Fun

Monsoon, Mist n Magic

/ Paddy / 5 Comments

Yet another trip to Goaaaa ..  WooHoo!!!  Should ideally start calling the place home.. Took a much needed vacation with a few close buddies. Contrary to my previous vacations, this time we took off to the hills and believe you me, loved every moment of the trip. The monsoon, the mist, the magic..!!  It was all there.

Bout an hour and half drive from the capital city, Nestled in the Chorla Ghats where the borders of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka meet.. Wildernest  felt as if it were a piece of heaven on earth. Stayed here for bout 4 days, completely cut away from technology except for the occasional surprise texts you receive on the phone while the network bars on the phone tell a different tale.

The place is an eco hotspot with a view to kill for. You can see the beautiful Chorla falls and the Sakla-Vajra falls from the cottages while various exotic creepy crawlies keep you company. A dip in the Infinity pool and several friendly green vine snakes around the resort could give you shivers (literally… i mean it 🙂 ).. We also happened to trek though one of the various trekking routes within the resort which leads to the highest points in the Ghats from where you could see all the three states.. And also another to the falls where i got bitten by bout 8 leeches 😛 .. Well i was so excited with the thought of going trekking in the wild, that i forgot to carry salt.. so if you do plan a trip to this place in the monsoons, make sure you carry salt. The suckers tend to hold on as if my blood were sweet elixir 😉 The food is the traditional goan-maharastrian buffet which surely excited me for the first couple of days soon after which i started missing the good ol’ junk foods. The entire region is a plastic free zone.. Each of the cottages is named after the flora and fauna in the region. Thanks to Namdev Gaonkar and Krishna in helping me understand few of the names. They were amazing. Though there were few qualms but when you look at the brighter side, each day spent at the resort was worth it. Oooooohhhh How could i miss the bathrooms with the view… they overlooked the valley.. If not for the full glass window, it could give you a feel of having bath outdoors. Far away from the hustle, bustle n pollution, the clean air in your lungs could actually take a lil getting used to 😉

By the time you decide to leave, one thing is certain, you would either completely fall in love with the color green or would despise it Ofcourse which the latter will not happen.. You gotta see the place to believe it. Managed to capture a few pics despite the non-stop drizzle and rain. Kudos to the team at Wildernest for preserving a jewel in all its green glory.

Cheerios

Palolem Beach, Goa

/ Paddy / 3 Comments

My second visit to Goa in less than a year… Some how the place makes me keep wanting for more with every visit. This time i decided to stick to South Goa – Palolem beach, away from all the action in the North. This definitely came as a welcome surprise. Didn’t imagine theres so little to do here but thats exactly what i wanted.. Not to do anything but laze around in the various shacks, soak in the sand and sun, guzzle up on beer as much as you can fill yourself up.

When at Palolem, Dont miss a visit to the famous German Bakery, The food is amazingly yummy.. One of the best english breakfasts i’ve ever had.  I stayed at Shawnels Beach Resort, one of the best beach huts you can find. Worth the buck you spend. Have a drink at Sundowners beach shack watching the sunset.  Go kayaking around the Monkey Island if u wanna get adventurous or just just laze around on the beach with a beer in your hand, sand at your feet and wind in your hair like i did 😉

 

Cheerios.

Dholu Kunita @ Janapada Loka

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Almost right from my childhood days, a travel on the Bangalore-Mysore highway would always  be incomplete without a stopover at Kamat Lokaruchi and Janapada Loka.  The food is yummy and it is probably one of the best veggie joints on the highway. This one time, we decided to take a walk inside the Janapada Loka to check the place out. The place is a treat for anybody with a keen interest and love for folk  art, heritage, crafts and music. During this one visit, there was a training camp on folk music and we were lucky to catch a quick glimpse of the folks in action practicing the famous Dholu Kunitha.

 

Cheerios

 

The French Riviera of the East – Puducherry

/ Paddy / 1 Comment

Earlier i mentioned one of the items on my wish list was to try n have atleast 4 vacations in a year. Some as a personal trip to let loose from the hectic schedules @ work,  and a few when i can sneak in pleasure with business 😉 . A trip which would count among  of the most memorable ones happened when i decided to make a trip down to Puducherry (formerly known as Pondicherry a.k.a Pondy).  When i decided to head down to Pondy for bout 4 days, a lot of my frens asked me whatever i planned to do around there for such a long time, but then when i finally got there, i found my calling… The place is magical, it has an unusually beautiful ambiance anywhere you go around in the small town. Went around to the Auroville Ashram where you find the mammoth Matri Mandir, There is every possibility that you would find yourself to be a minority among the huge foreign tourist population.  The route to the Auroville Ashram is covered with a Green Canopy almost as soon as you leave the ECR highway and head left towards the Ashram. The Auroville beach was a disappointment though however when i drove further north on the famous East Coast Road, i landed at a remote beach at a village called Marakkanam which could probably be one of cleanest beaches which i have been to.  Apart from a handful of nearby villagers, i couldnt find any modern crowd around there.  The other place was the Chunnambar boat house from where you can hire a speed boat to the Plage Paradiso beach. The thrill of sitting in a speed boat with the wind in your hair is really an awesome experience. You sure wouldn’t wanna miss it. Food and booze was never a problem, You should visit LeClub, LeCafe, LaTerrace, Satsang, LeSpace (my favorite)…Try the banana flambe, pancakes, Firewood Pizza and several delicacies.. Treat your taste buds 🙂 I learnt some french words myself, fun to walk in to a restaurant and ask for Poulet, Poisson, Crevette, etc..  By the time you return, you’d ve gotten used to addressing a street as Rue 😉  Obtain a Pondy tour map from the Tourist Centre on the Goubert Avenue facing the sea at the Bay Of Bengal. Its very informative and can be really useful to locate some of the heritage buildings. I would love to visit Pondy again and next time probably try n stay at one of the several colonial  heritage buildings and live life french ishtyle 😉 . Here are a few random clicks taken during my stay @ Pondy.

