Day visit to Taj Mahal Agra

Perhaps the smallest so far but long due and worth writing, I am penning down my memories of recent visit to see Taj Mahal, Agra.

Haven’t been fond of art and monuments to a large scale, neither do I empathise with the love and sacrifice that underwent in the construction of the monument which is considered as one of the seven wonders of the world. But there has always been a curiosity to see it and check out what the hype is all about so, this time, when I was travelling to Agra city for work, I decided that I will spare some time to satiate my curiosity.

As I mentioned I was travelling for work, I couldn’t think of travelling at slow and leisurely pace, thought of exploring the Yamuna expressway that took me about 6 hours to reach Agra from Lucknow. The toll is a little heavy on the pocket however the route is smooth, traffic and hassle free that makes the journey quite cozy.

The former capital, Agra doesn’t have much to do and people anyways stay here for a day or two, visit the astounding monuments, local markets and close their itineraries for the place. I was put up in close proximity to Taj Mahal, hotel Howard Plaza for a night. It’s a cozy hotel with all the amenities, courteous staff and good service.

Coming straight to the best part of the visit, seeing the Taj Mahal up close!

The structure is just mesmerising from the moment you set your eyes on it. I entered from the western gate, went through the security and was standing in front of the Taj within minutes. May be, because it wasn’t the tourist season or I got lucky. I spent about 2-3 hours walking along the monument, gawking at the beauty from every angle possible and taking some good pictures. If you are planning to visit anytime soon, here is a pro tip:

Once a month on the full moon night, Taj Mahal is open to viewing during night time. I wonder and wish what an amazing opportunity would it be to enjoy. Plan accordingly !

The cherry on top is that Agra fort is just 2.5 kilometres from Taj Mahal, so you can get some time to visit the main residence of the Mughal emperors before they moved their capital to Red fort in Delhi which you all must have studied in your history class. What else should I say about these two monuments, especially Taj that hasn’t been said before!

You have good eateries, small restaurants, sight seeing historical monuments and evening bazaars in the vicinity to keep your tour fun and frolic through out your stay. If you are planning to visit, do keep in mind that Taj Mahal is shut on Fridays for religious activists and is not open for visitors. So plan accordingly!

Plus, don’t forget to boost me by hitting like and feel free to shoot any questions if you have or just in case you need any support during your visit. Thanks and see you again, hopefully soon!

Eatout Experience at The English Department Malad

We entered the place with a great welcome from the staff in British style. We were served welcome drinks and briefed about the place as well as menu by Chef Makarand.

One unique thing about the place I noticed that it has been segregated into two divisions. One caters to the fine diners while the other is open for music lovers, the party people!

The English Department Bar & Diner has a good ambience with sophisticated crowd. The service of staff is equitable and decors are worth admiration.
While we were deciding upon our cocktails to order, Chef Makarand told us about his experience in the industry and how he has incorporated various thoughts in preparing cuisines at the Diner.

Drinks: Mocktails can be improved but cocktails are quite good. The Surprise Martini with Tequila base, Gin paradise were okay but I loved Sex on the beach more than everything they had to offer.

Food: If you go by my choice, order any or all of the mentioned items:

• Woodfire Pizza
• Prawns in Garlic sauce
• Saffron Mango Rissoto

Believe me, you will thank me. Apart from this, they have Fish and Chips, Paneer Shashlik, Welsh Rarebit, Chicken Strauganoff that you can try.

Its a cool hangout place located on first floor in Malad. I hadn’t expected to be awed by the experience so just giving a suggestion that don’t go with a prejudice of the locality or recommendation and I am sure you will like it.

Must visit during weekends and Watchout for their 2 outlets opening soon in Mumbai itself.
Do hit like button if you enjoyed reading the review. Of course, it will make me feel better. 😉

​10 Military Habits That Make Soldiers Awesome Personality !

No soldier outlives a thousand chances. But every soldier believes in Chance and trusts his luck..
 Here are some of the common military habits that make the soldiers awesome.
1. They are extremely polite.

You can easily pick out service members by their over usage of “sir” and “ma’am.” The soldiers never discriminate among people when it comes to politeness. A shopkeeper would get the same amount of respect that a Colonel would. All thanks to the military discipline.
2.Their haircut!

