Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

Dedicated to Pigeons WORLD OVER

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I have always been fascinated by these feathered fellas , they seem to have an amazing survival technique and are such fun to observe !

I have spent many an evening at Trafalgar square admiring these naughty birds .They always seem to gather around in a hungry bunch whenever they see anyone eating anything at all, not only are they super swift in swooping down at lightning speed to pick up the crumbs as I nervously and rather hungrily gobble my sandwich on a wooden bench watching the fountain and watching the pigeons too from the corner of my eye …. lest they attack me and steal away my meal deal , gosh with a few coins left in my purse ,couldn’t afford another !

Burping and satisfied after a sandwich,crisp and drink meal later , I lazily lounge on the bench as the birds curiously walk around my feet and search under the bench for more crumbs , they then fly to the top of the statue and perch there. I wonder how they always find such prolific locations to poo on !

I have therefore pldeged never to work hard enough to become so famous that after I fall dead someone thinks of erecting a statue of me somewhere, imagine I’d become an instantly popular new ”poop spot” for pigeons,not a pleasant thought that is it?

I always avoided KABOOTAR KHANA at Dadar as much as I could cause the very thought of a zillion pigeons gathered in one place to eat grains donated by willing masses and poop all over the place later ,though may sound ideal to any pigeon , I always feared what if they all decided to gang up against us humans and peck out everyone’s eye balls for fun ? shiver shudder shake shake …. brrr scary thought that .(KABOOTAR KHANA , KABOOTAR in Hindi Language means a Pigeon, can you imagine that in a city like Mumbai , we have a place named after Pigeons and a whole area dedicated to the, isn’t that proof enough for how powerful and omnipresent they are ??!)

(best ever image of Kabootar Khana is taken by Humayunna Peerzaada and is available to be viewed on at the following flickr link – http://www.flickr.com/photos/humayunnapeerzaada/471662046/ ) ( I love all the other albums in his link as well , amazing photography I must say !)

Theres another way I entertain myself while I wait at bus stops (during the Olympics I shall have to do that more frequently me thinks 😉 !!) ,at any given point of time there is always a small group of busy pigeons strutting their feathers near the bus stop, walking around the bin which is always there next to the stop and trying to snuggle up between people’s feet ,maybe to keep warm?

If you observe pigeons on Oxford Street for example I swear , they are busy chatting amongst themselves and checking out the millions of tourists walking all over the place .Whenever I am crossing the road at the main signal at the 4 exits out of Oxford street tube station there will always be a bunch of pigeons walking yes WALKING alongside us humans crossing the road , now why on earth do they do that ?? You have wings fellas remember ??They almost obediently wait for the signal , all the time tilting their neck to one side as if to say ” What ya looking at woman , keep your eyes on the signal will you ?” as soon the signal turns green there they are marching alongside oblivious to the thousands of feet stamping nearby. At times I swear I saw one of the naughtier ones trying to tilt its neck and peek up a womans’ skirt ! Just as it was able to , another pigeon came over and nudged Mr.Peea-Kaboo hard enough , they both then majestically walked away pretending as if nothing had happened ! HA ! Little did they know that I had SEEN their dirty little trick humphfh !Naughty little perverts !

Not to mention the clever ”KABOOTAR’S” that I have encountered in India . They even have an entire song dedicated to them in one famous hindi flick , yes yes it’s true, here’s the link !

This song is proof that Pigeon Mail is faster ,more reliable and more affordable than posting letters at least for our Bollywood stars.This is just one song , there are many more such songs where the pigeons have pivotal roles that get the other actors in lead roles together for a happily ever after end …hummmm

And then I have this pal who now is wiser after studying a few more years but has a passion for breeding ‘homing’pigeons , yes yes and yes , he was rather good with it too.After all they always came back ‘home’ AFTER they were sold 😉

Now with all these observations over the past many years I am sure that pigeons world-wide have some sort of an internationally recognised body run and functioning solely supported by pigeons alone wherein they plan and strategize survival techniques against the growing atrocities by us humans .

Given their amazing ability to stay warm in harsh winters, feed themselves and maintain their population at a constant healthy number ,they are doing a marvellous job at it !

I am never short of opportunities to click snaps of pigeons cosying up, here’s just one such example….

Pigeons posing for me

But the most amazing incident by a pigeon in London that I witnessed left me utterly speechless and CONVINCED that pigeons really ARE very, very smart ….on a dreary day in London (even a bright sunny day can turn dreary especially if you have a day out planned!) this pigeon STOOD alongside several passengers on a busy platform and actually BOARDED the train after us humans **gasp,gulp,gasp*

Then it proceeded to strut under a seat and peck at errant food particles dropped by a messy teenager who had just wolfed down a LARGE sandwich.About 2 stations after this clever bird had BOARDED the train it looked left and right when the door opened at a station,made some cooing sounds and HOPPED off ! GAWD, if I hadn’t consumed coffee that morning I would have certainly slipped into a coma.It definitely beats flying in rainy weather I’d say and ticketkless too.TFL , are you listening?! Guess not…baaah!

