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.
Around Bangalore
Posted On Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at at 12:11 PM by Bijesh
After a long time, I got to do a short but fun trip on my motorcycle. Without any confirmed plans 5 bikes and seven people met up on Bannerghatta road. We road down bannerghatta road and somewhere just before reaching the park, we turned into some untarred roads. We headed down looking for a waterwall (Swarnamukhi), but didn't find it. Instead, there was a neat water body (lake?) that we found. After some time spent there, we found our way to Horahalli on Kanakapura Road.A short ride and breakfast later, the gang crept back to Horahalli and took some very scenic country roads to Thalli in Tamil Nadu. The roads were brilliant. Narrow, winding roads with greenery everywhere. On the way, we also discovered a reservoir whose name we don't know. :) After Thalli, we headed to Hosur and wound back towards Bangalore on the infamous Hosur Road. Lunch was at a place near Electronics City.
We must ridden for about 150 kms in total. Short but a welcome ride.Some pictures here.
Chicago
Posted On Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at at 12:49 AM by BijeshAnyway, after an overnight assault on my body, especially my neck, the bus let me out at the union station a full hour before schedule, early morning on Saturday. I shudder to think the crazy driving that must have happened as I contoured and flexed my body to find some posture that wouldn't tear me into parts. Did I mention that it was raining like.. well.. er.. heavy rain? Yes, it was pouring all over the place but fortunately the bus didn't leak - ok, the bus wasn't that bad except I am sure the buses back home, which I avoid at all costs, were better. For 25 bucks (though that's a filthy 900+ rupees, approximate of course), I shouldn't have expected too much.
My cousin insisted that I should do atleast some touristy things. I decided to play along :). Saturday was washed away by the rain. It poured like crazy and so I spent the time playing with my nephew, who has begun mouthing random words. He is a typical hyperactive busybody, running around all the time and turning things over. Seeing a brief let-up in the rain, my cousin drove me to the temple in Aurora. He knows that I am not a "temple-person", but he thought I should atleast see the place. Now this temple is sent in a sprawling campus featuring a small mound. The whole place is grassed and looks like a million-buck mansion. Further proof of the God's - none other than Venkateshwara or Balaji, as he is known - wealth was found in the almonds - yes, almonds - that were served as the prasad.
Sunday, I was on a river boat on an Architecture Foundation cruise. The boat, a large boat, took people through the Chicago river with a guide describing the major buildings that marked Chicago's skyline.
I picked some interesting bits of info about downtown Chicago. It was built over a marsh. The Chicago river was classified as toxic until recently, now it is labelled highly-polluted. Just like our dear old Kooum. Trump, of the bad-hair fame, is busy building a 99 floor structure in downtown. Chicago is called the windy city not because of the uncomfortably windy weather but because of its politicians of yore who could blow more hot air than anyone else. Downtown Chicago was burned down to the ground by the Great Fire of 1871. This was a blessing in disguise because it enabled the building of a new planned city. Some parts of downtown feature two layers both above ground, so you actually have two sets of roads and pathways.
After the cruise, I waited in a 2 hour long queue to get the chance to pee on the 103th floor of what was once the world's tallest building - the Sears Tower. The peeing experience was not as exhilarating as I thought it would be but my disappointment was more than healed by the awesome view from high up there (no not the loo, I meant the skydeck). You can see miles and miles of land stretching below. Skyscrapers around the Sears tower looked like midgets from this mammoth of a building. They didn't have any open windows though. Now that would have been mind-blowing.
Next day it was time to catch the bus back to Minneapolis. With a pretty girl for company, nope I didn't even bother to talk to her:( , I spent another agonizing trip on the bus. It wasn't too bad this time because being an afternoon bus I didn't have to go to sleep. So I spent the time gaping out of the windows. The driver stopped the bus twice on the emergency lane to check on something. I have no idea what it was but the bus didn't breakdown and so I couldn't care less.
10 in the night I treated my stomach to some gobbled up fish-n-chips before crashing into bed to save my tired body.
Eating Out @ Mpls - Part 2
Posted On Tuesday, May 08, 2007 at at 12:48 AM by BijeshI 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 to and what I thought of them.. I hope to update the list as the days go along. :)
9. Masa
This is a trendy Mexican restaurant. No, not another burritto/fajita/taco place. The ambience is chic and modern. Being right on the corner of the street, it offers a good view too. The waiter helped with recommendations and that too after asking your tastes, etc. Impressive. Standard issue torillas chips with two dips - one green tangy and one red spicy - was set on the table. The chips were actually very good and I gobbled up a lot of them.
I ordered the Roasted Pork shoulder marinated with lime, garlic, and chile ancho; cooked and served in a banana leaf (almost like the kerala dish meen pozhichathu). The pork was sprinkled with white onions and cilantro. On the side, poached pineapple and refried beans. For dessert I ordered the "Pastel de Chocolate". It's a mexican chocolate cake with a twisty, spicy undertone to it. Yes, you read it right - spicy undertone. :) It was quite different and thouroughly enjoyable.
10. Solera
A friendly neighborhood place, solera is an independent restaurant and not a franchisee of a chain. Solera serves Tapas - Spanish small plates. Food is served in small portions and thus enables you to enjoy a wide variety in a single place. This place lends itself to hanging out with friends. Staffed by ever-smiling people, Solera sets the tone right. The dining room was a little too dark and loud for me and so I shifted back into the lounge.
