19th June, Daddy's day out!!!ri

It is Fathers day. Shaun & Sabrina , start of by making the most perfect breakfast. Then Ritika & Angel come home. Decide they love Fenu M’s home , Home away from Home, eat Bhurji & we all take off to Hewitt Farms at Kent for Strawberry picking.

The drive is beautiful. Greenery all around, so picturesque, it’s a pleasure to wiz past the beautiful cottages, the gardens, the parks( which are more like forest!!( Relax Ruchi .. its not like Kashipur ke jungle , where one can expect the Tiger to walk towards you from the forest), the quaint so very typical Brit pubs….. 

Have eaten enough of the sweetest strawberries to last a lifetime( ok ok …  So…will change my mind by tomorrow!! He he ). Have had to fight for a can of beer , which I managed to prise off, from Bapi M & Shaun. Stopped at a local Pub for drinks. Dropped Ritika & Angel at the bus stop, get home , thinking that’s it …..

But, it is Fathers day & Bapi M still has more, that he wants to do ….

So, off we go to a Mexican restaurant for a fantastic meal & Marguarita’s !!!! On our way back we cross Trinity school …. Kya campus hai , & Dulwich college … what an amazing bit of architecture!!!

&  that brings us to a more than interesting day on Fathers day!!

Highlight is the girls wondering , why our Farming community cant do the same , open their farms out to public & make money out of it …………….. & do we really need to ask why!!!!! ;-) (which reminded me so much of all the times we go to our farms, eating fresh ganna, mutter, kakdi & the works!! )

Off to Manchester tomorrow, & will be back on 30^th Jun. Till then , my blog might take the occasional take a breaks  …. Await the news of all that is waiting to happen …….

Travelogue happens only with Serious about Sabbatical!!!

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18thJul, Yere yere paosa , tula deyu paisa .

Roughly translated, it basically is trying to bribe the rains into showing its true colours!!! ;-) This is exactly what Rhea sang today, coz the rains seem to have decided to bestow us all with their blessings!! Babare ….

Still cant believe we met up with the Chhachhi parivar. The rains were pelting when we met them at Trafalgar Square, ran across to Starbucks for Latte Chai ( too sweet, if u ask me & milky too ….. not my style, I say!!) & bites. Walked the length, through the drizzle,  to hunt for Border & Foyle, all across Charing Cross to buy a book that Harinder Uncle has been wanting to buy. Cutest being Rhea’s version of Puss in Boots , from Shrek & Shelly aunty, in 2 days dying for dal, chawal & Hari Mirchi!!!! And saw a book shop called Murder One, with Sherlok Holmes on the window & deals only in mystery books!!! Amazing …. Kya kya na hai central london main …. All u have to do is walk & discover!!!

While walking around Oxford street with Shefali ,discovered ISCON temple near Soho Square, & just have to eat one meal there, the aroma from the dining area was so India!!

I still cant believe that we met up with Vivek & gang … picture from Shefali required asap to believe!!

Highlight definitely being, Vivek finding Us!!

We were to meet at Border @ Charing Cross, but didn’t realize, the underground is a maze, which leads to different streets. So, we were as lost as Shefali & gang. We go towards Trafalgar square( as they are somewhere opposite the Gallery), Trying to figure out the direction she has given us , and ……….. I hear  “Didi”…. It is Vivek!!! We couldn’t believe it , coz he had no idea which direction of the underground we were getting off from, we didn’t know that he had gone to the other side to hunt for Border & for him to see Us ……… wow .. there is someone out there looking after us(it sure would have taken us some time to find them & that too with the rains & no umbrella with us!!) Cheers!!! 

13th June, Play & Pubs....

The Lion King, at the Lyceum Theatre, was a visual delight.The set, the costumes, the music …..  Indian musical theatre has a long way to go before they can come anywhere close to this display!!!And as usual , I was in splits with the dialogues & got the looks here too!!! Ahhhhhh … the English sense of humour too is missing!!! Thank the lord for the kids( school outings!!) who made  up for 50% of  the audience , who had a blast , warna mera kya hota!!! The play is a , must see for the kids !!!

Before the play, had a turkish Beer(very mild) & house Wine, at a fascinating Turkish restaurant & bar , Papageno (2 mins from the theatre). Décor complete Mediterranean, something like our Indian version of Chor Bizarre!!! 

Wild goose Chase (or shud I say, Wild Bar Chase!!! ) with Ankit( Shaun’s friend from Univ) to Hanover Square ( reminded me of Horniman Circle) to check out the open air Martini bar , which after a trek of 20mins of hunting for the place, turned out, was a weekend affair by Martini on the Square garden.

