AMATLOCUILOLITQUITCATLAZTLAHUILLI!!!

My parent's were here for Cubby's first birthday and i planned to take coupla days off so that I could spend some time with them (they wanted only Cubby time, but what the heck, they are MY parents!). Sadly I was unwell the day they arrived and couldn't go to work. So I took chhutti on Thursday the following week and we decided to go the newest attraction in Bangalore, Innovative Film City at Bidadi.

We still haven't checked out Wonder la but, we though we might as well do it when Cubby is l'il older so that he can also enjoy it!

So off we were by around 10am. Since it was week day and you need to go on the Mysore road, the drive wasn't too bad. It was sunny and cloudy in turns, but thankfully rains didn't play the spoil sport!

AS you reach, you are kinda VERY surprised by the fact that they don't have parking inside and you need to park on the edge of the road. I wonder how they manage weekend crowds?! But as you enter the main gate, you love looking at huge arches with beautiful Greek looking statues adorning them.

The Box-Office is the place that sells you your entry tickets and Main Hoon Naah is what their help desk is called! Filmy alright! :)

The Wall of Fame that shows all the attractions inside

The entrance fee is just 50 bucks per person and every attraction has separate charge of anywhere between 50 - 150bucks per person again. You have an option of buying all the tickets outside itself or inside outside every attraction! The only advantage of buying them outside is that they accept credit cards and inside it's just cash! So if you carrying enough cash, just take a pick inside!

Tiled pathway and statues at the entrance.

We walked in. The place is still being developed and lot of construction is in progress. Huge statues of handsome men, gorgeous women and chubby babies with big bellies welcome you in the complex! We tried to get Cubby's photo between two golu kids, but I guess he got l'il scared and the size overrode the cute factor! ;)


We went to Mirror Maze first. Now with my brilliant sense of direction I don't bother with mazes ever! But everyone was going, so I just told M you make sure you don't leave my hand! As if normal maze in gardens etc is not enough, that you have a room full of clear mirrors! It is one thing to have them in trial room to get a 360 degree view of your fat butt and quite another when you can't make which is the real butt and which is an image! :p As much as we tried to stay together, we ended up getting lost every now and then.


Cubby thankfully didn't get scared with eerie red light and mirrors all over along with screaming people looking for someone or the other all the time! Finally a staff had to come in and take us to the exit which took total of 43secs! But it was good fun trying to hold M's hand when I was actually bumping into his mirror image or vice versa to suddenly find an actual shoulder! ;) Worth the 50 bucks! :D

Oh yeah! they make you wear disposable plastic gloves so that you don't finger print the glass that is squeaky clean!

The artificial natural environment! A dino too in background somewhere!

Next we went to the Dinosaur Park. The dinosaurs don't exactly look very real, but they will do.

Cubby and me with the frail armed Dino

They seem cool in artificially created natural environment! :p They are there in every size giving you plenty of photo ops! There is info about every dino such as their name, weight, their food habits etc. Might be interesting for slightly older kids. 50 bucks almost vasool!

The Fossil Museum next to it is a complete waste! So save your 25bucks, more importantly time!

M outside Ripley's Museum

The Ripley's Believe it or Not museum was total dhamaal. Weird facts to interesting relics from past, you will end up spending most time here. From bloody survivor stories to painting made on a grain of rice to a beautiful ship made with 50000 household matchsticks, you will not get bored!

Ab bolo mujhe Mota! ;)

Some things gross you out completely!

Yeah! Thats what the title says too. It apparently means Postage Stamp in some country!

While others just make you drop your jaw in amazement!

Mom with the 'magic' tap!

A laughing Buddha worth a million US dollars and a huge magic tap seemingly floating in air with water pouring into the barrel below is what greets you! The Buddha is made of some transparent material with shredded US bills filling it! Believe it or Not? 100bucks total vasool! Believe it!

Dad couldn't help but pose even with a wax Marylin! :p

The Louis Tussuad's Wax Museum is a TERRIBLY poor cousin of Mme. Tussuad's. So don't get fooled with the name! :) The statues are tacky to say the least and most!

Walt Disney with his creations and M with HIS creation! ;)

The ones where you don't have a definite image, like Sleeping Beauty or Hansel and Gretel or cartoon charachters, you wont be to disappointed. It's not that the likeness isn't there at all, it's just that you can make out they are fakes too easily.

Some chocolates for me too?!

They have done Tom Hanks of Forrest Gump with a cheap box of chocolates. 50rs to be spent purely for novelty factor. If you have done a better one abroad, skip it! :)

Cubby bored + tired = asleep

We WERE Hungry! :D

After this we headed to the Grub Hub feeling totally famished. The food court is passable. The chat at Rajsthani stall was the best you can hope to get in Bangalore. The Chinese at Red Wall was desi chinese khaana at its best. Reminded me of Mumbai's chinees / chinis gaadis. Dosa is obviously a safe bet. They have a stupid coupon system where the people at the counter are totally clueless about what costs how much. So if you go, make sure you calculate everything before you reach the counter which is too far for comfort! That day was apparently just Day 2 of coupons, that's why the confusion. But i doubt it will improve. Food shouldn't cost more than 100bucks per person. A McDs is expected to open shortly and there is a CCD too.

Cubby taking a walk as he waits for his Mom and AAji to get back!

We then went to Funplex which has rows and rows of video games for the young ones and the older young ones. They also have a 4D movie screening every 20mins or so. It's a short 15min movie which costs you 100bucks. As we entered the small, dark auditorium we took whatever seats we wanted since it was just Mum and me (M and dad having been to phorenland unlike us poor virgin passport people, gave it a pass!). We put the special goggles on and the show started. It was a film about evolution of earth. As comets hurtled towards us and lava flowed through our feet, our chair vibrated, went up and down had added to the fun! Jets of air blew on our face as dinosaurs roared(??) and drops of water came flying as the dolphins took a graceful jump in water. I covered my face when creepies and crawlies...well... creeped and crawled out of the screen and to our face! I hadn't had so much fun since I tried to grab chocolates while watching Chhota Chetan in the theatre! :)

Cubby and me @ Great Wall of China! It's miniature Dude! :D

We topped it up with Miniature City which has miniature versions of some famous sights in the world. Get on the Great Wall of China to get bird's eye view of the entire film city.

at Niagara Falls (??!!) - My mum and dad!

You of course cant recognise Niagara Falls, but Eiffel Tower is there for a photo op! There is a miniature airport with taxing aeroplanes and a stadium too.

Miniature Airport at Miniature City

By now we were too pooped to try anything more. There is some Aqua Kingdom and cartoon City too. Go karting and mini gold course are there too and lots of other things are still being made.

height of silly photos?!

It's not something earth shatteringly exceptional, but its a day well spent. There is lots of space to just walk and run around and there are benches everywhere to rest those tired feet. Prams and wheelchairs are available for a small fee of Rs.100 and a refundable deposit of Rs.1000.

As of now the park is open between 1030am to 0630pm and no entry is allowed post 530pm. They are planning to make a 21 screen multiplex, a shopping street with big brands retailing there and more restaurants. Then they say it will be open till late in the night and there will be hotels to stay over too a la theme parks abroad.

M, Cubby and Mom with Chubby Babies

Oh yeah! And it's open for film shooting too, so you might just bump into some stars! Taare Zameen Par indeed! ;)

Meri coffee kahan hai?! @ CCD

last photograph as we bid adieu to Innovative

All in all we had a fun day. As we wound up the day having a hot cafe mocha at Cafe Coffee Day, under an umbrella that had just seen some quick showers, we had a happy smile on our face that comes with a good time had! :)

Doesn't this photograph say it all?!