It's been a long time since I wrote a line or two about the movies I saw ain't ?
So here it is
a. Aayirathil Oruvan (One in a thousand) [Tamil]
More adventure, wee-bit of romance, average thrill, little surprise, great camera, wonderful art direction, awesome background score, good songs, rusty karthi, stylish and sexy reema, sad andrea, perfect parthiban, super cool tamizh and little confused selvaraghavan (for story and screenplay). I guess I summarized it all. Apart from the loop holes in screenplay and the length of the film everything else was magnum opus. Andrea didnt have much to do and even her song was cut in the movie, sadly, but otherwise I wasnt bored and I was so much enthralled to hear the old tamizh language and wished that we still spoke the same. How different is it from the current tamizh language we speak , u ask ? Well it is like the difference between the Shakespearean english, where Thou, Thee etc prevailed, and the current form of english. Its that huge.
There has been very very mixed reviews for this movie. But I would definitely agree that Selva is the only person who failed in this movie , where everyone else emerged the winner. In all his previous movies, especially, Puthupettai, 7G etc, you can see the director behind the scenes very well and the treatment and the screenplay were so damn good that it must have put him on a different pedestal. Now when he tried something huge, he failed in only the editing and screenplay area. But atleast he tried and failed, rather not having tried at all. So kudos to you Selva. I liked your movie anyway.
CatchIT - for the effort and the cinematography,art direction and Reema.
b. 3 Idiots
Perfection personified Aamir, Adept Sharman and Madhavan, Short and sweet Kareena, Nice story and screenplay, funny and bone tickling dialogues (esp. the balatkar one...) , simple camera. That is 3 Idiots. Leaving aside the controversy surrounding the movie on the Five Point Someone adaptation, the movie is a real pleasure to watch, with some very funny moments. Aamir is one guy who can look perfectly like a college goer even at his age now (must be around 35-40 isnt), when compared to his other counterparts. Sharman Joshi, Madhavan and (Who was the other person I forgot, who speaks the balatkar dialogue) are all perfect for their roles. It is a simple story with a cool screenplay and dialogues which makes it more interesting, with some little twist and turns (It doesnt take one much long anyway to find out who is the scientist is..)
CatchIT - a cool breezy movie
I did see Sherlock Holmes, but it didnt impress me much. Even though the chemistry between Robert Downing Jr and Jude Law was very cute, somehow it failed to impress me. May be I still have the other Sherlock Holmes in my mind, with that hat of his. Well I am not going to write about it anyways, coz I didnt feel much about it to CatchIT or TrashIT.
So thats for now :)
Ciao
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Laughastrous trip to IFC
Remember some time back I had mentioned about being on a sudden family picnic and how much I enjoyed such trips, well , we had one more of such a picnic recently on 16th Jan 2010 when my sister,bro-in-law and my bro was here in Bangalore to join us (myself, my mom and my maternal uncle's family) for a trip to Innovative Film City. We all went to our Uncle's house and from there a Qualis was arranged (for 9 of us). The first laugh-aster started during our trip from Vijayanagar to IFC. Four of us were in the 2nd row of back seat (remember the average weight in that group is 68-72) and during one speed braker, the back seat dipped low (The driver said it was ok, not to worry.. We listened to him seriously and kept quite even though we were sitting as if we were in the lower seat than the front one in the back!! Adhavadhu pinnadi irundha munnadi seata vida naanga innum keezha irundhoam.. purinjudhaa ?? appadi..englishla sila translations sariyaa varamaateangudhu)
Sari paravaa illainu poanoam. After reaching IFC we realized how much lower we had sunk (literally ;) ) coz two of them had to help us to get up from the back seat. Ok right. Paravaa illai.. Idhellam sagajamnu kelambinoam.. Evlavo paathutoam idha paakamaatoamaa..
We took the entry tickets because we werent sure who would be interested in which events so didnt want to risk our money on that. After entering only we saw that there was a Kannada movie shooting going on (Hero:Yash and Heroine:Bama.. movie name:kothilla...i mean we didnt ask so we dont know). It was such a bore watching a movie getting shot. They were shooting the single song right from 11 am (when we entered) to 6 pm (when we left IFC). Boring job man! And I thought writing and editing the same piece of code was boring !! I would rather write a code.
First we tried the Shooter and then the Shootout @ IFC (I pitched in against my brother ;) ) and then we went to the Haunted Mansion. Since I had already been to IFC I knew the route. But there were two other girls already inside the house who didnt even cross the first barrier and were screaming inside without moving an inch. Adhukapparam, vandhavangala ellam oru vazhiyaa izhuthutu varadhukulla porum porumnu aayidichu.. God they were screaming like anything inside. Since I knew what is what and where is what (!!) I kept my cool and put all my energy in dragging these people outside, they were literally pulling me out of fear and confusion. My whole energy was spent and I was damn hungry by that time. Then we went to Cartoon city and interested candidates went for the rides there and for Go karting also. Then we had our lunch in a cafe there and then went inside the Mirror maze. This was another comedy scene. People were seeing at their own faces in the mirror and screaming , otherwise they accidently saw another person coming from the other side and started screaming etc etc.. ore galatta dhaan.. exit pakathule irundhute naanga rombha neram suthitu irundhoam. One person said come this side and other said come this side.. so we were just going on sides and in rounds.. and never to the exit .. this is what happens when you go in a big group :)
Then the person inside got frustrated and said 'hey do u people want to ever get out or not ?, if you want just go this way . u are almost near to it'. Then only we realized that we were so close to exit and yet so far (ada daa ..eppadi aruviyaa kotudhu paaru)... Next interested people went to Ripleys and they almost spent an hour there. I was watching the Skating ring (It was such a fun) and then we went to 4D cinemas and then people went to Aqua Kingdom. I stayed out of it along with my mom and bro-in-law (we werent keen in water games). After that went to Miniature city and watched the shooting of the song going on for sometime. There was a offer to have a IFC Fx movie that will be created using a magic carpet. That is your family will sit in the magic carpet and they will instruct you on how to react and you react like that and when it comes out in the DVD it will be as if you all are flying over seas, buildings, landscapes etc.. This was the best of all. The way we reacted.. I wonder how the guy kept himself from laughing. It was so hilarious (the final output was far more hilarious that what we did there). Everyone enjoyed themselves to the core.. The last stop was mining and then back to our car for the trip back home.
In all of these events, we had been making jokes, laughing at the stupidities that we did and were just having pure fun. But the best part was yet to come. While on our way back to my uncle's home, there was one more speed braker which literally jolted us (the 2nd level of back seaters) and then the seat went down totally and it was as if we were in a sleeper bus.. All we could see was the sky and the sodium vapor lamps of the streets from the back door. We had to be there lying like that till we reached home and again now 4 hands were required to pull each of us (I ended up being part of this disaster both times :( ). (Taxi kaaran rombha nondhutaan.. first ore galatta vum comedyum aa irundhadhu ..adhula seata vera odachutoam.. ennatha solla)
During the whole trip we had so much fun and did so much of laughing that we started choking (especially my aunt, who couldnt breathe after so much of laughing and we had to keep quiet for some time so that she will become normal again and then we continued in cycles). When I watch that DVD of ours I still choke with laughter (I guess everyone of us do that even now).
But it is a day to remember where we all had such a very wonderful fun and time well spent. Family picnics have always been so much fun for me. And I hope that more of such moments continues.
Sari paravaa illainu poanoam. After reaching IFC we realized how much lower we had sunk (literally ;) ) coz two of them had to help us to get up from the back seat. Ok right. Paravaa illai.. Idhellam sagajamnu kelambinoam.. Evlavo paathutoam idha paakamaatoamaa..
We took the entry tickets because we werent sure who would be interested in which events so didnt want to risk our money on that. After entering only we saw that there was a Kannada movie shooting going on (Hero:Yash and Heroine:Bama.. movie name:kothilla...i mean we didnt ask so we dont know). It was such a bore watching a movie getting shot. They were shooting the single song right from 11 am (when we entered) to 6 pm (when we left IFC). Boring job man! And I thought writing and editing the same piece of code was boring !! I would rather write a code.
