Day 1 :
In Tamil Nadu Express, all the nice expectations of a wonderful train catering service turned down as I was not at all happy with the catering bit. There was minimal service provided through the journey, breakfast items were stale, lunch tasted so bad that we opted to have dinner from some station. That too turned out to be worse.

Day 2:
Arrived at Chennai. Had breakfast in Saravana Bhavan...seemed a bit expensive. Definitely cheaper than the Delhi counterpart but still...it pinches a bit if u have to even shell out Rs 5 more than expected average meals cost. There was an eve-teasing incident in which Chinnu was involved and we spent some time in getting the police and ensuring the accussed person was sent behind bars for a few hours. Then we looked at the movie options that we could view as we had around 3 hours spare. An english movie seemed the best option...so it was Ocean's Thirteen...what a movie and what a cinema hall...fantastic. The hall was Sathyam Cinemas. Better than Delhi ones..and the movie...I ve always been a fan of the Ocean's series. Hope there is an Oceans Fourteen made.
Came back on time and boarded the train to Kerala.

Day 3:
Arrived in Kerala at around 5.30 am...the difference in climate was so evident. It was raining. Amazing feeling to stand at the train door and feel the raindrops hitting your face. Anyways, we were received by chittappan and had a taxi waiting for us. On the way we had breakfast at Ariya Bhawan,Pathanamthitta. Reached V Kottayam home at around 7am. Grandfather, grandmother and raji were there. We spent the rest of the day at home eating chakka(jackfruit), playing with the goats, setting up the television which we had brought from Delhi for grandfather. Relaxing day.

Day 4:
Hired a taxi and went to meet some of our relatives. Reached back by 7pm. Played cards in the evening.

Day 5:
Went to Aranmula...on the way halted at Pathanamthitta, went to Indian Coffee House to have cutlets. The cutlets , to my horror, tasted bad. Bad experience. Reached Aranmula by evening.
Indu and Subhash too were there.

Day 6:
Woke up at about 5am as there was a pooja in the house. After the pooja, again went to sleep for somemore time. Had roti for breakfast...wow...I can eat chappati for any meal. Loved it.
The sky again started getting overcast...wow we could hear the sound of rain getting closer...far off one could see rains rushing towards us...and then the downpour began...wow !
We waited for the rains to slow down, left for V Kottayam.

Day 7:
Pranav's choroonu day..18 June. Everyone got ready on time, wehad hired a jeep. Reached temple at around 9.30 am. I started looking for mummy and daddy who were supposed to reach there from Delhi. Finally they too were there in around 10 minutes. Pranav was looking so cute in a silk mundu...Everyone gave a grain of rice and sweet to him...he was so cool having those as he had been having them for years. I have seen most of the children cry and scream when given food...and this guy...amazing. After that we proceeded for lunch which had been arranged at a hotel nearby. Rains again started heavily...fantastic atmosphere. Food was good...meals at Rs 20. The best we ve had in the entire trip till now. After the meals, mummy,daddy and srimon accompanied us back to VKottayam. The rest of the day was spent relaxing. In the evening, srimon,myself and grandfather went for a walk , clicked some nice photographs.

Day 8:
Early morning, we hired a jeep and left for Chengannur Rly stn...where ? well to catch a train to Ernakulam...we r going to Veegaland !!! One of South India's best Amusement parks. The atmostphere at Chengannur Rly station was simply amazing...morning time, wet platform, rains drizzling, daily office goers rush, tea stall brimming with people...and then the train Venad Express came...and suddenly there was war....to get on the train...we all managed to get in ...but could not get a seat. Chitra was soon offered a seat alongwith Pranav and then mummy too got one besides her. After a few minutes the catering service started...first came...bread omlette, puri masala. We bought a couple of both and devoured them in no time. Waited for the next item to arrive...then came veg cutlets ...tea and coffee was being served every five minutes...now this is what i call catering service in a train...cutlets were followed by pazham pori (crispy banana fry) and vada. And the food kept on coming...and we kept on ordering...
We got down at Ernakulam...now was breakfast time (like we were hungry for so long ???). On platform there are a few restaurants and food stalls. Recommended strongly.
We were joined by Arun, our family friend from Delhi...he was in Kerala too. We then walked a bit , boarded a bus enroute Kaakanad which goes to Veegaland as well. In about an hour and 10 mins, we reached Veegaland. And we were taken in a bus to the main gates (5 mins). Ticket costs Rs 320, special discounts for senior citizens...so both daddy and acchan got cheap tickets..and we were in. We proceeded to the changing rooms and lockers. Everything was well organized. You pay Rs 100 as refundable security deposit and Rs 10 for small and Rs 15 for a big locker. We changed into our fun gear and proceeded to the rides. There are around 40 rides including dry and water rides. Some interesting rides were Space Gun(dry), Columbus boat (dry), wave pool, bullet slides etc. Even the restaurant was fairly economical. We finished enjoying the rides by around 5pm. We got a bus back to Ernakulam railway station and were there by around 7.30 pm. We then took a train to Guruvayoor (leaves Ernakulam at around 8.30 pm). We reached Guruvayoor by 11.15 pm. Nobody was at the rly station. I noticed there were very few people who had used the train to reach Guruvayoor. I guess mostly people use bus. Luckily we had an Autorikshaw waiting. We checked into Hotel Navneet Guest house. Room rent was Rs 300.