The Seychelles Diaries - Day 2 - Beau valon and Marie Antoinette Restaurant

marie antoinette restaurant

The second day of our honeymoon began by admiring the surroundings of divers lodge. right in front of our lodge was an open patio where the residents could sit have their breakfast whilst watching the waves of  Beau Vallon . The owners of divers lodge grow tomatoes, green chillies and mangoes in their garden. Close to the patio  is a small bird food dispenser . It brings the most beautiful birds of seychelles every morning! we managed to spot the red fody also called the madagascar fody it resembles a small orange to red feathered sparrow. A few others were the zebra dove or the barred ground dove and the seychelle bulbul. It was heavenly to hear the morning waves, sounds of chirping birds and the scenic turquoise colored waters of Beau Vallon!

The Seychelles Diaries - Day 1 - Tour of Mahe

pic clicked from the cab we were travelling in

the first thing we did after we got out from the airport was to convert Euros to Seychellois Rupees. Euros, Dollars, British Pounds are all accepted in Seychelles, but its always better to carry the local currency so u get back the exact change. at that time, 1 SR = 5 INR approx. and 1 Euro = 16 SR approx.

we managed to get a cab just outside the airport and the lodge we were booked at "Diver's Lodge" was situated at Beau Vallon beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. it was a 20 minute drive, covering a distance of about 15 kms.

topographically the island of Mahe and rest of the islands that comprise Seychelles is pristine beaches and granitic mountains. thats it. buying houses is very expensive coz u either get the beach front or the mountain range. in both cases, beautiful , ridiculously gorgeous landscapes.

Few things u need to know about Seychelles

• its comprises of 155 islands and only a handful of them are inhabited. 
• the largest island is Mahe, and Victoria is the capital
• Victoria is also the worlds smallest capital city
• the population of Mahe is about 70,000
• the other major islands are Praslin, La Digue and Silhouette islands
• languages spoken are French, English and Seychellois Creole. 
• the local cuisine or Creole food has chicken curry (non spicy), fish baked or steamed, and lots of vegetables, with the occasional fruit bat and octopus. 
• Cable and wireless is the primary telecommunications firm based in Seychelles, the other is Airtel
• a bus ride to any point costs SR 5/-
• Seybrew beer is the local beer and its delicious!
• the people live in complete religious harmony and ethnically Africans, Indians and Chinese are the local inhabitants.
• they dont have any manufacturing units in Seychelles except Tuna , which is exported throughout the world , making them the biggest exporters. 
• everything is Seychelles is super expensive! thats because everything comes into Seychelles by boat/ship 

Honeymoon tip #1 : NEVER plan a tour on the very first day on arrival!

The Seychelles Diaries - Day 1 Landed in Seychelles!!

the flight from Dubai to Seychelles was about 4 hours. but it really felt longer! so the joy on our faces when the captain announced "we will be landing in Mahe shortly" was priceless! here we are finally in Seychelles!

i took a lot of photos using the 5d mark iii and ultra wide 17-40 lens from the window of the aircraft.

The Seychelles Diaries - Day 1 Bangalore and Dubai

i am a professional wedding photographer and so travelling is something that comes naturally to me. i never really enjoyed travelling when i was on assignment as i never really got to enjoy the travel, most often i would get confined to the hotel rooms, marriage halls of the events i am covering, so this is truly the very first time i enjoyed the travel. more so as it was my honeymoon! and magnificent Seychelles was our destination. so i decided to blog our journey from Mangalore to Seychelles for 2 reasons.
1. the photos are just not to be missed
2. this could serve as a travel guide to first time travellers to seychelles from India. will be writing about the must visit places in Seychelles, the local cuisine, culture etc. in the upcoming blog posts. 

we have been planning our honeymoon destination for months now and we had narrowed it down to the usual suspects Maldives, Mauritius , Bali, Malaysia etc. Nicole, my wife hates the cold, so travelling to Europe in January was totally out of the question even though we had initially agreed to go to Greece.

i really dont remember now who had come up with the idea of Seychelles but i was fortunate to have a friend Mario who arranges holidays through his firm Fleetfoot Journeys based in Mumbai.

after countless hours of talking over the phone and hundreds of email exchanges we were extremely happy to get our confirmed hotel reservations. made all the payments months before the Rupee had a nasty fall and had booked our flight tickets from MANGALORE TO BANGALORE, BANGALORE TO DUBAI, DUBAI TO MAHE (Seychelles)

there was an alternate route to fly via Colombo. but since it was our first time travel together abroad as a married couple, we thought it would be best to go via Duabi. in any case Dubai has a wonderful airport, which looks like a massive shopping mall.

some pics clicked at Bangalore airport, its not wise to take out the DSLR and start shooting inside the airport. a lot of pics are taken using their smartphones but i dont think its allowed to click photos with big bulky DSLR's inside the airport.

bangalore airport

The Chocolate Room - Bangalore

Death By Chocolate.... Guaranteed!

found out this place by pure luck, as i was desultorily looking for places to rest my lazy back side after jamming with my band Dying Embrace (oh yes i play in a band as well). i seriously have no idea why i looked up wards but there it was, the huge bill board for The Chocolate Room looking down (pun intended) on me.

