Wishing all a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year!!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Some things just never change ...
A few weeks ago, me and friends were roaming around in the city on a very nice and sunny Sunday. San Francisco is a very diverse and "happening" city .. so we were sure we would come across some weekend craziness for sure! We took our first stop at a "Big Book Sale" where all the books (old and new) were being sold for just $1 each !!! After book shopping, we came across a music festival very close to the book sale place. Since it was barricaded and sort-of enclosed, we were sure it would not be a free event(unlike plenty other free events that happen all over the city). One of my friends decided to check with the guard at the event of the details, and she told him the event cost $40 for entry and that we were standing at the EXIT! We would have to go all the way around to the other side of the HUGE park to get to the actual entrance. While we had no intentions to attend this event, we just stood there deciding our next course of action. The guard might have thought that we were fretting over the entry free and offered to "sneak" us in from the exit itself if we paid "her" $20 per person. Like I mentioned before, we were really not looking forward to this event, so did not take up her offer. For fun, my friend decided to "haggle" with her. And she was actually ready to sneak us in for "$10" per person!!!
So, no matter where in the world you are, be it a developing nation or a world leader .. .some things just never change. Its all about money, honey!
So, no matter where in the world you are, be it a developing nation or a world leader .. .some things just never change. Its all about money, honey!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
And ... I am back!!
Wondering where I vanished after posting 2 blogs on the same day?? Well .. turned out that my blog was temporarily suspended by Blogger (read, Google) for a possible violation of Terms and Conditions. After a request to have my blog reviewed by humans, they have cleared me and my blog :)
So here I am .. back in action!
So here I am .. back in action!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The Secret Ingredients
Lately, my colleague and me, we have got into exploring all the restaurants and fine dining places near our work for lunch. We rate them based on various factors and when we are out of ideas or options for new a new place(or just not in a mood to experiment), we just go back to the one that was amongst already visited and top rated. So, being a vegetarian, I would always look for restaurants that have a variety to offer to me (which means at least more than 2 options to choose from!!)
So we found this cafe on Yelp, with a good review and not a very pricey status. Its not a fancy place, not an over the top presentation and more importantly not too far from work. On entering the cafe, while I was frantically looking for a menu, we were greeted with a bright, smiling face of the lady who runs that place. Not only did she brief us with the menu herself, but also asked if I was a veggie and offered to cook up something if I wanted to have it. Turns out I could mix and match the veggies to make me an "unique" sandwich for myself, just like at any other sandwich place. We decided to continue with this cafe and ordered for our respective choices. Right from telling her our choices, to paying for the same, she gave us all her attention. While we were digging into our sandwiches, I noticed that every person who came into the cafe, she made a personal conversation with that person. She did not have the "cliche" restaurant-style welcome phrase. On finishing with the meal, while we were headed out, she came back to check on us and also thanked us for coming in.
All an all this was a very nice experience and I made up my mind that I would want to go back there again. But the entire ride back to the office I was looking for a good reason to tell my colleague why I would want to go back there ... and just when we reached, it struck me ...
This whole experience was very synonymous to the story "The Secret Ingredient" featured in "Chicken Soup for Woman's Soul", which I read a long long time ago. In the story, the mother had the usual recipe for cooking food but at the end she would always sprinkle a "secret" ingredient which no one knew about but everyone thought that gave food a "different taste". Similarly, this place also had the same sandwiches as any other place, but also a secret ingredient which made the difference. That secret ingredient was "love and warmth". Or like they say in the story,"Just sprinkle it with little love to make it special"
Bottom line, warmth and love were the "secret ingredients" which were added to my sandwich. And the best part, it was all given to me at no extra cost!
