Tag: Cochin

  • Kochi Chronicles – Part 4

    Kumbalangi, as made famous in Kumbalangi Nights! The second time we play tourists in Cochin.

    Grand Hyatt. We had to see the place after Jayasurya’s Sunny. What a view!
    They have a sunset cruise, but we were told that that the boat was ‘unwell’!
    But the fantastic views along the walking path made up for it.
    Dinner at Colony Clubhouse & Grill at the hotel. Surprisingly good food!
    Tip: Choose the city side view for a change
    Breakfast at Gokul Oottupura, behind the Siva temple. Now a regular part of the itinerary.
    There’s something about Puri Bhaji in Kerala 😀 By the way, their dosa chilli chutney is amazing.
    Fish curry meals at The Grand is another fixed part of the itinerary.
    Welcome to the Aquatic Island Resort, Kumbalangi
    It’s all ‘floating’, and the bedroom is below the waterline. No, you don’t get to see it as you might in a submarine.
    First stop – Chellanam harbour. Less than 30 mins away. Walk the causeway there.
    For local cabs, call JJ Tours and ask for Vivek.
    Puthenthodu beach. In the evening, you can watch the Beach Soccer League in full flow! 🙂
    Cross the district border to reach Andhakaranazhi in Alleppey. Vivek’s suggestion. Quiet, with only locals around.
    Images never do justice. Anjilithara Road is just a mud track at one end, but the sereneness is out of the world. 5 mins walk from the resort.
    The breakfast view from the resort restaurant.
    Cherai for lunch. This is Chilliout. Funny name, but clean and pretty!
    Not to mention, great seafood. Squid and tuna.
    Cherai beach seemed surprisingly not much to talk about. This is high tide, but…
    Kuzhuppilly on the other hand, was lovely. Stretching indefinitely, and full of erm, love birds!
    The Vypin lighthouse as seen from the Puthuvype beach
    Puthuvype beach. Unfortunately not very well maintained.
    The National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom (I kid you not) aka Vallarpadam Basilica 
    Remember this, from Kumbalangi Nights?
    If you know what OMKV stands for, you might drop in only for that kick!
    But you also have a beautiful sunset view here.
    One that you can enjoy while you eat absolutely local stuff.
    The Pal kappa was so-so, but we loved the kappa (beef) biriyani
    It’s hard to say goodbye, but we’ll be back in a bit

  • Kochi Chronicles – Part 3

    Where we play tourists at home! This is from 2020.

    The Tower House is part of Neemrana Hotels
    Except for the psychedelic fish tank, very colonial indeed!
    Comfortable rooms, very old school! Look at that wicker!
    Don’t go by the cover. This is a boutique hotel – The Postcard Mandalay Hall
    And we’re in jew Town
    Fort House restaurant for lunch
    When in Kerala, gau for Porotta + beef!
    Mattancherry Palace
    I wish they maintained the frescoes, and the place in general, better
    Random tea break, because we have seen this spot upstairs in many movies 😀
    Only look, no touch. The place is only for posh tourists.
    Might be old, but still very pretty!
    Some of the street art remains. This one is my favourite!
    Chinese fishing nets. Check.
    Yet to meet a sunset I haven’t liked
    The Biennale that revitalised Kochi
    All 5 heads agree that Kashi Cafe is a good spot for dinner
    The brownie is good, but the nostalgia is the clincher 🙂
    Old school is so cool!

  • Change Signalling

    The end of the year signals a time to reflect. The perfect opportunity presented itself recently, when a colleague was bidding adieu after 5 years. There seemed to be no better venue than Monkey Bar, which was itself in the last week of its operations. Our group was mixed – early and mid thirties to early forties – and we talked about life in Bangalore, kids or not, and where we planned to settle after work. When I said that I was considering Cochin, at least a couple of my colleagues wondered if I would be able to adapt. I explained that the biggest joys in my life, in addition to reading and travel, were Malayalam movies and porotta-beef, that I wear the mundu a lot at home, and nostalgia or not, my mind often wanders the roads of my hometown. (more…)

  • Home Outgrown

    On our way to the airport, for what would be one of our shortest trips to Kerala, I told D that I didn’t see myself making this journey a decade from now. At least not framed in the way we do it these days – a trip home. I was wrong – it happened way sooner than a decade.

    It wasn’t a comment made lightly – after all, to borrow a phrase, I was referring to a city which had all the places that made up a couple of decades of my life.

    What does one go home for? The obvious answer is easy – to spend time with people who matter in one’s life. To note – even that changes during one’s lifetime. But if I have to dig a bit deeper, Rana Dasgupta’s words make sense – when one becomes homesick, it is not a place that one seeks, but oneself, back in time. And when one does that, the props matter. The places, the faces, all reminders of different phases. When they no longer exist, the place is no longer a cure for homesickness. (more…)

  • Kindred @ Kottayam

    The predictability of the biannual trips to Kerala has been on the wane the last couple of years. To the extent that this year we have made only one visit, and it does seem the count will stop there! This year, our more extensive plan, which involved a cousins’ get together, was reasonably wrecked by the announcement of a nationwide bandh on 2nd September. A few of us though, decided to have ourselves a hartal holiday, and thus D and I found ourselves in the world’s first solar powered airport on the first day of September. The pre-arranged cab would take us to Kottayam, with a pit stop to pick up a cousin and his wife.

    As we veered off NH 47 on to HMT Road, I realised I hadn’t been on this road in this millennium! NH 47 is apparently called NH 544 now, but I refuse, citing old age as an excuse! HMT stopped ticking earlier this year, I wonder how long the road will be a reminder – probably until local or national pride finds what they deem a worthy recipient. Meanwhile, the only landmark I could remember was at the beginning of the road – Food Craft Institute, which my mother used to visit for baking classes in the 80s. I looked around for the Toshiba Anand factory, remembering the replica of a giant Toshiba battery on a tower that could be seen from afar. Seems I was seeking a world that had been erased more than a decade ago. My last memory of the place was a staff quarters (I can’t be sure if it was KSEB or HMT itself) – we had relatives there and a kid, slightly older than me, had the only clockwork railway I had ever seen. Yes, it was a big deal in the 80s! I glanced around excitedly and then wearily, hoping for a few more tokens of the past, but the place had changed much, I really couldn’t remember anything more, and it was a painful reminder of how fickle, and out of one’s control memory is. After all, to quote Julian Barnes, “memory is what we thought we’d forgotten.” (more…)