A trip to grandma's for the the summer hols ... Literati Bookshop and Cafe, North Goa

Some of our friends had told us about a place called Literati near Baga at North Goa. We were told that it was a cafe and a bookshop.

K and I went to the beach on our second day at Goa. I was carrying a stomach bug. Couldn't take the sun. So we decided to check out Literati the next day and have breakfast there.

I must confess that I was a bit underwhelmed when we reached there. We had the image of a Lila Cafe sort of place in our heads. What we saw was a pretty house in a lovely garden. Three rooms of books and a veranda which looked on to the garden. The 'cafe' part seemed limited. Creatures of urban comfort that we are, we missed our cappuccinos or having straws to sip the nice cold coffee on offer. The 'cheese sandwich' was just as your granny would make it. Cheese in two slices of bread, toasted in a griller. The food tasted tasted and smelt of the summer vacation trips to one's grandparents place.

As you have probably realised by now, Literati was a fairly rustic and simple operation. There were Irani cafe- like rules. 'No taking food inside.' 'No taking books outside'. 'No taking first hand books into the second hand section.'

So you had to sit quietly in the veranda and look into the green Eden like garden as you munched on the sandwich that granny made. 'Eden-like garden'? Was the place growing on us? Read on to find out more.

Fuelled by coffee and cheese we set off to check out the books. My first discovery was the 'Lost Diary Of Adrian Mole'. This set the tone for the rest of the morning. For Literati was not an assembly line of CD cum books cum mags cum fridge magnet cum Barbie shop. Literati represents the last of a rare, fast breed called 'bookshops'. They had the usual Pamuks, Harukamis and Balduccis. But if you looked around you would find books popping out and calling out to you. Books which would met your interests. Or of those whom you were fond of. There is nothing like the joy of discovering the perfect book when you least expect it.

The first room had the new/ first hand books. Then there are two more rooms which have second hand books. There are comfy sofas to sink in. Well worn. Ceiling fans to cool you. The mood is balmy and lazy thanks to the trees outside. The staff are very sweet and helpful. Don't expect any supermarket speed and efficiencies though.

To take the grandma metaphor further, the place did remind me of my visits to my grandparent's house when I was a kid. And the joys of discovering great books in my grandpa's collection. Literati is not a steel and chrome air conditioned functional shop. You should go there if you want to unwind, laze, step off from the treadmill and discover some great books. The place invites you to walk around, feel at home and takeaway memories. Don't go there if you want to pick a book on the go.

I suddenly heard Bengali being spoken while I was roaming around the shop. To be expected in a book shop I guess. They turned out to be a Bengali father and daughter couple. A Bengali lady called Mita, who had married a Dutch gentleman and had settled in Goa, and her father Mr Das who had come from Delhi. So we ended up having a Bengali association meet in the heart of Goa! Like my grandpa, Mr Das too felt that I should have joined the IAS!

Literati left us underwhelmed. And then overwhelmed. It grew on us. As K put it, it was the discovery of the trip. I can't tell you how good it felt be in a 'real' bookshop after ages. And in such an awesome setting. Looked after by such good natured people. Literati has shot up our 'must visit' list at Goa.

We picked loads of books for ourselves and our friends. Just about manged to dodge the excess budget limits.

For me the high point was meeting my old friend Aidy Mole again. And what better time for that than on my birthday trip? Hang on Aidy, the world will hear of your Newt Tales someday.

Notes:

• Literati is at a place called Ice Factory near Calangute at North Goa. Here's their web site for more details
• They are shut on Sunday
• The shop closes at 6 PM
• The kitchen shuts at 2.30 PM. Because "she (the cook I assume) leaves"
• They don't serve aerated soft drinks. But they serve wine and beer. That's Goa
• If you see a lab who looks like Marley then you are likely to have met Frieda. Do say hi to her from me. Poor thing had to be dragged away as K squealed in fright when Frieda scampered in

KL Strikes Back

I visited KL in 2006. I was mighty unimpressed. Wrote about the same here.

Now one could always argue that this was a superficial outsiders un-researched take. But then that's what this blog is meant to be. A sum up of first impressions. I was actually at KL for more than a week. First for a conference. And then with Kainaz when she joined me. We did the touristy bits. Saw the Twin Towers. Climbed the other tower. Went to the Batik factories. The Museum and the Malls. Scoured the streets for food. Went to a highly recommended disc. Zouk. Which was shut. We were happy and relived to move onto Langkawi.

