SUNDAY, AUGUST 7TH
1:22am Dubai International Airport
After an agonizingly long wait, I’m finally going on vacation! Can I hear a HALLELUIJAH???
Nelson and I checked in at about 11:00pm thinking that we’d be early and get nice seats. Well, the guy at the counter said we were friggin passenger number 112! Apparently people had checked in at 4pm! How BORED are they? Well we got checked in, saw Mum and Dad off to their car, and went in to get our passports checked and other stuff. Right 
now we’re just relaxing in the passenger lounge, coz we just had a great meal from Round Table Pizza. It seems that even in the most fabulous airports, there will be a familiar yet crappy restaurant! Well now we’re just relaxing because we still have 2 hours to go before we can check in for our flight. Nelson is busy snoring right now, so I’ll write more in a while!
2:48am Departure Lounge, Dubai International Airport
We’ve finally checked in after an annoyingly long wait at the gate. Some friggin guy in front had excess baggage or something and was muttering “Ok, Ok” to the poor stewardess who was perfectly bewildered at what was going on.(and I thought I had language problems!) Anyway, heroic Nelson decided to come to her rescue and translate for the poor guy in Hindi that he had excess baggage, much to the stewardess’s relief (Unfortunately, Nelson didn’t get her number…shame) At least she smiled when we were checking in! Now we’re in the waiting lounge just killing time, and I can see our plane right outside the window! Next entry on the plane! I think sleep is just about settling in…
4:00am On-board EK flight
Finally boarded the plane and we’re off! Spectacular views of Dubai nightlife! Takeoff was a breeze…not as bad as Sheban told me…that cow!
9:23am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam 
Checked into our hotel…room is not bad at all! The fun is going to start any minute! Got picked up from the airport by Manju, her brother, and her cousin Dipin(who is still sweet as ever!) We’re going to head downstairs now to catch a late breakfast from a café nearby. It’s so cool that I’m FINALLY in India!
4:15pm Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
We went for lunch at…Pizza Hut! Boy everything is so different here…the pizzas were such a disappointment! Everything was so small! We just kept ordering and ordering until we had finally 
managed to finish 2 medium Chicken Pizzas, 1 small Seafood Surprise, 1 medium Super Supreme, and 1 order of Potato Wedges. Not to mention our drinks! The most hilarious part is that hanging over the entrance is a bell, kind of like the ones you see in temples. Anyway, if you’ve had a good visit at Pizza Hut, you’re supposed to hit the bell once…I should have just walked into the damn thing and hit it with my head!
MONDAY, AUGUST 8TH
8:00am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Woke up to Nelson’s prodding because we have to go on tour today. Finally rolled out of bed at 8:30am only to hear from Nelson that the tour guy will be here at 9:30am! *groan* Ironically, none of us are ready until 9:35 and then we march downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast we started the tour with our eccentric guide Stanley, and visited Jewtown and the synagogue. Lovely places 
steeped in rich history and an 
element of mystery even. Lots of little shops everywhere with annoying pesky shopkeepers! Didn’t know there were only 14 Jewish people in Kerala!
1:00pm Kashi Art Café
Met up with Dipin and his brother at Kashi Art Café. It’s a really nice cozy coffee shop that is really popular with tourists. Has some pretty good food there and some great cake! Except the lemonade kinda smelt of Pif-Paf…hmm. The café also has a separate room showcasing local and international works by some really good artists. After lunch we saw more sights around the city and the jeep drove over four balls of elephant dung…which Nelson thought were coconuts!
4:00pm Ernakulam District
We caught a rickshaw to get to our next destination…was that ever a scary ride! Worse than any roller coaster I’ve been on! It really doesn’t help that there aren’t any defined roads in India and no traffic signals, but the rickshaw drivers drive like they want to fly! My whole life flashed before my eyes in that thing (I haven’t had enough sex btw)
4:50pm Ernakulam District
Went shopping with Manju to a store called FabIndia, a really nice clothing store, though it was a bitch to find! Bought two kurthas for me and Manju bought something for Nelson too. We stopped by Music World and I went bananas there because they have DVDs and CDs SO cheap over here! Bought the DVD of “Flavors” and then headed out back to the hotel.
