Chicken..

Lunch in Germany is always a surprise. I’m not really sure what I end up eating. For example, I saw this bird leg in front of me today and I asked the nice lady behind the counter, who speaks only German btw, “What is that?” She replied something in German and then followed that up by saying “Chicken”. Now I know that whatever was in front of me was not chicken. I mean chicken and I go back a long way and I have friends who are literally fans of my chicken eating skills (I miss Broast). She’s done this before though. She translates any fowl as chicken to me, the last time it was turkey and this time apparently it was duck. It didn’t taste too bad, but it was no chicken. I eat beef and pork regularly now, adapting to the country nicely in that way. I even think I had deer meat in the office restaurant once, at least that’s what Google translated the dish name to. However, a few weeks back, I just couldn’t get myself to eat the rabbit meat on the menu. Somehow imagery of Bugs Bunny on my plate dissuaded me. I chose the safer option instead…yup – chicken.

Nope...didn't work

The medicines didn't do their job. Now I have a battle on my hands. And I have to go at it alone. Against all odds and that kind of crap. I've lost quite a bit of weight as expected, and the worst is yet to come..oh well..
Apparently one of the side effects of the medicines are mood swings.. now they tell me!! They should have told me this 2 weeks ago. Considering me and my problems don't even matter in any or anyone's scheme of things...what the hell am I complaining about...thats all I seem to be able to do anyway...

Baby president elect

I saw a report on CNN this morning that people in Kenya are naming their new borns after the US President elect Barack Obama and his first lady elect Michelle Obama (Kenya is the birthplace of Barack Obama's father). Two days back, in a Kenyan hospital, there were 7 baby boy Barack Obamas, 2 baby girl Michelles and 1 baby girl Baracka Obama born!!

Not fair. I wanted to name my daughter Michelle. Now the name will become more common than it already is.

Complaints...

I’ve got a sore throat and cold for the first time in Germany. I hate it. I feel all drowsy, tired and sleepy and I have so many documents to read and so many decisions to take at work!! Somehow, a cold gets me down more than a fever or a sprain or something like that.

Germany is a very procedure oriented country. Nothing seems simple out here. Even my German friends and colleagues keep complaining about it; and especially if you don’t know the language, you’re done for. All official communication is in German and there is at least one a week. For example, my insurance company sends me a form to fill. I have no clue on what to do. I tried going to Google, typed out the whole thing, translated it and figured out at the end that I really don’t know how to answer what they’ve asked. While this maybe a one-off case, and generally if I translate, I should be able to respond with something. However, it just seems simpler to go to their office and talk to the nice English-speaking gentleman and get it sorted out. So the weekend begins with a trip to the insurance company.

Next week is going to be long and hectic at work. Just hope the medicines start doing the work their supposed to on my UC. I’m losing weight by the day and it doesn’t help at all to see so much blood go from your body!! Note to self: live with it and fight through - a better day will come!

..........

If I were to represent my personal life as a graph, I am at a point where I can either make an inflexion, or carry on the same trajectory. If I further split the graph into two curves, one for me and one for my life – the last few days have indicated to me that my curve will undergo the inflexion while my life curve will most likely go on the same trajectory. Was what happened a life changing event? I don’t know. But it sure has changed things. I seem to be on the right path where acceptance of reality is becoming second nature and the rebel inside me is slowly but surely going away. Peace and calm is all I want – at any cost. The final outcome is not under my control and I don’t want to control it, I just to control the path I take, for the good of everyone involved.
On the physical side of things, after 3 months of bliss my UC problems are back. Damn you chili chicken 65 masala. I just got overconfident, when I wasn’t even completely confident that I was in remission. Anyway, it’s going to be a constant companion for life, making unannounced appearances and reluctant disappearances; so might as well accept it better than I’ve done in the past. Unwanted weight loss – here I come.
Barca are showing promise!! This can be a good year for us!!

adversity necessity invention

A standard question in any job interview is - "Which is the greatest challenge you've faced in your life and how did you handle it?" I have a brand new answer for that question.

Yup, without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most difficult and challenging time of my life. Shuttling betweent the hospital, work and house, keeping our spirits high when every cell in your body is crying to just give up, handling doctors and a hospital that works with the principle of a coffee place - something like "there is always time to do that later", the mental and physical stress of it all....and all this in a brand new chapter in my life - the supposedly best one yet!!

One thing good has come out of it..i'm learning to cook...what I've not done in 29 years, the last 3 weeks have necessitated this transformation and I actually seem to have the knack for it...I managed to make decent chicken!!

where is the light at the end of the tunnel..cmon..get there fast...

Not quite what I expected

It's almost 1 month since I moved to Frankfurt. I expected us to have the time of our lives. Well, it hasn't quite worked out that way. Been a horrendous time so far. I expect this to continue for 3-4 more weeks. Things should settle down then and we should start having some fun!!

Farewell Gilli & Potluck Party

Adam Gilchrist redefined cricket in so many ways. He has set the benchmark for a wicketkeeper batsman and I'll be surprised if ever there was someone close to him again. While it is mostly exciting to watch all the Australian batsmen in test matches, Gilchrist was the man I used to wait for. I still remember his 152 against England on his Ashes debut, especially because he added 63 runs for the final wicket with Glenn McGrath in 8 overs and he scored 62 of those. To me, he was a more consistent "Michael Jordan of cricket" than even Sachin (although I love Sachin more), and by MJ of cricket I mean, someone who can single-handedly take the game away from the opposition, someone who gives sports lovers goose pimples, someone who defines the very reason I watch sports. It's good that he went before he was pushed (by the board, the "experts" who write newspaper columns already did push him).

