"Would you like to join us for a holiday?" was an invitation from heart, which we could not refuse.. even otherwise it would have been a tough call for us to pass the opportunity over.. so, it was like we did not have a choice.. quick calculations.. few 5 digit 6 digit numbers.. and yes, we were game! Yippee!
Next few days were intense.. intense with an extreme overdose of net surfing.. digging for more info on the destinations.. travel routes.. activities.. safety alerts and what not.. wake up with net.. doze off on net.. rate of emails surpassed any number seen before in life.. Agoda, LateStays, Booking, Hotels, Kayak, MakeMyTrip, x-y-airlines were the new buzz in town.. an addiction with no perceived end.. and then, there was light.. a little small one to start with.. Red shirts were ruled out for obvious annual repetitions.. west was on higher spread of 6 digits.. so we decided to skip the west, jump over the reds and land up in Bali! Yes, that's where we are heading.. our first international vacation.. spirits were high, enthusiasm in the blood.. very excited and eagerly looking forward to it!
The first blow was the largest single spend on the credit card ever.. but the blow was subdued in the anticipation on seemingly endless joy and fun.. and Singapore Air will take care of the travel.. Wait a minute, did I mention Singapore? Yes, I did. What we forgot was Singapore is synonym for super exciting indulgence for the ladies.. And we surely can't miss it, specially if its a 12 hours hop-stop both ways, can we? Lets get back to the net and the data mining for travel formalities.. another information overflow.. most of it unauthenticated and misleading.. but for sure we know wading through the weeds.. the 6 figure number seemed wobbling a bit, but I guess its beyond constructive control now.. ;)
Time to dig the second hole in the pockets.. long beaches to analyze, areas to read and explore, days of collation, nights of evaluations, mails of opinions, conflicts and agreements, finally narrowed down to Aston. Though not worth it, still the imperceptible non-included "free" airport taxi transfer is haunting us.. But anyways.. what needs to be done, needs to be done.. CC already into 6 figures, time for the hole to be passed from one's pocket to other's.. quick check backs on rates and availabilities and behold! We are booked in a 5-star prime property!
Detailed plans are already on.. Spas, massages, full day Yacht, native paintings, pubs, sea swims, and the list goes on n' on.. What started as a humble outing seems to be turning into an overflowing one! And we are loving it..
Next few days were intense.. intense with an extreme overdose of net surfing.. digging for more info on the destinations.. travel routes.. activities.. safety alerts and what not.. wake up with net.. doze off on net.. rate of emails surpassed any number seen before in life.. Agoda, LateStays, Booking, Hotels, Kayak, MakeMyTrip, x-y-airlines were the new buzz in town.. an addiction with no perceived end.. and then, there was light.. a little small one to start with.. Red shirts were ruled out for obvious annual repetitions.. west was on higher spread of 6 digits.. so we decided to skip the west, jump over the reds and land up in Bali! Yes, that's where we are heading.. our first international vacation.. spirits were high, enthusiasm in the blood.. very excited and eagerly looking forward to it!
The first blow was the largest single spend on the credit card ever.. but the blow was subdued in the anticipation on seemingly endless joy and fun.. and Singapore Air will take care of the travel.. Wait a minute, did I mention Singapore? Yes, I did. What we forgot was Singapore is synonym for super exciting indulgence for the ladies.. And we surely can't miss it, specially if its a 12 hours hop-stop both ways, can we? Lets get back to the net and the data mining for travel formalities.. another information overflow.. most of it unauthenticated and misleading.. but for sure we know wading through the weeds.. the 6 figure number seemed wobbling a bit, but I guess its beyond constructive control now.. ;)
Time to dig the second hole in the pockets.. long beaches to analyze, areas to read and explore, days of collation, nights of evaluations, mails of opinions, conflicts and agreements, finally narrowed down to Aston. Though not worth it, still the imperceptible non-included "free" airport taxi transfer is haunting us.. But anyways.. what needs to be done, needs to be done.. CC already into 6 figures, time for the hole to be passed from one's pocket to other's.. quick check backs on rates and availabilities and behold! We are booked in a 5-star prime property!
