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Last Friday we had holidays for Good Friday and we managed to convince the Dean to cancel classes on Saturday (thank you Sir =) ).. soo what's a medical student to do with a 3 day weekend with no exams or test the following week....ROADTRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....so a trip to Goa was planned in a couple of days...went with ruben, his big bro rabin and trevor...left for the Udupi train station at around 7.30am...and when we reached there...what a shock..it was like a mini MMMC...the station was filled with malaysians...practically every batch had their representatives even the junior batch....the train reach at 8am....suprisingly it was actually on time (at least i found something here that happens on time...i used to think malaysian timing was bad...but here...yeeesh)....the train wasn't too bad....a bit dirty but the seats were comfy...took the express train (although it wasn't really express...just that the stopped at less stations)...when we boarded the train as usual these tempes (wanna know what this term mean...msg me) showed their usual antics...not only were they not seating according to their seat number but most of them were in the totally wrong coach...which caused many of my college mates to not have seats (btw the journey is 3.5 hrs so standing is a killer)...after some complaining the ticket examiner came and halau-ed those idiots back to their coaches....pretty much slept n listened to music the remainder of the trip....
DAY 1
Reached Madgaon train station at about 11.30am.....from there we took a cab to goa which was about 56km away from the station....the weather was hot but with a cooling breeze (ur basic beach weather)...cab ride was nice....roads were waaaayyyyy better than what we have here...and the music selection was damm on...best of reggae...haha...put us more into the beach mode...we reach our hotel around 12.30pm....stayed at Shelstar hotel on Baga (basically we were in the middle of the 2 best spots in Goa)....dropped of our bags and went our for lunch after we rented a bike n a scooter to make getting around easier...
.....went first to Tito's but they were closed for good friday...then went to Brittos which was also closed for good friday...sheesh, we were beginning to think we choosed the wrong time to come to Goa...finally had lunch at one of the restaurants on the beach....food was ok....after that we decided to take a walk along the rows of shops ....did some window shopping till about 6pm...bought a couple of things....then headed back to the hotel..... hung out and chit-chatted with some of my other batchmates who were there....trevor went to make reservations at the french restaurant nearby (highly recommended by trevor n now ME...so if ur ever in Goa visit Le Restaurant Francais)...had reservations for 9.30pm...so after dinner walked down the the restaurant...my gosh the restaurant was truly amazing...the decor was magnificent....damm romantic (wish my special someone was there..sigh)
...anyway ordered the food...i had the steak fillet with mushroom sauce n baked potatoes which was absolutely cooked perfectly...delicious!!!!!.
..in between the owner..a french lady named Fluorence would stop by the table and have a nice chat with us....after the main course it was time for dessert...2 of us shared 1 assorted dessert (a tray with a smaller portion of each of the desserts they have)....OMG let me tell u..the dessert is to die for....mouth watering-ly exquisite.....the lemon sorbet, the choclate truffle, the sort of choc creme brule etc,etc *drooool* everything was delicious....
we were so stuffed by the time we were done...talked somemore with the owner...then had a chat with the chef who is also french (and the owners bf)...think we were there from 9.30 till about 1.30am....
later thought of going clubbing...went to check out the club...but they were playing techno and the cover charge was way to high (800rs) not worth it for a couple of hrs...
DAY 2
woke up early for breakfast...went to this place on Baga beach called Zanzibar restaurant...got great seats with a direct view out into the beach....
had the english breakfast..a hearty helping of toast,jam,eggs,bacons,sausages,fried tomatoes and baked beans with coffee (now that kept us stuffed right till tea)....hung out at the restaurant...chilled out, talked crap, had a few breezers n drinks and just enjoyed the beach air n view (if u minus the locals..u would think u were somewhere in europe...soooo many mat sallehs there).....around 3 we left the restaurant and went to the tibetian market...basically selling all sorts of handicrafts like necklaces, earrings and rings and carving...didnt see anything i was interested in...went to a shop that sold hand painted UV painting...bought a painting of Gandalf from LOTR...now need to go back to malaysia n find a UV light before i can hang it up in my room ...hehe.....later went for a late lunch at Souza Lobo...al of us were still full...so we ordered a couple of dishes and shared....the fish dish was really good....later we took a ride to Anjuna Beach which was about 15 mins drive...watched the sunset there....