In every All Time Greatest World XIs of cricket, Adam Gilchrist will probably be the only man who will appear in both the test and one day teams.

Pic courtesy: Google Images

In other news, we had a potluck party at a friend's place last weekend. It was good fun and good food. It was a gathering of "new" friends, and it helped in accelerating the path to becoming normal friends. Some photos from the event:

Some great food on display.....all dishes were delicious because everyone (or every couple) had made their specialty!!

A closer look at the spread...

Prasi's (and hence, mine also) dish for the day - Chocolate Cake....Sinful Temptation

Dumb Charades in full flow...kind of the unplanned ice-breaker at the party...

Special thanks to the host for the day, Divya (extreme left in the pic) for keeping the party atmosphere and the finger food flowing for the entire day. It did take 2 hours to ge to her house, but it was completely worth it. Next on the agenda is a barbeque party...

10 Random thoughts

1. Sniffing nose drops in both your nostrils at the same time is not as easy as you think
2. Been a long time since I've been this happy about a sporting event - India beat Australia at Perth!!
3. Apparently, I can have 2 breakfasts in one day and still end up hungry after the second one...
4. Lollipops are awesome at any age..
5. Henry leaves Arsenal because there are not many experienced players around him...and he starts a game with a 17 year old and a 18 year old next to him at Barca (he's starting to look good btw..about time!!)
6. Apricot juice is pretty good..so don't judge a fruit by its name
7. Nichoas Cage has completely converted from being an accomplished actor to a shameless entertainer and doesn't seem to be going back..not that I'm complaining or critiquing
8. The sound "aiyoo" can be really funny in certain contexts..
9. You can't do anything when they're averaging 2.5 points a game except hope for the law of averages to catch up
10. Concentration is more than just a state of mind; it's about accepting the situation you're in and convincing yourself that you cannot be doing anything better..

Thailand...Shockingly Amazing

I'd never been a traveler until Prasi happened to me. The conversion process was slow and steady and now it's complete after our 12 day trip to three far eastern countries - Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. While I mostly have only good things to say about the latter two countries, the outright highlight of the trip was the 5 days we spent in Thailand. Malaysia and Singapore are great cosmopolitan countries but I've seen nothing quite like Thailand. I mean it has an identity of its own. Everything is so open!! Do what you want, where you want, how you want, when you want and so on. The culture coupled with all the amazing water sports, the Tiffany's show, the cheapest stuff (their attention to detail in replicas of international brands is excellent), the beauty of their Buddha temples..all led to a jaw dropping experience. The only downer was the smell of the food. While I consider myself quite tolerant of sights and smells of all sorts of food, the smell of Thai food completely knocked me out, the sight of it I was still OK with. After asking around, we found the smell to be caused by fried garlic, but I still think there is something else to that smell. Someday I'll find out. Oh! and the unusually high water level in their commodes was also weird!! In all we visited Bangkok, Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur, Sunway Lagoon, Genting Highlands and Singapore.

This was a nice moment in Safari World and Marine Park in Bangkok. The tiger was literally just one big pussy cat. He kept adjusting my hand with his left front paw, so that he may drink the milk right. I completely loved holding him.

This statue at Marine Park kept cracking me up. This kind of defines Thailand's spirit in a way. Every time someone walks past the statue, 2 jets of water would squirt on that person. Look closely at the picture to see the jets of water squirting.

The Orangutan, Sea-Lion, Dolphin and "James Bond" shows were good fun. Considering the sheer number of Indians in the crowd, the DJ at the show got the crowd going by playing Himesh Reshammiya (love him or hate him, he's FAMOUS) followed by a patriotic Indian song.

The Reclining Buddha was so overwhelming that i couldn't stop taking the same picture in the same angle over and over again. Its magnificence has to be seen to be believed.

The skytrain was a great way to get around the city of Bangkok, and it was from one of the stations that we saw a street with Bangkok's famous nightclubs. We managed to walk in one of these alleys in the night market. There were quite a few excited "businessmen" trying to sell us a good time through live beer shows or DVD sex!! We didn't take up the offers, so we'll never know what either of them constituted, but I'll never forget the one pimp who on seeing us, went "AAAHHH!!! I can see it in your eyes. I know what you want. Ok!! C'mon C'mon" Talk about a pull marketing strategy!!

Walking Street in Pattaya was the experience of a lifetime. We had never seen anything even remotely close to it. While the streets in the night market in Bangkok had a shady red light area feel to it, this street was so brightly lit and teeming with life and every other shop was a beer bar with special offers lined up. I couldn't wipe the grin of my face when walking through this street, cos I had never imagined something like this existed. The Tiffany Alcazar show was like watching a Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie live with so much colour and gigantic sets and it was performed entirely by (as our local Thai guide put it) boy-ladies. Yes, the "girls" in the pic were men once upon a time.



The adventure sports in Pattaya were also great. Para-sailing is totally awesome, especially if you do it with a dip in the water included. You feel so light and free when you're up in the air. The under-water walk and jet-ski ride were also good fun. The beach in Coral Island was beautiful, but unfortunately, we spent too little time there.

The most impressive thing about KL was the street decorations. Sunway Lagoon was enjoyable with the artificial beaches and water rides. Genting Highlands was impresessive and Prasi and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in our first visit to the huge Genting Casino. We ended up playing only slots for about 4 hours but it was something we'll never forget. The cable car ride down from Genting was pretty scary considering the speed at which the car was travelling.

The highlight of our trip to Singapore was the Songs of the Sea show in Sentosa Island with brilliant laser lights on the beach. No picture can do justice to just how spectacular the show was. We did not get a chance to experiece the night life, so I guess our Singapore experience is still incomplete. So one more visit to Singapore is pending.