I found out!

** that there is an ongoing trend of blogs, where the blog owner has a thing for fashion. dresses up every day to takes pictures ( in clothes they own) to create their own unique trend.

** that I am in an experimenting phase, trying to explore and understand what wud  I like to do for the rest of my life *sigh*

** that  “Indian Cinema” is only category type under movies on Youtube Movies specifically referring to a country’s movies

** that I love watching HGTV as much as I love watching FOOD Network

** that I have a sort of an eclectic taste without being too eclectic .. M refers to me as always wanting to be “different”

**that I like to watch the cooking for fish – there is so much variety there … jus that I dnt think I am gonna do it anytime !

** that I am slowly getting in the process of being a shoe-aholic :D

** that I love being married :D and doing couple things ;)

** that I miss snow and can’t-believe-I-am-saying-this Columbus too

** that I have to start talking more on the phone (which was a  signature-me act)

** that I want to learn Hanuman Chalisa fully by heart (not the way as I knw it now)

** that I am out of ideas to write now!!

Later then !

 

10 things I learnt by watching a Korean TV show

For the past couple of days (may b a bit more), I have bn watching this Korean TV show non-stop … I have watched a bunch of Korean movies before but never was this addicted … anyhoo..o, it inspired me to write this post !! here it goes…
1. They love showing respect to each and everyone through bending resulting in a trim figure !
2. Love eating Ramen to the point that I made it for myself too :D
3. A lot more Americanized that one might imagine in terms of use of expressions, clothing brands/styles (or is it jus me?)
4. That kissing scenes are very similar to those in Indian movies (not the Emraan Hashmi style)
5. About Korean Rolled Egg Omelet (looked very yum but lets see how it wud taste)
6. Few Korean words (Sunbae-senior, Noona – elder sis as called by a guy, Unni- elder sis as called by a gal, Amma and Appa –  mom and dad (same as in tamil))
7. That they have an amazingly smooth hair (and some funky hairstyles too)
8. They eat a lot of side dishes with rice, the more the better
9. You cant tell difference between a teenage girl and the one in her twenties, even thirties … they all look young !!
10 That I love them and gonna start watching the next one….

The Year That Was !

As uneventful as 2009 was for me (minus the India trip)…2010 was one of the best years for me, the reasons plentiful :) 2010 had an amazing beginning and even more amazing end …2010 was the year I met M who know holds the wonderful title of ‘my husband’…the year I made some great new friends who might hav lived down the road but I never hung out with them before…2010 was the year I had some great parties with the awesome music and even more awesome party-goers … 2010 was the year  I got married amidst family and friends on a rainy day…2010 was the year I graduated with another degree…2010 was the year when I got my first platinum solitaire (I am sure there r more to come:D)…2010 was the year  I visited some amazing places…the year I realized my baking skills and some more of my cooking skills…the year I visited the most restaurants and watched the most new releases :D (at midnight too!) …I learnt a lil more about myself while growing a lil more confident and self assured!! I tried correcting my faults and learnt to be more brave in experimenting ! In 2010, I  made some tough and life changing decisions which now I am really happy about :)

I bid adieu to 2010 and grow  more hopeful about 2011… looking forward to the wonderful adventure I shall have, to new dreams and new beginning ! I am hoping to meet some amazing people and do some amazing work myself!… rediscover myself and others too !!

Wishing everyone a very Happy 2011 !!

My travel encounters in India (Part 4)

Next in my series of posts on my India trip ... 

I think the term 'bumper to bumper' to describe a traffic came from India .. With my first scary ride in auto, I mustered my courage and trusted my instincts to  drive my scooty around in Hyd traffic ... Hyd is notoriously known for bad driving with no one following the rules... If you do follow the traffic rules, ppl give you a weird look ... So while driving these days, I noticed that at any red signal, there is absolutely no gap between the vehicles to even walk and the vehicles are jus couple of inches short of hitting the vehicle in the front ... that is when I sensed the true meaning of that phrase which is very commonly used in US to describe a heavy traffic jam !

As one might know, Food and I are best friends .. .I love eating as much as I love cooking :) ... these days, I am hogging on a lot of street food ... the lil 'telas' selling different kinds of chaat or haunting my fav chaat shop (bn their loyal customer for now 10 yrs or so)... and since it is raining once in a while, I get the pleasure of having a cup/glass of chai (tea) with hot mirchi bhaji/molaga bhaji from the roadside stalls...It is not the healthiest of places nor the most comfortable one ... but it is an amazing experience in itself .... One of the things I miss the most while living in the US . 

