Posted on by adusija

Monsoon summer in India

As the school year ended (Ayaan is going to 5th grade and Ariana to 4th), the kids were super excited to spending part of their summer in India visiting family. Unlike our usual travels, we didn’t book our flight until about ten days before the trip. We also had no plan except to get on a one-way flight to New Delhi to visit Sonil bua, Ravi uncle and Sid, and at some point catch a flight to Mumbai.

Our journey to Delhi turned out to be a mini-trip on its own. Thanks to a missed Delta connection in Atlanta, it took us 4 days including 3 nights in Atlanta and Denver (yes they made us fly back west), and a bag that arrived 11 days later. None of us are keen on flying Delta anytime in the future, but we most of our time including a visit to the World of Coca-Cola. Ariana is particular loved trying sodas from all around the world including Thumbs Up from India.

We spent a relaxing 5 days in Delhi at Sonil buas amazing farm where the kids were deeply engaged in driving the golf cart, playing with the dogs (Sushi being their favorite), cooling off in the pool, and enjoying Indian food. Highlights included an escape room that we solved, bowling and arcade games, and clay pot making. The weather surprisingly turned out to be great with overcast skies and cool mornings and evenings. Sid and Sonil were amazing hosts, thank you!

After a wonderful stay, we made our way to Mumbai to see the grandparents who happen to live in the same neighborhood! The kids were so happy to be pampered with love, attention and great food. It was also their first experience of the gorgeous Mumbai weather in the monsoons. Ariana joined a gymnastics class, and Ayaan basketball, ping pong and tennis classes at our country club CCI. They also enjoyed connecting and playing with our friends’ children, while we enjoyed some adult dinners and night outs with their parents.

Anjali and I took advantage of having the grandparents, and did an overnight trip to Lonavala in the rains, staying at the Fazlani Natures Nest wellness resort. It’s a beautiful property overlooking a lake with a wellness center, farm, birds, flora, and lots of nature. We had a fantastic retreat focused on yoga, meditation and relaxation. From Lonavala we reconnected with Nani and Ayaan in Pune where we stayed at the Sheraton Grand. The goal in Pune was to attend an event with children from three slums to whom Ayaan was donating his savings. We enjoyed answering questions from the kids, Ayaan played soccer with them, and the kids engaged in painting. It was Ayaan’s highlight of the India trip. We also visited Nani’s place of worship, and spent time at the hotel pool and playing ping pong and squash.

After a few days in Mumbai, we took a 5 day trip to Kerala with my parents. Anjali and I have spoken about going to Kerala ever since we got married so we were thrilled to finally make it there. We rented an SUV with a driver Abhilash, who was fantastic, and it made a difference when we’re driving 15 hours over 5 days. We spent our first night in Kochi and spent the following morning visiting the area Fort Kochi with its Dutch, Portuguese and British history. The highlights were the Chinese fishing nets, the St Francis church where Vasco de Gama was initially buried, the Dutch museum, and the Jew town. In the late morning we set off on a long 4 hour drive to the mountain town of Munnar. We stopped for lunch for some traditional thali on a leaf at Rasa restaurant, visited a spice and Ayurvedic garden, and a couple of beautiful waterfalls on the way.

We stayed at the new Taj’s Scenic IHCL hotel in Munnar with beautiful views and an amazing pool. Kerala had a strike the next day, but luckily it didn’t interrupt our plans of visiting the Tea Museum, seeing some Tea estates, and visiting the stunning Eravikulam national park. We hired a golf cart / buggy which was a great way to see the park and me stops along the way to see mountain goats, bison, waterfalls and the scenery. This park is a must visit for anyone planning a trip to Kerala! We ended our day with a relaxing traditional Abhyanga massage, including for Ayaan and Ariana!

Our final adventure of the Kerala trip was perhaps our highlight of the month long stay – an overnight private luxury 3 bedroom houseboat from Xandari riverscapes cruising through the backwaters near Allepey with an onboard chef. As soon as we got on the boat, we were so relaxed appreciating Kerala’s beauty navigating through narrow rivers, canals and lakes dotted with coconut tree coastlines. We took a canoe ride through the very narrow canals through a small town only accessible by boats where many of the houses were partially submerged due to the recent floods. We stopped to buy some crabs, prawns and lobster that the chef prepared along with some delicious food. Kerala has some of the best food I’ve eaten including appams, puttu and Malabar parothas. We wish we stayed another night on the houseboat, but it was time to head back to Mumbai. We stopped at one of the beautiful beaches before heading to the airport. Kerala is truly God’s Own Country!

Back in Mumbai, we continued to enjoy family time, CCI time, and friends time. Ariana became very close to Anjali’s friend’s daughter Rhea and they had a couple of sleepovers and all day play dates. Nani celebrated Ariana’s upcoming 9th birthday with a really fun birthday party at her home with 5 other children participating in games and dance. We celebrated Big Dada’s upcoming 80th birthday with Sonil visiting Mumbai. Anjali left a few days early, and when it was our time to leave the kids really didn’t want to and were already planning a trip back soon. A great summer month in India!

