udaya sankranthi

BHOGIMANTA

at 4 am, we had the Bhogimanta. How do you like it?


And in this connection--here is a description of Sankranthi Vindu (from ParigaPanta by Thummala Seetharamaiah Chowdary).
Krupa! please note the menu for your Sankranthi Event.

Here is part of the original Telugu poem (because Gowri remembers only that much)--Readers can fill it if they know it.
లేగటి పాలలో కాగి మాగిన తియ తీయ  కప్పుర భోగి పాయసంబు
చవులూరు కరివేప చివురాకుతో గమగమలాడు పైర వంకాయకూర
తరుణ కుస్తుమ్బరీ దలమైత్రిమై నాల్క తుప్పు ద్రుల్లెడు నక్క దోస బజ్జి
కొత్త బెల్లపు పులుసుల మదురు గుమ్మడిపండు ముదురు పులుసు
మిసిమి మీగడ మెరిపించు గడ్డ పెరుగు ----------

etc etc --- It is a Seesa Padyam. Some more lines are missing.

Sheila is Picky!!!

I was watching Showbiz India ( a Hindi songs program) this weekend when Aditya wandered in. I was watching the song "Sheila Ki Jawani", with subtitles.
As he watches the section
paisa gaadi mehnga ghar I need a man who can give me all that
jeben khali fateechar, no, no, I don't like him like that
his comment......"Man, She is picky!!!!!!"

My experiments with bread - 1 Finnish Pulla

A mildly sweet cardmom bread coated with sugar and decorated with almonds. Hot off the oven.

Our Australia Trip 3 - Sydney

We landed late at night in Sydney, and settled in our hotel in Darling Harbor. Luckily for us, they ran out of the room we booked, so they upgraded us to a 1-bedroom suite.

Bright and early next morning we wandered in search of  breakfast. One block from the hotel, my feet stopped automatically as I looked at the name "The Chocolate Room". How could I pass up brekkie at a place where waffles come with ice cream and there are no savoury items on the menu?

Belgian Waffles with Strawberries, Chocolate Syrup and Coconut Icecream

In the morning, the other two families headed off to Sydney Harbor and Opera House, and we traded cultured for wild and went in search of the Dugongs in the Sydney Aquarium.

We saw an incredible variety of aquatic life unique to the region, such as Giant Spider crabs, Flashlight Fish, Schools of Blue Tang(Dory), Moorish Idol (Scar), Blue Sea Stars, Dugongs, Fearsome but harmless nurse sharks, Giant Eagle Ray, Unicorn Fish, Saw Fish, Rock Fish, Hula Fish, Clown Fish etc.

There was a shark tracker that showed the locations of Great Whites tagged and tracked. At that time, most were further north of Sydney.

over action

From the aquarium, we climbed aboard a ferry from Darling Harbor to Sydney Harbor, catching a few views of the city, quays, bridge and opera house.

We enjoyed a leisurely walk along the promenade, taking in the harbor views and people watching.

By an incredible stroke of luck (as we were living in the no cell phone world) we met up with the rest of the party and made plans to attend an evening concert in the opera house.

Philharmonic, Choir and Audience inside the opera house

 I had to twist Adi and IS's hands to make them attend, but they left during interval, expressing their inability to hold on any longer. Here is a sampling of the concert ( can you identify which film the theme music is from?)

Next day was more animals at Taronga Zoo.......Platypus, Echidna, Cassowary, Emu, Red Kangaroo, Wallaby, Koala(Aaaah, no more Koala), Tasmanian Devil...unique marsupials and monotremes(what are they? ask Adi if you don't know) found nowhere else....

Taronga Zoo also has one of the best views of any zoo, spectacular ocean, city, harbor and mountain vistas...

View from the Zoo: City,Opera house and Bridge in the background

And of course, some local animals.....

Dinner again was yogurt rice, with some incredibly creamy yogurt that reminded me of perugu from Kavali that can be cut with a knife. And more Lychees.....

On the 3rd day, after the plans for Blue Mountains Tour fell through, we decided to spend a leisurely day exploring Darling Harbor and Bondi beach ( my post about the encounter with the kid here). I also managed to complete souvenir shopping at Paddy's, a flea market style market.

Sydney 2000 Olympics Sculpture in Darling Harbor

On Bondi Beach

Overall, Sydney, ultimately, was a City, a beautiful city no doubt, but I enjoyed the earlier parts of the trip much more...Also, we were beginning to feel the effects of a long vacation ( also long posts, notice the lack of detail in this post), so after a final breakfast of Chocolate pancakes and waffles at Guylian Belgian Chocolate cafe( Second time in his life Aditya cleared his plate at a restaurant, kid has expensive tastes in food)

we boarded the flight back to US....with a hurrah from a spectacular trip

where I am still in jet lag, at least mentally........

More pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100439682375564182182/Australia2011SydneyDec2730?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNjam-br1o_R4gE&feat=directlink