Wendover on the Weekend!

Wendover is a city in Tooele County, Utah. It is on the Western border of Utah and shares a common border with West Wendover, Nevada.  Interstate 80 runs just north of both cities, while Business Interstate 80 (Wendover Boulevard) links the two cities. West Wendover (in the state of Nevada) is the closest place from Utah where people can gamble legally, drink alcohol and check out several adult-oriented stores. Utah has really strict liquor laws and does not allow any form of gambling including lotteries. So if people wish to have some Vegas-style fun without going all the way to Vegas and having to spend money to stay there, Wendover is just the place to be. Many people travel to Wendover over the weekend for the very reason.

About four or five months ago, Ankit bought this deal on livingsocial.com for $18. We only used it a few days before New Year's. The deal included two return bus trips from Salt Lake County (as well as destinations from Weber and Davis Counties) to Wendover and back, $5 cash back, two buffets, two drinks at the casino bar, two Starbucks coffee drinks, two lucky bucks to gamble and 10% off at the giftshop. Can you imagine a better deal than that? So, for $9, you got $5 dollars back and $2 to gamble...that's $7 right back to you. In $2, you get to go to Wendover in a bus and back, eat a buffet, buy a mocktail (or any alcoholic drink if you drink alcohol) and buy any drink at all from Starbucks. How crazy is that? I kept thinking, there must be a catch. Maybe they'll try to sell us something. But nope. It was exactly what they said it was. In fact, we came back making money. 

In the bus, early morning

On the way to Wendover, in the bus, everyone played Bingo and put in money to buy raffle tickets. Ankit won one round of Bingo as well as won the raffle (he basically got all the money that people put into the box and mind you, the bus was full). The drive to Wendover takes  less than two hours from Salt Lake City.

Our lucky raffle ticket :)

The bus ride was a lot of fun. The bus lady and the driver were really nice. The bus that we traveled by was run by Utah Trailways. Different buses work for different hotels. This bus was going to the Wendover Nugget Hotel and Casino. 

Ankit, the gambler

True to their words, both of us received $5 cash when we entered the casino with two lucky bucks for both of us. I thought we would only get one of each but both of us were handed a little booklet of coupons which included everything I mentioned we would get for $18. 

More gambling

Ankit played craps for the first time

The cool thing about Wendover is that it's a lot like Vegas. I mean, apart from all the casinos, the hotels aren't interconnected or anything but there is a free shuttle that goes from hotel to hotel. It's very convenient. We went casino hopping and saw all the hotels there were in Wendover. 

Brunch Buffet

Dessert!!

The buffet was average but we can't complain considering it was free. There were however a LOT of options for dessert. We made it in time for brunch. But the free buffet totally depends on what time you get there. You can choose to travel in the morning, afternoon or evening. Many people think it's more fun to travel in the evening, spend the whole night there and come back in the early hours of the morning. But we left early morning and reached home around 9:00 pm. 

This picture is from the Wendover Nugget when we were exploring the hotel

The hotels are really cool, just like the ones in Vegas. I don't particularly remember which picture is from which hotel but I do remember the names of all the hotels that we went to:

Montego Bay Casino & Resort
Peppermill Casino Hotel
Pilot Travel Center Casino
Rainbow Casino Hotel
Red Garter Casino Hotel
Wendover Nugget Casino Hotel

These are all really quite nice.

Neither of us are gamblers. I'm against wasting money like that. I'd rather give it to someone who needs it than gamble it away. We spent most of our time, visiting the different hotels and walking around in the city and clicking pictures. At the end of the day, we both got two cups of mochachinos and hung out at Starbucks. Soon, we were back in the bus and on our way back home. The end to a wonderful day out. You have the option to spend another $50-$60 dollars and stay the night as well. 

It was a great trip. Totally worth every penny. We might just do it again someday :)

If you ever get a chance to spend a day at Wendover like that, take it :)

Love!

x

Aashiyan

Some songs turn out to be so meaningful that you want to sing them again and again and singing them makes you feel happy. Whenever I'm down, this song seems to cheer me up... gives me back the hope that I'm losing. It reminds me that the world is beautiful and that no matter how much evil or bad there may be, there is also some good in this world. Wait a minute... This reminds me of a quote by Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers:

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something...

