Picked up a new hobby last week and here are my first two creations! You obviously gotta start with God's pictures.
Friday, 20 February 2015
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Slammin' down under
With the first grand slam of the year coming to an end, here's a quick recap!
So before it all began, the ATP rankings were -
1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. Nadal
4. Wawrinka (defending champion)
5. Nishikori
6. Murray
7. Berdych
8. Raonic
9. Cilic
10. Ferrer
11. Dimitrov
12. Tsonga
13. Gulbis
.. and let's stop at 13.
All the predictions had Djokovic in the final, playing either Murray or Federer. Nadal, because of his recent injuries and appendicitis, was predicted to not reach the final four but of course he's known for crazy comebacks so you never know. Wawrinka's name was mentioned here and there but nothing too special. Bottomline - the predictions were predictable.
So let's look at some of the unpredictable events that ensued -
1. Thanasi Kokkinakis: The 19 year old kid from Australia, who got a wild card entry into the Australian open, beat Ernest Gulbis (ranked 13) in the first round. Not to take any credit away from Kokk, but Gulbis's unforced errors turned out to be the most crucial game changer that evening. As for Kokk, he instantly became the local hero and a lot of hopes were pinned on him. He got knocked out in the next round but there's potential right there, walking around in neon colored outfits!
2. Early challenge for Nadal: I was hoping for a big comeback from Nadal, and seeing him struggle in the 2nd round was pretty unpredictable. Tim Smyczek was the man that made him sweat. Even though Nadal eventually won, it was a tight 5 setter game (2-6 6-3 7-6 3-6 5-7) where Nadal had way fewer aces and winners when compared to Smyczek. Nadal was off to a good start with a lot of well placed shots in the first set that made Smyczek go all over the place. But, Smyczek totally rocked the second set with some serve and volleys that caught Nadal off guard, and some beautifully played drop shots. Over the next few sets, Nadal sort of came back on top of his game with good clean down the line shots, and just about scraped through to victory. Smyczek needs to be commended not only for the great fight that he put up, but also for being a good sportsman. When someone from the crowd yelled out during Nadal's serve, he asked for a re-serve instead of allowing it to be counted as a fault for Nadal. By doing that, he won a lot of hearts worldwide. Nadal, however had 7 double faults during the game - his service needs to get way better. Although, it is worth mentioning that Nadal was unwell and as confirmed by the doctor, he was suffering from severe dehydration and still managed to come around. That is why he is and will always be a champion.
3. Federer gone: Heartbreaker # 1. Andreas Seppi (yeah, who dat?) beat Federer in 4 sets - 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, making history. It was just a bad day for Federer, as he mentions too. The tie breaker in the second set was very crucial for him, but having let that slip, being two sets behind is a big burden to play with. In the final set tie breaker, Seppi just about made it to barely return Federer's down the line shot, with a forehand slice that almost looked like it was going out but it didn't. Federer thought it was going out too, because he didn't make an attempt to reach for it. Heartbreaking day. But well done, Seppi. You have a new identity now.
4. Nadal gone: Heartbreaker #2. Nadal wasn't able to make it to the top 4. He lost to Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, in straight 3 sets. Again, a lot of double faults and not too many winners. The Nadal comeback will have to wait until the clay season since on hard courts, his heavy topspin doesn't give too much of an advantage as compared to clay.
Next, the craziest matches with the most fantastic tennis -
1. Nadal-Smyczek as I talked about earlier.
2. Murray-Dimitrov: 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-3 7-5. In round four, Grigor Dimitrov and Andy Murray played one of the best matches of this Australian Open. Yes Dimitrov smashed his racket but that was not the highlight of this match, come on guys don't keep playing that video. We all know who the badly behaved player in this duo is. Not to mention Kim Swears! So coming to the game, Dimitrov started off like he was going to win the first set, at 3-0. His brilliant single-handed backhand shots (mostly down the line) and his ability to return volleys so effortlessly were his strengths. He gets around all over the court pretty fast too. But, Murray somehow made his way back into winning the first set. His serves were his strong point against Dimitrov; speed, precision, everything. The second set goes neck to neck with both of them reaching 6 games each and Dimitrov winning the tie breaker. Dimitrov led the fourth set too at 5-2, but lost after that. Finally, the last proof of Dimitrov's bad luck was the last shot of the game - Murray's return bounced off the net and there was nothing Dimitrov could do about it. At various stages of the game, the scores always looked favorable to Dimitrov. This was a match he could have won, and therefore the racket smashing doesn't really seem out of place. Overall, the two things against Dimitrov here were Murray's unbelievable serves and just plain bad luck. Not inability.
3. Djokovic-Wawrinka: 7-6 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-0. How the defending champ Wow-rinka became Waaa-rinka. I'm sorry. So this was one of the matches again where the losing player had more aces, more winners but also more unforced errors. Four sets of intense competition. My absolute favorite shot was played by Wawrinka in set four, it was a back hand slice as a return for Djoker's drop shot. Wawrinka's back hand is the best. Period.
4. Djokovic-Murray: 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-0. This was the first time I'd woken up at 3AM voluntarily. If you watched it, I'm sure you remember going woaahhh WTF all through the first two sets. How about in the first set, when they're one game each and there's a 25 shot rally ending with a beautiful volley played by Djokovic? Now that doesn't mean Djokovic got away with all his volleys. Very soon, in the first set, Murray makes him run back to the baseline and finishes the rally with a volley himself. At that point I was ready for a long long 5 setter game, but the intensity reduced and Djokovic beasted the rest of the match. Post match interviews called it his superior mental strength that can't be beaten. He is definitely on his way to becoming a legend.
Moving on to random things that I found interesting -
1. Nadal's first opponent was Mikhail Youzhny. That guy has a PhD in psychology and tennis attitudes. That's pretty cool init?
2. Murray's first opponent was Yuki Bhambri, an Indian guy! Yay. Speaking of which, congratulations to Leander Paes and Martina Hingis.
3. Murray never smiles.
And finally, some fashion icons that will be remembered and possibly emulated -
Well, that's all I've got. Looking forward to the French Open next, to see our Clay King back in action. Until then, adios tennios.
So before it all began, the ATP rankings were -
1. Djokovic
2. Federer
3. Nadal
4. Wawrinka (defending champion)
5. Nishikori
6. Murray
7. Berdych
8. Raonic
9. Cilic
10. Ferrer
11. Dimitrov
12. Tsonga
13. Gulbis
.. and let's stop at 13.
All the predictions had Djokovic in the final, playing either Murray or Federer. Nadal, because of his recent injuries and appendicitis, was predicted to not reach the final four but of course he's known for crazy comebacks so you never know. Wawrinka's name was mentioned here and there but nothing too special. Bottomline - the predictions were predictable.
So let's look at some of the unpredictable events that ensued -
1. Thanasi Kokkinakis: The 19 year old kid from Australia, who got a wild card entry into the Australian open, beat Ernest Gulbis (ranked 13) in the first round. Not to take any credit away from Kokk, but Gulbis's unforced errors turned out to be the most crucial game changer that evening. As for Kokk, he instantly became the local hero and a lot of hopes were pinned on him. He got knocked out in the next round but there's potential right there, walking around in neon colored outfits!
2. Early challenge for Nadal: I was hoping for a big comeback from Nadal, and seeing him struggle in the 2nd round was pretty unpredictable. Tim Smyczek was the man that made him sweat. Even though Nadal eventually won, it was a tight 5 setter game (2-6 6-3 7-6 3-6 5-7) where Nadal had way fewer aces and winners when compared to Smyczek. Nadal was off to a good start with a lot of well placed shots in the first set that made Smyczek go all over the place. But, Smyczek totally rocked the second set with some serve and volleys that caught Nadal off guard, and some beautifully played drop shots. Over the next few sets, Nadal sort of came back on top of his game with good clean down the line shots, and just about scraped through to victory. Smyczek needs to be commended not only for the great fight that he put up, but also for being a good sportsman. When someone from the crowd yelled out during Nadal's serve, he asked for a re-serve instead of allowing it to be counted as a fault for Nadal. By doing that, he won a lot of hearts worldwide. Nadal, however had 7 double faults during the game - his service needs to get way better. Although, it is worth mentioning that Nadal was unwell and as confirmed by the doctor, he was suffering from severe dehydration and still managed to come around. That is why he is and will always be a champion.
