London - 2013-2014

For an introvert like me, moving to a new place even for a little while can be a bit of a dilemma. The prospect of a new adventure is exciting but the thought of being alone in an unfamiliar territory is also petrifying.

The best part about being in London was that i never felt alone. Unless you choose to isolate yourself, the city always feels like it has its arms wide open to embrace you no matter where you come from. Like one of my friends very aptly put it, London is like a big canvas of different cultures stitched together. Being an Indian, i absolutely love how the people of London embrace different cultures. They want to know about your country, your traditions, your beliefs and culture. And most people i spoke to in London either have already visited India or have it on their bucket lists. 

So here goes. This is just a glimpse of some of the things i saw & experienced in London. It doesn't come anywhere close to describing the sentiment and gratitude i have for the people of London and the city itself.

This is Kate. She was my landlady during my stay in London at Oxford Gardens, Ladbroke Grove. She's an amazingly strong person! I think she's definitely been a big reason why my stay was so thoroughly enjoyable. We had our lovers spats but there's nothing that can fix Kate's tantrums like a good glass of wine. 

That's her beautiful garden and then there's my cozy little room.

There's so many things to do in London on your own, that even for someone like me who's most comfortable sitting at home reading, i was out on most weekends. I would get on the circle line and once i'm in, decide where i want to get off. Once i get off, I take my phone out to look the place up and Google would recommend places of significance in that area. Or i would just get out of the station and walk around with my camera and headphones. 

Below is a man selling antique cameras on Portobello road. You'll find a lot of people selling antiques and really cool London memorabilia here. It gets really busy in summer and feels like a carnival with all the graffiti and music playing on weekends. There's also a pretty awesome frozen yogurt place where i was very loyal customer since i lived close by. 

The below shot is of one of my favourite parks in London, Regents Park. My Sunday morning running track. My afternoon siesta space. My reading hideout. My asylum for solitude. I've seen it change through all seasons and its stunning through it all but it's never as colourful and vibrant as it is in Autumn. It's easily one of the most beautiful things I've seen in London!

And this was taken right after winter in the month of March. 

Of course there are other parks that are just as stunning but being a little further away from where i stayed,  i wasn't a frequent visitor. The one below is a shot from Hyde Park in summer.

There were people cycling, playing football, skating, hula hooping, juggling, napping, reading, eating, drinking....you name it. Summer in itself is like a festival here. People love being outside. All that green that surrounds you is so calming and peaceful, it makes you forget all your worried for a little while.

And this is from Richmond Park on one of the sunnier days during winter. The trees are still bare and the grass still dry, but there was this magnificent eeriness to the vast open spaces.

If you're in Richmond, you have to watch the sun go down from Richmond hill - if sunsets are your thing of course.

The below shot is a random click in Piccadily Circus. The yellow cab really caught my attention. Along with the curving building in the background.  

If you're interested in theatre, this would be a good place to start.

And of course your visit to London would be incomplete if you didn't see the London bridge. This was again taken on a gloriously sunny day with a short shower spell. The London skyline is forever changing. You can see the construction happening in the background.

And this is the magnificent Tower of London, also sometimes known as the White Tower sitting by the side of river Thames. Its historically very significant and showcases the 11th century military architecture.

This is a shot from the beautiful Kew gardens being lit up for Christmas. It was hauntingly beautiful! I couldn't get any decent shots thanks to my frozen hands. As cold as the night was, the colourful hues that were used to light these trees up would warm anyone's heart.

The London skyline at night is just as mesmerizing as it is in daylight. 

This was one of the stalls in South Bank on Christmas Eve. Its so festive, cheerful and joyous around Christmas time. You have to try really hard to be sad. Even when its so cold outside, everyone was out that evening, greeting everyone and making their last minute purchases.

And this is a man hard at work and he had quite a captivated audience.

Although i was miles away from home, me and Kate made ourselves some lovely Christmas lunch and invited a friend over to help us finish it. This is Kate and Maria having a laugh after our hearty Christmas lunch!

