message in a bottle (02.2003 - 09.2008)

Eating lunch has become an adventure ever since I moved countries. Happily, it is usually an exciting adventure unless it is a Tuesday. On Tuesdays, I eat vegetarian food. Now, going by the variety of veggies I see in the grocery stores, getting some vegetarian grub should not be a trouble at all. So why is that I have to struggle every Tuesday and discover places like the cafeteria of S.P. Jain Institute of Management Studies to have lunch?

Because it is the definition of vegetarian food which is amiss. When a Singaporean says vegetarian food, it means food with lots of veggies, along with the meat. So, the Vegetarian Rice counter in my local food court specializes in fish head curry, with loads of veggies on the side. It is very amusing, really. I have colleagues who often want to know what all is included in vegetarian food – “Is fish vegetarian?”  “And eggs?” “What about cheese?” Many believe that if it is not beef or pork, it is vegetarian. Now, they are not wrong. Well, they are wrong but it is not their fault. I remember that during my visit to Phuket, the guide had explained that hey had two kinds of food for us – regular and vegetarian.

Despite these varied definitions, I notice that 80% of Indians in Singapore are vegetarians, which is a big mystery to me. Back home, I am usually the only person lining up for vegetarian food, with at most two to give me company in a group of ten. In the same fashion, I notice that 80% of Indian women dress up in traditional clothes here, while the figure drops hugely back home. I am wondering aloud, in case you have any idea.

Despite Chinese being (one of?) the most popular cuisines world wide, an average Chinese cannot eat well outside his/her country.

I have come to understand that every country has its own version of Chinese food. India does, I know for a fact. English and Americans have also customized Chinese food, I learned from books and friends. So much so, that Little India in Singapore has restaurants that claim to serve “Indian Chinese Food.” Very amusing that Chinese have never heard of most of the dishes that are passed off as Chinese food at my favorite Chinese restaurant back home.

I am very proud of the fact that I can actually eat and enjoy proper Chinese food now. The first couple of times were not very easy. The smell put me off but it was usually an eat-this-or-go-hungry situation and then the taste grew on me. My Chinese colleagues, on rare occasions when we eat together, find it very strange that I can eat Chinese food. “Because Indians only eat from Indian restaurants,” they say.

Yesterday I found a quick recipe for macaroni and cheese by the amazing PW. I tried it as soon as I got home, replacing some fancy ingredients with whatever I had at home. The result was super duper awesome, which means the recipe should be shared further. Mine is a simple five step recipe that serves two; I suggest the interested parties visit PW for the original one as well.

How to Make Awesome Mac and Cheese in Five Quick Steps


Step 1: Preparing the ingredients

Monday: Dinner (Continental) at Cafe 24, City Park
Tuesday: Lunch (Italian) at Craze, evening snacks (Italian) at TGIF, and dinner (Chinese) at Bercos
Wednesday: Lunch (Mexican) at Sweet Obsession
Thursday: Lunch (Chinese) from Chinese Kitchen, dinner (Indian) at Punjabi by Nature
Friday: Lunch (Italian) at Pizza Hut, evening snack from Hot Dog

'twas good. Burp.

Puts my fave McD burger to shame, this Hawaiian burger. Sluurp.

McLeod Ganj. A small town, more Tibetan than Indian, near Dharamshala (HP) is a pretty hill station. It is famous for its monastery that is His Holiness Dalai Lama's second home. The road leading to the monastery is flanked by tiny Tibetan shops and cafes and is a pleasure to walk down. However, the place you want to be in is not McLeod Ganj! You want to visit this little place, explore the market, the monastery, the church, and the eerie cemetery but you want to stay in Bhagshu.

Bhagshu is a hamlet around two kilometers upwards from McLeod Ganj. The walk up in fairly easy and very picturesque. You see the valley covered with chir and oak trees and if it is rainy weather, you only see mist. It is super fantastic. But it is not just the beauty of the mother nature that makes one love the little hamlet; once there, you see that it is full of people from all over Europe and maybe some Americans too. So there are some locals who usually speak Punjabi and English, and there are many foreigners, mostly Germans and Israelis (where else will you find them so happy and peaceful together?). You will see Indian tourists during afternoon; they come to visit the Bhagshu temple and see the Bhagshu waterfall and then they leave. Most of them are honeymooners from Manali who come to spend a day here. However, if you are an Indian and are roaming the streets early in the morning or late in the evening, you are the odd one out. Another noticeable thing is the use of Hebrew in Bhagshu. The language is commonly used to display menus at eating places and signs in the market. It was all strange markings to me that reminded me of school and history lessons but interesting nevertheless.

