New Amblee Resorts, Srirangapatna (May 9th and 10th)

Its been a while since we went out together. Couldn't go out for we had guys like Rishabh and Harsha working over the weekend. May 9th was approaching and the date of our next travel was decided before hand. The only thing left was concreting on the place of visit. Several places were suggested such as Ooty, Black Thunder (near Coimbatore), Shakthi Hills Resort, Jaladhama Resort, New Amblee Resorts. Several conference calls and several exchanges of mail took place and finally it was decided that New Amblee resorts shall have to bear the torture.

May 9th, Saturday

Awoke a bit early today, shaved and dressed. As usual waited for the 2 cars to arrive. The usual Ford Ikon (with Viju (driver) and Harsha) and this time we had a new Hyundai i10 (Rishabh (driver) and Abhilash). Last time Big C caused the delay for the start and this time it was Rishabh. He claimed not to find his wallet in the morning. A likely tale. Anyway at Sheshadripuram end, we had Akhil, Karthik and self waiting for them. Atlast the vehicles arrived at 0800 hrs and we stuffed our baggage into the vehicles. Akhil and Karthik boarded the Ford and I, the i10.

Took the Goods Shed road and then we hit the Mysore Road. On our way, as we were feeling hungry, decided to stop at Kamat Upachar for breakfast. Originally planned to breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi, but again skipped it out. This time it was due to a massive rush outside and inside the restaurant. Last time we skipped it out as we were too early near the place. Next time wonder what's in store for us.

Stopped at Kamat Upachar and had good dosas, vadas, khara bhat etc. Some of us desired to have idlis, but were denied of it. The waiter said they were out of idlis, perhaps he meant the batter. But a few moments later, we saw several idlis coming out of the kitchen area, but alas, to our dismay, they were already reserved. Finally ended our meal over coffee. Harsha was to take 2 glasses of coffee, but he lost the challenge and now I don't remember whether he managed to complete the first glass too. Reason for not having the coffee : the glass size was enormous. Anyway, paid the bill and left for the resort. This time we (i10) had the pleasure of Akhil's company. Talked a lot of silly stuff like, cars, bikes, women etc etc. On our way, we had nearly 2 misses and saved twice from a serious accidents. Wonder what goes into the heads of these 2 wheelers when they are on the highway. Thanking our stars and God, continued our journey till the resort.

Finally we spotted the resort on our left soon after Srirangapatna. Thanks to my dad, who guided us to the spot correctly. Reached the resort and stretched ourselves. Went to the reception area which is actually built into the restaurant area. Paid the advance of 3k and we were allocated a single double AC bedroom for the 7 of us!!! As we approached the place, we came across several ducks and a turkey. A large fishing/boating pond which was absolutely dirty was also a part of the resort. Continuing further, we came across a nice looking 'blue' swimming pool. A look at the water nearly put us off, for it was looking a bit dirty and also I thought I did see several oil like stuff floating on top. Anyway not to be disappointed, we decided to dive into the pool, come what may.

The guy from the resort, Devaraj (I think), took us to our room. It was an okayish room with a large bed and had this duplex kind of design. So as soon as you open the door, you have to climb 3-4 steps, to reach the sitting room kinda of thing. Here you have a sofa which can be converted to a bed, when required. Also contains a large table and a smaller table and a T.V. Then you need to climb yet another 10-12 steps to reach the large bed. Now this is the entire setup of the room. Took some time to settle in the room and then after a short discussion, we decided to dive into the pool. Quickly we buys changed into something suitable for the pool and soon we were all in the pool.

Had a good time in the pool, played a few games like, catching the volleyball by splitting into teams and a few other water games. Played till around 1400 hrs. After that one by one we got out of the pool and dried ourselves. We then headed towards the restaurant. The service was very slow today, Reason being, a staff member passed away in the afternoon and most of them had rushed to the hospital to see him. Also the food we ordered was pretty bad and I for one didn't like the non-veg preparation. Rishabh, Abhi and self swore to eat veg during the rest of the day. :'(

After lunch, we decided to play cricket.

