The making of Chocolate Pastries

Whenever I come back from home, I usually get Chocolate Cake baked by me from home. This time I have tried something different. I have made chocolate balls and garnished them with raisins, raisins and almonds.

Some of my oil paintings :)

It's been while since I have painted.. So, today I decided to start painting and sketching again.. I am putting up few snaps of my oil painting :)

My first oil painting :)



Second One



This is the biggest painting I have ever made.. I used to stay for 5-6 hrs everyday in my class and I finished this in 15 days :)

Way back into Love..

I have just finished watching movie "Music and Lyrics" and its a must watch movie! One song which I loved in the movie... Lyrics goes like this and yeah it is dedicated to someone :)

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night

I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

It's Friendship Day after all!!!

Since I was in school, I have been seeing the celebrations of friendship day. Friendship band and nice tiny gifts flooding the whole market. People form groups and they generally hang out together and celebrate the day together. Well, that's generally how one celebrates friendship day.

Friends are treasures for lifetime but do we need to celebrate it. Anyday when we all go out together, party whole night is friendship day for me. I never understood why we need such a day until I got a call my best friend at night.

The call wasn't to wish "Friendship Day" but was full of talks where you need your friend to be with you, listening to you, supporting you. When we finished talking, we said to each other that's what friendship day is all about.. Being with your friend, whom you know will stick to you in your ups and downs and talking with him who understands you and supports you.

Dinners, celebrations, party all does not matter, what matters is the touch, which the call gave me for the day!

A Day in France!

During our 7 days long trip in Switzerland, we took a day for France. Although, we did not visit Paris, where I wanted to go and hence Europe tour plan was initiated but we went to Evian and Yvore.

Evian is on the way to Yvore while coming from Switzerland. So, our first stop was Yvore. Yvore is medieval small village which is owned by Yvore family. Yvore have been winning the prize of best village in France since 20 years!!

Yvore is nicely built and well maintained village. Footpath made of stones and pebbles... just like the one they show in fairy tales books :) Walking in Yvore felt as if I am walking in a dream village. It is decorated with red flowers on windows and the walls are of castle type. Though the village is small but its awesome..



In Yvore, there is "Garden of Five Senses". It was castle's former kitchen garden, which has been restored in a medieval style. Garden has kept its original layout, with its paths, ponds and its old fruit trees. The hornbean hedges and espaliered apple-trees of the labyrinth mark out four areas containing plants and flowers which correspond to the four senses. The fifth sense, the sense of hearing is represented by the babble of water and the singing of the birds.



After such a beautiful visual treat, we went to Evian. Evian is famous for its mineral water, which is owned by Denon Co.. The place if having natural water spring. You cannot see the water spring but there is one tap for public where people can go and refill the bottles free of cost. Bottling plant is 5km away from Evian.



At the end, we visited Casino in Evian. It was amazing.. Two floors full of slot machines.. I tried my luck and lost few Euros :P.. That marked the ending of our day in France!

A trip to Remember...

Yes, a trip to remember and cherish.. I have travelled a lot but this trip was out of the world. The reason was not just the place but the company, the friends I made on the way.. So, without further delay let me take you through my splendid tour of Switzerland, France and Dubai...

After a flight changeover in Dubai, we headed to Zurich, which is the financial capital of Swiss. Swiss is landlocked country, surrounded by 5 countries. While landing, the view was awesome. The scene was so spectacular, it felt as if painting has come alive.. :)

After landing, we headed to Luzene. Luzene is a tourist place and there we took cruise to Lake Luzene.



After cruise, we went to Wooden Bridge, which is next to the lake and is one of the oldest bridge there and is decorated with red flowers. The combination of dark brown woods and red flowers looked very beautiful.



After a short tour, we went to Engelberg. It is a beautiful village surrounded by mountains. One can see mountains covered with snow and mountains having wooden houses. Its just picture perfect. Patches of yellow and green grass accompanied by green and brown trees added beauty to the scene. This is a view from my windown and I loved it :)



From Engelberg, we went to Lauterbrunnen, from where we took train to Jungfraunjoch, top of Europe with train changeover at Kleine Scheidegg. The track from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraunjoch is in the form of 9km long tunnel.



Jungfraunjoch is top of Europe at 11,333 ft. There are various sports that can be played in snow and sledge riding can be done as well. We went to the top of the peak and it felt as if I am blessed. Snow covered peak along with patches of clouds because of sunshine made it more beautiful. From there, I saw just snow, snow and snow.



We made our way to snow and it was thin and soft. Since we were running out of time, we took snow disc and slided in snow using snow disc. Initially, I was very scared but later it was like childs play and you enjoy the moment when u start sliding down and you just see snow snow and nothing else and trust me it feels amazing..



Next we went to Ice Palace which is at third level there. It is in thr form of cave and ice is so soft that if you run, you can actually slip in filmy way. There are various cartoons and creatures made of ice and its worth it.



