Author: Srikanth Eswaran

Places to see around Kodaikanal – a quick recce

In my last post I discussed about the Kodai Resort Hotel and the benefits it offers being in the middle of Kodai. If you are interested to know more about that click the link. During my stay in Kodaikanal as part of my Madurai-Rameswaram-Kodai trip, I also got a chance to view the most important tourist attractions in and around Kodai. We had a Toyota Innova which I had hired from Madurai, which we continued to use around Kodai. If you rather wish to read about the Kodai International Hotel, click here.

The majestic Kodaikanal Lake

As you would expect, the Kodai town and the lake itself was created by the British folks during the 19th century. The Kodai lake is a star shaped man made catchment area which holds all the rainfall the area receives. Its outflow of excess water forms the silver cascade waterfall 8km downstream.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pKrsipWEXGTuyKzY8

The lake has lots of eateries around it, and offers activities like cycling, walking, jogging, etc. You could just sit by the lake and have a hot cup of tea with a samosa or sandwich just enjoying the panoramic views of the lake. Or even better if you want to be in the thick of the action, you can get into a boat and enjoy the real water level view of the lake and its amazing surroundings (you would be surprised how many trees dot the lake boundary) which look surreal while the boating activity is in progress.

During summers the lake offers rather cool environs, but during winters the lake can get pretty cold downwards of 8 deg C. So clothe yourself appropriately. I already warned you. A boating sessions lasts nearly half hour and you can pay and get more if that is what you love to do. Trust me the boat ride is well worth it and it will leave you with memories to cherish.

Coaker’s Walk

The coaker’s walk is a mountain edge walking track very near to the Kodai Resort Hotel and about a half to one km walk from the lake itself. While entering the walk, it seems like a normal park, but as you start walking you get to see some stunning views of the valley beyond. Whatever the weather, you cannot miss this walk.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/r13XBQaGAmqa6A8K7

There are lots of people offering toys, hot corn, tea or coffee, cut mangoes, cucumbers and the likes. You also get warm winter clothing if you want to buy some there, so also hats, scarfs and so on. Think of it as an experience and splurge a bit, you will not be disappointed. This is not very long, but whatever bit it offers is still unique to the surroundings. You also have a telescope point at the end of the walk which gives you stunning views of the surroundings at a pittance of a cost.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VXypKdKt5nGb1Qv89

The walk starts at club road and ends at St.Mary’s road. It is about 1km and useful to go through when you just want a stroll and nothing else.

Kodaikanal Pine Forests

The Kodai Pine forests sport shola, pine and eucalyptus trees and provide a thicket of woods that are unique for the tourists. You can walk through the pine forests and it presents some great photo ops for budding photographers.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fnpBWKLEBTrfWX9x5

Guna Caves

What was once a beautiful walk to some really deep caves of mesmerising beauty have now been relegated to behind the iron bars view of the distant caves. After the movie Guna was shot there in 1992 the caves became famous which brought along with the fame, dirty tracks and youngsters losing their lives there. Due to this the government now has banned people from reaching upto the caves. The only view you can get is from a tower which is the last point of access to see the caves below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2oKrHZabjwPFApF39

If you want to check out some photos of these caves in details, look here. This place is also called devil’s kitchen.  The good part of areas around Kodai is that the access fee is very reasonable enabling many tourists to enjoy the good parts without burning a hole in your pockets.

Moir Point

This is yet another view point from which the beautiful valleys surrounding Kodai are visible.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PLFF53ytecNu7rVc6

Pillar rocks

Further on, we come to a location from where the Pillar rocks (mountainous peaks) are visible. This place is a good photo op location with an astounding backdrop and if you are lucky with misty mountains behind you. Many tourists stop here to grab a good view of the mountainous peaks beyond and that all important selfie as a memento to frame and keep.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DqFiLCaq5FxyUkY97

Upper lake view

Towards the beginning of all the attractions around Kodai, you can make a brief stop over at the upper lake view, which gives a panoramic view of the Kodai lake in the background although very far away. The real extent of the greenery surrounding the place is visible from this point and its good to get a pic or two with your family from here for cherishing the memories later.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tbQhzrUo9hDfNPCo7

Parks

The Bryant park and the Chettiar park are must see parks in Kodaikanal. However these could be a bit steep for elders to down all the way and come back up again to the entrances. Please ensure your car is waiting for you on the other side downhill to save yourself some trouble to come up all over again. Since these are hilly regions, most parks tend to start off somewhere uphill and move downhill with the road going around them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/P49B2mnRdT4czTDH9

Other attractions

The Bear Shola falls, Silver Cascade falls, solar observatory, the many parks, and temples around, including the Palani viewpoint provide ample opportunities for a day out if you are not bored of the ones mentioned above already. Its impossible to fit all of this one one single post, and I will write again sometime when I visit the rest of these attractions.

Kodai Resort Hotel – is it worth the money?

Introduction

If you live in South India, and the talk about hill stations crops up, the first thing that comes to the mind are places like Ooty and Kodaikanal. I have already written about Ooty and the stay in Destiny Farm Stay and you can click here to read that article. In this article I bring you a review of the Kodai Resort Hotel and discuss whether the hotel is worth staying in to go aroung sight seeing in Kodaikanal easily. If you wish to read about the Kodai International instead, click here.

Kodaikanal is roughly 450+ kms from Bangalore and the journey by drive can take anywhere between 8 to 10 hours. If you drive at night, add a few more hours to that since you will be traveling slow. If you have kids this number will substantially go up further. One of the other ways to get there is to take a train from Bangalore to Kodai Road Junction station and further take a private cab to reach Kodaikanal. The distance from Kodai Road is 80km and will take about two to three hours to complete.

Location

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cdfq7BADBYaikeL18

The Kodai Resort Hotel is bang in the middle of Kodaikanal and walkable distance to the famous Kodaikanal Lake nearby. It is also very near to the stalls, shopping and other restaurants that make it an attractive location. Given the most costliest hotel around is Carlton Kodai, this hotel we are talking about it just a stone’s throw from there.