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Taiwan

Inspired by our love for Japan and other major Asian cities, we decided to head to Taiwan for ski week. The fact that Taiwan is the only country outside of Japan that has a Hoshinoya resort played majorly into our decision as well. We started off our first day in Taipei climbing seemingly countless stairs up the elephant mountain where we were rewarded views of the city and the unmissable Taipei 101. Next up, we visited the iconic Taipei 101 where, apart from the towering views, we were impressed with the exhibits they’d created in the viewing spaces. After we paid our dues waiting at Din Tai Fung, Gaurav and I devoured the Xiao long bao dumplings, both the pork and chocolate ones while the kids enjoyed following the robot servers that even had their own names! Next up, we visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial and spent the evening strolling the Ximending pedestrian street. We ended the night at a karaoke room which, while intended to be swanky with two dedicated servers inside the private room, felt a bit stuffy for us and our inevitably unmelodious but rambunctious style.

The next morning, we took the bus to the charming town of Juifen where we enjoyed numerous street food delicacies including the peanut roll and the taro balls and a tea tasting atop the famous tea house that inspired the film, Spirited Away. Our next stop was the town of Shifen, smaller but even more fulfilling due to its year-long lantern celebration. Each of the colors on the lantern symbolize a hope such as success, joy, peace and love. We chose the one with four colors and each of us painted our hopes and dreams onto the lantern, as is the tradition. We then, with the help of the locals, lit the lantern and watched it soar to the skies amidst numerous other lanterns from travelers visiting and sharing their wishes from around the globe. We then hiked to the stunning waterfalls which we viewed from various points before making our way back to Taipei. This was one of the highlights of my visit because I found both the towns and their street atmosphere and food very unique, quaint and charming.

We rented a car early the next morning and drove to Sun Moon Lake. After an upscale Sichuan lunch overlooking the lake at a swanky hotel, we took the gondola over the lake high up into the mountains. It was a long ride and the kids were pleased to have gotten the special Sakura gondola on the way down, replete with a glass bottom floor to view the lake. Once back at the town, we took the electric boat around the lake which Ayaan called a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. We enjoyed xiao long bao’s in a small local joint for dinner before retreating at our balcony to enjoy a glass of wine while listening to the beautiful mandarin melodies from a musician below. The next morning, we rented bikes which we rode on the bike path along the lake. After checking out, we stopped at the Wenwu temple, a must-see with extremely intricate carvings spanning multiple levels with stunning views of the lake. We then headed to Hoshinoya, the much awaited part of our trip. We arrived early and strolled around the beautiful water gardens, drank tea and read books in the lobby. We also made tea-infused coffee and a fungus mocktail before checking into our room, which was two levels with its own private onsen. That evening, we enjoyed a leisurely dip into the resort’s multiple pools at the onsen, most definitely the most beautiful onsen I’ve ever been to. For dinner, we enjoyed Hoshinoya’s infamous in-room dining experience which we’ve all come to love, wearing resort-provided matching clothing that is ever so comfortable, it’s hard to change into anything else.

After a restful nights sleep in Hoshinoya’s signature PJs, we enjoyed a multi-course Japanese breakfast at the restaurant and then embarked on a guided tour of the town of Guguan. It was interesting to hear of the impact of the Japanese colonial rule over Taiwan for 50+years and understand some of the local customs of Guguan, including popsicles made from pine trees by workers who had cooling equipment.

That night, we celebrated Ayaan’s birthday with a multi-course Kaiseki meal at the restaurant which should easily have earned one of not two Michelin stars. The food, service and presentation were nothing short of exquisite.

I awoke to a lazy last day at Hoshinoya enjoying the in-room onsen to myself while the others went to the resort pools. After indulging in more of the resort’s programming, we made our way to Taichung to visit the Rainbow Art Village. Back in Taipei, we headed to the Rahoe Street night market where we enjoyed numerous street foods including egg and noodle rolls, pan fried pork dumplings, chicken skewers, and Thai-style desserts.

On our final day, we visited the Maokong Gondola, the longest gondola ride we’ve ever taken with views of beautiful temples, cherry blossoms and tea plantations along the way. We learned that cherry blossoms arrive in Taiwan earlier than in Japan and as luck would have it, our timing was impeccable! After lunch at Taipei 101, we headed to the Taipei Children amusement park, a surprise I’d planned to celebrate Ayaan’s birthday. We ended the night with dinner at our hotel’s Italian restaurant and a nightcap at the bar featuring live music. Ayaan was lucky to visit the cockpit on his flight home (the UA pilots were friendly and welcoming) while I enjoyed a Taiwanese cooking class where I made new friends and got further inspiration for future extended travel!