That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for. "

I really like what he said. I think we all can relate to this in some way or another. Well, hoping for a beautiful future, here's a song I really like from the movie Barfi:

Singer: Nickhil Paul George

Itni si hassi (Just a little smile)

Itni si khushi (Just a little happiness)

Itna sa tukda chand ka (Just a little piece of the moon)

Khwabon ke tinkon se (With the straws of dreams)

Chal banayen aashiyaan (Let's make a home)

Dabey dabey paon se (With suppressed-silent steps)

Aaye hauley hauley zindagi (Life comes in slowly)

Hothon pe kundi chadha ke hum taaley lagake (By putting a lock on our lips)

Chal gumsum taraane chupke chupke gaayen (Come, let's quietly sing wistful songs)

Aadhi aadhi baant le, aaja, dil ki yeh zameen (Let's share the space in this heart)

Thoda sa tera sa hoga, thoda mera bhi hoga (It'll be a little yours and a little mine, too)

...Apna yeh aashiyaan (...Our dream home)

Itni si hassi (Just a little smile)

Itni si khushi (Just a little happiness)

Itna sa tukda chand ka (Just a little piece of the moon)

Khwabon ke tinkon se (With the straws of dreams)

Chal banayen aashiyaan (Let's make a home)

Na ho chaar deewarein (There won't be any walls)

Phir bhi jharokhey khiley (But the windows will be wide open)

Baadalon ke ho pardey (The curtains will be made of clouds)

Shaakhein hara pankha jhaley (The green branches will be fanning us)

Na ho koi takraarein (There will be no fights)

Arre masti thahaake chaley (Fun and laughter will go on)

Pyar ke sikkon se mahine ka kharcha chaley (The month's ration will come from the coins of love)

Dabey dabey paon se (With suppressed-silent steps)

Aaye hauley hauley zindagi (Life comes in slowly)

Hothon pe kundi chadha ke hum taaley lagake (By putting a lock on our lips)

Chal gumsum taraane chupke chupke gaayen (Come, let's quietly sing wistful songs)

Aadhi aadhi baant le, aaja, dil ki yeh zameen (Let's share the space in this heart)

Thoda sa tera sa hoga, thoda mera bhi hoga (It'll be a little yours and a little mine, too)

...Apna yeh aashiyaan (...Our dream home)

Itni si hassi (Just a little smile)

Itni si khushi (Just a little happiness)

Itna sa tukda chand ka (Just a little piece of the moon)

Khwabon ke tinkon se (With the straws of dreams)

Chal banayen aashiyaan (Let's make a home)

Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_bsDiSkFn0

Hope you like the song :)

Cheers to life!

x

Mustard Fish Curry

These days, I've been eating Dijon mustard a lot (in my sandwiches). It's a new taste I've recently developed. I never thought I could be a mustard person but I'm starting to like it. The crazy thing is, when I started to eat mustard, I jumped straight to the sharper, tangier flavor of Dijon than the usual, milder yellow mustard. 

Nevertheless, yesterday I decided to make fish curry. I sort of went with the flow and didn't follow any recipe and what do you know-- in the end, I added Dijon mustard to the curry. I sort of felt stupid right after I added it and thought "Crap, I've ruined the curry" because I didn't want the fish curry to taste sharp or bitter. Surprisingly, it turned out to taste quite nice. Ankit ate it and took it to work for lunch today! Miracle!

So I figured, I must share it :) 

Ingredients:

For Curry:

3 Roma tomatoes (pureed)
1 large onion or 2 medium onions chopped in whatever shape you feel like
3 cloves of garlic minced 
1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
half a piece of green chili (or Serrano Pepper) (You may omit this ingredient if you can't handle too much spice)
2 tbsp fish curry masala (all spices can be found at any Indian store)
1 tsp dry mango powder
a pinch of chat masala
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 black cardamom (you can use two crushed green cardamom pods if you don't have the black ones)
2 bay leaves
3 cloves
a 1 inch cinnamon stick
5 peppercorns
Salt to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard

For Marinade:

2 fish fillets -- I took Swai. But I've heard that Mahi Mahi is also nice and doesn't stink. I guess you could pick any fish. Cut the fish into 2-3 inch pieces.
1 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves of garlic minced

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Begin by marinating the fish. Cut the fish fillets into pieces, add all the ingredients listed above and let it sit in the refrigerator for half an hour.

2. Now prepare the curry while the fish marinates. In a pan, put olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, cardamom, peppercorns, bay leaves, cloves and a cinnamon stick. Wait until the spices begin to give off aromas and the mustard seeds start crackling. 

3. As soon as you hear the seeds crackling, add the ginger, garlic and the Serrano pepper. 

4. Once these begin to brown, add the chopped onions. You'll have to be quick because you don't want to burn the ginger/garlic/spices so just watch the pan.

5. Once the onions are transparent, begin adding the rest of the spices (fish curry masala, turmeric powder, garlic powder and dry mango powder). Don't add the chaat masala yet.
Mix well and cook the onions in the spices.

6. Once the onions begin to brown, add the tomato puree and cook until the tomato is cooked perfectly. This onion-tomato masala should turn into a nice red color.

