Coffee and Tweet pal

A coffee pub that wowed me... 

A place that has beautiful ambience

Funky seating arrangements- some of them quite innovative and Interesting

A name that was hard to pronounce, inspite of asking a waitress... 

Am talking about the new Coffee shop in Bangalore -Matteo Coffea

Situated in Church Street, off Brigade Road, the coffee shop has a rich brown colour, plenty of outdoor and indoor seating space.

Met @winniethepoohi outside Magazines store and we walked towards the Cafe, walked in, spotted a seat in the corner- a purple sofa and two comfy chairs.. Settled in, and began exchanging info about each other..Oh, forgot to mention,we were meeting the 1st time.. Dint even know her real name till half hour before meeting!!   

A chinko waiter came to take our order [now, why do all coffee places employ chinkos???] and only he could understand what he was saying...  Told him to give us a few minutes before coming back asking for our order!!

Started talking, and hopped skipped jumped topics and kept at it till finally the waiter came back interrupting our fun conversation.. 

Anyways, we ordered a Hot chocolate and Cold coffee something [forgot the name, it looked like a tall glass of cold coffee with cream] and a Paneer wrap...  My hot chocolate was absolutely delicous, rich and creamy. The wrap was filling and subtle spices.herbs, and very filling.. Had paneer, capsicum, onion and tomato wrapped in something like a frankie wrap or roti, served with coleslaw on the side!!

They have quite an extensive coffee menu- hot, cold and something called Shakeroos, and Iced Tea as well. Apart from this, plenty of eats to choose from- French  fries,sandwiches, bites, wraps- veg & non veg!!

[Pic: Burrp]

In an hour or so, we were ready for another round of Coffee, and this time when we asked about Coffee of the day- we grinned hearing Filter Coffee.. Ordered one grande and a tall one, with milk on the side.. It was hot, divine and totally worth it.. 

Time wore on, and there was not a moment silence between us, nor were there awkward pauses. We realised we had way too many things in common and hit it off on so many levels..!! Amazing to think i'd come across her just a  few days ago...   

We spoke in length about our blogs, writing, the various writing clubs that we were part of and good/bad things that happened out there. :-) Mind blowing discussions.... 

As our conversation flowed, we grooved to the music playing [every single track had us humming the tune and smiling ].. Went to a point, i couldnt resist, and asked the waiter about the CD, for which he brought along not the list,but the manager..:)

Alas, the clock stuck 8, and she had to go somewhere, on the other end of town, so with heavy heart, we settled the bill [thanks girl for the treat].. and saw the Manager once again.. He enquired about where we were from and promised to make us a copy of the music playing!!! Till we go again... Enjoy your cuppa!!

Ambience *****

Choice of drinks and eats -****

Service - ***** [absolutely prompt and polite]

Crowd -**** [wasn't very crowded , and the place is so spacious that it can never get crammed]

Price - **  [bit expensive, but worth it considering you are getting a comfy wonderful experience]

The WOW. factor...

Last Saturday was the much awaited Wow! The Extra Terrestrials show in Chennai...  Had booked tickets directly with Mr Hariharan of the event management company- Showspace Solutions

[Pic from etwow.in website]

Date- 6th Feb, Saturday

Reached the Venue: Music Academy 

Checked the Time: 5.45pm

Where were our tickets? - With Mr Hari [ who was in a meeting with a client]

[Pic from etwow.in website]

Once the other 5 eager souls  had arrived, i got a bit frantic and called Hari again, but no response.. We waited... waited... patiently waited... After a few mins, my phone rang and i went on a mini goose chase, rather ticket chase with Hari- trying to locate his car.. looking for my wallet, pulling out cash, etc etc.... Victoriously returned to teh troops, and hauled them upstairs to the gate... Now, here comes the drama.... 

                                                Not bad for a shot taken from far far away..

The volunteer guys who were chking tickets, pulled out mine from the envelope and began punching them in... one punch, two punch.... stop.. pause... - "Ma'am, these are for 8.30pm show and not 6pm", he said.... 