3. Federer gone: Heartbreaker # 1. Andreas Seppi (yeah, who dat?) beat Federer in 4 sets - 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, making history. It was just a bad day for Federer, as he mentions too. The tie breaker in the second set was very crucial for him, but having let that slip, being two sets behind is a big burden to play with. In the final set tie breaker, Seppi just about made it to barely return Federer's down the line shot, with a forehand slice that almost looked like it was going out but it didn't. Federer thought it was going out too, because he didn't make an attempt to reach for it. Heartbreaking day. But well done, Seppi. You have a new identity now.
4. Nadal gone: Heartbreaker #2. Nadal wasn't able to make it to the top 4. He lost to Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, in straight 3 sets. Again, a lot of double faults and not too many winners. The Nadal comeback will have to wait until the clay season since on hard courts, his heavy topspin doesn't give too much of an advantage as compared to clay.
Next, the craziest matches with the most fantastic tennis -
1. Nadal-Smyczek as I talked about earlier.
2. Murray-Dimitrov: 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-3 7-5. In round four, Grigor Dimitrov and Andy Murray played one of the best matches of this Australian Open. Yes Dimitrov smashed his racket but that was not the highlight of this match, come on guys don't keep playing that video. We all know who the badly behaved player in this duo is. Not to mention Kim Swears! So coming to the game, Dimitrov started off like he was going to win the first set, at 3-0. His brilliant single-handed backhand shots (mostly down the line) and his ability to return volleys so effortlessly were his strengths. He gets around all over the court pretty fast too. But, Murray somehow made his way back into winning the first set. His serves were his strong point against Dimitrov; speed, precision, everything. The second set goes neck to neck with both of them reaching 6 games each and Dimitrov winning the tie breaker. Dimitrov led the fourth set too at 5-2, but lost after that. Finally, the last proof of Dimitrov's bad luck was the last shot of the game - Murray's return bounced off the net and there was nothing Dimitrov could do about it. At various stages of the game, the scores always looked favorable to Dimitrov. This was a match he could have won, and therefore the racket smashing doesn't really seem out of place. Overall, the two things against Dimitrov here were Murray's unbelievable serves and just plain bad luck. Not inability.
3. Djokovic-Wawrinka: 7-6 3-6 6-4 4-6 6-0. How the defending champ Wow-rinka became Waaa-rinka. I'm sorry. So this was one of the matches again where the losing player had more aces, more winners but also more unforced errors. Four sets of intense competition. My absolute favorite shot was played by Wawrinka in set four, it was a back hand slice as a return for Djoker's drop shot. Wawrinka's back hand is the best. Period.
4. Djokovic-Murray: 7-6 6-7 6-3 6-0. This was the first time I'd woken up at 3AM voluntarily. If you watched it, I'm sure you remember going woaahhh WTF all through the first two sets. How about in the first set, when they're one game each and there's a 25 shot rally ending with a beautiful volley played by Djokovic? Now that doesn't mean Djokovic got away with all his volleys. Very soon, in the first set, Murray makes him run back to the baseline and finishes the rally with a volley himself. At that point I was ready for a long long 5 setter game, but the intensity reduced and Djokovic beasted the rest of the match. Post match interviews called it his superior mental strength that can't be beaten. He is definitely on his way to becoming a legend.
Moving on to random things that I found interesting -
1. Nadal's first opponent was Mikhail Youzhny. That guy has a PhD in psychology and tennis attitudes. That's pretty cool init?
2. Murray's first opponent was Yuki Bhambri, an Indian guy! Yay. Speaking of which, congratulations to Leander Paes and Martina Hingis.
3. Murray never smiles.
And finally, some fashion icons that will be remembered and possibly emulated -
 |
| Neon Kokk after his victory (dailymail.co.uk) |
 |
| Nadal's pink-ness (rafaelnadalfans.com) |
 |
| Dimitrov, just because he's the cutest (tennis-buzz) |
 |
| Oops. Ok I got carried away |
Well, that's all I've got. Looking forward to the French Open next, to see our Clay King back in action. Until then, adios tennios.
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Trials of the key - 1
Here are a couple of piano solos I tried this weekend. The first is my favorite musician Yann Tiersen's Amelie and the second is of course The Beatles.
There's very minimal Garage Band involved at this stage. I would love to hear suggestions on how to improve Garage Band involvement. The piano playing skills will improve, I promise!
There's very minimal Garage Band involved at this stage. I would love to hear suggestions on how to improve Garage Band involvement. The piano playing skills will improve, I promise!
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Cross-post from Inside the Blue!
The better half just wrote this piece. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Here is the problem with that line of thinking. Religious membership exists as a hierarchy defined by how far you are willing to take your fandom with your actions.
I call this a hierarchy of support. Each level supports the next tier, even though they may not support the levels beyond. The support may be open or a non-verbal nod to their ideas. At the base you have the apologist who suggests that religious membership is truly an innocent experience, exemplified by the pious and gentle moderate follower, who strives to make his life more beautiful with his religion. The moderate follower supports the political follower who will use his position of power to influence others to also enjoy this wonderful mission to peace and bliss. The political follower takes his religion and his job very seriously. He believes that he can enlist ideas from his religion to do his job. Through this, he hopes to provide good governance to the people who are of his religion and the people who aren't. He supports the chief religious body that fashions the guidelines of his religion. The chief religious body strives to preserve the identity of the religion and ensure that members adhere to the tenets of the religion properly and non-members maintain good respect. And for that, they accept the existence of the extremists.
Je Suis Charlie
http://strumlife.blogspot.com/2015/01/moderate-and-extremely-clueless.html
Moderate and extremely clueless
Apparently extremism has no religion. So I guess religion gets to wash
its hands clean every time someone bad invokes it. In a different way,
that thought makes religion even more scary. Extremism could hijack any
religion! Like computer viruses that work on Windows, OSX and Linux (Yes
they exist). All one needs is a good hole and both operating systems
and religions have plenty.
Holes in computer operating systems can be fixed however; and people are
expected to work on that everyday. The big problem with organized
religion is their holes don't get fixed easily, if ever. People try to
not talk about them, jump over them, walk around them, ignore that they
exist, and sometimes they fall into them because they are told that it
is not a hole. A common tie across all levels of religious fandom is the
belief that their texts and the so-called "word of god" are perfect and
infallible. It is not amendable to fit new sizes and you do not
question it. This tying tenet is THE oath of religious membership. None
of them invite open questioning; they are challenged by it. So you are
expected to get married drinking sweetened milk on a swing because that
is how they performed child marriages in the dark ages, and by the gods,
that is how you will be wed. No questions.
While most religion followers faithfully refuse to ask or answer
questions that carry logic, the occasional apologist will present
semi-logical ideas. He will deny the official membership of extremists
and state that moderate followers - the teeming millions of them - are
the majority and their membership is truly for inner peace and
salvation, as is said in the texts. The extremists, the zealots and the
evildoers are a handful and are not exemplary of the religion, which is
pure and beautiful.
Like Windows 8.1
Here is the problem with that line of thinking. Religious membership exists as a hierarchy defined by how far you are willing to take your fandom with your actions.
I call this a hierarchy of support. Each level supports the next tier, even though they may not support the levels beyond. The support may be open or a non-verbal nod to their ideas. At the base you have the apologist who suggests that religious membership is truly an innocent experience, exemplified by the pious and gentle moderate follower, who strives to make his life more beautiful with his religion. The moderate follower supports the political follower who will use his position of power to influence others to also enjoy this wonderful mission to peace and bliss. The political follower takes his religion and his job very seriously. He believes that he can enlist ideas from his religion to do his job. Through this, he hopes to provide good governance to the people who are of his religion and the people who aren't. He supports the chief religious body that fashions the guidelines of his religion. The chief religious body strives to preserve the identity of the religion and ensure that members adhere to the tenets of the religion properly and non-members maintain good respect. And for that, they accept the existence of the extremists.
Each of these levels have increasing amounts of power even if their
numbers decrease. And just having that power makes them dangerous and
disquieting. Should they choose to move away from ethical behavior,
standing up against them could spell doom. The extremist could be
willing to sacrifice thousands to ensure success for his holy mission of
supremacy. The chief religious body holds the rulebook on the religion
and their interpretation and direction could alter the fates of all
followers. The religious body could threaten followers (and others) with
damnation if they did not buy into its policies. The political follower
holds all other rulebooks that could make or break the world around
him. It could be argued that the meek and modest moderate follower poses
no danger as he holds no such power. Certainly, all apologists make
good mention of it. But if you consider how these higher tier bodies are
empowered, we get the reverse hierarchy of hijacking to hide away evil
intentions and deeds.
