Part of our Ooh La La, Online Series. Click here to read our previous stories on shopping sites for accessories and shoes.

This summer will you bemoan the Celsius by the pool? Or raft the white waters — from Daniel’s Dip to the Wall — past Rishikesh through the Himalayas? Or slip through the Khardung La as it opens this June, then ride the Zanskar and browse the bazaar at Leh?

If you’re stashing your backpack already, don’t buzz a travel agent — instead call the girls, and granny too.

Sisters are trekking with travel journalist Sumitra Senapaty’s women-only travel club. Women on Wanderlust began when she ‘did’ the Kerala backwaters with aunts and cousins, who put her in charge of their itinerary, and everyone had a blast.

Two years later, Senapaty has covered the globe for her eager-for-adventure travelers, from cruises on the Nile, to driving in New Zealand, to exploring rainforests in Sri Lanka.

Once you begin, you won’t want to stop. The world’s your oyster.

Women on Wanderlust. Telephone: 9891655054. Website: www.wowsumitra.com. Email: me@wowsumitra.com.
Domestic tours from Rs. 10,000-40,000, depending on place of origin, destination, duration and content. International Rs. 50,000-1,00,000. Prices inclusive of travel to and from nearest metro, hotel/tent stays, meals, activities, special equipment, admission fees, English-speaking guides, visa and taxes. Signing up currently for Greece-Istanbul, and Ladakh (May and July respectively).

You’ve always known that in Delhi, April is the cruellest month, the harbinger of summer. You dream of air-conditioning. Or escaping to Siberia.

Don’t run away yet. Tonight, enjoy the open air world premiere of the theatrical version of William Dalrymple’s ‘City
Of Djinns’

The travelogue-cum-diary pulsates to life this evening, and takes you back to Dilli’s seven avtars, from the pre-historic era to the eighth city you live in.

Theatre vet Zohra Segal is the old Anglo-Indian who believes she is a full-blooded English woman, and Tom Alter plays the author-sutradhar.

Make merry with the colourful supporting cast of pigeon fanciers, kababchis, calligraphers, hijras, Sufi saints, cockfight organisers, and yes, snake charmers — all real-life residents of Purani Dilli.

Off stage, match glass bangles with your dupatta, and soak in the hypnotic rhythms of the qawwals. Dig into gol-gappas and kalmi vadas at the chaat stalls of the recreated Dilli bazaar.

Never mind the heat. Delhi’s the coolest. For seven reincarnations now.

On from April 13-26 at 7.30 pm at Maati Ghar, Indira Gandhi National Centre for arts (IGNCA), Janpath, New Delhi. Telephone: 23386345.
Tickets: Rs. 200, 300, 500 at PVR Anupam (Saket), PVR Priya (Vasant Vihar), PVR Naraina, Rivoli, Metropolitan mall Gurgaon, PVR Spice (Noida); Oxford Bookstore in CP and IGNCA.

The humidity’s making you squirm and you’re looking for Celsius-cutting measures that work better than your tank top and flip flops. If you can’t take off to Himachal and the Ananda Spa just yet, you could treat yourself to a tea-liciously chill time closer to home. At Spices’ Bar Nights, Tom Warden, liquid chef from New Zealand, is blending premium teas and infusions with alcohol to create cocktails with a sparkling edge.

So you have Grey Goose French vodka infused with yellow chrysanthemum. Darjeeling First Flush with jasmine or pearl leaf buds. Or Oolong with peppermint and even lavender. Our Trendy Taster was fascinated by the chamomile flower-infused rum, Earl Grey-infused gin, tequila inundated with Roohiboos honey (cultivated by the Maoris of New Zealand) and jasmine and lemongrass-infused vodka, muddled with lychee, kaffir lime juice and fresh pineapple.

Tom let us in on his secrets — it’s all in the way he blends the tea and the spirits. The synergy zings up the ultimate-in-coolth combos.

Please take note: it’s just gotten cooler around you.

Bar Nights at Spices, JW Marriott, Juhu, on till April 30. Telephone: 66933290.
Prices: Cocktails for Rs. 425. Flavoured iced teas for Rs. 225.

On the BlackBerry Pearl, it’s the key for U and I. In Ray’s cinema, it’s synonymous with genius. In a sub, it’s a feast for the senses.

Three is a mystical number, and Rangashankara and Toto Funds the Arts promise to do it justice with ‘A Festival of Three Plays’. But just like Pather Panchali will always have its loyalists, so will the Trendy Theatrebuff pick Exit the King for special mention.

