Dream vacation to Maui: Day 5

This was the last day and the vacation was about to get over :'( We went to hawaii and we didnt even go to a beach. So today was the day to go on the beach. We got up early in the morning and went to the beach of our hotel. The beach was super beautiful! We played with the sand on the beach and instead of making castles I made Manoj a mermaid. Covered him completely with sand :D Check out the pictures. After the beach we also went to the hotel pool and Jacussi. Ultimate relaxing it was !!! This trip was super tiring if I just think about the first four days of the trip. But, the last day indeed was relaxing!

We were ready to head back to the airport and on the way we visited Choice again and had Coconut and garlic quinoa and Cajun black bean soup. It was yummilicious :)  On our way, we also stopped at local fruit market where we took a pineapple and mangoes and dragon fruit + banana smoothie!

A beautiful Gift!

Few days back while I was working from home, I heard someone slipping an envelope from the bottom of our apartment door. I quickly opened the door to find out that it was Shreyansh. I spotted him running downstairs ;) I was wondering as to why would he run like that? On asking him to come up, he simply refused and asked to catch up later as he was in a hurry.. 

The envelope that he dropped had the MJ symbol that we used on our wedding invitation cards over it. On opening the envelope, I found a small photo-card in it with one of my favorite pictures from our pre-wedding photoshoot.  On opening the card, I found a beautifully written letter inside. It was quite interesting to read that :) Even though he is more of Manoj's friend than me, it was something least expected from a person like him. Although it was so touching to read that letter but 'dost', sorry and letter se kaam nahi chalega, be sure to keep your promise as written in the letter. 26th December is approaching soon and we are celebrating! You are invited! Don't miss it, again!

Wedding Shopping Guide in Mumbai!

Before I forget and lose the link to the best Wedding-Shopping guide that I found just before my wedding, I want to put it here so that it stays with me forever :) I literally visited each and every boutique listed here. I feel very blessed to get a family with such a great patience as Manoj and his Mom, both of them kept their patience to check off each boutique on this list. (My mom and aunt were tired of shopping with me in a day;) )

After tiring 4-full days of shopping (read: window shopping!) finally I bought my wedding trousseau/s from Friendship (the one that I wore in engagement, although it was the most expensive one, it was a total paisa vasool as I looked the prettiest in that dress :) I loved it sooo very much. So far hundreds and hundreds of people have asked me where did I buy that gown from and people are still asking...) Another one I bought from Bawree (The yellow and pink one that I wore at Sangeet). Third one from Aishwarya (the one that I wore during the pheras) One from Seasons (the Red one that I wore on Mata ki chowki) and the one I wore during Reception was also from Friendship (if I remember correctly!) Below are few pictures of my outfit from my wedding!

Engagement | Reception | Sangeet  

Store	location	address	info
Libas	Andheri		20-40 bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, can customize clothing
Paaneeri	Andheri	217, Ceaser’s Court Hsg. Soc. S. V. Road,	http://www.paaneri.com large selection for brides
D-7	Bandra	Turning Point Building on Khar – Danda Road.	7 designers in one complex, including Pankaj and Nidhi, Manish Arora, Rabbani and Rakha, Ranna Gill, Namrata Joshipur, prices are medium to high depending on what you find
Label Bandra (Ritu Kumar)	Bandra West		mostly threadwork, traditional bride
Tarun Tahiliani Boutique	Bandra West		http://www.taruntahiliani.com/index.html#/HOMEtraditional Outfits tend to be on heavier side (weight wise and work wise), and prices are on higher side but he has a sale rack, and some of the lehengas (lighter) are decently priced for the amount of work on them.
A.D. Singh*	Juhu		http://www.adsingh.com/ contemporary designs can customize clothing
Archana Kohchar	Juhu		http://www.archanakochhar.com/ reception lehengas starting at $1500.
Falguni & Shane Peacock (Peacock Bride)	Juhu		http://falgunishanepeacock.com/index1.html  heavy contemporary lehngas and saris starting at $2000, small selection
Kimaya Fashions (Tarun Tahiliani)	Juhu	- 2, Asha Colony, Opp. Hotel Sea Princess, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu, Mumbai-49	alot of designers clothes $$$$ has reception lehengas
Libas	Juhu	New Lido Cinema Building across from SNDT unversity	20-40 bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, can customize clothing
Millionaire	Juhu		http://www.millionairebombay.com/ large selection of bridal clothing for ceremony and reception, can customize
Ri-Juhu (Ritu Kumar)	Juhu
Manish Malhotra	Linking Road / Khar (W)		http://www.manishmalhotra.in/flash.html
Bawree	Malad		http://www.bawree.com/#!/page_home good selection of clothing for the bride and bridal party
Millionaire	Malad		http://www.millionairebombay.com/ large selection of bridal clothing for ceremony and reception, can customize
Libas	Mulund		20-40 bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, can customize clothing
Friendship	Santa Cruz		large selection of bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, can customize some clothing
Pagli	Santa Cruz		20-40 bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, mostly traditional styles
Sakhi Fashion Private Limited	Santa Cruz		20-40 bridal lehengas for your reception
Seasons	Santa Cruz		http://www.seasonsindia.com/
Aishwarya Design Studio	Santa Cruz (W)		mother of the bride/groom clothing
Bawree	Santa Cruz (W)		http://www.bawree.com/#!/page_home
Standard (men’s clothing)	Santa Cruz (W)		large selection of bridal lehengas for your wedding and reception, can customize some clothing
Neeta Lulla	Santa Cruz (W)		very heavy lehengas starting at $1700. can customize
Tarun Tahiliani Boutique	Town Side – Colaba
Roopam	Town Side – Crawford Market		http://www.roopam.com/
Aza Fashions (Manish Malhotra)	Town Side – Cumbala Hill		Variety of designers, good selection of saris and lehengas, prices are on the higher side,
Aza Fashions (Sabyasachi)	Town Side – Cumbala Hill		very pricy $$$$$
Libas	Town Side – Cumbala Hill

Reference: Wedding shopping guide

Dream vacation to Maui: Day 4 Hana Drive

We again got up early in the morning at 7 am this time. We took a couple of pictures from our hotel room before heading out to Hana Drive.

