Fooooooood

With a large portion of the population being Hindus, its no surprise that the bulk of the food we had on the trip was vegetarian food. According to the locals, some do eat meat and are vegetarians only on certain days.
The first meal we had in Chennai was of course, home cooked indian chicken briyani. Mrs Usha's mother made various accompaniments mainly tandoori chicken, grilled fish, eggs in an EXTREMELY SPICY gravy, and also the best cucumber raita I've ever tasted. No photos though because we arrived pretty late in the evening and all I could think of was sleep. Boohooo :(

What I've learned is that Indians take their food seriously! Cooking is considered and art and mealtimes are often regarded as occasions for families to get together. Apparently if you are seen in a restaurant, people will assume that you are a 'bad wife' who doesn't know how to cook for her family. Lol. There are a lot of misconceptions about Indian food. Usually, fattening, oily, spicy, rich, hot and difficult to cook. Well, I know little about the cooking part but what I know is that only a small amount are bad for you i.e indian sweets. Grains and legumes are the basic ingredients in a host of dishes with only slight changes to create a wide variation of dishes.

Clockwise from top: Vaday soaked in some gravy, briyani, sambar (now I know what its supposed to taste like), rice curd, gulab jamun, vegetables, dhal gravy, and spicy tapioca chips. All the dishes above are supposed to be eaten with rice, but we decided to skip it. 

The infamous Masala Tea. Masala infused tea with milk. 

Palate cleanser of some sort.  Slightly minty/herby with a sugar coating.

Fluffy fluffy vaday! Loves.

Deep fried vegetable

Don't know what this is. Rasgulla maybe? like flour balls in thick syrup with pistachios. VERY VERY SWEET. I prefer the Gulab Jamun (deep fried milk balls in sugar syrup). It was at just the right level of sweetness. 

Okies dokes, thats all for today's post :)

தோசை

தோசை - Dosa : A fermented thin pancake made from rice batter and black lentils. 


Alternative names: Dosa, Dosay, Dose, Dosai, Dhosha, Thosai, Tosai, Chakuli

Mrs. Usha, the lady who welcomed us into her home for 3 days was gracious enough to make us a stack of dosay for breakfast. As scrumptious as they were, the sheer amount of it made it hard for us to clear our plates! She says that on average, one should have at least 4 pieces for breakfast. But after 2 pieces each, mum and I gave up. Haha. Despite contrary belief, pure south Indian food is fairly healthy. It is only the altered ones available to us in Malaysia to suit our taste preferences, that are laden with coconut milk and saturated fats. 

We had nothing but Indian food for the entire duration of our trip. So I guess I wont be having anymore indian/mamak food in the nearest future. Having intense craving for sashimi now. Mmmmmm. Noms.  

India; Chennai

The decision was pretty sudden, and probably has no rational reasoning behind it. And somehow it felt right at that very moment even though I had to cancel previous engagements. Thinking that the same opportunity might not come again in the nearest future and with only 3 years left of med school before I immerse myself in the unrelenting Malaysian healthcare system for the rest of my life, I handed in my passport and applied for an Indian visa. It could be that, or it could might have just been the need to start the new academic year with a bang. Something new. Something different.

Madras, or rather India for the matter, is synonymous with heat, music, colourful sarees, temples, bharatnatyam, and of course Indian food. But somehow I have a suspicion that southern city will manage to bring something different to her visitors with every visit.

The city is heavily populated, and the amount of motor vehicles on the road is a massive amount which probably is the main reason as to why the traffic is HORRENDOUS. I will delve into that in a separate blog post hehe. All I could do was make sure I was not in a car on an empty stomach.

Chennai is rich in history and its affluence has not been masked by the progression of time. Every street, every corner and every neighborhood tells a different story. It is not uncommon to see tall, ultra-modern glass buildings wedged in between time-worn Hindu temples and bustling markets. Seems a bit outlandish but it seems to work for them and that is what makes it a truly remarkable thing to experience.

More to come!

Lucky Charms

We keep it quiet, too often I think we might just disappear. 

I see me hiding my face in my hand, talking about faraway lands.

So today, sadness found it hard to make it through.

This happiness we're feeling, no one understands. 

Dear blog, 

Words cannot convey how the past few days have made me immensely happy. Therefore, I am obligated to post up horrible pictures of lmk just for the fun of it! :) 

I will make no mention of anniversaries, getting lost in the woods and expensive lunches in abandoned restaurants :) I will not make it known that the past two years has been nothing short of tears and heartbreak. But I will make it known however, that being with you has made me happier than I could've ever imagined.