Ah well, I better get back to life now and observing more of my feathered companions along the way 😉 Adios !

It’s a BRIGHT and SUNNY DAY !

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It’s one of those day’s when I ache to grab a mini picnic lunch and a mat , rush to the local park, lie down with a good book and sip some lemonade chilled ofcourse . I dream of falling asleep with the book gently resting on my tummy and the sound of bees buzzing around in the distance , tiny flowers popping up in the grass around me and experiencing a feeling of complete bliss – the feeling of doing nothing and yet doing everythings .

Just the thought makes me smile 🙂

A walk in the Common.

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Lately after my Doc has declared that I really need to LOOSE tons of weight , the prospect of going for a long walk daily has ”walked ” into my brain and has become so deeply ingrained that I threw myself out of the house quite willingly today , I must say that I really enjoyed the walk ”to” the Common ( the Common is basically a massive public park, it is so called because of The Commons Act 2006,please click on the hyperlink to read more about the term) ,rather than the walk ”back” from the common which used to be the case .Maybe the fact that after my first ever real Winter in the western world the bright sunshine and the arrival of a much awaited ”Late” Spring season spurred my spirits enough.

It was amusing to watch different people walking their dogs , some of them clearly tugging impatiently at the leash and pulling their pets out of hedges and varied bushes on the way , to some being led on by the pet who is invariably looking extremely excited with tongue hanging out smiling almost ,grinning even ,puffing and panting and making their masters obediently run after them ! One rather tiny 7 month old pup called Rudy took a marked dislike to my brisk walk when I was heading back home and if I hadn’t stopped and stayed calm his menacing growl would have ended up in him nipping my ankles real bad grrrrr . I turned and walked over to the aged couple who were walking him as the lady tried to avoid eye contact, by then ”Rude-ehy” was on a tight lease and broke into an uncontrollable mix of growling ,barking and exhibiting a terrible opposition to my nearing presence . I spoke to the couple and the lady thanked me nervously for not trying to run away and causing their pup to chase after me ( am sure she was secretly thanking her stars that I wasn’t telling her off for not having the mutt on a leash in the public walking area ),she said had I started to run, he would certainly had nipped my ankles,imagine that ! Now really(??)!! and she thinks I’d have taken it sitting down ,  I would have first started running towards the couple and demanded they drive me to the nearest doctor and yes damm well PAY for the Mutt’s wrong doings ! But alas, no such exciting events occurred , turns out Rudy is a nice little fella after all , his master got him to some closer and he actually licked my hand ,ha !

I have decided to henceforth leave my cell phone behind when I go for a walk and drop all paranoia of ”what if I twist my ankle /get attacked by a psychopath/mugged by a villain on the way back/it suddenly starts to rain and there is a thunderstorm” and all other past excuses to carry my phone with me and also at times to not go for the walk at all.

So happy was I, that when I went for a stroll I completely forgot that I had oiled my hair in the morning and there was about half a litre of coconut oil on my tresses , while walking back I felt my head getting heavier only to realise too late that the cold air had turned my oily hair into a wiry nest with each strand feeling like a thick wire which if bent would snap like a dry twig on a hot summer day ! Not to mention that at the hairline along the forehead the oil was starting to collect in a pool of white sticky goo and look rather horrid ( yes I used my phone camera to click a pic of myself and see how stupid I reallywas looking !)

gaaah , I sped up and made a mad dash to get home as fast as my fat feet would take me !

But in spite of this, I cannot deny that the I spent time admiring and noticing beautiful setting Sun like a bright fiery ball of Orange sinking steadily into the horizon,had left a mixture of so many lovely colours onto the evening sky , a light orange like a delicate rush of freshly squeezed orange juice ,a shy pink like a million fresh pink buds had exploded in unison onto the sky and were kissing the birds flying home goodbye .

I really must say that all those who I saw walking back home ,in business suits , headphones stuffed deep into their ears and busy reading their messages or emails on their phones, please do yourself a favour , look up at the sky and feel the beauty of simple everyday life around you , don’t drown yourself in work so much that you miss out on these delights free for all mankind …

With such and other noble thoughts I came home to rest myself with a hot cup of instant soup and a desire to scribble onto my blog ,create a new post …and oh yeah go have a shower with my new rainforest bubble bath cream and coconut scented shampoo ,ah the simple luxuries of life !

Posted below are some pictures I had clicked last year of the common in Summer time , right now the many trees lining the artificial pond on both sides and the mini forest like mass of trees on the common grounds are quite bare still, though some are in full bloom and bursting at their seems with flowers dropping steadily and flying all over in the cold crisp breeze.