This Eugene Ionesco play revolves around King Berenger, who suffers every anxiety about death. His queens, though, are the surprise package, singing their way through the play. Pianist Anish Vector pulls off a rocking number about how their king wrote Hamlet and invented the automobile.

The fest also features The Hare and the Tortoise, which uses Arjun and Hamlet to debate on success and failure, and The Island, the story of Robben Island cellmates.

Stimulating, thought-provoking, intelligent. Coincidence: Isn’t that what people say about you?

The Hare and the Tortoise, on April 13-15; tickets: Rs 100. The Island, on April 20; tickets: Rs 49. Exit the King: April 21-22; tickets: Rs 100.
All shows at 7.30 pm at Rangashankara, 36/2, 8th Cross, J P Nagar, 2nd Phase, Bangalore 560078. Telephone: 26592777, 26494656. Tickets available from 7 pm.

You hotfoot it to the plush multiplex to satisfy your latest celluloid craving. But what happens when you need to see an old-but-gold Fred and Ginger float across your flatscreen? Our Trendy Tester gives you the benefit of several years’ worth of DVD renting.

Shemaroo: Around for 45 years, they have an enviable stock of 10,000 DVDs and 3000 VCDs.
Access: All days, 11 am-1 pm and 3 pm-9 pm.
We like: A drool-worthy collection of foreign films.

Easy Entertainment: They offer online synopsis, trailers and info on over 10,000 movies, to rent or buy at their kiosks, two already in action and more on the cards.
Access: Round the clock.
We like: Membership plans come with ATM-like cards which can be swiped at the kiosk or even online from home soon.

Sarvodaya: They have some great foreign films and English TV serials, to rent as well as buy.
Access: Monday-Saturday, 10.30 am-10.30 pm.
We like: Celeb-spotting at the store.

Chariot: No hefty deposits. Order a movie, watch it and return within 24 hours.
Access: Weekdays 11.30 am-10 pm; Sundays noon-8 pm and by phone till 9 pm.
We like: They charge less than the rest (Rs. 75 per DVD).

Perhaps now calling for a DVD can be as effortless as Ginger’s pirouette.

All vendors (except Chariot) charge Rs. 100 per rental.
Shemaroo: 5 Rajat Apartments, Mount Pleasant Rd, Opposite Birla House. Telephone: 23620202, 23610202.
Easy Entertainment: CR2 Inox, Nariman Point and 95/97 Jolly Maker 1, Cuffe Parade. Sign up: 9867570372, Home Delivery: 9867570374. Website: www.moviebank.in.
Sarvodaya: 21, Dr Ambedkar Road, Behind Ambedkar statue, Khar West. Telephone: 26463861/67, 26480066, 26487287.
Chariot: G-1, Fatima Villa, Next to Da Vinci restaurant, Pali Naka, 29th Road, TPS III, Bandra (W). Telephone: 26436979, 26414817.

You’ve been bitten by a gold-dipped travel bug. You never go anywhere without your LV luggage. Or fly anything but first class.

Finally, here’s a travel guide that matches your luxe-junkie footprint. The first in Australian brand consultant (and born-again Bangalorean) Fiona Caulfield’s Love Travel series, Love Bangalore is packed with tips that cater to your passion for undiscovered shopping, eclectic cuisine and funky hotels.

From designer jewellery to backstreet trawls, local restaurants to boutique hotels, this guide reveals the why-I-love-Bangalore stories of chefs, artists, architects and even phoolwallas and rickshaw-drivers. Their recommendations make your city affair authentic, stylish and unusual.

Printed on handmade paper, the book’s hand-woven silk covers were developed by designer Sonam Dubal. The deep red silk carry bags it comes in are by Hidden Harmony.

To ensure you never have to fall back on another Lonely Planet (useful, baby, but so common), Caulfield has Love Mumbai in the works. To be followed by guides for other Indian cities, and Kathmandu and Addis Ababa.

Come, fall in love with a city.

Love Bangalore, by Fiona Caulfield. Available at Grasshopper, RainTree, Cinnamon, Dragonfly, The Box Shop at the Park, the Oxford Bookstore and at www.longitudebooks.com. Price: Rs. 1200.

So it was twenty minutes before we found our voices again after the cookie-bearer left. But we just couldn’t tear ourselves away from the crumbs. Our photographer feels rather mauled, she says, with all of us falling over her while she hurriedly grabbed the snaps — and the almond chocolate chunk (grrr!).

That’s what Mrs Kaur’s, of East Patel Nagar and now also a sliver between walls at Khan Market, does to us normally very well-behaved ladies. But we suggest you don’t drive over in the heat — log on to their site or give them a tinkle, and they’ll deliver a workday order oven-fresh within four hours flat.

