First night In Manargudi

My Grandpapa's house is in the South of India, Thiruvarur district, Manargudi. The car ride from the airport to the house seemed like eternity but eventually we made it. Atha(Grandma) had made idly and sambar. i don't remeber being hungry but ate anyway.

That's my Atha and Ramu Uncle. Ramu uncle is Letchu uncle's brother. Both of them are twins but they don't look alike at all.

After eating i had to take a shower and so Atha burned some wood to boil water. i mean talk about saving energy. Instead of boiling the water over the stove using the gas, she prefers the natural way because it practically costs nothing and its environmentally friendly.

The nights in India are always calm, relaxing and most importantly beautiful. It's a time when the hustle and bustle of the streets slowly vanishes and every living being .. even the earth takes time to rest.

G'Day Mates

Yo .. i'm in Australia now and term started yesterday. Met all my best friends like Jen and Chris and so on. i think its going to be a funky term. But i shall continue on India... sigh.. i miss India..

Incredible India

Just before heading Down Under for my studies, i made a trip to India, to visit my Granny. Mom, Guni, Letchu, Thanam and myself were to follow my uncle. He was going to India on a pilgrimage to Savari Malai.It was one of the best trips i have ever had. Honestly, we were only supposed to stay there for a week but ended up extending it for another. I would have honestly stayed longer if not for my studies. My term starts on the 27th of Febuary so i had to come back by today. Over the next few days i shall fill you in on my India trip. It was AMAZING !!!!

After kissing my doggie Joshie goodbye, we left for the airport. Over there we were delayed because my Uncle's friend who was holding all our passports was late. A wordd of advice, even if you're travelling in a group, keep your passport with you. I was really agitated, but felt much better when we were safely seated in the plane. Guni and Letchu helped themselves to some beer while i enjoyed my food. I know many who hate the food served on planes. I adore them, no matter how bland. I guess its got something to do with the mini plates and cups. Ooh.. i like hospital food too... wierdo .. yeah i know

We landed in Chennai airport and according to my Uncle it was the first time we had to wait for our transport. We were hungry and tired and mom was reallt irritated about the transport.While waiting they had some coffee. There's Guni enjoying his cuppa. I don't drink coffee, can't stand it so i had some water instead.

That's my uncle, his name is Rajan but i call him Chachi. It was really hot and after travelling for two hours we decided to stop for food.. ( my favourite part ) .. Hotel Brindavana.. just a note, in India, an hotel may simply refer to a restaurant .. anyway we each had a lunch set and it was delicious. I loved the chapati but it was tiny. The rice came later but i prefer bread to rice anytime.

On the way i took some random shots of India.

A day at Suntec

Today i spent my day at Suntec City, its a huge place made up of four towers and a fountain in the middle. Someone going there for the first time would definitely get confused. This is because the four towers are separate but joined in the second floor. So if u manage to get to the second floor you can easily get to all towers. Here's a picture of the fountain in the middle. It's apparently the world's largest fountain and the coolest thing is that at night there's a laser display, where images and various colours cut through the water with the use of lasers.

The Fountain of Wealth - Suntec City

For Lunch i felt like having pasta and so i went to Pasta Mania which has really good pasta. Over here i can pile ( and i literally mean PILE ) on the parmesan,salt and occasionally Tobasco sauce. Today i just put a few drops. It was so good i was scraping the sauce after the pasta was gone. My plate was so clean, i didn't think they have to wash it.

Penne at Pasta Mania

Mom was meeting me at around 7 pm so in the meantime i sat at Coffee Bean, with my favourite cake and drink. Today my favourite cake was carrot cake with cream cheese frosting... mmmm yummy... you see sometimes my choice of cake changes...some other time i may have a chocolate cake but the one drink that i will always have with no exceptions is the Vanilla Non-Coffee Ice Blended... ooohhhhh..... creamy, milky and ultimately smooothhh....

Coffee Bean Vanilla Non-Coffee Ice blended and Carrot cake

Soon Mom came and we continued shopping. After getting most of the essentials we went to Marche for dinner. It was really cheap. I had soup, some of my Mom's fried fish, a ham and cheese crepe and a divine waffle with a scoop of ice cream, the name was complicated but essentially it was chocolate chip. With the desserts you can add your own toppings. So i added chocolate sprinkles,crushed peanuts and maple syrup... huh... i want some more.... All of this only cost me S$19 plus... To me that's cheap.

