Michael Crichton’s latest novel, Pirate Latitudes, took up one marathon reading session this weekend. It was, to be cliched, unputdownable.
The blurb reads:
An irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World from one of the best-loved and bestselling authors of all time.
Jamaica, in 1655 a lone outpost of British power amid Spanish waters in the sun-baked Caribbean. Its capital, Port Roayl, a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses – the last place imaginable fron which to launch an attack on a nearby Spanish stronghold. Yet that is …

Sunday evening was spent rather delightfully, listening to Jeffrey Archer speak. He was at Landmark to promote his new book, a re-write of his top seller, Kane and Abel.
The man is a genius when it came to handling the crowd – he had them eating out of his hand within the first few minutes – he spoke about what a great place India is, and Sachin’s brilliant century in the previous day’s game. It was easy to see how he would have swayed his constituents who sent him to the …

After dining at Trance Lounge last night, we decided to try out a new place for dessert, and ended up going to Ice ‘n’ Jelly. This place is right opposite Pedamma temple, on Jubilee Hills Road No: 21. Don’t worry, if you can’t find it, the man in the teddy bear costume standing on the road will wave you in towards the place.
The place was not crowded – there was just one other patron as we entered, and two more sauntered in while we were there. The seating was on …

We had dinner at Trance Lounge in Jubilee Hills last night. When we read the Description of the place as the former residence of the Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi, our curiosity was piqued and we just had to go.
The place is easily located – coming from Hitec City, turn right at Jubilee Hills checkpost and take the second u-turn. Drive on for about fifty metres and you’ll see a brightly-lit sign indicating the left turn you have to take for the restaurant.

Ohri’s Jiva – Good service, ordinary food
Dinner last night was at Ohri’s Jiva. We were shopping in the city, and were looking for a place we hadn’t been to before, and this was the closest.
After our car was taken away by the valet, we stepped in to find ourselves part of a huge crowd of waiting people. More than fifty people were sitting or standing around, and we were ready to turn around and leave. That was when I noticed a poster advertising a Rs. 199 buffet, and a guy …

Caught the lunch buffet at the F9 Diner at Kondapur yesterday.
We got there a little after two, and the place was not too crowded – just a couple of families and groups of friends. The restaurant was large, light and airy, and the buffet, while not extensive, was definitely adequate. We started off with a welcome drink – a glass of the ubiquitous (for Fusion9) Blue Angel. The salad counter was the star of the buffet – it alone had more dishes than the rest of the buffet! Apart from …

I wrote a list of my top 5 touch devices for a piece called Titans of Touch in the latest issue of BusinessWorld and they edited it a bit to fit their layout demands. Here’s the version I wrote:
And so it is – I find myself with an unlimited budget, and five of my favourite touchscreen devices on the shopping list. I find myself hard put to make a choice – what will I get two of? But then, sanity prevails, and I promise myself I will get only one …

Had dinner at Southern Spice yesterday. In a nutshell – good food, quick, efficient, and unfriendly service.
We had appams, ragi sangati and rice with chicken, fish and prawn side dishes.

 
We went to GVK One today. We’ve had our eyes on the place since it was being built and finished, and being the mall rats we are, we’ve been waiting for a chance to check it out.
The first part of the GVK One experience was getting into the parking lot. We went down a spiral ramp making more turns than you can shake a spring at, but finally ended up in a decently organised parking lot – each parking level is a different colour and every pillar has an identifying …

Tonight, both Vidya and I were not particularly hungry, and wanted something light to eat. As we drove down the road from Kothaguda to Gachibowli, we came across Toastyz, and decided to give it a try. It was a small place, with one table inside and two outside. It was manned by two friendly and efficient guys. The menu was pretty extensive, toasted subs being the specialty. They also had salads, soups, hot and cold beverages and desserts.