Further Coaker’s walk is just a walk away from the Kodai Resort and for most needs you do not need a car. Everything is literally a walk away. Why this matters is that, either you can stay far away and come to the lake and its surroundings to just shop around, or stay nearby the lake and avoid transportation costs for every journey. So in terms of location this hotel ticks all boxes

In terms the terrain this resort is constructed on a slope and you enter the resort at the top and the rooms go down all the way below. In terms of accessibility for elders this resort could prove to be a pain, but due to its age and the way it is constructed one cannot expect comforts. So for elders this resort is a no-no unless you are willing to take upto fifty steps each time you want to get in or out of the resort. Further if you are the elderly, make sure to ask for a room near the entrance as it will save you some effort and pain.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vHYx8592PsNJmsgB8

The resort itself is nestled in such a way that it offers beautiful views of the mountains around the place from every room terrace. In fact the terrace is the single reason why you should stay in this resort. Each terrace is to some extent blocked from the view of another terrace so privacy is there to some extent. The terrace is a great place to sit down and sip a cup of hot tea or coffee looking at the landscapes and having personal but important conversations for which you never found time earlier due to your hectic schedules.

Rooms

The room we got was almost like a semi house with a hall and a bedroom inside. There is an attached toilet as well. The windows to the room are placed rather high and open into the terrace. In fact the way to the terrace is also from the windows which sounds a bit unique to the place. The rooms were warm and has basic stuff like some cookies and water for you.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nMwpY5yeLa4TKicA

There is also a TV which is mostly useless and I wish the hotels really focussed on bringing about good DTH connections with many channels as they could. Everything is about price and personally for me watching TV on a resort stay is taboo. We go to the resort to do other things like walks, treks, conversations, good food and other activities. TV falls very low in that priority order. But all guests are not like me and would like to spend their evening catching up with TV programs.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ap8tsbWogrTEQ9XD7

The hotel has a lawn all the way down where the room ends where people can meet and the kids can play with each other. The lawn also has some kids play area with few slides, swings, etc. It also houses an Emu which is a huge bird. The gardens around the laws and stairways are a sight to behold and they really add charm to the place.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JX1bBaj3LGBpD6YZA

Restaurant

The hotel sports a restaurant near the entrance which has a good spread of food items for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are not covered though you can order a-la-carte items. Each day’s stay covers breakfast for all and the restaurant was a nice place to have a morning refresh over that piping hot cup of coffee. The weather in Kodaikanal is pleasant and it varies between cool and cold during non summer months. During summers the temperatures can reach to around 30 deg C which is NOT the best time to visit the place.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QPGCKBRYUP3e9HRL6

For food there are other good hotels nearby such as Astoria Veg and you can bring food from there if you do not want to use the restaurant.

Dinner, dance and music, star gazing and great sunrise moments

There is also a dance floor during the late evenings which has music playing for you to participate and dance if you wish to. Typically this goes on for an hour or two every night and if you are tired after the morning’s journeys around, you can relax and hit the dance floor. It is in the club area and slightly away and high placed compared to the rooms below. The sound can be heard in the rooms a bit and nothing much can be done about it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ircGzayTrBJdC87t5

Given the rooms sport huge terraces, its a fantastic opportunity for both star gazing at night and some great sunrises in the morning. It is so picture perfect that I can say I have never seen such beautiful sunrises from a hill station for quite sometime now. We always see good sunrises from beaches, but this is another great experience altogether.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uvzk6G3DVNz3MLHZ6

Other notable things about the resort

The resort also stocks a club and a library which has good books for kids. If your kid is of the type they want to read books then nothing better than here. The same place also sports TT tables for a game or two. There is also a small shop that sells among other things toys, spices, chocolates and other small gifts. Nothing that you will not get anywhere nearby though so it is really upto you if you want to purchase something from here.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WRWsGZPAH1Wk8ASt8

The major attractions include Coaker’s walk and the stunning Kodai lake nearby which are both walkable to the resort. I will speak about these in a different blog post.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j7dTpJPZKrFHwDpN7

Pricing

The resort is reasonably priced with deals ranging between Rs.2000 upto Rs.7000/- during the monsoon months (prices will vary for peak times and based on season and based on the configuration on the rooms you choose). It falls under the reasonable category for what it has to offer in terms of location, food, and room types and is worth considering if you do not want to waste time in going around Kodai.

Screen Shot 2018-07-15 at 10.53.30 AM.png

Conclusion

If you liked the review of the Kodai Resort hotel and are considering to stay there, please do share in the comments below whether you liked the place and the great walks nearby, and the morning coffee with sunrise.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gy9SG2A3r1Xki6b19

The Kodai Resort hotel is not very modern, yet is placed exactly in the middle of all attractions, and is priced at a quarter of other bigger star hotels, offers reasonable food and a good environment with unique rooms and terraces. The fact that is walkable to the places nearby is surely a reason you must consider this resort for your next holiday.

The people were warm and hospitable and I also did not see many reasons to complain on the service offered. The elevation makes it a bit impossible for asthmatic patients or elders to climb up and down, but barring that one negative point which is not really in the control of the management if you are able to walk around this resort offers value for money on everything.

Kodai Resort Hotel – is it worth the money?

Introduction

If you live in South India, and the talk about hill stations crops up, the first thing that comes to the mind are places like Ooty and Kodaikanal. I have already written about Ooty and the stay in Destiny Farm Stay and you can click here to read that article. In this article I bring you a review of the Kodai Resort Hotel and discuss whether the hotel is worth staying in to go aroung sight seeing in Kodaikanal easily. If you wish to read about the Kodai International instead, click here.

Kodaikanal is roughly 450+ kms from Bangalore and the journey by drive can take anywhere between 8 to 10 hours. If you drive at night, add a few more hours to that since you will be traveling slow. If you have kids this number will substantially go up further. One of the other ways to get there is to take a train from Bangalore to Kodai Road Junction station and further take a private cab to reach Kodaikanal. The distance from Kodai Road is 80km and will take about two to three hours to complete.