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Around the world in 70 days

Now that we’re back in Tiburon, I thought it’ll be fun to recap our 2.5 month or 10 week summer adventure across Canada, Asia and Africa. We traveled to 11 countries over the summer, including 5 each in Asia (Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Thailand) and Africa (Kenya, Seychelles, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia). We took 15 flights flying for over 75 hours, and drove over 100 hours. We used pretty much every mode of transportation – from ferries to gondolas to trains to bicycles to a helicopter/microlight.

🇨🇦 🇯🇵 🇮🇩 🇸🇬 🇱🇦 🇹🇭 🇰🇪 🇸🇨 🇿🇦 🇿🇼 🇿🇲

Our 10 weeks were split evenly across beaches, mountains, safaris, cities and miscellaneous (coasts, rice terraces etc). It was perhaps the most diverse and epic journey of our lifetimes, and we observed almost every possible major animal on our trip – bears, moose, big 5, giraffes, hyenas, turtles, tortoise, penguins, hippos, crocs, you name it.

The trip was fairly seamless with no lost bags or majorly late flights, though we did have a few misadventures such as Ariana breaking her toe a couple of weeks before we left, scrambling to find Malaria medicines in Bangkok after forgetting them in Laos, and kids getting a stomach bug in Lombok. And of course the occasional fights and quarrels. We had 5 rules of the trip, that we did reasonably at – especially staying off our devices and taking a lot of photos together!

As we start to look back, a few experiences absolutely stood out:

– Our stay in Hoshinoya at Mt Fuji Japan was exceptional with upscale glamping peppered with incredible hospitality.

– Our time in Gili T in Indonesia was the most fun 2 days in our trip, as we really enjoyed the tiny island with everything it has to offer.

– Vang Vieng in Laos was relaxing and adventurous at the same time with the most stunning landscape.

– Watching herds of elephants at Amboseli with Kilimanjaro in the background, and seeing thousands of wildebeest running during migration at Masai Mara will always be etched in our memories.

– Our 3 night stay on the private Silhouette island at the Hilton Labriz with its white sand beaches and warm waters was special.

– The close wildlife encounters at Kruger, with an out of the world stay at Honeyguide Khokha Moya camp which was the best safari experience of our life.

– And finally, our amazing time at Victoria Falls across Zim-Zam was epic to say the least.

Trip highlights

Ayaan and Ariana loved their time with family in Banff/Jasper and Bali, visiting the schools and interacting with the local kids, watching animals in the safaris, the bustling Asian cities (to our surprise), and all the major activities we undertook (cooking classes, ATV, zip lining, paragliding, Segway, river tubing, snorkeling, biking, karaoke, kayaking, toboggan, massages etc). Anjali’s top country was probably South Africa, and I loved Laos. And we all can’t wait to go back to Japan. Although it’s incredibly hard to pick, since each of our 70 days was very, very special and memorable.

We’re so fortunate to have taken this trip and created memories for life, and thankful to family and friends who made our journey more delightful. We’re equally excited to be back in the bay, and get some individual space after too much time together in hotel rooms, planes and safari jeeps :). Ayaan and Ariana are ready for 4th and 3rd grade at Bel Aire after a summer to remember.

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Laos

Laos has been on our bucket list for a while, and we almost made a trip during our 2018 sabbatical. Ariana astutely observed that Laos is the first country on our summer adventure whose flag is not just red and white (like Canada, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore). We didn’t know what to expect from Laos, though were excited by the fact it is landlocked by 5 nations with strong cultures – Vietnam, Thailand, China, Myanmar and Cambodia. In fact, a lot of its economic future depends on its geography through tourism and transportation. We were also a bit nervous since we started our malaria pills since it’s still present in the rural areas during the monsoons.

We arrived in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, and checked into the Lao Poet hotel with its rooftop pool. Laos doesn’t have Uber or Grab, so we used the local equivalent called Loca or just grabbed a tuk-tuk that we all enjoyed. With just half a day in Vientiane, we ventured out driving by Patuxay, an India gate or Arc de Triomphe like structure (Laos was ruled by the French). Our first stop was the national monument of Pha That Luang, a massive Stupa with a large reclining Buddha next door. We loved that there was absolutely no one here since we were visiting during the off season. Ayaan was very excited when we were picked up in a BYD, Teslas biggest competitor, to take us 30 mins away to the Buddha Park. We were welcomed here with a downpour and bug bites, but still really enjoyed walking through the park with over 60 statues. The most memorable was a stupa that we could climb on top of and get a stunning view of the entire park. After a dip in the rooftop pool, we visited the night market where Anjali and Ariana bought a purse, and Ayaan bought a USB mobile fan! We ended the night with dinner at a local Laotian restaurant playing local live rock music. Laotian food is a mix of Thai and Cambodian food with shrimp paste in everything – good, but definitely not as good as Thai food.

