Recepy for Goan Mud-crab:
• buy a mud crab of app 1,2 kilo at the local fish market
• break it's claws off and chop them into pieces while the crab is still alive, and then slice it (still alive!) horizontally in two...
• then, if you haven't thrown up all over the kitchen, fry chopped onions, garlic and tomato in some coconut oil, add garam masala, chopped green chili and fresh curry leaves, end then add the chopped crab
• simmer for app 2 minutes and add a cup of coconut milk
• simmer a few minutes more, add fresh coriander and serve in a bowl with naan. Make sure you do NOT serve any cutlery as the crab definitely tastes better when eaten with your hands....according to local customs, that is. Do serve extra napkins. (And for those who wonder....that's me in the infinity pool, not the mud-crab).

Ok, so we are back from Goa....
We had a surprisingly good trip with Indigo Airlines, who claim to be "the punctual airline"...and indeed they were both ways! Which in India is a miracle in itself!

The hotel, the Alila Diwa Goa, was not as sereen as the Alila Manggis in Bali where we spent T's last birthday, but we had great a room with a fantastic bed and an even better bath-for-two....and after having a drink or two at the Edge bar (on the edge of the infinity pool, hence the name) during happy hour, we would come back to a room with the curtains drawn and the scented candles near the bathtub lit, the bath-salt invitingly placed on the little wooden tray that was placed strategically over the bath....well, what can one do but take a bath?

For the rest we did almost nothing. We spent our mornings swimming in the gorgious infinity pool, gazing at the palmtrees beyond, until at app. 11 a.m. the Indian families would show up, lazily strolling around, usually with dad in front, followed by mother and one or two kids, with grandmother clad in Sari at the end....all on slippers and all not raising their feet as they would walk. One wonders how they manage to keep their balance at that speed...

Some would actually take a swim and then would choose the corner right in front of our chairs (RIGHT in front!) to hold their social morning talks, preferrably with some screaming kids joining them (always with balls) and some nearby husband who would be screaming into his telephone....usually the sign for us to disappear to have lunch and then head to our room for an afternoon nap.

In the afternoon, after our naps, we would take a drink or two at the Edge bar during happy hour, then head back to take a bath in our gorgious bath tub, then have a wonderful dinner with slain mud-crab or something similarly delicious (and no doubt tortured equally) and then it would be time to sleep.....

Been there, done nothing, did not get the t-shirt but had a wonderful three lazy days!