Life Unpacked

Hard Rock Cafe is a name every foodie and music lover is acquaint with. Its warm and chic atmosphere studded with rock memorabilia throughout the space definitely elevates the dining experience for lovers of the namesake genre. So what would a foodie, who is also a metalhead, do when she gets the opportunity to pay a visit to this legendary restaurant and sample picks from their limited period offerings? Duh, grab it and never let it go! Last week, Thursday to be precise, I headed to Hard Rock Cafe's outlet nestled beautifully in a Mill Complex located in Worli to try their sizzling spread up on offer as a part of their ongoing Sizzle Festival, which are on the menu till 22nd March across all its outlets. To describe the experience in a nutshell; worth the hype. Bacardi Smoked Apple Pie (left), Smoked Bacardi Gold Sour (right). The afternoon began on a high note with the sound of sizzle greeting me as soon as I stepped in the restaurant; that, paired with the aroma o...

I had been itching to go on a photowalk and do some street photography as soon as summer hit Mumbai. But honestly, my love-hate relationship with street photography paired with the soaring temperature (harsh enough to give a friend of mine a sunstroke!) kept me pushing the plan to another day. Finally I managed it last Monday.  As I said, I have a love-hate relationship with street-photography, mostly because I think people will dismiss me as a freak or a media student and I don't want to offend anyone by clicking their pictures discreetly. On my Monday's photowalk, I did coax myself into taking some pictures with human element in it but frankly, it was hard! Primarily because women wouldn't stop staring at my camera (might be concerned).    About the final edits part; I actually didn't find any picture good except these two, basically because they lacked that drawing in factor. Also, this is the first time I've used photoshop to edit the pictures. So yeah...

When deciding on a place to chill at with friends over some good food and drinks, honestly, there aren't many options available in Mumbai and out of the ones to choose from, the damage they inflict on the pocket is pretty huge (especially, a student's). Enter Trader Vic's Mai Tai, a chilled out Polynesian themed lounge. A lively casual place perfect for almost anything; be it a brunch with family (yes, this lounge is family friendly!) or hanging out with friends over some fun drinks. The open air seating paired with tropics-inspired tracks being played in the background adds to the already festive ambiance. And the best part? The food is excellent and decently priced! I discovered this lounge after receiving an invitation to try out their new "Sensational Sliders" which are on the menu till 24th March across all its outlets. I decided to check them out at the one at Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel. Tucked away in a breezy corner, away from the frenzy of the mall a...

I went there...not once, not even twice, but thrice. Each time with a different set of people but the experience of the exhibition remained almost the same; a sea of people flowing in a direction and carrying everyone along with it as a tide does. The scenario was the same on every visit; people hanging on the exhibition, trying to capture a perfect shot for their next "profile picture". The vibe was less "art festival" than it was of a "fair". The only thing that made the festival worth it for me was  the classical music concert about which I wrote some days back. Maybe the fault lay in the days I chose to visit the exhibition, still, the way most of the public treated the art installations was pathetic!  Nevertheless, I did take pictures of some art installations (and not of all, thanks to the crowds of people swarming around them like bees). The bottom-line is, although Kala Ghoda Art Festival is worth goi...

"One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life."- This is how Nathan Scott in the show finale of One Tree Hill reflected upon his past 10 years of life. I turned 17 years old last month (!), and it feels funny; that I am almost an adult yet I haven't got stuff figured out, that I haven't been able to accomplish something substantial. Anyways, I have this yearly ritual where I make a to-do list from which I ought to tick off as many items as possible before I turn another year old. But before I start drafting one for this year, let's check out the status of the last year's: Harry Potter Movie marathon?  I did watch a few movie of this series back to back but honestly, the entire series is way too long to watch at one go. Status: HALF-DONE. Dining in a Irani Cafe? Oh yeah, a long pending to-do was finally accomplished and that t...

....And this happened when my brother had this idea of soaking bread slices in sugar syrup, "Yes, it'll taste awesome", he said and I suggested using milk instead to add some richness. Well, this is one of the usual scenes from an average Saturday afternoon at our house; he gets a little over-ambitious in the kitchen and we either have a disaster or a winner. Today, he unknowingly pointed in the direction of bread pudding and that struck me as I was improvising his idea. He did go forth with his original  intentions and that did end up as a sickeningly sweet disaster but I got determined to try making a bread pudding, the recipe seemed simple enough and no special ingredients were required, in spite of those facts I messed up a bit by forgetting to add the vanilla essence! However, mom saved the day and hence, the flavour still was terrific. But again I hurried to demould the pudding and in that haste I broke the caramel  top. Sigh. But its taste that matters, right? So ...

Looking back, I simply fail to understand how in the world could I miss two live gigs of this band when I was there both the times! The band I'm talking about is The Supersonics. I caught them live a few days ago, last Saturday to be precise, and all I could do was be all ears with my face beaming with awe. Yes, they are that good; classic rock and roll riffs married beautifully with Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque vibe is how I can describe this band. Honestly, I highly recommend you folks to check out them out. Awesome music teamed with a beautiful location (Bandra Ampitheater), what else can I ask for! Prior to The Supersonics, Bombay Bassment, an another great band performed. Their music type leans more towards hip-hop meets drums n' bass; giving rise to an eclectic sound which is indeed amazing and definitely a crowd-pleaser. The tropical hints in their music is what drew me in. Do try listening "Never be the same" by Bombay Bassment. All in all, it was a hot yet gre...

Getting up at six in the morning after a sleep deprived Day 0 was a bit of a pain but all the tiredness vanished as I entered the venue- Laxmi Lawns, the cold winds that blew across was partly responsible and they were the thing which made me blame myself for not carrying my cardigan (Which I had packed but later excluded thinking that Pune would be hot enough to rule out the possibility of needing a cardigan). The day was indeed filled with some buzz as I worked right from the morning uptil the afternoon at Bacardi Rock Arena (I love my stage!). Skindred had their sound check during that time frame and boy! the sound check sounded so awesome that made most of us speculate how epic their performance scheduled for the next day would be. Later, as there wasn't any act or sound check pending on my stage, I was free from work and caught the bands and artists playing on the other stages. As only three stages out of six were active on Day 1, of which I was interested in two i.e. Dewar...