Mario’s World

I was quite amazed this time to see 5 floating casinos on the Mandovi river. One is even called “Casino Royale”! There are a bunch of them on land too.  The last I recall there was just one floating casino and another one on land. It’s also nice to see all the new yachts and speedboats especially around the villages and islands.

Note to self, stop spending on computers and start saving for a yacht.

Mike took us for lunch today to Viva Panjim. It’s a nice little restaurant set in an old Portuguese style house. Very friendly service and great Goan food. It’s the first time I’ve tasted Fish Lollipops. I must say that their Pomfret curry rice was a tad bit spicy for me. The prawn and kingfish curries were super. It’s a must visit when you are in Goa. It’s located behind the Mary Immaculate school in Panjim. Go early for a good table and be prepared to hunt for parking.

Goa is getting a new airport. Found this video on YouTube.

Mopa airport, planned in the northermost border of Goa, had met stringent opposition by the South Goa politicians including then Member of Parliament and current state minister Churchill Alemao.

Anti-MOPA lobby feared that the new airport will benefit neighbouring Maharashtra more than Goa. The concerns were also raised that the Dabolim airport will be closed once Mopa gets operational.

We had a smashing time last night. About 30 of us went for the Britto’s Christmas Ball at Alva-Mar in Parra. We danced from 9pm last night to 3am today to the tunes of two live bands. Lots of jiving, cha cha cha and even some line dancing. Feet are still sore. It was great fun out with the family. Out for another party tonight. I should get a quick snooze before that.

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Goa – the land where 365 days a year are a holiday and the parties never stop.

… and NO! That’s not me riding an elephant in a Santa suit!

I’m back in Goa. Yippee!!! Was a long flight via Dubai & Colombo. Next time, I’ll book well in advance. This is my second trip on Sri Lankan airways and its still great, double the price on the ticket but excellent service.

A 747 loaded with eager German tourists landed just before us so we got stuck for 30 mins in the immigration queue. Lots a questions at immigration on when I was last in India and why I travel so often around the middle east. The Mumbai terror attacks are still big news in the media here and there are some serious security measures being taken since Goa is now the #1 target spot for the “terrorists”.

Anyway, I’m back from a long evening walk and enjoying the beautiful climate here.

Saw this Christmas-season display while shopping with Ro at in Salmiya. Just had to take a photo.

Was doing some last minute shopping for our vacation last night at City Center when one of the packers / line assistants came up all excited. There were three of us in line at the counter, two of us with about 15 items each and this lady with a cart full of stuff. He was totally into whatever he was doing and stacked everything so that it could fit on the conveyor. I mean everything, a cart full of stuff stacked onto the conveyor and whatever the two of us had already put on it!!!

These look like new staff. A little aggressive like the army of handlers at the airport. Looks like City Center sub-contracted some of the work to another company since all these chaps were in a different uniform.

The whole incident was kind of funny, but the chap next to me didn’t think so!

The internet seems slow today. Two of the undersea cables severed and repaired earlier this year have been cut again, disrupting internet access and phone service between the Middle East, Europe, and parts of Asia. An additional third cable is down in the same region. The cuts are causing traffic to be re-routed through the United States and elsewhere. Countries affected are:

• Saudi Arabia: 55% out of service
• Djibouti: 71% out of service
• Egypt: 52% out of service
• United Arab Emirates: 68% out of service
• India: 82% out of service
• Lebanon: 16% out of service
• Malaysia: 42% out of service
• Maldives: 100% out of service
• Pakistan: 51% out of service
• Qatar: 73% out of service
• Syria: 36% out of service
• Taiwan: 39% out of service
• Yemen: 38% out of service
• Zambia: 62% out of service

[Link]

With economic recession hitting most of the world hard, a lot of staff are still wondering if there will be a big bonus this year for Christmas. Hope our company gets even more generous this year!!!

The video above is pretty funny!