Hue's of blue!!

Took this panorama to capture the bluest sea and skies at Phuket, land of beaches.

My complete travelogue and I just can't return from this paradise island. 

Share your comments on other beautiful coastlines in the world.

Rhino drenched in rain

Relaxed Rhino after a rain in Singapore Zoo

Phuket: Fun in the Sun

Phuket,the beach paradise of Asia located on the Andaman sea with plenty of pristine and scenic beaches.This is one place where you will never get bored whether you are in the land, water or sky. It is tiny island with plenty of islets sprinkled over it. Small hillocks of limestone rock rising out of nowhere can be seen in the middle of sea.

I have done a bit of research before packing my bags and a simple itinerary on my mind. My plan was  to cover Phuket and nearby town Krabi in a week. Hotel reservations were done at agoda.com and reviews taken from tripadvisor on the hotels and restaurants. Since there are not much public transport on the island,renting a car would be the most convenient and cheapest option if you want to explore all places by your self. I love exploring a new place until my wife complains about losing the way in the middle of nowhere.

Stay in the patong area which is the hub of all commercial activities and night life. If you don't mind travelling another 15-20 minutes,stay in Kata or Karon which is far away from the commercial distractions. The beaches here are more cleaner and secluded than the rest.

Patong Beach

Day 1:
Patong nightlife has something for everyone with plenty of bars, discos and restaurants.
Phuket nightlige is incomplete without visiting Bangla road. Note : Advise not to visit this place with your family.

There are plenty of hotels on the patong beach to satisfy your cravings and try out different cuisines like Thai, Chinese, Indian, Italian or Western. Try out Green Curry or Yellow curry ( Moong dhal gravy made with coconut milk) if you are vegetarian or pad thai ( Fried noodles) if you are non-vegetarian.

Streets@ Night

                               
Day 2:

I have booked a trip to phi-phi islands from my hotel which cost 900 Bhat on a long tail boat. I went to Phuket on May which is the onset of rainy reason. Rains are pretty common during this time but it won't last for more than 1 hour. The trip includes pickup and drop from hotel, boat ride to phi-phi islands, lunch and snorkeling session.

At 9.00 AM, we started our 3 hour ride from phuket to phi phi islands on a cloudy day.
Later it turned out to a thunder storm and we had a terrific experience on a swaying boat in the middle of ocean. Boat operators assured that rains are pretty common and there is nothing to worry about. I must say it was a unforgettable experience being in the middle of sea in thunderstorm.

Rain on the way to Phi Phi islands

As you move towards the phi phi, the water will turn from blue to emerald and finally into a crystal clear water with everything beneath visible. One good thing here is the locals and tourist agencies take precautions to keep the nature unaffected by hordes of human activity. Snorkeling is a must do activity in these waters as there are plenty of corals in the bay. Please make sure you don't touch any of them as the coral which are growing for 1000's of years can easily get infected by human touch.

Also there would be sea urchins in the sea floor which can cause injury and spoil your day when you step on it.              

                                       

Snorkeling near Maya Bay

Day 3:

After a tired day trip to phi phi islands, this days was to cover the local attractions in Phuket island. 

Started from patong beach and went down south to cover Karon, katta and Katta Noi beaches on the same stretch. These are the best beaches I ever saw with turquoise waters, fine sand and plenty of sun :)

Make sure to use sunscreen liberally to avoid getting fried by the sun god.

Karon Beach, Phuket

Karon and Kata beach from the viewpoint atop hill

Big Budda temple:

This place is one of the important landmark located bit down south in the Chalong area. You need to drive up a small hill to reach this place but you will relish the views from this place. Atop the hill is a big buddha statue which was built recently and a temple beneath it.

Big Buddha temple, Phuket

Big Buddha temple, Phuket

Cape panwa is in the southern Phuket on a short drive from Chalong bay. I drove to this place to visit the Phuket aquarium and to have Indian food at Live India restaurant.
                           

Cape Panwa, Phuket

Cape Panwa

Phuket Aquarium is in Cape panwa and has excellent variety of fishes and other sea creatures. It has entry fee of 100 Bhat but it is worth the money for entire family.

