Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2009

Test Drive of the Beautiful Monster

TATA XENON XT 4x2 2.2 Dicor Specifications: EX 4x2 ENGINE: 2.2 L 16 Valve DOHC VTT DiCOR (Variable Turbine Technology) (32 Bit Fully Electronically Controlled) (Direct Injection Common Rail) Capacity (cc): 2179 Max. Output (PS) at rpm: 140 @ 4000 Max. Torque (Nm) at rpm: 320 @ 1700-2700 GEARBOX: G-76-,5/4.1 - Synchromesh with Overdrive SUSPENSION Front: Independent Double wishbone Rear: Parabolic Leaf Springs STEERING: Power steering BRAKES: Vacuum Assisted Independent Hydraulic Front: Ventilated disc brake, Twin Pot Caliper Rear: Drum brake, Auto Adjusting Type DIMENSIONS (mm) Overall Length X Width X Height (mm): 5125 X 1860 X 1833 Load Body inside Length X Width X Height (mm): 1518 X 1414 X 405 Wheel Base (mm): 3150 Ground Clearance (mm): 200 Turning circle Radius (m): 6 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT (Kgs): 2500 Kerb Weight (Kgs): 1900 Load Body Load Carrying Capacity (Kgs): 260 FUEL TANK CAPACITY (Ltrs.): 65 SEATING CAPACITY: 5 EMISSION STANDARD: BS III DRIVE: ...

A 'PLUSH" Birthday Dinner at The Astor

I celebrated my wife's Birthday by not such surprise dinner at PLUSH lounge at The Astor. Plush Lounge and Bar The Astor Hotel 15, Shakespeare Sarani Kolkata- 700071

Birthday Celebrations @ FLOATEL

I celebrated my Birthday by a surprise dinner at THE FLOATEL. The Floatel 9/10 Kolkata Jetty Strand Road, Kolkata - 700001 Tel: +91 33 22137777

Two Good Movies

Joe Strombel ( Ian McShane ) manages to cheat the Reaper after his death and in the words of his colleagues at his funeral chases down a scoop from his grave. He appears to Sandra Pransky ( Scarlett Johansson ) a journalism student from America and on holiday in the UK at Sidney Waterman ( Woody Allen ) magic show and fills her in on his story which involves disclosing the name of the Tarot Card Serial Killer in London. The lead points towards aristocrat Peter Lyman ( Hugh Jackman ) who is not only good looking, but a suave gentleman. The story unfolds and finally Sandra does manage to nail the killer. The movie is cute and has you guessing all the way. If you want to know who the actual killer is watch this cute, funny odd and thrilling movie and you’ll be in on the Scoop . My Cousin Vinny is the ultimate funny movie and if you haven’t watched it, you need to right away. The film is about two kids William 'Billy' Gambini ( Ralph Macchio ) & Stan Rothenstein ( Mitch...

Road Art

Awesome Gujarati Thali

Rajdhani Restaurant 4th Floor, 164 / 1, Mani Square Mall E.M. By Pass, Maniktala Main Road Kolkatta - 700054 Contact: Mr. Sanjeev Roy Mob: +91 9330113881

SJC94 get together at Tung Fong

Tung Fong Bar & Restaurant 25/B, Park Street, Kolkata - 700016 Tel: +91-33-22174969, 22174989, 22176563, 22176564

A Road that could lead to a Revolution

Can someone please tell me what this movie was all about? Yes Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet back together for the first time after Titanic and Kate winning the Golden Globe and all is fine, but still, what was Revolutionary Road about? Someone, anyone, please tell me because I didn't get it! Oh and if you're going to watch it so that you can figure it out, please don't curse me when you come out after watching this bizarre film. Anyway Revolutionary Road is about a couple Frank Wheeler ( Leonardo DiCaprio ) and April Wheeler ( Kate Winslet ) and how they drift apart after years of marriage. On the surface they seem to be the perfect couple in the community and yet brewing under are issues. Mrs. Helen Givings ( Kathy Bates ) the real estate agent who is full of praise about the lovely couple and even seeks their help with her ailing son, John Givings ( Michael Shannon ), turns against them at the end when their marriage falls apart. In terms of acting, both Leo...

Road Trip to Bakkhali: Day 3

As usual we got up later than we had planned and so the Crocodile Farm idea was shelved. We quickly packed and got ready and checked out. We had to get to Namkhana in time to get across the river before they went on their lunch break. So we were out of the hotel by 10.30am. Check out time was 11.00am anyway. After that it was a bit of “swift” driving but all the time enjoying the great country side and before we knew it, we were at Namkhana. We reached the jetty at about 11.20am and saw the ferry just leaving for the other side with a full load. The ferry did look a bit different. We were the first car to reach there and so I decided to get onto the jetty and watch the entire round trip that the ferry made. So as it reached the other side and docked in place so that the vehicles could disembark, we were shocked to see the number of vehicles that got off the ferry. We counted 4 trucks and more than half a dozen cars get off. This was the bigger Ferry. They had two, so the one that brou...

Another Dream Machine

We still had to get home actually for us to say the Bakkhali trip was over. So after having tea and on our way home, we headed to South City Mall. After much debate and three trips around the huge Spencer’s store we finally decided to buy the Firefox bike I had been eyeing for a while. So kicked about the new purchase was I that when it was finally readied with all the accessories (i.e mud guard, compass bell, lock and water bottle) we paid for it and I rode it out of the mall all the way home. My wife took the car back. It was such a dream to ride that I rode like a bat out of hell and nearly reached home the same time as she did in the car. It didn’t end there. Once home, we lugged up all the luggage and I brought down the other Firefox bike and we both went out riding. We did make quite a spectacle of ourselves, again, as we pulled up to have Puchkas at Hiland Park. After that we rode around for a while and then headed back home. Now the Firefox Tempest is not alone and has a Firefo...

Road Trip to Bakkhali: Day 2

Though we had set our alarms for 6am, as usual we woke up a bit later than we wanted and finally were out of the hotel at about 7.30am. Surja was waiting for us and immediately told us the plan for the day. He took the brick road alongside the hotel and headed to our first destination of the day; Henry’s Island. I’m still wondering why it’s called an island. In a pure sense one might not call it an island, but the fact remains that it is disconnected from the mainland by a narrow canal of sea water which among several others, feeds this unique fishery that covers hectares of land. The West Bengal Fisheries Department has created this huge inland sea water fed fishery. It also has a couple of cottages that one can stay at. The tourist attraction is that one can climb to the top of the main building where they have a sort of tower created for viewing the entire island. So we did just that. Large rectangle water bodies all the way till the sea on one side and a vast expanse of mangrove f...

Road Trip to Bakkhali: Day 1

After our trip to Diamond Harbour, we had made up our minds that Bakkhali was going to be the next destination. Of course as the weeks went by and options of some other far out places also were suggested by friends, we stuck to the original plan and booked our hotel at this virgin beach destination and just in the nick of time. We got the last room available at Hotel Dolphin. So as usual, on Thursday night excitement built up and our bags were packed. Only sleep eluded us till the wee hours. So finally we went to sleep at 2.00am with our alarms set for 5.00am. Of course we never got up at five and finally ended up waking up at about 6.45am. By the time we were finally on the road, it was about 7.20am. We took a slight detour and made a pit stop to get Ice - for our good old Ice-box. That was a good discovery close to home on this morning. Once we had the slab of ice in the box, we headed out to New Alipore from where we skirted the Diamond Harbour Road on the Bypass called James Lon...