The sizzler affair

It was our 6 month anniversary and an advertisement caught both of ours attention in the morning. It was a sizzler fest at La Paz Gardens in Vasco.

This is what their website has to say,

"In the heart of Goa’s Port city, Vasco da Gama, is a cherished landmark, Hotel La Paz Gardens. A 3-star property, conveniently located at an easy distance from Dabolim Airport, Harbour as well as the Vasco Railway station and well connected to the rest of Goa by road, it is indeed an ideal place for a comfortable stay, to unwind, catch up on business, have meetings and presentations and warm-up assignments all under one roof. It’s close proximity to numerous commercial and business enterprises and the Bogmalo Beach to make it a perfect gateway for business or for pleasure, for a combination of both or simply for leisure.

With 72 well appointed, fully air-conditioned rooms and suites and a range of restaurants to choose from besides conference and banquet amenities, the hotel is poised to provide comprehensive facilities and personalized services spelling comfort and convenience all the way."

About Dining;
They have four places to suit your needs.

REGENCY: For Continental, Indian and Goan cuisine.

SWEET-N-SOUR: For Chinese.

GOODYLAND: For fastfood and snacks.

HARBOUR BAR : A pool-side bar.

Among the four I have had the pleasure of visiting two: Regency and Sweet & Sour.

Well the sizzler affair as you might have guessed it by now was at Regency.

Here's what the ad claimed,
"Sizzler with complimentary drink of your choice among a Pepsi, Wine, Whiskey, Antiquity."

The pictures of the sizzlers were very tempting and reminded me of my good times in Pune. At Yana's and The place. Also, if you are a sizzler fan and happen to visit Ahmedabad do visit Upper Crust.

So we go there, all happy, dressed up for the day. Prepared to let nothing bother us. We walk in and there's already a bunch of people enjoying hteir meals, so we quickly take a seat and are offered our menu cards. One look at the menu and you say not bad! Sizzlers and quite decently priced, INR 250-300. Quite reasonable. The downfall began when he asked us for our drinks and since we both decided on Pepsi, we thought it was a no brainer. In a few minutes the waiter walks in with two half filled glasses of Pepsi. Now my husband likes a good quantity of somthing to drink with his meals, and this meagre half glass wasn't going to help. So we ask the waiter is this the complimentary one glass of drink, and he's like more of a complimentary bottle sir! And we both look at each other the 5 buck Chota Pepsi! Ok we can deal with this, we asked him to get us more and that he can charge us for that. Soon our eyes went to the stars under the menu! Extra taxes! We are like ok, how much can it be. Fine, we are ready to order, and off we go, we ordered a fish in garlic sauce and a chicken in mushroom sauce. As the waiter was about to leave, I was like wait a second you never asked me if I'd like rice or noodles with my sizzler. He's like Ma'm read the menu in the star section, only fries and boiled vegetables with your sizzler. No rice or noodles. Am like what! I don't know if this is the case everywhere, but so far I have had my sizzlers with some base so that it makes a complete meal. Anyways too disappointed by now we were like ok get us some veg fried rice with the sizzlers. Off he goes... We were too busy talking and enjoying Olympics on the TV to actually wonder how long it took for the sizzlers to arrive. Finally when they did, while the fish in garlic sauce was quite good, the chicken one failed to impress my husband. It was too dry, the chicken was a bit overcooked.

Smoking hot!

Chicken Sizzler with the one glass Pepsi in corner!

Now you see me once the smoke is clear!

Attacking my fish with garlic sauce!

Ready to attack on the chicken with mushroom sauce!

Hmmmm...

The lobby

Us! Don't blame me, blame the guy who took the pic...

The entrance...

That's me!

So, overall an ok experience till we saw the bill, which given the price of sizzler and the additional taxes as described by the stars was expected around INR 700, but turned out to be INR 850 something. That was too much of tax! For just a meal! Bah!

Well I have been to regency earlier and I do remember the heavy taxes but I guess it didn't pinch that much last time cos I had a Goan thali and it wasn't much of a disappointment. Also, my experience at Sweet n Sour has been quite good. Guess it just wasn't our day. We did make up for it with a quick trip to Naturals. And this time I tool pictures. Check the post for Naturals here.

Goan Adventures - Naturals Icecream

So finally am back after a long long break. Yes, I have been to places in between and it's been almost 5 months since am in Goa. Do I sense a surprise? Yes, Goa, place where everyone wants to be on their vacation and well am living here and life's been a lot more than a vacation. Hehe...

Well since now that am a regular at Goa and since most of the tourist spots of Goa are massively covered by various blogs I have decided to talk about my usual eat outs and places that make my day here.

I have a long list of places I need to talk about but am going to start with the first one I visited as a new bride in Goa!

Yes, I moved here with my husband who happens to be in the Indian Navy and as we landed on a hot summer day and I was suffering from food poisoning right after the wedding ghumna ghamna, we decided to take it light and indulge only in my favorite, something that I simply can't say no to, and that's ice cream! So off we go to Natural's. Yes, the Mumbai wala Natural's. They have a few outlets in Goa as well. And we have a strong emotional attachment with Natural's as our first so called date was at Natural's. Hehe.. Good old days!

