But while in Goa, we did what we almost always do (me are Taral are totally like minded when it comes to this, and I would be speaking as much for him as for myself in this entire blog)… although each day would be a different exploration, a typical day went something like this :
1. Wake up in the morning
Now that’s the single most difficult thing to do in
2. Take a cold shower #1
An utmost must, to help you shake off your sleep, tiredness and hangover all at once… you will need another one later in the day… but we’ll come to that later…
3. Drink Feni
It helps if the hotel / resort that you are staying in, has a bar that opens early (they’ve had a late night too, you see)… as you deposit the room keys at the counter and walk towards the car park, have a quick 30 ml shot of Cashew Feni (only because I prefer Cashew to Palm)… it zooms up your arteries and clears up not only your foggy head, but indeed the entire day ahead…
3. Breakfast at Brito’s
No matter what part of Goa we reside in, we like having our breakfast at Baga Brito’s… pick a good table, one which permits maximum viewing of the sea, the sands and the sun bathers… order for a Feni & Coke, which will give you company until your steaming hot Pork Vindaloo and Pau arrives… get comfortable in your chair (which you will anyway after the 2nd Feni is downed) and prepare for a long and lazy devouring… Tip : do not get yourself a tattoo there, unless you are bloody sure that it wont erupt into a flaming rash later (as Taral himself discovered)
4. Drive
Personally I prefer to explore the roads in Goa rather than the beaches or the churches… so after the 3 hour breakfast I like to head out for a nice long drive… staying at Panjim or Mapsa, you have only two directions to head to : either South towards Palolim to explore virgin sands and not-so-virgin ‘foreigners’; or East towards Dudhsagar Falls to explore virgin jungles and more unabashed nudity… on this particular trip we headed to Palolim… Tip 1 : most petrol pumps where you stop to fuel will have 1 or 2 girls standing by watching you closely. They are not trying to sell you a credit card. Their boyfriend who approaches you will assure you that they can provide an excellent ‘massage’. Tip 2 : If you are indeed experiencing a back pain, take an Ibuprofen instead.
5. Lunch at some nondescript eatery
There are several such places, where you get great fish and meals for practically nothing… we have our own favorite spots, some of which are so small that they are but a blink-and-a-miss esp. if you are driving at speeds of 100+… Order all kinds of fried fish, even if you haven’t heard their names before… Fish curry, rice and beer to accompany… Tip : avoid pork meat at these places, if you do not wish to spend the next few days only exploring toilets, restrooms and bushes around
6. Hang out at a Beach
Find an un-crowded beach, buy some more beer and laze around on the lounge chairs to watch skimpy silhouettes against the dipping sun… relax, mediate, feast your eyes, guzzle the beer…
7. Swim
Oh, not in the damned sea… back in the swimming pool after having driven back to your resort… why..? because the sea does not have an embankment on which you can park your glass of Feni, does it..? duh..!
8. Take a cold shower #2
Now’s when you need to take your second cold shower… helps shake off the sleep and tiredness (you are not hungover anymore; you cant be as you’ve never stopped drinking in the first place!)… change into decent clothes and head down to your resort’s restaurant…
9. Drink
Ah… finally you can relax and get down to some serious drinking… I prefer to continue with my Feni & Coke and call for some nice accompaniments such as Squid Rings (kalamari) and Fried Surmai… socialize with the other fellow residents of your resort… this time around, we watched ongoing cricket matches, screamed at every run scored or wicket taken, mingled with all the stewards and bearers, invited the resort manager over to our table for a drink himself and generally had a whale of a time…
10. Dinner
We like to move around and try a different dining place each time… on one of the nights we visited a newly opened biryani restaurant… the biryani wasn’t as great as it sounded, but we shared the table (out of choice, not compulsion) with 3 very interesting guys… we found out later that they were actually off-duty policemen… we had such a great time with them and they took us to Vagatore beach at around 1 am… we sat there for a couple of hours, sharing stories and watching the shimmering moon & the waves from atop the cliff… a police van that came by later for routine patrolling even went back and got us all some more beers & cigarettes since our stock was running dry… that night was truly the highlight of our stay there…
11. Explore
After dinner head straight out to explore the night life… during this trip we found a lovely jazz bar by the bay… a bunch of very talented musicians, an excellent expression of guitar strings and a plump little girl who truly won our hearts with her amazing voice… we would sit there, with our draught beer mugs in front of us, and cheer her every nuance and nod our heads in appreciation as the chords continued to tantalize…
12. Sleep
Eventually… cause you must… cause the sun is threatening to rise again… cause you have another exciting day lined up ahead of you… Tip : stay in a resort that is easy to find, or carry it’s address & phone number in your back pocket… for if you don’t, you too may end up driving around back and forth for over an hour, hunting for the vanishing castle at bloody 4 am in the goddamn morning!
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