I'll Be Back

This time tomorrow I will be on a flight to Kuala Lumpur for 4 nights followed by 16 nights in and around Sydney.



WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The 'Dam

Some people know think that I am musically challenged. I’m also very unlucky at scoring tickets to concerts I want to see.

So when Take That (complete with Robbie Williams!) announced their tour dates and I found out I would be in Germany at the time they went on sale, I knew I had no hope but was optimistic nonetheless. Leaving strict instructions with my siblings to endeavour to get some, I thought this would be my time. But no. It wasn’t.

So when their European tickets went on sale, I said I was getting some and that would be that! And I did. I managed to secure 3 tickets to their concert in Amsterdam at Amstel Arena (Ajax’s football stadium which was enough in itself to excite me!). And then Take That went and announced more tour dates in Britain – my luck is so bad it’s not worth talking about.

However, Amsterdam 2011 was planned and I have just returned from what was an amazing trip (no illegal substances pun intended). There was a little scare when I heard this but thankfully Monday night RW stepped onto the stage and pretty much smashed the ball out of the park vocally.

TT were incredible. The show production was amazing and the atmosphere inside the venue was electric. There are no words that can do it justice.

But it wasn’t just the show. It was the fact that I spent 4 days with my siblings enjoying stupid jokes, eating crappy food, relishing the crap weather and watching Outsourced (which you must watch – I love Gupta!).

I will post some photos (not that I took many) but just a quick post to explain for the absence.

Coming back to work to a shitload of emails is the worst thing about going on holiday though!

25 Days in 2011

No not a new film.#

25 days annual leave a year is just not enough. :(

14 - 18 July: Amsterdam to see Take That perform!

02 - 24 September: Sydney, Australia via Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia (4 nights).

Total number of days taken: 20. :( And that's not even thinking about all the ad hoc holidays I'll need!

(I've already started scoping out where the best places to party are but all suggestions are welcome!)

Pre-Christmas Gripe

I know I haven't blogged but it's been a busy month and I have yet to upload my Athens or Budapest photos but those posts will follow over the next few days (she said quite optimistically!).

Athens was interesting - and here comes my gripe. Recently heartbroken girl (me btw!), newly married friend (B) and recently engaged friend(St) travelling. A lil' sympathy wouldn't go amiss right? I mean - I am happy to embrace all things wedding and coupley but seriously - all the fucking time?! Give me a break. There were more times than I would have liked where I was totally excluded from the conversation. You'd think that as my friends - they would have sensed the tone but apparently my lack of input into the 500th of these conversations didn't make a difference!

And as the weather worsens in Britain, my lack of not attempting to travel to B's Christmas dinner has been discretely broadcast against me on FB! I'm sorry - because I was sensible and didn't want to risk my life or my car, I'm a bad friend.

And here begins the first of my resolutions for 2011

• Stop trying to please everybody.

Frequent Flyer

October 28 2010 - November 02 2010: Frankfurt

Somewhere in the middle of November: Paris

November 25 2010 - November 28 2010: Athens

Beginning of December: Budapest

Published Without a Title!

I want to go and see Ellie Goulding live.

I want NEED a holiday. I'm dead set on Thailand but now that everyone is married - I need someone to go with!

:(

Ad Hoc

It is 11:34 PM and I am at work. In Dublin.

It's awesome isn't it? My manager called me up at about 14:00 earlier today and asked if I had anything urgent planned for the next two days. When I said no, she basically went "You're going to Dublin". Well she actually asked if I wouldn't mind and I definitely didn't mind. So I rushed home, packed, grabbed my passport and landed in Dublin about 4 hours ago.

Oh the life of a corporate high flier! :P :S


P.S. There's so much I'd like to write about so much stuff but only so much that I think I can share. When did blogging become so difficult?

