Why having a bro in law is the best thing in the world

1.  B’coz he always makes you feel like a kid
2.  B’coz you can always experiment new things with him
3. B’coz pulling your husband’s leg alone is not as much fun
4. B’coz its fun to link him up with your siblings/friends/strangers on the road!
5. B’coz he is your new best friend (‘bff’) for life
6.  B’coz he is the only one who gives you crazy ideas to avoid having kids
7. B’coz he is like the little brother you always wanted 
8. B'coz he is someone who takes your advise seriously (*I hope*), and you get to act all mature & all in front of him
9. B’coz you two make the perfect team and can win against the whole world together
10. B’coz life was just incomplete so far without this awesome person

And most importantly, b'coz he is as lame as you & it was just a matter of time till you became one family!

US of A!!

Hi :) So Rajat and I have a dream! We want to visit 25 countries in 25 years! And so far we are on the right track!! This is the 3rd country we visited in the last 2 years! yeahhhh!!! so go ahead, read on & have fun! and hopefully it'll help you plan your trip too!!

16^th Aug- Took the early morning flight from Delhi to LA (via Abu Dhabi). Etihad Airways. Reached LA by late afternoon.

Hadn’t planned anything for day 1 as we knew we were going to be tired because of the long flight. Our hotel was in the Hollywood area(2 mins walk to the metro station), so very close to the Hollywood Boulevard where there is walk of fame, Chinese theatre, Dolby Theatre (where the Oscars happen)Madam Tussad’s Wax Museum and few other tourist spots, including tons of souvenir shops.  So just went for dinner in that area.

17^th Aug- UNIVERSAL STUDIOS 
It’s best to reach the park as early as possible since there is a lot to cover. Took the metro and then the shuttle. Get a map at the entrance of the park. Now, the park is divided in two lots. I recommend you to take the studio bus tour first and then cover the lower lot. Awesome rides! Transformers (the best one), Jurassic Park and The Mummy. Then move onto the upper lot. Little kiddy rides here, but might as well do them if u have time & also if rollercoasters aren’t your thing. Yes, very imp, pls catch all the shows! Check their timings and plan accordingly! Shows not to miss- special effects and water world. Animal show is ok, nothing gr8.. All in all a fun day J

18^th Aug- LA CITY TOUR

Took a guided city tour which took us to Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills(where we saw few famous mansions!),Rodeo Drive, Griffith Observatory  but only to see the Hollywood sign( which is such a overhype :P) and the Hollywood Boulevard. Checked out Madam Tussad’s and tried finding fav celeb stars at the walk of fame, but its tough! There are way tooooo many stars! N again, a lil overhype! But that area has a nice feel to it…Very American ;) you don’t need to pre book the city tour. Can easily book one at your hotel.

Hotel from 16^th-18^th Aug: Travelodge

19^th Aug- DISNEYLAND 

Disneyland is a little away from the main LA city. So in order to save time traveling, we shifted to a hotel in Anaheim(area where the park is) on 18^th night itself. Reached the park by 10am on 19^th. Got the map and started having fun! Now since its Disneyland, don’t expect rollercoasters n all. Just be a kid and feel the magic!

Now there are two parks in this area (just opp to each other)- Disneyland Park and Disneyland California Adventure Park(more suited for grown-ups). We didn’t have enough time to cover both, so just did the 1^st. Check it online and do whichever one u like more first and can cross over to the next one if your are done on time or just keep 2 days for Disneyland! :P

Hotel: Holiday Inn

Drove to Vegas right after we were done with the park!! It’s Vegas Baby!!!! ;) lol.. You obviously understand the excitement. Anyways we reached Vegas by late night (2ish)! Checked into the hotel and checked out the hotel Casino! Played on the ‘FRIENDS’ slot machine and won 20$.. oh yeahh!

20^th Aug- GRAND CANYON

We hired a convertible Mustang!!!!!! Yes the roof went fully down!!!!!!!!! Yeahhh :D And drove to the Grand Canyon! It’s a long drive, so try leaving early.. takes around 4-5 hours to get there. But we left late, so reached late! Now if u r just going to see the canyon, then that’s gr8, but I guess its more fun if you go hiking! Obv need a lot of time for that..but that’s the fun part..just seeing the canyon isn’t tht gr8 (overhype again). N ya we didn’t hike.. no time L drove back to Vegas after seeing the canyon.