I have never come across any defence personnel how doesn’t have a smart haircut. The crew cut is the signature haircut that most of the service members have. Years will pass by and the soldiers will never get tired of sporting their smartly- cut hair.
3.Sunglasses!

Wearing sunglasses has become like an unwritten norm for the military personnel. The military personnel wear sunglasses even when its’not sunny outside! So much for a habit!
4.They walk fast.

Military personnel walk with a purpose, as if their trip to the grocery store is actually a Ministry of Defence briefing! Their walk defines another parameter of confidence.
5.The power stance.

Habits are hard to kick. The posture of the military personnel literally makes you feel that they own the place!
6.Use of jargons

The military personnel have the habit of using jargons ( example- Roger, etc.) in their normal daily way of speaking. If a non-defence background individual is to hear them speak, I’m pretty sure they would be awestruck!
7.They have the tendency to scan the crowd and are very observant.

If you are in a room full of people and you spot someone who’s been scanning and observing the crowd, you are most probably looking at a soldier. They can easily sense if something is suspicious and act accordingly.
8.They can sleep anywhere.

Military personnel can sleep probably anywhere, in any weather, on anything. They also come out of it rapidly and coherently and it’s no big deal for them.
9.They are unbelievably punctual.

So they have this really unbelievable punctuality. 1800 hours, for them, can become 1755 hours but not 1805 hours. They will always be on time, irrespective of the event, etc.
10.Their determination and courage are unmatched.

The military personnel has so much determination for whatever they do. No task is big or small; they put their 100% in everything that they do. Their courage is something that inspires other people to be like them.

Dilli wala Butter Chicken

Cooking butter chicken is easy! Many might think so after browsing through a couple of videos on YouTube or flipping through fancy looking recipes on cookery magazines. Respite you all, it is an art!

An art that involves smokey, tangy, creamy and a rich taste. Tender pieces of chicken blended with right amount of spices to make you crave for it whenever you think of eating chicken.

I was elated to discover the same at Goila’s. Not just the butter chicken, Chef Saransh’s brainchild has his own recipe of everything he has included in the Menu. The joint is attractive and the name itself has a non vegetarian’s favorite eat.

 

Sindhi style mutton is again, that had right amount of flavors and spices to make it overpowering on the whole. The roomali rotis they serve are fresh and just perfect.

Chocolate Golgappa for desserts is one interesting out of box innovation on the food side. One suggestion to Chef Saransh would be get it copyrighted before it gets copied by someone.

To sum it up, Goila butter chicken is a must try for everyone who loves butter chicken or is willing to try a different flavor of all the dishes. Go ahead and place an order for delivery.

Fuit-a-thon Challenge

This is not just delicious, its healthy-licious! Washington Apples and USA Pears conducted the coveted Fruit-a-thon challenge for their second season!

Most of us know that junk food is unhealthy and yet our fast paced life is laded with kilos of junk throughout the day. We know that poor nutrition is related to heart problems, high blood pressure, and a host of other health ailments and yet, we crave for all of them.

Even when some of us are consuming a healthy diet, we most often forget an essential part of diet, i.e Fruits. They are not just refreshing, healthy and ensures of our well being; they provide high nutritional value, guard us against diseases and gives us more energy.

A fruit doesn’t need to be boring; fruits can be incorporated into your lifestyle in the most interesting ways! Like the ordinary Apples and Pears are a delight to make shakes, dips, salads and even desserts from!

Washington Apples & USA Pears introduced the concept of fruit eating in a fun manner and this time it witnessed enthusiastic participation from the people. The challenge entailed participants from 15 to 35 years of age and were asked to relish various lipsmacking fruit recipes prepared using USA Pears and Washington Apples.The contestants had a crazy competition where in they were divided into three teams with four participants each naming Fruit king, Fruit Tella & Fruit Maniac.

One member from each team had to participate in one round of the competition, the #USFreshFruitathon that had 4 challenges:

1.    Shake It Up– A large jug of heavenly apple milkshake! No surprises here! Be the first to finish it and get your team to win!

2.    Salad Salsa– A large bowl of apple and pear salad deliciously sinful you couldn’t tell its healthy!

3.    Dip-a-licious– Eat as many crackers with the creamy apple dip that will leave you wanting more and more

4.    Muffin Topper– Healthy apple cinnamon muffins that you can eat to your heart’s content without feeling guilty!

The pictures tell an awesome story of the challenge that I am craving for and hope you all are too! An urge to the organisers would be to conduct the challenge at the country level or may be scaling it to multiple cities for all the foodies to enjoy.

