Bedtime stories become True :-)

Recently, i saw an English Movie . I would like you to guess it from the review .

Well, it starts by a man narrating his own story of running a hotel along with his two kids. One of the kid is very smart and his ideas are awesome. The hotel in debt is sold to another guy who enters into an agreement that if that kid works continuously and grows enough, that kid would be the owner of the hotel. Days pass by and the kid grows up, the hotel multiplies in size, customers too multiply, but the kid is still working(Adam Sandler). The owner did not select him by default to run the hotel :-( One day, he does baby-sitting to help his sister. This being his first experience with kids, he converts the daily happenings into a story and conveys it to the kids. The kids add few twists and give some reasonable suggestions to the bedtime stories. To his surprise, he finds that the next day the things that were told by the kids in bedtime story happen true :-). Adam tries to use this trick to get his hotel that he has deserved for a very long time as per the agreement. The stories are mix of various ages of history :-)

Were you able to guess it ? yup, it is 'Bedtime Stories'. Though the basic idea seems to be that of a kid's/family movie. The events are not clearly inter-woven and it may not be pleasing to the kids too. It appears as a very very normal movie :-)

Bangalore to Chennai - Bus Booking Tips

This is a small blog about bus booking. It can be helpful for all new people who commute from bangalore to chennai . It is briefs you about the major bus service providers and the bus ticket booking tips for travelling from Bangalore to Chennai . It can be aptly termed as 'Bus Booking for Dummies' just like 'Yoga for Dummies' etc .. :-)

KSRTC :
1.Online bus booking for KSRTC - http://www.ksrtc.co.in/
2.Normal starting points :
- Only normal non-A/C buses start from Shanthi Nagar
- A/C Volvo buses start from Majestic

SETC :
1.No Online bus booking system for SETC
2.Normal starting points :
- Majority of Non-A/C and A/C buses start from Shanthi Nagar.
- Few non-A/C and A/C buses start from Majestic

Private Buses :
Lot of private buses are available . But keep the private buses as the final choice as they are not very reliable. Sometimes they change the buses without intimation. On few occasions the A/C does not work and hot air gets injected in the final 2 rows of the bus.

Happy Journey !

Bangalore to Madurai Trip

Recently, we visited Madurai after few years. It was one of the most unforgettable trip as it was packed with lot of interesting events . We started from Bangalore by Train (Thoothukudi Express) by around 9.30 PM and reached Madurai by around 7.30 AM. We were very lucky as the train stuck to its exact timings. It was sunny similar to Chennai, but it appeared to be hotter than that of Chennai. But, people of Madurai felt Chennai to be hotter than that of Madurai. The city shops wake up by around 10 am only. Madurai has broadened compared to earlier years, but i could still see that the South Indian TamilNadu culture and tradition to be very much living with the people of Madurai.

The bargaining system with Madurai Autowalas was completely different compared to that Chennai autowalas. There has been an increase in the number of Cab service providers and infact we were able to get Call Taxi too.

Nowadays, Share-Autos have made their way into Madurai are very very common. I found that share-autos are real friends to commuters as they are very frequent compared to buses.

I also visited the cinema theater(Ambika theatre) in Anna Nagar to watch a Tamil movie called 'Tamizh Padam'. There were only very people as it was a weekday evening show. Since some kind of renovation was going on, we need to come to ground floor to buy snacks during the intermission. On the whole, it was value for money and enjoyable ! After the movie, I roamed near the theatre and I could find an increased number of shops along Anna Nagar and KK Nagar. You could find all kind of commutation vehicle to reach your home :-)

We visited Theppakulam and also temples in Arupukkottai . I could find an increased number of both young and old people walking/jogging around Theppakulam during the morning hours. Theppakulam appears to be like a beach in the evening with lot of couples, family and bachelors hanging around in the evening. You could find all kind of shops similar to that of those present in Chennai beaches.

Bangalore to Chennai - From Hosur

Travelling on long weekends becomes extremely difficult if you do not have a ticket reserved well in advance. I have earlier blogged on travelling from Bangalore to Chennai & from Chennai to Bangalore during normal occasions in Unreserved buses. But, the situation is completely different on long week-ends or during festival seasons. This long weekend (Easter), i had to go to Hosur and get a bus for Chennai. I was surprised to see the frequency of buses for chennai from Hosur - It is really very high. Lemme share some info about Hosur now. Hosur is located in Tamil Nadu in close proximity to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the main entry/exit point to Bangalore. It is one of the industrial hubs in Tamil Nadu bordering Karnataka. Apart from climate, the nearness to Bangalore has also helped in Hosur's development. I did find lot of buses to Vellore that has very very high frequency of buses to Chennai . Vellore is one of the main cities that lies between Chennai and Bangalore. It is on the banks of the Palar river. So, if you do not find Chennai with vacant seats even in Hosur, then catch on a bus to Vellore. In Vellore, you can get Chennai buses with vacant seats. Vellore also operates buses that that start from Vellore and depart to Chennai round the clock !

Hosur seems to be one of the best alternative places to get buses to Chennai quickly if you have not reserved tickets for your travel to Chennai from Bangalore. Happy Journey !!

Bowling in Chennai - Down Under Fun

Yesterday, we visited the 'Down Under Fun' bowling in Chennai (Marshalls Road, Dugar Tower). We started from Kodambakkam and reached Marshalls road in 20 minutes by bike. We did not find any big board signs / lighted-setups for the spot and we were puzzled about its presence in Marshalls Road, but we could feel the bowling environment as soon as we found few young people coming out in an ecstasic mood :-) The bowling center was located in the basement. It has 4 lanes only, but a good place to hang around & enjoy! It has 5 to 8 computer game machines and 3 billiard / snooker boards too. We need to remove the shoes and there is no special shoes to wear while playing. I was initially having my socks on my foot, but it was not very comfortable and hence removed my socks too. We should appreciate the designer as he has managed to have all these stuffs to be packed within a very small place. I found the Flat Panel Display that is hanging from the roof for every lane to display the score table to be very small and it did not graphically depict various shots that could give maximum points at that scenario of play. A big screen & more animations could surely boost the appearance. The cost for bowling varies between Weekends and Weekdays. The cost is comparatively less on weekdays :-) So, we need to finish off our work quickly !

Interestingly, i could feel the difference between the 'Down Under Fun' bowling in Chennai(Marshalls Road) and 'amoeba' bowling in Bangalore(Church Street) as i had visited it few times earlier. In fact, I blogged about Amoeba Bowling in Bangalore sometime ago. I found the amoeba bowling(Bangalore) to be well organized, spacious and well equipped with more lanes. There were other set of games too in a separate floor on top of the bowling floor(Amoeba bowling, Bangalore). Anyhow, comparing between Chennai and Bangalore bowling spots is a point to be thought of as lifestyle is slightly different for the majority of the people :-)