21^st Aug- BACK TO VEGAS

Now Vegas is super famous for casinos, strip clubs, booze n all that! But at the same time there are amazing shows u can catch! Very different experience! N since Vegas is more fun at night, u sleep all day n wake up late ;) lol.. so did we! Our day started at around 2-3pm. Walked on the strip a bit and then saw the show – ‘Marriage can be murder’.. Murder Mystery Dinner Show! Greaaatttt Fun! Take the VIP tickets; you become a part of the show that ways!! After the show, walked on the strip, saw all amazing hotels, Venetian being my favourite ;) (You can enter any hotel and play in its casino.. all hotels are pretty much connected) Then went to a strip club late in the night! ;) Another must to do things in Vegas!! Its better if I don’t give u the details, go check it out for yourself- Spearmint Rhino! so ya u have the night to yourself, go crazy!  

22^nd Aug- VEGAS CONTINUES!

Now we wanted to be a little adventurous so did Sky Jump from the tallest building in Vegas, Stratosphere! After the adreline rush, we just crossed the road and there it was! The Little Vegas Wedding Chapel ;) N yesssssss we got married!!! How can you come to Vegas n not get married!! Hehehe J Damn Fun! Then later in the night, saw another show- Blue Man Theatre Group. This show was ok, not that great but ya the ending was amazing!! Kinda made it up for an otherwise boring show :P lol.. After our strip club the previous night, we were still not done with naked chicks: P so went for a strip show- XBurlesque!! Was amazing, as expected.. we had our favourites too ;)

Now, there is a magical music fountain in front of Bellagios! A 5 minute fountain show, happens every 15-20 mins.. Also, there’s a 5 min volcano show in front of The Mirage! Check out both… pretty cool and its right on the strip!

Hotel- Monte Carlo

Misc:

• We didn’t really use the car after canyon. So if u want you can drop if off sooner!
• Instead of pre-booking the shows, you can try your luck at 'The Half Price Show Ticket' counters in Vegas. They usually have tickets to all famous shows at half the price!

23^rdAug-24^th Aug: SEATTLE

Took an early morning flight to Seattle. You can drop off the rental car at the airport and if you want to do any last minute gambling, there you are! The Vegas airport has a couple of slot machines! Lol :P Reached Seattle by 10-11am. We had friends in Seattle. So stayed at their place and they took us around! Their house was this cute little thing, one usually gets to see in movies! ;) We were in Seattle for 2 days, so saw a couple of normal things, which kinda define US- Sex Store, Comic Book Store, Car Wash, Indian Restaurants, a drive through coffee place which is famous for the booby girl who serves coffee pretty seductively! Bath n Body Works (lol do check this shop girls…I assure you’ll love it), Premium Outlet(factory outlets of all premium brands. Good for luxury shopping! Go Nuts!), Cabela (A store for all adventure gadgets- hiking, trekking, hunting, fishing, u name it, they got it!). Also saw the Washington University, pretty nice campus! And finally the Seattle Downtown lights in the night! Super cool :)

25^th Aug: SAN DIEGO

Took an early morning flight from Seattle to San Diego. Flight was via LA, so reached San Diego by afternoon. Had cousins there, so again no hotel :P Went to La Jolla Caves where we saw hundreds of sea lions just soaking the sun! Was pretty cool. Had never seen them in the open like that before.. Amazing beach, very picturesque. But the water is super cold, so think before taking a dip!

26^th Aug: SAN DIEGO ZOO

San Diego has the largest zoo in the world and that means it has all possible animals, popular ones being- Pink Flamingo, Polar Bear, Kangaroo, Koala and PANDA!  J The zoo pretty much takes the whole day, but try doing it a lil quickly so that you can go the San Diego Safari Park too.. Now its about 45 mins from the zoo but has a totally different experience. They have tried to recreate the African and Asian safaris by keeping animals in open spaces, to give you a wildlife kind of experience. Good to check it out! There are fewer animals in the safari park but its still fun!

27^th Aug: SAN DIEGO SEA WORLD

Now you’ll get to see all sorts of sea animals in this park! Pretty nice J but the dolphin and the whale shows are to die for! Get the map at the entrance and make a note of all the show timings! U sure don’t want to miss any of them. Also, there’s white whale in the park n coz of lack of publicity, ppl don’t really know about it… but it’s damn cute!!! Check it out along with thousands of penguins and walrus! You also get to feed and interact with the animals if you wish too, but obv it comes at a price! But its worth it J we interacted with the dolphins... they r super cute!

