snaps by melvin the guitarist

Next up are some wonderful snaps from Melvin. I think he'd rather be known as the guitarist than the photographer. He's my talented little brother that writes his own music, sings, plays the guitar and he is awesome with the camera too. I don't think he'd expect me to breathe such words about him, you know how sibblings are like with each other... no matter how proud we feel about them we tend to keep it down inside. But I'm a married woman now so I won't resort to such childish behaviour... I'm really proud of you my bro, love you lots!

Mehndi Party Snaps

Girls (and guys alike) just want to have fun, we know that Henna is usually for the girls, but I suppose guys alike sometimes crave for that tattoo they never got to have..? Nonetheless it was a great party! :)

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Sangeet event Snaps

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Wedding Snaps

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wedding event snaps by tony!

Thank you Tony for capturing all of these pictures, another one of our favourite albums that we'd like to share on our wedding blog! One of the things we admire about Tony is his decisive and no messing around attitude. He was one of the wedding guests that planned his trip to India the earliest, bought his flights about the same time as we did. And not forgetting his positive attitude in spite of China Southern Airlines having misplaced his luggage (for a few days) on his way to Delhi. Good on you Tony, we enjoyed having you at our wedding events, hopefully you feel the same way.

More albums to be posted soon. We will also soon work out a way to group all of these albums on  a single page (i.e. the Camera Roll section). Enjoy!

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December 7th, 2012 - tea ceremony (chinese wedding tradition)

We kicked-start the wedding celebrations with a tea ceremony (chinese style! And a bit of Bollywood dancing thrown in too!). For those wishing to understand how a Chinese Tea Ceremony, this website sums it up in a nut-shell. To sum the event up, it was really just another excuse for us to celebrate. The tea ceremony had been extended to both the groom and bride's side of the family. We thought it would serve as a great ice-breaker as this would be the first time that most of the family members from both the groom's and bride's side would be meeting each other.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable event that will remain in everyone's memories for a very long time. I really like how my new Indian family had been a great sport about drinking chinese green tea (we had selected a fragrant, flowery and fruity variation to sweeten the deal)...not their usual cup of "chai" with milk and sugar. Lots of Oscar worthy acting involved.. pinching their nose with disgust and gulping down the tea really quickly. Some even pretended (or maybe not?) they loved it so much that they wanted to drink the entire pot! :) All with tongue in cheek... the party would not have been so much fun without all of these heartwarming and wonderful guests!

Enough blabbering... pictures paint a thousand words, so feel free to browse through the following gallery containing snaps of the memorable tea ceremony held on the 7th December at the Park Plaza Hotel in Noida, UP. I must graciously thank my wonderful aunty... oops I mean cousin (she thinks aunty sounds old), Karen Kueh for capturing every moment of the event so beautifully! She has a blog too that she keeps and does some wedding photography too during her spare time.

Enjoy!

p/s: More pre-wedding/wedding events albums to be posted on this blog soon.

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what to wear Part 2- recommended shopping spots..

There a couple places in Noida which serves as a one stop for everything you'd require for a Bollywood wedding event.

Google the following websites for more info:
-The Great India Place
-Shipra Mall (also known as Shipra World. The Noida branch is known as Centrestage Mall)

There is another place in the heart of Delhi. If you are a fan of markets, extremely crowded places and bargaining as a sport, Connaught Place is recommended.

That's all ! :) We are about to catch our flight to India in an an hour. Bon voyage and safe journey ahead to everyone traveling. And to those still waiting for their visa we also hope you receive it in time. See you all very soon!

P/S: by the way, Mehndi (henna) will not be applied on the 8th December, but we will organize for someone (or a few) to do this on the afternoon-early evening on the 7th December at the Orange Pie Hotel. We will communicate more details via hotel reception regarding this.

If you can't be bothered with getting a local sim card, you can now book car rentals via hotel reception at the Orange Pie Hotel :)

a story on taj mahal...and agra trip details!

If you still have time to pick this up from the local book store and looking to squeeze in a bit of bed time (or upcoming plane ride) reading, I highly recommend A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time by Diana and Michael Preston. This book not only portrays an immense love story(and loss) that gave rise to the mesmerizing Taj Mahal, but it also provides a multi-faceted view of the rise and fall of the Mughal (Moghul) empire. It is definitely one of the more engrossing history books I have ever read. The authors have beautifully woven first-hand accounts in to a series of captivating chronicles. At the same time, it gives the reader the ability from their own perspectives of the different tales presented. Or if you prefer to be creative, it gives the readers plenty of room to use their imagination to envision what may have taken place based on the time.

