The Daily Commute
Posted On Friday, August 29, 2008 at at 11:03 AM by BijeshGet back to the point you say? Will do, saar. The point is I was planning to write about my commute to work and the wandered off. In fact, I intended to post about a few particular commutes where I *had* to wander off.
Having moved into a new job, I lost the luxury of the spectacular BMTC (on hire, mind it) journey to office. It wasn't even one of those rickety contraptions that BMTC still runs. This bus was pretty comfy except for the narrow seats and the fact that driver's job description did not include slowing down for speed-breakers. Anyway, now I am back onto the old steed - my shiny, old motorcycle. A little while back I would've said bike but with a lot of B'Lore juntaa moving onto the other bike (cycle to you and me) that would be very confusing.
As you must already know and as proved by scientific research done by researchers - ! who else?) - rain alters human behaviour. This applies in particular to those humans that have access to and drive a motorised vehicle. The result is that if there has been the littlest bit of rain shower, the average Bangalorean turns into the mythical confused deer in front of headlights. Thus you are assured that traffic would be completely missed, if it rained the previous night. Now imagine the chaos if it rained *heavily* the previous night. Got the picture? Yeah, traffic has been at a stand still on the outer ring road the last four days.
The first day I stayed on the road and spent one whole hour fuming under the helmet. I wasn't in a hurry and the iPod was plugged in so it was slightly bearable. I watched a no. of my brethern going off the road and taking to a trail that ran alongside. "Buggers", I thought to myself. Now I am a off-road fanboy. I don't mean extreme off-roading but ever since I decided to ride my Hero Ranger over fallen lamp-poles, etc. slight-off-roading has held a strange fascination for me. Yet, I decided to stick to the tar and wait it out.
The next day I thought "To hell" to myself and jumped ship. I sped onto the trail with a gusto. It was definitely fun. The trail was just wide enough for one bike and had enough twists and dips to keep the fun alive. No near-misses. Touch wood! Everything intact except for the muck covered shoes. Been doing it for 3 days and the fun never runs out.
Yes, that's all. What else did you expect? An autobiography of the off-road commuter? Sheesh, get back to your routine now.
Be afraid, very afraid
Posted On Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at at 9:49 AM by BijeshIf you ever spot a Silver Hyundai Getz with registration plate KA 05 NC 65 (see pic below), please please move over, stop your bike and let the devil pass on. From my best guess, she drives from Bellandur (Ecospace in all possibility) and goes past Silk Board.
This cleopatra has the delusion that the road belongs to her and she cut me off twice - not once, twice - on the same day. The first time she swerved into the leftmost lane, where she had no business, *after* tail-gating a truck in the middle lane.
I have the choicest expletives reserved for her but out of self-control reserve them. Yeah, I was fuming on the road yesterday and just about contained my road-rage. Please give her my best wishes if you spot her on the road. The way she drives she'll be in jail for killing someone.
"I can't resist"
Posted On Friday, May 30, 2008 at at 4:59 PM by BijeshEverytime I login to Orkut (which is once in a month or more), the only message I see is something that reads "blah.. blah.. copy and paste this definitely suspicious looking javascript into your browser window. You will become a prince or princess (as the case maybe) overnight... blah blah blah." What does that tell you? Other than the fact that I am a loser with nobody bothering to scrap me! Let's leave my social (-networking) life aside for a while and examine this "I can't resist" phenomenon.
Either there is some kind of magic that is put into these silly messages that make us want to do it (like a sort of hypnosis) or we are dumb. As I am holier-than-thou, I believe it is the latter. This is where that popular theory that "education dumbs people down" plays out well. It is well educated, mostly computer savvy (sometimes computer science experts) people that fall for the stupid trick. It is a trick, if you haven't realized that yet. A trick that usually floods everyone in your buddy list with some stupid message.
Eating Out @ Mpls - Part 3
Posted On Monday, May 19, 2008 at at 11:11 PM by BijeshAnother draft from very long ago....
Continued
I have nothing better to do in the evenings so every evening I open up opentable.com and read through the list of restaurants in Downtown Minneapolis and visit them one a day. Let me list down the restaurants I have been too and what I thought of them.. I hope to update the list as the days go along. :)
15. King & I Thai
Excellent food! The flavours are perfect, the smells are just right. This is one place you must try if you like Thai/Oriental food. Be warned though - the portions are *huge*. The hostess warned me away from ordering soup and a main course. She said that the soup is large and the main course is larger. Thank god for that timely advice. Ordering just the entree, I had more than enough to eat and a lot more left to box. :( I wish they did smaller portions.
I tried the curry of the day - which was a green curry made with beans, carrots and potato strips. You can choose the meat/seafood that goes into the curry. I chose the Walleye fillet. The curry is served with white rice. The curry was flavoursome. It was a bit spicy but not overwhelmingly so. Of course, you can ask for the Thai red hot if you are spice-inclined but I am sure you will perhaps resent doing that :).
If you have a healthy appetite or if you can share a plate with someone, then head to the King & I. It's one of the best Thai food I have ever tasted. I will probably visit again but the quantity of food puts me off a little.
16. Chamber's Kitchen
The dining area is very well designed with a glass window that lets you look into the kitchen. The restaurant is popular and the noise level stands testimony to it. The food is asian inspired with a surprising and well-balanced. The food is well designed too. The coconut chicken soup was lip-smacking delicious. You will want to slurp the last drop off the bowl. For the entree, I ordered the duck in a tamarind and pear sauce. The tangy-and-sweet sauce enhanced the juiciness of the duck slices. The white chocolate pavlova was teeny-weeny and left me yearning for more of the heavenly chocolate.
The food is yummy and the ambience classy and informal at the same time.
The only gripe I have about the restaurant is the dinnerware. They awkwardly shaped with all of them sporting a deep center - even the ones that entree is served on. Eating out of them is a test of patience.
17. The Newsroom
The restaurant's decor is inspired by the news. The wallpaper is composed of large prints of newspaper sections. You have newsprint from the yesteryears to recent years looking down at you. Well actually you look up at them. My first impression was not very pleasant. The maitre d' of the moment was rude and that overshadowed the politeness of the rest of the staff.
The seared tuna that I ordered was served nicoise-style and was good. The tiramisu was not great and I think it was served toppled on its side.
18. Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
Alright, I didn't have a proper dinner at Dakota. Frankly, you don't go to a jazz club for food. The short eat I ordered - fish trio - was a surprise. It tasted very good. If you like jazz or just want to chill to some live music, head to the Dakota. The acoustics of the place is great and the North Coast, who played that particular day, put up a great performance. The pianist/keyboardist was fast and brilliant. The trumpet and the sax, played by the lead man, was awesome. If the fish trio is anything to go by, the food in Dakota must be fabulous too.
19. Nami Sushi & Bar
Imagine awesome sushi (honestly I am not an expert to differentiate between sushi) in a chic, warm and uncluttered ambience. That's Nami. The setting's really good as opposed to the slightly cramped environs of Origami. The sushi chefs and the waiters are very friendly and put you at ease. Nami has a pretty large, spacious sushi bar with lots of space around it. Nami also features a huge dining area with well-spaced out tables.
The sushi is very good too. All the regulars are on the menu with some special rolls. The pineapple that is served at the end features a very nice sauce.
