Coorg – Scotland Of India

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate. Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013. After we move to Bangalore it was our top … Continue reading “Coorg – Scotland Of India”

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate.

Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013.

After we move to Bangalore it was our top most priority to visit Coorg but again delayed as I was pregnant ?. So, after delivery and baby is big enough to travel long distances & buying our first car it was time to visit Coorg.

Done some research online, trying to find some nice home stays and luckily, we found one in our budget on MMT(MakeMyTrip). It was Silver Brooks Estate; this home stay is run by a couple Revathi & Yogesh. Yogesh was in hospitality business for long, so these guys knows what all things are required and how to manage and maintain a property effectively.

Route we took was – via Mysore highway till a round about from where we need to take exit on KSR Road then Belagola – Yelwala – Mallinathpura – Hunsur – then on Mysure – Medikeri Road till Kushalnagar. Continue on same road via Suntikoppa – Kedakal – Boikeri.

It was around 250 Km from our home and took us 5.30 – 6 hours with 2 stops. Our first stop was at Kamat Lokaruchi – Ramanagara, it’s around 50-55 Km 1 hour drive, nice clean toilets and very good food.

Parking is on the road side. Second stop was Café County which is around 125 km from Kamat Lokaruchi and 70-75 Km from out stay. It’s café cum restaurant here you have snacks coffee or full lunch/dinner as per the time.

Service and cleanliness is not good, less staff and until you call them they won’t bother to come to your table, so better find some other place if you want a second stop.

We had one of the cakes with coffee (don’t remember the name) but it was delicious. Small but clean toilets 2 type of sitting options i.e. inside and outside.Other than these 2 stops we stopped at 2 attractions before Coorg.

1. Namdroling Monastery:

Namdroling Monastery is center of Tibetan Buddhism, it’s very calm and peace full place. There is a parking facility outside the monastery behind the shopping complex. Entry is free, there is large beautiful Buddha temple in the center of the complex. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

2. Nisargadhama:

Nisargadhama is an island formed by river Kaveri. This place is situated near Kushalnagar. There is ticket to enter the island, you have to cross an hanging bridge built over Kaveri.

The island has lots of bamboo trees and some activities like zip line, place to sit, small tree house kind of. The place is not maintained very well. There is boating facility as well but when we went the current in Kaveri was strong due to which boating was suspended for some time.

There are lots of shops here, all kind of shops like Gov. Silk shop, food shops, toys etc. The main entrance is little hard to find as it’s a small way b/w the shops which leads to the place to buy ticket.

After all the stops and soaking all the natural beauty on the way we reach out home stay Silver Brooks. Believe me it was amazing, exactly what was shown in the pics and the hospitality was just great. Revathi guided us very well and was available all the time for help.

The house is created from scratch inside their estate, look and feel was of old housed. Revathi informed us that they have used reused the old materials like the pillars, doors, swing, chairs. Means they bought the things from some old home and restored it to give more traditional and old age feeling.

This home stay has 5 rooms I think 2 in the main building 1 on the right side which has its own private entrance and site out area, room is also little big and 2 at the start near the parking which are smaller than the other 3.

Cost of room includes B/F and dinner which is home made by 2 talented cooks. Food was delicious, it was a buffet with authentic flavors. There is an open kitchen which means guests have access and can cook their food or snack.

It’s kids friendly place even for infants, the cooks cooked special food for our daughter, the staff is very friendly and help full.

For more detailed review please check my TripAdvisor.

We stayed for 2N/3D and felt that we could have stayed one more day. Most of the time we have spent in home stay relaxing, interacting with other guests. But we also went for some sightseeing to the places like Abbey falls, Raja’s seat & Madikeri Fort.

Abbey Falls:

Is around 14 km from the home stay and you have to pass the Madikeri city, but don’t worry there is not much of traffic like what we have in Bangalore ?. Route is beautiful as it’s a ghat/mountain road 2 lane.

There is a parking little ahead of the main entrance to the falls. There is toilet facility as well in the parking area. To reach to the main falls you have to decent some steps and slope.

The area in front of falls is quite small and in tourist season when the falls are at there peak it will be difficult to find a spot to click some good pics. Spent less time there as it was over crowded, took few pics and came back.

One main issue there is due to some stupid people which park their cars on the road side which leads to traffic jam, so be prepare for that.

Madikeri Fort:

It is around 8 Km from home stay and it is near to Raja’s seat. So, you can cover both the place in one go. You can either park your car in the parking area in front of Raja’s seat or inside fort and walk to one of the places. Distance b/w these places is around 1 Km.

