Category: Travel

Traveling to Vagamon


Will be traveling to Vagamon, Kerala tonight… Though I’ve been looking for a trip I was not prepared today at all… It is all because of the persistent force from my friend Mr.Kaviraj… As always it is a 3 day 2 night trip… We are planning to have a very simple trip where we will use all cheap means of travel other than the Resort…

Still nothing is planned but I’m sure it is going to be fun along with Kaviraj, Karthick (Ralphy), Sundhar Kumar (S Company) & Prithivi… Already fun has started as Kavi has promised to keep the budget less than 5K person and all his plans shows symptoms that we might end up more than 10K per person…

Mostly I might be blogging my daily experience at the end of the day and wish it will bring a lot of change…

A day to Kumily


After a hectic official trip to Madurai it was some time to rejoice… So, decided to goto Kumily at a very Last minute… So, we decided to start by 7 in the morning… Since I had lot of work to be complete I got 2 CD’s and watched Band Baaja Bharat & Last GodFather movie and finished writing 2 blogs… Read some articles and washed my cloths…

By the time I finished all the work it was 6 in the morning and I gave a wake up call to my friend and took my bath… Then we all started by 7.30 AM and we started to drive straight to Kumily with s pit stop for BreakFast…

We stopped at Usilampatti in our favorite shop for breakfast… Then we had a small divine stop near the ayyanar temple en route to Theni… We drove non stop to Kumily and landed at Thekkady at the entrance of Periyar WildLife Sanctuary… On the entrance we were told that boating was full for the day… It was very unfortunate that I’ve been here twice and was unable to go for a boat ride both the occassion…

A guy in the entrance asked if we wanted to go for an elephant safari and we thought it would be better we did something… He took us a place which was a small farm where there were 8 elephants… We were charged Rs.300/- per person… It was a small 20 minute ride inside the farm…

Then we went inside tiger reserve forest until the lake and we took some snaps… Then it was time to watch some pretty girls… Also the climate was very pleasant… It was neither hot nor raining like it was in Tamil Nadu… Then we went to a canteen inside the park… We had some short bite and we proceeded back…

From there we went to Kattapana my favorate spot… Then it was time for some toddy and this time we went to a different toddy shot… Had toddy and then returned proceeded back to Madurai by 3 o clock… We reached madurai by 5 PM…

Then after completing my remaining meetings in office and writing this blog… I packed my bags back to Chennai… Overall it was a heart filling week at work and closing it with some great experience…

KadambaVanam an Exotic Ethinic Resort


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Must thank my friends Satheesh & Krishore for taking me to this exotic resort Kadambavanam which is located 25 KM from Madurai on natham road…

First of all kudos to the wonderful climate where in tiny hills were covered by mist which otherwise would be hot during summer…

It was wonderful scenic view of hills and villages… Resort has an ayyanar temple with lot other goda and navagraha… It was like a garden temple surrounded by lawns..

It had a auditorium which could accomidate some 100 + people… Also rooms were neat and economical….

Then went to the restaurent which had local villagers who didnt have an hotel management degree to cater… But their hospitality was far superior… Also the food was good and also was the bill… I’ve shelled out 4 times of what i paid in Chennai resorts…

Since we went on a weekday there was no buffet and cultural events… But i was told weekends has events like folk dance, parrot astrology, bharadanatiyam and many more traditional events…

After our lunch we climbed a tiny hill right on the restaurent… We were told food would be  served on the hills too…

For those of you in Madurai or visiting madurai please dont miss the spot…

Trip to Masinakudi & Wayanad – Part II


We started driving to Wayanad amidst the lust green forests covering Tamil Nadu & Karnataka… We crossed lots of small hamlets in Karnataka and I was the interpreter to ask for the route to Sultan Badri using my butler Kannada…

We crossed over to Kerala and it was immediately visible with the lust green cover, big houses, good & clean roads… I adamantly demanded for toddy & 1st being a dry day in Kerala we had to hunt for toddy in black… I must really thank Rooban bro for taking pains for getting toddy….

Then we had lunch at Sultan Badri but unfortunately 1st & 2nd being dry day in Kerala we were asked to travel 20 KM to Tamil Nadu… We promptly stocked things for next 2 days… En route we found a little puppy on the roads… We took it along with us as it was wandering on the highways… We named him Kunnu…

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From there we drove straight to Coffee Aroma Resort in Wayanad… This place has only added my attraction and fondness towards Kerala… Wonderful place for retreat and to burn the stress… Cottages were that clean and the atmosphere and nature view made me feel very much relaxed… Behind the resort there was a water falls and a small stream… All these were well utilised by the resort folks…

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We didn’t take bath that day as it became that dark… We sat in a hall played with our Kunnu, had some discussions with friends, had my dinner and I went to car to watch some movie… Again I slept in the car though the cottage was good because of space constrains…

Next day went for a walk in the small lane along with Karthi… Then went to the falls to take bath and we spent couple of hours… Then we came back had our lunch, left our Kunnu in the resort and we started back to Chennai…

En route we came thru Nagar Hole forest reserve in Karnataka… After crossing 90% of the forest cars were attacked by elephants and we were diverted thru another route which is 30KM long and had very bad roads…

We reached Mysore by 10 PM on 2nd… W had our dinner there and we started driving to Chennai… Karthick took over driving from here and I navigated him till HP petrol bunk in Soolagiri which has Cafe Coffee Day… I refreshed myself and had some coffee and I crashed immediately…

Finally we reached home by 7 AM on 3rd Oct… Over all in all three days we were only driving half the time… But over all it was a nice experience and a much needed break from routine…

Here are some memories….

