The City of Palaces-Amazing!

Went last weekend to Mysore with Sachin again, this time in train. His grandparents live there so we had already a place to live and eat good food - One of the reasons I decided to go along ;).

The train journey was plain, except we found it hard to sleep due to increasing coldness and nothing to cover ourselves in early morning hours. Mysore whether was as good as that of Bangalore and much lower air pollution. No sun and no rain....cloudy, non humid and cool breeze blowing :). Sachin grandparents house was nothing less than a palace big and open .Had good breakfast and left off for the Tipu Sultan palace (in car this time), Shivmurti who is a domestic helper at sachin's grandmother house also joined us . We visited a temple on the way , thereafter bird park visit ...where we had hard luck as the boats were not operational as water level was high. Came back to have lunch at home and as usual I overate again :D....then off to zzzzz.....to cover up for the lost sleep hours in train. Oh ya! sachins grandparents house had 2 dogs named Kinchi (1.5 yrs)and Kali(6 yrs )...both didn't seemed to welcome us ...Kinchi being the more curious and nervous with our presence. Kali happens to be Kinchi's mother. After a good nap of about 2 +hrs we headed to Brindavan garden built along Krishna Raja Sagara Dam. Sachin's grandmother also joined us .When we reached the place after a journey of around 45 minutes , it looked like a big MELA kind of thing, too many people ....the garden was good and had a musical fountain show as well. The next day started with visit to the Chamundi Hill and Nandi statue, thereafter we visited Mysore Palace, and then back home for lunch. Later after a short rest break, left out for nearby lake . Sachin's grandparents were very hospitable , her grandmother knew my mother tongue -Marathi , and we conversed for some time with sachin guessing what we were talking about ;). His grandfather owns a petrol pump which is very close to the house. Once again had some amazing food :). On way back in train we played some games for TP ;) and happened to have a drunkard in the same coach. He entertained for some time and then he went zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Once he woke up again in morning he didn't had a clue of what all he had done before.

---------DAY 1--------------

( at Mysore railway station on 28th morning)
(...entrance view of Sachin's grandparents house)
(...on the terrace)

(...backyard)

(entrance gate )

(...really Palace like home )

(Kinchi)
(Jain temple)

(on the way....)

(Dungeon where British soldiers were tortured )
(inside view of the Dungeon)
(Lal Palace...though there is no sign of palace at the site...some last remains)
(Death place of Tipu Sultan)
(Dariya Daulat bagh)

(Gumbaz)

(No boating :( at bird sanctuary....)

( with Shivmurti and Sachin at Bird Sanctuary)

(Mysore Palace view at Night)
( crowd at Brindawan Garden)
(fountains at Brindawan garden)
(....its reading time)
---------DAY 2--------------
( anxiously waiting for customers....)

(...coconut breaking corner-just in front of Chamundi temple)

(Nandi on Chamundi hill)

(view from Entrance gate --near ticketing counter)

(day view of the Mysore Palace)(public phone ...its fully functional )

(....snaps of lake nearby the house)

(Sachin with his grandparents)

(...the games we played on way back in train (after many years ;)) ..)

Trip to Bangalore!

Sachin joined Cognizant.Laughing at me for being placed at chennai for some time ...he eventually landed at same place too :D.

We planned to go to Bangalore, his hometown ( also called IT capital of India) on friday night(13th July). The journey in Volvo bus was more relaxing than in usual buses but the leg room was not enough ...anyways slept for a while after reaching his home. In the morning we first picked up the vehicle from his grandfathers place( who lives nearby only) and then went to mall. All along the way as Sachin rightly mentioned, I could spot an IT company.We first went to Forum mall( most well known in the city) followed by lunch at Mc D ( sachin broke his record of not eating at Mc D :) )....then we went to the National Market...a cheap stuff location closeby...after which we headed to most talked about road in Bangalore (MG Road)...where we had some eye cleaning activity and some snacks as well.....being a saturday, there was full rush ...later after strolling around for a while we headed for Cafe Coffee day where Sachin introduced me to some of his engineering friend group....after chatting for a while we headed for dinner at CafeY in one of sachins friend car (Scorpio).....and after finishing of with dinner...back home...had some discussion with sachin's dad...thereafter as we didnt feel like sleeping (both being owls )...we planned to watch DieHard4 ...which went on till 4 am .....zzzzz till about 10 am...Next day after having breakfast went to Lal Bagh Garden in the afternoon around 2 pm...after which Nandi temple......then back home at around 3.45 pm for lunch.....as I didnt had many days to stay back and enjoy the good home cooked food made by Sachin's mother...I grabbed the opportunity and ate...ate and ate and ate.....a whole lot more till I got tired of eating ......huuuf damn good food...just could not stop myself from eating....Sachin's mom cooks very well....I had even plans of getting some chappatis while on way back to chennai ;)......In the evening we went to sachin's grandfather house who lives close by only, his aunt and cousin sister had also come there.......well as sachin had just returned from singapore...the highlight of the evening was sachins convocation pics :).....I felt good to meet his family members and relatives..... spoke for sometime with his grandfather......oh yah and spoke quite a bit with his father....exceeded my normal speaking limits.
Kudos to Sachin for planning out the trip! (beginning ...at Koyembedu Bus Stand, Chennai)

(Sachin's house in Bangalore)

(...Most popular mall in Bangalore)
(....one of Sachins target companies....just next to the Forum Mall)

(...Landmark! makes you stand and gaze for a while ;)....) (Man & his Machine) (...Parliament house) (similar to Palika Bazar of Delhi though not as big ) (...first mall of Bangalore...now lost out to the new ones...name: 5th Avenue)

(at Cafe Coffee Day ...waiting for Sachin's undergrad friends)
(view of the entrance from inside of Lal Bagh Garden)
(...Pictures of Lal Bagh)

(Nandi temple)

( Nandi )

( Cute kid !! )

(...Awesome food cooked by sachin's mom, could not stop myself from overeating)

(with Sachin and his mom..)