Soul Serendipity

The first feeling, when I heard that I have to move to Bangalore was that of excitement. But, when I moved here to build my career, I was terrified. Being born and brought up in a laid-back city like Mysore, I was not sure I could cope with the fast-paced life here.

I hated it here initially, I cried just on the third day in the city, I wanted to go back home. Yet, there was a certain comfort in the uneasiness of this city.

Knowing, my home town was just 3 hours away, helped me cope to a considerable extent. Apart from that, I had most of my friends from graduation, pursuing jobs here.

In this short span of 2 and a half years, I stayed and worked in as many areas of bangalore as possible- Whitefield, Bellandur ,Marathalli, Kalyan Nagar, FrazerTown, Kengeri, Nagavara and CV Raman Nagar. I adjusted, learnt the ways of Bangalore, made peace with being stuck in this concrete jungle, became comfortable with the insane traffic and pollution and all these had just begun to stop bothering me. Bangalore had become "Home".

The view from "Home"

The amazing range of restaurants in the most happening areas of Indiranagar and Koramangala, the picturesque drive to Nandi hills, the microbreweries, IPL matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium with those "RCB- RCB" chants, the every weekend running away to Mysore, and how can I forget shopping at Commercial street!! this city embraced me with open arms. Coaxed me in every possible aspect. If I had a choice, I would not want to get out of here, I would want to remain in my nest for the rest of my life.

A terrible picture of my room 😛

Nandi Hills

Bangalore- The Capital city of breweries 😁

TRUFFLESSSSSS!! The best burgers!! 😍😍😋

But, the show must go on.....

Now, 2 and a half years later, I am all set to move to another city, an even bigger an even more intimidating city, a city with much more traffic, much more pollution, a higher population. Without a doubt, I am much more intimidated, the very thought of moving to an unknown city makes me shiver. This time round I don’t have friends there, I don’t have my home just 3hrs away and I wonder whether I will ever get a good night’s sleep in the city that never sleeps. But my dreams are on the line, such dreams can only be fulfilled in the city of dreams or the “Sapnon ki Nagaree” - MUMBAI!

Thank you Bangalore , it was an honour to be a part , to live and contribute to you. MUMBAI, please be nice !

Source: ScoopWhoop

-Soul Serendipity
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I won’t bore you with too much detail of the history of Hampi (you will find that on other blogs and Wikipedia) , however I just want to emphasize on why they are called “Ruins of Hampi”.

For around 2 centuries when the emperors of south India, ruled the Vijayanagara empire, many temples were built. In the early 14^th century the armies of the Delhi Sultanate, particularly that of Alluddin Khalji (yes, the same,Padmaavat villain 😃) and Muhammad bin Tughlaq plundered the city and made sure that the places of worship, along with all the statues of Gods and Goddesses are destroyed, so that they will not be worshiped any more. Thus, Hampi became “The town of ruins”.


Ruins, ruins everywhere!

Ever since Hampi was declared a World UNESCO heritage site, tourism has boomed. Yet, the area has remained rooted to the ancient times because of limited resources.
There are 2 sides to Hampi, the traditional, orthodox side, where all the temples and ruins are built and the other side, across the Tungabhadra river, Virupapura Gaddi, popularly known as “The hippie island”.

Tungabhadra river, across which is the "Hippie Island"!

While the hippie island is colourful, lively, modern and happening, the temple town seems to help Hampi as a whole to balance and have a mix of modern and ancient cultures.

Vibrant

Some Traditions!

On the Hippie Island, there are a lot of shacks where you can sit and relax the entire day. Grab a glass of beer and even try some non- veg dishes, both of which are not available on the temple side. I would suggest Laughing buddha, Gouthami resort and Nargila (for the night) to hangout, have beer and try some multi cuisine delicacies.

Restaurant at Gouthami Guest house! So colourful 😍

You can choose from mopeds, cycles, bikes, any other 2 wheeler or if you are in a big gang of 8 or above I would suggest hiring an auto and sitting in the boot space for a humpy ride (pun intended 😁 ) to tour the hippie side of this heritage site.

Auto Rides FTW!!

Some of the places you can visit is the sanapura lake to take a dip in the lake and experience a coracle ride, visit the waterfalls (which we missed out on since it is summer and there was hardly any water) and do not miss sunset at the Hanuman Temple which is 600 steps high on the Anjana Parvat. This place is also believed to be the birth place of Lord Hanuman. Reaching the temple does take a lot of effort, but it’s a 100% worth the arduous work!

Sanapur Lake

Anjana Parvat

The sunset from atop Anjana Parvat

Hanuman Temple (Anjana Parvat)

A floating stone, believed to be from the Ramayan era!

On the traditional and orthodox side there are a number of palaces and temples to visit. Out of these, the Monolithic Narasimha, Ganesh and Shiv ling, the Vijaya Vittala temple which also houses the musical pillars and the famous stone chariot, and the best of all, the only functioning temple from ancient times which has not been ruined or destroyed – Virupaksha temple, stand out.

Blessed🙏

Some more ruins!

Monolithic Narasimha statue!

Virupaksha Temple

The ruined Vijaya Vittala Temple

More ruins 😂

Monolithic Shiv ling!

The Stone chariot! 😍😍

Some of the restaurant staff are a bit rude and give a lot of preference to foreigners, but in general the people of Hampi are extremely warm and courteous. Here are 2 instances when we witnessed the helpful nature of the local people.