Plan B

Plan B when plan A doesnt work out for you

the only good thing i really like about the city of Bangalore or Bengalooru is the variety of food joints, restaurants tailor made to suit everyone's palate. just a few months ago i had blogged about another place called Hae Kum Gang and delicious mouth watering (and wallet tearing) Korean dishes (read here) and todays review (or not) is of a pub/restaurant called Plan B which is situated on the same building as the Korean Hae Kum Gang restaurant.

Baale Birud Ritual at Coorg Weddings

Baale Birud Ritual at Coorg Weddings - is a very unique ritual followed at Coorg Weddings.

just before the Groom and his family enters the wedding hall, banana stems are placed vertical on wooden stakes and elders (sometimes even young men) from the Brides and Grooms side take turns in cutting them down.

Dinoo's Coffee Shop, Mangalore

Dinoo's fast food, coffes shop, desserts and pastries.

easily one of the most popular hang out places in Mangalore. Dinoo's offers some of the tastiest pastries i have eaten till date. but for me the 'icing on the cake' (no pun intended) is actually not even cake, but the custard caramels that just melts in your mouth.

Dinoo's shot in HDR and converted to Black n White

this is not really a review , so dont treat this as one. i am just enjoying the joys of walking around and clicking photos of things, places and people that interest me.

me and my fiancé and her best friend had finished lunch at another place called "Clay Oven" and we decided to pig out at Dinoo's to satisfy our craving for dessert. it took the auto rickshaw just 8 minutes to reach Dinoo's , which is located at Falnir and has become a landmark in itself.

Hae Kum Gang - Korean Restaurant in Bangalore

Korean cuisine is an acquired taste. if u Like Japanese food, then in all probability you will also like Korean food. one doesn't really have to travel to Korea to experience their cuisine and we were fortunate to visit Hae Kum Gang, located at Castle Street, near Brigade Road, Bangalore,.

The Tasty Tangles - UB City, Bangalore

The Tasty Tangles - UB City, Bangalore : was recommended by my good friend Vikram Bhat who , like me, also is a big foodie. the roast duck was easily the best i have tasted till date!

Berry Lane Home Stay, Ammathi, Coorg

Berry Lane Home Stay, Ammathi, Coorg

i had a wedding to shoot in Coorg Ammathi and my clients did the most awesome thing by booking a room for me to stay for 3 days at Berry Lane Home Stay at Ammathi in Coorg.

the stay is located at a tiny hamlet called Ammathi, which is around 15 km from Virajpet and 35 km from the district capital Madikeri.

some of the features 

berry lane is a 25 acre coffee plantation and the home stay is located bang in the middle of  it all!

Lush greenery, exotic birds and insects which is a photographers delight

The best weather , perfect for tasting the local cuisine and sipping on rum

I really loved the hospitality and the food! and if u are new to Coorg, this place is highly recommended!

The place is owned by Mr. Uthappa and he can be contacted at 9448721460 for bookings.

Dio - Live at Donington UK : 1983 & 1987

Dio - Live at Donington UK : 1983 & 1987

easily one of my prized possessions. both these albums were recorded in 1983 and 1987 respectively but released only as late as 2010, but i vividly remember reading about Dio's performance in guitar world mag when he had introduced the world a guitar prodigy named Craig Goldy who made his debut in 1987 playing Live!! Craig, had before this played in "Rough Cutt" (American heavy metal band formed in the early 80's which boasted of another killer guitar player by the name of Jake E Lee (Ratt, BadLands), who we got to hear on Ozzys "Bark at the Moon" and "Ultimate Sin".

i have scanned the CD booklet for you to have a look 

Orgasm Cocktail Drink

A very simple drink to make and very effective.

• 1 part Bailey's Irish Cream
• 1 part Grand Marnier
• 1 part Cointreu

add chunks of ice in a glass and all all the 3 liqueurs  one by one and still. 

i made this drink for a friend who wanted to have a cocktail of only liqueurs. no fruit juice or aerated drinks. 

how many orgasms can u handle?

The Best Portrait Lens : 50 mm 1.2 L or 85 mm 1.2 L

If u are an amateur or professional photographer , u might have asked yourself these questions

"which is the best portrait lens in canon?"
"is the EF 50 mm f 1.2 L good enough for portraits?"
"Is the 85 mm f 1.2 L II the ultimate in portrait photography?"
"i need to invest in one portrait lens, which one do i buy?"

I am an amateur photographer myself but as i own both these lenses , i want to answer the above questions in my own way and hopefully that will help you decide which lens is best suited to your photography tastes

Make Your own B 52 cocktail drink

Another very popular drink the B 52 has to be drunk in a shot glass. the origin of this drink is uncertain but it is said to have come from Alberta , Canada in 1977

How to make
relatively easy, all you need is a steady hand.

1. 1 part Kahlua - coffee liqueur
2. 1 part of Bailey's Irish cream
3. 1 part of Grand Marnier

Preparation :