If you are a novice in the kitchen and know enough cooking to boil water this recipe is for you. We are just going to assemble a few processed goodies and some vegetables and rice to make a wonderful meal.

Time Taken : About 40 Minutes

Serves: 2 Persons

Ingredients:
1 packet Chinese Manchurian Knorr make a meal
1 cube Maggi Chicken concentrate OR 1 cube Maggi Vegetable concentrate
2 Cups of Soya Chunks
1 small onion
1 small carrot
1/2 a  small  cabbage
1 small capsicum OR 2 Big green Chilies
2 spring onions
Some red OR green chili sauce
Some vinegar and green  chili  sauce
1 cup rice
salt
ghee

Method:

Wash the rice in cold water. Soak the rice for 20 minutes in cold water.Throw away the water used to soak the water.  Take 2 cups of water in a pan add the soaked  rice,  a pinch of  salt and a little ghee and cover the pan with a lid and boil the rice on Simmer setting of your gas burner till the rice is tender.( Do not stir the rice while it is cooking.The rice will be cooked by the time all the water is used up. )

Grate all the vegetables and mince the spring onions. Put the spring onions aside.Take a wok add a little ghee and sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water to the vegetables. Add the chinese Knorr Manchurian make a meal mixture and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.
In a little water boil the chicken cube or the vegetable cube ( as per your taste) and set aside.
Boil 4 cups of water in a pan add 1/4 tea-spoon salt and add 2 cups of Soya chunks and boil for 10 minutes. Use a strainer to get rid of the water used to boil the Soya chunks and to wash them in cold fresh water. Squeeze out the excess water.Put some ghee in a wok and fry the Soya chunks till they are a little brown. Add the boiled chicken or vegetable concentrate to the wok and bring to boil till the chunks absorb the concentrate a little and add the mixture of Soya chunks and concentrate to the Manchurian sauce.Garnish with the minced spring onions.

Your meal is ready. Use the chili  sauce as per your taste.

COOK IT UP A RECIPE WEB SITE

Today I love…

1. That you can make anything in the microwave–even Maggi noodles

2. Love Your Body week workshops

3. Naps

(Cooked chicken cocktail with fried eggs and good dose of Maggi sauce)

Lately we have been finding harder to get by without having a good dose of vegetables – going for the ‘big job’ has not been as smooth as it used to be.

Unlike Malaysia where vegetables are abundant, in Iran, there is nothing much other than plain onion (to be eaten with a thin slice of bread) or salad (a mixture of minced carrot, cucumbers and salad leaves). No doubt that the Persian diet consists of a lot of yoghurts and yoghurt drinks which is good for digestions (although it takes some time to acquire the plain yoghurt taste) but nothing beats having a good dose of green vegetables.

We have noticed that some of the shops here do sell vegetables but it is not easy to cook them as we do not have other ingredients to go along with the vegetables. I guess this is why the vegetables in the Persian diet in restaurants consist nothing but fresh salads (perhaps we did not ask about this).

On other days, we eat a lot of fruits namely red apples but we soon get tired of eating just apples. Another alternative is of course, to take in high fibre tablets which does the ‘job’ the same.

When it comes to cooking our self, other than cooking the good old Maggi Mee, we managed to cook eggs (another easy one to do), sausages, nuggets, chicken and vegetables (Chinese style). Buying processed meat can be tricky here. What looks like processed chicken meat can turn out to processed red meat.

(Boiling is one good way to de-ice the meat and ensure the inside is cooked well)

Recently I just found out that ‘Chicken Cocktail’ is really made of chicken so it has been my ‘main’ choice when looking for items to cook at home – DIY style. It comes handy to just boil it and added the sliced chicken cocktails into the pot and has it together with instant noodles or fry it until it is well done and have it with scramble eggs.

Talking about eggs, we have been shopping around and found onions in one of the shops, so now we can also cook onion with eggs (instead of just plain eggs). Yesterday we found fresh gingers but we have to determine how best to cook something with ginger in it (we are goggling for easy ideas).

(To be continued)

Read Also

DIY Chef

Instant Dinner

]]> http://vajarlmetdracula.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/paid-for-by-friends-of-vajarl/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:06:55 +0000 Vajarl http://vajarlmetdracula.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/paid-for-by-friends-of-vajarl/

Since 2010 is approaching, I thought it would be nice if I find out what people think of the candidates. Since it is impossible for me to interview a lot of people, I just went and interviewed one of my closest friends. His name is JC, and he was a pain in the ass but I’d let you share the annoyance I got from the bastard. We talked about politics (hooray! Not.) Here it is.

Vajarl: Okay so I don’t really know how to start this interview.

JC: Noob.

Vajarl: Okay, so here I am with one of my closest friends. His name is JC and I will be trying to ask him a few questions about what he..

JC: *ubo* *ubo*

Vajarl: ..thinks about the candidates for next year’s elections. Now, you might think that this person knows what he will be talking about, well, you’re wrong. He is just a regular teenager. Well, actually he’s twenty, but..

JC: *ubo* *ubo*

Vajarl: Ano?!

