How to Explore Singapore in Cheap–Day 1

This is a series of blogs where I am trying to let people know about some tips and tricks to visit Singapore that are not available on internet,

Prior to this one,

1. Flight Booking

2. Before Travel

  Next is Day 1,

  So the day 1 is all about travelling and getting settled for fun to begin,

1. Changi Airport – So you have arrived to “The Best Airport in the world” and it’s not simply called the best in the world. It’s called because it has everything to keep you engaged in your transit. You would want to be in transit here. There are loads of things that you can do at Changi Airport and its very useful because if you are arriving early in a day then you need something to kill time with because every hotel in Singapore weirdly has 3 pm check in time. Spend your time napping, seeing butterfly park, relaxing with free massagers or watch a movie inside the airport for free. There are kids small play areas and wooden block drawing sections to keep little ones engaged.

2. Local Sim Card – Don’t buy sim card at Airport because the minimum value SingTel sim card they have is of $30+, you don’t need that, you just need $15 one that offers 4 GB data with 5 day validity which is available in any 7-Eleven with additional offers and there are plenty of 7-Eleven. As I mentioned before, hotels usually provide a phone for your disposal, so decide on buying a local sim based on that. If you go to any shopping street you might find even cheaper and better Sim Card options.

3. Local Travel – Just outside Changi you will find the MRT (Tube/Metro) station where you can buy EZ Link card, card’s cost is $5 and you can top it up with any amount you need. Each person would need 1 card, it cost us $55 for 2 of us including cost of the card for 8 days with daily travel in MRT and Buses. I found Tourist EZ Link card to be little expensive in compared to this. One thing to remember, if you have any balance left in the card, you can get it refunded at Changi Airport MRT station on your return but kiosk closes post 7:30 pm, either get it refunded before and use single card to travel to the airport.

4. Taxis – You would find that taxis are costly, if you compare to local transport ? yes but otherwise I don’t think they are that expensive. Some taxis even accept EZ Link cards. But beware of cancelling an Uber, it might cost you the total trip cost. Try local Uber, Grab, if you are new user they usually have offers such as first 2 rides free. There is Taxi stand where you can hail a taxi otherwise there is free Wi-Fi on Airport and you can use that to book Uber or Grab.

5. Child Concession Card – Usually kids below 7 are free but it’s better to get a concession card done for them, its free and it’s fun for kids to swipe at each terminal.

6. Attraction tickets – Collect all the tickets if you have a full proof plan or can collect as and when needed. I suggest “Slashed Price Singapore” to buy all the attraction tickets, I couldn’t find cheaper tickets and all worked like charm. Their Facebook page lists the WhatsApp number to chat and finalize on tickets. Most of the tickets are e-tickets that they will send on WhatsApp or email and all can be redeemed at attraction kiosks or ticket centers.

Write to me at ankkkit@hotmail.com if you need some more info that you would like to know.

How to explore Singapore in cheap – Flight Booking

So this post is not about what are the attractions in Singapore or review about any glorious shopping mall or a street, that information is more than available online, you can in fact virtually live in Singapore online !! This is about some hacks, cheat codes or tips that no one spoke about on internet when I was planning for my trip and these small pieces of information can really make a difference for good. 

This post is also about how you can plan and travel on your own and avoid overpriced conducted tours. Conducted tours are boring, they just allow you to take a glimpse of the place so that you can take pictures and later can say, "I was there", sure you were there but did you enjoy the place ? Most of the cases, NO. Conducted tours are always cramped and you end up getting tired after holidays rather then being relaxing.

I travelled from Bangalore, India with a very smart & dominant 3 year old daughter and a hard-core vegetarian wife. I will start with checklist of things so that you can plan this trip on your own,

Flight Booking - I booked Tigerair, it was the cheapest and was making use of the entire arrival and the departure day. It arrived Singapore 8 in the morning and departed at 10:30 pm. Few things about Tigerair,

• Check-in weight is not included in the flight price but you can always buy while booking the tickets. I added 20 kg prepaid for 26 USD x 2 (Return and onward flight) in addition to free 7 Kgs cabin luggage per person. 20 Kg Check in with 7+7+7 kg was just enough for 8 day tour for 3 people with good amount of shopping. 
• If you choose prepaid luggage, the website would add it to all the passengers by default, look for edit button to remove it from other passengers.
• Pram or Stroller is free of any baggage, this was my first time so I wasn't sure.
• While booking you will be asked to choose seats, there will be 3 options and all would be chargeable, look for small "skip for now" button on the page and skip it to get free seats allotted while collecting the boarding passes.
• No food or drinks served inside aircraft is free, you can choose to buy food while booking the tickets but in my experience the hot meal I chose was disgusting.
• It cost me little extra because I chose for flexible dates, it cost me another 84 USD for 3 seats on the round trip.