Another place you get a beautiful view of the London skyline is Greenwich. It also has the Greenwich royal observatory located on top of Greenwich park overlooking Thames and is best known for its location of the Prime Meridian. This was a particularly rainy slushy day but that didn't deter my friend from keeping his promise of showing me Greenwich. Another thing about the people of London. People don't necessarily stay indoors if it rains here because it bloody rains all the time! 

Greenwich also has the historically significant sea vessel Cutty Sark that was built in Bombay for the East India Company. It now serves as a museum and also has a restaurant on deck.

Also in Greenwich is the Royal Naval college that was built by Sir Christopher Wren, the famed architect who also designed St Paul's cathedral.

Another highlight of my London trip was Baker Street, home to one of the world's most renowned detective, Mr Holmes! And I'm not the only one. I always see hoards of people queuing up to get inside the museum. Yes, yes we know he's a fictional character but we're in awe of him nevertheless!

This ladies and gentleman, is the official address of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. 221B, Baker street.

Everything inside, from the carpets to the windows, doors, chairs, tables, drawers, shelves, book cases, fire place, mirrors, wall clocks, even the attic is so antique, its precious!  I absolutely loved this red chair right outside the entrance to the stairway. Even if you're not a fan of Mr. Holmes but if you like antiques, this should be on your to do list. 

I don't know if you'll find as many museums anywhere else as you will in London! I loved spending my time in some of these museums. National history museum, British museum, V&A museum, Science museum are the ones I've seen. 

Apart from what's inside, i realized that the museum building architecture in itself is a marvel. These are pictures of the National History museum. Take a look for yourself! Isn't it magnificent? This beautiful Gothic Victorian architecture is what pulls people in.

The other very significant feature of London for me of course was the Tube - London Underground. For outsiders like me, its the convenience of hopping on and off the tube to anywhere within London that made it so easy for me to see as much as i did.

This is a shot of the underground tunnel to the V&A museum. I bought an interesting book on the history of London Underground. I can't wait to start reading it.

And this is a shot of the subway escalator on a late Saturday evening. Subways are never this empty. Especially in central London. Trains and stations during office hours usually get very crowded. Many a times, they don't let trains stop at stations if the stations are over crowded.

And this is a shot of my usual ride to work every morning from Ladbroke Grove to Kings Cross. On this particular day of course i was heading the other direction to catch a movie. 

I miss being in London terribly. I miss the crowded pavements. I miss my colleagues at work. I miss Kate. I miss my runs in Regents park. I miss the cheap eating joints. I miss the subway rides. I miss the obscure liberating independence. I even miss the rain! I've had such a lovely experience the 10 months i was there, i can't wait to go back again. 

Thank you London!

Bali Bliss - May 2014

Unplanned, spontaneous holidays somehow turn out to be the best experiences. Probably because there are no expectations or itineraries. My Bali trip turned out to be one such delightful experience.

I spent the first night of my week long trip dancing away to some pretty trippy music at the Potato Head beach club with my caped crusader friend Batman aka James. The highlight of the night of course was us getting drunk. On Bintang and Mataharis. Turns out Matahari neither has African origins (as i thought) nor South American origins (as James thought). Well Mata Hari is the name of an exotic Dutch dancer who was also a spy during the WW1. How cool is that! We learnt that in Bali! Oh and Matahari in Bahasa also means Sun.

The above picture is of the street right outside our villa in Seminyak. In so many ways, Bali reminds me of India. The small lanes, the hot weather, the clear blue skies, the two-wheeler's, the coconut trees without the pollution, filth, dust and random men staring at you. Bali is blissful. Especially when you're taking the vacation after having spent a year soaked in rain in London. London was lovely but Bali's closer to home.

Right on this street about a 100 mts away was our favourite breakfast joint. Think it was called "Full Moon" cafe. A quaint little joint that served pretty decent English and American breakfast.  No matter what we had, we'd always order a tall glass of watermelon juice to begin with and a fruit platter to end with. Its always hot and humid in Bali. They have a cute little terrace garden upstairs and some golden fishies swimming in a little puddle of water outside.

