St Lourdes Church, Kanajar

California Pizza, Infiniti Mall, Malad, Mumbai

the rhird visit to this mall in the last 2 days! after a late night event, my cousin Ashwin and I were looking for places to eat. and we stopped at Infiniti mall. it was way past 11 pm and we were sceptical of finding any good places to eat. the food courts were all closed , but we were thankful for California Pizza which was open, thanks to a few late customers who had not finished eating.

at first they told us that the kitchen was closed, then after requesting, they couldnt say no to 2 starving clients.

The United Sports Bar and Grill, Infinity Mall, Malad West, Mumbai

The United, sports bar and grill was our choice for lunch, on nov 9, 2014 when me and wifey niki were treated by our relatives Elaine, Reuben and Aldridge.

Global Sigree Restaurant, Malad, Mumbai

Global Sigree is one of the most popular restaurants in Mumbai and the sheer number of people that were present on that night was testament to this.  we managed to get in thanks to our relatives who had booked a table earlier. true to the name, Global Sigree had a Mid east, GUlf based theme going on. every table had a flag of a middle eastern country and there were flags on the ceiling and even the buffet was Arabian themed.

Cafe Mondegar's and Colaba

another extremely popular hang out place at Colaba, i remember hearing about it in the 90's for the CD juke box they had for patrons. and this was my first visit and i was told that nothings changed.

Bade Mian Restaurant at Colaba, Mumbai

a very popular restaurant, Bade Mian is famous for its mutton kebabs. me and niki were travelling in a friends car, when niki saw Bade Mian sign board from a distance. we stopped the car and asked the driver to meet us after 4 hours and gave him some lunch money. we were pleasantly surprised at the restaurant.

Jamuna Building Mumbai

Jamuna Building was where my father grew up when he was studying his Law in Mumbai, even back then he remembers the building to be made from wooden flooring and now the building would have been least 80 years old.

I visited the building for the very first time in November, 2014 and took few photos for my dad.

The Pune dairies - Day 7 - Bye Bye Pune, Hello Mumbai

finished our breakfast at Vohuman cafe and prepared ourselves for the nearly 3 hour drive from Pune to Mumbai. we again thank our friends Colin at The 3 Hungry Men for arranging cab services to pick us and drop us safely from Pune to Mumbai, Borivali.

somewhere along the highway, we stopped over to pick up ...wait for it... for CHIKKI and the driver knew exactly where to take us.

The Pune dairies - Day 4,5,6 - Vohuman Cafe

the best part about staying at Sassoon road was Vohuman Cafe. in fact i am pretty sure that its the best part of staying in Pune!

one reviewer on zomato goes to write " great place, great food, just dont try striking up a conversation with the grumpy old man at the counter".

Vohuman cafe, dont be surprised by the old school looks, the cracks and crevices on the floor and walls only reflects the fact that Vohuman Cafe has stood the test of time catering to the tastes of everyone belonging at every strata of society. that too at an affordable price!

the 4 days we stayed in Pune , we visited the place at least 8 times for breakfast and evening coffee.  we only missed breakfast the first morning as we didnt know the place was close by and took a horrible decision of visiting a 3 star hotel for breakfast buffet that cost us Rs 500/- per person.

The Pune Diaries - Day 6 - The Asian Box

The Asian Box is a another popular food joint situated (wherelse) at Koregaon park. i had gone for a hair cut and niki decided to spoil herself at the spa called Le Clinique. a quick post here

The Pune Dairies - Day 5 and 6 - Inkarnation Tattoo

Sidhanth Nigam - incredibly talented guy and one of the nicest , down to earth people i have ever met. another round of thanks goes to Colin of the 3 Hungry men and his sister Shereen for introducing me to him.

Inkarnation studio, situated on Senapati Bapat road, is a tiny room that has really loud extreme metal music playing in the background when Mr. Sid is working , either on sketches or tattooing people.

i always wanted to get an Iron Maiden tattoo, as its my all time fav band and probably the only reason why i am alive today and also probably the only reason i am a musician. (started listening to Maiden was i was 5 years old in 1985 and picked up playing the guitar when i was 8! is my all time fav story as well)

The Pune Dairies - Day 5 - Toons Cafe

Visit to Pune would be incomplete if u dont come to Toon's Cafe for a quick bite or to quench your thirst. i also learnt that its one of the few (or maybe the only) pubs that place classic rock and metal music. i thank the 3 Hungry men again for recommending.

MG road in Pune is a shoppers delight. we first picked up a few shirts for myself from Louis Philppe and Niki tried to purchase a few sarees from the boutique next to Toons. meanwhile i had already fixed my appointment with Sid, to get a tattoo. (next blog post).

The Pune dairies - Day 5 - Shaniwar Wada

From Wiki - Shaniwarwada (Marathi: शनिवार वाडा) is an 18th-century fort in the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. Built in 1746,[1] it was the seat of the Peshwa rulers of the Maratha Empire until 1818 when the Peshwas lost control to the British East India Company, after the Third Anglo-Maratha War. The fort itself was largely destroyed in 1828 by an unexplained fire, but the surviving structures are now maintained as a tourist site.

Following the rise of the Maratha Empire, the palace became the center of Indian politics in the 18th century

i am always fascinated with ruined buildings and visit to Shaniwar Wada was not something i had in mind earlier. at first i thought it was a restaurant serving vada on saturdays!.
rick to wada cost Rs 50/- from the lodge and entrance tickets was Rs 10/-

The Pune Dairies - Day 4 - Habibi

after visiting the tribal museum, both niki and I were hunggggryyyy!!! we took a rick to Koregaon park , and after spending time at a deserted mall, decided to try authentic Greek food at Euriska.

The Pune Dairies - Day 4 - Tribal Art Museum

nikki loves museums. we took a rick from Aga Khan palace to the tribal art museum for Rs 180/- and the entrance ticket was prices at Rs 20/-

we would have reached a lot earlier, but the address mentioned on google maps was completely wrong and we landed up in some other place at least 5 kms away from the intended destination. thanks to a couple of friends people, we were given the proper directions and reached the tribal museum around lunch time.

highlight was Warli forlk paintings at the museum. along with tribal jewellery, handrcrafts, weapons , masks, agri tools, etc.