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My First Experience Smoking a Hookah in Bangalore

So this week a friend needed some help ramping up their marketing and PR so we decided to turn it into a working dinner at Hypnos, a cool lounge restaurant downtown. When I heard they served Lebanese food I was on it! And funny thing, they do indeed serve a sort of Greek/Lebanese mix. I ordered lamb sausages that were truly to-die-for. But they also do this funky Indian thing where they can’t just stick to the regional cuisine that the restaurant is based on. Haha Nope. They had lasagna, and other Italian dishes. And if I am not mistaken they had tikka chicken, too! I have seen this now time again here but I swear to you that I just don’t get it. The Italian restaurant Little Italy on 100 Feet Road does indeed serve Italian food. But they also serve some Indian dishes and a little Mexican. Seriously, WTF? Haha

With TT at Skyye Bar … his sets were amazing last night! Can’t wait to hear him there again!

So there we were working. I was clicking away at the keyboard taking notes like a good girl. And my mate had the great idea to order up a Hookah. Now, I have seen them in Turkey, in Tunisia and also in Morocco. But until last night I had never tried it. And I really thought it was pretty progressive for a Hookah to be on order in conservative Bangalore. I mean, don’t they contain something like a super-charged tobacco to give you a good solid buzz? It turns out, NO! I really thought that these things were filled with something really naughty like hash or at least some crazy back-alley tobacco. But there at Hypnos I was told they serve up some derivative of fruit pulp. Excuse me? Yep, they have a laundry list of different flavors like apple, double green apple (I am interested to compare those two, haha), and what we selected by the recommendation of the manager was grape.

OMG What fun! I loved the taste of the grape Hookah at Hypnos. I smelled like a sweet little grape for hours!!

The manager (or at least I think he was the manager) actually brought over the Hookah himself, lit a piece of coal that basically keeps the thing lit non-stop, and then started to smoke our Hookah!! I couldn’t believe it but there he was there toke toke tok’ing on our Hookah to get it started. WTF? Hahha Seems a bit odd but my mate didn’t flinch so I just rode that wave and watched him!

We put on a small plastic bit onto the end of the pipe (for health reasons) and I took my first drag, still bummed that there was no naughty’ness built into what I was smoking from the Hookah. But damn was it good. It didn’t have that same “guilty pleasure” allure after I realized that it was bloody fruit pulp and not something forbidden or illegal but it was still amazing. But this was truly AMAZING! After only a couple of drags the air was filled with the sweet smell of grapes. And then it was all over my hands and it was a really strong, wonderful smell. And it lasted for hours! I swear I must have looked like a complete idiot smelling my hands every few minutes but I didn’t care. I smelled GOOD. I don’t think I have to go back again soon just to have it but I certainly won’t say no if anyone ever offers it up in the future. Good stuff.

So, as for me, every day that passes I feel more and more at home here in Bangalore. Well, I say that, but I also still feel like I am on holiday here and still am amazed every day when I see cows, auto rickshaws and women in beautiful sari’s riding side-saddle on the back of her man’s moped. But the fact that I have friends now and can make plans, eat cheese with people at places like Skyye and head out into the world with someone really makes this adventure start to seem more like real life.

XOXO from Bangalore

© Angela Carson, Angela’s Adventures in Bangalore blog and photos, 2011

Angela Carson

At 21 I left uni, jumped into my Jeep Wrangler, and drove from my native California to live an adventure in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I've explored 37 countries on 4 continents, residing in 8 of them (currently Indonesia's Riau Islands is my home). I even have a private pilot's license and was shot at once by bandits!

This Post Has 6 Comments

    1. angela_carson

      OMG I love you! Thanks so much, that is truly the sweetest gift. I always look forward to your comments but this was totally unexpected 🙂 Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  1. Sameer

    Hey Angela,

    Great to know that you feel at home here in Bangalore. With regards to adding Indian dishes in all the speciality restaurant is for the fact that when you are in a group not everyone may like the speciality stuff but end up being in those places as a social to-do. Just to make them feel comfortable they have option of Indian food and it also gives them good profits as the charges for these dishes are at par to the speciality dishes. I hope this maes sense.

    SAMEER

    1. angela_carson

      Thanks, Sameer. Yes, I do see the logic but it is again one of those things here in India that – for me – is soooo different. I am sure that the high end chefs of the specialty cuisine HATES that he or she has to do that here when it is not common typically in other countries. But if it helps fill up the restaurant they probably don’t complain too much 🙂

  2. Anirban Saha

    Hi Angela,

    You mentioned in the blog above that it was written while u were heading to Skyye. Waiting for a nice read on Skyye hence 🙂 I love the place. But sure would like to see the place again through your words!!!! Hope a blog is on its way!

    Cheers,
    Anirban

    1. angela_carson

      OMG that is the nicest compliment !!! I adore Skyye and spend WAY too much time there to be honest, haha. At least a couple or few times a week but that’s because I adore the DJ to bits and can’t go that long without seeing TT 🙂 Please come up and say hi next time you are there if you see me 🙂

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