Location

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cdfq7BADBYaikeL18

The Kodai Resort Hotel is bang in the middle of Kodaikanal and walkable distance to the famous Kodaikanal Lake nearby. It is also very near to the stalls, shopping and other restaurants that make it an attractive location. Given the most costliest hotel around is Carlton Kodai, this hotel we are talking about it just a stone’s throw from there.

Further Coaker’s walk is just a walk away from the Kodai Resort and for most needs you do not need a car. Everything is literally a walk away. Why this matters is that, either you can stay far away and come to the lake and its surroundings to just shop around, or stay nearby the lake and avoid transportation costs for every journey. So in terms of location this hotel ticks all boxes

In terms the terrain this resort is constructed on a slope and you enter the resort at the top and the rooms go down all the way below. In terms of accessibility for elders this resort could prove to be a pain, but due to its age and the way it is constructed one cannot expect comforts. So for elders this resort is a no-no unless you are willing to take upto fifty steps each time you want to get in or out of the resort. Further if you are the elderly, make sure to ask for a room near the entrance as it will save you some effort and pain.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vHYx8592PsNJmsgB8

The resort itself is nestled in such a way that it offers beautiful views of the mountains around the place from every room terrace. In fact the terrace is the single reason why you should stay in this resort. Each terrace is to some extent blocked from the view of another terrace so privacy is there to some extent. The terrace is a great place to sit down and sip a cup of hot tea or coffee looking at the landscapes and having personal but important conversations for which you never found time earlier due to your hectic schedules.

Rooms

The room we got was almost like a semi house with a hall and a bedroom inside. There is an attached toilet as well. The windows to the room are placed rather high and open into the terrace. In fact the way to the terrace is also from the windows which sounds a bit unique to the place. The rooms were warm and has basic stuff like some cookies and water for you.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nMwpY5yeLa4TKicA

There is also a TV which is mostly useless and I wish the hotels really focussed on bringing about good DTH connections with many channels as they could. Everything is about price and personally for me watching TV on a resort stay is taboo. We go to the resort to do other things like walks, treks, conversations, good food and other activities. TV falls very low in that priority order. But all guests are not like me and would like to spend their evening catching up with TV programs.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ap8tsbWogrTEQ9XD7

The hotel has a lawn all the way down where the room ends where people can meet and the kids can play with each other. The lawn also has some kids play area with few slides, swings, etc. It also houses an Emu which is a huge bird. The gardens around the laws and stairways are a sight to behold and they really add charm to the place.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JX1bBaj3LGBpD6YZA

Restaurant

The hotel sports a restaurant near the entrance which has a good spread of food items for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are not covered though you can order a-la-carte items. Each day’s stay covers breakfast for all and the restaurant was a nice place to have a morning refresh over that piping hot cup of coffee. The weather in Kodaikanal is pleasant and it varies between cool and cold during non summer months. During summers the temperatures can reach to around 30 deg C which is NOT the best time to visit the place.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QPGCKBRYUP3e9HRL6

For food there are other good hotels nearby such as Astoria Veg and you can bring food from there if you do not want to use the restaurant.

Dinner, dance and music, star gazing and great sunrise moments

There is also a dance floor during the late evenings which has music playing for you to participate and dance if you wish to. Typically this goes on for an hour or two every night and if you are tired after the morning’s journeys around, you can relax and hit the dance floor. It is in the club area and slightly away and high placed compared to the rooms below. The sound can be heard in the rooms a bit and nothing much can be done about it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ircGzayTrBJdC87t5

Given the rooms sport huge terraces, its a fantastic opportunity for both star gazing at night and some great sunrises in the morning. It is so picture perfect that I can say I have never seen such beautiful sunrises from a hill station for quite sometime now. We always see good sunrises from beaches, but this is another great experience altogether.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uvzk6G3DVNz3MLHZ6

Other notable things about the resort

The resort also stocks a club and a library which has good books for kids. If your kid is of the type they want to read books then nothing better than here. The same place also sports TT tables for a game or two. There is also a small shop that sells among other things toys, spices, chocolates and other small gifts. Nothing that you will not get anywhere nearby though so it is really upto you if you want to purchase something from here.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WRWsGZPAH1Wk8ASt8

The major attractions include Coaker’s walk and the stunning Kodai lake nearby which are both walkable to the resort. I will speak about these in a different blog post.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/j7dTpJPZKrFHwDpN7

Pricing

The resort is reasonably priced with deals ranging between Rs.2000 upto Rs.7000/- during the monsoon months (prices will vary for peak times and based on season and based on the configuration on the rooms you choose). It falls under the reasonable category for what it has to offer in terms of location, food, and room types and is worth considering if you do not want to waste time in going around Kodai.

Screen Shot 2018-07-15 at 10.53.30 AM.png

Conclusion

If you liked the review of the Kodai Resort hotel and are considering to stay there, please do share in the comments below whether you liked the place and the great walks nearby, and the morning coffee with sunrise.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gy9SG2A3r1Xki6b19

The Kodai Resort hotel is not very modern, yet is placed exactly in the middle of all attractions, and is priced at a quarter of other bigger star hotels, offers reasonable food and a good environment with unique rooms and terraces. The fact that is walkable to the places nearby is surely a reason you must consider this resort for your next holiday.

The people were warm and hospitable and I also did not see many reasons to complain on the service offered. The elevation makes it a bit impossible for asthmatic patients or elders to climb up and down, but barring that one negative point which is not really in the control of the management if you are able to walk around this resort offers value for money on everything.

Review of the sharp air purifier and humidifier KC-F30E-W.