7. Once you feel the puree is properly cooked and beginning to dry. Add two cups of water or three, depending on how much curry you wish to have.

8. Now let this curry simmer for half an hour. Remember that the water in the curry will reduce so make sure you add enough to have your desired amount of curry.

9. Once it begins to boil, add a pinch of chaat masala. Continue to let it simmer.

10. While the curry cooks, in another pan, heat a tbsp of olive oil, spread it all over the pan. Now add all the fish pieces and fry.

11. Make sure you pour all the juices from the marinade onto the fish so that it can fry in all the flavors.

12. Fry until all the juices have evaporated and the fish starts to look like a nice, crispy, red color. 

13. Now take a look at the curry, do a taste check and make sure the salt and spice levels are right. If you wish for it to be more spicy, add a pinch of paprika. But I'm guessing it'll be spicy enough with the Serrano pepper in it. 

14. Now add the Dijon mustard to the curry with your fingers crossed :p Mix well. If the curry tastes good to you, add the fried fish into the curry and you're done :)

15. Garnish with cilantro.

I think it will taste best with steamed white rice. 

Try it and let me know if the mustard worked for you!

Enjoy!

x

Historic Main Street, Park City

On Main Street

Yesterday, while on a date for Valentine's day, Ankit and I discovered the Historic Main Street of Park City. It was just beautiful. The whole street was lit up like it was still Christmas and it had a very European feel to it. It honestly felt a bit like Chester in England. I really enjoyed being there. Lights make me really happy. I felt like a jumpy little kid when I was walking down the street and soaking up all the joy of walking down hand-in-hand with the love of my life. The atmosphere felt festive and aromas of good food filled the air around us. It's like a small alley that goes up-hill. At first, I thought it was just one road, but later realized that there was a lot more to explore and small alleys leading into other  streets filled with more little shops. 

There's a dedicated shuttle for tourists that drives up and down the street. The place is primarily filled with art galleries and boutiques, with lots of pubs are restaurants. This street is located in the heart of the mountain town and is a convenient place for tourists and skiers to hang out and meet other tourists. The park city mountain resort is also just around the corner. 

There are a bunch of Native Indian shops with really cool but pricey stuff. 

At Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Don't forget to check out the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We picked up a bunch of truffles and bars and love them. 

They have a dedicated parking for all tourists which is free called China Bridge Parking garage. It's easy to park there and just walk out into the street. Because it is a small street, I wouldn't recommend driving around and trying to park on the side because it looked quite crowded to me. 

I wish I could tell you more about the place but I'll have to visit it a few more times before I know more. If you haven't been there yet, I suggest going there sometime over the weekend for a nice evening out. 

For more information, check out http://www.historicparkcityutah.com/.

That's it for now!

x

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, guys!

Yesterday was so much fun. The day began with a surprise for Ankit. I got cake and chocolates and a card and put it up on the bed while he was in the shower.

Ankit took half-day and came home early. We went to Park City for shopping and later in the evening, we took a stroll down Main Street and dinner at a Thai restaurant. We went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and bought lots of yummy chocolates. I'm trying really hard to keep my hands off them. 

We had such a lovely time. What did everyone do yesterday?

These are my gifts from Ankit :)

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day. Lots of love and wishes to all my family, friends and fellow bloggers. 
x

Emirates - Dubai Connect

Before you read this, note:
I do NOT work for Emirates or Dubai Airport.
I have NOT done a Phd on Emirates or Dubai Airport.
I am ONLY sharing my experience as a traveler.
Please read at your own risk.
Do the rest of the research on your own.


Here is something all travelers would find useful. I have been a Skywards member for about four years now and I never knew about this. Recently, for my trip to India, we booked my return trip flights from Emirates.com. It wasn't the best option because it had a nine hour stopover in Dubai on my way back but I was more interested in getting a cheaper ticket. All other tickets were crazy expensive and my trip was a last minute decision. 

I have traveled by Emirates several times before when I was studying in England but I never actually bothered booking it on their website and this is probably why I didn't know about their Dubai Connect program. Emirates will provide free transit visa for 96 hours, a complimentary hotel room with a free meal IF you have a stopover in Dubai for more than eight hours (and less than 24 hours) and have paid more than $1,100 for your trip. 

If you book on their website, it will mention it on the itinerary whether you are eligible for the complimentary visa and hotel or not and it will give you an option to book for the room as soon as you purchase the ticket (you have to make sure you book a room otherwise you might not get one when you get to Dubai). If you didn't book from the website then call your travel agent and make sure they hook you up. 

I experienced it this time. I had an 8 hours and 45 minutes long halt in Dubai before my flight to New York. So here it is; I'll explain everything step by step and hope this will help anyone who gets stuck for this long in Dubai.

