Like it, love it or hate it, facebook and friends have had a massive impact on most of our lives. I'm not one to make conclusive statements about things that have the potential to swing any which way but I get the feeling that 2009 might just have been the year when I used and abused facebook to the 'fullest'. De donc, I'm going to capture my 2009 in facebook status messages from end to beginning.
is back in Bombay.
CHEW GUM AND YOU WILL NOT CRY (while chopping onions)
Coconut lovers: watch out for those octopuses!!
Köszönöm szépen, muchos gracias and thank you very much for all the birthday wishes.
Can anybody in Budapest lend me a blender?
Go to Slovenia. It has Non Stop Milkomats which serve you Fresh Natural Raw Unskimmed Milk from a vending machine which sings to you while you fill up.
is off to lake bled and ljuby ljuby ljuuuuu
Green shoes, red shoes and salsa work wonders when the leaves are falling!
the bullet has been bitten :)
Late cancel + perfect weather + autumn colours + walk across Lánchíd + sidewalk cafe cappuccino = Budapestet szeretem
27°C - 7°C in less than a week ?!?! Budapest - tu estas loco!! P.S. One whole year in Budapest today :)
is eagerly anticipating snail mail
Mid-week mania at 10, Kacsa utca
is almost all moved out.
Goodbye Angyalföld. Hello Ferencváros
woke up at 3 AM to a flooded bathroom. I think my flat is experiencing separation anxiety
Flat hunting = Hellish!
Palak paneer, naan and lassi.....will the Taj Mahal deliver?
is loving the spring-like morning in the middle of August
wants a green Vespa and a magic carpet
somebody get me out of this furnace of a city. NOW!!!!!!
Done, done and DONE!!
Only 2 more TESOL questions to go...whoop dee doo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
arrrrrrgghhhhhh TESOL!!! Why dost thou do this to me?????
mmmmmmmm....eggs scrambled with two kinds of paprika and ketchup at 3.30 am
has eaten her last Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and life is just not the same anymore
is resisting facebook quizzes of any and all kinds!!
Mummy Sneha and Best Aunt have landed. Whoop whoop!!
is rediscovering her first ever facebook album, courtesy the search for a 'professional looking'
mug shot
has been humming Hungarian 'melodies' in Slovakia
TESCO rhymes with GLASGOWWW
wants a sparkly chandelier
just watched mamma mia and is going to be singing abba tunes all weekend...watch out Budapest!!
who needs lunch when you have new shoes?
is craving roti, sabzi, daal but is settling for pasta!
has rediscovered spinach
loves late cancels more than anything else in the whole wide world
has eaten her way through Vienna and it's surrounds. Slurp slurp!!
has a doppelganger in Budapest who sings on trams and bobs her head!!
is a champion pillow fighter
ate a bagel after wayyyyy too long
Insomniacs only think they're cool. Truly cool people are the ones with giant sunnies
Phew!! The laptop works again (for now)
has finally (half) eaten her first langos
really should go to bed
is in Pareeeeeeeeeee
leaves Roma :( for Venezia :) today
is giving herself an Art History 101 in prep for Rome and Paris
made her first snowman ever today :)
hasn't had anything to say on facebook for a few days now
wants to hug her niece...but she's too far away :*(
is still chowing down those turos taskas
is a turos taska eating machine
Did you know that there is cyanide in apple seeds, mangoes and bitter almonds??
