Onion Volcano and the Chop Stick Wars

'Ching Chong su kaa ching chong' !! - thats my war cry when i get into chop stick wars with my nephew. Went with these guys to Binihana (Red Flower in English) - A supposedly good Japanese Steak Place. It was good don't doubt my intentions. My first visit to Binihana was with Azz and Mountain Man. That was a hilarious visit because we were just looking to grab a inexpensive dinner and we landed up with a 80$ Bill between 3 people and a spoon full of wasabi in my mouth and fire in of my ass. Here on i would call it 'Kill Dip'. Funny thing for the inexpensive dinner was that i was dressed up for the occasion in my best pair of green bathroom slippers. ;-). Neways that was a good meal and money well spent.

The only thing which i didn't try that day was sake - the Japanese wine made from rice.
Like everything Japanese it is also served in tiny cups with tiny hands from a person having tiny eyes walking on tiny feet. Lil Tiny's.

So today's visit was primarily to drink sake and watch the onion volcano again. By Onion Volcano is meant "teppan-yaki" in which food would be prepared right at the table "teppan-yaki" style (Teppan meaning "steel grill" and yaki meaning "broiled") with dazzling effects by highly trained chefs. The Onion Volcano was good but the chef wasn't too artistic. We had tempura, Steak and Sushi. Awesome Food - Though i still haven't developed a taste for sushi apart from that loved everything. Tempura is like a Fried shrimp more or less. Nothing too funky.

Along with us was a couple from Boston - the lady's name was Trisha i didn't bother to ask the guy's name. ;-) They had with them a 14 month old Baby Benjamin - called 'Benjmi'. So after i had done my Chopstick 201 i started with the best part of a chop stick Meal - chopstick fight. I usually find a kid - Indian Kids are darnest of them all they might just poke the chopstick up in your eyes - they put up a good fight. So me and jasraj got into this chop stick fight and i won as usual and then i get to kick his ass. So i whopped his ass today.

Got back to the office to wrap up some work and then planing to take the other document home now and work from there. Weekend's Gonna go working.

Diwali and Yak Yak

I finished 'Delhi' - The books awesome. Started to fall in love with my city more now. It absolutely rocks. Its been the centre of power since 13'th Centuary and its my home.

Diwali - The Festival of light came and went away. It was a Diwali of its own type - first Diwali out of home. First time when i felt time's passing me by. First time when i felt a need to slow down and think. Don't know why but my normal 'full throttle' mode has slipped into a slow drive through the deep forests of thoughtfulness which is not what I'm enjoying or hating for that matter but secretly enjoying. Sunday did some window shopping. Got old navy Flip Flops and Pierre Cardin pj's.

Monday was pretty calm - Came back home by 6.15 and watched 'Enron - The smartest guys in the room'. Somehow i don't like the hardships of life. The grimness, the coldness gets on to me like a leach and blows me off. :-) No pun intended. Hence the reason i never watched any madhur bhandarkar's movies.

Started new book 'Scar Tissue - Anthony keidis' - Liked the introduction. I hope to learn enough slang's for Drugs which would allow me to act as a conduit if my profession fails me someday.

Yawnnnn...Sleep Mode has just kicked in.

The name's Vivhan

Vivhan - The a synonym for 'Lord Krishna' as per say and thats the name of the new born.

Ooh Ladies i forgot to mention..

Stay Away from Khuswant Singh's Books.

Especially 'Delhi' - The Guy's simply obscenely creative. I knew for sure that he write's erotica intermixed with matter but the guy is freaking amazingly creative when it comes to some matters related to 'wind'. Need i say more.

Ladies Stay Away - Don't Say i never mentioned.
Guys - Get this book now. ASAP;

The Day Yesterday and The one Following it

Been Pretty much a normal day in all aspects the only difference being that i was on 'time'. On time for bath, On time for breakfast, On time for Work, On time for Getting off Work, On Time for food, On time for Movie with food and now on time for blogging. Some thing's Changed. period.

Just saw 'Jar Head' - Movie closely associated with the hollowness of war what a soldier has to deal with when he comes back home after spending 8-9 months in the dessert without firing a shot. Loved the Last Line - 'Its a Dessert and We are still in it'. Else wise the movie's same ol Run of the mill - Iraq sucks and Uncle Sam Rules - But there were no hero's like the 3 Kings or Black Hawk Down or Saving Private Ryan or Wind talkers - I really do watch war movies.

Yesterday was equally entertaining - Watched 'Eight Below' along with Rogan Josh cooked at home by George. Btw for people whom i haven't introduced George - Meet George Ed. My New Flat mate - British Settled in Canada After travelling across the Globe. That's Enuf. He' s a Flat mate not a soul mate. We discuss a lot of work related stuff every day now.

