Ray

Our last stop on the trip was the Museum of Sex. With such a name, obviously we were intrigued. We thought  that the act of making love wold be analyzed from different viewpoints like spiritual, scientific, cultural and perhaps a bit of trivia and history. But all it showed was how has sex been depicted in American media through the years. There were 4 floors of the museum and none was interesting other than this depiction on the right, where popular cartoon characters were incorporated into adult themes.
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Ray
Our favorite museum of NYC is the Madame Tussuad Wax Museum. The Nu did turn into a cactus green but we weren't going to let this chance go. See for yourself. 





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Ray
As the name suggests , the restaurant is Ethiopian and was yet another stopover in our NYC gastronomic adventure.Foodwise you have got to remember three things
  • Injera - Flatbread made out of local Ethiopian grass called Teff
          The product has texture of a dosa.
  • Kibeh - Clarified butter or Ghee
  • Berbere - Spicy mixture mostly made out of red pepper, onions and butter
For the starter we ordered a Kalegna(pronounced Kali-niya), an injera toasted with a coating of Kibeh and Berbere paste. Pretty neat and spicy, although your hands could be messy by the time you are done.

For the main dish my friend ordered Awaze Tibs (lamb legs cooked with jalapenos) while I got myself Shiro, a split peas based curry cooked in berbere sauce. All of this is served on top of an injera with a pile of injera(s) kept on a plate beside you.Hence an injera basically becomes your roti and every dish you take is always rolled into this famous Ethiopian flatbread. We also ordered a South African red wine.

We personally enjoyed the meal as it had a lot of spice and tanginess to it. We are no wine experts so whatever wine we chose seemed to go well with it. However there is a bit of sameness to the food as they seems to have only one paste to make everything. Now I am not sure whether this is the restaurant's problem or the cuisine in general.

The location of the place is taxing as it is situated on 10th Avenue and regular visitors are well aware that there are no trains or regular buses through the upper west side of the town. You have to get down at the times square station and walk 3 avenues to get to this place.  Also you have come to expect, that due to space and astronomical rents, restaurants in Manhattan can be pretty small. Queen of Sheba was exactly that. A highly cramped place, where the majority of space is taken up by a bar where there could have been more nicely spaced tables.

The service is kind of shabby, not that we had some terrible experience but it is general inattentiveness and there is really no ambience to speak of. Rates as always are standard New York city fare - pretty high as compared to the service. Ethiopian cuisine is extremely good , but the restaurant needs an upgrade. Would like to try Meskerem in Greenwich, the next time I am craving Ethiopian since Queen of Sheba is quite a pauper when it comes to good customer care.
Ray
Since no tour  to New York is complete without the Monument, the Sculpture and the Square



Ray
Since we were in the city, we had decided to try out new cuisines. African and Greek were in our sights and after checking reviews on the net, we settled on Pylos(pronounced Pee-los), an upscale Greek restaurant located on the intersection of 7th Street and Avenue A in the East Village. 

Since we couldn't pronounce most of the names, we had our helpful Greek waiter say it for us. As appetizers we ordered the Horiatiki salad with tomatoes, onions, olives and Feta cheese dressed with Olive oil. It was just amazing with the freshness of the tomatoes deserving a special mention. This was the cold appetizer. Then they had the hot ones and we went in for the anginares moussaka, an artichoke layered with onions, herbs and cheese. The second appetizer was gigantic beans in dill sauce.

Now here comes a non-committal review of the dishes. First the artichoke - it was average as in it was not bad to taste, however we always knew that our indian taste buds would not accustom themselves to the blandish nature of the dishes. The dishes are non-spicy, however the taste of the ingredients was clear to distinguish and no complaints against the freshness. 

The gigantic beans were disappointing though and you felt that such things could be easily whipped up at home and that too in half the time and money. It was nothing special and the dill sauce was anything but with only a microscopic amount of leaves. 

The best dish of the night was kotopoulo gemisto me stafides, dendrolivano thymari kai kasseri(ah now try saying that in one breath) . Kotopoulo means chicken and the rest of it is cooked with thyme and cheese. And it was very good with that slightly charred taste of the meat a real treat. 

