TEAM OUTING - GOA, FROM MINDTREE

 In my year and a half stint at MindTree this is my Second Annual Outing... This time it was  GOA,internationally accepted, best travel Destination. 

Big thanks to Mr Sudhir(CEO of CIS Team, MindTree).  To get this high budget outing Approved.And Mrs Rekha to take care of all arrangements perfectly.

We were all asked to Reach blore International Airport directly. We had our flights @  1:15pm. My place is 40kms from Airport. So me,Shishira and Rekha(My colleagues who stay close to my place) started around 9:00am to avoid  traffic...(We had booked a Cab from 'SAFE CABS BLORE' who charged 600rs for 40kms. Good Deal ).

There was no traffic, and we reached as early as 10:30am. We had so much of time left, we took a stroll in the airport, i decided to eat something as i dint have breakfast, i picked up my favourite Veggie, Sub Way sandwich.(Man its really really costly in Airport, it is almost double the price, i ended up paying 300rs for foot Long Panner patty sandwich).Around 11:30, most of the team members arrived and we all finished the check-in formalities and boarded the Flight(It was Kingfisher Airlines). We reached Goa airport by 2:15pm.

They had booked Alila Diwa(Luxury Hotels & Resorts), which had arranged a A/C bus waiting for us to drive  to the resort. (20mins drive). When we arrived at the hotel they provided us with moist towels and a welcome drink. They invited us to lounge in the lobby, and was re-directed to Buffet Lunch as it was already 3:45pm. After a filling lunch,rooms were  allocated, this  took a while (As were 60 members!!!). We got our room allocated in Diwa Wing and was escorted to our room.

We (Me n rekha) had  a Suite Allocated, which had a Living Room with 42 Flat T.V and Sofa Sets, Bed room with Luxurious king size bed again with a 42 inch T.V, and  a jacuzzi bathtub in a spacious Restroom. It also had a private Balcony which overlooked the pool and small garden.

 Overall it was a Luxurious suite. (Only thing i was uncomfortable was, Whole suite was full of mirrors and had transparent doors, having no privacy.. Changing dress was a big challenge.. This suite is mainly designed for a couples, but even then i feel atleast transparent doors can be avoided  for  toilets :))

We freshned up and decided to go to Majorda Beach which is  either a 10 min slow walk or a 2 min buggy ride away. The beach was lovely and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the Buggy. We spent an hour in Beach, watching sun set and few of us also played a while in the Beach.We then returned to rooms, to freshen up and was ready for Dinner.

 It was literally a 10 mins walk from our room to Vivo(Restaurant of the resort)and every time we were lost with our ways, but staffs were very helpful in not only showing the way, they used to come with us to show the directions :). Vivo restaurant is great, with overlooking the hotel pool and surrounding paddy fields. It was a great Buffet with mixture of Western and Indian dishes. we had our dinner and returned to room for rest..

Next day, we had great breakfast and entire team was asked to meet in a common place. We took snap of entire cis team(60 people). After that teams scattered engaging themselves in different activities. Some team chose to hire a bike and roam around city. Some people arranged a Cab and went to visit some places, Some groups started playing cricket.

We took a stroll in the resort, walking through Spa section, small Retail collections of resort, Beauty bar, and others. After a long walk, we came across the Pool and rested for a while on Sunbeds. We relaxed there for a while, and girls chose to take a stroll outside the resort, where they had a display of some Retails and gems store.. But i decided to return to room, to avoid scorching heat and wanted to relax taking a nap. I returned room spent a great hour in Hot Jaccuzi tub, which was a great relaxation. And then took a nap for a while. By then my roommate returned, and we decided to go for lunch. After lunch we returned to room to get ready for Water activities, which was scheduled @ 4:00pm..

They had organized  3 activities at a price of 800rs, which was a great deal actually. We all met @ beach around 4:00. I had great time Para-sailing, in which we are dragged behind a boat over the lake, on a parachute. This was my first time, i was equally excited and scared (as i am scared of Heights) but it was totally fun, and i totally enjoyed it..

Then we went on a Banana boat ride, this one was really scary, this carries 4 people on a banana shaped open boat, and drops you off in middle of water, and you got to climb off to boat, and you are rode back to Beach. We requested operaters to not drop us off water, but just take a ride. However the ride was so bumpy and we tend to fall down,when wave approaches.





Finally when i thought we were done with our round,  he made us fall close to beach instead of middle of sea. I literally drowned in the water, but with Life jacket on i automatically floated up. I then went on a water scooter, this ride was good one, driving against the waves.I enjoyed this. After this games, we returned to our rooms took a shower, and rested for a while before going to dinner.

One thing about Food is, it  used to be same menu everyday. But with Lot of food options for both Veg(Roti's, Variety of Curries,Veg dishes,Juice and much more) and Non-veg(ranging from Chicken,Seafood,Pork and Beef)


Next morning, we all had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. While we were all settling our room bills, we saw lot of people dressed for marriage entering the reception. We then saw reception was beautifully decorated as it has arrangements for a wedding on that day. Our bus was ready  and we left to airport, our flights were at 3:15pm, reached Blore, and took a cab to our place. Reached my place by 6:30 after a relaxing vacation.

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