Recently on the 28th of June, i flew down to Mumbai for a short trip. It was my first time traveling to a state towards the northern side of India and i wasn’t quite sure of what to expect, nevertheless, the very idea of traveling to a completely new city had gotten me excited enough to look forward to the trip.
Day 1 – The Arrival
The moment the plane descended out of the clouds into the skies of Mumbai, i was greeted with an astonishing view of several enormous, shiny glass towers and anxiously tall apartment buildings – a sight i was not quite used to. On one side of Mumbai i saw a plethora of great, modern buildings and luxurious houses and on the other side of Mumbai were clusters of small houses and large areas of slums, and as the plane approached the runway i was able to see the Massive slums of Dharavi.
As soon as we were out the airport, we headed over to the newly built NMACC(Nita mukesh ambani cultural center) and once inside, i was completely in awe. Every inch of the NMACC was built with utmost perfection and the interiors were truly astonishing. The shiny yellow walls brightened up the place and the ambient lighting had created a cozy experience. Inside the NMACC were several expos and we took a look at an ongoing exhibition “India in fashion”, it was a unimaginably huge room filled with mannequins and statues dressed up in historic Indian dresses and costumes. However, i was quick to get bored as it wasn’t something that had piqued much interest in me and so i quickly zoomed past the 100+ mannequins and headed back outside to the lobby where i sat down gulping down a refreshing can of coke and a somewhat tasty sandwich which were being sold inside the NMACC. After spending about 2 hours in the NMACC admiring the modern architecture, well thought out layout and furniture and the several artistic displays, we took a long tiring drive down to marine drive.
After checking in the hotel, i glanced through the rooms windows to be greeted by a stunning view of marine drive. We were right at tip of it and we could see the whole stretch of marine drive all the way from antilia to the oberoi hotel. The sight was simply magnificent and i just sat by that window for hours throughout my stay in gazing over the beautiful marine drive.
On our first day in Mumbai we took a walk down Marine drive where we had lunch in this relatively small Asian restaurant known as “Foo Town”. The restaurant was known for Asian tapas and while the food was great, there was nothing memorable about it but we still thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
For dessert we walked down a few blocks to a small ice cream parlour called “New York Ice cream” were we had the classic Mumbai ice cream sandwich. We had the mango flavour, which was a slab of mango ice cream sandwiched between two thin wafers and it was truly awesome. The flavour was so fruit, fresh and juicy it was as if it was just real mango pulp and nothing else, it was truly exquisite. Little did we know that right opposite to the shop was Mumbai’s super famous “K.Rustom and co” that was known all over for its ice cream sandwiches.
After lunch, we headed over to Phoenix market city where we were lost in the city of shops within the insanely huge mall. We struggled to navigate through the shopping complex and it took us almost 30 minutes to find our way all the way from the exit to somewhere in the depths of the mall! However no matter how big and grande the mall really was, to me, nothing beats the lulu mall in Kochi.
Once we headed back to the hotel, we lounged for a bit and then took a long walk around marine drive for almost 6 kilometers, which was both relaxing but tiring at the same time, and all though the stretch around marine drive was superbly built and perfect for a long walk, the other half of the walking path was under construction and we had no other option but to walk on the side of the road with no pavement and with several cars and bikes missing us ever so slightly.
Towards the end of our walk we had spotted a small Sukh Sagar were we decided to have our dinner. We ordered some masala papad and Paneer butter masala with some naan and roti, along with cheese paratha, and to me the flavours were so much more different from what i had been eating so far. However, the rotis and parathas were too heavy for all of us to finish and we left the shop defeated but still satisfied from a somewhat authentic north Indian cuisine.
Day 2 – The Outing
After a good nights sleep, I woke up to the beautiful marine drive scattered with crowds enjoying their morning walks and sun bathes, I sat there for the rest of the morning enjoying the view of a lifetime.
Once ready, we took a cab to a Iranian cafe called “kyani and co” where we had their renowned bun maska along with a parsi omelette,Kebabs, rose milkshake and Bombay chutney sandwich. The bun maska was simply heavenly and each bite was oh-so soft, fluffy and rich while the parsi omelette was no different than any other omelette I’ve had before. The rose milkshake was thick, heavy and also refreshing but the Bombay chutney sandwich tasted a bit bland to me and it didn’t have much personality to it. But overall, the lunch was satisfying and i think the Bun maska is really what saved the meal for us.