8:30pm Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Went down for dinner where Manju ordered the world’s WORST salad. The best part was she took a bite of it, and then Nelson told the waiter to take it away – and 5 seconds later the manager comes out to ask what was wrong with the salad! I had Chicken Cordon Bleu, which was quite good. Dipin met us again and we went upstairs for a rousing game of…UNO!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9TH
10:04am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Woke up at about 8:30am and washed up. Headed downstairs for a lovely buffet breakfast which was highlighted with Nelson mixing Ovaltine with his tea! Managed to check my email a bit in the lobby…Ruth emailed me and Nastasae emailed that he finally bought a PC! Now we’re back in the hotel and just packing up our remaining things and getting ready to check out.
12:30pm Road Trip
Checked out of our hotel and we are now on our way to Club Mahendra Resort in Munnar. It’s a 4 hour drive to that place, so we bought lots of CDs to listen to for entertainment!
5:15pm Club Mahendra Resort, Munnar
Reached our hotel at last and checked in. The views are AMAZING! Saw lots of lovely waterfalls and greenery on our way up the mountains. The resort is on top of a mountain with spectacular views! There are actually clouds floating by! Lots of tea plantations here for miles around us, not to mention freezing temperatures!
11:00pm Club Mahendra Resort, Munnar
Had a fabulous dinner at “The Tea Room”, the restaurant on the resort. Watched a magician entertain Manju while we were waiting for our dinner…he was quite good! There was a very creepy waiter who was serving us…he kept on talking to Nelson as if Manju and I didn’t even exist at the table! I think he had a bad Botox treatment or something because it took him 4 minutes to unfreeze his plastic smile! Watched some TV and now off to bed. See you in the morning!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10TH
10:30am Club Mahendra Resort, Munnar
I woke up late today while Nelson and Manju went to the gym. Just relaxing in the balcony with a cup of nice hot tea. Everything is so quiet and peaceful here! Manju has been jogging up and down this hill for exercise and I’m getting a hernia just watching her! Nelson and I joined her later to go explore the rest of the resort. Really good facilities here and lots to do! Manju raided my suitcase and nabbed my black Gio sweater…and my scarf! Grrrr….
8:45pm Club Mahendra Resort, Munnar
Today was FREEZING! We had to go to the wildlife sanctuary about 20km away from the resort. I was actually higher up than our hotel! When we got there it was friggin raining and even colder! After fifteen minutes of pointless roaming around, we realized that no animal in its right mind would be wandering out in weather like this…except us! So we ended up driving back to the hotel for a late lunch in the afternoon. Spent the evening in our room just relaxing and chatting a bit. Went for a walk and Nelson and I played a game of giant chess…and I won!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11TH ROAD TRIP
We checked out of our hotel and took an 82km drive to our
next hotel in Tekkady. It was another long 4 hour drive with horribly winding roads, but we finally arrived. Had a lovely welcome reception from the staff complete with jasmine garlands and cinnamon tea! Had a nice relaxing and quiet evening in our fab room and then wen for dinner. I even went with Manju to check out the gym!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12TH CARDAMOM COUNTY, TEKKADY
Woke up early and had a nice breakfast with Nelson and Manju. Later checked my emails on the agonizingly slow 14k connection! Manju and I checked out the souvenir shop which had some nice pieces on display. We had a light lunch and then we went on a tour of the local spice plantations nearby. The guide showed us all kinds of things, including how they make rubber. Smelt all kinds of wonderful leaves and flowers, and nearly stepped on an anthill! After the spice tour we looked at the local handicraft shops and Manju bought herself a shawl so she could quit hogging mine! At around 3:30pm we left by car to start our boat tour of Kerala wildlife. There were about 30 or so tourists on the boat with us. Like our previous tour, this one was quite a bust as well! It got windy and rainy about 15 minutes after laving dry land! The only wildlife we managed to se was an elephant 