Our 2nd destination in Laos was the nature town of Vang Vieng, surrounded by breathtaking scenery. We took the modern Lao-China train, a short 50 min ride, to this small town that reminded us of the Cat Ba island on Ha Long Bay. We absolutely loved our time at Vang Vieng and the Riverside Boutique hotel. We spent our couple of days here relaxing by the pool overlooking the towering mountains, getting a Laotian massage or going on a few adventures. We rented a 4WD run down buggy to drive around west Vang Vieng through rice fields, bridges across the Nam Song river, green mountains and very bumpy roads. We stopped to walk into a cave with stalactites and stalagmites, and to dip in the cool Blue Lagoon 3 on another hot day. We also took a tour in Vang Vieng through 10 zip lines, tubing the now brown Nam Song river, and jumping off a 5m board into Blue Lagoon 1. Ayaan and Ariana thoroughly enjoyed the adrenaline rush during these activities. We highly recommend Vang Vieng for everyone, including families.

Our final destination in Laos was the word famous UNESCO heritage city of Luang Prabang. After another 50 min Lao-China train ride, we checked into the On the Mekong resort that was, you guessed it, right on the Mekong river with the best sunset views in Luang Prabang. We had a Laotian lunch on the river in town where a Canadian expat, who started the first private fire company in this communist country, shared his tips and tricks about Luang Prabang and Laos. Next door, we visited the famous Buddhist temple Wat Xieng Thong and set out on the highlight of the day – spending a couple of hours playing with kids 6-10 years old at a local school Big Brother Mouse 2. The goal was to interact with them in English so they could improve their skills. Ayaan played soccer with the boys, while Ariana played some board games with the other children. The school children were very curious and asked us a lot of questions! That night we ate at the many stalls of the night market (Ayaan enjoyed the chicken skewer and Ariana at a Vietnamese spring roll) and had a night cap nearby at the Avani hotel (I enjoyed my peppercorn flavored old fashioned).

We woke up early next morning to the sounds of prayers in our room from the temple next door, where we observed the Alms giving ceremony of a full moon with the entire village congregated at the temple to offer food to the monks, some as young as 10 years. We were lucky to be in Luang Prabang on this auspicious day, and the kids were very curious about the lives on monks. After breakfast at the hotel that included yummy mangoes, we walked up 300 steps to the stupa at the top of Phousi mountain with 360 degree views of Luang Prabang including where the Mekong river meets the Nam Song river. The walk down the mountain was full of surprised with spotted Buddha statues along the way and a cave with Buddha’s footprints. We also visited the National museum where the kids enjoyed seeing how the king lived in the Royal palace. One of the most enjoyable things about Luang Prabang is walking down the streets with its colonial architecture, restaurants, and Buddhist temples.

On our last full day in Laos, we took an all day tour that started with a relaxing 2 hour cruise along the Mekong river, with stops at a village that makes Whisky and the famous Pau Ou caves with 4000 Buddha statues. The lunch was delicious with grilled skewers and Thai curry, but the real delight was when an elephant strolled to the restaurant and the kids got to feed it dozens of bananas! Ariana said she was so happy seeing the elephant and this made her more excited for the upcoming safari where she expected to see 50 animals (shhh :). After a long 1.5 drive from the lunch, we arrived at the gorgeous Kuang Si waterfall. It reminded us of our time at Plitvice national park in Croatia, with its many smaller waterfalls and blue pools of water. We all took a dip in one of the natural pools, and were constantly pricked by little fish that gave us a pedicure. Our tour guide Thin was fantastic, which made this all day tour even better!

Laos is definitely a country to add to your bucket list with its hospitality, spirituality, culture, nature, architecture and affordability. Khop Chai Laos, you exceeded our expectations. Ariana is lucky to have Laos as her 40th country visited!

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Singapore

While we’d been to Singapore multiple times when my sister and her family lived there, it was great to return to reunite with old friends and family. We were impressed with the efficient automated immigration experience which had us from touch down to Dhiren’s house in just over an hour! The kids were excited to play with Stuvan and Maeve who they remembered from their trips to the Bay Area over the years including just the summer before. They instantly connected and built forts, played music and other games. We relaxed over beers, soju and multiple bottles of wine and interesting discussions with Dhiren, Bhamini and Adi while simultaneously watching the Wimbledon final. Not surprisingly, it was soon midnight and an evening well spent with friends and family! Dhiren’s, Gaurav and Ayaan woke up at 3am to watch the Euro final between Spain and England which Spain won, breaking Dhiren’s heart.

The next day, we enjoyed a lazy late start to the Gardens by the Bay where we marveled at the 7 levels of the Cloud forest. Stuvan and Ari enjoyed in many deep discussions, with Stuvan sharing his scientific knowledge and insights well absorbed by Ariana’s intense listening interspersed by some challenging questions. It was intriguing to watch them interact, so different but yet so deep into conversation. We enjoyed chatting with Adi and viewing the exhibits, particularly the interactive ones.

