cream centre restaurant

A friend of our and a discerning diner at that had recommended this restaurant in raja annamalaipuram to us. Yes it was around a year back.I pass by and used to remember that we should visit this restaurant.
Hence it was that a few weeks back we made a beeline to this place. A friend of ours was visiting us and velankanni church festival being in full swing, all eateries in the neighbourhood were out of bounds. The takeaway food joint that used to be patronised heavily by S appeared to have wound shop.Looks like S had some unique taste which did not have mass market in our locality!So we had no choice than to try out cream centre.
We called up for booking and were told not too politely that we should come to the restaurant and try our chances. It did put us off a bit, but then we had made up our mind to go there and like true tamilians, 'mun vaitha kaalai pin vaika maatom' was our motto. So we landed there, the restaurant being right in the middle of very good residential neighbourhood only added to its charm.We waited in the garden for a while and very soon got a comfortable table.We saw that the restaurant has been converted from a residential accomodation. Again it added to its uniqueness.
We looked at the gorgeous menu card and were thoroughly bowled over by the pictures of dishes which were very attractive. Hence we pitched for known and unknown dishes, purely on the basis of their appearance in the menu card. We even plumped for the chef's reco.
While we were waiting we realised that the place was choc a bloc with family crowd and every family had an average of four kiddos below the age of five.They were bawling, running around and screaming all the time and of course cartoon network and pogo were being shown on the tv for added din. We heard some other noises in the background and discered it was the channel music trying to valiantly have its space in the din!We decided to ask the manager to please take the so called channel music off the air; the heady concoction of bawling kids and background sitar music was not really pleasant. He lowered the volume a bit and came back saying that they have put on the music after customers had complained about the noise level of the kiddoos. He said they have tried everything (other than strangling the brats) but since the place seems to suit toddlers and their parents other customers have to simply lump it.
Now, there started the waning of the honeymoon times. We realised that we had to also lump the thoroughly flavourless food. It was tottering around very very average. There was nothing wrong with it, but then there was nothing commendable about the taste either. We felt thoroughly cheated and decided to ask for dessert just to lift our moods a bit.
The kulfi was okay and did save the day somewhat.
NO, we are not recommending cream centre in raja annamalaipuram to anybody other than young parents who somehow dont seem to mind the lack of taste or ambience, as long as their kiddos are allowed a run of the restaurant.

onam

There is an ayyappan temple in the neighbourhood. We had never known about it for all these years.It is unostentatious and does not blare loud devotional songs. It is tucked away in a small lane and does not have flashy gopurams to broadcast its presence. It has a small tile roofed temple as though it is a family deity installed within your own house.It is full of feel good factor about it. There are just two sannidhis, one of ayyappan, the main deity and another of pillayar. It has lots of trees of flowering plants inside the compound.It has an old world charm about the place.There is a single 'pookadai' just outside the gate.I go past this temple on my occasional walks in the colony and the liberal and heady smell of 'malli' and 'jaadi' are a welcome assault on your senses.It opens well past 6 pm and has a devotional songs played in a very low volume which one can hear only inside the temple.
Of late I am seeing a group of elderly ladies assemble there in the evening and recite bhajans, slokas and devotional songs. To ward off the friendly mosquitoes which hover around them, they carry all sorts of contraptions and they make a regular 'whoosh' sound inbetween beats!Some of them cannot sit on the floor, so come with folding chairs but their regularity surprises me.
Last week during onam, I felt like visiting this temple. P and me decided to go there after 8 pm. The place was teeming with malayalis of all hues and sizes and ages in traditional attire with sandal paste on their foreheads and all of them having such well washed and clean look about them.The temple was full of flowers and thorans and wore a very festive look. Very beautiful and artistic and colouful rangolis, the 'pookalam' was adorning the floor space. I am really fond of these flower rangolis and stood gazing at them trying to memorize the design and floral arrangement.There was nadaswaram innisai in the background. But unfortunately they were playing only tamil devotional songs which did not merge with the mood. But they cannot import them from kerala ostensibly!
We just entered the temple and witnessed the 'mahaarati '. There is something about the string of lamps that ayyappan temples display.They are so beautiful and immediately take you on a divine feel. The idol is very small and huge garlands were adorning the deity and were laid like a huge mat in front of the idol. We all took the sandalwood paste prasad and were surprised that a massive dinner plate was handed out for every devotee. Sambhar rice, curd rice, kesari and pattani sundal were handed out in liberal quantities. Soon a big queue formed and as we wer coming out of the temple we could see the neighbourhood suddenly erupting into a sea of humanity heading straight to the temple. I was reminded of the screen play in some tamil movies, where they will show all lanes are full of people heading towards purposefully towards one particular spot, where there is action.I saw my keerai kaari hurrying with her children as also my neighbour's servant maid with her family.There is something very satisfying about annadanams.We brought our prasadams home and I was happy to share it with the watchman in the next door apartment block.He obviously is not tuned in to the neighbourhood happenings!