RULES : There's a small playground which happens to be backyard of the rooms we'd just taken for rent. Anyway we had a wall on the leg side off a RHS batsman. On the offside we had this Cauvery river following. The straight drive was like a dense forest. It was decided that there shall be runs conceded for an offside hit, the rooms walls were considered to be 2 runs. And the straight drive was a 4 as per the normal games. No runs on the back of the wicket. We decided to add a bit more fun to the game. It was a single pitch catch out. As there were 7 of us, we split into 2 teams. Team A (Vinay, Harsha and Abhilash), Team B (Vijay, Karthik and Rishabh). Akhil was the joker. Not the character essayed by Late Heath Ledger or the 13 time Oscar nominee Jack Nicholson. Not even the one you see in circuses or in a king's court commonly referred to as the clown. Now this guy generally happens to yield the willow or rather 'bat' for both teams, only. Does not get the opportunity to bowl a single ball :(

Having set the rules and having set the team, it was time for us to start with the game. Played 2 games. Both teams won a game apiece. We lost the ball once. Akhil in his full strength and might hit the ball pretty hard and the ball went towards the dense forests and couldn't find the ball. Using the second ball we completed the match.

Once the match was done, all of us were inclined to hit the pool once again. So off we went to the pool once again at around 5 in the evening and we were in the poll for a long long long time. Realised that the swimming and playing in the water has made us more hungry. Saw the waiter (i.e. Devaraj) walking along the pool carrying some orders for the other inmates of the resorts. Gave our orders of starters and drinks comprising of Cokes. Took the bottles of KF Blue from the room and Karthik, Rishabh and self started having the drinks by the pool and inside the pool too. Rishabh, by this time had called it quits and walked out of the pool and changed to dry clothes. With this attitude, Abhi was lil' pissed off with Rishabh and was refusing to co-operate with us for anything. As we were tired and also as it was pretty dark, we decided to play dumb charades in the water, adding more fun to the game. Again the team was split into 2 - Team A (Harsha, Abhilash and self) and Team B (Vijay, Akhil, Karthik and Rishabh). For the very first time, the Team A being a pretty strong one, lost out in the first round itself. It was a very hard one to guess. I went in first to enact and I lost hope of these 2 guessing it. Later Abhi decided to try and with Harsha being the single person to guess, we soon gave it up. The film was Chronicles of Narina. Anyway after that we had a pretty smooth game and managed to get most of the film titles right.

Most of us were exhausted and tired of the water. One by one again we got out of the pool and changed into our night clothes. In the meantime, Rishabh and Harsha had been to 'town' to get us 3 bottles of Coke and 3 bottles of beer. Once we were in, we were having some good time and recollecting some of the stuff we'd done in the past. So, in short, we were walking down the memory lane. It was quite late into the night and we finally decided to call the waiter/steward and request him to get the dinner for us. Got our dinner and this poor guy got the dinner in the midst of a heavy rain.

Had our dinner and drinks and finally we all slept at around 0030 hrs, Sunday the 10th May.

May 10th, Sunday

Most of us being tired slept like a log till around 0800 hrs. With all of us being awake by 0930 hrs went and had breakfast. Came back and was mostly watching the darned television. Finally at around 1200 hrs suddenly there was a power failure and this was indeed a good thing that happened to all of us as we were now free to finish off our packing. Quickly we finished our packing and by 1230 hrs we paid our bill of nearly 5.5K. We then started off towards Bangalore. In between, near Maddur, we halted at McDonald's. Had a quick bite of French Fries and Coke Floats. Here, Karthik sat down to do all the financials and finally we paid and got what we deserved.

Reached my place around 1530 hrs, much to the shock of me mother. I guess most of our mothers must have been surprised to see us back home early. They must've expected us to reach home not earlier than 2000 hrs but for a change we thought of surprising them. Anyway, after a small chat, we then left for our respective homes.

So this was the entry I've had for the New Amblee resorts. Afraid, I have no much description for the Sunday's events, for we actually didn't do anything on that day.

Belum caves is still in the minds for our next visit. However, there are plans for White Water River Rafting, but that should be in the months of Jul/August.

A trip to Singapore is also being planned but that’s in the month of October. But there are arguments going on. Lets see…

VG
28th May '09