We did make up for this by knocking back cocktails at The Loop (one of the bylanes near oxford circus!!), during their happy hours. Was taken aback, when we got out of there at 8.30 pm, to still see daylight. So took off to the South Bank area, for a drink at one of the pubs near Royal Festival Hall, overlooking the Thames where another friend of Shaun’s, Nemanja, met us!!!

All in all, a very interesting evening!!

Hightlight was definitely Soho Square!!!! ;-)

12th June, FORD

If I was not Serious about Sabbatical, I would have bought Jaguar & Landover from FORD & turned it around !!!! Ahem!!!

But they are not so lucky to have me at the helm of things , but this house is!! So, it was Mom cooking pukka Indian dinner today (Sangeeta, thought of you coz kaddu gawar ki sabzi was made!! ) , went for a nice long walk & saw The Wonder Years ( my generation should remember this) & watched the videos of the 80’s ke songs …… still humming them !!

Hightlight of today is …………… that there is no hightlight ….. unless the highlight on my hair can feature (Sabrina’s idea) or the fact that we went to buy milk, bread & egg at 10pm , at Sainsbury !!!! ;-)

Cheeersssssss

11th Jun, Depressssssiiiion!!!!

The weather today was cloudy & gloomy , just like my mood . Have gained 2 kgs , devaaaa …. All the wine n cheese has done it …. will just have to gorge on some more cheese …… eat more when you are depressed ……. J

Highlight was Sabrina’s Ice Tea. The presentation was good as was the Tea , like father , like daughter!!!!

10th June, Hyde Park or Lodhi Garden????

Sunday starts with the aroma of lamb curry being cooked by Fenu M , everyone getting set to go to Hyde Park on this lovely 24 degree sunny day, with Ravi, Uma, Ruchi & Gaurav , including Ravi’s brother & his family!!! All for Uncle Rony’s benefit , since we are celebrating his birthday here!!! Cheers to that!!

If it wasn’t for the landscaping & the people, it wouldn’t be any different from a Hyde to a Lodhi , coz a Picnic is a Picnic is a Picnic!!! Loads off food, drinks & games. And it was a pleasure seeing the American culture seep in here , with the roller skating brigade , dancing to music through the entire day….. idhar toh one has 2 left feet , imagine dancing on rollers ….. baap re baap!!! Inder , would absolutely love this place!!!

The Diana Memorial was ………. Nothing home to write about , considering they spent millions of pounds , made a faux pas & had to do it again & spend millions again…. Aur log kehte hain , bharat main jyada kharcha hota hai ………. Ufffffffffffffff!!!  The bikini glad little girls, walking & getting all soaked in the water, reminded me of  Deia & Radhu!!

Hightlight of the day was, Sabrina’s response, on how she should buy an apartment in central London & look after me when I get Old …. “I can imagine everyone when they are older, they will have grey hair and will be a lot shorter, but when I imagine you, when you are older, you are just the same wild, party girl that you are today!”... Maar jawan gud khake, I say!!! :-)

If anyone is still wondering how the security was breached at Race Course by these kids in Delhi, one can ask the couple who did the same & breached security at Downing Street …. Did someone say India apes the West ……???????

PS: Does anyone know anyone who Owns an apartment opposite MI6 or a flat on Park Lane????!!!! Actually forget about the flat, a house is better. Ahem!!(To buy a 1 or 2 bedroom flat in Park lane, costs approximately 1 million pound & a 1 bedroom apartment opposite MI6 near the Thames, will cost approximately ¾ of a million pounds…. Haven’t figured it out in rupee’s as yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )

9th June, what is a Chauffeur's salary in this city???

It was a day, at driving around this area, doing all the chores as & when required, with moi the driver , Shaun the cleaner & Mother , the memsahib!!! Kya scene hai!!! To top that, was welcomed to the Tooting area by , thete gujrati speaking community…. I nearly fell off the side walk, when I heard “ Jai Shri Krishna, Kem cho, aa toh amara gaam na che” ………..

Fox decided to give their darshan, couldn’t resist the Fish, could they!!! J

Went, for a long drive to central London, post dinner. It’s a watering hole out there, Pubs & night clubs galore. Every city has a unique night life, its very own Pulse & London sure boasts of one to reckon with ….. Ruchi & Rachna , it would be one major party with you 2 here!!!