I have once visited the Taj Mahal before reading this book, my memory has preserved it to be the breathtaking masterpiece. I wonder if it will still remain as beguiling as it is on postcards and as when I saw it for the first time. I also wonder if the comprehension of my newly acquired knowledge would have changed my impression of the monument if I were to visit it again. My admiration towards Shah Jahan's expression of love for Mumtaz Mahal has certainly grown. He was one of the only emperors that has depicted marriage as something more meaningful than simply a social obligation of the time. I agreed with the way he chose to overcome his loss with his indulgence in grand architecture but not so sure about the exhibition of his excessive behaviour that had increasingly magnified after the loss of his true love.

I believe perhaps the grotesque combination of it all had led to an abhorrent tragedy that had sparked from an unrequited love of Shah Jahan's son (Aurangzeb) for his father, eventually leading to the fall of the empire that was once dominant in India, with Aurangzeb as the last Mughal emperor.

That’s just my take on the book. I won't reveal any further so you can curl up with this book and form your own views about the stories presented. In fact I am somewhat more inclined to paying another visit to the Taj Mahal as it would now be more interesting to imagine the prominent characters that have once graced the site and its great surroundings.

I hope you are all looking forward to the upcoming Taj Mahal trip.

Event: Taj Mahal (Agra) Trip

Date: 8^th December, 2012 (early morning start) – same day as Sangeet

Details about the trip:

We have now organized a tour bus for about 35 people (pick up from Orange Pie Hotel in Noida). The journey to Agra will take approximately two hours one-way (perhaps a great time to read this book too). And possibly squeeze in the Red Fort since it is nearby.

Entrance fees for Taj Mahal: approximately 750 INR (about 15 AUD or USD)

Entrance fees for Red Fort (if time permits): 250 INR(about 5 AUD or USD) per person.

The fees go to the Archaelogical Society of India and the Agra Development Authority for maintenance of the monuments.

Lunch Stop: There will also be a stop at a nearby hotel to break for a lunch buffet.This will cost approximately 500 INR(10 AUD or USD) per person. All you can eat!

Clean food and water guaranteed here, I highly recommend the overseas guests to avoid getting a Delhi Belly by refraining street food indulgences, no matter how tempting they may appear…

Start time of the trip will be provided when the date draws nearer. We will most likely be communicating this through the Orange Pie hotel reception.

Thanks to all for your understanding regarding the date change of the trip(due to closure on Taj Mahal on the 7^th which had been the original date) to the same day as our Sangeet event. We wished (as some of you) we could have scheduled it earlier to the 6th instead but this would have affected a few keen Taj Mahal visitors who wouldn't have arrived in Delhi yet. We will be postponing the Sangeet by an hour anyway so there will be ample time to get ready for the event after returning from the Taj Mahal trip. It will be a jam-packed day but it will be possible and the sights will be worth it. Abhishek and I regret that we won't be joining the Taj Mahal trip as we will be busy with wedding preparations. 

I’ll stop right here to give you all a bit of time to sink in all of this information if you’ve made it this far in to the blog post… before I return with a shopping post shortly. We hope that preparations for your upcoming trip are going smoothly.

hailing a taxi in delhi...

...that's one way of getting around Delhi, but Abhishek's dad has come back with a more convenient and comfortable suggestion. Now that Abhishek's previous blog post has perhaps sparked your interests in exploring Delhi, you are probably wondering what the best way is to get around all the different hot spots.

The taxi charges for the day will work out as follows:

1. Indigo Car - 4 passengers with driver

80 km for 8 hrs, Price: 1350 INR

additional KM are charged @13.5 km and additional time @60/hr

A rough estimate for a day's travel is about 120 km for 12 hrs. Accordingly estimated outgo can be worked out.

2. INNOVA Car - 5-6 passengers with driver

80 km for 8 hrs, Price: 1850 INR

additional KM are charged @18.5 km and additional time @70/hr

Feel free to use the Currency Converter by clicking here if you wish to convert the price to your local currency. 

In a nutshell, it's an awesome deal and I think it's one of the more comfortable ways of exploring Delhi.

Abhishek's dad will come back with a contact number for these cabs which you can call while you are in India.

