[advaitlele]

@ Biju - I am using this conversation of yours "...I love cooking. I will try to find the recipes of some of them and try them at home. " Do invite me if you need a good tester / taster.

@ Star - one of the most interesting logs coming up. The India food map is a must have for any traveloholic and foodie. The "target audience" for you will be very happy to read it and come back to it again and again. For Maharashtra, Pithla-Bhakri and Thalipeeth is a must have item for any visitor. You already know that

[StarVegabond]

@mohsinroadster : Thanks very much

@jacs
Shopping is a dual edged sword. it is time and energy consuming, wallet consuming, satisfaction not guaranteed. so i do not expect anything substantial or different experience from shopping.

@advait
thanks very mcuh.
i must warn you, being a taster for a experimental chef is very dangerous to one's health. Wiser people allow the experiements to get over and then once things stabilize you may consume. Hence i suggest you wait for Biju to complete his experiment, then let him organize on banquet for the t-bhpians where you can join for experiencing his cooking. This may give rise to another type of meet "T-BHP banquet meets" similar to tapri meet, offroad meets, drive meet, drive+dinner meet etc etc.

Yes, very much Zhunka-Bhakar and Thalipeeth are the MUST have's in Pune. But i don't have to go there to enjoy it, in fact it is a regular thing in our home, atleast once a month. These days Chitale's Bhakarwadi is available in Bangalore as well.


I was told by Sprited One that they start from Navi-Mumbai tomorrow afternoon and his family's packing for the trip has been completed. He is returning home from his business trip today.

Even my daughter told me just now that she and her mother have kept their bags ready. It appears only i am not ready yet. Tomorrow will be my last official working day of this year. It was a very hectic weekend at Delhi with some meetings on saturday and travel to mumbai on sundayl. Tomorrow evening, I will also be traveling home from Mumbai after about 7 days away from home including week-end.

Still to many small things about the trip yet to get finalized. Hope to get everything ready prior to X-mas eve.

[StarVegabond]

I am at the Mumbai airport waiting for my already delayed flight.
It seems Mumbai is clogged, be it road traffic or air traffic. Today it took me more than 60 minutes to reach from Sion circle to Domestic airport signal. Most of the flights are also delayed.

Airport is buzzing with business people wanting to return home, families with kids traveling on their vacations While i am tying this sentence couple of kids are circling me to check what i am doing on my laptop, one of them a girl wanted to play games on my laptop before being pulled away by her mother.

I would say these kids are really fortunate to be born during the best period in India's recent history. I am sure with these smart kids, India would have a bright future for sure.

Vacations for the kids has already started. Today is the X-Mas party at thier respective schools and from tomorrow for some days there is no
troubles of going to school or doing homework. My daughter seems to have already completed here winter vaction homework and is ready to
receive her friends when they land tomorrow.

I read an article while i was in delhi which argued tha Christmas belongs to everyone now. I am seeing a trend that X-mas is being celebrated by more
and more people from other religions also. The article stated that most Indian businesses have adapted to the dual festival rythm of making money, Diwali and X-Mas are the occations when the families expect to spend their moolah. As per some retail chain owners, X-mas is the second largest consumption period where the sales go up by 10-11% compared to average monthly sales.

We started observing X-mas sometime in 2004 Dec when we were on a road trip to Goa-Konkan belt from Mumbai. We had attended the X-mas (midnight) mass at the Panaji church. This picture is taken during our recent trip to Goa.

026 Panaji church


My cousin used to stay close to this church. My daughter simply loved the X-mas season due to the decorations, lighting, red costumes, cake etc etc

Two years ago after we moved to Bangalore, we bought a small X-mas tree and some plum cakes and had a small X-mas pot luck party for my daughter's friends.

Last year we brought a bit larger X-mas tree, decorated it and celebrated X-mas as per our own style/methodology, our guests from navi-mumbai lit up the day for us.

