Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia

I am blessed with a long list of dear friends who make me feel Life is worthwhile even when I am 50 feet under rock bottom, for those true souls I try my best to be there when they need a hug, a shoulder to cry or just a head bobber who can listen.  Few weeks back one such dear friend of mine and I were a bit worried about something but instead of letting it bother us too much we figured the best way to beat the blues was to have a slumber party !!! No No No Please don't think teens in pink pyjamas having a pillow fight, our slumber party was more like 2 grown women in mid twenties meeting up after work and having a nice long conversation, sipping warm tea together, reading books and yes you guessed it treating ourselves to a fine dinner :)
We decided to go to Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia for dinner :)

Spicy Chicken Soup

We ordered a light pepper based thin soup which had a generous dose of chicken and mixed vegetables. It was Yummy Spicy!

For starters we took crab cakes, Oh goodie it was soo good I created a seperate post just for the crab cakes :D click here to view it

The crab cakes were aromatic, soft and tasty , sprinkled with chopped spring onions, served with a side salad, a mint chutney and a cheese dip !

Moving on to main course!

Frankly my friend and I wanted to order another helping of crab cakes but the main course had arrived by then , and boy we dont have any regrets!

I ordered a mildly flavoured fish fillet, which was marinated in fragrant herbs and cooked with olive oil, flavoured with Jalepenos with a side serving of blanched vegetables and choice of either baked, roasted or mashed potatoes, I picked roasted potatoes.

Absolutely delectable!

My friend ordered Chicken breasted stuffed and cooked with minced mushrooms served with brown sauce, with a side salad of blanched vegetables and roasted potatoes.

By the time we were done, we could barely exhale, leave alone move :P, but dinner without dessert would be like life without love, so we decided to pick one dish and shared it (don't you feel dessert tastes sweeter when shared with a friend).

We chose the Elaneer/Tender Coconut Souffle!

Elaneer Souffle from Heaven

I had to create a seperate post just for this Elaneer (Tender Coconut Souffle) click here to read.

Try to visit Crimson Chakra and Cornucopia you will love it just as I did :)

Epilogue
As for us we walked back home laughing all the way and sharing jokes, recollecting fond memories whilst making plans to stay up all night and having a movie marathon ... however we crashed 5 minutes after we reached home and woke up after 10 hours of sleep - not exactly what we planned for but definately  rejuvenated:)

~Fin~

Lunch Buffet at Main Land China

I finally went to Main Land China few weeks back and it was totally worth the long wait! I was absolutely delighted! Great Food, Great service, Plus add it to the fact that I got to meet a childhood friend after about 16 years !! and I got to meet a wonderful new friend  :)  

The only low point was that I was not carrying my camera with me when I went there first.

Lemon Flavored Ice Tea

So I when a dear friend of mine told me she wanted to catch up over lunch I convinced her to try the lunch buffet at Main  Land China  :P  and so it begins.. 

Let us start with the lovely floral display on each table.
Oh I just love orchids :)

A Cup of pickled cabbage caught my attention- fiery, spicy and totally REDiculous ;)

Cucumber in Vinegar 

Spicy Chicken Soup

I am not a soup person but I must say the hot and spicy chicken clear soup was delicious.

Chicken Dimsum

The chicken dimsums arrived to dominate the table for the rest of the afternoon! Clearly my fav! :)

Chicken Lollypop

The Chicken lolly pops were a close contender! :)

Tea Cup

My cup of warm tea which i enjoyed sipping between my starters..

Main Course

I had no space in my tummy for main course but i tasted the fried rice, noodles, shrimp gravy and crabs sauce before moving on to dessert.

Dessert

Now this is what you call dessert! :) YUM!!!!!

My dessert plate

When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.  ~Mark Twain

Over all I had a fantastic experience both times!

Try the lunch buffet at Main Land China you will love it!!

Elaneer Souffle & Goat Tales

My friend and I treated  ourselves to a fine dinner at Cornucopia & Crimson Chakra on Onam day to kick start a loooooooong week end earlier this month. I will create a seperate post for the dinner we had but for now I am gonna sweet talk :P  

DESSERT!! 

Tender Coconut Souffle

Desserts are like mistresses......They are bad for you. So if you are having one , you might as well have two!

There is nothing that could describe "Elaneer Souffle" better than the quote above! I highly recommend you try it if you visit Crimson Chakra! I solemnly swear you will not regret it! I generally love the flavor of tender coconut so I think I am rambling on way more than usual :P

Comedy Times

It kinda reminds me of recent  funny incident which happened during the Ramzan day long drive my parents and I took few weeks back!  My parents and I went on an nice drive to Mahabalipuram on en route we pulled over to get a fresh drink ~ tender coconut water from one of the hundred vendors along the high way..

