Archive for May, 2010

The Sunfeast10k run took place last weekend in namma Bengaluru, Your Walker decided to run for a change  After deliberating for a while to register, I wasnt exactly sure I would take part. Having religious done it over the last 2 yrs. The reason for so much thought was the excessive barley water I have been have over the last 2 months in the pretext of the summer heat n yes all the whiskey with ice too, Like my friend Naren says, Guess its all tht ice that has taken a toll on my fitness Anyways the plunge was taken. The Walker was now destined to run. No looking back !! because there was left for just 2 weeks to the race day!! but then some of you out there might says, 14 days is helluva time to prepare, well those some are the ones who dont take their barley concoction as seriously some of us here

It had been more than 6 months since I had gone running, Yeah I know I do Walking Tours for a living but then Running is a totally different ball game. And the first day I went running I cursed myself for registering ! It felt like I was carrying a barrel all along. But then if entrepreneurship has ever thought this Walker anything it is to ‘Never Give up’ So there I was every morning doing about 5/6 kms whenever there wasnt a Walking tour to do !! And I found the amazing android app My Tracks on my Google Nexus one fone which uses GPS to track your route gives you some great stats on your running like speed, timing, plotting graphs on your performance etc etc !! So it really helped to show how much I sucked !! I know you must be thinking that did I need that app to tell me that ?? I know I know, but then having spent the cost of almost half my kidney on this fone I better use it in whichever way possible than just voice and text thts another thing biz teaches you, makes the most of your moolah , if you have any left thts is

Anyways getting back to the running, what really helped was running up Chamudi Hills, An 8 kms uphill track takes out all the juice out of you but then I would its still say its worth it, considering the amount of respect this atheist got on completion from the god fearing and the devout  near the temple  So doing this uphill track twice was a good test for my endurance. By now I had begun to enjoy the running and just a couple of days before the THE day, decided to run on the periphary on the Kukkarahalli lake (where the greatest Indian English writer, RK Narayan took his evening Walks cooking up stories of Malgudi) with my friend Suraj, who was also preparing for the run. Did two laps of the lake and was fortunate that Suraj dint beat by a lap, the man runs like a manic, his body gives him a better mileage than mine because it runs on fresh cane juice and not on Barley water But few tips from him surely helped, like for example start slow and then slowly build up speed and more importantly keep your mouth shut while running (some have advised me to do it all the time too !! )

Friends sporting Ts of the next Year's sponser apna Royal Mysore Walks

The run was on Sunday the 23rd, but was in Bangalore a coupla days before just catching up with friends and in the pretext of loading up carbs for the run ended up eating quite a bit. I must say, collection of the bib (your running number) and the goody bag was quite well organized at the Kanteerava Stadium unlike last year when there was a mayhem, where you could have easily mistaken it to be a sabji mandi with well dressed customers !!

The run began at around 8 am at the Kanteerava Stadium, with more than 7000 runner participating the atmosphere was electic ! It reminded me of one those Nazi Army procession held by Hitler !!  It was great to see so much energy together. The 10 km route was sketched in the heart of Bangalore and thanks to the number tress in our Garden City the blazing sun dint do much havoc. So morons in the corporation, Stop cutting Tress !! All along the route you had people cheering for you, right from Amry jawan to general public and trust me it really helps you pull up and with so many people running you tend to run a tad faster than you normally do, after all we all like to show off, dont we So I ended up finishing it in 70 mins, was hoping I would do a gone in 60 mins but looks like that movie is still under production

and the Winner is .... !!

In the end it was a great experience, considering one of my friends Raga came down from Singapore fir the race., No No, he dint come running from Singapore, the airfares now are so cheap that people might even come down for an haircut with our local hajam Anyways good to know that I’m still mobile !! Oh and yeah !! It sure is a great personal high !!