Introduction

After years of struggling with Bangalore’s weather, I tried to understand why my kid was getting sick with asthmatic symptoms over and over again. It struck me there’s something about the air quality that creates this problem other than the pollen in the air.
Looking at Bangalore go from bad to worse it was only an eventuality that I had to really think of investing into an air purifier for my bedroom. Over the years the technology for air purifiers has only become better and better and with standard HEPA filters and air filters being used in air conditioners and the like, the same also started being used for air purifiers. With cities like Delhi almost have an air purifier for every home the concept is still catching up for Bangalore which is taking some time to reach the level of dust pollution that is seen in Delhi.
There are a lot of companies working on air purifiers such as Sharp, Philips etc. A quick search on Amazon shows a host of companies offering air purifiers. I also understood that when the air becomes dry within the room or the atmosphere we are in, it starts to cause an irritation in people’s throats which further cause a lot of cough and runny nose symptoms. couple this with the usual asthmatic symptoms and the whole situation turns nasty with an allergic cough that lasts for over a week or two in small kids.
So now I not only needed a solution to purifying the air at home, I also needed a solution which helps me to humidify the air within the room.

Two in one

Given my need, I wanted a unit which had both the air purifying function and humidification function in a single unit. After having seen a lot of reviews on YouTube and checking out some products on Amazon, I came across an advertisement regarding the sharp KC-F30E model.
For once I did not want to make an online purchase and I wanted to just pay up the cost and have the air purifier on the hand immediately. For this reason, I picked up the contact number for the customer care for Sharp, and make a call to them to understand the models they have and the payment options to secure one of these models.
enter image description here

Purchase experience

Sharp could not answer my call when I called them but they promptly return the call and assigned an executive from Bangalore city to deal with my case. The executive was in constant touch with me in spite of my busy schedules and I asked him if there was a no-cost EMI option to purchase this product.
Due to my busy schedules the executive was kind enough to meet me at a time of my choice and place of my choice and he brought in the purifier unit to my office along with the payment machine. The device cost me 23500 rupees and I paid the whole thing by a credit card with no cost EMI option for 1 year which cost me around close to 2000 rupees every month.

Device statistics

The device itself is around 5kgs in weight and is as big a personal computer desktop tower or slightly more. The whole unit fits into the boot of my car and I could get it home easily. ,The device itself is constructed in a simple manner with easy access to the filters, the water bay and the controls on the front panel of the device. The device runs on a 5A socket and it’s very easy to use.

Unboxing video

Below is the video I made for the unboxing of the device which you can see to understand what the device looks like in reality.

Controls

The device has a few easy to use buttons on the front console. There is a button to switch between the display of humidification level and temperature in the room. There is a timer button which can help you set the humidification / air purification function to last between 1 hour & 8 hours after which the unit will switch off automatically.
The mode button helps you to switch between the modes auto/ night-time /slow and fast. The Haze button helps to operate the unit at Max high fan speed for 10 minutes followed by 50 minutes operation at high fan speed, and then alternates between low and high level for 20 minutes each.
Then there is the power button for switching the unit off or on, and it also remembers what state the unit was in in the event of a power cut. Further to this using this buttons by the means of a long keypress we could switch the modes between humidifier and purifier, and using either or both, and so on.
enter image description here

Filters

The unit has a back panel which can be easily removed which gives access to two filters one being the HEPA filter and the other being the deodorizing filter. These can be separately removed and vacuumed or soap cleaned whenever needed.
enter image description here
Besides this, there is a humidifying filter which resides within a filter frame, which sits further in humidifying tray that holds the water needed for humidification. This tray is easily accessible and we can fill it with water up to the specified level and plug it back into the unit very easily.
enter image description here

General notes on operation

As a consumer, I understood how to use this device. I went about trying to use it with the water filled into the humidifying tray. The unit is pretty noisy at higher fan speeds but upon setting it to automatic it settled down to a very quiet operation which is barely audible.
If you are expecting the unit to cool the room just like an air conditioner you are mistaken and you will not be able to achieve that with this unit. However, the dampness in the room is clearly felt after a while because of this unit doing its humidifying function.
The lighting on the unit is good and it shows different colours based on what it possesses the dust quality within the room (Green / Orange). The device claims to remove dust particles upto 0.3 microns which would mean coverage on most categories of dust commonly found in homes.

Tangible benefits

I am yet to understand what the exact tangible benefits of using this unit are and my metric of measurement would be how healthy my son would be if this unit is in operation every night in the room that he sleeps in.
If his levels of asthma are under control and he does not get into an allergic cough situation because of using this unit then I would believe that this unit is functional to the extent that I expected it to be.
enter image description here

Conclusion

For the given price the humidifier and air purifier unit combined in one is a worthwhile investment for now as it doesn’t break your bank. it is a bit bulky but it is also quite during operation and the only need is to find the space for it within your room.
The tangible benefits of this unit would be understood only over long term use but for heavily polluted cities it is almost becoming necessary to have an air purifier as of today.
With constant industrialisation and construction activities going on around the city and the temperatures within the city heating up it is only important that dry cities need the function of humidification as well within the homes that we live in. The sharp purifier and humidifier unit exactly aims to achieve this need.
enter image description here
enter image description here
enter image description here
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enter image description here
If you liked the review, please spare few moments to let me know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Written with StackEdit.

Review of the sharp air purifier and humidifier KC-F30E-W.

Introduction

After years of struggling with Bangalore’s weather, I tried to understand why my kid was getting sick with asthmatic symptoms over and over again. It struck me there’s something about the air quality that creates this problem other than the pollen in the air.
Looking at Bangalore go from bad to worse it was only an eventuality that I had to really think of investing into an air purifier for my bedroom. Over the years the technology for air purifiers has only become better and better and with standard HEPA filters and air filters being used in air conditioners and the like, the same also started being used for air purifiers. With cities like Delhi almost have an air purifier for every home the concept is still catching up for Bangalore which is taking some time to reach the level of dust pollution that is seen in Delhi.
There are a lot of companies working on air purifiers such as Sharp, Philips etc. A quick search on Amazon shows a host of companies offering air purifiers. I also understood that when the air becomes dry within the room or the atmosphere we are in, it starts to cause an irritation in people’s throats which further cause a lot of cough and runny nose symptoms. couple this with the usual asthmatic symptoms and the whole situation turns nasty with an allergic cough that lasts for over a week or two in small kids.
So now I not only needed a solution to purifying the air at home, I also needed a solution which helps me to humidify the air within the room.

