Kramer and Coffee

Being a typical desi,I have developed this habit of having an early morning coffee.I can't imagine a single day without coffee. Its like a ritual.Even if I were in a deepest slumber, I can mix my bru coffee and put it in the microwave for 2 mins with large teaspoons of sugar.

I have never had the habit of drinking coffee when I was a kid, but I do remember the refreshing smell of coffee in my grannys place during the summer holidays in chennai or the famous South indian Filter Coffee or Kaapi at the Saravana Bhavan in Ranganathan Street. My mom was against me having coffee, saying it had caffeine and I might get Addicted. Indeed I am!!!.I used to like the wonderful Nescafe ad.

Once in America, I was introduced to the different tastes and flavors of Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks but my first love is still Bru!

Here are some fun facts regd Coffee.
Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian wine.
It takes 42 coffee beans to make an espresso.
The aromas of coffee develop at the 10th minute of roasting.
A coffee tree has a lifespan of about 50 years.
Coffee grows in more than 50 countries and is the second largest export in the world after oil (in dollar value).
Revolutions were planned in coffee houses, namely the French and American Revolutions.
Some of the world's most powerful business, including Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange, started life as coffee houses.
Turkish bridegrooms were once required to make a promise during their wedding ceremonies to always provide their new wives with coffee. If they failed to do so, it was grounds for divorce! (Ouch!)The Italians drink their espresso with sugar, the Germans and Swiss - with equal parts of hot chocolate, the Mexicans - with cinnamon, the Belgians - with chocolate. Moroccans drink their coffee with peppercorns, the Ethiopians - with a pinch of salt. Coffee drinkers in the Middle East usually add cardamom and spices. Whipped cream is the favourite amongst Austrians. The Egyptians are extremely fond of pure and strong coffee. They seldom add sugar to it, nor milk nor cream. They serve unsweeteened coffee to mourners and sweetened coffee at weddings. The Italians are the unrivaled World Masters of Espresso.

Last but not the least, to have coffee you need a coffee table, check out Kramer's episode on coffee table book on coffee tables.

Enjoy ur coffee and Have a great Weekend !!

My Memorial Day Weekend

Our weekend started Friday afternoon itself. DH Toto came home around 12.00 P.M Sharp and we set off by 1.00 p.m on the ride. As usual traffic was at the peak.BTW,I forgot to mention the fact that Toto was riding with 3 women in the car. Me,The GPS(lady voice) and the Radar Detector(lady' voice).Our GPS was updating the traffic msgs and we were constantly getting updates..One side the detector was beeping continously.It was havoc in the car..Totally Noisy.

By the way we were planning to go to Owing Mills,Baltimore,Maryland to catch up with C and S,our friends from Greenville who recently moved to Baltimore.C and S have a 4 month old baby,Aarnav( Thats a cute name,It meant the Ocean).Luckily we reached Owing Mills by 9.00 P.M and gave them a surprise.Baby A was awake.We had dinner and played poker with them.

Next day morning,we woke up fresh.Had Semiya-Upma for breakfast.We drove towards Washington DC.Our first stop was at the Jefferson Memorial.We walked by the East Potomac Park and took some shots at the Memorial.From here we could see a birdsview of the National World WarII Memorial.Then we drove past Lincoln Memorial and headed towards Virginia to have a lunch.Lunch was great,Excellent South Indian Cuisine at Minerva.Then we drove back to DC .Went to Capitol Hill and White House. Missed Arlington Cemetery.Clicked Pics.We went to the childrens garden beside Capitol Holl and took pics of baby A with the flowers.Baby A likes flowers becoz they are colorful. After visiting, we went to C's friends place in Ashburn,VA.We watched the game at his place and spent some time with them.They had a lovely apt.It was so clean/neat. Perfect!!I wish my apartment was as orderly as theirs.We returned latenight at 12.

Sunday Morning,everybody was awake and dressed by 12.00 P.M. I know its late,but we had a hearty breakfast.S made Poori with the awesome chicken curry.Baby A wore his new dress which his new aunty and uncle got him from Boston.We planned to go to the beach.So we checked on Ocean City,MD or Atlantic City.We saw that Atlantic city was near,but later we realised the consequences.Traffic jam.It showed us 2 and half hrs,but we reached late.Toto and me liked Atlantic City,NJ " Always Turned On". We parked at Tropicana and walked across the boardwalk.Toto and C went to play the cardgames.After a while they returned,losing some money as always.Me and S tried our hand playing slots.Came back home,Tired.