Fort is old and now kind of Gov. office, there is one small museum inside the fort on the right side just after entering the fort. One can stroll on the fort walls, but there is nothing much to do here.

This place lacks proper sign boar, or any kind of guide like some printed material or some guided tour. Due to these reasons it’s very less time consuming.

Raja’s Seat:

Is a kind of valley view point or sunset point.

Kings of Kodagu use to sit here to relax and watch the mesmerizing sunset with beautiful valley view that’s why it is called as Raja’s seat. It has beautiful garden at the start with fountains. Safety measures are good with railing on stairs and on the edges.

There is bon fire facility available in the home stay but went there in after rainy season, but it still rained so couldn’t do it.

To shop from Coorg is special Coorg wine, which comes in different flavors like ginger, chilly, mixed fruit, dates and many more, price range from Rs 500-1000 also spices. There is one government shop on the road which leads to Raja’s seat.

We really enjoyed our stay in Silver Brooks and Coorg tourist spots and the long drive from Bangalore.

Visit Month – August

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.

Drive-in Beach Kannur

Kannur has one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited till date. It’s also known as ‘Crown of Kerala’ due to various reason and its geographic location. After we bought our first car it was my husbands wish to drive the car on a beach and splash the sea water while driving through the … Continue reading “Drive-in Beach Kannur”

Kannur has one of the most beautiful beaches we have visited till date. It’s also known as ‘Crown of Kerala’ due to various reason and its geographic location.

After we bought our first car it was my husbands wish to drive the car on a beach and splash the sea water while driving through the waves (just like what we use to see in movies). So, while planning our holiday he came across Kannur and immediately it was his first preference to visit this place.

After doing some research for route & stay, we finalized one home stay through Airbnb. Our home stay was located right on the beach, well not exactly right on the beach but stone throw distance.

It was around 310 Km from our home, we started early but not that early around 5.30 AM. With kid it’s hard to leave very early, you keep thinking if you have kept all the required things for your kid or not till you sit in the car and leave.

What we have started doing is we pack all the luggage a night before and arrange it in the car, only thing we leave for the morning is the food item and ourselves ?.

This leads to less hassle in the morning to arrange the stuff, less sweating which leads to fresh mind and body to start the long drive. We took 2 stops one for B/F and another a loo/tea break, also it helps in relaxing the legs which is required if only one person is there to drive.

Coorg Gate Karnataka — Coorg Gate, stop just before entering Kerala

The route was quite straight forward till we reach Kerala, then some ghat section comes through the beautiful jungle. Our second stop was just before the ghat/jungle section at Coorg gate, that’s the only restaurant on the right side. It has ample of parking, nice clean toilets (w/o health faucet).

The route we took was –

Mysore highway till Krishnarajasagara road, then from there Bilikere – Hunsur – Gonikoppal – Vayathur – Iritty – Mattanur – Kannur

Most of the road is in good shape till we reach kannur but just before kannur there is road and new airport construction going on so there are some diversions, mud road etc. otherwise no issue at all.

With all the stops and road condition it took us 7-7.30 hours to reach our home stay, by lunch we were at our home stay.

We booked Ivorycoast’e home stay through Airbnb and believe me it was simply awesome experience with our host. Our host is simple, humble, polite and friendly guy who will help you in every manner.

Ivorycoast'e Kannur — Balcony of our room

They serve fresh, homemade Kerala style food at very reasonable rates. We didn’t go anywhere else for any of our meal. If we are out somewhere then we finish that site and came back to have the lunch and then after some rest head back to another place.

Another benefit of our home stay is distances from the places to visit, it was like in the middle of Muzhappilangad Beach and Kannur Light house & St. Angelo’s fort. Ivorycoast’e has 6 rooms, 3 on ground and 3 on first with porch, balcony, garden area with table chairs kept.

(For more detailed review of the property visit my TripAdvisor)

Here you have your B/F, Lunch/Dinner served which you can enjoy with cold breeze coming from the sea and magical sound of sea waves.

Thottada Beach is just 50 mtr away from the Ivorycoast’e, it’s beautiful, clean, calm beach. It’s located behind the residential area so not many people come here. In the morning we saw only 4-5 people doing there morning walk or exercise. You can easily enjoy your time with family and loved one’s w/o worrying about any kind of disturbance.

