Nashville, Day Three

Our last recording day went by quickly enough, although by the end of it we certainly felt like it would never end. We didn't eat lunch and instead sat on some nearby grass to enjoy some time of not-listening.

We left for Nashville quickly though, and decided to find food that would allow for Veggie eating. Enter Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Cuisine. The decor was nice, but generic Indian restaurant. The staff was pretty nice, though, the kind that do not write the orders down. We began by sharing an appetizer sampler.

It was tasty, what with Samosas, Cutlets, Idlys, Vadas and Vegetable Pakoras. The winner of the platter was the soup-like concoction that was intended to cleanse the palate between different meals.
As a main meal I opted for Aloo Baingan

Aloo Baingan is fresh eggplant and potato cooked with onion and tomatoes. I added to that some rice and garlic naan. I ate til I couldn't eat any more.

Since we had to change hotels after dinner, and we were both pretty tired, we both decided to not go out after dinner and instead had an early night. It was good - in my room I caught the premiere of Modern Family and Happy Endings, and after a quick phone call to Mi Cariño, had me a good night's sleep.

2.5 Seconds in Indianapolis

After we finished our recording day in Fishers, we drove to Indianapolis in order to make sure we'd be close to the airport come morning. We drove to the downtown area searching for some food and settled for India Garden. I challenged myself to order something different and thus, the night's menu:

First, we had some garlic naan - 

also, Bangien Bharta, which is roasted eggplant, then sauteed with chopped onions and tomatoes.

plus jasmine rice

The complete look

The meal was quite reasonably priced, and the eggplant was more than awesome. Naomi actually took the leftovers home and enjoyed it for lunch the next day. Yum yum. 

Afterwards we decided to just chill in our respective hotel rooms, considering that it was already 9pm and we had to be up and at 'em the next day by 5am. We didn't get to really enjoy the city except for our drive through, but the downtown area was nice. Maybe some other time there'll be more enjoyment. 

Buffet Time

After a full day of recording, that included an extra interview and me having to deal with several extremely pushy and annoying members of the press, as well as having to "grant interviews" and what not, I decided to take a dip in the outdoor hotel pool. Since it was 102 degrees in San Antone, the water was quite warm, but it felt really good. Afterwards, Gaspar and I decided to stuff ourselves, and decided that Indian food would be it.

Enter India Palace. Hidden in a strip mall type of area, this place sells food Buffet style and from the menu, but the Buffet it's a really good deal for only 10.50 and unlimited refills. the food was freaking awesome. My first serving:

This one consisted of basmati rice, vegetable samosa, naan, and vegetable masala. Also something which name I can't remember but it was spinach and fresh cheese.

There was still room for more so I dared to get up for a third plate.

This one had Vegetable Basmati rice (seasoned with Saffron and with veggies), more Naan and Vegetable Samosa, Chickpeas, Dal Soup, and Okra Masala. The Okra was by far the best. And aslo funny, since I find it hilarious that I now love a veggie that my mother had to threaten me with physical harm in order for me to eat.

After that we rolled ourselves to our hotel rooms where I attempted to stay up to receive a phone call from mi Cariño, but ended up falling in a deep quite pleasurable sleep. Good times.

Quién dijo que tres son muchos?

Mi Cariño took me to the New York Latino Film Festival this past weekend. One of the films we watched was Habana Eva. We went in with high expectations, Cariño being of Cuban descent, and it did not disappoint.



The Trailer really doesn't do the movie justice, but the good thing is that it translates well - you don't have to be Cuban or Caribbean in order to "get it" I think. It's in Spanish, with Subtitles, and the male eye candy present in this film is well worth the price of admission. I mean that - I spent half of the movie just "G-d Damn"ing practically every guy that appeared on screen, from the male leads to the Taxi Drivers. Fina Torres (director, auteur) likes her men pretty, apparently. Pretty breathtaking. With asses that make me jealous, because Lord knows I'd give good money to have a booty looking anywhere close as good as that of one of the male leads. And yes, the story is good - but go in with an open mind and your "magical realism" glasses on. It's not like the movie is surreal or anything like that, but I can see some people going "Wha'?" at some parts, instead of just accepting and moving on.

After the movie, Indian food happened. Cariño chose and I for the life of me don't remember the name. It's one of the many places near Baruch. Tawa Aloo Gobi, Rice, and Garlic Naan was had.

Meet cha at the swimmin' hole

Second day in Austin. Work went by quickly and smoothly, to which: booyah. Right after work Matt and I rushed to our rooms to change, grab some towels and then off we were to Barton Creek.

We had the inside information and knew we had to keep up walking upstream to find the spot where the locals hang. And when they say "walk upstream" they mean hike for about 20 minutes.

But the hike was well worth it. There were plenty of people there but it still was empty enough to have a good swim and to sun dry with space.

People were very chill, some women even sunbathed with their tops off and the water felt great after laying in the sun for a bit. I tried my hardest, but I did not tan.

After all that "resting" food was required. We picked up Natalia and stopped by the twin liquors store to buy a six pack - the place we were going was BYOB. We chose Indian for dinner and so we headed to the G'raj Mahal. Yes. I do get a kick out of that name.

The G'Raj Mahal, as the name suggests, was in someone's Garage. It was perfect - they cooked out of this Huge Truck, tables out with awesome decoration.

I forced myself to try something different so I went with the Chana Masala. Tomato ginger stewed chickpeas, SPICY! Natalia went for the fish vindaloo and I don't remember Matt's dish, but I enjoyed it, too. Add some garlic Naan and brown ale - perfect!

Taste of India

Our second day in Wisconsin. Since there’s no way I’ll make it back to the room in time to watch Friday Night Lights, we ventured a little further in town to get us some Indian food. Tonight’s choice? Taste of India, which received a lot of good recommendations from the locals.

It was a fairly big place, with an area reserved as a buffet for lunch time. Loved the giant tapestry above some of the tables – gave a good feeling of privacy.

I ordered the Aloo Ghobi, extra spicy, and some beautiful jasmine rice with a side of Garlic Naan.

The Aloo Ghobi was perfect – easily the best I’ve ever had and it was just spicy enough. The generous serving of Garlic Naan was crunchy and warm yet soft enough. If you’re ever in Green Bay, WI, make sure you stop by Taste of India.