Two to tango

Two to tango, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

Shot this at Bennerghetta National park, bangalore.

Sweet-Sour karela (Bitter gourd) curry

Some time back, we had this awesome sweet and sour karela curry @ kanua, and since then, I always wanted to make it at home. This weekend, I decided to give it a try - here is the recipe I tried:

Karela (bitter gourd) - 3 nos (medium size – pick the white ones if you don’t like the bitter taste – the greener the karela, the bitter the taste) )

Toor Dal - a bit

Urd Dal - a bit

Salt - to taste

Chili powder - a bit

Turmeric powder - a bit

Jaggery - to taste (I used 3 vellams - if you want the curry to be sweet, add more Jaggery)

Tamarind - a small piece

Red chilli - 2-3 nos

Curry leaves

Lemon - one half

rasam powder - 1-1.5 tbsp

Wash and split the karela. Clean the inside and cut into small slices. Mix this with salt and turmeric powder and keep for about 15 minutes.

Soak the tamarind in water and keep it aside.

Mince the jaggery and make powder.

Take a non-stick tawa and heat oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add urd dal and toor dal and fry till they are light brown. Add red chili and curry leaves to this, and then add the karela. Keep it on a medium flame till the karela is almost cooked. Add a bit of water to this and add the tamarind paste, rasam powder and jaggery. Squeeze one half of lemon and add the juice to this. Cook till the curry is dry. Serve it with rice or chapathi.

the tag of A2Z

Mooched this from tys's place:

A. Attached or Single? Attached.

B. Best Friend? Can't pick one :)

C. Cake or pie? Cake.

D. Drink of choice? Coffee / Wine. If alcoholic, then Jack Daniels. (Wine is NOT alcoholic)

E. Essential item you use every day? my charm ;)

F. Favorite color? Green / Black.

G. Gummy bears or worms? no to both.

H. Hometown? Kerala.

I. Favorite indulgence? Anything to do with anything which have an engine and can run :)

J. January or July? Both.

K. Kids & their names? One - goes by the name --xh--. (incidentally, he is the owner of this blog too)

L. Life isn’t complete without? the ups and downs.

M. Marriage date? April 23rd

N. Number of Siblings? One.

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples.

P. Phobias? mildly claustrophobic.

Q. Quotes? lot of them to choose from.

R. Reasons to smile?almost anything :)

S. Season? Rain.Rain.Rain - and more rain.

T. Tag 3 people: please come forward

U. Unknown fact about me? I can apprate. No kidding.

V. Vegetable? yes.

W. Worst habit? ask my friends/better half :)

X. X-ray you've had? Left knee

Y. Your favorite food? Chakkapuzukku.

Z. Zodiac sign? Libra

playing with myEgo

dont be too hard on me - this is my first try on both 55wordfiction and haiku... :)

H-1

I will NOT share fame

I will NOT Compromise on any thing

I OWN the center stage

H-2

bikes gadgets food camera books

I learn I experiment and I love

DIY is my golden mantra

H-3

patience is not my virtue

I demand I get what I ask

I never bow my Ego

and here goes the 55wordfiction:

He was not sure how to break the ice. She looked polished, hot and too sure about herself.Resigned, he opened his laptop and started playing his favourite game. Suddenly he felt some one near his seat.she asked him "i love your Ego". He smiled and handed her his brand new Wipro Ego laptop

droplets

droplets, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

One more from the eyes of Moi...

just 'dew' it

just 'dew' it, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

sinful indulgence

Few weeks back, me and R was returning from Commercial Street, and we stopped at Thoms bakery on a whim to find whether we can get some Toblerone chocolates. Though we couldn’t get any, I saw a beauty there who tugged my heart strings a lot. After a lot of deliberation and tug of war between purse (not mine, but R's ;) )and heart, I gave in and last Saturday we went and brought her home - A bottle of Davidoff Café Espresso 57

Until next time, kaapi nirvaana

(Shamelessly smooched this 'until next time' thing from manuscrypts blog)

(ps: we did get the tobleones whn we went to pick up the coffee :) )

Shoolagiri Ride

We did a small lazy Sunday morning ride to Shoolagiri hills with fellow nomads. The weather was fine, the roads smooth and the company, wonderful. Only spoiler was that, I got a sos from my office in between and had to rip back to reach office to get something done. But overall, a nice ride for three of us :-D


Some pictures from the recent Shoolagiri ride with BN.