The extremist is empowered by the approval of the religious body; he
does not question the ethics of his deeds anymore. The religious body is
empowered by the approval of the political follower; now even its
questionable actions under the guise of religious self-preservation can
be cleaned away by use of political power. The political follower is
voted in by the moderate, so abuse of the power is acceptable because
the people enabled him to do it. The moderate follower never doubts his
choices because there is an apologist over the shoulder validating him
on the news and social media. It does not matter if the apologist is
religious or non-religious. However, it does matter that you might be
one of these.
This hierarchical model suggests that religion is a general
subscription. If you buy in, you have bought in all the way and the
extremists become your people even if you don't like it. It may be too
radical to suggest that all individuals quit religion in an instant. It
challenges your identity and a way of life that defines you. It may take
away what gives you inner peace. But think about what you follow and
what it can lead to. Think about the relevance of archaic practices and
how they stand in the way of humanism. Think about who truly deserves
your respect and support. Think about who they support. Think about
where your values come from. Offer a hand, not blind fandom. Is the
preservation and resurrection of dark-age remains of your organization
truly more important than humanity?
You are afraid of breaking out of this system of fear, hate and blind following. Don't be.
Je Suis Charlie
http://strumlife.blogspot.com/2015/01/moderate-and-extremely-clueless.html
Friday, 29 August 2014
Stereotypo
*that's a word I just invented which means you've made a mistake in stereotyping someone. So it's like a typo about a stereotype. Okay, you got that already. Moving on..
We're always putting people we meet into categories. Patterns! It makes so much sense when everyone's personality just fits into one pattern or the other. It also makes us feel smart in having figured them out. Too quiet and ugly? Shy. Too quiet and pretty? Snob. Doing better than me? She probably slept with the boss. North Indian? Ugh. Indian boy? Creep.
I read this somewhere on 'Humans of New York' webpage -
Personalities are so complex that we shouldn't even pretend to understand everybody. The person I understand the most is me and I can't even put myself into any rigid category.. I am an extrovert but I prefer to listen than to talk (except when there's Merlot in me). I do support animal rights but I do not follow a vegan diet. I do not think twice before squishing a fly that's irritating me. I used to think I would be a dog person but now I love cats, so well there is no such thing as a dog person or a cat person. You just love your kids no matter who they are (even if they're called Joffrey Baratheon). I love playing sports but I also love lazying in bed. I have dated many people but I don't believe in polygamy or instability. You might want to call me a contradiction. But I call it nature.
This is one of the reasons I love Game of Thrones. Every character is natural - Ned Stark, known for being such an honorable man, has a bastard. Jaime Lannister known for being an asshole, tries to save Brienne of Tarth and even wins her trust. Tyrion Lannister is just.. well, he's just awesome. (I did warn you about this in my previous post).
Putting everyone into rigid categories is basically a form of extremism. That's what leads to hatred and wars and all things bad. Accepting that everyone is flawed, yet nobody is a 100% evil is the key.
To end with some FIL wisdom: "We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions".
Additions on October 2nd, 2014:
A few weeks after writing this post I watched a TED talk which follows a similar idea. The danger of a single story - https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
Also, it has been pointed out to me that Jon Snow could actually be Rhaegar and Lyanna's son and is therefore possibly not Ed's bastard. Sorry for using that as an example then. I love this version of who Jon Snow really is, so thanks for that!
We're always putting people we meet into categories. Patterns! It makes so much sense when everyone's personality just fits into one pattern or the other. It also makes us feel smart in having figured them out. Too quiet and ugly? Shy. Too quiet and pretty? Snob. Doing better than me? She probably slept with the boss. North Indian? Ugh. Indian boy? Creep.
I read this somewhere on 'Humans of New York' webpage -
"I can't stand moral absolutism. You know, there's always that guy who wants to point out that Martin Luther King cheated on his wife - as if he obviously couldn't have been anything good if he did something like that. Or someone will bring out an inspirational quote, and get you to agree, and then inform you that Hitler said it. As if a good thought couldn't come from Hitler. Moral absolutism keeps us from learning from the past. It's easy to say: 'Hitler was a demon. Nazis were all bad seeds.' That's simple. It's much harder to say: 'Is that humanity? Is that me?'"
Personalities are so complex that we shouldn't even pretend to understand everybody. The person I understand the most is me and I can't even put myself into any rigid category.. I am an extrovert but I prefer to listen than to talk (except when there's Merlot in me). I do support animal rights but I do not follow a vegan diet. I do not think twice before squishing a fly that's irritating me. I used to think I would be a dog person but now I love cats, so well there is no such thing as a dog person or a cat person. You just love your kids no matter who they are (even if they're called Joffrey Baratheon). I love playing sports but I also love lazying in bed. I have dated many people but I don't believe in polygamy or instability. You might want to call me a contradiction. But I call it nature.
This is one of the reasons I love Game of Thrones. Every character is natural - Ned Stark, known for being such an honorable man, has a bastard. Jaime Lannister known for being an asshole, tries to save Brienne of Tarth and even wins her trust. Tyrion Lannister is just.. well, he's just awesome. (I did warn you about this in my previous post).
Putting everyone into rigid categories is basically a form of extremism. That's what leads to hatred and wars and all things bad. Accepting that everyone is flawed, yet nobody is a 100% evil is the key.
To end with some FIL wisdom: "We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions".
Additions on October 2nd, 2014:
A few weeks after writing this post I watched a TED talk which follows a similar idea. The danger of a single story - https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story
Also, it has been pointed out to me that Jon Snow could actually be Rhaegar and Lyanna's son and is therefore possibly not Ed's bastard. Sorry for using that as an example then. I love this version of who Jon Snow really is, so thanks for that!
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
*correction
So remember when I said there's nothing I would do all day and night? Well, it turns out there is. And it's called Game of Thrones.
:)
Monday, 28 July 2014
Obnoxious things pet owners say
So I grew up with absolutely no pets, and nobody that was close to me had any pets either. Also, in Chennai a dog once chased me and bit me. Basically, I was not crazy fond of animals. Whenever I visited people with pets, they would say "oh don't worry he won't do anything!" while the dogs and cats would come smell my feet, lick, bark, run, jump.... What do you mean he won't do anything! He's doing all these things I'm really uncomfortable with! And then they'll follow it up with a "wow you know he only does that to people he really likes...". I would avoid having to go to houses with pets.
Then. I got engaged to this guy who to say has pets would be an understatement. I think the count is 5 dogs and 4 cats. When we initially started talking, you know the honeymoon phase where you agree with everything each other says, he had said if I am uncomfortable with pets he will personally make sure I feel at ease. Whatever it takes. Of course, I had also said oh yeah no problem at all I am sure I would love animals, I'm just not used to them that's all. That was not all. Or maybe it was. So anyway, we decided to get married and stuff, and after almost a year, a few weeks before the wedding I showed up at his house. It was the pets play time, so they all came running to the gate barking loudly at me. I may have wet my pants a little. Then he stood up and walked up to the gate. Phew, I thought, there's my man! He's going to come save me! He smiled and said "well, you have to get used to this" and walked right back after opening the gate for me. Ouch. I nervously petted them and walked in... they settled down soon and ignored me for the most part of my stay. I even ended up making friends with some of them. (For the record, I eventually realized they are absolutely adorable).
A few months back, the husband suggested we adopt a cat from the animal shelter here. I was surprisingly drawn to the idea even though I had no clue about what to expect. We went to the shelter a couple of times and I was mostly just watching as I let him pick. So that's how we ended up adopting Captain Murugan....and the rest is history! It would not be an exaggeration if I said he (the cat) changed my life! He runs to the door everytime I go home, he will wake me up in the middle of my sleep and demand to be cuddled, seeing him eat his entire bowl of fish just makes me so happy! Oh and he's such a great selfie cat. Here are some selfies for proof.
So what prompted me to write this post was a couple of events that happened recently. We had a visitor a while back who was really afraid of cats. Guess what I ended up saying? "Oh don't worry he won't do anything!". A friend of mine who stayed over at our place, I think felt kind of uncomfortable with him playing his usual games under the couch when she was sitting on it. Again, I said without even thinking "yeah, he only does that with people he's really comfortable with!!". Later, when I went to bed, I couldn't help laughing at how things have changed. I am now the obnoxious pet owner! And I am kinda proud of it. ;)
Then. I got engaged to this guy who to say has pets would be an understatement. I think the count is 5 dogs and 4 cats. When we initially started talking, you know the honeymoon phase where you agree with everything each other says, he had said if I am uncomfortable with pets he will personally make sure I feel at ease. Whatever it takes. Of course, I had also said oh yeah no problem at all I am sure I would love animals, I'm just not used to them that's all. That was not all. Or maybe it was. So anyway, we decided to get married and stuff, and after almost a year, a few weeks before the wedding I showed up at his house. It was the pets play time, so they all came running to the gate barking loudly at me. I may have wet my pants a little. Then he stood up and walked up to the gate. Phew, I thought, there's my man! He's going to come save me! He smiled and said "well, you have to get used to this" and walked right back after opening the gate for me. Ouch. I nervously petted them and walked in... they settled down soon and ignored me for the most part of my stay. I even ended up making friends with some of them. (For the record, I eventually realized they are absolutely adorable).