Really :) 

*p.s there were no pretty photos since he insisted on making stupid faces. pffft -.-

April

Hey ho! Been feeling a little lost lately just because my schedules cleared up greatly since all the colloqs are over but it'll start again soon enough. Topography Anatomy was tiresome and I was surprised I passed considering I didn't even complete my paper let alone check it. Since my weekends are usually super occupied, my weekends strangely fall on Tuesdays and Wednesdays now. Hehe. So last night, I indulged myself in a few movies guiltlessly and woke up super late this morning -.-

Seemed like just yesterday people were tweeting about March and bingbangboom.. Its April. Time definitely isnt showing any signs of slowing down, ey? In a blink of an eye and already a third of 2011 came and left. Only a few months left till finals. Only a few months left till the end of third year. Only a few months left till summer holidays. Only a few months left till I get to satiate my need for yong tau foo. T.T

On a different note, happy 21st birthday to my LMK :) With both feet in the realm of adulthood, I wish you all the happiness in the world.

"You're 21. You are officially a man."


"Ya, I'm a big boy"


"You mean, a MAN?"


"No, I'm a big boy"

Lol. You may be mature in terms of digits but deep down, you're still the 19 year-old I'm familiar with :)

And to you, dear April:

Please don't disappoint me :)

*urgh that was so annoying. couldnt come up with a better excuse to post a picture of myself. a vainpot one summore -.- But yeah. mmhm.

Mad Hatter March

Two weeks of March have gone by and Spring was well on its way until the weather decided to turn its back on us and it started snowing yesterday. Again.

Another picture post just to make this place look pretty until I secure a stable internet connection and THEN only will I be able to blog properly. Life on EDGE is pushing me off the edge -.-

Pics from women's day lunch the other day :)

P.S Life often throws punches at you but today, it decided to kick me in the tooshie. All I can do is sit back, pray and watch God's plan unravel itself. 

kthxbai

Bandung Set

Few of the 36 (yeah!) photos I took in Bandung. Clearly, shopping was the only agenda ;)

Dear Reader,

I was no petty thief, I wanted the world or nothing.

-Charles Bukowski

Secret: I just made my maid search the entire living room for snakes because I thought I saw one.

This week brings with it the emotions I have yet to part with and that is : separation. Just as rest and recreation is about to make itself comfortable in my life, the new semester is far too eager to usher it out and permanently settle in my system for the next 5 months. I can't totally say that I'm opposing this because its true what they say: you are what you make yourself to be. Separation issues? Mehhhhhh give it a week and the incessant workload will naturally take care of that.

Its blurry, unclear and the font's way to small but I couldn't be bothered because you wouldn't be able to read Cyrillic or understand Russian anyway. So loosely translated, the schedule above means: No eat, no sleep, only work. LOL no lah, not until that extent I suppose. But it could come close given that the last semester wasn't exactly a walk through the park.

I haven't blogged in a really long time hence now I feel like I'm talking to myself. Maybe I am. Heh. Wtvr.

I just pray and hope that my friends and I will have a blessed year with God's guidance and protection because I'm not lying when I say that I'm going back with a tinge of fear thanks to that Goku Doku Umarov dude who decided to release a threat video claiming to cause unrest in Russia the entire year. Check it out here.

So dear friends, family and possibly, erm talking cats, I can duly say that I am eggcited for the new semester to begin - new books, new pens, new highlighters, new subjects, new opportunities and best of all... spring!

It'd better be good, because I've had a taste of summer before spring ;)

Gut feeling tells me that its going to be just as good :)

It sure feels good to be :

Alhamdulillah :)

Kaboom

Hello,

I was just watching the news on CNN (re: airport bombings) with the correspondent updating on scene from Moscow. Then it hit me, OMG ITS PEAK WINTER BACK IN MOSCOW. Its not hard to forget with all the the heat here in KL. Its HOT. Not warm, not breezy. Its blistering hot. Thank god for the afternoon rain to mellow out the heat heheh.

Here's to 2 more weeks of fun in the sun!

Dilemma

I am constantly in the SAME dilemma over and over and over again. When it comes to post-processing, I have yet to find a style which suits me comfortably. I mean, the trends are out there - selective colouring, high-key, vintage etc. When it comes to doing them to MY photos, I can't find that sweet spot between all those to define my photos as mine. 

Exhibit A:

I like, big bold colours. These are the kind of pictures you'd find in NG or any photography magazine (the colouring la, not the noob-ness of this shit). This way, the depth of the photos are maintained and keeps the photo dynamic, so it seems. 

Exhibit B:

BnW. Very Jared Polin.

Exhibit C:

Very common, vintage film effect. Tres cool and on-trend but there's no depth to the picture and everything looks flat. But still very popular. 

In the end, I always pick A just because I meticulously tried to make the colours come out while actually taking the picture, it'd be a big waste to just make it monochromatic later on. Plus, if I wanted a cool, vintage film-like picture, I'd actually use a film camera. 

I was actually planning on asking for you people's opinions regarding this matter but it seems to have reasoned itself out. Sorreh!

But no harm in getting feedback right? So what do you guys think?

:)