I booked my tickets to come to Mumbai last month, when my plans for a trip to the USA and Canada fell apart due to my crazy work schedule.

My past two trips have been on British Airways, but this time I booked tickets for our very own Jet Airways. I booked a cab to the airport and reached Heathrow Terminal 4 with time to spare. I must admit that I missed the awesomeness of Terminal 5.

The flight was very comfortable, though I did feel the service was all over the place. The flight was a good 10 hours with minimal turbulence and I did catch up on some sleep and three movies, viz. The Lincoln Lawyer, Rio and Pay Check.

I prefer landing at Mumbai Airport over any other airport in India because of the really quick immigration counters. During my last trip to Bangalore Airport, I spent a good amount of time waiting to get through immigration and then had to wait for my baggage. This time it was only the wait for the baggage that I had to handle. What can be improved is the pre-paid taxi desk at which I had to wait nearly 20 minutes.

Now, I need to book tickets for my trip to Mumbai in December. And, the prices are already over the roof!

I began my trip in Mumbai by going for Sunday mass in my church. It sure has been a while… Sunday continued to be a very quiet day with me spending the rest of the day at home.

August 15 is the Feast of Annunciation of Mother Mary as well as India’s Independence Day which we love to celebrate The day began quietly with mass in the morning and lunch at home. Mom and me went over to my Grandmas place. I also met up with Cloreisha after a long long time at Mocha Mojo in Bandra. Mocha’s definitely has a whole new atmosphere now that hookahs have been banned in Mumbai. Another stupid rule after the "no serving alcohol to persons below 25". I am waiting for Starbucks to set up shop in Mumbai.

Dinner was back at my Grandma’s place, who is always enthusiastic to order in! So, I had my first taste of Indian Chinese cuisine after a long time.

I celebrated my 29th birthday on August 16. This time it was a lot different from the years before. Last year, I had a very sad birthday stuck at work till 2am. This time was a lot different. I brought in the day with true geek style by redesigning this blog. I have a bit more website and WordPress work to do in the next two weeks.

Birthday lunch was with Ramya at Global Fusion in Bandra which is a place I will definitely recommend. The prices are a bit on the higher side and the place only has buffet. But, the food was really amazing and the ambience is pretty good.

Next stop was to buy me lots of really cool gifts at Shopper’s Stop. I was definitely disappointed because I didn’t find anything good at the sale. Managed a pair of jeans and some good Adidas deo, but the place was rather dry. I plan on visiting the one at Irla to see if I can find something good.

Spent the rest of the day at my Grandma’s place followed by dinner at home. A quiet, uneventful day to celebrate my birthday.

Yesterday and today have been quiet days with some bank work that didn’t happen and an internet connection that didn’t work and lots and lots of rains!

Hi everyone, I am still very much alive. I wish I could write in more often but by the time I get home I am usually too exhausted to get online and blog. Then again with work ruling my life, there isn’t much to talk about.

However, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and luckily for us that is something that holds very true out here as well. So on Monday after work my team went out for a mini outing that involved bowling and a light dinner.

We first intended to go bowling at the Leela on Airport Road, but after reaching there we realized the place was super booked. So instead we went over to Church Street and finished a round of bowling. It has been a

After a brief stint in Pune to complete some college activities, I came back to Mumbai last Sunday. The primary purpose besides staying home was for a special purpose.

My parents were invited over to Lil white mouse’s house for lunch. I came down from Pune and went over to her place directly, while my parents came from my home.

The food was well prepared and delicious as usual. Everyone spent a good number of hours chatting about all topics under the sun.

We finally left the place post 6pm and took the 39 home. Got home and got down to work immediately. This is what would dominate the rest of the week.

I spent a good portion of last week working on my plugins. I released updated to Contextual Related Posts and Top 10. I also released a new WordPress Plugin called Add to Footer.

Lastly, I’ve taken over development of the highly popular WP Ajax Edit Comments from Ronald.