One of the places I wanted to be in Lahaina shores was http://www.yelp.com/biz/choice-health-bar-lahaina for breakfast. And yes, we finally made it. We attempted I guess 2-3 times to go to this place but without any luck everytime. (It closes at 4pm) But, this time we headed out early in the morning at 7:30 am and finally made it to the place :) And I would say it was totally WORTH it!! We ordered the sunrise desert bowl. Omg, I loved it so much! The sunrise bowl had acai, berries, banana, strawberry, maca, cacao nibs, honey, almonds, milk, hemp seeds. The most healthiest breakfast I have ever had! Loved every single bite of it. [We actually made this at home every single morning after we were back from hawaii atleast for a full month with whatever ingredients we could get in the bay area.]

We headed out to the Hana Drive which is beautiful and serene drive. The roads were curvy and little risky. There were many tourists spots on the way we planned to stop by. But unfortunately, we missed the Twin falls :( The drive as I said was risky and the speed limit was 15mph throughout the drive. Although, it was lot of fun to drive on those roads. We went to blow hole, black sand beach, fresh water caves. It was all so serene! Loved every single view of it!

We started to head back before it started to get dark. On our way back to the hotel, we saw the sugarcane trains :) We decided to go back to the Front street to have our dinner. We loved the Front street so much that we went there for the second time but this time walking. We didnt know that it was at walkable distance from our hotel. We went to Bubba Gump for dinner. We do have Bubba Gump here in SF but have never been there before. 

On our way back, we bought pineapple shaped hawaiian cookies :) We headed back to the hotel and called it a day!

Dream vacation to Maui: Day 3 Sunrise/Bike tour @ Haleakela

We got up super early at 2 am for the sunrise at Haleakela. Our tour company was going to get us at 2:30 am. K (Out tour guide) called me saying your husband is downstairs and sunrise wont wait for us so we are leaving. I requested her not to leave me alone as I was on my way to the lobby (Although, I was in my room ;))

Ok, finally we left and we reached the breakfast area where we were served juices and coffee and cookies before heading towards the Haleakela sunrise tour. They gave us the biking gears like Jackets, Pants, Gloves, etc. As it was very early in the morning it was very chilly outside.

We reached haleakela around at 5 am in the morning. It was freezing cold out there!!! And we were right on time. The view was exceptionally beautiful. It felt like we were on the top of a garden covered with snow all over! We tried to take the best spot to take pictures but there was crowd all over. We somehow managed to get a good spot on the top of the hill. To my surprise, the sun rise was too quick. I mean the sun gave its first appearance and was considerably high within two minutes. We took lots of pictures and we started heading back. It was totally worth coming to this place although for even two minutes of time. The views were tremendously beautiful!

Beautiful colors in the sky!

This is when sun just peeked out of those clouds

The sun rays look so beautiful

Here it comes!

Finally!

Trying some photography tricks!

View of the parking lot on the other side!

After the sun-rose completely!

Now the most adventure part was yet to begin! Biking downhill for 28 miles!!! Woah! I was super excited. All geared up for biking. I was excited but not at all nervous. But, the moment we started cruising down on our bikes I realized the speed was too fast for me to make me nervous like hell. I slowed down considerably to get away with my nervousness. The guide asked me to come right after him as he noticed that I wasn't cruising properly and looked a bit nervous. (Yes, I was terribly nervous. Usually I do not get nervous by speed. I love speeds. But yes this scared hell out of me :'() Slowly, after a while I got a hang of it. We were biking at 20-22 mph speed. We stopped at various scenic places to capture the tremendous beauty of nature. K told us that west Maui was the second most wettest mountain in the world. First one is Kwai. (also located in Hawaii.)

Photoshoot at one of the scenic places on the bike route!

Here is a small video of the bike ride in the midst of those beautiful mountains :)

After 28 miles biking tour, we returned our bikes and went to the Tortilla company for some heavy breakfast! We reached back at the hotel at 11:30am and were super tired of our morning adventure. We had been scheduled for a Timeshare presentation (by Diamond) at 12:30 so we headed out for it again!

We went to some resort at the Kaanapali beach front for Diamond timeshare. I kind of loved the idea. How cool it would be to buy your vacations instead of renting your vacations! That means we are guaranteed to go for vacation atleast for two weeks every year! That would be so awesome for a person like me who enjoys traveling :) I simply loved it and wanted to buy that. But we were kind of not yet ready for the BIG investment. Never mind there is always a next time!

Later while we were hanging out on the beach front, I met Priya and Kunal again ! What a surprise? again?

Meeting Priya Matai on the Kaanapali beach front!

Post this presentation, I was very excited to get ready for the dinner cruise :) It was our 5th month anniversary. Both of us wore hawaiian dresses with the lehs for the cruise :) Wow! Both of us looked gorgeous :-* Here are a few pictures we took on the cruise !

Remembering Titanic!

Going crazy!

Trying to pose for AA-LO-HA! Out of sync :P

Nautanki

Aloha baby!

They served chicken and fish on the cruise and it was delicious! After the cruise, we slept early as it was a verrrrryyyyyyy long day for us! Good night for the day...!