Status Update

The weekend was spent celebrating Appa's 60th. It meant that the alcoholic parent (AP) could have a field day. Saturday was spent with a few of his friends and their families. Families meaning their young children. Entertaining and playing host is hard enough for me and siblings when we're running in and out of the kitchen trying to feed people, pour drinks and even make a cup of tea. But when we're faced with 4 year olds, as good as we are with children, we just don't have enough toys in our house to keep them entertained! The AP was on good form though. Drank, chatted and managed to take themselves off to bed without ruining it for everyone.

The Sunday was family day. I love coming from a big family. Don't get me wrong it has its disadvantages - plenty of them but I have so many cousins and aunts and uncles with whom I get along well and enjoy seeing every once in a while! Highlight of my day was looking for my Sithappa (who had a bit too much to drink) and finding him passed out on my brother's bed! I'll upload a photo of the beautiful cake that I had made.

I have a new job. In fact, I've had it since before Christmas but I haven't started yet. I start next week and guess what? They're sending me to Switzerland for training purposes! How exciting is that? I've never been in a foreign city by myself though and the idea is a lil' daunting!

And I have a blind date on Saturday.

Clearly I wouldn't have been able to fit this all onto my FB status update!

India - Finally!

I did manage to keep some kind of daily journal whilst I was there but rather than expose you to my (crappy) handwriting, I'm going to type it out. It'll be in a few parts so if you are remotely interested - please try and read them in order in the hope that they'll make some sense!

"Never again" I vowed to myself about 14 years ago. Never again will I travel on this bloody airline but what to do when they offer the cheapest fare to your destination of choice?! In times of credit crunching, you can't afford to be picky right? And so the journey begins at London Heathrow airport (LHR) with the captain announcing that there'll be a 45 minute delay due to air clearance (or something that sounds remotely aeronautically technical!) over Brussels!

I inwardly groan at the fact that I am putting myself through this again (my first experience with this airline started with a 5 hour delay!). As the plane finally takes off, I consider the journey that lays ahead of me - dosas, temples and a country that closely resembles SL. The flight itself is uneventful - a lil' turbulence to scare me slightly, the food leaving a lot to be desired and Krispy Kreme donuts purchased at LHR that I am thankful for!

Now ours was not a direct flight. Hell that's why it was so cheap! (LHR - Mumbai - Chennai) So imagine my concern when the captain announces a delay in landing - especially since we have another flight to catch!

Disembarking from the plane at Mumbai, the first thing that hits me (quite literally!) is the smell - it's not good! After that, it's the sense of panic that we might miss our connecting flight. This is clearly the same feeling as many of the other passengers leaving the plane who are barging past me with their hand luggage. Some that resembles the size of my hold luggage!!

The organisational skills of staff at Mumbai airport leave me somewhat bewildered (no point getting stressed!). I am very British in my ways - queuing is not beyond me yet as a Tamil, I know what to expect amongst other South Asians. I felt very sorry for the Caucasian people who were on their first trip to the country!

With 15 minutes until the departure of my connecting flight, I make it to the boarding gate. I get on the bus thingy that is going to take me to the aircraft. The temperature outside is apparently 30 degrees (I landed at 2:30 in the morning!) so I'm aghast as to what it might be during the day! I stand on this bus for about half an hour roasting as more and more people are piled on. BUT far from being stressed or annoyed, I'm loving it!

Our flight to Chennai leaves 45 minutes after our scheduled time and we manage to safely arrive at our final destination. A further 40 minutes as our temperatures are scanned by a scary looking gun type thing (36.6) in a bid to contain swine flu. And finally I manage to collect my bags and leave Chennai airport.

Apologising profusely to the driver who's come to pick us up, I soak in the lights as we drive to the hotel. As competent as I am in Tamil, the difference between South Indian Tamil and the Jaffna Tamil spoken at home left me asking him to repeat what he was saying at least twice! I agree to whichever hotel he suggests seeing as all I wanted some sleep.

I am clearly a closet freshie at heart because nothing (except the smell slightly) seems to faze me!

