Music on the drive

I have been travelling quite a bit in the last few weeks, but for the few days that I was in Mumbai, I managed to listen to some albums I had not heard for a really long time. I had picked Is there anybody out there? The Wall LIVE, The Best of Barclay James Harvest & LIVE LIVE LIVE - Bryan Adams

Am not such a fan of BJH but they are a bunch of nice guys. The Bryan Adams CD brings back memories, especially the chorus for Kids Wanna Rock, at one of the Rock Machine (Indus Creed) gigs at Rang Bhavan, when we were in Engg College. Though the studio version of The Wall is of much superior quality, the live version is not that bad at all. But I loved the sleeve notes that came along. They have personal notes by Waters, Gilmour, Wright & Mason.

Infact sleeve notes are the one big thing that make me buy original CD's. I read the sleeve notes for the above albums admist Mumbai traffic jams!

First Date

I met Snehal exactly an year ago. Little did we know that one year later we'd relive the moment with so much nostalgia. 5 months of courtship & 7 months of marriage have passed by quickly, that it just seems like yesterday that we went on our first date for a nice dinner at Great Punjab, Pune.

We celebrated our first date anniversary, if I were to use the word, with a nice dinner with my family.

My nephew was the most thrilled with the cake cutting as is evident from his 1000W smile. He loves blowing candles and then having an audience clap. We do this routine at least once every weekend that he comes over. We love it as much as he does.

Traffic & Rains

In monsoons, especially in Mumbai, Traffic & Rains are very much related. This friday was no different. Got stuck in one for nearly 3 hours. A flyover that usually takes a minute to cross took over 1 hour. I managed a detour to my uncles place and stayed indoors, hopeful of the rains subsiding. But no go there. So it was back home a few hours later.

Although it was raining cats & dogs outside, I least expected it inside the car. Yeah, INSIDE! There are these micro pores on the windshield, one of which is rather macro than micro, and under the barrage of torrential rains, water trickles inside and falls on the drivers lap, which is yours truly.

Got the problem fixed, albeit temporarily, I might have to get it attended to, in my next servicing.

Café Mondegar

Its always so nostalgic to step into Café Mondegar. Ever since 12th Std (1990), Mondis has been a great hangout joint. The place continues to be status quo. Other than a giant screen (used only for special sports screenings), a new large Heineken refrigerator & a wine list to the menu, everything is the same.

Me & Snehal decided to have a few beers there last night. Before getting to Mondis, we stopped by at The Bombay Store and picked up a few curious & the elusive soft cloth coasters.

We polished off a pitcher & a bottle along with 2 plates of garlic toast (good), fish fingers & chips (pretty good) & a plate of steak boti (excellent, as usual). The steak boti at Mondis is quite a treat. As like the ambience, I think the food has also been consistent over the years, consistently good. Though we had plans to go to Bade Miyan, we skipped it since we were reasonably full. So we actually opted for some dessert. Fruit Salad with Ice Cream. I am sure that was a rare order in Mondis but hey, what the heck.

The long drive back through the rains didn't seem like a hassle, given that we had such a good time. will try to do these town binges more often