Trip to Sunshine Coast

On 26/12, it's going to be 10 months since Rak and I got married. As I write this post, I'm dreaming of my next holiday to Sydney over Christmas holidays. Before I go on that one, I wanted to put down into words the memories of our first trip together.

Living in Australia and getting married in India meant that we had exhausted all annual leave and hence no long honeymoon. Just when I had convinced myself that we won't be going anywhere, Rak surprised me with a holiday in Sunshine Coast for 4 nights over Easter holidays (yes..we believe in utilizing long weekends and public holidays :-))!

In the run up to the holiday, we shopped for all possible beach stuff...beach towels, swimsuits , sunscreen et al.Packed our bags, toasted some sandwiches for breakfast and off we were to the airport for our 8am flight which got delayed and we finally reached Maroochydore airport at 2pm. The 2.5 hour flight seemed never ending.

On arrival, we picked up our hired car ( a Kia Rio). The Sunshine Coast maps given with the car were so outdated that we were convinced that we would never reach our hotel. Thanks to Nokia GPS, we finally reached our hotel "Crowne Plaza Pelican Waters" after nearly 2 hours. We checked in and almost immediately left for The Aquarium.

The Aquarium was in a suburb called Moololobaa. The highlight of the visit to the aquarium was the Seal Show. It's amazing to see how well trained these seals are. The seal managed to get a spectator into its little pond and ripped him of his shorts leaving him absolutely embarrassed! Though later we realised that it was actually a staged act and the guy pretending to be a spectator was really his trainer! It was a beautifully made aquarium with a huge variety of sea life. Post this visit, we headed off for a stroll near the beach in Moloolobaa and had our dinner.

Being a strict vegetarian, I always find it hard to find food that will suit my taste buds. We had our dinner at an Italian restaurant "Augellos" that boasts of being the winner of the Nation Pizza Competition! I so wanted to have a vegetarian pizza, but ended up having some pasta. Rak had a chicken pizza that looked absolutely marvellous! As for me, well all I can say is that I've never had such an overdose of tomato and sun dried tomato in a pasta that's been described as " Seasonal vegetables tossed in Napolitana sauce"! That was a disaster and I couldn't help staring that Rak's pizza wishing it was vegetarian! I was compensated with a Starbucks caramel Macchiato and a chocolate brownie! Since it was a public holiday, nothing was open till late. After we came back to our hotel,we headed for the pool and enjoyed a pleasant evening there.

The next day we went to Australia Zoo! I won't deny their claim - There's no other zoo like Australia zoo! After visiting this zoo, I would never want to visit any other zoo because I know they will have nothing more to offer. Australia zoo is the home of the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin who is now survived by his wife Terri Irwin, daughter Bindi Irwin and son Robert Irwin. This zoo is packed with action and promises to be a wonderful experience. The beginning of the excitement was when we got to feed the elephants and it reached its pinnacle in the crocodile show in the Crocoseum! The Irwin family exhibited the behaviour of Monty the crocodile. I was surprised and in awe of this family's adeptness at handling and taming such ferocious crocodiles. That day was apparently the first time that Bindi Irwin fed the crocodile.

One thing that kept getting cancelled on all days was the much awaited Sunset cruise. The weather just didn't allow us to cruise! Since our cruise scheduled for day 2 got cancelled, we picked up some dinner and headed towards our hotel after a long tiring day at Australia Zoo. Once again we found ourselves enjoying the waters under moonlight and stars!

We had no definitive plans for Day 3. We drove down to a place called Bribie Island hoping to find some opportunity to do something exciting but it just turned out to be a beach town. From there we went to the "Big Pineapple" to see pineapple plantations! It was such a waste! We came out of there in flat 15 minutes! And then we headed to the Buderim Ginger Factory! This is suppose to be the place where all of Australia's ginger gets processed! We picked up some absolutely fresh ginger - the kind we have probably never had before and it lasted months! Took a small train ride around the factory and once again headed to Moloolobaa for some coffee with wedges and sour cream and the straight to our hotel! No prizes for guessing where we went after that...the pool, of course!

We had finally woken up to the day we most dreaded! Our last day at Sunshine Coast. We just lazed around in the morning in the hotel. Despite the fact it was drizzling, we made a beeline towards the pool! I guess many people took hints from us and shed their inhibitions and decided to enjoy the rain and the pool at the same time. I mean how does it matter if its raining, when you are going to get wet anyway. A few minutes in the pool and it was time to get ready and head back to Melbourne!

For me, Sunshine coast was a perfect blend of sunshine, coast and countryside. It's a ideal place to relax and unwind! Once again the flight back did seem endless but not out of the excitement of reaching back. Rak had to go to work the next day. Loved that holiday! I think because of this holiday we both realised that in which ever hotel we stay, we have to have a pool in it and also that the more organized we are with planning our trip, the better it turns out to be! I simply enjoyed myself and the time I got with Rak!

Thanks Rak!

Life's Like that...when I least expected to go on a holiday, I got one..and now when I want to go..well I'm going again!

Train Travellers

A couple of days back I read an article where the author’s brilliant observation led her to classify the people she encounters in the Mumbai local trains in various categories. I travel to work everyday by train in Melbourne and more often than not come across people with peculiar or interesting habits. Then I noticed that these habits are not really specific to those people. Everyday I can see new faces with the same habits as I saw someone else with just the other day. Completely inspired by what that author wrote, I decided to classify people according to their travel habits in the Melbourne train network.