Blogging …

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I know it’s been a while since I have posted anything ne w, believe me right now I have atleast 10 different half finished posts waiting for me to sit down and get them to make complete sense . But I keep putting them off for various reasons all boiling down to my friend of many years my constant companion in all late submissions 🙂 Procastination.

But really is there any perfect day or time to blog ? I keep thinking I shall sit down when my mind is at peace with a big mugga hot chocolate , or I hsall walk down to the local park bench and sit down and type away ,or I shall snuggle up in the corner chair at my fav local cafe’ and scribble into my hand made paper diary with a pink pen with feathers at the end (Yes I am quite inspired by the character Garcia from Criminal Minds , especially her new spectacle PINK frames , soo girly !)

But I guess now I shall stop waiting for those perfect moments and just try and get into a post what’s on my mind before it slips away …

I always get the best ideas when I am travelling , on a bus , while strolling …. hummm

Here’s hoping that all those random thoughts floating around can come together to make posts that I can smile back on …

South Indian Food – A family obsession !

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Ever since I immigarted to London ,it’s been a year by the way ,already (!), I get these craving sto go eat some certain type of food that is so commonly available in Bombay that one take sit for granted .

But once you live abroad and you know that you are a self confessed FOODIE , it becomes a real thrilling task to keep a track of all the places that offer “AUTHEHNTIC” Indian food !It’s easy to get confused by the number of options available but clearly many of the places do not live up to expectations of “AUTHENTIC” Indian taste or simply fail mierably on offering basic service or are just so grubby looking one wouldn’t want to sit after setting foot inside !

There are many area’s in London, namely East Ham,Croydon,Tooting,Wembley and ofcourse the FAMOUS South Hall, which are easily accesible by the tube which serve up some really authentic Indian food in the form of mouthwatering delicacies at awesome rates !

My most favourite for south indian snacks – I crave MEDU VADAS and Doa’s with a passion at times and I head staright to Tooting to SARAVANA BHAVAN !

The first time I visited a branch of SARAVANA BHAVAN was at East Ham after the Roayl Wedding . I did manage to catch a glimpse of the beautiful ,now Duchess of Cambridge,  Kate Middleton .She was waving to the cheering  crowds whowent absolutely MAD when the car inw hich she was travelling passed us by , she ofcourse was then taken to the abbey to wed her Prince Charming ,my husband and me never made it anywhere near Buckingham Palace to watch the famous kiss on the balcony but yes we did manage to see it live on a MASSIVE screen set up at one of the branches of the HOUSE OF FRASER and all the people who had crammed themselves inside actually sat down on the floor and a very gracious member of the staff served us a yummy fruit flavoured bubbly as soon as the couple was married on screen, with millions viewing teary eyed, the world over!After watching the wedding we decided to escape the crowds of Central London and the thousands that were moving out from the streets after having waved to the Princess. So we rushed over to Victoria Station before the tubes became suffocatingly over crowded or worse !

On a whim I suggested we head to East Ham  to dig into some really good south indian snacks.

I must confess it was LOVE at first BITE  for me at SARAVANA BHAVAN, they are present in many locations worldwide and I frequent 2 of their branches in london , the one at EAST HAM and the one at Tooting. Noteworthy feature is that they have an impressive JAIN MENU , since my closest buddies here are a Jain couple, S even has her own Jain Food blog(!),it is always a challenge to find tasty JAIN food options in London. For the uninitiated JAINISM is a religion in India and one of the aspects is that followers are quite strict with NOT consuming onions and garlic in their food.In the past few months I have learnt so many recipes which I didn’t know existed all thanks to my JAIN buddies ,not to mention that S is an exceptional cook and stir up the most amazing recipes in a matter of minutes.My tummy is witness to many such preparations, she also her own versions for Bombay’s most popular street foods!

Anyway back to our discussion about south Indian snacks,The upma was so tasty at SARAVANA BHAVAN- EAST HAM , I was transported straight to Matunga where I often head to a place called ANAND BHUVAN to savour their yummy dosa’s vada’s idli’s and my favourite comfort food BISIBELE BHATH- a rice and dal dish all spiced up , dish which satisfies the mind as much as it does the tummy and is extreemly healthy and good on the pocket too.

ANAND BHAVAN is a traditional south indian UDIPI joint in Matunga East in Bombay. The food is exceptionally taste , the service is warm, the look and feel of the place is totally old world and charming to say the least ,something like walking into an old irani restaurant for “maska pao and cutting chai”.

I had ONE  photograph, I had clicked using my Nokia E63 in 2010 of ANAND BHAVAN , here it is:

ANAND BHAVAN is THE BEST place to eat yummy south indian snacks according to me as there are a zillion outlest in close viccinity in Matunga thanks to the large south Indian community that resides there ,but nothing as quaint an experience and so good on the pcoket as ANAND BHAVAN .