So we found this cafe on Yelp, with a good review and not a very pricey status. Its not a fancy place, not an over the top presentation and more importantly not too far from work. On entering the cafe, while I was frantically looking for a menu, we were greeted with a bright, smiling face of the lady who runs that place. Not only did she brief us with the menu herself, but also asked if I was a veggie and offered to cook up something if I wanted to have it. Turns out I could mix and match the veggies to make me an "unique" sandwich for myself, just like at any other sandwich place. We decided to continue with this cafe and ordered for our respective choices. Right from telling her our choices, to paying for the same, she gave us all her attention. While we were digging into our sandwiches, I noticed that every person who came into the cafe, she made a personal conversation with that person. She did not have the "cliche" restaurant-style welcome phrase. On finishing with the meal, while we were headed out, she came back to check on us and also thanked us for coming in.
All an all this was a very nice experience and I made up my mind that I would want to go back there again. But the entire ride back to the office I was looking for a good reason to tell my colleague why I would want to go back there ... and just when we reached, it struck me ...
This whole experience was very synonymous to the story "The Secret Ingredient" featured in "Chicken Soup for Woman's Soul", which I read a long long time ago. In the story, the mother had the usual recipe for cooking food but at the end she would always sprinkle a "secret" ingredient which no one knew about but everyone thought that gave food a "different taste". Similarly, this place also had the same sandwiches as any other place, but also a secret ingredient which made the difference. That secret ingredient was "love and warmth". Or like they say in the story,"Just sprinkle it with little love to make it special"
Bottom line, warmth and love were the "secret ingredients" which were added to my sandwich. And the best part, it was all given to me at no extra cost!
My Bug Bite
No, No ... I am not writing about a physical bug bite (eww.. gross!)
While these days all the people have been bitten by the bug of "writing" blogs, I have been bitten by the bug of "reading" blogs. This actually was a chain reaction - blog of one friend led to another to another and it went on(even to the blogs of unknown people ;) ).
Well, coming to think of it, reading blogs I believe is better than reading some depressing news(100's killed, 1000's injured... ), or non-sense entertainment update (list of best dressed actors !!!) Now I am not against the readers who fall in those categories, its just that I would only read the news for being abreast with the "worldly" issues and that's about it with my news-reading fixation. With reading blogs, you are exposed to the creativity of other people who are like you, the "usual" people who express the daily life matters in simplest of the words, who ramble but for a reason. I think I connect more with those writings than the ones which aim for the "world" audience! I would spend hours and hours reading the blogs and wonder how these people express their concerns, their ideas, their emotions, or even a simple observation in a language which I can relate with. I guess something that you are born with but have forgotten to use in this competitive world ... "emotions". Blogging gave them a way to emote - emote happiness, anger, discontent, satisfaction and more. And while reading those blogs if you feel the same, then I believe the blogger has achieved what he/she has aimed for ... "truly" sharing his/her blog.
I would like to thank all the bloggers for entertaining me with their interesting thoughts, educating me with their thought provoking blogs, and thus encouraging me in some or the other way to write my own blog - for me to emote and "truly" share it with others.
While these days all the people have been bitten by the bug of "writing" blogs, I have been bitten by the bug of "reading" blogs. This actually was a chain reaction - blog of one friend led to another to another and it went on(even to the blogs of unknown people ;) ).
Well, coming to think of it, reading blogs I believe is better than reading some depressing news(100's killed, 1000's injured... ), or non-sense entertainment update (list of best dressed actors !!!) Now I am not against the readers who fall in those categories, its just that I would only read the news for being abreast with the "worldly" issues and that's about it with my news-reading fixation. With reading blogs, you are exposed to the creativity of other people who are like you, the "usual" people who express the daily life matters in simplest of the words, who ramble but for a reason. I think I connect more with those writings than the ones which aim for the "world" audience! I would spend hours and hours reading the blogs and wonder how these people express their concerns, their ideas, their emotions, or even a simple observation in a language which I can relate with. I guess something that you are born with but have forgotten to use in this competitive world ... "emotions". Blogging gave them a way to emote - emote happiness, anger, discontent, satisfaction and more. And while reading those blogs if you feel the same, then I believe the blogger has achieved what he/she has aimed for ... "truly" sharing his/her blog.
I would like to thank all the bloggers for entertaining me with their interesting thoughts, educating me with their thought provoking blogs, and thus encouraging me in some or the other way to write my own blog - for me to emote and "truly" share it with others.
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