A few months back, the husband suggested we adopt a cat from the animal shelter here. I was surprisingly drawn to the idea even though I had no clue about what to expect. We went to the shelter a couple of times and I was mostly just watching as I let him pick. So that's how we ended up adopting Captain Murugan....and the rest is history! It would not be an exaggeration if I said he (the cat) changed my life! He runs to the door everytime I go home, he will wake me up in the middle of my sleep and demand to be cuddled, seeing him eat his entire bowl of fish just makes me so happy! Oh and he's such a great selfie cat. Here are some selfies for proof.
 |
| My selfie partner |
So what prompted me to write this post was a couple of events that happened recently. We had a visitor a while back who was really afraid of cats. Guess what I ended up saying? "Oh don't worry he won't do anything!". A friend of mine who stayed over at our place, I think felt kind of uncomfortable with him playing his usual games under the couch when she was sitting on it. Again, I said without even thinking "yeah, he only does that with people he's really comfortable with!!". Later, when I went to bed, I couldn't help laughing at how things have changed. I am now the obnoxious pet owner! And I am kinda proud of it. ;)
Saturday, 12 July 2014
Short rant about a recent realization
Since we've established that rambling is my thing, here's the next rant.
Relationships are supposed to make you feel good about yourself, not weigh you down. A very common question boys get asked - "is she high maintenance?". Well, it turns out maintenance is not confined to romantic relationships but exists in friendships and others too. So for the purpose of this post, when I say relationship I only mean with friends or relatives or colleagues that are not romantically involved.
So I think there are two kinds of high maintenance situations I have had in my relationships - first, I really do have to keep taking the effort to keep the relationship going and second, I *think* I have to keep taking the effort to keep the relationship going and growing.
In the first case, the friend or relative most likely has massively huge expectations of you. Why? Because you've always been available, you don't like to say no, you are one big people pleaser and you are easy going. So even if they aren't keeping their side of the bargain, you will not let go and hold grudges. In fact, even if they say something annoying, you'll just take it in your stride because you don't want to stand up for yourself. You're basically a loser. But wait.
The second case is worse. Nobody even told you about their expectations of you. You just made it all up in your mind. You just believe that if you go out of your way and be all sweet to someone, of course they'll be your fan. So instead of them having expectations of you, you are having massive expectations of them. This works out well with the genuinely good people, who actually value sweetness. But with the rest, the majority, you just lose all respect. On the contrary, being uptight makes you intimidating and therefore heavily respected.
Isn't it pretty disappointing though, that being sweet is less respected than being an asshole? If you're a people pleaser by nature, the only solution is to stop being one. I haven't yet figured out an easier solution...
Friday, 11 July 2014
Passionate about... rambling?
Earlier today I had a discussion about chain smokers because a friend's friend's friend is apparently one, and is planning to quit. That led to a general discussion on addictions. And then passion. And then I got a little depressed.
This has been something I've thought about a lot - passion. I like doing a lot of things but I have no passion. You know, for our wedding reception, my parents ordered a cake and decided to personalize it. Very sweet idea. So they put a Gator logo for H. Because you know, everyone knows what a crazy Gator fan he is. And then. A piano for me. A lameass piano! Why can't I have a cool passion like a favorite football team that I'd watch all day and all night? Yeah yeah I like playing the piano, but I'm neither good at it nor am I passionate about it. It's just something I like doing sometimes. You know how people forget everything else when their favorite team is playing, or when they're at a concert by their favorite band, or their favorite movie releasing time? I got nothing.
I cribbed about all this to a (patient) friend who then pointed out that I love playing games. If someone told me to play badminton or tennis all day, I probably would love that, yes. If I could go back to Muscat and play every evening with my perfect set of friends, yes I already feel excited thinking about it. When I moved to Chennai after high school, I was surprised to find absolutely no company to play. So I joined a club, and played badminton with people twice my age. Now that sounds really cool if you're a kid. But I was almost 20, so it meant I was playing with the aunties and uncles of Mylapore. And they were bloody good! I was also "selected" to be a part of the college team because there were only 3 girls in total that even wanted to play. We of course didn't win any tournaments but I loved going for them. Hmmm so maybe that is passion? Breathe.
Well, I know what you're thinking. WTF.. if your friend needs to remind you what you're passionate about, then it's probably not a passion. You're right. It probably isn't. Or maybe it is. But I just realized midway through this rambling that it doesn't matter. Everyone does not need to have a passion. It's just some weird peer pressure thing. The cliche that says "you have to find your passion and pursue it" is overrated at the least. I can just ramble on and on right here on my blog and not have any passions. And that's perfectly okay! Of course, if you are pursuing your passion and it's making you happy, then great! Congrats! For example, if you're a food critique. Or the host of a 'travel the world' show. But if your day job is to clean out the garbage cans in the city, don't get demoralized by these passion-preachers.
Friday, 20 June 2014
Cool things I learnt this week
1. About Tunisia!
So I met this girl on the bus and we started talking. She said she was from Tunisia and that she was a graduate student. After we exchanged pleasantries, she said she is a big fan of Indian movies and that as a kid she used to watch Hindi movies with Arabic subtitles all the time. Interesting. I was thinking really hard on what I could say in return about Tunisia .. but I realized I knew nothing. I stuck to "So, Tunisia must be a really beautiful place..". She agreed and then told me proudly about the Tunisian revolution. Apparently, the recent Arab Spring originated in Tunisia. A man who was selling vegetables on the street was humiliated by a policewoman, he tried to complain to higher authorities but of no use, so he attempted to burn himself alive in front of the government headquarters. That led to widespread protests all though the country and finally their authoritarian president fled to Saudi and never came back. Soon, protests started in all the neighboring countries too leading to the wave of revolution in the middle east. Did you know it all started in Tunisia?
2. Pimm's cup is a cocktail that has Pimm's liqueur, ginger beer, lemon juice and some cucumber juice. It's kind of a refreshing summer drink, but also very potent.
3. Fun-guy po-boys are po-boy sandwiches with deep fried mushrooms instead of sea food. Punny? Yummy too.
4. Japan is so cool.
Do you guys know about Article 9 of their constitution?
And now their football fans! They clean up the stadiums after a match even if they've lost and even if it's not in Japan. Keep it up guys. Arigatou!
5. The polysaccharide that I've been trying to study in lab, does not run on an SDS-PAGE gel because it's probably too large. So I'm going to partially acid-hydrolyze it next.
6. While making paruppusili, after you use the mixie to grind the dal and then steam it, you got to let it dry and then use the food processor to coarse powder it. Works like magic.
7. What a wedding anniversary feels like.
Lots
of love from friends and family, gifts, flowers, horny wishes from
girlfriends, special dinner date, parents reminiscing the actual wedding
ceremonies - me not so much, Facebook profile pic change to lovey dovey
pic just so that everyone knows its official, a replay of the same dull
witted mami jokes that were cracked one year back, a sense of accomplishment followed by wait is this really an accomplishment? and finally a feeling of gratitude for being so privileged.
8. Time flies. So don't sit on your ass and dream of a better world. Get up while you still can and do your part like the Tunisians and the Japanese.
Go Oranje!
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Childhood confessions
My favorite hobby used to be playing ping pong with Appa on our dining table on weekends. The table cloth was folded neatly and put in the middle as the net. Amma had to rearrange many of the lamps and other breakable items nearby, although some of the thrill came from "almost missing a glass vase". TGIF had a whole different meaning back then.
When I was 8, my best friend was called Kehekshan. We used to hangout all the time! She used to wear a scarf around her head that I thought was so pretty that I used to wear amma's dupatta around my head too, to be like her. We grew older and I switched schools and somehow lost touch with her. I still think about whether we may meet at some point, and what I would say to her. Would she even remember me?
I used to really like watching mushy Bollywood films and my favorite was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Yes, of course I tried the Anjali haircut.
I've always been very possessive of my things. I will give it to you only if I trust you enough to take care of it. I'm told - when I was 1, my great grandmother wanted to see my new birthday dress. I gave it to her for a whole of 30 seconds and then snatched it from her to put back in my shelf safely. I was just 1! It became a running joke in my family thereafter.
