D-Day 4 (Bus to Mumbai)

October 19th, 2008 - After a late night binge, we slept all the way in the morning and got up straight to have Lunch. Since Tanveer had missed eating in "Souza Lobo", we again went to the same eatery. We still had to figure out how to go back to Mumbai

When we planned this trip the options were bus or flight coz trains would be too late for booking, we kept debating on the bus/flight option. That's when the food was served and this time, it was a plateful, especially the Crab Curry. Parag and Tanveer could not stop their taste buds and dived right in. It seems something like this would cost a bomb back in Mumbai for half the quantity. Well, I was not in to sea food as my compatriots and took a morsel or two just to get a feel of it. Karan and I had finished our meal and while Parag and Tanveer where still figuring out the Crab, we walked out to find the options to travel back to Mumbai

It was damn hot outside with the sun right on our heads, we spotted a tours guy and he took us to his office, oh yea while we were at the restaurant we saw the flight options (on the cell phone) the same day were too pricey and so we had to settle for the bus, now it was not a question of "if" but "when". There was a chap at the tours office who said we could book a Paulo Volvo with sleeper + seating seats (all sleeper class buses were booked). He could manage 2 sleeper + 2 seats, we didn't negotiate and the tickets were booked, we were supposed to avail the Bus from either Panjim or Mapusa at 9:30 PM and the arrival at Mumbai was expected to be at 9:00 AM next day

With tickets booked, the only thing left to do in Goa was Shopping for some local sweets and accessories. We came back home, freshened up and went to the local market near Calangute Beach, we bought ourselves packets of cashew nuts, Karan got some liquor and Parag got some too. Parag also wanted to buy a sling bag (jhola) with the "OM" inscription but couldn't manage to find one. Ironically, every Firang seemed to have it.

It was almost time for dinner and so we landed at the same place from where we first started our trip, "Viva Goa". Ordered drinks and food and had filled our tummies for a long journey ahead of us to Mumbai. We officially bid good-bye to Goa.

With the shopping done, we headed to our pad one last time to pack and secure our luggage. Abhi, our host got a cab and we took off for Mapusa around 8:30 PM. We thanked the old lay before leaving and got her contact information for any future visits, this place is definitely on the Agenda for HKs

There was one embarrassing incident that happened just minutes before we checked out of the bungalow and I'm going to share this here coz looking back Karan and I are going to have a hearty laugh. So I was in my underpants and prancing around in the room putting stuff together and Karan was sitting in the bed watching TV. Suddenly, the door bell rang (the door was not locked) and I had feeling that this not Parag or Tanveer coz I dont remember when they last exercised their courtesies before entering a fellow HKs room (that is true for every HK) and so I had to act quickly to save my modesty. The door bell rang again and this time Karan started getting up to open the door and I still couldn't find a piece of loin to cover myself and finally I did, it just about covered my crotch and when the door opened, the old lady was standing there smiling right back at us. Both my hands were holding the towel tight and I smiled back flabbergasted at my situation. She had just come to say good-bye, phew

We reached Mapusa Bus Stop at 9:00 PM and started enquiring about the Bus and found out that it was delayed by an hour. Another transit fiasco, I was starting to get used to it. Besides, I knew I will not be able to sleep in a moving bus, seated or sleeping. The Bus arrived, a Paulo Volvo and we got our seats as booked. It was intelligent to have food before leaving coz I realized during the course of the journey, that the bus stops technically at 1 stop (Khed) only for loo break with no arrangements for refreshments whatsoever.



It was my longest road trip ever and honestly it was anything but pleasant. The route (I don't know how the Govt. claims it's a National Highway) NH17 runs through rough ghats and slopes and there was atleast 3 instances when our bus screeched/stopped and avoiding going over the cliff or ramming a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Suddenly I thought the F1 drivers were less risky in their sport having watched them in action. Also funny was the fact that except Tanveer and me everybody onboard was sleeping tight, like their mothers had just tucked them in bed after reading a poem. Anyways, the credit has to be given where it is due, the drivers (yea they change in Khed) brought us home on the exact time (in Vashi) they had anticipated despite leaving late in Goa