This year we are looking to again celebrate X-mas as a part of our vacation. I learnt that X-Mas tree is brought into homes traditionally only on 23rd or even 24th Dec and taken out on 26th Dec. I read somewhere that it is kept maximum for 3-4 days only, probably due to the fact that the cut tree would not remain fresh after that period. Now most of the people seems to be using artificial trees. So it can theoritically remain at home.

Our X-mas this year would start tomorrow afternoon by decorating the X-Mas tree by the three kids (and ofcourse their dads). During 24th night Santa is expected to visit.

I saw a message over last weekend which made me think.

027 Be a santa for a change


Sprited one and family have boarded thier KSRTC volvo bus, even that was delayed by over 75 minutes. Hope they reach on time to Bangalore.

My flight is getting anounced, I really look forward to be home tonight..

The future posts will be be made after the events have happened.

[arindamray]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

i must warn you, being a taster for a experimental chef is very dangerous to one's health. Wiser people allow the experiements to get over and then once things stabilize you may consume.

On the same line, I read somewhere -
"Cooking is very easy, difficult part may be to eat what is cooked"

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I saw a message over last weekend which made me think.
027 Be a santa for a change
Attachment 472311

Very thought provoking. We are so busy with ourselves, we seldom think of others.

[roamingrao]

Another blockbuster in the making !

Awaiting your story as eagerly as the new year itself !

Meanwhile, wishing you all a very happy, comfortable and a joyous vacation.

regards,
Rao

[advaitlele]

@ Star and arindamray - I completely agree with your comments. The cooking part is relatively simple one; tougher part starts when some one is asked to taste it. The testing can have its own effects on taster Being an experimental cook myself I can vouch for that.

This one is surely the first blockbuster of 2011. Waiting.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by arindamray

Very thought provoking. We are so busy with ourselves, we seldom think of others.

Yes, most of the time Santa resides within us, we just have to wake him up, that is all, if we manage, we will have a year long X-mas.

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Awaiting your story as eagerly as the new year itself !
Meanwhile, wishing you all a very happy, comfortable and a joyous vacation.

Yes, we are also eagerly awaitign for the trip to start, Thanks for your wishes, We wish you and your family a very happy new year 2011.

Originally Posted by advaitlele

Being an experimental cook myself I can vouch for that.

It appears that most of the T-Bhpians are not just petrol heads. They are also a travel freak, travelogue writers, amature photographers, a Foodie, and now experimental cooks as well.


I reached home by 9:30 PM. I remember daughter staying awake till midnight to help her mother to make arrangements for next couple of days including last minute home cleaning etc.

028 Conversation on board KSRTC Volvo bus


Above conversation seems to have happened on board the Volvo bus. Similar conversation happened in our home as well.

So by 6 AM, everyone was awake, either waiting to reach Bangalore or waiting for the phone call. Eventually after few phone calls, myself and daughter drove to Yeshwantpur.

By 11 AM, Three idiots were at last happy to meet each other again.

"Friends warm our hearts and brighten our day" so says a proverb. One has to actually see the joy on the face of these 3 kids to understand "what it means to meet an old friend amid the crowd?"

No picture or words can explain it. Vacation and Fun has just begun..

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

028 Conversation on board KSRTC Volvo bus
Attachment 472826
Above conversation seems to have happened on board the Volvo bus. Similar conversation happened in our home as well.

Logged on Team-bhp after almost a week and saw that third page running on this thread , i thought that....

..''.star kerala madhe pohochala ka?''
''areychcha, star ajun yeshwantpur station lach aahe, tu zop aata.'':

[ whether star reached to kerala?
oops, go to sleep, he is at yeshwantpur station yet.]

Looking forward.

[StarVegabond]

@ashish

Kaai karu bhau, aamuche mitra and thenchi mandali banglorela atta aalele aahet.

(What to do brother, my friend and his family have just now reached Bangalore).


Rest of the 23rd Dec was spent in kids playing with each other, smart ones catching up wth their summit talks, Dads spending time on work related calls etc.

Some part of the evening was spent in decorating the Christmas tree.

029 Finishing the activity of decorating a X-mas tree


030, Santa's corner for next few days..hopefully he will leave his gfits here next day night.


