Kerala, India
usual routine, i.e breakfast, reading the newspaper, waiting for others to come into the office. my mind was totally about the trip. we already informed client and media owners that we would be closed from 8-12 oct. so, not much to follow up that morning. slowly, one by one came into the office with their luggages. big and small. heavy and light. i didnt bring mine because it was crazy to lug the luggage onboard KTM and Monorail. i opted to leave from home with Lee.
eyes were on the watch. time passed slowly. checked emails, logged into facebook, personal emails, all could not wait to leave the office. about 11.30am, Lee & me were some of the early ones who left the office. we had to reach the airport by 2.55pm for check-in.
yes! finally the trip materialised. after a 'delayed' earlier in august, we were happy that it was ON again. checked the weather forecast, the next 10 days would be raining. DAMN! not again? last trip to HK was disasater. rain poured merciless when we were outdoor. for this trip, we were mentally and physically prepared for the rain. raincoats and umbrellas where the "must-bring" items.
we transitted at Changi Airport. there was no direct flight to Kochi. by the time we touched down, it was 1045pm local time. our body time was 12+ midnight. outside the airport, the first thing i saw was a local car, a white car which i usually see in Tamil movies. i screamed "it's exactly the same in TV". (the jakun me)
#1 : the car
we boarded the bus and headed to our first hotel, Taj Malabar. all of us were exhausted. couldnt wait to hit the bed. me & Quin got the last room along the corridor. my heart jumped a beat. last room. hmm... heard too many stories about getting the not-so-good room. anyway, i just kept quiet, hoping that it would be a peaceful sleep for both of us. Quin said a prayer when i slotted the key to open the door. hahaha.. looks like both of us just had the same thought.
the room was pretty. we were facing the river. we made a conclusion that it was a honeymoon suite, because of the queen bed and also the 'see-through' bathroom. hahaha. we hit the sack around 1am. tired! Mk called our room, telling us to wake up early if we wanted to catch a glimpse of dolphins. sunrise was at about 6am. HUH? that early. i told her, we would be there if we could wake up.
we woke up around 530am. the sky slowly brighten. we could hear ships passed by, honking their way through. Quin stared at the river, no dolphins in sight. felt cheated! haha. since we had to check out by 9am, so we headed for breakfast. while waiting for the coffehouse to open at 7am, we lingered at the waterfront of the hotel. we saw MK sitting there. "any luck with dolphins?".. "no.."... breakfast was really delicious. the night before when we were in the lift to our room, we complained about hunger. one of the guest who was in the lift with us told us that the food at Taj Malabar was good. and proven, it was really good!
#2 : view from Taj Malabar
checked out around 930am and we headed Kumarakom, to visit Hill Palace at Thripunitura. it is the largest archaelogical museum in Kerala and the security was really tight. we had to surrender our bags and leave all digital cameras and handphones at the counter. we just walked around and after an hour, we took a group photo and left the place.
#3 : the narrow road that bus passed by without slowing down
we headed towards Radisson Resort where we would be staying put for a night. it was another beautiful resort. free & easy for the afternoon. we decided to go for the ayurvedic massage. Kerala is famous for ayurvedic massage. it's a must do activity! we went straight to the spa for appointment. we heard that it was almost fully booked! we skipped lunch and opted for massage. we were that desprate to do it. and they were so kind to ask the coffeehouse to hold the buffet for us until 3.30pm so that we could have our lunch after the massage.
i chose the Shirodhara masage, an immesely relaxing theraphy where warm medicated oil is continually streamed over the forehead. cost? 4,000 rupee. after tax, 5,094. i only had 5,000 rupee with me. no worry, there is always ViSA.
my first experience of whole body massage by a male therapist. my heart stopped a while when he told me to turn around for the front body massage. *gulp*.... ok. hold my breath. and turned. i was tensed. i just closed my eyes and let him do his work. done. and it was time for the oil streaming on the forehead. i loved it. relaxing after the tensed momemnt of front body massage. hahaha. when the whole session ended, it was time to run to coffeehouse for late lunch. i was joined later by Quin and MY. three of us shared our experience and had a good laugh of being massaged by male. :P i never thought i would went through that session. my friend said it was an eroctic and exotic session. how true.. :)
#4 : the view i faced while practising yoga at Radisson Resort
the next day, we left the hotel and boarded a boathouse for another night. we headed towards Alleppey. i enjoyed the cruise along the backwater very much. the weather was good during our stay there. the god of Sun was with us. the clearblue sky. the scenic sunset. the coconut trees.
#5 : the sunset along backwater
we just lingered around the boathouse, taking pictures, cam-whoring, and sun-bathed at the front of the boat. a shade darker after the trip. the boathouse was facilitated with bedrooms, attached bathroom, kitchen and living porch.
#6 : the view from my boathouse room
we stopped at Punnamada Resort for lunch and Lake Palaca (Backwater Resort) for dinner. we only had teabreak in the boathouse. boss gave only the best food to us. there was a Kathakali dance show before dinner. it is a pantomime which performing artiste does not sing or speak.
#6 : Kathakali dancers
12th Oct, we left the boathouse and headed back to Kochin city for our shopping session. due to some delayed, our shopping trip was shorten. we had lunch at Ramada Hotel before we were left at the city for 1 1/2 hour to shop. what? 1 1/2 hour? it was not enough. i only managed to buy 7 boathouses as souveniers. no saree, no punjabi suites, no textile. it was just too rush. i didnt want to buy something just for the sake of buying.
by 6.30pm, we went to Lotus 8 Apartment Hotel to freshen up and also had our dinner before we went to airport. our flight was at 11.15pm to Singapore. it was a very quick shower for 4 of us in a 1-bathroom apartment. 1/2 hour, we were ready for dinner. that was really quick for us! we said bye bye to Kochin at 11.45pm. the flight was delayed, which was not unusual according to those who frequently fly to India. due to the delay, we could not make it for our transit flight back to KL. hence, we waited for about an hour, before we boared the 815am flight.
overall, it was an enjoyable trip! i did my first whole body massage in the Land of Coconut tree. i practised yoga with my therapist in the Land of Coconut tree. i was shown the style of living of the backwater communities in the Land of Coconut tree. nothing to shout about, but when i showed the photos to my family and friends, they made a conclusion. "it was really relaxing". i could not agree more.
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