Two in one

Given my need, I wanted a unit which had both the air purifying function and humidification function in a single unit. After having seen a lot of reviews on YouTube and checking out some products on Amazon, I came across an advertisement regarding the sharp KC-F30E model.
For once I did not want to make an online purchase and I wanted to just pay up the cost and have the air purifier on the hand immediately. For this reason, I picked up the contact number for the customer care for Sharp, and make a call to them to understand the models they have and the payment options to secure one of these models.
enter image description here

Purchase experience

Sharp could not answer my call when I called them but they promptly return the call and assigned an executive from Bangalore city to deal with my case. The executive was in constant touch with me in spite of my busy schedules and I asked him if there was a no-cost EMI option to purchase this product.
Due to my busy schedules the executive was kind enough to meet me at a time of my choice and place of my choice and he brought in the purifier unit to my office along with the payment machine. The device cost me 23500 rupees and I paid the whole thing by a credit card with no cost EMI option for 1 year which cost me around close to 2000 rupees every month.

Device statistics

The device itself is around 5kgs in weight and is as big a personal computer desktop tower or slightly more. The whole unit fits into the boot of my car and I could get it home easily. ,The device itself is constructed in a simple manner with easy access to the filters, the water bay and the controls on the front panel of the device. The device runs on a 5A socket and it’s very easy to use.

Unboxing video

Below is the video I made for the unboxing of the device which you can see to understand what the device looks like in reality.

Controls

The device has a few easy to use buttons on the front console. There is a button to switch between the display of humidification level and temperature in the room. There is a timer button which can help you set the humidification / air purification function to last between 1 hour & 8 hours after which the unit will switch off automatically.
The mode button helps you to switch between the modes auto/ night-time /slow and fast. The Haze button helps to operate the unit at Max high fan speed for 10 minutes followed by 50 minutes operation at high fan speed, and then alternates between low and high level for 20 minutes each.
Then there is the power button for switching the unit off or on, and it also remembers what state the unit was in in the event of a power cut. Further to this using this buttons by the means of a long keypress we could switch the modes between humidifier and purifier, and using either or both, and so on.
enter image description here

Filters

The unit has a back panel which can be easily removed which gives access to two filters one being the HEPA filter and the other being the deodorizing filter. These can be separately removed and vacuumed or soap cleaned whenever needed.
enter image description here
Besides this, there is a humidifying filter which resides within a filter frame, which sits further in humidifying tray that holds the water needed for humidification. This tray is easily accessible and we can fill it with water up to the specified level and plug it back into the unit very easily.
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General notes on operation

As a consumer, I understood how to use this device. I went about trying to use it with the water filled into the humidifying tray. The unit is pretty noisy at higher fan speeds but upon setting it to automatic it settled down to a very quiet operation which is barely audible.
If you are expecting the unit to cool the room just like an air conditioner you are mistaken and you will not be able to achieve that with this unit. However, the dampness in the room is clearly felt after a while because of this unit doing its humidifying function.
The lighting on the unit is good and it shows different colours based on what it possesses the dust quality within the room (Green / Orange). The device claims to remove dust particles upto 0.3 microns which would mean coverage on most categories of dust commonly found in homes.

Tangible benefits

I am yet to understand what the exact tangible benefits of using this unit are and my metric of measurement would be how healthy my son would be if this unit is in operation every night in the room that he sleeps in.
If his levels of asthma are under control and he does not get into an allergic cough situation because of using this unit then I would believe that this unit is functional to the extent that I expected it to be.
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Conclusion

For the given price the humidifier and air purifier unit combined in one is a worthwhile investment for now as it doesn’t break your bank. it is a bit bulky but it is also quite during operation and the only need is to find the space for it within your room.
The tangible benefits of this unit would be understood only over long term use but for heavily polluted cities it is almost becoming necessary to have an air purifier as of today.
With constant industrialisation and construction activities going on around the city and the temperatures within the city heating up it is only important that dry cities need the function of humidification as well within the homes that we live in. The sharp purifier and humidifier unit exactly aims to achieve this need.
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If you liked the review, please spare few moments to let me know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Written with StackEdit.

Why Visualising your information makes ultimate sense while planning your expenditure?

What is the problem statement?

If you have tried managing expenses in your home during pressing circumstances ie., when you have loads of other things to do you may have hit a wall looking at the complexity it can present to you. Sometimes you are totally confused and disorganized and are unaware of the expenditure that is going to hit you in the near future.

There are people who are good at this no doubts. But as we age, many of us feel that the amount of data we need to process and the amount of expenses we need to gauge is enormous and we may miss out on the important ones many a time. Couple that with other disturbances such as pressure at work, household chores, lack of sleep and a general lack of time and we tend to move towards assistant apps on our phones which will keep track of the costs for us.

Again there are some really good apps in the market for that such as expense managers ranging from simple ones, all the way to ones that even manage and read your bank statements and show you your networth value in order you get to know how you are performing. But sometimes these are overwhelming and they themselves become items on which we need to spend extra time feeding the data for them to interpret.

The need of the hour …

To be honest with you, given the amount of complexity that I have in life personally, I am looking out for a million different ways to keep things simple all the time. Be it at my work, or conversations, or at home – consolidating accounts, keeping emails short or avoiding them, using collaboration boards when possible and so on and so forth.

So in the quest for keeping things simple, I had to find a way to organize my expenses that I am facing or will face in the future. Again I did not want to plan years ahead. Say just for this year. 12 months. And I had one burning need. The data must be visible to me all the time, without any sort of reminders and I must be able to track the progress on the goals or tasks.

The solution – simplicity

I started thinking like a kid – what would a kid do given the limited resources he had access to, to note down something? Yes! Jot it down in a pen and paper. But then I am an adult so I can add a bit of flair to it, right ?

Size

So first I scaled up the size to a marker sheet or a cardboard sheet fairly large enough. This solved two issues for me – one, I can write a lot and put in many items there by varying the font size choice, and two – I can walkby where it was put up and glance at it whenever I wanted to.