The last week wasn’t all coding. I spent a good amount of time with Lil white mouse. We managed to catch Pink Panther 2 and also made two visits to Dynasty, our favorite eating joint. We also dropped in to my Grandmom‘s place on Tuesday. Our original plan was to order from Subway. However, the outlet in Bandra wasn’t running the offer that is being run at the outlet here in Andheri.

So, we dropped the plan of Subway and instead ordered chicken tikka and chicken sheekh kebabs from the local joint opposite National College.

Spent all of yesterday at home on account of Holi and coding a brand new version of Top 10. You should see the release post in a few hours. Remember to deactivate the plugin before upgrading.

Also worked on my report for Research and Reporting. Have a submission in a few days. We’ve just be lazy at finishing this. Who said, we don’t believe in JIT ?

Dad and me plan to visit an Amway meet in the evening. I came to know yesterday that I have 100 persons in my network. Can’t take any credit for it. I do plan on buying more of Amway’s products, simply because they are excellent. I’ll probably make a post about this in the future.

The last time I could spend such a prolonged Christmas vacation was two years back, when I was preparing for my MBA.

Spent a quiet day at home on Sunday as well as a good portion of Monday. Painting work in my house began on Sunday and carried on till late Tuesday which meant lots of dust, smell and work.

In spite of that, I went out to meet Lil white mouse on Monday evening. Met up with her in Bandra and we stopped by at a Handloom Expo at Reclamation. However, unlike last time, we did not find anything good.

We then made our way to Shopper’s Stop, where we did a bit of shopping including a Christmas gift for me

Lil white mouse’s sister Ruth joined us for dinner at 5 Spice. This has become one of our regular joints. The quantity was fantastic, as usual, which resulted in “doggy bags” yet again.

Met Lil white mouse yet again on the Eve of Christmas Eve. Picked her up from Dadar and we headed to her place where I helped her with completing some jujubes (where’s my cut Lil white mouse?).

Spent all of yesterday cleaning up the house. First vacuumed all the rooms and my computer (I sometimes think my computer was made to attract dust!) and after a lot of deliberation, I decided to swab the room as well.

Went for mass this morning instead of last night. Having lunch at home. Mom‘s cooking biryani. Lil white mouse comes over later and have dinner plans with her. Will post details then

I’ve tried to make it a point that I spend my birthday in Mumbai (except last year). It usually isn’t a big affair. I normally celebrate it with Lil white mouse whose is on 15th. The same was the case this year as well.

Went over to her place a little before lunch. The Bus No. 39 is a blessing since the route is from Seepz to Worli Depot. Lunch was not simple, as is usually the case

Was able to grab some sleep after lunch amidst all the preparations that we were involved in for the small evening party. Unlike last year, the party this year was a small, quiet one.

Lil white mouse had few of her friends over. Lil white mouse had baked her birthday cake, which was an extremely delicious chocolate cake with a white chocolate topping.

Dinner was chicken cheese and macronic bake, Ceasar’s salad and spinach pie, all of which were extremely yummy. This was washed down by liquor.

Did I mention that I munched down on tonnes of snacks before that

Dinner was followed by a trifle, which was put together by yours truly. Let’s just say that I ate well

Had plans of staying over at Lil white mouse’s place itself and so, at 12 o’clock we brought in my birthday by cutting the cake. Chatted quite a bit and finally crashed. Woke up late into the morning, which has become kind of custom for me, and which I desperately need to change!

Spent the rest of the day with Lil white mouse who came over to my place to spend time with me and my family.

Sunday was the quiet day spent at home. Watched something on the computer and got my bags packed for the return journey, which was extremely painful and long!

For those interested, I’ve updated my Flickr account with photos of the birthday, freshers’ party and some photos of us in the Admissions Team.

Dad’s down for another day and when he is down, we usually set out for a father-son-on-a-bike-visiting trip. This time the destination was banks. We visited five banks in the area of Andheri and Vile Parle.

We also managed to grab some vadapav and sugarcane juice, both of which will be eternal favourites for any Mumbaite.

I remembered that I could get my N73 repaired. The joystick button was messed up and so needed to get the entire pad changed. Dad too had lost the tiny cap of the joystick of his N73. Gave my phone for repair and spent a good five hours with an almost zero contact list!

