You better run, you better do what you can
Don’t wanna see no blood, don’t be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beach it….

Just Beach It!

Disclaimer: The blogger of this blog worships Michael Jackson. Throw tomatoes at your own risk.

Hehe….

Rubbish humour: √

Now that I’ve got that done, let me tell you that being a Pisces, beaches are my true calling and the living beings on the beach speak the language of my people.

Ever since I was little, I’ve had this ungodly thrill of plunging myself into the sea and just being there in the deep with the gentle(not necessarily) waves and soaking in the salty sprays and the running sand:)

As much as I love the beach, I don’t get to go there much because I live in a landlocked city and the nearest beach is hours away. I am not fond of the fact but the times when I do go to the beach are the ones that I cherish the most and each trip to the beach has its own treasury of memories.

In this blog, Imma take you to a beach called Benaulim Beach in the Indian state of Goa.

Goa is known for all its beaches and every year, tourists throng the sea side, just to get glimpses and experiences with the sea. The north of Goa has some of the more popular beaches but here, I will talk about a beach in the south of Goa that isn’t overly popular or crowded, but I feel it’s where one can have the best time because all said and done….

No one, I repeat, no one, likes an excess of humanity.

Hehe.

So, without further ado, let’s hit the Benaulim Beach in the town of Benaulim, South Goa.

Let’s hear it for the beach vibezzzz:)

This is the entrance to the Benaulim Beach, just before the sunset. I love the tranquility that the fishing boats bring in, especially the drying nets. It gives the sense of relaxing after a hard day’s work and soaking in nature’s plenty gifts.

Fishing is the main source of livelihood for a lot of locals in Goa and the beach is a great place to witness some shallow water fishing or even larger fishing boats hauling out their catch. The seafood in Goa is some of the best that I’ve tasted among all the places in the world and I will show ye lot some of my favourite dishes later in the blog.

I also love the gentle warmth of the sun. It reminds me of the opening scene in the Lion King and watching the sun rise or set is one of the times when life hits different and no matter how troubled one is, it gives the sense that all is right with the world and it will all make sense at the end.

I think it is a good reminder to carry with us for the rest of the day:)

I am legitimately getting butterflies and a fresh feeling of rejuvenation, just by looking at this picture:)

The sea is an element that I have great respect for. It is such a great and vast element with so much power that it can use to heal as well as to destroy.

The sea in Goa is very gentle and there’s never any major calamity relating to the sea. This could be due to some blessing because the people of Goa hugely respect the sea and are always in harmony with it.

It could also be due to sane tectonic activity…..

Being in the sea, or even near it, is so therapeutic and just a few moments of swimming can make me feel like I’m on the top of the world, even though I’m literally bobbing at sea level, hehe….

Also, the golden hour in this picture is immaculate and I love the contrast between the white horses and the gentle sun.

When I say white horses, I mean the sea foam because they look so much like a group of white maned horses….I had read a story once where a boy was tasked with riding the sea foam which are legitimately horses and one of the sea foam horses ran aground and the games began because Neptune missed that horse.

I don’t remember the name of the story but it definitely made me more fascinated with the sea:)

Here’s the sea in a more pink tinted frame. This was minutes before the sun set and the pink and purple glow was so divine.

The Benaulim Beach has a rule where people cannot stay in the sea after a certain time and when I took this picture, the life guard was whistling to warn the swimmers to come out of the water.

A lot of people obeyed but there were some folks who apparently believed that they could challenge Neptune with their presence and hence they remained in the sea. This led to a lot of funny photo bombs because most of these daredevils could not stand their ground and kept getting whacked by the waves. I literally have a picture with a bloke getting internally cleansed with the salt water that he must have gulped:) Also, the couples, let’s talk about this for a minute….

I am a firm believer of seaside romances and I do pray that I get my heart stolen by a Neptune like snack emerging out of the sea, six pack and all.

I also, however, am a firm believer of right to nature photography but certain couples think that bombing someone’s photographic frame with their heart hands and “grabbing-the-sun” poses is all sunshine and rainbows and that is enough to drive a saint all oo-de-lally. I mean, there were a few couples who would not get out of the sea, even though the life guard told them thrice and finally, it took a large wave to whack them out, all because they wanted to gaze at the sunset with heart hands while being in the water.

Does the sun look different while standing on the sand?