The menu is divided into three sections - Seasonal, Nuevas or Modern, Traditional.The food I tried: 1) Octopus Ceviche glazed with hot pepper and cumin - the octopus was cut into thin circles and was surprisingly firm, the glazing lending a great taste. 2) Roasted Chicken with potatoes and garlic - well-cooked chicken with a sauce that doesn't overwhelm. Ideally one person could consume about 3 to 4 dishes, but I wasn't up for it that day.
11. Fogo De Chão
Fogo features a "continuous service" concept. This translates into unlimited servings of various roasted meats. You use a two-sided disk to control the servings. Red means that you are on a break or are done. Green indicates to the servers to bring the meat on skewers to your table. Of course, you can choose the meats that you want. Yeah, ok. It's mostly all about meats at the Fogo. :) but did I mention the humungously varietied salad bar? You have everything from artichokes, lettuce, exotic veggies and a variety of dressing. Alright anyway, in the meat department there's sirloin - top/bottom/middle/everywhere, filet mignon, rib eye, beef ribs, pork ribs, pork sausages, pork chops, lamb chops, lamb legs, chicken legs and some more. All the meats are fire-roasted and everything I tasted was extremely juicy. For dessert, I had an incredible creme brulee.
If you have a healthy appetite, this is the place to hit. For about forty bucks, you can eat all you want. With the red-green control disk, you have the luxury of time too on your side. :)
The waiters are very polite and quite friendly. A nice place to chill, especially if you are with a group of people.
12. Rock Bottom Brewery
As the name suggests, this is a brewery. If you are a beer lover, the rock bottom features some of their own brews. I am not, so I was there solely for the food. :) Food is good, not out-of-the-world - r'ber it has brewery in its name :). I have tried the grilled mahi-mahi on one instance and "Herbed Lemon Chicken with Asparagus" on another. The fish was pretty good. The chicken was excellent, except that I didn't quite like the white-cheddar mashed potatoes - there was too much of it and frankly I didn't like the undertaste of the cheddar. By the way, I should mention that both instances were for a quick bite at lunch, so my taste-bugs could've been fuddled by my sleepiness. :D
13. Origami
This was my first attempt at sushi. The server recommended the novice's choice - the california roll, but I was feeling a little more adventurous. I ended up ordering the Regular sushi entree. It featured a miso soup, a salad, six nigiri sushis - striped sea bass, shrimp, mackerel, octopus, yellowtail and salmon, two maki sushis - cucumber and tuna. On the side was the gari (sushi ginger), soy sauce and wasabi.
First off, wasabi is pungent but not spicy. Even a large dollop of sushi merely flares up your nostrils. It is not the tongue-burning kind of spicy. :)
I was a little apprehensive of diving full length into sushi but except for the mackerel, none of the other sushis had the fishiness. Even the mackerel was not overwhelming. It could be that the rice more than compensates for the rawness of the fish or perhaps that the green goblin had subdued my taste buds. Sushi is pretty good as a dining experience. Small bites that are sufficient enough to fill.
Overall, the experience was very good. I am looking forward to the next trip to Origami, which should happen soon enough and without the green goblin. :)
14. Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
The pagoda-style building welcomes you into a very good setting inside. You have the option of sitting at the sushi bar, the teppanyaki or the tempura. I decided to try the teppanyaki. The chef cooks on the iron gridle or plate, right at the table. You get seated along the sides of the table with the hot plate in the center. This is also a nice way to meet people, with the drawback of a lot of ambient noise.
At my table were two families both celebrating birthdays - one of a 10 year old kid who was quite anxious to see his gift. The chef displayed some really awesome maneuvers while cooking, though he was a little subdued because this cute little girl at the table got scared of the fire. :) You can choose from a number of meal combinations that include shrimp, filet mignon, baby lobsters, scallops, chicken and vegetables. I chose the imperial dinner with fried rice. It included vegetables, filet mignon, baby lobsters and chicken. The dinner combos come with a soup and a choice of dessert.
Food isn't the centerpiece at a teppanyaki. It's the chef's skills and tricks. The showmanship is great and being a sort of communal dinner, you get to have someone or the other to talk to. A must visit. I am sure to be back for more teppanyaki and also to try the sushi.
Special Mention (Update) :-)
"The Fivers". Five awesome cooks try their hand at cooking up, delicious food. You will find them in an apartment in Franklin Avenue. The specialty I tried out was lemon rice with sambar. The unique feature of this lemon rice, of course, was that the rice and the lemon-mix are served separately. You can mix them to your taste and create the perfect tasting lemon rice.. The Fivers specialises in sambars, so much so that the menu almost always consists of different sambars. Potato sambar, radish sambar, beans sambar - the list goes on and on. You must try the food!!
Eating Out @ Mpls - Part 1
Posted On Thursday, April 19, 2007 at at 2:07 AM by Bijesh1. Ping's Szechuan Bar and Grill
No. of visits: 2
Quaint little place. The menu is vast. I had a difficult time deciding on what to eat. Food is good, not great. The portions are a bit too large for me and they "make it only one size". The waiters are friendly and chatted with me every now and then. Some of them anyway. The entrees are served with steam rice. I tried the Szechuan Chicken, which the waiter modified a bit to make it tastier ;), and the Tiger Pork. The rice though is a little too lumpy for my taste. Overall a nice place.
2. McCormick and Schmick's
No. of visits: 1
Sea food place. A good rounded menu. The menu also features almost 20-30 fish on the fresh list. The place was busy on a weeknight so I guess it's a popular restaurant. I tried the Oyster sampler. Can't comment on the oysters cos I am no expert. I liked them :). The Swordfish preparation I tried was very good. Properly firm and a delicious tomato based sauce. I finished off with a Chocolate truffle cake. Yummy! I was too full to walk by the time I was done. The waiter was very helpful and cheerful.
