First up I apologize for the disappearing act but a bunch of friends and I decided to scoot off to Goa to celebrate a birthday weekend (no, not mine but it sure felt like it!) I highly recommend Goa in this slightly on-offish season when everything is still open but won’t cost quite as much. We stayed at Montego Bay (which allows you the luxury of a non AC tent nearly on the beach with attached facilities) just a hop skip and jump away from the soft sands of Morjim beach. You can make like a (very content) vegetable on the beach and down Bloody Mary’s and crispy calamari at a shack called Golden Eagle, hop on your (225rs-a-day) Activa for a visit to Ku (where the delightfully eccentric owner Marie will be sipping wine and telling dramatic stories), savor the to-die-for chocolate fondant & strawberries and cream at La Plage on Ashwem beach (run by a pretty delicious looking Frenchie) or have your big epiphany about how everything pales in comparission to the sight of a vanilla sky as the sun dissapears into the sea. See? Everybody wins.
Celebrity spotting: VJ Juhi Pande (well she was part of our crew and a completely delightful person to be on holiday with) also quite a welcome distraction on the sleeper bus from Mumbai to Goa which I suggest you NEVER take. Life is just too short for rides like that! My semi-namesake Malini Ramani was wearing one of her own flow-y creations at a beach party featuring a rather bristly Prem Joshua who clearly isn’t a fan of children and specifically asked them to leave (maybe its just not my scene but honestly Prem where is the love? From what I could hear you should hold on to whatever kind of captive audience you can get. Imagine, I took a 450rs hit on a show ticket which I regret almost as much as the sleeper bus.)
Recommended reading: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
“Let’s go somewhere.”
“Definitely. Where’d you have in mind? ”
“I know this great restaurant at the end of the universe.”