OnADayLikeThat

      Long ago a gem was lost and  discovered in modern times called Hampi. Though a lot has been said and written about Hampi in most forums, Hampi is a must visit for anyone who loves history and architecture. The shear sizes and concepts of temples and surrounding 'bazar' or marketplaces thrills history lovers.      My mind kept going to past when Hampi, once capital of super rich Vijayanagar empire would have witnessed the hustle and bustle of sellers from over the world. As today Hampi still witnesses the tourists coming from all over. In today's post I will share you some of practical tips and facts that will surely help plan your trip better.       We traveled to Hampi on long weekend of January 2018 from Bangalore. Hampi is close to 350km from Bangalore and there are two clear routes, one via Anantpur and one via Tumkur. Both routes almost combine from Ballari. Though most blogs and sites claim one route to be b...

It is a great idea to spend weekend with your kids at home by engaging in activities together. As much I love cooking special meals for family, me and my kid also enjoy our crafting time together. This little bookmarks are were really easy and fun to make. What better is he can use them right away in his story books! Here I try to describe the steps for making these cute bookmarks. Activity level: Moderate Supplies needed:  1. Red, yellow, pink and white chart paper 2. Black and red marker pen  3. Pencil, scissors and glue 4. Satin ribbon 5. Some cotton How to proceed: Take a perfect square piece of red chat paper like below.  (Ignore the colour of paper in below pics as I missed taking pics with red chart paper) Now fold the paper sheet diagonally  Next fold both side corners such that you bring it to center like below Open the folded corners like below. Now bring down the center of the paper and fold it ...

As winter is around, many of us might find skin drying a common problem. These coconut oil-shea butter and honey lotion bars are great for your skin and they are made with all natural ingredients. A lotion bar is a solid bar that melts on the contact of your skin and contains butters and oils. Beeswax is added to homemade lotion bar recipes so they stay solid. However in our recipe we are excluding the beewax to avoid waxy feeling that beewax gives to the bar. Shea butter and coconut oil act as excellent moisturizer to your skin. Coconut oil also helps in repairing and rejuvenating damaged skin while honey will make your skin glow! Ingredients: 1. 1/4th cup organic Shea butter 2. 1/4th cup organic coconut oil 3. 2 tbsp organic honey 4. Few drops of pure essential oil (I have used Rose essential oil, you can add any flavor of your choice, like lavender or lemon essential oil) 5. Few dried rose or lavender buds (optional, not seen in the picture) 6. Heart s...

Bangalore Palace is a touch of history inside the city. You can plan a half day visit to this place when you are in Bangalore. Though the palace does not really match with the palace is that you usually see or expect in Rajasthan or other parts of India, it still has many artifacts to offer to your visual delight.                     Exterior of the palace in Tudor Architecture  Exterior of the palace in Tudor Architecture    Impressive Darbar Hall    Interesting Lamp   You can also catch up on some of the photograph of the royal family of the Wadiyar's. At the Palace you have to purchase entry ticket which also includes audio visual auto guide. It is good idea to get this guide because it explains almost all of the main important points inside the palace.  When we last visited during May 2017 the ticket price was around 240 rupees per person for Indian national. For m...

A day of yet another activity for kids..My LO have this hobby of collecting these pebbles where ever we go. So we decided to decorate them with paints and thus I can engage him for yet another 1-2 hours ;) Activity Level: Easy (Some adult help need for kids <=5 yrs) Supplies: Pebbles/stones preferably rounded ones, acrylic colors, paint brushes (0 number and flat), water/cloth to clean your brushes, waste newspapers to use as base for coloring No rocket science again..color your stones in vibrant color with flat brush. If required apply 2 coats. Once the base dries, decorate as per your choice. Here I am sharing some ideas.  You can also use poster colors or water colors if acrylic colors are not handy. But then you have to very careful not to get your decorated stones in contact of water! The one colored in blue below is done with poster colors.

Avani is small village in Kolar district around 95 kms from Bangalore. We did day trip from Bangalore to Kotilingeshwara and from there to Avani twice and each time I fell in love with this place. Avani has Ramlingeshwara temple complex which is of archaeological and mythological importance. As per mythology this place is birth place of Luv-Kush. Though I have heard of two more places around India with similar references to Sita's stay in Valmiki Ashram and birth of Luv-Kush. Avani temple complex has temples dedicated to Ram, Sita, Lakshman, Bharat, Shatrughna and even to Vali and Sugriv.  One can also visit the small hill next to temple complex which is said to have temple dedicated to Sita, though both the times we could not make it to top of hill due to various reasons.  When planning for visit to Avani make sure you are not heading on a hot sunny day or afternoon time as the whole complex is made in stone and it beco...