We then proceeded to see Adi’s well appointed post-college apartment where the 3 kids enjoyed playing video games. That evening, the kids enjoyed a slumber party while the 4 is us devoured an 8-course Sichuan meal at Birds of a Feather. Following dinner, we made our way atop the Marina Bay Sands to the Sky Bar for cocktails. We then transitioned over to C’est La Vie where I created a game asking everyone to embody the accent of the country from which their cocktail originated. This resulted in an entertaining mishmash of Colombian (Anjali) British (Bhamini, switching between proper and cockney on demand) and midwest American (Dhiren) while Gaurav didnt participate, much to my disappointment. Several rounds of shots later, we hit the dance floor and the night ended with us jamming to and singing Above and Beyond in the taxi ride home. Overall, such a fun time! Thank you to the Sarin family for hosting us so warmly in your home.

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Indonesia part 2 – Gili T & Lombok

After a week in Bali with my parents, we were off to explore parts of Indonesia we hadn’t visited. We took a 1.5 hour Grab to Padang bai port to catch a fast boat to Gili Trawangan (Gili T), largest of 3 Gili islands just off the coast of Lombok. Our boat was late, so we grabbed some local lunch and got a foot massage while we waited. Ayaan has gotten so used to the SE asian culture of foot massages! The fast boat took a couple of hours and Ariana enjoyed dancing on the top floor of the fast boat with mommy.

Our two nights at Gili T were probably the most fun of our summer adventure so far. Gili T is a small island with only bikes and horse carts on a 7km road around the island. A 2km strip has everything you can imagine – cooking classes, mini golf, hotels, restaurants with live music, multiple Irish bars, wine stores and many beach bars. Between the three islands it’s a complete independent ecosystem that is so easy to navigate. We loved our stay at the Pearl of Trawangan, at the south side of the strip with a lovely pool, and highly recommend it for its great service, facilities and location. After a swim in the sea and a dip in the pool, we spent the evening exploring the night market where they grill everything under the sun – from crabs to octopus. We ate grilled fish at the beach at Scallywags and it was delicious and just what the doctor ordered after an overdose of traditional Indonesian food. After dinner, Anjali and I put the kids to sleep, and ended the night enjoying some of favorite rock songs played live a couple of blocks away at a beach bar. Ayaan woke me up at 3am to watch the Spain – France Euro Cup semi final at an Irish bar. We were lucky to watch the only three goals for the 30 mins we were there!

On our second day in Gili, we rented bikes for all four of us and rode all around the island which was incredibly fun for the kids. We navigated through streets filled with people and horse carts, and spent an hour swimming with a turtle off Turtle beach! (It literally took us 2 minutes to find a turtle). Our afternoon comprised of a cook class where we cooked Four of a Kind – peanut sauce with Pan fried tempeh, mie goreng, a curry, and a pandan dessert. Ariana and Ayaan not only cooked well, but ate even better. The rest of the day we biked around the island, and ate dinner at the Malibu sunset bar. The kids got a pony ride on the beach, while we sipped Prosecco. For our last night on Gili T, we took the kids for ice cream and to listen to some live music.

On our last morning on the island, we biked to our private snorkeling tour. The Gili islands are famous for diving and snorkeling, and our experience did not disappoint. Over two hours, we swam at eye level with turtles, saw blue coral and an underwater statue at Gili Meno, and floated among thousands of fish. We cannot wait to come back to Gili, and explore Meno and Air next time as well. Wish we had a few more days…

Our final destination in Indonesia was Lombok, a sleepy and green island that reminded us of Kauai. Unlike Bali, it’s much quieter with no traffic and majority of the population is Muslim instead of Hindu. We took a private 15 min boat to Bangsal pier and were picked up right at the beach outside our hotel in Gili T. We stayed at the Sheraton Senggigi on the west side of the island, with an incredible sandy beach, and the resort had a slide in the pool. Ariana’s favorite part was feeding and walking the cats on the beach every evening. Walking a few steps along Senggigi beach, there were a few beach shacks that reminded us of Goa, though much more sleepier.

We spent a day on a tour to the famous Tiu Kelep waterfall on the north side of the island, with views of Mount Rinjani. It was a long 2 hour drive from our hotel (the island is huge), and unfortunately both Ayaan and Ariana threw up multiple times as we arrived. We suspect it was the noodle soup at breakfast. Both of them were troopers though as we first visited a traditional mosque and a local Sasak village. That was followed by a moderate hike to the Tiu Kelep waterfall, including a few river crossings. The waterfall was stunning once we got there, and we were able to go right under it with its strong force and chilly water. Definitely worth the trip.

