I'm in great mood tonight because the other day I entered a competition and I won a years supply of Marmite......... one jar.

A jar that weighs just 125gms! 

Ok... So I didn't win the bottle, I bought it.  I am adventurous with food that way. 

But seriously, you gotta try a bit of this specimen for it to hit you! That flood of memory.  Of all those jokes about British food.  Including the one about Hell is where the British are the chefs.  Am not even gonna bother getting into that comment by a certain French President.

But you know what, the British are certainly not helping their cause when they call their food the following:

1)  Eton mess
See right there.  Its like the British are screaming 'I don't care what it looks like or what its called.  I'll eat it anyway'.  Although for such a messy visual appeal, the dessert itself is quite delightful. You don't have to have a sweet tooth like I do to like this dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries, pieces of meringue and cream.  But ofcourse the cheese cake will always remain my favourite.

 2)  Fool
Nope!  As much as it suggests cannibalism, this is not a puréed stupid human being that the British relish having for dessert.  But rather an English dessert generally made by mixing puréed fruit, whipped cream, sugar, and possibly a flavouring agent like rose water. Google it if you don't beleive me!  Discovered it at the dessert section at Asda.  Nothing much to write home about.  Tastes a lot like mousse.

3) Spotted Dick.
Can you imagine the popularity of a gal who might go to bar and express annoyance over delayed service?  'What does a gal do to get a Spotted Dick here?' Just the sort of purchase that is definitely a till-point conversation starter!!!  Just for the heck of it am gonna go to uppity M&S and see if they have tins of these benign puddings

4) Toad in the Hole.
Nah!  It's neither a frog nor a toad or any other reptilian creature but just sausages thrown about in Yorkshire pudding batter.  Bland.  Tried it with different sauces.  Safe to say, you won't be able to convince me to try it again.

5) Bubble and Squeak:
Don't ask me why I ordered this dish at a restaurant where mains were priced at £15, even though I fully knew that this was something the British made at home using leftovers of the previous night. The waitress said it was potato with cabbage in it.  Food adventurer that I am, went ahead and ordered it to go with the Main. Nah!  Won't try it again. Yes, totally not recommending it! But, really the main point.... why would you call it that?  There was neither a bubble in it nor did it squeak while I ate it!

6) Faggots:
See that's just plain wrong.  Imagine your head going 'Am gonna get a piece of that faggot'. No No.  Besides why would you call food that sounds so much like insects that crawl on dead bodies. Eek!


7) Crackling
Nah. Nah.  Your argument that if some food can be called Crackers then its perfectly ok to call another type Crackling is invalid!

Clearly, when it comes to food, the British are rebellious.  They seem to be screaming ''OK.  So we didn't get the taste or looks right, so what does it matter what we call it?'

Out goes the Ayurveda principle that says food should appeal, not only to your sense of taste, but also your sense of sight and smell! Oh well!

Keep Calm and Drink Tea

Working evening shifts gives you some insights into strange Brit habits.  Like when someone buys pasta or a whole roast chicken and say 'That'll do me for Tea', it kinda makes you wonder about certain people's culinary choices.  Or if an old colleague takes a 1 hour long 'tea break' everyday, you are wont to turn around to your Polish colleague and go 'Man, she does take an awful lot of time to drink her cuppa, doesn't she?'

And all those ads for Afternoon Tea and High Tea at hotels make you think 'What the hell'? Especially if it comes with a price tag of £25 like the one at the Balmoral, Edinburgh.  Really?  That much for a brew even if you are sitting your bum at a luxury five star hotel?

But guess what? 'Tea' may not necessarily refer to the brew.  It could just be a substitute for the word 'Dinner'.  I asked about this habit to a Brit colleague and he rubbed his chin, deep in thought. 'Hmmm.. I wouldn't really call it dinner unless I am out with family or friends dining at a restaurant'. 