Three years down the line I discovered that the best way to see KL is to skip the Twin Towers!
If you look at KL from the surface then it is hard to find anything which distinguishes it from other Asian Tiger cities. What you need is someone who loves the city. And shares common interests with you to give you a real peek into the city.

Folks like Arindam and Sasha. Bengalis who moved into KL from Calcutta then Delhi and finally Mumbai. Arindam was earlier upset when he read that I was not impressed by KL. And was incensed that I had called Singapore the food capital of the world. He was bent on proving me wrong. Soon the opportunity came and I landed at their place at KL one Friday. What followed was a culinary romp through buttered pork, suckling pigs, chilly pan mee, siew yoke, fried frogs and lots lots more with a bit of touristy shopping thrown in at Ikea, Watsons and Carrefour.

We didn't see the Twin Towers. And I had a whale of a time.

Moral of the story. It pays to connect with someone who knows the city before you land up there. Ideally someone who has common interests with you. This will not always be possible. But you will be surprised what a little bit of blog searching or Facebook questioning could throw up. I learnt this from the expert. Sasha actually reads up travel sites and enters into discussions there before she plans Arindam and her vacations. Individuals tend to give less exhaustive but more intense and useful information. You are likely to gain much more than just going to impersonal travel directories, books or agents. I am going to do that the next time.

Anyone interested in Mumbai, Calcutta (slightly dated info), Baga Goa feel free to ask me questions. Especially if they are to do with food.

And you can go to my food blog, Finely Chopped, to see what we were up to in KL this time. Check this for live updates from KL and some more posts after I returned.

Here are some pictures to tempt you ...

Sasha and Arindam... the two people who can really bring KL alive for you

My first bite of frog

Roast suckling pork

Home of a heavenly delight - Chilly Pan Mee -handmade noodles, poached egg, fried mice pork, fried anchovies, a secret eleven spice chilly mix

A great place near the Mid Valley Mall for Siew Yoke (pork belly) and the legendary Chicken Rice

Yes, yes ...you guys win, KL 7 Singapore 1

The future is here... Dubai

Remember those episodes of Simpsons which are science fictionish and show the future? Vast expanses of land with air bubbles for humans, located far from each other.

Dubai reminds me a lot of that. Long roads and highways snaking all across. With futuristic, gleaming steel buildings cropping up suddenly. And buildings like you have never seen before… towers reaching into the sky, sailing boats, pyramids, spheres, lakes… as if Picasso had been given an open canvas.

Many of these have amazing malls. Huge. The sort of space we can’t think about. The price of most of the stuff, INCLUDING the food, is the same as Switzerland. A country which the Lonely Planet says even Westerners would find expensive.

We’ve come a long way from the time where the whole of India would head to Dubai to shop. But the scale of the place makes you imagine what the future could hold.

And the malls are welcome oases of air conditioning which protects you from the desert heat.
The new Metro takes you from one mall to another.

The steel and chrome modern wonder of Dubai is a complete contrast to the Swiss cities with their 19th century stone buildings, fountains, narrow cobbled streets… all in a concentrated area. Cities like Zurich, Lucerne, Geneva represent the old order.

Our cities in India are like gangly teenagers trying to get there.

Does Dubai represent the future? Cities created on an architect’s elm?

Are we ready for it?

Mumbai rocks... Metrotwin Mumbai

Hey, this is something very close to my heart and a dream come true for me.

Metro twin http://mumbai.metrotwin.com/ is a BA effort to add colour to Mumbai for foreign travellers. I am a strong believer in the tourism potential of Mumbai and India.

A lot of things suck in terms of infrastructure but there's so much to see and do here, there is so much character. We just need to get people excited. We can give tons of popular destinations a run for their money. We can't fix the roads and loos and the Governmental apathy but we can definitely help build the romance of India. The rest will change I am sure.

So please introduce Metrotwin Mumbai to your friends overseas.

Let's spread the Mumbai story.

