Keep up the fresh air with ambi pur!

Well, I generally don’t do reviews but hell yeah, I need to tell how do I overcome that stinking odour of soiled clothes or shoes after coming back from a long travel or a trek (or, it could be me too…J)

• Rains and outings go hand in hand for me and how welcomed are you coming back with a bag full of wet clothes with that smelly odour…?

• Many a times, the socks get over utilized, i.e., remains unchanged for days and by the time I’m back they would have started crying and farting, smelling like shit… and my mom gives me that customary unkind stare as soon as the odour enters the house… well!

• The rucksack holding all the items bears the brunt and is smeared with all kind of odour from the contents and more so especially if you have wet clothes and stinking shoes packed sometimes smells like a garbage bin with varieties of smell all packed in one bag.

Well, the above doesn’t mean I’m like this every time (hell no!) or come back stinking from where ever I go (I’m not smelly dude!)… but these do happen sometimes.

These are odours that I contribute to sometime but we also do come across many like…

• A house full of visiting friends or families and that one sly person who farts unnoticed and the whole room stinks and then starts the infamous blame games… isn’t it :)

• A heavy dose of garlic being prepared at the neighbor’s house or a food item with an aroma that you can’t stand… and they sneak their way into your house making you dizzy…

• A very hot day blessed with power cuts and sweaty people… that’s a combination that you would want to run away from…

• An unpleasant odour from somewhere hitting on your nostrils and you are just not able to locate the source, that finally reveals a dead rat in a secretive corner of your compound wall that had set you on a ‘find-that-smellysource’ mission.

I tried out the ‘Ambi Pur Air effects’, blossom and breeze air freshener that I got hold of recently. Not a regular user of any kind of bottled sprays and always put off by the mosquito repellant used, I was skeptical of using it till the first press of the nozzle.

The fragrance is light and not heavy (my nostrils are very sensitive to these artificial smells and starts crying immediately) and importantly not irritating.Back from Goa with a pair of wet, smelly clothes (well, I kept them to rot to test this…) and one use of the freshener instantly got rid of the smelly odour in the room from the wet clothes.

The bottle is sturdy and the nozzle and sprayer doesn’t feel cheap. I just read it’s imported from Thailand and well I would say, worth a try (especially for those who use a air freshener everyday).


I am blogging for #SmellyToSmiley activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ambi Pur

#ZestUpYourLife with Zest and Adda in Goa

(at the registration desk at the Goa airport with Aravind)

Was pleasantly surprised when Harish from BlogAdda sent a mail asking if I was free on a certain weekend. Having missed attending the WIN ceremony, I was keen and jumped in not knowing what was it all about. Then came in all the news in bits and pieces that kept me excited of the real chance of driving a new vehicle, the Tata Zest. Thus, finally on 26th July, 50 top bloggers from various streams descended on Zuri resorts and colouring it literally white (Blogadda) and blue (Tata motors).

(it was all blue and white... Pic -self)

The staff from Adda were very warm and hospitable and patient enough to answer all of your questions and guide you through the entire event, a family of bloggers coming together. Special thanks to Ankita (the adda girl), Hari (the adda man), Anand and Preethi (the backbone) from BlogAdda and to the entire team of Tata Motors and for getting in Narain Karthikeyan to grace the occasion.

(Narain was there and the MC Miss Malini, Picture-web)

Zuri Resorts was a perfect place being an high end resort, we had all the space in the resort for the activities but the tiring part was moving around between the lobby and the rooms that was at the far end of the resort. Ok, without going in detail (I’m sure lot of others would be doing that…) let me put it in a photo-story format and keep it crisp & simple :)

(Ankita was honest in expressing here love... errr for us! Picture - self)
(an ice-breaker session)

(Ms Minari from Tata telling us about the vision and mission of this project)

(Mr Anand Kulkarni and the new benchmarks of Tata)

(the Adda family during a break -Anikta, Harish and Preethi, happy to be part of this family)

(Anand, from Adda with Nivedith and Aravind)

(we consumed the Social media too... :))

(the Revotron was impressive)

(the flagging off next day, we drove both the diesel and the petrol cars)

(Zest's were all around...ahead)

(... and behind)

(I enjoyed the cruise... and the AMT too...)

