Monday 27 February 2017

Dreamy Mykonos! Dreamy Mykonos!





I am playing a bit of catch up on all my travel stories and apologies are certainly in order for going MIA. Now, don’t you worry, the silence has (finally) been broken(lol). Things have been manic this side of the world, there were deadlines and a mild case of winter blues involved. And truth be told, my summer loving heart is absolutely yearning for some glorious sun and flicking through pictures of our trip to Mykonos brought back some amazing memories of the splendid time we had on the magnificent island!




On the other side of a bumpy aircraft ride and a hasty landing was the unassuming Mykonos! With winding roads, fabulous cuisine and the ever so warm and friendly people - Mykonos is truly –extraordinaire!

Be warned the island is much sought after by flamboyant A-listers and the cosmo-island is a celebrated party hub and a hearty favourite amongst the touristy lot. 





And for those on a shoe string travel budget, the best time to head to heart of Cyclades would be early September, when the island cools off from the scorching summer to a cooler, breezy mid 20’s on the celcius scale.





As for our explorations, we headed straight to little venice, the heart and soul of the island! 



Dress Chicwish, Similar here and here  
Shoes Zara, Similar here 
Straw Boater from Camden Market, London 
Bag Tory Burch



The little stretch is a hive of activities, with scurrying ferries and fishermen bringing fresh catch of the day, and scores of eclectic eateries, Little venice is all about making impressions! 







Notoriously known for being the breezy town, Mykonos, certainly lived up to its reputation;)  

We followed the tiny cobbled street and white washed houses covered in patches of bougainvillea in total a-maze-ment!  





The rickety blue stairs and the hand painted windows, in all shades of blues and an occasional cheeky red, needless to say, won my heart over!






And do look out for the one and only –Petros ,The Pelican, The friendly-bird-ambassador of Mykonos. 



He is selfie –friendly and will charm you into a caress of his feathery body, he certainly is a bundle of joy!


Niko’s taverna, is located right around the corner of the city hall, it involves a tiny uphill climb, but serves the best sea food ever! 





We devoured most of the menu like there was no tomorrow and their stuffed squid was nothing short of magic!

And then the expedition continued, in search of the infamous Windmills of Kato Mili, the iconic three windmills is certainly hard to miss! 




The mighty trio is located, south west of the island, between scenic Alefkadra and the quarter of Niohori and serves up some of the best views of the island!




The whiff of freshly baked baklava, was reason enough for a peep into the bakery and My Oh My- it was   filo haven on the other side!






 The freshly baked pie’s topped with beautifully caramelized candied citrus  piqued my fancy! But the   succulent baklava soaked in syrupy-sticky goodness and the utterly nutty walnuts was supremely gratifying!




Not jaded by the myriad steps and fueled by high octane sugar, we were off, chasing yet another magnificent sunset on the mystical isle of mykonos!


Until Next time,
Meera




























































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Tuesday 21 February 2017

Get Glowing with VLCC! Get Glowing with VLCC!

Hello,


Hope you guys are doing well!



Last week I was invited by WhatsUpDoha for a slimming and beauty awareness event hosted by VLCC Qatar along with fellow beauty and makeup artists in Qatar. VLCC is quiet famous for their beauty and slimming treatments and I for sure, was certainly intrigued to find out whether they could live up to the high standards, I had gotten used to back in India!

After a quick briefing by the team, we could choose either a makeup look by Reshmi Lakha a professional makeup artist from Mumbai, a hair treatment or beauty service and I decided to go for some much needed TLC for my skin. 





The  MelanoWhite Brightening therapy was my chosen treatment for the day, as opposed to the outbreak treatment. The MelanoWhite Treatment by BellaWave is a VLCC exclusive and it targets at rejuvenating your skin, giving it a  luminous, all so important ‘porcelain-glow’. It focuses on existing melanin and prevents any further discoloration.

Now getting into the nitty-gritty of the treatment, it starts with a good round of cleansing, I had makeup on and every trace of it was removed. This was followed by Microdermabrasion for removing dead skin and pigmentation. 


Followed by exfoliating Radiant bio peel which is serum based. The product is applied for a good 10 mins and the enzyme peel drills into the deepest pores of your skin getting rid of discolouration, dead skin cells and dullness.


Then  they apply a mix of Alpha-Litamin complex. This one concentrates on removing pigmentation, uneven skin tone and dark brown spots. This is massaged onto the skin.


Next we have Rebalance essence, a gel based product that’s massaged onto skin. This helps to improve The melanin content, skin lighting and hydration. this is massaged along with the Alpha-Litamincomplex. Unlike other facial treatments out there in the MelanoWhite Treatment none of the products are removed from the skin,each product is massaged one by one on top of each other.


