – service!

Kids wanted to see some bollywood stars, no luck yet, so decided to view some of the celebrity homes in the area – saw Amitabh, Jitendra and Raveena Tandoons places. Amitabh has two bangalows there and rotates between them!!

No stop to Juhu is complete without a stop at the JW Marriott, headed there for afternoon coffees. The place is magnificent and very posh. Kids had ice-cream, we settled for coffee and cakes, nice but nothing to rave about – bit disappointed, was expecting more from this place!! We still had not made any plans for our New Years celebration, checked out their new years festivities, unfortunately the only family friendly event was a buffet, dancing areas were off limits to kids – had to find something exciting for New Years, still had 2 days to figure it out!.. think Dharma think!

(@ JW Marriott – Juhu – bit of a let down in coffees)

Headed back to our taxi, it was already close to 5pm, asked the driver to drop us @ Hari OM (Murti shop) @ Mahim , and foi/fua continued their ride back to the hotel.

We spent close to 1.5 hours selecting the murti’s, price seemed a bit high, so needed to confirm with mum if all was ok – am glad I did that!!
By the time we left it was close to 7pm, on the way back stopped over @ the Atria mall – it has a Rolls Royce showroom there!! Rang foi/fua to update them on our whereabouts – they were too tired/full and decided to take it easy in the hotel.
Mall was ok, but the food court was crap – half the shops had closed down.

Took another taxi and headed to Chowpati – wanted to try Cream Centre. It was close to 8:30pm, and the queue was massive, was a 45 minute wait, decided to hang around. Finally we got in, ordered some chaat which were very tasty, for mains a Noodle dish with stuff (cannot remember what, saw it on the table next to ours and asked the waiter for the same), also got Paneer masala and roti (Neha and Pooja loved that). Food was amazing, the noodles were simply amazing – and it was all VEG – why can’t we get similar veg varieties back home!! And Finally had to have the sizzling brownie!

(@ Cream Centre, opp Chowpati, great noodles, the sizzling brownie)

Had lots of rice left over, got it packed up for the kids waiting outside, it is always heartbreaking to see sooo many kids on the streets with little to no food, this time around they were also asking for our bottled water!

Nita’s upset tummy had kept her up most of the night, however the worst had passed and she seemed to be recovering.. (must be Docs medications, it was working)
Today we had planned to visit Chandu Kaka and Bhanu kaka @ KALYAN (north Mumbai).

By the time we had breakfast and were out of the hotel, it was close to 11am. Took a taxi to VITI (CST) station to catch the train to Kalyan, (even though VITI is further away in the opp direction, it is much easier for the likes of us to board at the starting station – less crowd and train waits longer!!) Buying the ticket was easy, however finding the correct platform was mind boggling. Had to ask around lots and could not understand why some people did not understand the difference between an express train and non-express train!! Finally found someone who guided us to the correct express train/platform. Train was departing @ 11:53 (was a further 10 min late).

(train to kalyan @ CST station aka VITI station)

Found seats easily, (lucky we bought 1st class, 2nd class was already getting crowded). This was the kids fast ride on a Mumbai train, and they were excited, first surprise to them once the train moved “hey the door is still open!!”, had to explain that these doors always stay open! Train ride was just over an hour, reached Kalyan around 1:15pm.

(Pooja reading in the train!)

KALYAN seemed very different from our last visit 5 years back, soo much bigger and many more high rises. The train station was now linked to a massive(and impressive) skywalk – had to ring Piyush to find out which was the correct exit! the Skywalk was great, avoids crossing the busy station roads.
Took an Auto to Bhanu kaki’s new place, found it without too much hassle – Bhanu kaki was by the window side awaiting us, as we got out of the Auto – heard her from their level 4 flat – felt like I was home! Felt so good meeting them all, Chandu kaka seemed so much better now, after all that he and the family had been thru, it seemed like an amazing turn around!
Piyush’s daughter “Arya” (sorry if the spelling is wrong) is a cutie, she did not really come to us, however she was enjoyed playing with Neha and Pooja – Pooja loved playing with Arya’s fluffy toys and in turn, Arya had a ball with Pooja’s little disney figurines!

(Neha playing with Arya, Pooja playing with little Arya’s toys)

(with the family)

Bhanu kaki had prepared a yummy Chana Bhatura lunch for us, with some very tasty Ghajar Ka Halwa.  After lunch we all sat around just chatting, soon it was afternoon tea time, was soon 5pm!, time flies when you are with family. Had to bid farewell, which was quite difficult – only took a few hours to get soo well reconnected with Bhanu kaki, and now time to go.

Piyush, Manisha and Arya dropped us of at the station, am so grateful they came along, it would have been very difficult for me to work out which platform/train to be at. We had to wait on the overpass for the correct train and platform announcements, before heading down to the platforms.

Got off @ Byculla station around 7:30pm, had already contacted foi/fua on our location, we were to have dinner together. On the way to Gulistan, had to make a quick stopover @ McDonalds for the kids.
We were all out of Gulistan soon after, heading to Nariman Point – dinner was at “Spaghetti Kitchen” (Italian restaurant, in the INOX building)

(time for Italian cuisine)

Ordered a pizza and some pasta dishes – all very very good, beats my favourite Italian outlets in Brisbane!! Neha enjoyed her favourite Italian dish – fettuccine carbonara

Finished off with some Gelato next door in the Spoon food court – which was still open @ 11pm – love how eating out places stay open till late!