The rest of our time was fairly low key as we all needed a down day after four weeks of travel, and the kids needed a couple of days to get over the stomach bug. We hung out around the beach and pool, played tennis, got massages, and ordered in room service. Ayaan and Anjali went on a jet ski ride that they thoroughly enjoyed. With almost 2 weeks in Indonesia, we were all ready for Singapore and to meet friends and family.

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Indonesia part 1 – Bali

After visiting Ayaan’s 40th country (Japan), we arrived in Bali via Kuala Lumpur. My parents arrived from Mumbai two hours after us, and we planned to spend a week together in Nusa Dua and Ubud. Ayaan and Ariana were very excited to get another week of family time, this one with dada and dadi.

Our first destination was to relax and get some pool and beach time at the Ritz Carlton Nusa Dua for four nights. The first couple of days were a bit overcast though the weather did get lovely after that, and we made the most of it by taking advantage of the resorts programming. Ariana enjoyed the kids club where she made cupcakes, made new friends, and went down the water slide. I enjoyed a massage at the spa and got some much needed gym-time. All of us engaged in making Dudur Gulung, a local dessert just like a pancake made with pandas leaves and filled with palm sugar and coconut, and in a cooking class making fish satay and sambal. Anjali and dadi took a Balinese dance lesson, while Ayaan took buggy rides around the resort.

Every evening we stepped out of the resort to explore different neighborhoods (Sanur and Nusa Dua), get foot massages, and eat some local food with live music. Ayaan got pampered with his first foot massages that he thoroughly enjoyed, and Ariana got braids and did her nails. On our last night in Nusa Dua, Anjali and I left the kids with the grandparents and ventured out for a fun night out at Rock bar and the After Rock nightclub (our first in a few years).

Our next and final destination in Bali was a stay at a private villa with a pool in Sayan, on the outskirts of Ubud. It was a very different experience than staying in a large resort, and we all enjoyed the serene view and peace at the villa, a few km away from the craziness of Ubud. We did have our first misadventure at the villa though, when some money was stolen from our bags in the room.

The drive to Ubud from Nusa Dua was two hours, and we stopped at the Monkey forest on the way to the villa. Ariana was fascinated watching the monkeys interact with each other and the visitors. After a delicious rijsttafel meal at Gedang Sisi Warung, we watched a traditional Legong dance show at the lit up Ubud Palace.

Anjali had planned a surprise ATV tour for Ayaan the next day, and the three of us set out early. Dada, dadi and Ariana had their own adventure visiting Tanah lot temple and eating some dosa. The ATV tour was definitely the highlight of our Bali adventure. We spent two hours driving our ATVs through rivers, caves, villages, hills and mud tracks. Ayaan had the time of his life driving the ATV with Anjali’s help. Our reward was lunch and drinks at a pool club overlooking the rice terraces, where we spent a few hours relaxing. After reuniting that evening, we all had an amazing dinner at a gazebo on the water watching the sunset at Bebek Tebasari. Anjali and I took another opportunity to get some cocktails at the Pinstripe bar at the Viceroy which was recommended and lived up to its reputation (they even had an amuse bouche and dessert drinks to supplement our cocktails).

On our last full day in Bali we rented a car to take us to the north side of Bali. Our first stop was breakfast at Sayan Point with a wonderful view of rice terraces, the river and forests. Next we stopped at the famous Tegalalang rice terraces where the kids enjoyed “hiking” up and down the fields. We briefly visited the holy springs temple before driving up to the peak of Mount Batur, with its cooler temperatures and sprawling views of Lake Batur and surrounding forests. At this point, we became accustomed to eating Nasi and Mie Goreng for most of our meals. Ayaan has been very amused that chicken is called Ayam in the local language. On our way back to the villa after a long day, we made a final stop at a coffee plantation where we learnt about how coffee is made, including Luak coffee, and got to taste 13 different teas and coffees.

For our last meal in Bali with the grandparents, we had planned to go to the popular Cafe Lotus. However, the infamous Bali traffic had us stuck for 45 minutes and we decided to eat at a random restaurant named Brie, which turned out to be our best meal in Bali! After a fun family week in Bali, we bid farewell to the grandparents and continued onwards on our adventure in Indonesia.

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Adios India

After a wonderful time in SE Asia, we spent our final 3 weeks in India before we head back to America. As we expected the final few weeks in India were quite hectic – from friends and family visiting, a couple of short trips (including Goa), trying new restaurants, spending time with family and trying to figure out next steps (which also meant we were on quite a few calls at night). The weather got much nicer and cooler, although a bit smokier. Traffic got much worse as the holidays approached and NRIs poured in. And the holiday mood set in with Christmas lights and festivities everywhere. Ayaan and Ariana wrapped up school with a Christmas party and boat trip, and as we’ve become accustomed to they learnt the festive songs of “we wish you a merry Christmas”, “jingle bells” and “rudolf”. Their best moments were the CCI Christmas party with cotton candy and rides, and Kidzania where Ayaan loved being a delivery boy and pilot, and Ariana a policewoman and firewoman. Ayaan’s became a fast rider of his bike, albeit still with training wheels. And Ariana is the cutest monster who is still having potty training accidents. We gave up on any effort of getting a nanny and that made our life much happier and easier. I’ve spent a lot of time reading (more than a dozen books) with highlights including Elon Musk’s biography and The Art of Thinking Clearly. Anjali and I once again barely got any time together, all of it mostly sitting in traffic.