(pit stop posing... we had 2 stops one each drive, with Senthil)

(we were surely zest'ed up with 140Nm of torque gushing through...)

(back at Zuri, time for some live blogging action...)

(and some hogging (this was just a sample though!), desserts occupied most of my plate :))

(and catching up with some wonderful bloggers - Siddhartha, Stephen, Deepak and Keyur)

(and a lot of selfie's... here with Ankita, the adda girl)

(and the group photos...)

(before we were deported back from where we came :))

The Zest is here to stay and win!

The new ‘Tata’ Zest

(the new signature grill... looks good. Pic courtesy - self)

50 top bloggers from various fields landed at the Zuri hotels, Goa for an event organized by BlogAdda sponsored by Tata Motors.

First impression of the car was good with a complete makeover from the current existing Tata motors line-up; except from the front you can’t make out it’s a Tata vehicle from anywhere.

Exteriors:-
>The new signature grill with the ‘humanity line’ and ‘trust line’ looks neat and impressive.

>Moving over to the doors and the body, the plain door look has been made off with and a new bold ‘slingshot line’ and ‘diamond olo’ design is in place that adds a lot of character and oomph to the vehicle.

>The star attraction would be rear look and design, with the sling shot design encompassing the neat and well-designed wraparound ‘LED’ tail lamps and a puffed up rear bumper.

Stepping in, you are greeted with a good combination of beige and black that looks impressive at first sight. The dashboard looks classy and neatly organized and most importantly the steering wheel is light, lighter and is very responsive.

(the line up for the long drives... Pic courtesy - self)

Interiors:-
>Space. Tata, have set a benchmark here over the years and the Zest is no different, it has litres of space everywhere, be it legroom, headroom and the cabin is very airy.

>Noise – I couldn’t believe it was a Tata vehicle I was in, absolutely silent, perfect! The AMT rev noise is a little audible, just though.

>Ride – Smooth as butter, I personally felt the AMT Diesel was far smoother than the petrol as the rev’s are controlled and power displacement is linear. The Sports mode in the Petrol version unleashes the entire 90Ps power and the 140Nm torque and you do feel it. The car cruises and you don’t feel anything when you reach the three digit number on the speedometer.

>Tata has again raised the bar with a brilliant suspension and that translates into no bumps, jerks felt inside the cabin. It literally cruises over bad patches and smaller potholes. Brilliant!

>Cabin & Layout- The layout is cockpit inspired and the dashboard unit console is neatly designed with the top version of the car getting high-end gizmo features, much more than what you can imagine. Getting used to the Voice control may take a little time and its not that flawless, but yes far better than what you see today. It can recognize the Indian accent and that’s a major plus point. The Rugby shoulder seats are brilliant and have good support all around.

(Cockpit inspired dash, neat and organized. Pic courtesy - web)

Safety:-
>Passed the current Indian standards and many more additional International standards.
>Generation 9 ABS.
>Successfully passed the high speed crash tests
>Dual Airbags.

Overall:-
Drove the AMT Diesel and the Manual Petrol vehicles and was well impressed with both of them, my preferred choice being the Petrol just because I’m blessed with more control on what I do and how I do it. The car is based on Horizon next that encompasses Design next (design team), Drive next (engineering) and Connect next (with tie up with Harman audio).

(clay model of the Zest. Pic courtesy - self)

Senthil, an auto crazy fan was my partner on the drives and we both tested the vehicle in our own ways, I was sportier and fast (inspired by meeting Narain Karthikeyan the previous evening) and Senthil was more sedate and steady.

Highs:- Lot of first-in-segment features unleashed by the Tata in the Zest… There are about 29 features that are new for the segment.