JC: …

Vajarl: Fine. Okay, so here I am with one of my closest friends. He is THE AWESOME JC and I will be trying to ask him a few questions about what he thinks about the candidates for next year’s elections. Now, you might think that this person knows what he will be talking about, well, you’re wrong. He is just a regular teenager. Well, actually he’s twenty, but still.

JC: Hihi.

Vajarl: Anyways, he is unemployed, he rarely watches the news, and he has very little knowledge about politics. The best representative of his age group, I’d say!

JC: Huy!

Vajarl: So let’s kick this off with number 1, Loren Legarda.

JC: Kick this off with Loren. Lavet. Haha. Loren, hmm. For president ba uli sya?

Vajarl: I’m not sure, but I think she is aiming for VP.

JC: Oh? Nakita ko yung ad nya sa TV. Ang kulet, haha. Pinapakita nya yung pagtulong nya sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo. Anyways, talk about desperate. Naka ilang takbo na ba to? Ilang beses na rin syang natalo. Naalala ko nung nag amok sya sa news ng ilang lingo nung pinaimbestigahan nya ang pagkapanalo nung kalaban nyang candidate na hindi ko naman maalala, si Noli ata yun.

Vajarl: Noli. I think.

JC: Diba? Haha. At nagbabanta nanaman ang kanyang pagsugod sa COMELEC. If ever matalo nanaman sya at magbabaalak uli syang tumakbo next election, NEVER SAY DIE na dapat ang middle name nya. Hahaha.

Vajarl: *pabulong* mag ingat ingat ka nga sa sinasabi mo at baka may sumugod bigla saten.

Vajarl: Okay, enough of Loren. Ang partner naman nya dapat na si Chiz Escudero? What do you think?

JC: Chiz is okay. Malaki siguro ang chance nya manalo. Naalala ko nung tumakbo sya sa senado, tapos yung mga pinsan ko eh todo support sa kanya DAHIL KAMUKHA DAW SYA NI BAMBOO. Oh diba? Napakalalim ng rason. Alam na alam na nasa lahi namen ang pagkamakabayan. Hahahahaha!

Vajarl: …

JC: Pero infairygodmother, naaliw ako sa speech nya nung umalis sya dun sa party nya na hindi ko alam na nag eexist pala. Well, actually mas naaliw ako dun sa reaction ng mga Cojuangco (spell check please), ma offend ba nung sabihan na haciendero at bilionario? Hahaha. Kung ako siguro ang sinabihan non eh smile nalang ako. Mayaman eh. Hehe. And to think na hindi naman direktang pinatamaan sila. Walang binanggit na pangalan, so ayun. Nakakaaliw lang na naisip nila agad na sila yung bilyonaryo. Hehe.

Vajarl: Mukhang pera ka talaga.

JC: Yehes. Hihi.

Vajarl: Binay? Any thoughts?

JC: Binay? Yung mayor ng Makati? ‘Ganito kami sa Makati, sana ganito ren sa buong bansa’? Tatakbo pala yun. Haha. Akala ko dati garden gnome lang sya. Hahahaha.

Vajarl: Sira.

JC: Pero if ever man, hmm. Ewan, hindi naman ako madalas sa Makati. Malay ko ba.

Vajarl: Nakita mo na ba yung ad ni Noynoy?

JC: oo! Haha. Natawa ako kasi yung isa sa mga kebigan ko sabi nya akala daw nya nung una commercial ng Maggi! Haha. Panay naka yellow kase tapos pamungad si Ate Shawi and Aiai. Hehe.

Vajarl: Wahaha! Nagulat nga ako andon din si Marian eh! Boboto kaya yon? Hahaha. *oops*, anyways, what do you think?

JC: Wait, yung ad muna nya. Hehe. Ginastusan ah. Andaming artista tas ang kanta ni Regine eh todo taas na hindi ko alam pano kinaya ng nose nya yun. Hehe. Ni rerepresent nun siguro ang politics in general. Puro artista.

JC: Nakakainis lang pag nakakarinig ako ng mga comment na ‘goosebumps’ whatever nila. Ewan. Naisip ko lang, pano pa sila makakaramdam ng ‘goosebumps’ dun eh halos araw araw three times nakikita sa TV ang isa sa mga Aquino.

Vajarl: So.. Noynoy?

JC: Hindi ko nga alam ano nagawa nun sa Senado. Meron ba? Haha. Wala naman akong kamalay malay. Teka bat ba kase ako ininterbyu mo haha.

Vajarl: Basta walang pakelamanan. Hehe.

JC: Wala akong alam tungkol kay Noynoy before mamatay si Cory. Pero ngayon, nalaman ko na mahilig sya mag retreat. Hindi ko lang alam ano ang meron sya at hindi na tatakbo si Mr. Palengke/Pedicab para mag VP nya. Oy, in fairness, may konting alam ako. Haha.

Vajarl: Napansin ko parang wala ka pang gusto sa mga Presidentiables. Sa tingin mo, ganon na ba ka lubha ang lagay ng pulitika sa bansa?

JC: Ganun siguro kalubha ang lagay ng mga pulitiko. Mahirap naman magsabe, pero hindi naman talaga madali yung trabaho.