I paid a total of 690 USD for round trip for 3 of us with 20 kg prepaid check in luggage and flexibility to change the dates. Its still cheap after all these add ons and can still be made cheaper with better and planning ahead.

Write to me at ankkkit@hotmail.com if you need some more info that you would like to know.

The Wine delight

Friday afternoon, a working day but you have taken a day off from your chaotic office timetable to celebrate your birthday in peace. On one hand you have enchanting garden-fresh barbecued skewered vegetables and on other a glass filled with Heritage Cabernet Red Wine; perhaps a finest selection of an Indian Origin wine.

 

I am talking about the Heritage Winery located on Mysore Road. On Mysore – Bangalore highway you will encounter an uninterrupted display of red boards guaranteeing throughout the journey that you do not miss the turn to this estate

Just near Kadambam Hotel you will find a series of red boards indicating you to take left but don’t take a blind left as you might end up in a pit (Trust me there was one when this blog was written). Go a little ahead and then take your turn. It’s still 4 km inside; road is are great only till halfway; later half; not so much; still better than current Bangalore roads. Once you pass through flower farms; you will reach the entrance to Heritage Winery. They have done one hell of a job in showing the directions.

 

Once you are in, you will be asked if you would like to have a winery tour which includes an attention-grabbing video on wines, a wine factory excursion and 4-5 samples of wine for tasting. All this comes at a fee of 150/per person. Personally I did not find it worth for the money because the tour was ordinary; the point is that a factory visit cannot be an exceptional one unless it’s Charlie and his chocolate factory. 150 bucks in my opinion is for 4-5 samples you get to taste at the end of the tour. But this place is not only about wine tour; even if you do not go for the tour; you can still enjoy the Epulo Restaurant that serve fresh food with noble home brewed wine.

Above Menu Courtesy, Zomoto.com

The place is located 4 km inside the main highway surrounded with farmsteads and that gives the place a resort kind mood over other places. Here you can talk for hours, enjoy food and drink wine in tranquil countryside.

They claim that they do not keep things prepared but cook from scratch, hence anticipate a delay of up to 30 minutes which is worth. Since it’s surrounded by farms; you get a fresh flavour in the cooking.

 

Overall experience was not bad at all, with wine tour for 2, a three course meal and 3 bottle wine for home concluded with just 1300 bucks, which is quite economical considering prices at restaurants in Bangalore. But having said that, this is not a resort; we were told that they are forecasting a resort here and sadly; after that this place also will become swarming

My Report Card for The Heritage Winery based on my only visit,

Price – 8/10

Taste – 9/10

Service – 7/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 8/10

Will I go back – Of course

Taj Mahal - A Supreme Prodigy

 

Ik junoon ek diwangi …. Har taraf har taraf hai ……

I opened my eyes with the latest song from the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and turned the alarm off which I had set yesterday night for 5 AM. In an hour me and my family had embark on a road trip to Agra and witness the most beautiful marvel of the world, The Taj Mahal. Since I am vacationing in my hometown Jaipur; it’s fairly laid-back return drive to Agra in a day. We started at around 6:15 AM, the drive was around 4-5 hours one way and hence we also planned to cover Fatehpur Sikri,

Fatehpur Sikri is a city and a municipal board in Agra district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Built near the much older Sikri, the historical city of Fatehabad, as it was first named, was constructed by Mughal emperor Akbar beginning in 1570. It was built in honour of Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chisti, who lived in a cavern on the ridge at Sikri, and foretold the birth of his son, who was named Prince Salim after the saint. He later succeeded Akbar to the throne of the Mughal Empire, as Emperor Jahangir.