Buckets of content

There was no need to put in all information randomly and in an unordered list on that sheet. But rather to split it into many different categories or buckets as we will call it. Its the same simple thing everyone knows and does. Since I planned for a complete year one obvious division was monthwise expenditure. Another was by type of expenses – some are mandatory expenses, some are nice to have but not important expenses, and others also included things like savings – basically money that you deem will not be accessible to you for spending (for me I considered this as an outgo)

Content representation

Content can be represented in multiple ways as you would know it. A to-do list which is simple and says some things are done when they are done. Or a more organized list by date or month with amounts per each item to give more info. I chose a sort of hybrid approach – for some buckets I used plain text without end dates, and for some items like savings I used “Smileys” or “Frownies” – meaning if there is a smile, I saved up for the month, else I did not.

For categorization vertically it was columns for each month. For horizontals I divided based on priority or differentiation. Smileys were best shown below expenditures since it was a savings category. Everything on top was super important but everything in the middle was nice to have though not must to have.

I could still use one more separation for the things I actually binged on, when it was not planned to give me a visualization of where I wasted money. How you put the data is up to you as long as there is one view on everything.

The results

The experiment had such a positive impact on me, I cannot convince you enough that you must try it out too

  • Ensure you use large size cardboard paper to list out your items

  • Ensure you categorize clearly

  • Ensure you put things that are not important lower in the list

  • Use both text and indiciations like smileys to make important things fun

  • Smileys in my case have to be earned and not earning a smiley relates to a whole month (basically a large time period) wasted which questions your basic discipline abilities and keeps you on track without getting disturbed or distracted.

  • Keep adding the things you are additionally buying so you have a full picture at end of the year to discuss and reflect

  • Put in things like vacation and family time as they are important too and cannot be compromised. Basically everything you want to do or attend to should be in there

  • Any new recurring investment should feature in the next year’s chart without being missed out.

  • Show people and talk about your chart to people and try to inspire them like I did for you.

  • Last but not least celebrate small but significant achievements both on savings and being accurate about your planning.

Why Visualising your information makes ultimate sense while planning your expenditure?

What is the problem statement?

If you have tried managing expenses in your home during pressing circumstances ie., when you have loads of other things to do you may have hit a wall looking at the complexity it can present to you. Sometimes you are totally confused and disorganized and are unaware of the expenditure that is going to hit you in the near future.

There are people who are good at this no doubts. But as we age, many of us feel that the amount of data we need to process and the amount of expenses we need to gauge is enormous and we may miss out on the important ones many a time. Couple that with other disturbances such as pressure at work, household chores, lack of sleep and a general lack of time and we tend to move towards assistant apps on our phones which will keep track of the costs for us.

Again there are some really good apps in the market for that such as expense managers ranging from simple ones, all the way to ones that even manage and read your bank statements and show you your networth value in order you get to know how you are performing. But sometimes these are overwhelming and they themselves become items on which we need to spend extra time feeding the data for them to interpret.

The need of the hour …

To be honest with you, given the amount of complexity that I have in life personally, I am looking out for a million different ways to keep things simple all the time. Be it at my work, or conversations, or at home – consolidating accounts, keeping emails short or avoiding them, using collaboration boards when possible and so on and so forth.

So in the quest for keeping things simple, I had to find a way to organize my expenses that I am facing or will face in the future. Again I did not want to plan years ahead. Say just for this year. 12 months. And I had one burning need. The data must be visible to me all the time, without any sort of reminders and I must be able to track the progress on the goals or tasks.

The solution – simplicity

I started thinking like a kid – what would a kid do given the limited resources he had access to, to note down something? Yes! Jot it down in a pen and paper. But then I am an adult so I can add a bit of flair to it, right ?

Size

So first I scaled up the size to a marker sheet or a cardboard sheet fairly large enough. This solved two issues for me – one, I can write a lot and put in many items there by varying the font size choice, and two – I can walkby where it was put up and glance at it whenever I wanted to.

Buckets of content

There was no need to put in all information randomly and in an unordered list on that sheet. But rather to split it into many different categories or buckets as we will call it. Its the same simple thing everyone knows and does. Since I planned for a complete year one obvious division was monthwise expenditure. Another was by type of expenses – some are mandatory expenses, some are nice to have but not important expenses, and others also included things like savings – basically money that you deem will not be accessible to you for spending (for me I considered this as an outgo)

Content representation

Content can be represented in multiple ways as you would know it. A to-do list which is simple and says some things are done when they are done. Or a more organized list by date or month with amounts per each item to give more info. I chose a sort of hybrid approach – for some buckets I used plain text without end dates, and for some items like savings I used “Smileys” or “Frownies” – meaning if there is a smile, I saved up for the month, else I did not.

For categorization vertically it was columns for each month. For horizontals I divided based on priority or differentiation. Smileys were best shown below expenditures since it was a savings category. Everything on top was super important but everything in the middle was nice to have though not must to have.

I could still use one more separation for the things I actually binged on, when it was not planned to give me a visualization of where I wasted money. How you put the data is up to you as long as there is one view on everything.

The results

The experiment had such a positive impact on me, I cannot convince you enough that you must try it out too

  • Ensure you use large size cardboard paper to list out your items

  • Ensure you categorize clearly

  • Ensure you put things that are not important lower in the list

  • Use both text and indiciations like smileys to make important things fun

  • Smileys in my case have to be earned and not earning a smiley relates to a whole month (basically a large time period) wasted which questions your basic discipline abilities and keeps you on track without getting disturbed or distracted.

  • Keep adding the things you are additionally buying so you have a full picture at end of the year to discuss and reflect

  • Put in things like vacation and family time as they are important too and cannot be compromised. Basically everything you want to do or attend to should be in there

  • Any new recurring investment should feature in the next year’s chart without being missed out.

  • Show people and talk about your chart to people and try to inspire them like I did for you.

  • Last but not least celebrate small but significant achievements both on savings and being accurate about your planning.