3. Skywater Cuisine and Lounge
No. of visits: 1
The in-hotel restaurant at the Hilton Minneapolis. Serves American cuisine with a local mid-west touch to it. I had the Grilled Salmon from the Hilton Eat-right menu. Delicious though I keep forgetting that I don't like Salmon that much :). The sauteed mushrooms that I ordered on the side were out-of-the world. The side contained a few varieties of mushroom. The waiter was pleasant. The dining experience was good.
4. Palomino
No. of visits: 1
Serves Mediterranean cuisine. A very spacious dining room with large windows gives it a great ambience. The staff are very friendly and pleasant. The decor blends in with the room and looks nice. The food was great. I started with the Portabella Mushroom Soup. The soup was thick, tasty and quite filling. For the main course, I ordered the "Seared arctic char with Creamy Herb Sauce". (Yes, fish again. As I write I realise that I have been eating a lot of fish) The sauce was excellent and the fish very well done. I rounded it off with a Tiramisu. The tiramisu is not the best I've tasted. The coffee flavour was very subdued and quite unlike a Tiramisu. Will definitely visit the place again. The waiter was overworked being a Sunday evening and so I spent quite a bit of time waiting for the food, etc. That's a good thing if you are having a relaxed dinner with friends but when eating alone it's a bit irritating.
5. Basil's
No. of visits: 1
Upscale restaurant in the IDS center. The seat outside look down into the beautiful Crystal Court atrium and a very nice place to sit and eat. The waiters, like any upscale restaurant, weren't overtly friendly but they were very polite and helpful. The dip served with the breads was extremely yummy. The amuse bouche - a salmon with a mustard sauce - was very well made. I ordered the venison loin (well-done). The venison was very juicy and quite tasty. The sweet potato mash added the twist. For dessert I had the Apricot Layer Cake. Out of the world and very very well presented. A very good dining experience. The presentation was impeccable especially of the dessert and the food was great. A must visit place.
6. Zelo
No. of visits: 1
This restaurant serves Italian food. It is a very popular place and hence a little loud and chattery. The outdoor seating is filled to the brim when the sun is out. The menu is quite exhaustive and the fresh list menu is quite good too. Yes, I ordered the fish again. For the appetiser I ordered the Mediterranean mussels. The tomato based sauce was yummy but made the eating very messy. For the main course, I order a sea bass from the fresh list. Very fulfilling. The fish was very tasty. The wasabi mashed potatoes a little too much in quantity. The waiters seemed a trifle overworked and I had to remind my waiter to get my drink. That can be pardoned because he was otherwise quite good and helpful.
7. Bombay Bistro
No. of visits: 1
Serves Indian cuisine. A very subdued but good ambience. I ordered the madras chicken curry with white rice. My friend ordered a bhindi (okra) dish. The portions are very large and both of us could not finish our respective orders. Food is the usual Indian restaurant fare. Quite tasty. The waiters are never around. They just take the order and bring the food over. Service was fast.
8. Vincent a Restaurant
No. of visits: 1
An upscale restaurant serving French cuisine. The ambience justifies French sophistication but that doesn't stop the waiters from being warm and friendly. The serving sizes just right. I was able to go through the full 3-course meal.
I went French especially to get a taste of the escargots or snails. I was not disappointed. Escargots are a bit chewy and taste pretty good too. The escargots were served without the shell and so eating them was not a messy, tongy affair too. :) They were boiling hot though and I almost burnt my tongue. Yeah, I was warned but still. :D For the main course I ordered the Roasted duck breast. The broccoli sauce/paste in the dish was a genius idea. Added that extra flavour to the food. The duck itself was well done. For dessert, the waiter recommended the chocolate cake. Hmmmm. Yummy doesn't even begin to describe it. It was frozen and a tad difficult to cut into initially but the varied texture was well worth the effort. Presented on a frosted glass plate with poached pear slices on the side, it was a sight to behold. I am still smiling about the cake.. Ahhhhh!! I will be back at Vincent's soon, if not for anything at least for the heavenly cake.
Minneapolis FIR
Posted On Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at at 7:38 PM by BijeshI'm in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a short business visit. Landed here on Saturday. The plane ride was tiring. Almost 30 hours on the move is pretty irritating. Jet lag hasn't been a big deal. I do feel like napping off now and then, but even the very next day after landing I was out looking at the town :)
I'm staying in the downtown area. Skyscrapers are the norm. Roads are wiiiiiiiiide and straight. Pedestrian walks exist and are wide enough :) They have this cool skyway/skywalk system in Mpls Downtown. Most buildings are connected to each other through these skyways - essential a covered bridge on the second level of the buildings. The skyways are public-accessible so you don't even have to step out into the cold to get to some place. That's a real cool thing if you ask me. I prefer not being frozen to death, you see. My hotel is connected so all I have to do is to walk through these heated pathways to get to my office. Brilliant. Especially when it is snowing like crazy outside.
Yep, it's snowing like crazy today. Yep, my first snowfall. Took a walk in the snowfall. Feels like rainfall but you don't get wet as much. Almost like how dust swirls around back home, the snowflakes swirl around like hyperactive kids. It's a pretty sight but after a while the gloomy, dull weather gets on your nerves.
VJ lives here. So this last weekend wasn't boring. This past Sunday he took me to the Mall of America, supposedly the biggest mall in America. It's got an amusement park bang in the middle. Unfortunately, it being Easter, most places were closed down.
Some phone cam pix here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bijeshkrishnadas/Minneapolis07?authkey=n877AUwFz6w
Fly the good times...
