Bon Voyage

Hello darlings,
Long time no hear if I don't say so myself. I have been a busy little bee up here in Mumbai! One of my gorgeous friends from Sydney (that I have known since I was old enough to order a cosmo) has been visiting. We have been shopping and pampering and eating and drinking ourselves around town. As you do. While HRH is away the Queen must play! Just quickly getting some bits and pieces together for our trip down to Udaipur today. My driver has whisked my girlfriend off downtown while I get everything packed. We leave this afternoon and get back saturday night. Will be fantastic.I'm in a bit of a panic as have a last minute business trip to Paris and Bordeaux booked for next sunday.That gives me a half a day turn around in Mumbai.  But will be great to be out and about in France again- I can't believe it has been over 5 months. Oh dear, should I tell everyone I'm back in town? Might not be the best idea as I only have a 12 day turn around in France and will have so much to do...argh! But if they find out I was in town and never shared "une bouteille ou un verre quand meme!" I will seriously be "dans la merde". Will keep you posted.
Queenie xxx

O for Oprah

OMG it's the big "O"

The Queen of the small screen is in Mumbai everyone. Yes that's right it's OPRAH! And of course the US chat show queen has kicked off her week-long visit to India by partying with Bollywood stars. As you do darlings...

On Monday evening, the big O wore a stunning orange and red sari as she travelled to a party held by Parmeshwar Godrej in her honor.  Bollywood acting legend Amitabh Bachchan (Big B) personally drove Oprah, Absishek and Ashwariya to the glitzy event.

Other actors who attended the party included Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and Preity Zinta (whose car got damaged by the paparazzo's- shame on you!) who were all in awe of the big "O". Most of Bollywood's A list stars spent their evening tweeting about how excited they were to see Oprah in the flesh!Especially SRK who was gushing like crazy I hear!!!!

I had no idea Big "B" even knew how to drive

Oprah is on her first visit ever to the motherland to film a documentary with Deepak Chopra in Jaipur where she will attend the literary festival in the famous pink city. (Could be a bit of a yawn- I wonder if she'll put her Oprah's book club seal of approval on anything?!) 

She is also expected to visit Mumbai city's slums on Tuesday and then onto Rajasthan and Agra for the Taj Mahal visit.

Reports suggest she may have obtained permission to film at the famous Taj Mahal and may shoot some segments of a new talk show she is working on. Woohoo the queen is back! Can't wait.

Oprah's stunning orange sari

Of course Ms Winfrey also decided to do a tad of shopping whilst in Mumbai. She opted for an emerald Chikankdari outfit with Kashmiri work and velvet finish. Another was a deep red georgette kalidar with antique gold embroidery. "She was floored by the wine chiffon saree with black lace applique thus giving her a contemporary young Indian feel". And I bet they will look stunning on her at any of those red carpet events she's always attending! Good choices were definetly made by the Queen.


Oprah said she had wanted to visit India for some time: "I've never been to India, it's been on my vision board forever." Well too right. If it's good enough for the big O then it's good enough for me baby. Go MUMBAI!!

And just a very quick thank you to all my readers from all over the globe. I'm very impressed with all your support. Especially all of you from India, the U.S of A, U.K, Australia, Canada and Germany! Amazing.

Queenie xxx

Did someone turn up the heat?

A martini bianco lime and soda anyone?

So the girls came over on saturday night for our first drink together in 2012 and it was a fantastic evening.  It felt so great to have gorgeous friends to come home to in Mumbai. Much as so many expats hardly ever enjoy coming back to Mumbai after their holidays-I was pretty damn happy with it. Life is great at the moment. 2012 is treating me pretty damn fine.
Conversation flowed easily last night as did my martini bianco lime and soda's and before we knew it the clock had struck one and it was time to hit the sack. It's always a good sign when the night passes by too quickly and you still have so much left to say...We had a brief stop off at Hawaiian shack on the way home which was a tad on the crowded side. And before I knew it I was waking up this morning snug as a bug in a rug in my own bed.
I must admit to missing the HRH ever so slightly. Having wonderful girlfriends more than makes up for the HRH's absence although it does mean my nightly chocolate intake has nearly doubled. I'm scoffing a box of scorched almonds now as I write this! Which in all honesty is the last thing me or my post xmas belly need. Good god.
I do believe I will have to give the Bikram's hot yoga a whirl this week.(So many of my friends in India and ALL over the world have been doing it for years). I've put it off for so long but I think my time has finally come. I'm TERRIFIED though. What if I can't breathe with the heat? What if I sweat so much that I die from dehydration? I'll probably faint with my first sun salutation... but the prospect of burning 900 calories in one session IS more than appealing. If anyone needs to lose 900 calories around here it's me for sure. I'll just give it a go once then. I can always just run out of the class if I feel myself losing consciousness I suppose...Right that's it then- it's decided. I'm going to give it a go. Or die trying.
Queenie x