My sister Sonil and nephew Siddharth visited us in Mumbai for a few days and it was great so spend time together as a family. We even went on a one night getaway to nearby Lonavala. We stayed at a nice Airbnb called Raheja Cascades, and spent a lot of time hanging out, playing Monopoly cards, chilling in the pool, eating local Maharastrian home cooked food and sitting by the bonfire. Anjali and Ariana decided to stay back in Mumbai and spend time with her family. Our friend Vaishnavi from SF also visited us and we had a fantastic meal at Masque, a unique 10 course experience from the chef trained at Noma and French Laundry. Thank you to friends and family for visiting. Lastly we celebrated an early Birthday for my mom, since we are leaving a few days before, at Bombay Canteen, now rated the #1 restaurant in India run by Cornell MMH alum, that made Anjali smile. Being with family on special occasions is such a joy.

Our highlight of our almost 2.5 month India stay has been seeing the kids and especially Ayaan completely transform into an Indian little boy, including the Indian head nod, doing puja, picking up the phone and opening the door, enjoying the local food and speaking many Hindi word, phrases and singing songs. Having them experience the Indian culture through all the festivals over the 4 months has been magical. The other highlight is how close the kids and once again especially Ayaan have gotten to their grandparents. He is going to miss them incredibly and is already looking forward to them visiting. Big thanks to our parents for hosting us, bearing with us and taking care of the kids. We’ll definitely miss India, and feel so fortunate and thankful to have been able to do this. Memories for life!

Posted on by adusija

Goa

Gaurav and I managed to squeeze in a little getaway without the kids before we leave India. I hadn’t been to Goa in nearly 15 years save for our wedding which was such a whirlwind. Gaurav hadn’t really experienced the real Goa in his younger years because of a bike accident on his second day in Goa. So, we were excited to head (back) to one of India’s biggest party places! And a party it was! By the end of our first day there, we’d each consumed 10 drinks…We landed in time for a late lunch and headed to the famous ‘Souza Lobo’ for some Goan prawn curry and calamari recheados washed down with local beer. After checking in to the Le Meridien, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool enjoying bloodies. After getting dressed for the evening, we headed to the hotels rooftop where Gaurav was thrilled to get his favorite ‘double apple shisha’ which we paired with rose. We watched the sun set into the Arabian Sea with the beats of a local DJ, also known locally as a ‘sundowner’. Next up, Gaurav wanted to experience a traditional beach shack which Goa is famous for, so we headed to Brittos which has many memories for me. While it’s become more ‘upscale’ than I remember it, it still had a similar vibe and we enjoyed dipping our toes into the sand as we ate some spiced calamari cooked with onions and peppers and drank some local port wine (Goa has strong Portuguese influences since it has once ruled by them). It was karaoke night and we decided to sing a fairly off-beat rendition of ‘wonder wall’ before we escaped from Brittos and walked down the beach passing tens of other beach shacks, each playing their own dance music. We stopped by ‘Titos’, a club that is another Goan institution. It was early but we got a couple of drinks and heard some old EDM favorites from the 90’s before heading to Fiesta for dinner. A romantic candle-lit restaurant, Fiesta didn’t disappoint. We then hopped into a taxi to Cohiba where we spent the rest of the night. I loved the 10-person live band and we joined in the dancing as we continued to imbibe fresh fruit mojitos.

The next morning, we enjoyed a lavish breakfast consisting of made to order dosas, parathas and other delicious Indian staples. We then headed over to the W (a large wedding block forced us out the previous night but they made up for it by upgrading us to a fantastic 2-bedroom villa overlooking the beach). Check in consisted of two bottles of beer and a buggy ride to our villa. We headed straight to the pool and then, still relatively hungover, decided it was time for a short nap. When hunger called, we made way to a late lunch at Olive, a hip restaurant set on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The Goan chorizo and mozzarella po-boy and calamari 3-ways including a Japanese-inpired sesame-panko crusted version were delightful. We caught an ‘auto’ back to the hotel and lounged at the hammock in our villa for a bit. We later strolled down to the beautiful Rock pool for the sundowner. This venue is a scene due to its beautiful setting over a cliff with a DJ, shisha and over-the-top service. The best from all over Goa apparently flock to the W rock pool for sunset and we were able to snag one of the best spots. What a great experience it was! The sky exploded into a myriad of colors as the sun journeyed down into the sea.

