It’s been a bit of a challenge to decide exactly how much of my vacation to describe in my blog posts.

The easiest way to go about it is to describe my trip in blocks of days and hopefully manage to make it exciting rather than just a narration of events.

So, here I go…

Day 1

We had planned to catch a 1pm flight from Bangalore to Mumbai (formerly called Bombay). As per the plan, we would have reached Mumbai by 2:30, which would give us ample time to check in and maybe do a quick round of the city.

Unfortunately for all of us, our plane was delayed for 4 hours, leaving us stranded in the spanking new Bengalooru International Airport. We made the best of a bad situation by chilling out with our friends at Barista and the food courts. After generally stuffing our faces, we started looking around in the stores and generally doing some window-shopping and contemplating some purchases. The snubnose and her friend spent time running around from one side of the departure lounge to the other. Mr. K tried his best not to get stressed what with his runaway shopping-mad wife and his daughter who was running around getting under everyone’s feet. Thankfully, before any financial or physical damage was done, we were called for boarding .

Oh, I think the new airport rocks! It’s a little on the small side, but nevertheless, it was really clean, and well-maintained.

We reached Mumbai past seven, got stuck in rush-hour traffic and basically reached our rooms too pooped to do anything. Our hotel was on Bandra Hill Road, and after check-in, we just rushed to the nearest restaurant to fill up our insides with large quantities of street food.

Mumbai is famous for its cheap and plentiful street food known as chaat. And throughout our stay in Mumbai, this was what we primarily indulged in. Mr. K never ate anything other than pav bhaajis, while the snubnose and I lagaoed the yummy bhel puris.

Day 2

The purpose of our trip to Mumbai was to attend a friend’s wedding. Because of this, we really did not do too much sight-seeing. Day 2 mostly went in random street-shopping in Bandra’s Hill Road. We came back with some awesome junk jewelery for the snubnose and myself. The stuff here was totally dirt-cheap. I normally don’t buy fake jewelery finding them to be too expensive for fakes, but here I could totally indulge. Also, the designs were very beautiful and intricate, very much more my style than the stuff you get in Bangalore.

After shopping, and again stuffing ourselves with chaat, we made our way back to the hotel to meet the groom and have a short photo session with him before making our way to the church for the ceremony.

After a little hesitation, I decided to wear the blue churidhar kurta because it was a slightly dressier option. We then took a lot of pictures and then made our way to the church.

Before the wedding

Here, I must say that I was totally blown away by the ceremony. Our Hindu rituals are usually so loud, and filled with so much smoke and chatter that it is really difficult to focus on the couple. I loved that a church wedding demands a sense of discipline and quiet. We could actually listen to the very meaningful words uttered by the priest and feel completely involved in their wedding.

The bride’s wedding dress was really beautiful, it was a traditional white gown with a long veil…I was just sighing with satisfaction. The snubnose has also become really affected after seeing her. She started calling her “Princess aunty”, which I thought was really cute. After coming back, she has started wearing more frocks and draping dupattas around her neck so that she can also become Princess Jahnavi

The reception was total fun. There was an emcee, a DJ, and tons of dancing. We all had a whale of a time dancing the funky chicken and the Christmas polka, apart from the standard Bollywood dancing. The snubnose lost all her inhibitions and hit the dance floor and really let loose. She was the first to get on the floor and the last to come of it

I really need to find some really nice dance classes for her. She loves dancing so much!

Came back to our rooms completely exhausted. The snubnose continued to dance on the bed, until she dropped of exhaustion.

An eventful 2 days. After all this partying in Mumbai, we were all totally charged up for the second half of our trip – three days by the beach in Goa.

Well…..I took these pictures when i visited BKC…..I had some work in NSE so while coming back home i clicked these

have a look

Hi everyone. This is my first post on my new blog named: Bottle Masala (the icon of all East Indians – LOL). I am an East Indian and I intend this blog to be about the East Indians and all things associates with the East Indian (EI)community.
Whilst searching thru the net, I noticed many misconceptions about the EIs. Many people believe the EIs to be from the Eastern part of India – not surprizing, as the name “East Indians” can be quite misleading. Some use the term East Indians to refer to people from India, as opposed to the West Indies. Others believe EIs to be anyone from Maharashtra … the list of misconceptions goes on & on.
I hope to sort our some of the confusion with this blog as well as to revive various traditions, customs, foods, etc. of the EI community.

One road, one destination, one journey! And yeah that one soul is me… Carter road has a gorgeous side to it too, the perfect capturer was required.. So here I am

Another click at carter road, this small path leads to a temple in the sea, which not many people know about. Don’t miss the bird in the sky, free flying like he rules the world!

