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Infinite wonder - In Kovalam, our senses are fed with sunshine, stories, seafood and siestaBY: interact | Category: Travel | Post Date: 2009-02-15
I had plans. I would eat as many appams as I could manage on this holiday. I would eat them with stew. Appams and stew mean comfort food to many Malayalee friends and their spine stiffens with pride if you tell them you love it. I was very hungry the first time I had it. We were waiting to begin our backwater trip, from Allepey to Kollam I think, and made our way to a small "family restaurant" opposite the jetty. The appam came to us in a pond of stew. I don't like messy food, so I was wary, but the first bite did to me what food show host Anthony Bourdain says oysters did to him. Fireworks exploded in my brain. On its way down to my stomach, the appam-stew first warmed a significant portion of my heart. Then it slid into my stomach and I knew satiation. I equate all my food experience of Kerala with that one event. When we were hosted by The Leela Kempinski in Kovalam last week, senior sous chef Thomas Joseph made us an offer. "We can teach you to make that," he said, pointing to the steaming hot stew slavering over the appam on my dish. To these, I had been adding dabs of a fiery red curry of baby onions with a tangy-sweetness. I envisioned myself in a kitchen with copper pans all around and cooking one epicurean wonder after another, much like Babette's Feast. Then chef Thomas said, "but those baby onions take a long time to peel." I persisted. 'What about appams, or stew?' He said that would not take as much time, and I could let him know the following day if I was still keen. I now know why he had an 'if', although he may not have made as much of a study of it as I did. The next day, gorged on food, drink and hospitality, I chose sea, siesta and walks around the hotel's 45-acre coastal property. Exhausted after my two-hour walk-through, I chose one spa treatment after another to recover. Cooking would wait for when I came back to earth. The Leela, or any hotel, is a place where stories happen and I heard many. Like, because of political opposition to the hotel's last owners, dharnas were held at all entrances to prevent guests from entering. So they were brought in surreptitiously, baggage and all, over cliffs and beaches. Things were smoothened out only after the indomitable Capt C P Krishnan Nair took over. The original size of the property was some 65 acres, but almost 20 acres are being used by the government. You now see a post-office when you enter, a handicrafts shop, and a government guesthouse. The last is believed to stay shut at all times except when there is someone of the stature of the President visiting, or if there is a Parliamentary Committee meeting. That's when the guesthouse gets the mother of all beauty treatments at a price tag of Rs 1 crore. This apparently happened the last time President Pratibha Patil was in town. There is the story of The Leela itself. Its main building was originally designed by the famed architect Charles Correa. While the shell of his work remains, the interiors were recently overhauled at a cost of over $10 million. Every element that delighted us had a trail going back to Madhu Nair, Capt Nair's daughter-in-law. This Leela was her leela (meaning 'sport', 'play'). The hotel's main lounge area is a warm space and not just because the sunny skylight roof high above it. Children run up and down colourful corridors or jump on the sunken sofas. Couples wait in half embrace, families look out for each other, elderly individuals make the most of retirement. The lounge area opens out onto an infinity pool that falls off, seemingly, into the Arabian Sea. Here people catch up on reading while others soak in the sun. Kids jump into the pool, swim a lap, pulled themselves out and then repeated the whole thing in an endless loop. Next to the pool is a terrace café where everyone feeds off the fantastic view, live stations and buffet spreads. You can almost touch the sense of well-being. We headed back to our rooms after our appam-stew reunion. We were staying at The Club. About US$ 4.65 million were spent on The Club's refurbishment. The result? A mix of Kerala's scenic beauty and modern décor. Outside the balcony, the vast ocean and fishing boats. Inside the room, LCD televisions on two walls, wi-fi and international travel magazines. The Club is a dark wood skeleton with white everything-else. For someone who likes making decisions, The Club is a dream come true. There are menus to enhance different aspects of our stay here. Its spa, exclusive to Club residents, has its own menu like any other spa but this one has a music menu too - choose from earth, air, water, fire and other themed tunes to unwind to. Rooms have pillow menus. Choose from 12 types and although your choice may not always be available, they'll try and send you the next best thing closest to it. We were staying in the suite (Rs 25,000 per night plus taxes, double occupancy. Rooms at the Club cost Rs 11,000 per night plus taxes while rooms at the main hotel start at Rs 5,000). A living room led into the bedroom and both were fronted by a balcony with a view to the Arabian Sea. We lived our days to the original soundtrack of waves crashing, churning and stirring up a cappuccino of foam all around us. Did I mention the butler? He's complimentary in both room and suite stays at The Club. Ours, Mr Pintu, made our stay hassle-free. He held on to my camera when we were busy going back and forth between buffet and table, and made reservations at the hotel's restaurants for various meals. And when the sun came on too strongly, Mr Pintu fetched our sunnies from our room. He was also the conduit between the housekeeper and us. So everytime we moved out, even if it was just for 10 minutes, we'd come back to find our room touched up. Pillows straightened out, duvets tucked back in, waterbottles and chocolate tray replenished. Club members also have an exclusive gym, cigar lounge and library. The last has high tea presentations every day with petit fours and tartlets. And there is the café exclusive to The Club, open only to residents, around the clock. Whether you're sitting indoors or out, there's some serious unwinding coming your way. Outdoor, you sit next to another infinity pool - and this one is right on the edge of the world. If it trembled, you'd fall off its lip. Every morning saw us attack the breakfast buffet at The Club's café. The fruit - papaya, watermelon, muskmelon - all as sweet as sin. Stuffed parathas as good as any we'd had. Eggs, south Indian snacks, pancakes with fruit compote, baked croissants, Danish tarts, a spread of muesli, yoghurt with fruit, cheese. every day was a Sunday brunch day. Though the mains were not always as sophisticated as in most major cities, they got local and basic international dishes right. But the crème brulee that we had for one lunch was an unappetising greyish yellow without the crisp caramel. The Kerala style prawn curry was sumptuous, and you could taste the freshness of the ingredients. I can't say we ate till we felt sick because our food experience was inconsistent. But we loved the atmosphere - inside the hotel and of the gorgeous coastline of Kerala that it was imbedded in. This trip was courtesy The Leela, Kovalam Article Source: http://www.saching.com About Author / Additional Info: The Leela Hotels Additional Articles: * The Beauty Of Koh Samui And Its Exotic Beaches * Black Hat techniques usually used to increase traffic * Taking revenge is not so sweet * Old age suicides: Causes and prevention * Best places to go on a romantic date: Special Locations for romance. Does this article violate or infringe on your copyright ? It is a violation of our terms for authors to submit content which they did not write and claim it as their own. If this article infringes on your copyrights, then use our Contact us form with the detailed proof of infringement along with the offending article's title, URL and writer name. If you do not hear back from us then contact us again in another 10 days. Thank you. Comments on this article: (0 comments so far) * Additional comments are now closed for this article *
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