Picking way through Poona

I've always wanted to write a travelogue and I've always wanted to travel to Pune. So, here's a travelogue to Poona, 'cos all the blogs that I read before travelling(to a city and a language I'm totally not acquainted with) helped in planning and I'm writing in hope of being help to others.

Brief Aggregate of Places-to-Visit I used

We flew into the city with a huge landscape dotted by apartments(!) (also, spotted a spongecake-like terrain somewhere close) and surrounded by hills everywhere! The Sahyadris. Pune's well-connected by flights and when the airlines start showering discounts, it's best to grab 'em then. It's amazing when your employer provides guesthouses throughout the country, so we had the best accomodation and since that's an employee perk, let's skip the accomodation-in-Pune-part that I'm ignorant of. I've heard though that for backpackers, the YM(/W)CA hostel at the Camp provides good and cheap staying options.

This trip was completely powered by technology and I've no idea what we'd have done without our smartphones. Luckiest thing was that Ola announced Appiness Week to add to our Happiness Week and gave a 50% off on all rides, so nary bus ride (To add, the Pune buses looked a lil' scary). Google Maps and Translation apps we carried all the way through. And most of the auto/cab drivers do not know the routes well, so it's always better to have your navigator on the mobile turned on.

Ola doesn't seem to offer rides to places outside the city though the website said it does, so after a lot of mulling over various expensive options, our org's Travel Desk helped us out with arranging a trip to Sinhagad and the next day to Lonavala.

Sinhagad is an experience of a life-time, the only regret being that all trees were bare and the land was dry when we went. Sure it's prettier in the monsoons. I envy the Poonawalas that they've got so many hills as weekend spots and found a lot of them riding up in two-wheelers. It's a good trekking spot with a beaten path from some village below. We didn't spot many trekkers and after being discouraged by the locals at office that it would be a hard trek(though the folks on web contradict), we took the cab. The place has a few ruins and a long history that you should read before arriving. You get an amazing view of the city(and its apartments) on one side and an endless string of hills and vegetation on the other.

Matka Dahi...

The best thing about the place is the Fooood.... It's an interesting concept where the villagers here extend hospitality, place mats and prepare fresh food for you and serve hot. The creamy Matka Dahi and pakodas were delectable in the drizzly weather. Apparently, Bakhri is another dish that's famous. It was an amazing experience that you cannot forget and being commended on your broken Hindi by the locals is the best thing to happen. Coffee is a specialty of the South and you've to forgo it for tea when you move Northward. We found the tea stronger than coffee here and having super-piping-hot tea in the rain and freezing winds is an amazing experience.


Lonavala is about 30 kms from the city and we made straight to Bushi dam, where, alas! - there was nobody!

We had a tough time actually finding the spot and uncooperative locals wouldn't point the way.
We climbed all the way to the top to spot a small dam, but apparently it's overflowing with water and is a beautiful and fun place during monsoon. It was windy and horizontal-rainy and freezing, we took cover in the only open shop to have breakfast. Fresh and hot Vada Pav and Misal Pav and tea.

Starting over from peeling the onions to keeping the place neat, it seemed uncharacteristic for a small shop from my experiences, but then every eatery I went to in Pune was pretty neat. The Wax Museum a little away from Lonavala has a few realistic wax models and was fun watching all the little kids. A few more kms and you arrive at Karla caves, after climbing 500 steps, at the top of a hill near Ekvira Devi temple. All the way to the top are shops on both sides and you get the special Lonavala chikkis too (Wonder who Makhanlal is...).

Karla Caves - Wooden Rafters
& the Stupa

The Karla Caves is a Buddhist chaitya and has splendid carvings and architecture. Since the rains were growing heavier, we had to return without seeing much in Lonavala and I ended up sleeping and reading a lot in the room. Wherever you go, make sure you're not cramping the whole holiday with too many places to see and have enough time to unwind and reflect upon your day, so that it feels like an actual vacation and doesn't turn into just a list-of-places-I-visisted, to exhibit to others.

Stroll through Koregoan Park. The walls of Osho Ashram.

Apparently Osho Ashram doesn't allow visitors, so we just took a stroll on those posh roads with high black(!) walls. There's a Dario's here, if you're fond of Italian food. Aga Khan palace is another serene spot within the city and history lovers might be interested in the place. What was interesting though was, Kasturba Gandhi's tiny library within the palace, that had a lot of feminist books with interesting titles. Definitely a place for researchers. Nearby is a small shopping mall that doesn't have much except McD and CCD and it's a long way to the U-turn either side on this particular road.