Ham and Mushroom Crepe

Fried fish with Garlic Mayonnaise

Waffles with Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Sprinkles

Out with Jacinta

I met J, my best friend, for dinner today. Since i am going to become vegetarian soon ( for Thaipusam ), we decided to have dinner at Fish & Co. I love their fish and chips... absolutely divine !!! ... crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.. anyway.. i was really hungry so i ordered some fried calamari ( the best ) .. and we both had our usual, the fish and chips...

The fried calamari

Fish and Chips

My hunger was not satisfied because i had not had dessert.. so we walked to Takashimaya.. and i really wanted to have some Takopachi.. but it was closed.. so instead i went over to Bakerzin to get some cake when i saw macaroons. I've always heard of them but never tried them. This was my chance.. so i took pistachio, rose, lemon and chocolate. It was nice. Crunchy on the outside... moist,dense and chewy on the inside. They were sandwhiched with buttercream but i could hardly taste that... but the important thing is that i've finally tried it .. yay ...

Cakes at Bakerzin

Before leaving home i bought some dim sum and popiah.. its like a roll with turnip, egg, crushed peanuts and other things inside.. it was good but would have been better if it was warmer..

Preparing the Popiah

Lunch Today

Lunch for me

Mom didn't cook today so i had to make my own lunch... and as i was rummaging through my fridge i found salmon steaks. Usually i would have made pesto, top the salmon steaks with that and bake that... mmm.. but since i had no basil .. i opted for the easy way.. but i was really hungry and salmon alone would not have been enough.. so i boiled some potatoes, i cut mine first as they cook faster that way. While the potatoes were boiling i fried some breaded scallops and after that, i sprinkled salt and pepper on both side of the salmon and then floured the skin. Once the scallops were done, i placed the salmon skin side down onto the skillet. After about 5 minutes or so, i flipped it over. By this time the potatoes were done, so i removed the salmon from the heat and drained the potatoes. To dress the potatoes i added a heaped tablespoon of sourcream, a good sprinkling of bacon bits and salt and pepper to taste. What a yummy lunch and it only took me about 20 minutes. Talk about food that's fast...

The Fullerton Chocolate Buffet

The majestic Fullerton Hotel

Being such a dessert person, a trip to the Fullerton Chocolate buffet was inevitable. After pestering my family for about ... say a few weeks ... four agreed to accompany me. Mom, Guni , Letchu Uncle and Thanam.We all met at the lobby of the Fullerton and the ambience was incredible. The lighting was soft and inviting and everyone there was full of smiles. The architecture was Classis Greek with a bit of Modernism added to the equation. The columns were majestic and prepared you for the likewise gigantic interior. The hotel almost seemed like a big box with the ceiling reaching the roof.

I made reservations, so we were seated straightaway. As i walked towards my seat i could smell chocolate. It was everywhere. Mmmm imagine experiencing chocolate even without eating it... Ohhh.... From where we were seated i could see the circle where all the cakes were and a chocolate fountain that had chocolate flowing down.. Everything was divine...

The chocolate fountain

The petite desserts

More petite desserts

I made countless trips to the centre because every cake was special. Every piece had its own unique flavouring. Some had coconut, some had chestnuts, others were paired with mandarin flavouring or peppermint. The excellent thing is that every single piece was decorated beautifully. Nothing looked ordinary at all.

Filling our plates with choclate cakes

I think this was third round

There was also mousse in cups and these were not that sweet. A slight hint of liqueur could be tasted... but trust me its really slight... G described it as a drop for each cup... heeheehee he's such a funny man

Chocolate Mousse with macerated cherries

There was also this particular cake that had layers of moist creamy chocolate. Oohhh la la…..

There is also a drink station, where you choose a chocolate and they melt it into some milk… Hot Chocolate… it was fun trying the different percentages of cocoa and tasting the hints of hazelnut and fruits and vanilla… But I found the drinks a bit milky and thin … practically the opposite of Italian hot chocolate which is thick .. almost like pudding….

We really enjoyed the whole experience… but I was shocked by the bill… it was S$260 plus for five of us… we were each charged $ 45 which is a bit on the dear side for me but G said we paid not only for the food but the service and the whole experience.. by the way the service was beyond excellent… our drinks were always topped up and cutlery always changed…. With a smile of course..