JC: Nakakabulag lang talaga ang fame and money. And I think that applies not only for politicians but for regular Juans also. We can always say before someone runs for office that he or she is a decent person, that that person will never do anything to disgrace his or her own and family’s name. But really, pag nandyan na ang fame at pera, we can never tell. I have witnessed how regular people get blinded by it, and very surprising talaga.

Vajarl: So ang problema ay nasa posisyon?

JC: Siguro nasa power ng posisyon. Which is weird since hindi naman pwedeng alisin yun kase yun naman yung sense ng pagiging politician.

Vajarl: So ang sinasabi mo nga ay hopeless na ang politics dito?

JC: Hindi nga. Kolet.

Vajarl: Sige, kung mag hahandpick ka ng pupwesto sa iba’t ibang posisyon sa pulitika, mamili ka. Kahit sino. Politicians na, celebrities, kapitbahay nyo. Go.

JC: Hmm.

Vajarl: President muna. Sino gusto mo ihand pick na president?

JC: Si Big Brother? Hahahahahahaha!

Vajarl: Sira.

JC: Haha. Pero imagine mo noh, president natin boses lang. Tapos lahat susunod. Kunwari bahay nya ang buong Pilipinas.

Vajarl: Baka maraming mag voluntary exit papuntang ibang bansa. Sira.

JC: Ay, oo nga noh? Forced eviction! Hahaha. Padala natin sila sa North Pole!

Vajarl: Oh game na. Sino?

JC: Kris Aquino? Hehe. She seems like one of those people na hindi sasamantalahin ang power. Pero haha. Iniimadyin ko palang natatawa na ko. Baka mag mistulang talk show ang SONA.

Vajarl: At ang VP?

JC: Doesn’t matter. Ano ba talaga trabaho non? Basta kung sinong pwedeng mag alaga kay Baby James at Josh habang nagtatrabaho si Kris. Hehe.

Vajarl: Haha. Apir!

JC: Huy umayos ka, kunware kagalang galang ka!

Vajarl: Ay, oo nga pala. Hehe. Well, patapos na naman tayo.

JC: Yehes. Nagugutoms na me.

Vajarl: Ay, meron pa palang isa. Gibo Teodoro?

JC: Huh? Sino yun?

Vajarl: Nevermind. So salamat sa pagpaunlak ng munting interview JC.

JC: *ubo*

Vajarl: AWESOME JC.

JC: Hehe.

Vajarl: Teka, nagparegister ka ba?

JC: Hinde.

Vajarl: AY ANAK NG *^$%*@#%^!!!!

If there is one thing that brings the ‘best of me’ when I am abroad, it is learning to be independent in the kitchen – independent in the sense of able to cook something for dinner. As every Malaysians would know, one of the lifelines for times like this is Instant Noodles.

(One of the ‘local’ instant noodles on sale here but compared to Maggi and despite both takes the same 3 minutes to cook, it was rather bland and tasteless)

This time around, I did not packed as many instant noodles as my friends did for the Iran trip. I guessed that 15 packets would be enough for the 3 months duration. Others brought about 30 packets or more. Initially I thought even bringing 15 packets were abit too much since I have not planned to depend so much on instant noodles. However given the recent spat of rainy nights in Tehran, sometimes we have no choice but to cook at home. Instant noodles, chicken nuggets and fresh eggs make a hearty meal anytime of the day. If there is nothing much to cook with it, then we have to resort to eating just bread and fruits.

Interestingly if it has been me at home back in Malaysia, it would have been a rather rare occasion of me going to the kitchen to cook something. Kitchen would have been my wife’s department at home and I must admit that her cooking is much better than me, given any time of the day of course. On some nights when instant noodles would have been the ultimate meal, my wife usually takes care of it, often with additional ingredients added to spices up the meal.

(For one heavy dinner, we are having fried eggs, nuggets and instant noodles)

For breakfast, it is a different thing all together. My friends still take the trouble to cook something in the morning for breakfast (instant noodles is one of them, instant oats is the other) but I find it quite difficult to do the same especially when I have a hard time waking up. So I opt for bread and milk which is not exactly heavy (I miss the heavy ones back in Malaysia – fried noodles with tea or nasi lemak with teh tarik) but is sufficient until lunch break.

For lunch, the good thing is that since we will be out from the house, we will usually eat packed food – rice and kebabs (rotating between chicken and lamb). Rice once a day is more than enough for us here in Tehran. Probably that is why I felt like I am loosing weight – I hardly take plenty of rice during the night.

(To be continued)

Hyderabad. Chandrasekhar Murthy, a programmer with Infosys Technologies Limited, felt relieved and liberated after he cooked Maggi for himself in the middle of the night yesterday. Chandru, as he is affectionately called by his friends, had returned home after finishing a 14-hours shift in the office and was too exhausted to cook anything else. As he was about to eat the noodles, the aroma in the rising vapors made him recall the hostel days of his engineering college, and he felt a free soul again

“I took out Maggi in a plate and came out in the balcony with a chair. As I sat down with the plate in my lap, somehow I suddenly felt as if I was sitting outside the café of my engineering college. Maggi at midnight with friends used to be a routine and life was so different. For the next few moments I felt young and carefree again. It was veritably a freedom at midnight for me.” Chandru recounted his exhilarating experience of last midnight.