Food is the best part in Poona! The place is known for fresh strawberries and Juice World on East Street, near MG Road has the best Fresh Strawberries with Cream. Also the best Pav Bhajis and Sitafal with Rabdi. Next to it is Mayur, a very well-maintained restaurant famous for its thali. We couldn't make it for lunch so we had good all-buttery(yum!) Pav Bhajis. On the same street is the famous Kayani Bakery, ALWAYs bustling with crowd. Take a bite into their shrewburys and it reminds you of so many good things. The best place I would recall fondly would be German Bakery and its yummy Mango Cheesecake and Frozen Hot Chocolate and an all-cheesy(yum!) Chilli Cheese Toast.
 The perfect Chilli Cheese Toast I've ever had. Marz-o-Rin on MG Road is another quaint place that looks ancient but stocks Sandwiches! This place also had a large audience and apparently their Almond Macaroons are very famous. We had Pani Puris in Laxmi Road and though I've never liked them much, this was the best I've had ever. Pani Puris in the North differ a lot from the ones you get in the South!

Mango Cheesecake!

M.G. Road is a wonderful place to shop. Especially Clover Centre on Ambedkar road close by, that a colleague let us know in passing, has some great fashion and I learnt here what a huge imitation market we have! I'm sure we dropped in to almost every single shop there for the clothes. Pakistani kurtas seemed to be the fad that haven't arrived in the South yet and loads of georgette shirts and jackets! (We really have to travel to the north once in a while and haul clothes to not end up wearing the same thing everybody else is wearing and also pick up what's new in fashion). Anyway, I found a totally dusty bookstore(oohyay) that I couldn't simply pass by, near the JuiceWorld in East Street, and ended up buying Conrads and Dostoyevsky. Sure there must be more gems in there, but I couldn't dig in enough. Also, read about another great bookstore with a very helpful owner in Clover Center called Manney's but it closed way back in 2012. Everybody here responds with a 'You're welcome' (curt or not) when you thank. The road is dotted with a lot of vendors selling clothes priced around Rs.200, that are famous I heard from friends, though I've no idea of the quality et al. Kohlapuri chappals are a specialty. Clover Centre has a shop totally stocked with absolutely pretty scarves. Also read about a strange shop called Dragon Gallerie above German Bakery, but it's closed now.

Aga Khan Palace on a sunny morning

Another place to shop is the Laxmi road, which I found similar to Pondy Bazaar in Chennai. Stayed only for a few minutes here, since we didn't find anything special here, except for a street vendor selling cheap, exotic, handmade purses that were really pretty(Mine even has an embroidered butterfly inside ^.^) and all spongey(kept my sunglasses safe in the pushy-shovey-Chennai-train-crowd! Win!).

Books, Food,Scenic places and nice climate.. what more could you ask for? I love this city... Mangaluru and Jaipur are on the rolls next.

Culinary Algorithms

Pot-Cooked Chicken

With the gastronomical retreats into the city temporarily put on a rest, due to the increased experimental concoctions in my own kitchen, here's a simple recipe (though it takes a while to cook) that turned out a really juicy and succulent dish. You could substitute white wine with just water, but I found the wine somehow subdues the strong salt/pepper and gives a nice taste altogether. Here's what we did:

var fullChicken, oliveOil, whiteWine, thyme_rosemary, salt_pepper, onions, carrots, garlic;
var cookedChicken = null;

fullChicken = fullChicken + salt_pepper; // Generously apply all over
for sideOfChicken = top then bottom
    ROAST-ON-HEAVY-BOTTOM-VESSEL(fullChicken, oliveOil)
REMOVE-CHICKEN(anotherPlate)
var sauteedVeggies = SAUTE-VEGETABLES(garlic, onions, carrots)   // On the same oil/sauce used for the chicken
for timer = 0 to 60*60  // takes an hour
    cookedChicken = cookedChicken + COOK(fullChicken, sauteedVeggies, whiteWine)    // With lid of vessel closed
return cookedChicken;

Once, the chicken's done, let the liquid at the bottom heat up and thicken into a sauce and pour all over the chicken.
If the dish is left over after lunch, you could, like us, de-bone it through and make a Chicken sandwich with cheese slices for dinner. Yum ^.^

Chocolate Truffles

And here's a heavenly dessert for the Chocoholic!

var milkChocolate, darkChocolate, cocoaPowder, freshCream;
tableSpoons unsaltedButter = 3;
var chocoTruffle;

chocoTruffle = HEAT(freshCream) until bubbling
chocoTruffle = chocoTruffle + MELT(milkChocolate, darkChocolate, unsaltedButter)
chocoTruffle = REFRIGERATE-UNTIL-FIRM(chocoTruffle)
ROLL(chocoTruffle, cocoaPowder)
return chocoTruffle;

It comes out with such a beautiful consistency that's absolutely creamy and melts in your mouth, that we're still looking for alternate dishes this yummy, delightful chocolate concoction could be turned into.

