Chocolate Theory!

Who in the world does not love chocolates? I have found a way to optimise the taste of already decadent chocolate!!! This probably is a fact chocolatiers have known for ages but anyway I am not sure so I am writing it down as my theory.

The taste of chocolate is better when it is in 2 different ways:

• In a round ball or basic spherical shape - The theory to go with this is because it fits the contours of your mouth perfectly and just melts in your mouth. Also the ball revolves in your mouth and melts evenly onto your tongue, letting all the tastebuds have a heavenly treat!

• In flake form as shown below like the popular cadbury flake. - The theory to go with this is that the pieces are thin even if they are packed together. They easily break apart and the individual flakes break apart into your mouth and just melt away!

Send me your comments and let me know if you try the different options and whether you prefer these to the usual blocks of chocolates.

Proud to be a Cousin!

My cousins have started blogging once again. They are the youngest in our moderately sized "typical" Indian family. I am soo very very proud to be their cousin. These two are young yet the quality of their blogs is fantastic. Not only that but they also make sure they find time to update their blog despite their busy schedules and thousands of other extra-curricular activities. Trust me these kids are definitely always very very busy! So let me give you an introduction about the two of them.

I am not just raving about them because I am their cousin, but because these two are two of the most well-rounded people I know! If someone were to write their resume I am sure that it would be much more impressive than many grown ups I know! I am going to try to write a short summary about them and their blogs so here goes!

Sri --> 13 year old gorgeous girl, gorgeous singer, gorgeous dancer, extremely creative, extremely excellent golfer, netballer, tennis player and extremely smart! Her blogs you can read and you will find a girl who is innocent yet at the same time very mature. She understand things beyond her age and strives for excellence in all the areas possible. One quality she has always had that made her mature beyond her age is that she has been able to understand what others feel and often help then out in their situations. One example she made a boy with a disability who did not talk to teachers and other students talk to her and confide in her. Her blogs show the innocence of a child, yet glimpses of the immense maturity which sets her apart from everyone else! If you want to remember how it was to be a child and live the adventures from a childs perspective read her blogs.

Her blog can be found at www.bubbleysri.blogspot.com

Vyaas --> 9 year old almost typical boy, extremely cheeky and smart boy, he loves and excels in any sport he plays, he has excellent rhythmic sense and also extreme creativity. When anyone meets this boy they can see the sparkle in his eye and immediately identify that he is different from the rest. His knowledge has stunned many, the words he uses are words that even adults cannot understand. His sporting skills have been acknowledged and appreciated by several experience sports professionals from the age of 1, believe it or not! Though he has a typical guy exterior, he is actually a very soft and sensitive person which not many people realise unless they really know him. Go and read his blogs if you want to know interesting facts about science or just to have a mighty laugh!

His blog can be found at www.vyaasr.blogspot.com

I am sure these kids will continue to entertain us with their awesome blogs for many more years to come! Please visit their blogs and comment to encourage them. I feel so privileged to have these two talented people as my cousins! You have to absolutely read both of their latest posts absolutely cute and adorable! Definitely a great read. :)

The New Way to Shop

Right now there are a few ways to shop which everybody knows they are as follows:

• Normal shopping -> You go into a shop and buy things.
• Window shopping -> You check out the goods usual through the window without buying anything
• Internet shopping -> You browse the products online and buy.

I have come up with a new way of shopping. This serves many purposes. The benefits of this mode of shopping are as follows:

• You save money
• You can do it from the comfort of your home
• It helps develop self control
• It helps develop market research skills

OK now I think you all must have started to wonder what on earth I am on about. So here is the new way of shopping. ***Drum roll*** introducing the all new concept of "catalogue shopping"!!!

You must all be saying what on earth is she on about?!? Well we all get some sort of catalogue every week and people living in Australia, unless they specifically state they don't want to receive catalogues, receive loads and loads of catalogues every week.

Where and how and why did I develop this concept you ask? Well there are many factors influencing my choice to catalogue shop.

1. It has been pouring and I have been terribly busy and thus not able to go out to do normal shopping.
2. We have been receiving loads of catalogues and all of them are glammed up with colourful pictures and plenty of discounts.
3. Every girl loves to shop and get a good discount.
4. Everyone wants their value for money and looking through catalogues gives the option of bargain hunting, through comparison and hence enabling you to find the best deals.

So there you go folks. Start your catalogue shopping. You can get the best deals, you can do it from the comfort of your home and you know exactly what you are going to find if and when you go to the store. Also it makes you wiser when buying things and really brings out the true bargain hunter in you! Also folks remember to recycle the catalogues, I know its hard to part with the catalogues but don't worry you know a whole heap are just around the corner!

Announcement!!!!!!!!!

Guess what guess what?!?!

My babies are back! YAY!!! Yippee!!! For all those of you who have no idea what I am on about.. Here goes...

Firstly who are my babies? My cousins...

They are back where? On the blog-o-sphere. YAY!!!

Cool, how do I get to their blogs you ask?

This is how:

• 
  
  Sri can be found at http://bubbleysri.blogspot.com/

and

• 
  
  Vyaas can be found at http://vyaasr.blogspot.com/

Please read their old blog posts and encourage them on their new posts by commenting! The next generation is back again! Hmmm lol I sound like a very very old lady... ;-)

Question

Hey all,
After a while of not having time to blog I am here with a really very random post. I have a question which I would like answered. So here goes:

How come when you go to bed you need your thick clothes as well as your thick blanket, whereas when you are up you do not need your blanket but just your thick clothes?

• Is it because the temperature drops more at night?
• Is it because you need to be warmer to fall asleep? (Although I must say the difference is apparent as soon as you go into bed & not necessarily when you are trying to sleep)
• Or is it something else?