Been around for more than two years, Hangla had escaped my rumbling stomach and my ever-growing appetite for new delicacies; but not anymore. A friend brought to my attention the new outlet opened in Bandra, opposite the erstwhile Cream Centre (anyone know what happened to it?). The foodie that I am, I couldn’t resist the call of duty of my relentless pursuit for new trials (still trying my hand with these big words, so be tolerant will ya ). Went there twice already and haven’t been disappointed yet.

The first time I tried the Double Chicken Roll, a safe bet generally. The roti, draped with egg, included 10 pieces of chicken (OMG!) and some veggies to go with it. It was an absolute delight having the roll that never seemed to get over! The chicken was well cooked and the roti was soft, I guess because of the egg. Next time (the next day actually) I tried the Chicken Kasha and Laccha Paratha. The first thing I did like to say about this dish is that if I could have it, I did eat it everyday! The Paratha made me an instant fan and so did the spicy chicken kasha. A half plate costing INR 70 coupled with Laccha Paratha worth INR 20 was enough to fill my tummy. Makes me wonder, how much do Bengalis really eat?? Little wonder then that the place is called Hangla, meaning glutton in Bengali. If I may add a bit of Marathi here, Hangla is changla! .

Besides  the chicken dishes, also tried the Fish Chop (prepared from Bhetki Fish). The chop accompanied by mustard sauce, a special mustard sauce, is apparently hard to get in Mumbai. Never have I liked mustard as much as I did here (wonder what is their secret mustard recipe). The Fish meanwhile was non-smelly, less oily (surprisingly at that!) and very tasty!

I wouldn’t know Bengali food so asked my Bengali friends who positively confirmed that the food here tastes like the food prepared in Kolkata. So, Mumbaikars, gorge yourselves on the

The prices though maybe a downer for some people but a full meal can be had for less than INR 100 which I think is a big positive. I rather spend less here and get more than vice versa elsewhere.

The Verdict

Food: 5/5 – Not since Carter Blue have I felt like going to the same place again and again for its rolls and other items. Kudos to Hangla’s for bring out the glutton in me .

Service: 4/5 – Loved it. Good fun interacting with the guy at the counter. He seemed a gem of a person!

Ashamed of: Not trying the outlet at Lokhandwala and Malad before!

Was out for a drive with a friend and decided to pick up a Chicken Shawarma from here. All of INR 80, it is just a bit more expensive and maybe a bit better than its Carter Blue counterpart. Less of veggies and more of chicken for one, the Pita Bread too was much softer. In fact, it was what I think, the way Merhaba – The Gourmet Cafe intended to make the bread. The best thing about Biona’s shawarma was the bread wasn’t chewy nor was it tilting towards the crunchy side. The chicken was good as well and the roll was by far the biggest one I have had so far!

Truly delightful, the shawarma comes in two sizes, regular and large but I am guessing the regular one suffices the appetites of most people. It satiated my taste buds and stopped my stomach from growling further!

Hey there. How is the Saturday treating you so far? Iam truly tied up with work and there is no way out (not like am looking for one) Yesterday night I had a great dinner at Global Fusions at Bandra. A phenomenal spread of Sushi and the wine was excellent too (Don’t ask us for the bill – we are still regretting it) During the dinner we spotted Shiamak Davar and his key dancer Aneesha Dalal. You know the girl who also played the choreographer in the movie “Rab ne bana di jodi” and is always at centrestage in all performances? She looked as gorgeous (if not more) as she does on stage. Dressed in black with big n bold gold danglers in her ears (I love big n bold gold danglers) she was the hogging the limelight even though she wasn’t dancing. A versatile and talented dancer, Aneesha has been with the Shiamak troupe for as long as I can remember. I still recall seeing her on the cover of a teenage magazine while I was still in school and she had said “Boyfriends are ok but only for a while” and a few years ago RJ and actress Tarana Raja Kapoor, also an ex-member of Shiamak’s troupe said something on radio about Aneesha on how she is the only person she knows who looks pretty even when she has just got out of bed in the morning. What can we say! The girls got the looks and she can move n groove – way to go!

The Salad at Candies has become famous with patrons. The salad offers fresh veggies and meat and is specifically directed at those who are health conscious (and Bandra has a lot many of those!!). The other day I went with my colleagues to take advantage of the 25% discount after 8 PM. So the salads cost us INR 60 which is a great price for fulfilling meal. Wanted to try every salad at the counter but my love (or maybe fetish??) for ‘white’ food was too overwhelming. So the plate was filled up with the potato chicken salad, fruit salad and chicken macaroni and some tuna salad as well. The tuna salad was there only ’cause it passed the test the last time I was here.