loves the perfect winteriness of today
is in gingerbread heaven
is riding the idiot's rollercoaster
has a truant sock in her washing machine which is driving her INSANE
is a perfect mofeta and wants to eat more croquetas
A few conclusions
1. I talk about food and the weather all the time
2. It was been a year of random kiralysag (a.k.a. coolness) with lots of travel, pillow fighting, snail mailing, facebook quizzing and the list goes on.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
A daytrip worth blogging about
It's a wet, grey day in Budapest and surrounds. Is this the mark of spring turning into summer? Or is this just crazy European weather at its best? Nem ertem!! (translation: I don't understand it)
Still, the crazy weather did not deter and I was up bright and early to head over the border into Kosice, Slovakia (pronounced Ko-sheet-suh). Ignored by most tourists (good for me, bad for them :p) Kosice, is Slovakia's second largest gathering of inhabitants. I refuse to call it a city, but would settle for something in between town and village. Kosice has the most beautiful centre ever....gothic cathedral, a palace with a breathtaking roof, a musical fountain which belts out hits from the 20th century all day long, beautiful gardens, statues and sculptues, street cafes, bars and ice cream shops. Sounds familiar right? That's what every European town/city/village I've visited has had in some measure. But, the border of that beautiful centre is where Kosice gets different, and consequently interesting and worth blogging about. The minute you step out of the centre, all you see are blocks upon blocks of ugly communist style buildings. The transformation is immediate.
Kosice is located in a valley and after a wander through the centre, we took a bus out into the hills, to a lookout tower which overlooks the town. We took in the views while the tower swayed gently with the breeze. It was bizarre!! Gently rolling hills rim the city, a ring of ugly clumps of concrete come next and the town centre basks happily in the middle. It reminded of the 'feedback giving shit sandwich principle' :)
After a delicious lunch of halusky and pierogi, which probably sent my heart one step closer to cardiac arrest and some giddy headed hilarity over 'special biscuits' we headed back into town to soak in some more of the centre. The blueberry ice cream was good. The shop windows were even better. The ball gowns and shoes in particular were sights to be seen. I would truly have nightmares of my clothes taking revenge on me and turning into ferocious and bloodthirsty beasts if I were to wear one of those outfits. Clearly nothing is too bizarre or outlandish in the world of Slovak fashion :) There were shoes that sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow and dresses that blinded and bedazzled....and could possibly injure too. As luck would have it, we were visiting on a Saturday, which is also when the catheral and the chapel next to it, churn out a married couple every hour. As a result of this, we were treated to some stunning creations on real, live people!!
Our day was now complete and after one last scoop of ice cream (this time in a cup of coffee) we headed back home to a land which clearly faces some stiff competition when it comes to fashion disasters.
Still, the crazy weather did not deter and I was up bright and early to head over the border into Kosice, Slovakia (pronounced Ko-sheet-suh). Ignored by most tourists (good for me, bad for them :p) Kosice, is Slovakia's second largest gathering of inhabitants. I refuse to call it a city, but would settle for something in between town and village. Kosice has the most beautiful centre ever....gothic cathedral, a palace with a breathtaking roof, a musical fountain which belts out hits from the 20th century all day long, beautiful gardens, statues and sculptues, street cafes, bars and ice cream shops. Sounds familiar right? That's what every European town/city/village I've visited has had in some measure. But, the border of that beautiful centre is where Kosice gets different, and consequently interesting and worth blogging about. The minute you step out of the centre, all you see are blocks upon blocks of ugly communist style buildings. The transformation is immediate.
Kosice is located in a valley and after a wander through the centre, we took a bus out into the hills, to a lookout tower which overlooks the town. We took in the views while the tower swayed gently with the breeze. It was bizarre!! Gently rolling hills rim the city, a ring of ugly clumps of concrete come next and the town centre basks happily in the middle. It reminded of the 'feedback giving shit sandwich principle' :)
After a delicious lunch of halusky and pierogi, which probably sent my heart one step closer to cardiac arrest and some giddy headed hilarity over 'special biscuits' we headed back into town to soak in some more of the centre. The blueberry ice cream was good. The shop windows were even better. The ball gowns and shoes in particular were sights to be seen. I would truly have nightmares of my clothes taking revenge on me and turning into ferocious and bloodthirsty beasts if I were to wear one of those outfits. Clearly nothing is too bizarre or outlandish in the world of Slovak fashion :) There were shoes that sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow and dresses that blinded and bedazzled....and could possibly injure too. As luck would have it, we were visiting on a Saturday, which is also when the catheral and the chapel next to it, churn out a married couple every hour. As a result of this, we were treated to some stunning creations on real, live people!!