Via Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri

From Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal is just 1 hr drive, we touched Fatehpur Sikri at around 10:30 in the morning. At the diversion to Fatehpur Sikri from the main highway, you will find several youth troubling everyone to hire them as a guide but you can shoo them off because you can find basic info about the things to do there in this blog but if you are concerned about complete historical facts then yes you can hire one of them and remember that not to pay them more then 250-300 inclusive of all plain expenses which contains,

# Government CNG bus service, 5/- per person

# Door keeper to guard your footwear, 5/- per person

We paid 250/- for 5 people. Fatehpur Sikri is a remarkable place to watch and learn history about. It also has Buland Darwaja which is considered to be the biggest of gateways in Asia.

After an hour of excursion it was time to carry on our trip towards Taj Mahal. The rest of the drive was just 35 kms but the route goes within the city so it takes much longer time then you anticipate. We arrived at around lunch time and scheduled to have lunch before visiting the Taj Mahal.

Tip No. 1 – Places in and around Taj Mahal are insanely expensive with no worth to offer, the food we ate would have cost us practically 200/- anywhere in India with the class of restaurant we were in but the hotelier charged us almost 800/-. So either go to a five star or to a hotel away from Taj Mahal or pack your own food.

Tip No. 2 – the west entrance gate of Taj Mahal is always busy with tourists because its where all restaurant and normal parking is presented. So if you want to beat the crowd then you might want to consider the gate on the other 2 sides.

Tip No. 3 – You will find bullock carts, camel carts and government operated electrical vehicles which will take you till Taj Mahal Entrance from the gate entry point. Please don’t waste your money on that because the travel distance is not even 200 metres.

You will need to buy the entrance ticket which is about 20/- to get inside Taj Mahal. And remember that food stuff is not allowed inside so don't get any.

It was our misfortune or ill fate because we managed to pick the most despicable day of all. We chose to go on Sunday which wasn’t a regular Sunday, it was Sunday just after the largest festival in India, Diwali. Hence the whole country was on break and apparently each one of them was inside Taj Mahal. There was a mile long queue for both to buy tickets and to enter inside.

Tip No. 4 – Here also a tourist guide is not compulsory until you are very much interested in Taj Mahal’s ancient information. And if you hire one then again don’t pay him more then 300-400/-

Tip No. 5 – There is a different higher valued ticket for 510/- too which will help you to beat the crowd but this ticket will help you only while getting into a special queue to get in Taj Mahal. This will also earn you a free ride on government operated electrical automobiles which I cited earlier.

We still hadn’t recognized the volume of people were there to see the Taj Mahal until we got inside and the only words to label the circumstance was “Utter Chaos”

Tip no. 6 – Try to avoid weekend to visit Taj Mahal, particularly weekends after a festival

But as soon as you see the greatest mystical prodigy of all you will overlook everything. Taj Mahal in pictures is nothing, you can appreciate the brilliance only when see it in front of you, it’s just mesmerizing. The structure is so colossal that you will be astonished for first few seconds and rest of the time you will just keep ogling at it’s striking splendour.

Because of the crowd it was evident that if we try to get inside Taj Mahal, it will straightforwardly take the almost 2 hrs, you don’t believe it!! Well the following pictures will help you to accept it,

But we decided that if we have come so far then we will go inside which regrettably resulted into a waste of time because when you are inside Taj Mahal then you cannot see Taj Mahal, which SUCKs. Moreover inside Taj Mahal is just a Tomb of Shah Jahan’s third wife Mumtaz Mahal.

You need to take out your shoes before entering into Taj Mahal. There are shoe lockers available so please make use of it. Lets try to keep it clean and spotless.

Tip No. 7 – If you don’t have time then avoid going inside Taj Mahal, even the background of Taj Mahal is also not so remarkable.

In the end I would say only one thing is that I have not seen anything more massive and yet the most stunning in my life yet and everyone must pay this amazing place a visit once in their lifetime. Even a glimpse of it is worth a treasure.

Kairali – An Experience

 

I just returned from 3 day expedition to Kairali Ayurvedic resort and this blog might help a lot if you are visiting to this place or something similar.

The whole thing started with a telephone call from my friend Sameer that there is a salesperson promoting Kairali resorts to recover from reduced business due to violence in Kerala!!! Well the offer was great and place sounded nice, hence I bought 2 vouchers.

While advertising the seller claimed following,

# Voucher cost was around 2900/- for 2 people for 3 days and 2 nights, only for accommodation

# Just for endorsement they are giving this out for 85% reduction

# There are 4 different classes of quarters in the resort,

• Deluxe
• Classic
• Royal
• Maharaja

but we will be given only Royal or Maharaja for 2 people, meaning booking will be done from bottom to top availability.

