A veggie @ Mainland China

Challenges. We all love them. Don’t we?

So when I was told I CANNOT enjoy a meal at Mainland China because it is a place for non-vegetarians only, I said – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Mainland China. A place you would expect the chefs to bring down the culture of China to our plates. And so they did.

Located in Hinjewadi, this outlet is a mini-china on Indian soil. Okay- that may be an exaggeration, but we were swept off by the food, decor, ambiance, music, colors, service, booze – basically everything!!

As we were seated waiting for menu, these bowls with salad appeared. They clearly understand customers are really hungry – and this gesture compensates for any delay in main course.

We ordered. It came. We clicked. We ate. We loved.

The food was master-chef level, the service was impeccable, the quantity was suffice and the vegetarian in me was happy.

CHALLENGE COMPLETED 😀

To celebrate this we ordered two desserts, and both were to die for. Seriously, I would kill my friends for a dozen of these 😉

All-in-all, it is only a myth that Mainland China is for non-veggies only. Veggies in town – DO VISIT. You’re in for a surprise.

See what Zomato, Zootout and Burrp have to say.

Lavasa Diaries…All about it.

Set over 7 hills, Lavasa calls itself “India’s first planned hill city”. We talked about it in our previous post.

Lavasa city is in the midst of many mountains and almost every part of Lavasa has its own lakeshore (dam backwaters).

How to go to Lavasa city from Pune (Magarpatta City):

Go to Chandni Chowk. Proceed towards Mulshi Dam. Once you climb down Pirangut ghat, you would start seeing big blue colored signboards for Lavasa. After Pirangut, you have to take a left for Lavasa. Once on this road, you would cross Temghar dam. Keep going on this road until you see an arch on the right, which is the official entrance of lavasa. From this point, the road goes down to the dam and the city.

Our road map here.

The distance to Lavasa from the turn on Mulshi road (after Pirangut) is around 30 kms. The road is very smooth (too smooth for Indian roads) and the curves on the road make it a biker’s paradise.

The lake shore has been modeled on old Europe with many stone bridges criss-crossing the waters. This makes it an extremely scenic place for photography.

To know more : go to Wiki.

10 Excuses of going to Lavasa :

1. You’ve lost faith in the world.

2. You want to pull your (or someone else’s) hair off – in short – everything bugs you.

3. You’re moody.

4. You’re adventurous.

5. You love riding bike. And want to show off your skills.

6. You want to feel wind gushing through your hair.

7. You want a break.

8. You love to meditate.

9. You love water sports.

10. You love nature.

With that, I hope some of you would go to Lavasa sometime. Leave a comment, if you want more details. Do tell us your experiences, specially if they vary from ours. 🙂

Cheers!

Lavasa Diaries..Continue

Google is one helpful tool. And so is an android phone.

Not just from gossips, we did know a bit about Lavasa, India‘s planned hill city. (Read more here) And we were ready to know more, or at least validate what we had heard/read.

On route to Lavasa :

The beautiful sun could be seen rising on the lush green hills…

There are not just 2 or 3 but 2-3 dozen spots where you would want to just stop, take a break and breathe in.The astounding beauty compels the travelers and tourists to make this journey a sort of stop-here-stop-there tour.

Many waterfalls can be spotted too 🙂

Of many such famous stop-over places is the Temgarh Dam. Some of us gutsy people even crossed over this gate to get a view captured in our memories. 🙂If the water level is low (which fortunately it was, when we went), one can climb down to the water level. There is a small spot here too. Peaceful, indeed.

Not to forget, where there are tourists, there are local businesses. You will be surprised to find the number of corn-on-the-cob “shops” en route.

Once you enter the main city gate, the ambiance would completely change. You’ll clearly see much more foggy hills than you saw on the way up. You can see the city’s development so far, standing miles above its ground level.

The colourful houses give a European touch to the city’s panoramic view.

It is equally exciting to see water sports happening in the artificial lake at Lavasa. On reaching the city, you can opt for a tour on hop-on-hop-off bus, which is too trendy by Indian standards 😉

The city is not completely developed yet, but the parts which are, will not leave you complaining.

A long walk on the streets around the lake midst the mountains, will definitely make you forget the rest of the world for a while. Lavasa gives you a good 8-10 hours getaway from the daily monotonous and hectic life. The experience is soulful and connects one to nature in a spell bounding way. How to reach Lavasa?

Wait for our next post! 🙂