This is our first Halloween in the states and it’s was really fun just seeing how kids dress up and some adults puts passion into make it extra special night for the kids.

We visited our favourite place around the neighborhood…and as always it was really awesome.

Here are a few pictures of our night

So grateful for the people who created this awesome experience for us…

Virginia Exploration Continues..

It’s that time again….we have to say goodbye to this city filled with beautiful people…from our apartment host to our friends from Ghana who live here…to our new friends we made for the past 2 months here in Mumbai and India aa a whole country. And today happens to be our 3rd daughter IMAHKÜS 13th birthday. But the day was not stressful as you will think. We spent the early afternoon at the spa for IMAHKÜS getting her birthday spa day. After went to to the growels mall to have lunch and then we came home and try to finish up packing. So overall it has surly been an awesome day of celebration and also preparing to move on. Also last night our LLF’s decided to surprise IMAHKÜS with a cake and we got to cut it st 12am on her birthday so special and so grateful. I will miss them so much. Out apartment host was so awesome and so welcoming and the chef at the apartment was really nice and can cook up some curries. If you ever decide to visit Mumbai check out their many apartments called Gagal home hospitality services. Clean apartments and come with a chef and a cleaner. So grateful for them. Well it’s here….time to says goodbye…mumbai india and hello Bassett Va usa. Thank you all so much for the love and care while we visited this country. Our princess at 13yrs old Hair spa day Spending the evening with our LLF’s IMAHKÜS at 13yrs and her cake suprise Our friend Naa visits us in Mumbai With our chef from the apartment We ordered a car for 5 passengers and 10 bags and we get a bus that can sit 18 passengers. We will miss her so much… With love we say goodbye to all our LLF in india. Mumbai Exploration ends….. Bassett Virgina exploration begins

Yeap…we took that trip today. It was not far from our apartment. We got an auto to the ferry which then takes us to the island.

We are so grateful our LLF’s in india took us and helped us create such grrat memories. Now I asked why this was considered the largest water park in Asia….but I guess that answer is not on Google yet. Lol…

So for the past 25yrs essel world which is in the same area as the water park is park of the water park and its a interactive bird park. We did not do that since i told the kids all birds are birds so lets just do the water park. So essel world for the past 25yrs as been setting the benchmark for the parks in Asia.

We spent the whole day there from 10:30am till 6:30pm.

Here are a few pictures of our day….

Oh and am sure you are wondering why the kids are wearing tights….well not bikinis allowed and you pretty much have to cover up. They are so serious they actually have rental place you can rent tights and cover ups. And we saw people wearing dresses…i was in shock…

The entrance and they had a live band…

In the changing room…

Tickets cheaper to buy from the malls than at the location

Island ride

I was bikini ready but I had to get this swimsuit since bikinis not allowed

Yeap thats how she went to the water park..

They love the wave pool

The boat at the wave pool

So over all with a 98 degree Fahrenheit and a humid city the water park makes for a great adventure.

And the ticket for kids was $5 and adult was $7 So pretty great for a couple of times in a month. But to give my honest review it was nothing to brag about….

Am still grateful yo be able to have a day at the largest water park in Asia.

Mumbai Exploration Continues

I can’t believe it’s almost time to pack up again and get onboard our flight to our nect destination.

It has already been 2 months in Mumbai india. As as always we have made amazing LLF’s that will have a special place in our hearts and creating so many memories with them.

Last night we got to meet up and have an awesome evening with our Indian friend who works in Ghana and his beautiful wife and handsome son. It was definitely a dinner to remember. Am so gratful yo Friendship…am do gratful for the awareness to love and to appreciate everyone we meet on our travels.

Now with all our Mumbai LLF’s this means one day we will be back in Mumbai….

Here are a few pictures of our our LLF’s (Life Long Friends) have made our stay in Mumbai very special. Thank you all and I absolutely love and appreciate you all to the max….

Beautiful evening at the westin hotel…great food and loads of laughs and stories….add all that yo amazing people and you got yourself a night to remember.

She is so sweet….my girlfriend….we laugh so much about everything and we have known each other for 2 months but feels like forever

At the westin hotel

She used the rose petals to make this nail polish..

A lovely evening with lovely people

Invite to our friends home

So comfortable and hommy

Diwali sweats

Tasty snacks made by out friends mother

Gift from our host on Diwali

So grateful for all our LLF ‘s (Life Long Friends)

Mumbai Exploration Continues…

Wow…what a beautiful celebration of light and laughs all around.