A mini act by 3 women.... not v clear as we sat far and not enough lighting

Jeez [ what the heck... what now.... looking from one soul to the other, looking at mom.. and then called Hari, who was apologetic but said he unfortunately couldnt do anything as the shows were running houseful]... eeeks.... mom, Srivats and G3 were ok to stay back, kill 2hrs and come back, but Apar was  clear - I cant , i'll get going, A jr will sleep off..will get late..and she had come by Bike.... few mins passed and suddenly the volunteer guy called us and said - there are some seats vacant behind, just go and sit... :D 

We rushed in, gleefully found 6empty seats right at the back and got comfortable... were happy we got to see the show.... :)

The show began on the dot.. and it was truly WOW.. Acrobats.. gymnastics... circus acts.. call it whatever you wanna, but the 8 performers were WOW, amazing talent.... [Took some videos, will upload em on youtube and share the link soon]

Vishesh's take

Review in The Hindu

Following the show, we went and had a yummy dinner at Palki Restaurant inside Amaravathy campus, across the road....  Thanks for a great time guys!! :)

ET comes to Town

If you love dance

if you love art

if you love going to shows

above all...

if you wanna have some fun...

Check this out... go for it if you can!! 


Else wait for me to attend and share my views and you can read and go green with envy!! he he he

Extra Terrestrials are coming to Chennai...  


75mins of acrobatic moves, grooves and dance steps.... 


Its all happening between Feb 3-7th -3 shows daily- @ Music Academy!! 


To know more... or to book your tickets, click on  Events  or their main website- Etwow.. 

Bookworm Rampage

I go through these phases... Am sure all of you also do!!  There are days when i do nothing but work, and then those when fun plays a bit part of my day... The latter is what i enjoy, cos it gives me a sense of calm at the end of it all... The past couple of weeks have been such - maybe cos workload isnt that much or i've just made a subconscious choice to include plenty of fun during my busy daily routines - outing with friends, just chilling out at home with an interesting book, grooving to music on my iTouch , watching a movie or jus about anything that i am upto !!

Books have been a part of my life for as long as i can remember.. Even when we were living in Tirunelveli, i used to pick up books from chennai, people who visited us brought me books - Enid blyton, Mystery of five find outers, Naughtiest girl in school, Archie comics, Chanda mama, Sense &Sensibility and what not!!  .. This awesome habit has stuck with me, infact mom keeps saying- its because of this reading[err, reading in the dark, with improper light] that you wear glasses.. Heck, it doesnt matter~!! :) Infact its thanks to family that i got into music as well - specifically english music....

Couple of weeks,or a month ago, Apar gave me a whole load of books.. What joy i felt cant be expressed in words.. A colleague was leaving the city, and left behind all his books for grabs!  Amazing right?!! There were plenty by 2 of our favorite authors - Lee Child &  James Patterson. [here's a whole list of James Patterson's books]

Was introduced to James Patterson last Jan, during the ride to Pondy with friends! Murder mystery, cop, thriller kinda writer who has me going till i finish the last word on the last page.. Infact same holds for Lee Child, who was introduced to me by another friend... :-)

Here is a collage of all the books by these authors that i have read till date.... !! each of them are fabulous, atleast i enjoyed them thoroughly... !! :)

Another author I've been reading a lot is Jodi Picoult... Every visit to the library, will have me clutching a book by this amazing author!! Waiting to watch My Sister's keeper movie to see if its just as the book or altered... But most of her books are about kids, parents, and health related issues... !!

and before you ask.... Yes, i've read 'em all .... hahaha~!! Reading some more, but that shall come in another post...!! 

[Movie] Reel on.. II

More Movies i've seen over the past 2 weeks!

Ugly Truth

Director: Robert Luketic


Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, Eric Winter  .

Rating: ***1/2

  Abby Richter, an ambitious television producer in Sacramento hasnt had a boyfriend or some action in quite a while...one night when she is at home, her cat presses on the remote and "The Ugly Truth" by Mike Chadway is on, Abby calls in and argues with him on-air. The next day, she discovers that the station is threatening to cancel her show because of its poor ratings, and the station owner has hired Mike to do a segment on her show to boost the TRP ratings.

