Category: Travel

  • Agonda

    I have to admit, the Agonda vacation was more an “Ok, fine!” reaction to pandemic peer pressure. Having said that, seeing a place after 13 years does evoke a range of emotions!

    In fact, Goa is a bundle of memories anyway! Our first visit was in 1997 – a college trip, and we were in Miramar when we heard that Princess Diana had died. I didn’t know then that this would be my home for two years at the dawn of the millennium. Our first vacation after marriage was Goa again, and we dropped in annually for three years from 2006, until we dropped it from our travel list altogether. And then it was 2021, and the world had changed!

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  • Sydney

    Sydney had some heavyweights on its side – the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, and the fantastic combination view at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, all of which delivered on the promise. It also had the charming Manly Beach, which overdelivered, as opposed to Bondi which was only salvaged by the excellent street art! But in terms of overall experience, and probably because it had a stronger big city feel than the other two, both Melbourne and Cairns worked better for us.

    Stay 

    The criteria for room selection remained the same as Cairns and Melbourne, but we had to sacrifice the view thanks to $. We wanted to be as close to Circular Quay as possible, and finally went with 57Hotel. No photos because it would involve crashing into D – the room was that small. The smallest room we have stayed in was in Hong Kong, and this one easily beat that record. But it compensated by being a 5 min walk from the Central station, which made access to all the places we wanted to see very easy! They also have something that can be loosely described as a breakfast – coffee + croissants. (more…)

  • Melbourne

    Melbourne was a pre-favourite because of many factors – the Great Ocean Road, meeting friends, and skydiving! While Melbourne does not have the laid-back feel of Cairns, it compensated with great food, splendid street art, and a casual vibe.

    Stay

    In the well laid out rows and columns of Melbourne’s CBD, we wanted a place that would be well connected by feet or public transport. As always, a view would be welcome, and it had to fit our budget. Oaks on William checked all boxes, though we would have to manage breakfast on our own.

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  • Cairns

    Cairns finds a place in the Australia plan because of three words – Great Barrier Reef! As they remind you, there is nothing remotely close to it in terms of size and variety. But, after we got there, a bunch of things made us like the place a lot – the promenade, the community vibe, the relative slow pace, and a general small town feel, though it isn’t really a small town!

    Stay

    We wanted a place that would give us a sea view, and be near enough to areas we were planning to visit. The Cairns Plaza was perfect, and delivered on both counts. The check-in time, and this seems to be standard across the country, is 2PM, but if you get in early like we did, you can leave the luggage there.

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  • Malta : San Anton, Mosta

    Continued from Part 1, 2, 3, 4

    Our final day in Malta predictably began with a walk to the Ponsonby bus stop, the first step in a multi-hop trip to San Anton Gardens. After fumbling through the first one at Gnien/Garcin, we gave up on the original bus route and just caught a bus to Piu, the bus stop nearest to our destination. A 15 min walk later, we were at San Anton gardens. The palace within is the official residence of the President of Malta, but we were here for another “historic” sighting. 

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