The Desert Safari desert camp experience (with videos)

In my last couple of posts I discussed the buggy rides and dune bashing experiences in Dubai. To conclude the journey in this post I will take you through the evening camp event.
After the sun down we settled into the evening camp for an evening filled with a short performance and dinner. The camp has a restroom area, and some stalls for food, henna, and hookah facilities for the visitor. As is the case all over Dubai, you are treated like a VIP if you have the money. The more the money you pay, the better the treatment. This is evident in everything – from the vehicles that get you to the camp, to the food offered, to the seating, to special photographs with eagles, etc. The food for VIPs is unlimited and is served at the place you are seated, and typically with a quanity much more than you need.

It is all about satisfying guests as per what they pay but I sincerely wish the people providing all these facilities do think of the needy as well. I am a strong believer that food must not be wasted and the situation at the desert camp is somewhat on the contrary.

Performances (fire and belly dance)

Coming to the performances, there were two performances one by a male and the other one by a female. The dance by the male was something involving colourful clothes and tricks with fire – the whole stage is lit up with the light and its a spectacle to watch and enjoy. There is a lot of spinning in the dance and also doing lots of tasks when that goes on which is in itself not so easy a task. You can take a look at the video below

The performance by the female is also one of the main reasons people sign up for the camp evening event – the famous belly dance. And for those of you who think it is very sexy and the likes – let me tell you one thing – it is simply not easy for a normal person to do this dance. Even for the talented in this field it is an enormous level of energy burn and the level of composure and fitness needed to finish off with this for a whole 15-20 minutes is nothing short of humongous. You can take a look at a part of the dance in the video below. One look at the hair spin the lady gives will give you a dizzy feeling.

Food options

As you would have guessed, the food options for vegetarians is pretty minimal. At best there is the sweet (like a jamun) dipped in date sauce. Add some salads made from veggies, and some really bad mixed rice (not the biryani types) and of course Pepsi/coke & some dessert in the desert that gets over even before it starts being served! You know what I’m talking about now.

Toilet facilities

In one word : SAD.
In many words the toilets aren’t maintained properly. There doesn’t seem to be proper drainage system making the whole place stink. It’s really bad and the management of the place can certainly look for better bio toilet options.

Other facilities

There are other things to do at the camp. Like a bit of camel ride, or smoking some hookah. Plenty of coke on the floor. If you are willing to pay more you get corn etc. There are obviously some mehndi stalls which help you to sport some good designs on your hands or feet. There are also photo opps with Arabic clothing which would cost you a bomb.

Conclusions

The entire desert safari experience is a one off experience that will let you enjoy the desert in its raw and full glory. It will give you a glimpse of some fantastic buggy riding, some scintillating dune bashing that’ll leave you mesmerised. Further the glorious sunsets and the evening performances will leave you dazzled at the end of the journey. Although you will be tired while returning home, rest assured these set of adventures will be etched in your memory forever.

The Desert Safari desert camp experience (with videos)

In my last couple of posts I discussed the buggy rides and dune bashing experiences in Dubai. To conclude the journey in this post I will take you through the evening camp event.
After the sun down we settled into the evening camp for an evening filled with a short performance and dinner. The camp has a restroom area, and some stalls for food, henna, and hookah facilities for the visitor. As is the case all over Dubai, you are treated like a VIP if you have the money. The more the money you pay, the better the treatment. This is evident in everything – from the vehicles that get you to the camp, to the food offered, to the seating, to special photographs with eagles, etc. The food for VIPs is unlimited and is served at the place you are seated, and typically with a quanity much more than you need.

It is all about satisfying guests as per what they pay but I sincerely wish the people providing all these facilities do think of the needy as well. I am a strong believer that food must not be wasted and the situation at the desert camp is somewhat on the contrary.

Performances (fire and belly dance)

Coming to the performances, there were two performances one by a male and the other one by a female. The dance by the male was something involving colourful clothes and tricks with fire – the whole stage is lit up with the light and its a spectacle to watch and enjoy. There is a lot of spinning in the dance and also doing lots of tasks when that goes on which is in itself not so easy a task. You can take a look at the video below

The performance by the female is also one of the main reasons people sign up for the camp evening event – the famous belly dance. And for those of you who think it is very sexy and the likes – let me tell you one thing – it is simply not easy for a normal person to do this dance. Even for the talented in this field it is an enormous level of energy burn and the level of composure and fitness needed to finish off with this for a whole 15-20 minutes is nothing short of humongous. You can take a look at a part of the dance in the video below. One look at the hair spin the lady gives will give you a dizzy feeling.

Food options

As you would have guessed, the food options for vegetarians is pretty minimal. At best there is the sweet (like a jamun) dipped in date sauce. Add some salads made from veggies, and some really bad mixed rice (not the biryani types) and of course Pepsi/coke & some dessert in the desert that gets over even before it starts being served! You know what I’m talking about now.

Toilet facilities

In one word : SAD.
In many words the toilets aren’t maintained properly. There doesn’t seem to be proper drainage system making the whole place stink. It’s really bad and the management of the place can certainly look for better bio toilet options.

Other facilities

There are other things to do at the camp. Like a bit of camel ride, or smoking some hookah. Plenty of coke on the floor. If you are willing to pay more you get corn etc. There are obviously some mehndi stalls which help you to sport some good designs on your hands or feet. There are also photo opps with Arabic clothing which would cost you a bomb.

Conclusions

The entire desert safari experience is a one off experience that will let you enjoy the desert in its raw and full glory. It will give you a glimpse of some fantastic buggy riding, some scintillating dune bashing that’ll leave you mesmerised. Further the glorious sunsets and the evening performances will leave you dazzled at the end of the journey. Although you will be tired while returning home, rest assured these set of adventures will be etched in your memory forever.

Leaf bluetooth earphones review – does the Indian Startup fare well among global competition?

Quest for quality

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Its after a long while I am back to bring you a review of a gadget – a pair of earphones this time. There are some differences this time. I am not a big fan of Indian gadgets due to quality issues persisting since many years. Everytime you buy something cheap or costly when it reaches your hand, one look at the packaging or the product and you feel cheated. You really feel why Indian companies take customers for granted and just produce something for the heck of it.

