Christmas Treats

Saturday 19-12-2015 1900 hrs

Home made chocolates for Christmas. Yum !

Stuffed with roasted cashew, almonds and raisins.

Deepa just baked these soft centre chewy chocolate chip cookies, they are amazing !

Interesting Lighting Decor Along the Street

                                                        [ Watch it in FullScreen mode ]


http://youtu.be/GOR2sM5o9HI

Cynarra and Caelin

12-12-15

Saturday evening we went to meet aunt Cynthia, cousin Cynarra and her 3 year old son Caelin. He is such a chatterbox a really sweet and playful little boy.

Airoli Bridge

2015-12-09 1830 hrs

I've crossed over this bridge on many mornings, seeing the hazy rising sun and the spectre of the grey cityscape across the creek. New Bombay as it was called.

Last evening as I cycled back, on the stretch from Airoli to Bombay, the setting sun in the west and the dead tree as the subject, I saw the old Bombay skyline in the distance.. . . .

We are also on the last day of the 195 nations climate summit in Paris and our PM has insisted we keep burning fossil fuel until we "catch up" economically with the west. What he doesn't seem to understand is that it is not an economic issue anymore.. . . . .Perhaps we deserve what's coming to us. . . .

Alisha makes Dinner

08-12-2015

Today Alisha made dinner for the family.

Chicken casserole (chicken breasts baked in cream of mushroom and rice), and banana-strawberries with whipped cream.

She got the recipes off the internet, and asked for the ingredients 3 days in advance. After that she dd every single thing on her own.

We are so proud of her ! Kiss kiss.

Goa Day 4

Day 4
10-11-2015

Woke up early and Deepa and I were at the beach by 8am. A nice leisurely walk along the waters edge, soft endearing conversation and then breakfast at the newly discovered Udipi restaurant Navtara in Calangute.

This was followed by some swim suit selection for Alisha, and then she and I got on the scooter and did the same route like the previous day. Very good fun, and a very special time for me. Alisha is very engaged when we spend one-on-one time together. We also saw a peacock in the tree up at the Lighthouse.

Dinner at Florentine that night but it was a bit of a let down. Waiting times, poor service, average food quality and measly serving sizes. The beginning I the end for this place, he has grown beyond his competency. This is what we felt.




Dropped the kids back to the hotel and Deepa and I were back in Saligao later that night to check out the place. It was good.
(wink).

Day 3

9th Nov 15

With the ladies still asleep, Armaan wanted to go for a shoot to the beach. So off we went, and on the way met the local bike hire guy and fixed up for a Honda scooter (local not tourist plates so the traffic cops wouldn't hustle us).

We drove upto the Lighthouse, pausing to show Armaan Coco beach across the river as well as River Rays.

Armaan very excited to ride the scooter at the helipad and down to Aguada jail too.

Back to the hotel and on the way back we saw the prep of the Narkasurs to be burned later that night.

We headed out to Morjem beach where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Later after dinner, Deepa and I took a drive around upto Panjim to see all the Narkasurs. We also went to E19, Miramar, and Roma apts.

.

Day 2

8th Nov 2015

We woke up well rested and after a leisurely breakfast of Vegetable sandwiches (again), we headed off to Little Vagator.

Chance meeting with another guitar player who wanted to have a go playing and pointed out the strings were old and needed changing. How right he was, and we puzzled over why we hadn't thought of that before. We did that promptly when we got back to Bom, and what a difference it made to the quality of the sound.

The shack we were sitting at was also kind enough to share some of their Tarli curry made for the family, although we had asked for a Prawn Curry.

Another beautiful day at the beach, and then scrambling our way back up the rocky cliff after dark. Filled petrol in Anjuna and delighted to realize petrol at Rs 55 a litre versus Rs 68 in Bombay.

Dinner at Bobs Inn in Candolim where we had some delicious Mussels, Spag-Bol and Prawn papads.
Also saw the pic of the church in Pilerne, and a cameo if the church in old Goa in the background. This got me into a lengthy tirade about it as somehow it unsettled me. Deepa and the kids didn't really get what I went on about.

Back to the hotel where Deepa and I dropped off the kids and then went to the lighthouse late at night and stopped by Sinquerim river for a chat. Just like we did when we were just married.(wink).






