Wingsuit base jumping

"Wing Suit Flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, that shapes the human body into an airfoil which can create lift. The wingsuit creates the airfoil shape with fabric sewn between the legs and under the arms. It is also knownby the public as a birdman suit or squirrel suit" - Courtesy: Wikipedia

From bungee jumping to sky-diving, this video revealed to me something that could be the craziest ever attempt by a person. This is the heights of risk a person can take, but its just amazing!!

Watch it guys -

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Innovative Film City, Bangalore

Last week, I happened to discover yet another place to hang-out for a day & loot all the fun :)

Ever heard of the upcoming theme park - Innovative Film City ??

Though much of it is not functional and the theme center is still under construction, they have opened up a sizeable number of activities right now itself (termed as their Entertainment District).
Visit their website for more updates.

Masti UnPlugged!

This place lies on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, precisely near the Toyota Industry in the Bidadi Industrial Estate. So, if you plan to start on any "bangalore-morning", set your timings meticulously to avoid getting there late absorbed by the "baffling" traffic en-route.

We reached the spot @ ~10:30 am, our initial reactions were those of a cornered scapegoat since we were skeptical of the complex and by inspection it sounded/seemed as though entire thing was running on a Trial-Basis! "Laboratory rats" - was the term used by one of my teammates.

Jokes apart, I must say - lot of preliminary planning has gone into this arena and they have planned to endow it with a versatile set of activities that run from the typical rides found @ Wonderla, water park, beach, museums, sports and theatre experience. My personal suggestion would be to visit Wonderla with your peers (as its monopolized with rides, quite unsuitable for older folks & family members) and spend time @ Innovative Film City with your family (trust me, all age-groups have been targeted).

The whole place opens up with the air of a authentic film shooting spot with palaces, pillars and ancient structures designed. Quite a lot of this was still under construction, I just imagined how the whole place would seem when it gets cent percent going.

But, going a little further I could sense that there were actually quite a lot of activities operational and we decided to explore them all.

Dino Park
Excellent for kids. An attempt to revitalize the era of the dinosaurs, with artificially resurrected dino's of all species in their native habitats. They have been made to move and make noises adding to the ambience.

Mirror Maze
Cleverly designed maze wherein you are supposed to figure your way out to the exit. The interiors deceive you at all corners with your brain battling to differentiate the real from the image. If you see your friends anywhere inside, beware! It might just be their images..

Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Consists of Ripley's miracles and all his mysterious collections. What you see inside truly leaves you spellbound!

Wax Museum
Its all a huge collection of Louis Tussaud's Wax works and his expertise shows up in the lusture and intricate looks of all his subjects inside. You find wax statues of renowned hollywood personalities, political leaders, religious and national leaders, fictional characters, etc..

4D Movie Theater

I had been making wild guesses about the fourth-dimension here right from the beginning. But, when it unfolds before you in the theater, believe me - you go wild! Its a movie about the evolution of earth, origin of life, time of the dinosaurs, bla bla bla.. But a fourth-dimension of "sense" has been added to the movie, thereby making you feel the ambience. You find the dinosaurs' walk up to you, open it mouth right at the tip of your nose and a jet of hot air hit your cheeks!! You are taken into the realms of the ocean and you find yourself "actually" drenched!!
You are able to sense octopuses that sneak past between you legs with their filthy skin and touch! Meteors and other celestial bodies that hit the earth leave you reverberating physically!
An enchanting movie during which you buzz off into a dreamland :)

Mini-Golf
My first experience with golf and I would that its the best way to play this game if you don't have the patience to travel long distance with the clubs and time to take your shots. You have 18 holes to complete and get all kinds of terrains to battle through. Surprisingly, I got addicted to this game sooner than I expected!

Go-Karting
Usual stuff. A comparatively smaller race lap. Its designed to lend a completeness to the entertainment-district rather than offer a professional racing experience.
Amateurs - Welcome!
Professionals - Its not your cup of tea!

Aqua Kingdom
Contains an artificial beach ridden with palm trees, benches and a beach-volleyball court. There are wave pools operational in the evening.

The excitement and fun here is gonna double as Innovative gets the rest of its facilities ready!



Download Innovative Map
Download Entertainment District [1], [2]

Another blog bearing details and more profound pics from this place

Contact:
Mr Varma, 9844700098, varma@innovativefilmcity.in
http://www.innovativefilmcity.net/index.asp
Innovative Film City, Bangalore

Wonder Valley !

The place was aptly named "Wonder Valley", yet another place of fun & team exercise.
A group of 37 assembled at the Wonder Valley to hang out for a day & drench ourselves in a plethora of planning & adventure.

We were warmed up by the organizers there who made us stand in a circle & did those "energizers" which were the names given to such games. It was done to break apart the lethargy and reluctance among the people to freely participate in teamwork.

Dynamic Obstacle Course (DOC) was the next one, I must say this was the best Team Building Event I have ever come across. The whole course reminded me of Takeshi's Castle in POGO, which I had always wanted to try out. DOC though not so vigorous in degree was atleast similar in intention. Four teams were formed out of the 37 and each was asked to choose their own territories to play the game. Each team needs to go through 3 sectors and get to the other side. There are obstacles in each sector and the team needs to use the resources provided; poles and rope, to get from one side to the other.

So we began having a look at the resources we were given - two wooden poles, two ropes, and a drum (nay I call that a Baby). Yes, the drum was a portable one termed as the "Baby" in DOC game. The objective of the game was to carry the baby from one end to the other (of the entire territory ridden with various obstacles), without putting it down on the ground or handling it violently (by tossing him into air, etc..). In addition, all the team members had to also get over to the other end with their respective resources. The obstacles present were crossbars, swings, rubber tyres suspended from trees, free hanging ropes, stones and other artificially created ones. If a team member touched the ground while crossing over, he had come back & start over again. But the worst part said - "If you put down the baby, all of you need to come back to the starting point & begin again !!"

We were given 10 mins to devise our game plan. We needed to use the poles for walking over from one obstacle to another, exploring every possible way we could best beat the obstacles, keeping the baby safe with us. We could spot another team approaching from the other end. So it was going to be based on mutual cooperation. We both helped us in understanding the sectors each of us crossed and about how we overcame the obstacles.

It took an hour for completing the DOC. Having had lunch then, we were ready for the next activity - "rafting" which was to be exciting specially because it was we who were going to build out raft. The raw materials at our disposal were -
* Bamboos (12 ft, 6ft, 4ft)
* Rubber Cylinders (to be inflated)
* Ropes
The life-jackets, paddles were the common accessories.
We were given 10 mins to sketch the design of our raft and get it approved from our guides. Then we needed to procure the stuff & build the raft.
It was a novel experience out there learning how to set a raft and float on it.

Having built the raft, six of us could get into water with four guys paddling, two at front, two at the rear. Being built of merely bamboos and designed like a grid, we were thoroughly soaked in water. After frolicking in water, going out to three-fourths of the breadth of a lake (which our guides told us was about 60 ft deep), we had to return to our base.

We returned thoroughly drenched & the coffee that ensured was relishing indeed.
Overall a different experience for me :)

Catch the glimpse here :