Paradise regained in forty five minutes...Mandwa beach

Remember those scenes in movies such as Pretty Women or even in F.R.I.E.N.D.S where the heroine is leaving town at the end and the hero hasn't stated his feelings for her? And then he realises his mistake and runs to catch up with her. Often goaded by a friend. Usually he reaches the airport or train station late and then finds that she is waiting for her. And then they live happily ever after.

Well something like this happened to me recently. Except in my case the woman was replaced by an idyllic sea beach!

OK, this is a long story so please be patient or skip the next paragraph.

A few of our friends had made plans to go to Mandwa last Wednesday. I wasn't sure as I had a meeting on Wednesday. That got cancelled and I thought I will join them. Then I felt quite nauseous and had a headache on Tuesday night. So I told Kainaz to join the gang on Wednesday while I stayed home. K left for the Gateway next morning while I stayed back. Then I began to have second thoughts as I felt that I was missing out on an opportunity to do something different. That's when K's mama called me and said "what are you doing, just drop everything, jump into a cab and go". Pretty much like Phoebe in F.R.I.E.N.D.S and the hotel manager in Pretty Woman. I began to consider going when he called me again and screamed, "you are still not in the cab, what are you doing?!". I quickly exchanged my jammies for a pair of jeans, brushed my teeth and darted out. Well Kainaz and our friends who had set off early in the morning skipped the 8.30 AM catamaran for me. I arrived just in time for the 9.15 AM ferry and we set sail for Mandwa. I threw up over the side of the ferry as we reached Mandwa and the world seemed beautiful again.

The fairly empty and secluded beach of Mandwa is a forty five minute to an hour's boat ride from the Gateway of India in South Mumbai.

Mandwa is the entry to the more popular beaches of Alibagh and Kihim which are off Mumbai. You can reach Mandwa by a ferry or a catamaran. These leave the Gateway every hour and tickets range from Rs 60 to Rs 90 (1 to 2 USD) depending on the size of the boat. This service is closed in the monsoon months, approximately June to September. During these months you can reach Mandwa by a three hour drive. There are buses to take you from Mandwa to Kihim and Alibagh. The price for these are included in your ferry ticket and you don't have to pay separately for this.

Now the thing with Mandwa is that it is literally cut off from civilisation. It is not developed unlike Kihim or Alibagh. You have a few shops selling soft drinks, wafers and biscuits and a public loo at the jetty. Apart from that there is a tiny snack bar with a few tables and chairs run by a person called Guru. You get a few local snacks such as vada pao and missal pao and soft drinks and tea.

The beach is a bit rocky but if you are intrepid enough then you can base yourself at Gurus and spend some time at the beach. I believe that there are spots where you can swim too.

We didn't have to do any of this as two of our friends were members of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. They took us to the Mandwa Club. Before you get any images of a fancy club let me tell you that Mandwa Club is just a little outpost with a few rooms and toilets and a verandah with easy chairs and sofas. They don't have a restaurant but you can get your own food and warm it in the kitchen. One of our friends got some lovely Chinese from 5 Spice and we had a great lunch by the sea. There is one, ancient attendant who runs the place.

There were six of us that lazy afternoon, by the sea. The lovely breeze brushed away the pressures and pains of the week. We chatted, we lazed, we stretched, we ate, we giggled ... some of us went into the sea and flapped around. I was really glad that I went as I felt very refreshed and rejuvenated... cut off from mad, manic Mumbai. If nature had a spa... then this would be one.

We sat back for Mumbai by the 4.30 PM catamaran. The last boat leaves at 6 PM.

You can stay overnight at the Mandwa Club if you know someone at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. In fact they have a more modern set up called beside the Mandwa Club which has two rooms and a kitchen. This is air conditioned, has better bathrooms and is more modern. Both of these are right on the sea.

But I'd recommend going to Mandwa with a good book, a picnic basket and a beach towel if you are the sort who likes open spaces, likes the sea, wants a break and is fine with roughing it out a bit.



And definitely if you are lucky enough to have Jamshed Adrianvala as your friend.







Credits:
Jamshed Uncle: for organising the trip and waiting patiently for me
Shahazad: for the lovely Chinese from 5 Spice. Excellent choice of dishes
Rita and Malka: for making us break into peals of laughter
Freddy Mama: for his calls goading me to go
Kainaz: through whom I know the rest of the cast and for living with my indecisiveness

History lesson: Apparently the Mandwa Club was started after the Royal Bombay Yacht Club was opened at Bombay during the British rule of India. The Royal Bombay Yacht Club was meant for the higher officers of the British Army and navy. Ordinary folks from the ranks who liked to sail complained that there was nothing for them. That's when the Mandwa Club was set up. What's remarkable was the location chosen for the club. There was nothing around the area at that time but people had the foresight to pick this spot. The Mandwa Jetty is fairly recent and has come up in the last decade.

