The great train robbery

This is a classic movie especially for the robbery scene shot on top of the train. Considering the year of picturization, it was certainly a very amazing take. It certainly is a fine watch (the last train shot is great).

It is entertaining to watch the movie with running commentary on how the shots were taken. Considering Sean Connery himself did the shots, its really appreciable.

The Last Juror

Next read after quite some time. I found the story to be exciting at the start and then slowly pacing down towards end. The climax could have been better.

Marriage travel

Travelled to Kannur for 2 days. This was for Vinu Etans marriage. Pramod could not make. Most of the kids group were missing on the marriage day. I with Babu Etan were the only known people around.

7066 goes down

Had given 7066 for servicing after some starting trouble. However, it was all tragedy after that when the service people called up and told the car had slipped from the lifting hinge and got damaged. The sight was pretty sad, with left side of the car completely damaged (headlight, bumper, left both doors). The car is supposed to be in service for 2 weeks before i get it back. It is getting difficult with travel for Mee to office and back. The driver is having 2 weeks vacation.

Down with cold & fever

Down from 4th to 6th September (more of cold than fever).

Got recovered after 2 hrs of Badminton session @ Citinest:)

Suchi's marriage

Driver for 7066

Onam 2009 @ Ammu's

Kaminey

We saw 'Kaminey' @ innovative multiplex today. For 10PM show there hardly seemed to be crowd. We could get the tickets reaching there 2 hrs in advance.

Movie is one time watchable, with some very nice moments like the 'Raat ke dhai baje' song in which Priyanka Chopra's dance expressions are just too good. The whole movie looked like having similar stamp as that of Quentin Terentino.

The movie was after a nice dinner at 'Mast Kalandar' @ Marthahalli.

Lunch @ Rajdhani

Lunch @ Rajdhani (a mix of Gujarati and Rajasthani food @ Rs.225).
Occasion: Pawan's Birthday.

Dinner @ KT's

Venue: KT's home.

It was all kids play and fun. Looks like softnest is more of kids now:)

Musical heartbeat

Scanning done from Lotus Diagnostics. Doc says everything is perfectly normal. The best part was listening to the musical heartbeat (165beats/min). It was certainly an emotional moment:)

Noka E-63 - my new mobile

Bought new mobile from E-Zone.

Model: Nokia E63

Price: Rs.12,500 (with bluetooth handsfree)

Never start a fight… but always finish it

Movie about a mothers struggle to find her missing child. Starring – Angelina Jolie – with an amazing performance. It is certainly a nice movie to watch.

One of the quotes in movie says “Never start a fight… but always finish it” – Angelina telling to her son during the initial stages, and then following it during the course of time.

Ingane poyi...angane vanuuu

July 24th - Aug 4th

Predictably irrational

Nice read. It really breaks the myth that we all make rational decisions through out our life. In fact, it gets one to realize that some of the decisions which we think are 'rational' are actually 'irrational'.

Recommended reading.

Bram Stokers Dracula

Done with it. Nice book, though was expecting the end to be more dramatic and thrilling.

Need to pick up the DVD and watch it now:)

Party: Little Italy

Menu: Italian
Order:
Starters -> Garlic Bread; Minestrone Soup + Broccoli soup; Salad
Main course: Lasagna Napoleon

Quality was just too good and yummy.

Summer in Tutticorin

An evening spent at Tuticorin beach during the summers.

Schindler's List

Sawandurga - once again

This was the second trip to Sawandurga (almost after 4 years). DK and Pawan were part of the trek.

The Grill House

The Grill House is located close to ESI hospital in Indira Nagar. Its a nice place for some continental and Indian food.

For starters we had Tossed vegetables (carrot, cucumber, onion, tomato tossed in olive oil and grounded pepper). It tasted pretty good. While i tried Fish steak, Mee tried Corn + Cheese steak. Both of them were filling and good.

For two people we had a bill of Rs.400.

Fun unlimited

Non veg mela

Hurt but not retired!

Almost 5 weeks into sports and finally today i have my ankle twisted while playing badminton. Though it pained bitterly when i sprained, i felt much better within minutes. Well that was enough for me to continue playing for another 3 sets:).

However, by evening could feel that all was not that good. Went to Manipal next day, getting x-ray done, and as expected had ligament tear and no fracture.

So no more play for next couple of weeks. Argh! Have captain coming home next week, and how eagerly was looking to continue our badminton rivalry.

Palakkad - 85th birthday get together

Happy Birthday!

Dev D

A movie which has generated lot of hype for its boldness (depiction of modern Devdas and Paro). I found the movie to be pretty average and not something which i thought was exceptional (as my expectations had been set).

Well the best for me was the dance by 3 guys in the bar. The synchronization and steps were just too good. I would not have bothered if they had 15-20 mins time in the movie:)

They are the trio that breaks into groovy open-hand dances under frosty blue neon for the songs Nayan tarse and Pardesi. They are the Twilight Players, a group of three brothers from London. They seem to have performed with Michael Jackson, Madonna and Kylie Minogue.