It occurred to me that I hadn’t got anything for my mom since I ventured into my own business. She deserved something special, apart from being understanding and supportive she has always made sure that I’m so comfortable at home because of which I could focus better on work. And dont they say that behind every man’s success there is woman !! okay now you do not have to go and disect the word success and come after me, this is about Sarees and Moms so coming back to it I dint have to think too hard as to what I wanted to get her. It had to be a Mysore Silk Saree !! after all what else can the founder of Royal Mysore Walks think of !! apart from a Mysore Special So off went the mom and son one afternoon to the Mysore Silk factory !!

The Mysore Silk story has always fascinated me.  This factory was started in 1912, almost a 100 yrs back by the Maharaja of Mysore to provide Silk Sarees just for the women of the Mysore Palace. These days husbands have a problem taking their better halves out shopping and back then you had a king starting an entire factory to fulfill their need  chivalry at its best i would say !! Mysore Silk Saree is the only 100% pure silk saree in the whole world and they use pure gold and silver for the zari (the border). Did you know that women sometimes get old Mysore Silk sarees melted and get ornaments made from the precious metal that is obtained !! And any woman who has worn Mysore Silk will vouch for its super lightness unlike the other Silks.

The entire process, right from the silk yarn to the complete Saree  is done in their factory in Mysore and one can witness it. I have been taking a lot of my guests on this tour, and this time I was busy explaining my mom how the entire process is done, which is quite fascinating. But what really impresses me is that fact that just about 4 yrs back it was decided that this heritage industry should be shut down as it was a loss making one. Since then it has been restructured, the workers have gone from 3 shifts have to just one shift. The productivity has increased drastically and so has the quality. Now KSIC is a 400 Cr profit making industry !! People can just log on to their website and order the Saree of their choice and their are unable to meet the market demand. You talk to weavers there who so proudly showoff their handiwork and most of their kids are studying engineering across the street in the same college that the Infosys founder Mr Narayana Murthy went to !!

After the tour mom visibly impressed decided to buy not one but two Mysore Silk Sarees !! And I wasnt complaining Guys now that you know what to buy your mom, but then what are you gonna buy your girlfriend ??

The Scotland of East is what they also call this place but then I haven’t been to Scotland so I wouldnt know but hey they are the only ones to have successfully cracked home stay formula !!  where one can go and stay with a family and have a chilled out experience than in a cold hotel where everybody has a fake smile !!

So couple of my cousins and their better halves and a couple we folks who are still single decided to go homestay in Coorg last weekend. Having hit upon the plan just a day in advance and it being a long weekend dint help. needless to say most places were booked !! So with Google to the rescue.. tried a coupla sites and finally found this place which was available called ‘Angle’s Nest’

We landed there in the evening only to have the shock of our lives !! Deep in the Coffee estate was this dingy looking place and with nowhere else to go we were stuck ! With toilets that couldn’t be used, a kitchen that wasn’t functional, the bedrooms all dark and I wonder when was the bed linen last changed !! It looked like dungeon. The food is usually great in homestays but here we when we were served dinner and wondered whats what !! only to be told by the owner that the ‘cook’ is just learning how to cook, so kindly adjust !! And the owner himself perpetually drunk looked like a Demon’s pest !! Thank god for the wine we had carried and with generous quantities of it that we were able to somehow scrape through the night before we fled from ‘Angle’s Nest’ in the morning. And it sure dint help to find out later that this placehad 2 robberies recently !! Wondering how to avoid such places in the future ?? sure sure.. there are ways.. but lemme share with you the best part of our Coorg Experience first

We hit Orange County the next day, this mind blowing 5 star resort is nestled in a 300 acre Coffee Estate and everything to this place is just Wow !! Right form the narrow roads in between to estate which lead to this place to the warm staff out there who are always willing to help and hey their Welcome drink, an amazing Cold Coffee and you know where these coffee beans come from We had booked for an Ayurvedic massage (make sure you book a day in advance) there and the next 1 odd hour was an out of the world experience in their spa, right from the ambiance where your room is beautifully done up and decorated with fresh flowers and the entire place opens up to a garden. The soothing music and the exhilarating body massage makes you forget everything and you get into a state of trance !! If you ever get a chance. Dont miss it. Its heavenly  !! The entire Massage unit at Orange County is maintained by IVAC, Mysore ,A World Class Spa Resort.Now that I know I can get an experience right here in Mysore I plan to go visit them once in 6 months from now on to detox and pamper myself Its worth the rejuvenation !!!