Next stopover was at Trummelbach Falls which is around 15-20 mins drive from Lauterbrunnen station. Flow of water is around 20,000 litres/sec and the water comes from three mountains, Jungfraunjoch, Monch and Eicher.

There are ten levels but the fall is worth seeing from sixth level. The view from there is little open and to reach there we can take lift or stairs. Lift goes upwards at an angle of 45 degrees. Waterfall is inside caves and it is really hard to imagine the way it is built. The view is breathtaking and it really needs courage to go upstairs specially when you are leading the group but I have never seen such a waterfall in my life.

Next visit was to Interlaken. The city is between two lakes Brienz and Thuner and hence the place is called Interlaken. The city is built beautifully with road side cafe and shop near the roads.



Next, we visited Mount Titlis which is at 5 mins distance from Engelberg station. The Titlis Rotair is the world's first revolving cabin car - takes you all the way to the summit of Mt.Titlis, where you will find a breathtaking panormic mountainscape awaiting you. The Ice flyer glacier chair lift has you floating right over the awesome Titlis glacier. Once there, you have wide choice of snow toys to play with.



Now, it was time for shopping. So, we headed to Bern, Capital of Switzerland since 1848. It is also declared as heritage city by UNESCO. There is clock tower which was built in 16th century and it is still working. Next to Bern Parliament is Swiss Bank, which is currently holding maximum amount of Gold. Bern is build on old architecture and yet the trams and shops there give a modern look to the city.



After Bern, we visited Geneva. Geneva is having 200 organizations of which the most prominent one is HQ of UN. The other prominent buildings are UNICEF, Red Cross, WTO and ILO. Lake Geneva is the largest lake in Switzerland and it takes around 1 hour to cross entire lake. Jet d'eau tallest fountain is in Lake Geneva. It is 470 ft high and was built in 1891 which was reply to Paris for Eiffel Tower.



Geneva is having a modern look not like other cities of Swiss. One can find cafes at every corner. Streets are full of amazing cars and HQ of mostly all the watch companies is in Geneva. Its unlimited fun and shopping @Geneva...



After that, we had visit to Chillon Castle. In its current form Chillon Castle is the result of several centuries of different construction and alterations. The small rocky island on which castle is built acted both as natural protection and a strategic loation to control movement between north and south of Europe. Castle all in all was amazing. Holding map in hand and then running here n there was so so fun with frds with handycam and camera following.. :)



Then we stopped over Montreux, whose one side is covered by Lake and another by shops with houses above shops. We opted not to shop and headed towards lake side. The view was picturesque and after few steps we went inside the lake. It felt out of the world when we stepped into it and played a lot..



As the journey was coming to end, we again went to Zurich and visited Rhine Falls. These are the highest fall in Europe and they have built view point near the falls where you can go by taking ferry. The falls were beautiful but not worth to be the highest fall in Europe.

In the whole trip, we played dumbc, UNO and antakshri in the bus.. Chilling cold and long walk in streets without jackets, talks, fun, fooling each other, taking class, playing teen patti whole night long.. I am missing each and every moment we spent together. No doubt that Switzerland is beautiful but the company made it heaven.



I am very sure that people in this pic will never forget the time we all spent together.. :) Miss you all alot!!!! Wait for France and Dubai blog.. ;)

Bhatija and Chatai Pav Bhaji stall

Mumbai - As depicted in the movies, is the city of dreams. City where people come to live their dreams. Inspired by such movies, a person called Bhatija came to Mumbai from a small village of U.P. All the incidents and characters are true.

He opened a small Chatai Pav Bhaji stall near Kings Circle. Slowly, slowly his business started growing and he was running out of resources and someone whom he can rely for managing stall with him. So, he called his real brother, Umesh from UP to assist him in his business.

Umesh learnt the business and everything about pav bhaji stall from his brother. But greed and ego creeped inside Umesh and he opened his own stall near to his brother's stall.

Now again, Bhatija ran out of resources and recruited a person, lets call him Raju. Raju became left hand of Bhatija and started handling most of the Bhatija's business. Now, Raju did some setting and threw Bhatija out of his own business. After sometime, Munna, Bhatija younger brother came from UP and started working under Raju.

Now Bhatija is not having anything to do. His dreams were shattered. His own family members betrayed him. Seeing Bhatija's situation, Umesh felt guilty and recruited Bhatija to work under him. After sometime, Bhatija again opened his stall in the same area but closed it due to police pressure and again started working for Umesh.

One day, while cutting onions, Bhatija like any other MBA thought of capturing a new territory and went to Pune. He opened his stall in Deccan in Pune and is now running his business successfully.

At the end, Bhatija, Umesh and Raju (outside recruit) are successfully running their business and Munna is happily working under Raju and telling everyone story about his family business.