Ivorycoast’e is mostly popular with foreigners which come here to relax for 10-15 days and explore the local culture. When we were there Theyyam festival was being celebrated in a near by temple. Our host was kind enough to take us to witness the festival.

Believe me it was amazing experience.

Other than relaxing at our home stay we have visited Kannur light house, and St. Angelo’s fort and the most important place for which my husband had planned the holiday i.e. Muzhappilangad Drive in beach.

Muzhappilangad Drive in beach is one of the largest in Asia. There is entry fee of I think Rs 30, it’s around 5 Km in length so you have enough space to drive your car or find some place away from crowd. The beach is very clean, its awesome experience driving your car on the beach (as per my husband ?).

Muzhappilangad Kannur — Beautiful sunset

We have visited in the evening to witness sun set and it was amazing experience. It was special as it was my daughters first beach holiday. She was initially afraid of water as it was too much of water coming and going also it was her first time on beach. After some time, she was enjoying her time playing with sand.

There is one thing one must be cautious about i.e. washing the under body after driving the car in sea water.

Second day of our visit we went to see Kannur light house and St. Angelo’s fort. There is also a museum below the light house which has a collection of different types of lights used in different types of light house etc. there is ticket to enter the light house and museum which is reasonably priced.

The view from the top is quite magnificent you can see sea at one end and greenery at other. Even in sunny day it was very pleasant on the top due to cold breeze. There is separate ticket to go to the front of the compound sort of walking space with garden at one end, it’s good for morning/evening walk beside the sea. Parking is available on the premises which is free.

Timings are – 10 to 6

There is documentary played inside the museum, in local language and English which gives more information about the history of light house and types of light houses.

For St. Angelo’s we have to first pay the entry fee as it is located in cantonment area, then there is parking that one has to pay. Entry is free. It’s a Portuguese fort built in 1505.

St. Angelo's Fort Kannur — View of Arabian sea from fort

There is ample space inside the fort and has a cliff like end of the fort. There are watch towers on the walls and a chapel in the premises.

From one the walls of the fort we can see the port where the fisherman park their boats. Fort has some beautiful trees inside it’s an ideal place to relax, watch sunset and enjoy the breeze. School children comes here for picnic or visit to learn more about history.

We have really enjoyed out stay here, it was amazing experience in the home stay with amazing homemade Kerala style food and in the town with amazing long drive from Bangalore.

Visit Month – January

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.

Wonderla Bangalore

Staycation with Wonderla Resort After being in Bangalore for almost 3 year we finally visited the most talked about attraction i.e. Wonderla Amusement park. Now Wonder-La has resort facility well, after entering the main gate first right is the resort. It is located around 200 mt before the Amusement park. We had one day stay … Continue reading “Wonderla Bangalore”

Staycation with Wonderla Resort

After being in Bangalore for almost 3 year we finally visited the most talked about attraction i.e. Wonderla Amusement park.

Now Wonder-La has resort facility well, after entering the main gate first right is the resort. It is located around 200 mt before the Amusement park.
We had one day stay there which includes tickets for the park, B/F, one other meal either lunch or dinner with high tea.

The ticket provided is a normal entry ticket which means one must wait in line to take ride, they do have fast entry which will directly take you to the entry and you will get preference before the normal entry which is worth if you are planning to go on a week-end.

Resort do have valet parking, very welcoming staff at the entrance. Check-in was a breeze, if it’s a weekend then might take little more time than usual.

After all the formalities we were quickly allotted a room on 5th floor which was swimming pool facing with beautiful landscape behind it.

It’s a good size room with enough free space on all the sides of the bed, they do have one chair and small table on one side with desk and chair at the corner. All the basic facilities are there in the room like – tea/coffee maker with sachet, locker & water bottles.

Lighting in the room was little less and all yellow light (personal preference). Beds were quite comfy, not too soft not too hard (again personal preference)

Bathroom is of small size but enough for 1-person ?. There were toiletries provided in the bathroom like shampoo, body lotion, comb and other utility stuff like ear buds, tooth pick & Band-Aid.

Resort Facilities

As it’s a resort so they do have different facilities to entertain the guest. Most important one is swimming pool and they do have separate kids pool with railing around it. There is one attendant present all the time, who keeps an eye on the kids, provides towels. Swim wear is also available if someone forgets to bring one.

Other facilities include kids play area, small gym with all the basic equipment’s, recreating room with some indoor sports like – carom, chess, air hockey, pool table on the first floor.

