A Day In The Life

One day I am going to record the sounds that start and end my day. Beginning with sometimes birds twittering in the tree next to my bedroom window. The sounds of a radio being tuned by the dhobi who's positioned himself next to our building. People jostling near the water hydrant. The swish-swish of my maid doing a quick sweep and mop. The gentle whizz of the juicer. The sounds of breakfast being cooked. The rustling of the newspaper. The pitter-patter of the shower. The slamming of car doors. The cacophony of traffic. Phonecalls, pagers, intercoms, people, gentle clickety-clack of keyboards (sometimes), droning of voices, hum of airconditioners, the whooshes of coffee machines, punctuated twice or thrice by the azaan. Traffic again but this time a little gentler. The jangling strident calls of my cellphone. Television. Then, silence again.

And through it all, what I long to hear is this - the gentle lapping of tiny waves and the slap-slap of the water in the canals as vaparetto(s?) speed through or gondolas cut through. The sometimes raucous laughs of loud, Italian women, tourists for who this is the vacation of a lifetime (Who am I to say a thing? I keep posting these sorry pics on my blog) and the laughs, the fights and talk of people, who they say contribute in sinking this city a little more each year.

Famous Sights I Have Missed Seeing

I consider myself fairly well-travelled, yet I have missed out seeing the most iconic sights in some of the famous cities I have visited. As all of you, my adoring readers have been deprived of my ramblings and listings for ages, I present before you a list of the iconic sights of the cities I have visited. I keep telling myself thats my reason to return.

1. Paris - Eiffel Tower. Yes. I have been to Paris 5 times, yet I have never been to see the Eiffel tower. I have passed it multiple number of times, but have never been on it. I have explored St. Germain, Les Marais and Montmartre village sufficiently to never get lost. I have seen the Pompidou centre, the Louvre, Musee Orsay, Love the Sainte Chapelle, have marched up and down the Champs-Élysées, etc. etc., yet I have never been up the Eiffel Tower.
2. New York City - The Statue of Liberty. I have gone to New York every year for the last 7 years, and yet, have never seen the statue of liberty.
3. Singapore - Bukit Timah Nature reserve. I have lost count of how many times I have been to Singapore, yet this the one place I have wanted to go since my first trip, yet have not managed to get there.
4. San Francisco - Haight Ashbury, Castro Street. When I visited San francisco, these were the two places I realy, really wanted to go, yet somehow couldnt make the time.
5. Boston - Museum of Fine Arts -I love Boston. I love the fact that one can actually walk around and have also seen a fair amount thanks to generous clients and friends. Yet, everytime I visit, I miss the MFA purely due to idiotic work schedules.
6. Brussels - Palais de Justice - Not seen. Also, word of advice. The Mannekin Pis is SO NOT WORTH IT. It is fucking 6 inches tall. Complete disappointment.
7. Berlin - Jewish Museum -I rank Berlin as one of the must-sees city in the world. I find it interesting and very different from other parts of Germany. Also, the Jewish Museum ranked way high on my list of things to see in Berlin, but never got around to it.
8. Shanghai - Oriental Pearl TV Tower. I feel ashamed of admitting this, but I never got around to seeing this, because I was too busy stuffing my face with soup dumplings.
9. Bangkok - Wat Arun - Again, I get so busy eating, going to galleries and shopping in Bangkok, I never move my ass to go see Wat arun.
10. Chicago - Frank Lloyd Wright Home - I think I've been on every tall building in Chicago, again thanks to people I work for. Also, have eaten at the finest restaurants in the USA in Chicago and am yearning for more, yet, the Frank Lloyd Wright home was top of my list, but never gets done, again mostly because of the magnificient mile and stuffing my face.

This list could continue ad infinitum, but I need to sleep.

Milk

I watched SATC2 on a flight and the copious Bailey's I was swigging made the movie watchable. The one thing that stuck with me was the Indian valet putting cinnamon in the milk he was heating for Samantha. I thought that was a weird combination, because Milk in my mind went with cardamom (elaichi) and I didnt like it. I do love cinnamon in my baked goods though, so I thought I'd try that out. Its simple. Just crush up a stick of cinnamon and plonk it in the milk you're heating. Strain and drink. I loved it. Its the perfect spice for milk. Absolutely perfect. Its like drinking cake batter. A lot of you may go "ewwww..", but I'm the licking the batter kind of baker. So, if you like cinnamon and you like milk, try it. May be old hat to a lot of you, but to me this is a novelty.