Our day was now complete and after one last scoop of ice cream (this time in a cup of coffee) we headed back home to a land which clearly faces some stiff competition when it comes to fashion disasters.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
La Journee Parfaite
Drag myself out of bed.
Drag myself to class.
Cold crisp winter air.
I'm awake.
My students and I plan a jazz festival. The lesson plan tells us that our festival is a success.
A ride on a rattling tram with a warm, freshly baked turos taska.
Witty, smart alecky repartee back and forth all day long.
Late cancellation :)
The elusive postcard with the 'hot' Magyars makes an appearance once more.
Kapalbharti, a 17 minute run and crunches.
Soup and crunchy pita triangles.
Eat in Rome....I could stay here forever and never move onto to Pray in India and Love in Indonesia. After all, food is my first and true love.
Bedtime.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Spinning.
My life as I have know it has kept changing every year for a couple of years now. And that's the way I like it
18 million people was too much. 300,000 seemed too little. 2 million is close to perfect
Coffee I enjoyed, but I was still to discover the true brilliance that coffee can attain. Then I discovered the perfect Mocha. That perfect Mocha lies in a land far far away and is temporarily unattainable :(
I walked on grimy 'rastas', filled with people and loved it. I walked some more, this time on clean, hilly streets with no people...loved the streets, but missed the people. I still walk and this time around, I have the best of both worlds so long as I choose the right 'utca'.
Walk on the left side of the street and all's good. Walk on the left side of the street and snigger a little at the Europeans who kept bumping into people. Swing between left and right (left more often than not) and this time around it's me bumping into people and occasionally grazing past a cyclist. I bet I'm getting sniggered at too!!
Work, work and work some more. Work, play at work and use all and any snatches of time to work and play. Work, play at work and playyyyy :)
Listening to the waves of the Arabian sea on the rare nights that I sat up to study. Long, long walks along the Wellington harbour and the one paddle boat ride in the harbour. Criss-crossing the Danube (both under and over) every single day.
Vada pav. Scones and muffins. Constant indulgence at peksegs and csukraszdas!!
Juhu by the beach. Kelburn in the hills. Angyalfold in the middle of nowhere.
So what's stayed constant? Well, that's an easy question! The fun people and the opportunity any and every city offers to be discovered.
In the words of McDonald's 'I'm loving it'
18 million people was too much. 300,000 seemed too little. 2 million is close to perfect
Coffee I enjoyed, but I was still to discover the true brilliance that coffee can attain. Then I discovered the perfect Mocha. That perfect Mocha lies in a land far far away and is temporarily unattainable :(
I walked on grimy 'rastas', filled with people and loved it. I walked some more, this time on clean, hilly streets with no people...loved the streets, but missed the people. I still walk and this time around, I have the best of both worlds so long as I choose the right 'utca'.
Walk on the left side of the street and all's good. Walk on the left side of the street and snigger a little at the Europeans who kept bumping into people. Swing between left and right (left more often than not) and this time around it's me bumping into people and occasionally grazing past a cyclist. I bet I'm getting sniggered at too!!
Work, work and work some more. Work, play at work and use all and any snatches of time to work and play. Work, play at work and playyyyy :)
Listening to the waves of the Arabian sea on the rare nights that I sat up to study. Long, long walks along the Wellington harbour and the one paddle boat ride in the harbour. Criss-crossing the Danube (both under and over) every single day.
Vada pav. Scones and muffins. Constant indulgence at peksegs and csukraszdas!!
Juhu by the beach. Kelburn in the hills. Angyalfold in the middle of nowhere.
So what's stayed constant? Well, that's an easy question! The fun people and the opportunity any and every city offers to be discovered.