There is conference room and banquet halls present on the first floor, so organization outings can be planned here or some conference.

There is one restaurant and one pool side lounge present on the ground floor. Restaurant is having decent seating capacity and nice ambience, one side of it face the front of the resort i.e. garden & parking area. They serve buffet as well as a-la-carte here.

The buffet spread is quite small, one starter 3 veg and 3 non-veg main course, 2 type of rice, noodles with veg gravy and 3 desert option. Taste wise it was decent, not bad but not excellent. Service is slow as it took around 15 min to get rotis even though it was not that crowded.

Here is a happy note for you all…you can get a discount for you stay at WonderLa resort by this coupan code?
So the coupon code is WONDERLARESORTAMAZING15
Call on +91 99455 00011 to redeem it?

WonderLa Amusement Park

Park is located around 200 meters from resort, with their day stay you get park ticket that you need to collect from the reception. You’ll only get the ticket after 1 PM, this is some sort of condition they have included in this package and it’s a normal ticket not a fast track.

There is drop to park from resort and vice versa or else you can walk down if you want to burn some calories ? or take your own vehicle. There is a huge parking space, most of the space b/w resort and the park is parking area.

At the resort there is option to take bike’s, I think it is something new they are planning to introduce or already introduced not sure as it was closed when we were there. Sadly, forgot to check the details as well.

The park is not that big area wise, but it has lots of rides for adults and kids around 70 as per our driver. There is a lot of foot fall on weekends so be ready to wait in queue if you have normal ticket, as per the information boards on the rides you might have to wait up to 45 min for some rides.

There is quite a good collection for kids as well, our daughter enjoyed her outing thoroughly. You can imagine here joy with this that we have to ask the ride attendant to let her sit one more time on most of the rides ?

Wonderla Mini Venice ride — Mini Venice Ride

Some of the kid’s rides are – Magic Mushroom, Mini Pirate Ship, Mini Venice, Jumping Frog and Mini Express to name few.

There is no or bare minimum queue on kids rides, and maximum queue on adult rides.
There is mix of both water and land rides. Some of the thrilling land rides include – Recoil (roller coaster), Flash tower (free fall), Equinox (traveling at 70 kmph upside down 16 mtr above ground), Insanity and Hurricane to name few.

Water rides such as – Harakiri, Fun racer, Wavy and vertical fall, Rain disco, wave pool and lazy river to name few.

There is one giant wheel placed on the top of a tower from there one can have a bird’s eye view of the full facility and beautiful mountains and fields nearby. From here you can see a lot of solar water heating panels which are used to heat the water for their wave pools and other rides.

Wonder-La Giant Wheel — Giant Wheel 50 meter above ground with 30 meter diameter

Wonderla Park View — Park View with resort at the back

Wonder-La is one place near to Bangalore where one can have everything i.e. relaxing stay in resort and fun-filled thrilling experience in the park. We really enjoyed the time we spent there.

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.

Happy cute surprise bag

Happy cute surprise bag is a monthly subscription bag . This is the bag full of cute surprise items from Kawaii items. The bag comes with 15 different cute surprise items for you. This bag is loved by the one who loves collecting all cute items. Every subscription box retail value is approximately $45. This subscription … Continue reading “Happy cute surprise bag”

This subscription bag is priced at 18$ per month.

Let me show you what we received in this month subscription bag.

Comes in a cute bag with strings, all the items are packed inside of the bag.

Kawaii bear jump rope It is a jumping rope with neon colour. It comes with plastic handles and transparent rope. It is light in weight and easy to carry and hold.

Popcorn Okitoki notepad and pen set It is a very handy notepad with pen holder. You can carry this anywhere in your bag as it is small in size. It come with stencil ruler and string so that you can hand it also.

Fresh summer juice fan This is a cute hand fan with fresh fruits print. You can keep it in your hand bag. Best to best summer heat anytime.

Cute Animal socks This is a cute pair socks with animal prints on it

Kawaii stickers These are two pack of stickers for decorations.

Harajuku bow hair pin is cute bow bin filled with rainbow colour balls. It can matched with any dress.

Baby elephant Mini plush these are cute hangs for bags, you can hand these cute plushies to your bag. Come with many colours.

Emoji plushie charm small These are cute emoji plushies. I got the smiling one, their are many as per mood. Each plushie comes with a ball chain. You can hang it with any thing as per your mood.

