Don't be sad, be strong for you're special!

Dark grey clouds I see around,
Fear and anguish I feel within.
'She' silently shows me the silver lining far beyond,
Like She's asking me to keep walking...
For the absolute brightness in store ahead can be lived,
Only if I pass through the darkness around.

Lost in the hurt, strangled in the fall,
I am reliving the words, the moments not so right.
Unable to accept the happening, allowing the thoughts to linger,
Holding on to it and unknowingly crushing my soul.
'She' patiently observes my agony and reminds me of the strength a huge mango tree adorned with mangoes galore, has...
Subjected with hardships more often it is, 
Than loved for it's greatness, to relish its goodness!

Real strength is when you stand tall and strong,
Staying as beautiful and selfless as you are, untouched by the dirt!

'She' says you are born to shine and to give light to the people around.
Reflecting all the goodness you get from all.
Let go of the dark energy as they know not the worth of this sheen,
Continue walking the path of your blessing for you're the chosen beam...

Like they say "The dog is barking at the sun"...
You know what you wanna be like here, 'She' exclaims.. :)

To all the chosen ones out there! Stay forever strong and keep doing good!!
- Ahi (Just 'Her' child)

Forever and for always

  You came like a gentle breeze into my life.
  I fell in love with you like I was with myself and my life.

  You held my hand like you hold still.
  And we made our path of togetherness for 'FIVE YEARS' now,
wish to make a long one still.

  You are my strength, my pillar in thick and thin.
  I am living my dreams with you beside
and you do it all to see me win.

  You are my twinkle, you are my sheen.
  You are my cushion I know I can forever lean.

  You are my cocoa, you are my cheese.
  You are my home, my ultimate peace!

  I love you for life and beyond...
  The life that you make "dream like beautiful"!

  My sunshine you are and forever will be.
  That joy of the first few drops of rain,
your smile brings in me. :-)

Cheers to the completion of 5 lovely years together :) Can't wait to see the rest!

Forever and for always yours,
Ahi :)

Honey Valley & Chingaara estates- Your home amidst Nature @ Coorg!

Love gazing at Mother Nature? Love to feel the smell of air all clean and pure? Come and visit Coorg (also known as kodagu) in Karnataka. Not so far away from the hustle and bustle of our city life, is this absolute beauty of Nature!

Honey Valley Resort






Homestay they call it. A heavenly home far away from the usual, definitely for me! This is the ‘Honey Valley estate’ in Coorg. A place absolutely off-beat and refreshingly beautiful! Very simple yet naturally classy is this place at a hill-top amidst Nature.






To reach the top, you could either walk the 3 km stretch, real steep, rocky and wet or take a jeep sent by the homestay. Walking this stretch is a definite fun as you get to experience the bliss of raw, absolutely raw and unexploited Nature. Driving through this way is a thrill but the fun element gets over in very little time and you just don’t want that. These jeeps are crazy strong and stronger are the drivers who seem to find driving at such an angle up-hill brutally simple with absolutely no slip. It is something we should experience atleast once. If you have a good stamina, you could walk/hike your way up too.






 

The homestay is exciting in a lot many ways. The tranquillity around will have a profound calming effect on one. You would be at peace! You get to see a whole lot of plants here, from coffee estates to spices, from rare species of plants to the floral ones adding colours to those lush greens.






The ruggedness around, that raw look so untouched, it's gonna stay within for long and give you the calming effect we otherwise crave for in our fast moving city lives. Agenda for a day or two could be just to walk around and I would say it's an agenda worth it!!!





The rooms here are very comfortable with the smell of Nature even indoors. This is a perfect place to relax with all the basics one 'needs' in life amidst the 'special' (read Mother Nature), which is rare a deal! Be ready to spot teeny weeny insects wherever you go, but guys let them live even if you don't enjoy their presence - they mean no harm to us! Watch out for the leaches while you venture out though. You definitely should push them off your skin else your blood in gonna be on it's way to a pointless donation. :P



Food served here is a complete charmer!!! Wonderful homely Coorgy food served hot for lunch is a speciality, one must experience! Food is served in a common dining space here which is a great place to catch up with people and books.






They have a lot of trekking and hiking trails from Honey Valley which can gift you with some beautiful surprises after the little hard work of course, reminding you of what they say - 'Nothing worth having, comes without hard work'! These paths might present you with quite a few stumbling blocks that might make you head back but again remind yourself of what 'they say' and go looking for that experience, to witness that bliss! These trails lead us to some stunning scenic points which are credits, one must collect.


Chingaara Resort



Both Honey Valley and Chingaara estates are family properties of Mr. Chengappa. Honey Valley taken care of by Mr. and Mrs. Chengappa and Chingaara estate taken care of by their son Mr. Sharath. They are very warm and would have all the arrangements made to make you feel totally at home.