But that momentary taste of freedom compelled Chandru to believe that he had been a slave on all the other occasions all through the days of his employment. He felt a strong repulsion and abomination when he was getting ready for the office today morning. The 25-year-old felt like a two-minute rebel.

“I almost hated the idea of going to office. I can’t log into my facebook or orkut accounts there and I can’t chat with my friends. They even banned cellphones with rich features inside the office premises. So forget internet, I can’t even see those beautiful pictures and videos of my golden days to relive those golden moments. I don’t know if a Maggi tonight will help again.” Chandru wondered.

After a lot of intense introspection, Chandru decided to fuck it all and resign from the job. He even typed a resignation letter and proceeded to attend his last day in the office. But the moment he got in his Swift Dezire (car), which he had bought just last month on loan, he was swiftly reminded of the next pending EMI payment. His desire to say bye-bye to his salary got a huge setback.

“I crumpled my resignation letter and used it to remove some dirt off the windscreen. I could see the way ahead very clearly. My boss was waiting for me to give me an awful feedback, even though I had met all the deadlines and delivered on what was asked in the projects.” Chandru said rather disappointedly.

Chandru has been thinking of ways to recreate the Maggi magic since today morning and wondered if he could go on a break with some of his fiends. He was disappointed as his office friends rejected the idea as they feared that numbers of leaves will adversely affect their performance appraisals.

“I can very well understand now why Nandan Nilekani left Infosys to join a government job.” Chandru reportedly said to himself.

Ich bin da sehr  kurzfristig  einfach so reingeraten, in diesen Maggi-Kochkurs “Bella Italia” am Jungfernstieg. Wenn ich länger über die Anmeldung nachgedacht hätte, wäre ich vielleicht schon vorher drauf gekommen, welche edlen Zutaten beim Brühwürfel-Erfinder in  den Topf kommen. Es gibt Tomaten-Suppe, Pasta mit Zucchini, Lachs aus dem Ofen, Schweinebraten und ein Mascarpone-Parfait für insgesamt 39 Euro incl. Mineralwasser und Maggi-Begrüßungssekt (andere Getränke kosten extra). Wir werden in Gruppen eingeteilt und von einer resoluten Maggi-Fachkraft an unseren Arbeitsplätzen eingewiesen. Ich bin in der Einheit für das gegrillte Gemüse, das mit Würzmischung Nr. 1 (für gebratenes Fleisch) angemacht werden soll. Gott sei Dank habe ich nicht den bereits fertig einbalsamierten Schweinebraten erwischt. Die Rezepte liegen auf der Arbeitsplatte. Von hinten kommen immer wieder die Anweisungen der Maggi-Fachfrau. Wenn man kochen kann – sogar ohne Maggi-Gewürzmischungen – nervt das etwas. Wir servieren die etwa 20 Portionen selbst, und deshalb ist auch fast alles kalt, was auf den Tisch kommt. Als ich den Schweinenackenbraten vor der Nase habe, löst das Maggi-Aroma schon eine leichte Übelkeit bei mir aus. Aufstehen sollte man hier nur nach Vorabsprache mit der Fachfrau, denn die will nach jedem Gang noch drüber reden und läßt uns für die jeweilige Gruppen klatschen. Dann tragen wir auf Kommando unsere Teller ab. Als der letzte Gang verzehrt ist, hat die Dame die Küche schon aufgeräumt, und bittet uns freundlich, das Maggi-Kochstudio in der Gruppe zu verlassen. Einge Frage bleibt: Was hat das alles mit “Bella Italia!” zu tun?

Oi! Dnia 24.10.2009 odbył się Porytkon. ;D Z początku myślałam, że nie pojadę, bo mama odkryła Shioko (moją internetową przyjaciółkę), ale gdzie tam. Nie dość, że pojechałam to jeszcze spotkałam koleżankę z netu.

EDIT:

Planszówka nazywa się Carcassonne.

Nie pamiętam dokładnie godzin, ale jestem pewna, że wstałam o 3:00, a dopiero o 8:00 ruszyłam spod domu.. Gdy przebyłam 4h drogi dotarłam na miejsce. Później 1h rozglądałam się po okolicy. Jak mój tata słusznie zauważył, ci wszyscy fani byli tacy jacyś przymuleni xD Babka przebrała małe dziecko za dziewczynkę z horror’u, wszyscy na czaarno, długie włosy… Ci “normalni” zawsze zostają w domu, czy tak wyglądają fani Japonii?

Ci goście przy stolikach grali tam caaały dzień -.- W innych pokojach było to samo! To chore.

Czekając na Shio nauczyłam się grać w pewną grę. . Nazywała się.. Nie wiem. Zamieszczam tu jej zdjęcie, może ktoś pozna ;D

Później spotkałam Shioko, Maggi i Kaśkę (?nie jestem pewna, czy tak miała na imię). Długo, bo około półtorej godziny, chodziłyśmy po stoiskach z gadżetami. Dodam, że pod koniec mojego pobytu w Sosnowcu kupiłam sobie m.in.: mangi, pocky, podkładkę pod myszkę… Zdjęcie nie uchwyciło wszystkiego.

