To Aluva and Beyond
Aluva
At last! A sight for my sore eyes... our first stop! What took you so long, crazy Indian train?
After constantly checking our mobiles, we reached Aluva - at exactly 1 hour after the time we should have.
It was dark outside. Google showed a nice restaurant with an above 4 rating - Kerala Kitchen. We took the prepaid auto to Aluva old market. The auto driver didn't know Kerala Kitchen. So we switched on Google maps (of course!) and moved forward. In between, the maps took time to update and we went in the wrong direction.
DT yelled, "The other way!" - as soon as the map updated.
At the end, Google showed an arrow saying it was close by.
Apparently, the destination was in the new market. The auto driver scolded, saying it was in the new market and why did we say the old market.
Ahem, sir... Shouldn't you be the one knowing the directions?
We were irritated, too. We got down and decided to walk. Around 200m.
And there... stood a very small restaurant with no people in. Just 1 person cooking behind the counter.
Umm... Google showed an above 4 rating. Then it struck me why it was called Kerala Kitchen. Because that's all it looked like it was - a kitchen.
We were exhausted and hungry. So, we didn't care. Besides there were no other restaurants around.
I ordered porotta and mosambi juice while DT ordered appam and tea. And we ordered 1 chicken curry. There was no puttu though the review said it was excellent. Sigh.
After about 30 min, we got the crispiest porotta and one of the best chicken curries. I put some portion into my mouth and I remembered the porotta and chicken curry from Bestotel in Kottayam.
Nostalgia.
The tea had cardamom in it and tasted really good from DT's expression. The mosambi juice, contrary to how business is done here, was full of mosambi and did not have much water in it - a rare sight these days. The juice was refreshing... Aaah!
The restaurant lived up to its review and we learnt our lesson to never judge a book, I mean - a restaurant by its structure.
We booked an Uber to airport. Google maps showed that our Air Asia flight to Bangalore was at the International Terminal 3. The driver said domestic flights would be at Terminal 2.
Ha! Google knows better.
We told the driver to take us to Terminal 3. You just can't beat Google.
That's when the radio played Entammede Jhimki Kammal. Right then and there I fell in love with the song.
Cochin Airport
We got down at Terminal 3 and found from the staff that indeed the flight was at Terminal 2. A long walk did we walk to reach Terminal 2. Yep, with our backpacks.
After faithfully following you, how could you do this to us, Google? Sigh!
We walked up to Air Asia's counter and that's when I checked our tickets in detail. There was a 7 hour halt in Bangalore airport. Well... Bangalore airport is full of life. We will have fun... Hope so.
Because of this long halt, I was unsure if we would get through check in. Since our flight from Bangalore to Goa was Air Asia as well, the counter guy promised to send the luggage till Goa. I kept having my doubts. The guy kept reassuring us.
"Don't worry! You will get your luggage in Goa."
The security check got over fast. We waited. Flight was late by 30 min though the screens showed it was "on time". I made most of it by continuously listening to Entammede Jhimki Kammal.
And then, the flight came. We boarded. And soon I - zzzzzZZZZZZZ...
Bangalore
Reached Bangalore as soon as I opened my eyes. Once we cleared security, there was nothing to do. Our phone batteries were about to die. So, we went to charge our phones. Once done, we decided we would get a hot beverage or so.
At around 95% of battery charge, we could not wait any longer. We stood up and walked over to the food counters.
Nothing looked appealing and whatever caught our attention had absurd rates. Suddenly, sleep seemed like a better option.
We went over to a sofa and laid down. It was very cold even with my jacket on. After sometime, I drifted off to sleep. When I jerked awake, I saw DT, who was lying on a sofa next to me, with her eyes as wide as an owl's. She could not sleep.
After a very long ordeal, it was time for our next flight. I got in. And this time, again I zzzzzzzZZZ. By the time I opened my eyes, we had reached Goa. From the window of the plane, the sides of the runway looked very green.
We walked over to our baggage terminal. There, we waited for our bags for something like - forever.
DT remarked - "That guy said the bag would come at Goa. Where is it?"
I suggested if the bags are still at Bangalore, we should take an immediate flight back to Cochin and catch that guy by the collar and shake him like a puny rag doll.