DOES IT?

I think not….

The sunset, however, does look a whole lot different with random human heads bobbing in the frame….

Use this blog as a reminder to keep calm and get out of the water when the life guard tells ya!

Thank me later:)

This picture is quite a lucky shot because I was fortunate to be on the beach at the time of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter conjunction. The moon is at the bottom, Venus is in the middle and Jupiter is right at the top. It was thrilling to see this with the darkening sea and the twilight sky and the whole experience felt straight out of a romantic fantasy:)

All I needed was my Neptune-guy(mentioned above) and ‘Sky Full of Stars’ by Coldplay playing in the background.

That would be my perfect date:)

Here’s a shot of the shacks on the Benaulim Beach, all lit up at night. There’s canopied cots as well as tables and chairs and sitting in one of these shacks with the waves crashing and the breeze lifting one’s spirits is something I totally recommend. This particular shack is called Rogers and they have the best business model that I’ve seen.

In the mornings, they provide beach goers with a convenient beach chair and complimentary towels as a sort of a welcome gesture . If one orders breakfast or coffee, the service is fantastic and they even take special requests to accommodate swimming times, family calls etc.

The basic act of making sure that the guests have a beach chair and towels automatically boosts their business and their food is brilliant so that is a complete business win if you ask me. I had all my breakfasts at this shack and even tried their evening snacks. Here’s the evening culinary haul from Rogers….

The first picture is a mocha. It was one of the best mochas that I have ever tasted. Their cappuccino is great too, even though I don’t have a picture of it. The second dish is Honey Chilli Potato Chips. It is quite a common snack in India but the one in Rogers had a slight Goan taste to it and I loved it. Goa uses some unique spices and it makes their food absolutely delicious. The shack also makes brilliant sandwiches and omelettes so if you’re ever at Benaulim Beach, Rogers is a must-try.

There is something very enigmatic about the sea at night. I get the feeling that the mystical sea creatures come up to the surface when it gets dark and if someone is brave enough to enter the sea at night, they might possibly see a mermaid or a kraken.

Or a krak-maid….

hehehehehe…..

This picture gives me chills because of the beach umbrellas. The four empty benches reminds me of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ and each umbrella feels like a mark of a missing guest. Ever since I read that book, the seaside always reminds me of its eerie plot and thoughts such as these give me thrilling goosebumps and I am here for it.

This pic was taken from a shack called Blue’s Corner and whileI don’t have a picture of the shack, this was the view from it.

The food at the shack was absolutely amazing and I was too hungry to get pictures of the food but my tastebuds are living witness to the culinary delights:)

Coming back to the daylight, here’s a picture of sunlight reflected on wet sand. When I saw this at first, I honestly thought that it was lava or a phenomenon straight out of Stranger Things but it was only the good old refractive index playing its tricks.

Physics is so thrilling….All we need is better teachers for it.

hehe….

Here is a picture of my dad in front of a beach restaurant called Johncy. The restaurant had some of the most mouth watering varieties of sea food but before I came to that, I just wanted to show how cool my dad looks in his beach shirt and camo shorts:) Goa is my father’s favourite destination and it’s one of the only places where he actually poses for pictures. So, here I am, blessing your feed with my dad living his best life:))

The other place where he poses for pictures is Jurong Bird Park and that’s only because a lorry bird bites me every time I go there and my father thinks it’s funny to capture the moment and pose with a victim of hate crime….

hehe….

Finally, here’s the food at Johncy. The first dish is a grilled sea food platter in butter garlic sauce. This was my favourite since it had a huge variety, right from mackerel and pomfret to prawn and calamari and even a crab! I am a huge fan of seafood and this platter was the sure shot way to my heart:)

The second dish is a grilled red snapper. This was a fish that I tried for the first time on this trip and I absolutely loved it. The dish was grilled with tangy spices and had a smoky taste to it. The salad and chips complemented it really well.

Notice the shiny red thing on both the dishes? That is a tomato, cut into a candle. It was one of the most unique things ever and it is such a good DIY in situations where one needs a candle but doesn’t have one. It’s literally just a tomato with a small tea light in it and while the tomato can’t be reused as a meal, it can go into composting, I guess….

That’s like hitting two trends with one tomato….

hehe:)

And that is a wrap,

Until Next Time.

Ciao!