Odbyła się też walka na paski, w której uczestniczył mój brat. Wygrał dwa razy i dwa razu mu się nie udało. Przegrał z facetem, który ćwiczył 12 lat i dziewczyną, bo „nie bije dziewczyn”. A babka zadrapała go po rękach. Chciałam zrobić bratu zdjęcie, ale nie udało się.. Zobaczcie sami pod spodem. Słyszałam o konkursie na bishonena konwentu, ale osobiście to tego nie widziałam. Odbył się też pojedynek Star Wars, a tu odstraszyła mnie nazwa…

Nie cierpię go >....

To był pierwszy konwent, w którym uczestniczyłam w pełni świadomie. Na pewno pojadę na następne. Bawiłam się bardzo dobrze, choć nie uczestniczyłam w wielu atrakcjach, a do UltraStar zajrzałam tylko po to, żeby zrobić fotkę. Wierzę, że następnym razem będzie jeszcze lepiej, jeśli to w ogóle możliwe.

P.S. Ale dalej nie dowiedziałam się w pełni „Mądro”, co znaczy „LARP”.
P.S.2. Niech się Kae nie smuci, że jej nie było. Zabiorę cię następnym razem i LoLcię, żeby było zabawniej ;*.

It’s a Sunday evening, and I’m at home. Didn’t have any plans to go out, then again, I didn’t have enough cash to back up any plans to go out either.

I woke up late today..I believe I woke up around 3.30pm..Well, I freshened up and had my bath, then I went to the nearest mamak stall and had Maggi Goreng with Telur Mata (Fried ‘Maggi‘ Instant Noodles with Fried Eggs, a common local dish in KL) along with a glass of Teh Ais (Iced Tea with Sweet Milk).

After, the 1st meal of the day, I called my mother just to check on my family back home. 15 minutes later, I went home (I’m renting a room). So here I’am now, posting this in my blog. I planned to watch some of the new episodes of a few TV Shows that I’m currently keeping track on which includes FRINGE, FLASHFORWARD, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, BORED TO DEATH and STARGATE UNIVERSE.

At the same time, I am very much looking forward to see my family and my (soon to be wife) girlfriend on the end of October. They will be flying to KL from Kuching on October 31st and will be here for a couple of days. I had already submitted by working leave to spend time with them as I miss all of them very much. My mother, my sister, her husband, her two kids and my girlfriend will be on the trip to KL. I was hoping that my brother would come along to visit me but he couldn’t get off work. Anyways,i can’t wait to hold my Baby in my arms again.

Well, tomorrow is Monday and it’s back to work for me. I’ll just focus on work at the mean time.

Heute soll ein altes Vorurteil bestätigt werden, das besagt, dass Typografen ausschließlich von Buchstabensuppe sich ernähren. Eine Packung Hartweizengries schenkte mir einst einer meiner Studenten zum Semesterende. Danke, Tippi! Das Foto zeigte jene Reste, die sich zunächst auf dem Boden der Kochtopfes festgesetzt hatten. Nach einem längeren Wasserbad und dem Einsatz mechanischer Gewalt war aber wieder alles gut. Auch nicht schlecht: ein Maggi-Werbespot.

I haven’t blogged or been online much this summer.  It hasn’t been a great summer for me or the family but we survived.  Here is where I am after the worst summer of my life.

1. The keyword of the moment is Celexa.  No more of that medication for minor depression and anxiety, Celexa is also called Citalopram and is an antidepressant drug used to treat major depression associated with mood disorders. It is also used on occasion in the treatment of body dysmorphic disorder and anxiety.  In other words I am more messed up than I ever wanted to admit that I was.  While the process of being weaned off my old medication was horrible, the Celexa seems to be helping.
2. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions over what I am saying but reading what Theoren Fleury went through brought back a lot of horrible memories for me.  I wasn’t a “f-cking lunatic” but I resonate with Fleury how long the impact stays with you. (as an aside, Jordon, Lee, and I saw him play in Calgary years ago.  They were the worst seats in the house).  The brutal part about reading about Fleury is that his critics say that same thing about him that I have heard said about me by my family.
3. I almost wonder if points one and two are somehow related.
4. We went up to the lake this weekend for Thanksgiving.  Instead of cooking Thanksgiving Dinner at the cabin, we went to Kinney Memorial Lodge and ate an amazing supper with about 175 others (my estimate anyways).   There was turkey, ham, four different salads, yams, turnip puff, mashed potatoes, and carrots.  The cost wasn’t that much and I hope it was a good fundraiser for Arlington Beach.  The only thing that wasn’t good about the weekend was an “Arctic air mass” moved into Saskatchewan.  I don’t know who invited it but it’s way early.  When we got up to the cabin, it was zero degrees Celsius inside the cabin but within four hours, it was 16 degrees and by the time we went to bed, it was quite comfortable.  Maggi did get one final swim in at the lake and Mark fell into the lake which despite after hearing what happened, I still don’t know how he did it.
5. It’s twelve years of marriage for Jordon and I this Sunday.  This isn’t the place to talk about but I pushed Jordon as far as I could this summer and then pushed some more.  More than one person told me that they told Jordon that he needed to file for divorce.  Despite pushing him to a brink we still made it through another year.  It was a year of pain for both of us but I think Jordon paid a really high price.  I don’t know how we are going to mark the anniversary, it doesn’t seem so much like a date to celebrate but rather a year to kick to the curb.