Monday Morning,all our energy levels have gone down by then.We planned to relax at home.S and me cooked spicy sea food and the guyz played BlackJack for a while.We had lunch and then we got baby A ready.We took a train to downtown Baltimore.It was similar like Boston BackBay but they had some nice malls near the Harborplace.We strolled down along the harbor.Since it was memorial day weekend,the place was crowded.We returned home early and watched the Celtics vs Pistons game.Pistons won.

Tuesday morning we started driving back home.We stopped at NJ for lunch.On the whole,we had a gud weekend, apart from driving and getting caught in heavy rain and traffic.Once we were home,We just dumped our luggage and watched sci-fi "The Andromeda Strain". Toto had to go to work wednesday morning finally.

Got loads of laundry to do. Waiting for this weekend to go to Chak De Boston.

The Games we Play

I was reading the news today and found an article " the most popular game of all time"

Surprisingly it was Solitaire.The article stated that Solitaire is the most popular, addictive, and time-consuming video game ever created by man. And it hasn't really made any money. In fact, studies show workers playing Solitaire on the clock actually waste money by being unproductive.

Is it true??Kind of makes all this console war stuff seem kind of silly, doesn't it?First instinct,I felt like opening Solitaire on my laptop.:-)

I am not much of a sports/games person.As a kid,we didnt have a sports session at school and at home I would play tennis with my younger brother,which included fighting in the middle as to who would serve the ball etc.That too we were supposed to play it only during a holiday/holidays ,due to my fathers strict policy.Then when i was with Toto,we would spend lot of time online and play Pool /Word Game on Yahoo games:-).After coming to umrikaa,we would go bowling occassionally,mini-golf or airhockey with friends. Apple-bee too introduced us to couple of indoor games like taboo,pictionary,foos-ball. But After we purchased the Nintendo Wii, we did tennis for a while,bowling in the "Wii Sports" package. Wii Play included Billiards ,pingpong ,fishing ,shooting ,airhockey. In Winter,Toto went ahead and purchased "Need for Speed" .Obviously its the car racing game.He got bored for a while and his new game is Poker.Since its summer,I guess we could go outdoors play cricket or ball.

BTW,Dont start playing Solitaire now :-).It will cost your jobs.

...and they lived happily ever after.

Summer of 2002.

There was a boy who we wil mention as Toto. He was working in a Software Firm in Vizag. He had just finished his Bachelors and was away from his hometown Rjy. Now the girl was from vizag, a happy go lucky, bubbly, fun-loving gal, lets name her as Dolly. She wasn't from the posh side of the society, but she had her own world. She had been thru lot of hardships and she was trying to get a job, just out of college. She luckily got thru the interview in the same company as Toto and she joined the firm.

May,2002-They worked in the same office, but in different departments. The gal being brought up in vizag had a couple of friends like Pappu, Addy, SA and SC who worked along with Toto. It was a small group, gud friends who had learnt lot with time, shared their joys and sorrows. Now Toto mentions to Pappu, I like this girl Dolly. Dolly tells Pappu, if Toto has such intentions, I wudnt like to talk and Dolly discontinued talking to Toto. Then came Toto's B'Day in June 2002. Pappu convinced Dolly that she shud talk to Toto, since it was his B'day. Dolly gives in and start talking with him, thus began their friendship. By the way Dolly is elder than Toto.

April,2004-As time passed, their friendship blossomed. They would go for long drives, sit on the beach, eat the local food at the beach. They understood each other well though each had their own share of problems. They shared so much in common. Pappu moved on to a different company but they were all in touch always. In April,2004 Toto moved to US of A. It was a gud start. Dolly cried so much becoz Toto was leaving her as he was always the guide, mentor and would support Dolly emotionally and morally throught her struggles. Though physically apart, they emailed each other regularly, talked on phone daily. Dolly worked for the US office, so she had a VOIP phone at her desk on which she cud talk endlessly to Toto.

