Restaurants that we tried I mean. I totally felt guilty for not raving about them.
Jamavar @ The Leela
This one was a special birthday treat :) Food was "delicate" and "fine" totally what you would expect from a hotel like Leela. We ordered the Tawa Aloo Chat for starters and it was a little too tangy even for me (and THAT is saying something). Subhash just couldn't handle it. They offered to eplace it with something else (again something you totally expect from Leela) but we said it was OK and got to the main course. We took the Baingan-Mirchi ka Salaan (being the typical Hyderabadis) and the Dal makhani (did I already say I HAVE to sample Dal Makhani wherever it is I go?). We order the Roomali roti, the Onion Kulcha, and the butter naan. All were simply yumm. I thought the baingan salaan was a little on the sweeter end but Subhash thought it was perfect!
Little Italy (100ft road, Indira nagar)
I loved this place. Especially the noisy ambience. If you are looking for a romantic dinner, avoid this place, but for me it was perfect! Kids running all around, couples dining and generally a lot of commotion and so much to observe over a meal! We sat in the small cove outside the lounge and it was perfect for observing everyone. But I did fear that some of the kids playing would slip and fall and land on me, but that didn't happen, thankfully ;)
I took the MuskMelon/Water Melon juice and it was uhh..umm..umm..good. I ordered another one, so much so :) Appetizer was what used to be our standard first course in Tomatina minus the piadine, the caprese. It was laid differently and was very nice and fresh. Good. The main course was the catch-your-breath "Masala Mafia Spaghetti" for me and the Vegetable Lasagna for Subhash. I ended up dousing both with my standard Tabasco to eat but they were delicately laced with all the right flavours. Extremely full by the time we finished this so no room for dessert, but we are heading there for dinner tonight so will check out the desserts including Tiramisu.
A happy stomach says bye and see you later!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
A birthday well spent :)
Thanks for all the wishes in the previous post people, truly cherish them :)
Birthday went well. Made some pulihaara (tamarind rice for the uninitiated) and left for work @ the usual 7.45 AM. Morning was a storm @ work where I was tryng to handle 2-3 meetings concurrently and even managed it successfully!! Then went for lunch. My lunch table gang got this "Chocolate Walnut Cake" from this place called Caramel opposite our Divyasree Chambers office. They brought it to lunch and we all had it and by god! it was yumm!!! Then got back to work, and my team had another cake planned for me! The blackforest one from Cafe Coffee day. All in all too much cake. One of my colleagues had wished me two days ago and asked for treat and I told him if he remembered to wish the right day I'd treat for sure. He did and so I bought sweets for the whole team.
Evening was photo session followed by temple visit followed by a nice dinner @ The Leela. Although I was not hungry enough, Subhash enjoyed the dinner and I enjoyed the ambience and the trees and the fountains! This place is so close to our house yet we never went there, but it turns out its not so much a rip-off as I used to fear it would be :) Food was quite what I would call "fine dining delicacy" :)
Loads of people wished me which naturally made me happy :D
So all in all a day well spent :)
Birthday went well. Made some pulihaara (tamarind rice for the uninitiated) and left for work @ the usual 7.45 AM. Morning was a storm @ work where I was tryng to handle 2-3 meetings concurrently and even managed it successfully!! Then went for lunch. My lunch table gang got this "Chocolate Walnut Cake" from this place called Caramel opposite our Divyasree Chambers office. They brought it to lunch and we all had it and by god! it was yumm!!! Then got back to work, and my team had another cake planned for me! The blackforest one from Cafe Coffee day. All in all too much cake. One of my colleagues had wished me two days ago and asked for treat and I told him if he remembered to wish the right day I'd treat for sure. He did and so I bought sweets for the whole team.
Evening was photo session followed by temple visit followed by a nice dinner @ The Leela. Although I was not hungry enough, Subhash enjoyed the dinner and I enjoyed the ambience and the trees and the fountains! This place is so close to our house yet we never went there, but it turns out its not so much a rip-off as I used to fear it would be :) Food was quite what I would call "fine dining delicacy" :)
Loads of people wished me which naturally made me happy :D
So all in all a day well spent :)
Monday, April 06, 2009
To Hyd and back
Vacation was too short. And very very average. I hated the fact that I had to work. It was too hot and too humid (Hyd and humid?! Hyd always used to be so dry, god!). And all in all, very short. Did I say that already? Well, lets move on..
In a rare lapse of neurons, I completely forgot that an e-ticket with Indian Railways needs to be printed. When we were leaving home, I remembered because Subhash asked. And then to the station it was one long tense and nervous and nightmarish (my imagination gets the better of me, what if I have to get off the train and take the bus because I have no ticket) and so on and so forth. We reached the Majestic station and went and inquired at the reservation office. Standard government office protocol, didn't go anywhere with it, gave up and entered the station. Found this Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI) and asked him if there was an internet cafe with a printer (we kept looking for it while we were driving to the station but a) the cab driver was in too much hurry since he had another pickup and b) we never found one on our side of a less busy road). The CTI said there was and we went there only to find that the power had gone off (and the owner added that this kind of power outage was VERY RARE, yeah, well, that bit of info didn't help ease any tension).