Recipes courtesy : A Friend, who 'prolly googled them up

A Dip into Heritage

Today, we go on an off-beat track from the capital's eateries and posh locations to take a dip into heritage flooding in the Madurai city.

Here I was, poised with a plan to do something never done in my years of living in the city. Wake up early. Visit the Meenakshi Amman temple at sunrise. Ok, that's twothings never done before. Though I missed the sunrise timeline, 6.30 was still an early hour to be travelling toward the towers and surprise, the buses were already crowded! And, on a holiday! Always a deep contrast between the two cities I live in.

The perimeter around the temple didn't seem crowded as it normally does, much to relief (but later, much to distress, discovered the opposite). The majestic tower with its innumerable sculptures depicting innumerable tales from the past, always stirs incomprehensible emotions of pride. Gotta find a way to climb into one of the Gopurams.

It wasn't exactly going to be a crowd-less visit to the deity and after having to endure Am-not-going-to-give-you-your-personal-space-and-I'll-keep-pushing-you-though-there's-not-much-crowd treatment in the queue to the Amman Sannathi, I had to forego the main Sannathi in order to avoid a similar experience. Everytime I visit the temple, there're new things I get to know and today's news from the past were exciting ones indeed.
For one, the Queen Mangammal was inconvincingly imprisoned by her own grandson, who looks convincingly humble in his statue form of prostration facing her. Seems some male chauvinists sculpted him bigger than her though. It's become one of the most beautiful temples after the major renovation done a few years ago, but sadly, some of the greatest works of art were successfully erased into an oblivion and white canvases blare from the walls, which once had the thirukurals(Oh yeah! Where did they vanish to?!) and depictions of thiruvilaiyadals, I think(my memory fails me). Delight always awaits around the Swamy Sannathi. It's one of the most beautiful and picturesque places ever.

Credit : vijayan_t

And then, I learnt that just outside the Amman sanctum was a room called the Nagara Mandapam. Apparently, this is where in olden days (and they still do) the Nagara drum was beaten to announce Pujas and big events. And this is something I've never even noticed before! The state of the city! There's so much treasured inside and it's all obscured just like in this pic, by other things, you don't even notice something of huge importance exists within. Everywhere! For a city that was beautifully planned out and laid, the development hasn't been disciplined and every new thing's been stashed into the old entities.

And there's much more to the temple alone that more and more tales are going to be unearthed on every visit. And these pillars.. I just love.

Credit : Arun Thandapani

Experimenting at the Chocolate Laboratory

Sandy's at Wallace Garden. A restaurant, the Crazy Chocoholic in me's been longing to visit, roused by the irresistible pics from the FB page. The Wallace Garden stretch should be a heaven for fellow foodies, 'cos it's lined with posh restaurants. Opposite Sandy's was Jacob's Kitchen and a few yards away, Tuscana Pizzeria. Spotted a Subway close by. I also spotted a Harley - Davidson showroom. Should have taken a look.

I arrived for lunch, as usual running for cover from the scorching heat. But, the interiors were quite disappointing when compared to the pretty pics from the page. Maybe it'd have looked nicer at night under the lights. Being called The Chocolate Laboratory, the water was fittingly served in a beaker and adorning the walls were chemical symbols, along with their numbers (whatever they're called! Oh my! Can't believe I forgot my chemistry!). The realisation dawned only later that the chemical symbols were nothing but random and spelled out C-Ho-Co-La-Te!

Ah..! I just love the white crockery!

I so... wanted to have a good pizza, being tired of the dry pizza served at Dominoes. Having heard people rave about the pizza here, we ordered one. They've a separate menu for their Fresca pizzas, so you gotta ask them for it. It really was HUGE, juicy, cheesy, absolutely yummy with a super-thin crust! The menu had a choice for normal/thin crust. Wondered how thinner the crust could be. While the Pizza order was on, wondered we, why not try something else different. Having had a bad Hummus experience at another restaurant, I thought I should rectify its taste in my memory and went for Hummus with Pita Bread. (Ok, I later discovered to dismay that hummus just wasn't my thing.) It was already too heavy and too filling a meal, but our gastronomical trips are never complete without a yummy chocolate dessert and leaving behind one at a place calling itself the Chocolate Laboratory seemed like the biggest sin! So, after numerous flicking of the menu card, we zeroed in on That Tiny Chocolate Cake. Should be a light, tiny treat. When the waiter placed the order in front of us, I couldn't help sitting there with eyes widened completely stricken with shock, at which the waiter, I believe, silently chuckled at. It was the complete opposite of TINY! People who look at my picture with the cake placed in front, always go, 'What?! You actually had something that Big all by yourself?'. Of course not! We took a few bites and got it packed, to be hogged in afterward, at which time, we didn't even notice it disappearing while we devoured and wanted more after it was all gone. Umm... Yummmm.... Anyway, be assured that you get to experience the best chocolate here. And here's an almost nauseating/tempting close-up of the Chocolate Cake we had :P

Is this decadence....?