then went to the saturday night market nearby....
that place was even more packed with mat sallehs (some of them even running stalls there!!! )anyway most of the stuff there were the same stuff u get at other shops around Goa...they had a lot of food stalls there and also a live band playing (the sax player was white)...decided to have dinner there...had roast chicken (cooked by a mat salleh...haha...they seem to be running Goa)..chicken was quite good and reasonably priced...by the time we reach back to the hotel it was about 10.30/11pm....sat around chatting for a while...trevor went out to check out the clubs...was soo exhausted that by the time he came back all of us were asleep....trevor ended up going clubbing alone...hehe...
DAY 3
Last day ....woke up even earlier....checked out of the hotel by 8.30am....then went to brittos for breakfast...found out that they dont serve their famous seafood platter till around 10.30...we had to leave Goa by 11.30...anyway decided to wait for a while....later the waiter said it was going to be later....so had something lite...i had a strawberry tart...which was delicious (so delicious i even tapau-ed a lemon tart to bring back for dessert after dinner...hehehe)....we then went to Lila's cafe for an early lunch .....was a nice quaint place overlooking a river...nicely decorated....had blackpepper sauce steak...was superb.....the watermelon juice was very nice too....after lunch...sent the bikes back and got on the cab for the train station....the taxi driver was nice...chatted with him a bit....reached the train station around 12.30pm....found out that the express train was delayed till 3.30pm (from 1.30pm)...so we decided to get the normal train at 2.30.... waited at the train station....when we got on the train..heard another announcement that the express train was delayed further till 4pm...all my other collegemates were on that train...poor guys...what an irony huh, the normal train reaching earlier than the express train....the downside of the normal train?? IT WAS SUPER PACKED.....had to sit on the floor near the entrance, which actually turned out to be quite nice cus of the wind and the view....the trip was about 4 hrs + ...reached Udupi station around 6.30pm....came back had a bath (the water turned brown as soon as it hit me...a downside of sitting near the door of a train)..went for dinner with ruben, rabin n trevor....then came back and KOed...
All in all the trip was very fun.....a nice break from studies and exams....have a few more reasons to go back next season....hopefully will be able to .... Here's a link to some additional pics we took
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=dineshnair&P=&AID=3400981&T=1
"Everyday u should have two thing.... a good breakfast with all the food you like...and a good sleep...that way no matter what happens in your day..u can always say at least i had two good things today..so it was a good day" -Fluorence, Owner Le Restaurant Francais
"Goa has a population of 80% hindu's...60% Christians.....and 40% muslims" -Goa local- hehe
DAY 1
Reached Madgaon train station at about 11.30am.....from there we took a cab to goa which was about 56km away from the station....the weather was hot but with a cooling breeze (ur basic beach weather)...cab ride was nice....roads were waaaayyyyy better than what we have here...and the music selection was damm on...best of reggae...haha...put us more into the beach mode...we reach our hotel around 12.30pm....stayed at Shelstar hotel on Baga (basically we were in the middle of the 2 best spots in Goa)....dropped of our bags and went our for lunch after we rented a bike n a scooter to make getting around easier...
.....went first to Tito's but they were closed for good friday...then went to Brittos which was also closed for good friday...sheesh, we were beginning to think we choosed the wrong time to come to Goa...finally had lunch at one of the restaurants on the beach....food was ok....after that we decided to take a walk along the rows of shops ....did some window shopping till about 6pm...bought a couple of things....then headed back to the hotel..... hung out and chit-chatted with some of my other batchmates who were there....trevor went to make reservations at the french restaurant nearby (highly recommended by trevor n now ME...so if ur ever in Goa visit Le Restaurant Francais)...had reservations for 9.30pm...so after dinner walked down the the restaurant...my gosh the restaurant was truly amazing...the decor was magnificent....damm romantic (wish my special someone was there..sigh)
...anyway ordered the food...i had the steak fillet with mushroom sauce n baked potatoes which was absolutely cooked perfectly...delicious!!!!!.
