My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I am by no means a foodie….. I hate to experiment with food, and prefer to stick with my good old thayir saadam,(curd rice) any day. Usually, when I travel, it is Shankar who tries out different things on the menu and I order what Samhith wants, and then fill my stomach from what I like among the selections. Thrown along with a bunch of foodies at Lavasa – all of them non-vegetarians – was therefore a really interesting experience.
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| The Waterfront Promenade |
The Waterfront Shaw was certainly the best place to put up, food-wise, since there was so much on offer. From Subway to All American Diner, Oriental Octopus to Chor Bizarre, there was every kind of cuisine available. Our foray into the Oriental Octopus was a disaster (You can read more about that here, and here) and the All American Diner experience was a mixed one. Read about the experience here and here.
The breakfast was wonderful, with a lot of options on the buffet, but lunch for me was a light one, since we had to leave almost at once, and I didn’t want to risk throwing up. (However, as it turned out, I did throw up, and not alone either J)
The breakfast was wonderful, with a lot of options on the buffet, but lunch for me was a light one, since we had to leave almost at once, and I didn’t want to risk throwing up. (However, as it turned out, I did throw up, and not alone either J)
This breakfast spread at the American Diner reminded me of Samhith. He would have loved it!
And we had fun photographing some of the posters put up all over…..
Dinner at Chor Bizzare was wonderful! Being me, I am, of course, not going to talk about the food (which was great) but the interesting things we saw there! In fact, I think we stunned the staff when not one of us proceeded to our table, but instead took photographs of every knick knack in sight!
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| Antiques placed on the mantels...each one reminded me of something! |
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| Samhith hasnt even seen a sewing machine like this one! |
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| Converting a four poster bed into a table for six was surely the work of a genius!!! |
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| these lamps were too beautiful for words.. |
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| and I startled a waiter while taking a photo of this door handle! |
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| When I told Samhith that this was a transistor/ radio, he asked, "What is a radio?" |
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| My dad had a suitcase exactly like this one! and it was filled with books too!!! |
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| This tea set made me wish I was having tea from it! |
In between lunch and dinner we even managed to get some desserts into our stomachs, at Granma’s Homemade!
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| This Cinnamon bun was wonderful!!! |
The other shops on the promenade were interesting too…. Especially their names, though none were open for us to try!
For me, the best food experience was none of these, but the humble potato chips in a new avatar, at a tiny stall on the promenade!
Named Potato Twistz or simply Chipstix, these were, basically, just potato chips on sticks!!!
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| He held up the ChipStix for us to photograph, but seems embarrassed by all the attention!!! |
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| I couldn't resist taking photos from every possible angle! |
We first saw it in the hands of a fellow tourist, and, overcome by typical blogger curiosity, Nisha went off to find out what it was. We were directed to the stall, and, after a lot of discussion, finally bought one to try out. Read about the episode here.
I loved the way the potato was cut into the spiral shape in the machine, and enthusiastically recorded a video. Take a look!
While I took all these photos, I wondered how and when I would post these, since food does not normally feature on my blog, but having taken so many photographs, I couldn’t leave them alone either. As to the title of the post, well, I do know that it is misleading, but then I couldn’t think of anything else, since this one did deal with food (in its own way), right?
I am not done with Lavasa yet. There is more coming up, so keep coming back!
Meanwhile, you can read what my co-bloggers wrote about the trip…..
WOWWW .. LOVEd the pic, esp the antique cars and the chipstix... :-))
ReplyDeleteI wanna go to Lavasa now
Recently, I had taken my relatives to Lavasa. My relatives enjoyed the ambience. They described it as serene and tranquil. They also enjoyed the roads as the ride to Lavasa was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI love Lavasa because of their Votex Splashpad. It is a source of fun and pleasurable moments for every member of the family. Must visit,
ReplyDelete