Just Another Day

Walking around aimlessly in NYC is always guaranteed to entertain. From out of nowhere, this parade stopped all traffic in Little Italy.

This really amused me, because if I was a part of this parade, I would be dragging the water bottles/ refreshments.

Put On Your Makeup Me Beauties

For I can't wait to eat you all up!

Things I want to do before I die - Redux and Amended

Things I want to do before I die
14 Done! I'm pleased that I'm able to achieve atleast one thing every year. Talk of baby steps!

1. Run a 28 mile marathon.
2. Spend a summer in Paris.
3. Go backpacking across Europe.
4. Actually paint a masterpiece - a mural.
5. Weigh 55 kgs.
6. Walk on the Golden Gate bridge. - twice - yay!
7. Learn to speak French.
8. Watch a Bob Dylan concert.
9. See the Rolling Stones.
10. Bungee Jump.
11. See the Amazon Rain forests.
12. Go to Brazil.
13. Write a book.
14. Swim with a dolphin.
15. Meet Bob Dylan, even to get tongue tied and make an complete ass of myself.
16. See the Sistine Chapel.
17. Learn to eat Caviar without puking.
18. Ride a Gondola in Venice. - NEW
19. Shave my head.
20. Learn to fly an aircraft, even a tiny one.
21. Learn to play the drums.
22. Go to a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.
23. Go ski-ing in the alps.
24. Grow my own herbs and tomatoes and own a tiny farm.
25. See the Louvre.
26. See the Great Barrier Reef.
27. Walk along the Great Wall of China.
28. Go snorkelling in the Lakshwadweep Islands.
29. Learn to control my road rage.
30. Drink feni at Dona Paula, Goa.
31. Drink champagne in Champagne.
32. Drink Bordeaux in Bordeaux.
33. Pluck tea in Darjeeling and run along the furrows in a tea garden. - NEW
34. Find out more about my family's past.
35. Totter on a Manolo Blahnik.
36. Go hiking in the himalayas.
37. See the wild-asses in the Rann of Kutch.
38. Go to the valley of flowers.
39. Make my own cartoon strip.
40. Learn how to use a potter's wheel and make myself a bowl.
41. Learn to fly a kite.
42. Plant an orchard.
43. Buy original paintings and not just prints.

Afternoons and Coffeespoons

Afternoons encourage the exchange of confidences. Based on wholly true incidents - WHEN ONE JUST DOES NOT WANT TO BUMP INTO AN EX-BOYFRIEND:
1. On meeting your daughter's in-laws at her wedding, your longtime ago ex from school turns out to be your son-in-law's piano teacher. You think, "God! WTF did I see in this loser?"
2. You wait for an hour at the gynaecologist, only to come face to face with an ex, who grins and says, "So, are we ready to be examined yet?"
3. At an interview you are taking, for personal assistants.
4. While watching the latest action flick, the idiots sitting in the front row keep necking. Lights go on and it is an ex with some 16 year old.
Just for the record, none of the above happened to me.

Around The World In 80 Blogs - Calcutta, India

I made a commitment to everyday stranger and being the primary cardholder of the better late than never party, here I go...

I also have to admit that lately work and my other commitments have kept me very occupied and I forgot to take pictures, so good people forgive the pictures I stole from the Internet and I fully promise to post my own very soon. Anyway, this is where I stay now and it now feels like home.

I live in Calcutta and I have a love-hate relationship with Calcutta. Also, for those of you who don't know, Calcutta was renamed Kolkata but to me Calcutta it is and Calcutta it will be. For those who want to know more about this distant city, you may click HERE. However, in this post I shall simply mention what I love about Calcutta and what has, despite most annoyances made me stay here.

I moved to Calcutta after being stood up at the altar and after a decade, I can look back and really laugh at that. In part, Calcutta has healed me, restored my faith in goodness, enabled me to laugh from the bottom of my tummy and this is where I met the loves of my life - yes loves - sweetheart, passions and my missions in life. Sounds dramatic, but thats me - surprisingly melodramatic, which may be attributed to this very, very melodramatic city.