Ooh Books! Ooh Clothes!

Being a bibliophile naturally draws me to the libaries of Chennai and hadn't they been so distant from my residence, I'd be spending every weekend or to extrapolate a bit, everyday among those huge bookshelves. A visit to the Connemara Library, it was today and I couldn't help contrasting with the modern Anna Library every once in a while. There seemed to be a generation gap between the two, with Connemara attracting more of the elder crowd, compared to the student population spotted at Anna Library. We entered what apparently was the new building and found that it's 40 years old. Heh! And on more research, the library itself is over 100 years old! Sadly, the old building, who's architectural style's so awe-inspiring, is closed for renovation. The ground floor contained books ranging from History/Biographies, Agriculture to all kinds of fields, with such a huge collection of books, that I wanted to enrol for different courses and sit there and read through the whole course content from those books. The collection of books for each field was a lot deeper than I had seen elsewhere and it was a joy of pride to be accessible to such a knowledge repository. Apparently, there are a lot of rare books hidden inside and I spotted a lotta very old manuscripts among them.

The other floor had the periodicals section, which was quite disappointing, because the arrangement wasn't very friendly and no English magazine was visible or maybe I didn't look careful enough. The next floor had sections pertaining to different languages and the Tamil section had HUGE stacks of Novels, which many women seemed to be enjoying, gathering from the big women crowd there. I failed in finding the Philosophy books stack though even after finding the label. Again, maybe I didn't look around enough.

And then, turning back to find with joy was the English Literature section, which I found rather disappointing that Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ibsen, Ken Follett, Wadsworth (is that how he's really spelt? Atleast the Harvard classic collection seems to say so...) and other great authors had to tolerate the heat wave without AC. The lack of AC was such a killjoy in the mid-noon heat, that I had to leave with reluctant backward glances at all the books. *sigh*

Then we took a small tour of the art galleries and the museum. The museum was lovely and kids would love it for sure, especially the Enormous Dinosaur with its stunning voice-over and almost-natural eyelids! It was refreshing to watch the kids squealing and shrieking along with the T.Rex. And I wonder, what's with the empty glass box in the Exhibit of the Week at the museum! Time to leave.

The sun was still adamant to leave though it was already evening and the Cotton Street was just beginning to get filled with people landing from posh cars. It's just off the Pantheon Road at the end of the bridge at Egmore, opposite to Ethiraj Salai. Found a seller at the last shop, speaking in a refined language and offering a lotta suggestions on what clothes would suit the buyer, with a few fashion jargon. Oh nice! Bits of haggling here and there with the alert-shopper mode on to look-out for quality fabric and then off to Fountain Plaza at the opposite for a little shade. Alankar is a cosmetics store that I adore, for the huge stock they have and the good service and suggestions they provide (helped me find my first right lip-gloss). Share autos innumerable to depart. The sun gave me an awful headache. No pictures today! Good night!

Shopaholism and some Chocoholism

Today's Stop - Cream Centre, Nungambakkam. Erm.. not today's honestly, it's been a few months. But, oh well, lovely gourmet memories always do linger.So, rewinding to the gastronomical trip from a few months back, the Nungambakkam railway station looked welcoming as ever (I just can't stop gaping at the magazines at my fav' Higginbothams and shelling out a coupla bucks and once, making a purchase only to realise I didnt have any! Perhaps, it *was* the Cream Centre Day). The scene outside the station never changes - the huge Europa Discounts sign, fleeting traffic, hot sun (something I can never stop whining about!) and fellow Earthlings draped in stoles and what-not running for cover from the heat.

Cautionary Note : Waterbottle, Stole/whatever protective clothing, Sunglasses, Umbrella are staples when leaving home at Chennai, if you're a pitiable wanderlust-patient like I am.