Today I love…

1. Sharing 10/10 stories with the girls

2. That Maggi + WaiWai combined = ramen awesomeness

Ask us- ‘What was so different about this trip of yours?’- and we will reply with just one word: ‘Weird’.

It all started with a 3 hour late bus while leaving from Delhi. And disorganization followed us like a dog chasing a car. There was no room for plans or knowing what was coming next. A crate full of abuses for everyone from everyone and small ego clashes roaming the air had become the day’s routine for us. Drunken students and sober masters didn’t quite get along well. But, what the hell? We enjoyed. As we do all the time. Because carving a way through shit has been our very own specialty.

We were left on our own since the very first day. So glad, this time we got a chance to befriend/talk to other college mates whom we very conveniently ignored/passed all the time. They did make for some very good entertainment after all. Yes, we also did find some closeted talent hovering around. All in all, a people trip.

We left for Rohtang Pass the day after we reached Manali. On our way, we stopped at Marhi and had oodles of Maggi noodles and chai. And we did the same when we reached Rohtang Pass. I mean, come to a cold place, and NOT have Maggi?? Impossible. Something that we were looking forward to since we came to know of the trip.

Rohtang Pass was one big disappointment in the beginning. Being a major fan of  snow myself, I didn’t care to disguise my remorse at the absence of white when we reached the legendary ‘world’s highest highway’. So when a group of people made plans to climb in search of snow, I buckled and joined the troop; taking Rizu along with me. Nikita parted ways with another group, so we were just Anjali, Rizu and me with some others from the original group. Carrying bulky coats that we hired wasn’t the most enjoyable part and the steep climb took our breath away so many times. Not just because of tiredness, but also because of the gorgeous view. It was amazing and breath taking. The snow capped peaks in the distance, the rocky barren hillside towards the left, the green and red grass all around us and the clouds floating by. If there was ever a heaven on Earth, it could be constructed here. No problems.

In search for snow that wasn’t, we plodded on and on; enjoying the new company. And when we did see it, no one could stop and rushed ahead to take the very first scoop in their hands. It was cold. Brrrrrrr….First time for me, and I was bloody excited. To top this, it started drizzling. Then snowing. Our happiness knew no bounds. The expedition was successful. Though we had to adorn our heavy, bulky coats now, it was worth it. Visibility decreased and cloud cover took over. The descend was one dangerous undertaking. Yet, holding hands in pairs, we managed to reach home ground safely.

Looking back, Rizu and I wondered; if this was so much to climb for us, and if this is how high Rohtang Pass is, what about Mount Everest? Where do we stand in front of that? Of course, you can expect such questions from us. After all, the scenic beauty out there and the majesty of it all had us in awe of what nature is capable of.

The return journey had us driving through hail and rain on dark narrow roads with the driver trying to scare us to death with local ghost stories. Cold and shivering, welcoming a bonfire, that was the end of day 1 for us.

wie im dritten Reich, könnte ich jetzt schreiben, aber langsam verliere ich die Lust, es ist doch immer der gleiche, verlogenen Schwachsinn in Tüten.

Und ja: Maggi-Tütensuppen sind sooo gesund und enthalten gar kein Salz…

Mathematik für Anfänger: 500 Hunde (so genau weßs das ja keiner) geteilt durch, so sagt man, 14 Personen macht nach Adam Riese 35. Gesetzt den Fall alle füttern wie propagiert auch mit und selbiges dauert 4 Stunden, ergibt sich nun nach Eva Zwerg pro Hund 6 Minuten. Alle 2 oder 3 Tage wohlgemerkt.  Oder andersherum: Bei 14 Leuten bleiben pro Hund genau 35 Minuten pro Tag. Wenn man nicht isst, schläft oder auch sonst nix anderes macht, sprich Stadtbesichtigungen etc. p.p. ;-((.  Also 24 Stunden durcharbeitet. Harte Leute das da, muss ich schon sagen. Schaffen wir hier nicht so was. Summa summarum: Alles bestens und artgerechte und erstklassige Hundehaltung. Göbbels hätte es nicht besser zusammen lügen können. Amen. Alles so schön bunt hier… .

Derweilen sich die führende englischsprachige Zeitung in Schweden mit der weltbewegenden Nachricht: “Green dildo promises earth-friendly orgasms” hervortut und der Västerbotten Kurier sich damit beschäftigt wie gemein es doch sei, dass jemand der im Naturschutzgebiet mit seinem Schneemobil fährt, nun doch tatsächlich rund 900 Euro Geldstrafe bezahlen soll.

Und der Svenska samernas Riksförbund (die Schwedische Nationalversammlung der Sami sozusagen) scheint mir derzeit auch irgendein geistiges Problem zu haben. Fordern die doch tatsächlich und wahrhaftig den Massenabschuss von Rotwild mit der Begründung es gäbe viel zu viel und es würde den Rentieren das Futter weg fressen. Gehts noch Jungs oder was?