Kawaii girl coin purse This is a small cute purse for keeping all little items. You can keep candies , coins , hair clips or small toys in it. Purse come with a small loop attcatta to it. You can hold it easily with loop around your wrist. It is easy to wash also.

Pastel ice cream cone charm this is cute charm looks of ice cream. You can attached it to your bag, key chain, phone, wallet or camera. It come with a detachable string.

Cheerful Animal pocket mirror This is a cute Pocket mirror with animal face printed flap. It can be kept in hand bag or cosmetic bag.

Pink bear bag charm This is a cute bear made of hard plastic with plastic clip. You can hand it with anything like bag, key chain or anywhere you want.

BK glow in the dark nail polish This is a different nail polish that glow in dark.

Kawaii tofu squishy charm this is kawaii tofu shaped squishy charm. You can hang it with your bag or key chain.

We just loved this super cute surprise bag from Happy cute shop.

Now a surprise for you all too.. here is the chance for getting a free monthly bag from Happy cute shop.

GIVEAWAY

Just click the link below and win a free happy cute bag for your little one.

Forbabynmommy Happy Cute Surprise Bag Giveaway

Healthy Kids Food Ideas

Being mom a thought which is always in your mind is providing healthy food and proper nutrition to your kid. We all have this little picky eater who don’t want to eat healthy food. A mother needs to learn some easy ways to add healthy and nutritious food for her little one(s). So here I … Continue reading “Healthy Kids Food Ideas”

Being mom a thought which is always in your mind is providing healthy food and proper nutrition to your kid.

We all have this little picky eater who don’t want to eat healthy food. A mother needs to learn some easy ways to add healthy and nutritious food for her little one(s).

So here I am sharing my personal tips with you. I am a vegetarian, so main source of protein come from pulses, soya, fruits and vegetables.

Now the question is how to give food rich in protein and essential vitamins and minerals to your kids.

Tips to add nutritious food to your kid’s meal.

MILK – most of the kids run away from milk and same with my daughter. She is really choosy when it comes to milk . So when she throws tantrums having milk, I make oats porridge with that milk adding some fruits to it.

Change look of the food – when the kids says no to milk, you can always try experimenting with dishes made with milk. I used to make health mix, porridge, oats, sweet dalia and kheer. She just enjoy all these items and yes milk too?.
Replace Milk with Milk products – When your kids say no to milk, try different milk products. Giving paneer, cheese, butter, curd. All have same benefits of milk, so you can try offering milk in different forms.

PULSES

Health mix chapatis – Adding some health mix powder to wheat flour and kneading with milk. Add more nutrition to kids meal.
Health mix

VEGETABLES

Vegetables chapatis – You can knead chapatis dough with vegetables puree. Adding beetroot, carrot, spinach or any vegetables of your choice. It not only gives colour to food, also enhance the taste of it.

FRUITS

Fruits with play time – I have made a routine to have any fruit before going for playing outdoor. So in this way my daughter knows she have to eat fruit, before going out.
Juice/shakes – Kids enjoy having homemade juice and shakes is also at times.
Soya – You can add soya flour to the normal wheat flour and use daily. Soya milk is also good.

DRY FRUITS

Flavoured Milk – You can add dry fruits powder to milk, it gives flavour.
Snack – Roasted nuts are a great way of munching with healthy benefits . Roast nuts of choice with ghee and give for munching anytime.
Sweets – Homemade sweets is best way for adding dry fruits. Kids love these sweets .

Wholewheat Oasts Raison and almonds cookies

As a mom, you have these plenty of new ideas, do share your ideas with me in comments.

This post is part of Get Fit, Stay Fit blog party with Bon Happetee. I would like to thank my online fitness blogger buddy, Mayuri from Sirimiri to introduce me.

Also, I take this opportunity to introduce Pragun who blogs at Praguntatwa. She blogs about the panchtatwa of life.

I am participating in the ‘Get Fit, Stay Fit’ blog party with bonhappetee

First Time Mommy
Aesha
Kreative Mommy
Sirimiri

Here is a happy note for you all…you can get a discount for you stay at WonderLa resort by this coupan code? So the coupon code is WONDERLARESORTAMAZING15 Call on +91 99455 00011 to redeem it?

Let me show you what we received in this month subscription bag.

GIVEAWAY

Just click the link below and win a free happy cute bag for your little one.

Here is a happy note for you all…you can get a discount for you stay at WonderLa resort by this coupan code?
So the coupon code is WONDERLARESORTAMAZING15
Call on +91 99455 00011 to redeem it?