The weekend before last the wife and I went to a meeting organized by the Indian Aquarium Hobbyist at Bangalore. It was such a great meeting that I was wondering to myself what I had done all these years. I hadn’t heard about them and I had no clue that such a thing was going on.

It all happened with Renie sending me a link on the meet. So I got interested and joined the forums so that I could meet with them.

Then on a Sunday, we took my bike and rode towards Yelahanka. The ride was good and the distance short. It was just about 16 kms from my house

However, after a bit of asking around on the back roads we reached the meeting place, Umesh’s art gallery at Yelahanka New Town. The moment we reached we were greeted by a host of people. They were all very friendly and I quickly blended in (or so I think). Anyway, it was good to meet people who were absolutely crazy about Aquariums and keeping fish as pets. I even met a guy who has some great Plakats. And he stays quite close by. Hmmm… maybe this weekend I will get a chance to check out his fish.

Visit my flickr set.

The best part, of course, was the awesome Iwagumi aquascape demo by Adip. The patience shown by Adip and Mayur, the different materials used from Japan (all volcano related rocks and sand), the different plants hand selected, etc were an eye opener for me. I mean, my aquascapes have always been some river sand and some assorted plants in a tank. Phew!

The above is a macro I took of the aquatic plants in the Iwagumi landscape. Nice picture (pat, pat on my back).

Update 3: Sep 23, 2008

Update 2: May 10, 2008

Tickets from Bangalore to Mangalore and return have been booked for the following people:

Anwin, Nafisa, Renie, Anoop, Karthik, Arun and Wife, Keerthi, Rohit and Edin. I have the tickets with me, so guys please do not forget to turn up.

Ticket fares: Approximately 1050 per person.

Boarding point: Indira Nagar, 9:30 PM, 16 May (Friday)

ETA at Mangalore: 6:30 AM, 17 May (Saturday)

Return: 10:10 PM, 18 May (Sunday)

Hotel Costs: Approximately 1300 per night per room (twin sharing basis)

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Update 1: Train tickets not available since there is only one train weekly to Mangalore and because train ticket bookings start 90 days prior these days.

Bus tickets are available and I will start booking tickets from coming Monday. The rates are as follows:

Non A/c – Rs. 350/-
A/c – Rs.500/-

Let me know guys.
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So Naveen is getting married. This is a static page I am going to maintain for the wedding for updates and photos.

Date: 18/05/2008 – May 18 – Sunday

Place: Mangalore

Bride: Jackie a.ka. Jax

Time: Evening

Yes, they look great together and are made for each other. (That image is copyrighted, no copying please.)

I am planning to be there atleast by Saturday (May 17). So I should be leaving on Friday evening to Mangalore. I believe we can have a party on Saturday night in Mangalore. So all interested parties – School friends, College friends, colleagues and ex-colleagues WE HAVE TO UNITE TOGETHER AND MAKE MAYHEM!!!

Towards that noble purpose, I have put up a form at http://ymin.org/naveen/naveen.php for all folks to put up their names. This will help me arrange for the travel to and from Mangalore and book hotel rooms. Please note costing will be updated on this site soon and has to be paid in advance. Hehehe!!! I am not eating all that money, I swear.

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People confirmed until now:

Arun Kannan + Wife + Son (2+1)
Thenraj
Edin
Keerthi
Sanjeeb

The Humor with a twist of lemon blog has moved on to http://lemonwit.wordpress.com/

All my photos can be found at the links below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/anwinj

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anwinj/