ahhhhhhhhh

Goa is a welcome respite from the smog and heat of Lahore and the madness and dirt of normal India in Amritsar and Delhi. It's monsoon season and hence many shops are closed and the tourist crowd is considerably thinner. The weather is cooler than Singapore and just about as humid, which makes it good weather for us. Lush greenery is everywhere and I think I saw more trees and bushes here in one day while being driven from the airport than I have seen in the entire India trip prior to Goa, excluding Sikkim and Darjeeling.

We stayed at Calangute, the original place in Goa where the hippies descended on for beach and hashish in the 60s. They are nowhere to be found today, and have been replaced by various beach resorts and a squeaky clean crowd comprising a mix of domestic and foreign tourists. We actually saw some SMU girls while we walked the streets at night.

Here is where we stayed... and some photos of our room and the view from outside. A nice Christian Indian family runs this guesthouse. The proprietor is an ex-national team football player.







Calangute is a small beach town, and is cleaner than most of the Indian towns we visited so far. Beggars are nowhere to be found.







Here's some flooding at Panjim, the city centre of Goa. Luckily for us it is not flooding in Calangute.



Buses ply routes that link all the small towns in Goa. We took a bus from the main bus stand in Calangute to Panjim, where we walked around the town and looked for bus tickets from our onward journey as well as tailors. Our bus ride cost us about 50 SG cents each. It was a comfortable ride and the wind swept our hair back.







Churches dot the Goan landscape. There is a significant Christian community here, which probably explains why there is beef on the menus of most restaurants here.




We walked around the area near Church Square, which had colonial Portuguese architecture and a quaint small town feel. It reminded me of the restored shophouses back in good old Singapore.













Back at Calangute after a tailoring frenzy in Panjim, we watched while Tim got his hair cut by this Indian gentleman. It cost a grand total of 70 rupees, which is about 2 Singapore dollars.




For all the stories about Goa's beaches, the beach at Calangute itself was disappointing. It was filled with people and the sands were dirty. Perhaps the other more secluded beaches are nicer.







The real star of the show here has to be the food. For once, we get beef on the menu, and actual food. Pizza, pasta, seafood, pastries; they are all available here. We patronised one primary restaurant, because it provided all we need and quality food. The pastries and breads were great.




The waiters actually dress up. This is Viva La Panjim at Panjim. For once LP's recommendation is spot on. The food really is good. And the waiters actually brought samples of actual fish to the Caucasian lady in the photo below, for her to choose and pick.






We ate and ate and ate. The food was MUCH better than all we have encountered so far in India. So, here's FOOD, FOOD and MORE FOOD

Triangular doughnut, fruit pie and muffin!

Bebinca (traditional Goaon multi-layer cake, very much like kueh lapis only spongier), watermelon juice and BEEF burger

"Mini" breakfast!

Mushroom omelette and toast!

Cocktail made from fenni, hardcore liquor made from coconut (its damn strong), and port (which cost only 1 SGD per cup!)

Russian Cheese Cake
PASTA
MORE PASTA


Damn salty tomato soup and mushroom and spinach soup!

Frappe!

Chocolate ecstacy!

Pork roll bun!

Banana pancakes with honey!

Fish and chips!


THE BOMB! Death by Chocolate with vanilla ice cream on the side!

Pork roast!


Random soup I do not recall the name of!

Kingfish in red Goan Curry!

Seafood stew!

Chocolate croissant and chicken pie!

Oxtongue!