Kicking off the I-Must-Go-To series!

Are you hungry? Are you new to Pune? Have you stayed in Pune for long but were too lazy to go out?
Or...did you get here from Stumble Upon?
If you answered Yes to any of those questions, you, my friend, have come to the right place. Because, starting today, I will post a series of blog-posts in which I review restaurants, malls, stores, places, streets and I find worth reviewing.

Don't expect mind-blowing photos from a DSLR. Currently, all the photos will be from either an HTC Wildfire S or a Nokia Asha 200 ( I won't tell you which one belongs to me. Oh shoot, you guessed it.)

Dont expect any expert insights into the way they work, the way they make their money or anything close to intelligence.

But, what you should expect is:

1. a suggestion as to where you should go if you've not had anything significant since morning and don't have a siginificant amount of money either.

2. a description of what I did, why I did that, what I liked and what I noticed. For eg, when I went to office, I noticed that everyone didn't have a dustbin and that the two wings had different carpets. So you get it right? It'll have stuff everyone pays attention to.

Without much further ado than the amount of useless ado already, I present to you the 1st set of reviews.

I must go to Coffee House, MG Road, Pune

After a long talk over whiskey in the guest house(they had it, I just saw them I swear) the previous night, I woke up at 11 and decided that MG Road would be the first place we would visit in this new city.

Coffee House is an amazing little restaurant on MG Road, right opposite SGS Magnum Mall.

Poona Coffee House was a meeting point for established as well as aspiring politicians. One famous politician who used to work here as a cashier was Suresh Kalmadi, and it worked in his favor because this was where he met Mumbai's mayor and eventually Sharad Pawar. This is not the coffee house I had visited. 'My' Coffee House has no history. But its still recommended.

However! Coffee House is small but cozy, bustling with noise but exciting, has enough waiters around and has enough variety. But, I had read about how brilliant Coffee House's south indian food was. So, I tried the Masala Dosa and Aditi ordered an onion uttapam. And, it really was brilliant.

The uttapam was as big as the plate and well cooked. I had never seen an uttapam that big. But what really worked for me were the prices. 55 for the uttapam and the masala dosa each. So, a nice meal for two can cost as little as Rs. 110. No additional service charge, service tax, VAT, sales tax or even capital gains tax.

Dorabjee's abuts Coffee House and is also worth a visit. The Hindu tells me Dorabjee's was formerly known as Treacher & Co, a British wine and grocers set up to support the British Garrison (now Pune Cantonment). Dorabjee took it over in 1911 and has been called namesake eversince. Its collection of imported chocoaltes, sauces, liquors and cheeses still continue to serve so many of the foreigners that I saw today. Today, its a 3-floor supermarket that has everything from Ambi Pur to Sil Soya Sauce. Earlier, it even had a Westside, Landmark and a Planet M all inside it!
Here is what it looks like from across the road:

I noticed jams from Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Belgium and UK and chocolates from Switzerland, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, UK, US and Dubai. I noticed bone shaped dog food, a cat shaped squeezeee for the dog again and wonderful pastries for humans, like these:

Should you pay a visit? Yes. Should you pay? No. There are no discounts apart from a Rs. 100 off on a Rs. 400 Lindt. Useless. (-_-') But, you can probably try the bakery or the coffee shop on the top floor. Here is another pic, coz they're free:

So, that's all for today. I sincerely hope I remain regular with this. And, my previous blog-posts have all come at a regular interval of 3-6 months. So, there is some assurance.

I must find a place to stay in Pune, so off I go to Magicbricks. Oh no wait! You forgot your C&H treat!

Ready to rumble!

Of late, I have been feeling a funny feeling, one that is filled with a sense of finality and of a new beginning too. And I have been finding it somewhat difficult to cope with it. I say somewhat difficult because I knew the end of college was coming and it feels better than it did when I was in the train back to Mumbai, and also because I don't know what to expect from work.

Its been 10 days since I left college and obviously, I am raring to get back to it. Honestly, the feeling has subsided quite a bit. But, the urge to go back hasn't. What has changed is that the fact that college is over has started to sink in now. I think everyone must be realising this now. It was bound to end. It has. And there is no point fretting about how badly we want to go back. Its pointless. That has changed how I feel. In a week, college has changed to a trove of memories and mine are littered by little bits and pieces. Its not like the strands in a pensieve that J. K. Rowling wrote about. Mine are more like little flashes of scenes, emotions and dialogues all knitted together to form this bizarre modern art of a cloth that I wear everyday to bed. My memories of college are more about people, places, situations and events individually. For example, I remember Harry washing his hands before leaving for class, even after taking a bath. Or, I remember how we always thought the Chem prof had actually died when he sat on his chair in the lecture hall. Or, how everyone thought Dodo was a nuclear energy researcher turned mathematician and his skin was peeling off because of exposure to radiation!

What is also happening is, in 4 days, I will start working in Pune. Its a big shift, I suppose. I have not heard much about how life suddenly changes from "Dad, I am running out of money" to "Hey, HR, when is my salary coming?". I bug PK about it almost everyday, trying to get as much information as I can about life at ZS. I think I might have bugged him too much. But, I am doing all that because I need to keep myself calm and happy and excited about working.

I still have a lot of doubts about life as an employee. How do you manage the 1st month till you wait for your salary? That period is kind of like college I guess? Am I really gonna be so tired I'd rather sleep the entire weekend? Which laptop am I gonna get when I join? Will Limbo run on it? (Coz it doesn't on the one I am typing this on right now :) ) But, more serious ones like how long am I gonna last there? Am I going to get through IIM selections like so many of these ZS people have this year? Will I find friends who will be even half as fun as the ones I met in college?

I don't know what lies in store for me. But, I do know it'll be good. It has to be now that I blogged about it!

As usual, here is your C&H treat!