..SouthAsiaRocks..

We were at the mall the other day and got to meet Sachin (a HUGE Cricket star here). Well, we didn't actually get to meet him... only his cardboard cut out :) We did actually get to see him play Cricket once... but this wasn't the time... although it looks really real! haha! I love Aashini's pose with Sachin :) haha! Diya had to have a chance too :) We had a lot of fun with the cut out thing ;) haha! Aashini was really confused at first... ... but she really got into it :) This picture cracks me up! ;)

I opened up the top of my Coke bottle the other day and found this: It says I won 0.25 p.... The value is 1/2 a penny! It takes 100 Paise to equal one rupee (about 2 cents)... It kinda made me laugh :) But what really made me laugh was the fine print - it said that only the retailer gets the money... and the deal was already expired... oh well... haha!.... OK, so maybe not that funny, but it made me smile :)

It is super dusty this time a year! We live in a semi-arid part of the country (it's just one step away from desert climate). We usually only get rain 2 times a year, so as you can imagine it's dusty!! This is one of our little balconies. It was swept and mopped at about 8:00 am... this is what it looked like by 2:00 pm!!! In just a matter of hours everything is covered in a blanket of red dust! Which isn't the best when you have to hang your laundry to dry outside :) haha! I have to remember to bring them in as soon as their dry (this time of year is only 15-30 minutes most of the time!!) or else they'll be covered in dust too! This is what happens if I leave out the laundry for about an hour ... It's hard to see in the picture, but do you see that brown line on the shirt? That's where it was hanging over the bar and the dust collected! I can just pick it up and shake it off and it's totally fine... just a bit dusty! haha! I'm so glad I'm n...

One of the interesting things they eat here is the Lotus Root. It is very unique! If you look below you can see what it looks like :) Picture from Google Images You can learn a lot of interesting things about the Lotus Root if you click here . There is one snack that I really like to make out of the root. First you use a peeler and peel the outside of the root. Then you slice it very thin (using a v-slicer or mandolin is helpful!). Then you deep fry them and salt them. They're a fun yummy snack! I forgot to take an "after picture, so this is from Google Images so that you can see what they look like ;)

I've been trying to get better at photography, so I've been entering the contests at I ♥ Faces Photography... here's my entry for this week (I have to post it on my blog :))

I can't take credit for this first picture :) My friend took it, and I just had to post it here - it's just too funny ;) Do you think Tom Cruise gave his endorsement for this restaurant? haha! The name of this hair salon cracks me up!! "R's Miracle - Beauty & Hair Correction Studio" - haha! I think I would be embarrassed for people to see me walk in there :) haha! They rebuilt a road here in the Capital that is just a traffic jam mess (AFTER they rebuilt it!)... so now they always have men to man the road. This guy's sign made the smile the other day (it's always nice to smile when you're stuck in traffic :)). Here's a close-up (sort of ) of his sign :) "Go Swlo!" :) This was the picture on a box of medicine for one of the kiddos the other day :) It made me laugh :) This toy in the toy store was funny to me. It's a boy riding on a buffalo while playing the flute... but what's just as funny is the writing that was on ...

Sorry for the lack of posting. Adam's mom and her friend Susan were in town, so I haven't had much time to post :) Holi wasn't as exciting for me this year. Adam was out of town, so I couldn't really do much with two little kids :) Aashini was a little freaked out. Our neighbors came over to "exchange colors" and Aashini wasn't sure what to think and ran and hid! Aashini's comfort "thing" are towels.... not sure why, but I got her a towel and she was happy running around the house and on the balcony with her towel. She had fun throwing water balloons later. It was cute :) Holi is a funny holiday. It's about the only time when everyone can act like a kid :) It's fun to see women who are usually quiet, throwing powder, dyes and shooting water guns at neighbors :) There were a lot of performers that came by our house this year. A lot of drummers and dancers. It was fun :) This picture makes me laugh :) At one point, I was on ...

Holi is quickly approaching :) Monday is Holi, but today Aashini celebrated Holi at her school. We didn't know what to expect (and asking questions didn't really help), so we prepared for a super messy Holi at school. We oiled up her hair and it looked so gross! Light colored hair can get permanently colored pink, purple or green after a day of Holi, so we didn't want to chance it. Anyway, it ends up that they played with flowers at school instead of color and this is all the color they put on their faces (along with mine & Diya's as we arrived to pick her up) :) All the kids were dressed up in nice clothes for the school party and Aashini was all oiled up and dressed in bummy clothes - haha! We were THOSE parents! haha! Have a Happy Holi !

I thought it was time for another South Asian Foodie post :) Having a new baby means that I'm still not out and about as much as normal which means this blog is a little more boring. It also means that food is one of the things I have pictures of and I'm posting :) haha! So, one of my favorite places to eat is called "Haldiram's". It's basically a restaurant full of "snacky" foods. You can eat them as a meal though and they'll really fill you up - very cheaply! One of the things I love is called: Aloo Tikka (in the picture below). It can look a lot of different ways. It's basically a potato patty that's full of seasonings and spices and fried. At Haldiram's they put a sweet & spicy sauce over it and a coriander (cilantro) sauce. It's so yummy! Here's a recipe for Aloo Tikka if you want to make it :) or here's a video of how to make it if you like that better :) One of the treats I like to get at Haldiram...

Last weekend we were at the mall and saw these large red giraffes. We had heard that they were doing some sort of performances there, so we decided to stick around and see :) A group from France had come over to do these performances. They did them on Saturday & Sunday night ;) It was an opera, but not sure what else to call it. It was very unique! There were two people inside of every giraffe making it move all around (their legs are the giraffe's legs). This lady (below) was the lead actress/opra singer. She was singing in some language (not sure) and she actually spoke in Hindi (there wasn't much speaking though - mostly singing) - it was very interesting. See all the people! It was crazy! They were moving everything around over and through all the people! They would push them out of the way when they needed to move! The main characters were this lady in white and a clown in red that played a bass drum. I didn't get it at all, and Aashini was terrified o...

I've really gotten into cooking more lately :) You basically have to cook everything from scratch here. I really don't know how we survived our first 3 years... but the last year and a half I've actually learned how to cook :) Aashini eats the National food at school and loves it, so I thought I would learn to make some of the foods she likes at school. Yesterday I made: Tamatar Paneer It's super easy! I should have made it long ago :) First you do some tempering. Put a little oil in a skillet and add Yellow Mustard Seeds & Cumin Seeds. Cook them for a little bit (until the mustard seeds have turned a very light brown). Put in 5-6 finely diced tomatoes along with coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt, minced garlic & some chilies (optional - I leave these out for Aashini). Cook it until you've made a nice curry (the tomatoes should be almost a chunky paste-like consistency). Chop up paneer into small pieces (if you can't get paneer...

So I had a few pictures of some things that made me laugh while in Thailand :) This picture below was actually from our last time in Thailand but I forgot to post it - it was during the first part of the Swine (H1N1) Flu scare. Everyone was wearing face masks - especially on the SkyTrain. This guy's mask made me smile :) Something you don't see everywhere... These guys were in a store in the mall putting on make-up :) They were advertising an event that was taking place on another floor of the mall. It was so funny - this picture definitely doesn't do it justice. They had music playing while the people with the balls (with advertisements on them) moved them in a choreographed manner while the 3 people in the back just stood there holding cell/mobile phones (and not moving)... it was really funny :) This made me laugh :) They had special Adidas shoes for sale in Bangkok. These were the Darth Vader shoes - they also had the "Skywalker" and about 5 other kinds...