There are many, many places to visit in Calcutta and things to see, and when one visits Calcutta, one should know that this Indian city takes art and culture very seriously. When I moved to Calcutta first, I checked out all the touristy spots - the many (dilapidated) churches and the even more interesting cemeteries, the markets, the temples (though Kalighat put me off temples for life), the botanical garden and the bridges. Over the years, I have few favourites that I visit over and over again.

This is St. Paul's Cathedral, located in the middle of Birla planetium and the Academy of Fine Arts. This is where I go sometimes to feel calm and midnight mass at Christmas is traditionally Anglo Indian and very very interesting to me. I go to the Academy of Fine Arts that is located right beside St. Paul's practically every week and it is always very pleasant to look at the peace and calm of the Cathedral during the drive. The Academy of Fine Arts lets out its galleries to artists or whoever wishes to exhibit anything! It is always an interesting visit, as one can bump into famous artists, Calcutta Culture Vultures and a lot of people with intellectual/ arty leanings. Sometimes, one also comes across very talented lesser known artists and it gives me a lot of pleasure to discover and encourage them. So, this is the general vicinity in which I spend most of my Saturday evenings.
After checking out the Academy, more often than not, I like to go to Oxford Bookstore on Park Street, which used to be one of the swisher shopping addresses. Right now, it has dropped in popularity because of the millions of malls that are being built around the city, but Park Street has a charm and air that is truly unique to Calcutta. Oxford Bookstore, I think is well over 85 years old and a great place to browse. Nobody disturbs you, you can read full books without salespeople shooing you, has a great Tea Shop where you can settle down and read a book and sip hot or cold tea for HOURS at an end. You may also come across an old Gentleman in a tie (ALWAYS) pottering about. That, is a dear friend of mine - Mr. Motwani, who I feel has worked at Oxford for ever and if he likes you is most helpful. This behaviour, long forgotten is what contributes to the charm of Calcutta. A visit to Calcutta is incomplete without dropping in at Oxford and Flurys a tearoom, which is another Calcutta fixture. Now, I have LOTS of complaints about Flurys, even though I get excellent service because, well, I eat out a LOT. Foodwise, there is nothing outstanding about Flurys, but the atmosphere is charming and it is the best place to people watch.
Again, for most regular readers of my blog (Ok, who am I kidding - nobody, sigh!), my annoyance with clubs in Calcutta is legendary. Calcutta society identifies itself by the clubs it belongs to. Said society being umm.... on the wrong side of fifty now, which is my hugest grouse, since I am still very much on the right side of 34! Most clubs in Calcutta - Calcutta Club, Tollygunge Club, Bengal Club, The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (which is practically opposite where I live), the Saturday Club, The Royal Calcutta Turf Club, Royal Calcutta Golf Club, so on and so forth are mostly social clubs. Walking into them, one is transported into another world, and though I feel there is much that I dont like about polite Calcutta society clubwise, it is often interesting to indulge in gossip over a cocktail at whichever club you belong to. That said, MY the good people of Calcutta LOVE to talk! They even have a special word for conversing - "Adda". Adda at clubs over cocktails - that is also typical Calcutta for you. This is a picture of Saturday Club - a club I frequent sometimes and where I again indulge in people-watching! Another really interesting place that I have grown to like is the Calcutta Race Course. No, I don't gamble, but winter afternoons spent at the Race Course, particularly on Derby days is very pleasant. Soft winter sun, beautiful thoroughbreds, the pleasant grounds of the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, the Victoria Memorial gleaming in the far distance - interesting and fun occasionally.

Now, most of what I have described above is mostly South Calcutta. I live in South Calcutta and though I am sure there are many interesting places in North, East and West Calcutta, I dont know them well enough to talk about them. Hey, Calcutta is a HUGE 13 million people city afterall! Do you expect me to know everything?

I live close to the Birla Mandir(Temple). Well, what do I say? The picture below looks ok, but the temple itself is very artificial and kitschy. I dont like it at all, though it is a convenient landmark. What I like about the Birla Temple is the concert hall below the temple in the anterooms. The concert hall is used for classical music concerts, plays and the like. Very convenient for me and just a hop, skip and jump away from home!