# If we are not getting car of our own the resort will arrange a car/taxi at no cost for us to go around the city.

We made a plan right away and 4 of us headed to the Kairali resort, Palakkad

http://www.kairali.com/kairali_index.asp

The Booking

I mailed Kairali resort to book the rooms well in advance and in return I got booking confirmed for 2 classic rooms. It was acceptable to me but just because the sales guy guaranteed to give superior room; I wished to verify, so I called the salesperson. I asked him why we were not given the better rooms. And he replied contradictory to what he assured that the voucher booking is given from top to bottom availability. So I requested him to upgrade it as he promised, he kept me on hold and asked his superior for the raise. I could listen to their conversation and as soon as he ended explaining what I want she yelled back on him,

Experience 1: “How the hell can they get an upgrade, tell them no”, which was easily audible to me and I am 200% sure that she wasn’t worried if I heard her. Hence I let it go because that day I wasn’t in mood to argue with a person who does not even care about her customer-u.

The Start

All buses till Palakkad were either booked or were way expensive due to the stretched weekend but then upon confident information we booked our trip up and down from Coimbatore in KSRTC Airavat Volvo buses because the resort is just 49 km away from Coimbatore main city.

We started the journey with absolute exhilaration but we were led down by the Volvo buses from KSRTC which are called AIRAVAT as they are worthless. The all night ride ended in a bit strain and back ache. We arrived at Coimbatore in the early hours and we now had to locate and get on a different bus to Palakkad. According to the info we must get this bus where the KSRTC bus dropped us but sooner we figured out that we must board a bus to another bus stand to get into the bus for Palakkad. We did that and after 30 min we finally embarked our expedition to Palakkad. On the way we discovered that this bus will not go to the resort straightforwardly because resort is inside village; this bus will drop us at a spot which is around 10 km to resort and from there we need to make yet another bargain to reach till the destination.

Experience 2: We called up the resort and asked if they can pick us up but the receptionist guy explained his incapability to do that because all resort vehicles were engaged.

After an hour we were abandoned at Palakkad intersection but we were still far-off. We had no clue about which bus will go till resort.

Experience 3: We called up the resort again to pick us up but again the receptionist directed us how to hire an auto and get to the resort. Thus we signed up an auto but our luck wasn’t with us, the auto broke down in middle and we were still 6 km away from resort.

Experience 4: We decided to call resort one last time but as expected the receptionist again guided us how to board a different auto.

The flavor of sour hospitality from Kairali resort began even before our arrival.

Tip – It’s better if you can take your own car and go OR go by train because then it will be trouble-free to reach. Also, have 1-2 taxi contact info handy while planning. Ask someone who knows the local language to pre-book these taxis so that your stay is anxiety free. The numbers I used are displayed below,

For Auto Rickshaw – Mustafa (9744475815)

For Taxi – Mustafa (9846581042)

The Stay

Well after a frantic voyage we just wanted to take it easy and loosen up. We just disregarded everything and gave Kairali one more opportunity to flatter us up by their generosity. We were given a welcome fruit drink and were guided to the buffet breakfast

The resort fundamentally is meant for the massage healing and therefore the food provided is very low in cholesterol and seasonings. Each dish made here is with vegetables grown nearby and hence you can appreciate the taste of freshness. The food is priced pretty rich here,

Buffet Breakfast – 200/- per person

Buffet Lunch – 300/- per person

Buffet Dinner – 300/- per person

And in addition to the cost the selections are very restricted,

Breakfast – Cut Fruits, Juice, Bread butter jam, Tea Coffee and a south Indian dish (Dosa, Idli etc), in case you don’t like the key breakfast dish then you will have to deal just with breads.

Lunch/Dinner – Soup, Salad, 2 side dishes, 1 Dal, Rice, Chapati, Curd, Sweet, here also you don’t have much preferences if you don’t like the dishes presented.

Experience 5: We made an observation that they provide limited varieties with expensive cost because you don’t have any other option as the nearest eating place is about 10 km far!!

