Mes Secrets Inconnus

RCB has done it again. They have sunk to their favorite position – second from last. Now to make into the top 4 for the semi finals, they have to sweat it out…No only will they have to win matches from here but also have a close eye on other teams winning and losing. The points and the run rate would very well decide the entry point into the Semi’s. Come on guys you are capable of much more. The old horses need to fire and fire consistently( Rahul, Kallis & Kumble). Remember Bangalore boys.. you have the takath and at one time there were 8 from Karnataka in the national team. Can’t you guys do this much for your fans :-)

PS: I have given up hope on this team ( at least for this season) , but i am still interested in the RCB tee shirts :-)

My BIL finally found his match in Puttaparthi. Puttaparthi is a small town situated in Andhra Pradesh which is around 156 kms from bangalore and should typically take you 3hrs to reach the place by road. Puttaparthi is also the residence of the notable religious leader – Sathya Sai Baba.

The plan was to leave Bangalore on Saturday afternoon , just after lunch and reach Puttaparthi by evening. This would also give us time to visit some places in Puttaparthi. BIL had booked a 14 seater Tempo-Traveller. I knew the very instant, it would be tough journey with lil Niyanthri. And as usual, wifey forgot to pick up Niyanthri’s cushion pillow and so it was more tough for us to handle the lil one. The route to Puttaparthi was a pretty straight forward one with some road works in between. BIL wanted to avoid the tax that anyone should pay at the border while entering other states. So he did his home work and came out with a route plan which apparently did not have any checkpost and this involved passing through villages and kucha roads. Man the travel was getting longer and Niyanthri was getting irritable. Poor thing had to be content on either wifey’s or my lap as all others looked strangers to her. Finally we made it to Puttaparthi and my initial comment was – another half hour drive we would have been to Hyderabad :-) All the guys in the van, stared at me and the looks were enough for me to stay silent for the entire trip.

The engagement ceremony went well, except for the food. Everyone found it difficult to digest, thanks to Andhra’s summer.  Niyanthri looked her best with her traditional indian dress. Most of the time some one or the other would take her away and return her back coz she would break down crying among new faces. Midst of all these , we did not get any time for shopping or looking at places. Fortunately the place we stayed – APSRTC tourism hotel had Lepakshi in their campus. We wanted to check out some famous Kondapalli toys for Niyanthri. But there was nothing that caught our attention, except a bag which wifey liked and bought.

Finally there needs to be special mention of the driver who took us, without whom there would be no blog at all. He was a maniac who got us killed nearly 3 times. Would not accept orders nor would slow down during bad roads and road humps. Hat’s off to such guys!!! You really make us think life beyond driving ;-)

After a good release, what’s the best place to chill? Well we hit upon this idea to spend the night at Nandi Hills. For some reason or other many people wanted to get back the same night. Also it was Muru’s last day @ work. So we wanted to go somewhere, but not far. In a flash Green park crossed our minds. Well to be honest we wanted a dhabba to chill and re-live Muru’s memoirs , so a dhaba was just what we needed. But unfortunately with BLR growing in all directions its hard to get a full fledged dhabba. But something was better than nothing. So we heeded straight to the dhaba, after Sumanth’s last check in.

It started raining while we made our way. We though these premature shower would end soon, but alas the rain came on for a long time and dampened our other wise up beat mood. But we still continued. Green park is near jakkur and when we reached there it was still raining, but somehow we got in there without being too wet. The sessions started and the drink’s was on Muru. Green park had some good food, but some of them very salty. I think we would need to tell them upfront to add less salt in the dishes. Apart from that, the cost is reasonable. It cost us 1.5K for 11 of us ( excluding the drinks) and would have been much lesser, if Sumanth had not tried to act smart ;-)

The only thing that you have to bear here is the time they take to serve. Don;t go in there if you are looking for a quick exit. Green park is a place to sit , relax and eat ;-)

This place rocks. I have now been to this place at least half a dozen times and still head over heels when i plan to visit it. The lunch menu is simply great, not disregarding the ambience. So this time when one of our colleague was moving on, we decided to visit this place.

Cafe masala is located in Eva Mall( 5th floor) and is a BJN group product. So it just can’t get better. The lunch comprises of starters – soups,crackers, croissants, cheese balls.  You can also try the salads, pastas and spaghettis. The grilled fish, chicken hariyali kabab and chicken lollipop is always worth a try. And offcourse for the main course you have couple of vegeterian and NV curries to try out with the roti’s. You have some biriyani’s and rice to help yourself with.

There is also a DIY section for the chaat lovers. And finally the plethora of items in Dessert sections – truffles, cheese cakes, puddings, ice cream, kulfi’s and fruits

All in all a good place to treat your gastronomical senses ;-) for 249 INR + tax.

The marriage season has started with a bang. For the first time so many of my friends and relatives are either getting married or having house warming ceremonies in a rush. My major part of my life has been either in office during the day and spending the other time at function halls. I am not sick of eating out. The heat mixed with oily preparation is giving me away. I am starting to dislike all my once loved sweets and dishes because of the frequency in which they are getting repeated. I know i just have to be a little careful esp when i learnt that one of my colleague is down with Typhoid after attending a series of weddings. And there are a few more  coming up which involves travelling to different places. Heck, let me look at the bright side of things – these are after all their D-Day’s and they expect me to thrilled with that. I am thrilled guys… err.. I have learnt new techniques to keep Niyanthri occupied during such functions and put her to sleep. Kudos to myself !!!!