The first two days are spent exploring Chennai and it's surrounding areas before we start our crazy temple tour.

The highlight for me is Mahabalipuram. The ancient rocks carvings with such intrinsic detail leave me somewhat in awe.

Apologies for all the text and lack of photos in this post. The next few will be photos and less text!

The Happenings

What is it about men who can play a musical instrument and/or sing that just makes them so damn HOT talented?! I may have met the hottest most talented guy I know (no it wasn't Mr Darkside - sorry Gehan!) on my recent trip but more about that later.

I am back from India and have a whole load of posts and blogs to catch up on. Those who have been blogging far too often - geeee thanks! I have to read all your posts and comments to get some small idea of what's been going on. Those of you who haven't - I couldn't love you more! :)

And I go away for 4 weeks and so much happens - bloody hell! Especially when there's been a wedding! Congratulations Isheeta! :)

India review/photos coming very shortly.

Update from India

This is going to be a very quick post with no sentence structure, poor grammar and crappy spellings!

I have another 10 minutes before my internet time runs out!

Reached Chennai in the middle of the night (3:00 AM ish) about 10 days ago. The temperature was about 30 degrees! CRAZY! It only got hotter during the day!

Started touring the temples (you got to love my Amma!). Roughly - the trip was something along the lines of Chennai - Trichy - Madurai - Kanyakumari - and currently in Kovalam (Kerala).
Kerala is beautiful! And the people are so nice! And the shopping is awesome! :)

I met this beautiful lil' boy with the best smile ever! Photos when I get a chance to upload them!

Less Blogging

In 72 hours, I will be in a departure lounge waiting for my flight to be announced.

Destination: Tamil Nadu - India.

I can not wait!

My friend from high school is getting married out there so I thought I'd go (I was invited!) and make the most of it. I have never been to India before so am extremely excited.

Whilst making my way through Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Pondicherry (not to mention all the other lil ' villages!) and last but not least Kerala before I arrive at the destination of the wedding, I will be taking an infinite amount of (rubbish) photos but it's going to be great! And the pound is not doing so badly against the Indian rupee! I think that I may be more excited about the food more so than anything else!

4 weeks of limited blogging and blog reading but oh so worth it!

Oops!

I may have just booked my next holiday without planning to! Not such a bad thing I hear you cry.... Well, I haven't told my parents yet! :S

The Love Affair Is Over (!)

I didn't think that it would end like this. All it took was 6 days! 6 days breathing and living it. For those of you that knew, I was in New York a couple of weeks ago. Up until this trip - New York had been one of my favourite places. Always busy - the hustle and bustle of it all, the fact that whenever you're in Manhattan it feels as though you've stepped onto a set of a film or Friends, the fact that everything is celebrated OTT amongst so much more.

But by the end of the 6 days, I'd had enough. Maybe it was because of who I went with (siblings and S - the ex).
Arriving at Heathrow T5 (which looks awesome) - I was filled with that excited anticipation that is expected when you're going on holiday; the prospect of being away in a foreign land without the dramas of being at home! The flight was uneventful and thankfully due to online check in I had managed to bag us all seats by the exits. You know the ones where you always see other people sitting and glare at them enviously because they have so much leg space.

Arriving in JFK, I was happy to be back in NY - it always seemed like a home away from home. We were staying at the Pan American in Queens and they offered a free shuttle service from the airport to the hotel. Saving money is always a bonus so I was well excited when I booked the hotel. Being someone who tries to plan meticulously, I read the reviews about the hotel (do not ever go on TripAdvisor unless you never want to go on holiday ever again!) and was highly prepared for the worst. I kept telling myself that we wouldn't be spending much time in our hotel room so it would be fine. Arriving at the hotel, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't look as bad as I expected but appearances can be deceiving. I'm one of these people that judge the quality of a hotel by the quality of the bathroom. And suffice to say - it was very nice.