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Trip to Masinakudi & Wayanad – Part I


After a lot of broken promise to Rooban… I was finally caught hold by and was unable to give any reasons… It was a trip planned by Rooban along with Prakash, Imanuel, Karthick & myself between 29/09/2011 to 03/10/2011 to Masinakudi & Wayanad…

It was Thursday and being a working day I had to wrap all my work on time as I was travelling during next 2 working days… I was asked. To be ready by 11 PM and until 10 I was busy with my work… Finally I wrapped everything and rushed to my house by 10.30 and packed everything in next 10 min…

Since my iPad & Samsung was about to be drained I kept them on charge… But our friends Rooban, Prakash& Imanueal were late and they came by 1 AM… After getting settled we all get ourself seated and I was awake till vellore where we had a pit stop… It was here I crashed to sleep and I woke up the next morning near Sathyamangalam… This picture taken using lighting from the car near vellore…

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Then it was hectic drive crossing some towns & hamlets in Karnataka and finally we reached Masinakudi by 1pm… After checking into the resort we asked the resort maid to prepare our lunch & folks crashed to sleep… I used that time to catch up with emails and with folks in office… I thought getting a bat and ball will help if we get bored in the resort and I went out to Masinakudi town which was 6 KM from resort…

Finally lunch was ready by 4.30 PM and folks were ready after good lunch and sleep… I motivated them to stay in resort to play cricket… But Rooban wanted to explore places immediately… Then we started our drive to Theppakadu by 5 PM and we didn’t see any wild animal… We went to Moyyar Dam and we took some snaps out there…

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The time we returned it was half past seven and it was too dark… There was a Scorpio which warned us of an elephant attack… We marched ahead in spite of warning and we took some snaps of the elephant which even more irritated Tusker… It immediately started chasing us… This is my second experience in the same place… Only difference was last time we were out of the vehicle and this time we were inside… The driver of the vehicle was prompt enough to press the accelerator and we escaped once again…

On our return of the resort we befriended a bunch of civil service students who were on a field trip and we had a party time with them in the night… We understood the benefits, challenges about a civil servant…

Then I crashed inside the vehicle as the resort was not neat… Then finally we got up by 8 in the morning we all refreshed, took bath and packed our bags to Wayanad…

Bro’s Birthday gets Scary


Today is Rooban’s birthday and we decided to spend the way we enjoyed last year along with Kavi… We decided to enjoy the whole night… But we had a situation this year as Kavi was not married last year and he had control over his time… This time we are thankful to his wife who granted him permission…

We got all the that is needed for a party & got some side dish from Marry Brown in ECR… We headed to Uthandi Beach assuming there would not be any disturbance from the cops… Like wise we enjoyed the whole night on the shores of uthandi beach… We had great conversation on spirituality, meditation & jaggi’s teachings…

Then came the 0’th hour and we were the first to wish our BRO… Than after some rounds & discussion we were done for the day… That is when our Kavi insisted to venture on to the shore… On venture we noticed some moment & we started kindling our thought process which started from ghost, to human, to dog, to psycho killer… Frankly I got scared but other two guys wanted to vernture deep and find out who it is…

We tried to take zoon and take a snap but all we were able to see is a white line… Immediately after that that object started to move & when we chased it started to run… It ran zig zag on the dark… We chased it and we got too curious what it was…

Then when we neared to the object and when rooban tried to click another shot… The object asked “Thanbi yenna venu Paa” (What do you want guys?)… We understood it was a human and we got excited when the person got scared seeing us…

Finally it ended a great fun & we Laughed out Loud :)… This was the perfect scary night i’ve ever had…

Hangover II at AGS Cinemas Navalur


My friend Sundhar wanted to see Hangover II & I was in no mood to go out of home as I had to baby sit Burger Boy (My cute little doggie)… Sundhar is not someone who use to influence and push things he gave up with reluctance… By the time I sensed he was desperate we were unable to get hold of tickets for the Day… That is my little brain pricked me about the hoarding about AGS Cinemas at OMR and lucky my as I was able to grab tickets for the evening…

As I didn’t want to take chance I searched for the location in Google Maps & it was cake walk as it was on the main road & very next building to HCL… We drove to the movie where in we had our Dinner at Nala’s Appa Kadai in Sholinganallur… We reached the theatre 10 mins ahead of the show schedule… It is a Big mall which where none of the shops were open and all that was lauched was the AGS Cinemas & the advantage is taking advantage of the Big parking area for just 10 bucks…

