Spring cleaning

I didn't know I would ever do such a thing which can be correctly categorized as spring cleaning.

There was some seeping dampness in our bedroom walls this past rainy season and this had in turn attracted a lot of minute insects. We tried pest control, which I think killed all of them. But now with the coming heat, I believe all of the corpses were beginning to fly off the walls.

Have been sick since 6 weeks. Not sick, sick, but constant phlegm attack. No other symptoms of cold like body pains or headaches or anything but just a nagging phlegm problem followed by a bad throat ache every single day when I wake up. And I HATE throat ache more than anything else. Ditto with Subhash (minus the phlegm). Kiddo of course has been having all kinds of cough and phlegm variations.

So we decided to shift base. We thought maybe the master bedroom was too allergenic. So we slept in our guest bedroom for 3 days till the weekend came around. Then I took a coconut-twigs broom and swept all of the walls (to dislodge all the corpses) and then left the windows open (this is something I am not wont to do because I hate lizards with a penchant and I have a creepy fear that they will start walking in if I leave the windows open, of course, there is also the mosquitoes) for a good 3-4 hours. The master bedroom in our house is delightfully well ventilated, it is thousands of lumens bright when the morning sun rises and it also has splendid cross ventilation bringing in cool breeze till about 11 AM (after which it gets too hot). After that, I put on new sheets, and in general got the bed setup. In the night there was a delightful moon-light and I love sleeping in moonlit nights, by the window, with the fan on (while the window is open ;) )

I guess what I am trying to say is that I had a lovely pre-nap time last night because of the clean room, the clean sheets, the moon-light and the fan air!! (of course the windows were closed, I told you of my fear, right?)

I think I love summers simply for the sound of the ceiling fan! ;)

Five years! And how ;)

Thanks to everyone for the wishes! We had a great time yesterday, our five year wedding anniversary.

We dropped the son off at daycare, then went to White Mantra. Spa was good, it is a neat little place tucked away in Rustam Bagh, so we didn't have to go very far from home. By the time we got done, it was 3ish so we couldn't really plan a good lunch and settled for an uninspiring buffet @Citrus, hurriedly, since they were 10 minutes from closing. Then went to the Galleria before heading back to work to pick up the kid.

All in all, for the first time since the son was born, we went out together all day, without worrying about whether he woke up and is crying, whether he is being a good baby etc etc. I prefer taking him with us wherever we need to go, so that we don't cause too much trouble to others, as a family ;) So, unless he is already asleep and we need to go out on an errand for <2 hours max, we have never left him and gone out alone. Even when we did, I'd always think in the back of my mind about what he is up to and hoping he is not causing too much trouble. Given all that, yesterday was pure bliss. He was at his daycare, going through his routine, doing his thing, and we spent time with ourselves, for a good 6 hours!! So this anniversary will be memorable for that :)

And here is a toast to my husband of five years, that special someone of seven years and a great friend of 13 years! My life today is a lot more content, a lot more joyous, a lot more stationed because of you :) Thank you for everything :)

Mynt - A restaurant review

Last one for today. (I didn't realize I had such a backlog of reviews till I started writing them)

We had the Sunday brunch at the Taj West End last Sunday. @Mynt.

Food spread was expansive. So much so that you didn't know what to pick in confusion. But the vegetarian choice was limited and very uninteresting.

What I loved was two things (no, make it three).

Their dessert spread was awesomest, the best I have seen. I went through each of the stuff on display very carefully before selecting a few that I wanted to eat. I gave the Indian sweets a skip since those I could have anywhere. I picked a few things, but most delectable was the fig and honey cream served in shot glassed like mousse. Figs were just perfectly ripe and it was a superb melt in the mouth. The chocolate mousse was also delicate and rich. Loved it.

Second thing I loved was our table (thanks to Sm for her booking). It was next to a lawn and I believe the son had a blast playing in there with balls, golf clubs and what not.

Third one was the kids corner. Just looking at all that stuff I wouldn't have thought twice before eating if I was a kid, made me happy ;)

All in all, great afternoon, spent well, with friends and food and conversation :)

Taco Bell - A restaurant review

Since I am at restaurant reviews, I cannot give Taco Bell a miss.

I think I ranted on this blog earlier about how the Malleswaram Taco Bell ads appear all over the Indiranagar area making me sour over having to travel all the way there to just eat at Taco Bell (which I anyways didn't do!).

So Koramangala now has its own Taco Bell and I have been wanting to eat in it ever since they opened shop.

Taco Bell has an emotional connection for me. It was the only place (other than McDs, which I never really liked) which would serve us hungry grad students any food after 12 AM. But it was far out on University Avenue and we needed a car to get there. So many were those nights when an assorted collection of friends would jump into K's car and drive over to eat.

So I wanted to eat at Taco Bell, just for nostalgia sake.

Needless to say menu is Indianized. Burritos are better than US ones, the Crunchwrap Supreme has potatoes in it, service is super fast, there is the same concept of unlimited, choose your own drink (except here, someone waits at the machine and fills it for you!) and every single Border's sauce brought back the memories of Mad-town. Awesome! ;)

We went there twice in a week and for now my nostalgia craving is satiated. Till the next time it comes back, that is :)

Medici - A restaurant review

Today we finally went to Medici. We always saw this place on our umpteen trips around 100ft road but never went in because Subhash thought its name was too much like medicine (what a reason?!)

Today we wanted to have dinner out and wanted to try something new (after feeling yesterday that we aren't exploring enough). So I read up reviews for Medici on Burrp and decided to try it.

No regrets at all.

The folks on Burrp said that the bread basket was awesome. And so it was. I have never had a better bread basket in any restaurants I have dined at, any place in the world (including ones in Europe, yeah). It was an assortment of warm, fluffy and delightful breads with olive oil+vinegar served without asking for it (that is a new for Bangalore restaurants, I always have to ask for Olive oil and Vinegar with bread here).

We then had the Caesar salad. Awesome again. My Litchee cream drink was simply superb.

The Ravioli and Pizza were passable stuff, nothing to rave about, but certainly better than average. 

The waiters were very friendly and helpful. We initially sat at an inner table and then requested to be moved towards the towering glass wall so that the son could look at cars as much as he wanted and this was a blessing. He let us have our meal in peace since he was too busy watching cars and bikes on the road. Then one of the staff asked us if he could play with him and we agreed and the poor guy carried the son around the place till we finished dinner. Quiet peaceful meal. Awesomeness!

Planning to make this place our newest default. So long Zen!! ;)