Sunday, 23 November 2008

Mangalooru Mania

4 days in Manipal before I head to Goa. I went through my 'Places to Visit in Karnataka' list. Kudraimukh? Agumbe? "Mangalore!", she said. "Why don't you all come home?", said my roomie, Agent S cordially. I was more than happy, and with the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace playing in the Adlabs there - I couldn't have asked for more! Seven of us decided to descend upon the pleasant town- turning- annoying city, Mangalooru aka Mangalore.

"The movie is at 10:45.", declared Mr.B. It's a 2 hour bus ride, so we decided to leave at 7:30, to be there an hour early. With great difficulty, we woke Mr.K up at 7:15 and we discovered that he takes a longer while in the loo, than 2 girls put together! Finally much past 7:45, we left home and boarded a bus to Udupi. Just when we got off the bus, a nice little hotel called us for breakfast, and our senses obliged. "Ah..there's a lot of time! 10:45 only no." said Ms. K. After the idli-vada indulgence, we took an express bus to Mangalore. On the way, I read 2 issues of 'India Today Woman', and came to the conclusion that it's utter nonsense. Some Home and Decor type magazine came to my rescue. Yes, reading about how to match your
couture draperies to your luxury bed linen is less painful than reading about how carrots and bananas could be a secret to increasing a man's sex appeal!

We got to the Adlabs theatre in Bharath Mall, only to find out that the movie started 5 minutes back! It was at 10 am, and all eyes were fixed on Mr. B, who had confidently declared that the show was at 10:45. We hurriedly bought the tickets and ran into the theatre. We were huffing and puffing, though it was Bond who was in action already :P I loved the movie. I could say, it's the same league as... umm... well... Casino Royale! Oh come ooon...Nothing else can get into that league! And I am quite biased when it comes to Bond. Aren't we all, Ladies?

Watching all that action caused tremendous fatigue and we wanted to eat again. Agent S arrived, while we were shopping at Big Bazaar, like we haven't seen a supermarket in ages. We really hadn't! Then we went to this place called 'The Village' in Marathahalli. While the others digged into their sea food platter, I relished my risotto with cheese sauce, with a generous sprinkling of mushrooms.And oh, the mashed potatoes were nice too. I had my first sip of Peach Schnapps from Ms.N's glass... well, it smells great. Others indulged in the regular red wine. After the nice and elaborate lunch, we went to the St. Aloysius chapel. It's fabulous, and the Italian, Bro. Antonio Moscheni who painted it must have been One Patient Man! We walked around the college campus and decided to stop for ice cream at Ideal's, the most popular icecream place there. I had a pretty fancy Choco-nut preparation, loaded with cashew bits! My sweet tooth craved for more and I ended up gobbling some gajar ka halwa as well. The place was easy on the pocket, but not on the waistline.

After spotting a condom-vending machine by the side of the road and a long India-is-becoming-progressive conversation, we canned the plan of going to the helipad and headed to Agent S's abode. A pretty Konkani house, with a Mangalore tile roofing and wooden windows...and an attic! It was so Harry Potter-ish when we all climbed the attic and walked across to the dimly lit terrace. Aapam, fried fish, chicken gravy, spicy veg curry, Old Monk, Sprite & Coke for the not-so-adventurous, lots of interesting stories, and Retro English numbers were the perfect ingredients for the wonderful evening.

Reminded me of those agenda-packed, one-day school excursions. So short, yet soooo much fun :)

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