Another striking place this is, 'The Chingaara estate', with the gorgeousness of Nature and the goodness of luxury! The rooms here are more spacious with the modern look and comfort. The library, the dining area and the sit-out , all of these are absolutely beautiful!





The food here is yum too. :) Food is of utmost importance wherever we travel to ain't it? Especially if it's a holiday amidst Nature, off the usual, you wish to experience something different, yet don't wanna lose the feeling of being at home and that is exactly what the food is like here!!

One of the biggest attractions here is a private waterfall called the Chingaara falls. It is a part of the Chingaara estate. 



Honey Valley is at a slightly higher altitude than the Chingaara estate so trekking to this falls from Honey Valley is one awesome experience! A short trek it is but the fun of trekking this path is no less with the beauty around.









While you trek your way to this pristine waterfalls from the Honey Valley estate, you would cross the Chingaara estate home stay and walk further down to reach your destination. Walking this stony ramp-down, your heart and soul would be totally pumped up and your mind would be getting lost in the perfectly untapped Nature all around. One wouldn't be able to help but fall in love with this place!








Peace and freshness is in the air and this feel just gets me off the ground. 
I feel like a bird flying in the sky.
Sky which is absolutely clear and pure.
When I reach the destination, I see paradise!
Wow is the expression that instant!!! 







It is a complete calmer to the eyes to witness this waterfall so pure and heavenly. 
It is just me, my love and the waterfall.
Ecstatic is the feel hard to express in words. 
They seem to me like drops of heaven! 
Like the glory of Nature, it is happily singing to me…




Now as I narrate, that untainted music seems to ring in my ears.
Wish I could sing it to you…
I know I can’t do justice to this splendour though.
It is Mother Nature at her best!
Wanna hear it, go there and live it!! :)




Overall, this for me was a grand and a picturesque experience!!! Certainly adding a gorgeous colour to my life I would cherish forever and desire to live over and over again.

P.S - When there, do get their home-made jam, home-made chocolates and their coffee powder. They're all great!


- Ahi (a lover of Mother Nature)

Camera Museum, George Town

Cameras are instrumental to moments worth capturing and photographs have the ability to make one traverse back to those memories of life. Cameras are those eyes that can make a copy of those moments which your eyes would wish to see time and again. A small thing as this has the potential to make our lives much better and happier! ‘Small’ we call it, but if you ask the professionals here (ask yourself if you are a professional photographer), they definitely would tell us how ‘big’ this subject is.

Everybody might have a different insight to photography; everybody might have a different reason to have a photograph. Having said that, it’s interesting to note that, the one desire that remains unanimous across the globe is great quality photograph.  Better photographs mean improved cameras and a good pair of hands to hold them!

Cameras have now become an essential part of our lives. Our vacations spent travelling almost seem pointless without having a camera in hand. And…If the camera is designed to get the best out of your hands, then nothing like it!! So why are we speaking so much about cameras, we all know pretty much everything about its importance and it’s want in today’s era, don’t we?








 



“A camera in hand”, we all can imagine. But a hundreds of it in front of your eyes with some vintage collection and in all cool shapes and sizes, how exciting would that be? We don’t get a chance to experience the spectacle of a variety display of cameras having been used over decades every now and then, do we?!! At the Muntri Street of Georgetown in Penang Island, Malaysia you’ll get to see this spectacle in a not so big arena, all put up in a very creative manner. And you also get to pick those cute little camera souvenirs back home after visiting this place! :-)

A CLICK at the right TICK!
It’s always such a treasure...!!
A TICK captured by the right CLICK!
It’s forever such a pleasure...!!

Click is to camera &
Tick is to moment!
When camera is to pen &
The pic is to drawing your moment!!

You wait for the perfect &
You click at that tick.
You wish to see it,
You wish to have it.

And here…This is ‘your pic’!!!

“Celebrate clicking and being clicked!!!”



Kudos to those brain(s) who led to the introduction of cameras to this world!!!

- Ahi (an amateur photographer)

Membeli-belah in KL :)

‘Membeli-belah’! Sounds like a strange lil’ tougue twister? ;) Well, it actually means ‘shopping’ in Malay (the local language of Malaysia).

You’re in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia and left thirsty for shopping! Impossible I say. Wondering what makes me say this with such confidence? Read on and know it for yourself.

China Town –

 

Jalan Petaling or the Petaling street, a must go place in this capital city. This is better known as China Town.



It’s a long stretch of stalls & shops you can go gaga on if you’re a brand freak and feel these big brands are so unaffordable to be a part of your day-to-day life. These Chinese make it possible for you to possess the same look of  the branded items with the logo n’ designs almost exact, for a price not even remotely close to the original. But hey, do keep in mind ‘you get what you pay for’! :-) Having said that, it definitely is an absolute worth for what you invest. My experience would vouch!

