The days of the most auspicious month of the year are now over.
With a hopeful heart and a fresh mind, my friends and I wanted to start our first holiday with something that we've not done ever, something that'll set our hearts ablaze and rise our adrenaline.
So, one of my friends suggested the new attraction that is located near Courtside, Chef's Table, and UIU University. That is the Go Kart. There were going to be two different groups, one of them comprised my friends and another is my friend's University friends.
Original Plan
We were supposed to be there by morning at 10 am near Bashundhara Gate and start our journey using a rickshaw. Be there by 11:30, it was a long way, finish the rides by noon, have lunch at Chef's Table, and come back home by 2 pm.
Simple, fun, and entertaining plan but my luck had other plans.
What Happened
I woke up at noon and so did the others. We were playing Overwatch 2 till 2 am, hence the delay. I got my breakfast and was ready by 2 pm. I called up the guy who usually went everywhere with me, the guy whom I can trust with everything but my wallet, Erfan Kador. P.S. His pic can be seen below.
So I called him up and meet him near Nodda Bridge which is way past Bashundhara gate. We banded together and reached the place at 2:40 pm, approx. The others had also arrived and we ran into the other group of friends on time.
The Go Kart employees told us that their services usually start at 3:30 pm but since their owner was present and we were the first customers, we could sign up their agreement form and get on with the ride.
On normal days, you can see the stands and the podium filled with people. Lucky for us, most of the people went towards their villages, leaving the area empty. Also, it was a bit hot outside so the interested parties may have slept on their plan.
The Karts were placed on the track, awaiting us.
The rest of our party went forward while I hung back and took the fresh gust of winding my face, it was really hot out here.
This bridge somehow looked iconic. It resembled all the previous gen Nfs bridges.
I remember a little about my first time riding in a Go Kart in Fantasy Kingdom about 8-9 years ago. That track was very small compared to this one, ass you can see this one had two long roads where we get to speed up to the max.
Also, this tract was just beside the real track, one bad accident outside and they could crash inside the course.
The manager. He explained to us that we had to wear hair protection masks to prevent our hair from getting stuck with the helmet. He also reminded us that if we were to damage the kart, we would be responsible to aid them, financially. This was something that stuck with me, I don't got that kinda money to repair it. He told us that we, under no circumstances, can pull out our phones during the race. Once the kart's engine was on, no more usage of phones.
The map.
My ride. I chose the red color because I like red😁. The guy who is half inside the frame is Erfan.
Moments later, we were in our Karts, ready to go. I snapped a few pics of ourselves being goofy and all that I shall not post here.
The thing that I felt was wrong was, they released our karts a little later than the ones who were in front of me.
This was why it took me 58 seconds to finish. I was in 4th place, about 0.08 seconds lat than the one in 3rd place.
One thing that was weird about the place was, the scoreboard showed that we completed 2 laps when we completed 3. The owner said that this was a malfunction of the system, it doesn't count the first lap.
This got me thinking, that maybe the developers wanted us to go for 4 laps, the first lap being a test run, and the second lap was when the real race would begin.
After our first ride, we were pumped, so much so that 4 of us including me opted to go for it again.
Each ride costs BDT 500 for 3 laps. So, a thousand was spent here. This time, I chose another red kart number 5. This time I was in the second position.
Moments before they instruct you to put your phone away, all you can think in your mind is, "Gotta go fast". This time, the steering wheel was a decent one.
Before heading into the long straight route we decided to meet up ahead and start our race from there, to make it fair. Unfortunately, when I went to slow down I pressed my brakes a little too hard and that made the engine shut down. The others saw this and they quickly picked up speed while I waved at the owner, to replace my ride.
This time, I was 3rd.
That concluded our ride. Now, for the sweet reward of ice cream. The place wasn't too shabby, it served good Butterscotch. My friend in the frame was perplexed when we saw some Japanese people there. We also saw Pakistani, and Korean tourists.
I got myself a Butterscotch and a Red Velvet Cheesecake. The thing about the cone on top was, my friend, asked the only person working there to give me another cone so that I can enjoy the two ice creams separately.
We got our ice creams and went to the courtside where all the other fun stuff was. The place was filled with restaurants and other rides that we weren't keen on entering.
This was another attraction that I couldn't enjoy. I remember riding a horse when I was the size of the kid on top.
They had Paintballs too. But, this one cost more money. They wanted 600 for the usual 30 balls and an additional 30 balls per person. This was a huge sum that none of us brought because we knew that we would want to play this twice to paint each other more.
The counter and the interested random people.
Then, we came across this Rhodeo challenge. It was fun to see someone going up against this mechanical beast. There was a guy controlling the bull just beside this arena. It was even more annoying when my friend bought a ticket for me! That shall also not be posted here. But, it was fun, to try and sit straight and low while hanging onto the rope.
It was only later I discovered that the nooks of my fingers were aching. That's when I understood that my hand got cut due to clutching the rope tightly.
A full view of the area. It was a nice place, to be honest. No litter, good picture spots, and no loud clamor yet a lively environment, the perfect place for a family outing. I loved the fact that it was not overcrowded.
There was a lake nearby where goldfish and catfish were released. The lake was clear and not dirty at all, which was surprising. The multitude of colors in the fishes made this one of the best attractions in the place, for me. All of us took a picture here and moved on.
This reminded me of the fish we get to see in Japan and China.
A close-up view of the fishies.
And lastly, the gift shop. It wasn't as big as I had imagined but the stuff present there was a bit overpriced in my opinion. A cute plushie here ranged from BDT 1600-2400 which was absurd.
It was about 5 pm and was getting late so all of us decided to get back home. Erfan and I went back together as we were going in the same direction.
But, the party didn't end there. Another friend hit me and asked for our location, he said he was gonna meet us. So, after such a tiresome day we decided to sit in a coffee shop. This one is the most coffee shop famous in Bashundhara.
It was fancy and pricy but that didn't stop us from getting a Hazelnut latte and a caramel latte for me and him. One thing about me is that I merely like the taste of coffee, I don't actually need to drink coffee or tea to remove the exhaustive vibe, it is the people around me that make me feel good and safe while maintaining an entertaining conversation that could range from gaming to religion to sciences to aliens; as long as it had a stimulating effect on my mind. Now, whenever I go for coffee, I usually for white or chocolate Mocha. This time, the price made me buy another one which wasn't too bad. I feel like it is perfect for people who actually need this drug. More often than not, coffee just gives me headaches and no real energy.
Moving on.
We received our order by 5:40 pm.
My other friend arrived moments with his cycle before we got our order and chitchatted for the next half hour, asking who was present in Dhaka and who could come with us on our next plans.
Later, I got my "call of duty" at home. So, we slowly sipped our drinks while contemplating our next phase in life. Where would we be in the next 5 years and what would we be doing? How times have changed and people are not sure what to call themselves... deep conversations.
By 6:30 pm ish we all bid each other adieu as we headed outside and got a rickshaw. And that is how we ended the day.
Hope you enjoyed reading this far. Have an amazing day😄.