For me the 'Romance In Paris' is.....

I've now been to Paris twice and 2 drastically different experiences were what i have been met with. Pre- Paris one has always heard of how romantic it is, and you step in there and you feel it blah blah blah .. well when i went there first (with my husband) both of us, well more me of course was waiting for this 'Romantic' feeling to come over us and well it never came. Yes, the city had its charm, it rained most of the time we were there, the tiny cafes were awesome but i guess i expected to be hit like a rock hitting my forehead & to be swooning in the 'Romantics that is Paris' ..(probably my first mistake)

Dont get me wrong -the holiday was fantastic - we were true tourists did all the must do's and must see's took the tour bus around, ate and drank and went to Lido and was all in all a great trip - and one that broke all the 'pre-conceived' notions. The only downside was we went when all the Parisians had actually left the city .. making it a tourists city.

My second trip with the ladies (now don't get any ideas) :) was just relaxed we had all done the must do's and see's of Paris and the idea was to well just drift with the city. In retrospect the best way to experience Paris. The holiday revolved around eating, drinking, ice cream and yes some shopping. Perfect !! It was on this trip i experienced Paris's 'Romantic' side .. Finally right :) But what I experienced for me was a far cry from my 'pre -conceived ideas of romance'...

Paris's romantic side for me lies in its peoples passion - the city was in the throws of amazing weather. The passion that i saw over conversations, or a simple glass of wine. The passion over eating a meal or indulging in ice creams after battling Que's that went all around the block or doing their weekly shopping at the farmers market, the passion they displayed when kissing in a subway absolutely oblivious of the world around them - even more simplified their passion for life in its most basic form..

                                                 

So simply put the Romance is Paris is all around living life to the fullest, eat, drink and be merry and you could see they did exactly that ..

And for me that's how Paris will always be romantic :)

The Big Apple and its Tiny Nuances

My first trip to the US was absolutely fabulous, as much as i always said the US would be one of the last places I'd visit I actually found the change from Europe refreshing in a way. NY is everything a Big City should be and just being part of the Buzz and in a city that literally doesn't sleep is just amazing !! I did come away with a few interesting observations or so I think .. quirky little things that will always remind me of NY .. so here goes the list

1. There are 3 standard signs you see everywhere you go - they amused me because 2 of 3 were so obvious...
- Above the bar - 'Pregnant Women Should Not drink' (followed by the Hazards of Drinking During Pregnancy)
- In the Restrooms - 'All Employees must wash their hands before returning to work'
- At the Entrance of an Establishment - 'The Cpr Kit is Located Above the Bar'

2. New York is ALL about BRUNCH - yes every restaurant has a brunch menu, brunch specials, peoples lives revolve around Weekend Brunch Plans

3. There is a Minimum of a 1 hour wait for ANYTHING in New York be it to Enter the Abercrombie & Fitch store, Get an Apple Ipad 2 (this can go into many hours)or to get into a restaurant

4. Every Address in New York has a way of sounding Posh be 84th on Fifth or 192 on 17th (second one is made up .. but get my point !)

5. For the visitor, Address in New York are just difficult & unfathomable - Period !

6. You Can Never be Overdressed in New York ..

7. Women in NY seemed to have a certain belly dance style or step .. saw it everywhere .. maybe a fad ?!

8. Yellow Cabs and their In-Cab Entertainment Tv's (Note Kiran Managed to mess every tv in every cab we got into)

9. New York is ALL about Niche Specializations - A Pancakes Restaurant, A Crepe's restaurant, A Ramen restaurant not to forget the pediatric dentist and the salon that Only does and specializes in short haircuts for women

10. Clearance Sales are very Dramatic with Store Windows plastered with big signs reading ' EVERYTHING MUST GO'

11. THE TIP - they have a set of permutations and combinations that arrive at the right amount you should tip .. double the tax, 10% , 20%, amount of the tax etc even a week later i was never sure how much was right !