Am i turning into a house wife - huh - a House wife - Then how could i forget to tell you till now - Go n visit my food log - Made Yellow Dal. Talk to u Later./

Casanova

Looking in your eyes is not an act

Honey it is a well thought fact

Asking you about ur day is not a way for me to make my hay

Its what my father taught me while his hair got grey

Me checking you out is not a measure of my clout

its a sign of my interest in you just starting to sprout

Not talking abt you in front of my friends is not respect

its just a way to keep some women only my aspects

Girl i'm not the one who would stay

coz dogs are made by nature to play and then stray

I'm not the one who would make a promise a life and break a heart

but yes i'm certainly the one whose gonna drive u hard till the very last

I'm love!! a critic of beauty and this all is just a duty

These all are not my tactics babe i'm just a romantic

Chacha Again !!

Yippee Thats true - Another 'Son of the Gun' has landed on the face of this earth.

I wonder what would happen of this new generation of puppies which are being raised in our house hold - They are gonna be the slickest smart asses ever to be born.

In shah allah - They shall carry the legacy of pranking, ass kicking and sharp toungues ahead.

Since its 2 now - gives me so many things to do or start planning for like:-

1) Have a mutt race - Both of them in their diapers - running for the milk bottle at the end of the line.
2) Me and my brothers would now have 2 targets with the football - jasraj would have company now.

Thoughts by the peg !!

What you see is not a drink, My friend its life filled to the brink.

Mr Crook to Cook

Last week's been pretty crazy to sum it up production release, No Home food, Loads of Coffee and just 1 meal a day - I was practically a sitting atomic bomb waiting to explode on to anyone who pushed his limits on me. Several people came in close proximity on it but did'nt quite set it on.

Big relief that production release actually went smooth. i was stuck up on a stupid issue which was driving me crazy but its taken care of now to celebrate its nailing i have written a couplet too here's it

'IC-518'
IC-518 is a nasty being
IC-518 can make a man out of a boy in his teens
IC-518 can bring a woman back into her teens

IC-518 oooh I never loose your sight
Gives me countless frights
but I shall fight and no one shall come to ur plight

IC-518 oooh I'm gonnna nail u down
Make u look like clown
Kick your sorry ass bad

And then I'll be a happy lad :-)

Went to the office today to fix a couple of more issues - did'nt work a lot but was pretty fed up of my lousy life style which i had been living for the past 1 week or so. No breakfast no lunch - just coffee and doughnuts and tostitos/ popcorn with coke for dinner - it sucked man. So neways went to Rabba today and picked up the some basic groceries. The plan was to cook food - i decided on chicken. Rest is history :-)

Day of Exploration !! - Part 1

Saturday - Oct 7'th 2006 - Came home from Bhai's place after a BBQ. Tossed myself into the bed with a JD with coke and ice and Delhi. All apologies for expressing my disinterest for honourable Mr Khuswant Singh works. The Books got me totally interested into the age of Delhi which to me had existed only from 1981 - The year of the Ass. I'm totally into the history of the mughals - whose empire controlled the most vast domain in the world and this is mixed with the narrator's escapades with Bhagmati and Georgine. Read a lil - wrapped up my drink and slumped into the bed at around 2 with the alarm set at 4 - We are driving to Algonquin National Park for a day Hike.

Prep for the trip - No maps - just lot of energy and madness - 6 people - 2 cars.
I got up around 5 - Out of the house by 5.15 am - Decided to take the trip in my tracks only.
We all met at Tuss place bid bye to AT who was leaving in the evening. Took a set of direction from Google Maps. Checked the weather for algonquin - its nice and sunny 18 Degrees.
Drivers for the trip ARA, Dev (high on Advil), Me(high on energy and low on brains).

We leave around 6 am - Stop at Rabba to pick water, Ganolla Bars, Gatorade, Snickers and start to follow the directions to algonquin. Its Dev, Me and Tuss in 1 car - Dev Driving. Murga, ARA, Kanak in the other car - ARA Driving. Tossed in the freshly baked CD of Desi music and Billa starts to croon 'Tej Dhaar'. First Pit Stop at Tim's for Coffee and bagel followed by some memnto pics. I somehow dont like group pics - they are so impersonal and cold.

The Drive was good with bursts of dense fog - I did the navigation actually after my last trip to montreal i was looking forward to navigation - had picked up a map on toronto and neighbouring areas hence had a good time tracking Highway 400 to barrie and then on to mushkoka cottage country. Reached algonquin by 10 got our permits and i started to drive ;-) This was the first time when i was driving in canada and the guys felt i'm a pro - no wonder they were with me.