At first, the two are at war till Mike finally convinces Abby to listen to him to conquer the man of her dreams, a doctor named Colin who lives next door.She follows Mike's instructions step by step, with quite a few goof ups thrown in... and finally realises she is someone else with Colin, and has fallen in love with Mike... This is a movie whose humour is nothing ne, but its one of those feel good, light, Romantic comedy flicks..

Watch it for Gerard Butler... remember 300 and PS I Love you?? ;)Oooh!!!

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Death at a Funeral

Directed by Frank O

 

Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan, Kris Marshall, Andy Nyman, Jane Asher, Keeley Hawes, Peter Vaughan, Ewen Bremner, Peter Dinklage, Thomas Wheatley, Peter Egan........

This was a movie i had picked up awhile ago, saw bits and pieces till finally last evening me and my friend decided to give it a go and cracked up completely..... It stars a mostly British ensemble bunch of actors, most of whom look familiar and yet are unfamiliar.

The death of the Daniel and Robert’s father and the attempt to hold his funeral is what the plot circles around.. the occasion brings a whole lot of dysfunctional family members together. And amidst all this, when a midget of a man shows up threatening to reveal the deceased man’s shocking secret[That their dad was gay and he was his lover]  unless he gets some cash-15000 pounds, the two brothers are forced to figure out a way to deal with this blackmailer. With every scene, you are left laughing, completely flabbergasted at the chaos that is unfolding.... 

The hallucignic durg that Simon takes, making him go cuckoo, how Martha tries to keep him from jumping off the roof [ where he stands buck naked]... her useless brother, who was the reason all thsi happened [ who created the pill and put them in a Valium bottle] and so many other wierd members of the clan, each with their own set of problems and worries..!!! 

A fun movie, that is not so much as original comedy, but you will definitely have a few good laughs...

Its being remade in Hindi as Daddy Cool!! God save Bollywood and the rest of the world that watches it in hindi!! wonder how it will be!! hehe... 

[Movie] Reel on.. I

The past couple of weeks, work has been good, busy but not crazy busy, so managed to catch quite a few movies.. Indian and Foreign.. Am just gonna go ahead put up the names and a mini review on them...!! :)

Kanthaswamy

Director: Susi Ganesan

Actors: Vikram, Shreya Saran and a host of others... 

Rating: **

A movie that has been in the news forever was quite a disappointment and had way too many frills and fancy stuff.. After 3hr 15min, we walked out thinking had it been for an hour, it would have had quite an impact. the story is also nothing very new, or original, its all about how Vikram and his 10 buddies are the new age Robin Hood, taking from the corrupt rich and giving among the needy....Revolving around the Kanthaswamy temple, it is a movie where wishes made by Devotees on the tree comes true...  Way too many traces of Gentleman and Anniyan is a bit of a spoiler here... !! 

  

Shreya- dont even get me started on her.. Not only does she not look good[ some mite beg to differ..] but Suchi's voice is a total mismatch... Flat with zero emotions... And whoever did dance choreo for Shreya needs to take dance classes.. The best scene acc to me is the Fight in the corn field and ofcourse the En Peru 

meenakumari dance by Umaith Khan.. Her dance, lip sync and movements were soo awesome, i loved it... 

Watch the movie if you are a crazy Vikram or Shreya or Shankar Fan... dont expect too much, you wont be disappointed!!

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Quick Gun Murugan

Direction: Shashanka Ghosh

Cast: Rajendra Prasad, Naser, Raju Sundaram, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Rambha, Anu menon aka Lola kutty..

Rating: **

Quick Gun Murugun is an unlikely Superhero with sufer Gun powers. A Sincere South Indian Cowboy who considers it his duty to serve and protect all around him. All i knew of this character were the little snippets shown on MTV and the Ennada rascala in Om Shanti Om!!