  

 

 

 

Thumb rule should be to bargain till you choke. Expect the prices quoted to be atleast 2 to 5 times it’s actual worth if not more (Just a wild approximation: Depends on what we’re looking at, to hit the ratio right).

You would find quite a few artists out here busy painting a living for themselves. The display of Chinese tradition and culture through their art is absolutely brilliant! You would love to be here and just admire their work if you are a lover of art and would see yourself amidst many such like-minds thronging here.

 

What is this place all about?
           Fabrics & modern apparels galore
           Classy hand-bags & wallets
           Shades, watches & other go-fashionable accessories
           Footwear in abundance
           Suitcases & travel bags
           Perfumes
           Hats & caps
           Electronic gadgets & accessories
           Artefacts & souvenirs
           Scrumptious street food ;-)

 




...and lots more.

It’s an incredibly colorful place and one would find it in high spirits all day long, any day. Serving the locals & the tourists with a happy shop-o-ride, it’s worth the walk even in all its hustle and bustle.

Take-away –>  Bargain your way to some awesome stuff!!! :-) ‘Bargain’ being the magic word.

Central Market –

 

Walk a few minutes from the Petaling street and you will find yourself in the Central market, also known as the Pasar Seni in Malay. Beautifully well-organized is this place very close to China town. The culturally diverse exhibit of things is fantastic here! I totally fell in love with this place for it’s enchanting ethnic ambience & a mesmerizing streak of creativity!







The central market as a shopping mart is very different from China town. While a few items here and there are in common, the feel of it is totally different. From the wide range of stuff to the sort of shopping experience one is bestowed with, it’s all different here!!



 



Unlike the street shopping in China Town, you would get to see a more sophisticated and classy side of Malaysia here! This place gains an edge as it houses an extensive variety of antique artifacts, exclusive souvenirs, apparels, accessories, jewellery, etc. including artists who seem to bring anything and everything to life! The art galleries here, collectively form a colorful platform for artists and audiences to come together in their journey of art and shopping. Here, one would get to see a display of the Nation’s culture, art and heritage with a supreme ethnic touch to it! The zoned shopping areas make it look very neat and spread-out, managing the crowd well.

 

There is an outdoor stage which becomes the platform for regular showcase of multi-cultural performances and celebrations. We happened to be lucky to catch a glimpse of one such dance performance and thoroughly enjoyed the boogie!

 

Boogie woogie that I saw the Malaysian folk way. :) Click here to find out more.







 

Another complete charmer is the cafe ‘Old Town White Coffee’ that you would find here. Yummy to tummy beverages and some real quality titbits at quite affordable prices is what you can pacify your senses with, after some good walk around. The garlic bread I tried here was just awesome!

 

Take-away –>  You love shopping exclusive stuff and are ready to pay the price, this stands out to be a must visit!

Kasturi Walk –



Opened in the year 2011, this is an evening market running alongside the Central Market. It’s more like an extended shopping arena of Central  Market with kiosks of souvenirs, accessories, fresh tropical fruits, food stalls, etc. It’s a pretty sight with many colorful kiosks beautifully arranged in a not so big stretch.

 

Walk the Kasturi walk - like it, pick it!! Just in case you don’t pick anything, you still earn a pleasant evening stroll!!!

Take-away –>  This is a ‘cherry’ on the cake called Central Market!

Butik Bintang Malls –



Bukit Bintang is one of city’s most happening up-market shopping districts. It displays the pricey side of Kuala Lumpur.

These are typical malls where all medium sized to big brands dwell and the prices can soar real up.

This place is a hub of major retail malls including Bukit Bintang plaza, Berjaya Times Square, Imbi Plaza, Fahrenheit 88, Starhill Gallery alongside Suria KLCC, Pavilion KL and many more.



Bukit Bintang Plaza adjoined to Sungei Wang Plaza is a hangout place very popular amongst youngsters.
Berjaya Times Square is an enormously huge mall and targets both the middle and upper echelons of society.
Starhill Gallery alongside Suria KLCC is probably the most glamorous mall in Kuala Lumpur. It houses big fashion brands and has possibly everything that could tempt you even if you consciously come here window shopping. One end of Suria KLCC would lead you to a beautiful and awesomely breezy sit-out, with dancing fountains treating your eyes. It can get quite relaxing here! Also get a glimpse of the tallest twin tower in the world from this sit-out. Crowning the city of KL, the Petronas twin towers, a steel beauty this is!
Lo Yat Plaza is a one-stop complex for shopping electronic gadgets.





Take-away –>  Luxurious shopping on the cards, lavish is your path here!

The first half of shopping touched me more. Do try experiencing all of these when you’re in Kuala Lumpur next and see which of these is your pick! :-)

- Ahi (a keen shopper) :)