Five reasons why travelling should be my To – Do in 2012

This part of the post is the TO – DO in 2011. December is going to be pretty awesome,packed and fun. For the first time, my family is visiting me here and I havecharted a TEN day Singapore (with a two day KL - Genting) trip for them. Before you pounce and comment on the lack ofstuff to do here for eight days, let me assure you – my schedule for them is pretty packed.

It is the first out-of-home long vacation for both, so I am really going to stop my nutcase antics, be responsible and act grown up with amma. But not to the absolute extent that she thinks I am ready for…you know what…

I have a strange and raising love for hearing stories and wish to travel across countries, meeting people and listening to stories. And someday, I want to learn photography so well that I can capture all my stories into pictures.

For now, I am not yet really there. One thing, I can certainly do is to blog about it. That is for 2011.

The plan for 2012 includes mostly SE Asia – Langkawi, Nikoi Islands, Sabah (or some partof western Malaysia), Cameron Highlands, Nepal and Kerala (mostly Cochin, or Wayanad). I would love to add Bali or Phuket, but really not too sure!

Apart from a multitude of reasons, this is why I MUST do all this in 2012 :

·   It is the last year. Sincerely hope, you all know the world is ending in 2012.

·   It is not exactly costing me a lot. It does cost, but thankfully affordable.

·   These places are great culture/food spots. Read my low profile stories on Thirucherai and Kumbakonam.I am sure; Langkawi will be a better story. Trust me, on this!

·   It is my futile hope that someone somewhere will see me moving around with a book,pen and crazy clothes and offer me a job in TLC Asia. Okay, just kidding. 

·   I want to be photographed in short hair. That lame, I am. I have got my first after-ten-years old short hair do now. Also, want to track the hair length in pictures :)

·   Because 2011, is ending on a great note. I am at Siem Reap, Cambodia as this post goes up live.

I wrote six. Okay, I am now lazy to change the title. Sorry!

Note to the world : I do not believe in buying you back a souvenir, but yea – leave a comment if you need me to own something. And yes, if you know of a great thing I MUST do in any of these places, let me know!

Note to self: Come back and read this post, every month in 2012.

Foodie..er..whats the name!

                                     

                                                                        Source: thejunkhouse.blogspot.com via Brie on Pinterest

This post has been picked up for BlogAdda's Spicy Saturday Picks. Whatte surprise!



At one point of time in my life, I was declared to be on dangerously low weight. Though it was not for long, I have had serious eating problems as a child. Always raised a demur against food, I was not exactly amma’s favourite activity.

The early years were not very exciting too, as for more than ten years – my family never ordered anything specifically for me. Thus was my tryst with food, ordering and eating out. The last four years have been a pleasant reversal, though. A lot of my friends know I love food – both to cook and to eat. It surprises so many when I say, that I cook! Interestingly, no one really expects a single 24 year old to be able to cook different things, and hate instant noodles.

What is particularly funny is how the exact same people have already determined I should be married by now. If I have no ability to fetch myself a decent, healthy meal, how exactly should I do/handle a marriage? Yea, I do know many women get married without an idea of cooking  and that cooking is not exactly organic chemistry. But, the determination baffles me. Totally.

As always, I digress. This post is not on my take on cooking/marriage but on how this change over has made life different today. I have certainly become a much responsible eater.  I was never really into making my own cup of tea before 2008, but yea – I was barely 22 then. What started as a learning curve, has become a way of exploring, experimenting and enjoying food. As a bonus, I have qualified to be called as a foodie!

Now, I have serious issues with this word. For one, it conjures the image of someone who hogs meals and searches for expensive options. For another, it is directly seen in relation with my waistline. I detest my own line there, but it is true. Promise.

The word foodie hardly represents what fellow people like me think about food. We are not eaters.  It is very hard to find a so called foodie who will eat anything on the plate. As a matter, most people are good cooks.  A few things, I have to say on being a foodie -

·        A foodie or whatever the person is called,  has a passionate interest on food and participates enthusiastically in the preparation and consumption of good food.  The act is not merely a means of survival ( as some chronic diet freaks do ) nor is an act of necessity ( as some really really busy people call it). 

·        We do eat out, at least I do – but love our food. It is savoured, tasted well and time/efforts are invested to find the best place, pay the best value and be mindful.

·        There is this charm about eating for pleasure. Biting into a pannacotta when the world is trying to stick to guts with roti- chawal, or wiping up a rasam-curry meal after a long day at 11pm when you may crash with maggi noodles. 

·        Then, there is this thing about exploring. We normally love to walk around food markets, click pictures, taste stuff, peep and see new cuisines being cooked, read memoirs, talk to people etc. And yes, IKEA is a great time pass place.

And yes, after we are done with our meal, we do go ahead with other things in life – like a full time job, or an intolerable kid or an almost there deadline (!). Like me. Like now. I have earlier written on food, places, philosophy with food ( I know ! ) etc. Click here to read/see/ogle at them!
         

Anonymity and things as such...

There is no real reason why anonymity is not glamorous. This post is not to quote how many people have roamed under the magical invisible cloak but on how so low standards our integrity has gone.

There are many reasons why this blog does not see regular posts and one of it is certainly the fear of being identified with the personal posts that go up here. I have had random ( really, random) people come and ask me about things I wrote. Now, I am not even a famous or a good one. Yet, this happens! And trust me, being a single girl in a lonely city comes with its own set of rules and issues. And one of it, is the trouble with how easily people use anonymity.

From crazy mails, to stupid comments and now - recently, a msg on FB, all has occured here. It is seriously sick, to see a message from a fake profile chiding a post I wrote more than a year back. The message went on to say, that my new haircut does not suit me. :(

And then there are anon people who seem to have an air over them. I do not understand what exactly is there to be proud about being unable to show an identity, esp on comments. It is an entirely different case with anonymous/partial anonymous bloggers. It is kind of sensible, esp if you are going to use a blog to vent out all kinds of emotions. I am not denying it is not exciting. A secret : I did try anonymity, and realized I was only pouring crazy mood swings down there. Then, I suspended the blog. Even now, I feel I should write down anonymously somewhere and store it for my own eyes.

It does cause me to worry, only a bit. Should just push it off, along with a million other things in my head now.