How beautiful are these flowers! They come in all kinds of exotic vibrant colours and very unique shapes! You'll find them welcoming you in most restaurants and clubs.

Of course you don't come to Bali and not go to the beach. Matter of fact, that's all we did ...during the day time at least. The picture below shows you the entrance to one of the beaches in Seminyak. Ain't it pretty? Oh and that's James with his red bag, blue shorts and a cute smile.

And that's the beach below. The picture probably doesn't do justice to how serene, tranquil and therapeutic the sound of those waves is. You could sit there for hours just listening to that sound and watching people walk by. That's actually what we did most days with some reading in between. Oh and don't get fooled by the calmness. Just when you decide to get your feet wet by walking towards the water, you're knee deep and the ipod in your shorts starts choking. My beloved ipod died in Bali :(

Sunsets on the beach are a sight to behold. We got lucky this one particular evening with no clouds. Watching the sun go down while sipping cocktails at Ku De Ta. That little pirate kite on the left was a regular feature on the beach. Sunsets are so romantic, you want to stay in that moment forever.

The next day, we decided to rent a car and drive down to Ubud. I'm so glad we did because it offers you some pretty heavenly sights. Below is one of the roads lined with trees and paddy fields. The drive itself was a bit of a nightmare for poor James, thanks to the lack of sign boards on the roads. We missed a few turns and couldn't locate the resort that James was adamant on finding.

Given below is the shot of a very intricate statue outside the hotel we stopped by for lunch. You'll find many such statues, wood carvings and stone sculptures lining the streets of Ubud. The people of Bali are extremely hard working and very gifted. They do know how to make beautiful art.

But once we managed to get ourselves a room at the Puri Bunga resort to spend the night, we took our time to let the beauty surrounding us sink in.While James was busy getting his tan on by the pool, i walked around and got some pretty neat shots.

This shot below is from our balcony. I know! So much green, it takes your breath away.

This is a cute little pool right next to the restaurant surrounded by so much colour, i couldn't resist taking a picture.

The below shot is of a typical Balinese spirit house that you will find next to most houses or buildings in Bali. The Balinese people like Indians believe in reincarnation. They believe when a person dies, a part of their spirit rises and goes to heaven and the other resides on earth. And that's what these spirit houses are for.

The next morning, at about 2 am, we set out to climb Mt Batur. Neither of us had slept much, thanks to the creaky bed but the sweetheart that James was, he managed to get us to the climbing site on time for the climb. We chose to do the slightly difficult climb but once we got to the top, what we got to see is pretty indescribable.

This is just before the sunrise.

 And there you see it now. This was taken while i was wolfing down  my breakfast of volcanic boiled egg and banana sandwich.

And that's us after having washed down our breakfast with a warm cup of tea.

And this is a man performing his morning prayers along with his equally devoted son. They offer everything, from biscuits, sweets, rice to cigarettes! Their gods are pretty cool like that.

On our way back to Seminyak, we stopped by to catch the sunset at Tanah Lot. We missed the sunset by a few minutes, but what we saw was just as stunning. This is the very popular Tanah Lot temple. I don't think you're allowed inside but it sure has a beautiful backdrop!

The next evening, we went to see a traditional Balinese dance performance called Kecak which is the enactment of the Hindu mythical story of Ramayan. It was beautifully coordinated, very animated, colourful and enchanting. There were singers, dancers, comedians and beautiful princesses.

Another evening spent at Ku De Ta, watching the sun go down,chugging Bintang and playing 'I spy with my little eye'. Our last evening in Bali :(

We spent our last morning lounging on the sun beds of Potato Head. If you need a place to park yourself after you've checked out of your hotels, you can get your luggage along with you to this place and they'll take care of of it for you till you leave. This is a picture of their infinity pool  overlooking the ocean.

I'm definitely coming back Bali. There's so much more of you that i have yet to discover, explore and relish! Terima Kasih!

And none of this would've been half as much fun if i didn't have my Batman with me! One must always travel with a superhero. Its an absolute must travel accessory.