Err when in Madras, be a Madrasi. And I ahem proudly present how I am so becoming a Madrasi!
1. I have actually started liking ellai sapad (banana leaf food served in functions)- So much so I lament if the spread is not grand enough. There were days when I would walk out of a wedding dinner and into another restaurant to eat my fill.
2. I feel glad that I live in Chennai- be it easy traffic and distances, safety, school admissions, affordable homes.
3. My kids are learning Carnatic
4. First I started liking Surya, then Vikram... now what? No one can save me now.
5. The other day I was "reading" a story to the kids in Tamil- ore Kutti puli irka ....(Takdir the kutti puli was the book)
6. I can crack pun jokes in Tamil- Example-
Someone- What happens if this flavour is tried in a Marie biscuit
Me- it will become Ore Maaaaaari (meaning- typical, not so great type- ah well, I can't explain- you need to understand Tamil for that)
7. See 6 above- While translating a tamil joke I have told you in a superior manner- cannot explain- rather you will not understand
8. I can watch a Tamil movie without asking husband to translate each and every dialogue, sound or expression. In fact I have even reviewed a Tamil movie on this blog- a two line one but still, it counts
9. And how could I forget? The process started 6 years ago, the moment I bought "own house" in Chennai.
10. I make sundal during navratri. Slurp
11. edited to add- I have a shoe rack outside my house now.
The Scorpios
Showing posts with label chennai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chennai. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Friday, September 15, 2006
Shopper’s Spot
Sunny Sistems- The Gallery- Gandhi Nagar Adyar
Unique affordable art, paintings, sculpture, prints. The artists may not be well known but the paintings can be picked up for their sheer beauty and put-up-ability. My favourites- A wooden carving of hounds, painting on ancient parchment, a collage art using industrial metals, glue etc, a series of paintings that depict Laxmi, Saraswati and other Hindu Gods using symbolisms
Design Store, Alwarpet
Furniture, artifacts, bamboo, jute, wooden decorative stuff, limited collection of Madhubani paintings, cushions, scarves
Currimbhoy’s, Adyar
You can find all types of crockery here starting from cups & glasses to cooking vessels & cutlery organisers
Anmol Palace, Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam
Affordable fashion jewelry in silver, 1gram gold and other metals, funky watches. The designs are unique and don’t get repeated often.
Stone & Strings
You can find the counters in Lifestyle, shopper’s stop, Odyssey, SriLankan TradeCentre- Spencer’s Mall, 3rd Phase- Fashion jewelry especially in precious & semi-precious stones, pearl etc, also cuff links & Tie pins
Sixth Sense Gallery, Adyar
Gift items like Artificial flowers, Pot pourri, candles, ceramic, photo frames, vases, paintings- even though you may not get very affordable stuff but the atmosphere is quite relaxing and feel good factor is great
Odyssey, Adyar
Books, CDs, Gift items, perfumes, even paintings. The new store has a very spacious layout, 3-level shopping experience and valet parking too.
Pebbles Besant Nagar
Books, CDs, Gift items
Titanic, Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam (also in Pondicherry)
Export surplus western wear for men, women and kids. All depends on your luck. Sometimes there wouldn’t be a good stock of stuff. Average price of shirt/ ladies’ top- Rs 250-350.
Fashion Folks, Adyar, Chennai
Export surplus western wear for men, women, kids, shoes, bags, leather coats.
Clothes Encounters, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Export surplus western wear but not very cheap- makes sense to wait for the sale that usually happens twice a year.