**Try out Buffalo wild wings in San Diego! It’s a sports bar with the awesomest chicken wings ever! U can choose the spice level as per your comfort! Dare u to try 10!**

28^th Aug: SAN FRANCISCO

Flight to SFO in the morning. Again stayed with a friend! It’s a really small city, so we got on the Hop on Hop off bus. It takes you around the city, and covers all tourist places- fisherman’s wharf and golden gate bridge being the most famous. Now remember that the bus just goes in one direction, so cover spots as they come.

29^th Aug: SFO- SANTA CRUZ
Drove to the Santa Cruz pier/beach which is around 1-2 hours from the SFO city. Spent all afternoon there. Pretty cool J on the way back, took the 101 and saw a lovely isolated beach- coast diaries (secret) beach!

Had dinner at the craziest place- CRAWDADDY! If you love sea food, you will kill for this place! Crabs, prawns, squid... everything tasted amazing and this place gives you the right to be as messy as you want! Just dig in and go crazy! A must try :)

30^th Aug: Flight back home- same Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi. Reached home with another awesome, memorable and a fun filled trip!!

Misc:

• Make all your bookings via expedia.com (yes .com, not .in)… you'll get to see a lot more flight/hotel options
• Download the Uber cab app before travelling. It’s much cheaper than the other taxi providers
• US follows right hand drive (the opposite driving rules as India), so if you are not used to it, it might be confusing
• And it's better to know someone who lives in the States. Makes travelling way easier!

Have fun and feel free to ask whatever you wanna know! Have a great trip!!

Over the moon with my honey!

Its been over an year and I still cant get out of my honeymoon hangover! I love talking about it, seeing the pix again n again and more than anything else I love helping people plan their own honeymoon! So for any of u planning to go to NZ (south island) /French Polynesia, this is our detailed itinerary!

14th Dec: Left for Queenstown (Delhi-Hong Kong-Auckland-Queenstown).
But i'll recommend u go via Singapore instead of Hong Kong. Its shorter.

15th Dec: Reached Queenstown by afternoon.

Free Day. Roamed around the city
Stayed in Butterfly Lodge. Its more like a home. NO food included. however they had a cute lil kitchen where u can cook whatever u want. U can use their masalas n utensils!
I know u wud b thinkin tht u r nt goin thr to cook n all, bt trust me its fun wen u do it together! maggi/soup ya sth simple!
This place ws really awsme! superb view! and a nice cozy room! walking distance from the main area of the city!
The only drawback was shared bathroom, like with the other guests! but not such an issue coz it was super clean all the time! and was never crowded! :)
If u want to stay in a non hotel atmosphere fr a few days I totally recommend this! damn nice :)
http://www.butterfli.co.nz/


16th Dec: Did Sky Diving at 10 am and River Rafting at 1 pm.. Rest of the evening free!

Sky Diving details- Company Name: Nzone (http://www.nzoneskydive.co.nz/home)
15,000 ft
We had pre booked this..but u can go there and book it too. 2 trips happen daily. one at 10 and the other at 1. so u can decide what time u want to do it.


River Rafting Details- Company Name: Queenstown Rafting (http://www.queenstownrafting.co.nz/shotover/)
We did on the Shotover River. They have 2 rivers. Shotover seems more fun so we picked this! Again ours was pre-booked.
Time is same for this too. either 10 am or 1 pm
 Both the sky diving and rafting companies r on the main road. You will easily find them once u go there! There are lots of other adventure sports too. u can try more if u want!

17th Dec: LOTR Trip at 10 am. Afternoon and evening free!
Company Name: Nomad Safari (http://www.nomadsafaris.co.nz/)
We took the 4wd tour. there are other options too. go through the site! but ours was cool too. saw lots of scenic sites! :) Glenorchy and Paradise City were the main ones!
again 2 trips daily . 10 am and 1 pm

NOTE:  Pakka se go to FREG BURGER! its the best burger place in the world :) u'll love it! and buy all your souvenirs from Queenstown coz Christchurch n Auckland r relatively more expensive and the stuff is same.
In queenstown there is a shop called DF Souvenir DF. that's d cheapest. we were lucky enough to find it . We compared its price to the other shops n there was a significant difference. n obvious all shops had d same stuff. so buy whatever u want from this place! again, its on the same main road. lol.. :D

