Monday morning mother-son woke up pretty late. Santanu already left for office while we were in sleep. Around noon we went out of hotel to nearby mall. Today I was not much interested in exploring rather looking for kids activities. Spent almost half day at Toys R Us play area in Paragon mall where Aarush enjoyed to fullest. He did not want to give-up the car and was seating there for hours. He was not interested in playing with slide,swing and all. In fact he was bit scared when I put him up there. From there went to Carrefour to get some food for him. Around 4.30 PM came back had shower and both took a beauty sleep. In the evening Santanu had phone call to attend so after that we went to food court of Takashimaya for Dinner.

Had noodles and killed time sitting at one corner of pavement as Santanu had another call to attend.Very uneventful day. Came back and went to deep sleep again.

We had breakfast at ChatterBox as the normal breakfast side was packed. The menu was quite different  from the normal side as we had lots of traditional dishes to choose from. As usual Pamela had lots of dim-sum and I  preferred the usual cereal and fruits.

We started with the monastery, and when Orchard road tourist info office they were bit of surprised with our choice. The nearest MRT stop is Bishan and from there we took bus no 410. It took around 1 1/2hrs to complete the same. We enjoyed the serenity of that place painted in bright colors.

From there we went to Jurong bird park via MRT. This MRT journey is very long as covers almost whole Singapore Northern part. On the way we picked Zongzi (or zong) traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings; we had red bean paste. It is tetrahedral shape and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves where leaf imparts its own unique smell and flavor to the rice. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. After a long wait got into 194 SBS bus from Boonlay metro station by that the sky was already dark with afternoon clouds. As soon as we reached park gate it was almost 4 PM abut luckily rain stopped.

It is open concept park which houses some thousand birds. We started our walk from on left side of ticket counter followed by crowned pigeon- World’s Largest Pigeons. They are at tree-top level with walkway which offers a completely unobtrusive view of the birds since there are no wire meshes separating the visitor from the birds. Then they have large collection of horn-bills and toucans. Lory Loft showcases the Lorykeet where Visitors can enter, traverse and exit Lory Loft at treetop level, allowing for a bird eye’s view of the majestic panorama.

The bird shows at the Pools Amphitheater featuring flamingos, macaws, hornbills and cockatoos are both spectacular and funny we heard from others but we couldn’t watch any as reached there late afternoon. African Waterfall Aviary, home to free-flying African birds and parrots paradise we missed. They have air conditioned panorail system with stoppages which covers the entire Park providing excellent elevated views.

They have birds of prey section too then ostrich, Double-Wattled Cassowary, Emu followed by Dino Dig which allows children and family members to experience archaeological diggings together and discover fossils hidden through time amidst the sands. It is entertaining for both adults as kids.

From there we walked towards riverine featuring ducks, fishes and turtles, swan and pelican cove and then flamingo .Penguin Parade enclosure, in a re-created Antarctic setting is worth seeing from kids point of view. Shoe bill, African crane, saddle billed storks and then at last we entered world of darkness which houses different species of owl.

TIP: Scrolling around the park would take more than 2-3 hours. So make sure to come earlier so that you can spend more time mingling with birds. And one can still have time to relax in one of their huts while watching the birds and listening to their symphony. Personally, seen different kinds of birds only in pictures and books. It really awakens our childhood desires. My son enjoyed a lot. We had to carry stroller up and down the stairs many a times. Although it was bit tiring but MUCH better on foot, at our own pace. Overall, spent fabulous day with birds of different species from different countries at one place. Best part is the whole area is very green and serene.

They have unique restaurant as all the chairs are made of metal with different kinds of animal figures. As well one can’t miss their souvenir shop as it is at EXIT door. Instead of wounding up by taking the bus to MRT we hired a cab for our hotel; got freshened up then left for dinner at Lau Pa Sat known for satay and stingray under the stars.

Saturday, we planned for Sentosa Island – Sentosa is the top tourist attraction if you ask any Singaporean tourist information or locals. Sentosa has it all – beach, corporate team building activities, aquarium, great food and entertainment and soon there will be Casio and entertainment park with roller coaster rides. We planned for complete day-trip; as usual after heavy breakfast we went by metro to Harbour Front MRT station. From there took Sentosa Express (Monorail train) from Vivocity mall’s top floor. Once out of Beach station (last stop) we saw two queues for trams- one blue line queue to take the tram to Palawan and Tanjong beach and other green line to Siloso beach. We preferred for first one as it was less crowded. Today it was more relaxing for me as Santanu was there to take care of Aarush. And Aarush was also happy to see many kids around him.