Made it to the start point in time and safe. The trek was pretty much the same old killing kinds but i managed to get some good shots.
To be Cont..

First Management failure ...Desi Club

Walking down the road which all my plans usually do - This Long Week end plan also went down the pot.

As usual the culprits were absence of a team of a motivated set of 'son of the guns'. Suckers could not close upon the thought of driving all through the night to Quebec or taking a night stay in Ottawa or camping to algoquin provincial park and then since god had it against me or something Ticket Lock down day for CTFS got prolonged till 9.30 in the night. I had also explored the possibility of taking a solo trip to Nova Scotia/ Ottawa but its a 16 Hr Road trip or a 3 Hr flight for 300 CAD's which didn't suit my small pockets.

Left office at 9.45 Friday Night went to meet Tuss and AT at their place. Vineesh had already reached there heady already after a beer. Had a beer or two and finally explored the possibility to go on a drive trail in Ottawa. Specs - 6 Hrs 10 mins from Toronto and then around 100 km of driving trail across the shoreline on Quebec river. Called up on Dev to get his buying the bitch was nursing a headache. Took the car keys from him and came back to AT's Disco. Now this guy Dev is a aggressive shopper - He picked up a 5 speaker surround system in Toronto which is right now installed at Tuss's and AT's place. These speakers rant out the latest bollywood ball grinding numbers and provide solace to us for Friday night parties. Its our ' Tyagi Pan Shop' in Toronto which has been sked to shut down by the Toronto civic authorities and shift base to India to prevent anymore noise pollution. AT's going back to India this Sunday.

11.00 pm - Down 2 beers and hungry. Tuss fixes lijat papad and wafers with salsa sauce. I take over the kitchen and make fully loaded cheese omelets for every one. I cook/drive/talk great after 2 drinks. Have facts to prove this. Gorged the omelets with brown bread heated the Indian way on 'tawaa'. Love it this way. 'Toasted Bread' is no match against 'Tawaa Bread'.

11.30 pm - The Bug in AT's brain starts to move rhythmically. When this bug goes in circles its a sign of AT wanting a drink, When it goes quite - AT Eats, when it goes in just one direction not stopping traversing AT's Head to Ass its time to go on the Drive but when it moves rhythmically AT needs music - Desi Music from kajra re to back stabber to gabru. With good goggling skills At quickly churned out 'Besharam' [http://besharam.ca/] - that's the name of the freaking club in Toronto which plays desi music (will talk about it a lil later). A quick show of hands for who wants to go. Ground Rule - no one's excused. So me, AT, Tuss and Vineesh take the car and head out. Now driving in Toronto is disciplined. If caught driving without a license you get the lock up and 250 $ fine.

Driver - Jaspal Sawhney down 3 drinks gets behind the wheel and take off. Driving ever so cautiously especially this is the first time I'm driving in Toronto. We reach the club. Azz called for something. Talked to her while others got into the line and entered. Thru with the call i eye the first stunner of the night - an awesome Punjabi chik - newly married wearing that set of red and white bangles a.k.a chura and sporting a micro mini. That's Real. period.

I enter - pay cover charge - 15$ and look out for the animals. The lounge section is empty more or less. So i move on to the floor section. I didn't know where the floor is but there was a lot of smoke there so i assumed that that's it. Reached there and saw the guys all ready to take on the crowd. Murga (Vineesh) as he would be hence forth called already half way in between 2 women dancing. We let him stay there and head to the bar and grab a Blue and i stand next to the walls on the floor and sip my drinks.

A lil bit about the history of besharam - Now apparently this club started as a Gay/Singles club - but since it played Desi music 'only' By only i mean they don't play even a single English number not even the hot pots. Instead the DJ would play hard Punjabi numbers. Indian Folk music Numbers. That's Unreal. Anyway so a lot of desi people and gays started turning out at this club and it became a hit. From then onwards the first Friday of every month is the 'Besharam' Night when Indian chiks just in their teens - 80 % of the crowd is 20 and below. The house is packed. Man on woman and yeah some man on man too :-D. I don't have an agenda about gays man. Its there life so no moonlighting being done here for any one of the schools of swinging.

Suddenly the music stops and i guess the owner comes to the upper level - lights shining on to him. The Dude is wearing a pink saree - no kiddin and its just the saree no other apparatus - so in short he's topless - the guy is rocking man. He introduces the flavor of the night - Garba - 2 women in chaniya choli - do garba on the upper level and then guy proclaims that the night is on - The DJ plays kajra re and the crowd gives out a loud Hoot and starts to dance. We get on one side of the floor and start to dance. The journey goes from kajra re to shamur to monsoon wedding to i see it baby !!. We dance till 3. Saw so many pretty 'Indian' girls. They were Indian in both body and soul. No comments.