The hamlet (I love the word!) has a buzz of lazy activity. Let me elucidate. The place is as laid back as one can get but on the other hand, it has numerous activities to offer. So if you decide to stay there for two weeks, you can stay connected to the rest of the world thanks to cyber cafes at every nook and corner. If you are the kind who only travel with their laptops, they have wifi enabled hotels for you. Besides being technology savvy, Bhagshu offers you art, music, cooking, meditation, and language classes. You could also relax at a spa or a massage center. Fun loving ones could get tattoos and body art done. Or you could just lie back and smoke weed.

I, however, decided to eat.

All eating places in this lovely hamlet are called German Bakery. They all are decorated alike and serve similar food but they are all so fantastic that none of them have anything to worry about. Cobbled floor, colorful paper lamps hanging on top of tables, large display boards with bills and ads from all over the hamlet, bright paintings or wall hangings, bright tablecloths, and delicious food. The bakeries offer scrumptious wheat breads, croissants, pastries, and roles and they offer massive helpings of German breakfasts and Israeli dishes in lunch and dinner. You also get your regular Chinese and continental food. And for lover of all things Indian, there is a Punjabi dhaba too. However, if you are in Bhagshu, you must eat at German Bakery.

( and here is why )

Truth be told, it was not love at first sight. Or second. Or fortyfirst. But nevertheless, fun was had.

How did you get there?
It was baby's day out. Umm...baby's three days out, if you are one of those who like being specific. So, this bored friend of mine wihned about having a long weekend and nothing to do. I whined back. And then we remembered that we have always wanted to meet up in Bangalore and explore some places together. Next, we made a couple of calls, wrote a dozen mails, swiped the plastic, and *poof*, I found myself on the 12th main and 4th cross! Not really, but you get the drift, right?

What did you do?
Met friends. There is not much one can do in the city, I reckon, unless one has friends to hang out with. Nice friends of mine took me hopping from Koramangala to Residency Road, MG Road, Brigade Road, St. Clare's Road, Church Street ( I can even draw the map of these five roads!) to Indira Nagar, Russel Market (Do not ask why!) to National Market. The nice ones were hell bent on helping me get the flavor of the city and took me to places that serve authentic filter coffee and vada sambar, fed me tota pari with chatpatta masala, and they shared (but could not finish) the original Death by Chocolate with me. Then there were the pubs, the open air café, and the café in old stone building. They also took me to those delightful secondhand bookshops found in the alleys of Brigade Road; my favorite was Select Bookshop for its yellow walls made of mouldy books and the elderly sweet owner who cheerfully queried me about Darya Ganj book market. Then there was some bowling, some dining, some window shopping at the mall.

Did you shop at all?
Well, Bangalore has bookshops like Landmark and Blossom, what do you expect? Bangalore also has silk stores and sarees are liked by me. Then when I was done shopping at National Market my concerned buddy inquired if I had enough money to get back to Delhi. So, you can say that I shopped a bit. And one has to obviously pick up nick-nacks for people back home, right?

Did you do anything touristy?
No, I did not have enough time to visit the Technology Museum or enough incentive to enter the Cubbon Park. I saw the State Secretariat building and was dutifully impressed. That is about it. Hey hold on just a second...I did make my compulsory pilgrimage though.

Actually, it was a promise pinkoliphaunt and I made almost eight years ago. Back in college, we had decided that we will visit Bangalore and go to Rahul Dravid's house. The years have mellowed us down a bit, so this Tuesday morning, three giggling girls stood outside Dravid's house and clicked pictures with a cellphone camera in not so subtle manner and fled. That is touristy, right?

What did you like the best about the city?
The Sagars. The fact that all local restaurants that serve typical South Indian food have a name suffixed with Sagar is unadulterated fun. Srinidhi Sagar, Shiv Sagar, Asok Sagar, Sandhya Sagar, Shanti Sagar. I visited at least one Sagar on each day of my stay. Super.

So, no regrets, right?
Umm...I never got around to visiting Shiok. I was in Indira Nagar, but not at the right hours.

Oh so you did not eat out much?
Did I say that?

( Iterating never hurt anyone. )

Thanks people

sumthn2say, for being a super-duper hostess and not being mad at me for being glued to the PSP while you sat glaring at me.
pinkoliphaunt, for taking me to all those hidden places that I could have never-ever found out without you.
redobsession, for the cute gifts, nifty pictures, and introducing me to your mum.
Chandita (the girl with no identity in cyberland), for accompanying us for the pilgrimage and to the DVD heaven.