the cousins

On request you will be taken on a resort tour in their buggy (this place is too big to walk , even for a Walking Tour Guide , It has its own private lake in there where one can go boating and the resort offers a wide range of activities from cycling, swimming to plantation trails. It sure is worth exploring..Once the massage was over we were sooper hunger so we dutifully attacked the restaurant for their lunch buffet, I have had lunch buffets is quite a few good places but this easily topped my list. The spread was huge (like in most places) but every dish (tasted by folks on our table) lived up to it its taste, including the deserts which was not just colorful (like in most places again) but each of those items were truly well done !! full marks to the chef and also the ones at the spa who got us ready for such an appetite. I somewhere think that thanks to the Angle’s Nest experience that we enjoyed our Orange county experience so much

That evening we moved to another home stay called Bright Spot in Sidapur close to Orange County, One of my cousins had stayed here previously and had had a great experience but since it was booked the previous night we couldn’t get there. This place was very well kept, independent rooms, clean toilets, an open air dining area and a play area with accessories for kids. The host was a gracious lady, her food was amazing and her hospitality top notch. We sure did have a good time here.

So, how to choose the right home stay ?

>> Always go for a homestay which is recommended to you by someone who has stayed their previously.

>> Check if home stay is registered, Out of 600 only 150 are registered, So 3 out 4 home stay are illegal !!

>> Do not go by the websites, there are a lot of dubious ones.the pics are all nice and rosy but the reality is like Angle’s Nest !!

>> This http://coorghomestaysregd.com is a website by Association of registered home stays. Fairly reliable but then word of mouth would be my first option. This site was down when we were hunting !

>> Would highly recommend Bright Spot , Siddapur, Contact person Mrs Ramaa Ponappa, 99023 12911

>> Aviod Angle’s Nest in Siddapur like Plague !!

And hey another place you must try in Coorg is the East End Restaurant in Madikeri, The food is fantastic and thanks to some formula 1 driving efforts by my cousin we could get there by lunch time to throughly enjoy their food !! And we all felt that the 30 kms detours just for lunch was well worth it

So a good home stay in Coorg is sure a great way to relax !! but then choose the right home to stay !!

Four friends from college meet after yrs and decide to go to Goa !! what happens there?  loads of fun !! No no.. dont imagine the movie Hangover, this aint Vegas and we are good desi boys, so we have fun desi style

Goa, the very word has always evoked in me beautiful beaches, lovely laid back people, good food n drinks , lovely Portuguese style house and good old churches. A great place to cool your heels and just relax !! We decided to fly coz of short of time and now I think thats the best way to get to Goa, considering there is no good train connectivity and its a 10 hours long drive from Bangalore. So by taking the 1 hr arieal route. one gets more time in this sunny paradise !! Off from the airport we decided to take the bus to Calungute, I have always enjoyed bus rides in goa, agreed it a rickety ride, and all you have is metal skeleton, basic seats and no window panes what so ever for a bus but then the nice loud music, the warm people and the breeze makes it so enjoyable. There are quick, cheap and amazingly frequent. We had to change 3 buses to get to Calungute from Dabolim but then you just dint feel it.

In Calungute we decided to hire some bike and off we went to Anjuna for what would somewhat qualify for a late lunch. After the all the travel (the travel to and off d airport which was tiring some spicy fish and beer tasted even better !! divine I would say. Decided to look for accom in Anjuna itself  as its much less crowed than Calungute or Baga and also because the fish and beer in our tummies did not like to travel anymore Starting from North Anjuna we began our search in earnest and not wanting to compromise, we declined the shoddy ones and a few not so shoddy ones too and after more than an hours search we struck gold !! much to relief of the other crew members who by now just wanted a roof on their head so that they could start ‘experiencing’ goa We found this places called Sea Horse right on the beach with some nice bamboo huts and a pretty good shack. It was sure worth the effort considering the huts were just 10 steps away from the shack made it all the more attractive, coz after you ‘experience’ goa in the shack, even those 10 small steps might seems like climbing Mt Everest, you know what I mean, dont you