Dollars & Pounds, Adyar- Gandhi Nagar & Sardar Patel road
Export surplus men’s wear. The new store at Sardar Patel road is huge- some say the quality has gone down after that but its up to the shoppers to explore and find out for themselves
Kataria’s, Cathedral Road
Designer saris in georgette, crepe, chiffon. Wide range in terms of price – use their catalogue- you will get a better idea of how the sari looks when draped- extremely good service
Gotewaala, Cathedral Road
Georgettes, Crepes, Chiffons, cottons – sari, lehenga, salwar-suits- collection is good but the prices on the higher side
Manmandir , Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Unique designer Saris- you can shop according to the budget you have rather than sleect and then ask for the price. Chiffons, Georgettes, Crepes again
Soles, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Ladies’ footwear- you can find a good range of office wearable footwear here and you will definitely get something that you like
Kobblerr, Alwarpet
Footwear – again a good range of casual/ office footwear but I have not yet explored it well
Trendy, Spencer’s Mall, 3rd Phase
Wide range of footwear, especially for weddings
Mochi, Chennai City Centre
Trendy, jeweled footwear, the kind that gets advertised in Femina
Modskins, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar
You will find leather bags here – can buy incase you are looking for casual office use and not in a mood to spend lots- may not find good stuff always
Jang Leather Planet, Besant Nagar
Not yet explored but the print ads in Femina indicates that it’s a hip place.
Witco- Adyar, T Nagar
Bags only- luggage, handbags, toilet kits, wallets
Casablanca, Pondicherry
Auroville aromatherapy candles, agarbatti, women’s wear, International label men’s wear, sunglasses, Hidesign label leather goods, junk jewelry, shoes, silk shawls, scarves, cushion covers, bedspreads, curtain, cutlery, ceramic cups, mugs, vases, kid’s stuff. You have a mini outlet in Ispahani centre Chennai – but it does not have a great range
Unique affordable art, paintings, sculpture, prints. The artists may not be well known but the paintings can be picked up for their sheer beauty and put-up-ability. My favourites- A wooden carving of hounds, painting on ancient parchment, a collage art using industrial metals, glue etc, a series of paintings that depict Laxmi, Saraswati and other Hindu Gods using symbolisms
Design Store, Alwarpet
Furniture, artifacts, bamboo, jute, wooden decorative stuff, limited collection of Madhubani paintings, cushions, scarves
Currimbhoy’s, Adyar
You can find all types of crockery here starting from cups & glasses to cooking vessels & cutlery organisers
Anmol Palace, Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam
Affordable fashion jewelry in silver, 1gram gold and other metals, funky watches. The designs are unique and don’t get repeated often.
Stone & Strings
You can find the counters in Lifestyle, shopper’s stop, Odyssey, SriLankan TradeCentre- Spencer’s Mall, 3rd Phase- Fashion jewelry especially in precious & semi-precious stones, pearl etc, also cuff links & Tie pins
Sixth Sense Gallery, Adyar
Gift items like Artificial flowers, Pot pourri, candles, ceramic, photo frames, vases, paintings- even though you may not get very affordable stuff but the atmosphere is quite relaxing and feel good factor is great
Odyssey, Adyar
Books, CDs, Gift items, perfumes, even paintings. The new store has a very spacious layout, 3-level shopping experience and valet parking too.
Pebbles Besant Nagar
Books, CDs, Gift items
Titanic, Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam (also in Pondicherry)
Export surplus western wear for men, women and kids. All depends on your luck. Sometimes there wouldn’t be a good stock of stuff. Average price of shirt/ ladies’ top- Rs 250-350.
Fashion Folks, Adyar, Chennai
Export surplus western wear for men, women, kids, shoes, bags, leather coats.
Clothes Encounters, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Export surplus western wear but not very cheap- makes sense to wait for the sale that usually happens twice a year.
Dollars & Pounds, Adyar- Gandhi Nagar & Sardar Patel road
Export surplus men’s wear. The new store at Sardar Patel road is huge- some say the quality has gone down after that but its up to the shoppers to explore and find out for themselves
Kataria’s, Cathedral Road
Designer saris in georgette, crepe, chiffon. Wide range in terms of price – use their catalogue- you will get a better idea of how the sari looks when draped- extremely good service
Gotewaala, Cathedral Road
Georgettes, Crepes, Chiffons, cottons – sari, lehenga, salwar-suits- collection is good but the prices on the higher side
Manmandir , Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Unique designer Saris- you can shop according to the budget you have rather than sleect and then ask for the price. Chiffons, Georgettes, Crepes again
Soles, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Nungambakkam
Ladies’ footwear- you can find a good range of office wearable footwear here and you will definitely get something that you like
Kobblerr, Alwarpet
Footwear – again a good range of casual/ office footwear but I have not yet explored it well
Trendy, Spencer’s Mall, 3rd Phase
Wide range of footwear, especially for weddings
Mochi, Chennai City Centre
Trendy, jeweled footwear, the kind that gets advertised in Femina
Modskins, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar
You will find leather bags here – can buy incase you are looking for casual office use and not in a mood to spend lots- may not find good stuff always
Jang Leather Planet, Besant Nagar
Not yet explored but the print ads in Femina indicates that it’s a hip place.