The movie basically revolves around [mis]adventures of Quick Gun Murugun and his fight with his arch villain Rice Plate Reddy!Not to forget the Rowdy MBA and Mango Dolly who are all part of his clan!! Rice Plate has a bee in his bonnet because he wants to be the supreme overlord of Dosa-makers, and kidnaps anyone who possesses the perfect recipe for making lip smacking Dosas.
 

Though i dint really enjoy the movie, or wasnt laughing my head off, there are some funny scenes , only one i remember is the  take off on Clint Eastwood's 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' parodied  in Carnatic mix... A movie meant for those who like Slapstick comedy, and dont mind seeing Southies being ridiculed!! maybe if i were a northie, i mite enjoy it more.. who knows!! :)

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Ninaithale Inikkum

Director: Kumarvel

 

Actors: Prithviraj, Karthik Kumar, Shakthi, Priyamani 

Music :Vijay Antony 

Rating: ***

Ninaithale Inikkum is a remake of the Malayalam film "Classmates".... Its just a tough guy with a heart of gold Shiva beats up bad guy Vasu. He has the support of friends Shakthi and Bala.

On the other side is Meera , the daughter of an MLA and she opposes Shiva at every turn. Then there's Sethuraman the silly hostel warden, the cook Subramani and a pointless lecturer character who make up the college side of things. Completing the troop is Shali  a quiet Muslim girl, who at the end you see a completely different side to... The story just ping pongs between present and past, making you wonder what you are watching... and if this is the today or yesterday!!! 

Loads of bits and pieces for the audience to remember, until the end where they finally fall into place..
i've heard the mallu original is a beautiful movie, after watching this 2hrs of "makes no sense, songs start off for no rhyme or reason" movie, i think i'll take a peek at the Mallyalam version to understand the story!!! 

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[Movie] Monsters VS Aliens

A movie for kids...

hang on, thats not right...

A movie for kids and adults and everyone else who loves animated stuff... :)

A movie that must be seen in 3D..

Saw it in 2D format in Bombay, and then when i saw it last evening in 3D style here in Chennai, i realised its gotta be seen this way...

Wearing the cool 3D glasses, watching the characters come alive, the effects, the dust...absolutely amazing!! I was excited, more than my friend or her 4 year old son!!! :D

Btw, this was my 2nd 3D experience!!  :)

Whats the movie about?

Its about Monsters [ who are chemically modified normal people and insects] battling to save the world from the invasion of Aliens [ Ruled by Galaxor].. A movie that has all that it takes to keep us glued to our seats, is fun, serious., thrilling., hilarious, nail biting and some more!!!

It all starts when Susan [ voice by Reese Witherspoon] is hit by a  radioactive meteor on her wedding day... She transforms into a towering, giant and is then captured and taken to a place where there are other wierd/odd creatures. Re-christened as "Ginormica," Susan meets amphibious Missing Link (Will Arnett), the green blob B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), and the brilliant, genius Doc, Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie). 

They are all released from captivity when a massive alien robot sent by the scheming Gallaxor (Rainn Wilson) sets foot in San Francisco.  with time, Susan starts loving her new friends, the power she has and works towards saving the world from the alien... in the process, she learns the truth about Derek, the man of her dreams [ atleast thats what she was thinkin till she realised he was just a selfish jerk!!] 

The way the movie has been made is what sets it apart from others!!

Do watch it to enjoy every scene.. every move... every fight... every funny moment!!! :)

[Books] To read....

A friend of mine mentioned this book was recommended at her book club....

Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap When Working With Indians by Craig Storti....

Interesting title.... anyone read it???

 

 

 

Movie marathon!!! :)

 

My friend and i went for the movie - The Mummy:Tomb of the Dragon Emperor/ The Mummy 3, with tickets not being available for any others... anyways, we enjoyed the movie... loads of wacko scenes.. action... amazing effects... the sights are worth it!!!  Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh launch into a vigorous sword fight — and what a grand pleasure it is to watch these two world-class stars in action again... 

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Ever since we saw the promos for Bachna ae haseeno, me and my friend wanted to check it out... we knew it was probably a brainless romantic , but dint expect a diff version of DDLJ....  

