Coconut Burfi

Skin Care Regime

Its been a while,have stopped taking care of my skin due to various things/stress and not really interested in doing anything after getting back from work.All i do is to just go to bed.This has now taken a toll on my skin.

So from today onwards,have made a promise to my ownself to not do this anymore and would take care of my skin. So started with a skin care regime,which includes using a cleanser,a pack ,followed by a toner and a moisturizer before i call it a day and go to bed.

Here's what i am using :) !

Cleanser - Lakme gentle and soft deep pore cleanser
Face pack - Made of Honey,Kasturi Manjal (turmeric) and Red Sandalwood powder
Toner - Neutrogena deep clean cooling toner
Moisturizer - Aloecream prescribed by dermatologist

Hope this helps in making my skin healthier.

3D Quilled Teddy

Quilling and various things you can create using them never stops fascinating me. Quilled fringed flowers are used for making the teddy.

Mysore,Masinagudi,Ooty,Srirangapatnam Trip

Somewhere in the month of Nov 2013,Ben's India visit was finalised. He would be here for 2 weeks during the month of  Dec 2013. We all wanted to do something exciting,while he was here and would get only one weekend to do that. So,what's the better way to make a weekend interesting than a weekend trip.

From the mid of Nov 2013,we started our planning.At first,thought of Wayanad,as we had been there few months ago. Ben then suggested we go to a place where the team had not been earlier. So dropped the idea of going to Wayanad and started googling for the places again & landed up with Masinagudi and Ooty.

Once we picked the places,we had a strange problem.Entry to Ooty is via Bandipur National park and the entry is restricted (6:00am to 6:00pm).If we have to see the palace and then head to Ooty,we would be stopped at the check post. Hence, decided to rest in Mysore & booked few rooms in MTR residency, Mysore.For the stay in Masinagudi,we booked a Homestay "Green Acres".

Plan was to start on  Dec 6th at  4:30pm from bangalore - >7:30pm Mysore Palace - > 9:00pm Dinner at Kamat Lokaruchi -> Rest -> Dec 7th 6:00am  Bandipur National part -> Ooty Sight seeing  - > Night in Masinagudi Home-stay - > Dec 8th Deep jungle Safari - > Sightseeing ->Mysore -> Srirangapatnam - > Bangalore.

On 6th Dec 2013,we started from our office around 5:30 pm (All thanks to our data assets,they decided to go down.we had to wait for the database to be up to complete the work).Ben,Ranjit & Amir left in Ben's vehicle,while me,Ramya,Burhan,Sarmista and Aprajita started in our vehicle.On the way, we stopped at aprajita's house to pickup few stuff. After this , we continued our journey towards silk board. We had just crossed the Kundnahali signal, Aprajita realized she left her phone at home. We had to make our 2nd stop, while she gets her phone.By this time, Ben and the guys had already crossed Silk board and were headed towards Nice road.We reached nice road by 7:30pm.From here,it was a nice drive.We all danced our way through for some dance numbers.

In between,Burhan wanted to watch Big Bang theory ,but the format was not compatible with the player and he cribbed throughout the trip.Lucky us,he had few episodes stored in his phone and kept himself occupied watching them.

It was ~9:20pm,when we reached Mysore and decided to have dinner first & then visit the palace. We all had an awesome dinner at Kamat Lokaruchi. This place serves traditional north Karnataka food.Ben liked the food,that was a bonus.

We then headed to Mysore Palace. Its always been my dream to view the palace in the night.I have been to Mysore earlier but could never get to view the palace in the night.I was over the top happy as my this wish was gonna come true in just few more minutes.At 10:30pm on Friday night,we were at the palace,view was worth the drive.I was so overwhelmed to be there.I kept on repeating myself and telling Ramya,how happy i was to be there.

At 11:00pm,we went to MTR residency to call it a night.We all decided to meet in the lobby by 4:30am to start towards Ooty.

On Dec 7th 2013 Saturday,Me and Ramya wokeup around 3:15am and started giving a wake up call to others.By 4:15 am ,we started assembling in the lobby.As few were not ready,we had to wait for them. Atlast by 4:50am,we checked out.Early morning drive was amazing,we reached check post by 5:45am.For the first time in weeks,we saw clear sky and an shooting star.Few vehicles were already in the line waiting for the clearance.we entered the forest at 6:10am. The very moment we entered the forest,we saw a herd of deer (not 3 or 4,they were more than 20), we all jumped out of joy and asked our driver to stop the vehicle. We all got down and stood there for a while to enjoy these moments.As we passed through the forest,we saw deer everywhere,few elephants,peacocks & monkeys.Worth the early morning wake-up.

There are 3 check posts on the way and collected 50 Rs as fees cross through.Once,we were out of the Jungle,we had breakfast at a hotel near check post and headed straight to Ooty via Gudalur.

There are 2 ways to reach Ooty.
Route 1 : Bandipur National Park –> Karnataka Tamilnadu border–>  Theppakkadu –> Masinagudi  –> Ghat section starts ( 36 hairpin bends ahead )–> Joins NH67 (Ghat section ends) –> Ooty

Route 2 : -Bandipur National Park –> Karnataka Tamilnadu border-> Theppakkadu –> Gudallur Town –> Pykara Lake–> Ooty.

