MOVING on to something else now! A recent visit to the Taj Vivanta Panaji I got a surprise. Finally, their new Qmin (this is the old Caramel lounge) has opened for business and it is looking very inviting, more spacious, cooler…a whole range of light and heavy snacks as also a range of breads including sourdough loaf! The small service of cutting the loaf would not be out of place. The shopping outlets have gone and the new make-over lounge is a place one may meet up with friends to moon moon over this and that. The counters have the usual sandwiches of all kinds, pastries, cakes, quiches….and a desi touch: ladoos (besan ladoo, 100 gms, Rs150/Kcal178). I’ve always wanted to know the calories of whatever I buy and eat so this is a real temptation….totally novel service, thank you to whoever the chef is who implementing this new rule of putting in the number of calories of a food item! Rawa Ladoo (100gms, Rs150/Kcal 178 too!), there are also wheat ladoo,etc. Go checkout the born again Caramel at Taj Vivanta Panaji! The old Italian gelato counters are not there, and I’m sorry for the coffee gelato was a cold favourite of mine on a bad day.
smart eating walkathon
ON that note it’s avjo, selamat datang, poite verem, au revoir, arrivedecci and vachun yeta here for now…oh, I forgot and add this item number here as last minute addition! At a Corporation of the City of Panaji Town Hall press meet on Oct 20, 2022 which was badly attended, CCP Commissioner Agnelo A J Fernandes announced that the CCP is now keen on promoting good eating habits amongst the citizens of smart city Panaji and so they are having a “smart eating” walkathon commencing from Miramar Circle to Kala Academy this Saturday, Oct 22, starting at 7.30 am…Ponjekars are invited to join in but do register, they are expecting 700 registrations already.
The walkathon has been organised jointly by the Directorate of Food & Drugs Administration of Goa, CCP and of course Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd…this is to say join in if you wish to prove yourself fighting fit. The Eat Smart City Initiative of the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India & Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs will see the distribution of T-shirts, snacks and drinks to participants, not the usual junk food but perhaps…er…I hope they will also distribute some wholesome nachnechyo roti and sattvo slabs to participants to take home for lunch instead of the rest of the jazz, which if you’re asking me is just the usual wasting of public funds on an already convinced fitness community of Panaji smart city who don’t need no education in smart eating! I believe the doctors of the Indian Medical Association are joining the walkathon too. Be there if you want to have some fun!
—Mme Butterfly