Eating Out: Thai Express at Banjara Road No 3

I should have written about this much much earlier because for us, this is not just another restaurant. It is a reminder of our initial days in this new city.

The service apartment where we stayed at in our first month here was just a few minutes away from Thai Express. It was great that if we had wanted a break from Indian food, there was a very convenient option just right by our doorstep.

Though it was familiar food, we did not eat there often until the hubby fell sick to his first bout of diarrhoea. It then became our canteen for those few days because it had a clean toilet which is important if we had decided to eat in. But it was the Chicken Tang Hoon ball in Soup with Glass Noodles  - our ultimate comfort food here when feeling sick that kept bringing us back.

Drinking that rich piping hot broth just comforts that upset tummy or a drippy nose.

Our Comfort Food

However, on a normal day when we visit, our favourites are the Clear Seafood Tom Yum Soup, Stuffed Tau Pok, Olive Fried Rice and Spicy Minced Chicken Stir Fried with Basil.

The Tom Yum Soup is a must have for us both as the strong sour taste together with the spiciness of it really whets your appetite and give you a real kick.

Most of the dishes here tastes quite close to what you will expect in a Thai restaurant and even the drinks like Thai Ice Tea and Chendol are also up to the mark.

Prices here are reasonable compared to the other restaurants in the city but do note that their food portion is good for one, not too suited for sharing.

So with good ambience, friendly staff and close-to-authentic Thai food, I am giving it my two thumbs up!

MasterChef USA

Starworld started showing MasterChef USA on Monday last week and it made me so happy that I had something to look forward to now at 9pm!

For the last 2 months after Bones, Amazing Race and MasterChef USA ended their run almost simultaneously, I had suffered telly withdrawal symptoms and had turned to watching drama serials online.

So, I was most happy that my telly routine is now back except that I was rather skeptical about Gordon Ramsay as one of the judges. He is the reason as to why I never liked watching Hell's Kitchen because there was just too much shouting and verbal abuse coming from him.

Ramsay is surprisingly rather toned down as compared to Hell's Kitchen. In fact, I couldn't believe it that he was sympathetic towards this contestant who couldn't bring herself to kill a live dungeoness crab!

  

This US version feels like a mad mad rush. It doesn't give you enough time to know the contestants, to see what they do at the house, what they are reading behind the scenes in order to be a better chef, who are friends with who, etc.

MasterChef Australia gives an entire hour to broadcast the different challenges like Invention Test and the Mystery Box but the US version only gives 30 mins for each. So after all the massive editing, I don't really get to see the contestants cooking. Seeing how each contestant cook shows not only their technique but it also gives you a glimpse of their style and personality. 

 But I think the worst thing they had done so far is to only show one judge's comment on each dish. I am sure that each of the judges would have different opinions and critique but sadly, most of that is missing. Thanks to all the editing, I also do not feel like I know the judges any better as a celebrity chefs. The other two judges - Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot are just but new names to me.

Also missing from the US version are the Pressure Test, Celebrity Chef Challenge, Elimination and Masterclass. With so many missing elements, watching MasterChef USA is like drinking sachet mushroom soup, missing the cream and fresh mushrooms. It just does not deliver that kick and excitement that makes you want to watch more.

Conclusion, this US version with lots of drama and %$# words doesn't work for me. Bring me the Australia version anytime.

48 hours of Bandh

Definitation of Bandh according to Wiki:
Bandh (Hindi: बंद), originally a Hindi word meaning 'closed', is a form of protest used by political activists in some countries like India and Nepal. During a Bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike.

Often Bandh means that the community or political party declaring a Bandh expect the general public to stay in their homes and strike work. The main affected are shopkeepers who are expected to keep their shops closed and the public transport operators of buses and cabs are supposed to stay off the road and not carry any passengers. There have been instances of large metro cities coming to a standstill.

Starting today, a 48 hour Bandh was declared in Hyderabad. This Telangana Bandh is 'called by Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in support of their demand for early introduction of a bill for formation of a separate state'.

So, how does this impact day to day living?

For one, my cleaner didn't come today because there were no buses to take her into the city.
For the kids, schools have been declared closed for 2 days.

For transportation, there will hardly be any buses available and the autos who are defying the ban and plying the road will be charging extra. There will be road diversions leading to traffic jams as traffic will be prevented from going near key government buildings and places like the minister's house. Going to the airport might also prove challenging as the taxis are also on strike.

For basic necessities, people started stocking up on essentials like fresh food as the shops might not be open the next few days. Once I heard of the news, I had to call the company delivering our drinking water to make sure it will be sent. Cars were queuing at petrol pumps for hours to get filled.