The main highlight of the Tanjong beach is the suspension boardwalk that brings you to the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia which is also known as the closest point to the Equator in Asia. A bit tricky geography as Singapore is connected to Malaysia by a bridge it is not considers as an island and same true for Sentosa which is again connected to Singapore by a bridge; reminded me of those great signs of Western USA. We chilled and tried to get connect with nature as much we can in those tall shady coconut trees and beautiful bougainvilleas around. Aarush was so excited to see water that he just wanted to jump and Santanu told him very tight while he dipped himself in sea. It was not sufficient for him and ultimately he has to strap Aarush in the stroller. From Tanjong we came by walking to Palawa beach where we couldn’t control Aarush anymore. There is a small fountain square or wading pool for kids to play beside seaside. He played happily without bothering even we are around or not for almost 2 hrs; then we forcibly took him out as it started to rain.

This island is simply beautiful and bustling with activities. It houses many museums, theatres, aquariums, luxury shops and of course beaches. Had very light Indian lunch and then left for Silosa beach. There we visited underwater world which was equally fun. Underworld is one of expensive attraction of Santosa (S$22 per ticket) but it really worth the money. Next to the aquarium is the show of dolphins but due to rain it was cancelled and we have to be happy with the show from sea-lions.

From there we took a bus to tiger sky tower, images of Singapore and Merlion. These attractions are sited so close together that you need not spend more than 5 minutes to walk from one attraction to another. The easiest way to get to Imbiah Lookup is by Sentosa Express, a monorail train which will bring you directly to Imbiah Lookup station. Finally, after whole day walking and stalking my son slept and we too decided to relax while gazing at the serenity of the sea so comeback by monorail to last stop as we had bought ticket for last show of the day. Before Aarush went to sleep he was really cranky and was doing all kind of real naughty things, ultimate one was he just lied down completely on the pavement to lodge his complaint like a street activist.

We ended our trip with one of the highly-rated show, Song of the Sea where the highlight is on fountain-like water spray dancing harmoniously with the background music. In addition, to colourful lighting which changes constantly with the rhythm of the background music it is enhanced with lasers, pyrotechnics, bursts of fire, water jets, pop music and a live cast, the show is more like a state-of-the-art entertainment. After show we left for Vivocity for return journey to hotel.

We had our dinner at Vivocity food republic; place bubbling with energy. It’s the place for the food connoisseurs. They have wide range of international cuisine and restaurants serving French, Italian, Japanese, Taiwanese local flair and what not. We had java and fried Hakeem noodles…which was absolutely awesome.

On Friday we woke up early; had breakfast- an elaborate one. Me and Aarush after shower around 11am left our hotel room. Today again we walked on other side of Orchard Street till Dhoby Ghat Station. Now a days;  I too feel sick like my hubby when too much time spent at malls … am I growing old ?   It was good to be in mall when it is raining. On otherhand, it also allows you to enjoy the air-condition in the stores as outside it is really hot and humid when not raining.  We visited malls after mall Paragon, Orchard central, Specialist Shopping Centre (John Little store), Plaza Singapura etc flanked on Orchard street. This street is one of the best place to spend during any time of the year specially during year end when  the whole stretch of the street and the buildings are beautifully adorned with Christmas decors and lights.

Had hot piping dumpling soup at lunch while my son slept at street shop.Then continued walking past official residence of Singapore President, the Istana which is next to Plaza Singapora Mall.  There I picked a  local SIM card in the same mall so that I can talk to my hubby at least in need. Lastly, couldn’t stop myself on seeing Carrefour French hyper store after long time at same mall. Bought some errands and returned around 6-ish to the hotel.

Hubby too returned from office early being Friday around 7 ish; then we together left for dinner at Clark quay. Everyone were in weekend party mood. This area is lined with bars and notable restaurants like Hooters and others strung together, looking somewhat identical. Many waterfront restaurants to enjoy (Thai, Indian, Chinese …) food one wants to. They all have large covered patios that extend even further uncovered. G-MAX reverse bungee, River cruises and river taxies on the Singapore River can be accessed from Clarke Quay.