Phuket Aquarium, Cape Panwa

Phuket Aquarium, Cape Panwa

Phuket Aquarium, Cape Panwa

Great, Clean roads

Indian food at patong beach

Initially I was afraid whether I would get good Indian vegetarian food in Phuket. Currently there are number of Indian restaurants in the Patong area and few some on the other areas. Get the list of restaurants from tripadvisor on area you are the visiting to avoid ending up roaming a long distance for food. 

Day 4 & 5 : I drove to Krabi which is 150 Kms from Phuket. I loved Krabi much more than Phuket and would take another post to describe.

Day 6 : I drove back from Krabi and dropped the car at Phuket airport. The wonderful journey finally came to an end.

Elections: Will our MP's visit residents home ever ?

Elections: Will our MP's visit residents home ever?

I used to live in a world where politicians make statement and visit citizens only during the time of elections. Rest of the time, nobody knows what they are doing, Few people you can see in the parliament,few people comment on the cricket matches and few others would be on regular foreign visit. There is one time where all these people would make rallies around entire India and give false promises, once the election approaches.

In contrast, Singapore MP's visit their resident's home every week to get their concerns and feedback. They make it a point to get connected with the citizens and understand their problems.
There are no corruptions or scams in the government contracts and all the benefits directly reach citizens. Roads are clearly marked with no flooding or potholes even thought it rains a lot throughout year.

I have never seen my MP/MLA in India and can't even remember their name. 

Wishing one day my MP would visit my home or at least visit their constituency regularly to know the concerns of common man!

6 Easy Steps to Peel Coconut from Husk

6 Easy Steps to Peel Coconut from Husk

I always like to use fresh coconut for cooking instead of buying the frozen one which lacks in taste and spoils easily. Searched for easy method to peel the coconut but have not found anything. I tried the below steps to peel and it is very convenient with long shelf life.

Things needed:

1. Coconut 
2. Blunt Knife
3. Microware Oven

1. Wash the coconut shell with cold water and crack open the shell with a sharp object. This makes the shell break evenly.

Place the coconut in microwave for 30 seconds in 900W. This makes the outer shell to dry quickly and separates husk from the flesh inside.  

 2. Make ridges with a blunt knife to form a triangle. Do it two-three times increasing pressure every time.

3. Slide knife under the flesh to separate it from the fresh. It will come off easily due to microwaving.

 4. Do the same for other areas to peel entire coconut.

 5. Entire coconut can be peeled in just 2 minutes by this method.

6. Place it in a ziplock bag and keep in freezer. Before using, defrost in microwave again and grind in a mixer for shredded coconut.

Telangana: Born another state

Telangana is one of the long pending demand from the northern part of Andrapradesh. 

Finally, this week central government had nodded for the creation of state.

This announcement has come at a time where the elections are around next year in a bid to gain some political advantage.  This is evident from the fact government completely delayed the decision when there were protests erupted three years back.

Hyper Smash

Possible outcome of new Telangana state :

1. Hoard of people will raise concerns for separating their state in to 3-4. Expect some more  strikes/demonstrations for the next two weeks.

2. Hyderabad would become the second shared capital in India, the first being the Chandigarh which has become a Union territory now. It may become union territory but the problem being it is very far from the coastal regions on Andrapradesh. It means people would not be geographically connected to the state capital.

3. More cases in the supreme court for sharing of resources like Water, Electricity etc. You can expect more fights during the times of state budget and assembly elections.

4. Advantage congress by agreeing to the demands of Telangana people. They may form coalition with TRS party to get more leverage. Rest of Andra they won't care because anyway they would not be able to win with majority.

5. Expect hilarious announcements from Mr.Digvijay Singh who manages Andra congress (but serious to him) which nobody hears. Hope you all remember he's the one who challenged Ms.Uma Bharti in MP and vouched that he won't contest elections for 10 years if he lose. For God's sake, he's lost otherwise he would have become another scam minister now.

Modi-Rahul War in Google trends

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