And am telling the sari’s are just amazing…with so many colors and styles. People are out with love ones just having a great time. And wearing their beautiful Indian cloths the sari.

Today our LLF had to close from work and come to our apartment to help kids and I with our sari. So special and so gratful for her.

So every year around the same time…october the Indians celebrate this festival called Diwali which is the festival of lights and sweats. And ofcourse the fireworks…it was so loud and some are scary…the skies was light up for sure thus evening.

Happy Diwali to all our Indian friends who celebrates this beautiful festival.

Now lets share some pictures

Such beautiful memories…

Mumbai Exploration Continues…

So today is like Christmas in india as people wear their beautiful sarees and go out for dinner or just stay home and bond with love ones.

Today is Diwali…..from the lights and fireworks it sure do make it feel very festive here…

We are enjoying it all from taking pictures with strangers because their sarees are so beautiful to just enjoying some great Indian dishes and hanging out with our LLF’S.

With the heat and all a swim make it extra special for us…

Here are a few pictures of our life in Mumbai

Such a beautiful experience being here for their festive season…..

Mumbai Exploration Continues…..

…magnificent Taj Mahal one of the seven wonders of the world. The emperor had 3 wives the first 2 could not give him children so he married the 3rd wife, who gave him 14 children…while given birth to the 14th child she died at 39yrs old. Out of the 14 kids 8 died during birth. So after she died the king built this Taj Mahal for his wife.

So she actually did not see the Taj she was buried there. And after the king died at 79 yrs they buried him next to his wife. Love is truly a beautiful experience…many many years later many many people have come from afar to view this magnifence. It took 22yrs and 40,000 men to build and at that time in the 1600th hundred it cost about $10,000 to build the Taj Mahal.
Right now it’s priceless

So outside the Taj Mahal they buried the 1st and 2nd wife.

Also the tour guide told us about the myth about the emperor cutting off all the hands of the workers who built the Taj Mahal after they finished building it…reason being that they will not build a replica of it as he wanted it to be one of a kind for his wife.

Also the story was that after building the Taj Mahal he had started building at the back which you can see another memorial for himself but he last son who is selfish and did not agree with his father spending all the kingship money. Killed the 3 older brothers and threw his father into prison and took over the throne. The emperor was in prison for 8yrs.

The story i think needs to be set in a movie…its pretty interesting.

The drive from new Dehli is about 3 hours

Also the entry fee is 1000 rupees for forigners and free for all kids under 15yrs.

And you can take pictures inside and to hire a tour guide is 2500 rupees for the tour which he will tell you all this amazing stories.

Also there are professional camera men out there who will walk with you and take all the right poses. They charge 100 rupees per print. And there are about 60 poses they can create for you….and they can do soft copy too… it’s really worth it all…it’s one of the seven wonders of the world.

Now we have seen 4 of the seven wonders of the world.

So to walk through the tomb you have to put this shoe plastic on…and if you pay the entry fee it comes with it but for the kids you pay 10 rupees to get one.

So breath taking view…

It truly was a magnificent building and the story behind its existence make it even more interesting.

Am so grateful to be able experience this with love ones.

New Delhi Exploration Continues…..

Yeap….we got this touring thing down packed after 3 years of travelling. Today the driver we hired for $45 a day to drive us around said its not possible to do 4 tours in a day….i guess he thought we are some amateurs… Anyway need less to say we did 7 must see things in New Dehli and we started from 8am and had 1 hour lunch time and finished at 6pm… Here are some of the places we visited today

1- Raj ghat

2-Chandi Chowk market

3- Red Fort

4- Biggest mosk in new Delhi (old Delhi)

5- Predidents House

6- Parlimemt

7- Asashkadam

I will share pictures and try to explain some rules on the tours and what they are… The president Palace…the whole area reminded me of Washington Dc… Other government buildings around the president Palace Around the president Palace More buildings Parliament house The drive to the president Palace India gate The swim at india gate Kids having fun at the water fountain near india gate At the largest mosque in india Traditional Indian bride dress this one cost about $400 Some Indian saaaree We got this one for her She loved it all Miss sunshine Father and daughter She got this one Old Dehli Red fort tour Tricycle to red tour and old india and mosque cost $3 Mahatma Ghandi memorial The eternal flame Unity This tour was so magnificent they just don’t allow camera in the whole place… is a picture of a picture but the building is breath taking and that’s the real deal at the back A must do tour That’s the whole building while driving into the parking lot…amazing. it’s about $3 to see the shows but entry to the the building is free. No shorts but if you forget they will give you a wrap for free. But you deposit about $1 and once you return the wrap you get your money back Wow….what a productive day filled with tours and must do items when in New Dehli New Delhi Exploration Continues…

Most people in this slums live on $1 a day…wow!!! Appreciation is all I can give for the life am given.