Also for the technology savvy people who can't live without their mobile phones but wish to minimize expensive global roaming costs, getting a local sim card in India may be a viable option. Click the following link from TripAdvisor it will take you to a forum with FAQ regarding sim cards in India. Apparently these are readily available to at the international airport upon arrival. Otherwise you should also be able to purchase these in shopping malls and convenient stores.

Back to transportation, the best way to get from the airport to your hotel in Noida (i.e. Orange Pie or Radisson) is to use the Meru Cab service. Meru Cabs is a privately operated pre-paid taxi company, there should be a booth at the airport where you can book your taxi upon arrival. 

Click on the following link from Meru Cabs website to check out what the fare structure would look like. It would cost approximately 1000-1500 INR from the Delhi airport to your hotel in Noida, it varies depending on whether you are travelling during the day or night. You can read more about the company on the given link, but you do not have to book online. It should be easy enough to obtain a Meru cab from the airport booth.

Will be back shortly with the contact numbers for the rental car options above. And a shopping blog post by Abhishek too...this weekend, we hope. Not long to go now :)  we are amazed at a couple of people who is also able to attend at the last minute. Please let us know if you have any questions about anything. We are excitedly counting down the days till we see all of our wedding attendees :) 

Places to visit in Delhi

Oh Delhi J just thinking of the city brings a smile to my face.…dilli, delhi, new delhi, old delhi…just a few names my ‘hometown’ is known by….the names are enough to conjure up a million memories for me….the foliage of the gulmohar trees, the central part of the city with regal political buildings and the corrupt politicians and babus, parking and shopping around the huge roundabouts and even huger gardens, little serene corners in one of the busiest place in the world, the evenings spent around an inviting war memorial, as what could be more inviting than an open gate.

The places I end up recommending to people visiting dilli are not necessarily those which the guides would have picked...most of them are close to my heart because of the memories attached to them, because of the small incidents I remember about them…nostalgia can be misleading sometimes, but I’ll be amiss in not including it in my judgement. So my list would be:

 When I first moved to Delhi (a 5 year old brat from Mumbai), we lived in a really tall apartment building (8 floors felt very tall then!). My first memories of Delhi, of the world outside my gated apartment complex, were formed from the view of the city from our roof. One of the few things of note that we could make out from the roof through the murky (and sometimes foggy) air was the tip of a huge white lotus, which was infact the Bahá'í place of worship, Lotus temple. See if you can spot it in this picture.

Visiting the lotus temple was special, and it looked a lot more impressive than it did from our roof J I highly recommend a visit to bask in the architectural splendour of this building.

It’s my family which draws me back to Delhi every year. I have an extremely close knit extended family and numerous evenings were spent with my parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in the summers relaxing in the gardens around India Gate. My mum and my aunts used to bring awesome home cooked dishes (chhole poori, pao bhaji, etc) and then all of used to converge onto India gate for big monthly reunions, hours of cricket (of course!), dinner under the stars and the customary India gate ice cream. There is no dearth of vendors around India Gate and ice cream vendors abound.


 One would say that this commercialism and feeling of fun might somewhat desecrate what is essentially a war memorial, a resting place for the memories of those who fought our wars. But I think what is far worse is forgetting them, and never visiting.

       Trip to South Delhi: Gladys, ND (my sister) and I visited Hauz Khas last time I was in Delhi. It’s the ruins of the resting place of a Tughlaq emperor, set amidst a peaceful garden. I found it to be really calming to be able to get away from all the traffic and noise while still being in the middle of the city. And we got nice snaps J

Just outside the gardens is a hidden Tibetan restaurant called Yeti. The Tingmo’s (authentic indian dumplings, the chinese copied them) and beers here make for a nice combo J

After a nice lunch, we had gone to Qutb Minar, a historic minaret. Fans of the Amazing Race Australia show might remember it from the second season.

And the last stop in south delhi, Dilli haat. For those who love marketing, it’s hard to go past Dilli haat. You get to see the best handicrafts from the different states of india (and there are about 30 of them on last count) in one place…and the food from all states too J

For those with strong stomachs, don’t forget to try the chuski, or gola. Crushed ice, doused in flavoured syrup…quintessential part of the day out in delhi…dodgier the outlet, tastier the chuski normally is…and this also stands true for all the chaats, aaloo tikki and ofcourse pani puri J

Other places which I have enjoyed visiting in the past are Connaught place, red fort, purana Qila (old fort with a nice light and sound show at night. Delhi also has some really nice malls for those looking to do a spot of shopping….but that’s for a different blog post.