Author: manuscrypts

  • Transience

    Its comforting to walk about, and intuitively know the way around, without ever having to pause and think..the familiar roads and buildings, and places that are significant thanks to the associations they have with yesteryear life.

    Its soothing to catch up with people who you haven’t spoken to in years, and still be able to have a conversation which you feel had been left off  only the day before, about friends and friends of friends, where they are and what they do..

    And as you walk around, its also a bit unsettling to find out that some old landmarks have been replaced with swanky buildings, the roads don’t look the way it used to, desolate buildings that you stare at and say “I used to know some people here”, new street names and sometimes whole new streets have cropped up.

    And when you look around, you miss a few old faces, that used to smile at you from shopfronts…nameplates that you thought would remain forever, have been replaced, bringing new characters and creating new stories.

    And sometimes, as you talk, you understand that even the old characters have changed, perhaps without even them knowing it.

    And that’s when you realise that there’s something both sweet, and sour about having a town you can call home. A home where your life and memories were shaped, and which is now being reshaped by others’ dreams, and lives.

    And as places fade away and landscapes change, you are reminded of sand slipping through your fingers, even as you try to hold on. What remains are those tiny flecks, to give you memories, and to remind you of the fleeting nature of it all…..

    until next time, mortality

  • News Updates

    He saw the battalion of police in front of the theatre and immediately smsed his reporter friend. After the terror activities recently, there was no telling what’d happen and when. He could imagine the contempt on his friend’s face as he read the message and replied “Don’t you know there’s a Rajni movie release tomorrow?” until next time, filmi… very filmi 😐


  • Mugen

    Mugen is located on 100 ft road, Indiranagar, on the 3rd floor of the building that houses Indigo Nation and Urban Yoga. It serves Thai, Indonesian and Chinese cuisine. Parking for two wheelers is quite easy, 4 wheelers would require a bit of luck factor too, me thinks.

    We called for reservations, and after a long time, got a courteous and efficient response, and a table. I was getting sick of the ‘we don’t reserve after 7.30’ spiel. You might want to reserve, if you’re planning to go after 8 during weekends, going by the crowd we saw yesterday.

    The menu has Thai, Indonesian and Chinese, in that order. They also serve liquor, and from my limited knowledge, the bar looked fairly well stocked. The Thai part is quite a few pages, the Indonesian, only a couple of pages, and the Chinese part, somewhere in between the two. The choice of dishes in Thai made us choose that, though (even with very good descriptions) we’d require some assistance.

    We managed to order the soup by ourselves :), and then gave our requirements to the person who took our orders. He was extremely helpful, and gave us detailed explanations of what we could expect. So, we ordered a Tom Kha soup, which was described in the menu as a “refreshing coconut milk soup, with lemon grass and galangal served with chicken”, which reminds me, most of the items in the menu have a common gravy/paste/rice/noodles which lends itself to chicken, veg, seafood etc. So, for example, you can also have a Tom Kha veg soup. The soup was delicious, with so many different flavours, and for once, none of the usual stuff –  pepper, sauce, vinegar etc was needed. It was refreshing indeed.

    For the main course, we ordered a Kai Phad Bai Gapraow, which is ‘succulent chicken, marinated with thai herbs, and fresh basil leaves served with special spicy thai sauce’, a Basket Chilly Chicken, “a traditional dish from the chef, served in a crispy basket”. The latter was the only chinese dish we ordered. We also ordered a Bamee Pahd “soft noodles with bean sprout, spring onions, and crushed peanut served with chicken”. The first dish has got a bit of gravy, in fact just the right amount as far as our needs went. The Basket Chilly Chicken is dry and quite spicy, and the crispy basket was quite yummy. When we saw the noodles dish, we thought we’d have to order one more. Talk about deceiving appearances!! The quantity was more than enough for two people, especially the side dishes. All the dishes were simply awesome, and that’s an understatement. The only warning I’d like to give is to have the food before it gets cold, since a salty taste starts creeping in towards the end.

    The ambience deserves a special mention, with separate seating for smokers and non smokers, there’s even an option of being seated such that you can watch while your dishes get cooked. The seating is extremely comfortable. I think this would also be a great place for large groups, not just because of the seating options, but also because it’d give you an opportunity to sample multiple dishes, which we couldn’t because we’d only two tummies at our disposal. Another special mention for the service. No snobbish ‘Oh, you don’t know this cuisine’ smirks’, an extremely helpful attitude, and someone always discreetly giving the table attention. This place exudes confidence and efficiency. Yes,  we were floored, and that’s no mean task, as you guys would have realised:D

    All of the above cost us Rs.800. I’d loved to have tried the desserts, but we were stuffed 🙁 . This one demands a repeat visit, so there’s definitely going to be a next time here.

    Ph: 41481414, 9945300004

    Menu and photos at Zomato

  • I do?

    “I am getting married”, she said. He wasn’t ready for dealing with this, their relationship wasn’t that defined yet. ”If that’s what you want.”, he managed. “..to you” she continued, “if that’s okay with you”. He wasn’t ready for dealing with this, their relationship wasn’t that defined yet. ”If that’s what you want.”, he managed.

    until next time, decision makers

    PS. Inspired by this

  • Mocha

    And, at long last, we finally landed up at Mocha on Lavelle Road. Keep going down Lavelle Road (from MG Road) and this is about 50 m after the Walton/Lavelle/Vittal Mallya junction, just before Java City. We got in by about 7.45, and the place was already fairly crowded. We sat indoors, but there’re also some very good outdoor seating options.

    Disclaimer: There’s a bit of anarchy in the ordering sequence.  At this place, we order the shake first, and then decide what to eat. It has nothing to do with The Joker. Blame it on the chocolate.:)

    So, we first ordered a Dutch truffle cake shake. The menu said it was a chocolate shake so sinful you might want to go for a confession. I confess they were right. The quality and the quantity. It must be said that we arrived on this particular choice after much debate all thanks to the exhaustive options available.

    To fill up the rest of our collective tummies, we ordered a Country Roast Chicken Panino and a Blackened Balti Chicken Crustini. The former is wildfire roasted chicken and slaw served with fresh basil presto, and the latter is chicken and peppers cooked in balti spice. While we were slightly concerned about Balti, it turned out to be just fine. 🙂 However, we found that these two, while not lacking in taste or flavours, we e not sufficient to leave us satiated. So, again, afer much debate, we decided against having dessert (thanks to familiarity with the humongous portions that are served here) and ordered one more snack – Pollo con Aioli, which is marinated chicken with Aioli. No, we had no clue on who (er, what) Aioli was. 🙂 It tasted a bit like corn, and a bit like the soggy peanuts we sometimes have, but overall was a bit bland. The saving grace was the sauce they gave with it. On hindsight, we really should’ve been gluttonous and gone for that ‘That Chocolate Thing’. For now, all we’re left with is its description – rich gooey flourless chocolate cake layered with dark chocolate ganache served with chocolate ice cream. Sigh, next time, definitely.

    All of this cost us just below Rs.600. Thats one of the good things about Mocha. It allows you to sample a lot of things, and still leaves enough room and dough for chocolate 😉

    Mocha 080 65357111 , 080 65357222

    PS. You can also check out the review of the other Mocha in Bangalore, here.

    Menu and Photos at Zomato