We bid good-bye to Karan and Tanveer in the bus and headed straight to a restaurant, "Kshir Sagar" in Vashi to have b'fast. I was completely famished not having eaten for 13 Hours. Parag and I digged in to some Dosa (finally) and then headed to my house. Parag's car was parked there, he put his luggage in the boot and was ready for another road trip all the way to Pune. Man...good wisdom he was planning to take an Off, same for Karan. I was not so lucky and ended up in the office Monday evening

Well, with that comes an end to this Sojourn, hope you had a good time reading this as much as I had writing this. This trip will definitely be etched very deep in HKs QBR books and will be remembered for a long time to come. Despite last minute dropouts, the remaining HKs made sure the HK spirit stays alive and I'm glad I was a part of it also making my debut to Goa. Yeta (Konkani for "Will come again")

D-Day 3 Contd. (Curry House Restaurant, Panjim, Souza Lobo Restaurant, Saligao)

September 18th, 2008 - It was time to fill our tummies after that exciting workout at the sea. The local guys who provided the water sports suggested we try a joint called "Curry House" close to our place.

We reached there around 4:00 PM and ordered the regular fish/chicken/veg combination of starters and main course. I'm not sure about others but my appetite has grown three-folds from the time I started working and every trip like this is invitation to eat more, I was hoping I dont burst out eating, I'm definately resuming my gym, come new years. We had a hearty meal and then decided to visit the Old Goa Church of St. Francis Xavier in Panjim city. We took off around 5:00 PM and had some GPS issues trying to find our destination coz no one had been to Goa in the recent past, on the way, we stopped at the Miramar Beach. The sunset was beautiful to watch and the beach had a splendid coastline dotted with people and children playing football.

We took off from there and found our way to the church, by that time it was starting to get dark and locals said the church will be closed by 6:30 PM, it was almost time, we parked our car and started to run towards the church. The doors were closing but I think the LORD wanted us in and so the guard at the church relented and let us in for a few minutes. I have never been in such a close proximity to the altar and the atmosphere inside immediately encapsulated us. It felt like the Vatican for a moment and then someone turned my head to a spot on the right side of the church where the body of St. Francis Xavier lay inside a glass coffin high up on the wall. It is said, the nails and hair still grow on this body...lots of theroies and stories surround it and one of the many reasons why the church is popular amongst tourists.

I took pictures of the church from the inside and I must admit, once the doors were closed and no one is around, you start to fear the unknown. We walked the long dark passages and finally out of the church. The church from the outside was very majestic and a certain portion was burnt (it seems a lightning struck it). Too bad, we didn't come in the morning, it could be a perfect photo-op around the church. Opposite to the church was the Museum, we didn't have the time and it was getting late. We drove off and reached home just in time for dinner at another popular eatery, "Souza Lobo" on the Calangute Beach

We dressed up for dinner (me, Parag and Karan, Tanveer stayed behind) and by the way we did decide to hit "Titos" or any nightclub tonight where we could enjoy the party scene, after all Goa is known for its wild and crazy parties. It was Saturday night and as expected, the scene on the roads and the beach was very party-like. Music was playing from almost any place that had a food or drink joint. The DJ @ Souza Lobo restaurant was playing....and dont kill me for this...."Who the f*** is Alice?" I mean "Who the f*** is this DJ" we all ranted. Very sorry music but kinda appealed to the Gujjus-pretending-to-look-cool-in-pink-shirts

We had our meal and headed straight to "Titos", now this time, the theme inside put us off, they were having a "Bollywood" night, duh...what a waste. We checked the nightclub adjoining it, "Mambo's" and those motherf**** would allow only couples. We were starting to lose our cool when we decided to head to the Anjuna beach and sneak up those discreet rave parties that Parag had heard about. The whole road to the Anjuna Beach from Calangute at the dead of the night was awesome and also eerie. We reached the spot only to find some more sorry-looking folks trying to find a rave joint. The spot we were parked was not the beach side but a cliff overlooking the Anjuna Beach. It looked like the Great Barrier Reef. We knew we were at the wrong spot and time was running out besides the place was shady and if we didnt want our bodies to wash up the shore the next day, we needed to get inside the car and drove off and that is exactly what we did.

