The Pool

Some time ago I promised to post photos of the Madras Club pool, which was recently renovated. Its beautiful. Well, here it is. And it was taken just as the sun was setting - the light was great. Not sure how great the photos look though taken with my phone's little camera...

Landmark

Landmark used to be a little haven for book enthusiasts. I remember going to the Nungambakkam High Road Landmark underground and just browsing through tons of books on the shelves and tons of magazines on the racks. Everything was neatly organized and they always had a great collection.

Then they added a CDs and DVDs section. That was alright. It was almost expected that they would naturally extend their reach to music and movies. Then they added a stationery section. Hmmm. Then a toys section. Then a knick knacks section. And I mean knick knacks. The teenager stuff like plastic flowers and hearts on little glass vases. That really put an end to my enjoyment of Landmark. I now officially dislike going there.




I had to today to buy some kids books and wrapping paper. Everything was so difficult. The books were stacked everywhere, on the floor, falling off shelves, still in bins. I could see a few books but there was no way I would be able to actually find a book by myself without asking for assistance. (I did ask four different people for assistance repeatedly before one guy just told me that its not available and he doesn't know if he can order it or not).



Then I went to the wrapping paper section. It was terrible. Half the papers were torn, most were hanging off the wall, and some were crumpled and badly worn. I had to juggle my books while I tried to find a few that seemed new!



Sigh. There goes another Chennai Landmark! No pun intended.

Tirupati

We went to Tirupati this past weekend and I'm continually amazed at how efficient it is. I've been to Tirupati about 6-7 times so far and every single time it has a huge impact on me. Driving up, you start feeling a sense of excitement. When you get to Tirumala, there is a celebratory air over the entire town. Everyone is on their best behaviour (drinking, smoking and "physical contact" between men and women are frowned upon at Tirumala). There are speakers all over town buzzing with chants from the temple and everyone is in a kind of holy excitement.

The town is very very clean. I now know that Indians can be clean if they tried, they just choose not to bother. There is no litter anywhere, no trash thrown on the roads. There are lovely sidewalks and gardens and museums and shops. Its a lovely town. Set high up in the hills, the weather is cool and the surrounding hills covered in clouds are a sight to behold.



I've walked up Tirumala too. The walk takes about 3.5-4 hours and its completely under the shade, with lots of little shops along the way selling energizer drinks of lime and soda, caps, umbrellas.

There is a tradition of hair tonsuring at Tirumala that is supposedly very auspicious. It signifies a surrendering of your ego to God. It is a well organized system. The barber comes to where you stay, he finishes the shave for the person in exactly 15 minutes - no fuss, no knicks, no cuts and always a new, sterilized blade. He collects the hair and takes it with him. I was curious and found out that all the hair collected in Tirumala is made into wigs and exported. None of the wigs are sold in the Indian market.

There has been a recent controversy in the West over whether wigs made from this ritual should be allowed to be sold because of the religious nature in which it is done. You can read more about that here.

The must-eat place is Bhima's Residency in Tirupati - either after your trip to Tirumala or before. I recommend after - since driving up the hill on a full stomach from Bhima's might not be a pleasant experience with all the hairpin bends!

*By car, Tirupati is a 3 hour drive from Chennai. Alternately you can also fly in from Hyderabad or Bangalore.

Thank you, Jet Airways

After a long, tiring weekend, we were on our way back from Kerala to Chennai. And it was exactly at lunch time too. My daughter was hungry, sleepy and tired. I was absolutely dreading the flight back knowing the last thing she needed was to be made to sit in her seat with a seatbelt and nothing but the clouds to watch outside. I made sure I had crayons and paper and a book to read to her.

Jet Air totally surprised us. I'm sure its been around for a while but this is the first I'd heard of it. They had these little TVs for inflight entertainment. And, the greatest gift of all, they had a Kids Channel that had lots of cartoons (including Dora the Explorer, my daughter's favourite!). I was delighted. She was delighted. And everyone heaved a sigh of relief! :) It was the most pleasant plane ride we've had in a while.