crossing a river, and some birds that wouldn’t sit still for a picture! The highlight of the 2 hour ride was when two tourists accidentally got off the boat along with the local people and we had to go back and get them! They had turned a brilliant shade of red by that time! Got back to land at last drove back to our hotel. In the evening we watched a cookery demo (the chef was only looking at Nelson for some weird reason) and then we stayed for a traditional bharanatium dance which was very good. Nelson and Manju stayed behind for some more culture-soaking while I headed back to the room. Ordered a chicken-mayo sandwich for dinner (note to self: NEVER EAT THIS AGAIN!) and wound up staying awake all night with a horribly upset stomach!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13TH KERALA BOATHOUSE
Checked out of the hotel at 10:30 and got on our way again. It is a 186km car ride to our next journey, so it took approximately another 4 hours to reach, not counting our regular rest stops every half an hour! What didn’t help
was that it was also the day of the famous Kerala boat races, so the streets were filled with commotion and a LOT of drunk men (none of them remotely interested in staying on the sidewalk) We reached the houseboat which was a lovely 2 bedroom boat, complete with TV, DVD, and an on-board CD sound system! Quite an impressive setup I must say. We had lunch at about 2:30pm, but my stomach was still in recovery, so I ate light. We watched a few movies on the DVD player and played UNO for a bit. The scenery we passed by was breathtaking! There were paddy fields and tall palms bending 
towards the river, and children playing happily in the water. We had our dinner at about 8pm and chatted for a bit. Even got myself to listen to the
“Salaam Namaste” soundtrack which Manju was blaring on the boat’s CD system. Finally time to turn in and the hilarious thing was that it took the boatmen 20 minutes to hook up an extra generator so that our room A/C would work! There were also so many mosquitoes! In the end they hung a mosquito net above the bed so it ended up looking like a honeymoon bed! *gasp* The net didn’t help much because Nelson got bitten anyway! The worse part was it was so DARK! You really couldn’t see anything at all at night! There was no moonlight or anything! To make things worse, at 4am our stupid A/C turned off! So I had to waddle out of bed and grope around for the switch to turn on the fan. 
And after 20 minutes even THAT stopped working! Finally Nelson had to go wake someone up to fix the generator properly so that we could finish our sleep. I didn’t get back to sleep, so I was awake till about 6:30am, when we all decided to wake up and get freshened up. Had breakfast at about 7:30am and headed for land at around 8:30am. Docked in at 9:15am and finally got off the Hellboat at 9:30pm with luggage in tow. Hopped into the car and headed for our next stop…back to Cochin!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14TH ABAD ATRIUM HOTEL, ERNAKULAM
We are back at the Abad Atrium (yay?) in a fabulous 1 bedroom hotel room this time! Nelson sprung this surprise on Manju and me to make up for our crappy boat experience! We’re going to be here for the next 3 days before we fly to Bangalore on Wednesday. Finally had a nice hot shower after god knows how many days! Dipin came over in the evening to join us for dinner and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately Nelson had a bit too much of Mutton Biryani, so he was running to the loo every 20 minutes!
MONDAY, AUGUST 15TH
11:20am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Happy Independence Day! It’s early morning now, so not too many celebrations yet. Manju has gone to the parlor, and Nelson is resting in bed nursing his bad stomach! Going shopping later on with Manju…let’s hope the shops are open! Looking forward to a fun day today!
12:40pm
THERE IS A PINK LIZARD IN THE BATHROOM!
4:30pm Abad Atrium Hotel – Dipin’s Residence
Just leaving for Dipin’s house now to go for dinner…will be back later on!
11:30pm Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Just got back from Dipu’s place. I had fish curry for the first time which kinda amazed Manju because she couldn’t stop staring at me! It was fun hanging out there with Dipu and his brother. His family was also very nice and happy to see us all. Really tired now, so will wind up for the day!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16TH
6:11pm Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Spent an afternoon out with Nelson, Manju, and Dipin. Went shopping for games and DVDs! 