We again went towards "Titos" and there we found that a Party was happening at Saligao, a few kms. on the way to Panjim. We didn't have any tickets or whatever and there was just enough fuel, we decided to ride the night out. We kept going towards Saligao but it felt like forever and then out of nowhere there was small board indicating the location to the "WestEnd Club". The bloody place was so deep inside some ravine and we were starting to get a feel this could be a knockout Rave Party, just the way Parag had envisaged (or so he thought)

We reached the spot after some serious driving in the woods and then found a perfect night-club complete with bouncers and security staff. Man...what is the logic of having this place so well maintained inside a jungle? Your guess is as good as mine. We read the sign outside "No Drugs" and "No Photography", well not bad.

We could hear the Trance music from outside and as we approached inside the excitement levels started to drop and the mercury was starting to rise. For starters, the crowd was hopeless (I guess 300 bucks is the reason for most part of it), then the Trance music was anything but Trance, no mixing nothing....just playing one long sad stretch of music. No chics to flirt. We were out of that god-forbidden-trance-club in less than 30 Minutes and on our way home.

Driving back home, we saw two firang chics on a desolated stretch of the road and for a moment, we thought we would stop and pick them up and head to Mambo's but they looked totally sloshed and looked very promiscuous (not unusual in Goa), Karan put his foot down and we just drove on...albeit a frustrated look aimed at Karan

Reached home and we were ready to crash on our beds when we almost forgot we had a 4th partner and he had asked us to get food for him, oops we had dropped the ball. Parag and Tanveer had another round at dinner around 3:00 AM and with that D-Day 3 came to an end....

D-Day 3 (Infanteria Pastry Shop, Sinquerim Beach)

October 18th, 2008 - Today was supposed to be the most exciting part of the trip, coz everyone was planning to leave all the their fears and/or inhibition behind and try the famous water-sports in Goa incl. Para-sailing, yea you heard me right, Karan will fly today, whether you enjoy that view or not ;)

First things first, it was b'fast time and Tanveer kept harping about a Pastry Shop "Infanteria", in the vicinity. Oh yea, I completely forgot about our host, he was a young dude by the name "Abhi", who was a distant cousin of Sanjay. We never saw Sanjay after that first interaction at the Thivim station but he made sure his cousin took good care of us. So Abhi arranged for an Open-Jeep the next day, as per the wishes of Parag. The Jeep looked cool, except when Parag started it, all its parts felt like the degenerating corpses from the film, "The Mummy". Parag asked for it so he drove it, all the way to the Pastry Shop but after reaching there, immediately got down and called Abhi and arranged for the good-old-a/c-stereo fitted Santro. The Jeep was very heavy to navigate and the sun could have burnt the living daylights out of us so it was a wise move to call for the car.

Now this place Infanteria (duh...what kind of name is that anyway) was a proper white man's b'fast kitchen table. I saw the menu and I couldn’t believe he was ripping us off by beating the "EGG" in 36 different ways and serving it to us in the name of 36 recipes. Every recipe came with 2 slices of toast bread and we were left with mountains of toast breads by the time we got up and left. Honestly, if you are not the beans-waffles-omelets-bread-jam types (count me in), you should avoid this place. Someone get me a Dosa, please!! The saving grace was a cuppa coffee, God bless them for that.



Now, we were stuffed and ready for a water-sports workout ahead, got inside the car and headed straight to the Sinquerim Beach close to Fort Aguada. The first sight of the beach was breathtaking, high waves and cool breeze and down below was a stream of jet-skis, speedboats and we could see a couple of folks trying the para-sail. As much as it looked exciting, the omelets started to churn in our tummies once we put on the life-vests. Everybody was debating whether we should indeed do "this" and then came a masterstroke, we wanted Parag to take the mantle to kick start the para-sail, coz he was the only one who could swim to save his life in the sea, if something went wrong. He agreed, though not readily and we were all set



