Chocolate day July 7

Today is Chocolate day .

Though I am not a chocolate fanatic they are a toothsome to me .

Though living abroad gave me the choice of buying so many varieties I still preferred nostalgic Cadburys the only foriegn chocolate in India for long .

I preferred vanilla and Butterscotch to Chocolate ice cream flavours .

It was in Labuan famously known as chocolate island I found a mind blowing collection of discounted chocolates and bulk sales like Toblerones in sacks etc 😆

One cannot forget the plateful of desserts in buffet breakfasts and dinners in countless five stars i took with abandon some paid by me in travel some sponsored in conferences .

The freshly flown in in from UK thick wicked gobbie chocolate cakes ,cookies, chocolate globules in the VIP Buffet of the Sultan of Brunei even made me tell others in my group as it was time to see his highness ,

you guys go tell his highness his chocolates are too tempting but was distinctly turned down by our boss of any such unmonarchic suggestions .

 so I quickly pocketed a dozen of the delights into both my pockets and when I shook hands with the richest man in the world all I thought was, will those chocolates melt in the netherlands of warmth in  my pelvis !

Nor the Athens pastry shop where a handsome waiter gave us a toothsie delight .

And in Bali the upmarket bouquet hotel we stayed had an unlimited mini bar in room free of cost with good collection of chocolates !

In Tawam hospital we were given canteen coupons which was always more than we needed and i used to buy chocolates before india trip from there 😁sweet right !

Indian hill stations like kodai yercaud or in up north and now cities too have home made chocolates.

Malls like Lulu have had big baskets of filigreed chocolates, ideal for gifts when coming on leave from Gelp bought by weight after sampling one kg... 

buy 2 kg was dictum 😁

Though no six packer with enough lard all over I still loved chocolates and succumbed to thier seduction indulging in vulgar lusty steamy chocolate sessions .

Manek chowk in Ahmedabad was the place for choco cheese delights ,one could even get a chocolate masala dosa thanks to Gujju sweet tongues .

The array of mountains of colourful mouth freshners was a sight to be seen .

Same with those chocolate cakes in Karachi bakery and Nampully chocolate ice creams in Hyderabad more known for its  Haleem and Biriyani .

 

Spy in the times of Covid

 He looked through the window .

94 floors above the Shanghai downtown road appeared like a thin ribbon .

he saw the BMW parked in the shadows using his ultra tiny telescopic lens .

he knew there were three of them waiting for him to walk out .

by now the Chinese were aware that this Indian businessman who came to Shanghai for a million dollar Remdesvir deal was not exactly come for that .he didn't even wear a mask of course most Chinese didn't after the compulsions were removed .

this guy they thought was not the typical scientist nerd though he called himself a pharmaceutical entrepreneur .

he had all the moves .

The Chauffeured Benz he used the HSBC cheque he signed with the golden parker pen for all the Remdesvir he could get and the fine cognac he served in his room as mentioned by those who dealt with him.

But Chang Jung had an uncanny sense that all was not hunky dory

it was too perfect

anything like that was fishy

his instincts told him this guy was a spook .

he had that perfection the poise

he could make the slow walk suddenly spur into a jaunt with just a momentary pat to the hip that smelt training for years and a professional who had a metal on him usually .

his partner didnt feel so

forget him he said biting into the burger he is just a plump Indian doctor .

and then when they were just dozing off he glimpsed the man walking from the lobby and getting into his hired Benz .

By the time they followed him he was on the super way to the airport.

where was he going

They reached the airport searched for him but there was no trace till they found an Indian had just come in last second checked in to his first class in China Airs last flight to Wuhan

now they knew this guy was serious .

they informed the Wuhan office .

they would follow him.

After 5 hours in Wuhan there was no trace of any Indian it was all Chinese men and a couple of women .

He sat in the luxury cab he hired from airport and the driver handed him the files closed the partition and sped him to the international terminal .

He peeled the Chinese mask checked in and flew away to India

next day

breaking news

China leaked Covid in Wuhan

India has evidence

he smiled

oh these Chinese

Tequila

The first time I sipped on a Tequila was in Brunei in my friend Dr Ravis house ,he had just come from Bahrain where he working earlier and his family were yet to reach we were around four of us and he opened his nice collection and decided that its Tequila to start ,

I had a vague idea of it being a Mexican drink and its taken as shots nothing m ore ,i was told its taken with salt and lime to mask its a bit obnoxious bitterness ,the first shot wasn't very inspiring as we moved on to some beer as it was too early for alcohol with 55 % W/V 

The next time it was in a party where we downed some shots ,this time with a lime and some salt in our arm crook as it said so ! 

The  next time I was in Kualalumpur wanting to kill some time waiting for a Sengen visa I had applied and finding lot of street bars with pavement seating which I love and happy hours too I had a Mojhito and a Margareta for the price of one ie 25 Ringgits and a Burger to chase ,

This time the grinning waiter who took the first picture you see here brought me the tequila cocktail Margareta with salt sprung on its edges and a lime in a wedge and I truly enjoyed it though Mojito was always my favorite ,

Above all I loved the atmosphere of having a drink on a busy road watching people and not being considered a criminal like in most of Kerala ( where the only drinking can be in houses or crowded bars which put me off ) unlike say Bengaluru 

Tequila is Mexicos drink ,teh Aztecs who were it original inhabitants drank the Mesqal from cactus which was lamsot like absolute alcohol and caused strange hallucinations ,Tequila happened when the Spanish invaded and ruled mexico .

