Rebooting this long lost thread. Documenting interesting and memorable experiences that happened so far in 2017.
Travel -
- Travel to Pollachi, Kerala. Weekend of April 28-29
Kanishka and me on small two day trip to attend Sam's younger brother's marriage. Very hot weather. But trip highlight was the Prime in Ola cab. Watched Vicky Donor in an AC car while driving on a decent road. Stopped at a temple near coimbatore and had delicious bhajjis. Wedding was good with lots of food as usual :)
Pics coming soon
- Cochin trip, May 13-14 weekend
Nani's 80th birthday celebration attended by all cousins, kids, grandkids and you name it. A grand celebration full of awesome family social celebrations. Seeing all cousins together after a long time had a lot of nostalgic quotient. Fun time too in the pool. Kerala food is always yum. Lots of pics.
- Ooty trip, 26-28 May.
All 5 of us head to Ooty to run the Great Heritage Run at Ooty. I did 15K, Kanishka And Aarti did 10k. The trail is very very good. It is practically a trek for the first 5 kms, going through the forest downhill and then coming back up. The remaining 10K is along the slopes of hills, always uphill or downhill but scenic nonetheless. I must have ran for the first 10K and walked back the remaining. But a fantastic running route and definitely an excellent trail to run (actually walk). The trail requires its own race report :)
Outside of this, we did the tea tasting by the awesome Sandeep from tranquilitea, lots of pics at his tea estate. We also went for boating at Pykara lake and a short hike to needlepoint view point. Both are pretty good.
- Goa, 22-16 Jan, 2017
Anniversary trip with Kanishka. This also deserves its own blog post as we practically had a near idal itinerary for a 3 day trip. We went to Agonda beach, a spice farm and a casino stay. We won close to 24K profit at the Deltin casino. The spice farm was a great experience. Agonda beach is very clean and a relaxing place.
Gia Pics here
- Yercaud - Jan 3-4, 2017
With the Events High team. We had a terrific NYE season of 2016-2017 season. Wanted to celebrate with the team. Went to this little rascal homestay which was quirky in its own way. Board games, barbeque, games dominated the trip
All EH pics here
Mangalore - 18-19 March weekend
With the Gang of 5. Overnight train on Friday nights lands you in the morning at Mangalore. We stayed at summer sands a beach resort. Practically, the entire weekend was spent in either at the beach side or in the decently maintained swimming pool. Met Chinky as well. Couple of board games. A very relaxing weekend.
Mangalore pics here
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Interesting Activities -
- Joined Nisha Millets swimming academy for 2 consecutive batches. Attended one batch properly with being able to swim from one end to another in one go. Second batch was a waste as i was down with neck pain.
- Had a sprain in my left hand for couple of weeks. Had to wear a cover to prevent improper movement.
- Joined Cult for a 3 month period but that was largely a waste of time as attended very few classes.
- Joined Healthify me and that has been good. Lot 6 kgs in last 3 months.
- Went to Escape Room with Events High. Attempted to solve a puzzle but over engineered it. A good experience nonetheless.
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Books -
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
The book that talks about Matrix, Artificial intelligence and many other constructs all too in 1980s. A very difficult read. Took me 3 months to finish it. Had to re-read several paras to understand what is being told. But turns out, I was not the only one; internet had similar opinion. A fascinating read and a truly Been there done that.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A very light read; good fiction. Definitely had lot of interesting things going on with full of imagination. A beach read kind of a book.
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Movies -
Have watched quite a few. Sharing the interesting ones here -
Manchester by the Sea - 4.5/5
A very very good drama film with very nuanced screenplay and a perfectly unsentimental sentimental performance. Must watch.
Moonlight - 3.5/5
Interesting film which explores idea around things that we typically do not witness.
Silence - 3/5
Very grand in vision, lots of small things covered. But performance if okay-ish. Full marks on attempt but not a movie to be re-watched.
La La Land - 3.5/5
Hollywood has to try hard to impression Indians with musicals. Interesting take with lots of innovations and a good rom-com in the end :)
Arrival - 5/5
In awe of the film. Really well done in terms of concept, cinematography and how the movie plays out. Loved it end to end.
Jackie -
Not a good idea to go for such a heavy movie for a 10pm show. Slept through it mid-way.
Guardians of the galaxy, vol-2 - 4/5
Loved it. My kind of awesome masala. Awesome music, great jokes, lovable characters . Little bit of too much CGI in the end but otherwise a great film.
Fault in our starts - 3/5
A rom-com from start to finish. Well acted but very cliched. Liked the mushy mushy feeling that is is able to provoke so easily.
Bahuballi - 1.5/5
Over the top effects, laughable many a times. Decent cinematic action at times. Lots of hype around it.
Chasing Ice - 4.5/5
A documentary on capturing the effects of Global warming. Loved it. Such a brilliant idea and executed very well. Must watch for environmental reasons.
The Salesman - 4/5
Again, an awesome drama film from the director of A Separation. Plays out brilliantly. Highly recommended.
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Other interesting -
House of Cards - Season 1-3, 3/5
Brilliant in parts, drag in other times. Acting is brilliant but there is only so much that you can root for the bad guy. Ultimately, the good guy has to win sometimes.
Sakharam's Binder by Theatre on your own. - 5/5
I have loved all of TOYO's performances. They bring out the subject matter in the front with minimalistic props and great performances. Highly highly recommended.
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