A Beehive up-close

Maybe some of you have seen a beehive up-close with the bees on it, but I've never dared to. Well, this is amazing, but an enormous bee-hive has formed outside our office window. We thought of taking it down, but it was so beautifully natural, that we just couldn't get ourselves to destroy it. Here are some photos of the beehive.

Travel Log: Maldives

Here's a photo log of eating and holidaying in the Maldives :)


Probably the best thin-crust pizza Margherita on the planet!


And it went so well with the Guinness




The same chef whipped up this pasta with cream sauce and a hint of truffle which was unbelievably good


At their Maldivian-Indian restaurant, we had papads with fig chutney. The chutney grows on you - the first time I tasted it, I wasn't impressed, but by the end of the meal, I was scooping it up



And that was followed by an unusual salad of tandoori vegetables in a cream-yogurt sauce


As we lazed by the pool, we ordered many things. One was a bowl of Japanese noodle soup, and then some fantastic sushi and finally a basic mozzarella and greens sandwich...tasted even better after a long swim and with the waves in the background!







And then a romantic dinner: we started off with a bread basket. The basket was so lovely and I enjoyed the wine...


My salad was hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes, greens and avocado. I don't much care for avocado but the rest was scrumptious. I was half-way through it before I remembered to photograph it!


My main meal was Thai Green Curry Vegetable, stir-fried vegetables and Jasmine Rice. I couldn't photograph that well at all. The stir-fried veggies had a nice touch of some carved carrots in the shape of crabs! It was a delightful touch since we had crabs crawling around our feet the whole time! But my husband wasn't complaining when he got his clams and lobster.






The dessert was truly decadent. I had chocolate cake. My husband had tiramisu. Nothing could have tasted better! Especially sitting on the beach a few feet from the waves.



Sipping cocktails, snorkeling, swimming, lying by the beach, eating and really not having any agenda at all...that was a perfect holiday!




*sigh* I recommend the Maldives to everyone wanting a lovely break. Just an hour's flight from Bangalore city, or 1/2 hour from Trivandrum airport, the Maldives is a perfect weekend break.

Indian Airlines

We were booked on an international Indian Airlines flight...or rather, Indian (the name they now go by). Well, the service was very good, the flight was clean and new, and the food was very good! Surprised? So was I. I hadn't flown Indian in years, now that there are so many better choices out there. But I was quite proud that Indian was still going strong and actually a pretty enjoyable experience. And let me tell you, I was expecting the worst!



The meal they served was an afternoon snack. There was a choice of tomato, egg, chicken or vegetable sandwiches, salad and a chocolate brownie. The sandwiches were great but what was really nice was the salad. It was a healthy moong dal, tomatoes and chaat masala. The flavors were very surprising. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hurrah for Indian!

Peshawri

After my favorite restaurant, Patio, closed down, my friend and I tried desperately to find an alternative place to have our leisurely lunches. And then, only because we had tried every place else, we decided to give Peshawri a shot. We hadn't been there in years and vaguely remembered the food as being pretty good. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised - the food was excellent.



They serve appetizers of fried papads topped with chopped tomatoes, onions and chaat masala that is just what you need to nibble while waiting for the food. The ambience has stayed exactly the same. The very same wooden menu cards, and chairs and tables that look like they are just polished tree trunks! They even have little cloth "bibs" for everyone instead of napkins. Forks and spoons are available on request, but people are encouraged to use their hands to eat. And let me tell you, its way easier when you are scooping up that last bit of dal with the roti!



We ordered paneer tikkas, seekh kababs, romali rotis and dal makhani. Everything was super. We ate up every last morsel, while drinking some chilled chaas and jal jeera. And we even licked our fingers shamelessly!

Real Juices

I've recently discovered Real brand of juices - conveniently available in tetrapaks. They come in wonderful flavors of Guava, Mango, Mixed Fruit, Apple, Orange and my favorite - Mausambi (sweet lime juice). Its "real"ly tasty!