The meal, had at 9PM, was surprisingly fresh. The veggies were freshly cut and it seemed like the serving was prepared only a few minutes ago! It was a real treat for all of us to have fresh salads at that time of the hour! Though one thing I realised was that I don’t prefer fruits with veggies I rather have either fruit salad or just a normal salad!

Salad at Candies is always recommended and there is nothing like fresh salad!

After the movie Parineeta, I don’t remember being touched or moved or even remembering Vidya Balan or her performances. She isn’t a bad actress at all but I guess all that experimentation with her look in Kismat Konnection and Hey Babbyyy didn’t quite do the trick!

What’s making me blog about her now? Her look in Paa the film. The much awaited film of the Bachchan parivaar has Ms. Balan look fresh and fun!

Iam not surprised that Sabyasachi Mukherjee is behind the transformation! He has designed to bring out her real essence and it shows.

She is seen wearing simple, conventional yet stylish and Bohemian clothes that gel with her personality. Lots of chunky bangles with a thick watch, a cloth hair band, long flaired skirts, layered tops. It’s all for you to see. I think she looks beautiful and she has brought back the Vidya people fell in love with when they saw her in Parineeta. Wanna get Vidya’s look? Hmm. Let me see. For her jewelery, you will find everything in Colaba Causeway,  just walk on the street and you will discover it.  Even streets of Bandra and Lokhandwala are good for this but Colaba Causeway is where you can bargain and getaway! As far as the skirts and jackets are concerned, look for the long skirts at Fab India, Cotton Cottage, Cotton World, Cottons in Bandra. Jackets? Bring your old pull overs out. You can also head to Benetton, they have some pretty stuff for the winter season and so does Monte carlo. Log on to www.montecarlocollections.com

You know what they always told you when you were in school or college, “Oh so you are in school?” Enjoy this while it lasts and you had a puzzled look on your face wondering why they are saying what they are saying ! But when you enter this store called Play Clan in Delhi, all your troubles will disappear and you will begin to feel your creative juices flow. Why? How? That will reveal itself on the website (read below for details)

What’s the good news? Mumbaikars can make merry as they have finally decided to come to Mumbai. Now the big question they are asking on their facebook group is where to put up their store. In Bandra, Lower Parel or Colaba? What do you think? Where should they go? Will you recommend them Sobo or let them locate in Suburbs? Dont know? Cant say? At least look up their uber funky merchandise on http://www.theplayclan.com

Ah what a lovely weekend it was! Good change after the melancholic feel of the past week due to the first anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist acts…

On Friday evening went to town to see a movie. We saw the Bollywood film De Dana Dan which was actually quite hilarious, yet typical: Hindi with slapstick elements, crazy dance scenes and a simplistic plot. Women are dipped in a barrel foundation wearing skin tight lycra, guys have spent considerable time at the gym honing those bodies, nobody really needs to “act”. The production quality matches Hollywood easily, but the style is very very very different. Highly recommended even if you don’t speak Hindi – you’ll still end up having a good time even if just following the fanatic reactions of the audience.

Here’s a clip from the film:

Saturday I went buy some Western stuff at a posh local supermarket. They were shooting some food segment there with a celebrity chef and lots of upper class people had turned up alongside the press and TV crews. I couldn’t have cared less but then I realized EU was sponsoring the event and they were serving French wines and European food. Oooh it was heaven! I followed the service stuff around the shop for a good while taking everything I was offered. Norwegian wild smoked salmon with French cream cheese and chives, Greek olives and real feta and real French Sauvignon Blanc! Praise the lord, it was better than, ahem, a lot of things! I miss wine so bad (here it’s taxed really high and the Indian wines are quite poor)… Managed to gulp down two glasses which made me very merry.

After this heavenly treat I walked back home and realized all the goats were gone. Yes, a while back some goats appeared on my apartment buildings yard, and I’d noticed there were lots of them everywhere in the city: on streets, tied in front of restaurants, on people’s backyards, and in the slums. I’d been informed they were all to be sacrificed for Eid/Id, the Muslim holiday. And well, Saturday was the sacrifice day. Good bye sweet little beasts.

Later my neighbours came by to offer me a bag of fresh goat meat, which was kinda sweet although I had to decline as I’m veg.