In the words of McDonald's 'I'm loving it'
Thursday, September 11, 2008
I've been assaulted
A recent long distance train ride home proved to be the most unwelcome assault on my ears.
It started out well, with young, old and everyone in-between stocking up on 'snacks' pronouned 'snecks' or 'snakes' depending on whether you were leaving home or heading home on this particular train. This despite the fact that the Rajdhani is well known for feeding its passengers till they can truly eat no more. Still, this is the way we do it in this part of the world. And why should we ever do it any different? Rajdhani or not.
The train lurches to a start, bang on time and I make myself comfortable....good read in hand and ticket accessible should the TC come-a-checking. Indian trains have always been smelly. Indian trains have always been loud. But when did our good ole blue vinyl berthed bogies turn into entertainment centrals?
Was it absolutely necessary for the podgy 20-something to watch a movie on his overloaded-with-unnecessary-software-laptop on full volume? Or for the teenager on the top berth to play every polyphonic ringtone on her mobile atleast thrice before she chose the one that was to ring out to us every time we passed a state border and had to be alerted of the same by super-enthusiastic service providers? Or for the 'uncle' to belch and burp after an intake of anything, quite so loudly (although this I grudgingly admit is no new phenomena)? And, the newly refurbished air-conditioned bogies now have plugpoints!!! Our little electronic friends and life partners are no longer even given the chance to slip into a silent coma till they reach the next plugpoint in the next town or city.
My memories of drinking chilled Frooti and reading Tinkle are being replaced by memories of awfully high pitched and out of tune ringtones and Bollywood scores!! Me no likes!!
It started out well, with young, old and everyone in-between stocking up on 'snacks' pronouned 'snecks' or 'snakes' depending on whether you were leaving home or heading home on this particular train. This despite the fact that the Rajdhani is well known for feeding its passengers till they can truly eat no more. Still, this is the way we do it in this part of the world. And why should we ever do it any different? Rajdhani or not.
The train lurches to a start, bang on time and I make myself comfortable....good read in hand and ticket accessible should the TC come-a-checking. Indian trains have always been smelly. Indian trains have always been loud. But when did our good ole blue vinyl berthed bogies turn into entertainment centrals?
Was it absolutely necessary for the podgy 20-something to watch a movie on his overloaded-with-unnecessary-software-laptop on full volume? Or for the teenager on the top berth to play every polyphonic ringtone on her mobile atleast thrice before she chose the one that was to ring out to us every time we passed a state border and had to be alerted of the same by super-enthusiastic service providers? Or for the 'uncle' to belch and burp after an intake of anything, quite so loudly (although this I grudgingly admit is no new phenomena)? And, the newly refurbished air-conditioned bogies now have plugpoints!!! Our little electronic friends and life partners are no longer even given the chance to slip into a silent coma till they reach the next plugpoint in the next town or city.
My memories of drinking chilled Frooti and reading Tinkle are being replaced by memories of awfully high pitched and out of tune ringtones and Bollywood scores!! Me no likes!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Closer
And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time......
Well, this can't be one of those times. I'm getting closer to leaving my life of the past year behind and it's not easy!!
I'm still superficially upset about it and I'm really not looking forward to the time when the rude shock of reality hits me. A few days back somebody asked me what I would miss the most and after a long long pause, the only thing I could get myself to say was "The fact that Wellington is such a picture perfect city". Now, this is definitely one of the many things that I will miss, but doesn't come anywhere near describing the never-ending list of things that I will miss.
I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but I will miss the option of being able to walk into one of Welly's many superb cafes and ordering that perfect mocha or chai latte with a warm, buttery muffin or scone.
I live by the sea back home too, but nothing beats a walk by Welly's gorgeous waterfront. I don't think there is a single person who can actually tire of that view. And if there is, they need to get themselves checked out for a disorder of some sort.
I will miss the wonderful people I've met, especially those who I share a connection of some sort with. The ones who have entertained me for a year and kept my spirits high. The ones who have put up with me when I'm being the worst kind of me I can be. The ones who have kept me grounded and connected to reality. The ones who have been there when there's really nowhere else to go to.