After this we have the Melanin treatment for which  uses 2 masks.
The first one is an Enzyme Mask. It’s a whiteness intensifying mask and it Helps to improve uneven skin tone and also helps to enhance luminosity resulting in glowing skin. This mask is massaged into the skin.

The second is a Mousse Mask, which is in a powder form mixed with water and applied to the skin. This controls melanin and rejuvenates  complexion . This was left on for 15 mins. It's then removed and cleansed with cotton pads dipped in water. Topped off by applying some serum which helps in brightening and hydrating.

And the verdict!

The treatment is priced at 600QAR and I really(Like really)  loved the service. My face was really dull and sans of any glam sheen and I could see visible results right after the treatment! It’ss advised to do the treatment a few times for the ultimate radiant skin and if you are on the bridal radar, this is a must-pre-wedding treatment!


Now be it damage-maintenance for the lovely tresses to gearing into shape – VLCC offers some of the best hair care and slimming treatments and Reshma Lakha is notoriously renowned for diva-licious make overs, So Head to VLCC Qatar for some well-deserved good round of TLC  !



Until Next time,
Merin


Photo Credits : Whats Up Doha








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Sunday 12 February 2017

Carluccio’s at the Mall of Qatar Carluccio’s at the Mall of Qatar

Hello,

I hope you are doing well! Well, I certainly am a beauty addict of the highest order and perhaps a little less known fact is, me being a foodie! Coming from a family where food is much celebrated, my mum, in fact is a very successful entrepreneur in the food sector and she is renowned for her famous appam’s( a traditional Keralan Bread) and her Mutton Curry is nothing short of Magic!

So being a foodie is almost a genetic part of my being!  I absolutely love the buzz of trying out  new cuisine and my kitchen most certainly is the epicenter of culinary-experimentation!  

Over the last few months, we’ve shared some of our best loved recipes and we are hoping to cover some of our much-loved hangouts too and kick starting with, Carluccio’s!  It’s a regular weekend favorite in our household and we are big fans of the calamari fritters!

I was recently invited to Launch and Media Night of the restaurant at the newly opened Mall of Qatar and I couldn’t have been more excited and eager to try out the new place in town! 












Location wise, they certainly have nailed it. Dining out with kids is literally a battle fought, With the restaurant located in the Middle of the Oasis Center, overlooking the entertainment area, distraction for the kids is not a problem(Wuhoo!!!)!

With refreshing Berry Mojito’s and enticing canape selection, the night was an absolute joy and even the tiniest detailing was taken care of! The Sicilian Arancini, was certainly the high light of the night, the crispy rice balls with pesto and topped with some divine Mozzarella and a tangy tomato, pepper sauce was just divinely to tuck into! I also loved the skewers with cherry tomatoes, Sun dried tomatoes and Mozzarella.

Once we had settled they came with a set 3 course menu, we could select an appetizer and a main course followed by a decadent mini trio dessert.
We got to choose from Prawn Marinara, Chicken Caesar Salad and Tomato and Pesto Bread from the appetizer range and I went for the tomato and pesto bread, which is a pizza bread with tomato and pesto sauce and Oh MY GOODNESS it was so amazing, that a refill seemed only fair.



Now coming to the main course we ordered one of each(there was 5 of us in our table)  from  a selection of , Seafood Skewer, Crispy Gnocchi and chicken Saltimbocca. I ordered the Crispi Gnocchi which is salted in pesto sauce with cherry tomato and mozzarella cheese as this was something I hadn’t tried from their menu also I have a love affair with pesto sauce and when the waiter explained the ingredients I had to go it, it was super light and very refreshing and I promise, you wouldn’t be disappointed. The Chicken Saltimbocca was very scrumptious but slightly high on the salty scale.


For desserts it was a decadent trio of minis with Salted Caramel Panna Cotta, Chocolate Brownie Sundae and  Passionfruit  Meringue. The deserts were to die for but the one that won my heart was The Salted caramel Pana Cotta, it was ‘melt in your mouth’ gorgeous goodness.




The service was impeccable, with military precision and touch of homely, they were all so warm and friendly, taking feedback on food and making sure everything was perfect!

So here is my Verdict:

Food: 4/5(only because the Saltimbocca was salty)
Service: 5/5 ( Amazing Friendly Staff!!)
Location :5/5
Overall Experience :4.5/5
Will I Visit/Recommend : A Big Fat YES!!!  





If you are heading to the Mall of Qatar anytime soon, do head to  Carluccio’s for some lovely Italian food- you will most certainly have a good time!

Until next time.
Merin






Carluccio's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
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