Weekend getaway-Innovative film city(IFC) in Bangalore

We had been to Innovative film city this Sunday. This post is an account of our trip.
Firstly I really don't know how I came to know about this place. I think I got to know while searching in the internet for Wonderla, a theme park in Bangalore. I read a lot of good reviews at mouthshut about IFC. They also have a very good website which gives a full account of the place. Wonderla and IFC, both are located off Mysore road within 3 KMS of each other. I wanted to go either to Wonderla or IFC. Wonderla is an amusement park with lots of land and water rides. There is no concept of entrance fees here. You got to pay around Rs 700 per person and you get unlimted rides. There are separate charges for senior citizen and childern.(a bit lesser than Rs 700) We(me and husband) are not great lovers of rides so felt paying Rs 700 upfront is not worth it. On the other hand, IFC charges an entrance ticket of Rs 50 and then pay for the attractions that you want to visit. Unlike Wonderla, IFC is not exactly a theme park. There are so many different varieties of amusements and attractions, mirror maze, 4D movie experience, riplye's believe it or not, cartoon city to name a few....There were 6 of us, one among them being a senior citizen. There were also 2 kids(2 years old) and we mainly wanted to go to some place where the kids also can enjoy.. So IFC suited our bill the best..There is nothing in this place that is associated with films. Don't know the reason behind this name.

Location, Timings and Entrance ticket
We started from home at 8:45 AM. Took the NICE road to reach mysore road. Once you enter mysore road there are lot of boards providing distance and direction for Wonderla. Once wonderla passes by, direction for IFC starts. Its pretty easy to follow the directions and reach IFC which is in Bidadi Industrial area near Kirloskar factory. We reached IFC at around 9:40 AM. I read in their website that it opens at 7 AM and closes at 10 PM. What a big mistake they have done and what a big mistake we did by believing the timings. The film city actually opens at 10 AM and closes at 7 PM. We waited outside for 20 minutes. At 10 AM, after security check, we entered inside. We were not supposed to take eatables inside the city. So they checked that too. But thankfully, water bottle is allowed.
As soon soon as you enter, an IFC representative takes you to a lounge to explain about the packages available. Seeing that there were 6 of us, she suggested the family package for Rs 5000. They would give 50 coupons and all the attractions except for roller coaster and carousel is included in the package. We need to give one coupon for each attraction per person. We felt, it might not work out economical for us for we would definitely not use up 50 coupons.(though there is a validity for 1 year for the coupons) So we politely declined the family package and the lady was kind enugh to show us the counter to get the entrance tickets. We got the entrance ticket for 6 of us(no ticket for 2 years old kids) plus Rs 100 for still camera.
As you start walking, you will reach the main street. The main street is buillt in ancient roman architecture with lot of roman statues on both sides of the street. It was definitely nice, for they have tried to do something different.

Attractions and Amusements IFC's website gives good information about all the attractions and amusements available, though cost details are not provided. I have given here a small review of the attractions that we visited along with the cost for each attraction.

Mirror Maze
I read in the reviews that mirror maze and 4D movie are the top most attractions. So we first went to mirror maze. Entrance ticket Rs 75 per person. Free for the 2 year olds, for that matter everthing is free for them. Mirror maze experience was amazing. You enter a room fulll of mirrors, find a way and come out at the exit. As soon as you enter you try to turn right and bang hit on a mirror. Fun starts from that point onwards. You keep walking trying to find out the way and always end up near the entrance. It was real fun.. We were roaming here and there for around 10 minutes, then with the help of an assistant, we came out through the exit suucessfully..It was a real fun filled experience for all of us.(Kids were also allowed inside.)

FunPlex-4D movie
Then we went to Funplex where 4D movie was shown. Entrance ticker Rs 100 per person. We enter a room like a mini movie theatre, an assstant gives us the special spectacles. We sit there expecting something special. We got more than what we expected. This is the best attraction in the whole of IFC. The 4D effect was just mind blowing. We felt nice when some cute little school of fish passed over our head, got scared when a big snake came in front of us and spit some water on our face, disgusted when a group of rats came running towards us and excited when he had a deep dive into the deep sea. The whole of 15 minutes for which the movie ran was enjoyable. You need to experience it to believe it. There were also video games in the FunPlex which we skipped.