In short, life of ordinary people who still have to go on with their daily activities becomes inconvenienced. Sadly, these protests will usually end without anything being resolved till the next time some group decide to take up the same cause again. So for a great majority, it is paying a price for nothing.

But for those who takes a personal interest towards the cause, they will take to the streets protesting and in some instances, clash with the police. Already from yesterday, university students who are pro-Telangana have been hurling stones and the police as a result had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd and make arrests. But largely, it has been considered a rather peaceful Bandh with just another one or two isolated incidences of buses and a railway station being damaged.

It is actually good that these are organised strikes as the government are informed beforehand and can then take the necessary precaution of road blocks and deploy extra police. At least there will be no surprises.

As I am home most time, life still goes on without the cleaner today and I might just skip gym tomorrow. The only other thing that bothers me really is the frequent loud siren of police vehicles on the road. Hm, now that sounds rather frivolous in light of the matter but it is how is it.

Sale Time!

There are two season in the city when almost everything in the shops are on sale and that really is the best time to go shopping especially on big ticketed items like furniture and electronics.

Lasting for about 4-6 weeks each time, one sale period starts from after Christmas and the other from mid Aug thereabouts.

When we first arrived, we cashed in on the Aug sale to buy our furniture and electrical appliances. Think we saved quite a bit of money thanks to the sale.

Some of the sale promotions really made us do a double take. One smaller shop was advertising "Buy 3 get 2 free" but we knew that it was going to be near impossible to get 5 items from there.

Walk into the bigger departmental stores, and your ears will be greeted with sale slogans that are aired in replay mode and there is something with how they say the phrase "absolutely free". Unforgettable.

"Spend Rs5000 and get xxx absolutely free". "Buy xxx now and get xxx absolutely free". 

Well, last week was the last weekend of the sale and this was what I picked up from Accessorize at 70% discount. So pretty!

A purse that looks like an postcard/ envelope

Notelets with pretty prints

Adieu Pigeons And Please Do Not Return

Yes! It's you. So go away!!!

Finally, they did go away thanks to the people shooting at them enthusiastically yesterday morning. I should think that they came from some bird control department but who cares as long as the pigeons are gone? Hurray!!!

Let me tell you how pigeons became an irritant in my life.

1. One of them had died before in the open kitchen wash area. Thank goodness it was the cleaner who found the corpse and got rid of it.
2. These bold pigeons have walked into the house before on more than one occasion.
3. When we returned from our trip recently, the entire veranda floor was covered with pigeon poop.
4. It's ridiculous that I am shooing pigeons a few times a day and spending my time to plot against them.

More than the results of my plotting, it is God who answers prayers! Just a few days ago, I was praying that God will remove these pigeons somehow and He said that no problems are too small for Him to handle including pigeons! PTL! 

In any case, I hope they will take up home somewhere else and never find their way back to this area again.

HOME by Kit Chan

Love this song by Kit Chan. Especially so when I am hearing it thousands of miles away from that little red dot.

First sung in 1998 as part of the National Day celebrations, she has rearranged the song this year releasing it together with a music video (i love the Big Splash shot in there).

Comparing the two, it is still Kit's original version that gives me the fuzzy wuzzy feeling. I wished they had remade the mandarin version too.

Well, this is dedicated to my Singaporean friends living abroad :)

Oh, as a reminder to how Singapore is a city of campaigns, you can now take part too. Download the video through this link and SGD1 gets donated to Community Chest: http://www.thisishome.sg/mv.php

An Unwelcomed Homecoming Present

On the third day of returning back to Hyderabad, I added one more first to my list of life experiences - Food Poisoning.

I highly suspect that this present came in the form of that innocent bottle of Bloody Mary Mix bought from the supermarket about a month back.

Yes, I had ate quite a few other things that evening like instant porridge, bak kwa and pineapple tarts but after a process of elimination and analysis, that sip of mix was most likely to be the culprit.

This is not just my first food poisoning experience in India but I mean ever in my whole life! What I thought was indigestion initially was becoming unsettling when I had to battle against that nausea feeling. Ranking number one on my list of things I hate is that I hate to puke. Of course, after the puking came the multiple toilet visits.

Finally, I can truly emphatise with friends who had suffered from food poisoning. Previously, the words of care and concern offered was of course genuine but I never knew how abused the stomach could feel during the episode.

Of course, then my next salute went to all the mummies who had gone through morning sickness.

Thank God, my case was mild and things were more or less back to normal the next day. Right now, am still nursing my less bruised tummy back to normal with no spicy food or dairy products.

Though there are loads of new foodstuff that I had stocked up from my trip back home, I don't think I will have the stomach to try out new items at least for now. Better safe than sorry!

新年快乐- HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! - 万事如意

Happy Lunar New Year to all who are celebrating the festival. Have a great time with your family and friends!