We lost one of our room keys, but an absolute stranger, kept it safe and gave it back to us after almost an hour of misplacing it.
The auto driver we hired on the Temple side was also a gem of a person who knew we had a shortage of cash and lent us Rs 3k which we paid him back once we found an ATM Hospet, from where we had to catch our trains.

Hampi Travel tips:

Where to stay? - If you are not going on a long weekend, you will easily find accommodation on the hippie island. Rates are reasonable and rooms are decent. We stayed at Gouthami guest house. We booked 3 rooms for 1 night and 1 room for 3 nights. We were charged, Rs 3800.Ph no: 085332 87010 , 076768 7987
Carry Odomos or if possible, mosquito nets to keep yourself from dengue/malaria.
The sun rays in Hampi are very harsh, there are hardly any trees to take shelter under when you go sight seeing on the temple side. So to avoid dehydration, carry lots of water.
Dot no miss getting blessed by an elephant at the Virupaksha temple.
Laughing Buddha is probably the only cafe that oversees the the Tungabhadra river. I would suggest to not miss visiting the cafe.
There are absolutely no ATMs up to 10KM of radius, so carry sufficient cash as the food and alcohol ( if available at that time ) are more expensive than normal.

Fungi pasta!! 😋

Italian Baked Chcken! YUMMMM!!😍😋

Nargila!

On the way to Sanapura Lake

Ruins, once again!

Inside the Virupaksha temple 🙏

Another view of the Virupaksha temple!

Kudremukha Mantapa!

And finally, some more ruins 😅

With the best company I could ever ask for, decent food and accommodation, Hampi has filled me with memories to last me a lifetime. Looking forward to visiting this historical town soon on a weekend getaway from the hectic and monotonous life in the city!

Peace! ✌

-Soul Serendipity
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Picture credits(for a few of the pictures): Avijit Jain, Kumar Biplav, Tushar Garg, Vaibhav Awasthi.

How do you prefer spending your weekends after 5 days of monotonous work at an organisation that doesn’t fascinate you enough? With friends? With freshly brewed beer? Watching a live band? Or filling your tummy with lip-smacking food?

Choosing one from above seems impossible, doesn’t it?

Bangalore just has the right place, where all the above come together.

The pub seemed empty, sceptical whether we chose the right place for a fun Saturday night we made our way to the extreme end of the pub.

First things first, The Brew & Barbeque has a huge area and is very well done. They have a selfie booth which is sure a chick-magnet 💃.

The Photo Booth!!!

Dim lighting and a live band performing on some days is quintessential. (Fridays is Bollywood night is what I hear). Once the band is done performing, they have a DJ take over too, so there’s nonstop foot tapping music.

Love dim lights!

Now, let’s talk about the drinks.

Daiquiri
Somewhat like margarita, this white rum based cocktail is worth a try, and for someone who doesn’t need too much alcohol for a kick, this sure is the best bet.

Sex on the beach
This cliched pretty pink & refreshing cocktail was on the stingier side with respect to the amount of alcohol.

Weizenbier
Weizenbier is one of the many varieties of their in house brewed beer. Wheat based and sweet in taste, this is probably the best brewed beer that I have had in Bangalore. (PS: I like the beer if its sweet 😛)

I had less expectations on the food front, I was expecting just average quality of food, but, I left the restaurant all happy and high.

Crispy Potato Wedges
I like when simple dishes are executed to perfection. And as the name promised, these wedges of potatoes were crisp. I just had a small concern- the dip they served with it didn’t really compliment the spiciness of the potatoes.

Aglio Olio creamy Chicken
I have heard of aglio olio pasta/spaghetti and I am a huge fan of the pasta, so when I heard this variation of aglio olio, I knew I had to try it. grilled chicken was served with a creamy dip and I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Andhra Sholay Kabab
As much as I love Andhra (read spicy) food, sholay kabab was amazingly spicy and made me want to lick the plate clean (I only wished I was at home with that dish 😛 )

Pork Spare Ribs
I’m half Mangalorean and somewhere deep down a coorgie by heart. What are staple dishes in these 2 areas of Karnataka? Yes- Pork. I’ve been away from home for a long time now and so was craving for some pork. I grabbed the opportunity and ordered Pork ribs. I was disappointed as the taste did appeal to me, but the meat was a bit tough, probably not cooked enough.😐

Tandoor Prawns
I had just a single prawn, but it was so good that it left me wanting more, before I could pick up another prawn, my friends had emptied the plate. I don’t even have a picture of the dish, that’s how good it was 😋 I’m definitely going back soon at least just to have the prawns 😀

Andhra Gunturu chickenWith a happy tummy I can say that this dish should probably be named TB&B flagship dish 😄 . it tasted like sholay kabab but spicier than sholay kabab. And as I said, I lovvvee spicy food, so yes this was the highlight of the night 😊

BiryaniThe quantity of the biryani was sufficient for 2 people. To be honest, I’ve had better Biryani’s. It was not Very good neither was it bad. It was an average tasting bowl of Biryani.

All in all, Brew and Barbeque is an extremely underrated place. I’m sure if it was in one of the prime locations like Indira nagar or Kormanagala it would have been crowded always. Wouldn’t mind visiting again, especially for the Gunturu Chicken. YUMMMM!!!😋

Also,I hope this year will be another year full of great cuisines, an amazing culinary journey, trips and travels to many more unexplored lands and chick, yet cheap fashion. HAPYY NEW YEAR 2018!!💥💗

-soul serendipity

Soul Serendipity

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