Of Palaces, sun and good food

Hi my lovelies,

Sorry about the big break! Has been a few hectic crazy days.

Me and Dan finally FINALLY managed to get ourselves a little break. We went to Jaipur for the Valentines weekend. After that, I went to Bhopal for a gender integration workshop! And I got back home just last night. Today though, we're only going to talk about Jaipur! <3

Such amazing 2 days! We went by road, which took us roughly 5 hours including the lunch stopover. The road all the way is great and the journey was awesome. At least for my chubby co-traveller who nodded off as soon as we started and got up only for the lunch and slept back again. And not just sleeping, snoring! So much so, that when we were stuck at the toll for few minutes and half a window was open, neighbouring cars were peeping in and giggling about the noises they could hear from our car. Gosh. 

We stayed at Umaid Haveli, which is in the outskirts of Jaipur (in Kukas). So not exactly in the city, but close enough to go sightseeing and yet enjoy the serenity, calmness and un-spoilt beauty of Rajasthan. The hotel was lovely, the interiors were covered in beautiful meenakari paintings, our room was amazing and so was the weather. For someone like me who feels extra cold and am as my Mother-in-law calls me 'a dying duck' (hehe), this weather was absolute heaven. For someone like my husband who sweats all 12 months, it was quite normal. so basically, we had to sleep with the fan on while I slept with my socks on. And at times I would be woken up by this strong man sweat smell (don't know what else to call it, lol) and had to increase the speed of the fan so it would be cool enough for my man! (oh that ryhmes)

The infinity pool at the 7th floor

The entrance to Umaid Haveli

Saw almost 30 of them going back to their village (Yes there is an Elephant Village where all these elephants stay, open for tourists)

So, anyway, we just relaxed on Friday, explored the hotel. They have this awesome infinity pool and a terrace area on the 7th floor which is super cool if you just want to chill and unwind. An interesting thing that you could see from this terrace was the testing faculty of the Hero group (motorbikes). So we could see this huge racing track on which occasionally they would have a superbike racing through. So while I enjoyed the sun and the view, my darling husband, the apple of my eye, enjoyed the Hero Group racing track. Just men things I guess.

The dining hall

The terrace restaurant

Next day we went and saw the Amer Fort (It's actually a palace). It was breathtaking. The architecture, the design and the strategy with which this whole Palace was built is amazing. It had a steam and sauna section! Beat that! The King had 12 wives so there was an apartment each for each of those 12 wives, built in such a way that one wife could not see what was happening in the other wife's apartment. There was a passage from the king's apartment on the first floor to all of these 12 apartments, built in such a way that nobody could know in which apartment the king was. Probably to maintain peace and cordial relations between all these women. You see the brain behind this! So many other awesome things about this Fort. So anyone going to Jaipur, don't miss the Amer Fort and make sure you take a guide along (ask your hotel guys to get you a government guide, they have so much more knowledge than the other guides!). We also saw the City Palace where the Royal family currently resides. So cool. Wonder what it'd be like to be 'royal'!

Look at all that work! 

(Also, just FYI, the current Maharaja of Jaipur is Padmanabh Singh, the teenage grandson of the erstwhile Jaipur ruler, the late Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh. He is 16 I guess and studying in the UK (obviously) coz Indian schools are too mainstream (hehe!). And again, obviously, is an excellent Polo player. What is with the royal people and Polo? Why can't they play Soccer or Tennis and still be Royal.)

The famous Sheesh Mahal or the 'Glass Palace', all that you see on top and on the walls are glass pieces! 

Just a nice door!

At the City Palace

For all shopping lovers, Jaipur is heaven. You get awesome stuff. My recommendation for good shopping though is the Government run huge store in Amer Village (which is where the Fort gets its name from, I always thought it was the other way round!), everything under one roof, jewellery, clothes, shoes, blankets, you name it. The reason I would prefer this store to the other Jaipur markets is that first of all, it is all done locally and Amer village is the village from where the Meenakari work originated. As a result, all that you get here is original and tax-free! Yay. 

How can we talk about Jaipur and not mention the food! Guys, the food is to-die-for. No kidding, it really is. Avoid the hotel food and instead go hogging on the street food and other places that serve authentic Rajasthani cuisine. You could try the Pink City restaurant for cheap authentic and delish Rajasthani food and if you want to go all fancy and get a taste of how it would be to dine in a palace, you should definitely head to the '1135 AD' restaurant, Amer Fort's very own palatial restaurant. 

A Rajasthani thali

We got back Sunday evening, since I had to get up at 3 am the next morning and head to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for a workshop (quick thing on that in my next blog). 