Ripplye's Believe it or not and Roller Skates
After this each one of us had different attraction in mind. I wanted to go for mini golf. Husband wanted to go to Ripplye's believe it or not. Mother-in-law just wanted to sit somewhere. The other three(husband's brother, his wife and husband's niece) wanted to go try their hand or rather leg at roller skates. So husband went to Ripplye's with the kid. Entrance fees Rs 100. We all with the other kid went to roller skates. Myself and MIL sat there watching the other 3 try to skate. Ticket Rs 100 for unlimted time. But once you get out of the room, you can't get back with the same ticket. The three of them without any prior experience did some skating with the help of a trainer available there. We had a nice time watching them trying to walk with the skates and tripping down every now and then. It seems the trainer said, if you are good enough you can learn to skate decently within 1 hour. If you already know skating, I think this place is for you..You can just be there skating away to glory. By the time we came out, husband also came out. He was not very happy with Rippley's stuff.

Food
It was 12:30 PM and we were all hungry. We just had a breakfast of scones which was not very filling. We went to the food court. We being vegetarians had fod at Udupi Ananda Bhavan and Jain foods. The food was good. There are also few other food courts and some chains like McDonalds and Pizza corner.

Attractions and amusements continued
Karoake
Then there was this Karoake section where you can sing for free of cost. Husband's niece being a good singer sang a song in the mother tongue. It was a very good performance. We had a nice treat to the ears. She got recorded her song for Rs 50.
Cartoon City
It was high time that the kids got their much needed chance to have fun. So off we went to the cartoon city. The entrance to the cartoon city was quite pleasing. There were many rides for the kids. All the rides costed Rs 30 per person. Since our kids could not do anything alone, we accompanied them. (So it was free for the kids.) We did some "dashing car" and "hit the shark"..Kids had fun. They were already feeling sleepy. We kept thier spirits high and eyes open by informing every now and then that we are going to the beach..(Yes, there is an artificial beach too in IFC..And kids just love to play in water..)

Roller Coaster and Haunted mansion
We wanted to keep acqua world our last destination. Elders excluding MIL had a ride in the roller coaster for Rs 100 per person. Ride was good, but it was too short for Rs 100. Then three of them went to haunted mansion for Rs 100 per person. Each one had a different opinion about the attraction. Husband said it was OK. Husband's brother and his wife did not like it that much.
Mini Golf
Then me and husband tried our hands at mini golf for Rs 100 per person. There were totally 18 holes. We really did not have much fun there as most of the area was sloppy and slippery and the ball was just not stopping. But we had fun in recollecting the days when we used to play golf in computer each one trying to excel the other and were literally addicted to it.
The time was now 3:30 PM. We were too tired to go anywhere else. Also the reviews for the other attractions was not that good like Lady Thussads, Miniature city, Dinosaur park, wannbe city. There was also a bowling aisle and go karting track.
Acqua World
We straight went to acqua world. Entrance fees Rs 150 for adults, 100 for kids. Our kids were too small to be charged. And the best part, entry was free for senior citizens..We left our belongings with MIL who was sitting in a shade. There were also lockers availble for Rs 50 per locker. Acqua world consists of an artificial beach with real sand. Though there is a 1 feet wall dividing the sand from the beach. You can't enter the beach with muddy feet. There is basically no dress code to enter the beach. Kids had a really nice time there. We missed the artificial waves which happens every 1 hour or so..There was loud music and a DJ. It was good. It would have been good if there were some water games. We came out of the beach at around 5:00 changed clothes and left acqua world at 5:30.

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We had some snacks and left IFC at around 6PM. Reached home by 7 in the evening. Overall it was a nice getaway. It was a bit tiresome as IFC is built in a huge area. So had to walk a lot. It was nice going as a family. We had a nice, enjoyable time. I would surely not say "What a place" (IFC's slogan), but defintely it is a place worth visiting atleast once.
I have posted some pictures too which just gives an idea about how IFC looks. For the real experience, do visit once