Despite physically being prepared for the cold, mentally none of us were. The days were spent wondering around Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn in a cold daze. It was unbelievably cold but we ran out of things to do after about 4 days.

If we had more time, we could have done so much more but due to the fact that I was travelling with a group who weren't really interested in doing anything apart from shopping and the normal (overrated) sights, I ended up being quite disappointed.

I will go back to NY at some point but not for a long time yet!

Last Post

Of the day!

Quick update:

Sister graduated - yay! Had job interview today and has a second interview tomorrow - more yay!

I saw Michael McIntyre live on Friday night (you tube him - you won't be disappointed. I am being lazy so will put up the link over the weekend!). He was amazing. So funny and such good clean humour! Love it!

And last but not least - New York in 2 weeks! Woooooo!! *does Chandler-esque dance*

Sorry for the bombardment of posts!

Cuba 2007 - Apologies for the length!

This time last year I was 4 weeks away from a very meticulously planned trip to Cuba. Obviously I didn't blog then but I'm feeling reflective so here it is in hindsight.

Around May 2007, a few of us decided that we wanted to go on holiday. So many destinations were thrown around the cauldron and I honestly don't know how or why Cuba was chosen but it was. And guess who got lumbered with trying to organise everything - yep, good ol' dependable Scrumps. I don't know what you guys are like but I am one of these travellers that read reviews of hotels, things to do, buy the guide book, see which time of year is the best to go amongst many other things. I try to plan so that I get the most out of my holiday because I never know if I will visit that place ever again. We settled on visiting three different places in Cuba and by some miraculous tour company managed to find a great deal which included all our hotels, flights and internal transfers. I was pleased to say the least.

So who came? Myself, A, RL, SS (RL's then bf) and G ( a girl who I didn't know all that well but RL did. I'd say we are an eclectic mix who probably only had a few things in common but off we went.

Our first point of call was Santiago de Cuba on the Eastern coast of Cuba. What struck me the most was how much it reminded me of SL. The simple life. People sitting in doorways and just hanging out. The simplicity of it all. The hotel wasn't great. But apparently by Cuba's standards, it was top notch. But we're not the type to complain - we make do with what we have. The only great thing about it was it's rooftop terrace. The night of A's birthday, A, G and I went up there with our bottle of rum and cans of coke and stargazed whilst listening to ColdPlay. Shooting stars do exist!

One of the many old cars that graced the "roads" of Cuba!

Santiago is surrounded by hills - hence most things are an uphill walk and needless to say we struggled!

Random guy sitting in his doorway - looks much better in B&W!

We were in SdC for 4 days (a day too long if you ask me) and we managed to fit in a baseball game, a tour around the place, visit the Bacardi home, stargaze and get stopped by the local police who had confused us with the locals! The only thing that was disappointing was the lack of basic food like potatoes and vegetables. The main dish here was rice with beans and pork. It really wasn't that appetising so if you visit here - take some packet food with you! Luckily, on the last day we found a 4 star hotel that served pizza and garlic bread and had cheese.... absolutely lush!

Following SdC, we were transferred to Varadero. An all inclusive resort set on the white sandy beach. Arriving at 2:00 in the morning didn't do anything for our tired moods as we tried to find our hotel rooms for 45 minutes! As morning approached, how grateful were we to find that we could have burgers for breakfast?! And that it was all topped off with a nice swim in the pool and then a walk to the beach... Varadero was awesome! We arranged a few excursions. The first afternoon was a sky dive. I honestly don't know why I agreed to this but I am so glad that I did. To jump out of a plane at 10000ft with a random guy (RG) strapped to your back whilst looking over a clear blue ocean and knowing that you're going to land on find white sand - there is absolutely nothing like it! And inevitable I was the first one out. There was no prepping - just a quick convo between me and the RG about how he would throw me out of the plane when he had finished counting to 3. Honestly - an amazing adrenaline rush. I remember once the parachute had opened, the calmness of being in the air. That floating down as I had a conversation with my RG about where he was from despite the language barrier.