Dec,2004-Strange events took place in Dolly's life.Dec 26th,2004-Tsunami Struck.

Jan 2005- As luck would have it Dolly travelled to US on a B1 visa thru her job which was her first trip to the outside world, across the seas. She stayed in Detroit and while Toto was in SC. February came and Dolly & Toto planned to meet. Toto booked her tickets and she met him for the first time after almost an yr at Greenville, Spartanburg International Airport,SC. They were so happy and Feb 12th 2005, Toto proposed and Dolly agreed to marry him. They had champagne, a teddy bear, red roses. It was the most beautiful part of her life. So romantic,Isnt it??

Feb13th,2005-Dolly was back in Detroit, The war of the worlds had just begun. Totos parents came to know about this and there was a big flow of emotions all over. Phones started ringing..Emotional blackmails. Toto decided to stay low for a while with everything going wrong.He wanted to let them know in a proper way.

April 2005- Dolly was back in India, She was torn away from toto. They kept in touch regularly while Dolly moved onto a new company.

July29th,2006-The big thing happened! Toto had been trying to convince his parents about Dolly, but parents are parents. They wouldnt agree to his wish. Finally, Dolly and Toto got married in Annavaram temple with blessings from Dollys parents and relatives.

August 2006-They started living in SC. They have had their own share of problems like every couple, Ups and Downs..

July29th.2007-1st Marriage Anniversary in Boston,MA: They had moved to Boston and they realised that after passing through all the tough times in life, they could live together for the rest of the life. Even though many people have been against the marriage, and love and happiness, this is a clear msg for all of them.

Dolly has stopped worrying abt all of them and she is way over it.

P.S: She loves Toto very much. He is the only thing in the world she would ever care about. Love u Toto. Always and Forever.

BTW Mr and Mrs.Pappu are having a baby and we guys are still in touch.We have been gud friends. We wil be visiting them in Seattle soon. SA has got married and he lives in Hawaii. He lives with his wife and son. Addy got married very recently and he is currently in AZ.

Iron e-Man

DH Toto is a gadget crazy person. Back at home in India he would modify his bike into the latest crazy fashion and the same continues in The US of A too. So the saga continues with new mods to his BMW and he totally loves it.

From past one week, he wanted to watch Iron Man so we finally decided to watch it after dinner on a weekday. We arrived at the theatre a few mins before the show and to our surprise, the whole theatre was empty! However, ppl started flowing in just before the screening started, failing our hopes to enjoy a king style viewing.

"Iron-Man"As usual the movie is abt the hero becoming a superhero and how he avenges his captivitors and destroys the bad people. But the interesting part is how he realises that Weapons technology can be a bad impact on the world and how it destroys innocent people. So the Big Question is " Is technology good or bad?"I have been reading several examples on it, like the invention of fire or the use of a knife. We arent controlled by computers or robots yet, so thats fine as long as we use it in a good way. Humans have been waging wars, inventing atomic bombs, missiles and nuclear warfare and not the least biological warfare too but how much in this is for Good? (I am not a scientist but movies taught me some of these terminology). I had the opportunity to watch even "Charlie Wilsons War" over the weekend which was an interesting movie to watch with good casting. Eventually the movie shows that while military victory can be had but there are other consequences and prices to that fight that are ignored to everyone's sorrow. There was a closing statement at the end of the movie which really caught my eye. "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we f***** up the endgame."...

The bottomline is that technology is neither good or bad..its the ppl who use it or control it to be blamed. I guess this post is ironic because I'm using a computer, but that's my opinion. Let me know yours.

Travels 2008

After a day at the Arnold Arboretum yesterday, me and DH Sunny were discussing abt the places we've visited so far this year. Wanted to jot these down in here.

Feb 18,2008-I was back from my India trip and I had flu for several weeks. During my trip to India I did some traveling to Surat, Anand other than Hyd, Vizag and Chennai.

March 16,2008-For my Bday cousins Hanky Shanky flew in frm Vegas to Boston.We went to Snowtubing in Nashoba Valley (where we made a snowman ;-) and then a 3 day trip to the big Apple NYC. My feet turned to rubber by the end of the trip but we really had a gud time even though it was winter. I think we would never forget our trip to Statue of Liberty in the cold weather.

