[mjothi]

Current voters [handle(location)]

* Lukeskywalker ()
* snaronikar ()
* Happywheels ()
* akroy (Kagadasapura)
* sajands ()
* btirthankar (Kagadasapura)
* Dadu ()
* anujmishra ()
* khan_sultan (JP Nagar)
* mjothi (Bhuvaneswari Nagar)
* ravibhat ()

(Some more to respond and confirm. I will update this list by end of today again.)

Lets fix the date as 9th August, Saturday. I had one response who likes it on Sunday, but seems Saturday is better choice since families can take rest on Sunday.

Its good that we have narrowed to these 2 locations. (Guys please do not add some more tempting offers, lets keep it for next meet. lol.)

Manchinebele Reservoir

Distance : 50KMs from bangalore
Food : No good hotels. To carry
Activities : Water sports, Fishing and Photo session
Scenic : seems very good from the pictures.
Crowd : Good With family and in groups
Other attractions : Nrarby Big Banyan tree

Lukeskywalk's farm

Distance : 20KMs from Bangalore
Food : No good hotels. To carry
Activities : Meet, talk and have some fun drive.
Scenic : Equally good.
Crowd : Good With family
Other attractions : Not sure.

Both are equally good. So, lets keep this floating for 2 days and fix it on or before 7th August.

I would like to add a note. Can we make this a non-alcoholic meet. Not sure how many heads drops out now.

Cheers.

[snaronikar]

@Jyothi: I feel we need to have atleast a resturant in the vicinity. Also whether this will be a family meet or will it be a individuals. And let drinks (maybe only beer) be an option and lets see how many of them really want to go for this. Many people here may be bachelors and i'am not sure that they will be able to bring in their food.

[iceman91]

I am in..maybe a bit late but will definitely make it!!

[dadu]

If we decide on the dam, some more piece of information, its a triangle between Thippagondanahalli (T.G. Halli) dam , Banyan tree and Manchanabele Dam(farthest) , some people even take the straight road from banyan tree and reach TG halli assuming its manchanabele.

Wiki location TG halli Dam: Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!

Banyan tree : Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!

Manchanabele Dam: Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!



The nearest decent place I can think of is Kamat Lokaruchi after ramanagram, serving ethnic food. Its part of the Janapada loka cultural complex.

Originally Posted by snaronikar

@Jyothi: I feel we need to have atleast a resturant in the vicinity. Also whether this will be a family meet or will it be a individuals. And let drinks (maybe only beer) be an option and lets see how many of them really want to go for this. Many people here may be bachelors and i'am not sure that they will be able to bring in their food.

[PatchyBoy]

I am in guys. I am for Saturday, one day trip, BYOF, BYOB Family meet. Any place is fine.

Cheers,

Rajan

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

...Nrarby BIG Banyan tree is there and also one can see rock blasting...

Originally Posted by mjothi

...Other attractions : Nrarby Big Banyan tree
...

Guys, is this a typo?

Ravi, did you mean 'Nearby' or is there a banyan tree with this name? I have been to a place where they had a Big Banyan tree, off the Mysore highway. You can see the ISRO watch station (the big dome and all) from there. Are we both talking about the same place?

Originally Posted by ravibhat

......Also tomorrow is Nagar Panchami Festival, If everyone has holiday lets plan for tomrrow itself.

How many lucky ones are here? I am working!

Originally Posted by mjothi

...I would like to add a note. Can we make this a non-alcoholic meet. Not sure how many heads drops out now....

Since drinking and driving is not advised, I would reckon that people who drive will be more careful on what they consume. It would be great to have a non-alcoholic meet, but then I am sure that there are few of us here for whom a 'good time' is never done till a few drink are drained. :-)

[Lukeskywalker]

Nice to see the way the thread is progressing. Deciding between the two places is right in my opinion,

@Jyothi: I feel we need to have atleast a resturant in the vicinity. Also whether this will be a family meet or will it be a individuals. And let drinks (maybe only beer) be an option and lets see how many of them really want to go for this. Many people here may be bachelors and i'am not sure that they will be able to bring in their food.

There are some good dhabas near Jakkur, one or two dhabas towards Doddaballapur if we feel like driving out further.

