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August 29, 2008

“What’s in your bag? It’s so heavy!”

This is a question I hear regularly from all the men in my life (Other half or best half ;-), Brother, friends). They find it amusing/ridiculous that I always carry this really heavy bag!

I am sure that most of you girls out there reading this post can relate to me – almost all of us have a bunch of MUST-HAVE’s in our bags without which we do not step out. Whether we are going to work, shopping, movie, dining out, traveling…we just have to have these in our bag…we might not need everything everyday, but, just in case the need arises, we are prepared!!

Here’s a sneak peek into my bag:



  1. Mobile Phone: Mine crashed! So this old model Nokia is a make shift arrangement till I buy my new one.

  2. Purse: I picked this up in Minneapolis last Dec from Target. I love it as it has several compartments for holding cash, cards, pictures, visiting cards, pen and coins

  3. Pouch: Made of denim from Bath & Body works for all make-up related stuff.
  4. Perfume: Christian Dior Addict 2 is my latest Fave (earlier it was Chanel Allure). Picked this up in Srilanka. I love this pink tonic!
  5. Hair brush: This over sized Con-air brush is a must to manage my wild, moody, messy tresses! Almost all days are bad hair days for me!

  6. Camera with accessories: Earlier I used to click pics on my mobile (which crashed recently) so now my Sony Digi cam is a must wherever I go along with battery charger & a cord to transfer pics.
  7. Mint: Listerine strips are a smart invention in my mind – so compact, yet so powerful!

  8. Hand Sanitizer: Germ-X from Walgreens. Before I spotted this & got hooked on,I used to wash my hands several times for no reason (waste of time, running to the washroom multiple times to wash my hand) yeah – I guess I have OCD! Now I just use this wherever I am! I think this is one of the coolest inventions for people like me!

  9. Post-its: To make multiple lists in the hope that I will be able to organize my life?

  10. Pen: To manage my multiple lists (shopping, groceries and things to do…)

  11. Book: I am currently reading “Leadership & the one minute manager” by Ken Blanchard, I am not a big fan of self help & leadership books. Now that Sidney Sheldon is no more & Jeffery Archer is not writing Good books like before (Kane & Able, Shall we tell the President etc.,) I started reading the remaining books in my house. Please suggest some good fiction books if you know of any.

  12. Chocolates: I used to love chocolates till about some years back. Then I grew out of that. Now my other half has taken over that love for cocoa. The only chocolate I eat without giving him my share is Raffaello, I have not seen this in any stores here yet :( Thanks to Venky, I get my endless supply!!

  13. Lip gloss: 3 of them: Mac ultra shine, gift from a friend from my ex-company. Beautiful shade…transforms you into a diva in seconds! (Yeah, little exaggerating – but love it!). 2 from Beauty rush line of Victoria secret – lovely shades of brown (Latte love & coconut craze)

  14. Body Lotion: Very Sexy from Victoria Secret. It’s heavenly! Terrific!
  15. Moisturizer: Japanese Cherry Blossom (JCB) from Bath & Body works. Yummy…
  16. Body spray: JCB again from Bath & Body - used along with the same scented moisturizer for a layered effect.

  17. Make-up: Not much of a make-up person, only for special occasions I might need eye liner & eye pencil (Lakme), Mascara (Loreal-volume shocking), lipstick & lip pencil (Maybelline), 2-1 sharpener for lip/eye pencils.

  18. This & That: Safety pin (for emergencies…hmm…like wardrobe malfunction! Yeah, I am from a weird planet!); Small bottle of water; House keys; Dental floss; Nail filer; USB drive

Yeah, this bag packs a punch(Picked this from NEXT in Lido Mall). Well, looks could indeed be deceptive!

I know that all of us do not carry the exact same things…So girls, share what’s in your bag?

Signing off humming: ….And I am a material Girl…..

6 unspectacular quirks - TAG

This is the first time I have been tagged, Anitha has passed on this tag to me. Thank you Anitha, you got me thinking...

Rules of this tag:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.



Here is the inventory of my unspectacular quirks (Or should I call them spectacular?! – One of a kind):

  1. I have to wash my hands at least 1000 times a day! No reason….just OCD I guess!

  2. While going out of the house, I have to say a small prayer to the picture of god stuck on the door – every time! Yeah! I am not the hyper religious types! So this is a surprise.

  3. I do not like any other fonts on my comp other than Trebuchet! I have this annoying habit of changing all the fonts on all the slides made by others to Trebuchet.

  4. I can only sleep on the left side on a bed. That’s my side. That’s it!

  5. If I am alone in the house at night – I lock myself in the bedroom & don’t come out till next morning… well, is there proof that there are no ghosts?!

