Opening a Wine Bottle...

         

     After a year long gap of keeping the occassional hobby of drinking aside, i had to celebrate one of a happy moments couple of weeks ago. I had before me a Carolina Red Wine bottle. With no cork opener at home, it was a struggle to see the fabulous bottle of wine (never tasted before) standing infront of us. So what is the best way to open the wine bottle? Any guesses? Well, i struggled for about half an hour and i could do it finally. Thanks to the youtube and google, but everything to watch on TV / Video looked simpler but in reality it was really a tough job. For those who are not aware, The wine bottle is shown below in the pic and the top portion (neck) of it has a long hard rubber cork very tightly placed at the top. There were various tips on the you-tube on how to cotinuosly pat hard at the bottom of the bottle facing a wall, facing a tree etc. but they all sounded different and not-practical to me, as i had no intention to break the bottle in the battle to open it. I couldnt take the cork out but i succeeded in opening the bottle cork by pushing it hard inside with various kitchen equipment with multiple tries and finally the reverse side of the spoon did the trick. I held tight the spoon with its reverse side and pressed it hard inside, so the cork fell inside the bottle (thanks to youtube again). I had a few sips of it and it couldnt go any inside. Probably many would like it, but to me the touch has gone long ago. Its no more an occassional hobby now :) Its no more in me...

Minerva @ Gaithersburg

      Every friday's lunch is very special for us with office crew. Minerva is an Indian Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD which is about 6 miles from my office doors. Food at Minerva is targeted with spice and taste bought straight from back home. With just 12$ for buffet, you get to see a variety of un-stoppable yummy dishes and no-body waits there. Its the only restaurant in around 100 miles+ radius that lets you eat feel-at-home food. The Spicy Chicken gravy curry, butter Chicken, Fish Masala curry, Mutton curry, authentic chicken biryani, Naans are only of a few of a large variety that yummy a non-vegeterian. There are also a lot of vegetarian dishes as well. Gajar ka halwa, gulabjamon, fruit-salad form your desserts. You get to start with vada, dosa, idli etc. with tomato chutney, coconut chutney etc. With MTV roadies playing on the large TV displays across the restaurant, no body resists the temptation of the good food that we get in this restaurant. We've also tried Indian Palace on the middle-brook road, Madras-Palace on Exit 11, Sagar palace (earlier called as Bombay Dhaba), Madurai Masala also on 11th exit of I270. None of these restaurants get you the taste of Minerva, so its always a special and A month doesnt go without visiting minerva 3 times atleast. The chalupa's in Taco-bell are ok too. People say the 'Cheesy Fiesta Potato' is good at Taco-bell, havn't tried yet. We've been to Mi-Rancho in the middle-brook, and Baja Fresh beside the Library close by... both are Mexican restaurants... The Burito's of Chipotle are no special either to me. Toasted bagels with egg (omlette) is what i love to have for a breakfast at Dunkin-Donuts. Nothing can beat pizza hut / Cici's on a friday evening.. Cooking chicken biryani at home is also not a bad option for a weekend.

Dosa on Sunday Morning...

       It used to be a wait for most of us since saturday evening at BITS. We used to go in group for Sunday morning breakfast. Though some of us used to be nocturnals, "Wake me up for breakfast" used to be a phrase on the new wing facing mess of Ashok bhawan. It used to be special to walk in group into the mess on a sunday morning, walk-straight inside the kitchen room in the mess - Thanks to Ranga Rao (one of our wingies) who managed to become Veg Secratery unanimously during the last semester and getting us the royalty for specials at mess. We used to carry plates inside the kitchen room and wait for dosa's (about 12-14 dosa's would be made at one go on the big pan). There used to be a line, but the aloo sabji with dosa had always been special breakfast every sunday at BITS. Here is my version of the same, after about 4 years now... Making of dosa on sunday morning with no aloo sabji...

Just bought 'car' ......