Vodafone Knows How to Keep the Fun On!

Since mobile has transformed from merely a communication tool to social tool, it has been successful in gauging the attention span of the youth over the globe. Youth which is socially active, growing and super demanding at times.

Vodafone India launched plan U that especially caters to the college goers and generation Y audience as it comprises of wide array of benefits enabling the mobile users to be connected to friends, fun and internet. In the language of Sandeep Kataria, Director Commercial, Vodafone India- Plan U is perfectly poised to be the Enabler, Connector and Entertainer.

To tell you in detail, Vodafone U brings complete fun in varied fun in comprising of the following benefits:

Data Allowance: Gives you an option to use data based on your consumption from the available packs of Large and small. Vodafone U even gives you a dedicated night allowance.

Buddy Lifelines: Vodafone U pack allows you to choose 3 special friends from your friend-list to call them at the rates of as low as 20p/min.

Data Loan: This is the most unique feature which I love. You can take a loan upto 60 MB of data free which will be deducted from the allowance of the following month. This is surely a way of keeping the FUN ON.

To explore the real fun, you can visit the Vodafone U website and to know about all the fantastic features of it, click here. To connect with Vodafone U on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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A post shared by Shubham Singh (@shubhamsinghsuryavanshi)

The launch of Vodafone U happened in the Hard Rock Cafe which was hosted by famous Youtube stars like Kannan Gill, Raftaar and The Viral Fever making it totally awesome and exciting for all the attendees. It is one of the first kind when all these stalwarts have come together for a collaboration as cool as this.

 

 

 

Thrilling Thela Experience in Cafe Format- Rekadi Cafe

Bite, gulp, slurp & hoard. The cutting chai, your longest brain freeze, guiltiest dessert, ever spicy vada pav, and the messiest rolls on the rekadi.  Mind you, we are still just on the outskirts. If you are in the mood to tantalize your taste buds, fall in love with Mumbai all over again, find your excuse to scrape that diet, or  are juggling to find what more does this city has on its menu- the foodie next door, you are just about to discover the right place!

From pizzas to golas, Rekadi Cafe is keen to give you thela experience in a scintillating café format. This is the place for golas as they offer variety of them varying from 25 ranges of the colourful iced dessert (Now you understand the brain freeze!).

The aura of the restaurant is just awesome, they have set up a real street cart with colourful syrup bottles to give you the rustic yet fancy Rekadi vibe. You can also try their chilled pani puri, sandwiches and flavoured fries for a total street-style meal. Do visit on weekends  to check out the other innovative dishes on the menu.

Specialities: Malai Gola, Sandwiches, Panini Chaat & flavored fries.

Address: Rekadi Cafe, Shop No. 14, Opposite Tara Singh garden, Swapna Nagri, Mulund West, Mumbai

 

The Moo-ving Experience at Go Cheese Factory

Last week I got the opportunity of visiting Go Cheese Factory, a good 2 hour drive from Pune operated from Manchar amidst Maharashtra’s Western hills. This is a home grown dairy farm and Cheese factory owned by the one of the pioneers of dairy products in India, Parag Milk Foods. The brand portfolio entails various dairy products from brands like Gowardhan, Pride of Cows, Topp Up and Go.

Dairy Products

On arrival we were offered Chaas (Buttermilk), Lassi & Badam Milk as welcoming drink and were briefed by the management team of the stories of establishment and unique innovative inventions in the Indian dairy industry.

The itinerary included to visit the home grown dairy farm, cheese factory and understand behind the scenes of the manufacturing of the delicious milk products. We started with the Bhagyalaxmi Dairy farm visit owned by the company where around 3500 cows are taken care to produce variety of milk and cheese products.

Members of the farm take good care of the cows right from their birth to handing over to farmers (once their milk production reduces) including sanitation, nutrition and survival. Thing which intrigued me was the automation at the farm to reduce contamination and  avoid spread of communicable ailments. Even the rotary belt used to milch cows is fully automated and at a time can milch upto 35 cows. We also tasted the fresh milk that gets packaged in bottles of Pride of Cows to be delivered at various locations across and has been recognised as the best packaged milk.