This was me, on that day:
I enjoy edgy humor. If the joke is not insulting, it's not that funny. My husband doesn't like that so I try to tone it down.
On a related note, my friends have always made fun of me saying I'll end up getting married to a Balasubramanian.
I get a little irritated when people keep talking about how naughty or how cute their kids were when little. Everyone is cute as a baby! Move on.
I am a romantic. I believe in all forms of love and it's love that keeps me going.
In Muscat, we were out on a picnic at Wadi Bani Khalid. The adults were walking slowly, but we kids couldn't contain our excitement. We ran to the wadi (a river) and jumped in. I didn't expect it to be so deep. Neither did I know how to swim, so I had started drowning. THEN! Suddenly! One of the local Omani boys appeared out of nowhere and saved me! The adrenaline rush made me jump around calling it a miracle. I was also spouting all kinds of philosophical sayings, but everyone else just told me off for being a fool to jump in without knowing how to swim. In my head it's still very filmy with my Omani hero boy. Thanks Habibi!
I started taking swimming lessons after that.
My coach died of a heart attack within a week of my joining.
I still can't swim. :(
One hot summer day, my friends and I were having a water fight in the bus (not even the school bus) and the school authorities took us to the Vice Principal's office. For a water fight outside the school!! Our parents had to come get us after that. One of the teachers told my friend "today you let a boy put water on you, tomorrow you'll let him kiss you?". Yes. Don't even get me started on the amount of moral policing that happened in school.
On a related note, somebody told the Vice Principal about all the "couples" in our batch. He called us one by one, took out his "match the following" notes and yelled at us. "Dating during your teens?? Oh my god, what a disgusting crime! Please reserve that for after you're married." Hehehe.. poor wife his was!
My favorite day in school was sports day. I used to take part in most of the events. I always had butterflies in my stomach right from the morning but would act all cool because that's how sportsmen should be! Even today, I would do anything to get a good playing partner.
My first heart break happened in grade 5 because my first crush laughed at me for getting glasses. Agreed, they made my face look funny. And no, I was not a fan of edgy humor back then.
Until I left Muscat and came to Chennai, I never knew that Tamil had so many dialects and that talking like I did would be made fun of. Of course, other forms of culture shock happened too, but save that for later.
Muscat will always hold a special place in my heart as will all the friends I made there. Here's to an awesome childhood! Cheers!
When I was 8, my best friend was called Kehekshan. We used to hangout all the time! She used to wear a scarf around her head that I thought was so pretty that I used to wear amma's dupatta around my head too, to be like her. We grew older and I switched schools and somehow lost touch with her. I still think about whether we may meet at some point, and what I would say to her. Would she even remember me?
I used to really like watching mushy Bollywood films and my favorite was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Yes, of course I tried the Anjali haircut.
I've always been very possessive of my things. I will give it to you only if I trust you enough to take care of it. I'm told - when I was 1, my great grandmother wanted to see my new birthday dress. I gave it to her for a whole of 30 seconds and then snatched it from her to put back in my shelf safely. I was just 1! It became a running joke in my family thereafter.
This was me, on that day:
I enjoy edgy humor. If the joke is not insulting, it's not that funny. My husband doesn't like that so I try to tone it down.
On a related note, my friends have always made fun of me saying I'll end up getting married to a Balasubramanian.
I get a little irritated when people keep talking about how naughty or how cute their kids were when little. Everyone is cute as a baby! Move on.
I am a romantic. I believe in all forms of love and it's love that keeps me going.
In Muscat, we were out on a picnic at Wadi Bani Khalid. The adults were walking slowly, but we kids couldn't contain our excitement. We ran to the wadi (a river) and jumped in. I didn't expect it to be so deep. Neither did I know how to swim, so I had started drowning. THEN! Suddenly! One of the local Omani boys appeared out of nowhere and saved me! The adrenaline rush made me jump around calling it a miracle. I was also spouting all kinds of philosophical sayings, but everyone else just told me off for being a fool to jump in without knowing how to swim. In my head it's still very filmy with my Omani hero boy. Thanks Habibi!
I started taking swimming lessons after that.
My coach died of a heart attack within a week of my joining.
I still can't swim. :(
One hot summer day, my friends and I were having a water fight in the bus (not even the school bus) and the school authorities took us to the Vice Principal's office. For a water fight outside the school!! Our parents had to come get us after that. One of the teachers told my friend "today you let a boy put water on you, tomorrow you'll let him kiss you?". Yes. Don't even get me started on the amount of moral policing that happened in school.
On a related note, somebody told the Vice Principal about all the "couples" in our batch. He called us one by one, took out his "match the following" notes and yelled at us. "Dating during your teens?? Oh my god, what a disgusting crime! Please reserve that for after you're married." Hehehe.. poor wife his was!
My favorite day in school was sports day. I used to take part in most of the events. I always had butterflies in my stomach right from the morning but would act all cool because that's how sportsmen should be! Even today, I would do anything to get a good playing partner.
My first heart break happened in grade 5 because my first crush laughed at me for getting glasses. Agreed, they made my face look funny. And no, I was not a fan of edgy humor back then.
Until I left Muscat and came to Chennai, I never knew that Tamil had so many dialects and that talking like I did would be made fun of. Of course, other forms of culture shock happened too, but save that for later.
Muscat will always hold a special place in my heart as will all the friends I made there. Here's to an awesome childhood! Cheers!
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Bucket list!
I'm suffering from the opposite of Pinaciphobia right now. All I want to do is make lists and tick off what's done. So here's my bucket list!
1. Step foot on every continent
2. More specifically;
- take the LOTR tour around New Zealand
- spend a week in France - le vin et la fromage, les champs-elysee, le tour d'eiffel, the alps
- catch a glimpse of the northern lights from Alaska or Norway
- take H to Phuket and Muscat
- trek in leh-ladakh
- explore the secrets of the Egyptian pharaohs and the Incas
- rameswaram
3. A chance to meet at least one of my favorite celebrities - Agassi, Rafa, Federer, Paul Mccartney, Dravid, Santanam, Santa Claus
4. Adopt another cat and a dog and a few kids.
5. Start my own biofuel company in India and live there forever, close to the parents. Alternate plan: start an awesome restaurant in India.
6. Practice hard and improve upon my rookie racket ball and tennis skills
7. Start intensely following international football and attend one of the FIFA world cups
8. Never lose touch with any of my awesome friends
9. Make sure H is always happy
10. Make sure both sets of parents don't miss us too much
Neat, that looks doable! I guess 10 is a decent number. Well, the hope for a fun future is what keeps us all going doesn't it?
1. Step foot on every continent
2. More specifically;
- take the LOTR tour around New Zealand
- spend a week in France - le vin et la fromage, les champs-elysee, le tour d'eiffel, the alps
- catch a glimpse of the northern lights from Alaska or Norway
- take H to Phuket and Muscat
- trek in leh-ladakh
- explore the secrets of the Egyptian pharaohs and the Incas
- rameswaram
3. A chance to meet at least one of my favorite celebrities - Agassi, Rafa, Federer, Paul Mccartney, Dravid, Santanam, Santa Claus
4. Adopt another cat and a dog and a few kids.
5. Start my own biofuel company in India and live there forever, close to the parents. Alternate plan: start an awesome restaurant in India.
6. Practice hard and improve upon my rookie racket ball and tennis skills
7. Start intensely following international football and attend one of the FIFA world cups
8. Never lose touch with any of my awesome friends
9. Make sure H is always happy
10. Make sure both sets of parents don't miss us too much
Neat, that looks doable! I guess 10 is a decent number. Well, the hope for a fun future is what keeps us all going doesn't it?
I'm back!
Hello blog!
I've missed you! A lot of things have changed in my life from the time I wrote my last blog post -
I got married!! (yes, it was like winning the lottery)
Moved 10,000 miles away from lizard-land, what fun lah
To a house filled with superhero posters and musical instruments.
Shocking as it may seem, my research got published
I now know what a quarterback does
I almost won my lab's brackets this year, but H actually won his
Rekha chithi passed away
I got a pixie hair cut to look like her
Adopted the most adorable cat ever
Went to a high school mini-reunion in Chicago and caught up with some awesome people
Started hating winters, Chennai I'm so ready for you
Read a bunch of autobiographies of tennis players, liked Agassi's the most
Watched some vijaykanth padams, day-to-day conversations have never been the same hence
Still working on my tamil movie dialogues to better fit in with H's family
Realizing now the true value of living in lizard-land - India trip anytime can lah
I'm not thaaaat racist anymore
and I love small towns in the US
Now that you've caught up, I'm going to be writing more often! Get ready!