We also managed to arranged a discovery jeep tour which allowed us to do 4x4 driving and the driving of a speedboat. Listening to Return of the Mack (you gotta love Mark Morrison!) and watching the scenery go past. I would post the video but it's too embarrassing for words! We rode horses, held baby alligators and snakes, rode a bull and were scared by dogs. Us with nature at it's very best!

Our last excursion was a catamaran cruise to a small island off of the mainland. This allowed us to go snorkeling in the ocean as well as a swim with dolphins. Again, I can't tell you how awesome this was.

I think I've probably bored you all to death but I'm going to leave our last point of call for my next post!

Oui/Si/Yes

I'm going away again. Nowhere new but still another trip.

I'm off to New York in December for 6 days with my siblings. Taking advantage of the BA sale - that's me! You got to get it where you can right?

I love New York. It's one of my most favourite places that I've been to. I know it's a big city that multicultural which doesn't make it all that dissimilar to London but there are differences. The fact that I can step onto the street at 4:00 and still find yellow cabs buzzing all around, it's the home of Friends and Ugly Betty, the sights - The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero to name but a few and last but by no means least - the accents!

I am a sucker for nice accents. A few that do it for me (and believe me they do!):

• New York(an)
• Chicago(an)
• Toronto(an)
• French - oh dear Lord!
• Spanish
• Welsh

Couple any of these with a tall, dark(or fair), handsome man with manners and a beautiful voice - well I'm pretty much smitten!

Know anyone like that?

Messy Threesomes

Basically I was propositioned to have a threesome with a couple who are both good friends of mine....... No, not really but I thought I'd ensnare you into reading what is most probably a mind numbing post!

I've just returned from Lanzarote with two of my girlfriends - B (best friend) and RL (very good friend). Now B and I go way back - we went to high school together and despite not being best friends (BF) (I feel like I'm in high school using that term but needs must!) at the time - we cemented our relationship as BF when we lived together during university. RL and I have known each other for about 8 years or so and she has become a good friend of mine. I don't tell her all my worldly secrets though (not like I tell you guys!) because she does have a habit of judging people.
Last time I went on holiday with RL and B (and 3 other boys), there was a lil' tension - and we only went away for 3 days! A lot of "I felt left out" feelings. So I wasn't looking forward to the trip so much.
Before we left RL mentioned to both B and I (only half-heartedly) that we shouldn't proclaim our BF-ness! Erm.. okie so we decided to become very conscious if were doing that.
Here you need to concentrate:

RL introduced me to A (male). A is my crush. A and I get along really well despite this (whether he knows or not). I introduced A to B and they also get along very well. When A, B and I are together - we have so much fun. RL and A are not as close as they once were - time, distance and change does not always bode well on friendships.

So obviously as girly holidays go - there's bound to be some deep and meaningfuls and a lot of talk of sex. One night, after a few drinks and revelations galore, everything was going really well. We came back from a night of clubbing and I was ready to sleep - B tells me that I care for A more than her and RL stirs the pot saying that I do spend a lot of time with him. I tell B not to be silly. That I love her and she comes before A. Always. RL says that she feels left out when A and I go out or do things together. Even more so when A, B and I do stuff! And so there were tears and tantrums and a completely bewildered Scrumpy! WTF just happened?! RL asking why I don't love her as much as B?! B asking why I don't love her as much as A?! All this at 5 in the morning! Clearly my mental capacity was unable to cope with this so I kinda went to sleep!

The following morning - our apartment was so silent. RL announced she was going for a walk. B was still asleep. So off went RL, B had a coughing fit so I checked she was OK. And then B apologised and told me how RL had been saying stuff when I was having a shower and stuff basically making her doubtful (Stirring like nobody's business!)!