Before we boarded the speedboat, the guys negotiated the price and stuff and we agreed for 700/- per person for a round of para-sailing. One by one we boarded a small boat and then got transferred to a bigger speedboat in the middle of the sea, f*** this was going to be some experience. We all sat so close to each other on that speedboat like somebody had placed a can of "Fevicol" (like you see in the ads). Well, they called us out and Parag got up and helped himself to the harness, the guys put the shute in place and damn looked it awesome up in the sky. Parag got under the shute and got himself hooked and the boatman started to rev up his boat and slowly and steadily he increased the speed and inch by inch Parag was going up the sky...damn it looked perfectly normal and there was no shrieks or cries from our guinea pig ;) that gave us one helluva confidence. The speedboat was racing and we enjoyed the speed and water splashing on our faces while Parag started to flex his legs and arms high up in the sky, I could make out he was feeling the whole para-sailing groove. It was a relief to see him come down just the way he went up, oh as a BONUS treat, the boatman would slow down the boat so the glider can touch his feet in the sea and get submerged waist high and then lift off again. Man, that was some trick right there. Now we couldn't wait and started jumping in excitement.



I was the next in-line and I felt absolutely comfortable going up except the harness and ropes would tighten every time your body jerked in the sky and that was a little scary, I also got to touch my feet in the water, get submerged and then surge up again. I came down and Tanveer was the next to go, no goof-ups, perfect take-off and landing. Now came the real TEST, Mr. Karan Totlani weighing 120 kilos on a para-sail. The boatmen and his accomplices were pretty confident of the lift-off and said it was no big deal and the boat/shute could lift a person weighing twice that much. Well, it was time to see. Karan put on the harness and he did look like he was sweating and then when the boat started to zoom, he did indeed lift-off from the boat and started to go up the sky, as claimed by the boatmen. Guys, you have to see Karan flying, like I said, whether you like that view or not ;) A few feet up and Karan said "Bas Bas..." but eventually got used to the height and also enjoyed dragging his feet in the water and then landed on the boat like an A380 on the tarmac, perfect

Phew! that was way too cool and we would have definitely done a second round (i.e if someone sponsored). I tried my hands at the speedboat coming back to the shore and I must say it is a powerful machine. Now for the second water-sport, the jet-ski, we thought of a third too, the Banana Boat but it was way too elementary for our likes. The jet-ski was the most unexpected thrill and complicated to say the least. Don’t go by the looks, it may look like a regular gearless "Vespa" on the road but it is a totally different ball game in the choppy seas. For starters, the balance on the boat has to be spot-on coz the water below you is full of waves and you are bound to trip and it is for this same reason why each of us were given a life-guard (besides the life-vests) to take this beast inside the sea. I straddled myself up on one of these and the life-guard was behind me (like a jockey riding the horse) and then he gave me instructions to accelerate (which turned out to be the brakes) and that was that, you give it a race and it roars ahead, you leave the brakes, it slows down. This looked fine until we started going deeper inside the sea and the water was just too much to navigate, I had to keep racing coz if I didn’t, the huge waves would trip me in the sea, on more than one occasion the life-guard had to pitch in and steady the boat and at one point I felt like "when the hell is this going to end". Then I got a hang of it and it was still far from perfect and then the life-guard for the last few minutes showed me how it is done and then I felt the real thrill of a jet-ski, it was going so f**** fast and the water splashing on my face, it was an absolute adrenalin rush. Ahhh...man I got off that bike and posed for pictures and I was done.

Tanveer tried his hand at it and so did Parag and Karan, everyone went through the same thing and finally we lay our tired asses at the bottom of the sea, we just chilled out and let the sea drag us in and out of the shore, it was one helluva ride out on the sea that day. We gathered ourselves, paid the guy and headed to the bungalow for Lunch ahead....D-Day 3 Contd. on next post

D-Day 2 (Calangute City, Baga Beach, Fort Aguada, Brittos Restaurant)

October 17th, 2008 - As much as I love travelling (I got hooked to that idea last year after my trip to Singapore), I hate the idea of transit from one place to another, wish I could just close my eyes, dream of the spot and find myself there, talk about teleportation. I couldn't sleep my way through the night and was up early; the guys got up in their usual who-dared-to-wake-me-up-expression and almost immediately wanted something to dig their teeth in to.