So don't be surprised like the way I was when you go out for 'tea'.  For, at the Balmoral, tea is served last.  First comes the soup, very suspiciously called Cullen SKINK, followed by scones, then a pile of finger sandwiches and finally cakes and ice creams.  All served in a typical High Tea tray.  Tea is only served at the end when you slump back in your seat kinda happy about the 'meal'. Some of the things you will be served with strange names:

Oat bread:  A tasteless thin cracker-like biscuit. Spread butter on it and eat it with the Skink. Curl your mouth in disgust.

Shortbread: Again a biscuit that suspiciouly looks like unbaked flour shaped into rectangular shapes. All white. As if the baker forgot to put it in the oven.  But it doesn't taste all that bad!

Flapjack:  A thicker version of the Oat bread!  Only this one has some semblance of flavour. 

I wonder if I should be upset that the hotel didn't have checkered table cloths and covered my tea pot with a tea-cosy to keep it warm while I had my meal... uh.. had my tea (not the brew!).

 

Well, atleast now I no longer frown, wondering disapprovingly about the frugal habits of the Scots when my friend texts back saying 'Away out for tea for bro's birthday'. 

And for some laptop review.

My laptop purchase recently has been so full of incident that I had to write about it.

After putting it off for a whole year, I finally decided to replace my dysfunctional laptop with a new one.  (Disclaimer: Note that the laptop was dysfunctional and not non-functional and hence the prolonged procrastination).  Bah!  Who am I kidding? The end of procrastination came about coz I suddenly found myself with a bit of cash after a holiday week to the Small Isles was cancelled.  Time for a birthday gift, I thought.

Unhappy with HP and a bit skeptical about Dell, I went for a Sony laptop.  Granted the model came under the 'economical' category of the brand, but seriously, did they have to do such half-hearted job of it?

I had placed an online order for this laptop.  Came back from Edinburgh on a Friday and found a card in my mailbox that said this:

Yes, the dumbass delivery guy had left a brand new laptop in the recycle box outside my doorstep!  Nearly on the street. How he decided any box that was left on the street was a safe place to leave a laptop is something I'd like to ask him about! But after I slap him on the back of his head first.  Anyhoo... the laptop was just lying there for a whole day.  Waiting for anyone with some luck and a sharp eye and questionable morals to pick it up.  Cursing the asshead, I opened the package and went 'Hah? That's a new laptop? Coz it was the most ugliest of laptops I had seen.  And it didn't help when my sis who I was skyping with said 'Aw.. how vintage'!

I brushed off the sarcasm, pushed away the nagging thought that this might not even be a UK laptop even though its plug was, accepted half-heartedly that perhaps laptops in this country were sold without installation CDs, detailed manuals and stamped guarantee cards and went about 'owning' the laptop. Now imagine my irritation when it gives me a stupid error message when I clicked on the MS Word Starter pack.

That's it!  I pack it and took it to the shop.  The poor teenaged shop assistant's eyes popped when  I told her that I was returning a Sony laptop.  'A Sony?', her attitude seemed to be screaming!  She tried hard not to make a face (I could tell the effort, unfortunately).  But I did it.  Sent this piece of work back!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-EH2F1E-Windows-Premium-Capacity/dp/B005MOSIIU/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1347114101&sr=1-2

Why the heck it had a £549 price tag initially is still a puzzle. Stay away from the model!  Even your grandparents won't be happy if you gifted it to them!

You have all the L-U-V - Madonna

Wooo!  Guess what Her Awesomeness was upto last weekend?  Checking out the MDNA 2012 Tour at Edinburgh!  That's what!

Man, what a show.  Will give it 8/10.  

But first,  the negative bits:

1) Madonna loses 2 points for the conclusion!  That's coz she didn't have one!  Somewhere during the final song she musta said 'bye bye Scotland'.  But that's it.  All of us just sat there for about 10 minutes, thinking she's coming back but only the lights did!  We didn't know until then that it was the end.  It was like she just decided impromptu not to go back to the stage. Bad, bad girl!

You better not defend her by saying that she ran away because of the rain!  It's Scotland for heaven's sake. What do you expect?  Come prepared!  It's not like we've been having a fantastic summer weather-wise anyway.   And it wasn't like it was pouring down.  Plus, she had some poor devils mopping the stage at every possible interval!  Meh..