First we tried the Shooter and then the Shootout @ IFC (I pitched in against my brother ;) ) and then we went to the Haunted Mansion. Since I had already been to IFC I knew the route. But there were two other girls already inside the house who didnt even cross the first barrier and were screaming inside without moving an inch. Adhukapparam, vandhavangala ellam oru vazhiyaa izhuthutu varadhukulla porum porumnu aayidichu.. God they were screaming like anything inside. Since I knew what is what and where is what (!!) I kept my cool and put all my energy in dragging these people outside, they were literally pulling me out of fear and confusion. My whole energy was spent and I was damn hungry by that time. Then we went to Cartoon city and interested candidates went for the rides there and for Go karting also. Then we had our lunch in a cafe there and then went inside the Mirror maze. This was another comedy scene. People were seeing at their own faces in the mirror and screaming , otherwise they accidently saw another person coming from the other side and started screaming etc etc.. ore galatta dhaan.. exit pakathule irundhute naanga rombha neram suthitu irundhoam. One person said come this side and other said come this side.. so we were just going on sides and in rounds.. and never to the exit .. this is what happens when you go in a big group :)
Then the person inside got frustrated and said 'hey do u people want to ever get out or not ?, if you want just go this way . u are almost near to it'. Then only we realized that we were so close to exit and yet so far (ada daa ..eppadi aruviyaa kotudhu paaru)... Next interested people went to Ripleys and they almost spent an hour there. I was watching the Skating ring (It was such a fun) and then we went to 4D cinemas and then people went to Aqua Kingdom. I stayed out of it along with my mom and bro-in-law (we werent keen in water games). After that went to Miniature city and watched the shooting of the song going on for sometime. There was a offer to have a IFC Fx movie that will be created using a magic carpet. That is your family will sit in the magic carpet and they will instruct you on how to react and you react like that and when it comes out in the DVD it will be as if you all are flying over seas, buildings, landscapes etc.. This was the best of all. The way we reacted.. I wonder how the guy kept himself from laughing. It was so hilarious (the final output was far more hilarious that what we did there). Everyone enjoyed themselves to the core.. The last stop was mining and then back to our car for the trip back home.
In all of these events, we had been making jokes, laughing at the stupidities that we did and were just having pure fun. But the best part was yet to come. While on our way back to my uncle's home, there was one more speed braker which literally jolted us (the 2nd level of back seaters) and then the seat went down totally and it was as if we were in a sleeper bus.. All we could see was the sky and the sodium vapor lamps of the streets from the back door. We had to be there lying like that till we reached home and again now 4 hands were required to pull each of us (I ended up being part of this disaster both times :( ). (Taxi kaaran rombha nondhutaan.. first ore galatta vum comedyum aa irundhadhu ..adhula seata vera odachutoam.. ennatha solla)
During the whole trip we had so much fun and did so much of laughing that we started choking (especially my aunt, who couldnt breathe after so much of laughing and we had to keep quiet for some time so that she will become normal again and then we continued in cycles). When I watch that DVD of ours I still choke with laughter (I guess everyone of us do that even now).
But it is a day to remember where we all had such a very wonderful fun and time well spent. Family picnics have always been so much fun for me. And I hope that more of such moments continues.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Kuala Lumpur - final day
Kuala Lumpur - Day 3
Well this was the day where we had time for ourselves to explore. We wanted to do see some malls and see if there was anything worth buying. Our hotel was very near the famous Bukit Bintang area. So we went walky walky to Bukit Bintang, after our breakfast (the famous bread, butter and jam thing), and first entered the BB plaza (I tried to get interested in buying a Samsung Corby...but then gave up! Old me!!) and then Lot10 plaza , BB plaza was combined with another mall (I forgot its name, it started with Y...)They all had good shops, but we didnt have enough money to buy (or rather we didnt want to waste our money on the electronics , right dad!!) We roamed around through these malls (ending up buying nothing) and then went in search of SriRekha Restaurant (as adviced by our cab person prev day night) for a good south indian meal. We did find it and even though it was costly, it was good for lunch. After that came back to hotel (all sleepy), had a nap and then again started off to see where we can go!. Then we realized we hadnt seen Masjid India (and Saravana Bhavan), so caught a cab, for 5 RM we went there and then had a good cup of filter coffee (some habits die very hard) and then roamed around, (we got a few things in Mydin store there). It started to rain and then after a few hours of roaming around, caught a cab back to hotel (we are yet to pack our things for the next days early departure.. we had to leave hotel by 4.40 am)
Came back , packed our stuff , called up the travel agent to confirm our airport pickup (in KL we always had a late pickup). We didnt make an attempt to go to KL tower (it was seen from our hotel window), but since we had to pay to get up there.. so that was one thing we missed out there.
But you know what happened the next day morning!! The airport pickup didnt turn up till 5.15 am.. So we had to arrange for our own transport and took a cab for 100RM and we were on our way to the airport. The taxi person was chinese.. and we just asked him how long it would take to reach the airport and he replied "5 - 10 mins" (that is all he said) and how long do you think it took us to reach the airport , well a solid 45 mins and every time we asked him how long is the airport.. he always replied "few mins or 5-10mins" :) I am not saying anything wrong, but imagine, being in a cab, in a weird early hours in a city unknown to you with a cab driver, who doesnt understand your language and you are supposed to get out of that country in another 2 hrs etc etc.. it was damn scary... But all is well that ends well aint... we reached the airport around 6 , got the tickets, cleared the customs, and were waiting for a train (yeah, you heard it right.. a train or rather a tram sort of , to take us to the Gates.. God.. trains inside an airport.. funny.... ) And we had some time to cool ourselves.. and finally around 8 we got to checkin and by 8.40 we were on our way back home sweet home :)
We reached Chennai and from there after 3 hrs of waiting , got our connecting flight to Bangalore and reached Bangalore around 4.30pm (almost 40 mins of journey), but the travel from Bangalore Airport to my home was for 2 hours (talk of irony).. Finally reached home around 6.30pm...
This is my story of going around in KL and SG for a total of 6 days and 7 nights.
To sum up, it was a very good tour and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. This was a complete detox sort of treatment, where I didnt have to think of my work schedule, or my phone (after coming back from the trip, I felt odd having my cellphone with me..for 7 days i didnt use my cell at all..)... I have always wanted to make such trips once in a year atleast. It helps us unwind.
And I hope to keep continuing this (God help me with it). And will surely share my experiences with you all. :) (Is some one reading this !! I hope not :D )
Well this was the day where we had time for ourselves to explore. We wanted to do see some malls and see if there was anything worth buying. Our hotel was very near the famous Bukit Bintang area. So we went walky walky to Bukit Bintang, after our breakfast (the famous bread, butter and jam thing), and first entered the BB plaza (I tried to get interested in buying a Samsung Corby...but then gave up! Old me!!) and then Lot10 plaza , BB plaza was combined with another mall (I forgot its name, it started with Y...)They all had good shops, but we didnt have enough money to buy (or rather we didnt want to waste our money on the electronics , right dad!!) We roamed around through these malls (ending up buying nothing) and then went in search of SriRekha Restaurant (as adviced by our cab person prev day night) for a good south indian meal. We did find it and even though it was costly, it was good for lunch. After that came back to hotel (all sleepy), had a nap and then again started off to see where we can go!. Then we realized we hadnt seen Masjid India (and Saravana Bhavan), so caught a cab, for 5 RM we went there and then had a good cup of filter coffee (some habits die very hard) and then roamed around, (we got a few things in Mydin store there). It started to rain and then after a few hours of roaming around, caught a cab back to hotel (we are yet to pack our things for the next days early departure.. we had to leave hotel by 4.40 am)
Came back , packed our stuff , called up the travel agent to confirm our airport pickup (in KL we always had a late pickup). We didnt make an attempt to go to KL tower (it was seen from our hotel window), but since we had to pay to get up there.. so that was one thing we missed out there.
But you know what happened the next day morning!! The airport pickup didnt turn up till 5.15 am.. So we had to arrange for our own transport and took a cab for 100RM and we were on our way to the airport. The taxi person was chinese.. and we just asked him how long it would take to reach the airport and he replied "5 - 10 mins" (that is all he said) and how long do you think it took us to reach the airport , well a solid 45 mins and every time we asked him how long is the airport.. he always replied "few mins or 5-10mins" :) I am not saying anything wrong, but imagine, being in a cab, in a weird early hours in a city unknown to you with a cab driver, who doesnt understand your language and you are supposed to get out of that country in another 2 hrs etc etc.. it was damn scary... But all is well that ends well aint... we reached the airport around 6 , got the tickets, cleared the customs, and were waiting for a train (yeah, you heard it right.. a train or rather a tram sort of , to take us to the Gates.. God.. trains inside an airport.. funny.... ) And we had some time to cool ourselves.. and finally around 8 we got to checkin and by 8.40 we were on our way back home sweet home :)
We reached Chennai and from there after 3 hrs of waiting , got our connecting flight to Bangalore and reached Bangalore around 4.30pm (almost 40 mins of journey), but the travel from Bangalore Airport to my home was for 2 hours (talk of irony).. Finally reached home around 6.30pm...
This is my story of going around in KL and SG for a total of 6 days and 7 nights.
To sum up, it was a very good tour and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. This was a complete detox sort of treatment, where I didnt have to think of my work schedule, or my phone (after coming back from the trip, I felt odd having my cellphone with me..for 7 days i didnt use my cell at all..)... I have always wanted to make such trips once in a year atleast. It helps us unwind.
And I hope to keep continuing this (God help me with it). And will surely share my experiences with you all. :) (Is some one reading this !! I hope not :D )
Sunday, January 10, 2010
KL Trip - Day 2
Kuala Lumpur - Day 2
On the first day in KL Radius International Hotel we werent given the complimentary breakfast, because we were due for checkin only in the afternoon. So we had the breakfast in the nearby Restoran ( remember that :D ). On the 2nd day we were entitled for a complimentary breakfast, which was by the standards south asian (veg and non veg). We went down very eagerly for our breakfast. We saw that there were quite a lot of choices available for us. But to our disappointment most of them was non-veg. We chose the fried rice, but found that it had egg (is egg really a veg food nowadays !! Oh God!! How will I survive in other places if this was the case man!) So what was worthy of our diet there!! Guess!!! Well, the same old faithful Bread, Butter and Jam. Oh!!! We had to bear it for another day!! :(. Atleast we were happy that atleast we had that choice. Well ours might have been the only table out there which had the shreds of bread alone :)
Then started our trip to Putrajaya (Again since we three and one more Norwagian or Dutch, I am not sure were the only people for the trip, rest of them had arrived that day so they were going for the KL city tour). Putrajaya is a separate city sort of , created mainly for the administrative purposes. And you wont believe the kind of planning that they have given there. It is almost 30km away from the main city. They have 7 (I think) lakes around the place to keep the temperature balanced (Wow!! Are we doing such a think in India by the way?? Shouldnt we learn from them ??) They have their own pasture lands for their cattle (Oooh!! this is definitely impressive), and their own agricultural park (which we visited in detail) and housing, mosque ... almost self sufficient. Guess people working there and who live there need not come to the main city at all for anything. Main city might be sort of a picnic for them :) (Is this almost the same in Bangalore. I live in South Blr and visiting my relatives in North Blr is sort of a picnic for me, which takes up my whole day!!)
The PM office, the mosque and the buildings in general were very impressive (architecturally). We did see all kinds of fruits and vegetables (most of them I have seen there for the first time..) there. After that we went to the Cruise tour which took us in a small cute boat across the man made lake to enable us see all the important offices. You wouldnt believe me if I said that all important offices had an entrance to the lake and guess what they had gym equipments on one side of the lake fixed along with a jogging track (oh man!! planningku alave illaiyaa!!)
Would you believe that this trip to Putrajaya took us almost half of the day!!! It did. We were also shown how the lamp posts different from one road to another depicting the increase in the importance of the building there. Hmm... mudiyala!!
After our lunch break and a small nap, we went for the final tour of KL, which is the Night tour with Indian dinner (finally!). We went first to Mariamman Temple (which is run by the same trust as Batu caves. They had done the 108 sankabishegam there in the morning. We went around and then got into the China Town. It was a big place by itself. We went around, but nothing caught our eyes worth buying (why do most of the shops there sell only handbags and suitcases ??? we found very less shops selling other than these), but it was very crowded and we should be bargaining almost 60% less than what they quote. Unless you are good in bargaining, do not go there. Then we went around the city and came to Petronas towers for its night view :).
Took a few snaps and then got to our dinner. We saw where Masjid India (or Little India) was but didnt go there coz we were tired (In the morning it was so hot, that we were sweating profusely and because of the humidity we were feeling so tired even though we hadnt been out much)
Thankfully our Dinner was at Oak tree restaurant, a North Indian Buffet Dinner and after that we retired to our rooms.
Actually in KL we have the same set of places, Zoo, Bird park, Night safari etc just as in SG and since we already had been to these places in SG, we didnt want to go again here. It might have been the same I guess.
On the first day in KL Radius International Hotel we werent given the complimentary breakfast, because we were due for checkin only in the afternoon. So we had the breakfast in the nearby Restoran ( remember that :D ). On the 2nd day we were entitled for a complimentary breakfast, which was by the standards south asian (veg and non veg). We went down very eagerly for our breakfast. We saw that there were quite a lot of choices available for us. But to our disappointment most of them was non-veg. We chose the fried rice, but found that it had egg (is egg really a veg food nowadays !! Oh God!! How will I survive in other places if this was the case man!) So what was worthy of our diet there!! Guess!!! Well, the same old faithful Bread, Butter and Jam. Oh!!! We had to bear it for another day!! :(. Atleast we were happy that atleast we had that choice. Well ours might have been the only table out there which had the shreds of bread alone :)
Then started our trip to Putrajaya (Again since we three and one more Norwagian or Dutch, I am not sure were the only people for the trip, rest of them had arrived that day so they were going for the KL city tour). Putrajaya is a separate city sort of , created mainly for the administrative purposes. And you wont believe the kind of planning that they have given there. It is almost 30km away from the main city. They have 7 (I think) lakes around the place to keep the temperature balanced (Wow!! Are we doing such a think in India by the way?? Shouldnt we learn from them ??) They have their own pasture lands for their cattle (Oooh!! this is definitely impressive), and their own agricultural park (which we visited in detail) and housing, mosque ... almost self sufficient. Guess people working there and who live there need not come to the main city at all for anything. Main city might be sort of a picnic for them :) (Is this almost the same in Bangalore. I live in South Blr and visiting my relatives in North Blr is sort of a picnic for me, which takes up my whole day!!)
The PM office, the mosque and the buildings in general were very impressive (architecturally). We did see all kinds of fruits and vegetables (most of them I have seen there for the first time..) there. After that we went to the Cruise tour which took us in a small cute boat across the man made lake to enable us see all the important offices. You wouldnt believe me if I said that all important offices had an entrance to the lake and guess what they had gym equipments on one side of the lake fixed along with a jogging track (oh man!! planningku alave illaiyaa!!)
Would you believe that this trip to Putrajaya took us almost half of the day!!! It did. We were also shown how the lamp posts different from one road to another depicting the increase in the importance of the building there. Hmm... mudiyala!!
After our lunch break and a small nap, we went for the final tour of KL, which is the Night tour with Indian dinner (finally!). We went first to Mariamman Temple (which is run by the same trust as Batu caves. They had done the 108 sankabishegam there in the morning. We went around and then got into the China Town. It was a big place by itself. We went around, but nothing caught our eyes worth buying (why do most of the shops there sell only handbags and suitcases ??? we found very less shops selling other than these), but it was very crowded and we should be bargaining almost 60% less than what they quote. Unless you are good in bargaining, do not go there. Then we went around the city and came to Petronas towers for its night view :).
Took a few snaps and then got to our dinner. We saw where Masjid India (or Little India) was but didnt go there coz we were tired (In the morning it was so hot, that we were sweating profusely and because of the humidity we were feeling so tired even though we hadnt been out much)Thankfully our Dinner was at Oak tree restaurant, a North Indian Buffet Dinner and after that we retired to our rooms.
Actually in KL we have the same set of places, Zoo, Bird park, Night safari etc just as in SG and since we already had been to these places in SG, we didnt want to go again here. It might have been the same I guess.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Kuala Lumpur - Day 1
Welcome to Kuala Lumpur - Day 1
If the SG sentral station (that is how they write there.. sentral!!!) was bit of a disappointment, well Kuala Lumpur (KL) made it up for it. Wow.... it was so cool. It was like the Bangalore Airport (BIAL)... (Sad, but true)...
Since the train arrived a little late, our concierge person went to have a coffee, so we had to wait wondering what to do. Finally, the person arrived and on our way to the hotel, in the cab, we heard tamil news playing in the radio (remember that tamizh is the one of the official languages in SG and KL.. so nothing new, but the person didnt seem like he would know tamizh .. that is why... ) and as usual, I exclaimed loudly.. Is that tamizh news I'm hearing !! and man, the person was so happy to find out that we were tamilians. He helped us out to contact the travel agent in KL and we tried to reschedule our first trip, because our first tour was scheduled at 8.30 am on the day we arrived and here we are still travelling in the cab to the hotel by 7.15 am. Obviously the lady (must be a Chinese or Malay, going by the name) didnt get a thing I spoke to her (dont blame me, I spoke in English only). So the cab person helped us out and explained her. But she apologized that it was a last minute request (obviously no one thought that we need to refreshen us up before a tour and if the train got late, it would be sort of impossible!!!). So we said we will handle it by ourselves, and luckily the hotel had the checkin time of 2 pm (so now we have to go to the tour without even brushing our teeth!! wow!!).. Wait. I did see a placard saying that if u cough up 100RM you can checkin immediately. Wow.. thats nice.. what a cool business trick. Now since we had to refreshen ourselves, we decided to shell out that money and we were given a room as soon as I handed that 100 RM note to the receptionist. (Indian Hotels owners.. are you reading this.... I dont know if you already know this.. but if you dont... hey you are way behind all your mates..grow up :) )
Atleast we got our room, we got ready on time , to find the pickup was late by 20-30 mins because we were the last ones to get picked up. And as it seems that since all the tour coaches were full, we were given a personal ride in a taxi for our first tour .. Half a day City tour. Howzzat!!!!
The guy who took us was the relative of the person who did the airport pickup. I have to mention the very sweet and different way they speak tamizh there. Obviously these people were born and brought up there for 2 generations, but their tamizh was so real (most of the words we dont even use in tamil nadu.... it sounded more like srilankan tamil).
First place was Kings Palace..
( we werent allowed inside anyways just like all other citizens) then to the museum
...and then to a War memorial 
( I guess we have a war memorial in all important cities depicting the lives of the soldiers who laid their lives for the formation of their country...) and then to the national mosque. 
I have to break here from the list to tell you a funny incident that happened in the national mosque. Everyone who goes into the mosque (remember that Malaysia is a Islamic country) has to follow certain rules. Guys/gents should wear pants (or to say the legs should be fully covered) and girls/ladies should wear half parda (where they cover their head fully and obviously the body should be fully covered too...) Lucky for me, I was wearing a churidhar that day , but unlucky for my mom, who was wearing a saree.. Guess what, she had to wear a gown with the hood (which made her look like Anniyan Vikram .. oh man, I couldnt stop laughing for a looong time....she will kill me if she reads this :D.. i have already made so much fun of her with this episode) For me they made a head parda sort of thing with my dupatta, which was quite long enough and I was saved.. My dad had a field day taking pictures of us in the weird costume :).. Inside we saw that we(atleast my mom wasnt) werent alone. There were so many tourists who were wearing that hooded gown ... we even saw a man (who was wearing shorts) wearing that gown (ada pavame!!!).... It was real funny. But the mosque was so exquisite. The prayer room is so brilliantly done.
continuing the list, we headed for the times square, the mendreka square (independence square)
where they celebrate their national day, their parliaments, courts, university of KL (God, it was a huge skyscraper!!! when will we grow !!) etc etc...
Our last stop was Petronas Towers (The prime attraction)..
Seems like the land belongs to the 2nd richest person in KL and the towers belong to Petronas Petroleum company and they built it using all steel and glass (that is why it glows in the light so well..It is definitely a worth construct. We had a round inside it.... Again the malls..
Almost went through the whole of the city and back to the hotel by 12.30, just in time for a little lunch in a near by hotel (which was named Restoran SK...Restoran is Restaurant). It had Indian lunch (veg and non veg). It wasnt great, but managable.
Next tour was the most expected Batu Cave and Country side tour. We started by 2 pm or so and went to the Pewter Factory (yeah it was first founded in KL and then a division started in SG... i guess we went in the wrong order :D) and to our surprise, it started raining heavily (morning it was so damn hot.. even the guide was telling that there is no season in KL, its always summer...but with occasional pours which kept their water requirement well in content... Do I see God showing partiality here ??? ).. Now the heavy pour got us worried on how we are going to climb the caves ? Then to a Batik factory (didnt buy anything...way too costly...)and finally to the Batu Caves .... God has mysterious ways of fulfilling our wishes.. why ? because as soon as we got down the vehicle, it stopped raining ... can you believe that...
Wow.. (I guess I am using this word tooo often now!)
Lord Muruga never looked so beautiful , it was as if what to say.. I am struggling how to describe it here.. hmmm.. Let me just say.. I was too happy and at peace. We had 45 mins to go up and come back. There were 272 steps to climb to reach the inside of the limestone cave. Since it had rained it was little slippery. But we managed and went inside. I have never been to any cave in India (even though there are many). But this one is huge. it was so cool inside (literally). We went looked around aaraam se, did our prayers and came back down again .. all done in 40 mins exact.. There were some temples outside, Ganeshas, Surya, etc. Had a look at them , and prayed... and now it was time to go.. why ? because it started raining again... rain had stopped exactly the time we had to go up the caves and come back down.. What would you say for this!! Coincidence ?? nah!! something more than that :)..
Well I am satsified now with my trip.. This is more than enough for me... We were so so so happy. I just was wishing for my bro to see this. He is an ardent fan of Lord Muruga.. Hey bro, if you are reading this, just make it whenever you are ready for it...
It was raining heavily on our way back and when we reached our hotels, we were so tired and went to bed without a second delay so that we can be ready for our next day's tour to Putrajaya.
If the SG sentral station (that is how they write there.. sentral!!!) was bit of a disappointment, well Kuala Lumpur (KL) made it up for it. Wow.... it was so cool. It was like the Bangalore Airport (BIAL)... (Sad, but true)...
Since the train arrived a little late, our concierge person went to have a coffee, so we had to wait wondering what to do. Finally, the person arrived and on our way to the hotel, in the cab, we heard tamil news playing in the radio (remember that tamizh is the one of the official languages in SG and KL.. so nothing new, but the person didnt seem like he would know tamizh .. that is why... ) and as usual, I exclaimed loudly.. Is that tamizh news I'm hearing !! and man, the person was so happy to find out that we were tamilians. He helped us out to contact the travel agent in KL and we tried to reschedule our first trip, because our first tour was scheduled at 8.30 am on the day we arrived and here we are still travelling in the cab to the hotel by 7.15 am. Obviously the lady (must be a Chinese or Malay, going by the name) didnt get a thing I spoke to her (dont blame me, I spoke in English only). So the cab person helped us out and explained her. But she apologized that it was a last minute request (obviously no one thought that we need to refreshen us up before a tour and if the train got late, it would be sort of impossible!!!). So we said we will handle it by ourselves, and luckily the hotel had the checkin time of 2 pm (so now we have to go to the tour without even brushing our teeth!! wow!!).. Wait. I did see a placard saying that if u cough up 100RM you can checkin immediately. Wow.. thats nice.. what a cool business trick. Now since we had to refreshen ourselves, we decided to shell out that money and we were given a room as soon as I handed that 100 RM note to the receptionist. (Indian Hotels owners.. are you reading this.... I dont know if you already know this.. but if you dont... hey you are way behind all your mates..grow up :) )
Atleast we got our room, we got ready on time , to find the pickup was late by 20-30 mins because we were the last ones to get picked up. And as it seems that since all the tour coaches were full, we were given a personal ride in a taxi for our first tour .. Half a day City tour. Howzzat!!!!
The guy who took us was the relative of the person who did the airport pickup. I have to mention the very sweet and different way they speak tamizh there. Obviously these people were born and brought up there for 2 generations, but their tamizh was so real (most of the words we dont even use in tamil nadu.... it sounded more like srilankan tamil).
First place was Kings Palace..
( we werent allowed inside anyways just like all other citizens) then to the museum
...and then to a War memorial 
( I guess we have a war memorial in all important cities depicting the lives of the soldiers who laid their lives for the formation of their country...) and then to the national mosque. 
I have to break here from the list to tell you a funny incident that happened in the national mosque. Everyone who goes into the mosque (remember that Malaysia is a Islamic country) has to follow certain rules. Guys/gents should wear pants (or to say the legs should be fully covered) and girls/ladies should wear half parda (where they cover their head fully and obviously the body should be fully covered too...) Lucky for me, I was wearing a churidhar that day , but unlucky for my mom, who was wearing a saree.. Guess what, she had to wear a gown with the hood (which made her look like Anniyan Vikram .. oh man, I couldnt stop laughing for a looong time....she will kill me if she reads this :D.. i have already made so much fun of her with this episode) For me they made a head parda sort of thing with my dupatta, which was quite long enough and I was saved.. My dad had a field day taking pictures of us in the weird costume :).. Inside we saw that we(atleast my mom wasnt) werent alone. There were so many tourists who were wearing that hooded gown ... we even saw a man (who was wearing shorts) wearing that gown (ada pavame!!!).... It was real funny. But the mosque was so exquisite. The prayer room is so brilliantly done. continuing the list, we headed for the times square, the mendreka square (independence square)
where they celebrate their national day, their parliaments, courts, university of KL (God, it was a huge skyscraper!!! when will we grow !!) etc etc...Our last stop was Petronas Towers (The prime attraction)..
Seems like the land belongs to the 2nd richest person in KL and the towers belong to Petronas Petroleum company and they built it using all steel and glass (that is why it glows in the light so well..It is definitely a worth construct. We had a round inside it.... Again the malls..
Almost went through the whole of the city and back to the hotel by 12.30, just in time for a little lunch in a near by hotel (which was named Restoran SK...Restoran is Restaurant). It had Indian lunch (veg and non veg). It wasnt great, but managable.
Next tour was the most expected Batu Cave and Country side tour. We started by 2 pm or so and went to the Pewter Factory (yeah it was first founded in KL and then a division started in SG... i guess we went in the wrong order :D) and to our surprise, it started raining heavily (morning it was so damn hot.. even the guide was telling that there is no season in KL, its always summer...but with occasional pours which kept their water requirement well in content... Do I see God showing partiality here ??? ).. Now the heavy pour got us worried on how we are going to climb the caves ? Then to a Batik factory (didnt buy anything...way too costly...)and finally to the Batu Caves .... God has mysterious ways of fulfilling our wishes.. why ? because as soon as we got down the vehicle, it stopped raining ... can you believe that...
Wow.. (I guess I am using this word tooo often now!)
Lord Muruga never looked so beautiful , it was as if what to say.. I am struggling how to describe it here.. hmmm.. Let me just say.. I was too happy and at peace. We had 45 mins to go up and come back. There were 272 steps to climb to reach the inside of the limestone cave. Since it had rained it was little slippery. But we managed and went inside. I have never been to any cave in India (even though there are many). But this one is huge. it was so cool inside (literally). We went looked around aaraam se, did our prayers and came back down again .. all done in 40 mins exact.. There were some temples outside, Ganeshas, Surya, etc. Had a look at them , and prayed... and now it was time to go.. why ? because it started raining again... rain had stopped exactly the time we had to go up the caves and come back down.. What would you say for this!! Coincidence ?? nah!! something more than that :).. Well I am satsified now with my trip.. This is more than enough for me... We were so so so happy. I just was wishing for my bro to see this. He is an ardent fan of Lord Muruga.. Hey bro, if you are reading this, just make it whenever you are ready for it...
It was raining heavily on our way back and when we reached our hotels, we were so tired and went to bed without a second delay so that we can be ready for our next day's tour to Putrajaya.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Singapore Trip - 4th Day
Singapore - Day four
Our last day in Singapore started with the trip to Jurong Bird Park in the morning. Since it was Christmas day, our group started a bit early, and were on time with less crowd. By the time we were done with our first trip, there was a huge crowd and people were standing a queue that span a km and for the first time, I managed to see a traffic in the entrance of the bird park due to the unmanagable crowd.
Our first ride was in the Panorail
which would take us to different parts of the Jurong Bird Park, like the Lori Loft, the man made waterfall, and a view of all other birds that were present on the way back.
Our first stop was at the Lori Loft,
where we tried our hands in feeling the Lories (it was well trained not to mingle with people who haven't bought the 5S$ feeding cup ;) , so we tried to shake hands with it and my parents succeeded, even though it bit them a bit. I refrained from the experiment. Yean nammala vida chinna pullaingita poyi vambizhupaane!! apparam kadi vaanguvaane!!) Many people tried feeding them and with one feeding cup there were almost 5-6 Lorikeets sitting all over them. You can find more information about these Lories here. http://theaviary.com/s1295-17.shtml. With so much of these birds around, you cannot hear what your neighbour is saying to you. They have this high pitched voice :)
Next stop was the tallest man made waterfall also called the African Wetlands Exhibit.
Here they have the waterfall and the african style boats etc etc. Nothing too fancy here.
Next we went to the Penguin Expedition. It was small, but atleast I got to see Penguins in real in my life time (Can I even imagine going to Antartica for this!!!). I wonder if they will be bored inside that small cube of theirs.. paavam
Next stop, OWLery (not the one in Harry Potter) or World of Darkness. So many different kinds of OWLS (ofcourse not new to me , seeing so many varities in Harry Potter movies) and they were all awake in the broad day light. Must be difficult for them I guess, with people making so much noise around, how can they even think of sleep.
Then we went for the Hawk Walk, a show featuring the Hawk, Eagles, Vultures etc.
It was very nice to see these birds of various origins, so close, so huge. They were trained so well to make a very grandeur entrance. Good show.
Last but not the least (of which I dont have any photos, I took the whole show in the handycam), the bird show where various birds (parrots, swan, pelican etc etc) did a variety of programmes, ranging from Singing the birthday song, to going round in hoops, to playing balls against each other, etc etc.. It was so cute to watch.. I am not sure if there is one such in India. It will entertain people of all age. It was very very nice.
That was the last show we had in Jurong Bird Park. Next we took a cab from our drop off location to Singapore Flyer.
This was our private trip. We got the tickets from our tour guide (each ticket costs 29S$ but she gave us for 25S$) and when we got there, we were so excited (because remember that myself and my mom are acrophobic). The cubicle which revolves, comes to the halting place (it doesnt stop, it keeps moving, so the people should get out on one side and people get in from the other side). We were almost 10 people in a cubicle which can hold upto 30. As soon as we got in, the doors (glass) were sealed and it started its ascent. The ascent and descent is so slow and elegant, that you dont feel the jerk or even the slightest fear of the rise. You can see the other cubicles going up. They even have an offer of dining in it, but it is much costlier, around 200S$ for a couple. You can see the whole of SG in it. The view from it is magnificient. It goes the height of 42 storeys. The whole trip took around 35-40 mins and we got down almost running :). Wow... in this trip I almost managed to control my fear of heights. It was damn cool.
After the flyer, we started walking towards the nearest transit station (MRT), just to see how it looks like and if affordable (taxi from there to our place would cost us 5S$). So near St Andrews Church we took the subway and to our amazement, we had an elevator to go down and come up (!! Think of the subways in India!! particularly Blr near the City Majestic Station!!) and it is full of A/C + you have a huge mall underneath. Man!! why do you want to have a Mall in the subway !!! I dont get the point there..But yes there it was. We walked on till we came to the MRT and found that there wasnt any direct train to our Farrer Park place so instead we climbed up back (or should I say elevated ourselves) to the road and took a cab (for 5S$).
We had time to check out and do some shopping around Mustafa and then went to board the train by 8 pm. Another Surprise!!! The train station didnt look like a train station (I forgot to click a picture of this place ! bad!!!). It looked like a old heritage building and inside just two platforms (I guess this is only for transit to Kuala Lumpur , here on referred to as KL). We filled in our forms (immigration) and were waiting for the authorities to come and start the customs check. By 9.30 (train is scheduled to leave by 10pm), they started the customs check and by 10pm exactly , all had beeen boarded and train started leaving. The train is a meter gauge train, with a lower and upper berth on both sides and ofcourse A/C (In this country there is nothing without A/C I guess). We got settled in and were about to sleep by 10.45 or so, when we got an announcement for SG final Immigration formalities. We all got down and completed the procedure and came to the exit door and found it locked. God!! I was so sleepy, my dad was already in his half sleep. We had to wait till 11.30 or so for them to complete the formalities for everyone and then they let us out and we boarded again and after that I dont have any idea what happened, until I opened my eyes in Kuala Lumpur :)
Next, rest!!! (Vadivelu style)..
This is the story of me seeing my favourite place, Singapore, and the memorable events that happened there. Thank you God!!! I fulfilled my own wish. I was so happy and relieved. I never thought this was possible, even though my dad thought otherwise. :D
I was relieved because I had planned the trip to SG for so many times and cancelled it that many times. May be if I had been there during any of those times, it wouldnt have been as fulfilling as it was this time. God works in mysterious ways, I would say :D
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Our last day in Singapore started with the trip to Jurong Bird Park in the morning. Since it was Christmas day, our group started a bit early, and were on time with less crowd. By the time we were done with our first trip, there was a huge crowd and people were standing a queue that span a km and for the first time, I managed to see a traffic in the entrance of the bird park due to the unmanagable crowd.
Our first ride was in the Panorail
which would take us to different parts of the Jurong Bird Park, like the Lori Loft, the man made waterfall, and a view of all other birds that were present on the way back.
Our first stop was at the Lori Loft,
where we tried our hands in feeling the Lories (it was well trained not to mingle with people who haven't bought the 5S$ feeding cup ;) , so we tried to shake hands with it and my parents succeeded, even though it bit them a bit. I refrained from the experiment. Yean nammala vida chinna pullaingita poyi vambizhupaane!! apparam kadi vaanguvaane!!) Many people tried feeding them and with one feeding cup there were almost 5-6 Lorikeets sitting all over them. You can find more information about these Lories here. http://theaviary.com/s1295-17.shtml. With so much of these birds around, you cannot hear what your neighbour is saying to you. They have this high pitched voice :)
Next stop was the tallest man made waterfall also called the African Wetlands Exhibit.
Here they have the waterfall and the african style boats etc etc. Nothing too fancy here.
Next we went to the Penguin Expedition. It was small, but atleast I got to see Penguins in real in my life time (Can I even imagine going to Antartica for this!!!). I wonder if they will be bored inside that small cube of theirs.. paavam
Next stop, OWLery (not the one in Harry Potter) or World of Darkness. So many different kinds of OWLS (ofcourse not new to me , seeing so many varities in Harry Potter movies) and they were all awake in the broad day light. Must be difficult for them I guess, with people making so much noise around, how can they even think of sleep.
Then we went for the Hawk Walk, a show featuring the Hawk, Eagles, Vultures etc.
It was very nice to see these birds of various origins, so close, so huge. They were trained so well to make a very grandeur entrance. Good show.
Last but not the least (of which I dont have any photos, I took the whole show in the handycam), the bird show where various birds (parrots, swan, pelican etc etc) did a variety of programmes, ranging from Singing the birthday song, to going round in hoops, to playing balls against each other, etc etc.. It was so cute to watch.. I am not sure if there is one such in India. It will entertain people of all age. It was very very nice.
That was the last show we had in Jurong Bird Park. Next we took a cab from our drop off location to Singapore Flyer.
This was our private trip. We got the tickets from our tour guide (each ticket costs 29S$ but she gave us for 25S$) and when we got there, we were so excited (because remember that myself and my mom are acrophobic). The cubicle which revolves, comes to the halting place (it doesnt stop, it keeps moving, so the people should get out on one side and people get in from the other side). We were almost 10 people in a cubicle which can hold upto 30. As soon as we got in, the doors (glass) were sealed and it started its ascent. The ascent and descent is so slow and elegant, that you dont feel the jerk or even the slightest fear of the rise. You can see the other cubicles going up. They even have an offer of dining in it, but it is much costlier, around 200S$ for a couple. You can see the whole of SG in it. The view from it is magnificient. It goes the height of 42 storeys. The whole trip took around 35-40 mins and we got down almost running :). Wow... in this trip I almost managed to control my fear of heights. It was damn cool.
After the flyer, we started walking towards the nearest transit station (MRT), just to see how it looks like and if affordable (taxi from there to our place would cost us 5S$). So near St Andrews Church we took the subway and to our amazement, we had an elevator to go down and come up (!! Think of the subways in India!! particularly Blr near the City Majestic Station!!) and it is full of A/C + you have a huge mall underneath. Man!! why do you want to have a Mall in the subway !!! I dont get the point there..But yes there it was. We walked on till we came to the MRT and found that there wasnt any direct train to our Farrer Park place so instead we climbed up back (or should I say elevated ourselves) to the road and took a cab (for 5S$).
We had time to check out and do some shopping around Mustafa and then went to board the train by 8 pm. Another Surprise!!! The train station didnt look like a train station (I forgot to click a picture of this place ! bad!!!). It looked like a old heritage building and inside just two platforms (I guess this is only for transit to Kuala Lumpur , here on referred to as KL). We filled in our forms (immigration) and were waiting for the authorities to come and start the customs check. By 9.30 (train is scheduled to leave by 10pm), they started the customs check and by 10pm exactly , all had beeen boarded and train started leaving. The train is a meter gauge train, with a lower and upper berth on both sides and ofcourse A/C (In this country there is nothing without A/C I guess). We got settled in and were about to sleep by 10.45 or so, when we got an announcement for SG final Immigration formalities. We all got down and completed the procedure and came to the exit door and found it locked. God!! I was so sleepy, my dad was already in his half sleep. We had to wait till 11.30 or so for them to complete the formalities for everyone and then they let us out and we boarded again and after that I dont have any idea what happened, until I opened my eyes in Kuala Lumpur :)
Next, rest!!! (Vadivelu style)..
This is the story of me seeing my favourite place, Singapore, and the memorable events that happened there. Thank you God!!! I fulfilled my own wish. I was so happy and relieved. I never thought this was possible, even though my dad thought otherwise. :D
I was relieved because I had planned the trip to SG for so many times and cancelled it that many times. May be if I had been there during any of those times, it wouldnt have been as fulfilling as it was this time. God works in mysterious ways, I would say :D
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Singapore Trip - Day tres (3)
Singapore Trip - 3rd Day
Morning we had a so-called city tour which mostly included the trip to the Merlion Park (The famous symbol of Singapore)
and then to a chinese temple
in China Town (my first) and then to the Orchid park
.
On the way we saw the Chopstick statue ( built in memorial of the people who died in the Japanese invasion of Singapore during WWII) , the parliament, the finance building and got to know some of the rich and funky places like the Supreme Court (you should see how modernized it is) and the capital buildings of Singapore. The only hitch was that it was rainin and it spoilt our little fun in Merlion Park. It was so cold already and rain made things worse. I just couldnt stop sneezing and it in turn made us spend 10S$ to buy an umbrella from our guide. He sure did made gud business that day :), thanks to the rain (non-stop)
We came back to our hotels, had our lunch outside and went around for some shopping, because our next tour was after 6pm. So we had our little naps and was ready for our next tour in the evening.
Actually third and fourth day tours were arranged from the hotel (not from the travel agent from whom we booked the other tours and travels). In all the prev tours we had quite a lot of indians being guided by either chinese or malays but in the third and fourth day tours we had quite a lot of people from around the world (from england, australia, south korea, japan etc). So it was really different.
Now it was 6.30pm and we were taken in the coach to "Clarke Quay" for our dinner (my dad and mom , well include me too, were shocked to have dinner @ 6.30 ... was way too early for us). But since it was part of the tour, we went with it. Now comes the interesting part. Out of 20, only three (we three) were veggies. So they got us the south asian vegetarian food.
Now you have seen what we were served. Rice, Some manchurian thing, some leaves, corn soup, spring roll and that was it. We were given some veg salad in the beginning and some fruits in the end. That was our dinner. The non-veggies had quite a long list which included almost all animals (sea and non-sea) served !!! In tamil nadu, rice is never eaten without any watery side dish (read sambhar, rasam etc) and here we were given rice with nothing of that sort... and for some time we were wondering what to do.!!! you should have seen our faces.. it was awesome!!! perfect examples for exclamation...Well my parents had the rest (side dishes) and left out the rice part, I managed to eat that too.. (thinking of somalia and so many people out there who cannot manage to get even a morsel of food..etc etc..) my dad was asking me to not eat if i couldnt.. and not to trouble myself...but I finally had all that was in my plate successfully..wow!!! After that eventful dinner, we went to a Pewter factory , saw the making of the money tree (yes ! you heard it right, this was the age old money used).
Then we went to have our share of Singapore Sling (alcoholic drink). Now dont get the idea of a peg or anything, it was just a taster ... so it was almost a teaspoon to get the taste of it. Well, we anyway did forego that and then begins our ride in the boat for the night cruise in the Singapore River. It was wonderful cruising in that river and seeing SG in all its lightning glory. We could see so many people with their camera (all sorts and sizes) trying to get a perfect picture of the city with its night light glory.
The cruise took us through all the beautiful hotels and malls , Riverside point, Clarke quay (remember our dinner ???), Fullerton, and ended in Merlion Park. Wow, I have seen the Merlion in the day and in the night :) Perfect. Now my trip is almost done!! aint ?
The last stop was the Raffles Hotel (the oldest hotel in town),
named after the person who was responsible for the formation of SG. It has its own history, and it was like seeing a part of England inside SG. Why did it feel so? Because it was built in those times and in their architecture. It had the English signature in it everywhere. Seems like all biggies who visit SG stay there. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas (It was Christmas Eve when we went there..) We had a tour of the inside and said good night to all and travelled back to our hotels.
Orchard Road , the most happening road in SG during Christmas and New year, was decorated so so so well (it sort of reminded me of Commercial street at times, but 100 times better than that) it was like going amidst a carnival.
Well that was it for our Christmas eve tour. Quite an event.
Morning we had a so-called city tour which mostly included the trip to the Merlion Park (The famous symbol of Singapore)
and then to a chinese temple
in China Town (my first) and then to the Orchid park
.
On the way we saw the Chopstick statue ( built in memorial of the people who died in the Japanese invasion of Singapore during WWII) , the parliament, the finance building and got to know some of the rich and funky places like the Supreme Court (you should see how modernized it is) and the capital buildings of Singapore. The only hitch was that it was rainin and it spoilt our little fun in Merlion Park. It was so cold already and rain made things worse. I just couldnt stop sneezing and it in turn made us spend 10S$ to buy an umbrella from our guide. He sure did made gud business that day :), thanks to the rain (non-stop)
We came back to our hotels, had our lunch outside and went around for some shopping, because our next tour was after 6pm. So we had our little naps and was ready for our next tour in the evening.
Actually third and fourth day tours were arranged from the hotel (not from the travel agent from whom we booked the other tours and travels). In all the prev tours we had quite a lot of indians being guided by either chinese or malays but in the third and fourth day tours we had quite a lot of people from around the world (from england, australia, south korea, japan etc). So it was really different.
Now it was 6.30pm and we were taken in the coach to "Clarke Quay" for our dinner (my dad and mom , well include me too, were shocked to have dinner @ 6.30 ... was way too early for us). But since it was part of the tour, we went with it. Now comes the interesting part. Out of 20, only three (we three) were veggies. So they got us the south asian vegetarian food.
Now you have seen what we were served. Rice, Some manchurian thing, some leaves, corn soup, spring roll and that was it. We were given some veg salad in the beginning and some fruits in the end. That was our dinner. The non-veggies had quite a long list which included almost all animals (sea and non-sea) served !!! In tamil nadu, rice is never eaten without any watery side dish (read sambhar, rasam etc) and here we were given rice with nothing of that sort... and for some time we were wondering what to do.!!! you should have seen our faces.. it was awesome!!! perfect examples for exclamation...Well my parents had the rest (side dishes) and left out the rice part, I managed to eat that too.. (thinking of somalia and so many people out there who cannot manage to get even a morsel of food..etc etc..) my dad was asking me to not eat if i couldnt.. and not to trouble myself...but I finally had all that was in my plate successfully..wow!!! After that eventful dinner, we went to a Pewter factory , saw the making of the money tree (yes ! you heard it right, this was the age old money used).
Then we went to have our share of Singapore Sling (alcoholic drink). Now dont get the idea of a peg or anything, it was just a taster ... so it was almost a teaspoon to get the taste of it. Well, we anyway did forego that and then begins our ride in the boat for the night cruise in the Singapore River. It was wonderful cruising in that river and seeing SG in all its lightning glory. We could see so many people with their camera (all sorts and sizes) trying to get a perfect picture of the city with its night light glory.
The cruise took us through all the beautiful hotels and malls , Riverside point, Clarke quay (remember our dinner ???), Fullerton, and ended in Merlion Park. Wow, I have seen the Merlion in the day and in the night :) Perfect. Now my trip is almost done!! aint ?
The last stop was the Raffles Hotel (the oldest hotel in town),
named after the person who was responsible for the formation of SG. It has its own history, and it was like seeing a part of England inside SG. Why did it feel so? Because it was built in those times and in their architecture. It had the English signature in it everywhere. Seems like all biggies who visit SG stay there. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas (It was Christmas Eve when we went there..) We had a tour of the inside and said good night to all and travelled back to our hotels.
Orchard Road , the most happening road in SG during Christmas and New year, was decorated so so so well (it sort of reminded me of Commercial street at times, but 100 times better than that) it was like going amidst a carnival.
Well that was it for our Christmas eve tour. Quite an event.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Singapore Trip - 2nd Day
Singapore Trip - 2nd Day
The whole of 2nd day was spent effectively in Sentosa Island. We could have gone in the cable car from the main island, but the guide told us that there was some issue and it was under maintenance...It was ok with me.. U will see why... We saw the following:
a. Tiger Sky Tower
I am an acrophobic ( fault of maternal gene - even though a ride on a plane doesnt scare me at all. ). So I was a little apprehensive about this ride. Well see the image for yourselves, on how we are supposed to be seated and how far its going to go up. But to my surprise, when we got in and when it started its ascend it was cool. hmm.. I guess I am getting a hold on my phobia. We could see the whole of Sentosa.. here are a few images for you.
The descent was a little faster..but it gave us the whole picture of Sentosa Island. We could see quite a lot of construction happening there.. Universal Studios is building something very huge there.... Well if you are planning to visit SG at the end of next year, you are in for some real treats , I heard. World largest Casino, Integrated Theme park of Sentosa and SG etc etc.
b. Images of Singapore and Wax Museum
When we were given the tickets for this show, I was a thinkin may be they will have some pictures of how SG was formed and its history etc etc.. boring..!!!! Well they had surprises everywhere. What can I say!!!! We were taken to a room, almost like a pirate's room, all doors were closed, we were around 10-12 people sitting in what looked like a plywood boxes, we had four photographs hangin before us and suddenly the lights went out and from a place which looked like a stage (small in size), out of nowhere, a lady appeared and started addressing us. I couldnt even think right for a sec... Then I thought if this is a hologram it might not come in my camera (!coz I tried the same in Innovative Film City in bangalore and since it was a holographic image or whatever, I couldnt capture it). So I tried taking a picture and to my surprise, it came out well. Then suddenly, the pictures started talking to us and then each one took turn.. Wow!!! It was so amazing!!!!!..
There were two screen on either side, to support what these 4 gentlemen were telling , with loads of images and animations. It was primarily about the four winds from different directions, indicating different set of people who came to SG and how finally SG was formed.
Wish my history classes were so interesting !! Why cant they use this technology to teach history to people !! Wouldnt it be more effective ????? When I become a teacher , I will definitely try to implement this!!! (ok,.. dont laugh.. u never know.. dreaming isnt bad)..
One of the best history shows... Good one Sentosa.
After this we had the wax museum to depict the Old and New SG and its cultures and various festivals celebrated and etc..etc...
When we came out, to our surprise, we saw age old games being played by people around this show. Bamabaram vilayaadaradhu la irundhu, pallankuzhi varai... ellam irundhadhu.. it was cool.. (ok.. i wrote that in tamizh, because I seriously dont know what you call the pallankuzhi in english ... even though bambaram is called a top in english.. how do u address the way u play it.....see I am smart !!!)
c. Underwater World
The next stop was the Underwater World. First time I saw Stinkgray's so close, god, they were splashing so much water on the surface... People who wanted to feed them could also do that.. There were so many kinds of fish, and underwater animals... my God.. this is just a tip of the ice.. then imagine how much in an ocean.. well it was never my interest anytime.. except seeing them so close in such places.. but they were cool. We didnt even walk.. we had this traveletor to take us round and bring us back...
d. Baby Seal show
The next one was the cutest part... the baby seal show.. It was originally a dolphin show.. but seems like they arent now part of the show for sometime (did they say something about hibernation or something of sort.. i dont remember now)... so well instead of dolphins it was baby seals.
I have seen these shows in TVs. But watching them so close so near..they were adorable. One of it didnt do the dance properly :)...it was fun watching them.. even though it was only for 15 mins or so.. they were worth the time....
e. Siloso Beach tram ride
It was almost 6 by then and before the last show we had a tram ride to take us through the siloso beach which included the siloso resort , wave house, beaches etc and brought us back to the Songs of the sea place.
We had some time for our tea break. We just went around till it was 7 pm. Because the Songs of the Sea show starts around 7.30 pm and if you dont go in early you might loose the good seat. Seems like there will be 2000 people for that show alone....So after little refreshening up, we went and took up our seats and were waiting for the natural lights to dim in the beach and for the show to start....
f. Songs of the sea
When mother nature did dim the light of the sky, the show began. I was literally dumb stuck with the introduction lights... Ooooh.. Can I really be sure that I am seeing what I am seeing.. that was the only thought I had... It was hollywood piece right out there.. in real... nothing imaginary.. It was awesome..
I was savouring every single moment of it. The light show was damn good.. It had a story and real life people in it..But trust me.. this is something u have to see in person. If u get a chance .. dont miss it.. it was really worth it... my dad has the entire show in his handycam...The whole show was done with the water, the light, the fire and the few characters in it.. Good one.. the best of Sentosa I would say (atleast based on what I have seen..).. The story ended in a good note.. and with the same good feeling, we travelled back to our hotels.
The whole of 2nd day was spent effectively in Sentosa Island. We could have gone in the cable car from the main island, but the guide told us that there was some issue and it was under maintenance...It was ok with me.. U will see why... We saw the following:
a. Tiger Sky Tower
I am an acrophobic ( fault of maternal gene - even though a ride on a plane doesnt scare me at all. ). So I was a little apprehensive about this ride. Well see the image for yourselves, on how we are supposed to be seated and how far its going to go up. But to my surprise, when we got in and when it started its ascend it was cool. hmm.. I guess I am getting a hold on my phobia. We could see the whole of Sentosa.. here are a few images for you.
The descent was a little faster..but it gave us the whole picture of Sentosa Island. We could see quite a lot of construction happening there.. Universal Studios is building something very huge there.... Well if you are planning to visit SG at the end of next year, you are in for some real treats , I heard. World largest Casino, Integrated Theme park of Sentosa and SG etc etc. b. Images of Singapore and Wax Museum
When we were given the tickets for this show, I was a thinkin may be they will have some pictures of how SG was formed and its history etc etc.. boring..!!!! Well they had surprises everywhere. What can I say!!!! We were taken to a room, almost like a pirate's room, all doors were closed, we were around 10-12 people sitting in what looked like a plywood boxes, we had four photographs hangin before us and suddenly the lights went out and from a place which looked like a stage (small in size), out of nowhere, a lady appeared and started addressing us. I couldnt even think right for a sec... Then I thought if this is a hologram it might not come in my camera (!coz I tried the same in Innovative Film City in bangalore and since it was a holographic image or whatever, I couldnt capture it). So I tried taking a picture and to my surprise, it came out well. Then suddenly, the pictures started talking to us and then each one took turn.. Wow!!! It was so amazing!!!!!..
There were two screen on either side, to support what these 4 gentlemen were telling , with loads of images and animations. It was primarily about the four winds from different directions, indicating different set of people who came to SG and how finally SG was formed. Wish my history classes were so interesting !! Why cant they use this technology to teach history to people !! Wouldnt it be more effective ????? When I become a teacher , I will definitely try to implement this!!! (ok,.. dont laugh.. u never know.. dreaming isnt bad)..
One of the best history shows... Good one Sentosa.
After this we had the wax museum to depict the Old and New SG and its cultures and various festivals celebrated and etc..etc...
When we came out, to our surprise, we saw age old games being played by people around this show. Bamabaram vilayaadaradhu la irundhu, pallankuzhi varai... ellam irundhadhu.. it was cool.. (ok.. i wrote that in tamizh, because I seriously dont know what you call the pallankuzhi in english ... even though bambaram is called a top in english.. how do u address the way u play it.....see I am smart !!!)
c. Underwater World
The next stop was the Underwater World. First time I saw Stinkgray's so close, god, they were splashing so much water on the surface... People who wanted to feed them could also do that.. There were so many kinds of fish, and underwater animals... my God.. this is just a tip of the ice.. then imagine how much in an ocean.. well it was never my interest anytime.. except seeing them so close in such places.. but they were cool. We didnt even walk.. we had this traveletor to take us round and bring us back...
d. Baby Seal show
The next one was the cutest part... the baby seal show.. It was originally a dolphin show.. but seems like they arent now part of the show for sometime (did they say something about hibernation or something of sort.. i dont remember now)... so well instead of dolphins it was baby seals.
I have seen these shows in TVs. But watching them so close so near..they were adorable. One of it didnt do the dance properly :)...it was fun watching them.. even though it was only for 15 mins or so.. they were worth the time....
e. Siloso Beach tram ride
It was almost 6 by then and before the last show we had a tram ride to take us through the siloso beach which included the siloso resort , wave house, beaches etc and brought us back to the Songs of the sea place.
We had some time for our tea break. We just went around till it was 7 pm. Because the Songs of the Sea show starts around 7.30 pm and if you dont go in early you might loose the good seat. Seems like there will be 2000 people for that show alone....So after little refreshening up, we went and took up our seats and were waiting for the natural lights to dim in the beach and for the show to start....
f. Songs of the sea
When mother nature did dim the light of the sky, the show began. I was literally dumb stuck with the introduction lights... Ooooh.. Can I really be sure that I am seeing what I am seeing.. that was the only thought I had... It was hollywood piece right out there.. in real... nothing imaginary.. It was awesome..
I was savouring every single moment of it. The light show was damn good.. It had a story and real life people in it..But trust me.. this is something u have to see in person. If u get a chance .. dont miss it.. it was really worth it... my dad has the entire show in his handycam...The whole show was done with the water, the light, the fire and the few characters in it.. Good one.. the best of Sentosa I would say (atleast based on what I have seen..).. The story ended in a good note.. and with the same good feeling, we travelled back to our hotels.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Singapore Trip - Day 1
Singapore - Day 1
It was a over night journey for us (myself and my parents) from Chennai to Singapore (here after referred as SG), which made us a little dizzy because of the 8 hrs of waiting in the airport and almost a ShivRathri for us as they served us the breakfast (according to SG timezone) at around 3 am IST time, so that left us hardly any time for a small nap in the flight. Well we landed in SG Changi airport and being the first trip outside India, we were AW'ed by the airport and its facilities and its grandeur (! is that the term?). We got our airport pickup after the customs and immigrations, on time and on our way to the hotel (Hotel Fortuna) got to get the hang of the city's skyscrapers,
clean and green roads, lane disciplined traffic, etc etc.... We had to wait for an hour for the checkin and since our first tour was in the evening around 6pm SG time, we had enough time to lie down and gather ourselves together and then went for a small shopping in the Mustafa center. Did I tell you that my dad already went and did browsing for half-an-hour and informed my bro about our safe arrival, in the mean time we were getting our room ready ??. Well, he did that.
Now when we were settled and had our brunch in the nearby Komala's Restaurant, we went to check out on the handycam for our trip in SG. We got a good deal in a shop outside Mustafa and we bought it ;). So we had all our equipments ready for the tours.
Our first day tour was the Night Safari.
I have been to the Bangalore Safari, but this is totally different. We were picked up in an A/C volvo bus (dont they know anything else other than the Volvo stuff and the A/C stuff.. God, the weather was already chill & everywhere we went there was A/C.... !!! Whew!!) with all other families (around 15 members totally) and we were there in the night safari. It was cool, we went around in the tram to see all the animals wandering and some came very near (deer, hyenas [I dont like these], pigs with mush [forgot the name] etc etc...). It was a 30-45 mins drive. My camera didnt work that well in that dark without the flash and my dad was trying to get the handycam working but since it was our first, we both failed to get a good video altogether. But after that we had our "Creatures of the Night" show, it was amazing. The girl/lady who conducted it had a great sense of humor and command. Without her I guess the show wouldnt be the same. We saw pythons, Fox howling, hyenas everything. It was for almost 20 mins and then we had the tribal fire dance show. It was cute. We had time to buy something, if we wanted to. There was also options (obviously not for us), to go on a walking trail around the place, and there were a few other options also, but since it was already 9 pm we had to return back to our coach and we headed back to our hotels.
Best part, we did see quite a lot of animals which were new to us, obviously whose names we still dont get or remember quite well. But it was definitely a good place and especially for animal lovers and kids. (Do they train these animals to be so quiet ? ) It was a little scary because it was as if you are going into the jungle and since it was quite dark and even the tram lights were off, it gave me some goose bumps at times, but was very thrilling. We enjoyed the trip a lot.
So much for the first day's details. Will be posting the experiences of each day separately. I wouldnt want to miss on any details because later when we want to remember the pleasantries these posts might help.. dont they ;)
Missed out to tell you that I tried watching "Julie & Julia" and "Love Aaj kal" during my flight journey, but ended up watching half of each. I was torn between my sleep and my yearning for completing these movies.
It was a over night journey for us (myself and my parents) from Chennai to Singapore (here after referred as SG), which made us a little dizzy because of the 8 hrs of waiting in the airport and almost a ShivRathri for us as they served us the breakfast (according to SG timezone) at around 3 am IST time, so that left us hardly any time for a small nap in the flight. Well we landed in SG Changi airport and being the first trip outside India, we were AW'ed by the airport and its facilities and its grandeur (! is that the term?). We got our airport pickup after the customs and immigrations, on time and on our way to the hotel (Hotel Fortuna) got to get the hang of the city's skyscrapers,
clean and green roads, lane disciplined traffic, etc etc.... We had to wait for an hour for the checkin and since our first tour was in the evening around 6pm SG time, we had enough time to lie down and gather ourselves together and then went for a small shopping in the Mustafa center. Did I tell you that my dad already went and did browsing for half-an-hour and informed my bro about our safe arrival, in the mean time we were getting our room ready ??. Well, he did that. Now when we were settled and had our brunch in the nearby Komala's Restaurant, we went to check out on the handycam for our trip in SG. We got a good deal in a shop outside Mustafa and we bought it ;). So we had all our equipments ready for the tours.
Our first day tour was the Night Safari.
I have been to the Bangalore Safari, but this is totally different. We were picked up in an A/C volvo bus (dont they know anything else other than the Volvo stuff and the A/C stuff.. God, the weather was already chill & everywhere we went there was A/C.... !!! Whew!!) with all other families (around 15 members totally) and we were there in the night safari. It was cool, we went around in the tram to see all the animals wandering and some came very near (deer, hyenas [I dont like these], pigs with mush [forgot the name] etc etc...). It was a 30-45 mins drive. My camera didnt work that well in that dark without the flash and my dad was trying to get the handycam working but since it was our first, we both failed to get a good video altogether. But after that we had our "Creatures of the Night" show, it was amazing. The girl/lady who conducted it had a great sense of humor and command. Without her I guess the show wouldnt be the same. We saw pythons, Fox howling, hyenas everything. It was for almost 20 mins and then we had the tribal fire dance show. It was cute. We had time to buy something, if we wanted to. There was also options (obviously not for us), to go on a walking trail around the place, and there were a few other options also, but since it was already 9 pm we had to return back to our coach and we headed back to our hotels. Best part, we did see quite a lot of animals which were new to us, obviously whose names we still dont get or remember quite well. But it was definitely a good place and especially for animal lovers and kids. (Do they train these animals to be so quiet ? ) It was a little scary because it was as if you are going into the jungle and since it was quite dark and even the tram lights were off, it gave me some goose bumps at times, but was very thrilling. We enjoyed the trip a lot.
So much for the first day's details. Will be posting the experiences of each day separately. I wouldnt want to miss on any details because later when we want to remember the pleasantries these posts might help.. dont they ;)
Missed out to tell you that I tried watching "Julie & Julia" and "Love Aaj kal" during my flight journey, but ended up watching half of each. I was torn between my sleep and my yearning for completing these movies.
Monday, January 4, 2010
2009 - oru kannotam
:) Well it was a year with everything (I literally mean it). I had the best moments, the saddest moments, the thrilling and nail biting tensed situations, my dreams came true, my wishes were fulfilled, had sleepless nights worrying, what not.. you name and I would have had it. I had it all right from weddings of my siblings, my father's 60th birthday celebrations, my dream trip to my dream land with my parents, question mark still lingering on my life and how it would turn around, better work schedules, renewed friendships, wonderful movies, my guitar classes, tackling water seepage in my home, hmmm Wow... i had a lot of good moments last year I guess, even though I had the equal share of bad ones too...but it is always better to remember the good ones. Nothing could have been more perfect to me than the perfect ending of the year with a trip to my dream land (please dont laugh when I say the name of the place) Singapore with my parents. The trip was very very memorable. I will write it in a separate post on the places we visited and the funny incidents that happened.
All is well that ends well isnt it :). 2009 was eventful and I wish that 2010 will be more memorable for everyone and I wish to see more good things and good endings here too :)
All is well that ends well isnt it :). 2009 was eventful and I wish that 2010 will be more memorable for everyone and I wish to see more good things and good endings here too :)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happy New Year
The Dawn of a New Year happened with my family around and of course with Sweets and a Prayer. Wishing all of you a very very Happy New Year. May this year bring all the joy to all people around the world. May there be less calamities, more awakening in people, more happiness and more and more of good things :)
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