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Goodbye Singapore! :(
My time in Singapore is now coming to an end. What a ride it's been!
Two years back, when I first moved to Singapore, I hated it. I complained about everything - the weather, the lizards, the people's accents, the lack of a Chipotle and a lot more of such profound problems. Also, it was the first time that I was living alone, without any roommates or parents. That brings in a feeling of loneliness and a weird sense of freedom. Throw in a breakup with all that, and it makes the perfect combination for disaster! Not only are you lonely and desperate for company, there's nobody that's going to stop you from doing absolutely anything you want to do. So after being all 'badass' for a while, I snapped out of that phase with valuable lessons all thanks to absolutely amazing parents and friends like Devika, Priya, Srinath and Karthik. They're awesome.
My second year in Singapore has been superb! I met some of the best people ever. Bobby and Ranjani. I will miss all the weekend lunch-movie sessions at your place. And trying out new vegetarian restaurants in the city with you both. Everytime I watch a kanraviyana padam or have awesome saapadu, I will think of you and miss you! Aditya, Ram, Vidhi, Sandhya.. and gang! You guys have been so much fun. Mafia, random (handle) bar in Malaysia, East coast beach at 3AM, the Nagarita/Precipitator, logos quiz.. awesome times. I'll also miss Natasha, Chen Xue, Ngoc and our super chilled out prof! And of course, the huge CBT gang here in Singapore.
Slowly, my motto in life became 'all that matters is good food' and that's what this post is really about. So coming to the point, apart from missing Singapore for all my wonderful friends, I will really miss the gastronomical delights that this city has provided me. Here's a list of my favorite restaurants! If you're neither in Singapore nor into food porn, you should stop reading this now.
Holland Village has always been one of my favorite hangout spots because it's easy to get to from my house and it has some lovely restaurants.
Al-Hamra for Zatar bread, Moussaka batinjan (eggplant curry) and the vegetarian shawarma with feta cheese. I like their cous cous dish as well, and the batata hara but that's just like any other aalu curry. Their sangria is one of the best.
The Crust is right opposite to Al-Hamra and has some really good tasting pizzas.
Original Sin is a porsche vegetarian restaurant there with fancy yet tasty dishes and desserts, but it's pretty overpriced so go there only if someone else is treating :P Or if you're very rich. In which case, call me!
I started enjoying Thai food only after coming to Singapore. My friends usually get tired of having to go to Thai Express because of me. I love their basil tofu! A little more expensive restaurant is the Thanying Thai in Amara hotel at Tanjong Pagar. All their dishes are super and they have a Thai dessert buffet! Ruby Thai at Raffles is another nice place with good green curry.
In search of a replacement for Chipotle, I've always been enthusiastic about trying out mexican restaurants here. Though none of them could replace it, some came pretty close.
Margaritas The kitchen sink burrito is the usual favorite, and the jalapeño poppers for starters. If you're going to the one at Dempsey hill, then you might want to dress up. Shorts and t-shirt would work for the one at Faber drive which is way easier of course.
Cafe Iguana has something that kind of comes close to the Chipotle burrito bowl. It's called the vegetarian bowl I think. If you mix the sour cream and guacamole with other sauces, you might have your Chipotle bowl! What I love about this place though is the cheerful ambience; open air along the river, and the lights and sounds of the totally happening Clark Quay. I also like their chocolate shots.
Myras beach club is a mexican and north indian restaurant on the East Coast beach. The north indian food is better than their mexican, and it's right on the beach! Hot samosas overlooking the beach, playing pool..good stuff! And cheap as well. A value-for-money restaurant.
Then there are some random things I like from different malls. I sometimes pick up a Japanese rice roll from the QQ Rice at Jurong Point mall, on my way home. They let you choose between various rice options like red rice/purple rice/mixed grain/wheat and they'll make it into a ball and fill it with veggies of your choice like spicy radish, sea weed, carrots, broccoli, nuts, mushrooms. It's a complete meal by itself for just 4 dollars.
Paradise Inn at West Coast Plaza is one of the very few Chinese restaurants I like. By Chinese I don't mean Indo Chinese though. Even a simple dish like the vegetarian fried rice tastes so different and amazing there because of the sauces. The omelet is very tasty too. They don't have any vegetarian dishes on their menu, but they'll make it for you. Their branch in Orchard road isn't as good though, not sure why.
La Barra Colombian Bistro at the new StarVista mall. I particularly like the sauces that come with their papas criolas. The dish is basically small sized potatoes boiled with some seasoning. The cheese empanada and the domino is good too. But it wasn't filling enough because their portions are pretty small. They have good looking staff if you go on weekends ;)
Chili's I go here mainly to have their Oreo milkshake. Everything else is just additional. My friends order buffalo wings, and I think that's very tasty. The only meat dish that I've liked after tasting. One good thing about this place is that their portions are huge. It's like in the US. So when Devika and I go, we just share one dish (like a quesedilla which itself comes in 8 pieces with rice on the side) and have our Oreo milkshakes.
Marche the Swiss restaurant. You get to choose your ingredients and dish, and they make it for you at different stalls. The main course is alright, I like the dessert better. Delicious crepes filled with either chocolate sauce or peanut butter or nutella or caramel, served with strawberries and bananas and ice-cream!
Frunatic the fast fruit restaurant at Star Vista mall has some really nice fruit meals and fruit juices.
Awfully chocolate, Haagen dazs, Max Brenner chocolate bar and Gelataria have the best ice creams and chocolate fondue desserts.
Then there's Little India which basically has loads of Indian food chains, and is very cheap as well. Murugan idli and Lakshmi-Narasimhan have been my favorites for a while. I still think the Murugan idli near bessy beach is better. Komala vilas I guess is the favorite of the majority. A lot of people love the food at Arab street. But from all the restaurants I've been to there, and being a vegetarian, I have nothing great to say. Singapore is famous for all its street food - Kopitiams. I've been to a few with my prof and lab mates, but being a vegetarian is a big draw back! However, I did enjoy the satays with peanut sauce off Robinson Quay.
And lastly, NTU! The south indian full meals at the Komalas inside campus has really made my day on so many occasions. Especially when they make avial and potato curry. It also has other brilliant food - masala dosai, mysore masala, ghee roast, idlis, puri, naan, chapati, chili parota.. and sometimes when we're hungry at 5pm, Ajitha and I go there to have chaat items with masala chaai. She likes their dahi samosa while I like pav bhaaji. I'll think of you whenever I have chaat Aji. Right next to Komalas, there's a stall that sells different tasty varieties of green tea - my favorites have been honey green tea, hazelnut green tea and the caramel green tea. Somedays we go to The Palette, for the veg baked rice or pastas. Then there's Canadian Pizza for pizza, and the Indian stall at the food court that has yummmm alu parathas. Speaking of which, canteen 11 has all kinds of parathas too. Man, I'm going to miss "working" at NTU!
If it wasn't for Harish and the fact that I'm getting married, I wouldn't have had the heart to leave from here. Singapore will always hold a special place in my heart. Goodbye Singapore! Keep feeding my friends well and take care of them!
Two years back, when I first moved to Singapore, I hated it. I complained about everything - the weather, the lizards, the people's accents, the lack of a Chipotle and a lot more of such profound problems. Also, it was the first time that I was living alone, without any roommates or parents. That brings in a feeling of loneliness and a weird sense of freedom. Throw in a breakup with all that, and it makes the perfect combination for disaster! Not only are you lonely and desperate for company, there's nobody that's going to stop you from doing absolutely anything you want to do. So after being all 'badass' for a while, I snapped out of that phase with valuable lessons all thanks to absolutely amazing parents and friends like Devika, Priya, Srinath and Karthik. They're awesome.
My second year in Singapore has been superb! I met some of the best people ever. Bobby and Ranjani. I will miss all the weekend lunch-movie sessions at your place. And trying out new vegetarian restaurants in the city with you both. Everytime I watch a kanraviyana padam or have awesome saapadu, I will think of you and miss you! Aditya, Ram, Vidhi, Sandhya.. and gang! You guys have been so much fun. Mafia, random (handle) bar in Malaysia, East coast beach at 3AM, the Nagarita/Precipitator, logos quiz.. awesome times. I'll also miss Natasha, Chen Xue, Ngoc and our super chilled out prof! And of course, the huge CBT gang here in Singapore.
Slowly, my motto in life became 'all that matters is good food' and that's what this post is really about. So coming to the point, apart from missing Singapore for all my wonderful friends, I will really miss the gastronomical delights that this city has provided me. Here's a list of my favorite restaurants! If you're neither in Singapore nor into food porn, you should stop reading this now.
