[sriswe]

Smartcat,

Have been busy with work these days. Just now completed reading the Wedding part ...Great going on the log front...Me too got a bit bored with that log, but enjoyed because of your super stylish narration.....Waiting for your ROAD travelogues ....

Thanks,
Srini....

[SmartCat]

hehe OK! Next, I will be experimenting with a trekking travelogue. After that, I'll be back on the road.

HAVELOCK ISLANDS TRIP CONTD:

Most of the images have been taken on the iPhone - that's why the image quality isn't that great. Anyway, on the 4th day, we moved into the "Andamans Cottage".



The path leading to our cottage from the restaurant/reception area looks something like this. In the 5 days we were in the resort, we spotted one snake on this pathway. When we asked the resort manager if they were poisonous, the only info he gave out was that nobody has ever been bitten by a snake on his resort . Although the pathway is NOT lit, they do provide us with some hi-tech tools to combat the snakes - a very powerful torch and a very long umbrella with a pointy end.



The 2004 Tsunami didn't hit the Havelock Islands, but tourism was massively hit and all the resorts in the island were reeling under losses. The earlier owner then sold it to Capt. Gopinath apparently. But now, they are all doing roaring business. Some of the cottages under contruction at Barefoot Resorts -





The rains had finally stopped, and we finally ventured out of our cottage. The path leading to the beach -



This is called the Beach No.7 (or more popularly Radhanagar Beach). It has been voted as Asia's Best Beach and among the Top 10 Best beaches of the World by "TIME Magazine".











At the risk of sounding like an advertisement for Barefoot Resorts, I have to tell you about one other unique facility offered by the resort - for Rs. 3,000, they will take you on a boat to an isolated tiny island. They will take you there in the morning, pack a lunch, pitch a tent and then come back in the evening to pick you up. Basically, you will have the whole island for yourself for a day! I can list 2 reasons why we didn't take up that offer -

- The weather wasn't that great (obvious from the cloudy pics above)

- We both suffer from marooned-in-an-island-forever-phobia (that is, What if the boatman doesn't come back? I don't even know how to climb a coconut tree to get the coconuts nor do I know how to hunt/eat fish)

The possibilities for a honeymooning couple on an isolated island is endless, but I guess we are not THAT adventurous

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

- We both suffer from marooned-in-an-island-forever-phobia (that is, What if the boatman doesn't come back? I don't even know how to climb a coconut tree to get the coconuts nor do I know how to hunt/eat fish)

Guess you were so overcome by Castaway that you forgot a beauty called Blue Lagoon.

Anyway, buying things with my wife around is so simple. She knows that I think a 1000 times before buying even a paper clip. So most often, when it's the costly phone or a camera lens or any electronic stuff, she not only urges me to go ahead, she also threatens to spend for it from her pocket, if I keep worrying about the cost factor.
Now she's taken a break from work since 2 years. So I have put up all purchases on hold. Don't want her to dig in to her savings for my sake.
I gift her and she gifts me.

[Prancing Horse]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Can I borrow it for a minute?
Give it to me - let me take a photo.
Hey let's see if we can get the phone reception from here.
Look at this amazing App. Let me show you how to use it

Soon, she got bugged and asked me (with a smile) to keep the iPhone for myself

For example, let's say you want to buy a turbocharger or a Pete's tuning box for your car. If you spend Rs. 30,000 on your car, you will be forced to buy jewellery worth Rs. 60,000 for your wife. Instead, buy the turbocharger or touchscreen music player and gift it to your wife on her birthday. She will look at the big box, hand it back to you, smile and will probably say "Honey! How very thoughtful of you. Why don't you keep it?"

Wow mate, really an addictive thread,i'm stuck to this thread ever since i came across this.

Waiting for your road trips.

I like your narration style.Keep going!!!

[SmartCat]

Thank you Ferrari!

Originally Posted by MX6

Anyway, buying things with my wife around is so simple. She knows that I think a 1000 times before buying even a paper clip. So most often, when it's the costly phone or a camera lens or any electronic stuff, she not only urges me to go ahead, she also threatens to spend for it from her pocket, if I keep worrying about the cost factor.
Now she's taken a break from work since 2 years. So I have put up all purchases on hold. Don't want her to dig in to her savings for my sake.
I gift her and she gifts me.

What's there to think when buying stuff? Give one vote to your heart, one vote to your mind and one vote to your wife. If your heart says "Go for the LCD TV" and if your wife agrees, the mind loses the vote 2:1 - and you go get that TV.

Anyway, we rarely splurge on electronics or nice resorts. While my wife spends money on clothes (aargh! It's crazy - there is not enough room for all her clothes) & temple donations/Pujas, I spend money on our car & travel. Since we both go out of control with our spending sometimes, I have a implemented a simple budgeting system in MS Excel.

My wife has a fixed budget of Rs. X per month to spend. She uses the money the way she likes it - but there is an incentive to save! If she wants jewellery, she has to get it from her monthly savings
I too have a fixed budget of Rs. Y per month to spend on petrol & travel. The car gets a new paint job or new alloys etc only from the monthly savings on the allocated budget.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

What's there to think when buying stuff? Give one vote to your heart, one vote to your mind and one vote to your wife. If your heart says "Go for the LCD TV" and if your wife agrees, the mind loses the vote 2:1 - and you go get that TV.

What's there to think? I'm a compulsive spender and my wife doesn't disagree to anything. What's worse is that she doesn't come with a list of demands. My home is an electronic junk yard. The only time I get annoyed shopping for clothes is when my wife urges me to buy a new set for myself. She's behind my life now as she wants me to buy a new pair of jeans. The last one which I bought 4 years back is perfect though my waist size has grown by 4 inches!

