An end and a beginning

It has been almost 14 years (more like 13.5 years) since I joined my current company. This week will be my last week there. Finally, after saying goodbye to a lot of my colleagues, it is now my time to venture out. It is quite a long time to spend in an organization on the same team, even though we have had different managers, the teams have been merged, reorganized etc. The worst and some of the best years of my life has gone by during that time.  I have worked in 2 other organizations but only for a limited amount of time. I hadn’t made any friends there. Acquaintances…yes. Friends, no. This is the only place where I have made friends and have retained them too. I have people who care about me and help me whenever and wherever possible. Like any journey, I have had people leave and new people join. But the best part of it is the experience. The experience of seeing the organization grow, the successes and failures, the growth of the people involved, all of it. The end of my Vanvasam (reference to Ramayana, where Lord Ram was sent to the forest for 14 years), as my manager put it 😉 or end of my Vanvasam & Agnyatavasam (reference to Mahabharata, where the Pandavas were in the forest for 12 years and 1 year incognito) which might be more appropriate in my case.

Now to the beginning of a new age. Literally. The big 4 O. Even though I don’t feel it yet, it is still a fact that I just crossed the big 4. Nothing dramatic happened. Maybe just the weather which turned a bit dull and rainy but the sky is slowly clearing up. I hope when I am back from India in a fortnight, I will come to a sunny spell. It is going to be a very short and very hectic visit. Given that I have 1001 things to do and not have enough time to do it all, my blogging might take a hit.  I might have my usual weekly prompts scheduled in place, though. Hopefully, there won’t be much of dramatic changes in the world until I am back. Stay safe and Happy Blogging.

 

 

Elsa’s please

I recently got a gift for my nieces. Identical ones, so that they won’t fight. It was just a small kit with hair band, ear rings etc to be worn on a birthday. Since the second niece’s birth day is in December, I thought those two sisters can wear something similar that day. One of them was modeled after Frozen Elsa’s blue color stuff, with Elsa’s picture on the cover. I didn’t know if they had seen Frozen or not. So was surprised when my first niece (the eldest of the two) said that she will wear Elsa’s hair band. Then during a separate discussion she said that for her birthday in February, she would like to have Elsa’s dress as my gift for her. I thought she might go for Anna’s and again was surprised when she asked me for Elsa’s. When I asked her about it she said, well, Elsa is the eldest and I like her dress. Anna’s has a cape which I am not fond of and it is stifling in the heat. 😆

WPC: Admiration

I always admire the handmade arts and crafts and can spend a lot of time just looking at them making Friedrich Nietzsche’s quote “Admiration for a quality or an art can be so strong that it deters us from striving to possess it.” true. But once in a while I give in and buy such items and those are my proud possessions. We friends had been to an arts cafe once and I spent most of my time browsing the craftworks than eating at that place 😉 So imagine my surprise when I was gifted this very article of my admiration as my birthday gift yesterday (a little in advance because I won’t be seeing them for a month) Have I told you that my friends are the best 🙂

You know you are getting old when…

the cake is not large enough to hold the candles 😉

Chef’s special menu for the day

This Saturday was a blast inspite of getting up all grumpy and annoyed a little too early for my comfort (around 4.30 am) scarred by some horrible dreams. Got to do a lot of things, all fun, the whole day, till the dawn of the next day, but the best part of it was going to this amazing restaurant as part of a very close friend’s birthday treat (I thought last year’s Christmas Brunch of his was the best, but this year’s birthday treat as of now tops it all). It is called Caperberry, part of Avant Grade Hospitality located in UB City, Bangalore. There we have a special tasting menu which hosts a 7 course meal of chef’s specials for that day. I haven’t been to such tasting menu so far, so I had no expectations as such and I don’t watch the cooking shows too much, because 1. they make me very hungry, 2. I can’t do any of that even if I want to (lack patience in the kitchen) and 3. Most of them make non-veg which I can’t even try even if I want to. So what is the point. But here they had separate specials for both veg and non veg. So, ready to take a peek at what the Chef’s special was this Saturday at Caperberry ? Here it is

a)

Baked Escalivada in Filo – Chilli Garlic and Bell Pepper Mojo – Veg

Pepitoria Chicken – Almond, Saffron and Garlic sauce, black olive powder and mixed lettuce – Non Veg

b)

Green Pineapple Apple and Basic Gezpacho with Beetroot icecream, Beetroot and Apple Tartar – Veg

Tomato Gazpacho with Tuna Tartare and Beetroot-feta Caviar – Non Veg

Had some Sparking wine in between

Sparkling Wine

c)

Vegetarian Migas- Mango spherification, caperberry and pink onion – Veg

Pan seared Scallop & Black Prawn Tempura, Dill foam, poached fennel puree, saffron alidi and wasabi mayo – Non Veg

d)

Glazed Morel and Shittake – Mushroom pisto, porcini sauce, parmesan crumble and spring onion – Veg

John Dory with Romesco- Textures of Aspharagus and Orange segments – Non Veg

e) To bring out more appetite for the main course

Cryo Virgin Margharita – lime and ginger

f)

Aspharagus and Cauliflower Risotto – Truffle oil and manchego cheese – Veg

Duck Empedrat- Celery Textures, Apple Textures and port wine jus – Non Veg

g) Oh!!!! This was so heavenly..You have no idea…I can still feel its taste in my mouth.

White Chocolate and Olive Oil Ecstasy – Chocolate crumble, caramel espume and vanilla icecream

And later we were given two additional desserts

Petit Fours – Cryo Lichi Cream

Candies

What do you think of the chef’s specials ? I wasn’t too stuffed, because the quantity was perfect and the taste was so so so wonderful. Service was good, drinks (we had Sangria and Sparking wine and both were good). Its a high end restaurant and we were pleasantly surprised when he said he will take us all (7 of us) to his birthday treat there. But then he is known for his special treats 🙂 Thank you dear friend for showing us this lovely place (even though I am sure I wont be back there frequently, but once a year is a perfect way to indulge).

More of some fun times coming up.