Today we went on the famous tour in Mumbai…the slums tour. This same slums was where they shot the movie Slumdog millionaire which came out in 2008 and won the oscars in 2009.

As we walk the slums and see kids playing and running and families cooking and loving fully you realize what is the fuss about in the business world. Like is meant to be lived even with an area that you may not desire to be but you are living and creating a life there.

And this community makes and recycle everything from plastic to aluminium, and old paint cans…our tour guide shared how all the big company’s will come and buy from this people and out their brand name on it…am not surprise as I got to see how leather bags are made from the skins of the animals.

Also we saw people making suitcases…i mean everything you can think of they making it there and yet they are living in the poorest conditions. Like we teach out kids it comes down to two things THINKING and ECONOMICS…you are either thinking for somone or someone is thibking for you..which one would you choose?

The people are so nice and so welcoming…and we where able to visit and enjoy their environment…an hour into our tour it started pouring down rain which is not really exciting when walking in the slums…but we got to sit in the leather shop and wait for the rains to stop.

Our tour guide is very knowledgeable and shared lots of information with us about life in the slums and am so grateful that he gave us the opportunity to visit with him. The name is this slum is called Dharavi. About 1 million people live here in the slums.

Pictures not really allowed so we manage to take a few before going down…

Our son making friends already…

The factory for sorting plastic waste

Learning

Recycle items that we saw them crush

The exact location the movie slumdog millionaire was shot in the police chase. It was a day scene but with 1 million people the crew had to shoot that scene at 3am and paid the people around there to leave their lights on to have more lights for the scene…

Our walkway through the slums it was dark…

A scene in the Slumdog movie

The movie

The slums from the upper view

Rainy and muddy around the slums

This is home to about 1 million people

Really grateful for the life we have…and am truly grateful for my family in Ghana for giving me an awesome life…and super grateful for my husband for giving me this new life…am truly grateful and so glad to be able to see how blessed I am to be able to do what am doing with my kids.

Mumbai Exploration Continues…

And we got to spend another awesome day with our friends. They took us to see the elephanta caves in South of Mumbai

Now the journey there was interesting as we decided to explore the train system since we have our friends with us. So at 7am we went to the take the train from Borivali to gateway india. And there we catch the ferry to the elephanta caves island.

Let me just give you a little history on th caves

Elephanta Caves (the cave temples at the historical site of Elephanta are dedicated to Shiva) are a network of sculpted caves located on eleohanta island or Gharapuri (literally “the city of caves”) in mumbai Harbour its about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east of the city of mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The island, located on an arm of the Arabian sea consists of two groups of caves—the first is a large group of five Hindu caves, the second, a smaller group of two Buddhist caves. The Hindu caves contain rock cut stone sculptures, representing the Shiva Hindu sect, dedicated to the Lord Shiva.

Before the train ride…..

Am ready…7am and it’s 35 degrees Celsius..oh and that’s our apartment building at the back..the tallest building in the area.

Bus ride to train station

Marcus trying to be like the pro’s hanging off a moving train…lol

Fans in the train…

Super packed…its amazing

It’s tight for sure

Marcus and Zubian having fun…

Being a kid

Indian breakfast…

Our ride to the island…

My familiar…

Me and my date for the day…

A little nap on the 1 hour boat ride…

Man got comfortable…

Everyone knocked out….

Being ourselves..

A small train ride on the island

This monkey grabbed someone’s coke and was enjoying it all

Cave 1 down…

Its so hot out here

Such a beautiful journey but super hot and humid and sweaty and sticky…. but we are grateful for our friends making our day in Mumbai another memorable one for sure.

Just on cost aspect….train for 8 of us to and return cost $5

And the entry fee for the caves was $7 .60 per person for forigners and .46 cents for citizens and kids under 15yrs are free entry.

Mumbai Exploration Continues