Another travel planning site, this time by SpiceJet

It's still in its pre-launch phase, but Spicejet's new travel planning is another one in the growing line of online travel sites. Looks like we are in for another dotcom bust. Only this time it will be in the .travel bubble.

MySpiceTrip.com is powered by TripFactory.com and offers travelers content, itineraries, hotel rates and packages. It is offering an 80% off on more than 1,00,000 holiday packages as part of its introductory offer! For example, it claims to offer a 3-day holiday to destinations like Goa and Shimla for as low as Rs 4,000 per person, inclusive of return flights, hotels and other services.

The novelty here is that this platform enables hotel and holiday suppliers to add their own inventory directly, making this site their cheapest distribution channel. 

You can search this site like you use Google, using simple sentences like: Things to do in Kochi. MySpiceTrip also offers live chat with travel experts.

Moscow worst city for visitors, Mumbai for overall experience: TripAdvisor

It may have a rich history but Moscow has received the unwelcome honor of being voted the worst city in the world for visitors. Travelers planning a break to the Russian capital should expect locals to be unfriendly, hotels to be awful, a scarcity of shops and everything wildly overpriced, says TripAdvisor.

According to its annual 'Cities Survey', which collates the opinions of more than 54,000 travelers on the top 37 urban tourist destinations around the world, Moscow came in last.

Though on the topic of “best overall experience” it only came third-last, the city was second-last for family-friendliness, restaurants and shopping, and rock bottom for helpful locals, taxi services and drivers, value for money and hotels.

Mumbai was voted the worst city for overall experience and came in last on clean streets and ease of getting around.

The survey also ranked the cities that came out top in each category, with Tokyo as the best destination for tourists overall and New York being number two.

London missed out overall, coming 11th, but achieved second place for nightlife and third for shopping, coming behind New York, and Dubai and New York, respectively. London’s worst performance was in value for money – visitors voted it 34th in terms of how far a pound will stretch.

Other high ranking cities included:
Singapore: Number one for comfort traveling alone and second for taxi service, cleanliness of streets, ease of getting around and family-friendliness
Rome: Topped the list of things to do and culture
Dubai: First for shopping and hotels

Ireland gets a push up with Kardashian+West honeymoon

Here's my bit of contribution towards the Kardashian klan. The first and hopefully the last!

In their effort to make their wedding story larger than Hollywood itself, they have given a fillip to Ireland by merely honeymooning there. 

Following their wedding in Florence, newlywed celebs Kim Kardashian and Kanye West arrived in Ireland for a romantic week-long honeymoon. Since arriving by private jet in County Cork, the rumour mill has been churning out speculation regarding the location of the A-list power couple.

It was initially claimed the pair were staying in Castlemartyr Castle, though other reports say the two have chosen Castle Oliver in County Limerick as their romantic bolthole. The island of Ireland is known for its castles - big and small, crumbling centuries-old ruins and 5-star luxury fit.

'Kimye' have great taste, too. Cork is the start of the Wild Atlantic Way, an epic coastal drive that takes in the Ring of Kerry and Cliffs of Moher. The couple have supposedly taken to two-wheels to discover the charms of Ireland’s countryside - enjoying a mountain-biking trip in the scenic Ballyhoura Moutains, and stopping for a romantic picnic along the way.

Of course, being such a fashionista, we can expect to see Kim taking her new hubby on a post-wedding shopping spree. Word on the street is that the celeb couple is planning to spend some time in Dublin, where the two should drop in on some deluxe department stores or designer boutiques.

Or maybe they’ll venture north and enjoy a visit to Titanic Belfast, home of the legendary ship. Watch Tourism Ireland's exclusive preview of newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s honeymoon here. 

Recipe: Feta cheese salad by Chef Inderjeet Singh

As a rule, I don't publish recipes on this blog, mostly because I'm not too crazy about food and I am no expert at it either. Plus, there are plenty of really good sites out their dedicated to food. 

But I'm making an exception to this because i love feta cheese and i love salads. Recipe by Chef Inderjeet Singh, Executive Chef at Country Inn & Suites, Mysore. 

Feta cheese salad with white wine vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled 

• 50 mixed baby greens 

• 1 slice bread croutons 

• 20 shredded or matchstick  leek

• 20gm celery

• 1 large tomato

• 50gm feta cheese

• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

• White Wine Vinaigrette

Method

• Using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, cut cucumbers lengthwise into thin strips just until seeds are visible. Discard cucumber core.

• Shape largest cucumber slices into 4 (2 1/2- to 2 3/4-inch-wide) rings. Wrap evenly with remaining cucumber slices. 

• Fill cucumber ring evenly with mixed greens, and all ingredients with feta cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle salad with 1 tbsp white wine vinaigrette, and serve with remaining vinaigrette.

About Chef Inderjeet Singh

Chef Inderjeet grew up learning the art and science of cooking from his mother. This explains why the veteran with nearly 25 years of experience in the Taj Group, ITC Hotels and Carlson Hotels still has the enthusiasm of a child while engaging in his passion of conjuring eclectic culinary delights.

A believer that every culture has a unique food philosophy and the way we cook our food tells a lot about who we are, Chef Inderjeet has this inherent ability to transform cooking into a pleasurable art. 

Give him anything from a discarded bottle of spice, chipped plate from the restaurant, drift wood or the skin of a water melon and he will transform it into some exotic art piece. He believes that fresh organic produce is not just better because of its purity and lack of additives but because they taste better too. 