A cool breezy and lazy sunday morning, getting ready to start teh ride



Breakfast stop @ A2B, near Krishnagiri



and here we are - Bikes at Shoolagiri



Bikes lined up



The nomads



Symmetry



Self Portrait



The place

Morning glory

Morning glory, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

With this, I break my blog silence... I am back after the long break.

Ta da, till May

At last, I am off to kerala, on a 3 week vacation. Will be back by may 11th (hopefully ;) ).
Take care, and yeah, I will miss blogworld. 

last weekend

Last weekend: 

* had fun

* went to Sherlock holmes. Should have found out this place a lot earlier. Liked the place. thnx A, for the fantastic time, and introducing me to SH.

* Met Vicks, went for a spin in his new U-VA. the car rocks. hogged ice creams from Safal

* Watched Fast and Furious 4 - I love the movie, especially, the last scene. Dom rocks. So do Muscle Cars.

* had a long chat with my sis. I Miss her.

* went to Boca Grande, had nice time meeting Minnu and Pratsie. Played lot of pranks and did lot of silly stuff - it was FUN.

* went to Total to do the last bit of shopping before going home

* met friend J and stayed over at his place. Man, I am going to miss you.

* went to lalbagh for a morning walk. Met Monica, Shanu, Minnu and some otehr friends. it was Fun.

* Met Kalyan varma, one of India's most famous wildlife photographers.

* Transported all the stuff I kept at J's home to my home - Jeevs carried more stuff than an Auto could carry. Well, almost.

* called up G, and the news is not that good. Get well soon, G.

* missed my friends S and S. Hope to catch up with you S, before I go home.

*Treated myself with a Sennheiser HD202

Skoda India - Shame on you

I was and am still a fan of Skoda cars, but I have never owned one - I always wanted to have a Skoda Octavia RS, but after reading the way they treat their customers during the after sales service, I think it might be better if I spendt my money on any other car than Skoda.

Just read this threds here and here if you plan to buy a Skoda - if any of your friends or relatives plan to buy a skoda, make them read the threads. 

Please pass the word, and please digg the thread here

updates

It is said that all is fair in war and love - and it is also said that love is blind. we all have our own reasons to fall in love, and though I love all the bikes, Royal Enfield bullet have a special place in my heart. 

If you look form a logical point of view, Bullet is not the most advanced bike you can get your hands on - well, the bike is anything but modern. The bike is heavy, leaks oil (well, most of the time), slow, drinks petrol like she have a drinking problem, and have a thousand and one other issues - but the bike still have a huge fan following, and for many, is not a bike, but a religion. Why? Well, it is very hard to explain the answer, but 'charm' is a word often associated with the answer.

No - this post is not an analysis about why Bullet still commands the heart of many of us - but just a testimony to the old world charm that the bullet is. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce 'Neela', my new 1970 model std 350. 

I returned RedEye to her home after more than one month of use, and i have to say that she got me impressed - big time. I took Jeevs out for a spin this Saturday and what is a better way to end his hibernation than some good old mud banging. there is this huge landfill, and we had some nice time, going up and down kicking the dust, doing some torque steer, basic jumps and all that - man, it was serious fun, and by the end of it, we looked like some one showered us with a ton of fine dust. But I tell you again - it was FUN :-D

My favorite movie series - Fast and Furious, is returning to theaters this weekend - the latest addition - Fast and Furious 4 will hit cinemas on 3rd, and I am waiting to catch the action. 

Vin disel, Paul walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster - they are re teaming, and I am sure the movie will not disappoint me.

I found this video while I was browsing, and man, the song and the video is awesome. 

The Chief

I saw this test at minnus blog and couldn't resist doing it.

The results are - well, it is out there, and now you tell me if this is the me you know :-D

I am ENTJ according to the test

I found this link (again from minnus page) and this is what the site says about me:

ENTJ:

decisive, fearless, planner, thrill seeker, engaged, social, self centered, comfortable around others, image conscious, likes to be center of attention, adventurous, outgoing, manipulative, emotionally stable, leader, ambitious, hard working, dominant, prepared, hates to be bored, confident, opinionated, analytical, prepares for worst case scenarios, organized, orderly, clean, driven, resourceful, finishes most things they start, achieving, risk taker, desires fame/acclaim, image focused, narcissistic, arrogant, perfectionist, driven, academic, scientific, critical, avoids giving in to others, does not like to compromise, skeptical

Happy Holi

It is the time again - the festival of colors... Wish you all a very happy holi from Me and R. 