Posted On Friday, February 16, 2007 at at 5:43 PM by Bijeshyeah. trip to chennai last friday. company sponsored. Chance to fly the good times. The air hostesses are a hype. in my humble opinion. I, perhaps, expected Yana to be on the flight. They were polite though. All of the ground staff were too. Except for the woman at the check-in counter. I should've taken the baggage on board. Sheesh!! Had to wait in the queue to check the baggage in, inspite of a web check-in and a printed boarding pass. Neat touch that - self-printed boarding pass. Do all airlines do that now with web check-in? If I had only carry-on baggage, I could've walked straight from the airport entrance to the security check and boarded the flight. Ah! That would've been so pleasant.
In-flight magazine is hundreds of page 3. Mallya is on most of them. So are a number of pretty women. Thumbed through the mag in less than 1 minute. Not my type of reading material. In-flight entertainment. the video is a mix of tv channels - ndtv, hungama, etc. The audio channels had a nice selection of rock and jazz. The headphones (which you can take away with you) were of standard issue airplane sound-quality. Should have brought my earplugs along.
Flight to chennai was a mere 30 minute affair for the jet. Dinner was three *small* aloo-masala sandwiches. You are given exactly 7 minutes to gobble it all up before the hostess is back for the tray. :) Can't blame them though. Baggage was out quick.
Return flight from chennai. Extremely polite and helpful ground staff. They are all over you. In a nice way. Infact my check-in baggage was carried across to the check-in counter by one of the ground staff. Wow!!
Plane was an ATR72. The turbo-prop toyplane (Ok, I agree it is not that small). The one with those huge exhaust fans. Well, they are not exactly exhaust fans.. Before boarding, I was wondering how the plane would even fly. After boarding, I was blown away by the interior.. Cushy, really cushy seats. fake leather, I presume.. enormous legroom. I could sit with my legs crossed. Do they fly this thing to other destinations? Both sides are two-seaters. that's all the plane can contain. Only one class. No economy/first/business. Would make it my choice of flight. :)
My window seat's window opened right out to the edge of the fan's blade. Scary to see the blade rev up and spin at those mind-numbing rpms. What the heck would I do if the fan decided to unhinge? :-O
Food was great - comparatively speaking. I don't expect much from airline food, so my opinion might be coloured. Steaming hot chicken-egg fried rice, chicken in some sauce (the menu card claimed basil-flavoured sauce), salad of corn-cucumber-peppers and rasmalai for dessert. Decent food and a very pleasant hostess.
Yeah, definitely the good times.
Goa
Posted On Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at at 4:00 PM by BijeshFour days in Goa later, I was getting a bit fed-up with beaches.. I love the ocean and all that, yet it was too much of the beach I think. The sweltering heat didn't help much either. Thank god, we were in an air-conditioned car when we travelled around Goa.
Goa, to me, was about the awesome food and travelling down the brilliant narrow roads. The roads are very scenic, with trees all over and hilly ups-and-downs. The ocean would make brief appearances and so would the rivers. The roads are also scary. They are pretty narrow and driving around Goa is a pray-that-you-miss affair. The designated driving-guys in my gang did a good job, I should say. I am still alive, aren't I?
We had a map with us for navigation but sometimes just took turns and straights for the heck of it. Thanks to the fact that we weren't looking for a specific travel itinerary, it was quite enjoyable. We usually landed up at some nice place or the other. So that was fine.
The season for Goa was just beginning and so there wasn't a huge crowd, which was good. Our resort was right next to the beach and being a little away from the main Calangute beach, it was a lot less crowded. I wasn't in Goa to party and loved the laid-back days that we had. Also tried our hands at para-gliding and this thing called banana-ride - you are made to sit on a dangerous looking buoy-like contraption, taken into the sea and tumbled into the sea (with a life-jacket on).
We stayed away from some of the Goan stuff that friends from Goa called boorish - the sunset cruises for one. No eating at beach shacks too. The loud, garish music was not to my taste. I guess all of us preferred a more relaxed and calmer setting for food. We skipped the churches too because we weren't in Goa to see sights either.
Goa was fun but a little over-hyped if you ask me. It's unreasonably expensive too, everything is sold at a premium. Prices supposedly double or triple during the peak season, which is between December and January. Like a friend said - "You pay to get sun-burnt in Goa".
Some pictures from the trip, courtesy of Rajesh.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/raajjesh81/album?.dir=3e6bscd&.src=ph
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/raajjesh81/album?.dir=2282scd&.src=ph
Pandhikari, Coffee and Peace
Posted On Monday, September 04, 2006 at at 6:57 PM by BijeshThe entire stretch was quick, smooth and heavenly to ride on. Except for some sections which are being laid afresh and should be done up soon. With a start time of 6:20ish we reached our acco around 11:30ish. And what an awesome place to stay in. It is a resort that is still being developed and once it is completed, I am sure you would want to be there. The view is worth killing for and the 80 acres the resort is on is worth all the money. It's a rain forest in itself. It even has a "canopy walk", that's a wooden bridge suspended really high up and strung from tree to tree. The walkway would extend an amazing 1/2 a kilometer. Yeah, that's right!
It was festival time in Coorg. The rest-after-the-sowing festival. I forget its name. It's kayal-something. Well, it was a time of celebration and every Tom, Dick and his friend Harry was walking lop-sided, thanks to intoxication. The entire town except for the three of us (Sameer, our host Satya and I) was merrily drunk. It was pretty funny. It wasn't even lunch time, mind you.