My suggested itinerary would be:
(This is for my place)

Meet up @ Yelahanka between 8.30-9.00 am
Drive down to the village
Have breakfast
General chit chat
Checking out rides
Have a farm visit
Have some fun & games if families are present(would be nice with families)
Head back towards Yelahanka for lunch
Disperse post lunch

This way, we can still get back home without too much exhaustion and expenditure.
Pros:
Not too far away
Green surroundings
We have the place all to ourselves
No hassles of parking
Cons:
Will have to make do with packed food
Rain may play spoilsport
Not for people looking for luxury

This is my suggestion only. Open to further discussions.
Cheers
Hari.

P.S.
I can arrange for a packed breakfast from a nearby hotel.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

@Jyothi: I feel we need to have atleast a resturant in the vicinity. Also whether this will be a family meet or will it be a individuals. And let drinks (maybe only beer) be an option and lets see how many of them really want to go for this. Many people here may be bachelors and i'am not sure that they will be able to bring in their food.

Ok. I have some more confirmations to be added. But I will consolidate it and put it once in the end of the day.

Coming to the details,

* It is a family meet.
* Regarding food, the best option is to get it packed and go to the location. It should be fun and enjoyable to have food under the sky. But we should make sure we do not litter the place. This is doable only when we are sure of the number of headcounts. Please update this thread or PM me about number of Adult and children you will be accompanied with.
* Drinks - Let that be an option. But please make sure the drivers are not drinking. Please.

More to follow.
Edit: So many updates before I posted. Ok, keep them coming (within these 2 locations ofcourse...) Either by end of today or tomorrow we will have the complete iternery ready.

[Lukeskywalker]

@Luke: Where is this place? Some more picture about the actual location would help us to decide I guess.

Luke, please post some photos of the location. Would help us do a comparison and decide.

Sorry guys, not too many photos to show off, it's not everyday that you take snaps of your workplace,
That said, there are plenty of photo opportunities of things and locations which are alien to city life.
I just dug out some more snaps:











Hope these help!
cheers:
Hari.

[HappyWheels]

OT:

Hey Luke,

Loved the photo of the one with the tractor. Its not everyday that you get to see a person who is driving a tractor and having a bluetooth headset plugged in! :-)

[akroy]

mjothi, pls fix Luke's farm. It will be a nice exp. I completely agree to Luke's itenary plan. THis will be a new exp for everyone. Most of us has been to Banyan tree / machinabele dam. Letss keep that for later time.

I can also suggest instead of packed breakfast each member can bring 2 packs of bread + butter + boiled eggs + chips and everyone can have a common breakfast picnic in the farm.

Lunch can be arranged in a dhaba on NH7 or somewhere in yelahanka (Luke will have idea of nice food joints there)

And hey, this is a family meet which will dispurse post lunch so No drinking business pls...

Abhi

[ravibhat]

Nice updates! Both the places seems quiet good.

I feel we should cover all these places one by one!

More about Manchanbele dam I found on the web.

m@nchinbele - BWS - a set on Flickr

Ravi.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by akroy

mjothi, pls fix Luke's farm. It will be a nice exp. I completely agree to Luke's itenary plan. THis will be a new exp for everyone. Most of us has been to Banyan tree / machinabele dam. Letss keep that for later time.

I can also suggest instead of packed breakfast each member can bring 2 packs of bread + butter + boiled eggs + chips and everyone can have a common breakfast picnic in the farm.

Lunch can be arranged in a dhaba on NH7 or somewhere in yelahanka (Luke will have idea of nice food joints there)

And hey, this is a family meet which will dispurse post lunch so No drinking business pls...

Abhi

Ok. Its good suggestion. I think we can meet at Luke's place. But the reservoir would be good to visit only in monsoon and when there was good rain and water.

Anyway, lets still keep the option open between these 2 to get everyone's opinion.

[Lukeskywalker]

I can also suggest instead of packed breakfast each member can bring 2 packs of bread + butter + boiled eggs + chips and everyone can have a common breakfast picnic in the farm.

Hey Abhi, at least this way we get to meet again.
Arranging for breakfast is not at all problem, some basic south indian cuisine can be made available.
As far as boiled eggs are concerned, well what can I say?

[khan_sultan]

Guys, My vote goes for Luke's farm -- provided he makes his tractor available for testing/driving :-).

Abhi's suggestion for every one (family folks) bringing bread + butter + jam etc for breakfast so that everyone can eat together is great.