KRG Family Reunion - The Lake Palace Resort

After a memorable cruise on board the Rainbow Cruises we arrived on the evening of 20 May 2017 at The Lake Palace Resort. We were received by the welcome committee of the resort and taken to the reception area where we were greeted by smiling hostesses, tender coconut water & cold towels.We were all then shown to our independent well furnished exotic cottages. Generally we were all tired and majority of us just dropped down on to the comfortable cushiony beds for some shut eye,power nap or whatever else you wish to call this.

Meanwhile comments were pouring in from those in the family who could not make it to the reunion:

Dinu: Wow nice boat & yummy food.Missing the fun.Hope kids are representing us & makingn up for our absence.
Prathima: Missing u both Dinoo Priya !
Niru: Amazing pics ! We are missing the fun too !
Manju:Nice pics.Missing the fun.
Shanthi: All pics fabulous !
Dinu: Jayaram chittappa has lost a lot of weight since Guhans wedding. Tips please.
Anu: Nice pics ! Lovely photos mama !
Ranju: Thanks for sharing pics.So beautiful. I am really missing out. Have a fantastic time.
Ramu: Jayaram officially declared the bar open and also acted as head bar man serving choice Golden Apple Vodka. The Cruise cocktail - Elaneer & vodka.
Dinu: Oh wow ! Nice description and photos.Couldnt see a big family selfie.
Vivek: Looks like everyone is having a boat load of fun.Wish we could have been there.
Vinod: Just finished swimming at the resort !
Malavika: Am sooooo sorry guys,I couldnt make it.I was looking forward to meeting you all.I got caight at work. I had to come to Bangalore.....have fun !
Vinod: We can meet in Bangalore and continue the party from Tuesday onwards !
Ramu: A beautiful resort in picturesque settings & idyllic surroundings ! Golf buggies to transport senior citizens !

Here is the link to all the voice messages sent by Jayaram on the Family Whatsapp Group:

https://soundcloud.com/ramakrishnan-ramanathan-754575832/aud-20170917-wa0016

 To be continued..............

KRGFamily Reunion Part 3 - Rainbow Cruises

After breakfast at Sarovaram we boarded two air-conditioned Tempo Travelers and proceeded to Alleppey enroute to the Rainbow Cruises Boat Jetty. After a boisterous 90 minute journey we reached our destination. We generated a lot of cacaphony & commotion and had enormous fun during the bus ride - music videos belting out latest bollywood songs accompanied by turbulent dancing/hip shaking by the youngsters. At the boat jetty we all took a breather, a washroom and selfie break. An array of beautiful crafted cruise boats were anchored neatly in a row. Rainbow Cruises was one amongst them and cousin Jayaram happens to be a Director in this enterprise.The management committee of Rainbow Cruise were present on hand to receive us and assist in boarding the cruise boat - a sleek air-conditioned luxury boat with nice rooms and a huge air conditioned conference room on the top deck with a terrific view of the Vembanad Kayal - picturesque and panoramic.We were welcomed aboard with cold towels and "elaneer" or tender coconut water -a perfect drink to expunge our thirst and commence our exotic cruise.The conference room had a long oblong table - just perfect to seat the entire family. We spent a lot time walking the top deck, exchanging pleasantries & exclaiming about our magical journey we were about to undertake on the tranquil backwaters of incredible Vembanad lake. We soon settled down to our chatting and gossip sessions and exchanging notes on what each one had been upto in recent times. Mobile phones were out and clicking pictures and selfies galore. Many in the family were meeting one another for the first time or after a long interval and consequently there were excited squeaks or screams of amazement.
Jayaram officially declared the bar open and appointed himself as the head barman.The spiritually oriented immediately made a bee line to the bar and were served cocktails of Elaneer and Golden Apple Vodka. As the veterans slowly started get inebriated, the quieter & gentler "tee-totallers" too gravitated towards and aligned themselves to the bar and helped themselves to this "soma-amrith" or divine elixir (but firmly declaring that they were merely consuming elaneer). We were having a boat load of fun and kept posting pictures on the family whats app group much to the chagrin,despair & disappointment of those who did not attend
The cocktail session was followed by a grand Kerala style vegetarian sadya served on plantain leaves - served with three payasams - wholesome, fulfilling & awesome. Post lunch some members retired to the comfort of the rooms for a much needed afternoon naps while the rest remained on board and continued their amusements, banter & tete-a-tete.The highlight of the post lunch merriment was a delightful game of "Telepathy" introduced by Jayaram.This game had everyone mesmerized and astonished.Many in the family must still be scratching their heads trying to figure out the philosophy behind telepathy. We were then served hot hot delicious Pazham Poris and tea/coffee and soon the boat reached our idyllic destination after a smooth 5 hour long therapeutic cruise. Our peregrinations on the Vembanad Lake concluded and we arrived at our mysterious destination - The Lake Palace Resort.