Highlights, the best for today was, the fact that I managed to upset an angrez, coz I did not allow him to cut across the lane & get before me ….. got the look & he zoomed to cut across another angrez …. No one dare try their road rage with me, me the dehati, worse than a taxi driver … watch out London …!!! Ha ha ha … loved it …

Also, manual labour still intact, kids at university during the day , ply the cycle rickshaw for tourist in the night & our social brigade making such a scene about it … guess if the cycle walla’s were good looking , one wouldn’t mind so much, would one???? Our tourism dept. listening ….. ??????

8th June, Stuck in Traffic day!!

Bapi M is sure the birds & squirrels will get obese, & a fit target for the fox!! (considering I am feeding them with all kinda food!!). I whistle these days when I leave food in the mornings & actually saw a squirrel & a robin show up … if that aint something .. wonder wot is!!

Ohhhh & by the time we leave, they all would be diabetic( coz of the mithai I gave them which Bapi M liked and I thought, it was spoilt ).They will have no clue how to hunt for food anymore, considering the 5 – 7 * treatment they have been getting since we have arrived!!! ( Like the birds not knowing wot to do when they see a worm wriggling in front of them, ready meal ,nor the inclination  AND the squirrels not knowing how to eat peanuts with shells coz they are getting seasoning walle, binna chilke walle peanuts, not to forget Kaju too!!!!)…. Why am I the cause of all eventful events!!!??!!! ;-)

Went to a lovely Thai place , Mae Ping. Wine & Food , perfect combination. Thought of Mala & the kids , remembered how I had to tell the chap at CCI to smile & serve us food or else I would get indigestion , well, had a girl who was serving us with such a ghua ghiya muha …. But eventually she did smile!! Thank the lord .. else I would have had to tick her off ……..

Have to make a trip to Thailand to eat some authentic Thai food , coz now I am not sure which is better , what I ate here or Thai pavilion ……

Btw, forgot to mention, my very very vegetarian jain friends had better put blinkers on when they walk around china town , what with the display of marinated ducks, chicken, & meats , their complete day will be ……….. ( u know what I mean)!!!

Hightlights of the day, was, the fact, that I got ready for dinner for the first time in so many days & Sabrina could not believe that I can actually apply eyeliner!! The look on her face was fantastic!!!

Also, the fact that mother dear loved Smirnoff ICE( coz it was sweet), She actually managed 2 swigs of that …. Ya khuda , meri Ma ko kya ho gaya hai!!!

And if anyone ever complains about Bombay traffic .. kill em .. coz London traffic is worse( they drive like maniacs , road rage is what they call their bad driving!! grrrrrrrr ), took us an hour to reach Sabrina’s school & back home , which would have otherwise taken us 15 mins max!!!!

7th June,Shaun's day on the cell!!!

It was Walk, Walk, Walk & continue to Walk through the lanes of Central London , which is like a Spiders Web, soaking in the lovely weather , sights & sounds!! (including an ISKON  group chanting Hare Ram Hare Krishna at Leicester Square!! )

We actually walked from Embarkment, through a lovely park where we heard a choir singing, to Savoy Hotel , then crossed river Thames to go across to Waterloo, then walked back to The Strand,  to buy tickets for Lion King. Onwards to Tottenham Court Road through LSE to meet Sanjay’s friend Nirmal. A lovely 2 hour getting to know each other at Starbucks. From there we continued our walk from all the lanes of Leicester square, admiring all the beautiful theatre’s( mind you , I do not mean movie hall’s) such fantastic architecture. Towards Trafalgar square( How could they put that weird monument of a pregnant women without hands?? & spoil the entire look??? ),through China town, Piccadilly Circus, Westminister. Last was walking around & chilling at St.James Park.

Have eye marked, mind marked, street marked , the places that I want to eat at & drink at & shop at!!!!! Yipeeeeeeee!!

Highlight , was on default, watching , London's famous Horse Guards Parade, off Whitehall in the centre of the city, resounds to the stirring sounds of the Massed Bands of the Household Division as they perform Beating Retreat, one of the major spectacles in the capital's ceremonial calendar ( happens once a year in the month of June), which we would not have seen if we hadn’t decided to take the tube back home from the tube at St. James Park Underground…..

harat desh mahan main toh have quite a few people tell me , how beautiful my eyes are, how different the colour is …. But the same to happen in London , well that did take me by surprise , to be told how different & stunning my eyes are!!;-)

And through all of this , Shaun just walked with me giving me a few minutes here & there of his time , coz through all this Walk , his complete attention was taken over by his Cell communication with his girlfriend….. must say , she is one lucky girl!!!!????????