Apart from standard meal you can ask for room service, they supply

Dish	Price	Value for Money
Veg Pakoda	100/-	7/10
Onion Pakoda	100	8/10
Tea	50/-	9/10
Basic Non-Grilled Sandwich	125/-	3/10
French Fries	125/-	3/10
Breakfast (Limited)	200/-	6/10
Lunch/Dinner (Limited)	300/-	6/10

After the breakfast we went to our rooms, they were tidy and spotless. Soaps and shampoos that were kept were incomparable. For the first time I used shampoo made out of orange skin and it was just wonderful and after a shower with sandal soap just rejuvenated us up. We were given a short excursion of the resort after which we went out for leisurely walk and photography.

We had a great fun, we did not go out of the resort because we did not have our own car and moreover we just wanted to laze around. You can take massage treatments but let me assure you that they are way too exclusive. You can buy different shampoos, herbal oils and ayurvedic medications from the pharmacy; they aren’t economical though but not very pricey either.

There are only 3 free things in the resort,

# Wi-Fi at reception area

# Herbal Tea near Doctor’s office, basically pepper boiled water

# Swimming Pool

It’s correct that the voucher that was sold to us costs roughly 85% less than the standard package but it’s not discounted 85%. The charge for the entire package inclusive of meditation, massages and food is around 13,000/-. If you pull out all and just keep accommodation then you will end up at the promotional offer of the voucher which is 85% less. It was just a brilliant advertising modus operandi but I would say the deal wasn’t bad at all.

Experience 6:- Housekeeping did not visit our room and eventually we had to call them which was very strange. They came and just cleaned the room, they did not substitute the fresh towels and soap. And in addition to this we were never supplied with drinking water from start; we had to ask every time for the refill.

Tip - It’s better that you carry some snacks with you because you cannot order every time you are hungry because of the price tag involved and you can’t also go out to buy unless you have got your own means of transportation.

The Depart

Since we had a dreadful experience while reaching the resort; we just wanted a relaxed and joyful journey back to Bangalore. Hence we decided to book a cab, since we did not know anyone there, we requested at Kairali reception and they confirmed that they can organize a cab. I asked for Cab from Resort to Coimbatore and receptionist told me 1000/- which was respectable enough. I had chat about it with all and thought that we will book the cab in evening.

In evening I went to the reception and asked him to reserve the taxi. The reception guy again asked me till where do I need the cab for and I said Coimbatore.

Experience 7:- He said that it will charge around 2800/- !!! I was stunned because till morning it was 1000/-. He simplified that 1000/- is for railway station drop which is 16 km from here. And then we understood about the kind of additional mean business the resort is into. Just because a vacationer will not know the language and the place; they want to exploit the guest to the extent that is possible. Why I made this declaration is because when we tried taking help from junior staff like gatekeeper, waiters or housekeeping staff; they told us that they can’t assist because if Kairali management comes to know then it could be threat to their employment!!! Can you believe that? Is it not abuse? On the whole it was very obvious that the resort is meant only for overseas travelers because they can shell out heavy cash for just everything and apparently Indians can’t.

We somehow with the help of our local friend booked an expensive taxi which was still way cheaper than the offer made by Kairali, 1500/- till Coimbatore. I have never done such a luxurious road ride before, 1500/- for 50 km, 30/- per km!!!

Why don’t such resorts recognize that if a person like me can visit and write truth about their resort then it will hit their business more than they are trying to endorse!! We spent a good 10,000/- in 2 days in which 6,000/- alone was on food but we were not delighted just because of the discourtesy revealed by them. The overall incident was good but it could have been wonderful.

We said Tata bye bye to Kairali and pledged not to come back just because of the kindness offered but my recommendation is that the place is pleasant and stunning, please go and stay there but take all preventive measures from this blog.

If you require some more help then mail me at ankkkit@hotmail.com

Manchester United Cafe, Bangalore

 

A cricket or football fan constantly desires to have just about every match to be played on weekend. If there are loads of buddies sharing the identical interest then it cannot get any better. But typically either you don’t have place to accommodate all your friends or home is just not the correct place to enjoy to the match.

What if you get to watch your desired matches on a massive display with your friends and with uninterrupted supply of beer ? The answer is the fresh and dazzling “Manchester United Pub”.

 

Manchester united pub opened recently in Kormangala,

 

View Larger Map 

Address

Manchester United Café
No. 1 Kira Layout, Hosur Main Road
Opp. Prestige Acropolis
Bangalore 560029

The pub is located opposite to the Prestige Acropolis apartments on the KFC side of the Forum mall. This is Bangalore’s outlet of the famous trademark “Manchester united Bar & Restaurant”, therefore excellence comes by default. The place is nice with a sparkling atmosphere but I will not say that its cozy because this pub tries to present itself more as a restaurant then a pub. It does not have sufficient settees and sofas where you can sit for hours if you are watching a match.