The point of this is though - can you have a threesome of girls be good/best friends? How many of you are a threesome of best friends?

The moral of this: Never to go on holiday with RL again and clearly never tell anyone about when I'm seeing A!

The Wanderer Returns

With regard to this, I'm back. I didn't realise how many blogs I read until I came back and realised that I have an ginormous amount to catch up on!

Canada was awesome! I had the most amazing time and not because I was out partying every night with my friends or seeing hot guys everywhere but because I was with my family. It was that much nicer because it was my dad's side of the family. 3 of his brothers, his nieces and nephews and for me that means a lot of cousins to hang out with.

I could blog about the whole trip but that would be completely boring for you guys., Instead a few highlights:

• Arriving to find my cousin and uncle had come over from the USA to spend a whole week with us.
• Road trip from Montreal to Toronto whilst listening to my aunts and uncle singing old school classic Tamil movie songs.
• Seeing my *not really but kinda* grandparents in Ottawa.
• Getting offered a job in Ottawa.
• Meeting a fellow blogger in Montreal. Ian is lovely - bless his heart. The best part about meeting him though is the interrogation I received from my uncle. "Is he a gangster?!" - No, "How do you know him?" - I just do, "Where are you going?" - I'm not sure, "What are you doing?" - Again, still not sure. "Fine. Leave me his phone number and yours." - OK..... And then watching him hover in the living room when Ian came to pick me up!
• Watching my mum and aunt run through Trudeau Airport for our return flight and then being picked up by one of those people carrier vehicle thingies! So funny to watch!

These are just a few and I will get around to uploading some pictures soon. However, what's praying on my mind now is - the job offer! I wouldn't mind relocating to Canada but the implications behind it.. Am I ready for that kind of move?

Maybe I should give it a go - so I've decided to apply for a whole load of jobs out there. I've got nothing to lose right?

On A Budget

Budget airlines suck. Fair play to them for trying to take on the giants of the aviation world but they are really just not that cost effective.

This would be the perfect time before I start ranting to tell you that I'm having another holiday. Lucky for me, B's sister has timeshares in some holiday apartment thingy and as she can't use it this year, she offered it to B. What this basically means is that we get free accommodation in some resort type place and only have to pay for flights and spending money. Wicked!

We are going to Lanzarote. I don't think it's too sophisticated or even cultural but there will be sun and it's a girly holiday so it will be a welcomed break!

Lanzarote is part of The Canary Islands and budget airlines cater a lot towards them. It appeals to chav in people (I'm a closet chav - what can I say?!). The usual price of a ticket would probably be around £199. And this is on a more recognised airline so I expected it to be a lil' bit cheaper (by about £50 for example).

Off I went to check out the prices. I used all the search engines, searched all the home pages of all the budget airlines I knew, I even went to page 20 on my returned Google search and the cheapest I found was £180! Now, this is not so bad. I'm willing to pay £180 instead of £199 but when I have to pay to put my luggage in the hold of the plane (ranging from £6 and upwards and this is per single trip so not even the return journey), then pay to choose my seats online (because you won't let me pay until I do this - £6 per single journey seat) and then try and include travel insurance (which I'll remove!) - the cost is so much more than the quoted "£180". So you see budget airline people - you're not that much of a budget!

But Scrumpy - Scrumpy is smart! (A lil' self appreciation never did anybody any harm!). I found a website that had tickets for £188.50. For the extra cost of £7.50 - I could add 5kg to the free baggage allowance of 15kg. So I removed it. And then I saw that when you search for flights - you could enter a promotional code.

These promotional codes sometimes come in emails that allow people who have subscribed to a newsletter/website to provide them with discounts. I hadn't subscribe to this so what did I do?

I Googled promotional codes for the website I was booking from and actually managed to find one! Enter the promotional code into the designated box and BAM - £15 discount off each ticket!

So all I paid was £166 per adult (inc. of taxes). I love a bargain!