Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Mango Mango Mango



A colleague of mine who was visiting from the Australian office is leaving on Wednesday. So, we had dinner together at a restaurant in Aker Brygge. Wow. The food was awesome; the dessert was even better, as you can see :)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Daydreaming

I've been eating out a fair bit lately - I had thosai and vadai last Wednesday with my colleagues. I've been asked to mention the name of the restaurant which carries really nice South Indian food :) It's Cafe Palmyra at GrØnland. On Tuesday, I had more Indian food at another restaurant - but this time it was the Northern Indian naan with nice curries and mango lassi.

My brother-in-law messaged me today on Facebook's new chat system. It was so nice to talk to him after so long. It's amazing how easy we forget people when we are chasing after our ambitions. I feel a bit bad for not keeping in touch with him. I will try harder to keep in touch with family from now on :)

Oooh I tried to make bruschetta last night. It turned out awesome. I just put slices of baguette on a hot frying pan, waited for it to dry out a bit. Then I rubbed garlic on the bread slices, spooned chunky chopped tomatoes seasoned with basil, salt, oregano, some pepper, on them, drizzled a few drops of balsamic vinegar - WOW, it was so tasty. Such simple food can actually taste so good - and what's better is that it was vegetarian as well.

I never liked vegetarian food back home - I remember coming home from school and whining to mom "Where's the meat?" when she served vegetarian food. But these days, I really appreciate the dishes she cooked - sambaar, mango chutney, tomato chutney, I can also remember this brinjal dish she used to make. Man, I have to make a list of what I want to eat when I am back in Malaysia for vacation. I'll e-mail it to mom a few weeks in advance :)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Clouds of Change in The Horizon

I like change to a certain extent - but it always rattles me that so much can change in so little time. The next 6 months of my life is going to be full of change. I will be:

  • handling a new role in my job - I have offered to help out in another department for a few days a week to learn more and diversify my knowledge

  • having mom and younger sis over for a visit

  • moving to a new apartment

  • going back to Malaysia for vacation

  • welcoming a niece or a nephew


I hope things go as planned. As they say, "Change is the only constant".

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Dreaming of Sugar


DSC_0005, originally uploaded by kavindra_d.

I've been trying to cut back on a lot of sweet stuff in an effort to be healthy. These days I look at sweet stuff instead of eat them. So far, so good.

Its Tuesday today..tomorrow is Wednesday and I have my second last Salsa class. I'm at Level 2 now, I don't intend on taking Level 3 because I don't know if I am going to make an effort to go dancing every few weeks or so - you have to practice it if you really want to keep up. I practice it once a week or so - during the weekends, and its fun. But I don't know if I can be disciplined enough to attend Salsa parties/visit Salsa clubs and dance. I prefer to wander around Oslo with my trusty friend - my camera - and get lost in photographs :)

So, I guess after next week, its goodbye to Salsa. I might take it up later - maybe next year or so.

So what else is up here? Hm, let's see. Time has passed really fast lately. I still can't believe its April. My younger sister is graduating in UK this June. She and Mom are visiting me in Oslo, end of June. It's going to be fun :)

Did I mention that my elder sister is expecting? I am still on the lookout for some really cute shoes for the kid. Haven't found any yet.

I feel kind of old lately though..turned 24 last week. My friends are getting on the marriage track, one by one. I'm still pretty content with my life though. Now if only work was less tricky... :)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Happy New Year

No, I am not oudated :) Yesterday, 13th April marks the Indian New Year.

Wikipedia states:

Puthandu, (Tamil: புத்தாண்டு) also known as Varusha pirappu, is celebrated as New Year's Day in Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month Chithirai, which falls on the 13th or 14th of April. Women draw patterns called kolams. A lamp called a kuttuvilaku is placed on the center of the kolam, to eradicate darkness. A ritual called kanni takes place. Kanni means 'auspicious sight'. People watch jewellery, fruits, vegetables, flowers, nuts, rice etc., as it is a belief among Tamil people that it brings prosperity. People wear new clothes and special dishes are prepared for the occasion.


Back in Malaysia, New Year is one of those days where Mom cooks heaps of authentic Indian vegetarian food - ranging from sambar, thosai, vadai, idli and so on. Being a foodie and refusing to be all mopey and homesick, I've been attempting at making all these dishes myself, far far away in Scandinavia. Suffice to say, it was a success - I made idli, date and tamarind chutney and sambar - ate them for lunch and dinner yesterday, and also for lunch today. Now, that is good food :)

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

My Laptop & I

It's amazing how much you depend on your computer after using it for 3 years or so. I have had my laptop since Feb 4th 2005. Unfortunately, these days it has started being less reliable - some crashes and power adaptor-related problems. It's very disappointing.

To make matters worse, buying a new computer is expensive and it just feels like a waste because I don't really use my computer much as I am faced in front of one day in, day out, at work.

Oh well, we'll see. Just didn't realize i depended on my computer this much though :)