Well http://www.naturalicecreams.in/ has a long story of how they made it large. For me, it's their flavors. Lovely fruity, natural, no food colors. Some of my favorites being tender coconut, sitaphal, chikoo. You will even find combinations like Papaya pineapple! One of the all time hits for us was the thandai flavor launched close to Holi. But it was a flavor for a week sort of thing...

There were times when we used to hit the store almost thrice a day and with nothing less than two scoops each. And they used to be such a relief in the Goan summers. Soon the staff knew the moment we would park our car and be ready to welcome us. Though with the incessant rains in Goa our visits have gone down but it still remains a hot favorite and no trip to Vasco (closest from our house) ends without a trip to Naturals!

Seasonal Sensations

All-time Favourites

Some yummy pics at display

The cone tower

One of my favorites : Watermelon

Some more flavors

Place where I usually sit to enjoy my ice cream

That's me in the mirror!

Now! let me eat my ice-cream look!

My husband and I...

                                              

Rameswaram

Finally, here I am with my new post. Just did not have time to document this beautiful and colorful town. Simple, religious, scenic, beautiful, hot yet memorable. Yes, am sure the moment you mention Rameswaram to a youngster they would say 'the town of temples' and wouldn't be interested but the idea here is to change that view. For starters here are some pictures.

Fig. 1 Colorful chicks being sold on our way to Rameswaram Temple

Fig. 2 A view of the Pamban Bridge connecting India to the Pamban Island.

Fig. 3 A view of glorious sunset

Fig. 4 Another view of the sun setting behind the clouds

Fig. 5 A view of the land strip dissolving into the ocean

Lets' begin with some general information about Rameswaram.

Rameswaram is a town in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu. It is located on Pamban Island connected to India with the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the last Railway Station of India. It is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages.

According to legend, this is the place from where Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu across the sea to Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana.

Let me start with the famous Rameswaram temple: It's a huge temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, where according to the legends Rama prayed to absolve himself of all the sins in the war with Ravana. The temple has beautifully carved pillars, and it's also known for the wells, which signify various pilgrims, and are known for cleansing you of all your sins. The water in all the wells looks as well as tastes different. There is bathing bay outside the temple as well. Once inside the temple the floors are usually wet, as people just quickly go around with a bucket drawing water from all the wells and sprinkling it over themselves, the temple is structured in a way that takes you around all the wells, along the hall of 1000 pillars.

Fig. 6 The entrance of the temple

Fig. 7 The main gate

Fig. 8 One of the wells

Fig. 9 The pillars

Fig. 10 Some pillars at the entrance

Fig. 11 The temple from inside

Fig. 12 The food at Gujarat Samaj right outside the temple

Some instructions:

1) The temple is very crowded just like other famous pilgrims.
2) Your clothes are bound to get wet so its advisable to carry a towel and change of clothes.
3) It's really hot, and yes the water on your body makes you feel nice, but you will definitely return 4-5 shades darker, and it would be even more evident if you wear sleeved clothes. This applies to all the places in this town, so please carry your sunblock if you hate the tan.


Next on the list is my favorite Pamban Bridge: This as told earlier is the bridge that connects the Pamban Island to India. It was India's first sea bridge. It is the second longest sea bridge in India at a length of about 2.3 km. The feeling on top of the bridge is beautiful, the view, being surrounded by water, tiny boats and the gushing wind. It's all amazing. I had to take the train that goes over the bridge, and the lovely ride from Rameswaram to Mandapam over the bridge for 3 bucks was awesome. It felt like you were walking on water.

Fig. 13 The tiny looking boats from the bridge

Fig. 14 A view of the bridge

Fig. 15 Another view of the bridge

Fig. 16 View where the parts of the old bridge can be seen inside the water

Fig. 17 Yet another angle

Moving on to yet another temple Thirupullani Temple: This is a temple of Shiva and Parvati, located at the banks of River Sethu. This temple is known for it's blessings for childless couples, or soon to be married couple and a married couple.

Fig. 18 The entrance

Fig. 19 The pillars

Fig. 20 The temple from inside

Fig. 21 the line of idols inside

Fig. 22 A view of the temple entrance from inside

Also, there is Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) located in Mandapam, somewhere in between Ramnathpuram and Rameswaram, where they culture ornamental fishes. The place has a museum, aquarium and an open zone where you can see the ornamental fishes being cultured.

Fig. 23 An Austrlian starfish

Fig. 24 A snap from the aquarium

Fig. 25 The whale bone in the museum

Fig. 26 A view outside

Fig. 27 The fishing boats

Last but not the least, the Khushi Beach: Though there's enough coastline all around for you to just stop and camp, this one is a little on the commercial side where at least you can get some drinking water, if you are lucky some soft drinks and snacks. Most importantly you can see some people here. Rest the beach is quite empty, few fishermen and some boats that's all.

Fig. 29 The cove

Fig. 30 The empty beach

Fig. 31 A sunset at the beach

Overall the trip was wonderful, and on my way back to Bangalore I happen to get some time at Madurai, giving me the opportunity to visit the famous Meenakshi Temple. I'll write about it soon.