Knallt nicht so viele Wölfe und Luchse ab, dann regelt sich das von selbst. Aber auf so einfache Ideen kommt heutigentags ja keiner mehr. Warum auch, man kriegt ja für alles Subventionen: Für jeden geschossenen Luchs, Wolf oder Fuchs, für jedes wie auch immer umgekommenes Rentier (mehr als den Verkaufswert auf dem freien Markt) und überhaupt für alles. Ich würde dringendst raten, weniger in  Schneemobile und Helikopter zu investieren, dann braucht man nicht so viel Geld und kann wieder wie seine Vorfahren anständig und traditionell arbeiten. Nur so als Idee… aber hey, wer bin ich schon … ( Ronnie und alle anderen, die noch wirklich traditionell arbeiten: Sorry ihr seid nicht gemeint.)

Derweilen in der ehemalig demokratischen Republik D ein ehemaliges Blauhemd sprich FDJ Mitglied, und damit ein Mitglied einer Diktatur wieder zur Kanzlerin gewählt wird und eine Knallcharge wie Westerwelle große Politik machen darf. Der Weg ins vierte Reich wird erfolgreich beschritten, da mache ich mir mittlerweile gar keine Sorgen mehr… .

So, das waren jetzt nur so ein paar Sachen die mir extrem aufgefallen sind dieser Tage, Stoff hätte ich noch für mindestens 30 weitere Seiten, aber es gibt für mich persönlich wichtigeres zu tun. Und um es mit Aristoteles zu formulieren : ” Es gibt nicht neues unter der Sonne” oder andersherum: People will never learn.

Have fun



Nachtrag am 02.10.2009: Nachdem ich nun X-Mal gefragt wurde was der erste Absatz bedeutet und wer gemeint war: Dieser Propaganda Müll hier. Würde so was normalerweise nie verlinken, aber Ihr habt es ja so gewollt… .

Yesterday night, after a gruelling day of work, I found myself in a rather experimental culinary mood.

So i decided to mix, the two things i love to eat and are supremely easy to cook: maggi and sausages.

The results , if  I do say so myself was an absolute culinary delight and will go down in the history of food classics.

Ingredients:

• one pack of instant maggi noodles
• 250 grams pack of  keells chicken sausages
• salt and pepper to taste

Do it Sasha style…

Cook the maggi noodles as you normally do. Shallow fry the keells chicken sausages and add them to the maggi.

Enjoy the dish.

Serves two.

As much as I love photography, fashion, and those cute little oh-so-retro thingies, I find it so hard to squeeze out some time for self-indulgence these days. I haven’t been out taking photos for ages! The only time I got to cam-whore a little (photo above) was after dinner on Friday with hottie Sophia and her Vietnamese friends.

My last week was occupied with nothing but books I was cooped up at home for 6 days I almost died of boredom @ stress from facing exam. My stress-related diarrhea came to visit and it wasn’t very pleasant. The funny thing is I don’t think I lost an inch from all that loo visits. Ha!

Post-exam syndrome was terribly scary for me. I was desperately wanting to splurge yesterday after my 3-hour paper. I just wanted to buy something. Anything! There I was in JBHifi, contemplating whether to get a portable DVD player, a digicam (Kin lost the Sony), a video camcorder, or an amplifier (see how weird this gets? I don’t even need one). Then I was in Quiksilver and I saw this really cute red bikini with white polka-dots. So retro! And that cute tiny pair of hot pants! Well, thanks to the bf, I managed to walk out of the shops without spending a single cent! Heh. I don’t know about this Saturday though. Mmm……

I have a new-found love – Nissin beef flavored noodle is the bomb! I think I had it at least twice a day during the revision week. It doesn’t sound so bad but if you multiply it by 6 days that’s scary shit. Now I miss Maggi Asam Laksa =( And Maggi Kari Ayam. Maggi Ayam. AHHHHHHHH~ Oh, have I ever mentioned that Maggi instant noodles in Australia are just inedible?!?! When my brother first came to visit 2 years ago, he bought this chicken & corn flavored Maggi mee. CHICKEN & CORN. Make bao su tang is it! So one arvo, he decided to cook that packet of noodle and just out of my stupid curiosity, I decided to taste it a little. Guess what. It actually tasted SWEET! What the…… When you’re hungry and you desperately need to fill your tummy, you DON’T eat something sweet. That’s just wrong. What were they thinking!! Do Aussies actually find that tasty? Well that’s just ONE of the many weird- & disgusting-flavored Maggi mee you can get here. I am yet to try the legendary beef flavored Maggi mee (exclusively available only in Aus), lol.

Mm’kay, bedtime for me. G’nite fairies and princesses wtf.