Country mouse: Malacca, Malaysia, 2006

The problem with Malacca was that we had gone to Ayuthaya the previous year.

Ayuthaya was the ancient capital of Siam. A majestic city with opulent palace grounds and ravaged monastries, carefully preserved for tourists, a day trip from Bangkok.

We gave a similar brief to our travel agent - day trip from KL, mind blowing history. The closest we could come up with was Malacca. So we headed to Malacca looking for another Ayuthaya.

Well, it was a day trip from Kl by bus, as Ayuthaya was from Bangkok. That's where the similarity ended.

No grand palace here. It was billed as a 'historical city' but there were very little attempts to bring alive this history. It struck one more like being an average a small town.

One must admit that there was the cultural diversity Malaysia (Truly Asia) is famous for. We saw a Chinese temple and ambled down the lanes of a Chinese village. A nice peaceful walk down the country but not comparable to the regal grandeur and history one got used to in neighbouring Thailand.

And it was not all about Chinese villages and Buddhist temples. We came across a red coloured church in the town square. But there was no one to tell us anything special about either the town or the Church. And we were with a fairly expensive day tour.

The red theme seemed quite common to Malacca. Later in the day we went up what seemed like an old fort. From there we could look down at the pier of what presumably was the Malaccan Streets. And in the distance were a number a red houses with red roofs. They painted quite a pretty picture.

You would have noticed that a couple of things were left to conjecture in the previous paragraph. That's because the Malaysians did not share the Thai knack of showcasing themselves for tourists. The guides in Malaysia were quite reticent compared to those in Thailand. And we were yet to discover Lonely Planet then.

All in all, Malacca was a nice break from the urban landscapes of KL. Thousand things to see before I die? Perhaps in the late 900s.

Of course, holidays are not just about what a place has to offer. Often memories are built beyond this.

Looking at our photos reminded me of two Oriental ladies who wanted to photograph themselves with Kainaz and me at the town square. And this was before Danny Boyle put us brown skins on the red carpet.

And then there were these guys with pythons to take photos with. Kainaz, who loves snakes, promptly got a picture taken with a yellow python. Then she pulled me against my better judgement to join her and her friend for a pic. I can't say that having the wet, slithery, weight around my neck was a high point of the trip! I am quite proud of my calm smile though.

Traveller's notes:

• Malacca is about a 3-4 hr bus ride from KL


• We went on an organised tour which picked us from the hotel


• We had a Chinese dinner at a restaurant there which was part of the package


• You are better taking a 'Lonely Planet' or equivalent because the tour guides are fairly basic

I give you good price: Baga, Goa 2009

Don't be surprised if you are walking down the streets of Baga and hear a voice cry out for you in an accent which is a mix of Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslett and Meryl Streep. Chances are that you will turn around and see a waif like urchin, straight out of Slumdog Millionaire.

Baga, at Goa is lined with little shops which sell clothes, shoes, spices, fake watches, overpriced artifacts and curios and what have you. The clothes are quite kitsch and trendy and don't be surprised to find a Bob Marley tee shirt beside a Mahatma Gandhi one. The quality? Well if you are bothered about that then you shouldn't shop from the streets in the first place.

These shops normally spring up during season (November to March) and are often manned by girls and women who speak in very exaggerated English accents which they have picked up from foreign tourists.

Bargaining is the norm here. But this year is exceptional. You can get some amazing deals thanks to the recession, terrorist threat and subsequent trickle of tourists. Usually one gives a counter offer of half the quoted price and settles somewhere in between. This year you will often be surprised to see that your first offer itself is taken up as the sellers are quite desperate.