That was when my neon green bag caught my sight from far. And... I noticed some bags around were wet. I was hoping mine wouldn't be. Please don't be! Please don't be!
And yep! My check in bag was wet. My clothes!
At last! A sight for my sore eyes... our first stop! What took you so long, crazy Indian train?
After constantly checking our mobiles, we reached Aluva - at exactly 1 hour after the time we should have.
It was dark outside. Google showed a nice restaurant with an above 4 rating - Kerala Kitchen. We took the prepaid auto to Aluva old market. The auto driver didn't know Kerala Kitchen. So we switched on Google maps (of course!) and moved forward. In between, the maps took time to update and we went in the wrong direction.
DT yelled, "The other way!" - as soon as the map updated.
At the end, Google showed an arrow saying it was close by.
Apparently, the destination was in the new market. The auto driver scolded, saying it was in the new market and why did we say the old market.
Ahem, sir... Shouldn't you be the one knowing the directions?
We were irritated, too. We got down and decided to walk. Around 200m.
And there... stood a very small restaurant with no people in. Just 1 person cooking behind the counter.
Umm... Google showed an above 4 rating. Then it struck me why it was called Kerala Kitchen. Because that's all it looked like it was - a kitchen.
We were exhausted and hungry. So, we didn't care. Besides there were no other restaurants around.
I ordered porotta and mosambi juice while DT ordered appam and tea. And we ordered 1 chicken curry. There was no puttu though the review said it was excellent. Sigh.
 |
| Adipoliiii... Adipoli! |
Nostalgia.
The restaurant lived up to its review and we learnt our lesson to never judge a book, I mean - a restaurant by its structure.
We booked an Uber to airport. Google maps showed that our Air Asia flight to Bangalore was at the International Terminal 3. The driver said domestic flights would be at Terminal 2.
Ha! Google knows better.
We told the driver to take us to Terminal 3. You just can't beat Google.
That's when the radio played Entammede Jhimki Kammal. Right then and there I fell in love with the song.
Cochin Airport
We got down at Terminal 3 and found from the staff that indeed the flight was at Terminal 2. A long walk did we walk to reach Terminal 2. Yep, with our backpacks.
After faithfully following you, how could you do this to us, Google? Sigh!
We walked up to Air Asia's counter and that's when I checked our tickets in detail. There was a 7 hour halt in Bangalore airport. Well... Bangalore airport is full of life. We will have fun... Hope so.
Because of this long halt, I was unsure if we would get through check in. Since our flight from Bangalore to Goa was Air Asia as well, the counter guy promised to send the luggage till Goa. I kept having my doubts. The guy kept reassuring us.
"Don't worry! You will get your luggage in Goa."
 |
| YouCam Selfie @ Cochin Airport :) |
And then, the flight came. We boarded. And soon I - zzzzzZZZZZZZ...
Bangalore
Reached Bangalore as soon as I opened my eyes. Once we cleared security, there was nothing to do. Our phone batteries were about to die. So, we went to charge our phones. Once done, we decided we would get a hot beverage or so.
At around 95% of battery charge, we could not wait any longer. We stood up and walked over to the food counters.
Nothing looked appealing and whatever caught our attention had absurd rates. Suddenly, sleep seemed like a better option.
We went over to a sofa and laid down. It was very cold even with my jacket on. After sometime, I drifted off to sleep. When I jerked awake, I saw DT, who was lying on a sofa next to me, with her eyes as wide as an owl's. She could not sleep.
After a very long ordeal, it was time for our next flight. I got in. And this time, again I zzzzzzzZZZ. By the time I opened my eyes, we had reached Goa. From the window of the plane, the sides of the runway looked very green.
We walked over to our baggage terminal. There, we waited for our bags for something like - forever.
DT remarked - "That guy said the bag would come at Goa. Where is it?"
I suggested if the bags are still at Bangalore, we should take an immediate flight back to Cochin and catch that guy by the collar and shake him like a puny rag doll.
That was when my neon green bag caught my sight from far. And... I noticed some bags around were wet. I was hoping mine wouldn't be. Please don't be! Please don't be!
And yep! My check in bag was wet. My clothes!
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