Once it was dark, we headed over to a Rudy’s, a bar and grill that a friend of mine had opened just a few days before. I’d forgotten that it’s not quite to easy / safe to walk in india after dark and the narrow alley made me queasy. I was relived when we arrived! We enjoyed some delicious home-made Beef tacos, prawns and chicken wings with bourbon cocktails for Gaurav and margheritas for me. Next up, we had reservations at Gun Powder which had just been ranked the top 20 restaurant in India. The Andhra prawn curry and stir fried okra with flaky parathas and appams did not disappoint! We ended the night back at the lobby bar of the W, fairly exhausted!

Another fantastic breakfast greeted us the next morning. We then climbed to chapora fort which offered stunning vistas of the W and the Arabian Sea. We ended with a walk on the beach before retreating to our villa. We hit the rock pool when it opened and after a couple of beers, we ended our stay with lunch back at Olive! Thank you to the grandparents for caring for the kids while we got some couple time together.

Posted on by adusija

Phuket, Thailand

After a couple of hectic weeks in South East Asia, we spent the next and our last week in the region on the relaxing island of Phuket. We arrived by a 2 hour Air Asia flight and were picked up by the hotel and transferred to the Naka Island, Luxury Collection by a speed boat, a tiny island off the coast of Phuket. Ayaan loved the experience including ringing the gong on reaching the island and sitting in his favorite buggy. The check in experience was great as they took us straight to our room which was very helpful since Ariana was sleeping. We were upgraded to a beautiful villa overlooking the bay and islands with a private pool, a private hut and an outdoor soaking tub. Over the next 3 days we spent many hours lounging in our villa and ordered room service several times. The main pool was fantastic as well with a large area for kids to run around. The beach had soft white sand and the water was shallow, and the kids and I spent several hours digging muddy puddles to splash in. Our agenda over the 3 days was essentially non-existent as we spent the mornings in the pool and beach after a great breakfast, chilled in our private pool and hut while the kids napped, and took the kids for ice cream and to the game room in the evening. Ayaan attended a cooking class in which he enjoyed making chocolate sticks with sprinkles. He was very amused when he found a frog in the soaking tub one of the days! We got a babysitter one night and had dinner at the upscale My Grill restaurant onsite. The only downside really were the mosquitoes and bugs, and Ariana often asked “will you scratch my owie?”. It was a great relaxing 3 days for all of us as we all got a major tan.

After a wonderful 3 night stay at Naka Island, we took a boat and taxi to our final hotel of the trip – the Le Meriden located close to the busy and touristy Patong. We were ready for some action after a relaxing stay at Naka Island. The Le Meredien is a large hotel with 500+ rooms and some of the best and largest pools we’ve seen. It has one of the most magnificent beaches with calm, warm water, white sandy beaches surrounded by lush green tropical forests. The kids enjoyed the kids club with both an indoor and outdoor area. The staff was nice to provide a baby potty, stepping stool and a bottle warmer. Anjali loved the fact that they had live music everywhere and the balcony in our room was located right above where the live shows were every night which was great entertainment as the kids slept. On our second night we got a babysitter at night and explored the infamous Patong district, especially Bangla road and it’s branching Sois. We spent the evening listening to some of favorites from the 90s played by a rock band and capped off the night with some hookah.

Next morning we took the all day cruise to Ko Phi Phi islands on the Blu Anda catamaran, since we figured it would be safer with the kids. In our almost 6 month journey this was our first all day tour/trip, so Anjali and I were both nervous. The kids did amazingly well and the tour was very well organized – we highly recommend it. We spent the day cruising the stunning blue-green waters on the catamaran stopping for snorkeling at the Monkey beach first. The sand was incredibly white and soft and the water was crystal clear with colorful coral and diverse fish. It was my first time snorkeling after LASIK and it made the recovery worth it! We then stopped at Phi Phi Don for a Thai lunch overlooking another stunning shallow beach overlooking the limestone cliffs. After lunch we cruised to Phi Phi Le for another snorkeling adventure at Tonsai bay which was cut short a bit with some rain. We ended our adventure with a sail around Phi Phi Le including a visit to Maya Bay (made famous by the “The Beach”). Maya bay beach was closed for environmental recovery but the sight itself was stunning. The kids napped on our sail back to the pier and in the minibus ride back to the hotel. We were exhausted after the day trip but decided to go for a nice family Thai dinner downstairs Including some yummy Tom Kha.

We spent our last day chilling on the beach and in the pool, hanging in the kids club, and Anjali and I had a chance to get a beach massage each! The kids have definitely gotten more of a handful during this SE Asia leg partly because of their age and partly because they’ve lost some discipline. But did we have a blast? – “Ummm Yess” as Ariana says. Off to Bombay for a final 3 weeks before we head back west to America and say goodbye to Asia. Thailand we’ll miss you, especially the Pad See Ew!