Innovative Film City, Bangalore

We visited Innovative Film City about 35 kms from Bangalore with the kids. It was a great outing and was a lot of fun. We reached there around 11AM and spent nearly 6 hours - still wasn't enough to see a lot of the entertainments. This is a new attraction near Bangalore and has been done really well. The entry fee was a nominal Rs.50 per person and you pay for the individual entertainments inside. We visited a children's museum where kids can try as many as 15 professions including handling money (Innos) on their own. The crowd picked up around noon, but the lines weren't terrible. We also went to Louis Toussad's wax museum, haunted house, miniature city, dinosaur park and fossil museum. We have to go back there to look at the other ones. Pictures in our flickr.

Summer is here

We have to break the mold of posting just 2 updates a year. Hopefully, we'll have more in 2009.

The summer is here.

Anu and kids are vacationing in Pune, I got back to Bangalore today (work). We had a great time in Pune and Mumbai. My parents joined us at Pune airport last week flying in from Chennai. We all went to Mumbai the following day. The weather has begun to warm up there, but didn't hurt that bad this time. We were mostly visiting relatives in Mumbai - went to the InOrbit mall which came up recently in Vaashi, Mumbai and supposed to be one of the biggest.

Coming back from Mumbai to Pune we made a day trip to Shiridi to visit the Sai Baba temple there - hot weather, barely managed. On the way back, we stopped in the middle of nowhere for lunch. It turned out to be a neat picnic. We later went to sani ballapur - another place middle of nowhere. We were told people don't lock their houses since the town is so safe (from burglers). It turned out that the shop our driver took us day-robbed us of Rs.350/- selling innocuous looking items before we came to our senses. Next we went to a water park (Krisnuai) in Pune and shopped at MG Road in Pune the following day.

Earlier, I had visited the US on business for 3 weeks. Went to Detroit and Austin. Got to spend a weekend each at New Jersey at my sister's place and California, visiting friends. The trip was so hectic with the work and travel, but was nice to meet friends and catch up.

While in US, picked up a WII console and an Ipod touch. The kids didn't get a chance to play the WII since we packed off to Pune in a couple of days after I returned - they love the iPod touch though - Keshav has mastered the 3 games I downloaded. Did you know you can get a WII game in India for Rs. 150 ($3) - pirated ofcourse :(

Pics at our flickr site

2008 in review

As we get to the close of 2008 our life here seems to have gotten more hectic. Both Vallabh and Keshav celebrated their 4th and 8th birthdays respectively (pics in flickr). The kids have lots friends and continue to have a good time. Vallabh is in the second standard (grade) and Keshav in LKG (lower KG).

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this July. We went out for a quiet dinner which has become a rarity the last few years.

Vallabh has been taking swimming lessons and has finally gotten over the fear of water and has started swimming with ease. Keshav is still on his training wheels. Anu has been taking pilates lessons during the week. We have tried to be regular with our gym schedules. The jury is still out on the improvements.

I'm still with Trilogy. The business is slowing down due to the Auto market in the US, expect to see some significant slow down in the first quarter of 2009. Work otherwise is quite normal. I have taken up the job of a General Secretary for our community in November. I started learning golf but have not been regular about it. I want to continue the game so I can play more regularly.

We visited Hong Kong earlier this year. The grand parents visited the kids along with great grandma. We also went to Chennai for a few times and once to Pune.

My aunt passed away in September and Anu's maternal grandma in November. Our friend Sai's dad passed away suddenly in August. The losses were hard to take and we miss them all.

Our neighbors in Cassia who we and kids were very close to, moved out into their newly bought home. This was a damper for the kids and us.

The Christmas tree has been put up in our living room. We are going to Chennai during the Christmas break to attend my uncle's 60th birthday. We expect to be back in Bangalore for the New Years.

Check-out the pictures posted in flickr

Happy New Year 2008

We wish all our friends and family a wonderful 2008!!!

We celebrated New Year's eve at a friend's place in our complex. The kids stayed up miraculously the whole time - probably the first time awake for Vallabh. The fireworks display at the dawn of the New Year was dazzling to watch.

Last week, we had visited Mysore and Srirangapatnam (about 120kms from Bangalore) with my sister's family. Pictures from that trip and Vallabh's 7th birthday party are posted at our flickr site.

A trip to Mangalore

We just got back this morning from a 3-day trip to Mangalore - a coastal town in Karnataka. We had a fantastic time and got pics (on our flickr) to prove it. We stayed at the Taj Manjarun which was a big hit with the kids. We were treated to a 5-star fair with great food, tidy rooms and welcome amenities.

The bus ride to Mangalore took an arduous 9+ hours and the roads barely existed most of the journey. The ride back was little better since we were knock-out tired and rested our eyes and limbs for the most part.

We spent the first day sightseeing nearby places in Mangalore and visited Udipi and Kollur (temples) the following day (Sunday). Since it rained for the first half of every day, we couldn't spend the time at the beach as much as we'd like to have. We visited the Malpe beach on Sunday and kept within city on Monday.

Check out pics from our trip and other escapades at our flickr site.

Summer vacation is over; Keshav turns 3

It has been 3 months since the last update. Quite a few things to catch you up on.

In April we went down south to Tanjavur & Peravoorani to give Keshav his first 'mottai' ('mundan' or tonsuring). It was good that we did the trip before it warmed up. Anu and the kids spent a couple of weeks at their GP's house in Chennai.

In May, we visited Pune, Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar. For the kids, this is the first trip to Mumbai, and for us, after several several years. Mumbai is Bangalore in 2X fast forward - just amazing. Pune is more laid back and hilly. We made a one day trip to Mahabaleshwar which is about 120 kms from Pune on the hills. We went to strawberry farms and raced ATVs on dirt.

The schools reponed in June. Keshav started his pre-school with reluctance. He is now enjoying his school and friends. Vallabh went to I Standard (1 grade) in the same school (PSBB). Keshav goes to Kidzee which is a franchise of Zee films. The school is just 2-3 blocks from our campus. Anu gets to have some free time between 9:30 and Noon these days.

Anu and I got ourselves enrolled in Pilates and Yoga - mine is from 6-7a and hers from 11a-noon. Whether we lose weight and get slimmer is to be seen.

Keshav celebrated his 3rd birthday yesterday. The party as in the terrace and we had hired a 'baloon-twister' which was a hit.

Check out pics at our flickr site

Trip to Coorg

We returned from a 3-day trip to Coorg about 250kms from Bangalore. Coorg is known for its coffee estates. The place we stayed had 4 cottages in the middle of a coffee estate (http://www.sand-banks.com/). There were 3 other families that shared the cottages, so there was no shortage of kids.

The roads were terrible as we got near the coffee estates, but were wonderful till we got to Mysore. We took a 1-hour drive to Abbey Falls on the first day. The second day was pure R&R. In the evening we went out to visit the coffee estate owned by the Kalappa family (our hosts). On the third day, we visited the Duberi park where elephants are trained and a tibetan monastry almost sprang out of nowhere on the way back.

The hosts spoiled us with great Coorg food and lavish comforts. Overall, it was a nice vacation - the birthday treat we bought ourselves. Pics are posted on our Flickr site.