The timer, to what? GUESS! :D

So, I have decided to bring this blog back to life.
BUT! What should I put on it?
Putting my daily happenings is kinda boring, plus, if someone else reads it, it could turn out to be a problem...

Sooo. We are now open to any ideas!
What do you wanna see on this blog?
Pictures of random nonsense? Funny little tid-bits?
I dunno. Anything you can come up with, post it as a comment.

Merci beaucoup! In advance! :D 

Sudden Shocks

So, just yesterday, I found out that I won't be moving to Bangalore any longer. Which means Pune will have to deal with me for yet another year. xD
I told some of my friends today, and they were more than ecstatic! Yeah.

The exams started today, the first one was alright I guess. I can't wait for the summer though, US of A, here I come! :D
Also, my cousin Aditi will be coming by soon too, and then there's the group 4 project which Madhu, Aditi Trivedi and I will be doing aswell.... so it should be a fun one. :p

More laterrr.

After a long time...

Okay, so a lots been going on recently! And when I say a lot, I mean TOO MUCH TO HANDLE! 

I found out a week or two ago that I'll be moving to Bangalore at the end of this academic year. Which is especially funny since I moved to India half-way through my IGCSEs, and will be leaving Pune half-way through my IB. The trend shows that I am unable to finish anything in one place. Well, I think Bangalore will be good for me; the schools there are amazing, and it looks like an interesting place - waay more interesting than Pune! xD 

I wrote my SAT on May 7th... I think it went well, but then again, you never really know. So bleh! 

And my exams start on the 25th of May... which is just great! (Not)

Add all of that, IB stress, finishing off internals, the stress of moving, the stress which the people around me give me, and the stress of being bored to death while having too much work to do, and it equals waaaay too much going on! Which kinda sums up my life right now. 

Oh well, blame it on the IB. ;p

Till next time. 

Ooty --> Mysore --> Bangalore --> Pune

Thursday 31st March 2011

Today, we left the hotel at 8am and began our drive to Bangalore. On the way, we stopped for breakfast, which was very very yummy! In Mysore, we did a little bit of shopping, and tried to search for a 5 headed Ganesh statue like the one in Mysore. We then went to the Lallita Mahal Hotel for lunch. The hotel was originally built by the Maharaja for foreigners to live. It was beautiful inside, and so well preserved! Lunch was amazing, possibly the best we had had so far. We then continued on to Bangalore. 

We reached the airport by 7:30, in time for our flight at 9:00. Our flight was then delayed to 10:10, and took off, finally, at 10:30. We reached Pune by 11:40, and home by 12:30. So good to be home! :D 

Ooty DAY 5

The 5th Day in Ooty, TamilNadu

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011.

Today, we woke up early morning, and, instead of eating breakfast at our hotel, we headed over to the Taj hotel for breakfast. The hotel, Taj Savoy Hotel, was a mere 2 kms away from ours. They too had a buffet breakfast, but I think their's was considerably better. The hotel was set up like an old British colony, beautiful. Breakfast was delicious. The most mindboggling part was, at the live counter, the chef, Joseph, made the most amazing dosas! They were crispy from the outside, while soft and doughy from the inside. I don't think anyone could EVER get sick of those! They had homemade jam, fresh fruit smoothies, and amazing hospitality. Our hotel has amazing hospitality too though, which is awesome. :D 

The Taj hotel also had the cutest rabbits on their gardens! They were all busy eating broccoli while carrots lay on the side, and we enjoyed staring at them for 30 mins or so. 

After breakfast, we headed over to the Tea Gardens once again, but different ones this time. They were gorgeous too, and this time was different not only because the place was different but because this time, we were not met with thick layers of mist and fog. Papa and I walked around in the tea gardens, and we saw people plucking the tea leaves and packing them up for the factories. 

On the way back, from the road, we picked up an overwhelming scent of tea. Upon exploration, we discovered an operational tea factory, and they were nice enough to give us a tour. This tea factory was a co-operative; owned by around 900 farmers and run by the government of TamilNadu. Everyday, they processed around 15000 kg of tea leaves, producing around 3000 or 4000 kilos. They made different types of teas, and we saw all of the machines and workers in operation, unlike when we had gone to the other tea factory as that day was a Sunday, so it was a national holiday. The man at the factory told us that the farmers get paid 12 rupees per kg of green leaf they give the factory, and the end product of the factory gets sold in an wholesale auction for about 75 rupees a kg of processed tea. He also told us that for every 4kg of green leaf, 1kg of tea gets produced, the rest going to waste. It was a very interesting visit! 

We then returned to the hotel, and are currently watching the cricket match. India versus Pakistan. Its the match of the century! :p

More later..

The rabbits at Taj and Mummy and Papa! 

In the tea gardens. :D

Ooty DAY 4

Day 4 in Ooty
Tuesday, 29th March 2011

Today, as usual, we awoke in the morning and went for breakfast. After stuffing our faces *not literally...* with idlis and dosas, Papa and I went to the activity room to play carrom. Now, since I was playing after so many years, my loosing was apparent. I did get some pretty good shots in though! We then got into the car and began our drive to the Pykara lake and boathouse. On the way, we passed by a few shooting points, where popular bollywood movies had been shot. We reached Pykara in a little over an hour. It was a damn with a lake and a boathouse. We went on the boat ride down the damn, which was gorgeous! It was very interesting: the damn consisted of drinking water, and thus, the boats were not allowed *by the Tamilnadu government* to be petrol or diesel. The boats were powered by LPG gas. The water was a clear blueish-greenish color, and it was nice and windy. On our way back to the car, we saw a lady eating ice creastm. Behind her stood a monkey, who was standing on two feet, begging for some food. She eventually had to give it to him, and he sat happily on the side, savoring his ice cream. Mega awesome.

We then went to see Ooty lake, which was not even remotely as nice as Pykara. After doing so, we went shopping at Charring Cross, Ooty's local market area.

The monkey with his icecream... :p

Shooting Point.

Black monkeys

Pykara Dam

The boat.... powered by LPG

On the boat..

Ducks! 

Boats like the one we went on.

Ooty DAY 3

Day 3 in Ooty
Monday 28th March 2011

Today, we woke up in the morning and went to breakfast. After breakfast, we set off for a place called Doddabetta, the highest peak in South India. There, we got a birds-eye view of Ooty and the nearby towns, the mountains, and the allround scenery. It was truly amazing. The weather was chilly - perfect for walking around. Later, we went to visit a tea factory. After running through the process of tea manufacture, we tried types of tea and bought some of our own. Next to the tea factory was the chocolate factory, so we stopped by to buy some homemade chocolate. The chocolate was absolutely delicious and tasted soo amazing!

We then went to the botanical gardens. They were very well kept, and very nice and peaceful. The hedges were all cut in different shapes, like tea pots, animals, and even words! It was truly an amazing sight. We then went shopping for some Todas handicrafts - the local tribal people's art. Their clothwork is embroidery on white cloth with red and black string, and their designs are block. The intricate handwork was very nice to see, and it took quite a bit of searching to find a shop selling the rare craft.

It rained while we were at dinner, and this made the weather very very cold!

The sign at the Toda shop

Doddabetta information sign

Tea Manufacture Process

View from the tea factory

View from the tea factory

Toda hut