Baklava wah wah!

Remember I had put up the message in my GTalk about Baklava being available for only 1 month in the entire year at Iranian Sweet Palace? (Baklavas in Bombay @ Iranian Sweet Palace (Bhendi Bazaar) - 1 Kg packet is fine for me pls - jaldi karo its available only for 1 month every year around Navroze which went by on Sunday!)
Well! my net friend Darryl Neves of FastForward Studio (http://www.ffdancestudio.com/index.html) enlightened me that it was available at Hypercity too!!!!!
Toh kya thaa! since none of you out there are my true friends ;-P who would go out and get it for me. I went straight to Hypercity on Sunday 28th April 2010.
And what I saw is all here for you to see. Baklava with a variety of nuts!!! ;-) ummmmmmm!

But it being the season of Lent I had to settle for the Eggless variety thats what you see here (Kadiyaf Drum Cashew) n quiet happily I ordered Half a Kg only to be jolted back to reality when I preened at the cost Rs. 147/- for 100 gms hmmmmm there I had to get back to reality and settle for 100 gms (now what's with the smirk on your face eh!) arrey it was 28th March end of the month remember!

So here is yours truly happy to have got her fill of Baklava Wah wah!

But then life is full of surprises! and some really thoughtful friends and ex-colleagues. Remember Mahesh one of the two Eshs! who was there at BWSL Supa Satruday!

Haan Haan wahi! He took the trouble of not just going looking out for the non-descript Iranian Sweet Palace, but once there promptly called me to first tell me that yes! he was there, and yes the Baklava was very much there and it was priced as just Rs.600/- per kg. Some quick maths and I settled for 1/4 kg, but this time wasnt so lucky coz the shop sold the sinful stuff in 1/2 kg and 1 kg helpings only. So phir bola what the .... theek hain aadha kilo le lo!

The Baklava was hand delivered to me at Andheri Station by Mahesh the next day! in the most no frills packaging possible. Well! although a little disappointed

(well! I was looking forward to take some cool pics and rub it right in for those who missed out on getting their share of Baklavas from Iranian Sweet Palace ;-P But then andar ki baat is what was important. In the meanwhile you can keep fuming and fretting that I not just got the Baklava's but got to eat it too! eh he he he he!!!!

Alibaug Ahoy! (Et yanathor Furst!)

Alibaug sey aaya hain kya? haan!

Yup! finally finally finally I too can say I have been to Alibaug!

But Kintu, Parantu mine was a different Trip ;-) work with wandering kind!

You see a neighbour has a court case running at the Alibaug Court and he had to go there on 2nd March 2010 and he asked me A aati kya? main pucha Kidhar who bola ALIBAUG!

Toh phir aisa apun log niklay...
9.30 am Churchgate local from Goregaon Stn.

Churchgate Stn to Gateway of India Taxi

10.45 am Gateway of India to Mandwa Jetty - Maldar Catamaran ye dekho photu!

An Oil Rig/Platform I clicked on the way.

Australian seagull's which followed our Catamaran from mid-way in the waters from Gateway, till a little distance before Mandwa jetty.
We were quite lucky to get the glimpse of these birds (aussie's) and their actions while catching food, thrown by people (sad part) birds should eat fish not Kurkure, Potatochips and Biscuits :(

(Photo of the birds and related text courtesy my ex-colleague Ashish Vagal. Who coincidentally had gone to Alibaug just 2 days prior to me. Of course text has been edited by me. Ashish ki English!!! janey do)

Hey! I too fed the birds - Kurkure on the way to Alibaug , and Nachni Biscuits and coconut biscuits from Alibaugs famous Mayur bakery on the way back from Alibaug.

See the Mandwa Jetty in the background as the Maldar Catamaran approached it.

We reached the Court at around 12.00 noon only to be told that the cas for which we had come would come up at 2.30pm.

Out of the Court Compound and behind the court. here's what we saw!

This is the view just 50 mtrs away (behind) from Alibaug Court. (pic 1) the fort in the background (pic 2) the fort zoomed in . The boys around there said it was the Alibaug Fort (my friend back home said it was the Colaba Fort) and at 4.00pm we could walk up to it or take a taanga as the waters would have receded.

Well! aby kya! I like to eat on time by 1.00pm so told Raju lets eat! He took me to a Restaurant. I told him Boss apun idhar Idli Sambhar ya Punjabi dish khaney nahin aaya hain. Apun ko local mangta hain. So set out looking for a Khanawal. The frist one we went to refused Veg Thali inspite of us reminding it being a Tuesday one of the Vegetarian days of the Hindus / Maharashtrians. But no luck there! So moved on to this Brahmin Khanawal.

Even as we were looking for the lunch location yours truly couldnt give up on the photo ops! ;-)See both of us giving instructions to the khanawal guy who was clicking our photo (of course at my insistence)

And the funny part being both of us were siting in this Brahimn Vegetarian Eatery and all the while regaling each other about the various kind of Fish we had eaten at various locations away from home. And you very well know how softly yours truly speaks.

Attended the court of course after a visit to the Mayur Bakery near by. Taareek mil gayi aur hum nikley around 3.35pm reaching the Bus pick-up point only to have missed the 3.45pm Maldar tranfer coach by a whisker! So booked the next earliest PNP 4.15pm coach. Me in the bus calling up folks in Roha (just 43 kms away) and telling them about me being so close to them in Alibaug and not visiting them coz it was they who were supposed to be getting me to Alibaug in the first place but the plan never materialised. And at that time Raju went about looking for the famous Alibaug Coconut chikki (A thorough and thoughtful host that he is) and got some for me and some for his son. So its not Say cheese but chikkiiii!

Back to Mandwa Jetty and there she wasThe PNP Catarmaran in time for the 5.05pm pick- up

And back to pavilion matlab ghar by 7.00pm!