Just another random post

I know there is no point in saying I am back once more, to vanish to thin air after posting one or two posts, so , no, I am not back. But I am alive, and kicking. I think all those who used to visit this place are long gone, and this is like a abandoned warehouse...

Past couple of weeks, I was kind of totally away from net - no blog, not much tweets, no orkut, no chat sessions...the reason being, I was entrusted with some rather heavy responsibilities at my workplace, and that kind of robbed my online life. 

Though I am always a hard core Royal Enfield Bullet fan, I never liked the Royal Enfield Thunderbird much - Till LJ loaned me his Red eye for a couple of days, couple of months back. Now Red Eye is again back in my hands, and this time, I let her go completely, and man, I love every moment I ride her. She do have her share of quirks, but hey, she is from the RE stable, and a bike without some quirks is not a RE product. I love the way she scares the traffic and the way she pulls and pulls - thanks to couple of well thought out mods by LJ, and the padded seat is like a recliner chair. LJ, your red-eye rocks. (and yeah, Jeevs is getting some well needed rest, and I am sure he is happy about that. who will not love some rest after a long hard day of work)

I think I will have more time n my hands from this week, and I don’t plan to abandon this place - so if any of you still drop down here, thanks for coming and keep coming.

ps: if you love Dilbert, you may like to take a look here- a HUGE repository of Dilbert strips - from the very first one...

(Img courtsy: http://www.starpulse.com/Television/Dilbert/gallery/Dilbert-02/)

Violet Morning...

Violet Morning..., originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

Clicked this one when we went for a morning walk at lalbagh - couple of friends from the blogsphere met at lalbag last sunday for a morning walk, and it was fun - i have never been to lalbagh much, and it was a totally new experience watching the park at 7 am.

Q&A

silverlining tagged me and herz my take on it...

1)What is your occupation?

I Play around with computers... ;)

2)What colour are your socks now?

Black

3)What are you listening to now?

Bob Marley

4)What was the last thing you ate? 

Masala Dosa

5)Can you drive a stick shift? 

Yes.

6)Last person you spoke to on phone?

My brother

7)Do you like the person who sent you this?

Yup, though havn't met her :)

8)How old are you today? 

Age? thatz just a mathematical function... 

9)What is your favourite sport to watch on TV?

F1. 

10)What are your favourite drinks?

Coffee.

11)Have you ever dyed your hair?

yup

12)Favourite food?

dont ask this Q to one who is pursuing his PhD in gastronemics... :P

13)Last movie watched?

The Art of war (and slep when the movie was half way :P - the last movie i fully watched is Cassanova)

14)Favourite day of the year?

All the days.

15)How do you vent out your anger?

mostly by having a good verbal showdown inside my head. 

16)Favourite toy as a child? 

automobiles

17)Favourite season?

Rain and cold.

18)Do you want your friends to email you?

what a Q? of course...

19)When was the last time you cried?

dont remember... but not in this year. 

20)What is on the floor of your closet?

newspaper

21)Who is the friend you have had the longest?

J and S - they r my friends from my Pre KG. 

22)What did you do last night?

Played NFS-MW (Need For Speed-Most Wanted), read a malayalam noval and of course, slept. 

23)What are you most afraid of?

loosing my freewill and freedom. 

24)Plain,cheese or spicy hamburger?

depends on the mood :)

25)Favourite dog breed? 

Bulldog (coz i love Spike the bulldog ;) )

26)Favorite day of the week? 

All days.

27)How many states have you lived in? 

two

28)Diamond or pearl? 

Either of them (not to use, but to give gift)

29)What is your wish for this new year?

grant me the strength to remain happy :)

30)New year resolutions?

Nothing

i want to resume blogging - i really want. but I dont feel like writing anything... I do read most of the blogs, but I dont comment on many - please bear with me.. will soon start spamming ur pages...

(on a sidenote, met with Tys, Madhumitha,Ziah and Vivek - and had a superb time - and forgot to click snaps... duh!)

pretty white...

DSC_0681, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

taken some weeks back at Nandi hills, the last biking trip before I got the status upgrade :)

rails and roads...

You know what is most depressing about day time train journeys? Itz them, the roads.

You can see the roads twisting and snaking along the rail track - smooth flat tarmacs, single lane country roads, dusty mud trails - name it and you can see them - you can see them so close that you can touch them, yet they are so far that you cant touch them, and it brings you memories of riding - piloting your bike through the twists and turns, the wind on your face, the control at your fingers, the dust, the music of the engine, the sun and the tea at the road side tea stall and the freedom - the freedom to follow any trail you choose at your own will - and it makes you wonder why are you sitting in a train compartment and watching it like you sit back at the movie house and watching the action unfold than being a part of the action.