I  got myself a nice huge tender coconut chopped open and just as I was ready to SLLURRRRRRRRP away I noticed that I was being watched very closely .. by a mysterious stranger... Oh Goodie a GOAT! A nice plump, ferocious goat (I know I know)! It would not stop starring at me (and my tender coconut )! My parents asked me to just ignore the animal and convinced me it was absolutely harmless and no it is not ferocious! But the darn thing won't go away and no it won't stop looking at me either.  By then I just realized  the poor soul wanted to quench its thirst much like me, so here is what happened..

When I offered the goat the tender coconut it looked at me right in the eye as if to say 'Thanks Dudette' :P or may be it was just curious whether my camera was edible : D

Well I might not be Mother Teresa but I love animals and I loved to watch the mischievous goat slurp the coconut water and chomp away on the tender coconut flesh inside right out of my hand :) No no it was not one bit scary ~ it was much like feeding a friendly puppy dog  :D 

Suicide ~ Food for thought!

Today's top story ~ Girl commits suicide after her boy friend dumps her on Facebook !

This is soo disheartening..a girl so talented (not that if she was less talented I would care less) to pass out of IIT- Kanpur, work in Infosys, and get into IIM - killed herself for being dumped (whether on FB or G+ is not important) it kinda shows us that  though technology has developed so much, we are not ready to cope with its repercussions, nor have we built a dynamic social support system to check this- but then again suicide is more of a personal decision - a choice, so I guess I can't get away with blaming the society.. Sociologist Emile Durkiem the author of Le Suicide- THE SUICIDE  infers that the more connected people are to each other through the institution of religion the less likely they actually go through with suicide - I do not agree with all the inferences given in his book  but again it is note worthy point. My inference is - its  not the religion that prevents suicide but the fellowship of individuals  which give us the assurance that we are not alone, there has been worse, and yes this too shall pass. It is not religious ties which has the power to prevent suicide, religion is just a road to reach GOD!  

Personally I detest those who commit suicide because I believe it is the most selfish act a person does- almost the height of narcissism( self -love).  When a person decides to take one's life out he/she think solely about themselves, while  completely disregarding the devastating effect their suicide can cause to their family, their friends and the Gift of  Life.. It is almost as if you are making a mockery of  your Creator, your loved ones and Life when you contemplate suicide. You din't create your self into what you are now from a single celled Chimera you were - So no you DO NOT have the liberty to take your life out. Our creator shed his blood, sweat and tears to make you into what you are (flaws included) so do not disregard that and for once try to live for other than for yourself.

A break up  is merely the end of a relationship which is again just the end of JUST a single chapter in the book called Life.. its that and just that - nothing greater than that! and definitely not worthy of killing one self in an impulse.

If you ever feel life is rubbing you to dust and you feel life giving up think of two things.

I. Think  of the single most painful thing you have witnessed - For me it was the memory of an old homeless women, her eyes filled with tears and her face in pain, she used to sit near the suburban train subway, she never used to accept alms, or food from anyone, it was almost impossible to help her - whenever I think of her it moves me and whatever little trouble I have that has been putting me down seems smaller and more solvable than before..

II. Think of the most beautiful thing for me again it was the smile of child whom I met years ago, he was diagnosed with AIDS at 2 , yet he is living every moment or should I say loving every moment I cannot shake his smile of my head  ~ it makes me well up and realize there is so much to life than good grades, an envious body, a great pay package or a failed love life! There is LIFE waiting to be lived,  loved and shared with all. 


No one is alone,  if u think you are alone - Your senses are temporarily  impaired ..Try again the answer is No :) God created a Gazillion Human beings to keep each other loved!


And finally  ~ 

Use your imagination not to scare yourself to death but to inspire yourself to live!

"You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?" ~ Rumi 

All New Amethyst

Amethyst

Ahh i know its been a good 10days since i posted something on my food blog, I have loads of snaps but i haven't been able to sit down and write :) so let us begin where we left ~ AMETHYST! So i finally went to the all new Amethyst last Sunday. Needless to say with a dear girl friend who made my afternoon absolutely delightful!

All new Amethyst @Whites road

Greek Salad

 I ordered a Greek salad made out of fresh olives, crisp lettuce leaves, fresh chopped cucumber, tomatoes and cheese. It was light, nutritious and refreshing.

And for starters we ordered crisp fired chicken lolly pop with a side dipping of mayo - YUM!

And yes a cool glass of fresh lemon flavored iced tea to sip :)

Thin crust chicken pizza

 We were about to explode with just this and yet we ordered dessert :) a friend of mine once said
"Life is short so remember to start with dessert"

Dessert~ Carmel, baked pineapple with roasted almonds- *SIGH* Gimme more  :P

The picture below is not Pandora from AVATAR ~ Its the all new AMETHYST 

My friend was soo inspired by the gardens at Amethyst she wanted to make a parody "Pandora Thandi Varuvya" loosely based on AVATAR & VTV :P