A couple of months back, I put down two pieces as entries to two distinct contests hosted by my favorite blogger directory, that which I call as my learning playground – IndiBlogger. They were, The Village Woman by the Riverside - the contest post that I had written for Expedia,

Expedia and IndiBlogger Entries
Spot me with my entry on the Expedia contest page of IndiBlogger

and A Real Bond: An Ode to my Grandpa – Post for Kissan.

Kissan and IndiBlogger Result
Spot my entry in the second place on the Kissan contest page of IndiBlogger

Remember them? Well, it gives me immense joy and happiness to inform you all that I won prizes in both of them! And the icing on the cake is that both of the prizes pertain to traveling, or we could say.. yatras, that too for free! While expedia gave me an all exclusive 6 days fully paid trip to Japan – one of the most beautiful countries in the world, Kissan presented before me a tough choice list of 6 off beat places in India to choose my destination from.

Kissan and IndiBlogger Result
Me, holding the lucky position of number 3 and the other winners of Kissan

Out of the two, my Kissan yatra will still take a bit of time going, but the Expedia yatra is well underway and I am all set to fly to Japan very very soon!

A Bit More on Me and the Contests:

There were a lot of wonderful participating entries and with so much creativity flowing, honestly speaking, initially I never ever imagined to even get a place in the winners list... But...

Expedia and IndiBlogger Result
Yay! Japan, it was and boy, if I wasn't delighted!

I absolutely believe, it was all your wishes... they worked like magic wands for me... and that is truly the reason how I am where I am today - packing my bags, ready to soar high in the sky, all set to step foot on an alien land for the very first time in my life... Need I say, I feel truly blessed...

A lot happened since the time I won the contest– A lot of mails exchanged, a few phone calls, some edgy moments and a bit of anxiety but all this gradually snowballed into feelings of anticipation, excitement and gratitude –

Right now...

It’s a mixed bag of emotions that life has pleasingly placed in my little lap...  and like a new found toy, I am loving to fiddle with the things it has so lovingly assorted for me...

Every passing minute looks like a dream with something new popping out from somewhere ... flitting and zapping past my eyes... Sometimes, I am trying to figure out a way to get hold onto that... At other times, I am just letting it all flow...

A small note of --
My heartfelt THANK YOU to YOU,

Because it’s the strength of your wishes that got me this far... And I need it, once again... to take me further,

Your precious footprints on my little Expedia post

Close your eyes and speak with your heart,

Wish me luck...

Going on a short break, will miss all of you but will be back very soon to take you along too...

Till then, happy blogging :)

PS: I am busy with all the preparations and stuff like that, and hence not getting enough time to visit all your blogs. Kindly excuse me for the same.