Life on the Road - Part 1

Friday evening 7 pm and I set off once again; chasing another dream - qualifying for an AITA event. This time I have company - my friend Ashutosh has decided to get a taste of the pro tennis circuit himself. We reach Pune three and a half hours later and are not too pleased when we reach our pit-stop for the night - Hotel Pearl on Junglee Maharaj Road. There don't seem to be many people in the hotel but there are plenty in the adjacent beer bar.

We decide to check out the room - our suite (if you can call it that). The room is decent - the extra single bed in the hall is not. Thankfully, the AC and the TV work fine but Ashu is not too happy about the bathroom.

We decide to go grab a bite somewhere around. Ashu is in the mood for pizza. We see a Pizza Hut but he thinks there may be a Papa John's around. We drive around for a bit. No sign of Papa John so we drive back to Pizza Hut. Unfortunately for Ashu, the shutters are down when we reach.

Driving around again, we spot a Smokin Joe's. Fortunately, the shutters are up. Unfortunately, we are past their last order time. A quick entry to China Gate next door is followed by an even quicker exit (Ashu does not find the menu enticing). Some more driving around and we finally decide to dine at Shiv Sagar. Fortunately for Ashu and me, they are still taking orders. Pav Bhaji and Musambi juice for myself; Paneer Pizza and Fresh Lime for Ashu. The Pav Bhaji is pretty decent. Unfortunately for Ashu, the waiter comes back and says no pizzas available. Unable to take any more, Ashu decides to skip dinner. We head to Naturals for dessert and then back to our room.

The room is pretty chilled now since we left the AC on. Federer is on Ten Sports playing Melzer at the Paris Masters. Ashu decides to watch a bit for inspiration while I head straight to bed.

At 5-30 am my eyes open. I try to go back to sleep but can't. One hour of tossing and turning in bed later, I decide sleeping is a lost cause. I wake up, brush my teeth and check out the scores from the Paris Masters online. Federer won but Murray lost.

We need to be at the Solaris Club at 9 am which is still a few hours away. Gmail, Hotmail, Facebook, and Twitter later, I decide to write this blog. Breakfast at the hotel starts only at 8-30 am which means we will check out of our hotel and grab a bite on our way to the club. Something tells me we might be looking for pizza joints again.