Egypt Travelogue-6: Sight seeing trips: Day 3-Sharm-el-Shiekh: Naama Bay

Sharm-el-Shiekh is our destination for the next seven days

We arrived at the bus stop in Sharm-el-Shiekh at around 7:00 AM in the morning. We took a taxi for 30 EGP(we knew it was a bit expensive) to reach our resort, situated in Naama Bay. After some inital hitch, we checked in at 8 AM. We had reservation for 7 days stay in the resort. The resort was quite nice with all amenities.. TV, telephone, air conditioner, kitchenette to name a few. The room was clean and house keeping personnel cleaned the room almost daily and changed the beds every alternate days. It was situated in a very posh area of Sharm-el-Shiekh called the naama bay where some of the famous diving schools are located. The whole area is nested with a lot of resorts and clubs.
Each resort has it own private beach(around 200 to 300 metres stretch for each resort or sometimes more than one resort shares the small stretch of the beach)Our resort was around 200 metres from the beach. We had to take a pass for the beach from the manager at the resort(thankfully, entry to the beach was free of cost) and provide the pass to an attendant at the entrance to the beach. Once you enter the beach, you can just walk/swim/snorkel the whole stretch. There are some man made partitions, but you are free to go wherever you want.
In the evening we went to the ticket office to get the tickets back to Cairo. The gentleman at the counter was very friendly and helpful. We emquired him about services to Mt Catherines, but came to know that we need to arrange for the trip through tour operators only, especially the tourists
To be continued...

Egypt Travelogue-6: Sight seeing trips: Day 2-Giza, Saqqara, Dashur and Memphis

PYRAMIDS TOUR
We booked the pyramids tour for 120EGP per person in a private taxi.We covered giza, saqqara, dashur and memphis city. Needless to say, it was a wonderful and memorable trip, the biggest pyramid in giza being the highlight.
Our first destination was Giza, in the outskirts of Cairo where the biggest pyramid is located. There are totally three main pyramids and many other small ones scattered here and there. We were very excited and happy beyond words to see the huge pyramid that we were seeing all these days in TV or photos. We went inside the big pyramid. There was nothing much inside the pyramid, just empty rooms. But the walk/crawl through the steep passage makes us realize how the pre historic people would have entered the pyramid to keep the mummy and the treasures. The area is very fast and we need to walk a lot to go from one pyramid to other. After seeing the other 2 pyramids and other monuments(following the rough guide book), we finally saw the sphinx. This ended our tour of giza.
We then visited the step pyramid in Saqqara. This is considered to be one of the oldest pyramids built by the famous archotect Imhotep for Djoser, a ruler of Egypt's 3rd dynasty. We had around 45 minutes to go around this place.
Our next destination was Dashur, the village where Red Pyramid and bent pyramid are located. The drive through the village reminded me of Indian villages.
Our cab stopped near the Red pyramid. We went inside the pyramid. It was same as the big pyramid in Giza, but there was a very bad smell inside the chamber. We were literally breathing through our mouth to avoid inhaling the smell. We could only see the bent pyramid from a distance as it was a bit far from the red pyramid and we did not have enough time.
On the was back to the hotel, we visited the city of memphis which is now more like a museum. There was a huge structure of I think Ramses lying flat inside a big room. Other than that there were some more statues. Memphis is supposed to be the city from where the pharoahs ruled.
We were quite content with the day's trip and it was a memorable experience to have relived history.
In the night we boarded a bus at around 10:30 PM to sharm-el-shiekh, a coastal city in the Sinai peninsula.
To be continued...

Egypt Travelogue-6: Sight seeing trips: Day 1

We arrived at Cairo airport at around 11 in the morning. After immigration checks, we boarded the cab that we had pre booked through Nubian hostel in which we stayed in Cairo. It costed us 70 EGP for airport pickup. On the first day, we just went to the most famous market in Cairo, Khan-el-Khalili in the evening. We went by taxi by paying around 15 EGP.(ofcourse after bargaining)We just roamed about the market to the shouts "Hey India", "Amitabh Bacchan", "Sonia gandhi is inside my shop, come see her" etc, by the local shop keepers. I did not buy anything on that day and just took stock of the items available that is worth buying. We had anyway planned to visit the market once again for the actual purchase. I should say that most of the items that are available in those markets are available in India too except for few things that are unique to Egypt which I will cover in Shopping section.

We were back at the hotel in the night. We booked for the pyramids trip for the next day through our hotel manager. Our first day ended with an anxiuos wait to visit the Great Pyramids the next day.