2) The show lasted for less than 2 hours. WTF!!!

3) Audience interaction was minimal.  But then again, this being my first concert, I don't know if stars did talk much to the audience.

4)  She mostly stuck to the songs from the MDNA album!  A lil medley of the previous top hits would have been nice!

5)  Why was there no opening act?  A DJ is not enough!  Especially if he isn't playing my favourite Madonna hits!  Bah!

6)  Did she not bring her son on stage in one of the other cities that she toured? Well.. Edinburgh wasn't certainly that city! 

The positive bits?  Plenty.

1) Loved the grandeur of the show.  The graphics, the dancers, the stage.. everything was just fantastic! 

2) Lurrrrved the opening.   She had some men dressed up in occultish clothes and  chanting Kabbalah maybe, with a large, heavy-looking golden lantern swinging back and forth over the audience's heads!  Totally had goose bumps!

3) Take a look at the 4th picture down here!  Another super fab moment for me!  Men dangling in mid-air drumming away to glory.  Literally.  While they are there hanging, drumming away, the props below them was moving like the bars of an equalisation display.   A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  That was her probably singing 'Give me all your Luving'.  Or was it 'Hung up on you'?  Can't be sure.  I was too into the visual treat.  I guess I want it to be Hung up on you as its my favourite song!

4) Not much shock-value on this show.  She did briefly wiggle her black-stocking clad bums and unzipped her pants for less than a min.. but that was it.

5)  I was a bit skeptical during the first song tho, wondering if it was really her.  There was so much energy in her first act.  It involved a lot of fending off and shooting of attackers kinda acrobatic acts that she did really well.  It defied her age. Plus there were no close-ups on the screen of her face.  But if it was her.. well done.

6) She looked the best in the cheerleader costume.  Typical Madonna look!

7) The organisers probably learnt from their mistakes in London.  All was well in Edinburgh!  Except the stupid (non) closing!

Yay!  Totally worth every penny of my hard-earned money!  (Tho I wish I got called into the Golden Triangle.  But then again, I've never been the one for getting 'lucky' ever!  Meh!!). 

Concert Virgin. And what a name to pop the cherry with!

You know how everyone saves up for a holiday?  Well.. I have been doing that for a concert!  Yep!  Going to one that am christening 'La Concert Extravaganza'!   Perhaps the costliest concert that I will go to in a while! But meh.. you live only once right? I feel the tingle of excitement beginning!  Am planning my wardrobe (It's going to be a weekend trip to another city).  And am looking forward to all the things that the Girl Gang would be upto! Giggle. Giggle

I live here!

My friendship with the elderly neighbour started when I first came to view the new flat. (Does sixties count as 'elderly'? Maybe not?). She was tending her garden.  And in response to her smile, I screamed ‘If all goes well, I’ll be your new neighbour for a few months’.  Don’t ask me why I did that, but I did.  But then again, instead of recoiling, she screamed back ‘I’ll be looking forward to that’ as I walked away. There's a good sign. 


While I completely forgot about her when I moved in 2 weeks later, she remembered me.  Enough to come and stand in front of my kitchen window every morning for the first 10 days and wave at me.  In response, I would go out and small talk her!

Now, this neighbour has a strange habit of walking her cat on a lease.  Or should I say it the English way - a lead? You can tell that the cat wasn’t exactly thrilled by the concept of a human being walking with it everywhere. Add to that the pesky incidence of being pulled back by its neck when it wandered off a little too far from the human.  A cat needs his privacy, you know. And freedom.    Once in a while it tries to shake her off by hiding under a car and refusing to come out in the hope that it will see my neighbour’s feet move away.  But that never happened.  You see, G had plenty of time on her hand and possessed in plenty that virtue called patience which comes only with age. I'm thinking, the cat might eventually give up and get used to being followed, but for now, he’s doing his best not to.