They extracted the Agave cactus juice and allowed it to ferment and then distilled it twice ,there were five types ,one that was used immediately SILVER

second after a few monhts  REPASADO

and third an year ANEJA

and finally fourth 1 to 3 years ANEJO EXTRA

there was also a mix between silver and Repasado called JOVEN

 preserving in oak casks somepwhat like whicsky aftert distillation 

one very interesting fact is Tequila is associated not only with Mexicans but also its most famous revolutionary leader called Macho villa though it is said macho was a teetotaler and issued strict death penalty to alcohol brewers and was an active supporter of prohibition 

though Tequila is generally taken as shots made bearable with salt and lime the Mexicans themselves sip it like whisky 

 

Road trip south India

 I read about an young couple going around India last one year in their Creta SUV .

They even slept in car and cooked on way .

Me and my wife both doctors who are having a more relaxed career now drove to a lot of places since September 2020 in South India stayed in hotels ,with friends and relatives houses rarely ,and in Chennai in our apartment for more than 2 months .

It started like this .

We had gone to Trivandrum in September 2020 for a wedding

We went after stay in Poovar Club Mahindra resort for three days .

Later we went Via Coimbatore to Yercaud in October 2020 staying in Sterling resorts .

On return we stayed in Coimbatore in in relatives house .

Returned via Palghat back to Cochin .

Then in our next trip via Coimbatore to Chennai with a stopover near Mettur in my classmates house for breakfast and stayed in Villupuram in another classmates home .

When in Chennai once we drove to Thirupathi temple via Tiruthani and to Kalahasti temple .

We were in Chennai till end of December and experienced a cyclone there !

We returned from Chennai in December 2020 via Trichirapalli

went to Sreerangam temple ,Thiruvanaikoil and Samayapuram temples .

Then we drove to Kodaikanal Sterling Kodaikanal lake view for 5 days

Then we drove down to Palani visited temple there and drove back to Coimbatore .

Then in January we went to Mysore for my nieces wedding

This we drove via Wynad

stayed in a Vythiri Mango stein resort

later in Thirunelli temple for a night .

later via Nagarhole forest reserve we drove to Mysore .

Visited Brindhavan gardens and Nandi hills .

After wedding in Mysore we went to a resort of Club Mahindra in Virajpet Coorg for 3 days .

We returned via Tellicherry and Kappad beach to Calicut stayed for a night .

We returned to Cochin .

On return we visited my ancestral village Parapanangadi Sharriyekil temple .

Later on our next trip for a wedding in Pollachi we went in a circuitous route .

We first reached Changhanassery in kerala via Kuttanad route .

Went to Chenganur Mahadeva shetram,Tiruvalla Sree Valabha shetram and later Aranmula Parthasarathy temple .

We then drove to Kottarakara stayed for the evening and night .

Went to Kotarakara mahadeva temple and famous Ganapathy temple .

We left next morning to pandalam Saastha temple .Then mala dam Aryan kaavu shaastha temple and Kulathu puzha temple .

Then we went to Tamilnadu Courtallam finding a meagre waterfall returned to Kerala via Shenkottah followed by the ghat forest section to reach Achan koil temple .

We stayed that night there .

Next day we were going to Tiruchendur discovered a hill temple for Murugan on way

We visited Then kasi temple on way too .

Stayed in Thiruchendur .

Next day via Thirunelveli to Rameswaram. Stayed there went to Dhanuskodi

Next day to Madurai and Pazamudhir cholai .

Next day we went to the wedding in Pollachi after checking in a hotel arranged .

We drove to Coimbatore .

Next day we went to Adi yogi ,in juggi Vasudevs ashram then to Vilayannur temple

We returned to Coimbatore and back to Cochin .

The last trip we went to palghat later to Guruvayur later Coimbatore back to Palghat .

We returned via Guruvayur .

We had some ground rules .

We took trip relaxed with flexible deadlines .

Think during Covid driving in your vehicle is safer .

One has time to stop and stare .

On our return from kalahasthi Tirutani to Chennai we took a country road .

It was very scenic but we got diverted due to breach of a dam as it had been raining .

The diversion took us to lonely villages hills and we were glad to reach civilization

.

We avoided night driving

We took turns with my wife relieving me on off .

We would check in to a hotel or resort by afternoon

Most were booked online or in our Sterling or Club Mahindra memberships .

Most places we stayed were satisfactory some surprisingly good .

We ate when hungry generally searching with ratings and in foodie pages reading reviews and were rewarded .

We went to exotic legendary heritage restaurants and i reviewd most and we enjoyed the food

In Tamilnadu we visited several degree coffee outlets and famous highway places like 99km .

We even had jigardhanda in Madurai .

In Kerala we discovered tea shops and tiny food places .

We took pictures videos even monkeyed with selfies and video vlogs me more of course .

Luckily we had no major mishaps a big risk in self driving .

The road from Kodai to Palani was bit stressful as narrow steeper .

Wife drove this stretch kept her cool when huge buses passed us on opposite side .

The most dreary stretch was Thiruchendur Rameswaram

Most exiting was over pamban bridge and to Danuskodi .

Yercaud Kodai Coorg and Wyanad were rewarding with cool climate and lovely sceneries .

Nagarhole forest reserve showed us wildlife .

Kappad beach and Vythiri lake were surprisingly maintained so well

The hill temple to Muruga on way to Thiruchendur pazamudircholai near madurai Thiruchendur palani temples were all spell binding so were Tirutani and Tirupati .

The Adhi yogi statue Siruvani falls and Villenur temple were exotic

Virajpet nearby waterfalls coffee estates in Coorg and typical Coorgi cuisine were rewards .

Kerala roads were narrower had more speed cameras steeper edges excellent tea shops

Tamilnadu had wider roads no cameras more tolls excellent rest areas .

We got no speeding tickets

Google maps made us independent but at times took us through narrow roads .