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bangalore after a 3am caffeine crash and a tomato sandwich

@Emma Hayes3/9/2026blog

i woke up at 4am after missing the bus again and the internet was down. it’s chaos right here. the ac unit whines like it’s dying and the smell of coal from the street vendor’s cart lingers. windows are cracked open because, honestly, who cares. i just checked and it’s 21.14 degrees celsius. feels_like a damp day, not sure if i like it. the numbers on the thermometer keep flickering like a broken heartbeat.

someone told me that the local chicken tikka masala is actually made with soy sauce instead of yogurt. others swear the paanwala on mus sylhet street serves the best street food in the city. i’m stuck in the middle. my hostel landlord is a retired taxi driver who plays marathi movies at 3am. neighbors are either studying or dozing off. if you get bored, chennai is two hours south, but don’t let that scared you off. i heard that the underground tea shops here have the weirdest blends imaginable. one place claimed their masala chai included peppercorns. i’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a warning.

the weather’s been stuck at 21.14 for days. min and max temps are the same, which is both boring and weird. i passed a guy last week selling laddus shaped like elephants. it’s probably a tourist trap, but i tried one. it tasted like regret. the weather app says cloud cover is 74%, which sounds high but honestly, i can’t tell. humidity feels like a thicker blanket. i just want to step outside without sweating through my clothes.

i tried to document this with photos but my phone died twice. had to borrow a friend’s camera. the first shot was of a abandoned ammini bus covered in graffiti. the second was a stray dog licking a bottle cap. third, a close-up of my half-eaten tomato sandwich. unsplash didn’t give me a single decent photo of this city. the first image i found was of a monsoon-era flooded street. second was a sunrise over a rooftop. third was someone’s face superimposed on a rice field. none of it matters. i just need proof i tried. here’s what i managed:

abandoned bus

stray dog

tomato sandwich


i’m not sure if this is a good place. i heard that the airport has this weird security line where they play karnatic music at full volume. someone whispered that the metro cars here run on ethanol from used tires. another said the library’s books smell like old sweat. these things feel like exaggerated rumors but also… maybe true? i don’t know. maybe that’s the point.

there’s this place called park street market. it’s ranked 4.2 stars on tripadvisor but everyone i asked said it’s a scam. another site said the best street food is near the Protestant Cemetery. guess i’ll test both. the map below shows where i am right now. if you want to find me, look for a tired person with a tomato sandwich and a coffee addiction.


p.s. the local coffee shops here have this one drink called ‘broken roast.’ i tried it at a place called ‘ Erwähnung’ and it tasted like despair. but that’s probably why i linked to their yelp page. i also linked to a local food board and a github repo for expat weather complaints. because everything is interconnected. or maybe i’m just bored. probably the latter.

if you’re visiting, eat early. the locals don’t trust tourists. also, if you hear a street musician playing a lute made from recycled phone parts, don’t touch it. i almost did. that was a bad decision. i heard later that the instrument was haunted. don’t believe me? check the reviews on airbnb. someone wrote that their accommodation came with ‘a nightly ghost walk because the previous occupant didn’t leave.’ idiotic, but hey, it’s authentic.

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About the author: Emma Hayes

Exploring the intersection of technology and humanity.

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