I have a bunch of more topics to write abt but laziness is creeping in .. Lets hope I am able to overcome that and continue writing :) 

My travel encounters in India (Part 3)

As the famous saying goes, “ A picture is worth a thousand words” (~Chinese Proverb) … I thot it is time I include some pictures .. they may not be in best pixels or great in details but they do capture the essentials                                                 Temple Temple Everywhere

 

                                The Balloon Man

My travel encounters in India (Part 2)

Continuing the previous post…

One of the things which has not changed at all is the traffic/driving style… for now I can comment only abt Hyd but I am guessing it hasn't pretty much changed anywhere else in India…There are bikes and autos and buses running everywhere… My first auto ride, I was more about the auto than the driver himself…I was trying to cross the road and tried to follow rules a lil bit but realised soon enuf that I had to take charge and not be afraid … there was a time when I was an expert driving thru such traffic but not I am not so sure as of now .. may b once i start driving my scooty/kinetic, i might feel more in control …

 A weird thing which I noticed about myself is that I am converting the prices of various things back to Dollar  to see how much it would cost me in US and whether it is worth buying it here and lugging it back … I am not sure why I am doing this ..the reason this is significant change to me is bcoz one things which we tended to often when we move newly to US is convert every dollar to rupee to see how expensive it is .. it is considered not good and we are recommended to lose this habit ASAP .. for some reason, I lost it soon enuf and also advised everyone the same .. But now I am not sure what  I am doing by this reverse converting .. Hav  I become a lil too much American and lil less Indian .. I jus hope I find the perfect balance between the two !

On the same not of being somewhere between Indian and American, I seem to have lost the art of bargaining .. The reason I call it art is coz u need to practice it to make it perfect and should also have a knack for it ... I gen go shopping with my mom ... Every shop I visit, i pick and choose what I want ... My mom's approval comes in the form of the "Indian headnod" (refer Outsourced TV show for more details) ...When the times comes for the bill, as soon as the shopkeeper starts telling me the price,  I neatly point him to my mom and say "talk to her, she is the one paying the bill" and thus starts the show of bargaining, where they each haggle until both parties are satisfied !!

My travel encounters in India (Part 1 of the series :D )

Every trip to home (India) is an adventure in itself.. beginning with a big shopping list and even bigger shopping bill ... trying to find the best deals and venturing out to buy things that never made it to ur shopping list in the first place .... trying to fit this enormous shopping into 2 suitcases 50lbs each (23 kgs each for the folks living in the rest of the world outside US :D) .... a 40 hr journey full of anticipation and excitement, crappy leg space and feels-super-long layovers... BUT then again, this is all totally worth it ... to see the happy faces of your loved ones waiting for you at the airport arrival lounge !

Now that I have given an elaborate  intro which is totally not wat I wanted to focus on, lemme finally get to the point which is to write my observations about anything and everything ...TIME to begin

1. A minimum of 1" inch heel sandals is a common place for any girl...I wonder how they are able to walk on the uneven road surfaces +  run around to catch buses/trains ... Personally, I am not able to wear them on a daily basis even when the roads are good

2. Usage of the new Rupee symbol - I really liked the new rupee symbol ... But  I find it really weird when I find it in place of the  very familiar "Rs."  .. .It would take a lil time to get used to but it is a nice change and I am proud that India now has its currency symbol


3. The good old habit of reading newspaper (I mean the non-virtual one) in the morning .... I remember the days when everyone in my family would wait for the morning paper and fight for being first one to read their fav sections (esp on sundays)... I missed that while living in the US where we are so much into the internet and reading news as such.... It was wonderful to hold the paper in my hands lying down on the easy chair, listen to the lil sounds while turning the pages and making a mess of the pages by mixing the page numbers by the time i finished reading them.. plus luckily there was no fight today morning coz there were 2 papers, and with my sis still slping and dad out of town .. it was jus mom and I (and yes, I got up at 5.45 am, a thing which is usually unknown to me - courtesy jet lag) reading a paper each and then being very amiable when the time came for exchange :D

More observations to follow as and when I find time to write about them between my shopping sprees and eating home cooked food and also the not-so-healthy street chaat !