one day in mumbai

before it was home free.

sunset over the sea from javier's apartment

 

thus concludes the yindian travelogue! 

thanks for reading :)

the taj followed by indigo mumbai

was a wee bit naughty and refused to leave the taj when we got to mumbai. parked myself at the bar and no amount of cajoling followed by outright bribery could entice me out of my refuge from the throbbing headache that is mumbai. if the crowds don't drive you mad, the incessant horning and utter disorder would. 

however, my ears did perk up at the mention of indigo and finally, at 10pm, hypoglycaemia got the better of me and faint with hunger, i allowed myself to be tempted over for dinner. the three block walk was a nightmare though! as we past leopold's cafe, i was convinced that it would be blown up. then again, if it were trigger-happy extremists i feared, the taj might not have been the most secure of places to remain in.

oh! before dinner at indigo, i did manage to put away foie gras and apricot sushi (awesome combo!) from the japanese restaurant. tell a lie re: hypoglycaemia...

indigo lived up to (my already raised) expectations and in a rare show of bravery / stupidity, i had indian oysters.

lived to tell the tale!

majorda beach goa

 

one of the highlight of the stay was "supper" with the whole gin gang.  in addition to our party of three, there was a photographer/model pair from london/sweden doing a holiday shoot, a NZ/french couple based in rajistan (?), an english journalist with the economist and his norwegian academic wife and two bubbly english girls on a girly getaway. needless to say, throw everyone's background into the equation and it made for one massively fun night. the journo was my favourite though :) he asked such well couched, pointed questions about singapore and was sheer joy to listen to. and i really liked the huge mirror on the wall. it felt almost like a skype date because i could see what the other guests were up to at the other end of the table. how involving and interactive!

vivenda majorda goa

after a week in the family friend's apartment in baga, my travel buddies and i were itchy for a change of air. chanced upon this gem in majorda and headed south with sunil at the wheel. best decision ever. it was a lovingly restored portugese house with charming wraparound balustrade and all the fittings of an english country manner. unsurprisingly, it was the labour of love of british expat siblings and the guests were an eclectic mix. felt like a house party with cool hosts and interesting guests!

 

 

also, i had the coolest bathroom which left me pleased as punch :)

hopped to vagata beach goa

 

after a few days at baga, it was time to explore another beach. finally got the tuktuk ride i'd been eyeing and crawled over to vagata beach. it was less crowded than baga but had more persistent touts. so i don't know which i preferred. being told off by pushy vendors after repeated, firm yet polite expressions of disinterest is not my cup of tea.

sublime goa

 

while at om cafe (previous post), all i wanted to do was dive head first into the pile of trashy magazines, starting with vogue. however, as i engaged in this antisocial behaviour, i assuaged my conscience by chucking an random travel magazine at my travel buddy. little did i know that this particular travel magazine (ack, i forget which exactly!) had a feature on goa. and better yet, a list of "must eat" restaurants in goa. and that's how we found sublime.

sublime lived up to its name! nestled in a residential neighbourhood in goa, it's run out of a refurbished mansion. the chef-owner, chris, made us feel right at home. the menu was so good that we split 3 appetisers down the middle (and these appetisers were american-sized!) before tucking into a (huge) main each before finishing it all off with lavender creme brulee, their signature dessert. chris has a dream life! he's the head chef at sunset ashram in cala-conte, ibiza and when ibiza closes for the year, he hops over to goa where the 'season' begins in october/november. in fact, the night we visited sublime, the owner of sunset ashram was there too! 

by far the best meal the whole holiday. and so very reasonably priced! it came to S$50, including drinks. a meal of the same quality in singers would come to easily five times the price. talk about stretching the dollar!

if you're ever in goa, you HAVE to go to sublime. and, i hardly plug places because this 1) isn't a food blog 2) i don't believe in free publicity 3) i'm happy to share one-on-one i.e. if you ask in the comments, i'd get back to you personally but not with the world at large so as you might guess, this is a restaurant i really liked and truly believe in supporting. i'd have eaten there every night if i could!

respite from the anjuna market goa

 

what saved anjuna from being a wasted trek was this little find perched on the rocky embankment on the quieter side of the beach. sought much needed respite from the market here and after downing 2litres of qua himalayan mineral water, all was right with the world :)

day trip to anjuna goa

the tour desk next to the apartment offered an "anjuna day trip" for an amount i fail to correctly convert but still remember to be a "rip off" price. it'd have involved a 30min taxi ride through the village and to the other side of the mountains, some time t o wander around the market and then  ride back. 

anjuna was promoted as a hippy market with great finds. a bit of an oversell with an interesting back story. rumour has it that when the hippies were on the verge of extradition from goa, they were forced to create a makeshift market to sell their things. the tradition has continued and anjuna was  a sensory overload - all these vendors touting and being aggressive, despite the air heavy with marijuana. anyhoos, it was an experience but not worth the squeeze. unless you're the masochistic type who enjoys being amidst throngs of the young and not-so-young unwashed, or the kind of person who enjoys second hand smoke of the illegal sort. 

but back to getting to anjuna from baga. over breakfast at the sunset bar, the friendly waiter let slip that one could hug the coastline to anjuna and it'd only take half an hour. plus it'd be free to walk (well, duh). so in a most uncharacteristic show of action mama-ism, i decided to trek across the mountain. after all, how hard could it be? 

famous last words.

and after two hours i dragged my limp exhausted self into the first beach shack on anjuna beach and spent most of the afternoon recovering, only mincing my way to the market just as it was about to close.

first full day baga goa

 

returned to sunset bar, albeit for brunch and continued to muster up enough courage to head over to baga beach. this time, however, there must've been some liquid courage in my morning porridge and whilst watching two egrets catch their brunch, i figured it was do or die! spent a leisurely day at the beach after a huge lunch at brittos. enjoyed the second goan sunset before doing another late dinner at a riveria. was impressed by their offerings, which included "granita". would recommend a riveria to anyone. probably one of the most pricey restaurants in goa but thank god for the exchange rate and relatively low cost of living. had pre-dinner drinks, an appetiser, main and dessert for S$40. unbelievable!  

cabbed back to the apartment and struck gold with sunil, possibly north goa's best cabby. and boy, are good cabbies in short supply! left a 25% tip on the already exorbitant cab fare (the fares in goa in absolutely disproportionate to the cost of living...) and took his business card. was toying with the idea of heading south in a few days and wanted a reliable cabby for the 2h journey.

first goan sunset baga goa

had a glimpse of baga beach across the water and was sufficiently scared not to venture across the bridge on my first day. it seemed like such an explosion of sights and sounds. crowded like crazy and there i was a little smug to have escaped the throngs in mumbai. 

from the safety of sunset bar (across the distributary), that first sunset i nursed my drink and unsuccessfully tried to muster up sufficient courage to go to the other side. didn't work! and on my way back to the apartment, i chanced upon J&A, a lovely little italian joint. was still full from tea so made a booking indian-style for a fashionably late dinner. 

somehow i didn't fall asleep before dinner time and had the first of many excellent meals. the pizza was wood-fired to perfection. surprise surprise :)

made it to baga goa

 

got comfy then headed out to explore my new 'hood.