Apart from Art/ Culture/ temples etc. food is the other passion in Calcutta. People in Calcutta live to eat. I could go on and on and on about food in Calcutta. One never can be ill-fed in Calcutta and if you are, well, you dont know me. Heh!

Sure, there are a LOT of annoyances in Calcutta. The local government, the poverty (an annoyance because one feels helpless in the face of local apathy), the grime, the lack of professionalism, the lack of young professionals my age and the lack of quality entertainment. However, Calcutta is still charming and very interesting. I like to think I am contributing positively and if one has the patience, one may even start loving this crazy city.

Sugar Baby

If I had to eat just one kind of thing again and again and again, I would eat dimsum. Cheating, yeah, but yeah, dimsum.
So, in memory of dimsums that I dont remember where I ate...
The condiments...

Mushroom and chicken - Too, too good.

Prawn hargaos. Not bad, not bad at all.

This was actually the dessert, a sago and mango dessert. Words cannot describe the wonderfulness.

Shiumai.
There is something to be said in that I tried to remember where I ate this meal but I still remember the flavors - Singapore? San Francisco? Seattle? Was it last year? Was it this year? What is wrong with me? Why cant I remember this? I think it was either San Francisco or Seattle. Still that dessert - Wow!

Only in the USA

1. Will I meet an airhead who will be impressed with the ancient Indian art of "threading", and will discuss it during networking. WTF???
2. Will people talk loudly and slowly with you just because you are not cookie-cutter thin, blonde and white.
3. Will people ask you when you learnt English.
4. Will women think emancipation is having a separate networking event only for women. OHMYGOD - NO. I dont want to be treated any differently and even though I crib about the old boys networks, I really dont want to be party to a cackle of hens.
5. Will I meet really well educated people who have no clue where Calcutta is, never mind that a person of similar educational background from say Chile, not only knows Calcutta but also has read Indian literature.
6. Will have airlines ignore your pre-booked seating and force you to sit in the centre just because they think they can get away with it, because the passenger is not american. Said airline being United and said airline breaking suitcases and the personnel being rude and irresponsible.
7. Will women bras of size a, b and c be padded. WTF? Don't american women with small boobs wear non-padded bras? What is this obssession with being Pamela Anderson Lee?

Yes, Venice IS that Beautiful

What excites me about travelling is to get to know how other people live. I am so curious to see what people do, how they stay, what they eat, what they drink, how they love, where they stay and where do they go. I love peeping into houses and open windows and see people like busy little ants, go about their business. I often just look at people, and dream up stories about who they are, what they do and since I read too many thrillers and mysteries in my formative years, every one is a secret agent. Venice in my brain is all about love affairs, people looking for an escape, people in love with decaying decadent beauty (moi?), writers looking for their muses, composers who haven't written a note for years, artists who had to get away because they wanted to feel colour again, rock stars with their sixteen year old girlfriends, doddering old contessas who will not leave their crumbling mansions and pasta with seafood so fresh it makes you cry. Yet, I went to Venice for work and sans lover/s. Sigh!
And Life Goes On......
Won't You Come Into My Parlor?

Watching The World Go By... One Gondola At a Time...

Flowers That Would Have Cheered Up Even The Devil.

Shelter From The Storm?

The Picture That EVERY Tourist Just HAS to Take...

Window of Opportunity - Now Closed...

That Don't Impress Me Much

As an aside, I am a tiny blob/ blip/ ant in the universe. Still, according to me, the purpose of the universe is to impress me or else perish. Yes, thats how screwed up I am. Here's another list of things that have been blown out of proportion by people who would bore the living daylights out of me, and I am sure are excited by skyscraper like things:

1. The space needle, Seattle - I really expected it to be bigger, better, taller.
2. Starbucks - not the best coffee, no. Also, I will NEVER understand how people actually substitute soymilk in coffee. Its either proper half and half for moi, or none at all. But, that really is another rant.
3. Dubai - Imagine the most garish place ever, multiply by gadzillion, and you have Dubai.
4. Any tourist destination in Singapore - Singapore is great, IF you avoid the touristy places. The touristy places give cheesy a new meaning.
5. Bridge of Sighs, Venice - Ok, Ok, I get it, prisoners crossed it and sighed, and it is beautiful as all of Venice/ Italy, but I found it disappointing. Why? I expected it to be bigger, better, shinier.