[ranjith.rajaram]

Smartcat, guess what you should have done a close-up tooth paste ads, your teeth’s are much brighter and polished than the one who come in the ads.

[MX6]

But whatever stated by Ranjith.Rajaram, that's not the smile you should be giving to your wife on a honeymoon. That array of teeth would terrify any person. The last time I saw anything close to it was in Jurassic Park.

[SmartCat]

Well, I was quite pleased that I had managed to get my hands on the phone and also keep my wife happy at the same time.

Though, in recent times, I think she is using my own strategy against me.

[SmartCat]

Havelock Islands Trip Contd:

After spending some time on the beach, we went back to our resort and asked for a 2-wheeler to explore the island. They handed over this Honda Activa (@Anekho, I'm 100% sure it's an Activa this time).



My wife found it a bit difficult to ride, since it had been a long time since she had used one. But then she asked me to take a couple of photos for her Orkut profile. Apparently, just looking at this photo, everybody would assume that she drove the bike. And yes, she took my word that I would not tell anybody about this.



Our bike has no number plate because there are no traffic cops on our island. So nobody wears helmet there. But the resort guy somehow manages to get this "Gazoo Helmet" for us, after asking some of the resort employees. I offered the helmet to Pallavi and the first thing she does is smells the insides of the helmet . She wrinkles her nose, makes a weird face and hands it back to me "You safety is more important, you wear it"



If you are wondering what a "Gazoo Helmet" is, you should see cartoon THE FLINTSTONES. Gazoo is Flintstone's Martian friend, and his helmet has an uncanny resemblance to mine, don't you think?



Anyway, we potter around on the roads at 20 - 30 km/hr. If we had gone any faster, we would be finished our bike ride in 5 mins, and we didn't want that to happen.





Soon, we found some incredibly tranquil beaches - the waters look like that of a lake rather than the sea. Close to the jetty, there were lots of souvenir shops - from where we bought tonnes of junk.





And then it started pouring heavily again. After waiting around in a cyber cafe for an hour, we got ourself an umbrella and rode back to our resort driving in the rains. So while coming back, I couldn't cross 20 - 30 km/hr even if I wanted to!

We had dinner at our resort and went back to the cottage later. After coming out of the loo, I saw this ghostly apparitition in a white saree, holding a candle in its hand and singing a haunting song. That really scared the bejesus out of me, and even now, I wake up in the middle of night screaming in terror.

[anekho]

I really enjoyed the whole marriage coverage, though it got a bit mushy and emotional at times... we need road trips, with pics of feet (just a phrase of speech, please don't take it too seriously)!

Originally Posted by smartcat

(@Anekho, I'm 100% sure it's an Activa this time).

[aargee]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Advice to bachelors reading this thread: On your honeymoon, make sure you go to a Jungle resort. The creepy crawlies, flies and weird sounds in the night will ensure that your wife will jump on you frequently with terror in her eyes. This will give you ample opportunities to show off your manly side. Don't worry about the bed - the four legs of the bed will be on a water/kerosene bowl, and you will have a mosquito net - so that the little critters don't get in.

Well, this could happen the other way too & imagine the consequence.

Originally Posted by smartcat

Note to bachelors reading this thread: After marriage, if you want to buy something expensive, but it for your wife. For example, let's say you want to buy a turbocharger or a Pete's tuning box for your car. If you spend Rs. 30,000 on your car, you will be forced to buy jewellery worth Rs. 60,000 for your wife. Instead, buy the turbocharger or touchscreen music player and gift it to your wife on her birthday. She will look at the big box, hand it back to you, smile and will probably say "Honey! How very thoughtful of you. Why don't you keep it?"

This way, you won't end up spending Rs. 90,000 on your purchase.

Well there're some other type of women too; they smilingly approve your pete's box & smilingly accept your 60K touchscreen music player & say the touchscreen music player is not what they intended, but would like to keep it as a momento & will demand for something they need when your wallet goes thin; and this way you'll land up spending even more.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by aargee

Well, this could happen the other way too & imagine the consequence.

Why imagine? Just watch the tamil movie Guru Sishyan where Prabhu's horse runs amock and the heroine then gallops on hers to save him, when Rajnikanth planned it the other way.

Eitherway, All is fair in war, love and fear of the jungle.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by aargee

Well there're some other type of women too; they smilingly approve your pete's box & smilingly accept your 60K touchscreen music player & say the touchscreen music player is not what they intended, but would like to keep it as a momento & will demand for something they need when your wallet goes thin; and this way you'll land up spending even more.

That's when you need to start making big promises. For example, "I'll take you to London, New York, Paris". And then you need to switch on Travel & Living Channel on your TV or take her to a Yash Chopra/Aditya Chopra (DDLJ gang) movie.

I have done this quite a few times without getting beaten up.

Originally Posted by anekho

we need road trips, with pics of feet

Sneak preview of what's coming up later -

Madikeri Trip:



Balmuri Falls Trip:

[vsh]

{We had dinner at our resort and went back to the cottage later. After coming out of the loo, I saw this ghostly apparitition in a white saree, holding a candle in its hand and singing a haunting song. That really scared the bejesus out of me, and even now, I wake up in the middle of night screaming in terror.}

Attachment 328133[/quote]

fantastic, quite imaginative and hilarious man. i have read the travelogue and i usually dont post much and a silent reader. but after seeing this, i cant resist.
BTW, have your better half seen it?