We chose Riverside Jumbo restaurant. Open air seating near the waterfront; its relaxing place for long chats while savoring seafood dishes after a long day of walking. We ordered steamed prawns with duck sauce as starter. Instead of popular and common Chili Crab which has more gravy we ordered black pepper crab a dry variant. Taste wise Black Pepper Crab is dry and spicy! Very yummy!  Its Crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside.

This was my fist experience with crab; learned one thing that they are delicious but messy to eat. Not the most elegant food to eat as they serve with a bib and trust me – unless you eat crab regularly you’ll get it absolutely everywhere.  Literally struggled during the whole course where the waitress kept on changing plates. Both hands got quite dirty but thankfully they kept a bowl with warm water and plenty of napkins to keep oneself clean. Santanu guided and helped me in cracking the crab. He told me that pickers generally used to split the shell or push the meat out with a long, thin tong. At times I felt like in a  bio-laboratory to dissect this crabs and in this long process lost my appetite. We need to use fingers in order to fully savour the crab.

We ordered some Chinese buns (man tou) for Aarush which did not liked it much so we finished those on behalf of him. Next time, will  definitely like to try the chilli crabs. As Aarush only had yogurt and some side dish we got french fries for him which he had while running near Clarke Quay riverside.

Links

www.jumboseafood.com.sg

We reached Singapore on Thursday morning, on our way to hotel we figured that its extremely green country with no single patch left just like that. Had our buffet breakfast till throat and hit the bed to overcome jetlag. We slept till 4.00PM Singapore local time.  Straight I went to window of my room on 30th floor and surprised to see natures tears rolling down from mournful burdened grey  clouds and people carrying open umbrellas. I cursed myself that I got rains along with me from Bangalore as it was pouring the day we left from there.

Lazily me and my son took shower and left the hotel around 6pm. Our hotel Mandarin Meritus was on Orchard Street; I preferred to know my neighborhood first. So, walking on that street felt like walking on Champs-Elysées of Paris with only difference that former is full of malls one after another while later is full of shops from branded company.  All these malls have branded showrooms; labels like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Cartier, Dior and Giorgio Armani you name it its all there in one street.

It seems that Christmas preparations started earlier. Whole street was already decorated in Christmas mood; spotted so many caricatures along the road on pavement; a huge Christmas tree at shopping extravaganza ION Orchard and lots more Christmas decorations outside and inside other Malls. The architecture of the Ion orchard building is something different compared to other malls in Orchard road. The facade is formed of huge glass bubbles.

For my son, whole thing was absolutely new,  he was behaving like a hero of Bollywood who just  came from very remote village to a big city. He was too excited to see all these hustling bustling city life.  Near Orchard metro they have colorful fountains dancing with light. He enjoyed so much so that he completely drenched himself.

It seems People too were in festive mood carrying shopping bags in each hand. After strolling on that busy Orchard Street we headed to hotel as my son’s clothes were wet and I didn’t want to take risk with his health at new place and massacre my holidays.

On returning to room Santanu was already there busy on phone call meeting. By the time my son had some food and slept again. It was almost 11 when Santanu had finished his phone call. Had dinner at youth park; back of our hotel. We had Stingray (a common Singaporean dish) with rice and Stir Fried kangkung (water Spinach). We walked around to locate  nearest metro station and Santanu showed me about how to follow bus-route.

The flight from Bangalore was a nightmare I never experienced such horrible service from any airline in my travel history. For Airlines each seats are perishable commodities, which is lost as soon as the flight takes off and it is a dream come true for Airline Company when they have one. But looks like Singapore Airline (SIA) staffs not adequately trained to handle such pressure. The dinner was served at 1:30 AM while the flight was on time at 23:00PM. Neither they came with coffee or tea after dinner, may be most passenger would not have asked for the same but still they should have don’t they… ? I pressed the button for extra water but no one attended me.

While returning from Singapore person at counter was very strict about extra luggage. I had to adjust extra 2 Kgs that I had which was something new for me. For the first time, I had to do that …. blame it on IKEA . Anyways, the famous courteousness of SIA staff was totally missing when I asked for priority level for my check-in. And this time I did ensured my seat on-line prior to flying. In-flight service was much better this time as the flight was very much empty. May be only half or less and service was comparable to old times.