One lucky thing was that we were early to the station (by 5.15 for a 6.20 train) so we could afford to hang around to wait and see if the power would grace us. But no. So we went back to the CTI and asked him what we could do since we forgot the print out. He said, no issues, if you have your IDs, show it to the TC and he will give you a paper ticket for a fine of 50 INR. I was like, whoa! If I knew this I wouldn't have worried so much. But still there was that small doubt if it would be as simple as that. So the rest of the train ride was spent nervously waiting for the TC. Plus the station vendors didn't have any Tinkle comics. So my journey was not so enjoyable as I had imagined and looked forward to it being :(
The TC came, checked the IDs, issued a paper ticket for a 50 INR fine, all without any ado at all! So much for my four and odd hours of eyebrow-knitted worry :( The next day I was printing the return ticket so that at least I remember that when I noticed that in the ticket's instructions itself, it says if you forget your print-out, you will be charged a 50 INR fine. I printed at least 50 IRCTC tickets so far without ever noticing that fine print. So much for it! So next time you forget to carry a print out, DO NOT PANIC! ;)
Rest of the trip was spent in part working and in part visiting relatives. I did manage to eat my favourite ice cream @ Softy Den and that yumm Universal Burger but rest was pretty routine.
Last day was Rama Navami so we went to a nearby temple which happens to be his parents routine every year. We sat through the Sita-Rama Kalyanam but the pradakshinas around the temple were painful since the floor was scorching hot, we were just running all over the place. Then we had lunch standing over the most hot and poking mud-stone floor I've ever set foot on. Plus it was hot and our journey back was hotter since car was like an oven by the time we got into it.
My mom made some dinner to carry with us (theplas, yumm!) and added neat packaging to boot (I think I get my lunch packing skills from her) plus threw in some biscuits. All in all, yumm. But I had just come back from all the heat above and my psyche was also a little rubbed and heated on the wrong end, so I didn't thank my mom enough for the lovely dinner she bought. Sometimes I feel we take moms so much for granted, that its pathetic. So here is to my mom and all the lovely things she does for me!
My mom and Subhash's mom added generous doses of pickles to get back home, and now we are having one every day, there is so much pickle variety that its mind blowing!
Tomorrow is yours truly's Happy Birthday people! So let the wishes start coming in ;)
back to work now. Sigh!
In a rare lapse of neurons, I completely forgot that an e-ticket with Indian Railways needs to be printed. When we were leaving home, I remembered because Subhash asked. And then to the station it was one long tense and nervous and nightmarish (my imagination gets the better of me, what if I have to get off the train and take the bus because I have no ticket) and so on and so forth. We reached the Majestic station and went and inquired at the reservation office. Standard government office protocol, didn't go anywhere with it, gave up and entered the station. Found this Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI) and asked him if there was an internet cafe with a printer (we kept looking for it while we were driving to the station but a) the cab driver was in too much hurry since he had another pickup and b) we never found one on our side of a less busy road). The CTI said there was and we went there only to find that the power had gone off (and the owner added that this kind of power outage was VERY RARE, yeah, well, that bit of info didn't help ease any tension).
One lucky thing was that we were early to the station (by 5.15 for a 6.20 train) so we could afford to hang around to wait and see if the power would grace us. But no. So we went back to the CTI and asked him what we could do since we forgot the print out. He said, no issues, if you have your IDs, show it to the TC and he will give you a paper ticket for a fine of 50 INR. I was like, whoa! If I knew this I wouldn't have worried so much. But still there was that small doubt if it would be as simple as that. So the rest of the train ride was spent nervously waiting for the TC. Plus the station vendors didn't have any Tinkle comics. So my journey was not so enjoyable as I had imagined and looked forward to it being :(
The TC came, checked the IDs, issued a paper ticket for a 50 INR fine, all without any ado at all! So much for my four and odd hours of eyebrow-knitted worry :( The next day I was printing the return ticket so that at least I remember that when I noticed that in the ticket's instructions itself, it says if you forget your print-out, you will be charged a 50 INR fine. I printed at least 50 IRCTC tickets so far without ever noticing that fine print. So much for it! So next time you forget to carry a print out, DO NOT PANIC! ;)
Rest of the trip was spent in part working and in part visiting relatives. I did manage to eat my favourite ice cream @ Softy Den and that yumm Universal Burger but rest was pretty routine.
Last day was Rama Navami so we went to a nearby temple which happens to be his parents routine every year. We sat through the Sita-Rama Kalyanam but the pradakshinas around the temple were painful since the floor was scorching hot, we were just running all over the place. Then we had lunch standing over the most hot and poking mud-stone floor I've ever set foot on. Plus it was hot and our journey back was hotter since car was like an oven by the time we got into it.
My mom made some dinner to carry with us (theplas, yumm!) and added neat packaging to boot (I think I get my lunch packing skills from her) plus threw in some biscuits. All in all, yumm. But I had just come back from all the heat above and my psyche was also a little rubbed and heated on the wrong end, so I didn't thank my mom enough for the lovely dinner she bought. Sometimes I feel we take moms so much for granted, that its pathetic. So here is to my mom and all the lovely things she does for me!
My mom and Subhash's mom added generous doses of pickles to get back home, and now we are having one every day, there is so much pickle variety that its mind blowing!
Tomorrow is yours truly's Happy Birthday people! So let the wishes start coming in ;)
back to work now. Sigh!
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