Mode of transport from Nungambakkam's always the reliable share-auto, but an autorickshaw for Rs.50 through the share-auto-impenetrable area, it was. As the security guard swinged open the glass door with Indiska Magic posters (a subsidiary of Cream Centre), the cool air carried us in and we were offered a cosy seat by a pillar, by the friendly waiter. It was pretty crowded for the early lunch time that we had chosen and I guess the place's a hot favourite for many. I especially liked the reception and the service and the pretty menu card was quite detailed with varied cuisines. I was recommended the Panner Sizzler, a specialty with 4 huge pieces of panneer. It had the regulars - rice, veggies, along with two different sauces for the rice and each panneer slice marinaded in a different sauce, arranged attractively colourful in the center. The panneer was just so soft, it could melt right away (and yeah, they do sell them through Indiskka Magic, in case you wanna whip up some treats yourself at home. Indiska Magic's available at Nuts n' Spices stores.). This alone was so filling and fun (yes, you read that right!) to eat through, that I forgot the whole pot of Pasta steaming close by.

Dragging close the Pasta Pot with some difficulty, the cheesy layer was so irresistibly tempting, that I had to forego my bloated feeling for a moment, savouring all the cheese, only to realise that this was a dish even heavier, just like the pot it came filled in. The meagre cornballs at radial locations in the dish were absolute *yum*. But sadly we were unable to eat it all and got it all packed up neat and nice. Spic-and-span everything was, just the way liked. The service was really friendly and classy. With full tummies, dessert was sadly waved bye to.

Oh, wait! It was Annual Sale at Shopper's Stop (here's one at Harrington Road), and with a friend having actually landed a Rs.400 deal for a great Blazer before, I was so convinced I was gonna finally discover that elusive-made-for-me handbag. Um.. sadly, browsing through the clothes section yielded no great luck or inspiration to draw out some cash, but the handbags section finally did it! A brand new Eliza Donatein that was a pretty Electric Blue in a great Formal shape. Ooh luck! And Chambor's trio eyeshadow drew me in and left me short of some 500 bucks. Oh well! Both were great buys that I still love, so Shopper's Stop is adore.

Having lost the full-tummy-syndrome from some shopaholism, it was time for a far-set dessert and entered we, into CakeWalk. Beautiful interiors, in brown, reminding of chocolate. A piece of Chocolate Cake with Walnuts that was given a great background by the table on which it was set down. It really was one of the best chocolate cakes I've had!

And a stroll around Nungambakkam's never complete without dropping into Just Casuals, a surplus store, that normally has some cool stuff, when you take the time to dive in to explore. A 'W' Top, one of my best finds from there yet.

Nearing Sunset Time meant return home. Adios!

Traditional Food to Start

And here I am, soon enough walking into Nala's Appakadai on the noisy, polluted GST road in Chromepet, into an ambience quite in contrast to the one that I just left. 'Panneer tikka free with Veg meals' and another similar offer for the non-vegetarian, which I don't seem to remember for how long is on display. A very nice, neat and clean place, the way we like restaurants to be (though I couldn't figure out why the same song was looping over and over all through, though I like Chinmayi, though I don't mind listening to her over and over).

We just had to try the dish that lends the name to the restaurant so the round of order for Appams went and Brinjal curry with it (something that am not fond of). Food arrived in pretty white wares, that lend such a pretty background for pictures. Watching it through the Digicam's LCD got the tummy to growl.

Umm.. We should really conduct a study on the eye-stomach co-ordination. The temptation was too much to resist and the Appam was gone in no time, with the hated-vegetable adding great taste to the meal. Now I think of it, the Appams were so enticing that I actually forgot the Baby Corn Fry, the Butter Naan and all else that went along. Loved the place and wouldn't think twice about having Appam here again.

The heat wave really made the craving for some frozen dessert worth it. Next stop was Ibaco, a subsidiary of Hatsun/ a sibling of Arun Icecreams, with its nice new business model. There were a good many choices for the icecream, with good many toppings. Brownie's always seducing, so the choice was made. Scotch and Brownie with Chocolate Shavings and Chocolate Sauce. Maybe I should've just asked for more brownie topping :/ A small and neat place, with not too many chairs, which seemed to have been built with only people in pairs in mind. 60 bucks for a cup seemed worth it.

On the stretch, has sprung a few showrooms as well, but what I could gather from the woes of 2 fellow shoppers was that there was nowhere to cater to women's formals, neither Reliance Trends, nor Mega Mart, only 2 probable places.

So, Chromepet seems quite self-contained with a good measure of entertainment, when taking into account the only decent theatre around. Vettri/Rakesh, for people who weren't lucky enough to get seats for that hot movie in one of the hot theatres and who're not ready to plunge into the Chennai heat wave, just to visit one of those hot theatres.