 

Cheerios

Bangalore Revisited – Part 2

/ Paddy / 1 Comment

Finally yet another weekend comes to an end..  Hasn’t been the best one though but of course managed to keep myself more or less completely buzzzzzzzzzyyyyyy !!  The past week couldn’t have been more hectic.. Had my ITIL V3 Foundation Certification at  IBM MTP campus.. And i had to leave home by around 7 AM  to get to the land far far away.. MTP feels like its almost in another city and coming back is an absolute nightmare considering the traffic jams on the outer ring road.. Whoever said the ring roads were meant to ease traffic congestion should eat their words. Anyways Mon – Wed was eventfull.. Am ITIL V3 Certified 🙂 .  And thankfully to the chaos of the Babri Verdict, had to get to work by around 6 AM on Thur  and about Fri was pretty much relaxed. The Worst thing bout my job is that its similar to “Hotel California” 😉  — “you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave !!!” 😛  . I do have a fixed 9 hour shift but somehow time flies and the 9 hours feel like its just been a couple.. So i end up staying back. Hope i dont end up with a receding hairline soon.. My boss already seems to have one and i dont intend to follow suite.  Anyways i am gonna try n build 2 resolutions for the next year: 1)  to be back home everyday  on time after completing 9 hours of work and 2) to follow Resolution 1 😉

So there i was on a Saturday morning struggling to wake up coz a dear fren of mine and i had planned to Watch “Anjaana Anjaani” at Urvashi Cinemas, an old cinema theatre with latest sound systems but yet one of the few cinemas in Blore yet to be bitten by the Multiplex syndrome.  After a long time i heard folks hooting and whistling as the stars made their entry on to the silver screen… Something rarely seen in a civilized multiplex unless you have a Rajni starer movie.. which i will tell you bout as you read further.

Anyways the movie was kinda ok, definitely not impressive but a one time watch timepass flick..  Got tired of  watching useless attempts of suicides, I am sure the movie would be flooded by folks who want to think of innovative ways to kill themselves. 😉 . Utter no brainer !!

Lunch was good around late noon.. Went to this new north indian joint.. well new for us.. its been there for quite some time.. “Oye Amritsar” .. Damn good food.. Yummy thick Lassi and Butter Milk.. Well cooked meat.. Superb quantity.. amazing paan at the end. Only peeve was that the finger bowls were too small… I dont say i have Monster Fingers but the bowls were definitely small. I didnt like the bill but i liked the way it was presented.. Came in a neat container which looked like a Rajnigandha paan masala wala with some witty lines on it. we billed bout 1100 without desserts for two of us.. But the quantity was good enuf for three.

Then around evening, met a few more buddies at Garuda near M.Gs .. Some nice coffee and off we went to watch a 4-D entertainment visual called FUNMAX .. Its not the first time i was watching a 4D cinema but this one was kinda nice.. The duration is definitely a bummer.. they promise a 20 min movie but you might be lucky if the movie plays on for 10 min or less.  Absolute ripoff after paying 150 bucks a head. The seats aren’t really great for a tall person and could definitely do with a feet in the air effect.  My advice.. Watch it if you have never been to one before.. It would be a good experience.. I found the 3d effects of the movie better but the 4d aspects not so great.

End of Saturday… Sunday was kinda dull and gloomy until evening.. Watched the much awaited Tamil Superstar Rajni Starrer flick “Endhiran“.. Yes … no points for guessing.. we shelled out a bomb to watch this in a multiplex cinema and YESSSS the crowd turned uncivilized and there was hooting and whistling… Who cares.. Its a Rajni flick… I joined in too… 😉  I am Impressed with the movie.. I dont speak nor understand much of Tamil but you dont need to coz the movie speaks for itself.. You might feel a lil lost but then you will be able to connect with the movie… Hell yeah… i had a punjabi fren watching a tamil movie.. If she could understand, anyone can 🙂 . The movie has quite a few scenes which would seem as if its a straight lift out of Will Smiths “I-Robot” .. The special effects in the movie have definitely raised the standards of Indian Cinema and the techniques used. Truly fantastic.. Total Paisa Wasool  🙂

And for the finale.. Theres no better way to end the week than with a feeling of pride watching India’s CWG spectacle.. It was one of the best openings the country could have ever imagined after all the unwanted unsolicited media hype and controversies.  Hats off and Kudos to the people of this great nation for the solidarity and commitment shown to ensure the event goes on to become one of the most memorable ones in the years to come.