 

But when all said and done, train journey hold itz own charm - the chai wallahs, the food at train platforms, the 'almost forgot' lazy village stations, the bustle and hustle at the major stations, the wide verity of people you come across, the cross section of country where you live, the music of the wheels, the door steps - itz the next charming way to travel than by road.

Lone Wolf en-caged!

Long crazy lone rides….
Night outs with me, myself and my bike….
Working my a** out like there is no tomorrow….
Getting drenched in rain and giving no hoots to what others say…
Lazing around the whole day on my bean bag, with mugs of coffee, books, songs and my xbox...

Enjoying Life and its simple pleasures as a solitary traveler, I was a happy simple single soul till I met her and talked to her – and then I realized I have a void in my life which I never realized… a space which needs to be filled…

A charming smile, a warm heart, she took me by storm and I decided hang up my bachelors hat….. I am extremely happy to tell you that we – Me and Ramya, celebrated our engagement ceremony on Jan 16th, 2009.

Yeah, i am happy and I feel like a teenager out for his first date... 

The New Year Meme

Thanks Pratsie, for this meme:

1. Looking back on 2008, what might your theme song have been?

Gasolina... just for the foot tapping beats. the last year was  a heady mix for me, and so this song. and yeah, the song is 'gasolina', which runs in my vein ;)

2. If 2008 was a movie, who would play you?

I Me Myself

3. What was your greatest gift of 2008?

Happy days

4. What is your New Year Resolution or, what are you committing to this year?

No New Year resolution for me...

5. If January could be represented by one song, what would it be?

till now, oo January from a malayalam movie Big B (adaptation of the english movie Four Brothers) (again, not for the lyrics or meaning, but for teh celebration mood.

6. What do you wish for your body in 2009?

More flexibility, stamina, faster reflexes and of course, more health.

7. Name one new thing you would love to try in the New Year.

Only One? Bungee Jumping (a random pick from the list of things I wanna do)

8. What do you long for 2009 to bring?

More Happy days

9. If that happened, how would you feel?

Happy

10. Where would you love to vacation in 2009 if money were no object?

A road trip across everywhere and nowhere...

11. What would you like the theme of 2009 to be?

Happy days

12. If 2009 was a book, and the title was 5 words or less, what might the title be?

A Celebration called Life

Saw this ad and man - this IS the bike I want... move away R1s and Busas and Blades, I need you, the Duke...

KTM Duke - Funny bloopers R us

Happy times...

 I think at lest some if you may have wondered where did I go awol - the truth is, no where. I didn’t go any where (well, other than  a trip to Chennai and a hitchhiking trip to kerala) but I was feeling lazy to the bone...

I was blog hoping as usual and saw this tag at damsels page and then I read Ps's blog about writing down 5 things which makes you happy and I decided... this is the best way to break my lazy spell... so here it is - a partial list of things which makes me happy... (they r not in any particular order)

1. Rain- it makes me feel at ease...

2.My diaries..:)

3.the sea..

4. calvin and hobbes!!:), P.G.wodehouse, and archies!!!!

5.tom and jerry. 

6.Blogs of Tys and many more

7.my college and school

8. my friends 

9. the old greeting cards and gifts from college days

10. my collection of automobile magazines and posters

11. my books

12. cooking

13. babies

14. bird's nest

15. playing in the puddle

16. kite running

17. long solitary walks

18. cold.. the more cold it is, the more i love the weather. (I love the weatehr at Bangalore now)

19. times with my friends, the silly talks and all that...

20. Indian coffee house

21. Filter coffee

22. My toolkit

23. working on my bikes and car

24. Long rides on my bikes

25. Train journeys

26. travelling

27. star gazing

29.powercuts

30. rainbows

31. busy getting lazy

32. NFS

33. listening to songs

34. working out 

35. trekking

36. ice creams

37. bobbanum moliyum, mayavi and kapeesh

38. Royal Enfield Bullet

39. airtel tune by ARR

40. making my friends smile

41. the 5 minutes sleep, just before I get up...

42. swimming and playing in water

the list goes on....

I would love to read the list of Gazal, Ps, Cess, Anamika, Kochu, Nikhil, Tys and Tia and of any one who would like to do this... 

Some snaps I took from the recent Chennai trip: