hoysaleshwara_1

nandi

day_2

shravan_belagol

day_1

channakeshwar_II

Trip to Chikmagloore....

After much pondering and planning, my sis and jijaji decided that we spend the long weekend in Chikmagloore ...

Chikmagloore - 200 km from Bangalore

Day I

14-Jan-05

5:30 a.m.
(Out of bed and at the washbasin)....too sleepy to realize I almost got a frostbite off the floor. Its frikkin cold before sunrise. Finished last minute packing... picked up that almost necessary CD album for the drive.. and we were off at exactly 6:15 a.m.

Vehicle : Hyundai Accent
head Count : 5 (sis, bro-in-law(Anoop), noop's parents and urs truly)
Filled up the tank and hit the Highway

8:00 a.m
Stuck in traffic.....a trailer truck carrying humongous logs was blocking the road and the truck pulling it had tilted off outside the road..After like 30 mins we were back on pace.

Once we reached Hassan...took a break at Gurudev a decent udipi restaurant...grabbed some idlis, dosas and set back. We digressed a bit off track looking for Belur...but were rightly sent back by a gentleman who looked confident bout knowing the route.

10:00 a.m
we were on the route joining Hassan and Belur .... picturesque drive.... a placid river on the right and lush fields donned with paddy, coconut trees and sunflowers on the left.. the mood was just right with, "yuhin challa chal" from Swades, playing on the Pioneer.

11:30 a.m

We reached Belur and paid a visit to Channakeshwar Temple.... an ornate construction.. with one central temple surrounded by couple of other constructions.. we cudnt have a clear view of the inside coz there was an abhishek(milk bath) going on.

Next, we headed for Chikmagloor...after much direction seeking we finally made it there.. we were guests at a very hospitable home. The Pai family was pretty well to do and was well known in chikmagloor with coupla estates under their name. We had a heavy lunch and headed off for site-seeing.. we set out in a Scorpio that the hosts insisted on taking.


We reached the foot of a trekking spot after which the vehicle cudnt climb.. there was a temple at the peak...the only way to get there was to climb a 108 step stair-case (which was pretty much an array of stone slabs placed on an incline).. took us around 30 mins to get to the top... the temple looked like a monestary from outside....we got in and took darshan.

On our way back we visited a coffee estate that the Pai's owned... they have other plantations like orange, jackfruit that provide shade, necessary for coffee growth.

6:30 p.m.
Reached back home tired and weary. It being a festive day (Sankranti) the local temples had programmes organized..we attended one such programme and were awestruck by the talent in this small town...there was mimmickry, skits, dances and even orchestra.
There was a SatyaNarayana pooja going on at someones place...we tagged along with the Pais who were invited there...
What impressed me the most bout the place was that everyone knows everyone by name if they dont they make it a point to get an introduction....the kids play around in the streets without any inhibition or fear. The entire town is like one big home.

10:30 p.m
Hit the sack after yet another heavy meal.

Saturday night at Zero G ...

"Zero G" is this pub/lounge bar/discotheque on Residency Rd,

Its on the roof top of the ABN Ambro bank.

entry fee (full cover charge) : 500/- (per stag/couple)

The elevator opens to the terrace area .. to the left is this fancy bar, with bar stools to chill out and enjoy a drink while you ramble on about life with the bartender(like those frustu scenes in hollywood movies..)

The central area is a circular two step high floor.. this served as a small dance floor cum seating area. A huge round red lit table sits in the centre ..that seats around 8 ppl.. there was a phirang group occupying this .. looked pretty lavish. There were curved tables adjoining the central area ..

We sat close to .. this central area .. on a circular table .. we were 6 of us. We started off with a pitcher of cocktails(Long Island Ice Tea and Margharitas) and lamb chilly ..
never order for cocktail pitchers .. end up getting 25% ice *ADULTERY*

Someone suggested we should try the hukka .. so we went for the grape flavour .. major TP but got sick of it after sometime.

At around 10:30 we shifted a gear higher .. hit the dance floor .. the song was "Feel the beat" by Darude. At around 11:15 the DJ announced that there will be Hip-Hop music starting 11:30. At around 11:30 the DJ dissappered .. We were wondering wat happened to the hip-hop gig. The mood went back to pubbing. The dance floor was empty.. I got mad and asked the waiter wat the matter was .. he pointed me to another section..
.. towards the left was a passage(with coal shegdis at regular intervals to warm urself) that leads to another restaurant for quite dining .. and further ahead was this place called Insanity(part of 0 G). Insanity is the discotheque.. around 700 sq. ft. of dance floor. The entrance was a black door with a hand sticking out. There was a black light on top which makes your teeth and eyes glow like flourescent stickers .. it was kinda creepy to yank at a bodiless arm .. the door opened to the a crowdy dance floor that was 4 steps below. The DJ was in top gear. The music rocked (though the music was hip-hop).
We wore ourselves out by 1:00 and left for home .. the next thing i remember was waking up in my bed ..

Opinion:
Food : decent but frikkin expensive (5/10)
Mood : BLACK all BLACK (8/10)
Ambience : Dark with an all round "in da club" look and is windy, chilly, but well stacked with hand warmers (7.5/10)

Music : all i can say is .. i cant feel my feet (9/10)
Crowd : "eye candy" (8/10)


So Overall : paisa wasool (8/10)

P.S. They have Bollywood nights on Wednesdays

LP Live in Texas

live in texas I 

got hold of "Linkin Park - Live in TEXAS" ..

A must have for any LP fan ..

Its an extremely attractive cover which opens up once to the left and another flap to the right.

the center panel has a hidden booklet with 16 very graphic photos from the show featuring the band's concert ..

Flap#1 has the music CD:

12 kick a** tracks from their 3 albums viz.
Somewhere I belong(Meteora)
Lying from u (Meteora)
Papercut(Hybrid Theory)
Points of Authority(Hybrid Theory)
Runaway(Hybrid Theory)
Faint(Meteora)
From the Inside(Meteora)
P5hng me A*way(Reanimation)
Numb(Meteora)
Crawling(Hybrid Theory)
In the END(Hybrid Theory)
One Step Closer(Hybrid Theory))


Flap#2 has a DVD .. ya the entire performance is on video. Features incredible LIVE performances in 5.1 SURROUND SOUND of

"One Step Closer"
"IN THE END"
"FAINT"
"NUMB"
"BY MYSELF"
"PLACE FOR MY HEAD"
"WITH U"
"POINTS OF AUTHORITY" .. and more

go get it even if u have all their earlier albums .. it has voice pieces from "Mike Shinoda" and "Chester Bennington"

ROCK ON !!

Programmer expressions ..

Just realised .. every programmer has his/her own selective set of excuses when their programs fail to work .. but they seem to be redundant enough to come from some handbook titled "It Was'nt Me" ..

some of which i can think of .. most of which have used .. in no particular order ..

"That's weird .."
"It works on my machine .."
"It worked yesterday .."
"Where were you when it blew up?"
"Have you heard of this virus thats catchin ?"

the list goes on ..

The one about Central Perk

by the cafe'


Did you know.. that the inspiration for the gang's caffeine-laced hangout is the Manhattan restaurant Danal at 90 E. 10th St.? One look at the decor in the French bistro - which is said to be a favorite of Julia Roberts' - and it's easy to see where the producers got the idea for Central Perk's comfy couches and mismatched furniture.

NCST 

The One That Could Have Been

friends imagine 

One of my favourite episodes ..

News that Barry and Mindy are getting divorced gets the gang wondering what their lives would be like if Rachel married Barry; if Ross's wife Carol hadn't realized she was a lesbian; if Monica was still fat; if Joey was still on Days of Our Lifes; if Chandler had quit his data entry job to pursue writing; and if Phoebe was a stock broker:

Ross and Rachel, both in unhappy marriages, run into each other on the street after not seeing each other for years. Ross brings Rachel to Central Perk to see Monica; Rachel quickly swoons over Joey, aka Dr. Drake Ramoray. Monica is dating the very boring Dr. Roger. Chandler is unemployed, but takes a job as Joey's assistant, which doesn't work out very well; but he is inspired by the experience and sells his first story to Archie Comics. Phoebe is ruthless and greedy, and has a heart attack after losing 13 million dollars on the stock market. While she's in the hospital, Ross finds out she's fired, but he doesn't dare tell her, fearing it will cause another heart attack. Ross suggests to Carol that they spice up their non-existant sex life. Carol doesn't like any of his ideas... except having a threesome. Rachel decides to have a fling with Joey. Monica reveals she's still a virgin.