Had to meet up with Melody and Cloreisha at Bandra, but both got cancelled as I could not collect my phone until six. Since plans got cancelled, I visited my grandma at Khar as Dad needed me to pick up some stuff. I still reached Bandra around 7pm. My other grandma wasn’t at home.

Decided to drop in to the Senior-Junior Mumbai meet at Biona. Biona has closed down their big joint and taken up a small place, which was way too small.

Didn’t spend much time there as I had to meet Lil white mouse and Ruth for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Dinner was just popcorn (a huge tub), samosas and pepsi.

Was so tired Saturday night that I just crashed into bed. Went for mass this morning. Today happens to be my cousin Alisha‘s birthday and so Mom and me made our way to their place for lunch.

Lil white mouse came over in the evening and spent a good portion chatting with the rest of my family. We went out for dinner at the Subway in the area. Dropped her off at the station and got back home. I have to go to work tomorrow. Half of eClerx is on off.

Yes yes, I’m more than 10 days late with this post as well. But, managing to blog while attending lectures and being in two committees is a big big challenge.

When I came down to Mumbai on January 4th, I did receive a welcome surprise from my Mom and Bro.

Started off the Diwali vacations with mass on Sunday followed by a decent haircut (the last ones were two and half months back)!

Picked up my bike from Abhijeet Jana, who has been using it while I’m out here in Pune and then went with the mouse for Nancy Drew on Sunday evening.

Spent a good deal of the week at home and with the Mouse. We did manage to put in some of the things on my todo list, including visiting Subway (the prices have gone up in Mumbai), Lucky’s for biryani.

During the week, I was invited for a well cooked lunch followed by Stardust

Left early on November 12 by Volvo and got back to Pune and back to work!

The last week has just flown by with most of my time was spent not studying.

Wednesday – Party 1

On Wednesday, we were singing for a Silver Wedding mass. The mass was held at Atma Darshan and the reception was at Le Royal Meridien, for which the entire choir was invited.

Had just dorned my normal formals for the mass, so went home to pickup my blazer as well as drop off the bike (Never drink and drive my mama said )

U. Conrad picked me up and we were among the first to reach the reception. Ate, drank, danced and feasted on food and desert.

Got dropped home a little after 1.30am and came home and crashed into bed.

Thursday – Dinner 1

Spent the entire day at Melody‘s house working on her blog. Convinced her to add adsense (which is performing really bad overall for me currently). Also added some internal pages and top CSS navigation bar (I’m getting good at this).

We went out for dinner to 5 which is near Yoko’s in Santacruz. The place is posh and the food is good, however the service is simply pathetic. It took us 10 minutes to find someone to take our order and then it took another half hour to get served. In addition he messed up the bill, by not informing us for an extra charge. At the end of it we were pissed off.
Expensive places!

Friday – Party

Saakshi threw a “Welcome Home” party for Melody and invited a good amount of the junta from the Indian Bloggers’ scene and their friends. Met a few of them for the first time, while others for the second… well I’m not a regular.

My phone came handy to click a few photos, though the quality wasn’t too great. Anyway, here are a few: Knocked off on request.

Saturday – Lunch and Dinner 2

Met up with Krupa, my ex-office colleague for lunch and a movie. We went off to watch Life in a Metro which tells the tale of several people in Mumbai. The movie was rather slow. Can’t say it was great, can’t say it was bad.

Watched the movie at Chandan in Juhu. It has been several years since I have been to Chandan. The theatre remains the same, but the area surrounding it has developed a lot!
We went to Pizza Hut in Juhu for the late lunch and got a drink free because the guy forgot to put it on the bill.

Lil white mouse came over after work and she stayed for mass. After mass, the two of us went to Lucky’s for dinner. It has been a while since I visited Lucky’s. Tried some different dishes this time which were yummy.

And then there was Sunday

Lil white mouse came over today for lunch. Mom seemed to outdo herself today. Lil white mouse left in the evening and I got down to getting some work done.
Tomorrow I study.