G btw, was born and brought up in this house.  So, during the first week of my stay, she told me what the neighbourhood was like in the past.  She said how there was a hound race track where Sainsburys, Boots and Currys was and how a small ‘shopping complex’ was converted into the present day Asda.  As compensation the residents were offered a round-the-year ski slope (for beginners) and a football field. Meh.  But the best piece of info that she gave me was how there was a railway track that ran here once upon a time and how that it has now been converted into beautiful walk.

I took her advice and went for walk down that old railway line.  Some pics below:

That arrow is pointing towards my Uni

I started from the Ruthrieston Station

That's the Pitfodels Station.  It's for sale!

That's the Bielside Station.  It's now a store house for some company.  The highlight of this station is a fake clock in the place of where the original was!

Some views

Oh well.. few advantages of staying in a neighbourhood you can't quite afford!

The Great Yorkshire Show

Ah.. what can I say?  The first big trip for July was the one to The Great Yorkshire Show.  Being a procrastinator who puts off reading about events until the very last moment, I didn't read much about it.

What you need to know about the show is that it is BIG in England and according to wikipedia, was established for the following purpose:  'Exhibition of Farming Stock, Implements etc, and for the General Promotion of Agriculture'. I was only going to attend it for a day.  Be warned peeps, entry is not cheap (You would think so, given that it is a farmers' event..but..meh..).  Fun day anyway. 

It was an interesting event inspite of the terrrible weather.  Weather was so bad that the 3-day show ran only for a day.  The other 2 days were cancelled.  Sad thing too, coz it was only the 3rd time that such a cancellation happened in its 154-year old history! Sad.  But seriously, I totally understand.  I actually saw a woman's Saab stuck in the squelchy mud, holding up the 4x4s that were following behind her!  Poor woman! Imagine what the farmers and breeders who brought animals to the show must have gone through!

Anyway.. the show was great!  Lots of stalls, food, animals, vehicles, people(!) and high spirits (pun)!

Member's Guest 2012 - That's me!

Hmmm. I wonder if the price is reasonable!

 They took the 'At the gate' ticket purchase a little too seriously!

Holy Cow!  Look at their sizes!

The monster equipments!

 But the chauvinists decided to place the wee equipments next to the women's (dainty) institute! 

Aww!  The Hairy Coo family!

The Pamela Andersons of the Cow Family!

The prize...

.....that these guys were aiming for!

I squealed! Apparently, there was a collective sigh as people watched this plane go by!

The Sheep!  The one in the centre is quite a poser, tellin' ya!

There was a falconry show too!  You should have seen the handler's hands!  Absolutely bruise-ful!

The Rabbits!  Yes!  The 2nd bundle of fur too! Not a cat! Not a pedigree dog! But a Lionhead Rabbit! Aw!

Guess who's the designated driver here?  Btw, I totally missed the hound show at this place!  I ran for shelter from the rain!

Whaddya think?  Check out an entire family at the cowshed!

Food!

Hrrrmphhh! The price on that ancient monster of a stove! Or as they say in the UK, a cooker!

The Show - Do you see the guys in their bowler hats?

Toldja! It was an experience!

Lake District - Britain's Kodaikanal

After turning down several invitations to the supposedly pretty Lake District, I finally got a chance to drive through it!  Don't know why, but somehow living in Scotland, has made me a little skeptical about the beauty of England's countryside.  I mean.. can it get better than Scotland? But wait, before you give me dirty glances, I didn't accept those invitations because.. I couldn't!  Either I couldn't take time off work or was travelling somewhere else.  Or people simply changed their minds!  But I finally went.

Not that my trip to Lake District counts as a trip.  It was more of a whirlwind drive-through.  But I've liked what I've seen so far and would be keen to go hill-climbing or camping sometime.  Keep you posted if I get to do it.  And... my opinion about England's countryside!   But.. here's the best part. The city centre there - Ambleside - reminded me of Kodaikanal.  The buildings, the setting, the shops etc. But ofcourse the people were all Caucasian, spoke no Tamil and wore western clothes! Meh...

The fake jumpers! Check it out, none of their feet is off the ground! 

The mandatory PUB

 Pun,pun!  Word play! Amble and Rush! Hee hee!

 Weird camera angle.  Or  is something wrong with that building?