Witco- Adyar, T Nagar
Bags only- luggage, handbags, toilet kits, wallets
Casablanca, Pondicherry
Auroville aromatherapy candles, agarbatti, women’s wear, International label men’s wear, sunglasses, Hidesign label leather goods, junk jewelry, shoes, silk shawls, scarves, cushion covers, bedspreads, curtain, cutlery, ceramic cups, mugs, vases, kid’s stuff. You have a mini outlet in Ispahani centre Chennai – but it does not have a great range
Friday, August 18, 2006
Have More - at these restaurants - in Chennai
Radisson Kabab Factory- top of my list - for the yummy kabab buffet - book in advance and arrive around 7.30 pm for the unhurried meal
Rain Tree- ecologically sound Ecotel- great buffet but found the dessert menu lacking
fisherman's Cove buffet - destination eating- amazing selection of salads in the buffet
Park Sheraton- yummy desserts
Dhaba express- go for the cenatoph road one- cheap & best- when you are in the mood to eat a lot without spending much money- the butter chicken is yummy
Fruit Shop at Greams Road- wide range of juices & shakes - try the fruit cocktail regular
Shakes & creams- a little too noisy- good for the college crowd, slow service - can't catch the waiters' eye even if you are doing a nice dance at the table, but teh food is worth it- the pizza is quite Indian, fresh & unique. also the serving of the fruit Salad & shakes is very generous
Coffee Day at Indira Nagar- for the ambience- suits both a casual setting or a business one
Food Court at Ascendas IT Park- great setting, ambience and the food too- Chennaites watch out for the KFC coming up there
Kabab Court- try the Mughlai Paratha - very filling , service not too prompt though
Subway offcourse- very filling - won't feel hungry for a long time after that
Cascade & Mainland China- for the authentic Chinese meal- do experiment with the chopsticks
Mansukh's, T Nagar - authentic Gujarati meal, try the pattravadi, dhokla & the take away snacks
Cake World- adyar- Cheap & good cakes, snacks - try the black forest cake
Rain Tree- ecologically sound Ecotel- great buffet but found the dessert menu lacking
fisherman's Cove buffet - destination eating- amazing selection of salads in the buffet
Park Sheraton- yummy desserts
Dhaba express- go for the cenatoph road one- cheap & best- when you are in the mood to eat a lot without spending much money- the butter chicken is yummy
Fruit Shop at Greams Road- wide range of juices & shakes - try the fruit cocktail regular
Shakes & creams- a little too noisy- good for the college crowd, slow service - can't catch the waiters' eye even if you are doing a nice dance at the table, but teh food is worth it- the pizza is quite Indian, fresh & unique. also the serving of the fruit Salad & shakes is very generous
Coffee Day at Indira Nagar- for the ambience- suits both a casual setting or a business one
Food Court at Ascendas IT Park- great setting, ambience and the food too- Chennaites watch out for the KFC coming up there
Kabab Court- try the Mughlai Paratha - very filling , service not too prompt though
Subway offcourse- very filling - won't feel hungry for a long time after that
Cascade & Mainland China- for the authentic Chinese meal- do experiment with the chopsticks
Mansukh's, T Nagar - authentic Gujarati meal, try the pattravadi, dhokla & the take away snacks
Cake World- adyar- Cheap & good cakes, snacks - try the black forest cake
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