Bali - 1

Ah! Bali. How do I even start writing about my whirlwind trip to the charming island? A place which is special to me now, for various reasons. 

I have been meaning to visit Bali from almost the time I came to Singapore. I had heard much about its beauty, exotic locales and the beautiful people. Needless to say, I was itching to see for myself this paradise, which conveniently is just a 2.5 hour flight from Singapore. Its things like these, which makes me feel very happy about staying in Singapore. Singapore is located in such a strategic location in South-east asia that any place is just a short flight away. You name it - Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong & China. Even the western parts of Australia also for that matter. Strong presence of three budget airlines - AirAsia, Tiger and JetStar serving most of these destinations ensures that it is not hard to clinch a good deal on the airfare from Singapore.

So when my friend sent me an message informing me of 70 dollar (all inclusive) return fare to Bali, I jumped at the chance and booked tickets almost immediately. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about going on a trip with people whom I did not know all that well, but then isn't that how friendship grows from a formal "Hello! How are you?" to a casual "Stop eating me head you ass!" :P Anyway, I am so glad I did go on the trip.

I love traveling with AirAsia. I haven't had any problems with them so far and I think the combination of Red with Black upholstery inside the cabin looks very classy. Yes, that is how I choose which airline I want to travel with - choice of colours :P

Anyway, I am digressing. Lets get back to Bali. It looks like the runway of Ngurah Rai international airport at Bali has actually been built on reclaimed land. The runway almost entirely juts out into the sea. So, when our flight was approaching the landing, it looked like we were going to land right over the water. Its just at the last moment, I spotted the tarmac below. Perfect landing. The buildings of the airport have been built in the typical Balinese architecture. Infact most of the houses and old buildings in Bali have a conical roof. A unique thing I noticed about these conical roofs is that the base of all these  cones were squares. I hardly ever spotted a rectangle. Err.... I just reread what I have written and it sounds so geeky. No wonder things like this happen.

Indians are eligible for an on arrival visa to enter Indonesia. I was already mentally prepared for long queues at the immigration. Surprisingly it was super fast and very efficient. Btw, do you people know what is the coolest thing in the whole wide world? Its the automatic immigration machines at Changi airport. Oh dear lord! God bless Changi  airport and Singapore. It took me less than 10 seconds to clear immigration.

We had already booked our accommodation. Our hotel was very conveniently located along Jln Legian, which has shops and restaurants on either sides, is a very charming place. It has many famous brands lined up alongside quaint little shops selling artifacts and other cutesy stuff. I would personally love to walk along Jln Legian on a day just randomly looking around and wandering around such shops at my own pace. Perfect for a relaxed day with nice weather. Speaking of weather, Bali has a very tropical climate and is quite hot during the daytime. But the humidity is much less when compared to Singapore.

The first day was spent just roaming around our hotel, visiting the beach and restaurants. Actually, Bali is a great place for surfing. One will find lots of people doing that. Kuta beach is the place to be to see people surfing. Infact, many famous surfing brands have a presence in Kuta/Legian.

More in the next post. In the meanwhile, here is a teaser.

Do it NOW!

Alright, all you men out there, who have *never* got their hair shampooed and blow dried at a salon, raise your hands.

Let me count how many hands are raised. I can see atleast 5. Now, go do it. Yes, go get your hair shampooed and blow dried at a salon convenient to you. You need to know how it feels.

I just got it done and I feel lighter than air and pampered to the core! Ah! What a relaxed feeling it is.

Singapore.... Yea.... whatever!

Sigh! The vacation got over so soon! I wanted to be in Bali for some more time. Its such a beautiful and charming place.

I am definitely going there again! And this time I am gonna spend more time there and see as much as possible.

Bali.. Yeeeeeeeeeah!!

Am off to Bali for a much needed vacation. Will be back soon!

I promise to blog about the trip. Incase, I don't, please feel free to kick my ass!

A Simple Equation

Healthy dinner at Subway + Peach flavoured frozen yoghurt with fresh mango topping + aimless walking along the exotic aisles of Cold storage = One happy boy :D :D :D

Cold Storage is a fantasy land for me!! I will get lost and drift to my happy place when I am there. The rest of the world ceases to exist! Infact, my ex had gotten quite jealous that I seemed more excited at cold storage than on our dates. LOL!!

A sure shot way to make me happy (especially if I am angry with you) - Drop me of at Cold Storage and come and pick me up after a couple of hours :D Importantly, pay for whatever I purchase there.

The nicknames

Recently I started thinking about the different nicknames that are usually associated with me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have so many nicknames. In an effort that I don't forget them (and that I need to update my blog more regularly), here they are and the story behind them.

1. Pizzadude - My online name. I didn't come up with this name actually. Instead, it was coined by a close friend of mine, after he discovered my LOVE for pizzas. I don't think he even remembers that he coined this name. Pills, thanks so much for inspiring my online identity.

2. Chinnu - My family calls me by this name. Soon my friends caught on to this and I am now frequently referred by this name.

3. Chinoto - Coined by Sri, my ex-flatmate. He saw the name on the drinks menu at Pasta Fresca and became obsessed with it and started referring to me that way. Now, the other ex-flatmate also refers to me by this name.

4. Thai-chi - Again coined by Sri, after he discovered my unconditional love for Thai food!

5. Aloo Bhujia Controller Confiscator Dude (ABCD) - Coined by Shub. Story here.

6. Aloobun Dude - Coined by Shub after I made here jealous by eating aloo bun (got by ex-flatmate from Bangalore) and not giving it to her.