Detailed plans are already on.. Spas, massages, full day Yacht, native paintings, pubs, sea swims, and the list goes on n' on.. What started as a humble outing seems to be turning into an overflowing one! And we are loving it..
Planning for the trip also lead to a major step forward in our lives.. we felt a need to be connected in a better way.. for sake of fun as well as ours.. to celebrate our joys and share our sorrows.. to spread the news around and let the world know.. to start Chinese whispers, and also to discuss critical issues in details.. if nothing at all, to keep in touch at best.. keeping in line with the latest technology, 'Toast To Life' - a connected network - to raise a toast to our lives, came into existence.. no matter what happens.. no matter whatever goes on.
And as the D-day is nearing, the scramble for last minute tasks increases day by day.. Lot of new things cross the minds.. Insurance.. print outs of travel documents.. packing checklists.. oh crap! we forgot the swim suits! How on earth was that possible?!! Like I mentioned, the scramble is on.. Insurance was a 2 minute online job.. but spreading the word for a common channel and getting it done was took a while.. a thing managed well in time.. so was generating the checklist and mailing it across.. And as usual, taking print outs is always a last minute job, even when the taxi is waiting downstairs with the driver psyching out over the departure delay more than we were worried about missing our flights!
Today's scramble hardly left us with any time to have a square meal, and even our minds which were constantly thinking if we had forgotten anything behind.. one set of keys with neighbors to feed the fish.. the other set with a close friend to water the plants.. documents - check.. passport - check.. footwear - check.. toiletries - check.. cloths - check.. cameras - check.. check.. check.. what the check, I mean heck! We got our credit cards and can definitely find a way out if anything is not-in-check!
Through the usual not-so-good experiences in past, it is hard to imagine that we might have nicer people working with our government.. and that too in customs! Have you ever come across any? We did.. one of the most gracious, humble and helpful man - Marcus - at the Bangalore airport, who helped us in declarations of our electronics and also took time out to help us understand the general import rules for personal items. He works in the day shift, and if you get a chance, do say "Hi" to him! Grabbing a quick bite after the security check, we were in no time on the plane. Yes, on the plane to our first foreign vacation together! Really excited to get to Singapore and to Bali.. already feeling the sea waves running through our minds and the chills of the breeze at night tingling our skins.. Awesome!
And as the D-day is nearing, the scramble for last minute tasks increases day by day.. Lot of new things cross the minds.. Insurance.. print outs of travel documents.. packing checklists.. oh crap! we forgot the swim suits! How on earth was that possible?!! Like I mentioned, the scramble is on.. Insurance was a 2 minute online job.. but spreading the word for a common channel and getting it done was took a while.. a thing managed well in time.. so was generating the checklist and mailing it across.. And as usual, taking print outs is always a last minute job, even when the taxi is waiting downstairs with the driver psyching out over the departure delay more than we were worried about missing our flights!
Today's scramble hardly left us with any time to have a square meal, and even our minds which were constantly thinking if we had forgotten anything behind.. one set of keys with neighbors to feed the fish.. the other set with a close friend to water the plants.. documents - check.. passport - check.. footwear - check.. toiletries - check.. cloths - check.. cameras - check.. check.. check.. what the check, I mean heck! We got our credit cards and can definitely find a way out if anything is not-in-check!
Through the usual not-so-good experiences in past, it is hard to imagine that we might have nicer people working with our government.. and that too in customs! Have you ever come across any? We did.. one of the most gracious, humble and helpful man - Marcus - at the Bangalore airport, who helped us in declarations of our electronics and also took time out to help us understand the general import rules for personal items. He works in the day shift, and if you get a chance, do say "Hi" to him! Grabbing a quick bite after the security check, we were in no time on the plane. Yes, on the plane to our first foreign vacation together! Really excited to get to Singapore and to Bali.. already feeling the sea waves running through our minds and the chills of the breeze at night tingling our skins.. Awesome!
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