The most common one is the “Ardent sleeper”. These are the people who are absolutely unfazed and unperturbed by the happenings around them. They get into the train and are happy to scan the length and breadth of the train to find a seat that’s either next to the window or the body of the train. The reason? Well, it’s simple – to support their head while they doze off! Within moments of sitting down, they close their eyes and probably don’t even open them until seconds before the station they have to de-board. Not getting a seat where they cannot support their heads doesn’t stop them from sleeping. It will be a bit of a disturbed sleep with the head’s involuntary movement with the train, but nevertheless they manage to sleep. Those who get too comfortable sometimes even start snoring much to the amusement of others.

Then we have the “Music Lovers”. Their love for music is so strong that it transcends beyond the boundaries of….their headphones! Even if you are sitting on the seats in the opposite aisle, you can still hear the sounds of heavy metal that you probably won’t like to listen to the first thing in the morning. Constant ugly stares fail to distress them enough to lower the volume. Sometimes you can also overhear music in different languages! That’s when you know, these specimens are not one of a kind.

The “Friendly Sorts” will befriend anyone they see for a week at a stretch and become train-pals! Sometimes it becomes difficult for a third person to surmise their actual relation. I once met a friend on the train and saw her in deep conversation with a lady. I guessed she was her colleague. Later I discovered she was actually her train-pal! To my surprise the train-pal knew most of my friend’s history and not only hers but also of her other friends’ (thankfully not mine!).

With the coming of the iphone, I’m compelled to give due recognition to this variety of people. They are the “Gizmo Geeks”. Like a friend says – In a seat for 6, at least 3 will be fiddling with their iphones. They will play games, read news or watch movies. It gets even more amusing to watch them when they sway their phone trying to play a game with the accelerometer. If they are having a conversation with someone, they will instantly Google more information on it and then show off the advantages of having an iphone! For the entire duration of their journey, they fingers are exploring applications and eyes glued to the screens!

Now, the most annoying category of people – “The loudspeakers”! I don’t mean to be harsh, but they really are akin to loudspeaker. When they start talking on their phones, the entire carriage can hear their conversation and guess what the person on the other end must be saying. It can get even more annoying if they converse in another language! I once had this person sitting next to me shouting his lungs out in Punjabi! Soon I found people giving him dirty looks and turning around to see who this specimen was. He was so loud that I was actually forced to get up from my seat and move to another one far away from him to save myself from a hearing damage!

A friend of mine pointed out another category to me that I had missed. But these are the people you just can't miss noticing - "The Glam Dolls". Their bags are inundated with cosmetics of all kinds! They are so proficient at applying make up even while standing. The moment they sneeze, they fish out their mirrors to see if everything is still in place. A few touch ups through the journey are a ritual that they must follow. Some of them have more make up in their bags than one could find in Priceline or Target!

Well, confession time now! I think I too befit one of the above categories – The Ardent Sleeper! The train puts me off to sleep, I find it simply hypnotizing. I wake up in the morning with the thought that I’ll get another 40 minutes to sleep when I’m on the train and keep my fingers crossed to get a seat on the train where I can sit next to my husband and doze off with my head on his shoulder! Much to my chagrin, I have actually managed to miss my station while fast asleep and reached a station I have never been to , feeling absolutely spaced out!

Life’s like that…what you find in others, you’ll also find a part of it in yourself. So, what kind of a train traveller are you?

Promises We Make

The day I decided to start blogging, I promised to myself that I will try and write as often as possible. A fortnight later all that I find myself doing is re-reading my first blog, marvelling at how beautiful it looks in shades of pink, playing with the settings and still trying to figure out why my blog doesn't come up in search results! (PS: 8 June 2010 - I have changed the colors of my blog :-p)Its getting a bit hard to get get my thought process in place. But I'm sure sooner or later I will...just time and devotion is required!

The other day I was wondering how many times I have promised something to myself and how often I just give in to the temptation that lead me to break my promises made to myself. I promised to myself that I will refrain from eating junk and seriously start losing weight..hmm..not fulfilled...then I promised that I will never ask Rak to take me shopping considering how often I ask him to and thought to myself that he knows me well enough to understand. But just a day later I ended up blurting it out to him - " Rak, why dont you understand what I'm trying to say. I dont want to say it but because you dont understand I have to say it..Please take me shopping for summer clothes!! :-) " He took me around much to my delight! Though that's a different story that he was the one who ended up shopping and guess what I bought - A wash bag!

I'm not saying I don't live up to my promises. I always try and live up to the promises I make to others, but with myself I end up being more lenient than I should be. Someone recently said to me - if you dont respect yourself, don't expect others to respect you. I thus promise to myself today that I shall keep up to my promises made to myself!
Life's Like that..it teaches you a new lesson everyday, a lesson of life..of self improvement!

Its been ages!

If I look back, I think I haven't written a word since I left school and that's nearly 5 years back! Writing was my passion, I couldn't imagine living without writing a page everyday. It came to me as naturally as breathing! I feel that during that phase, everything I wrote seemed special and new as though I had some kind of a guiding light shining on me. I'm trying hard to get back to that. It was something I enjoyed doing, something that made me feel as though I'm spending my time only for myself..it was a source of venting my emotions. If ever I read my words, I could understand my thoughts better, I realised my foibles, I knew where was I going wrong ..so on and so forth!....trying to get back that spark in me which seems to have faded over the years...I don't mean to sound like an aging person..I'm only 24 and have lots of time ( at least that's what I like to believe)..but I want to make most of my time...looking back a few decades later I want to know that I have been doing something worthwhile, something that added value to me...
It's good to re-live your passion!!
Life's like that - passions develop and fade ...what's important is to have at least one passion, something that you love, something that you do for your self!
To all those who've read my blog - Thank you for encouraging me!