They have placed a gigantic screen which can be seen both from ground floor and 1^st floor. Apart from that they have screens placed everywhere it’s required. It has around 7 sections,

Ground Floor

1. Outside the main the bar, there is seating spot which is right opposite to the huge screen

2. There are number of ordinary dining tables

3. There are 3 couches presented for a group of 4 each

4. You can hangout by the bar

First Floor

5. 1^st Floor has an alike dining area with slight superior dining tables and chairs than ground floor

6. It also has 2 sofas for a group of around 6-8 members

7. They also have 4 separate royal chairs together with a dedicated screens for them

I outlined this is because I decided to go to this place 3 days in advance and for the same reason I booked the seats for 4 in advance but since I knew nothing about the place I just assumed that it will have regular pub atmosphere but when we arrived we were given dining area seats which does not set any pub feel. So next time you choose to visit here, make sure you advance book proper seats.

Pricing here is little loud but not awfully pricey. They do not provide any tap Beer; they serve only bottled beer and liquor with roughly all distinguished brands. A small kingfisher premium bottle is 150/- and Corona is around 250/- but I was interested in tap beer so I was little dissatisfied but the server swiftly offered me a separate menu card which had American and Belgian bottled beers, each priced at 325/-, I tried out one of them and it was just exceptional, the flavour, the after taste and the smell, everything was incredible about that beer. It purely outshined every Indian beer, therefore I went on with another one and yet again it was simply marvelous. The non-alcoholic drinks are very limited, 3-4, and each of them is approximately 200/- but according to my friends these drinks were absolute value for money because of the flavor and the size.

For food we ordered a vegan platter (425/- this was the top priced dish) which had assorted fried stuff like Onion rings, spring rolls and cheesy tops etc which sufficed for 3 of us, of course accompanied with drinks. Later we ordered a Penne Pasta which was wonderful for 195/-. [Update] But on my 2nd visit I realized that they charge 22.5% tax, which is waayyyyy to high.

 

I would unquestionably suggest you to go here even if there is a cricket/soccer game or not that day.

My score card for Manchester united Pub, Bangalore

Price – 5/10

Taste – 9/10

Service – 8/10

Ambience – 8/10

Value for money – 8/10

Will I go back – Hell ya

Innovative Film City

At last a place near Bangalore which is just 1 hour drive away and worth spending time and money. I am in Bangalore from 9 years but could never find even a single place for a weekend escape. I knew about this place from a long time and had been there also when it was just inaugurated but the experience wasn't very gratifying because it was still under-developed and wasn't fully functional.

So let me give you a picture of this place and will supply you all critical information which might make your next break here a 100% worth for your cash and time.

Innovative film city is located in a place called Bidadi (Refer the map, starting place is Forum Mall, Kormangala)

View Larger Map

Its approximately 40-45 km from Bangalore depending upon where you stay in Bangalore but If you live near Bannerghatta Road then you might want to consider NICE road because then you will accomplish the distance to Innovative film city within 36 kms.

When I was here first time the parking was done just outside the premises. I read lots of online reviews and everyone mentioned that there were lots of stealing took place from the cars which were parked outside. The good news is that they now have made parking within the site.

On the entrance there are tickets counter, Different charges are,

# Admission, which does not include anything except right of entry to Innovative film city --> 50/-

# Still camera –> 100/- (Believe it or not)

# Handy cam –> 150/- or 200/- I don't remember accurately.

P.S – Mobile phone cameras are permitted and are not charged.

Tip – Don't show your still camera and handy cam, therefore do not purchase any ticket for it. After access to film city you can make use of your camera or handy cam as much as you desire, no one will validate if you have bought camera ticket or not. So please save some hard earned money on something stupid.

The general idea is you buy way in ticket and enter into the film city. Inside film city there are tons of things to do but they have their own price tags.