By the the time dinner was over kids were all sleepy, so it was time to hit the bed

Tomorrow is the X-mas eve, Kids and Moms will have some relaxed time. Dads would be busy with their meetings and year end business activities.

[StarVegabond]

24-12-2010 : Christmas Eve

6:30 AM, Kids were already awake, When i steped out of the bed room, people were alreay appreciating the weather outside. But no one wanted to go out due to the chill outside.

031 Morning fog, it appears to be like a Hill Station


032 - Yelahanka Hill Station


Soon it was found that breakfast would take some time, so after freshening up, kids and dads stepped out for a morning walk

033 We are now ready for the walk


034 But we ended up playing in the garden


035 with the foggy background garden looks beautiful



037 A real X-mas Tree


Soon everyone were back for the breakfast, Dads soon got busy with their year end work so it was kids and ladies time till 5 PM.

At 5 PM once dads were back we decided to go out to Nagawara Lake
Soon we reached Lumbini Gardens at Nagawara. It has been more than 3 years since we wer eplanning to go there, but managed now.

Tickets for >3year old human is RS 30/- Ticket for Camera is RS 30/-
We took the entry tickets outside, once we stepped in we took the ticket for Coffee Boat Ride (RS 50/- each)

Unfortunately the pictures taken during the boat ride got deleted accidentally. So we only have the memories.

038 About Lumbini Gardens


039 Friends at Lumbini Gardens


040 Yeh Dosti... Dejavu of the Sholay Song


Soon it was dark, we returned home. While waiting for the dinner, it was Karaoke Time

042 Karaoke session in progress


043 soon the food was served, followed by Cheers to Santa.


044 smart ones saying cheers to the winter vacation


After dinner, it was time to view the pictures of the last year winter holidays. Kids could recollect several places, anecdotes, conversations and the fun moments. It was worth the time, moey spent.

It was well past mdnight when kids (& adults) slowly slipped into sleep. So it was time for Santa to come in...

[StarVegabond]

25-12-2010 : Christmas Day
----------------------------

"Uncle, Uncle..please wake up, Santa has left gift for us"

My friend's kids were trying to wake me up, it was almost 7:30 AM.
Soon my daughter followed them.

044 Santa had indeed left gifts


Soon kids noticed the stockings that had gone missing from Navi Mumbai had re-appeared here along with

045 Stockings with Santa's letters


046 soon kids started reading the personal letters written by Santa to them


047 This was followed by the gift opening frenzy


048 Beaming kids with some of the Santa's gifts


This year too Santa was kind enough to give gifts to the dads and moms.
We all thanked Santa Claus for the gifts and wished each other Merry Xmas

049 Merry X-mas to all


The whole day was spent in reviewing the plan, packing the things, buying some snacks needed during the trip etc.

We were all ready by 7 PM wating for the vehicle (Innova) to arrive as confirmed by the tour organizer from Pallakad whom my friend had contacted to make the needed hotel bookings etc.

Then came the shocker... That is the reason i am still tying the story here.

This nightmare is on since 7 PM till now, More about it later.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Then came the shocker... That is the reason i am still tying the story here.
This nightmare is on since 7 PM till now, More about it later.

Is that Innova arrived?
or something else like aria, safari, scorpio, bolero, ?

Looking forward.

[advaitlele]

I hope the Rath and Saarathi arrived on time and the vacation has started with all the Star family.

Star - Don't leave the readers hanging in surprise for long.

[rki2007]

I have plans to visit the God's own country in the coming weeks. Off course i should either buy a book "Learn Malayalam in 30 days" or find a malayali traveller companion before i get to Kerala.Because once i had a horrible experience of finding sign boards in English and people talking any other language other than Malayalam.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

There is a taxi STRIKE from today midnight. (actually, not sure if "tuesday midnight" means today or tomorrow).

Wonder how the rath and sarathi will stay. Is that the hiccup?

(Malayalam news item)

Mathrubhumi Latest News ????????? ??????????? ?????? ?????- ??????? ???????????

While in KL, live like the Keralites. Be prepared for a bandh / strike / haral at the drop of a hat.