Route 1 is shortest compared to Route 2. However,a lot tough to drive due to the steep climb and hairpin bends.We decided not to Route 1 with 36 hair pin bends and took the longest route. It turned out to be a wise decision.

The way to ooty was the best part. Trust me when i say this,Way to ooty is spectacularly beautiful than the ooty itself. Our driver was sweet enough to stop at every spot.

We reached ooty at 10:00am and visited Pykara shooting point.Tourist guide listed many movie names that were shot here and while we there, we could see a tamil moving shoot going on.In between,Burhan was exicted about the horse ride and took one. He could not stop smiling from then on. Amir and Ramya kept pulling his leg by comparing the horse to donkey.

From here,we headed to Pykara lake for a boat ride.There are many options to choose like peddle boat,rowing boat & Motor boats. We opted for a motor boat.This ride is for 20 mins and for one round.However,you pay an extra 80,they would take you for another extra round.

After our beautiful boat ride experience,we were all hungry and had lunch around 1pm. Post lunch,we visited Botanical gardens. This was kind a boring,nothing interesting there other then the lawn and a monument with Jayalalita's name on it.We all rested on the lawn for few mins and got out of this place.

 Outside the garden,there are many home made chocolate shops.Each variety costs  45rs for 100gms. Did a lot of chocolate shopping and Ramya bought some tasty Apples,which we relished on the way to Doddabeta.30 mins from botanical garden is Doddabeta Peak.This place is quite similar to suicide point in Kodaikanal. From the parking lot,you have to walk for nearly 15 mins to reach the place from where you could view the entire Ooty. We spent around 1.5 hrs here and headed towards Doddabeta Tea Factory. Few of us were dead tired by then and decided to take a quick nap in the vehicle and skipped this while Ramya,Burhan,Amir and Ben visited this place and bought Green tea.

Around 5:00pm,we headed towards Masinagudi. Due to time constraints,drivers decided to take route 1 with the 36 hair pin bends,However,this way was blocked,due to a recent accident and we landed up taking the longest route. Once we entered Gudalur,our vehicle broke down and it took nearly 2 hrs for it to be fixed while Ben reached the Home-stay. We reached Home-stay by 9:00pm. We all got fresh and started cooking. It was by 10:45pm,we finished cooking & had dinner.Most of us went to bed after 12:00.

On 8th Dec 2013 Sunday,our Jungle safari was booked for 5:30am.We all woke up by 4:45am  & were all ready. However, In the morning,we got to know that due to unavailability of the jeeps,our safari schedule is now postponed to 6:30am.

We took 2 jeeps for this deep jungle safari and costed us 5000 Rs.Driving through the forest early in the morning with cool breeze and mild sun rays in the jeep was one of a kind experience.Spotted herds of deer & peacocks.Spotting animals during these safari's is always based on your luck. None the less,experiencing an early morning drive through the jungle was worth waking up early.

We stopped at a river in the jungle and played there for a while. Water was freezing cold and felt so fresh.

While we were returning from the jungle safari,we asked the driver if there are any other places near by to visit.Thats when for the first time we heard about an "Elephant Camp".There are 20 elephants here,which are used for safari's,forest clearance,movement of logs from one place to another,etc.They have a elephant feeding routine,which is quite popular & the entry to this place in the morning is till 9:00am.It was 8:30am when we got to know about this place was 7 kms from Masinagudi bus stop. Me and Ramya along with Ben started to this place.This turned out to be very good. Elephants are fed at 9:00am in the morning and people have to buy tickets to watch this. We reached this at 8:50 am and were lucky enough to see this.Would write more about this in my next post.

We returned to home-stay by 10:00am. we all got fresh,had breakfast,lazed around a bit and checked out at 12:30pm to travel to Srirangapatnam.On the way,we stopped at hotel Sandesh for lunch in Mysore.

Post lunch,We travelled to visit  Gumbaz in Srirangapatnam.Its the burial chamber of Tipu Sultan, his father Haider Ali and mother Fatima Begum.

After this, we went to summer palace but unlucky we were late and gates were closed at 5:30pm. However,Ben's driver was much quicker than us in reaching the palace and Ben got to see the palace.

Next destination was Shivansamudram. Driver informed us that it would take only 30 mins to reach,no idea what he heard when we were inquiring. It was 6:45pm, when we reached and was dark. Could not see the waterfalls. Few of us were disappointed. Looking at this,drivers tried flashing lights point towards the falls,so that we could least get to see something but no go.From here,we headed straight to Bangalore and reached home at 10:30pm.

A wonderful weekend had come to an end with some beautiful memories to treasure.

New Year 2014

New Year 2014

Wish you all a wonderful new year ahead. 

"When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way. - Wayne Dyer" -- This would be my mantra for this year.

 I have no big plans nor any resolutions.I live one day at a time.

 Started new year by offering my prayers to dear lord and then watched my ever favourite movie "You have got mail".