Left the place at 3.10 am. Realized 3 things they are:-
1) The Indian community over here is for sure more tolerant of different mindsets. Which is a definitely is great experience to be a part off. I have found kids here more observant and receptive of other communities. They from the very first day interact with people from diff races/ thoughts/ perspective and are more accepting of them.

2) Funny thing which i observed on the floor - The most shriveled up of Indian women would be standing on the corner of the floor when you first look at them then suddenly after 2-3 songs you would still see them standing there in the corner but smooching a guy. Same was the case with some guys too but its ok - i don't want to talk about that. What goes into the dynamics for this social behavior i don't know. Perhaps i would write a book on the lines of 'Watching the English' - it would be 'Watching the Indians' - The unwritten rules of Indian behavior.

3) The moment we stepped out of the club i heard the most common phrase of my college, friends, foes - Bahin@#@# - So its like when in the club its goes like 'I'm cool man' and just outside the club its like the tonsils change drastically and its moves to expressing ardent love for someone's mothers and sisters.

Neways later guys - Have Dinner tonight at Bhai's place but yes Besharam club is to be a habit now.

Plan - Long Weekend

Guys
Spent some time on this.

The activities which we can look at are:-
1) Whale watching on St Lawrence River - Quebec
2) Hiking trails of about 50-60 miles along the gulf coast line - Quebec
3) City Exploration - Quebec - numerous historic buildings and experience the city’s unique French culture is by walking through the enchanting cobbled streets and narrow laneways. The Fortifications, Place Royale and the Basilica should not be missed. Afterwards head out into the night and discover one of the city's great restaurants.
4) Daru and Sleep for the simple Man :-D
5) Cruise Ride on St lawrence River - a guide relates the story of "New France" and tells you about the origins of Quebec’s most famous landmarks. Relax and enjoy spectacular views of Le Chateau Frontenac, Cap Diamant, Ile d’Orléans and Montmorency Falls.

Probable Itenary
1) Friday - leave from toronto on Friday evening (sounds crazy but then would we be able to leave on Saturday 6 consisdering the fact Friday night everyone's gonna get drunk and then sleep).
2) Drive through the night taking stops when necessary - I have done this till montreal last time so I know that its feasible. We have 4 drivers as per count).
3) Saturday - Reach Quebec - Checkin into a youth hostel. Get Ready and Do Whale Watching. http://www.bonjourquebec.com/ca-en/baleines0.html
4) Come back - Those who wish to explore the city do that - simple man drinks and sleep and to push his limits goes and takes a lap dance.
5) Sunday - Do a hike in quebec along the gulf coast of abt 50- 60 miles. Come back relax. http://www.trails.com/activity.asp?area=15201
6) Monday - Push off from Quebec early morning for toronto - Take the drive via kingston shore line (good fall view) to toronto and hit ur bed.

Accomodation:
Youth Hostels - http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/canada/quebec/5500/ starts 40 $/ person
http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/canada/quebec/15863/ starts 70 $/ person
http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/BattlefieldsBedandBreakfast-Quebec-12198 - for 8 ppl - 52.50 CAD/ person
http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/AubergeInternationaledeQubec-Quebec-6865 - 8 ppl - 26 CAD/ person

Regards
Jas./

The week so far..

The week's been more of less gay so far i all aspects and dimensions. Monday went for NFL Match to Loose Moose and ended up drinking a Pitcher of Molson all by myself. Talk about having a beer. Came back more filled and less drunk.

Tuesday was the day of fixing bugs and khuswant singh's Delhi - Interestingly erotica doesn't amuse me much now. probably because of the uncanny sense of humour mixed with erotica in which Mr Singh the character is reliving nights of bliss with a hermaphrodite called 'bhagmati' But an in depth documentation of Delhi and its history. Makes me think that it might be similiar book like 'City of Djinns' which i intend to take up sometime now. Did look for it @ Chapters but was being sold for 17 CAD's - not worth it. Also did some book surfing and closed upon a book on CII as a follow up for India Unbound.

Wednesday was day of foos ball - Have started kicking Ilia's ass now royally at it. Learning new tricks for the same too. Started planning for the Quebec Trip for the upcoming Long Weekend for thanksgiving. We have a couple of options either do Kingston - Montreal - Quebec and do some whale watching or go camping at algoquin provincial park and watch some moose watching there. Last trip to montreal was great thanks to ramya and rakesh who managed the accomodation and provided manager oversight. However as per the current conditions with no accomodation booking done the chances for both look bleak. :-(

Looks like i would need to don the manager's cap this time and move the slackers !! - The group however this time is all guys and all innocent ;-). Lets see..

Good Night for Now.