Tripigator: One more site to plan your travel!

As if all we needed was one more site to help us plan our travel!

But here it is. And the reason Tripigator stands out is because it has made the right move to launch it through Tourism India in partnership with Ministry of Tourism. So it will also be accessibly from the Incredible India website. 

Started by three IIT-ians, this travel planning site promises instant personalised gratification. So travellers can just punch in their requirements like dates, budget, areas of interest (adventure, romantic, nature) and destinations of choice, and it spurts out an ideal travel itinerary for them. 

When i tried it though, it refused to deliver. Probably because I didn't register myself. Or maybe teething problems. 

Of course, this is limited to travel within India, so it will be helpful for international and domestic travellers. 

But if the introductory video that pops up as soon as you visit the site is to go by (complete with an American voice-over), it is targeted towards international tourist. Hello? What about the Hindi-speaking travellers?!   

Anyway, it remains to be seen whether it will beat all the other products that are available today in the travel space. 

If you have any feedback on this site, please do write to me and I will be happy to include it on this blog! Till then, see you later, alligator!

Spice up your holiday with MasterChef Travel

Are you one of those who are often torn between going on a food trail and exploring a new destination for a holiday? Then this one's for you!

Coz & Kings has tied up with MasterChef Travel (of MasterChef Australia fame) to create a tour specially for foodies who love to travel. 

MasterChef Travel is Cox & Kings' brand new range of culinary holidays, focusing on the world’s most inspiring cuisines. All the tours feature local culinary experts and are accompanied by some of the most popular former contestants who have appeared on MasterChef Australia. 

These tours will offer the opportunity to discover local cuisine, explore the countries’ most interesting sights and even get hands-on experience participating in exclusive cooking opportunities! Whoa! 

The first one will involve taking an amazing tour through India this October in the company of Courtney Roulston, MasterChef Australia finalist 2010. This will include visiting the magnificent Taj Mahal, the fabulous Amber Fort, the stunning beaches of Goa and the colourful (and very crowded) bazaars of Mumbai.

Food will involve visiting the street food capital, Chandi Chowk and experiencing dinner at a local family’s home to learn some traditional home-cooked secrets.

Starting in Delhi from 8 October 2014, the 13-day tour also includes a stop at the Agra Fort then at Udaipur for a traditional cooking demonstration. 

India: A spice odyssey with Courtney Roulston is valid for sale until  30 Jul 14 or until sold out. For more details, check out the MasterChef Travel here.

Other MasterChef Travel tours for 2014
England: A rural food discovery with Alice Zaslavsky. 18-28 September 2014. 

Italy: A Culinary Journey with Kate Bracks. 2-11 September 2014. 

Mexico: A Food Fiesta with Ben Milbourne. 1-14 November 2014. 

Vietnam with Angkor Wat: Flavours & Highlights with Mindy Woods. 15- 29 November 2014.

Guest post: Singapore’s Kent Ridge Park inspires runners

Singapore is my run-away paradise. When Bombay becomes unbearable (which it always does) I board the cheapest flight (less than 20K to and fro) to Singapore and shack up with friends. An expensive proposition overall, but truly worth it! 

I discovered Kent Ridge Park quite by fluke way back in 2008. Since then, I have been mesmerised by this historical place. Having been a runner all my life, this park is my idea of an ideal place to run. 

Officially opened in 1954, Kent Ridge Park is part of the Word War-II Pasir Panjang Historic District. Running up the park is akin to ascending the Lonavala ghats. After a strenuous climb, the park welcomes you to a sprawling landscape - a blend of canopies, lawns, hilltops and a pond. 

The park is also popular with nature lovers as it houses one of the best botanical parks I have seen.

To the left is a curvy path leading to a lovely pond, adorned with unique flowers such as Tembusu, Angsana, White Leaf Fig, Common Pulai and Singapore Rhododendron among others that will leave you stunned. I have always been tempted to take a swim here but I'm sure that attracts a heavy fine.

Just as you achieve your running rhythm and feeling good getting thus far, you are outrun by every single Singaporean who is running there. You then try desperately to increase your speed in order to catch up them. But you realise that it's a mistake and all you end up doing is gasping for breath. Not a very pretty sight!  

As you cover the pond path, you enter a luscious patch of grassland where one can just sit and soak in the sheer beauty of mother nature. This doubles up as a really good picnic spot with trees giving you the perfect shade and benches where you can lie down and dream. In the mornings, this place is used for stretching before workouts, yoga, Tai Chi and other forms of exercises.

This grassland track then leads to a 280 meter canopy. This is a stunning place and you stop to take in the panoramic 360-degree view of Singapore that it offer: the city, the harbor, the clear blue sky. 

Kent Ridge Park leaves you feeling very warm inside and keeps inviting you to over and over again. A far cry from Jogger's Park!

Check out some decent deals to Singapore on CheapAiretickets.com. And if that is above your budget, get a ticket to Delhi and visit a similar green haven called Siri Fort.

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This post was contributed by my friend Anjali Talreja, who is my go-to for anything regarding Bandra. She is a consultant in the financial domain and can also be spotted moonlighting as a financial wizard in academic circles. You can contact her for your PR needs or just to wish her a happy birthday on May 5 at talreja.anjali@gmail.com. See another post by her on Decathlon.