6th Jun,The plumber's Visit ( 8am to 11pm)

Half day was spend being online & working out a game plan on all that I want to do while in London…. which includes faffing around central London, wine bars, beer binge, French & Thai food & Sushi too, plays, open air events , Visit to Cotswold & Oxford. Aage aage dekho what I add on to this list…..

Then spend a lovely evening with Sangeeta’s Saroj masi & her friend Julie. And plans of all the outings with them!!!

The day ends with Fenu Masi’s Plumber/Radiator man leaving at 11pm, absolutely sure that his wife will throw him out for getting back so late, suspecting him of an Affair!!! Since we have been the caretakers of the house all day.... methinks .. I should get my pound of flesh , wasooli jaldi karni padegi!!!

Highlight today is one of Bapi M’s exotic cocktail & the fact that mom actually drank about 6 sips of Tia Maria!!!! ahem ….

5th June , Ritika's Day out with Us.

It was a swinging start , with the sun in complete glory with just that perfect chilly nip in the air , with laughter resonating through the house , all coz Bapi M was majorly worried about me loosing Mom somewhere. The worried bro in law, trying to get us to understand the direction, the tube, the bus & making sure mom keeps a note with the home address, & telephone nos. Such trust they have on their one & only eldest neice!! Sighhhhhhhh … loosing my own Mother … what next , I say???? ;-)

Bapi M , the perfect guide ( if he were not a micro biologist, he would have made a fantastic travel guide & headed a perfect tour operator agency!! ), drove us all the way  towards Ritika’s home in the Southwark area , & showed us ,Tate Modern , St Paul's Cathedral & the Globe Theatre.

Ritika lives at the Hall of Residence ( feel like saying Hall of Fame!! , acco for kids studying at Univ of Arts).Her room is real cute ( reminds me of Ruchi’s Manipal room), complete with all basic requirements, including a small puja place , where she sits for her chant, a time for herself , very impressed we are(Priti ka influence ???!!).

The day is spend walking in the maze , the gulliyan’s, bonding with Bond & Oxford street, a livewire of energy!!. Ate Turkish khana at Sofra’s , one among the many restaurants at St.Christopher’s Place, totally vibrant (the hummus was real good, so creamy , pata karna padega how they make it ,  methinks I shall try working there for a day!!! ;-) .

Highlight of the day….Shenaz Hussain, moving around this place with a personal photographer & a very young friend!!! Still trying to figure the scenario out!!!;-)

Cuppa coffee was at Ritika’s univ café  (The HUB), met her 2 lovely friends, Pankhuri( from Calcutta, exchanged notes on the pubs there & am glad Neelu took me to the most happening hangouts , last December) & Angel( from Delhi). Walked around some more, across Lancashire Court, a perfect window shopping time, with all the designer shops inviting you for a dekho!!!!!!

And then got back home without loosing Mom anywhere!!! Hallelujah!!

The story so far... till 4th June!!

We are actually in london. We got with us, the rains , complete bombaiya monsoon weather .. gloomy for the London ke log , but humare liye , it was being at home!!! Slept the first two days , celebrated Sabrina’s 13^th birthday in a very ghar ghar ka party types ( the major BBQ party scheduled for July , since it was raining on 27^th May). Gorged on bhajiya’s if you might please & loads of coffee, chai , and wine in my system!!!

Highlights so far:

1. The Magpie’s, the Robins, the Woodpeckers , the Squirrels & the Fox too( although I haven’t seen them so far, Fenu Masi’s backyard is the forest!! ) & various other varieties of birds , who are there to wish you good morning & eat all the food that is left every evening for them!!! My first journey on the bus with Sabrina was phukatiya , coz didn’t realize I had to swipe the Oyster card ( just like humara rail pass , but oyster takes care of rail and road)!!!

2. Its been walking around this area , visiting Mr.Sterling & Joan ( Fenu M’s god parents here!! ), a bit of shopping around ( khane pina ka saman , loads of all kinda cheese, breads & juices!! )

3. I DROVE my first automatic car on the streets of London , and love it!!! It really is like driving in Bombay , baas thoda sa idhar ke regulation par dhyan dena padta hai , then you are set!!!

4. The meals being conjured by Shaun , very interesting

5. Sabrina actually educating herself for her exams !!! & helping around the house .. how perfect is that!!!

6. Meeting up Fenu M ‘s friends.

7. A woman actually walked into Starbucks begging for money & wasn’t even thrown out by the staff …… What is wrong with this city???

8. Walking around so far , has been like being in any hill station in India , with a slight difference, & being around the shopping area has been “ Gurgaon main itne gore kahan se aa gaye?? “!!!!

surprise

I actually have a blog ……… wow