Chiggy Wiggy

Okay so I know this is old but I just had to draw our attention to it one more time...because quite frankly it fascinates me. Firstly yes you heard right the song is called 'Chiggy Wiggy' which means nothing in english OR in hindi. And secondly I think Kylie Minogue fits into Bollywood so seemlessly that she doesn't even look like the token blondini in the clip. Who else could actually pull off the whole Bollywood thing than our very own "KYLIE"? Who else could stand their own when Akshay Kumar arrives on the scene and starts wiggling his chiggy wiggy in her face? Pretty much no one. Not only is she a MEGA gay icon but in my opinion an honorary bollywood icon too. Go Kylie. Hats off to ya. Not alot left to say I suppose. I bet she never thought she'd be shaking her chiggy like this back in the good old days of 'Neighbours'? Smirk.
Queenie xxx

More of me

This new profile pic is far more true to form

Okay everyone, so I have had my profile picture pimped. Well not like as in "Pimp my ride" styles (do you know in India you can get "Pimp my rickshaw"? True story I swear ) but I decided since so many of you keep sending messages asking me what I really look like that I should divulge a little more about the Queen. It would only be fair. So as you may notice my profile picture now looks truer to form. Calling Mumbai home is something I am now more than happy to do- hence the bindi. I feel it represents a new changed Queenie for 2012. Queenie adds a little Indian twist to her attire these days so I think the bindi is very fitting.  And another huge change you may have noticed are my eyes. They are now correctly green. My true eye colour. Well there you have it. I have given away more of my true identity without going over the top. We have to keep some mystery about the place kids. It keeps it fresh. How boring it would be if all was revealed. That'd be like telling a 2 year old that Santa was really just a layby Mum and Dad had set up at the toy store. No fun at all...So I hope that will keep some of you happy for now. Let's not get greedy.
And with that I must take one little Queenie off to bed. Those cocktails from lunch have definetly taken their toll. Let's just keep it on the down low for now. We don't want HRH to think he's missing out on anything do we?
Nightey night munchkins. Queenie x

Survival of the fittest

A cocktail and catchup go hand in hand

Okay so Celebrity Survivor India has hit our screens and it seems everyone is talking about it around town. The Queen of course has the inside scoop- I have two friends that are Survivor contestants. I can't say which two they are but both are involved in different industries and one of them gets right into the finals. So far the most annoying contestant in my opinion is Gisele. Her constant need for male attention and manipulation of the opposite sex is just infuriating. All I can say is watch out for the quiet ones. The thing I love about Survivor India is the flicking back and forth between hindi and english which really does represent how Indian society can be heard these days. Thank god for that- it means I only have to do half the work to understand hindi because the rest of the time everyone speaks in english anyway! You won't be dissapointed with this season's offering of bitching, backstabbing, affairs and arguments. Survivor wouldn't be survivor without any of these dramas. Survivor India is currently airing on Star plus on saturdays and sundays at 9pm (I don't know who would actually watch the saturday 9pm show?) so they also run repeats on monday evenings very late for those of you that have some semblance of a social life and aren't glued to the telly on saturday nights.

Who will win Survivor India 2012?

Have decided to cancel pizza at home this evening and head out to Bungalow 9 with the girls instead. Frankly their cocktails will be a lot better than my home made concoctions and it's just easier. We'll have to have a marathon catch up session to keep up to date with everyone's latest bits and bobs. Some have come into 2012 with a baby on their arm. Some several pounds lighter (bloody tarts!) some several pounds heavier (alright, alright stop sniggering you know thats me!) Some with fancy new christmas gifts to gloat about, some with beach tans from Thailand (grumble) and some just show up for the drinks!!!! Each to their own. Right I'm off to the gym so I feel deserving of my pizza and margarita this evening. I hope you all have a fabulous day out there. Life's made for living remember. If you're not happy with an element of your life then get off your butt and do something about it! Must dash I hear the phone ringing and can only assume it's HRH. Missing me dearly of course ;-)
Signing off for now- Queenie X

Bollywood fever

If I'm going 100% veg I can still have a drink right?

