Thursday, September 20, 2012

Vodafone Indiblogger Meet With A F1 Twist

With about 4 ounces of the warmth of the Indi team, 2 tablespoons of spiciness of Lewis Hamilton, a zest of the  crunchy bloggers, we got a delicious meet yet again at the Grand Hyaatt on the 16th September, sponsored by Vodafone.
At the entrance of the banquet hall was the Maclaren Mercedes car.
 
      The meet started with the spot prizes games (which I never win ! ). They gave out Vodafone usb keychains. Surprise ,Surprise! Vodafone actually gave out free stuff for the first time. The fact that they all turned defective is altogether a different story. The asst. Brand manager of Vodafone came up to speak about how Lewis Hamilton will be coming in for a demo drive, and we bloggers have the special chance to talk to him. He also mentioned we"ll be getting VIP seats at the demo drive ( wohooooooo). He was keen on any receiving feedback about Vodafone from us. I curbed the urge to ask why do I always get lengthy bills. But anyway, there were others who expressed their feelings, mostly negative. No surprises there!
Brand manager from Vodafone (Photo courtesy: Indiblogger )
Personally, I had no clue who Lewis Hamilton was. Neither do I know the F of formula one. I fed my brains from Wikipedia about a bit of this and that about Lewis and formula one, just so I look like I know my stuff at the meet.
    The next round was the usual introductions aka '30 secs of fame'. Half way down, the Indi team heard the gianormous roars from our stomachs and hence declared lunch. The food was bad. Nothing appealing.Deserts were a tad bit okay-ish. The cheese cake was the worst. Seriously, Hyatt, you could do better next time.
Suckiest cheesecake ever
 Back to the meet, we had another round of the typical trait of Indiblogger and that is the comments board. Its basically, you around with the board on your back, and people write down their blog urls or twitter handles, just so you remember whoes who when you go back home.

Photo courtesy: Indiblogger
Photo courtesy: Indiblogger

Me. Photo courtesy: Indiblogger
Photo courtesy:ME
And then the best part of event was when Lewis Hamilton entered. Everyone went crazy with their cameras. I must say, he was more than I expected from the pictures. He looks like complete chilled out dude with hot diamond piercings. I must say he is the ONLY person who has managed to carry them well. All the bloggers asked him questions, to which he gladly replied. Someone actually asked, "if you can do the donuts, can you do jalebi ,vadapav". He was off in 15mins,  after which everyone clicked pictures with the 2nd Maclaren Mercedes.
Me with fellow blogger Karishma Rawat
We were then given the Indi tshirts and passes, after which we were driven to BKC in the bus. Must admit the walk from parking lot to the seats was painful, all thanks to the heels I wore) . We got ear plugs and cotton sobs to save us from the deafening noise of the car , and the Vodafone balloons to cheer. It took about 2 hours for the race to start. There was an enormous amount of crowd present all waiting for Lewis. We were treated with entertainers performance which was really cool.



Photo courtesy: Karishma Rawat
 Couldn't capture the pictures though. Sucks right? But you can check them out here. The chief minister of Maharastra Mr Prithvi Raj Chavan waved the checkered flag. Then hold on! what's life without some drama right?
    The rain gods couldn't stand my excitement and started pouring like crazy. So we had to run and get some shelter, so I missed the first lap. But that's okay, since he took 5 so I could catch up easily. The sound was deafening. Crowds went crazy. It was one heck of an experience.
The security was so busy watching the race and clicking photos that they forgot that there were hoards of people breaking the barricades and entering the VIP area.
The security having fun ( Photo courtesy: Mumbai Mirror)
Lewis Hamilton doing the drive.
This picture of him almost says,'Am too sexy for my car'. This lucky blogger Wafaa got to ride with him. Jealous much? Well, I was at least.
You can see him doing the famous donuts, no jalebi, vadapav okay?  In this video uploaded by Indiblogger here which is recorded by someone under the name of  'TheReportLive' on youtube.
The best part of these meets is definitely catching up with your fellow bloggers and meeting new people. I met Karishma, Neha, Magali, my 3 regular blog pals.
Photo courtesy: Magali Vaz

Karishmas Instagram
I couldn't figure which one is the best so I put both. Call it diplomacy or what.
 Well, that's that! I await my vodafone maclaren series tshirts promised by Vodafone till then.
Until next time,
- Varsha

Monday, September 3, 2012

The High Lounge, Sahara Star (review)

Hey guys!
After much heard hype about this place me and my girl friends decided to go clubbing out here last Saturday. So here is my review about the nightclub.
Category : Nightclub

Address: Sahara star hotel, Santacruz.

Review: The moment you drive through the hotel you have to pass this really strict car checkup, and once that's done you can step out and the valet guy will take care of the rest. The main entrance leads you to this exclusive lobby with seating arrangements can be seen. The wooden walls block the actual view of the hotel. Once you pass the main lobby and enter the main area the whole place just lights up as you step into this magnificent center of the hotel. It gives you the feeling of entering some Dubai hotel.
The center of the hotel
        To go to the High Lounge you pass this restaurant called 'Namak' and go through a waiting queue as the bouncers check every guest. There are 2 bouncers present and if you look young they ask your id's (minimum age limit: 21). We were on a guest list so we go through easily. They stamped our hands with some invisible ink. We then entered these sleek flight of steps leading into the lobby of the High lounge where there was a bar and huge sofas. There was another bouncer at the entrance of the dance floor where he checked our stamps in this neon light. There is small area outside the dance floor for smoking. The dance floor is 2 rooms joined together.The one where the Dj is has a really loud music. In case you cant stand loud music, you can always dance in the other room.We were early and there were very few people at that time. The music was already playing. The dj was Dj Aman. Even when people started filling in, nobody really hit the dance floor, it was 11.45 by the time people actually started doing the grooves
Lobby and bar outside the High Lounge
                The only disappointing fact of this place is the Dj and his choice of music. For the first one hour, the music was medium paced. The songs he played mostly were by unknown artists. The only well known ones he played was waka waka, stan -eminem, angel eyes. No Bollywood songs were played. Which was really boring because, Bolylwood songs are the best to get pumped up.
      Lets talk about the crowd. The crowd was decent, mostly couples. There were also a lot of only guys and girls groups. Some couple were making out and security warned them. Saturday night was VIP nights.
The security is really tight. The guy was on constant watch for everyone. You cannot remove your heels or shoes and dance, else he will come and warn you. The place was not so congested,even though it happened to be a Saturday night. They gave free vodka shots for girls but from what I heard it was very diluted with orange juice. Some girls were pulled up on the table and given the shots and were expected to dance. While the other guys came personally and poured in your mouth.
We dint try the drinks so I cannot comment much about it. Though a normal pint of beer was for around 300. The rest you can check up on Zomato or Burrp. A small bottle of water costs Rs100.
Smoking area outside the dancefloor
 I couldn't get more pictures.
    The club closed by 3 am.
Overall I would say, its a okay good place to go if you like to move at English music. Otherwise, HYPE is the next best option where they play awesome Bollywood music.

Ratings: 7/10

Until next time,
- Varsha