18th Dec: Hired Ford Moneo from Hertz and left for Christchurch at around 10 am. they dropped off the car at our hotel. speak at their office once about this. Office is at the same main road.
So the distance between Queenstown and Christchurch is around 600 kms. After the 1st 300 kms there is a place called Lake Tekapo! We had planned an overnight halt there. Small lake town. nothing to do there but the feel of the place was nice!
So reached Lake Tekapo by lunch time. (approx. 3 hr drive)

Hotel Name: Peppers Bluewater Resort. Super huge room with kitchen again :P this was pretty much a surprise for us too ;) Overnight stay.
http://www.peppers.co.nz/bluewater/

19th Dec: Left for Queenstown in the morning (again a 3 hr drive)
Reached Queenstown by lunch. Free day. Roamed around the city! There are a lot of open malls and shopping complexes here. Though we had the car, but we walked around the city! was more fun tht ways! Also the city has a lot of parks. So walking actually was fun!
Hotel Name: Chateau on the Park (http://www.chateau-park.co.nz/). Nice hotel.

20th Dec: Went to Orana Wildlife Park. Its an open zoo! Try reaching there by 10-10:30 so that u are free by afternoon!
http://www.oranawildlifepark.co.nz/
Must do here: Lion Encounter! its superbly awesome!
The other things are added in the entry ticket but u need to pay seprtly for the lion encounter! but pakka se do it..its awsme!
Though there are shuttles to the zoo, we drove ourselves as we had the car.
Post Orana we were free, so roamed around the city!

21st Dec: Took a city tour. Now this is something u can avoid. wasn't much point as we had seen most of the city ourself. Only at the end of the trip, they took us to Antartic Center, which was damn nice. they also took us to 1 pier, which was ok types. U can go to the Antartic Center yourself too. Its near the airport. (http://www.iceberg.co.nz/)
If u go here, pakka se do the hugglund ride! it comes in the 'Xtreme Pass' ticket! damn fun :) Again evening free :)

22nd Dec: Flight to Auckland. So returned the car to hertz. their drop off and pick up points is at the airport itself. so u don't really have to take a detour. Damn convenient.
Reached Auckland.
Hotel Name: Sky City (http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/)
Its in the center of the city and also one of the tourist attractions! pretty high tower and from the top bungee n all happens. but u will gt enough adrenaline rush in Queenstown to try all this in Auckland :P
We stayed in Auckland only for a day. so dint see much of the city. only the road near our hotel. I think it was there main market area.

New Zealand Over!

MISC INFO: The country is really safe and people are damn helpful. No worries there!
Food also is easily available. If both of u eat non veg, then toh pretty cool. lots of new things to try. but if u start missing Indian food, don't worry. there r plenty of dose too! we dint try any, so can't really recommend and comment on the Indian food quality. but theek hi hona chahiya!

23rd Dec: Flight from Auckland to Tahiti (around 5 hrs flying time). Reached Tahiti by evening. Stayed in Intercontinental.
Nice hotel. beach facing. Have a cool swimming pool near the bar! do check that out if u happen to stay here. Stayed only for a day here.

24th Dec: Morning flight to Bora Bora.
Reached Bora Bora by early afternoon. Stayed in St. Regis. The awesome hotel ever! super friendly staff.
http://www.stregisborabora.com/

Lots of activities on the premise! they have sharks in there too!!! Cool right ;) U can do snorkeling (more than 100 species of fishes), kayaking, cycling, standing boats, all sorts of fun things r there fr u to try out! n its all free of cost! Collect the snorkeling kit on day 1 n keep it with u till d end of your stay!

U might have been told that 4 seasons n all is better, but trust me St Regis is the BEST! the hotel is spread across acres and is more of a honeymoon hotel unlike four seasons, which is more of a family place!

Now since the place is super pretty n your going on your honeymoon, u can get a photoshoot done there by their professional photographers! trust me , its worth it! they have a lot of packages, select the one that suits u! we gt it done from a lady called "Jenny"! really great!

24th Dec- 27th Dec: In Bora Bora. Mostly stayed in the hotel since there is a lot to do! went to d city once. the hotel will take u on there pvt shuttle! Free! lol..
Ok the hotel has a few restaurants but they are a lil expensive.. U can carry some ready to eat (just in case)


27th Evening left for India :( but with super awesome memories! ;) lol..

Hope this helps and have an awesome trip!!! ;)