As we entered it was huge & nice… Also screen 4 was too big unlike a multiplex & the screen was half full that too on a monday, at a spot which was far off & the spot unknown for many…

Once the movie started it was fun right from the beginning… Always sequels disappoint compared to the first part & this movie has never let us down as it kept the same tempo… After 2 hours of hilarious comedy & laughing to the core brought me out of all the stress & I’m carrying the experience till date…

Over all it was a full-filling night where everything happened right & was upto satisfaction…

Cashless Heart-full


My friend requested me to drive him for shopping… Being the end of the month I didn’t have a single dime; but i didn’t want to disappoint my friend & I swiped the last credit limit on my card to fuel the car… After our shopping my friend wanted to go for a drive… We normally drive to 24 hrs Cafe Coffee Day in SriPerambudur & since we didn’t have money we decided to take the Tirupathi road instead of Bangalore Highway owing to heavy traffic out there… I really enjoyed the drive as there was litrally no traffic & being cashless made us to explore a different route which will soon become our favorite long-drive spot…

We drove until Thiruvallur junction & we halted in a tea stall… My friend asked if I had any change & I got him all the change I use to drop in the car which came to 15 bucks… He got what he wanted & he returned 2 bucks back… When we were about the leave there was this guy selling Kulfi… I can never control myself my tongue when it comes to ice creams & I called the Kulfiwala without even realizing that we were short of money… When we asked for the minimum value kulfi he said it is 12 bucks & we were 10 bucks short of 10 bucks… I litrally searched my wallet and could not get more than 5 bucks & I was still short of 5 bucks… Then I inisited my friend to check if he had any change left in his wallet & he could get the balance 5 bucks…

The happiness I had that point was sky-high… It was like achieving or earning something big… At that point that Kulfi was like a priced possession… I started licking & I could cherish the taste entering my taste buds for each and every lick… Couldn’t remember when my taste buds had experienced such a great feel… At that point a bit of Kulfi missed my mouth and fell down & my expression was like missing Big fortune… Not sure how I reacted at that point but my friend noticed my reaction & he said “I spontaneously reacted like dropping something of great value.”

I literally came back to conscious only after finishing my Kulfi… While returning I was very much thrilled with that experience which was a common during schooling days where we buy an ice-cream to be shared by 3 – 4 friends & the the value of a couple of licks were countless… I had to personally thank my friend for the call he made which finally ended in me finding a new driving spot & an opportunity to cherish an ice-cream for itz full value…

At that point I didn’t feel like I was cashless but rather it was an experience which made me cherish & made my heart-full…

Cinepolis @ Royal Meenakshi Mall Experience


As my Bangalore plans were royally screwed I decided to stay inside my home the whole day of Wednesday… I decided to get out for dinner at around 9.30 PM… I remembered a neighbor who insisted to call him whenever I was in Bangalore… I invited him to have dinner with me & he spontaniousl asked if I had been to the Mall… I said I wanted to go but was that lazy that I stayed at home…

He asked if we can have dinner at mall & go for a movie there… I immediately agreed as I never let down a chance to watch a movie, I wanted to visit that Mall, I did nothing the whole day & I wanted to eat out….

Mall was less than 2 KM from my house and I asked if we can take a Walk?? But we had to take my bike as it was already 9.45 and we had to eat and go for the movie… We reached the place in less than 5 min & immediately we rushed to 4th floor and got ticket to the movie Source Code 10.20 PM show…

We had 20 min to have our dinner & immediately I finished my dinner in 5 min… But didn’t know my friend was a slow eater and I said I want to see the movie from the beginning and I went first into Screen 3… Yep Screen 3 & Source Code is my first movie experience at CinePolis…

The very beginning to ticketing experience gave me a feel good factor about Cinepolis… Then the smiley welcome in the entrance was something pleasant… Screen was wonderful with ample leg spacing, clean, sound was good and over all a nice experience as the movie was also good…

Immediately after returning home i wanted to Like Cinepolis & Royal Meenakshi Mall… After liking Cinepolis page I immediately made a post in the wall telling my experience and wished they be consistent & to my surprise I got a reply from their Social Media team… I didn’t know they took Social Media soo seriously… On the right is the screen shot of my wall post and their comment…

 

Plans spoiled for all goodness


Went to Bangalore to meet a friend of mine who said he will put me to his friend who is a Speech therapist… After reaching Bangalore I couldn’t reach my friend the whole day and got a call from him telling he was unable to pick the call as his Speech theparist friends father was struck by heart attack…

By this time I spent the whole of the day by sleeping and doing no work… But it was a unexpected & unplanned break which freed my mind… I was all alone in the calm, pleasant bangalore home and I could think of lots of my work with a free mind…

Also got much needed sleep & rest for my body… Now I’m feeling mentally & physically fresh… I must thank my friend for getting me this wonderful break…