Retro retro night

It was the birthday of one my sweetest friends. A lovely lady...a good human...Ranji...and of course I was invited to celebrate THE EVENT...along with our other 2 friends...It was loads of fun...what with the girls going for fired up Tequila shots...of course, yours truly stuck to a Blue Lagoon and just had a nip of Balailaika...(hic hic)....and where was all this.?? At 10-Downing or shortly 10D. The food as always was yummyyyyyy...Forgot to get a shot of the Tandoori platter....blame it on the Blue Lagoon :-) As always, good company makes a great party and it was one where we let our hair down and partied until our heads and feet ached...:-)) Cheers to my sweetie friend and a wonderful year ahead for her...!!

Cholayil Sanjeevanam

It had been a while since I had indulged myself in a massage. After my experience in the Arya Vaidya Sala in coimbatore, I have become a big FAN of ayurvedic massages. But hey I am open to any that feels good and leaves me without creaking joints and aching muscles. Hence after deciding to start off on the search for good massages in namma Chennai, I decided to go for a already tested place - Cholayil Sanjeevanam. You have to make an appointment prior and the help desk was very helpful and courteous in fixing up a convenient time for it.

Once I reached the venue for the massage, Abhayangam, at 8 AM on a weekend morning (I stress again, by prior appointment), I was waiting for a good 10-15 minutes before I was acknowledged and had to wait another 10 minutes for my record (I had visited earlier and undergone consultation a year back), I met up with their inhouse practitioner. She was very nice and even wrote me out an MRI script to check my neck.

But the real ordeal started off after that once I was taken to my massage. A few points to note:
A. We know that we will be almost naked for the massage.
B. We are by nature shy.
C. It helps to have dim lighting for a massage.
D. It is a massage not a chappati making procedure.

Why did I put the above? Well, I was asked to change into a "langoti" in the room where one of the masseuses was looking on and the door was slightly open. Hello, we do need some privacy. Anyways, that irked me a little, but the massage itself was very so-so. Abhayangam is a massage where 2 masseuses massage the two sides of your body in synchronized movements with lots and lots of oil. Here, however, though there were two, both were doing their own thing on each side and one was applying so much pressure that I literally yelped with pain and asked her to go slow. Not that it had any affect! She continued to pummel me on one side, while on the other side, the second lady continued to do a decent massage. The Result - Sore muscles becoming even more sore! Also, a tubelight which was flashing right on my face was on the whole time and did not give me any mood to relax - what with the force of the pummeling. You are doused with oil, oil, and more oil from head to toe and it takes several washes to get some of it off. I have to admit that the head massage was slighty better (done by the second masseuse).

After that, they provide you with the generic hot water and their brand soap and shampoo, but you cannot linger around the bath. Get the job done and move (lest they come knocking on your door - I am not kidding)! the massage the last time I had lasted a good 60 minutes and truly relaxed me, but this time around it was about 40 minutes and do I have to even mention that it did not do anything to my aches!

The rates are I would say a tad high for the kind of service they give - The room is very very very basic and so are the facilities. It set me back Rs. 750/-, which I did not feel truly was worth it. I had a better time for less than that in the Arya Vaidya Sala.

Like in most places, the service and quality has definitely come down. The return factor of this customer has definitely been affected! I used to recommend this place after my first visit...but not anymore...My search for that perfect massage continues.....

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia was always one of those movies which left an impression in my life and growing up listening to ABBA such a long time ago..it definitely qualifies for a nostalgic trip. So, there we were, my best buddy and me with her kiddo for the Mamma Mia musical at the Music Academy.

Boy, the show sure was packed. Just like luck would have it, one friend canceled due to a family emergency and we felt that the the poor dudette sure missed out a fun time. The musical (of course it was ABBA after all) was quite good and the live singing was truly awesome. The best part was that the audience were allowed on stage to dance to one song "Dancing Queen" and were invited (yippeee) to dance in the aisle if we really like any song.....isn't that gr8...mamma mia..

I simply loved the sets, the colours, and most of all the music.....and we sure rocked the show too....with the singing and the clapping and of course the Mamma Mia Dancing....

However, just one hitch was the advertising reel (like the news reel) before the show which dampened the beginnning somewhat...The casting was good, especially Donna and Sophie, but my favourite were Donna's friends, the adorable Rosie and the happening Tanya...both sure were cute and lovely ladies.... Of course, all my favourite Abba Songs were right up there too...Super Trouper, Money Money Money, Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Voulez vous, Does your mother know and the 'Take a chance on me" :-)

Me n my buddy really tripped on the music and the fun....the comedy was well timed and the dancers did a great job....Jeffrey Varden and Varu Sarathkumar sure have some Hot Shoes!