.

Day 1. . .continued

Reached the hotel by 1100 hrs, a quick couple of chilled beers and we were off to the beach which was about 200 m away.

Armaan got his hands on a body board and discovered a new passion, Alisha made a 32 year old Russian friend who only spoke Russian and Alisha only English. Must have been some interesting conversation. . . .considering they were chatting for over an hour !

.

The Goa Trip 2015 - Day 1

All night drive from Bombay. Started at 2100 hrs, traffic jam at Mulund for 30mun, Panvel, and the ghat section leading to Lonavala. It was the Diwali weekend coming up, so I'm guessing that's the reason.
Nice road all the way, but very dense fog at Kolhapur. Visibility less than 30 feet. Had to pull over for about half an hour, then cruise all the way to Belgaum and down crazy bendy Chorla ghat to Goa.


( https://youtu.be/Bk0eGyJ2aCo )

Ironic

26-Oct-2015

Delhi High court Judge : Justice R S Endlaw

Mumbai City Vs FC Goa

25-Oct-2015 1900 hrs

The Indian Super League matches underway, and Deepa missed last season. Alisha fell ill on Friday and stayed back, we missed her so much and this is her unused ticket :-(

We were part of a 2% minority in the stadium cheering Goa, but they played a shoddy game and Mumbai won 2-0
Great fun and a good match (with a mid match scrap as well ).

What Could have Been

"What could have been" is an ontological exploration. It requires mental agility, imagination, and a proclivity for making ourselves feel bad....about ourselves.
The first cousin of regret, and the trigger on an explosion of anger.

It requires us to create alternative future scenarios, but in the past.

And sometimes I can't help but tell myself : BE. HERE. NOW.

Somewhere over the Rainbow

18-Oct-2015 1900 hrs

Deepa and I went for this Jazz performance put together by some Inyernational musicians who were also teaching at a local music school.

Very good guitarist and pianist. I particularly enjoyed a Herbie Hancock cover, as well as Somewhere over the Rainbow.

Then a quick dinner at the NCPA cafe of some chicken stuffed kulchas and pahadi kebabs. The food was delicious, and we both thought that the pahadi kebabs were more like cafreal than what we'd had at Cafe Infinito some weeks ago.

A nice evening, just the two of us. Enjoying events which we have missed for some years now. We both enjoy live acts.

Meanwhile -- At a Junction in Thane

I saw him at a traffic junction in Thane.
Not sure if he was the Sunday morning sub, but traffic seemed to be flowing just fine. . . .

Armaans Mini Brevet for Juniors

18-Oct-15  0600 hrs

Armaan (wearing yellow in the pic) just finished his first mini Brevet ride of 15 km for our Junior riders group.

New Personal Best

14-Oct-2015 6pm

Best ever time and pace to date.
Feeling good, but I know I've got a long way to go. . . .
Next Target  = 20 kmph
Target after next = 22kmph

15-oct-2015 7pm

This evening I was watching a movie, and eating a dosa. When I got up to put another on the pan, Alisha asked if she could make one for me ! I was so happy and proud of her asking me that. And she went ahead and made 3 more dosas after that. Here is the first one she gave me.

Lake at Lonavala

Saturday 26-sep-2015 1000 hrs

Woke up nice and easy, but I'd been restless for awhile and wanted be outdoors.

So we decided to go to a place called Kondana caves. Estimated drive time 2 hrs. As usual my gps and its voice prompts took us for a merry ride around the countryside. Only this time, something good came out of it. Just off lonavala, and tucked somewhere up there in the hills is a small local lake high up on a flat-top hill. Pure water, serene surroundings and fairly unknown to the city hordes.

So we ditched the cave plans as Deepa really fell in love with this lake. We decided to have our picnic lunch here.

It also turned out to be a perfect spot to give JACK a true Viking send-off, as Armaan took a few minutes to think about the moving on for both Jack and himself.

We spent a lovely relaxed afternoon there, and walked around the lake exploring a little. Clear water at the hilltop, and Armaan and I drank some from a feeder brook.

Then spent half an hour bouncing flat stones off the water and feeding break crumbs to the fish. (how on earth do they ever get there in the first place ? Always wondered about that.)

We missed Alisha, who had decided to stay home.