The afternoon turned out a very adventurous outing for us. First, we saw a 4WD Mahindra use its 4WD. At one really slippery and steep part of the track, the 4WD was outdone and we had to use an additional 5 MP (that's Man-Power) to get it out of the rut.. Dirtied jeans and grinning faces! Then in the evening, we decided to eat pandhicurry by a river. Guess what? We managed to ditch another Mahindra into a hole in the ground. :D And 4MP applied, pulled it out of the hole and on the drive. :) We were drenched in the rain by then and settled down to steaming pandhi-kari inside the jeep with the river looking at us through the windshield (or the other way around, if you please).
It didn't stop there. We had a huge spread of fried chicken, chutta pork (BBQ pork marinated in a lip-smacking, hot green-chilli sauce), pork chops, mutton, roti and tomato curry. The meal was huge, I tell you. Enough to put us to sleep by 9:30.
Next morning, after a hot cuppa tea (thanks to the guy from Darjeeling) we were on our way. This time we tried a different route.
The first leg: Sad-to-leave-it-behind Resort-Somwarpet-Shanivarasanthe was at its usual brilliance. The early morning weather, the negligible traffic and tons-and-tons of twisties after twisties put us in excellent spirit. We were so floating in the air, by then, that the second leg, Shanivarasanthe-HoleNarsipur-Channarayapatna, couldn't dampen our spirits with its negliglible road and the stand-on-the-pegs dunes. Yes, the second leg was a motocross like track. Sameer and I positively love the off-roading and it was no big deal. Not for the weak-hearted though. Avoid this second leg. Instead take Shanivarpet-Sakleshpur-Hassan-Channarayapatna. Longer but a lot more roadly. The third leg was NH48. Fun, fast dear-old NH48. Until you reach Nelamangala though. Once you get there, it's good-bye sweet freedom. Welcome to the chaos of civilisation. The congress rally didn't help one bit. After a fruitless but valiant attempt to get onto the Hebbal flyover, we turned back and took a half-circle around Bangalore on the Ring Road towards Mysore Road. The best decision ever. The RR took us to Kengeri and then we decided to go a very little way down towards Mysore and take the nice NICE road again. And then at 14:00 it was sweet home, some lunch and deep slumber for two hours.
Pictures here: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102279287&mode=invite
Run-in Trip
Posted On Friday, July 14, 2006 at at 10:59 AM by BijeshX-posted from Wander-Clicks.
http://wanderclicks.blogspot.com/2006/07/sameers-run-in.html
Sameer's album
http://picasaweb.google.com/get.sameer/AvengerRunInRide
lazing around
Posted On Tuesday, June 06, 2006 at at 3:34 PM by BijeshLazing around : The act of conserving energy by reducing movement and effort. :D
The idea, originally, was that we would be in Kerala to welcome the monsoon. Due inspiration was provided by the amazing book, "Chasing the Monsoon", which I have not read yet. We didn't plan to chase the monsoon but to merely be present in Kerala during the monsoon. We weren't even too hung up on the welcoming bit.
The ideal place for us, as most of you would tend to agree, would have been Kovalam. But given the choice of a lake resort, that was surprisingly truly on the banks of a lake, we were hooked to the idea. We decided to head for the KTDC Thanneer Mukkom resort. Thanneer Mukkom is close to Azhapuzha and Kumarakom, part of the backwaters belt. It's a very small village, the resort being the only marker.
We took off in a bus from Neyveli to Ernakulam and reached Ernakulam around 9am. From Ernakulam, after sifting through many conflicting routes from well-meaning people, we took a "transport" bus to Vaikkom. Some appams later, the heat became unbearable and irritating. An auto-wallah took us to the resort, which was about 15kms from Vaikkom and left us 150 bucks poorer.
The resort's location is breath-taking. Like I said before, it's on the banks of a huge lake and it adds to the charm. Actually, the location is the best thing about the resort. The rooms themselves were not too great. For 1250 bucks I guess you can't ask for anything more, given that it is a touristy spot. By afternoon, we were settled into the room and looking forward to the rains and an ayurvedic massage. The massage at 750 bucks did not do wonders. What it did do was give me a good appetite. :)
Did I tell you about the hammock by the lakeside? Well, I grabbed it as soon as I could and went into energy-conservation mode with a book in hand and a gentle breeze flowing in from over the water. Bliss!! Only a low wall stood between me and the water. I peeped out every few minutes to watch the fishermen steering their boats through the hyacinths. The resort also had a jetty and I loitered around close to the water for a long time.
The first half of day two was spent running through Azhapuzha for the return tickets to Bangalore. The situation looked bleak. So we satisfied ourselves with waitlisted train tickets from Ernakulam and went back to laze-around mode. Didn't someone say, "Cross the river when you come upon it." By afternoon we reached Kumarakom using a ferry from a place called Muhamma less than 10kms from ThanneerMukkom. After a lunch that consisted of lobster, we rented a motor boat with strict instructions to stick to the interior canal(s) and leave out the lake, that we already ferried across. Sadly, there are only motorised boats. Even the house boats are motorised. The canal cruise was extremely good.
In case you didn't notice, the rains were nowhere to be seen. Except for a very brief drizzle on day two, there was no hint of the monsoon. We prayed and hoped that the rains would come. But as luck would have it never did come. Either we missed it or we overshot it by a day or two.
On Sunday evening, as the train left Ernakulam, our disappointment was quadrapuled when the sky suddenly grew overcast with huge dark clouds and it rained. I don't know if it was a monsoon shower, but it rained very well and left us feeling more dejected. The rain-gods had mocked us and there was nothing we could do but go back empty-handed. In hindsight, it was a well spent two days, a good break from the monotony.
And there's always another chance.