12. Every 'chatty' cab driver we encountered turned out to be Egyptian .. Hmmm :)

13. To qualify being a New Yorker you need to live in Manhanttan .. anywhere else is well up for debate

14. Cupcakes are the NY thing, with a cupcake van almost everywhere !

15. You Can be sure to find 2 things on every street corner - A Nail Bar & A Psychic

And that's my two cents on the subject ;)

** some of these could be generic to the US but i experienced them first in the NY ..

Do-It-Yourself : Norwegian Style

DIY is almost like a gene embedded in every Norwegian. From simple handy craft projects to complex building of walls, patios, laying their floors, building their kitchens, cleaning their homes, maintaining gardens that are storybook worthy .. you name it and I will find a Norwegian that's done it .. and all of this comes with a self pride of being able to create & build their own.

Coming from a country like India where most of the time there is someone to do things for us ... this concept was well a bit alien not to mention absurd. Why should I build something in my house when i can get someone to do it for me without me lifting a finger, or just buy it right off the self. That parts slowly changing (not that i've built anything apart from ikea) but in small ways I'm starting to understand that pride of doing it yourself...

Thanks to friends here I've had my mini introduction to this .. with friends B & T we not only picked apples from the apple trees in their garden (this itself was a treat for me) we then proceeded to make jam, marmalades,chutneys.. out of it, then sterilize the bottles and then stored them, also add apple pie to that list .. In India I would buy home made Jam .. now i have my own cupboard full of homemade jam = a certain sense of pride of doing it myself

                                                

With my other friend M she re-introduced me to Knitting .. now I'd done this once before as a child for SUPW and honestly it seemed like the most painful thing, leaving my grandmother to finish my 'piece'. Never touched a needle after that labeling it something i would do when i was well at an age i thought would be appropriate. With nothing to do on 4 hour bus rides everyday knitting seemed like a perfect occupation and I started off .. I've finished a scarf for kiran a hat for myself and decided Tina needed one to mark her visit to Norway and made her a hat as well. This morning I put on the hat i knitted myself,and was strutting around almost wishing i could point at it and say 'yup made it myself' (a norwegian would probably point at their sweater and say the same back to me) = a certain sense of pride of making it myself.

                                                   

Over Christmas B decided we should make christmas decorations and happy was I when she asked me to join, with the forewarning that my creativity skills were umm questionable. Forewarning in hand we started and by the end of the evening we had these beautiful advent candle stands (sorry about the bragging I'm still in awe)and later on something for the front door. It sits proudly on the centre coffee table at home and when Tina saw it and refused to believe we made it .. well no guesses what feeling came out = a certain sense of pride.

                                                   

I think what truly enables them to do all this is 1. the time: their work life balance is almost an art form the rest of the world needs to learn. And 2. their ability to enjoy the simple things of life, in its most basic form and from that stems the need to create things yourself. (I'm not ignoring the fact that getting things done her comes at an insanely high cost and hence DIY makes even more sense - but that aside there is no denying the force of their DIY gene)

I hope this DIY gene will stay with me, and maybe I will have some new found skills when i return to India = no shortage of jobs for me :)

To the Norwegians who have introduced me to this .. thank you and hey you know who to call when you needed some labour, all in the name of cultural understanding ;)

Copenhagen and What FIRST'S it Brought To My Life

Just the other day i was thinking about Copenhagen and the most amazing time i've had here, the people I've met and well the things its driven me to do --- all of which take me closer to well 'Completing my Education' as my dearest grandfather says :)

So here it goes.. a List of moments, things I've experienced, love & learnt to love.

I ....