Our place was right next to this place called Cafe Lillyput (which according to our host is apparently world famous) and since it was a friday night they have live music on the beach plus some amazing show of talent, like the lady dancing with the ring of fire around her waist, some mind blowing tap dancing. And it was all free !! and considering that just 24 hrs ago we were trying to stay alive by navigating the horrendous Bangalore traffic, this was like paradise !!

the lady with the fire

I have always been amazed by the kind of talent most of the western travelers display, the entire show that night was put up by western travelers and it sure was impressive ! compared to we desi folks,the best entertainment that we can provide in a gathering apart from discussing code is prolly crack a joke from readers digest !

At Cafe Lillyput

Having breakfast (its actually brunch !) in your shack looking at the sea is something I have always relished in beach destination. And after all the fermented grape juices that would gone inside all night, a glass of fresh Banana milkshake makes you feel alive !! And most shacks in Goa have their menu is Russian, Yes Russian !! considering the amount to Russians who come to this place they think its a easier option. And we being the only brown skin in the entire beach and ones to be clad with the maximum clothing (inspite of our best efforts) we sure looked liked we were in a foreign destination. Now come on, if you are getting a phoren experience like this from  just a domestic air ticket. It was more than what we could ask for

One of the crew members hadnt seen to fort Aguada so the rest of us were dragged to this place which I discovered due my recently develpoed interest in reading the rusted boards in front of most monuments, that it used to be a water storage unit for the portugese and it has been immortalized by the desi flick ‘Dil Chata hai’. I dont think anything/anybody has done so much good to goa tourism than this movie, after watching this movie every college going kid in india wants to go to Goa !! even we did back in college and how we ended up is a totally different story. will save that for another day. Later on when the rest of the crew wanted to ‘experience’ more of goa (read kings beer, its one amazing beer though !)

Later I went out to Panaji to visit the company called Synapse, housed in a Portuguese style bungalow , with open air discussion rooms, and large birds which I couldn’t name in the garden, it looked more like a resort than a work place for 30 odd people. Started by the ex- editor of Chip magazine. One of my clients on the Walking Tours had worked with them for a while and he wanted to to visit this place while in Goa. Synapse is into designs and in a niche category. Extermely creative people. By just touring their office seeing how they work, one can feel that they stand out. And seeing how they worked it sure a great learning. Like each individual department in the company is a pvt listed company in itself, like for ex, extra hands is the team which provides house keeping and takes care of catering and they also go on to offer this service to other companies. So its a compnay with in a company. Okay if this is not making any sense, lets just say something like this bring a lot of professionlism at work ! And yes their client list is impressive and so is there website !!

at my nape !

Late in the evening, in a slightly elevated state of mind an idea was dropped !!  ’how about getting a tattoo done in goa ?? ‘ and before we knew we were under the needle get a mark for life !! I have been frequently asked by people who have seen my tattoo as to, did it hurt ? frankly I cannot recollect may be thats why most people get tattoos done in goa, you know after the Goa experience you get kinda numbh !

the crew, ash, me, vinay n jet !

the moods, by jet

The setting was just right for us to take it easy, with our shack providing us pool tables and dart boards to be involved in but then after a couple of Kings rather than getting the Bulls Eye you end up missing even the Bulls Bottom !! But then with good old friends its always great. No matter even if you are meeting after ages you still start off from where you left behind. And since one of the crew members was coming from the US and the other from the arms of his newly married wife all of 3 months (the marriage i mean !), for them taking time off for sure a big deal. But then our 3 days in Goa catching up on each others lives, laughing on old jokes and pulling the others leg on old college crushes was good fun. It sure was a welcome break for all of us !! n I throughly miss Kings Beer

I thought I had experienced it all in goa untill i heard about Goan Urak after I got back from buddy Mihir who runs a boutique hotel in Goa.. See now i got another reason  to go there again but hey !! whos complaining.. coz i’m always game for Go Goa !!