>Projector Headlamps, LED daytime running lights.
>Wraparound LED tail lamps.
>15” alloy wheels
>Signature LED tail lamps
>AMT Diesel (brilliant). They say you just cannot abuse the engine, i.e., if you are in Manual mode and revving high, the system automatically changes gears for you and does not allow the vehicle to go over the red line.
>Best in class AC (and can be controlled by the VCT).
>Best in class Audio from Harman (with auto volume adjust according to the speed of the car).

Not sure of the mileage as we didn’t do a real long drive, but as its coming from Tata, you can be rest assured it would be good.

Cons:-
>Storage space looks weak inside, you can’t fit in a 1l bottle. For a traveler like me, this is a big concern.
>Boot looks small and is high loading.
>Petrol version gearbox can be improved much better.
>Little more room for the knees would have been great especially for taller people.
>No CD player… well, moving into the era of digitization this would not matter going forward.

And I termed new ‘Tata’ because Zest is a new beginning, a path breaking trend and Tata is here to stay and win :)

(All set for the ride. Pic courtesy - self)

As someone said, the only way here on for Tata is way up and they are sure going in the right way. I'm hoping for a chance with the 'Bolt' too...

Note: Not all of the images are mine.

Dandeli.com

(the pride of Dandeli)

Started of 2014 with a visit to Dandeli (yes, again), courtesy Dandeli.com who intend to be the guiding force for people or groups who would want to visit Dandeli and surrounding areas. I stayed at a lesser known Eco friendly camp, Dandeli Jungle Camp situated about 11kms from Dandeli town closer to the village Pradhani. This post is an attempt to review the facilities and the hospitality I was offered.

(Dandeli Jungle camp)

Ø Rajesh / Sanjay / Ramnath of Dandeli.com were very cordial and hospitable in working with the clients and ensured I had a pleasant stay right from arranging pick-up and drops to the food to activities.

Ø They can plan and organize your stay basis your budget and preferences right from a basic stay to a luxurious resort stay, they have one for all.

Ø Dharmesh and staff at the camp were also very hospitable and catered to every need. The guide Hanumanthu with whom I went on hikes was an excellent spotter (of birds) and very humble.

Ø The camp is a basic yet rustic and appealing located in the buffer zone of the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary.

Ø No air-cons, geysers, only one-time non-veg meal were a welcome sight at the camp. Cottages were decent enough and basic, no ultra luxuries here that was a good sign.

Ø Food, simple yet good, the options of spread can be increased.

Ø The staff comprises mostly local people, which imply the revenue benefits the local community.

Ø Incidentally, I met couple of other travel bloggers whom I was only used to seeing in the virtual world, it was a good opportunity to catch up.

Being more than a general traveler and been around Dandeli quite a few times, I chose not to do the regular attractions of Dandeli like Coracle ride, River Rafting, Backwaters drive, Sunset point trek instead chose to explore the birdlife around the camp that turned out to be a good choice for me.

Both the days I stayed, I did a good 3-4 hours hike covering the surrounding wooded areas and was more than pleased to record about 70 species of birds from there. Credit goes to the guide who knew the tracks well and was a good spotter too.

(Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary)

Also, chose a Jungle Safari ride into the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (jeep courtesy JLR along with their other guests). Historically, the safari ride is unexciting because of multiple reasons (that I would divulge in sometime). Few birds, Gaur, Deer were those we saw.

Enjoyed a delicious, mouth-watering dinner at a ‘Khanavali’ in Dandeli before I bid adieu to fellow travelers and boarded my bus towards Bangalore.

Dandeli is not a place to go picnicking and littering, be responsible and cautious and enjoy your stay. I would definitely recommend the services of Dandeli.com for people who want to experience Dandeli but do not know how to go about it. They can devise plans for each and every one, give them a chance, they won’t disappoint.

Contact Sanjay - 094487 97270 or Ramnath - 099005 47763 for more information.