We may have walked all over Thivim the previous day, but that wouldn’t stop us from travelling to Badem to visit Crispin‘s Grandmother.

Our last visit to Badem was pretty much a disaster as it involved us hitchhiking all over the place.

Our trip to Mapusa was by the usual bus. We were accompanied by Dora, who for some strange reason buys half tickets for all of us. And the stranger thing is that the conductor gives her them knowing it is for us!

Anyway, our journey from Mapusa to Badem was extremely comfortable as we got a ride in a car, yes a real car, and one with an AC as well :O

We bundled ourselves in and reached there quickly. Picked up charcoal on the way for the barbecue in the evening.

Crispin’s Grandmother greeted the four of us with ample food, cold drinks and mango juice. You know I love to eat, don’t you?

After a good deal of eating and some TV watching (the first in Goa for the whole week), we finally left the place a little past 2.30pm and got a drop right back to Thivim!

Barbecue preparations began a little after we got back. Well, atleast I began to cut up the dried coconut leaves, while Crispin and Ruth were away in the fields with Dora and Lil white mouse was out visiting a friend.

Did manage to get some PC work done as well before they returned, but I really missed the internet then (a geek’s only link to the world!)

The barbecue was good fun, with us eating, drinking and singing till midnight, after which we washed up and hit the beds. The next day would begin early.

If there is one thing I hate doing, then it is walking. And more than hating walking, I hate walking around in the hot sun, which is pretty much what we did all over Panaji.

I began the day making frankfurters and eggs for breakfast. Could have done with some pepper and a fan as well, but well, breakfast wasn’t all that bad.

We set off around 10 towards Panjim or Panaji as it is called now. The plan was to meet Dora near Miramar. We caught the tempo (mini-bus) to Panaji directly and landed at their prass (depot) in an hours time.

We took another bus from there and landed at Miramar which was the last stop. We harrassed the conductor a good deal because we weren’t sure where we intended to reach. This portion seems to be a lot more developed, with good roads and beautiful houses.

Miramar also happens to have a clean beach where Crispin, Lil white mouse, Ruth and me killed time until Dora joined us later.

We took quite a few pictures at the beach for those interested in the view (with some of us in it).

After spending sometime on the beach, we left it in search of the museum, which was the original reason we had come to Panaji. Along the way I stumbled upon Lil white mouse noticed the LnT House in Miramar. For those who know, I was with LnT till August 2006, before quitting to pursue my MBA.

Strangely, no one had heard of a museum in this area, so we finally headed back to Panaji in search of the museum. Out there, we came across several people guiding us in several directions, as well as the occasional a museum doesn’t exist message.

It was almost lunch time and we were highly irritated by the whole deal and so decided to just eat first and ask questions later!

Crispin was raving of a place he got a full fish platter for only Rs. 200/-. In Mumbai, you would pay anything between 450 to 750 for a platter in a decent restaurant.

Crispin took us to The Ritz … nah not really, it was the Ritz Classic where we were served this huge platter of fish. Also added a prawn curry and rice and all four of us were stuffed properly with minimum damage to our pockets!

And on our way back, Ruth, Crispin and I indulged in some paan.

We renewed our search for the museum and the conflicting answers continued as well. It was nearing 3pm and we had walked for pretty much most of the day (read above how I feel about this!)
My frustration levels were reaching a peak and was really glad when everyone agreed to stop walking and just get back to Mapusa, which is exactly what we did.

Back at Mapusa, the trio introduced me to Gadbad Icecream. Gadbad Icecream is a mixture of several flavours of icecream along with jelly, fruits and nuts and a wafer biscuit. Will say that one such icecream is enough to fill an empty stomach and all this for just 25 bucks!

After the stopover, we headed back home. On the way we stopped by at Andrea‘s house, where I decided to check if I could get the Reliance Netconnect working. I did get signal, but it was too miserable to do any browsing.

Also had a glass of burnt feni. Burnt feni is made by setting the feni on fire. I was able to get a low quality photo of this, but you get to see the blue flame.

Dinner was quick and after a short rosary, we tucked ourselves into bed.