Rotary belt for milking cows

 

Post the visit, we were offered lunch at the hall that had various products from the milk and cheese manufactured at the factory. There were varieties of Pizza, Pasta, salads and Indian dishes made with milk.

Pizza-Pasta served for Lunch

Now was the time for Cheese factory visit. Started with the dressing for the tour, we were given briefing of the various types of cheese produced and their uses followed by the showcase of various processes and procedures of the manufacturing and packaging. Most of the process is same except for the time required for ripening of the cheese for different kinds. While Mozarella takes 2-10 days to ripe with extreme cold temperature, Cheddar might take quarter to half an year.

Cheese Factory Visit

Cheese Factory Visit

 

The amazing experience came to an interesting end with some interesting interactive session with the factory team followed by Cheese tasting and high tea session. And we did get enough time to ‘Say Cheese’ throughout the tour.

Cheese Tasting

North Indian Zaika in Mumbai

Nothern India has always been the quintessential part of art, culture and specially food. Mughals and Persian dishes are worth swearing by and 1 thing I have always realised during my visit of Delhi and nearby locations is that it is always one place you can look upto in terms of chicken dishes with all the flavors.

I have always travelled to Mohammed Ali road for having my dose of tasty chicken but when I go to hear about the launch of ‘Delhi Zaika’ restaurant in Bandra by Mid Day it was worth paying a visit and believe me! you can truly skip travelling to Mohd Ali road during Ramzaan because whatever you need is all here in one place.

It was an afternoon when we went to the restaurant and I was famished of all the travelling, looking around for the place however its situated just walking distance from the Bandra Station near the Jama Masjid, in the local lane where eateries are famous (Ofcourse, Mumbaikars will able to relate to). Newly launched restaurant has a decent decor to please an eater for fine dining but I would suggest you don’t go with the intention of a fancy dining here.

The starters started coming in; at first we were served with the quarter plates of Tandoori chicken; the Chicken Barra Tandoori was less spicy but tasted perfect to start with which was followed by Peshawari Chicken Tandoori which was considerably more spicy and tasted better than the tandooris I have ever had.

North Indian chicken dishes are incomplete if we don’t talk about Afghani and hence, we were served with Afghani Malai Tikka and Paneer Malai Tikka. Both the tikkas were cream rich however some more seasoning could have helped making the dishes taste better.

Show was completely stolen by Chicken Delhi Zaika Special, the taste, garnishing and quantity; everything is to die for. I am definitely coming here many times just to savor this special gravy dish at the restaurant.

We ended our meal with awesome desi rabdi which I could have consumed many cups, had there been any space left in my tummy and caramel custard. To sum it up, the food served here is one of the best in town!

Address: Hasan Building, Shop No. 4, Bandra Station Road,
Opposite Bus Depot, Bandra, Mumbai-400050

Fresh Italian Menu at Fratelli Fresh

Eating out these days is not just about food or ambiance anymore, its about complete experience. That is where the expertise of hotels like Renaissance come into being.

I had attended the relaunch menu of the Fratelli Fresh restaurant located inside the 5 star luxury hotel Renaissance catering to business crowd as well as people visiting for leisure trips.

So I entered inside the restaurant, greeted by the hotel staff and I just couldn’t stop myself from ogling at the food kept next to my stand. The ambiance is just wowsome and will lure you into affection if you are visiting anytime soon!

From the minute food was served on the table, I just devoured into it. The chicken margarita pizza was just worth it. And they also have an exotic collection of cheese to accompany your food.

Glass wall overlooking the Powai Lake, huge wine racks and open kitchen complete the decor of this spirited restaurant. The rack stacks massive number of Italian and current age wines. Now isn’t that an impressive collection?!

Fratelli Fresh spoils you for choice with the lavish food served from the newly launched menu. Delicious items in the menu will leave you confused as to which one is the best choice. All the dishes are delicious, I mean must try! We were offered Proscuitto e Formaggi, 3 mushroom risotto and spaghetti pasta cooked in arrabiata sauce.

The naughty glisten I had while the desserts were being served! Ofcourse, all of them were droolworthy. We were offered a place of fresh fruits the cocoa dust, mascarpone, Kahlua based Tiramasu and many more Italian delicacies with a mix of dry fruits and cheese.

By the way, did you have a glance at the fresh menu of Fratelli Fresh? Do say hello to Chef Christian whenever you happen to visit.