The Sea towns - Brighton and Eastboune

A weekend off in a low cost trip down the sea side with a bus full of people.. :) Brighton and Eastbourne are sea side towns, have famous piers with lots of games, fish and chips, lovely beaches, the sea birds, rides and small gullies in town to discover.. perfect for summer travel around the sea..
Wait.. whats the difference that you will find between the two towns??
Brighton is young and new and Eastbourne sea side looks upscale and contemporay.. If you ask my view, i would say Eastbourne looked better to me..
Though i am a veggie, but i can tell that fish and chips were fresh and an attraction, so if you do eat non veg, do sit in open air Pier restaurant and give it a go.. Oops, there was something for me too, the clotted cream fudge.. Yum.. try this.. it is made of sea water, so the slightly salty taste is worth it and difficult to find elsewhere... Do refrain fro honey combs if you do not have extremely sweet tooth, but do try the vanilla cone with chocolate stick..
Eastbourne had chalky sea side structure, it is an awesome view from Pier and if you walk towards the struture, you might get lost in the beauty and elegance of the place..
All in all a nice day out along sea side..

The Canterbury Tales

Though i have been extremely lazy and late in updating my travels on blog, but better late than never..
So, my summers started with a drive to Canterbury with some friends.. after long and cold winters, the green and yellow fields of Europe are just mersmerising.. This city lies in South East england and a small drive from London.. The place is famous for its cathedral which houses many holy souls and boasts of magnificient architecture... We started early morning from London, had breakfast mid way and moved towards the city.. It shows signs of Roman inheritance all around.. the magnificient city wall, the ruins of a prison or the cathedral..
The city is close to sea, so you can check out the cathedral and drive towards the sea, mid way cath up wth the famous large wind mill and all the way in between see the country, fairy tale, small city life of Europe.. yes, it does look like a perfect dream..
An excerpt from wikipedia about this place abot what was its connetion with famous Canterbury tales-- "After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine. This pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales."

Canterbury Cathedral is a world heritage site, it is being restored and saved. The tourism industry in UK is extremely well stuctured, organized and preserved.. The sructure adds value to the otherwise common tourism industry..

We then moved to sea side to enjoy the beach and spend some quality time watching surfers, and trying to see the horizons of sea.. :)

The day ended with the journey back to London and OH did i mention the tunnel contructed through Thames, which one has to cross while entering to London when you travel to or from Canterbury?? Engineering marvels are a common site here and does make you feel that civil engineering found its way here..

The Tavel o u g e...

So, i am in London for almost 2 months now.. Woo.. unbelievable, the pace at which time passes by.. And i have been ignoring my blog.. I hate myself for it.. Sorry, i was just trying to concentrate on work, which for sure is not more important than you or you need some of my attention on weekend for sure.. Sorry, but i was busy on weekends exploring London to get something for you.. :)
Here are places i visited:
-- Greenwich
-- Piccadiliy
-- Liecester
-- Camden Lock
-- Regent's Park
-- Oxford Circus
-- London Eye
-- Primose Hill
-- Sherlock Holmes' fictitious house

And much more.. Blog, let me tell you, this city is truly multi cultural.. In a crowd of 5 peole there are atleast 2 nationalities.. Its diversity in true sense..

And getting to food--
-- Fuklava
-- Drummer's street
-- Maryleboune woodland
-- Wagamama
-- Crussh
-- Pret
-- Camden local food mart
-- Spitalfield food mart
-- Pizza Express
-- Sprat

I tried 6 different cuisines and let me accept, i love Indian food. :)Though cakes and some sweets here are worth learning to cook..

And not to miss, i am now a member of Best Gym in Britain. Yo, i spend all my evenings working out in Reebok ad thats the reason i am spending less time here.. But dont you worry, i will soon work out the balance and give you more info on whee my life is heading.. As of now, time for me to drop dead!! CIAO..

Trust!

So, i wonder whats so magical about trust? Is there a science behind it? Actually, its that inner feel, blink or gut feel. Its somewhere on the face and heart and mind. But no one knows what leads to it..

My journey to Canary Wharf is 45 mins, i love the new friends that i have made, all from different locations, aspirations and thought process, but we just connect.
While coming back in tube, i jumped in it last minute, there was an Indian guy who caught the tube with me almost every day around similar time. My spectacular last minute catch made him smile and ask me about my efficient run from almost 40 stairs.. :D

We got talking and with no basic questions on who, what, when, we just talked about India and work and about when he came back 3 years ago what he felt were challenges etc and i listened with interest and moved on..

Next day, we caught the same train again, the guy told me about the game he used to play while travelling back home and i tried my hand at it, i was pathetic..
anyway, next day again we were in same train. Suddenly, he came and handed over the game to me.. he said there is this guy stepping in, he is my peer and he will eat my head for next two stations. I dont want to end my game like this, i need to win this. Will you play it for me? A lil caught by surprise and nervous knowing that i could only contribute to failure in the game, i said how can i hold the fort to help you win, i am not good at it..