Lovely Show...Keep the music playing!

A Marriage n MiniVacay

It was a good friend's marriage in an idyllic setting in ma favourite place, Theni. The journey started off with me left alone to travel because of a last minute health hitch of my journey companion. Anyways, what is life without a little spice. So I embarked on the journey alone to Dindigul and from there took a "BUS" (the emphasis is because it was so crowded and dirty). Of course, by Murphy's law I had some really wierd companions who just took my bottled water and drank it all up and gave me back with a scowl! Well Well..It takes more than that to miff me off given the beautiful countryside.

Once I reached Theni, I was picked up and dropped at the mandap. A lovely place facing a small hillock. The weather played an angel and was cool with a slight drizzle...magical!

The engagement went off well and I got to get an A/C room and was out before 10. We gave the groom his gift - a polo in a huge package and created a ruckus by making him peel the layers and layers of packing...

Early morning, the guy tied the knot and after the wishes, I was at loose ends because every other friend had a plan...but then my hangdog look must have softened them and they changed plans to go to Thekkady.

WOW..the ride was great and fast ...watching Thoranai on the way (that was the only lousy part). Thekkady was awesome and it was raining..yippeee...thats what I like best!

Had a wait a while for the boatride and did have lunch in a little nook out there where monkeys abounded. I did donate my parotta as I was full to one too...I love monkeys...One naughty one snatched up just before I took a pack of homemade chocolates...bad monkey :-)

Anyways, the boat ride was amazing and we managed to see elephants, bisons, wild boar, deer, and lots of different birds...I only wish I had dressed warmer because I was freezing by the end of the ride of a good 2 hours.

After that, we hopped out and did some spice shopping and back to Theni it was with me dozing off. Was a little apprehensive about the journey back to Dindigul in the "BUS" and thankfully by divine intervention we got a ride back with the groom's party in a van...Yay!

Once there, it was the usual lousy food at the station, and then I had to endure a good 1 hour alone again because the rest of the gang were booked in an earlier train. Did catch up on my reading which I did not manage to do on the onward journey because of my marathon snooze and talk sessions on the train.

The best part of it was that although the train was late being an AC compartment, it was a real comfortable journey back and the crick I developed from the hours of sitting in the jeep to Thekkady was all gone by the next morning I landed in my Chennai.

Thankful that I did not fall sick and for all the small mercies that God showed me to make it an awesome break..Here are the photos...Enjoy!

My Sista's Birthday

My sister turned 25 albeit with not much of a flurry. However, being the great sista that I am, I could not let it go without at least a surprise for her. So, I donned on my grumbly persona the day before and kept cribbing about this and that. So of course, she escaped a little early to her bedroom haven. However, little did she know that we had sneaked in a cake (her favourite one at that) . She was quite unaware of this development and since I had already given her my gift of brand new jeans, she was expecting me to come and wish her at the HOUR. But my hubby dear, LittlO and me let the time pass on and made the LittlO to call her some time past the HOUR. Expecting some hunt for a car or forgotten toy (that's the way of LittlO), she warily came into the darkened room and Bang was pleasantly surprised with the lighted cake in the dark! Of course, me smeared cake on her and the vice versa and on the others too. Dinner was low-key affair at an Arabic restaurant where we stuffed our faces with shwarma, stuffed rotis, kubus and kebabs....hmmm...yummy...If heaven was a food, then it has to be a kebab!

Sangeet!

The last 2 weeks have been very hectic with loads of marriages and other such wonderful events happening. Because of which, I could not post as I had resolved to. Anyways, after quite a long time, I went for a Sangeet - Mehendi ceremony of a good friend. The magic of those swirling mysterious patterns together with good friends, great music, happening dances and delicious food, could I ask for more? Me and my sis had attended the function which has become a given trend in any South Indian marriage also even though it is a North Indian custom. Can women and all things beautiful be apart for a long time? So it is no wonder that this custom has meshed into the weaves of the South Indian culture. Of course, always we did have the traditional Maruthani, but somehow Mehendi is more lyrical in look and feel. My hands for your view!

My Baby Turned 5

My little man has turned 5 and I am still pinching myself. It seemed just a short while ago he was crawling and learning to walk. How time flies! So of course, to celebrate that and the fact that people (including us) have become too busy to meet, we decided to host a party for our friends and their kids! It was lots of fun for us and others who came in too (I hope). Some friends were meeting each other after a decade and more! Yes, and we are all living in the same city!

My little boy had fun too bursting balloons, running around, playing tag and the like with his little friends!

All in all time well spent ;-))