They also gave out little packets of coloring pencils and books for the kids in a little bag. The only drawback was their kid's meal. The steward told us that we had to have requested it earlier, which we didnt know (on the other hand, when we flew to Kerala on Paramount Airways, they had a child meal ready for her, even though we hadn't requested it - now that's called service!). But I'm not complaining. Dora beats the kid's meal anyday.

Thanks, Jet Airways. And thanks Paramount, for catering to people who don't warn in ahead!

Schools

I feel compelled to write this, just to get my thoughts in order. Its almost a note to myself. As I've mentioned before, I was born and grew up in Chennai and went to school, high school, undergraduate and graduate school here. I only changed school once after my 10th grade, and even then I loved it. I can't say the same for others, but doesn't everyone have fond memories of their schools? Can anyone really tell me "I hated my school"? I think its almost universal that everyone you ask will say they loved their schools, no matter where, no matter how good.

I've been thinking very very hard and talking to lots of people about where to put my daughter in school. She currently attends Kids Central which is now a pre-school. I think its fabulous and my daughter loves it. She recently started attending school on her own and the separation was very hard, but the school was tremendously supportive and she loves it now. But Kids Central ends at the 1st grade. What then?

Since I was in the same school for the first 12 years of my life, I wanted the same for my daughter. So she could have the same friends and same teachers and same environment to foster a sense of belonging. But I can't for the life of me decide on a school. I really want her to do the ICSE board, which is what I did, and I thought it was a tremendous learning system.

The American School is not really an option since they don't allow non-US citizens. Sishya was a choice, but I've heard that the waiting list just for the lower Kindergarten is 100. People are registering their kids while they are 2 months pregnant! Since I didnt get a head start, it seems almost impossible now.

Its difficult. Does anyone have any insights into the Chennai school scene? How do others decide on a school?

Antinori at Prego

Last night I had a delightful dinner at Prego, and I wanted to share the experience since I pretty much wrote them off in my previous review.

Prego orchestrated an evening of fine food and wines from the world renowned Italian wine-maker, Antinori. There was an elaborate four course dinner paired with an excellent wine from Antinori. We started off with an amuse bouche of prunes and mushrooms with a sparkling wine that was ever so light. That was followed by an artichoke and black truffle "salad" that was quite lovely. Every single dish was superbly matched with the wine served. We ended the reds with a Tignanello, the most famous of all the Antinori wines. I even sampled the dessert wine, which I'm usually loathe to try. With the coffees and teas came the Grappa. Ah. It was an amazing meal.

Antinori, originally from Tuscanny and Umbria, were the pioneers of the "super Tuscans". They have now expanded beyond Italy and have gone as far as Napa (and have acquired one of my favorite wineries in Napa, Stag's Leap). We met and chatted with Alessia Antinori, one of the three daughters of Piero Antinori, who together manage the family business. She was extremely friendly and filled with great tidbits and information for us amateur wine enthusiasts!

Kudos to Prego for organizing this evening.

If anyone wants details of the wines served, please let me know and I will post it here.

Happy New Club

We spent New Year's Eve at the Madras Club. We were supposed to leave and go to other parties, but never got around to it because the Club turned out to be such fun. I'm not sure why, but I always thought there were too many old fogies at the Club and that it wasn't fun. But they really know how to throw a party. The music was very good, there was great food and lots of alcohol and loads of people.

I think the average age of the Club-goers has vastly reduced. Maybe because a lot of people have now moved back to Chennai from other countries, and are now in the same process of gaining membership into the Club. It could also be the fantastic new pool that they have installed after the renovation.

Whatever the reason, I'm enjoying being part of the Madras Club and I'm glad that my daughter is enjoying using their playground and pool, just like I did when I was a kid.