MATUNGA , a suburn in BOMBAY,INDIA,also has a huge market selling every imaginable fruit and veegtable erquired for south indian cooking and regular cookingas well , shops selling traditional clothing, a temple,a dance school , a NALLI store and ofcourse shops selling freshly ground coffee powder , just one whiff is enough to take you staright to Chennai I suppose :).You there is a unique quality about this suburb that there are pockets that feel diecidely south indian , some extreemly Gujju dominated and some so very Maharastrain. It’s this amazing way of different cultures mixing and offering such a mindboggling variety of culinary experiences that makes Bomaby much of what it is today. A cosmpolitan city with a rocking attitude, a space for and BY everyone so to speak.It’s a city that liberates and ofcourse because it is an ISLAND city the best and most breathtaking sea side experience is yours for a taking.I could go on and on but I wish not to ramble, because there will always be a large part of BOMBAY in everything I write about .

Though at my in laws place there is a huge debate over which of these many south indian outlets really is THE BEST .My mother in law likes another small but great place bang opposite the station called SHARDA BHUVAN, she like the fact they are still so old world with no A/C and no fancy seating but that the charm of the place really and the food is amazing ,really , she often heads there eraly morning before she heads to the library at FORT to get some steaming hot idlis and chutney followed by the traditional Filter Coffee- aah !My hubby is a fan of HOTEL RAMA ASHRAYA and has a particulary yummy sweet prepartion that he heads there to gobble ona regular basis with one of his buddies.This one is a short walk from SHARDA BHAVAN and  HOTEL ARYA BHAVAN, is set between flower shops and a coffee powder shop and faces the lane which has the local post office,which in turn is surrounded by about a dozen flower shops selling garlands big and small and an apt place to pick some for a visit to the temple or for a wedding.

Now my dad in law likes a totally different place,it’s called HOTEL ARYA BHAVAN,it has seating at a basement level ,is hot and humid and crammed but the food is tasty and the loaction is spot on!

South Indian Restaurants or UDIPI joints as they are more popularly know are so popular in Bombay and so easily accessible in Bombay that one gets really used to just popping in and eating an idli or a dosa and walking out happy, the whole thing about craving such ood in London is trying out several such places and coming up with THE BEST and a second best, I have picked mine already.Ofcourse SARAVANA BHAVAN is “THE” best  in terms of the quality of food and the number of loactions, additional brownie points for the Jain Menu ofcourse, now there is another outlet called DOSA and CHUTNEY , they have 2 branches one at Tooting and another at Croydon in London, they also offer Non vegetarian options ,my favourite is Kottu Rice,it’s a spicy rice dish with meats,veggies and a Sri Lankan roti ! They serve generous protions, the prices are very good and the place is clean not to mention the sevice is swift as well , I normally wash down a spicy dish like Kottu Rice with a delicious Mango Lassi or followu up a dosa with a hot filter coffee :).The staff is friendly and I often reach there on a lazy weekday , eat some lunch and then do my grocery shopping !

I am right now walking these streets of Bombay especially MATUNGA, in my mind, right now and taking a million pictures, I promise myself that I shall do justice to this post by uploading pictures when I do go to Indian this year, I simply cannot wait now! I do plan to visit all my favourite haunts including BADE MIYA for kebab’s and hopefully catching a glimpse of SRK who is said to visit them at times ( a famous rumour in my college days), eat berry pulao at Brittannia, of course gulp down unlimited amounts of PANI PURI at Elco, Bandra and the list goes on and on and on!

Dreaming of food? Why not try some of my recipes?

When the DAY takes control …..

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I had a lovely day today, a close pal came over with her cute four year old and I cooked us a simple meal , we then went do some much needed shopping for groceries for us and after the boy had a good run around in his favourite play zone, I was dropped home to spend the evening relaxing.

I honestly hadn’t planned any of this and expected today to be like any typical day at home when I am not working part time and spend my time doing an unpaid job – LOOKING for a job – applying online to as many suitable vacancies as I can.

But that’s exactly what I love about today. Sometimes such unplanned surprises what turn a ho hum drum day into a simply delightful one .Cheers to more such relaxed simple days.

Oh , spring when will come so we can spend more time outside than freeze every time we step out of the door??

Hynotized

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Words fail me ,
I stand mesmerized ,
The sky is ablaze by what seems like countless fireflies
It’s isn’t sunset nor is the moon yet here
There’s a golden melted warmth that seems to flow
I took some pictures but they can never tell
The story that unfolded and upon us befell
It’s probably god at his very best
When we least expect it,
Such sights put troubled minds to rest
There’s a treat we cannot forget
If only we took time to see these sights
Set aside our tiny battles
And didn’t run after some hopeless prize
If only every day we could allow ourselves to be so hypnotized .

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