Title sounds bit dramatized .. but i can tell you it’s true and am honest. well, with a little introduction about my college and my studies i will come to the crux of the post. I did my master’s in E-media Anna university. Since my native is Pondicherry i had to stay in the college hostels for the successful completion of my course. I still remember how difficult it was for me to get a room in hostel . If you ask me, i will tell staying in hostel has its own plus and minus Sometimes you are completely free .. sometimes your are completely lonely.. sometimes you are fully fun packed rocking with your friends.. sometimes sit in one of the corners of the room and feel nostalgic . Even when i write this i feel its quite nostalgic! i should admit i miss my hostel life amidst all the minus My course is exceptional in the whole university.. no perfect timings for the classes. Though the college timing is 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m. We never stayed exactly in class. Most of the days its just two periods. But whenever we ought to go for field work you have to break your back to accomplish the task.. so i come back to hostel by 8.30 sometimes 8.45 the curfew time or even late and get myself in the teeth of the RC’s(Resident Counselors @ Remarkable Cracks). I starve in hunger because i missed my mess food timing even to think it now its horrible . I climb all three floors.(Last floor, last room) to open my doors. By that time i feel that the sky is about to fall on my head I motivate myself to get up from my bed because i can’t spend another sleepless night. (when i don’t eat i was never able to sleep). But still i will be happy and a tinge of hope to feed my stomach. Here comes The DELICIOUS MAGGI!!! .. i make my food just like dat. A bowl and water in it. A coffee heater to boil the water. Cut the pack pour it in hot water add masala.. Close it with a lid for 2 mins. Yummy Maggi is ready in no time  (TA DAAA ) . I sit relaxed stay calm just to taste my delicious maggi. I feel like eating Maggi now (Picture courtesy: Subashini & Mirunalini)

Nos últimos 2 dias poucas coisas aconteceram.

Tenho melhorado na cozinha, já fiz umas refeições jeitosas, à excepção de um arroz que ficou simplesmente horrível! Descobri que estou a usar Knorr (neste caso, Maggi) para sopa de carne e juntar isto ao arroz tinha dado bom resultado até à última tentativa. Felizmente tenho sempre um pacote de batatas de reserva, o que é sempre uma ajuda.

Ontem descobri que o supermercado mais próximo de minha casa vai fechar até dia 1 de Outubro (para remodelações) e que, durante o dia, tinha tudo a 40% de desconto. Aproveitei o melhor que consegui. Infelizmente, quando lá cheguei, os bens básicos já estavam esgotados (leite, carne, ovos, iogurtes, etc.) mas ainda consegui comprar algumas coisas que são mais caras, como gel de banho, pasta dos dentes, bebidas, etc..

Ontem fui novamente à piscina (nós só temos entrada livre 2 vezes por semana, terça à noite e sexta de manhã). Uma vez que ontem não tive aulas porque foi o dia para preparar a viagem de introdução, eu aproveitei e fui nadar. 2ª já vou treinar com uma equipa. Apesar de ser “perto”, tenho de apanhar 2 comboios e 1 autocarro. A ver vamos como corre.

Ontem à noite fomos a um bar no centro de Copenhaga mas, à lá USA, só podiam entrar maiores de 21 anos e com identificação: obviamente que metade do grupo (7 pessoas) não tinham identificação (e algumas também não tinham os 21 anos), pelo que acabámos por ir a outro sítio que era horrível. Valeu pelas voltas que demos pelo centro da cidade que, durante a noite, é tão animado como de dia.

Hoje é dia de descanso, compras e arrumações.

Torino, 11 set. – (Adnkronos) – Il Capo di Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, il generale di Corpo d’Armata Fabrizio Castagnetti, vicino al termine del suo mandato, ha visitato oggi la Scuola di Applicazione e Istituto di Studi Militari dell’Esercito di Torino, da agosto Comando delle Scuole, mantenendo cosi’ fede a una tradizione consolidata nel tempo. Il generale Castagnetti, che ha frequentato la Scuola di Applicazione dal 1966 al 1968, e’ stato accolto dal comandante delle Scuole e della Scuola di Applicazione, generale di Corpo d’Armata Giuseppe Maggi.

Il capo di Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, che prima di lasciare l’istituto ha firmato l’albo d’onore e espresso apprezzamento per l’impegno nel lavoro della Scuola, ha poi visitato il comando della brigata alpina Taurinense, dove e’ stato accolto dal generale Claudio Berto, comandante dell’unita’ alpina di stanza in Piemonte. Il generale Castagnetti ha sottolineato l’importante contributo dato dagli alpini della Taurinense nel campo della sicurezza in Italia e all’estero, riferendosi in particolare all’operazione ‘Strade Sicure’ e alla missione in Afghanistan. Prima di lasciare Torino, il generale ha visitato il museo della Taurinense firmando l’albo d’onore della brigata.

Knorr  can be called as pioneer in India for Soup category. Its efforts coupled with Maggi created and promoted a category which is now growing at about 20% now.

Knorr is one brand of HUL which has sustained different (sometimes confusing and sometimes fatal) marketing strategies. These moves include its marriage with Annapoorna, its ultimate extension to ready to mix foods, ketchup, snacks and what not. All the moves done by the company left this brand to misery except the one promoting soup category in 2007.

But this year on the release of its new campaign on August 10, saw a new and refreshing positioning of the product.

Click here to see the TVC

With this ad a Colgate kind of strategy was adopted. (You should brush 2 times a day) and thus increase the consumption by changing a routine habit. A similar attempt is being made here to increase its usage and include soups as a pre-dinner snack at 7 PM. An attempt to find a place in Indian menu is made by using the empty time slot of 5PM to 8PM. A very fair portrayal of the child and the mother is shown in the TVC both representing their typical Indian image.

Coupled with TVC are the other supporting ATL activities like OOH and Print campaigns and BTL activities like free experimental samples.

This move can be seen as wise to promote the under penetrated soup category in India and reap the benefits thereof for the brand.

What are your views?