Pix@Imagestation.
back on the road
Posted On Monday, January 09, 2006 at at 11:31 AM by BijeshI haven't had a chance to do some biking for over 6 months. The last trip had been way back in July 2005. Yep, that long. Naturally I was dying to swing my legs across the bike and ride, ride, ride. I posted to the group about a ride in the Jan 7-8 weekend, while I was still in the UK. After not too much deliberation, the destination was tentatively fixed as Kundapura. Subject to change, ofcourse. :-) The excuse: to treat ourselves to the Chicken Ghee Roast at Shetty's Lunch Home. Not that an excuse was actually needed. Two of us were confirmed a long, long time back - Ashok and I. Prashanth and Sampath joined in last week. Glifford needed a bit of convincing and finally agreed to a half-way trip. He decided to ride back to B'Lore on Saturday itself.
Like I said, the route and destination was subject to change and they changed numerous times throughout the trip. :-) In the end, we rode from B'Lore to Hassan to Belur to Shringeri to Agumbe to Someshwar to Kundapura. The ghee roast was on. The Belur temple is amazing. The intricacy of the sculptures awesome. We reached Kundapura around half past eight in the night. Settled down at Shetty's until about 23:30 and then rode to the Maravanthe beach for some moonlit ocean. Woke up late on Sunday. Left Kundapura around 8:30. Caught up with Vignesh at Udupi for breakfast. After that, all we did was ride: Udupi-M'Lore-Sakleshpur-Hassan-B'Lore.
Impressions
It was tiring but of the good kind. The roads stretching ahead for miles brought out a lot in me. It was peaceful. It was exhilirating. It turned off all my thoughts. It helped me think better. The people I swished past added to the feeling of being on top of the world. The kids that waved at me were a joy and when I waved back to them I gave them a bit of innocent joy and it added a little more to my stock of joy. The bewildered villagers made me smile. The world is not that bad after all. There is still a bit of innocence left in it. There is a lot more beauty left in the world. The green trees, the low mountains, the clouds, the ponds and a grey road breaking through like a ribbon.
The curves on the road were an ode to beauty. The way they gently wind made me feel overjoyed. It was exhilirating to take a curve, leaning in and wondering how it would feel to touch the road that sped by. The curves enhanced the magnificence of the things that were around me. Don't ask me how but they do. They seemed so much part of the landscape that it made me shudder to think of them missing.
There is monotony in every ride but I noticed that monotony was not really monotonous. There were subtle differences even in similarity and once I noticed these differences there was no question of being bored of the same thing. It could be a simple dip in the road, a car zooming past, an odd looking tree, a lamp-post or an unused hut.
In the morning, I watched the sun rising up in my rear-view mirror. A golden yellow disc promising much needed warmth. I willed the sun to rise up and take away the cold. Then I realised that I can't control anything. The sun has its own will. It will rise to warm you but of its own accord. The wind will blow but only as it wishes. I decided to let the world be. I didn't have to control anything.
In the evening, I rode into a setting sun. There was a glow all around me, a flaring halo surrounded the world. The glint matched my eyes twinkle with delight. Ah, the dipping of light, the beginning of an unknown darkness, the promise of moonlight and stars. Riding in the dark was a surreal experience. The darkness was split by the searing headlights only to regroup and cover realities again. The beam of light can only displace that much of the blackness. There is darkness left, there is darkness everywhere but the beam gave me hope. The beam seemed an unpenetrable truth. The beam was the path of life.
Then there was the moonlit beach. Silence all around, broken by the crashing of the waves. As I stood there on the beach lit by the moon, washed over by the sound, I wondered how it would feel to be washed away by the ocean. To be taken away like the sand and deposited elsewhere. The ocean must be one of the greatest of God's creations. It can be melancholic. It can make you overjoyed. It can numb you. It can excite you. It can be silent. It can sound musical. A mix of everything. A bouquet of beauty.
The ride back was tiring as usual. The expectation of getting back home, the dread of getting back home. The mind pulled me in two directions. The thought of a familiar bed forcing me to want to go back. The dread of getting back to life wanted to keep me away. The clash of the opposing poles.
Then, unexpectedly, I saw a rainbow. It had been ages since I had seen a rainbow. I guess the rainbow beats the ocean in its beauty. As I rode towards it, it seemed to take on an unimaginable clarity. I stared at it and watched it take shape. Now just a bit on the right. Now a quarter circle. All the while, the colours brightened and the edges grew sharper. With lots of open road to ride on, I had enough time to be fascinated by its strange beauty. The beauty of an illusion. The beauty that was immaterial. I could make out every colour in the world. Every colour that the eye was designed to see. It gave my heart the strength to sing. It gave me the power to relax and banish all signs of tire for later. I almost wept looking at it. I guess I did. It's a strange illusion. To add to all the overwhelming emotions I spotted a second bow, a mere fragment of the other. An illusion of an illusion. I felt like a child when I spotted it. The excitement was uncontrollable. I pointed it out to everyone on the road. Look, a second rainbow. Look at what the world has to offer. Look at it and fill your hearts. Then, I was asked to notice that the bow was a complete half-circle. Oh my god. Was it beautiful? It was beyond that. A lovely arch standing guard over the world. I don't think I have known such insane joy too often. It was a great prize, worth every pain in every muscle. I wanted to hold the rainbow in my hands and kiss it and carry it forever within me.
Then I got back home. To "reality". To "life".
pix from oxford
Posted On Thursday, October 20, 2005 at at 7:36 PM by BijeshOxford - another university town. We went there on a day when students matriculated. Now matriculation is a funny thing. You would expect it to be some kind of passing-out thing. But no, it isn't. It is the signing event when students register for courses. They are dressed up in robes and suits and carry an air of formal elegance about them, until the parties start in the evening.
