A Week that went by!

Have you wondered why sometimes when you do too many things, stretch your hands in all directions the time just flies by! Last week saw me do so many things that when I try to look back, it all seems to be in a haze. Well, when I try to take a sneak peek at the week that went by, I see that I did a lot of things, but very few had the outcome I desired.

As usual, I had a rocky start on Monday! There was some new work in office which was neither challenging nor interesting and made the mood worse. However I did manage to keep up with the commitments and finished half of it

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Tuesday was no different! Since work didn’t interest me for 2 days in a row I decided to do something exciting. I started planning out our mandatory Anniversary vacation. After much discussion, it was decided that we would go to Andaman. Since there was also a marriage that I needed to attend in Chennai, Andaman made sense. I initially wanted to self-manage the trip but eventually gave up because of the steep airfares. It makes more sense to go with the travel operators when it comes to short notice vacations. Since they have all the tickets pre-blocked they end up offering you a cheaper package. First day went off with exploring packages from various travel operators. I spoke to people from Makemytrip, Yatra and Cox and Kings.

After having a look at the itinerary and prices I decided to go with Cox and Kings since they offered a better deal. Contrary to the belief that Cox and Kings is very expensive, I found them very reasonable. Rest of the day went on with me bargaining the rates with Miss.P (from Cox and Kings).  I had a virtual tour of Andaman, the places, resorts etc. I even did virtual snorkelling in the North Bay Island and Elephant Beach and saw the corals from the glass boat! I find Havelock Island much better than Port Blair but unfortunately the travel packages give very few days in Havelock.

On Thursday I got news that due to some compelling reasons our trip this October could get cancelled. It meant that it didn’t make sense to book through a travel agent since I would lose out on a lot of money than I might in a self-managed trip. In the end the Andaman plan got shelved :(. I felt really bad to break the news to Miss.P but eventually did!  I also realized, I am bad at breaking hearts ;). I felt really guilty although Dh kept consoling that it was a part of their job! I finally sent her an email and told her that the trip was not happening. To overcome the disappointment,  I bought myself a nice Spa deal from one of the Deals website which I frequent regularly. (My experiences and take on these deals websites definitely demands a post!).

I spent a solid 5 hours pampering myself with a nice Hair Spa, a chic Haircut and a lot of other services. In the end I came out a happy, contented woman feeling like a queen. You see I am a very uncomplicated and easy-to-make-happy types! 😉

Meanwhile Dh saw that I was still sulking over the cancelled trip and suggested we go to Kashmir instead. Kashmir being closer to Delhi would require lesser leaves than Andaman. This time I was determined that I would self-manage the trip but Dh wanted me to go with Cox and Kings, again. I did not want to talk to Miss.P , so I changed my name and gave a different email ID, but I messed up the whole thing by giving out the same number. The attender probably saw one of my open cases with Miss.P and made her call me for the Kashmir trip :P. After the initial awkward moments things finally looked cool between me and Miss.P. She gave me an itinerary for Kashmir in the next few hours. While the itinerary looked great,  I found that I could manage the whole trip by spending 10k less than what she had quoted by making my own arrangements. Thus Friday was spent on planning and chalking out the whole trip.

While I finished the itinerary completely exhausted, Dh told me that we might have to put this on hold till he hears from his boss. So as of now the trip is on hold!

Nevertheless Dh decided to treat me for my stupendous planning and we had a dessert treat at Sakley’s (This place is screaming at me for a review). We had a tasty Banoffee pie and a brownie.

Then came the much awaited Saturday. Now all of you know my excitement about Saturday. I had to go on a lunch date at Mamagoto‘s with Yash and other winners from the JMPE contest.

The whole event was so much fun and I met so many wonderful people. (The event truly deserves a special blog post and I wanted to combine it with one more special event. Wonder what? Well, hold your breath!). The second half of the day was spent at Dh’s cousin’s place. She apparently made some amazing dishes which I missed! However, I reached in time to eat the mouth wateringly beautiful fruit pudding which I couldn’t believe was homemade! Later that day, we started watching Grey’s anatomy and successfully finished the first season overnight.

On Sunday, we finally informed our landlord that we are vacating the house. It was a tough call and Dh did the talking part! Our current landlord is closer to Dh and finds me too complaining! Now, how do I explain to her that I play the tough part in the house involving repairs etc. and the husband ‘s only job is to pay the rent. No wonder she finds him cute :P. Then started the dreaded house hunt. I quickly searched for properties in 99acres, Magicbricks and Sulekha. These are 3 websites where I find countless options. In case you know anything else, I would be more than happy to take your suggestions. I called up a few dealers , roamed the length and breadth of the city but in the end did not like anything. I called it quits and decided to continue the search again, next weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed!

We also drove down all the way to Priya, Vast Vihar to have a cup of refreshing tea at Passion – My cup of Tea .Turned out that they are Closed for Renovation. We finally settled at  Costa Coffee!

So, I pretty much gave you a whole synopsis of happenings in the last week. As already said almost none of it had a closure and I am hoping for things to fall in place quickly and smoothly.

Now few things to ponder and few learnings:o

• I suffer from severe Monday morning blues 😦
• Andaman is a very nice place and definitely deserves a place in my To-Do list. And I reiterate that the whole trip would be cheaper by around 10-15k if you self-manage it and plan it in advance. (Mail me if you need any assistance).
• The travel agencies are very useful and work out cheaper if the vacation needs to be planned out in a short span of time.
• I love to spend time on Saloons and Spas and I insist that everyone should take out some time and do what they love! After all that is why you slog day in and day out.
• I ate McEgg from McDonalds thrice last week. I like the way it is made. Its very light on my stomach and is enough to make me just full.
• The Banoffe in Sakley’s is an absolute Yumm. I am huge fan of this place!
• Kashmir is indeed a paradise on earth. And it makes me immensely proud to see that it’s in India. I have always cribbed and complained about a lack of beautiful places in India. Turns out I was totally wrong. On a totally different note, I have a whole list of some good places to stay in Kashmir and a neat itinerary. Our trip may or may not get cancelled but I would love to help you out on the trip in case any of you are planning one! There are some very good houseboats like the Chicago Houseboats or New Buckingham Palace which has very good reviews and do not make a huge hole in the pocket! ( Again, Mail me for more details )
• Miss P is definitely wild at me and would point black refuse to help the next time I go to Cox and Kings. :(.. I am sorry Miss P but there are things beyond our control!
• Mamagoto serves some amazing South-Asian food and has a decent ambience.
• Yashodhara Lal is as witty and humorous as she sounds in her book Just Married, Please Excuse. It was an absolute delight to meet her, talk to her and know her. Humble, down to earth people never fail to impress me! I have started reading the book and am enjoying it!
• Grey’s Anatomy is a nice serial but does not focus too much on the medical part like House MD. Nevertheless, the show has been running for many seasons which means that it is probably worth watching!
• The house search in Gurgaon can be a stressful and daunting task because of the fact that one has to totally rely on the brokers. The whole process of talking to them, looking at the place and negotiating can be really frustrating. In case any of you know an apartment – a 2Bhk or a 3 Bhk in Gurgaon, do let me know!
• A post on the JMPE meet is definitely on cards. I just wanted to hold it so that I combine it with the special occasion I already mentioned. Drop in and leave your comments, pour in more and more of love so that I am compelled to come up with that post sooner than you had expected!

Till then, signing off..

Much Love

Sia..

Image Credits : Although I would want to accredit  everyone took these pics, the lack of time and space leaves me with no option other than just this!