Looked for my books, but didn’t find any of them, which was a shame. But I’m happy I managed to get Vampire Bloodlines for my PC because it costs a fortune back home! Dipu’s folks are coming over later in the 
evening to see Nelson again. We went to Pizza Hut for lunch and had a great meal, coz we just decided to play it safe and order the family sized pizza straight away! And we ordered the most amazing chocolate cake for dessert called "Ebony and Ivory"…my first orgasm in India!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17TH
11:37am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Alone in the hotel now because Nelson and Manju have gone out to meet some people. I might just wander around for a bit on the streets outside!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18TH
10:30am Abad Atrium Hotel, Ernakulam
Our last day in Cochin! Now just waiting for breakfast and then heading out with Manju and Dipin for some last minute shopping for souvenirs.
6:40pm Cochin International Airport
Finally back in Cochin Airport! Boarding for Bangalore in half and hour or so. Now just chilling in the lounge with a good cup of tea. Excited about Bangalore a lot! Didn’t get a chance to check my emails, so dunno if Melvin will be able to meet us in Bangalore. Will try and get his number when I land. Can't wait for the shopping!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 19TH CENTRAL PARK HOTEL, BANGALORE
Reached Bangalore safely and got put up in the “Central Park Hotel” w
hich is like Rs. 5,000 a night! Talk about swanky! Anyway, a friend of Nelson’s is paying for it all…why can’t I have friends like that? Went around the city for a brief visit to a resort under construction. Later I dug up
Melvin and he was ecstatic to see us all in Bangalore. Took us some time to get a hold of him because his last mobile number was disconnected. Anyway, we spent about 10 minutes with him and then headed off to the city. Spent the evening 
shopping at "The Forum" and having loads of fun. Bought some truly AMAZING stuff and bought “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” for Ronnie…it’s the same version I read in school! All in all, a really great day in Bangalore…too bad we didn’t go clubbing! Nic sent me a Rahki btw…how sweet!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20TH
12:50pm Jet Airways flight, Bangalore International Airport
Boarded our plane and sitting here in the damn heat! Can’t wait to get to Goa…we’re there for 4 days! Really don’t want to go to Bombay!
7:15pm Varca Palms Beach Resort, Goa
We checked in about 3 hours ago and had a fairly decent flight here and a short ride to the resort. We had to change our rooms because our A/C wasn’t working. Now there’s no hot water in this room! ARGH! Well, hopefully things will pick up on our tour tomorrow!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST VARCA PALMS BEACH RESORT, GOA
Okay…found out this morning that there isn’t any tour guide in Goa…they have just given us places that they recommend we visit! What crap! Anyway, we went out to meet Manju’s mum’s 
friends who are really nice people. Had a nice lunch with them too. Went to St. Francis Xavier’s church and was totally amazed by the size of the interior! I even got to see his body which was on display, which was really something in
itself. It turns out that we will be staying with Aunty and Uncle for the next 2 days, so Nelson will be able to have some of Aunty’s great cooking! Going to check out tomorrow from the hotel from hell and go have some real fun. Manju’s not feeling too good, so she’s staying back at Aunty’s place and we will be seeing her tomorrow morning.
MONDAY, AUGUST 22ND
12:45pm The Fernandes Residence, Goa
Now at Uncle and Aunty’s place – managed to check out of the resort after much hassle. It 
should be fun to stay at home for a while! Manju is still not feeling too good, so she’s inside resting up. Hope she gets better soon…we HAVE to get our hair done in Goa no matter what! Nelson’s just gone out for a bit and will be back soon. I can’t believe that there’s only 1 week of our vacation left! And it turns out that we ARE heading back to Bombay, so got to buy a gas mask…lol! Meanwhile I’m brainstorming ideas for a new layout for my room back home!