We didn't get to do much though cos we took a city sight-seeing tour to have ourselves frozen on the open upper deck of the bus. It was cold. Leave it at that.
Anyway here are the pictures: http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2118924272&mode=invite
random updates
Posted On Monday, October 10, 2005 at at 1:42 PM by BijeshThe cold is here too. Some days are particularly so. The cold wind clings to you sending shivers from head to toe. The locals of course are used to the weather and go about their ways with nonchalance.
My evening walks had been shelved in fear of the cold weather. This sunday though, with nothing better to do, I decided to take a walk. To catch a breath of fresh air and to air my mind a bit. Left the hotel a little about 6 in evening to return at 7. I couldn't smell the fresh air though, because it was too cool for my nose to open up.
It's so much fun to walk aimlessly for an hour with no place to reach and no hurry. Yeah, you could do it in India too but definitely not for more than a few minutes. You either run out of safe pedestrian paths or will have had enough of the jostling traffic. Oh and here it is kind of hard to get completely lost. I didn't, inspite of the fact that I randomly chose turns.
It was cold. But with so much effort put into the walking you tend not to notice. It was dusk and there was this dull warm light lighting up the autumn colours. The soothing sounds of bird calls kept my mind from thinking things. The crunch of the dry leaves under my foot never seemed so much fun before. It was like one of the things you did as a kid tapping on the floor or hopping on the stairs to hear the sound it make. I also got to discover a few more viewpoints overlooking the town. The town center is situated in this sort of a valley bounded by hills (they are more mounds than hills though). These areas are mostly residential. I got up to one side of the hilly side and there was this beautiful view of the town laid out in lights with the setting sun creating a pretty canvas over it. On one side of the sky, a big half moon was still undecided about whether it was time to come out.
So although this weekend was in inactive mode, it was not a complete waste.
Weekend Visits in England
Posted On Monday, September 26, 2005 at at 6:18 PM by BijeshTime to write about the places I visited in England in the last few weeks. I have managed to visit a place every weekend. Let me try and put into words what I felt about the places I saw.
Weekend 1: Knebworth House and Gardens
England has a large number of houses from the age of kings and queens. Most of these houses (palaces given their size) are now opened to tourists, for a price though :-) It should take an enormous amount of money to maintain these places, tourism probably helps pay for this. Anyway, the Knebworth house is set in sprawling grounds. When I say sprawling I mean big, really really big. You can't even see the boundaries of the place even if you strained. An amazing green carpet across the earth. I wish I had seen the place from the skies, it sure would have been a sight to see.
Three-fourths of the house had been taken down by one of the owners. The quarter left was huge enough to be called a palace on its own accord. We took a tour of the house and its history. I amn't into history, heck I was positively bad at it in school. So it didn't make much of an impression. What could have been great would've been a picnic in the grounds. Yep, the grounds are open too and there were number of groups picnicing there. Oh, the Knewbworth grounds apparently play host to huge rock concerts as well. The house also featured in a number of movies including Batman Begins.
Weekend 2: London
London did not attract me much. I am not a fan of sight-seeing and that's the only thing we could do in London. There must be another way of experiencing London.
We visited the major sights of London - Westminister, Buckingham palace, The Tower Bridge, Madame Tussaud's, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. We caught a glimpse of the changing of the guard at Buckingham. It was way too crowded to see anything clearly. The only thing I liked was Madame Tussaud's. It cost us a steep 22 pounds, but I think it just about managed to make up for it. The wax statues were good, but the scare show was the best. You walk into this room were live actors dressed up like psychos jump out at you and scare the hell out of you. Interesting and not for the weak-hearted.
And the tube. Good god, you could get lost in the maze that is down there. The best advice I can give is this - Get the tube map, check it everytime you want to get from point A to B. The tube is divided into a number of "Lines" with names like Picadilly, Circle, District and others. You might have to change lines to get from A to B, if they are not directly connected by a single line. All stations have signs marking the way to the different lines. It could take a bit of walking when changing lines, quite a bit of walking indeed.
Weekend 3: St. Alban's
Typical English town. Very pretty and neat. It has a really beautiful cathedral. The cathedral has a lake within its compounds and neatly maintained lawns. We entered through one entrance and when we got out of the other we were on the other side of the town. We walked through a lot of the town and I loved every moment of the walk. To top it all was the excellent Italian lunch that we gorged upon; I had two servings of dessert.
Weekend 4: Cambridge (http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2120192245&mode=invite)
The best visit for me. What a beautiful city! It exemplifies the words - romantic and idyllic in all possible ways. It is quite a wonder to see how the antiquity and the history remains intact in the midst of modern convenience. The city carries a look of age and beauty. Cambridge is filled with colleges, colleges and more colleges. A must is to take a punt ride - preferably the self-hires if you can handle the effort. We took the chaffuered punt tour. 45 minutes through the River Cam which streams past the college 'backs'. The views were definitely breath-taking and at the risk of repetition - romantic.
We also walked around the city for a while taking in the beauty that was on offer. Beautiful! A definite must visit in England. I am totally in love with Cambridge. It must be so cool to be studying in one of the colleges in Cambridge.
Pix from Luton: (++ London Weekend Pix)
Posted On Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at at 5:01 PM by BijeshCheck out the pictures. These are from a friend's digi-cam. Poor me has only a film-wala camera and poor me can't afford to print them here :-)
1) http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2121439057&mode=invite
2) http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2121209674&mode=invite
3) http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2121189997&mode=invite
London Weekend
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2120735046&mode=invite
Live from Luton, UK
Posted On Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at at 5:58 PM by BijeshAlrighty then. I am in a small town called Luton, 35 miles north-something of London.