Twenty-Twenty

Softnest gettogether

Finally we had a softnest get together after almost 4-5 months. First bachelors meeting where we did not have any bachelors:)

As usual Manoj took the pain of being the host for all of us (time that people like us should take up the role of hosts).

Tressa's idea of potluck was superb (though we ended up getting more than what was decided; still resulting in excess food). First time guest Ananya stole everyones attention.

Jins & Diana (with kidos) were missed; though an ISD call did make all of us feel his presence.

The topics as usual included Tin factory and Talisma, Pi etc.
One of the new topics was recession (well after all it did it not help us get some cheap Carona beer cans???), and alternate professions. Patti's tattu kada being everyones favourite alternate:)
It is always fun to catch up with the group, and this one was no less, time never seems to be sufficient when we all meet up. Not sure when the next one will happen, though eagerly looking forward to the next one.

Suryanamaskara

Started doing Suryanamaskara on daily basis. The last i did was Jan-March'07, post which i sprained my ankle while playing Basketball, and that was the end of Yoga.

Its good to be back doing Suryanamaskara and trying to get back into some physical fitness. I hope i can keep it continuing for long time (atleast thinking that i bought a yoga mat for this purpose).

Barbeque Nation

Today both of us were feeling lazy and were in no mood to cook food. We decided to go to Barbeque nation @ Indiranagar (almost after an year)

It being a Monday we were expecting a lesser crowd, but surprisingly all tables were occupied, and while inside the restaurant we could see people waiting outside for getting a table.

I felt that the quality and service has gone down from how it used to be earlier. For veggies, their was hardly anything great available (other than Potato and Paneer stuff). Also, the service seemed to be a rush. They were serving large quantity of items without asking (7 slices of Paneer served at one go!!! Phew.

Overall, we wanted to spend time talking peacefully. So, the food remained secondary and even though average, was fine.

Valentine Surprise

This one truly turned out to be a very interesting event. While i was packing up from office to home, the security handed over a card to me (well it was a working Valentines day). I was surprised as to who had sent me a card (but then it was easy to guess any time).

The handwriting in which the address was written was unfamiliar. Though i wondered as to who had sent it, it was obvious to me that it would be none other than my wife (and could guess the trick behind it - surprise card without identification).

However, even before i could open the card, on the back side it had my wife's company name written. I could not resist laughing on that sight. I wondered how strange it was that my wife left the company name behind the envelop when trying to keep the identity a secret (obviously i did not know anyone else in her company to send me a card).

I should confess that it was a lovely card, and it really touched my heart. When i met my wife later in the day, she tried denying that she had sent the card (not knowing that someone had written her company name on the back of envelop). After lot of discussion, i revealed that i knew the card was sent by her and that the envelop had her company name written behind.

It turns out that she had got another of her colleague to write the address (disguising the handwriting). Post that the post was given to the security to courier, and the security as part of routine process wrote the company name behind the envelop without my wife's knowledge.

So all the while when she thought it would be a surprise, it was open to me from start. My wife was so annoyed by what happened. However, at the end we both had a nice laugh on it.

The LIttle Miss Sunshine

Mugen special

'Mugen' derives its name from Japanese term meaning 'dream' or 'fantacy' in Japanese.

This restaurant at 100 feet Road, Indiranagar offers Thai, Indonesian & Chinese cuisines. It is a nice place where you can find delicious food.

Trip to chennai

Ten months

Annapara Homestay - 1st Anniversary

Place: Thalimala (Wayanad) - Homestay
Occasion: 1st Anniversary
How to reach: Buses available via Tellichery or Calicut. You need to reach Vythiri and from there pickup is arranged by the hosts.

It is a nice place to be in for a complete peaceful time without any disturbances. Homemade tasty food will ensure that you are always waiting for the next round of food. Morning wakeup is with birds chirping and singing, which makes it a very blissful experience.

However, there is no electricity in the place except for 6:30PM -10PM when generator is put on. During time, natural lights keep the rooms lightened. Since we were the only guests at the homestay, evenings were initially a bit scary (with nothing to be seen around).

We did not go anywhere (except for the tea plantation and nearby stream) and were relaxing most of the time. However, some of the attractions which one can visit are:

• Eddakal caves
• Chembara peak
  
• Pookoot lake
• Tea plantation

The host Shibu and Praveen (along with cooks) were very cordial (at times even overdoing it).









We went round the Tea plantation and a small water fall during one of the evenings.
Overall, a nice place to take a break away from the crowded daily life. If its just for relaxing, i would suggest that 1-2 days would be more than enough. However, if its planned well with all sightseeing and trekking activities, then it may be worth longer stay.

The one big catch is the cost. The stay at Annapara costs ~ INR4500/day, which i think is very high. If the prices are reduced to 2-3K, then it is certainly sound worth the money.

Drive in Muzhapilangad beach