So let’s take a look what all they have,

 

Attractions	Cost	What’s that!!	My Opinion ?
Indian pottery	50	Hands on Indian pottery on cart wheel	You can try, they will let you take the pot
Mirror Maze	75	Maze of mirror	Very Good
Dino Park	50	Plastic Dinos	Skip it
Fossil Museum	25	Dino Fossils	Don't even think of it
Fossil Hunt	50	Find fossils in dirt	Are you kidding me !!
Aqua Kingdom	150	Artificial beach + ??	Did not try
Cartoon City (4 Rides)	30	No Idea	Did not try
Carousel	50	No Idea	Did not try
Roller Coaster	100	No Idea	Did not try
Miniature City	30	Miniature City	WTF !!!
Shoot Out @ IFC	100	No Idea	Did not try
Dune Buggy	300	No Idea	Did not try
Mini Golf	100	No Idea	Did not try
Wax Museum	75	Celebrity’s Wax statues	Average, can skip
Ripley’s Museum	100	Weird facts and artefacts	Average, can skip
Funplex Games	100	Video games, bowling	Try if you have never played video games
4D-Cinema	100	Short and almost real movie experience	Probably the best thing in the Film City
Roller Skates	100	Roller Skates	Looked awful for 100 bucks
Haunted Mansion	100	Scary house	2nd best thing what we tried
Bungee Jump	50	Miniature Bungee Jump	kids play
Wannado City	50	Mock City set	WTFFFFFFFFFF !!
Wax Hand	100	Wax mould of your hand	Skip it
ATV Dirt Bike	200	No Idea	Did not try
Go Karting	150	No Idea	Did not try
Paint ball	150	Paint ball with paint	Did not try
Aladdin’s Carpet	150	Your 2:30 minute movie DVD where you are flying over the city on Aladdin’s carpet	Pretty crazy & embarrassing stuff to do, do try this, (Checkout the video at the end)

 

Packages offered at the ticket counter,

Package 399

Activity	Original Price	Value for Money
Entry Fee	50	10/10
Dino Park	50	3/10
Haunted mansion	100	8/10
Wax Museum	75	5/10
Wannado City	50	0/10
Mini Golf	100	Did not try
Fossil Museum	25	1/10
Mirror Maze	75	7/10
Miniature City	30	0/10
Fossil Hunt	50	0/10
Ripley’s Museum	100	4/10

Package 699

Activity	Original Price	Value for Money
Entry Fee	50	10/10
Mirror Maze	75	7/10
Dino Park	50	3/10
Fossil Museum	25	1/10
Fossil Hunt	50	0/10
Aqua Kingdom	150	Did not try
Cartoon City	30	Did not try
Carousel	50	Did not try
Roller Coaster	100	Did not try
Miniature City	30	0/10
Innovative Talkies	??	Did not try
Mini Golf	100	Did not try
Wax Museum	75	5/10
Ripley’s Museum	100	4/10
4D-Cinema	100	10/10
Roller Skates	100	5/10
Haunted Mansion	100	8/10
Wannado City	50	0/10
Go Karting	150	Did not try

 

Tip - Don’t pay money for the tickets for activities like Miniature City, Wannado City and Fossil hunt because they were free when we checked them out and trust me, they are not even worth to be checked out for free.

We preferred 399 Combo,

 

 

My wife wanted to get some hands on Indian pottery making,

 

 

She made that Big one without base

 

     

 

Food choices,

They have got 7-8 diverse forms of cuisines from Andhra way to Chinese and Rajasthani but sadly about 50% were closed on Sunday afternoon and remaining 50% were selling only 50% things from their list of options. I may know the explanation why? The reason was totally operational Cafe Coffee day, Barista and ABOVE ALL McDonalds. So you don’t have to be anxious about the food at all.

 

 

Facilities,

I always have an opinion that you can judge any place by its washrooms, which as anticipated isn’t any first-class here. No Soap and sometimes not even water from the tap. So be equipped, carry extra bottles and toilet paper when you be here next time.

And last but not the least we ended up doing this for 150/-, Please don't disown us after seeing this crazy piece,

Aladdin's Carpet Special Effect Movie

Conclusion,

According to me you can easily be here for 5-6 hours on an overcast day. It’s all open and very spacious so you have to stroll a lot. We went on a rainy day, it was breezy and still we were exhausted in about 5 hrs.

You cannot cover all in one day so my recommendation is to pick most excellent things from the catalogue of activities and stick to them. Out of the entire only 25% things are real value for money.

Must Do for me were: - 4D-Movie, Haunted mansion and Mirror maze

Please share your judgment if you have been here.