BM 100 Meet Hyderabad – Day 1 & 2

This week I am not writing about any of my cooking experiments, but I will share with you my most amazing days I spent this year with my blogger friends. You know very well that I take part in Blogging Marathon and I am part of the group ever since it started. I may have missed some weeks in between, but I am quite consistent in the group and I am really proud to say that. So every 25 months, we all meet at a place and have so much fun along with lots of learning. I unfortunately missed the first meet at Ahmadabad, but haven’t missed anything after that. You can read about the Chennai meet and Delhi meet by clicking on the names.

The venue was chosen nearly six months back and we booked our tickets in advance. This was my first time visiting Hyderabad and I decided to go alone. For the first meet, hubby and Sruti accompanied me to Chennai and for the second meet Sruti tagged along. This time I was quite nervous to go alone. But still the excitement of meeting up with friends gave the required courage. Indeed after the trip, I am now confident that I could travel anywhere alone.

We spent five day at Hyderabad and that is what I will  be writing about this week. Hope you have a virtual meet along with us.

Day 1- July 17th Wednesday

The first day was Yellow day. All the bloggers were supposed to come to Hyderabad in yellow dress. This always looks great for photos and also identifying the members in a public place. Hehehe! I reached airport early and me and Sruti had some crying and hugging to do before I left. This is the first time I am leaving her with her Dad for whole five days and I was so worried. All of us were tensed and it showed up on our faces. On flight, I had to take photos for Sruti. She loves the fantasy stories so much and the view from top would certainly her fav.

The Madurai flight and Chennai flight landed at Hyderabad almost one after the other and so I met with Priya Srinivasan and her kids, Priya Suresh@PVR and Srivalli first. After taking our luggage, we went in search of the other friends who were waiting for us near the exit. I have met most of the bloggers but some were meeting up for the first time. Ruchi from Ahmadabad, Sharmila and Srividhya Gopalakrishnan from Chennai, Varada from US, though we know each other through blogs and online chats, it was the very first time I was meeting them. It was absolutely fun.

And I was also meeting Sandhya for the first time, but no one felt like that. it was like we knew each other all our lives and we chatted on nonstop.

We waited at the airport until the whole party arrived and left for our Villa. But before that, we went and had our lunch at Kamat and visited Birla Mandir. It was an amazing experience at the Mandir. After the visit we did a little bit of shopping and reached Villa.

The welcome at Villa was fantastic. Vaishali and Srivalli reached before us and made some arrangements before we reached. We only have videos for the welcome dance. Vaishali welcomed each of us with sindoor and we had to dance to enter the villa. I was so shy, but she didn’t allow me inside until I danced! Hahaha!

After settling in our rooms, we gathered in the hall and started chatting and knowing each other. And it was time for Dinner. It was an amazing spread and I just put all the dieting aside and enjoyed all the dishes served for the five days. It was tough coming back on track but the experience was worth it.

Once dinner was done, me along with Ruchi and Ritu started prepping for the cake to be made the next day. Meanwhile there was so much fun going on with every one dancing. Unfortunately we missed all the fun but we had videos to look after the cake work.

We were so busy talking and laughing, we went to bed only after midnight.

Day 2 – July 18th Thursday

I usually get up early, by 5 in the morning, so got ready and came down by 6 and preparations were going on for the North Indian thali to be served for lunch. The day started as a green day but we also had so many costume changes the entire day. This is the early morning snap.

We had toast and coffee for breakfast and started working on the cake immediately. We needed the cake ready by 11 am.

I ordered for a topper specially for the cake because this is a huge milestone for us. We also had a photographer for the day and he took care of all the photos on the day. We were happily posing for him. We needed to change into white for the next group photo.  Vaishali designed a beautiful apron for the meet and wearing white dress with the apron was so good. The group photos are indeed so beautiful.

Our beloved Princi Vaishali had a surprise cake for her birthday which Valli arranged. It was a surprise for everyone and so after the BM cake cutting there was one more cake cutting which was super fun. Again there are videos which I couldn’t share but here are some snaps.

Once the cake cutting was done, it was time for the North Indian thali to be served. All the dishes were placed on the dining table for us to taste. The menu is so elaborate and the lunch was such a filling one.

Then we chucked our aprons and went for a all white photo which is kind of amazing.

And then we changed into green and one more photo shoot at the stairs.

Then a little bit of rest, some chatting, laughing and then we changed into traditional wear for a night out. Veena took this snap which I loved so much.

Dinner at Vivaha Bhojanambu

Once we returned back, we gathered at hall during midnight for a session by Ruchi. She taught us sugar Peony. We were all dead tired, but still very attentive to the class going on. It felt like we were back in collage when we feel sleepy but still manage to keep the eyes open for the lecturer. And then the fun began. Everyone started teasing and it really felt like I was back in a college class room. Still among all the gadbad Ruchi managed to finish her session.

I hope you enjoyed the first two days of the Hyderabad meet. Tune in for more amazing experiences.

The group of bloggers who came together

Amara Annapaneni , Archana Potdar , Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Kalyani, Pavani, Pradnya, Preeti Garg, Priya Srinivasan, Priya Suresh@PVR, Ritu Tangri, Ruchi, Sandhya, Sharmila, Sowmya Ramanujam, Srivalli, Srividhya Gopalakrishnan, Usha, Vaishali, Varada, Veena Krishnakumar