1. Have eaten raw fish and decided im not going to to do this again Ate Raw Fish (the danish love their fish and oh Raw is even better)
2. Experienced Proper Snowfall & an amazing Snow Fight - Love love love it !!!
3. Built a demented Snowman - Love it even more :)
4. Have eaten Reindeer and decided i like them too much to eat them and also they dont taste so good.
5. Tasted Akvavit & Snaps and realised they give you the worst hangovers !!
6. Experienced -8 feels like -16 temperature ... this i think I'm going to have to get use to
7. have learnt atleast 3 Drinking games ... and all around our dining table. This is what happens when you have swedes, australians, danes, new zealanders around you ;)
8. have been introduced to chuck norris jokes and now might be a mild addict - Kristina, Kicki its alll you ;)
9. have been to a micro brewery and had a 5 course beer menu :)
10. Walked on a frozen lake .. this was the coolest it took me 4 days to gather up the courage to do this, i was conviced it would break :)
11. Walked home barefoot in 0 Degrees cause my feet could not take my fancy shoes no more
12. have cleaned the streets of Christiania (with mr. menon & mr.mathure included) got yelled at for dropping a bottle in Christiania and we were given brooms to clean it up ..
13. Now eat a leafy veggie salad and voluntarily make one for myself most evenings .. tomatoes and me in salad are still not best friends though
14. have learnt that even if no one checks tickets here you buy one nonetheless. TRUSTING everything & everyone blindly is now easier for me.
15. know now that roadrage and bad driving is where the Indians and Danes connect
16. like lighting candles at any time during the day the night the afternoon i love buying candles .. they keep me warm !! I understand the candle festish now
17. am Convinced Glogg Wine & Julebrygge Make Christmas Better :)
18. have become a plumber, carpenter and electrician out of refusing to spend 18,000 INR to get a visit from each :)
19. have been to one of the oldest amusement parks at the best time .. Christmas at tivoli
20. think i've mastered the art of making butter chicken
21. have bought the most expensive bulb in my life - cost 1500 INR (this the most basic one too)

I know im going to be updating this list .. but for now ... this is a start :)

On Being Indian

I've never had so many conversations on India, being Indian or what India is about since I landed - right from not believing I’m Indian to asking me questions about India and suddenly realizing I’m not quite sure of the answer. In many ways its made me realize how BIG my country actually is and how we really form such a small part of this Country called India. I was always proud about being Indian but suddenly there seems this bigger pride, I can't quite describe it, this deep deep passion for India i didn’t know existed within me.

Conversations on India can last several hours over lunch and dinner tables, and ideologies or situations we grew up with and came so naturally to us suddenly seem difficult to explain and even more difficult for the person across you to grasp or even begin to understand.

I'm sure some would laugh at this, but personally for me here ... every day brings me closer to my country & makes me look at it & understand it from a whole different perspective !!!

What I want today

Wants a house party at Chitra Raghavan place, wants Ashu and Bella to hug, , wants Neehal Lobo in some crazy leather pants, pointy shoes & some hat, wants Alok Agarwal & Umamahesh Radhakrishnan to do their roadside step, wants Harsha Yadalam to stand with his bottle of teachers and say Janani i think..., wants Pooja Suresh on chitras centre table, wants Ro - Ro & Kiran Menon to do their Chetaa bonding .. wants Abhi Mehta to walk in super late and say dude sam's in town dude, wants Tushie in his element and doing a random count down, wants drinks , dance and attempts at 'these men' conversations with Tuts, Sneha, Sudha & Rishika, wants Boobiieee as the DJ wants Praks and Pabs busting a few moves ... and wants this ALL to end with 'Today is gonna be the day ......'

Helen likes to .....

Not having such a good day, and saw this on another friends blog. Did it and realized it was just the right thing to make me grin :)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Go to Google, Type your name and the words "likes to" all in quotation marks. (e.g. "helen likes to")and then Report back on the first ten things that come up for your name.

Here i Go:

1. Helen likes to be needed, to cherish and protect her loved ones
2. Helen likes to entertain her audiences
3. Helen Likes to Fish...
4. Helen likes to meet new Chinese friends and shop
5. Helen likes to defy presidents, and it turns out she likes to defy doctors as well.
6. Helen Likes to window Wash :)
7. Helen Likes To Dance
8. Helen likes to go for walks up and down our street, rain or shine, hot or cold
9. Helen likes to be in control.
10.Helen likes to travel and is a longstanding supporter of the English Rugby Team.