March 29.2008-We went for a drive to White Mountains, NH as well as Loon Mountain.

April 29,2008- Spring was setting in. Blithewold Mansion for the Daffodils and Cliffwalk at RhodeIsland.

May10th,2008- Visited Arnold Arboretum, Franklin, MA. It was Mothers Day and the weather was awesome. Some locals performed belly dancing and a mexican dance show at this park. Lilacs were in full blossom at the park, so posed for some really great pics.

Summer is in. Me and Toto wil be exploring more places soon. I am excited. :-)

U Rock Mom!!

Its Mothers Day, so i decided to write a posting dedicated to my lovely mom.

I was brought up in vizag and being the eldest and only daughter, I always shared a special attachment with my mom. She was born in a family of 5 brothers as a only daughter. I think she was pretty much pampered by my grandfather. Though she was born in Burma or Rangoon as she calls, she grew up in Chennai. Married at an age of 18 yrs, she took on a new responsibility of being the eldest daughter-in-law too. I remember my childhood days when my mom used to get me a lunch box in my kindergarten. She would teach us in the evenings and spank us when we would fight too. During our schooling period, she would learn type writing or go to the Montessori School and do the pre-teacher course. Finally she landed up teaching in the local school too. She has become one of my bestfriends through my adolescent stage and I was able to accept things with her support. She was a very strong woman who was able to withstand thru all the struggles in life and raised her kids into wonderful human beings. Last but not the least, she is a great cook.

We are proud of u Ma and we luv u and Miss u.

I would love to dedicate this post to all the special moms in the world, to-be moms too :-). A special Bday wish to Baby NS, have a Rockin Bday Gal. Ur mommy is really proud of u.

Biryaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :-))

My Favorite food has always been biryani since my childhood.I have never learnt to cook until I got married.Once I got married and came to Umrikkaa,cooking became one of my favorite hobbies.My Husband Toto is a wonderful cook and after a couple of burnt food,cuts and bruises I learnt to cook pretty good.Maybe thats what happens if we marry a guy who knows how to cook,the advantage being we will have a critic at home.Today I made my own recipe of Chicken Dum Biryani and Chicken Curry .Here are a few pics of mouthwatering biryani I made.

Its been Ages..

I have been pretty lazy lately and havent found a gud reason to write anything :-)
Kind of human nature I guess.I have been busy reading blogs of others though like AppleBee,NC and Boo Boos Mamma and wonder where do they get such wonderful topics to write about.Everyday i sit in front of the laptop and I am like,Ohh do u think this is a gud topic to write or Is this really something important which I could put it?

Over the weekend we had Apples Bday which ofcourse was hosted by our perfect hosts Mr and Mrs.C and a group of friends.My dearest husband S and me made our onion pakodas.We had the whole afternoon to ourself,which S spent waiting for his bimmer lights.He was so enthusiastic like a kid the whole time,he would walk the stairs up and down to see if the mailman had dropped the box in the leasing center.:-) I felt he was kind of crazy.Maybe he thought the same abt me too.I was watching U,Me Aur Hum with lots of emotionsand wiping up some of the tears with the throw.He cud sense it prolly,so he wud nudge me in the middle seeing if i was alright :-).Will write more abt his antics in my later blogs.

Well,we had a great evening,with late night pubbing and we returned home late around 3.Sunday started as usual,with us waking up late and a bad hangover.Dearest husband S was already there fixing his carlights downstairs.When I asked him if he could help me cook,he was like I need to fix them.It was a cold day,inspite of which he spent 3 hrs in the parking lot fixing them.In mid he wud call me up and ask me to drop his tools.After lunch,we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around,discussing about what happened to the neighbouring apts which caught fire last week,we need to get a Fireproof Safe.Evening,We went to the "HotBreads" Place nearby.I had my Panipuri and S had his chicken panini.Later we came home and watched another boring movie.Both of us had terrible headache and we tried to sleep early.I kept myself awake for a while and wished Apple a Happy Bday.She and P were awake for my Bday sang the Happy Bday Song at midnight on phone.I have to recriprocate it..Right??:-)

Lately I am spending more time on reading some articles from Indusladies.com.
There were some excellent stories which I liked particularly.