Travelogue - Nandi Hills (Photos)

The photos tell the story.. So why type :-)

Travelogue - Nandi Hills

Planning had started a week in advance.
And implementation started Saturday night.
There was a technical difficulty. So a phone call goes to Sand on Saturday at 10.30PM
Rat - Sand, coming to Nandi tomoro ?
Sand - No da, have got some work at home..
Rat - hmm.. we are 5, but have only 2 bikes.. So...
Sand - Take my bike !
Rat - Yippee.. here we come !

Gasper and I go to Sand's house, takes a census of the latest happenings at the house, finish off a box of sweets, get the bike and come back...

Dinner ready.
Eating..
Sleeping.. (12.00)
Plan is an early morning 4.30 trip to Nandi :-D
......................................................................................................

Sunday morning was at 5.15 (that itself is a world record)
And by 6.45, we were on to bikes.

Bin,Gas on Sand's pulsar
Rat,Jim on Rat's pulsar
Sow on his discover

We were all set to count the number of signals from Jakkasandra to Maanyatha*. And we got the count equal to 2! Wonderful..

Instead of taking the round-about Marthahalli-outer ring road route, we took the shorter route. This is the same route, which Bin takes to reach his 'Maanyatha' office. The cam was in the hands of Gasper till the 2nd pit stop (in case you were wondering, what all things are being photographed!)

Once we with the outer ring road, we had someone for company. A brand new Honda Unicorn 150CC black. A guy with a monkey cap in the front, and a pillion with a helmet. (They have read the helmet rule upside down?) The onward journey was so rocket-fast that we never knew, we covered so much of distance in so little time. The bikes were flying at 110+, and the brakes were tested to good limits. (whoever invented speedbreakers should be prosecuted!)

At a noticeable point on the ORR, we need to take a left turn to enter the Nandi Road. Its just 22km from there. Half-way into this road, we took a pit-stop (this was the 2nd pit stop. the first one was for filling petrol) The view of the fog-covered mountain peak was a treat.

We did have a photo session here, with the 'models' blocking the road (and the traffic) for some time. Soon we took off for the rest of the journey.

14km into the Nandi road, and you reach a T-junction. Its a right turn from there, to enter the ghat road- full of climbs and turns and curves. This is the point where you get the nearest tyre-repair shop (Point to be noted!)

The hair-pin bents were very sharp. And not in 2-dimension as well.. At some points, the road is just wide enough for a bike and a car to go in parallel.

We reached the summit after a 3rd pit stop. You need to pay for bike parking, and for entrance ! It amounted to 60 bucks in total for 3 bikes and 5 dudes.

(Aahhh.. what crap am i writing?! a documentary? there aint any fun in this.. let me take a break!)

Over the weekend

What happened over the weekend ?
Well, quite a lot !

1. Reserved travel tickets for the office team outing to Kodai.
2. Did some shopping (electronic gadgets). This includes a 4.1 speaker system for me, DVD writer and RAM for Gasper. Creative 4.1 speaker system (MS4500, inspire) comes just at 2150+4%tax. DVD writer (LG, black) comes at just 1350+4%tax. Gadgets are damn cheap!
Adding to the list is a 4GB transcend memory stick, at an unbelievable 1650 bucks. Phew!!
3. Saturday night, went to Sand's house to get his bike. Big plans for the next day :-)
4. Sunday was almost entirely in Nandi hills. Details will follow in a separate write-up

Added lately.. (on Monday)

5. On Sunday, on the way back to home, after dinner, sprained my left ankle. Now, I have my left ankle nicely wrapped in bandage.

Travelogue - Kodai Kadhai (Last Part)

(Phew! This is the longest pending write-up from my side ! Its been years !! Here are the previous parts of Kodai Kadhai )

And from Sat afternoon till Sun afternoon, we visited quite some wonderful places like :
1. Chettiar Park
2. Coakers Walk
3. Kurinji Andavar Temple ( u can hav a birds i view of Palani from here )
4. Silver Cascade
5. City View
6. Falls View
7. Vattakanal ...

Vattakanal was interesting, considering the fact that it was beauty all around ;-)
Nature's blend was to be seen everywhere.
This is where the ad for "Liril" was picturised. Well, not quite clean, now.
But, there was a good 'collection' there. U might hav seen one of the pix which wus
sent along with KK-Part I. It was a load full of galz ;))
We were the happy :o))

Back in the Guest House, another heavy lunch with single omlettes, and a light nap.
Then by 5PM, we were all set for the return trip.
Food bill kandappo kannu thalli ! 1850 !!! Kuttam parayaruthallo. Nalla food aayirunnu.
Athu kondu thanne, oru controll-ul illaayirunnu..

Thankam guided us back to the Rly Station. Ghee Roast at Station ; 7PM.
Train on time - 8.40 PM
Reached Bangalore at 6AM Monday.

Annexe:
I. Robin's Lingo
1. Aamchi (with a foreign accent) - means ammachi (kilavi)
2. Padkalvi ( also with same accent) - means padukilavi !