1. New Delhi:

My origin destination was New Delhi. From there, I had a flight to Dubai (8.75 hours stopover) and then a flight to New York. During check-in at Delhi Airport, I was given STPC (Stopover Paid by Carrier) vouchers for the Dubai Connect program along with all my other boarding passes. They give you a bunch of vouchers which all look the same but you need to make sure you keep all of them.

2. Dubai

Once you get off at Dubai airport, follow the signs for arrival. Once you reach the arrivals level, proceed to the semi-circular Customer service desk in the middle of the hall where they will look through the vouchers and your passport and validate everything. 

Then they will ask you to go to the bank on the right of the immigration hall (which looks like a small booth for currency exchange). On a good day, there shouldn't be much of a line. I only had to wait about five minutes. Give all your vouchers to them and they will affix a UAE revenue stamp behind one of the vouchers (no charge to you) and hand it back. 

From here, turn back and proceed on the right; there will be huge lines for immigration. If you're lucky, you won't have to wait much. I waited less than ten minutes for this. Here they will scan your eyes (mandatory for all Indian citizens) and stamp you with a transit visa. If you're a gold card holder, you can use the fast track lane but it doesn't necessarily have to be the fastest option. I'm not sure how it works for non-Indians but this is how I did it. 

Once you get done with immigration, keep walking your way out. If you have an economy class ticket, you'll need to get to Exit 1 and I'm not sure about first/business class passengers. Before getting out, you'll need to clear customs. This is pretty simple; just put your handbags through the scanner and you're done. You don't need to worry about your luggage because it would be checked in all the way to New York (or wherever your final destination is).

At Exit 1, you'll find a desk for Copthorne Hotel (Airport hotel) where they will ask you to wait until the shuttle arrives. Once the shuttle is there, they'll board everyone onto the bus. It is a 5-10 minutes drive from the airport. This bus leaves from Exit 1 to the hotel every ten minutes so don't worry if you miss it once; it'll come around. You'll be surprised how many people know about this Dubai Connect thing. The bus that I got on was super crowded.

Once you reach the hotel, you'll check in, they don't charge you anything or ask for your credit card. They will just see the vouchers and give you the room keys. They will also mention the time they will give you a wake-up call and what time your check-out is. The wake up call will be 2.5 hours before your next flight and the pick-up is two hours before the flight. This should give you enough time to do some duty-free shopping before boarding.

If you reach the hotel sometime during the day then there is a mall close to the hotel where you can go and hangout if you don't feel like resting. I reached pretty late at night and my eyes were drooping when I got to the hotel.

This is the kind of room you get.

The room isn't anything great but comfortable enough to get some sleep and shower. There is no mini-bar or free wi-fi and internet charges are super expensive so don't even bother. The TV has very limited channels so that is pointless, too. There are two bottles of mineral water with glasses. The bathroom has clean towels, two sachets of shampoo, two shower caps and two bars of soap. There isn't any hairdryer and I was way too tired to call room service, so I never bothered to check if I could have one. The bed doesn't have any bed bugs. Trust me, that's the first thing I checked for. I slept quite comfortably.

If you have an early flight, remember that complimentary breakfast is at 5:30 AM. My pick-up was at 5:30 AM because my flight was at 8:30 AM so I didn't get time to eat at the hotel. But I had enough time to eat breakfast at the airport. 

None of this entire process is confusing if you have read everything that I just wrote and will be able to figure it out fast enough. You'll be surprised how easy it all is. Just make sure your handbags don't have any of the items that are illegal in the UAE and you're good to go. 

Hope this information will be helpful!

Best of luck!

x

P.S. Please do not advertise anything under the comments section. I will delete every single one of them if you try to promote any services of any kind here. This post is purely factual and is not for the purposes of selling anything. Thank you for your cooperation.

Back from Vacation!

Hello beautiful people!

I'm sorry about being gone for forever and never writing about it. I was actually on a long long vacation starting Christmas! I was holidaying with my husband since Christmas and mid-January, I traveled back home to India. I met my family and had a good time except I got really really sick and I'm still recovering :) Oh well!

I'm sorry for not being able to reply to all those who left messages on my blog. I shall get around to replying to them as soon as possible.

Now that I'm back, here are some things which I missed updating:

I learned to bake sugar cookies for Christmas! :)

I decorated our Christmas tree and both Santas (Ankit and I) left gifts under the tree and inside the stockings :)

Then I left for India during a snowstorm :p

So far, this is it. There are way too many pictures from India which I haven't uploaded yet. But I will get around it eventually. I hope everyone is having a lovely new year. 

Lots of love!

x