Overall though eating Greek is an acquired taste because the food and ingredients are inherently vapid. Good for people with spice allergies. Stick to the salads and you'll be satisfied. As far as the restaurant is concerned, it is classy, suave and an excellent place to take your friends and dear ones for a social evening but perhaps not a gastronomic one.
Ray
Chrysler Building
 Had a friend from Minnesota over last week and got the opportunity to visit the Big Apple after quite a hiatus. Saw some places, I hadn't seen before like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The city as always was bustling and I walked so much after a very long time. Also went to the top of the Empire State for the very first time. Had seen Gotham from WTC the first time and the second time from 30 Rock or GE Building.
The Empire State observatory is located on the 86th storey.
 





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Ray
So we are in a Mexican restaurant the other day, with a couple of Indians and an American. My colleague MP starts to narrate an incident about food. Now MP is a know-all…. apparently he used to be a professor in a college in Gujarat. He is interesting to listen to but sometimes he is grating with his all-round opinion on just about anything under the sun.   An American who sits opposite to him is all doe-eyed as if he is ready to get his lesson from Confucius himself. Now I don’t remember the whole story since my attention span for MP’s self important notions, is truly abysmal much like the politicians dozing and having a snoozefest in our Lok Sabha.

The topic has two keywords – food and tissue paper . We as Indians know that a tissue is something that is used when you have a runny nose, or you dropped something on the table, you need to clean up. So not a big deal if you are an Indian and the desis around the table already look around with impatience towards the waiter to get us our burritos especially with MP in his typical style just beating about the bush without getting to the point. Oh, but wait…. the American is just beginning to squirm. The Burrito is the last thing on his mind.

The food arrives and we dig in. MP digs in too, but even a mouth full of rice, beans , peppers and cheese isn’t enough to stop the Rambo of “I shall explain to you the hypothesis, theory and law behind our very existence”. Such trivial things like annoyed expressions, overacting of boredom theatrics do not bother MP who will continue to talk even if a man has half a ear. I have long lost interest but the burrito is kinda not that tasty so I have to order hot sauce. Meanwhile though since the human ears do not have an open and close button I am forced to listen.

MP by has now made Galileo and Einstein look like mere children in the scientific playground. We are used to this, however, everytime the words tissue and food are used in the same sentence, the American winces, flinches and makes a face that says he is just about to puke his burrito out on to his plate. He fiddles with his fork, his thumbs twiddle , his face is a riddle and I am afraid he is about to piddle.

Figures that the Americans call a tissue paper as a napkin, fair enough and a tissue paper is something you use in the toilet. Since MP’s world renowned explanations are so circuitous, they are like the foreplay before the main act. But before climax is reached, the American can’t take anymore of these life-threatening symptoms and he ejaculates prematurely which means he butts in.

“I think MP, you mean napkin, don’t you?”

MP shakes his head in disgust, what the f*** is a napkin, he asks.  Disturbing MP is equivalent to if someone had stolen Newton’s apple away and crushed it to make fresh apple juice, leaving the great English scientist with no fruits to base his theories on. 

The American clarifies “napkin that you use to clean your mouth.”

“Ah, yes yes,” MP says in a petulant manner finally looking at who has interrupted his gospel. He is agape at the American. He quickly downgrades his aggressive look to one that is similar to a moustached  rascala villain who is about to get beaten up by Rajnikanth.

“Oh you are soooo right Mr. American, I meant the napkin all this while. You see I have just come from India, my wife, she is been here a long while and is a lot more modern than me. And so as I was saying……………”

Now it is my turn to feel irritated. I felt miffed at MP for accepting the Amreekan’s opinion without informing him that in countries other than Uncle Sam, we have different terms that are just as correct or the terms are used interchangeably. Just because he calls it a napkin doesn’t mean you clean his backside,  and I don’t care if you are using a napkin, tissue or whatever to accomplish that. What has modernity got to do with calling something by a different name. Why the justification that oh my wife is more modern than me, which she might as well be and I don’t know how she ended up with him in the first place but that’s beside the point.

