When I hear the word “berry”, I’d probably go running to pick one, given my inherent love for everything ending with the word “berry”. And when we discovered Berrima, a small town with a rich history, skirting the outskirts of NSW, we knew we had to go, especially to show our visiting family friends the inherent beauty contained within glittering, glamorous Sydney.

Apples, apples, apple galoreeeeee!

No, I actually despise apples, they’re the one fruit I’ve always refused to eat. However, this ONE, mind you, ONE visit was the first and LAST time I would enjoy apples.

Or maybe I’d return for a teensy bit more…

The last time I had ever visited Bintan, it had been with all our closest friends, when I was around 7 years old. This time, to my utter excitement, we planned to visit Bintan again with all our friends. AT THE SAME RESORT TOO! And since I had loved “Cassia Bintan” the last time we had stayed there for a week or so, I was incredibly excited to return. I was slightly disappointed as we would only have a sojourn of 1 and a half days. Nevertheless, I was eager to spend time with my friends and family at a scenic, beautiful place like Bintan. It was a break from the hustle-bustle of the city, and we would all get to relax in the sea and the swimming pool😊.

The second day, we had originally planned to go to the A’Famosa Safari and Water Wonderland, which I was looking forward to with a spring in my step, but to my utter disappointment, it started pouring, the heavens crying deluges above us. I was so upset as I had been dreaming all night about what we would do, and fury overtook that sadness when all the adults cancelled the Safari and decided to go to Jonker Street to view antique shops instead. Now, don’t get me wrong. I respect the latter’s interest in antiques. But antiques were just…not for me! Isn’t antique viewing for old people? LIKE ANTIQUE LITERALLY MEANS OLD!

In my earlier blog, I had mentioned some of the places that we had visited in Mumbai. After strolling around the Marine Drive, we moved on to the last leg of our journey, visiting the famous beaches and sight-seeing a few other superstars’ abodes.

Recently, it was after much consideration and a LONG-AWAITED period(as in like 3 years), my dad decided on a 2-week trip to India before the exams. Being able to travel to another country again was astoundingly refreshing. It felt awesome, boarding the flight again(although when we used to visit India regularly, I HATED THE FLIGHT TURBULENCES, but now, ironically this time it felt like a GENTLE ROCKING). I visited my grandparents, and many embraces and tears were exchanged when we met and when we left. We left with the promise of meeting again in December and also came up with a plan for them to stay with us for a few weeks. On the last day of our trip, we had to take a flight from Mumbai, and thus, we had the opportunity to stay in Mumbai for a day. We grasped this opportunity to tour Mumbai, and it was an extremely unique experience, as I had never visited India’s financial and fashion capital before.

It was the last day we would be spending on this ship. I could already see numerous cargo ships, an indication that we were close to the city. I woke up incredibly early as I wanted to make the last day the best day on the cruise. Today, we had planned to participate in the Harry Potter quiz, a game of Family Bingo and watch a live show performed by the Kinetic Band. We would also be going swimming after breakfast, and as it was bright and sunny, we were hoping that the pool would be warmer today😊.

I woke up, fresh and rejuvenated for the upcoming activities we had planned. Instead of eating at Windjammer, we brought food up to our room and devoured muffins, coffee(one of the rare times my mother permitted me to drink coffee every day)croissants and juice. Yes, we drank juice and coffee. For today, we had planned to go for a napkin-folding class, watch a duo performance by Victoria Stryker(violinist)and Oleg(guitarist), play foosball in the Seaplex, an indoor stadium, go for a bumper car ride(also in the Seaplex), and then I would visit  the Living Room, which was apparently a “bonding place for teenagers”. My sister would also visit the “Aquanauts”, which included fun activities for children of her age.