Some of the prices that we saw after bargaining were:

• tee shirts - Rs 75 - 150
• skirts/ sarongs - Rs 100 - 200
• shorts- Rs 100 - Rs 150
• fake watches - Rs 200
• 'pashmina' shawls - Rs 100 (plain). Rs 175 (with designs)
• Water sports!: para sailing at Rs 300 after initial quotes of Rs 600
• Sling bags/ 'jhollas' - Rs 100
  Rs 100 = 2 USD

Frankly I hate wasting time shopping during holidays. But there was no stopping Kainaz or my brother this year. In fact junior turned out to be quite a shopper as he darted from shop to shop. As for Kainaz, she headed for the shops like a homing pigeon. The way I would head to the nearerst prawn chilly joint I guess.

Though I must say that I was quite excited by some of the quaint Rajasthani tiles, lamps and hooks that we picked up for the house

Traveler's notes:

• Hotel prices of the small guest houses had gone down too. Though the mid level places held their prices
• Food prices at restaurants remain constant though. I guess there are those who shop and those who don't. But everyone eats!

Making love out of nothing at all: Singapore 2004, 2008

I thought I’ll follow up my post on KL with Singapore. The same person who had asked about KL had put up a query on what to do over a day at Singapore too.

I really admire and envy Singapore. Their vision is fantastic. In a way they are the Vegas of the Far East. They have made this amazing city out of nothing. They are very clear, London has the eye? Make a bigger one. It snows in Christmas? Make artificial snow here. Australia has a Coral Reef? They have Sentosa. And so the story continues.

In India we have the British colonial buildings at South Mumbai and Kolkata’s Dalhousie, a historical monument in every second road of Delhi, a Chinatown (Tangra) at Calcutta, a pub crawler’s trail at Bangalore…yet these guys at Singapore go to town and make tourist attractions out of their Chinatowns, Little Indias and colonial hotels and cricket clubs. Hats off to them. We have our swamps such as the Tolly Nullah at Kolkata, the Mithi River at Mumbai, the Yamuna at Delhi and yet these guys at Singapore make hot party spots out of their river dumps at Clark Quay and relaxed riverside café joints at Boat Quay. We have a rich history going back to the Stone Age and a freedom struggle which has thrown up leaders the world admire. Yet these guys have built lovely museums – places where you feel like going even if the ‘history’ is at times younger than one’s age.

I have made two work trips to Singapore so far. And can think of enough things to do. And I have not even been to the famous amusement island of Sentosa!

Well first things first. Singapore in my opinion is truly the food capital of the world. You get all cuisines and at all prices. The people speak English so it’s not that difficult to get what one wants even if one has food restrictions (vegetarians rejoice). And for those who don’t beef, pork, fowl, venison, quail… you will get it all there.

A visit to the food courts or hawker centres is a must. These are the most economical places to eat. You have myriad stalls – Chinese, Thai, Philipino, sandwiches, Indian (dosas, mughlai). You place your order and then eat at the plastic tables in the centre. You will find these all over the city but Lau Pa Sat and East Coast are some of the nice one’s to go to.

For something more exciting and glitzy, go to Clark Quay, the river front, especially at night. This is the food Ibiza with laser lights, modern steel and chrome restaurants, belly dancers and even Bollywood lighting up the night. The food spread here is even broader with German, Italian, Mongolian, Indian, Persian, Tibetian and what have you.

Boat Quay, the other river front, is slightly more relaxed and frumpy compared to Clark Quay. They have quite a few pubs too based on the pubs of English. Plus nice river front sea food joints.

A visit to the Night Safari is worth it. Coming so close to animals, though in a typically antiseptic environment, is quite cool. Going to a zoo is one thing but seeing the creatures of the night lose, separated by a glass pane from you, is quite cool. They had a nice live show also. You can walk the trail or go on a little train inside the safari. It’s an hour’s bus ride from the city centre. You get food there too though its slightly more expensive than the city.

Singapore has its share of glitzy malls and of course the famous shopping street of Orchard City. Shopping is expensive here but walking down these streets and the malls can be a nice experience especially if you are into window shopping. The variety is still more than what you get in India. And they often have sales going on.

The trick is to go the famous Mustafa Shopping Centre at Little India if you are on the lookout for a good deal. This place is open 24X7 and is crowded as a Virar local or a Kolkata private bus. It used to be very popular for buying cheap branded stuff. Frankly not that a big deal if you live at Mumbai now with Alfa, Circuit City, My Dollar Store and the Gujarati food imported food shops. Still it’s worth a visit for the sheer range. Quite a Singapore icon.

