How about some Indian Mexican?

Thinking outside the bun, Yum Brands will open India's first Taco Bell in Bangalore soon. I'm curious to find out whether this fast food will be Indian-Mexican or American-Mexican? In any case, Taco Bell is not Mexican-Mexican, so what culture combination are we gonna get this time?

Most of us might take to the taste, cause Mexican food has a decent amount of spice and flavor (the Fire Border sauce is yumm!). And I believe they're gonna price the tacos and burritos quite cheap (around 40 cents a piece - about 20 bucks which is affordable). Will this give Shiv Sagar's Mexican menu a run for its money? Hmmm... price vs value...

Source: Yum Brands Bets on India's Young for Growth

Chocolate makes you Smarter!

I ate chocolate cause it made me happier… but now I found out that all along it was making me smarter as well! Supposedly it triggers the creation of new brain cells. You can read about the facts here, I don’t particularly care to elaborate. Its just one more benefit added to the list!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate. Dark Chocolate is like a piece of heaven. I have to have a piece of chocolate everyday, if I don’t, I admit it – I become cranky (my friends will testify to this). I always say, I could give up chocolate but I’m not a quitter. What all this rambling boils down to is that I’m one chika whose happy to continue eating this sweet treat. Join the bandwagon; after all its the holiday season!

Sak Town

Sak Town, known to most people as Sakleshpur, is a few miles from Hassan in Karnataka. It is a coffee and pepper growing hub. The chief occupation of the residents here is agriculture, and when they are not attending to their money minting crops, they spend their leisure time in the Planter's Club (a very apt name for its location). I had the pleasure of traveling there this past weekend with a couple of majaa (=fun in Kannada) friends. Our excuse was to visit another majaa (for the lack of a more interesting adjective) friend who has now become a planter himself, and more over, a very active member of the Planter's Club.

The highlights of the weekend included the

5 hour bus ride on the Karnataka Sarige Bus (on which I had planned on sleeping but my friends had challenged themselves to annoy me), fresh filter coffee, chicken ghee roast (2 whole kgs of it!), akki roti, the local bar tender cum waiter who kept us liquored up for the 30+ hours that we spent there, and the visit that never happened to Gautham's estate.

It was a relaxed comfortable weekend. I wanted to mention Planter's Club cause its a place with a unique character. Its definitely not comparable to the lush resorts that are coming up in the Malnad region, but its got its charm and at a very reasonable price. Its a clean friendly place with the facilities (not read spa) you'll need for a weekend getaway. For all the food and liqour that they shower you with, you'll probably end up spending only half of what you would on a night out in town.

As to why I've titled this post "Sak Town", I'll save that story for another day. I wish I could go back this weekend too, but life must go on in namma Bangaluru. I'll just have to stare at the half empty plate of chicken ghee roast and console my belly god. *sigh*