The feeling of great packaging, good quality materials and the general thought process of thinking in terms of design, usability and durability are mostly missing with Indian made gadgets barring a few of them. A few good ones I could think of are the Notion Ink Adam, Sony India basic wired headphones, etc. However many of these are not Indian firms and bring products from their global lineage time and again.

Craving for earphones

I have got a craving to order more and more wired and wireless earphones after I ordered a noise canceling Sony MDR1000-X which I will review a bit later. After my purchase of an Apple IPhone 7+ 128 GB, and the increased need to take Skype calls on the mobile I needed at least one good wired and one good wireless earphones. The headphones were big, they were bearing on the head in terms of weight and were not a viable option all the time. The earphones were lightweight, can be plugged in pretty easily and almost cut out most of the noise even without noise canceling feature.

I will review the Bullets V2 from 1+ a bit later, but for now among the wireless I had two options one on the low end (2-3k INR) and another on the higher end (Bose QC-20i, Qc-30 – at between 17-23K INR including exchange discounts on their websites). Neither were bad just that they were at different ends of the scales. While buying on Amazon, its very difficult to credibly understand how many reviews of the products were legitimate and whether the reviews are of good quality enough to understand what the product quality is. So after some basic searching and filtering out noise in the form of useless negative reviews, I chanced upon the Leaf Ear.

Thoughts on packaging

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Companies usually hire good photographers to photoshop outstanding pictures of the product so I was a bit taken aback about the high resolution images on the website detailing the product. Keeping an expectation of 50-50 I went ahead and ordered the product. I usually also see a bit of YouTube reviews before ordering something and here it was no exception. The product finally arrived at my home and I was rather delighted to see if it met my expectations.

First impression is the best impression as they say and the packaging left me wanting for more. The box was white with all sides printed with information with a few photos of the product around it. Upon opening the box I found that there was a nice black pouch inside placed in a tight fit which had the earphones within it.
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Also was a small printed manual, a set of extra ear buds as spare. Nice touch but what I was impressed with is I got the same blue colour as advertised. Exactly the same fluroscent blue. Absolutely the same colour. Nothing was photoshopped. For a price of close to 2500 INR, the quality was comparable to Bose. Absolutely soft feel and extremely comfortable to the touch.

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Build & Specs of the Leaf earphones

The earphones themselves were of top quality including the cable and were a snug fit into the ears. They also had the extra hooks or flaps as people call it which guarantees a perfect fit and since these were meant for jogging it had to come with those flaps. If you dont like them, you can remove them and put them on again. Its a DIY stuff. The ear piece is slightly inclined to give you a best fit and once you wear these on, the external noise is practically weeded out. You still can hear the outside, but not if you have the music playing. The cord is as less as can be and as is necessary, so that it won’t get in the way of your jogging.

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On the specs side, the earphones boast of 8 hours of play time, with Bluetooth 4.1 support and 10m of connectivity distance among other features. The USP of this earphone is its reproduction of bass. No other earphones in this category which is made by any Indian company boasts of such good bass reproduction in this price range. Of course you do have the Sennheisers and the Sonys but the Leaf is something different and it deserves respect for some other reasons such as the homegrown option.

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Quality comes at a cost and reducing the cost would effectively mean you screw up on the quality front. Leaf has tried to keep it balanced and has struck a good compromise between cost and features.

Real world performance

Battery and sound

In the real world experiences part, I did not have to charge the earphone for quite a long while before it died down, almost a week of a few conference calls each day which is impressive. On the bass claim, they are pretty much right – I have not seen another Indian earphone that comes with so much bass capability yet. But coming to the treble part, it does not sound exactly tinny, but it does not get so much prominence where it should ie., at higher volumes. The bass supersedes the treble part which is a bit of a downer. But then again its not like you cannot hear it properly at all. It does not seem like a balanced combo.

Buttons and tactile feel

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Next are the buttons, specifically the power/play/pause button on the right earphone and the volume up/down on the right earphone. Both are clumsily placed either with respect to placement, or with respect to operation. Allow me to explain. First off the power button. You need to press it really hard for activating it and if you are doing it whilst the earphone is in your ears, that means you are pushing the buds much inside your ear – something that terrifies me. We need to treat this organ with extreme care, if something gets stuck inside, it can prove to be a hearing safety hazard. At least in the next version of these earphones I wish the company makes it a soft touch and use button.

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Next off the volume rockers. They are placed okay for the access but are so small for big fingers like mine, that I am not sure I am actually pressing them. Its a sort of clumsy placement to be honest and if I were to design these, I would have used the left earphone to put this button just like the power button with a two way action for up/down volume control. Currently the volume button seems like an after thought & it is not clear why the company decided to put the volume rockers where they are.

Sportiness, calls and pricing

On handling sweat, I have not used these rigourously for sporting activities, but you may need to wipe them dry of sweat after use if you use it heavily. That said, wearing in ear earphones and jogging hard can actually make your ears rather warm, and at least for me to a level uncomfortable too after which I need to take out these. I prefer an option without the additional flaps and with Leaf that is possible very much. These are the real cheap cousins to Bose QC-30 at about 1/10th the price.

I did try a few calls using these and the calls sound good and others can receive your voice only if your right earphone is placed in the ear. That is where the microphone is located and unless its in the ear it may not pick up your voice properly. I have this habit of using only one side for calls, and hence you need to know which side of the earphone matters based on where the mic is placed!

My final thoughts

The Leaf earphones are no doubt an awesome pair of earphones in terms of build quality and the company – an Indian startup – Leaf Studios in Delhi – have given a lot of thought over the design, usability, reliability, materials and needless to say technology adoption to bring these earphones close in quality to the other higher priced models in the market.

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Time will tell whether there are future revised iterations based on feedbacks on various online and offline forums tha the company will come up with, but for now at Rs.2500/- approximately, these are hard to beat and won’t disappoint the user on his expectations. So what is your excuse to wait ? Let me know if you found this review useful in the comments section below, and if you wish to buy one of these head here.