Holland Village has always been one of my favorite hangout spots because it's easy to get to from my house and it has some lovely restaurants.
Al-Hamra for Zatar bread, Moussaka batinjan (eggplant curry) and the vegetarian shawarma with feta cheese. I like their cous cous dish as well, and the batata hara but that's just like any other aalu curry. Their sangria is one of the best.
The Crust is right opposite to Al-Hamra and has some really good tasting pizzas.
Original Sin is a porsche vegetarian restaurant there with fancy yet tasty dishes and desserts, but it's pretty overpriced so go there only if someone else is treating :P Or if you're very rich. In which case, call me!
I started enjoying Thai food only after coming to Singapore. My friends usually get tired of having to go to Thai Express because of me. I love their basil tofu! A little more expensive restaurant is the Thanying Thai in Amara hotel at Tanjong Pagar. All their dishes are super and they have a Thai dessert buffet! Ruby Thai at Raffles is another nice place with good green curry.
In search of a replacement for Chipotle, I've always been enthusiastic about trying out mexican restaurants here. Though none of them could replace it, some came pretty close.
Margaritas The kitchen sink burrito is the usual favorite, and the jalapeño poppers for starters. If you're going to the one at Dempsey hill, then you might want to dress up. Shorts and t-shirt would work for the one at Faber drive which is way easier of course.
Cafe Iguana has something that kind of comes close to the Chipotle burrito bowl. It's called the vegetarian bowl I think. If you mix the sour cream and guacamole with other sauces, you might have your Chipotle bowl! What I love about this place though is the cheerful ambience; open air along the river, and the lights and sounds of the totally happening Clark Quay. I also like their chocolate shots.
Myras beach club is a mexican and north indian restaurant on the East Coast beach. The north indian food is better than their mexican, and it's right on the beach! Hot samosas overlooking the beach, playing pool..good stuff! And cheap as well. A value-for-money restaurant.
Then there are some random things I like from different malls. I sometimes pick up a Japanese rice roll from the QQ Rice at Jurong Point mall, on my way home. They let you choose between various rice options like red rice/purple rice/mixed grain/wheat and they'll make it into a ball and fill it with veggies of your choice like spicy radish, sea weed, carrots, broccoli, nuts, mushrooms. It's a complete meal by itself for just 4 dollars.
Paradise Inn at West Coast Plaza is one of the very few Chinese restaurants I like. By Chinese I don't mean Indo Chinese though. Even a simple dish like the vegetarian fried rice tastes so different and amazing there because of the sauces. The omelet is very tasty too. They don't have any vegetarian dishes on their menu, but they'll make it for you. Their branch in Orchard road isn't as good though, not sure why.
La Barra Colombian Bistro at the new StarVista mall. I particularly like the sauces that come with their papas criolas. The dish is basically small sized potatoes boiled with some seasoning. The cheese empanada and the domino is good too. But it wasn't filling enough because their portions are pretty small. They have good looking staff if you go on weekends ;)
Chili's I go here mainly to have their Oreo milkshake. Everything else is just additional. My friends order buffalo wings, and I think that's very tasty. The only meat dish that I've liked after tasting. One good thing about this place is that their portions are huge. It's like in the US. So when Devika and I go, we just share one dish (like a quesedilla which itself comes in 8 pieces with rice on the side) and have our Oreo milkshakes.
Marche the Swiss restaurant. You get to choose your ingredients and dish, and they make it for you at different stalls. The main course is alright, I like the dessert better. Delicious crepes filled with either chocolate sauce or peanut butter or nutella or caramel, served with strawberries and bananas and ice-cream!
Frunatic the fast fruit restaurant at Star Vista mall has some really nice fruit meals and fruit juices.
Awfully chocolate, Haagen dazs, Max Brenner chocolate bar and Gelataria have the best ice creams and chocolate fondue desserts.
Then there's Little India which basically has loads of Indian food chains, and is very cheap as well. Murugan idli and Lakshmi-Narasimhan have been my favorites for a while. I still think the Murugan idli near bessy beach is better. Komala vilas I guess is the favorite of the majority. A lot of people love the food at Arab street. But from all the restaurants I've been to there, and being a vegetarian, I have nothing great to say. Singapore is famous for all its street food - Kopitiams. I've been to a few with my prof and lab mates, but being a vegetarian is a big draw back! However, I did enjoy the satays with peanut sauce off Robinson Quay.
And lastly, NTU! The south indian full meals at the Komalas inside campus has really made my day on so many occasions. Especially when they make avial and potato curry. It also has other brilliant food - masala dosai, mysore masala, ghee roast, idlis, puri, naan, chapati, chili parota.. and sometimes when we're hungry at 5pm, Ajitha and I go there to have chaat items with masala chaai. She likes their dahi samosa while I like pav bhaaji. I'll think of you whenever I have chaat Aji. Right next to Komalas, there's a stall that sells different tasty varieties of green tea - my favorites have been honey green tea, hazelnut green tea and the caramel green tea. Somedays we go to The Palette, for the veg baked rice or pastas. Then there's Canadian Pizza for pizza, and the Indian stall at the food court that has yummmm alu parathas. Speaking of which, canteen 11 has all kinds of parathas too. Man, I'm going to miss "working" at NTU!
If it wasn't for Harish and the fact that I'm getting married, I wouldn't have had the heart to leave from here. Singapore will always hold a special place in my heart. Goodbye Singapore! Keep feeding my friends well and take care of them!
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
The horror scope mania
I think we Indians live in a pseudo modern world where we want to seem broad minded. We don't want to be seen following age-old customs blindly, but on the other hand we're also too scared to let go of some traditions. One place where I see this most is during horoscope matching for weddings, and how some astrologer has predicted what will happen to them. Here's a conversation I had with one of my friends in India who is trying to find his life partner through the arranged marriage setup. Although I'm taking his example, I know a lot more people on the same boat.
I was quite amused that a person from my generation was willing to make life changing decisions based on how the stars and planets were aligned at the apparent time of his birth. But, I don't question people's beliefs so I left it at that. However, what's more interesting is what he told me after talking to the previous girl that he had met through a similar arrangement. The horoscopes had matched. The parents were very happy. But he said the girl was too traditional, did not have a mind of her own and was not "good looking".
End result: He is frustrated. The parents are worried.
This is the case with a lot of others too, both boys and girls. So what is the problem? We have a picture of this perfect person in our minds, and we keep waiting for that Prince Charming to come. He should be cute, rich, funny, loving, sexy and my parents should love him and our horoscopes should match and he should cook for me and do all other household chores as well because I'm all for feminism and shit. In return he'll have my conditional love. Come on, isn't that enough?
Harish sent me an article with 60 short love stories... and this was one of the favorites.
Pretty much sums up what I'm trying to say.
Coming back to the horror scopes. I have another friend who's doing a PhD that told me that she believes that only if horoscopes match, the marriage will work. And that her astrologer has correctly predicted that she will be married next year.
(Now the same astrologer had predicted that she will get married even last year).
I have no problem with astrology. I know that there are some really strong astrologers out there who know their stuff. But here are some of my problems with the blind rigid following.
1. Your entire horoscope is prepared based on the exact time of your birth. How accurately do you know your time of birth? The clocks in the hospitals may have been running ten minutes fast. The doctor may have taken a few extra minutes to note down the time after having you delivered. What if there was day light saving? ;)
2. Many times, two kids are born in the same place same time. But one dies immediately after being born. They have the same horoscopes don't they?
3. Have all the marriages that have been made through horoscope matching succeeded? No diseases, no deaths, no problems? No. I have examples from my family, and I'm sure you do too.
So, every relationship can go either way. The only reason for it to work is that you want it to work :) Instead of adding to your list of criteria the partner should have, work on being the person they'd want. And get rid of blind beliefs, replace them with faith in yourself. There's no star or planet in the universe that can control your life more than you yourself!
He: I spoke to this girl just now, she called me after seeing my profile on the matrimonial site. She's very bold, forward thinking and independent. She's really pretty too.
Me: Wow that's excellent news! So you're going ahead with this one right?
He: No I think she's nice but I have to wait till they check if our horoscopes match.
Me: Wait, so you're saying if horoscopes don't match you'll let it go even if everything else about her is exactly what you're looking for?
He: My mom said horoscopes absolutely have to match. And I also believe in it.
I was quite amused that a person from my generation was willing to make life changing decisions based on how the stars and planets were aligned at the apparent time of his birth. But, I don't question people's beliefs so I left it at that. However, what's more interesting is what he told me after talking to the previous girl that he had met through a similar arrangement. The horoscopes had matched. The parents were very happy. But he said the girl was too traditional, did not have a mind of her own and was not "good looking".