The Railways did not oblige our starved tummies and it was taking an awful long time to serve b'fast. Parag couldn't wait any longer and we dragged our asses to the Pantry Car, i.e me, Parag and Tanveer. If you don’t know already, there is not much to choose between a Sloth and Karan when they are both in their sleep-mode, he will do anything to stay-put and wait for the b'fast to arrive. Well, we rushed to the Pantry Car like we were flood victims and then one-by-one we tasted everything that came out. At one point, we had a dish, stepped out of the train (thinking we had enough) but again got back in and started trying another dish, now that was extreme b'fast by any standards. Got back to our seats and the guys started feeling dizzy, not me, I feel dizzy only when I see "my bed" and they started stretching first and ended up sleeping. I was tracking the time and as is expected of any outstation transport, the train was running late by an hour (not bad by Indian standards). Finally, we reached at 12:00 PM at Thivim station (train was till Madgaon) and the moment we stepped down, the decision to carry shades, hats and sunscreen made sense. It was not scorching but it was HOT and the humidity in the air didn’t help, the beaches were not close by and that compounded the heat wave

Our contact in Goa (Kris and Tanveer's common friend) was waiting for us, he went by the name Sanjay. Cool guy (looked local of course) and he bought an Omni to pick us up, the drive was like 20 Mins to a bungalow that was nicely nestled in one of the many neighborhoods in Calangute. On the way, he told us the adventures of Kris when he was there last time but nothing clinching that we could take back to Mumbai and hold him to a ransom ;) My first impression of Goa was pretty much like Kerala (minus white lungis), it also felt like Sri Lanka coz I was there last year on my transit to Singapore. Small winding roads, tall coconut trees, paddy fields, cheerful crowd and yes the “Firang Brigade”, they were everywhere, I hoped the East India Company was not planning a second tryst with India via Goa

We reached our Bungalow, it looked very clean and serene and went by the name "Angerosa". Hmm never heard that kind of name before, the ground floor was occupied by an old couple and they rented the first floor to guests, the floor had 3 separate rooms with A/C, attached bath, small refrigerator and private balcony and one of the rooms (where Karan and I put up) also had its own kitchen. The rooms looked like any regular Hotel room and we were impressed.

After stripping ourselves and shoving the luggage, everyone had a welcome shower and ready to head to the first eatery in the vicinity. It was called "Viva Goa", nobody knew of the place before (though I was the only one in the group to have never been to Goa) nor tasted the food but that’s what this trip was all about, exploring and finding the good, bad and ugly. I was hoping I would always end up on the good side ;) So we ordered our Lunch and the routine of dishes was pretty much the same all through our trip, I always had chicken/veg and other HKs were in to fish/chicken. To keep the "spirit" alive, I joined Parag with a Breezer and we had a sumptuous meal. We hired a car "Santro", Parag was insisting on an Open-Jeep (which he regretted later) and we were on our own to explore Goa. We took off from the restaurant and headed for Baga beach, Calangute/Baga/Candolim/Sinquerim beaches are all on the same coast line on the North of Goa.





Baga Beach had a steady stream of visitors not restricted to Firangs and the water looked reasonably clear, the waves looked cool and the sand looked like sand for a change (not like Mumbai where it appears like gunpowder). The coast line was long and it was surrounded by palm trees. Water-sports were also available for the patrons. We had decided to try it on the Sinquerim beach instead, basis feedback from the locals. While strolling on the beach, we saw the "Brittos" restaurant and again by word-of-mouth, it was supposed to be a good eatery. We decided to come back to have dinner

We left Baga Beach and headed to Fort Aguada, that's like a must-see places in North Goa, en-route we saw the majestic gates of Kingfisher Villa. Mr. Mallya certainly knows a thing or two on how to make an impression. Frankly, I have watched better cribs on the Travel & Lifestyle channel, John Travolta and his pad in Florida is one of the many examples, don’t even get me started on Mr. Trump and his assets. To me, exclusive means "what money can't buy". Ok, enough of my bragging and back to the trip. We reached the foot of the Fort and it looked pretty awesome with a white watch tower. Some part of the Fort also extends to the "Taj Fort Aguada Resort" nearby. Now I was told, some shooting sequences from DCH was filmed here and yes, it did look authentic. The view of the Arabian Sea from the fort was very bliss; my camera did justice to the landscape, when I brought back the memories. We spent time roaming the Fort ramparts and taking pictures and then headed back to the Bungalow. Crashed on the bed for a few hours before it was time for dinner





