I can't give much itinerary or name places that I visited because this trip was super unplanned and definitely not by me. My mom wanted to go for a short trip and asked if I would like to tag along. HELL YES!
Arrived after 4hrs of sitting in a very cramp seat (Air Asia). You know what I mean, my neck was straighter than a ruler. We complaint about how shitty Air Asia is but we still take it because it's cheaper than the other airlines :/
There will be loads of people laying on the grass once you exit the airport, like they are having a picnic. Don't be alarmed it's normal. It's surprising that with the massive amount of cars around we still manage to get to where we want and not get stuck in jam for hours. It's just impressive the way the driver maneuvers around. You'll hear loads of honking though.
Stayed at Somerset Greenways.
My gawtt their bed is heavenly, it's soooo comfy. I accidentally deleted pictures of the room :/ fuck me.
Had breakfast but mommy is one paranoid woman. Refused to let me eat anything that involves water i.e milk/raw veggies/gravy..... I took the cucumber and ate one piece before she noticed and yelled at me. So the carrot, croissant & mineral water are the only things I had for breakfast. My gawt I was fucking hungryyyy.
Mom is paranoid because apparently water in India is very uncleaned so it's best not to drink their water and eat anything raw especially if it's from the road side, even at the hotel you have to be careful. I ate the cucumber, I bathed with my mouth open in the showers and I'm still alive at the moment. PHEWWWW! Mom & friends were brushing their teeth using mineral water. PARANOIDDDD!!!! But then again it's good to be safe than sorry afterwards.
Hehe, I'm wearing a Kurti.
Road trip.
Cute name.
Up the hill of Tirumala heading to Sri Venkateswara Swamy Vaari Temple.
I was't able to get a picture of the temple as we left our phones with the driver. No mobile device/camera are allowed into the temple. All you have is your memory, so it better be a strong one. It's pretty strict you have to submit to a body search and place your bag for scanning before you enter the temple.
You can imagine the difficulty since we don't understand an ounce of Tamil. Entry to temple is INR300/person. Pls ensure that u wear a Kurti with sleeves and leggings that are loose fitting and of full length. I guess if you are not their citizen they are fussier with your clothing. I saw many Hindu ladies in their sexy sarees showing quite a bit of skin. We were afraid that our entry would be denied since some of us were wearing tight leggings and the bus driver said we might not be able to get in but we can try.
Anyways we managed to get in, waited for our turn to enter the steel gate. After the gate we passed through the scanners and body search. We continued to follow the crowd. You have to walk a bit till you come to a guard sitting at a table, you have to show him your passport and he will give you a form to fill. Only for foreigners i.e us. Once you are done you may proceed down the stairs into the queue. While you're queueing suddenly a massive group of people just ran into the queue, you're like "Where the fuck did these people come from"???. Anyways we were so afraid that we were going to get lost so we held hands and one of the boys (Srither at least I think this is how it's spelt) in the queue was kind enough to allow us to stand together.
It's more cramp than this. SERIOUSLY!
We continued squeezing for quite a bit, tugging and pushing with people till we finally see the temple gate. We were wearing socks so it wasn't so icky, everyone else was barefooted. Every time we got lost somehow Srither will appear and show us the way. He is our guardian angel and I am very grateful that we bump into him. He told us where to go and what to do although it's his first time there. We did our prayers, made our donations and headed out.
Our drivers said that they will be waiting for us outside at the Museum, and suddenly Srither appeared and helped us to ask around where the Museum was, then he walked us there. I managed to speak to him more or more like he asked more about me. He's a student having exams came here with his friend and they all went missing. HAHA. We reached the Museum and couldn't find our driver, we panicked. Nonsense was raising in my mind that our driver abandoned us and ran off with our things..... Srither forgotten his phone so we had to borrowed the guard's phone to call our driver. After much hoohaa our driver waited at the other location instead. Mom's friend tipped Srither for his help but he refused to accept the money. He is really our Angel :)
Finally we made it back to the hotel. Had dinner at Restaurant Bangalore, very safari like, there's elephant, tiger, leopards...
Corn & Crab Soup ~ Very nice.
Veggie Fried Rice ~ Yummy.
Veggie Noodles ~ Nice as well.
Brekkie.
Rock formation.
HP owns his own petrol ;)
Phoenix Marketcity.
Reminds me of some of the ladies eyebrows nowadays, it's either too thick/thin.
Don't you think so?
Robot made of recycled bottles.
Got myself a souvenir.
Had Nandos for lunch.
I know it's strange right that we are eating Nandos since we have that in Malaysia. I would love to try the street food but mommy said NO. She doesn't wanna have to visit me in the hospital.
Poor baby looking for food.
Back in Somerset again.
Fresh flower daily.
Huge drawings on the hotel's wall.
View from top floor.
You can see the ocean.
Can you spot the plane?
Gorgeous view from the pool.
Sunset.
Marina Beach.
It's like a carnival here.
Horse riding, INR250. Sit on the horse for a picture INR100.
Mommy didn't allow me so I get to sayang the horsey only.
Crazy wind.
Passed by the fish market on the way back.
Taking out his fishes to be sold.
Back at the hotel.
Nightview.
Time for dinner at a restaurant at the Hotel Lobby. Can't remember the name and I can't remember what we ordered.
Pumpkin & Ginger Soup ~ So good, I immediately felt warm after drinking.
This prawn style cooking taste nicer.
It's time to head home.
Bye Bye Chennai.
Back in Malaysia.
We almost didn't make it for our flight. We were passing the bag & body scanning and suddenly Nina (Mom's friend daughter) got called aside. They found a bullet in her backpack but it's a used bullet. Nina and aunty was at the security table explaining why there is a bullet. Nina's defense was that she swears she didn't know it was there. Aunty's defense was Nina went for shooting camp and since students are not allowed to bring back any bullets, she believes that one of her friends might have put it in her bag to sneak it out.
More security personnels came even the Air Asia flight attendant who tried to help to sort it out. Aunty was explaining the situation again to yet another security who showed up, he asked her to write an apology letter explaining the situation then we heard the final call to board the plane. He said to Nina that she cannot say she doesn't know how the bullet got in her bag. We were afraid that she might get arrested there. We couldn't wait anymore we had bid farewell to Nina and her family and pray that they will somehow manage to join us on the flight home.
We arrived at the queue to board the plane, phew made it just on time passengers were sill in queue. I stayed in line while mommy went to the loo and daddy went into the souvenir shop. A couple of minutes later, Nina and her family running towards the queue. PHEW!!!!! Thank Goodness!!! I am curious though how did Nina manage to pass 2 security scanning during the temple visit. *That means the security weren't very thorough*.
Overall I would say Chennai is interesting and if you have a chance do visit. It's not as bad as what the people say. Srither was one good example, helpful without expecting anything in return. I would love to have tried the food butttt maybe next time I come back without mommy ;)