  6. I can’t stand cluttered spaces. So – I hardly buy/let my husband buy any furniture in the house. I like it to me minimal & spacious.

I am passing on this tag to Sireesha (Breaking the rules)

August 24, 2008

Dessert - Junnu

We are just back from a refreshing vacation in Hyderabad. Its feels great to be pampered by Mom & now I am sad to be back. While we were there dad got Junnu paalu & mom made Junnu for us. All of us love it - Its one of our favourite desserts.

Junnu is prepared from cow/buffalo's lactating milk. I do not know what this is called in other languages. However, I do know that this is very nutritious and is low in fat content & above all tastes heavenly! melts in your mouth!! While leaving Hyderabad mom gave us some more of this milk & she shared the preparation process with me.






Ingredients:
  • Whole pepper: 10-12
  • Cardamom: 4
  • Jaggery: 100 gms/according to taste
  • Junnu paalu (Lactating milk): 1/4 litre
  • Buffalo Milk: 1/4 litre

Junnu made from first day's milk is very dense & has rubber like consistency. Second days has soft custard like consistency. I love both. Here, as I have 1st days milk - I mixed Buffalo milk to make this little softer.

Preparation:

Step 1: Junnu is made in my house using a double boiler method. Two sauce pans are required for this process. One of the pans should be larger than the other one. Fill 1/4th of the larger pan with water and bring this to simmer/boil.

Step 2: Coarsely grind pepper & cardamom together Powder jaggery & make a thick paste by adding 4 tsp of water Add Junnu paalu & add buffalo milk in the smaller vessel Mix in ground pepper & cardamom powder along with soaked jaggery powder to the milk

Step 3: Slowly insert the smaller vessel in to the bigger vessel. Cover both the vessels with lids & leave it on low flame for about 20 min. Once the milk is set & reaches thick consistency, delicious junnu is ready!

Refrigerate & serve cold.

This is my entry to Krishna Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi event hosted by Purva of Purvasdaawat


Serendib Srilanka: Colombo

It took a lot of time convincing mom that I will be safe in Srilanka…. Finally after 3 months she agreed! And what a trip it was!! We were a gang of 4 girls (or women…what ever!?)… Who had a blast!!

Srilankan Airlines had a 3 night 4 days package at affordable prices – This included to & fro air ticket, taxes, airport/hotel transfers & breakfast. All of us could afford it & still shop a lot. So with some apprehension about the deal (will there be some surprise charges…) we reserved our tickets & happily landed in Colombo.

The airport is very clean and has some duty free stores – they had a wide range of perfumes & liquor. All of us lost track of time & finally realized that we spent about an hour buying stuff – we ran to collect our luggage if it was still there – thankfully someone kept all of it aside. There are some bank counters to exchange dollars to Srilankan rupees in the airport. We got 109 Srilankan Rupee/dollar. Thankfully our hotel coach was still waiting to pick us up and we reached the hotel post several security checks at various check posts.

We stayed at the Taj Samudra – Beautiful property, huge rooms & good service. We hardly slept with excitement, we were the first ones to land in the coffee shop for breakfast & then embarked on a sight seeing trip. The hotel provided us an a/c car at a very reasonable price. The city has a rich cultural heritage. We saw several Buddhist temples, churches & Hindu temples. My favorites are the Beira Lake Temple & Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple. We also saw the commercial district, Town hall, Independence square, we ended this evening at the spa.

Next day was dedicated to shopping…It’s like leaving a couple of kids in a candy factory. We shopped till we dropped. House of fashion & Odel are worth a mention. We picked up a variety of branded shirts/T-shirts for like 200 Srilankan rupees! Good quality & low prices…so now you know why we went there the rest of our trip & filled our bags! I looked for more excuses & more people to gift so that I could buy more.

Food was not a problem as you have a lot of variety. We tried Srilankan – good – close to Indian food. The seafood is delicious. Followed by icecream at Gelato almost everyday of my trip!!

In between we made time to go to the casino....No profits - but won whatever we gambled on ;-) These casions are very small when compared to the one's in Las Vegas. Dont expect a "real casion experience"...its just fun. thats it!

All good things have to come to an end….so did our journey. Several cherished memories & hope that I will go back another day to explore more of Srilanka.

Find Information about Srilanka
Here.

Open air fish pool @ Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple

Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple

Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple



Seema Malakaya Temple in the Beira Lake

Taj Samudra Hotel

View from the hotel room

Shopping at ODEL

One of the local market's

View from Raja Boujan Restaurant(from top floor)

Srilankan Family