Us Trendy Tasters can’t get enough of the peanut butter and the oatmeal scotchies. Next up is the lemon butter. The Florentines are fun too and the brownies luscious, all scrumptiously chewy, monster-sized, with nary a dry crackle among them. And they do a mean set of eggless variants for those vrat-keeping days.

So who’s Mrs Kaur? Well, she’s a he actually, kind of — Preet Saini fired up his oven in the capital after the US fired up the baker in him many years ago, and he called ‘em Mrs Kaur’s as a tribute to every big-hearted Punjabi mama who loves to lay her love on the plate for you.

Mrs Kaur’s Cookies, 29/6 East Patel Nagar, New Delhi. Telephone: 42480808/2345, 9818900005. Just opened at: 73A Khan Market (middle lane). Website: www.mrskaurs.com.
Price: Rs. 30 each for most varieties.

Pig-tailed school days. Trying-to-be-oh-so-cool moments in the college canteen. And giggly grins lighting up those 21st birthday bashes. You’ve envied your picture-perfect friends. And you’ve cringed at the snapshots in your album — “is that really me?”

If you’ve always been camera-phobic, rejoice. Celebrity Kids, a US-based portrait studio, has just opened a state-of-the art shop, complete with backdrops, props, Hollywood-style dressing rooms, and cutting-edge digital technology. A completely different experience from the run-of-the-mill shops you’ve been to.

They specialize in artistic family and children’s photography, but they also do individual portfolios, and fun couple photos that tell the world how you feel about each other — imagine him whispering sweet nothings, while you gaze into each others eyes.

At the end of a very friendly hour-long session, you get about 30 photographs that capture the most relaxed, warm and honest moments. The tough part? Selecting the best.

So, show off those pearly whites, and let them tell your story.

Celebrity Kids, Plot 632, Lane No. 3, Westend Marg, Saibdulajaib (near Garden of Five Senses), Delhi. Telephone: 9911009865. By Appointment only. Closed Wednesday. Prices start at Rs. 2,000.

Those silk teddies from L’Agent Provocateur may have their uses. But for teddies that guarantee long-term cuddles, there’s the Build-A-Bear Workshop chain, whose furry cuties now have a home in Mumbai.

Taking couture to Toyland, Build-A-Bear lets you in on the action, allowing you to custom create the perfect bed-time buddy for yourself. Here’s how it works. Pick from the adorable animal characters. Add a pre-recorded giggle, growl or meow or record a 10-second long personal message. On to the ‘Stuff Me’ section, where your new friend is padded to perfection. At the ‘Heart Stuff’ station, place a red satin heart inside, make a wish and bring him to life.

The next bit — ‘Dress Me’ — excited our shopaholic sensibilities. We’re sure you’ll love the variety of looks on offer, too — beachwear, sports outfits, biker gear, cell phones, mini Skechers sneaks, roller blades, and more. Once your friend’s ready to go, you can put his name on the birth certificate and tote him home in a stylish Cub Condo carry case.

And you thought you’d outgrown teddy bears?

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Shoppers Stop, Dynamix Mall, Juhu, Mumbai. Telephone: 44083339. Soon at Inorbit Mall, Malad.
Price: Stuffed animals for Rs. 595-1,295. Sounds for Rs. 195-495. Clothes and accessories for Rs. 90-950.

You’ve co-opted kitsch, branded bling your own. You love Goa for the streetside shopping, not the sea. And you live with the regret of passing on that long string of beads at a flea market at Olive Beach, long before they became the must-have accessory.

Tonight you’ll get a second chance — Flea by Nite, the Mediterranean restaurant’s monthly shopping event, is going into rewind mode to mark one year. Expect the Beach to come to life again with sequinned stalls, the city’s hippest people and plenty of air-kisses.

Instead of rubbernecking, though, keep an eye on the wares. In keeping with the retro theme, the stalls will be overflowing with the best of the stuff that headlined last year: The quirkiest décor items, the whackiest jewellery, the most offbeat attire.

What’s a birthday, though, without something new? So, there will be Sabina Singh and Renu Bothra’s smart street fashion, perfect for the summer ahead. And handcrafted bags from Delhi’s Tanu Bagai, and Sonal’s one-of-a-kind contemporised antique jewellery.

And, of course, Chef Manu Chandra’s tapas, falafel and the so-divine pizzas.

Go ahead, indulge. Retro was invented to undo regret.

Tonight from 6 pm at Olive Beach, 16 Wood Street, Ashok Nagar, Bangalore. Telephone: 41128400 / 9945565483. No cover charge. Pizzas begin at Rs. 100 a slice, beer at Rs. 150.