Another tiny step towards a new beginning – Summer Internship with Impact America. Pace University has been nice enough to give me some office space, right next to a huge window with a gorgeous view. The people here are so wonderful and supportive. Working with Kesha (Cash) is super cool. She is such an inspiration.
Month: June 2014
Subway Stories
Why fly when you can take the underground train!
Always expect the unexpected in an NYC subway.
Pt. Pleasant Beach
Family crowd, ice creams and rides – this place is the New Jersey version of Chowpatty
Shop Right
And this is why Manish Market rules!!
My Father – My Hero
When we were kids my father worked round the clock. He worked 2 shifts 6 days a week, coming home past mid-night and leaving the next day by 10:00 a.m. On Sundays he left as usual at 10 in the morning and got home by 4 p.m. He called it half day! Day in and day out he saw sick people. He wasn’t just their doctor, he was their healer. There was magic in his touch. His work was not just mentally taxing, it was also physically tiring. The commute to and from his chosen workplace was exhausting. Despite all odds, we have never heard him complain. In my whole life I have heard him raise his voice maybe twice or three times, that too never at me. Nothing could keep him away from his work and his people, not even his own health. At the end of these long weeks, he would happily make time for us. Sunday evenings meant outings to parks, beaches, circuses, magic shows or dinners. Sometimes he would make dinner at home. Had he not been a doctor, I’m sure he would have been a restaurateur. Sunday evenings also meant taking him to the market and pointing out something I would have earmarked earlier during the week. How ever silly or over-priced my demand may have been, he never said no.
He will always be my hero, and I will always be his little girl, his pride, his joy.
Maiz con Quezo
Maiz con Quezo..or atleast that’s what I think it’s called
We recently moved from Stamford to Jersey City. Our first meal in Journal Square was at this little Filipino place around the block. We hadn’t moved in yet, we had just finalized our apartment. We had this crazy desert which was something like a gola-falooda mix.
Strawberry Fields
Everytime I go to San Diego, they have something fun planned for me. This time it was strawberry picking.
Let me take you down, cos I’m going to Strawberry Fields
Although it’s been just a few months, it feels like such a long time since we saw Amma look so alive. We wandered through the fields looking for the biggest and reddest strawberries. The best ones were often those hidden from plain sight, under the leaves, at the bottom.It took us not more than half an hour to fill up our little containers*. As soon as I would be convinced that my container was full, my eyes would fall on the perfect strawberry, just begging to be picked. Amma did her best to convince Akash to pick and eat strawberries from the field while he insisted on eating only those strawberries that he had already picked and were in his basket. Finally Amma switched to picking another strawberry for each one that he ate.
*Containers were available for purchase at the entry. A small one costs $10 while the big ones cost $20. You had to buy one for every person over the age of 5 entering the field.
Edited to add – Amma and Raga observed that almost every family had there had children and had come with grandma.
** Carry water to wash and eat the strawberries.
Olive Oil Tasting
Olive Oil Tasting
The Temecula Oil Company is a family business which grows their own olives and presses them.
I always thought there were only three types of olive oils – regular, virgin and extra virgin, so I was quite intrigued by idea of an olive oil tasting room. I walked in not knowing what to expect and found a little shop with a counter, on which neatly arranged in a row, were around 12-15 bottles. Closer inspection showed that there were both flavoured oils and vinegars. The tasting was free of cost. Not wanting to try out everything from right to left, I picked out a few to sample.Each label sounded more exotic than then next and selecting the samples was hard, but I was quite pleased with my choices. Although I didn’t buy anything, I would recommend the Just Dress It, which I tried.
Half the Story 