Post lunch, we took one of the famous black and yellow Mumbai taxis to the Gateway of India where we clicked a few pictures from afar and awed at its architecture. After a while of admiring the Gateway of India and also taking a few pictures of the Grande, Prestige Taj hotels, we tried finding a ticket for the new Mumbai double-Decker electric buses, and after asking several locals and shopkeepers and scrolling through several links in google, we were out of luck. So instead we walked for a bit in a well built street behind the Taj hotel where we peeked in at a few antique shops and then stopped at COLABA SOCIAL for a small snack. The cafe had a very lively and energetic vibe with several youngsters around and a bar at the center, however we were only able to order our dishes or drinks online, and after ordering our food through their online website, we waited for almost an hour but there was still no food on our table. Too tired to get angry we walked out of the cafe and took a cab back to the hotel.
Following an hour and a half of rest at the hotel, i was soon attacked by boredom and i didn’t want to spend the little time i had in this city just lying down on the bed and so, i went for a small walk to Wankhede stadium. Although i wasn’t allowed inside, we clicked a few pictures and then walked for a bit more where we had found a street market near the cross maiden garden, a few junctions after the churchgate station. We looked at the bundles and bundles of products they were selling, several thousand fake shirts, shoes and pants and several other accessories, and then we headed to a street book market with towers and towers of books that looked like they would fall at any second. I trudged my way through the towers of books searching for anything that interested me, but i came out empty-handed as i couldn’t bear the thought of pushing down even a single stack of books.
Once it was night, we took a taxi to the starting point of the new double-Decker electric bus. After waiting for a few minutes, the bus arrived and we hopped on, taking a seat on the top deck. We sat there throughout the ride for 45 minutes as the bus took us on a tour throughout marine drive, but to us it was nothing new as just the previous day we had taken a long walk around the place, so instead we just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view. After the bus had come back close to the starting point, we got down somewhere in Colaba and took a short walk to the iconic kebab restaurant, Bademiya. The place was jam packed and we had to wait for almost an hour just to get a seat inside, but once we were in we ordered our food and it was on our table in no time. We tried out their mutton boti kebab which was simply out of this world and so rich in flavour and spice, it left us longing for more. Along with it, we had a mutton baida roti which was so unique and different from anything that I’ve ever had before. After a satisfying dinner, we walked over to a 7/11 store which i was ecstatic to visit but to our luck, by the time we reached they were closing and we weren’t allowed inside, longing for dessert we decided to buy some baklava from Hurrem’s baklava confectionery which was right opposite to the 7/11. The baklava’s were so crispy, juicy and heavenly and they had just the right amount of sweetness to keep us fulfilled. And with that, our second day in Mumbai was over.
Day 3 – The departure
We started off our last day in Mumbai with a hearty and fulfilling breakfast and our Hotel’s Restaurant where we were greeted with an eclectic choice of Meat,Pastries,juices and milkshake. We checked out of our hotel and then walked over to church gate station where we hopped on one of the iconic Mumbai trains and headed to Dadar. Fortunately, the train we boarded was devoid of any crowd and we were able to peacefully enjoy the short ride.
Once the first sight of the Dadar railway station reached our windows, we got up and line up outside the exit and as our train came to a halt we stepped out into the neighborhood of Dadar. The station was Bustling with several hundreds of commuters on our platform alone, and after a walk through the crowded station we were finally out. We soon reached the commercial streets of Dadar where we strolled around the several different categories of shops and markets where we took a short stop at a huge mango go down where we bought 3 whole boxes of the softest, plumpest and most flavourful Alphonso mangoes i had ever tasted. After a while of walking around, we took a cab back to marine drive where we relaxed for a bit and then ambled around the locality. Since our first day of Mumbai where we tried the famous ice cream sandwich, we found out about the ultra-famous and classic “K.Rustom and co.” and with today being our last day, we decided to try out their renowned ice cream sandwiches.
We walked a bit until we had finally reached the ice cream parlour and we were awe-struck to see 100s of people all crowding over, desperately trying to get a taste of their ice cream sandwiches. Luckily, we were able to get two mango ice cream sandwiches before they ran out, excited, we sunk our teeth into the crispy wafer biscuit layering a slab of bright yellow mango ice cream. Regardless of all our expectations and all the hype around it, we were utterly disappointed. The ice cream tasted watery and had an icy texture and the wafer biscuits were too thin and bland, in the end, we were still longing for the thick creamy mango ice cream and the crispy,crunchy wafers of the ice cream sandwich that we had tasted on our first day in their rival store “New York Ice Cream”. Let down, we shrugged it off, dusted our hands and then took a taxi to the 7/11 that I was adamant on trying before we left Mumbai.
Few minutes later, we had reached the 7/11 and took a peak in. I was ecstatic to experience the 7/11 experience with their Legendary slushies and unique snacks that i had expected to be there but once again, i was let down. It felt no different from a normal supermarket other than the small cozy space with a seating in center, however they did have a unique counter where they sold fresh snacks and drinks such as french fries, fish fingers, chicken pops and milkshakes. We tried a few of there snacks and then walked around the store before stepping out of of our last destination in our Pleasant trip to Mumbai.