As planned, we headed to "Brittos" on the Baga Beach and tasted local delicacies. We enjoyed the open-air restaurant and the evening atmosphere and then thought of getting down on the dance floor. We checked around and found, the most popular joint close by was called "Titos". We checked with them and it was going for 800/- per person entry only, we thought it was a little too over the top for "entry only". We did debate on it (everybody wanted to get down with the chics ;)) before common sense prevailed and we drove back to the bungalow and called it a day. Parag wanted to have the "Rave Party" experience and we decided to head to the Anjuna beach (it seems there was a joint called Hilltop, popular for Rave Parties) next day...more on that in D-Day 3 post

D-Day 1 (Train to Goa)

October 16th, 2008 - The D-Day had finally arrived, I reached home at 6:30 AM and started packing, I didn't want to go to sleep after shift (as I would normally), wake up and rush through the packing activity. Most important to pack in your bags after your regular gear is Shades, Sunscreen and Hats (I took 3 of them) when you visiting Goa at this time of the year

I think I had a good sleep (again that's unusual when I'm about to go an trip, I can't sleep a wink) and had a glance at my iPhone, 2 missed calls, one from Karan and the other from Parag, the time was 2:30 PM. I called Parag first and he planned to take off from Pune at 5 and reach my place around 7-8. I called Karan and he gave me a news that was starting to give me convulsions, it sounded like another dropout, this time it was Tanveer who didn't respond to our calls or messages. I asked Karan to keep trying and went off to sleep, got up at 6 and called Parag first and this time I thought I'll almost go into a comma, Parag was not responding, we were just 3 hours from meeting up and people were not responding, what the f*** was going on??!! I wondered

I called Karan and he said he had no luck reaching Tanveer and I told him that Parag was not responding either. We were on the verge of calling this trip off when Parag called, "f***, where the f*** are you", I screamed, he said he was on the way and will reach my place by 8. Phew! I sent a message to Tanveer and said "If you are going to lay your ass off this trip, better give us the Goa contact #" and that's when Karan confirmed that Tanveer will make it and they will meet up at the appointed hour at Andheri station and move towards CST

Oh, that reminds me, over the course of the conversation with Karan, he told me Parag and I should come to CST instead of Panvel, so we could all have dinner together besides I had the updated ticket (after cancellation). Now Parag was running really late and he came at my place (Vashi) at 9, we caught a train to CST around 9:10 and reached CST by 10. By that time, Karan (the hoggard that he is) with an equally gluttony-faced Tanveer had started dinner and almost finished it. Parag and I made it to the Canon Food-Stall outside CST station and feasted on the Pav-bhaji and topped it up with chaas/lassi

We met outside the CST Station entrance that takes you to the trains that leave Mumbai, I mean you have to see it to believe it (even though we live in India and we know we have 1 billion people), a sea of humanity, I thought for a moment, anybody (to be read Politicians) who blames the security forces of this country for not taking steps to curb terrorism should be SHOT DEAD. I mean what the f*** you going to curb in this density of population per sq.km. People squatting on a single platform could make up for Australia's/NZs entire population

It was a nostalgic moment for both me and Parag, I can count the number of visits I have made to the CST Station and Gateway of India on my fingers from the time I was born. Getting on an outstation train was also after a really long time. Now coming back to the wild goose-chase to find our seats, we found the one for me, Karan and Parag; it was right next to the door (which is not ideal, coz the door to the A/C chamber is slammed back and forth). Tanveer found his in a different coach and then started the "Great Indian Adjust Trick". "Uncle, can you move here, Aunty can you move there," it worked, and Tanveer got a place in our berth. Man, who said "system decides the best seats for us", WE (humans) decide the best seat :)

We settled down and looked around for some prospects (to be read chics) and we found one behind our seat, it was a German chic with her b'f I guess, oh yeah, if you feel like a tourist in a bus/train/plane that is leaving for Goa, it is perfectly normal. We (Indians) are in the minority. Then we saw some Indian chics moving up and down the train but those as we found, were the "Honeymooners", why not, Goa is a fav Honeymoon destination in India. It was time, 11:05 and the train started moving, the departure service level made us believe, it will also arrive on time (next day 10:58) but it wasn't to be...read on…D-Day 2

Planning for QBR VIII

September 2nd, 2008 - The HKs (aka HaraamKhors) had their last QBR (Quarterly Boys Review) in Murud on the Weekend of 29th June, 2008 (also happened to be my b'day). It was time for QBR VIII and if you have been reading my Blogs, you should know sending an intimation for a QBR "much" in advance is an understatement in our group.