The journey of rich spoilt boy Raj Sharma (Ranbir Kapoor) is the main plot of this movie.... He meets three girls at different stages of his life: Mahi (Minissha Lamba) - a small-town girl from Punjab, who is looking for Raj(SRK of DDLJ), Radhika  who becomes Shreya (Bipasha Basu) - a model from Ranchi in Mumbai, with whom he has a live in relationship and finally flees when he gets a proj in Aus... and finally Gayatri (Deepika Padukone) - an NRI taxidriver from Australia. The film is about a boy who goes from one love affair to another, only to run into true love and then being dumped, cos she isnt ready for marriage... this forces him to look back on all the nasty heartbreaks he has been responsible for, and he goes back to all those women!!! 

Oh, how can i sign off without mentioning the drop dead Gorgeous Kunal kapoor...divine!!! :) 

Except for Khuda jaane, none of the other songs are really nice.. infact songs not really needed!!  

        ======================================== 

I saw this movie at my friend's house.. she was sleeping and i was sifting thru her dvd collection, thought this might be fun.. and i LOVE animated movies.. but it was wacko and a bit boring!!!  Am talking about The Ugly Ducklinbg and me... the only sweet thing about the movie is --- don’t worry if you’re not accepted by those around you, you are special!!!  

[Theater] Love in a Tub

My high school friend V called me fri night asking if i wanted to come for a play[Supper theater, yes, you read it right, they give you a performance and feed you afterwards...], it was one of their client's who was organising it.. asked her for the time, since on sat i had a meeting from 3pm... she said "its called Love in a tub, directed by Aamir Raza Husain & Virat Husain, and is only at 7.30, at Park Sheraton, shall sms the details".. i said "vokay, cool... i'll be there"...

Sat dawned, i was a bit nervous about the meeting, but must say it went off quite well! was interesting to see big wigs discuss issues, and how the meeting went!! We wound up around 6.30, and since i was in Adyar, made my way to Anokhi (a lovely quaint place, perfect for a quiet cuppa).. reviewed the notes i had taken during the meeting, sipped on a glass of cold coffee and spent a bit of time by myself!! Around 7.10, got out, made my way towards Park sheraton, which was just a hop skip jump away, and waited for S and V...


Though the play which was to start at 7.30, began only around 8.20.. There were plenty of cocktails, juices, and bites to grab before the show.. we chit chatted, while scanning through the room for familar faces.. i did catch a few, went and said hi... :)

Finally, we were shown to the hall [Mowbray's] where the play happened and must say, it was one hellova stress buster.. had quite a few laughs, it was one of those plays where you dont look for logic, just enjoy it for what it is....

Here is a summary of the play....

Its all about a couple Mr Richard Willey n his wife Pamela Willey[Virat Husain], who book into a room at the Westminister Hotel... Caught in the scam is Richard's colleague/secretary/or whatever they are called in the Brit Parliament, George aka Pigeon[ played superbly by Aamir Raza husain] !!! The plot is all about Richard wanting to meet with Jennifer Brissto for a secret rendezvous, and what happens after wards... How George becomes Dr Santa Christmas and Richard is Sir Charles Easter/Dickie/ and what not... hehehe... one of those mindless comedies, the play had us all in splits everytime there was a goof up.... not to forget the antics of the wacko Japanese waiter who keeps bringing in 6pots of coffee everytime someone orders 1 pot of coffee..
A whole bunch of people, zillions of names, crazy wacko stuff had us going ballistic through the evening....

The surprising thing about this group is that they dont play their stuff to the general public, most of it is for the corporates, their clients and if you know someone in that loop, you get to watch it, like i did!! Aparently they are in town for 5days, a show on each day!!!

After the play, dinner buffet opened.. and the entire 10000 people [okay, i'll admit, am exaggerating, it was probably 100...but sure seemed like a zillion people]... made our way through the queue... ate a bit and wound up for the evening!! :)

Now, am looking fwd to The Hindu Metro Plus Theater Fest beginning Aug 1st!!