Ente Keralam 2

There was a lot of comments (both positive and negative) about my post on Ente Keralam. I must say that I did enjoy when I ate there. And the past few months it has gotten even better. I'm convinced they must have a new chef. The food is really superb. They are at the moment having a Moplah food festival (Moplah refers to a Muslim Keralite).

I must agree though that the prices are a tad high, but once in a little while, I find it's worth it. I drive by the restaurant regularly on my way to and from work and its almost always full. Do try and stop by again and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Haagen Dazs

When we moved to India, the two things I missed most were Bagels and Haagen Dazs. The desire for bagels never went away, though I did forget about Haagen Dazs (or maybe I willed it away!).



I was delighted (I was actually jumping up and down with joy, inside) to see Maison displaying a freezerful of Haagen Dazs. They had my husband's favorite Dulce de Leche, and my favorite, Vanilla and Almonds. Just having one brought back a flood of memories and nostalgia! Thanks Maison!

Prego

After the sad demise of the Patio, we were all waiting with bated breath for the opening of the replacement. Everyone hoped it would still have that great ambience, a relaxed elegance and a haven to escape to when you needed a long lunch with a good friend or a special place to celebrate a family birthday.

Well, Prego opened with much fanfare and I was lucky enough to be invited to a tasting menu and a pre-opening lunch. Well, the ambience was not relaxed and a little "flashy", the menu was nouveau Italian, and the waitstaff was very well trained. I went truly hoping that the food would speak for itself. It did not. I had an appetizer of different cheeses which was superb, and ordered fettuccine for the entree which was just passe. Another diner ordered chicken which was terribly overcooked.

The wines were superb though, and the one redeeming quality. The sommelier was very knowledgeable and recommended excellent wines. And, of course, you can't go wrong with chocolate - and so the desserts were amazing.

When we tried to make a reservation for a birthday, we wanted the private dining room and it was very difficult to organize with Prego. In the end, we decided we didn't want to go there anyway.

Madras Rains

In November, during the festival of Deepavalli, Chennai enjoyed lots and lots of rain. And I truly mean enjoyed. It was lovely listening to the rain and watching it and feeling the cool weather.

I visited a store in the Luz Area and took this photo from there showing just how much rain Chennai was subjected to.


As I was leaving the store, they had closed the main entrance which led out onto the main road because it was flooded. They told us all to leave through the back door. And they had posted this in main entrance, which was quite funny!

Ratna Stores

THE place to go in Chennai to buy anything stainless-steel is Ratna Stores in T Nagar. Its 4 floors of absolutely everything. And I mean Everything! I went to buy a simple idli pan and came back armed with stuff I knew I did not need!

The ground floor is filled with every single possible kitchen utensil. And when I say filled, I mean literally from floor to ceiling. Its quite a sight. One floor has all things plastic, one has electronics and so on. It was a fantastic experience. The service is amazing. There are service people everywhere who basically "attach" themselves onto you as you enter the store, and they don't leave your side until you've finished paying and even walk you to your vehicle (since you'll need all the help you can get lugging the large shopping bags!). Every chennai-ite and all visitors must visit just to go through the experience and I know you will find something there that you feel you absolutely must have!

Kosher Toys

Recently, I went on a toy-buying spree for my daughter. She had outgrown all her toys and I seemed to be forcing a 2-year old to play with rattles and silly caterpillars. Anyways, we went to the toy section at the Landmark in the Chennai Citicenter on RK Salai. They have a cramped little toy section that is quite badly organized - though they do have lots and lots of stuff if you dig deep.

We found the most amusing toy. I decided to get her a little house/kitchen-type set, and was going through the various types. The most common ones were very americanized with fried eggs and hot dogs and fried chicken. The funniest was the Indian veggie version! I guess its for those parents who are not only raising vegetarian children but who don't want the kids to know there is a world out there that is not vegetarian. Take a look. I thought it was very clever!