7. Thames - Coined by Sumanthe, after noticing my supposedly angrezi behaviour/mannerisms.

8. Thudson - Coined by Viv. During dinner one day, my friends were referring to me as Thames as usual. I opined that since I prefer US to UK, I should be called as Hudson. This prompted Viv to refer to me as Thud-son, with a resounding thud on my back!

9. Joey - Coined by Sash, after the character of Joey Tribbiani from F.R.I.E.N.D.S., when she found out about my love for pizzas and food and for typical Joey like behaviour.

10. Veshtiman - Story here.

The Shantamma Parvatamma Chronicles

It all started more than a year ago. One evening, I had finished cooking dinner quite early. While waiting for my flatmates to arrive, Shub happened to call. During the course of our conversation, I happened to tell her how convenient it is to cook with the microwave oven, how I finished cooking much sooner than I had expected to, how it avoids mess and clutter and how I will end up washing less vessels. I went on and on, which prompted her to say that I sound like a housewife. She then proceeded to ask me, in typical Bangalore fashion - Yen ri Shantamma? Adige aaytha?

Subsequently, we would get into this Shantamma mode every now and then and end up amusing ourselves silly. That's when it struck us - lets make this a feature on our blogs - The Shantamma Parvatamma Chronicles, henceforth referred to as TSPC. Their character sketches are here.

So, the other day, Shub remarked that I looked quite thin of late and then proceeded to ask me -

Yen ri shantamma phull figure-aa? ;)

Howdri Parvatamma. Eegina kaaladalli figure-gigure irbeku. Illa andre yaaru tirugkooda nodalla. ;)

Hoon kanri. Namm yajmanru, marathon geerathon antha shanivaara aadre oadakke hogtaare. Adu alde neenu baare baare antha tale tinn taare. Saakaagbittide nange!

Nimm yejamanru bidre. Phull popular aagbitidare. Hudugiru alde hudugurugu kooda phull interest avarabagge. Nimm friendu, hindinbeedi Meenu-akka, avarannu hogalidde hogaliddu.

Howdu. Naanu kooda adeno koodlu kappu maadodikke DYE antha yeno sigothe antharalla..adu talege hachhc bekaa nodtideeni... naan avra ajji antha tilkobaardu nodi jana!

Howdu howdu. DYE hachikolli. Reshme sereenu utkoli. Talege swalpa mallige hoovu mudukoli. Phull lakshanavaagi kaanteera.

Tip-taap kaan bekri naanu. Bob cut maadsi dye hachkondu heng kaantheeni noodi. Aa pakkada mane mahaaalakshmige phull hotte uribeku!

Tequila Blue

I don't know what exactly about Mexican food excites me. Maybe its the flavour or the vibrant colours or many vegetarian options. Or maybe its a mix of all these things. So, its high time that I feature a Mexican restaurant in FoodieExpress. Presenting, ladies and gentlemen, the latest discovery by our resident consultant, Ms. Sayesha - Tequila Blue. Its situated at Changi Village, very close to the Changi ferry terminal and the Changi Bus terminal.

My all time favourite Mexican place in Singapore is Cafe Iguana. Well, Cafe Iguana now has a competitor. After my visit to Tequila Blue, its has definitely been added to my favourites list. Not only was the food great, but they had a wide variety of veggie options.

They had quite an interesting ambience. Check out this hilarious poster that we saw at the entrance.

They even had a foosball table, where we played a few games. Needless to say, I lost hopelessly. I still need to get hang of that game. Also noticed was a pedestal kind of thing, where had kept many bottles of tequila. It resembled the typical positioning of gods as depicted in a bollywood movie. Haha! Well, some people consider tequila as god. :P

We quickly placed an order for a jug of mango margherita, a plate of Nachos Grande, Quesadilla and Jalapeno Rellenos. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, I was experimenting with my friend's new DSLR camera, doing random photography and also taking pictures in the manual mode. It was nice fun. I liked this particular photo very much.

Ofcourse, I also loved the photo I took of all of us, but I cannot post that here, else we will be hounded by the paparazzi on Singapore streets. LOL!

Mango Margherita

Our food arrived shortly. First came the Nachos, followed by the Quesadilla and Jalapeno Rellenos. They dishes were lovely and I had to quickly take a few pictures before my friends attacked the food. My yelling at them to not touch the food before I can take pictures does not seem to have its desired effect anymore. Here are a couple of pictures that I managed to take before we devoured the food.

Nachos Grande

Jalapeno Rellenos

Quesadilla

For the main course, the vegetarian items ordered were a Veg Burrito, Veg Enchilada and a Veg burger. They quickly found their way to our table. I had more time to take pictures though as my friends were busy devouring the appetizers.

Enchillada

Burrito

Veg Burger

The food was quite good overall and I would definitely recommend this place to people. The dinner and drinks can be followed by a leisurely walk on Changi beach situated nearby. If you like to watch planes land and take off, Changi beach is one of the places to be. Great views of all sorts of flights landing and taking off at the ever busy Changi airport.

The bill came to about 150 bucks for 5 of us, which makes it about 30 bucks per head. Quite affordable by Singapore standards. This restaurant was good value for money. If you are in or around Changi and looking for a place to eat, do consider visiting this place. You won't go back disappointed.