Author: manuscrypts

  • Books and Labels

    Not sure if a lot of people do this, but sometimes I ‘drag’ my reading. Not because the book is boring, but just because I want it to go on for some more time. 🙂

    The last recipient of this treatment was Pico Iyer’s “The Lady and the Monk”, which is part travelogue, part human journey, part Zen primer, part romance and possibly several other things too. I think this book will come up many times in this blog in future too, because it gave me multiple feed (foods didn’t sound right) for thought.

    Among other things, it has left me with a great interest for the Zen school of Buddhism. I have started looking for more information on that. Meanwhile, in the book was this guy who had a seemingly simplistic approach to ‘labeling’ things – ‘necessary’, ‘useful’ and ‘useless’. When I think about the things I own/ am passionate about/ spend a lot of time on, and try to categorise it on those labels, it gives tremendous perspective, and I wonder if applying these labels regularly and mindfully would make me more, or less human. Try it out 🙂

    until next time, non zens?

  • 898

    A neon with that number has been blinking at us for a while now, whenever we use the 80 ft Road in Koramangala, and since it also contained words like ‘steak’, ‘grill’, it didn’t require a lot of convincing for us to drop in. This is right next to Chandni Chowk (can someone explain to me the mad rush there every weekend?!) and on the top floor of the same building as 13 Spices. (map) Parking is not much of a problem if you’re there before 8.

    Rooftop restaurants most usually works for me, and 898 was no different. Some nice tiled roofing and screens to close the sides means it’ll be okay even if it rains. For now, the screen that hogged all the attention was an LCD one. They have an interesting decor, confirming that kitsch is back. Different kinds of chairs, even those indoor standalone swings, and our table was a chest at some pint of time. A fish shaped wooden board, large mirrors, interesting lighting, you get the idea…

    There was a good breeze too, as we sat looking at the menu. Mostly steaks, with some mocktails, and a couple of Thai soups thrown in. (click for a larger images)

    We started with a Cream of Coconut Milk – Chicken. No by-twos were told, isn’t that against Bangalore culture? A watered down version of the Tom Kha, and a bit too diluted for my liking, but quite flavourful, and they were genrous with the chicken. We then got ourselves a Beef Satay. Quite well done, and the peanut sauce that accompanied it was better than usual.

    For the main course, we ordered a Chicken Lasagna (ugly photo) and a Chicken Garlic Pepper Steak. I haven’t seen a lasagna served like that, but in terms of taste it was quite decent. D said the steak had a strong chicken smell, but again, it delivered in terms of taste. Neither were phenomenal, just about decent. We also ordered a Chocolate Martini (I’m still wondering why it was called that). It reminded me a lot of the old Joy/Dasprakash ice creams.

    The bill came to over Rs.950. The ambiance was quite decent, though there was something missing about the food. Nothing bad enough not to drop in at all, but… The service is a bit slow, but it’s quite a relaxing place, so you probably won’t mind.They missed an item in the billing, probably teething troubles, though it has been over 2 months.

    898, No.898/4, Opp IBP Petrol Bunk, 80ft Road, Koramangala 6th Block, Ph: 9844005050

  • Playing God

    So, a few days back I had this rather scary thought. What if ‘God’ or ‘collective consciousness’, was a variable?  Depending on the notions and mores of living beings, it would change, continuously. That would probably explain how everything went downhill from whatever is believed to have existed as utopia or paradise, and how it works in cycles. Like a game that adapts to you and your moves.

    Meanwhile, I came across a link that I am yet to fully explore. Maybe you can, and write about your experience in the comments/ your blog. It is titled ‘Ten games that make you think about life‘, and the synopses do make it seem promising. Coincidentally, the first one in the list is ‘Immortall’!

    And while I was writing this, and scanning Google Reader, I came across this link, which talked about a game where Augmented Reality, a new technology that offers a “direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics”, was mashed up with “Conway’s game of life“. Though I’m familiar with AR, I’m still reading up on Conway’s Game of Life and it’s fascinating!!

    From the wiki entry “The game can also serve as a didactic analogy, used to convey the somewhat counter-intuitive notion that ‘design’ and ‘organization’ can spontaneously emerge in the absence of a designer. For example, philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett has used the analogue of Conway’s Life ‘universe’ extensively to illustrate the possible evolution of complex philosophical constructs, such as consciousness and free will, from the relatively simple set of deterministic physical laws governing our own universe.” Essentially, the game of life could’ve been played out without the designer – God.

    Meanwhile, the new game lets users create their own artificial life and then, through augmented reality, see it ‘live out’ in the real world. We have become creators. Does it go from here to a point where in the far away future, a new strange species looks back and wonders who created them, and gets no answer? Is that how the game is played out?

    until next time, a level playing field?

  • On the Edge

    No, it’s not a state of the mind post. On the Edge is a lounge restaurant that neighbours Ebony and 13th Floor in Barton Centre on MG Road. Last weekend, thanks to the cup that mattered, we converted our regular Saturday dine out into a Sunday lunch.

    On the Edge has a view that parallels 13th Floor – facing MG Road. Not as spectacular, but close enough. It would be better at night, obviously. Most of the tables offer the view, but there are some others too, and they’re actually more lounging-friendly. You can find the map, menu and a few photos at Zomato. The prices have increased by about 10%, and they add a service charge and tax.

    After the mandatory skyline photo session, we ordered the “Bangkok in a bowl”. Before that arrived, we got a complimentary bread basket. That dip was quite good. The Tom Yum was not the coconut milk version we had hoped for (on hindsight, the menu hadn’t mentioned coconut milk either), but was still spicy and all the flavours manifested well.

    For the main course, we ordered a Khao Soi (w/ egg noodles) and a Chicken – Prosciutto Roulade. The Khao Soi, though a Burmese dish, seemed closer to its Thai version. It was quite good, though I prefer a heavier dose of coconut milk. 🙂 The Chicken – Prosciutto Roulade was extremely good, and if you’re ok with ham, you should definitely give this a try. Despite not being a big fan of Popeye and Spinach, I quite liked it. Loved the presentation too, especially the mashed potato.

    All of the above cost us just less than Rs.950. Not exactly cheap, but for the ambiance, the quality of food and the decent service, it seemed quite reasonable.

    On The Edge, 84, 13th Floor, Barton Centre, MG Road. Ph: 41783333

  • Twitter, #cwc11 and me

    Since I’m not sure whether we’ll dominate like the Australians have been doing for a while, or wait for another 28 years and make it special, I wanted to document what I was doing during the match that made us World Champions. No expert comments, no emotional attya4, just pure fun in 140 characters. But at the end of it, we witnessed a moment that I think I can clearly reconstruct even decades later, this is just a back up 🙂