We Indians love to denigrate and sully our own and our country’s reputation just to gain a few brownie points. In another incident in my friend’s company, a boss asked his Indian subordinate about how was Mumbai as a place to visit in May. My friend who is a true Mumbaikar said May will be extremely hot but a cool cab will get you to all places comfortably. On the other hand, the Indian subordinate immediately said, Mumbai is a tough and polluted city, if you stand outside for half an hour , you will be blackened blah blah. This is downright silly and such people who mislead or dissuade potential tourists should be made to walk naked in the Frigid Canadian winter.

I for one never miss an opportunity to educate the people here about culture back home because all they know about India is through Slumdog Millionaire and that isn’t a good thing. If only Indians here would stop supporting that impression.
Ray
Ahmedabad to Udaipur is a lovely drive and the pictures just showcase how much forward India has come in terms of its road infrastructure. Some pictures near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border.




Ray
Forget Subway and the rest of the sandwich sellers, because right on CG Road Navragpura, stands a restaurant that I feel is the “baap” of all snack food makers.

Freezeland is a snack joint in air-conditioned surroundings with tables scattered over a large inadequate space. But that does not deter you at all from just staring(drooling) at the menu for minutes before you decide what sandwich to get. There are close to 50 different types of sandwiches they sell and to use a clich̩ Рyou are a little more than spoilt for choice.

We ordered the Bombay Club , the All Vegetable and the Western Delight priced reasonably at somewhere Rs 69- Rs 75. While the others were excellent it was the Western delight which was delectable due to the unusual taste on Indian tongues. Corn, capsicum, Pineapple, Olive, Tomato and their special sauce came together in a heady mix. There was no evidence of staleness, the vegetables were fresh and service was cordial.

And if sandwiches weren’t enough, it has the usual Indian fare like the Pav Bhajis, Chaats, Pizzas, Pastas and Mexicans.

The name of the place is the only smudge on their resume. Addressed Freezeland. the restaurant is neither themed(like an arctic location) nor has the classic ambience of a proper eatery. .

However those are minor nit-pickings. By and large the eating out experience is pleasant. If you visit Ahmedabad for any reason do not miss this treat. By a long way , Freezeland and its recently opened cousin New Freezeland are top notch fast food restaurants in Ahmedabad and how much I hate to say it, it is the best sandwich place in Gujarat, yes....even better than its traditional culinary rival and cousin – Surat.

Oh well here is hoping a gem is unearthed in my City, coz' when it does, I will be there to review it. For now treat yourselves at Freezeland. 
Ray
And then there was one..the last one standing , standing tall among the ruins and they had outlasted everyone in their wake. Nope this isn't a Roman epic but an epic it certainly is - embedded in the hearts of the millions of supporters. After 28 years, from the time Kapil's devils got Indian cricket on the map --

INDIA WON THE CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011. 

Vinod Kambli might have shed many tears as India's campaign in 1996 came to a shambolic end. He wasn't alone though. I who had fervently supported them,sat in my room, and had cried like a baby. I refused to eat, to see anyone and it took me a day or two to recover. Losses to Australia hurt but you always knew you were beaten by a giant and perhaps there was no disgrace in losing. But a loss to Sri Lanka came with that extra bite, a sub-continental rivalry only surpassed by an India-Pak competition. And so India redeemed themselves and how. 

On the night of April 2, India powered by their twin engines of Gambhir and captain Dhoni, overhauled Sri Lanka's challenging score to trigger a frenzy across the great nation and the diaspora around the world. It was just something amazing and wonderful to get something we thought we would never get to see in our lifetime. Even though the script didn't go as wished by many an ardent fan about Sachin scoring a 100th ton at Wankhede, but we would take a winner's medal any day. 

Tributes flowed for Sachin Tendulkar, who after 21 years of cricket finally got what he has deserved for sometime now. He was carried around the ground on the players' shoulders  for a lap of honor. And so was the brilliant coach Gary Kirsten. The scenes were amazing, mesmerizing and everyone's elation knew no bounds.

I had driven to Boston in the middle of the night to watch it with Skytrooper. Both of us have been following  cricket since the WC 1992 and this just felt like salvation. Ah, life can resume again after months of speculation , excitement and anticipation. Felicitations India , you deserve it. Thanks chaps we will cherish this forever. Jai Hind.