Nevertheless, I sent a shout-out to my bumchums and asked them to revert with a possible date, time and venue. I suggested options like Kolad, Bhandardhara, Igatpuri or a far-fetched (or so i thought) Goa in the mid of October 2008. To my surprise, almost 50% of the group agreed that Goa is "THE PLACE" to be at this time of the year. Well, I was all game for it and we started exploring the the mode of transport and accomodation. I guess we had a fair idea of the expenses involved and that didnt deter us from embarking on this trip

Trivia: In my 29 years of existence, this was my first trip to Goa, I know its a shame but better late than never, right mate?

September 11th, 2008 - I shared the Final Itinerary after having explored all options...HKs who confirmed their prescence were yours truly, Karan, Priyank, Parag, Tanveer, Amit K and Amit S

To GOA - 10/16
Mode: Train (Konkan Kanya)
Time: 11:05 PM from CST Station
Duration: 12 Hours

To Mumbai - 10/19
Mode: Bus/Flight
Time: TBD in Goa
Duration TBD in Goa

September 11th, 2008 - Karan and I got on a conf call and we called all the HKs who had pledged for the trip, we couldnt get through to Tanveer and so with lot of hesitation, I booked tickets for 6 of us minus Tanveer. It was a very historic moment considering the plans got finalized so quickly and we had at least 50% participation (or so i thought). At that point, 56 tickets were still available for booking and I hoped some of the HKs would squeeze in on their own

September 14th, 2008 - Thats exactly what happened, Tanveer finally e-mailed and was ready to book the ticket on his own and he did that in less than 10 Mins, that was a first (Service Level Met) for Tanveer, I must admit

Next came the shocker, Hemu sent a mail and mentioned his younger bro was getting married on the same dates as we were planning the trip. Now I expressed my inavailability and aghast (for telling us so late) in no uncertain terms but was not sure of the other HKs, at that point nobody seemed like dropping off and so the trip was still ON

September 16th, 2008 - Second shocker, Priyank opted out citing personal reasons, now we were down to 6

September 18th, 2008 - Now came the news from Kris that fired us up, he knew of a contact (presumably influential) who could arrange for a bunglow with A/C rooms, transit in Goa and water-sports etc. On the same day, Amit S was trying to reach his contact and now it was all looking very positive and we knew this trip is going to be a BLAST!

September 21st, 2008 - Turns out, Kris's contact is also a common friend of Tanveers and Tanveer called the contact and set us up. There was no finer details but we knew the accomodation has been arranged. So far so good

October 1st, 2008 - We had 14 days to go and now we started discussing how we were going to meet and where do we board the train from. It was obvious, Parag (coming from Pune) and I (from Vashi) should meet up and board the train together. Our natural choice was to catch the Train from Panvel (other options were CST and Dadar). I asked Parag to come to my place and we could have dinner together before we reach Panvel. For the HKs in the suburbs, CST or Dadar was an option

Tanveer's ticket was for a different coach (he booked on his own remember) and we needed to figure out how we could get him in our's, well this is India and getting to "ADJUST" is no big deal

October 9th, 2008 - Tanveer shared the details of the accomodation and it left us in a trance... a bunglow booked with A/C rooms, options to travel in car/jeep inside Goa, private boat for sea trips and water-sports. Bunglow close to line of beaches and close to Kingfisher Villa. Hmm...sounded like a 90201 address in Goa. We couldn't wait to get going, at the same time there was this underlying scare that someone may just drop at the last moment and our worst fears came true...

October 14th, 2008 - Amit S sent a communication that he cannot make it on account of his office work over the Weekends. On the same day we had our final Conf Call with the remaining HKs and we were in for a double whammy, Amit K also dropped out citing reasons to host his client visit. We were now reduced to 4 and words can explain our utter misery at this development. I ended up cancelling 3 confrmed tickets on the train. No explanation is good enough for the HKs who dropped out but the rest were determined to make it happen, even if it came down to 2 (definately not alone)

With that the planning was over and it was time for D-day...Goa here we come...