Solid Smoke

തിരുവനന്തപുരം നഗരത്തില്‍ മത്സ്യവിഭവങ്ങളില്‍ 'സ്പെഷ്യലൈസ്' ചെയ്യുന്ന ഭക്ഷണശാലകള്‍ കുറവാണ്. വഴുതക്കാട്ടെ സാഗരയാണ് പേരുകേട്ട ഒരെണ്ണം. കുറച്ചുകാലമായി, ബേക്കറി ജംഗ്ഷന് സമീപം (റിസര്‍വ് ബാങ്കിനടുത്ത്) 'വര്‍ണ്ണം' എന്ന 'സീ ഫുഡ് റെസ്റ്റോറന്റ്' തരക്കേടില്ലാത്ത വിഭവങ്ങളായി പേരെടുത്ത് വരികയായിരുന്നു. ഇപ്പോള്‍ അവര്‍ ഒരു 'കുട്ടനാടന്‍ ഫുഡ് ഫെസ്റ്റിവല്‍' നടത്തുന്നു. നമ്മളില്ലാതെ എന്ത് ഫുഡ്, എന്ത് ഫെസ്റ്റിവല്‍? ഹും... ഇന്നലെ ഇതറിഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ തന്നെ ഞാനും ലോലനും (അതായത് സുല്‍ഫിക്കര്‍) ഡിന്നര്‍ പ്ലാന്‍ ചെയ്തു. ഓഫീസിലെ മറ്റു തീറ്റ ഭ്രാന്തന്‍മാര്‍ ശബരിമല സ്കീമിലായിരുന്നത് കൊണ്ട് വിളിച്ചില്ല. ;-) "കണമ്പ് ഇട്ടൂസ്" - എപ്പടി? നല്ല പേര്, അല്ലേ? പോരട്ടെ ഒരു പ്ലേറ്റ്.. കൂടാതെ "ആവോലി തന്തൂരി", "കാരി കറി", "കൊഞ്ച് ഫ്രൈ" പിന്നെ പുട്ടും (നല്ല കോമ്പിനേഷന്‍ - ഓര്‍ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ തന്നെ വായില്‍ വെള്ളമൂറുന്നില്ലെങ്കില്‍ പിന്നെ എന്തിനാ ഇത് വായിക്കുന്നേ?). ലോലന്‍, ആസ് യൂഷ്വല്‍, 'റുമാലി റോട്ടി'! പൂയ്.. യെവന്‍ പണ്ടേ ഔറംഗസേബിന്റെ പിന്‍ഗാമിയാണല്ലോ.. എല്ലാം ...

The feedback from some friends from office and Cris's post made me want to watch the movie - Kerala Cafe. So, braving the rain and the Monday Syndrome, we decided to go for the 'second show' on Sunday night. Breaking the routine, we reached the theater early enough to beat the crowd. But the lack of a crowd or even a reasonably long queue cast some doubts on the quality of the movie. Anyway, thanks to Divya (that's Kurian's wifey) and the ladies' counter, we got the tickets in no time and got in. Again - plenty of seats to choose from in the balcony. If this movie is so good, then where the hell is the audience? Fortunately, the movie was really good. I'm not gonna give a review of all the 10 stories here (you knew it had 10 stories, right?), but let me list down some observations/gripes: 1. Dileep is a terrible and horrible actor. The first movie, starring him, could've been good if the director had done better and cast someone who can act. He should r...

I wanted to merge multiple PDF files on Linux, without messing up the links in the individual files. There was a Linux.com article on merging PDF files using Ghostscript and using pdfmeld (a commercial software). The Ghostscript method works, but completely messes the links up. Searching on Google also didn't return any instant pointers. But it did get me to pdftk . It's a really useful utility for meddling with PDF files. To merge two PDF files, the command is: pdftk 1.pdf 2.pdf 3.pdf cat output 123.pdf And to make it even better, links work flawlessly in the merged PDF files. Hooray! PS: I created the individual test files using OpenOffice Writer. They had navigational hyperlinks to sections inside the same files. Update: It seems there's a good GUI for pdftk - PDF Chain . I haven't used it yet, but people seem to be appreciating it.

I get this SMS from a confused soul one day: "Assume you are my brother. Then what is your wife to me? Is it sister in law or brother in law?" For those in my office, no points for guessing who sent this message ;-) Anyway, in case you know The Right Answer™, then have you heard the term co-brother ? PS: Yeah, I did think of replying: "neither, it's 'bhabhi'". But then again, he wouldn't understand that either! PPS: Just discovered: doing a Google image search for 'bhabhi' brings up all sorts of 'interesting' images!

"Kabab - Taste of Arabia " - how can any honest glutton ignore a signboard like that? And so we (me, Sandeep & Adarsh) decided to pay a visit to this restaurant at Pattom (opposite to LIC/Railway/BSNL building) for dinner yesterday. Kababs, Kababs and more Kababs! but.... As the restaurant's name goes, there are several Kababs on the menu. We were confused by the choice that was offered. Having come here for the first time (and for no other reason, honest!), we decided to go for variety and ordered 'half' servings of three different Kababs - Malai Kabab, Kalimirch Kabab & Arabian Kabab (whatever that is). When the dishes were served, all confusions (about choice) vanished. They all looked exactly the same! We asked the waiter boy to point out and he did his random 'this is that, and that is this' routine. Anyway, it didn't matter much because they all tasted the same. Absolutely no difference at all (or perhaps our taste buds are not sensiti...

Had dinner at the 'Rain Forest' restaurant in Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram. It's on the right hand side (when coming from Vellayambalam), after the SriMulam Club Junction. The place is not 'on' the road side and hence it's silent, comfy and of course clean. We (me, Kurian & Ashik ) ordered chicken noodles, Spaghetti Bolognaise (or Bolognese), Sandwich (ലൈറ്റായിട്ട്!), chilly chicken etc. as the main course. This was of course preceded by a generous serving of soup and starters: fish fingers and chicken gold coin (it doesn't look as yummy as in that link). The verdict The fish fingers were awesome. Some of the best we've ever had. Highly recommended. Chicken gold coins, unfortunately, were terrible. Drenched in oil, these were no fun at all! Spaghetti Bolognaise was quite good and the noodles was not bad either. The chilly chicken, again, was burnt and was a let down. Overall, this place is quite cool; but not all dishes are up to the mark. Lov...

The 'À la carte' restaurant has been running (it better be, away!) at Kesavadasapuram, opposite to M.G. College. It's in the infamous 'Pazhoor Plaza' building (infamous only because of the computer shop: Pazhoor Ideal Systems). Had dinner there today, with my father. The ambience was better than I expected and had some class. But all was lost when the food was served. It's pretty bad. We had chilly chicken, mushroom masala, chilly gobi & roti. Except for the roti, everything else was quite terrible. The dishes are somewhat pricey too. I wasn't very excited to see Rs.30 for the grape juice, but it turned out to be the best part of my dinner. So, if you've spotted this restaurant and have been thinking about paying a visit, you can safely let that feeling pass. There are far better ways of spending those Rs.100 notes, and you'll get much better food in return too. ------------ PS: In case you didn't know, À la carte is a French phrase meaning...