I shall be adding to this list. Soon.

Another Boring List Designed To Turn Your Brain Into Oatmeal

Movies I watched on airplanes this season -
1. The Reader
2. The Holiday
3. The Ramen Girl
4. Easy Virtue
5. The Bride Wars
6. A Japanese movie that I knew I watched but I have no recollection of
7. Night at the museum
8. Ice age
9. Confessions of a shopaholic
10. Underworld
What can I say? My taste in movies sucks, but The ramen Girl can give anyone a BIG craving for ramen. That is all.

Things I Want Before I Die

This post's title's byline should read - I Don't Know Why I Am Posting This.

I love to shop, yet I didn't shop for anything other than tylenol in NY because I didn't have the time! I already have a things to do before I die list (Out of which I have completed one more thing, so its down to 31! Baby steps people! Baby steps!). So I'm posting a "Things I want before I die" list. Also, I will sell-out for atleast 5 of these things, but I'm not telling which. Actually, considering that no one seems to read this blog anymore, I keep asking myself, what is the huge secret, still...

1. Fine china tableware (a full service dinner set and a tea set with a teapot and the works) - wedgwood or royal doulton. Beautiful table ware makes me go eeeee....
2. A huge kitchen and when I say huge, I mean HUGE - 1000 sq ft Huge - all my ex-apartments and my very own current darling apartment have tiny kitchens where I can barely store my stuff or move around (however, I have pulled off a 4 course, cooked from scratch - I didn't mill the flour or anything, but I don't use any mixes ever - dinner and lunches for over 8 people, so I know if one really wants to cook, one can) and in my dream house I want a HUGE kitchen and a HUGE pantry.
3. A black and a neutral trench coat that I can wear all my life and that make me look slim.
4. A vineyard and an orchard where I want to grow figs, loqats and peaches.
5. A picasso, a chagall, a subodh gupta, a raza, a warhol, a britto, a hussain and a kingshuk sarkar.
6. A voter's identity card.
7. My grandmother's (either - both were very spirited, independent and strong-willed) or father's determination and resolve.
8. My mother's recipes for making gujiyas and mathris - she grudgingly gave them to me, but I know she's left out something because mine just don't taste the same, when I asked her, she said - the ingredients are not the same quality!
9. A Bergama and a Milas carpet each - oh the beauty!
10. Lots and lots of shoes - only italian please, I tried out a million manolos and choos but I know I can't walk in them, on the other hand my coccinelle shoes are darlings. I spent 6.5 hours in them on my feet about 10 days back - 2.5 inch heels - and neither did my feet swell, nor did I get any corns, I was just tired and if thats not a good shoe, I don't know what is.

These are things I really, really want. I don't think I can afford any of the above right now, but planning now sure seems a good idea.

Bad-tempered Reflections of a Foul-Mouthed, Rude Hussy

Is there anything more irritating than a small-town Indian who has emigrated to the USA? He has realised his wet dream, which only proceeds to bore the living daylights out of yours truly. Can there be anything more boring than middle class american suburbia with its uniform picket fences and backyards? One thing I grant to India, it is never boring. Dirty, dusty, crowded, nosy, annoying, yes - but not boring. What can I say? I'm from a small town originally myself, but at heart, I'm a big town girl.
Also, why does each and every of my friend in California think that doing the napa valley thing is the height of sophistication and they aren't even wine drinkers! Sideways! Die you. And just why would I do the napa valley thing with a bunch of people who (a) do not drink wine (b) proceed to put me off with their bubba acts (c) take zillions of pics and proceed to bore each and every family member and friend for years to come - "look! here is hubby posing with the wine crusher!"
I know, I know, I'm bad-tempered and horrible, but its not my fault, its the fault of the people who've become boring.

Tired But Happy

Tiredness is seeping from every pore in my body, but I still have so much to do.

My pet peeves remain and I am still miffed with the world. My life hasnt changed, only my suitcases have.