Good morning darlings, it's another beautiful winters morning in Mumbai!

Happy B'day Mr Roshan

I have the feeling 2012 is going to be a goodie. The Bollywood glitterati have already gotten off to a good start with party after party in Bandra. Priyanka Chopra, SRK, Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan were spotted dancing the night away at Farhan Akhtar's birthday bash a few days ago. Pri looking gorgeous in a red mini dress and Kat in a floaty yellow mini. And today we have to wish the hunky Hrithik Roshan a very Happy Birthday also! I wonder what he has prepared for the days celebrations? Whatever the case he is looking pretty damn good for 38 my friends...his wife definetly did well.
And in other news I just thought I would share that Christian Louboutin has launched a Bollywood inspired stiletto.Once you see a Bollywood film you'll definetly never forget it and the same can be said for these latest Louboutins. Known as the Bollywoody (no that last "y" is NOT a typo) just about every shade on the colour wheel is represented as well as embroidered swirls and patterns and of course plenty of bling baby!

The Bollywoody by Louboutin

The Bollywoody are available in Rani pink, peacock blue and bollywood black. Looking forward to see which celeb will be the first to give them a whirl on the red carpet as they're a little too BLING for Queenie's liking. I don't know if I would dare try to pull them off. Someone like Katie Price could definetly do it ;-)
Well that's it for now, I really must make it to the gym. Yesterday I put my gym gear on in the morning and walked around in it all day with the best of intentions. But alas I never made it. Today is a fresh start. I'm off.
Talk soon, Queenie x

Reality hits.

I'm back...phew.

Aahhhhh. I'm home. (Even though my current home is falling apart- which is another story entirely!) I'm happy to be here! Mumbai, here we are- together again. Like old friends reunited. After two weeks away on the road with the KCM, the QM, the PM, the little princes, HRH and some other darling friends I am back. The prodigal Queen has returned.
Food poisoning (yes I know...even I couldn't believe Prince M's bad luck!) a mini bus, lot's of curry, bottles of champagne, more curry, Bollywood music, let's throw in one Taj Mahal for good measure, even more curry, one too many mojito's, one too many late nights, much family arguing, did I say curry? And a hell of a lot of bartering over tacky souvenirs for the mother and you begin to have an idea of what I have just survived! It was hilarious. And exhausting. I am now one step past shattered. I think I need a holiday from the HOLIDAY!!! But at least the QM got to see the Taj Mahal in all it's glory. And that's worth it.
So I have a few resolutions for the naya saal... To finally get those hindi lessons I have been talking about, to eat 100% veg all week (dubious on the likelihood of this one) and to exercise more. My arse has grown it's own arse...sadly. It's true though. All those butter roti's and stuffed paratha's. Aaree bhagwan I need to jump on a treadmill and run non stop for a week. And maybe if I'm lucky I might run fast enough to lose one of my arses in the dust?! Doubt it but dream's are free.
What else? The HRH is currently in Udaipur working on designs for the resort. Had a wonderful visit of our land again and it was just as beautiful as ever. It's all starting to fall into place slowly. HRH is helping the PM get settled with an apartment in Udaipur and meet with bank managers etc. The poor thing is pretty homesick. He's been ringing me non- stop since we parted ways a few days ago.
I woke up this morning, dropped the wee ones off and have just been getting all my emails up to date. Groan. My housekeeper and I have had MTV Bollywood hits blaring and both been singing away loudly. Here's the one that I have rolling over in my head right now. It's from the "Ladies vs Ricky Bahl". Anushka Sharma the female lead seems to be all over everything at the moment. Her career is soaring, she's not my fave but I always have time for the new comers in Bollywood.

Esha Gupta...You see what I mean right?

I also leave you with a photo of Esha Gupta...current Bollywood/ fashion IT girl. Ridiculously beautiful...annoyingly so huh? She's currently making the transition from model to actress and is EVERYWHERE. Grumble grumble grumble. Gym for me I suppose. That's what you get for having a life. You eat. You drink. You pay.
Am planning a ladies night on wednesday night here in the house of horrors so will keep you posted. Here's to 2012 let's make it the best yet!
Queenie xxx