Here's the Fisher Price version - if you look closely you can see the fried egg and the chicken drumstick:



And here's the veggie version, complete with banana leaf and a thali meal:

Sabbatical

Sorry for the long sabbatical! I needed to refresh/recharge/ re-energize! I'm back, armed with lots and lots of new stories about Chennai. Though I wasnt posting, I was definitely thinking about my blog and was clicking lots of photographs to post here...

Happy New Year everyone!

A Beehive up-close

Maybe some of you have seen a beehive up-close with the bees on it, but I've never dared to. Well, this is amazing, but an enormous bee-hive has formed outside our office window. We thought of taking it down, but it was so beautifully natural, that we just couldn't get ourselves to destroy it. Here are some photos of the beehive.

Travel Log: Maldives

Here's a photo log of eating and holidaying in the Maldives :)


Probably the best thin-crust pizza Margherita on the planet!


And it went so well with the Guinness




The same chef whipped up this pasta with cream sauce and a hint of truffle which was unbelievably good


At their Maldivian-Indian restaurant, we had papads with fig chutney. The chutney grows on you - the first time I tasted it, I wasn't impressed, but by the end of the meal, I was scooping it up



And that was followed by an unusual salad of tandoori vegetables in a cream-yogurt sauce


As we lazed by the pool, we ordered many things. One was a bowl of Japanese noodle soup, and then some fantastic sushi and finally a basic mozzarella and greens sandwich...tasted even better after a long swim and with the waves in the background!







And then a romantic dinner: we started off with a bread basket. The basket was so lovely and I enjoyed the wine...


My salad was hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, greens and avocado. I don't much care for avocado but the rest was scrumptious. I was half-way through it before I remembered to photograph it!


My main meal was Thai Green Curry Vegetable, stir-fried vegetables and Jasmine Rice. I couldn't photograph that well at all. The stir-fried veggies had a nice touch of some carved carrots in the shape of crabs! It was a delightful touch since we had crabs crawling around our feet the whole time! But my husband wasn't complaining when he got his clams and lobster.






The dessert was truly decadent. I had chocolate cake. My husband had tiramisu. Nothing could have tasted better! Especially sitting on the beach a few feet from the waves.



Sipping cocktails, snorkeling, swimming, lying by the beach, eating and really not having any agenda at all...that was a perfect holiday!




*sigh* I recommend the Maldives to everyone wanting a lovely break. Just an hour's flight from Bangalore city, or 1/2 hour from Trivandrum airport, the Maldives is a perfect weekend break.

Indian Airlines

We were booked on an international Indian Airlines flight...or rather, Indian (the name they now go by). Well, the service was very good, the flight was clean and new, and the food was very good! Surprised? So was I. I hadn't flown Indian in years, now that there are so many better choices out there. But I was quite proud that Indian was still going strong and actually a pretty enjoyable experience. And let me tell you, I was expecting the worst!



The meal they served was an afternoon snack. There was a choice of tomato, egg, chicken or vegetable sandwiches, salad and a chocolate brownie. The sandwiches were great but what was really nice was the salad. It was a healthy moong dal, tomatoes and chaat masala. The flavors were very surprising. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hurrah for Indian!

Peshawri

After my favorite restaurant, Patio, closed down, my friend and I tried desperately to find an alternative place to have our leisurely lunches. And then, only because we had tried every place else, we decided to give Peshawri a shot. We hadn't been there in years and vaguely remembered the food as being pretty good. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised - the food was excellent.



They serve appetizers of fried papads topped with chopped tomatoes, onions and chaat masala that is just what you need to nibble while waiting for the food. The ambience has stayed exactly the same. The very same wooden menu cards, and chairs and tables that look like they are just polished tree trunks! They even have little cloth "bibs" for everyone instead of napkins. Forks and spoons are available on request, but people are encouraged to use their hands to eat. And let me tell you, its way easier when you are scooping up that last bit of dal with the roti!



We ordered paneer tikkas, seekh kababs, romali rotis and dal makhani. Everything was super. We ate up every last morsel, while drinking some chilled chaas and jal jeera. And we even licked our fingers shamelessly!