     

It took a long time to build my credit history though. As i monitored my completion of 6 months after availing my first credit card, i was waiting to see my credit score. I saw it 720 points from Experian and decided on buying a car. Thanks to santosh (my collegue in office), who helped me open a North West Federal Credit Union bank account and providing me all the guidance and help in availing a vehicle loan. I just closed a deal today and finalized my car. Its a 2006 Honda Accord LX Sedan with very low miles on it. I bought it for 12000$. Its from a private seller (Tony, such a nice guy he is). I paid him the bank of america cashiers check for the amount and got my Bill of sale and odometer reading certificates noterized at the UPS Store. Tony has the car title at bank, so the car still remained with him until he gets the title from his bank in a couple of days after which he'll drop the car at my home. Here are a few pics of the car as it looks...

The Snow and Frozen... Winter Broke..

 

   When i stepped here in July @ Maryland, the temperature was 66 (F). It felt like, i was in bangalore. I really enjoyed the weather for my initial months. I got a chance to walk out of door without any problem all the time. While the temperatures @ Irving, Texas was shooting 90's I felt more relaxed here. After all the long long day time where sun sets after around 8-9pm, i was waiting for shorter days to come ahead. Early October showed the temperatures around 50's. November showed temperatures around 40's, December showed temperatures varying from 10 to 32... January joined hands with december and showed a new movie. A movie of Snow and frozen snow turning into ICE.. I have experienced my first snow here in Maryland. Thanks to weather.com and everyone in office knows how the weather is going to be next two - three days before hand. Its a must for people to read the weather before they plan anything. "Wow.. Its snowing outside"... Jim yelled sitting next to me at office. Its not common to have a snow here in Maryland. It snows about a maximum of about 2 or 3 times in winter. A few pics of the recent snow and the frozen snow turning into ice and making us impossible to walk on the ground. I had to skid almost about 10 times while walking about 200 feet. Its a great experience though.

My New Appartment...

    With my earlier roomate mitesh, getting married and our lease expiring in December... I've moved to a 2Bed room appartment. I bought a TV with Western Digital HD media player, a dining table set and complete kitchenware.. It feels good to have your own appartment where you have more responsibility to track your bills and have individuality in doing things you like and feel at your home when you come back.. No need to wait in line in que to go to restroom or wait for your roommate to cook on your behalf or whatever. The Hamptons appartments, has around 10-12 families from my office and definitely it doesnt feel lonely to stay alone with a lot of people around. Every day i keep meeting our group and this place makes me feel at india with a lot of indians around. A few snaps of my new appartment..

Back to Tennis... A Touch of Golf...

    Its been a long while since i held the racket. Tennis is a game which i learnt after i am here a few months ago but i would love to play atleast 3-4 sets without any break now. I am not a power player on the court but i have matured myself from being an ametur to a decent player. I still remember those early days when i used to learn to hit the ball with difficulty and played half court matches with crazy rules to begin with. I love the game for the only reason, it makes you stay fit and increases your body resistance exercising yourself while you play. I am not a great sports person though, to write a lot... But i enjoy playing it...

    Its good to be back to court with some new tips and tricks. After a long pause of winter, i felt i have grown an year older. I guess, i need to bring back all my energy to start on regular work-outs to keep myself great fit. I played 2 sets today and the strings broke apart on one shot. Decided to shop for a racket of my own sooner though. Need to work out more on the back-hand as well...

   I played GOLF for the first time today. Thanks to Sampat who had already spent a lot of money buying the drivers and knickers and pulling me for this... With his membership, today i went to a Golf Range where we bought a big bucket and started to shoot them with various drivers. The long ranger was 250, shot rangers were spanning between 100 - 200. It was a fun holding the Golf stick for the first time, learning the basics of it, the leg moment, the direction and angle of the hand, vision and distance... It was fun... For sure its a game that teaches you to being more patient but when you are into it, you will love it more and more... This game can be played well even after having a heavy lunch...