fun shopping

No, I dont enjoy shopping. But it is one of the facts of life that one needs to shop for essentials and also for a host of non essentials. I read regularly about the shopping sprees of celebrities and they seem to know where to buy what. I find it very difficult to figure out where to shop for barest necessities. So if I happen to find a shop which gives me what I need without any hassles, then I resolutely stick to that shop till eternity; well not really, till the owner decides to unceremoniously put up a board which says " from this monday this shop will operate from the following address" and the address will be most in convenient for me.
I used to patronise a nice boutique shop in the neighbourhood for sarees, dress materials and occasional tailoring needs. I saw that they had put up a 'sale' sign sometime back. I have not seen them announce a sale other than during pooja. But this was not pooja time.So I went there more out of curiosity. The owner was there and said they are winding up the entire establishment and shifting out. I was shocked.I could not believe that a thriving business is folding up just in front of my eyes. But then it has happened.
In this situation I came across this shop more from a casual dropping of names from an acquaintance. I wanted to check it out. So Y and me went there today morning, ostentisibly to do diwali, pooja shopping. It was the most pleasant and enjoyable time I have had shopping.Now let me tell you the entire story.
We went there at 10 am as the shop was just opening.I thought the shop is quite crowded for such an early morning, but it transpired that they were the sales people bustling about getting into their positions!They were smiling and laughing and being busy at the same time. Yes, a nice way to start the day. The shop is actually a two storeyed bungalow converted into a shop.( Thank god for mixed neighbourhoods, it was bang in a quiet residential area, so no parking issues, honking autos and stuff).
We went via small rooms, big rooms, climbing few flights of stairs and walking along blind alleys, as if solving a maze puzzle. Finally we reached the dress materials counter.Two girls were stationed there and there were most eager to help us in our selections. They were friendly, they knew the stuff available and were willing to give us friendly tips on what to look for.They were most willing to exhibit any number of stuff that we wanted to see, no matter that they were neatly stacked , easy to reach and at eye level. A place like naidu hall would have told us,' please look at the exhibits and tell us what you want', before we have even looked at one dress material.It is most putting off to me when I encounter such snooty behaviour. Usually that is the last straw and at this point I usually hit the exit gate.
Here when our demands were mounting, another sales person also joined us and added his expertise to the entire process.Y and me were by now thoroughly enjoying the entire shopping expedition. I got totally carried away and told her 'take whatever you want'.Y has not seen me so expansive and quizzed me on my sangfroid! The sales girls encouraged us to try out any number of dresses and the trial rooms were actually accessible and available!The sales girls were giving more and more designs/texture/styles and exhibiting them that the counter was sky high with the dresses displayed.All the time, the shortlisted items were also growing steadily. Full patialas, half patialas(are they bhatinda stuff?) , latest designs for diwali season and new (!) colours were all displayed and vigorously promoted.We were happy to succumb to the temptation to 'splash'.

I asked them if they get a commission for the sales at their counter, to which the girls replied in a chorus that they want good name from the shop and satisfied customers like us.After all what is there in a measly commission! I disagreed about the uselessness of commission in everyday life.They then told me that they get some group incentive for the sales in the entire shop.
They also told me that they work all 7 days of the week 10 am to 9pm till deepavali; the girls leave a t 9pm and the boys stay much longer.Request for leave for special contingencies is obviously granted.There was one girl who was missing and we were told that she had asked for a days leave to see 'paruthiveeran' and was it actually granted!I should take this with a pinch of sale, the girls were obviously in a good mood and were pulling our legs for sure.

We came out to the billing section and duly told the owner/boss that we had wonderful experience shopping here and we will come again as we stay quite closeby.He immediately fished out a customer note book where i have recorded the good experience in three crowded sentences for posterity.
Y was waiting for the tailor near the front office and we saw the two girls again busy and happy and playful, getting the mannequins dressed for the day.The mannequin was carried in bits and pieces from the cupboard and duly assembled with a lot of merriment in selecting an appropriate dress.There was a tv showing sun tv and sun news. A customer was just checking out of the store and saw the news item where the photos of likely suspects in the recent bomb blast case were being aired. She told the girls 'they are showing you guys on the tv!". It took a while for them to register and as the customer was leaving the girls burst out laughing and so did the other front office staff.
I could see that the happiness and bonhomie of the sales girls was so infectious that it catches the customers too. Like it has made me rush back home and hit the blogger screen.
Shanti, the garment shop on 1st avenue indira nagar, adyar, chennai, is a must visit.