I will miss my little world in Kelburn and its surrounds where everything is within walking distance. Home, work and play: nothing is more than a half hour walk away. I have to admit that I haven't enjoyed having to hike up hills on a daily basis, but given the overindulgences in all things fattening, I would have been pumpkin sized if I hadn't. The admittedly smelly and cold 100 Kelburn Parade is soon going to be a memory and not home.
I will miss the endless hours spent window shopping and browsing through books at Borders, Whitcoulls and Arty Bees. But this I can do at home too =)
I will miss having the option to pick up some affordable but good wine and chocolate at the supermarket and enjoy a chocolate appreciation night. I will miss enjoying a beer, because there is no Tuatara Hefe back home..and that's the only beer I've ever really enjoyed. Exit vodka and L & P. Re-enter vodka and Sprite.
I'm in a country that has very little to offer in terms of indigenous food, but I'm such a foodie that i have found foods that I will miss too!! Kiwifruit (only green, cos we don't have gold) will turn into a delicacy again. Pies will once more be associated with dessert. And I wonder when I'll taste my next nectarine, persimmon or bagel with raisin walnut cream cheese. And the wedges...the amazing variety of wedges!!
I wondered why I didn't miss home when I left it. And now I know. Its because I knew that I would go back someday and probably someday soon. But this time around, I don't have the same luxury.
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time......
Well, this can't be one of those times. I'm getting closer to leaving my life of the past year behind and it's not easy!!
I'm still superficially upset about it and I'm really not looking forward to the time when the rude shock of reality hits me. A few days back somebody asked me what I would miss the most and after a long long pause, the only thing I could get myself to say was "The fact that Wellington is such a picture perfect city". Now, this is definitely one of the many things that I will miss, but doesn't come anywhere near describing the never-ending list of things that I will miss.
I'm not a coffee connoisseur, but I will miss the option of being able to walk into one of Welly's many superb cafes and ordering that perfect mocha or chai latte with a warm, buttery muffin or scone.
I live by the sea back home too, but nothing beats a walk by Welly's gorgeous waterfront. I don't think there is a single person who can actually tire of that view. And if there is, they need to get themselves checked out for a disorder of some sort.
I will miss the wonderful people I've met, especially those who I share a connection of some sort with. The ones who have entertained me for a year and kept my spirits high. The ones who have put up with me when I'm being the worst kind of me I can be. The ones who have kept me grounded and connected to reality. The ones who have been there when there's really nowhere else to go to.
I will miss my little world in Kelburn and its surrounds where everything is within walking distance. Home, work and play: nothing is more than a half hour walk away. I have to admit that I haven't enjoyed having to hike up hills on a daily basis, but given the overindulgences in all things fattening, I would have been pumpkin sized if I hadn't. The admittedly smelly and cold 100 Kelburn Parade is soon going to be a memory and not home.
I will miss the endless hours spent window shopping and browsing through books at Borders, Whitcoulls and Arty Bees. But this I can do at home too =)
I will miss having the option to pick up some affordable but good wine and chocolate at the supermarket and enjoy a chocolate appreciation night. I will miss enjoying a beer, because there is no Tuatara Hefe back home..and that's the only beer I've ever really enjoyed. Exit vodka and L & P. Re-enter vodka and Sprite.
I'm in a country that has very little to offer in terms of indigenous food, but I'm such a foodie that i have found foods that I will miss too!! Kiwifruit (only green, cos we don't have gold) will turn into a delicacy again. Pies will once more be associated with dessert. And I wonder when I'll taste my next nectarine, persimmon or bagel with raisin walnut cream cheese. And the wedges...the amazing variety of wedges!!
I wondered why I didn't miss home when I left it. And now I know. Its because I knew that I would go back someday and probably someday soon. But this time around, I don't have the same luxury.
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