L1 team at OBS organized a hotel outing on 28-29 September 2013 and were generous enough to invite us :) We’re normally known as the team comprising of Mafia & Gangsters, so it’s nice when we get such invitations. Response was great since quite a few geeks from L2 team participated.
We organized & planned transport among ourselves and decided on various pick-up points, VIP Commercial Centre being the last one. Around noon most met at VIP Food Court and had lunch. Many who came there for the first time were happy with some eye-therapy. After lunch we went for booze shopping. Yup! Booze was on our priority list, slower the brain thinks, deeper the thoughts are.
4 packs of Beer, 8 bottles of wine, 2 packs of chips, 1 pack of nuts, & water
Shopping done, we set out for Ambre Hotel. We reached Ambre and entered the lobby after leaving our bags to be sent in one of our rooms. Hmm … You folks still remember the teleporting episode I related a few weeks ago? Well, we kinda had the same experience with our Ambre welcome. We had made reservation something like 2 months before. Still, when we reached we were asked to fill out lengthy “paper” forms that were annoying. They could have sent us web-links earlier to get these done & we would just sign the print-outs when we reach there. At least our 45 mins would have been saved. Furthermore, it seemed like the staff were not paid enough to smile.
Anyway, we were more geared to have some fun rather than getting pissed off because of those backward formalities. So, we shot funny comments at each other instead.
We went to our room, got our bags & changed. Some of us then jumped in the pool while a few penguins were trolling along the beach. Ahaaan … We saw kayaks & could not resist some racing. Girish, Tour, Natasha, Arvind, Avinash & me, we went for the kayaks. It was awesome to paddle till we were tired. After that we went for some swimming & my dear friends genuinely tried teaching me to swim :) But I’m a stubborn ass who never learns. It was nearly six. The water was cold. So, we came out trembling & searched for the spa. Hehe! Found it! We went for a hamam session. Now, imagine what the comments will be when 5 guys get into a hamam only with their boxer shorts. We laughed so loud that the staff outside, scolded us. Yeah! Yeah! We know… But she could have used a little bit more diplomacy.
We then went back to our rooms & got ready for dinner.
The second plate & a Coke worth Rs 160
After dinner we went to Nitin Bachraz’s room for some kick-ass party. Booze drinking started! Ahaaaan… We were ON and ready to get on the dance floor. I don’t know dancing but who cares. We went to the pub. Yuram started some hat trick & when that thing came on my head, I know I did something for a few cheered, “oh… bhangra!”… Whatever it was, it was fun :) Kick-ass fun!
We were damn tired dancing-shaking for almost 2 hours. Yet… 4 bottles of wine were still waiting for us, I recalled. We got back to my room. Oops! In a little while I saw the room filled. Even I had no place to sit. I got on the floor with my little darling bottle of wine, muuaaaaaaah! Conversation was ON and topics & laughs tossed continuously. Pawan & Kesha were two new recruits in the gang. I enjoyed their company. They actually threw me into some nostalgia that I usually cloud with my coding activities. Anyway, things were getting more fun & all of a sudden a competition was announced. I knew I couldn’t finish half a bottle of wine in 15 mins but I took the challenge for fun. Of course I could not finish it but it amazed us to see, Mr Y finish his 3⁄4 bottle of Grants in 48 seconds!! Haha… What happened next made the whole Ambre adventure a memorable one. Everybody went to their rooms to sleep but Yuram, Avinash, Aequitas & me, we stayed awake a whole night talking nonsense, making fun… and do prank calls on folks!
The next morning we were kaput! We eagerly waited for breakfast to have something else than booze. The breakfast was bad, not something we expected, but we were hungry.
Internet connection sucked & breakfast wasn’t up to standard.
Photo, courtesy of Altaf Nawool.
I was damn tired. Still I went for a volleyball match :) It drained all the energy I was left with but I was happy. Some of us checked-out early for so-tired we were. We needed sleep… a lot of sleep!
Endnote, a fun & memorable adventure with OBS colleagues!