With experience comes wisdom? I used to scoff at people using ipods and laptops while travelling, but after non-stop days on the road, I urgently see the need to carry MY music. Wonderful escape from the snotty brat who keeps kicking my seat EVERY FUCKING MINUTE!!! I truly believe that it was Bono and Franz Ferdinand who prevented the premature death of said snotty brat by throttling from my hands. Sounds shocking, but just try being kicked non-stop from Calcutta to Singapore and you shall feel the same. And I havent even started on the proud parents.

God, I feel so much better now.

Reverse Racism

This is not a PC blog. That said, I can rant now.

I am afraid travelling will turn me into a reverse racist. You decide:

1. American lady (white) during a polite black tie dinner asks me slowly and loudly, "Are you familiar with all these songs?" You may think I am over reacting, but I am not. The reasons being that for the past 2 hours, I was conversing with her husband in what I presume was fluent English. This is a lady who is obviously well-educated, wealthy and a democrat (declared earlier on). The music was classic rock. Maybe the wine was heady?
2. I asked for a meal that was in short supply, as did the gentleman beside me. I asked first and a meal was placed in front of me. Then, when my neighbour wanted that too, and it was presumably over, the hostess picks it up from my tray, plonks it in front of my neighbour and places a yucky vegetarian meal in front of me, saying, "I'm sure you will like this better." I don't think my refusal to eat or drink anything during the 8 hour flight perturbed her much.
3. I'm sick to the gills of people pointing to the steak or pork chops on my plate and asking, "Are you allowed to eat that?" Firstly, I hate anyone pointing to my food, secondly, does globalisation mean anything to people, at all? Also, all brown people are not muslims.
4. Can people in other countries spell at all? My name is possibly the simplest one and pronounced just the way it is written, but the amount of variations I have heard is not funny. Do Americans realise how dumb it is not to know how to spell or count? I actually had a cashier use a calculator to figure out the change for a $5.00 bill I gave for something that cost $4.75. I tried this with cashiers at my local Indian supermarket today. Nobody used calculators for calculating the change for sums far complex than that.
5. I enjoy watching hollywood movies more than Indian movies, however American television sucks. The news is plain dumb and misinformed, the entertainment channels cheap and stupid and the advertisements just puke inducing. I used to look down on Indian TV, but no longer. I can't understand this dichotomy.

Reasons Why I Love My Job - The Omnivore's 100

I read this on cooksister, and I knew I just HAD to do this. Some guy (sorry, I have not been blogging regularly) has made a list that every omnivore should eat. I love lists and I love to eat. The bold items on the list are what I have eaten (burp!) and the struck out one's are the things I will never try. So --- here's what I have eaten...
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi - Eat practically every week (heh)
15. Hot dog from a street cart - Noo York, Noo York
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - My uncle's wine from roses and plums
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - I don't care what the food police says, FG is ambrosia
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters - My 2nd fav food after FG
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas - YUM! YUM! Tong's Garden - Life would be so incomplete without you
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - every week (Yay India)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Does doing the two separately count? IMHO, yes....
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat - every week (Yay India)
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal - I'm convinced this is another fake indian curry like chicken tikka masala
44. Goat’s milk - at my grandparents and something I'm not doing again
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - Thank you job!
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini - Thank you job!
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Thank you job!
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst - One of the best things (foodwise) about TJermany
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini - Thank you job!
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini - Thank you job!
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare - I was v surprised at liking this, eating cute things is normally where I draw the line
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake


79 out of 100. Not bad. Though nothing will make me eat brains and roadkill is not really my style.

Cambodia 2007

Going to Cambodia was a lesson in humility. The poverty of the people was heart-breaking, yet the generosity and the inherent goodness of Cambodians made me wonder if there was a God and justice at all. I was affected more by the ruins of Bayon than I was by the Angkor Wat. Talking of Angkor Wat, no guide book mentions that one needs to be an agile climber to get to the top. So, if you're visiting the Angkor, remember to travel very, very light or with a rucksack. Also, don't even bother going to Phnom Penh. It is a dump and really not worth visiting.

Ze Worlde Eet Ees Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

Swilling cold, refreshing drinks on a lazy Sunday afternoon and pondering on the crazy ways of the world that make my weekends stressful and my weekdays calm, I reach the conclusion that life ees not so bad afterall.

Which is why, in a city that is ALL mozart, mozart and more mozart, finding Christain Doppler's birthplace suddenly seems way cool.