He said of little tht i know, i trust you.. you will not only hold the fort, you will do it with good scores.. with this he was greeted by his useless peer and i was on the game.. I have no clue what happened for next 10 mins, i just know i was sincerely trying to keep upto his trust, not really knowing what were the scores..

Next station the peer got down, he came, took the game, looked at me, gave me a wide smile and said "see, i told you, i trust u.. it dsnt take much.. its written all over the face..i won it.. you lived upto it.. " I smiled, i saw him switching it off and packing it.. I wondered what was the deal about? I mean, i had been fighting to keep the game on for last 10 mins, if he had to fold it, why did he waste my time? I went and asked him? He said i was just wondering if "trust" is a science or a gut feel.. I just had a gut feel that you are a nice friend and i can trust you with my game.. There was no science behind it.. I dint know your background, not if you had ever got scores that high, i just played it on gut feel and i was kind of right.. Next time when you see me, trust me, smile at me and talk to me.. your gut feel is better than a 100 questions that mind asks.. :)

My Valentine!

This was an amazing day by all standards. I travelled around, had a candle lit dinner with some friends. Not that i really cared about this day ever, but now that its been coomercialized, it just gives me one more reason to have fun. However, to accept the fact, i never understood what love is all about.
I used to ask Dad if what i felt for him was love? He was always the perfect human on the earth for me for all the love that he showered on me. There wasn't a single day when i did not talk to him and sleep and he was the only person i ever thought of when in odd times or good. I remember my first crush, i thought i was in love.. :) I went to papa and asked if, am i in love? He smiled and said may be, its not something that happens in a day, it just grows and then it stays, there is no replacement, all mistakes just get ignored. Its blind in all senses, but it takes time to get blind, if midway, you open your eyes, you were never in love. I smiled at his words, i did not know what they meant. I just knew that i was in love with papa and the fact that he reads out stories to me, he holds my hand and walks when they are cold and then when there were times i saw no way forward, he just told me there is always a way that led to him and he will be there no matter what i was and who i was.
Its been years that i have talked to him, i will not in this life, its the law of nature. I lost myself for sometime trying to figure out what is life without love, only to know that its there everywhere. I just know that all that has gone into my being is his "love". Whatever i do is his love and passion and whatever i see is the world that he saw in my eyes. And yes, its indeed blind, there is no scope to open eyes. Papa, year on year, till i die, you will be my Valentine. You just made my life worth living by being you. You taught me what love, patience, goodness and honesty means. You taught me what forgiveness means and you also taught me that life will take 100 turns, true love will stand by. Needless to say, "I love you." If Valentines is about the "ONE" you love the most, this day is reserved for you. Thanks for giving me a life i love and loved ones i love and will love.

Cute

Ok! if there is anything that i kind of like this country about, it is the BABIES.. Awe.. they are cho cute, fat, fair and ok.. I dont have words.. I feel like pulling cheeks of all of them.. They are adorable..Sometimes i feel that i should catch all of them and keep with me.. :)

Life Part 2

It was 30th Jan 2010, i landed in London. I had taken an emirates through dubai. I had no feeling. I have been living out of my home for 10 years now. I miss family and home, but i take it as a matter of fact that life has to move on and more comfortably you adapt to it better it is. I just told myself i am 9 hours away from home and i earn enough to visit back India every month, so its ok.
The country is cold and i felt that i would freeze. I came out to take my company cab, my taxi driver was an asian, he asked me a few questions and said, madame, you will like this country.. have you been here before? I said, yes, but not to live. :)
I entered into the YMCA, got the keys of my room which was warm and cosy and slept off. I saw all Indian faces and nothing was very different but for the fact that everything around me was running. I was calm and composed and as always thinking on what next and how. I needed a cell to connect. I needed to call up my freinds and i needed to make new friends.

I met a girl at bfast table and connected. She taught me how to travel through tube and that was the starting point of my survival stint in this city. I have gone long way in two weeks. I kind of learned to find my way, figure out which soup or bread to stuff in to live and have made some friends for life. I like to learn about new culture, i like to meet new people. Everything about this place is an experience and learning. Its good to come out and survive in international location for some years and then think next in life. I miss my home, i miss the simplicity of my country and people. My first day in Canary Wharf, i looked out of the window from 15th floor sipping my cup of tea and looked around at the upper bank street. I saw people in black moving fast from one place to others, i saw empty floors and some buzzing with life.. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind, this is the place of competition, money, intelligence.. It lost millions in last 2-3 years and there must have been so many who lost their dreams jobs, money and life in the battle.. Here, i am, standing amidst the disaster in the business of making money and determination to make myself visible in the crowd of the black dots moving from one place to other. All the Best to myself and i know its important to be more than a dot in life. :)