8:05pm
Went out with Aunty and Manju to some local shops. Didn’t get any word about our hair appointment, so we decided to go shopping instead. Got mum’s sarong and my shell belt! Now just winding up for the day and hope to get my hair done tomorrow!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23RD
6:45pm
Went out with everyone in the afternoon and went to a few shops. Had a really good Chinese lunch which we all enjoyed. Also wen to Don Bosco Church, which was really nice. Bought Nelson and Manju a ‘Thank You card’ from a Hallmark store here.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24TH GOA AIRPORT – BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Left Uncle & Aunty’s house and started our drive to Goa Airport. Checked in and made a couple of phone calls back home. I managed to get Ruth on the phone after a few attempts. Finally it was time to board our plane and we were on our way to Mumbai. There was a very sweet (and kinda cute) steward named Jay on the plane Safely landed in Mumbai Airport and drove to our hotel. Checked into our room which is HUGE! Later we went downstairs for dinner at …Pizza Express! So far Mumbai is quite decent and not as bad as I thought it would be…there are hardly any signs of flooding in the area where we are staying.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25TH THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL, MUMBAI
Woke up early to begin our tour of Mumbai. Left a little late, but our guide didn’t seem to mind too much. We visited the Hanging Gardens, 
Mount Mary Church, Oberoi Shopping Arcade, and saw Gandhi’s residence! I even had a Masala Dosa! =D Desi food rulez! Decided to skip dinner as we all had had a heavy tea. Met one of Nelson’s and Manju’s friends in our hotel room later on - all in all, a pretty good day!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26TH
Today we woke up at 7am to get an early start to our tour. That didn’t help because we were starting 
breakfast at 8:15am! Rushed through breakfast and the guide drove us to the Gateway of India, where we took a few pictures. Nelson’s digital camera is USELESS! Boarded a boat with other tourists to visit the Elephanta Caves. It was a one and a half hour ride by boat in hot sunny weather. Reached shore and had to climb a gazillion steps to reach the top! The caves are pretty
impressive with huge stone carvings of various gods and events in Hindu mythology. After the tour we headed back to shore by boat through some totally unexpected rain which soaked us good! Landed at shore after another long ride and headed straight to Mc Donalds for a well deserved lunch! Headed back to the hotel after lunch for a shower while Manju went to a nearby museum for a quick tour. When she got back we all crammed into a taxi and went to Juice Hair Salon. We all got FAB hairdos and I love my ultra sexy new brown hair! Wonder how people will take it back home! Later on we went for dinner at a nearby pasta place where the food was really excellent. Now I’m totally worn out and looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. I can’t believe there’s only one more day of vacation left!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27TH
Woke up late today thankfully! Got a quick bit for breakfast and then we all went shopping around 1pm. Hit Mc Donalds again for lunch (their burgers are AMAZING compared to back home!) and then shopped a bit more before heading back to the hotel. We’re all kind of sad that this is our last day in India, but it’s been such a great vacation! Both Cliffy and Uncle John couldn’t meet us in our hotel, so they called us up and talked to us on the phone. We went out again around 4pm and got a REALLY annoying and talkative taxi driver! *scowl* Anyway, did some last minute shopping and we drove back to the hotel. Had a great dinner and watched Final Destination 1 & 2, and The Village on the hotel’s cinema channel. We are all really tired now and heading for bed early. Our wonderful vacation is now officially over and I am going to get just 2 hours of sleep before we are back in the airport at 5am!! It’s been such a great adventure for me, but can’t wait to get back home!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28TH BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Well, here we are in the passenger lounge at 5am, just wasting away the time because our flight is at 6:30am! Had another quick bite to eat at a café in the airport, and now just sitting with Nel and Manju in the waiting lounge. The duty free here SUCKS! They only accept dollars, and their prices are crap! There was a cute guy at the café where we were sitting, but Manju and I were more interested in his psychedelic shirt (which was a real eye sore btw!) This is probably my last entry here in India, as I have to pack up all my things before we board on the plane. It’s been such a memorable journey for me and I had SO much of fun! I am definitely doing this travel thing again in the future! BIG thanks to my bro Nelson and Manju for making this trip possible =) And of course, can't wait to go to the Far East next year *grinnn*
See you next year!
posted by nick @ 6:13 PM