But on whole it looks like entire Singapore is going through a cost cutting measure to turn around their economy. They issued me a 2 year VIA on simple A4 paper. Not sure if that paper is going to last or not. And clearly SIA staffs donot know what to do when the flight is full which is really a BIG disappointment.

I ensured to share the same feedback to SIA website and hope for the better service next time.

Cast your vote and support us.

This is our great grand escape plan

View GDC – NH17 in a larger map

On that special day somehow we started early @ 6:30 from home. Little -A was sleeping when we started and there was thick fog when we reached Dakshin Honda on Hosur Road. We saw many cars with BHP bumper sticker waiting on the side of the road. Soon we crossed Karnataka border and reached the town of Hosur. The road condition changed. Suddenly all pot-holes were gone and driving become really cool. Definitely politicians and bureaucrats of Karnataka need to learn something from their neighbor.

We stopped at A2B for breakfast, around 70 KM from Silk Board Junction with Petrol Pump next to it which you can’t miss it. There was lots of crowd; it took us a while to get a decent place to sit and much longer to get our idli-sambar. We left for Yelagiri Hills and soon left NH7 for NH46 after first toll booth. There are signs for Chennai which you need to follow ; continuing on NH7 will take you to Salem. So after driving another 50 KM we crossed another toll booth from where we left NH46 for Yelagiri. This state road was not that great but OK. The last 14 KM is on the hilly section with hairpin turns. As we were quite early; not much traffic before or behind us. Plenty of monkeys along the road, they target cars for easy food if you are not careful.

We reached Yelagiri lake around 10-ish. Took a full round of the lake. With Aarush we had no plan for hiking and boating so decided for lunch. It was around 11:30 when we reached Hotel Hills. The hotel was not ready for lunch yet and Aarush had his lunch at reception while watching some Tamil songs at big screen. He was too sleepy to finish his lunch; we decided it might be a better idea to start for Bangalore while he sleeps skipping our lunch.

According to Outlook 52 weekend from Bangalore a typical weekend at Yelagiri would be —

Good breakfast, a gentle walk, lots of rest followed by lunch more rest another stroll in the evening then Dinner — lots more rest, A blissful weekend.

On the way back we stopped again at A2B for a very late lunch. After crossing Hosur, entry to Bangalore was painful. There is a huge construction site around Electronic city for the mega fly-over on NH-7. We visited one of my college mate in HSR layout on the way back as we reached Bangalore well before Sunset.

• How to get there – Official Link
• Team BHP meetup

View Bangalore to Yelagiri Hills in a larger map

(….Continued…) Next day we woke up leisurely had a wonderful breakfast . Our host meticulously wrote down all the attractions near Madikeri. The list included Tala-Cauvery – birth place of river Kaveri, Raja seat, Abby Falls, Omkareshwara Temple, Cauvery- Nisargadhama. We decided for all except the last one as we wanted to take it easy and not rushing between attractions.

As soon as we started driving to Madikeri (district headquarters of Coorg) the real beauty of Coorg started to unveil itself. The air was clean – fresh but was bit chilled. The lush green hills with teak trees and coffee plantation rejuvenated our eyes and mind. Coorg is in on the western ghat of India and above 1500 m. This makes this place cooler through out the year. Local call Madikeri the Scotland of the east (in North East Shillong is refereed as the Scotland of India).

There are numerous coffee plantation sizes various from few acres to hundreds. With coffee there are other plantation like orange, pepper and nutmeg in between.  Almost every plantation has one or more streams for water – all these streams joins Cauvery. as they descent. But currently the biggest challenges are labor as traditional labors are migrating to urban areas for a better paying job and lifestyle.

Heading towards Tala-Cauveri passed Madikeri, it reassembled like small hill town of North East with houses painted in bright colors perched on hill. This  route leads to  Mangalore. Being a weekday there were not many cars towards Tala-Cauvery. Tala Cauvery is around 40 KM from Madikeri. On the way we took few stops to shoot pictures with clear blue sky. Only few days back, there was a Marathon(44KM) and road was marked with distances from the finish line. Last part of the road was straight uphill climbs from Bhagamandala.  Bhagamandala is supposed to be sangam of three rivers; Cauvery and the Kanika are the real one, while third one is invisible (mythical). There is a temple but we did not stopped and continued to final destination through winding roads.