Such awesome 2 days. We realised that it is really essential for couples to go for these tiny weekend getaways. You don't have to always go to someplace fancy, just a good hotel/resort anywhere, away from the city where you live in. It is so nice to not worry about what to cook, what to get, doing the laundry etc, and just pamper yourself and re-bond with your partner. You deserve this! And your best friend for planning these little trips will be sites like Make my trip! I am always on the lookout for their offers and we got an extremely good deal for Umaid Haveli. 

We're back to the grind now but we've decided to continue taking these little trips to rekindle what we have every now and then :) 

Bye for now you guys. 

Hugs from me! 

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What I wore:
At the City Palace - Top from Chumbak (Mall of India store), Earrings from Accessorize, the blue Jeggings are from H&M and are the most comfy thing ever, aztic design shoes from 20Dresses.
At the hotel (the above pic) - A beautiful super light summer maxi dress from Chatu Chak market, Bangkok, (It was super cheap!), earrings from Claires I think! 
              
Also, a big hug to my husband for being such a sport and not throwing me out of the house for bringing out secrets about snores and sweats in public :D

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Revelations!

Hi my beautiful friends,

Few days ago (29 Jan) me and my husband, Daniel, celebrated one month of being married! Celebrated...well...Danny was home already on Friday, I took a half day and then we had maggi and tea and watched a movie. And then we ordered Chinese for dinner! My husband hates going out so we have to get good food home. Actually, if I think about it, we no longer feel the need to do something fancy or do something extraordinary, we find comfort in small things, in things that we both like, such as a cup of tea, our sofa and a nice movie.

So, after a month of being married, I've had some exciting experiences, realisations and revelations. 

My first baby!

Your husband is your first baby. I have to tell mine to wash his hands, keep his clothes in his cupboard, to not keep munching etc. Husbands, like babies, can be messy, annoying but you can't do anything about it because you love them to bits! 

Snoring. My husband snores, not just your everyday ordinary snores, loud, continuous and rythemic snores.The ones that your neighbors can hear kind of snores. But, to think about it,
I don't seem to get much bothered actually like normally one would, for me it's a Danny thing, more like an assurance that he's right next to me, that it's all good!

Managing your house. I also have now understood why my Mum used to get so irritated and annoyed when me and my brother (my younger brother, Darryl, who hates being hugged) would mess the house and keep random stuff everywhere in the house. Only when you are given a household to run do you understand what it takes to keep it neat, tidy and livable. My husband and my brother make fun of me and feel that I have some OCD tendencies when I ask them to always use a coaster or to always take off shoes when stepping on the carpet or to keep your plate in the kitchen sink as soon as you're done. What's OCD in this I wonder? Isn't this basic everyday stuff? But again, only those who clean can understand what I mean. Can you feel the emotions here other brand new wives?

What to cook today? I now have a renewed sense of appreciation and respect for working women who get up early and cook and stuff and come back and cook again. I do our dinners myself and I don't mind the cooking, what is most troublesome is to think about what to cook. IT IS SUCH A PAIN! Lying in bed, minutes before I sleep, all I'm thinking about is what to cook the next day for dinner and what to tell my cook to make for our breakfast and our lunch. Is there an easier way? Make a monthly chart maybe? (Danny is snoring in the background, sounds like the tune of a song. He's always so nice and warm, so am going to be mean and sneak up next to him and keep my cold feet on his and steal some warmth.)

My meal at Bento. The duck was too die for!

Also, I went and bought some nice stuff from Forever 21 from the Mall of India, its a new mall that's opened up in Noida, right opposite GIP and oh-my-god I could literally live there. Awesome brands, awesome sales and the most amazing food court (even though half of the stores are still not functioning!). Tried this cafe called The Bento Cafe, such amazing Thai and other Oriental stuff. Made my afternoon. I had a meal which had thai pan seared duck in tamarind sauce, pineapple fried rice, a kimchi salad and steamed chicken dimsums. 
I need nothing else :)

So my reason for telling you guys that I shopped was, it doesn't fit me. 

I am pretty lean but I kinda have a bulging tummy which has been hiding behind my winter clothes but now am afraid of what will happen when summers are here and I have to take off my woolens. I honestly do not have enough motivation and time to go to a gym everyday and spend an hour or 2 there. So what do I do? People suggested I should brisk walk but won't that slim me down totally? I'm already thin. I cannot give up my food and my potatoes and my pizzas and other forbidden stuff. Will I have to? I really do want to have a flat stomach and fit into what I got! (I have decided not to exchange it and instead use it as a motivation!) 

(I bought a skipping rope too! Yay. My brother says I'm never going to use it though. I'll be talking more about Darryl in my next blog!) 

So I am really looking forward to some suggestions where it doesn't need too much time and too much of sacrificing the good stuff you know! 

Danny is next to me on the couch, having pringles and playing Fifa on his phone. Darryl is watching something on his lappy. Such grown up men. Am off to make some dinner now. My next blog will be out soon! Sooner than this one. 

Bye for now my lovelies. 
Hugs!