SPring Mingling
Pinoy in Canada
South Africa
You don’t need to go to
the tiangge and bazaar
in Market! Market! at Fort
Bonifacio, Taguig to be
able to enjoy good food and
cheap items to buy!
A Manila Jeepney is
traditionally an old World
War II vintage military jeep
transformed to become a
transport workhorse.
South Africa may be known
for its violent crimes but
beyond that external conflict is a country incredibly rich in culture, wildlife,
beauty, and love.
> Lifestyle B15
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Lifestyle/Entertainment
TINA TURNER TRIBUTE
ROCKS GOA, INDIA
By Luisa Marshall
ROCKIN' SHOW IN GOA! My TINA
Turner Tribute Family band was invited
by India's Apollo Hospital heiress Upasna
Kamineni to perform as a surprise for her
parents 30th Wedding Anniversary.
The executive director & executive
vice chairperson of the 3rd largest private
hospital chain in the world, Apollo Hospital,
Shobana Kamineni and her husband Anil
were blown away by our performance. My
Tina Turner tribute show was a big surprise
gift from Anil and Shobana’s daughter,
Upasna, because Shobana is one of the
biggest Tina Turner fans in India.
60 invited guests flew in from all over
the world to celebrate at the famous Greek
Restaurant Thalassa, known not only for its
delicious food but also for its stunning view
off a cliff overlooking the Vagator beach and
Indian Ocean.
Left: Anil Kamineni, Luisa Marshall, Shobana Kamineni.
Among the special guests was Upasna’s
husband, Bollywood megastar Ram Charan,
whose surprising candid hospitality made
our trip pretty cool.
With Greek food and wine overflowing,
everyone had a blast! Unbelievably, the
party simply rocked and rolled while the
over enthusiastic guests danced and sang
along to all the Tina Turner hits.
I spent time for some pictures and
selfies with everybody after the show. The
excitement was all over popular Thalassa
Greek Restaurant. But sadly, the venue had
to close and the party moved to the very
posh Marbela Beach Resort.
Jet lagged and tired, we chose to chill
and stayed for some wine with Thalassa’s
owner Mariketty Grana. The next day we
just had to come back and interview the
successful and most interesting personality
in Goa, Mariketty.
Mariketty is one hardworking woman.
She started with just one grill selling kebabs
on her own on the streets of Goa and now
she is the proud owner of the famous
Thalassa Greek Restaurant with over 40
employees.
I was so honoured for the rare
opportunity to visit India’s richest state Goa.
In a short period of time, my family
learned a lot about the country just by
meeting and talking to new friends, cab
drivers, waiters, hotel staff and, most
especially, our patient tour guide and friend
Deepak Sheshadri.
It was always an interesting and scary
experience whenever we were travelling on
the crazy and narrow roads of Goa --at least
by Canadian standards -- which had traffic
moving on the left-hand side. I felt my blood
pressure shooting up every time we were on
the road because it felt like I’m on a big car
From left: Upasna Kamineni, Luisa Marshall, Ram Charan.
chase scene ala Bourne Supremacy. Cabs
seldom had seatbelts.
It was a crazy mix of vehicles, people on
bikes, pedestrians on the very, very narrow
roads -- didn’t really see any sidewalks -lots of skinny stray dogs in the middle of the
street, and not to forget the lean holy cows
chillin' and wandering wherever they please.
That weekend also held the biggest
Harley Davidson Bike Convention just 3
minutes away from our 4-star beautiful
boutique hotel Casa Anjuna.
The trip to the biggest Saturday Night
Market in Arpora was interesting -- noisy,
colorful and crowded with mostly tourists
enjoying the local band holding food and
beer in hand. Walking around with flip flops
for more than two hours was a bit much. But
I was set to find something uniquely Goan to
bring back for friends and family. After much
bargaining and searching, we were happy
to get some sparkly Goa pens.
Although we were aware of the dark side
of Goa, we admired the music and football
culture, pristine beaches, tasty food and
carefree people.
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