..in between the owner..a french lady named Fluorence would stop by the table and have a nice chat with us....after the main course it was time for dessert...2 of us shared 1 assorted dessert (a tray with a smaller portion of each of the desserts they have)....OMG let me tell u..the dessert is to die for....mouth watering-ly exquisite.....the lemon sorbet, the choclate truffle, the sort of choc creme brule etc,etc *drooool* everything was delicious....
we were so stuffed by the time we were done...talked somemore with the owner...then had a chat with the chef who is also french (and the owners bf)...think we were there from 9.30 till about 1.30am....
later thought of going clubbing...went to check out the club...but they were playing techno and the cover charge was way to high (800rs) not worth it for a couple of hrs...
DAY 2
woke up early for breakfast...went to this place on Baga beach called Zanzibar restaurant...got great seats with a direct view out into the beach....
had the english breakfast..a hearty helping of toast,jam,eggs,bacons,sausages,fried tomatoes and baked beans with coffee (now that kept us stuffed right till tea)....hung out at the restaurant...chilled out, talked crap, had a few breezers n drinks and just enjoyed the beach air n view (if u minus the locals..u would think u were somewhere in europe...soooo many mat sallehs there).....around 3 we left the restaurant and went to the tibetian market...basically selling all sorts of handicrafts like necklaces, earrings and rings and carving...didnt see anything i was interested in...went to a shop that sold hand painted UV painting...bought a painting of Gandalf from LOTR...now need to go back to malaysia n find a UV light before i can hang it up in my room ...hehe.....later went for a late lunch at Souza Lobo...al of us were still full...so we ordered a couple of dishes and shared....the fish dish was really good....later we took a ride to Anjuna Beach which was about 15 mins drive...watched the sunset there....
then went to the saturday night market nearby....
that place was even more packed with mat sallehs (some of them even running stalls there!!! )anyway most of the stuff there were the same stuff u get at other shops around Goa...they had a lot of food stalls there and also a live band playing (the sax player was white)...decided to have dinner there...had roast chicken (cooked by a mat salleh...haha...they seem to be running Goa)..chicken was quite good and reasonably priced...by the time we reach back to the hotel it was about 10.30/11pm....sat around chatting for a while...trevor went out to check out the clubs...was soo exhausted that by the time he came back all of us were asleep....trevor ended up going clubbing alone...hehe...
DAY 3
Last day ....woke up even earlier....checked out of the hotel by 8.30am....then went to brittos for breakfast...found out that they dont serve their famous seafood platter till around 10.30...we had to leave Goa by 11.30...anyway decided to wait for a while....later the waiter said it was going to be later....so had something lite...i had a strawberry tart...which was delicious (so delicious i even tapau-ed a lemon tart to bring back for dessert after dinner...hehehe)....we then went to Lila's cafe for an early lunch .....was a nice quaint place overlooking a river...nicely decorated....had blackpepper sauce steak...was superb.....the watermelon juice was very nice too....after lunch...sent the bikes back and got on the cab for the train station....the taxi driver was nice...chatted with him a bit....reached the train station around 12.30pm....found out that the express train was delayed till 3.30pm (from 1.30pm)...so we decided to get the normal train at 2.30.... waited at the train station....when we got on the train..heard another announcement that the express train was delayed further till 4pm...all my other collegemates were on that train...poor guys...what an irony huh, the normal train reaching earlier than the express train....the downside of the normal train?? IT WAS SUPER PACKED.....had to sit on the floor near the entrance, which actually turned out to be quite nice cus of the wind and the view....the trip was about 4 hrs + ...reached Udupi station around 6.30pm....came back had a bath (the water turned brown as soon as it hit me...a downside of sitting near the door of a train)..went for dinner with ruben, rabin n trevor....then came back and KOed...
All in all the trip was very fun.....a nice break from studies and exams....have a few more reasons to go back next season....hopefully will be able to .... Here's a link to some additional pics we took
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=dineshnair&P=&AID=3400981&T=1
"Everyday u should have two thing.... a good breakfast with all the food you like...and a good sleep...that way no matter what happens in your day..u can always say at least i had two good things today..so it was a good day" -Fluorence, Owner Le Restaurant Francais
"Goa has a population of 80% hindu's...60% Christians.....and 40% muslims" -Goa local- hehe
The End
