It’s all about the mini vacations these days, with everyone squeezing in weekend getaways amidst work and I’m pleased to say that this week was my turn! The location in question was Kerala, with a dose of sun, rain and cold, all in a span of a few days, in a way that only Kerala can. The occasion was Shilpa Malhotra Rao’s milestone birthday, which we brought in at the beautiful Kalarickal Heritage Plantation, tucked away between Thekkady and Munnar. Surrounded by rolling hills on all sides, we toasted to the birthday girl’s health and happiness. We also loved our plantation walks, with us city slickers finding out a thing or two about where our spices come from. Other highlights included riding around in the ATV, stuffing our faces with local cuisine and an encounter with elephants.
Meanwhile back in Chennai, Terroir, the Madras wine club held its first wine Quiz Brunch event at Focaccia, Hyatt Regency Chennai. Titled ‘La Dolce Vita’, where a lavish spread was accompanied by choice wines, the highlight of the afternoon was a snappy wine quiz. Orchestrated by Quizmaster Avanish Chaturvedi, the quiz comprised some simple questions balanced with more difficult ones. A very participative strategy— the Terroir members were hooked and the atmosphere was charged. The teams were named after sports cars and Team Corvette raced home with first place. All in all, the afternoon ended with members clamouring for more. This was Terroir’s last event in a truncated year, concluded Terroir’s President Minnie Menon.
The rest of the week included a good mix of events starting off with The Living Room’s first anniversary celebrations, with DJ Ivan spinning the classics. Next up was Origin’s Sundaze, a sundowner featuring DJs Sam Shroff, Tallstory and Sreevaths playing melodic house and techno, paired with craft cocktails and tapas. For the art lovers, there was ‘Into the Beyond’, a futuristic art show curated by Jitha Karthikeyan, hosted by VST Titanium Motors. And it wouldn’t be December without multiple tree lighting ceremonies, and this week The Westin Chennai Velachery played host accordingly.