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Mauritius Tourism and Air Mauritius have come together to offer ‘Mauritius Price Less Experience’ to target travellers for the holiday season. It is an all inclusive package for six nights/seven days and starts from Rs. 40,000 with return airfare on economy, accommodation in star category hotel and sight-seeing options. It starts from Bangalore and the surrounding feeder cities.

The package includes return economy airfare, airport transfers, accommodation in star category hotel with breakfast and dinner. It also features three day sight-seeing options to North Island,South Islandand a tour to Ile-aux-cerf Island.

Travellers can also explore other customised experiences at an additional cost. This includes activities such as undersea walk, diving, sub-scooter ride, walk-with lions, zipeline rides at sugar estates, quad biking, helicopter rides, golf and spa.

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Opus is presenting The Melony Lemony O-Show: Summer Special Edition with Opus and Nimboo, Four Seasons with the Sunday Bizarre Bazaar, movies, music, Anuj’s Sunday brunch, lounge music in the evening and more.

Date: May 10, noon to moon

Venue: Opus

Contact: 23442580/9844030198

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Jesper Hougaard has been away from Denmark for 13 years, but has never missed it

SEEING BEYOND Bangalore is changing, and Jesper feels it will soon emerge as a global city

Jesper Hougaard, the owner of the Serena Spa resort, that operates resorts across the country quips: “I have been in India for 13 years. It has made me feel at home. I have never felt like an outsider, the people have been friendly and have accepted me as one of their own. I have enjoyed my India experience.”

Jesper came to Bangalore in 1996 from Denmark and feels that the city has changed dramatically over the past few years.

“When I first came to Bangalore first, it was beginning to show signs of transformation from a sleepy town to the metropolis. The pace of the transformation has increased tremendously over the past few years.” He adds: “I feel Bangalore is fantastic from a business point of view, with opportunities aplenty, notwithstanding the slowdown. However, the infrastructure is in very bad state and commuting is a major hassle. I like spending more time in Mangalore, which is a smaller city, but has much better facilities and is better on the infrastructure front. I divide my time between the two cities.”

He says: “Bangalore is changing everyday, and will emerge as a global city soon. It will hopefully be able to tackle its infrastructure woes soon.”

On the differences between life in India and Denmark, the Dane feels: “It is very different. India is much more diverse and vibrant. I have travelled quite a bit, and feel that the food habits and the way of life are very different across the country. Each region has a unique culture and lifestyle, but blends well with the rest of the country.”

Jesper has never faced problems with food. “I have always liked Indian food, especially vegetarian South Indian fare. It…More

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Active Canvas is presenting creative sessions for children aged from seven to 16 by Rukmini Vijaykumar for Rs. 1,000 excluding service tax.

Date: May 10 to 14, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Venue: Active Canvas

Contact: 41609122

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Benjarong, a Thai restaurant, has introduced its new set menu for lunch in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian platter. The vegetarian menu is priced at Rs. 278 plus taxes and includes a Siam sparkle, a Thai ginger drink, followed by the Som tam (Thai raw papaya salad) and Tom yam phak, (Thai spicy soup with vegetables) to name a few.

The non-vegetarian menu is priced at Rs. 298 plus taxes, and includes the signature dish gai hor baitey (chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves). For the main course there is kaeng ped gai (Thai red curry with chicken), khao nung (steamed rice) and pla phad prik tai (fish in green peppercorn sauce).

These are available for lunch from Monday to Friday between 12.30 p.m. to 3 p.m.. Benjarong, is at 1/3 Ulsoor Rd, (above Zara).

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Join the Dots is presenting “Summer Breeze”, a three-hour theatre workshop for those aged from 14 to 55.

Date: May 9, 2.30 to 5.30 p.m.

Venue: Cubbon Park

Contact: 9845570014

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The Hindu : y>He is a Formula 1 buff, loves cricket and is a master chef. Abhijit Saha is many things rolled into one, finds NIKHIL VARMA

Photos : Murali Kumar K.TRUE LOVE Seafood is my weakness, confesses Abhijit Saha

Young Abhijit Saha is a big fan of Formula 1 racing and a cricket buff. He is also a master chef and has used his years of experience to churn out many delicacies in restaurants across the planet. He is eager to talk about his life in the hospitality industry and his experiences after fulfilling a long-standing dream of starting his own restaurant, Caperberry.

He says: “I am not going to boast that I was always interested in cooking right from childhood. I was not born to cook. My first major foray into cooking happened after I joined a hotel management course. I managed to do well in the cooking courses and started enjoying it a great deal.”

On his experiences in the setting up of Caperberry, he says: “I have always felt that people come to eat out at fine dining restaurants since they want to experience good ambience, nice service and good food. For me, food is the most vital of these attributes. People will not return to the restaurant if the food does not measure up, even if you provide the best ambience and the service is top-notch. Food is the key factor, but other factors are also important.”

For a fairly receptive Bangalore audience that has eager foodies, there arehardly any Mediterranean /European fine-dining restaurants.

Abhijit says: “I had been planning to start my own restaurant for the last two to three years. Logistics were proving to be a hindrance. I met Shruti, who was keen on investing in a restaurant. We thought that the restaurant would fill the space in the market for fine-dining European eating places. It has been doing well.”

His personal favourites…More

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Lankesh Prakashana releases the Kannada translation of Khairlanji: a strange and bitter crop.

Date: May 9, 11 a.m.

Venue: SCM House, Mission Road

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Copper Chimney’s legendary North Indian fare lives up to its rich, creamy reputation

LOAD IT UP Time for a lavish lunch

Copper Chimney, on the fifth floor of Bangalore Central, is designed in such a way that the place is flooded with natural light. At once you feel homey and relaxed. Though the place looks warm in the afternoon sun, it is pleasantly cooled with the AC.Seasonal menu

It is a weekday and you are surprised to see the large number of diners. Copper Chimney offers a regular lunch buffet with a very attractive display of food, which draws your attention with its aroma and colours. The buffet, priced at Rs. 250 plus taxes per head, looks so tempting that you are ready to go at it.

But Chef Veeraj Shenoy tells us to order from the a la carte menu. “We do change the brunch according to the seasons. Like in summer we try and add in loads of soups and salads and lighter food. But you must taste some of our signature dishes,” adds the chef, who plays the perfect host.

As the place is also hosting the Amritsari Food Fest, which is on till May 16, he starts by serving us some crunchy Punjabi kebabs and chicken and fish fries as starters. These are served with pudina chutney. For drinks we try the jaljeera and buttermilk. But it was the south Indian butter milk with ginger and some greens that soothed our parched throats.Robust all the way

Your plans to avoid heavy Punjabi food go for a complete toss when the chef insists we try his recommendations. The menu also offers Malabari, Karnataka and Chettinad cuisines too. But he served us the kareli ki nihaari (lamb shanks braised in a rich and smooth onion gravy topped with the desi ghee), chooza khaas makhani (tandoori chicken morsels simmered in a creamy and…More

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Time and Space Gallery is presenting an exhibition of watercolour paintings by Srividya G.S.

Date: Till May 16

Venue: No. 55 Lavelle Road

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