So... Chennai has changed so much, its practically a foreign place now. Its got giant malls (Express Ave) giant Wal Mart like shops that stock everything (Big Bazaar)... and still traffic jams galore.
The best thing about Chennai remains the food though. There are all the old hangouts... Gangotri , Adayar Ananda Bhavan , Grand Sweets and Sree Krishna Sweets, for those looking to recapture the old days... and there are the new ones... Coffee Day and Barista have been around for a while of course, but now there's Mocha and High on Caffeine ... and India cofffee is waaay better than Starbucks. And there's Cafe Ashwatta and Amethyst for those wanting something to do with their coffee - shop for handicrafts and jewellery while you're at it.
Then there's the huge number of small eateries- La Boulagerie and French Loaf, Winners, Pupil and the Pizza Guy on the beach (Pizza's replaced the poor old kadalai carts- I didn't see one there! How does one put kadalai on the beach anymore ... ok bad joke...) The beaches have undergone a massive cleanup. Cozee's is still there and so's the Fruit Shop in Greams' Road, and many more bakeries... Adayar Bakery doesn't look so good, but instead there's Cakepoint and Cakewalk and innumerable others. Frankies and Corn stalls have become ubiquitous all over... there is a sad lack of molaha bajji though... which is my current craving.
Aside from the big box clothing stores- Naiha (good grief- who came up with that?), Reliance (which seems to be into everything - more fingers and more pies than anyone on earth), Westside, Lifestyle, Fab India (which should just ask for payment in dollars with their prices)... its the small ones that are interesting - Palace right next to Fab India has nice clothes, extremely reasonably priced, and totally over the top decor that is going to attact every foreigner who comes to Chennai. There's Azure, which has been beckoning me ever closer, with pretty, floaty displays, and the classy looking Silver Moonlight... then there's Chennai's 'own' designer Rehane... and numerous other little pop-up shops crammed into every street jammed with bags( Fab India had some lovely, hideously expensive ones, and there's also Dora Bag Mall right opposite), clothes, shoes (check out Heels).
The only disappointment has been bookshops. Higginbothams has become a relic of the bookcenter it once was, and Landmark happens to sell books, along with, you know, bedsheets and decorations and other random things. Odyssey is more interested in watches and crystals and jewellery. And the new Oxford book store is a travesty- a cafe that masquerades as a book shop. I have to try out Crossword, but I wasn't impressed by in 10 years ago, and don't have any serious expectations any more.