The Chinatown is interesting – Chinese temples, houses, trishaws. I went there in the morning so was in and out in half an hour. I reckon that it makes more sense to go at night when the food courts and the road side trinket shops open.

A walk down the City centre, Raffles Square, is nice for its manicured roads and interplay of colonial buildings and modern towers. It looks almost like a lego set or a doll house as do most of the tourist portions of Singapore. Very unreal. At least if you live in India.

Little India, Chinatown, Arab Quarter, Raffles Square... the way Singapore celebrates and packages its multi ethnicity is reallly admirable.

Would I specifically plan a holiday to Singapore? No I wouldn’t. It’s not the cheapest of Far Eastern destinations. Nor does it really have any exotica. Bangkok scores on both (is the Thai tourism board listening). But Singapore is definitely a place where I wouldn’t find it difficult to spend a few days without getting bored.

Traveller's Notes

- The Singapore public transport, especially the subway, is pretty good. You can go to most places such as Chinatown and Little India from the city centre using this
- They have night clubs called K TV or karaoke bars. I think they are pick up joints too. Now who will tell Mr Patil that our dance bars could have been tourist attractions

- Singapore has double decker buses, Duck tours, which are nice ways of getting acclimatized with the city. The actual ‘Duck tour’ is an amphibian vehicle which goes into the river

Kela? KL, Malaysia 2006

Someone had posted a query on facebook recently – “what can I do if I have six hours at KL?”

I must admit that I was a bit stumped by this question despite our trip to Malaysia couple of years back. I went there for a conference. Kainaz joined me after that and we spent a few days at KL followed by Langkawi in 2006.

The truth is that Kl’s left a blank spot in my mind. I think the KLCC Petronas Towers at KL sum it up – steel, chrome, modern, impressive but robotic.

KL isn’t a bad city. Don’t get me wrong. It is clean, has manicured roads, sparkling malls, it has a variety of restaurants and night clubs. The people are friendly and helpful and speak English

I guess we were a bit spoilt by our trip to Bangkok last year.

Bangkok had Sukhomvit which was very lively and full of character. KL’s Golden Triangle was quite empty by 9 PM. Bangkok had the majestic Royal Palace and the Buddha temples for sightseeing. KL’s sightseeing trip consisted of a national ‘museum’ which had stuff from 1960 or so, Merdeka square – a garden at the end of the day - and batik factories. And the guides were quite perfunctory compared to those at Thailand. Bangkok had lovely street shopping which one could do at Sukhumvit, the Sum Lum night market and the Chatuchaak weekend market. The shopping at KL was largely at malls. The prices were more expensive than India for the same stuff. Bangkok had Cabbages and Condoms and lovely street food. KL had food courts in malls which shut by 9 and the odd food court. Bangkok had Pat Pong. KL was famous for famous night clubs such as Zousk (?) but apparently that’s open only on certain days of the week. You can go to places such as Ayuthaya, Floating Market, River Kwai from Bangkok. You can only go to Genting if you like gambling or amusement parks or to the comparatively drab ‘historical city’ of Malacca from KL.

I don’t want to make this a KL versus Bangkok thing but the point I am trying to make is that going to KL could be like staying in a five star hotel assuming money’s not an issue. The experience is picture perfect but sterile. It is a place to go to if one wants a break. But it didn’t strike me as a place to go to collect memories.

A bit like the word ‘kela’ in Hindi or ‘kola’ in Bengali, this means banana, and is kid’s slang for 'very ordinary'.

Would love to know if you have a different take on KL

Traveller’s notes:

- avoid going during Ramzan, everything shuts early

- public transport such as the subway does not cover the entire city. So stay close to the Golden Triangle as the city is quiet dead for tourists outside this. We stayed in a hotel which was slightly away to save 10 USD per day. Ended up spending much more on cabs. The Tamil expat cabbies or notorious for not following the meter. So look for Chinese cabbies
- The malls have more variety than in India but everything is more expensive than here. Thailand is cheaper
- Liquor is duty free at Langkawi, so cheaper to buy booze there
- Everyone seemed to have seen Shahrukh Khan during the shooting of Don there!

Disclaimer - this article is not sponsored by the Thai ministry of tourism. The writer is open to offers of Bahts from the same though