Its Munnaar this time

 This time we planned for Munnar for summer vacations. The plan came from Saurabh while i was discussing the Ladhakh plan with him. Everything got done pretty quickly (as said long term plannings generally does not work out).

We picked 'Tall Trees' for our outing (again courtesy Rajesh bhaia). This was the second outing, first was with only both of us, this time it was Sid and Saurabh family.

The place is one of the best. The drive was almost 500kms and took us 14 hrs to reach (started @6 AM and reached there by 8 PM). It included breaks for Ishi & Sid to relax. The ghat section is almost 70kms and that is the most time consuming ride.

Ishi & Sid had just started getting to warm up when unfortunately Saurabh & family had to return back the due to some personal emergency (making them to be on road for almost 28 hrs with just few hours in Munnar). We had just started having fun going round in the morning when the call came stating his dad was not well.

I was perplexed in my decision of driving back or staying back. Driving back would have been really difficult considering the whole of previous day I was driving and again driving next day in dark would have been just killer and too dangerous. They finally took a taxi and drove back. The idea of 2 days was considering kids and them, anyways - at times life has thing in store which we cannot explain.

Got a full body massage, which was nice (~INR 3,500 + tax). Mee also took a plunge into it. Overall a nice trip just for the unfortunate incident. 

Renu drops in officially

Renu came to Bangalore on his official visit. In laws also came it. It was good time. The snap was of Sid getting his hands washed in fingerbowl @ Ragaas. We had been there for dinner. 

Dad gets operated

Last visit to Bangalore by parents had them go through the complete medical check. It showed something which concerned dad. It was the prostrate growth. He decided to get operated with the prostrate to avoid any future complications.

Was in Kerala to support him through that. Pramod had taken 2 weeks off to be there.

Everything went fine and he got discharged within 2 days. It was in Dhanalakshmi and the doc was quite nice. Was nice to see how all relatives poured in to support through the phase (cannot imagine old uncles coming all way in that hot summer).

Thanks to  Papi elachan and his contact, we could easily get the room in hotel (which i assume would not have been straight forward otherwise).

Rambo was in Kerala for his relocation from Bangalore to Kerala (with bro moving to Delhi).

Well Rambo seems to be a very likable dog with him getting pretty disciplined. But parents never wanted to keep him, means he moves to another uncles house. Not sure when i will meet him next. 

Bachelor experiments!

Summer vacation Mee & Sid went to Tuticorin. It was bachelor time again and this time i decided to do experiments with my cooking skills.

Tried making KFC chicken fry and I was surprised that it came out pretty well! Though the next day when i tried the same preparation - i forgot to add salt - ah! and one can imagine what gross mistake that is.

Another day prepared Kerala chicken roast (thanks to Youtube). Got guest with Ramesh and Gopi joining. Though i did not believe much, but they did say the preparation was pretty nice (and it did get over in no time):)

Moral of story: Guys need some space to really explore their talents :P

The bachelorhood days was supported by some really good food from Bijua's. The pavlova's used to be the favorites.

Vishu @ 314

This time Vishu was celebrated @314 with bro and family coming for lunch. Mee prepared some great nadan food for everyone to enjoy. And to top it was the Palada payasam - which got finished in 1st round itself.

LG replaces Godrej Champion

Finally new fridge came home. The single door was replaced with double door LG 310 ltrs one.

Sid turns 3!

Sid turned 3 and we had a great time. The day started with outing to Monkey maze where all he did was play in the ball basket and enjoyed it.

Then it was time for lunch @ Imli, where Nanus joined Sid. After lunch it was time for Metro followed by Rail bhavan @ Cubbon park.

Sid - Star birthday celebrations

Today was Siddharth's 3rd star birthday celebrations. Morning we went to temple and got pooja done. He went to school as usual. Mee prepared yummy lunch for all of us and i dropped in for lunch from office (it was worth the travel)

The menu was awesome, and needless to say i ended up overeating as usual, leaving me sleepy for my remaining days office work. 

Sid gets his cycle

Sid got his BSA cycle as gift for his upcoming 3rd birthday. This was something he was waiting for to play with Aku & Swayam. He has been on cycle most of the time since it came in. Worth a purchase. The old cycle after almost 1+ years of use is going to move to DK house for his kids to play. 

Sid & Mee go Kannur

Mee & Sid traveled to Kannur and stayed there for 2 weeks. Mom was not keeping well and I dropped them in Kannur and came back. Sid enjoyed his onwards journey in train and stay with Achacha & Achama.

I picked them up after 2 weeks driving in car. Drive was accompanied by Biju towards Kannur. 

Official owners of 314

We became the official owners of 314 A Block - SMR Vinay Cascades:)

The registration was completed on Feb 27 @ Indiranagar registration office. 

Meeting friends

We finally decided to drive down towards Hebbal side to meet friends. We went to Jins house and had some great time. KT & wife dropped in towards the end.

Trip @ Jins

After long we decided to make a trip specifically to meet softnest guys towards Hebbal. This time it was at Jins and we had a nice time. Once the initial inhibitions were shed, the kids just enjoyed their time playing with each other.

We were lucky to have Diana click us as a family in their park. We hardly get to take family shots:)

KT and wife joined us towards the end and then it was fun all the way. Good unplanned trip... should do more often. 

Softnest bachelors meet

This was one of those nostalgic get together's with Softnest gang meeting up @Shakti. Yes after almost 8-10 years the group was together at the same place where we used to take out all our frustrations, share joys, pull each others legs....SHAKTI.

The place remains the same, except for our old security guard no more being there. They also changed the terrace with extra space and placing more chairs. Even after sumptuous food and drinks we did not hit roof top with our bill - it remains the same!

People who joined - Jins, KT, Capto, Sebachi and myself. People who could not make it - Biju bros & Augu.

This time the travel was in bus and both to and fro journey was courtesy BIAS! So safe to be inside it post drinking not having to think about the cops poking that instrument near your mouth!

[24]7

Joined [24]7 on Feb 1, 2013. After 6+ years in Aditi, time had come to move on. Unfortunately no breaks this time between jobs.

Joined in Service Delivery team after almost 15 years of being part of Core Engineering teams in various organizations. 

Finally Gratuity after 14+ yrs of work:)

Completed my first ever 6 year stint in a company [Aditi Technologies]. However, the 6th year completion was during my notice period in Aditi. 

New Year @ 314

The new year celebrations was @314 with selective guests. Biju being bachelor was default guest & Manoj + Tressa happily joined.

Cake was from Creme shop, which was soooper crowded for new year cakes. Had to place order and go back @11:30 PM to pick up the cake.  

Siddharth did the honors of cutting cake @12 AM, while everyone cherished and welcomed the new year. Folks stayed back @314 only to get up at 5 AM and drive back home.