Month: May 2013

Food, wine and conversation

Food and wine together are an irresistible combination. Especially on a weekend, when it’s time to let the hair down, rejuvenate and relax! However hot Bangalore is turning during the day, the evenings are relatively pleasant. At least outside. So one Saturday evening, with a couple of friends, I decided to stroll through Indiranagar trying out different wines and restaurants. This is a frequent event organized by Poshvine (if you haven’t visited this site, do it right now! – it’s a treasure trove of interesting experiences in Bangalore and other cities). Christened the Jacob’s Creek Gourmet Stroll, it turned out to be quite a culinary experience. Not to mention a chance to sample some of their wines as we hopped along. We began with Bricklane Grill, where we gathered in a rather charming and cosy setting by the poolside. We started our culinary journey with a sparkling Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay, just the right accompaniment to the delicious aperitifs and starters for the evening. The finger food kept coming by and I especially remember the mushrooms with cheese – simply …

Into the deep blue

When I got a chance to travel to the Philippines recently, I couldn’t resist fitting in a dive. After all, the beautiful blue green waters in this region are known for it’s marine life and Manila is well placed in terms of access to the sea. On a beautiful and sunny (and I should mention hot) Sunday, we set off on our road trip to Anilao, the primary diving area around a two and a half hour drive from Manila city. My colleague, who had also recently got a taste of the underwater thrill called diving agreed to take me to the dive site and also accompany me for the dive. We were also lucky to have another colleague who is a certified divemaster, leading the dives. The highway drive was pleasant and the road was good all the way through. It actually feels a little like the US since the road signs and the construction seems to be modeled on the US. However, the countryside, the trees and the houses had a distinctly Asian …