Share your thoughts with me...

Recipe for Free Food!!!

This title would have surely got the attention of many. For those who stay in a hostel in India and want good food here's the recipe.

Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 slik sarees
Jasmine Flowers
Blouse to match saree
Jewellery
You and three others

Preparation
1) Gather three of your closest friends.
2) Provide them each with a saree or if they want and have their own silk saree they can use their own.
3) Each person should find a matching blouse for the saree.
4) Deck up with a light drizzle of jewellery and a dollop of jasmine flowers.
5) Turn a couple of times in front of the mirror until you are satisfied you look good.
6) Head to the nearest wedding hall with a wedding and enjoy!

Variation: This recipe is for females although I am sure with Veshti (or nowadays pants and a shirt) and minus the flowers the males can fit into any wedding just as well.

Ok now what inspired this post you ask? This Aunty we know was telling us that every friday the hostel food used to be bad. She was in college after getting married so once she got married she took 4 silk sarees to her college and some jewellery. So every thursday night (when the food at the hostel was terrible) they used to deck up in a silk saree, jesmine flowers and some gold jewellery and attend any wedding they could find. Of course Indian Weddings being Indian Weddings (where anyone is allowed to come, everyone is invited and particularly no one knows who was exactly invited) they were always given the royal treatment when they entered the weddings and ushered immediately to the food (Aaaahh..Don't you just love Indian hospitality? Simbly great!). So there you go the best way of avoiding bad food and getting great food.

"Auto" Handling

This post of mine is inspired by Priya's most recent blog post, 'Me and Chennai autos'. Well here it comes my story about 'Me and Chennai's autos'. Before I start narrating my story, I highly advice you all try it. When it comes to autos and bargaining, I bargain hard. I know their main aim is to rip me off! I have been known to get on the nerves of many auto whallas. The most notorious of all the nungambakkam ones! Surely though the feeling is mutual, they must think I am as notorious as they seem to me. Ask my sister she will second it! ;-)

Scenario 1
· Point of Departure: Move n Pick, Nungambakkam
· Final Destination: Kakkani Towers, Nungambakkam
· Price Suggested by Auto Whalla: 40 rupees
· Price brought down through bargaining: 30 rupees
· Priced suggested by me: 15 rupees
· Estimated Time by Auto: Less than 5 minutes
· Time taken to walk: 5 mins
· Weather: Bright and Sunny

Scenario 2
· Point of Departure: KNK Rd, Nungambakkam
· Final Destination: Thirumalai Pillai Rd, TNagar
· Price Suggested by Auto Whalla: 55 rupees
· Price brought down through bargaining: 35 rupees
· Priced suggested by me: 25 rupees
· Estimated Time by Auto: 15 minutes if not less
· Time taken to walk: 20 mins
· Weather: Bright and Sunny

Ok well now that the scenes are set, you must be with me in saying... WOW some of those Auto Whallas are ridiculous and also in saying WOW your (as in ME (PreethZzZ)) bargaining is ridiculous!

Scenario 1
This was pretty straight forward. We wanted to get from the point of departure to the point of destination. The only problem being that we didn't know where exactly the point of destination was. So we decided to ask an Auto Whalla and use an Auto to get there. So here's what happened.

Me: ***Hailed an Auto***
Auto Whalla (AW): Where do you want to go? (Ofcourse this was in thamizh)
Me: Kakkani Towers, Nungambakkam
AW: Where is that?
Me: I don't know anything apart from that its in Nungambakkam.
AW: (Sees the opportunity for ripping me off as I don't know where it is) Ok ok, Kakkani Towersaa. I know where that is. 40 rupees.
Me: Whaaaaaattttt.... 40 rupees?!?!?! It is within Nungambakkam surely and I am sure it is on the main road. So that should be about 5-10 minutes maximum.
AW: Hmmmm Ok so you tell me a price.
ME: 15 rupees
AW: No chance give me 35 rupees, the base charge is 15 rupees.
ME: Hmmm 20 rupees and not a bit more. This will be the same as you driving around to find another customer.
Sis: ***Whispers to me*** Oi Preeth lets get away from here, before he decides to harm you.. Go easy dude...
Me: ***Ignores SIS*** What is your final price?
AW: 30 rupees
Me: No cha..........
AW: ***Drives off with a super speed, I am sure Narayan Karthikeyen couldn't compete with his speed***
Me: ......nce.....
Sis: Phew at least he didn't beat us up. I am happy for that much at least!

Scenario 2
Here's where the real fun started. Also might I add because of my previous experience with the Nungambakkam Auto Whallas (NAW) I decided to always bargain hard when it comes to Autos. Also I follow my Thatha's policy of bargaining hard if they are unreasonable and if they are just and reasonable at the beginning to give them a reward for their sincerity. So once again from the point of departure to the point of destination here's what happened.

Generic Script
Me: ***Hails an Auto***
NAW: Where do you want to go?
Me: TP Rd, T.Nagar
NAW: States the price.
Me: 25 rupees
NAW: No chance
Me: Ok tell me how much
NAW: ***States their price***
Me: ***States my bargained price***
NAW: ***States a slightly lower price*** (Still not good enough for me)
Me: ***Walk onwards***
[Several NAW stop by, but some see from far and don't bother even stopping and just drive past]

So this is what happened. I had changed my price from 25 to 30 by the end of it. One NAW had actually offered 30 but I had refused it (this was because I wanted to see how low they would go). Funnily enough as we walked closer to our destination the prices just became higher. So what did we do you ask? We just ended up walking the entire way back home! It served many purposes: Exercise, Money Saving and seeing how just the Auto drivers were! LOL! Fun fun times... I suggest you all try it someday. Oh and for the records out of the 30 auto drivers (no exaggerations) only 2 were reasonable.