We (yeah there were 3 of us) landed in Heathrow around 7:30 and the sun was still up :-o. The sun is up until about 8:00 or later. That's why they have daylight savings (slap on the forehead).
First impressions were about the roads. I think we took the M1 (that would be a highway or maybe an expressway) and well what do we have here. It was a busy road, but the road discipline was so very apparent. Cars were always separated by a safe distance on road. People stuck to their lanes and moved lanes after checking their rear-views and switching on their turn indicators. If only we could get the people in India to behave on the road. Wishes!
Got to the hotel after losing our way a few times inside Luton town. Righty ho! Now for a more serious analysis of things English :-))
The People
I was shocked by the friendliness and cheerfulness of the people. People walking down the road would wish us and ask us how we were. Given our Indian roots, we obviously thought these people wanted something from us :-)) They were just being polite. Ofcourse there are the bad lot here too, but it is so great to see people being so cheerful and uninhibited and so polite. Awesome!!!! I am still getting used to the corridor or road hellos. I am getting there.
One unfortunate thing that I noticed is that there is a large proportion of overweight people here. It must be because of the food that they have. More on that below.
I have a Scottish colleague at work and he talks, talks and talks some more. You are always entertained when he is around. He would often move around to different topics in the course of the conversation, always managing to get back on track. I hear all Scottish are like that. Interesting. Alas, he will be leaving the project in a few days. We are sure to be bored without him around.
The Food
Food is usually non-veggie here with chips ('french' fries in Indian parlance) and carbonated drinks and beer or other alcoholic drinks. In other words, you have all the ingredients to put on a lot of weight. Water is at a premium, sometimes more expensive than Coke or Pepsi. Infact, they don't have a water jug in the hotel room. When I asked room service to get me some *plain* water, I ended up paying 3.5 Pounds for a litre. :-o
Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. Potato chips, potato wedges, masjed potatoes, jacket potatoes, new potatoes and meat potatoes (kidding...)
We have been trying all kinds of food. Indian, fish and chips, Thai, brugers, sandwiches, Portuguese (I think it is). I don't have a problem with food. Infact I like it a little less spicy unlike my fellow Indians. Or very very bland. LOL.
People seem to be drinking (not water) around the clock.
Luton - the town
Small, very so. Everytime we take a walk, we end up where we started in less than 45 minutes (of an ambling pace). The roads are pretty good. Very little traffic around the place we stay. Oh yeah, our hotel is right in the town center adjoining the Arndale shopping center, which is a big mall. The mall is clean, airy and not congested. There are benches everywhere to sit down. Hurray!
In the evenings there are a lot of drunk people loitering around which makes it a bit scary. We haven't had any trouble so far, but we take extra care to avoid groups of people hanging on the road.
There appears to be a lot of crime. Police cars are sirening around quite often. My theory is that we don't notice the crimes in India cos the police never bother to break up small fist-fights like they do here. Yeah just remembered. My team lead in the project had his Merc broken into on Friday. Somebody had broken the passenger side window. Nothing stolen, fortunately!
That's all I have to say about that, yeah. There are few snaps from around Luton here -> Luton Pictures. Take a look at them, yeah.
yet another ride
Posted On Monday, July 18, 2005 at at 1:59 PM by Bijeshhad been to Horsley Hills yesterday. That's a small hill-station in andhra pradesh, about 170 odd kms from B'Lore. We are 7 bikers..oops... 8, cos Nikhil joined us midway. The roads were bumpy for most of the part but had a good tree cover throughout. On the whole enjoyable if you can resist the urge to gun the throttle throughout. Prashanth (PK for short) had a brief encounter of the road kind when he took a curve too fast and ended up on the wrong side of the road, fortunately away from a bus that had braked just in time. This was on the way to HH. Anyway we continued to the place and had some food there. Checked out a viewpoint and did a bit of rock-riding that took us to the edge of a cliff like place. Later we had fun with a few deliberate skids before turning back towards B'Lore. The other Prashant (PS for short) got a screw screwed into his tyre and thus a puncture. It took us about an hour to find a tyrewallah and get the puncture fixed. We were in B'Lore by about 6:00 or so. Luckily the rain gods decided to spare us from a lashing. Somewhere within the city it threatened to drench me with huge drops. But luckily I got home 90% dry.
Had fun. Had a good night's sleep. Now back in office.
P.S: This is a thought I have had for long. I have decided that I wont take *anyone* (friend,girlfriend, wife, brother, anyone else) pillion on long rides. Well, it is too risky and things have a way of happening unannounced.
some more pix
Posted On Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at at 2:59 PM by BijeshThese are left-overs from the trip to Madikeri
Madikeri
And these are the intial batch from the Kundapura trip last month
Kundapura
1050 in 2
Posted On Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at at 11:55 AM by BijeshYep, 1050 kms in 2 wonderful riding days.
Day1 (16/APR/2005): Bangalore - Mangalore - Kundapura - Maravanthe (beach) - Kundapura - Maravanthe - Kundapura.
Best part of the day, Maravanthe beach under a silver moon at midnight. Breathtaking beauty. And Shetty's Lunch Home Chicken Ghee Roast. Yummy!
Day 2 (17/APR/2005): Kundapura - Maravanthe - Murudeshwar - Honnavar - Jog Falls - Tumkur - Bangalore.
Jog had very little water, but the cascade made by that little water was awesome. I definitely have to visit Jog when it is in its full glory.
Pictures will follow as soon as they can.
Tired. But a happy tired feeling. :)