There is a pond which signify the origin of Cauvery. Its situated on slops of Brahmagiri hills. Every year during Makar Sankranti the pond over flows with water and devotees collect them as holy  water. There are steps which takes you to the peak and gives a bird eye view of the temple and pond from there. I took Aarush in Kangaroo-sling and he co-operated. It was very windy at the top which forced us to come down quickly.

On the way back, we had lunch at East End Hotel on the highway towards Mysore next to petrol station. We ordered some rice and chicken curry(kodava style). The ambiance is ordinary but crowded which means it is a popular destination and safe place for dining.

After lunch we headed for Raja seat but somehow missed first time and had to make an U-turn to comeback.  Former kings watched the sunsets with their loved one from this place. The  curved road to Mangalore under the valley adds magnificantly with  hills, green valleys, studded with paddy fields in the background. There is a toy train which was not running at that hour for kids and family.

From there we went to Omkareshwara Temple;  this is within  Madikeri town.  It was built by the Lingarajendra II in 1820 in the combination of Catholic, Keralite, Gothic and Islamic styles of Architecture. We could not enter the temple as it was closed during the afternoon.

From there we rushed to Abbey Falls this is going back towards Mysore road and taking a left from the highway. In local language Abbey itself means falls so a literal translation will be falls falls. This road is winding and narrow and we need to keep on driving as Sun was dipping quickly. This  falls is located within a private property but open to public. Aarush too a quick short nap in this part. Soon roaring  water woke him up. It was a delight to find plenty of water during dry months of December. During the monsoon season from July to October it must be flowing like a torrent. The view from the  hanging bridge is quite enjoyable. The cascading water descends to the river Cauvery.

Headed back to home-stay before it was complete dark. Next day morning we were not sure what to do (as Nagarhole and Dubare will not be enjoyable for Aarush) and ultimately decided to head back to Bangalore. We came back to Mysore spent a good amount around the main market area and Ramkrishna Mission. Around dusk we left Mysore so that we can reach Bangalore bit late avoiding evening’s rush traffic.

Bottom line is you can visit Coorg all year around if you love rain or aviod  monsoon as it rains a lot in the western ghats. Getting out of Bangalore is really difficult but leaving a place like this is very painful after a nice trip.

Some links

• www.coorgcreek.com
• coorg.com

This is really a bit of surreal – you are at middle of Karnataka, only few hundred kilometers away from Bangalore and surrounded by thousands of Buddhists monks and families. These people have left their home land almost 40 years ago and new generation are born here only. Still they keep their faith and tradition alive for generation to come. Like all Tibetan settlements in India here also one requires special permit for “Non Indian(foreigner)” to visit.

We went to Kagyu monastery first. This one sits on a hill top from where you can see “Nalanda Institute” and other monasteries. The largest of these 4 monasteries is Namdroling or commonly known as “Golden Temple”. That day sky was in perfect blue and shrine with bright colors were looking magnificent. Unfortunately, we ran out of battery(camera) inside Namdroling. Aarush was bit startled with humming sound and to see monks playing big drums.

For facts lovers the original name of Namdroling was “Thegchog Namdrol Shedrub Dargyeling” luckily his Holiness Dalai Lama shorten the name during his visit. Around 5000 monks are today studying there.

There is a big shopping area with lots of souvenir shops, ATM and restaurant. Lots of magnificent stone show pieces were available which were expensive for my budget. After having a very late lunch – momo (it was not that great we get better momos at Siliguri – my home town) we started for our homestay which was still hours away.

After Kushalnagar the road condition was not that good as lots of work is going on to widen the road. Only mobile network which really works on mountain road is of BSNL; both of our phones with private networks put us on thought how to locate our home-stay. We entered an estate as soon as we saw name “Sandal” on it. After driving 1-2 km through coffee estate we realized we are in wrong place, luckily we found a good Samaritan who lent his mobile (BSNL) to call our home-stay for more specific direction. It turned out our home-stay is another 6 KM ahead on that highway. With more information on route direction we were able to find our home-stay. This being a first time at home-stay we were bit shy as we reached at our host’s door. (To be Continued….)

Some useful links if your are interested in visiting this part of

• Namdroling Monastery/
• Misty Meadows Home Stay