II. Jins' Dialogue
1. Upcurring temor (he wanted to say "upcoming terror")

III Kiron
Aiyyo oru seconde.. ee shirt ivide vechotte.. - and many other 'aiyyos'

IV Sand-Sow
Sow , on our way back to Rly station " oh.. pandaaram.. naale office-ilottu kettiyedukkanamallo.."
Sand " Chey.. Nee enthaadaa ee parayunne ? U shud say "HI !! naale office-il ponamallo !!" Weekend-ile boradi onnu maarunnathu thinkalaazhcha office-il chellumbazhaa .. Avide AC, karangunna chair, Free Tea , Coffee, horlicks .. Free browsing , chatting .. angane enthellaam !!! "

V. Sand
1. Ente ee digicam kure battery charge valichedukkum.. ee local 'eveready' onnum sheriyaavilla. Njaan Duracell eduthittu. Office-il nokkiyappo set-top box-inte kure remote. Ellaathilum Duracell battery. Ottum amaanthichilla.....
2. National Geographicile cameraman aanenna avante bhaavam ! Pandengaandu eppozho oru photo eduthathu nannaayi ennu vechu .. . .. . (About Bijoy; he wuz maneouvring himself into a variety of postures, to take picture of a sunflower)

VI. KK
1. As usual " Eda #$%^$%#$, nee ente vaayeennu vallathum kelkkum.."
2. After every 10 min gap , "Edaa .. njaan sherikkum meilinju , alle ?"

VI. Bijoy
1. Avidathe cholam sheriyilla. (He would buy maze from every other vendor)

VII. Sowji
"Eradu Bommanahalli" - He wanted to impress the Nepali chyaachi selling blankets, with his proficiency in Kannada. This is the only meaningful statement that he knows, in kannada.
He also says "Saayamkaalam Gothilla Guthkullu" which means "Evening donno sitdown" ! Absolute crap.


Credits
Behind the Scene : KK ( well , he was also on the scene. but no one saw him )
Cinematography : Bijoy, Sand, Rat
Transportation : Jins ( BTW, he doesnt even know cycling )
Rooms Courtesy : Rony
Dialogue : Robin
Fights : Sowji
Mileage Courtesy : Kiron (For two dayz, the sumo covered in excess of 200Km ; but the fuel tank was always full)
Food : Bijoy (who stopped at every 'thattukada' for mulakabaji)
Music : Sand (he had an mp3 player with him. But for that, I swear, he is in no way related to music)
Comedy : Jins, with ample support from Robin
(At one instant, Jins offered to keep his mouth shut, lest we would burst out laughing)
Philological xlator : Kiron ( We wanted to go to Food World, walking. Kiron went up to Thankam and informed him.
Then we saw Thankam going away with the sumo. And due to the proper communication made
an hour was lost on Saturday night, locating the Sumo.)

THE END
Forthcoming attraction : Go Goa

Another NICE version !

Lose Control !

Canon Powershot A95 : CCD Problem

Q. What is a Canon Powershot A95 ?
A. It is a camera

Q. What is it doing here, in this page ?
A. Well, its the camera which I own !!

E. That doesnt answer the previous qn !
A. Oh.. Well, my camera is down with the problem, that is mentioned on the RHS of the colon in the subject line :-(
Here is a snip from the canon website :

It has been confirmed that the connecting parts of the internal wiring of the CCD used in affected products may become disconnected, especially if the affected products are stored or used in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. If this occurs, the signal is not output from the CCD normally in Shooting Mode, which causes malfunctions such as the image being distorted or not appearing at all. This phenomenon can be confirmed on the LCD monitor display. The same phenomenon also appears on the recorded image.

More details here, at the canon-site here :
http://www.canon-asia.com/index.jsp?fuseaction=image-phenomena_notice

Q. So does that make it an interesting blog ?!
A. Well, not really, but ppl who know me, will understand, how big a blow, this is, to me :-(

Q. Okay okay.. Dont get sentimental.. What have you done to the camera, for it to get affected?
A. I dint do anything !!!! I reckon, it is the result of a cumulative incremental phenomenon. As mentioned in the canon site, it happens only in high-humid areas. I'd been to Kerala over the weekend. Kerala is famous(?) for its humidity. Hence this problem!

Q. What did you do then ?
A. Well, the obvious thing, that an IT guy does. www.google.com ! It was a big relief :-s to see that this is a known bug.. And canon will repair the camera free of cost !!

Q. Did canon repair yours ?
A. I took my cam to the service centre. Its in Malleshwaram, and a bit difficult to find out. The address is given at canon site.

Q. And now you are happy ?
A. Not fully. Let them first get me back my camera, in its original form !

Q. You did not get it back ?
A. Dude, its not that they will simply pluck out the CCD sensor and put in a new one there. This is subject to availability of sensor! And I believe, its in high demand, coz the problem exists with a range of camera models ! The list is in the page mentioned below..

Q. When will you get it back, then?
A. They said, 30 days.. Rather, within 30 days.

Q. So how do you survive ?
A. I survive these days on Sowji's camera :-) Its a Sony DSC. Already put to use. Been to b'day party yesterday, and clicked a lot of gem of a photo ! A twin-kids' b'day :-)

Q. Do you have any plans to stop writing all this nonsense ?
A. Stopped.

Q. Hey, dont feel bad.. Put a pic here, to illustrate what exactly is this CCD problem, will ya ?
A. Oh sure :-) Here they are !
=> =>
Photos taken in sequence.
Pic 1 is a dam.
Pic 2 is a tree.
Pic 3, I really donno !

Q. Ho gaya ?
A. :-$