Anyways, not to be disrespectful to the Muslim holidays, we had a bit of a party later on. Re-unions of returning travelers, last drinks with others and generally a jolly good time. Danced to Abba very enthusiastically which might’ve hurt my cool points though but so be it…

Not to let the momentum pass, on Sunday I attended a pretty ridiculous expat open-top bus pub crawl. As I live in Bandra, which is in the North of Mumbai, I don’t go out in the South a.k.a. Town that much because, well, I live in the coolest little hipster area already and rarely feel the need to trek down to the more touristic part of the city (although they’ve better architecture thanks to the colonial buildings and wide avenues and parks built during the British rule). Everything down there is more expensive, a bit snobbier and also you get hassled by beggars and touts much more. But this was special occasion. We got a bus with other Bandra people and Juhu-ites (another Northern suburb popular with foreigners) and went seeking for the authentic South crawling through bars with our bus. Met lots of cool folks and also discovered very nice joints.

And that was that. Today is my last day at work and then it’s time for holidays!

Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum orders xxxx Developers to immediately act on obtaining Occupation Certificate for a property, which was sold by them in 2006. Obtaining Occupation Certificate (OC) should be a must-have document for those purchasing flats, before taking possession of their property. If you are denied the same, then the consumer court can come to the rescue of the property buyers.

Bandra Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, last week, ordered xxxx  Developers to give a purchaser OC within four months, noting that the OC is an essential requirement for a flat-buyer.  The buyers of flats are relieved of their tension, in obtaining the OC.

The Forum further observed that, “Obtaining OC is an essential requirement under the MOFA (Maharashtra Ownership Flat Act) and the flat purchased cannot legally occupy the same, unless the OC is obtained by the builder. The builder has not produced a single piece of paper to show that he has taken effective steps with the competent authority for obtaining OC.”

Importance of Occupation Certificate (OC)

The OC issued by the local municipality, stands for the completion of the property as per the approved plan, so as to be fit for occupation, and should be in compliance with all concerned laws. Lawyer Wavikar said, “This is a trendsetting order, especially with the consumer foras, passing it at an interim stage. Several flat-buyers, who shell out their lifetime’s hard-earned money, will be benefited by this order. Many get possession, though not the OC, due to which the municipality can ask for eviction of their flat or have penalties levied on them. Besides, if they don’t have OC, the possession is illegal. Even the water supply would be charged at double or triple the usual rate and the same go for electricity.”

Four hungry stomachs, equivalent appetites and a penchant for trials led us to the burger place Bembos. This was one of those rare occasions where everyone agreed instantaneously.  The South American (who knew??) burger place has two distinct seating areas – the inside part which is clearly for the afternoon hangouts and the outside part where a burger can be enjoyed whilst overlooking the bustling city traffic. So as we went there during lunch, we decided to grab a table inside before anyone else could!

The four hungry stomachs that I mentioned earlier, grabbed a different burger each with me trying the Grilled Chicken Burger. They generally have two sizes for almost every burger except for the Mutton Burger and the Grilled Chicken Breast (I guess chickens do not have different breasts sizes??). The large one I had was worth INR 99. Bigger than anything you get at Mac or at KFC but smaller than the ones at Gostana! My friend also ordered for a small pack of fries which according to her was more than what is served at KFC.

This burger outlet is the only place known to me which serves mayonnaise sauce along with ketchup and chilli sauce. Besides the mayonnaise another highlight is the fresh veggies used in the burger. The patty too was freshly made. The four hungry stomachs really enjoyed the burgers with some saying it was the best they have had till date! It took a not-so-well-known Peruvian fast food chain to bring out a statement like that!

I did like the burger a lot. Infact it was a lot better than the last time we tried em’ here! I hope they keep up the good work and keep churning awesome burgers!

This Peru-based burger place was an interesting find. According to Wikipedia they have another outlet in Delhi and in Panama City besides the many outlets in Peru!

If anyone knows any other South American eatery do post here! Would love to try it out!

(Image linked from http://www.brandsoftheworld.com)

Address: 34, Manorama Chambers, Opp. Indian Bank, S. V. Road, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050

Ph No (For Takeaways): 26415599, 26415600, 67100625

When Gorgeous Girlie! is low its quite easy to cheer her up! A cup of good coffee and put on a dvd of Friends and she is all set. What else peps me up? All these sms messages about the new collections, sales, party outfits and all that. I did get several today! Bombay Electric at Colaba has received Satayams Mughal collection – now that sounds interesting – something to go see over the weekend. Karma Kola in Bandra has received a bunch of goodies to dress you up for the party season – go and rummage through their racks to see what you can find. As for me, am wrapping off to a weekend getaway down south so wish me a happy journey and a terrific trip! Will you?