End result: He is frustrated. The parents are worried.
This is the case with a lot of others too, both boys and girls. So what is the problem? We have a picture of this perfect person in our minds, and we keep waiting for that Prince Charming to come. He should be cute, rich, funny, loving, sexy and my parents should love him and our horoscopes should match and he should cook for me and do all other household chores as well because I'm all for feminism and shit. In return he'll have my conditional love. Come on, isn't that enough?
Harish sent me an article with 60 short love stories... and this was one of the favorites.
Today, when I asked my grandfather for some relationship advice, he said, “Honestly, the moment I stopped trying to find the right woman, and started trying to become the right man, your grandmother walked up to me and said, ‘Hello.’”
Pretty much sums up what I'm trying to say.
Coming back to the horror scopes. I have another friend who's doing a PhD that told me that she believes that only if horoscopes match, the marriage will work. And that her astrologer has correctly predicted that she will be married next year.
(Now the same astrologer had predicted that she will get married even last year).
I have no problem with astrology. I know that there are some really strong astrologers out there who know their stuff. But here are some of my problems with the blind rigid following.
1. Your entire horoscope is prepared based on the exact time of your birth. How accurately do you know your time of birth? The clocks in the hospitals may have been running ten minutes fast. The doctor may have taken a few extra minutes to note down the time after having you delivered. What if there was day light saving? ;)
2. Many times, two kids are born in the same place same time. But one dies immediately after being born. They have the same horoscopes don't they?
3. Have all the marriages that have been made through horoscope matching succeeded? No diseases, no deaths, no problems? No. I have examples from my family, and I'm sure you do too.
So, every relationship can go either way. The only reason for it to work is that you want it to work :) Instead of adding to your list of criteria the partner should have, work on being the person they'd want. And get rid of blind beliefs, replace them with faith in yourself. There's no star or planet in the universe that can control your life more than you yourself!
Friday, 25 January 2013
It's Maya Bay!
Until September 2012, when people asked me what my favorite place on earth was, I used to indulge in some of the most cliched replies. "Oh any place is as good as its people.." "I love Baltimore and Singapore because of all the wonderful friends I've made.." "I love Chennai - there's no place like home!" and so on. But after my trip to Thailand, my reply has gotten much simpler. "It's Maya Bay!"
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| Koh Phi Phi Ley, Thailand |
Maya Bay is situated in the Krabi province of Thailand, and it is surrounded by the island Ko Phi Phi Ley. This may look familiar to you if you've watched 'The Beach' where Leonardo DiCaprio follows directions from a map to reach the secret paradise island on Maya Bay. The way to get here is first fly to Phuket, then hop on a ferry to Ko Phi Phi Don and there book the Maya Bay Camping tour. I suggest the Chao Koh tour, you can even leave your bags in their office. The entire camping tour is around 80USD per person. Totally worth it! First, they take you on a longboat to Maya Bay and from the minute you get on that boat, it is a whole new experience. Here are some of the sights en route...
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| The blue waters around Maya Bay! |
I fell in love with the water color! The phrase 'feeling blue' should be changed to mean feeling ecstatic! The bright blue colored waters and the huge mountain cliffs overlooking them... I had never seen anything as beautiful. The weather was very pleasant too. September is actually the off season, heavy rains are expected but it didn't rain at all while we were there. On the way, they stopped the boat and gave us snorkeling gear. Since the water was clear, the coral reefs and other aquatic life were clearly visible. (Although, the ones we saw off the coast of Gili islands near Lombok were better). After snorkeling and swimming around in the water for a while, we got back onto the boat and they gave us freshly cut pineapples to eat :) And then we reached the island where we were going to spend the night.
The sunset was pretty gorgeous, just like all sunsets. We were entertained by the guides with some fire dance shows. They cooked us some brilliant Thai food, and a bucket full of a special Thai drink ;) There were about 15 other tourists as part of this tour, we all played some weird games. And then at night we slept on the open beach looking up at the sky! This was my favorite part of the trip. The sky was filled with stars and more stars. There was a mild breeze and the relaxing sound of waves, it just felt wonderful. And then. For the first time in my life I saw shooting stars! Three of them! I think the 'making a wish' thing really works because the first two times I wished that I see one more. And the third time.. well I think that wish is coming true too. Sleeping on a beach, looking up at the infinite universe, does make you feel on top of the world. Having lived in big, polluted cities all my life, this was very different and awesome! Kung Fu panda would've had no difficulty finding that inner peace here.
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| That's me just before waking up |
The next morning we went back to Phuket in the ferry, and did some jet skiing at Patong beach. Karthik and Srinath fell off their jet skis because of the rough waves and had to swim back to shore. I was of course racing through the waters like a pro! In the evening I got my hair braided like Beckham (David Beckham Hairstyle) except that it looked way worse than that. Way worse. Later we checked out the night life on Bangla road where two lady boys offered Karthik a rose, and Srinath almost got selected to do a belly dance.
On the whole, this is one place that I would love to visit again and again, even it is by myself :) So yeah, it's Maya Bay!
On the whole, this is one place that I would love to visit again and again, even it is by myself :) So yeah, it's Maya Bay!
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Happy birthday!
I turn 25 today. The silver jubilee. Quarter century. A milestone they say.
So what exactly do I celebrate today? Being alive for 25 years? Sure, that would have been a big deal and certainly a reason for celebration had I been brought up in famine-stricken Somalia or in warzones or had wicked parents that abused me. Or of course, if I had other Darwin award tendencies. Thankfully, none of these are true in my case. I’ve been blessed with the best parents and a very peaceful environment to grow up in. I couldn't have asked for better! So really, I can’t take the credit for being alive for 25 years can I?
Ok, then let’s talk about achievements and dreams. Yes I’ve managed to graduate from good schools and I have a really cool job (those who know me will understand what I’m talkin about!) and I am pretty much financially stable. I make enough money to keep me going. Dreams… well, from my childhood days, I’ve always wanted to see the world and travel to far off places, learn their languages and eat their speciality dishes. I’ve lived in Chennai, Muscat, Baltimore and Singapore, and I’ve traveled to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Africa, the Himalayas and many parts of the US and India. I can read and write Arabic, studied French in school and right now I’m learning Chinese. I like my idlis as much as the Thai green curry and basil tofu. But again, can I really take credit for all of this? No. It wouldn’t have been possible without appa paying my tuition fees, or my friends accompanying me on the trips, or my labmate teaching me Chinese. Although I’m content with myself, I don’t believe that any of my achievements are so special that a normal 25 year old with similar background couldn’t have achieved. Don't get me wrong - I'm not depressed. Just giving build-up for my next paragraph :)
So what is it that I celebrate today? Why am I going to proudly say ‘thank you’ when people wish me a happy birthday? Yeah yeah, because it’d be mean not to. But what I’m getting at is a little deeper. If you ask my friends, from school or college or work, about me, the majority of them will have nice things to say. That’s true for most of us. We are nice to more people than we hurt. Is that good enough? Yay, I’ve hurt only 3 people! So I’m more good than bad, all is well? The truth is, to those 3 people, I was probably the biggest terrorist of all time, at least for that minute or hour or month of their suffering. How can that be good in anyway? During one of my projects in undergrad, I was working for a PhD student. She once told me (of course in the context of protein purification that I had messed up) – “Don’t say everyone makes mistakes. That’s no justification. If you take enough care, you’ll be surprised how easily mistakes can be avoided. And by avoiding them, you can spare yourself so much time and effort”. She was very short tempered, and I was very young. Back then I thought she was just being overly paranoid, and I never gave much thought to it. I never forgot it though because not too many people have shouted at me, and surprise! I don’t like being shouted at! It was only earlier this year that I came up with the same thing that she said, and realized how true it is. And in the list of mistakes made by people, I think hurting someone physically or mentally (or both, except if you’re a dentist) is right on top. It’s the worst thing you can ever do. That's because you can only cause pain when you’re in a position of power. When they’re at your mercy. To misuse that power is such a disgusting thing to do! As spider man agrees – with great power comes great responsibility. Be responsible. And once you’ve made the mistake, the time and effort it takes to clean up, if at all it’s possible to clean up, is way too much. I mean mistakes, apart from causing harm, are also a big waste of time, energy and effort. To those of you out there who think you've done shit but gotten away with it, let me tell you. You're probably right. And the fact that you're happy with yourself for it is punishment enough.
Having caused pain to others in the past, I took a vow this summer that I will never be that person again. And that is what makes this year special for me. And that is what I will be celebrating. To no mistakes! Cheers!
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