Thunder, Lightning & Little Bit Of Rain

Bangalore is chilling these days. It was getting hotter last week then the rain blessed the place. Evenings are great now. That look of the sky when it is about to rain, I love that.

To beat the traffic and to reach office in less than 15 minutes, I travel on scooter these days. However not a good option while it rains. It's not that I don't like to drive in the rain, but by the time I reach home, the dirt paints my cloths and my face, which I hate.

So decided to switch between the car and the bike, based on the weather predictions. However, that didn't work. It doesn't rain when I take the car and when on Scooter, it rains :)

Once reach back home, Ikey will be eagerly waiting for my arrival. He greets with a great smile and then we give mom some rest.

The best thing what we love is to watch the rain from the balcony. That cool wind and the little touch of water on our face, we enjoy that. Even though Ikey doesn't know about the rain and other stuffs, I often educate him on it.

It is raining outside now and I can hear the thunder. I am going to have a wonderful sleep today. Sleep + voice of the rain - a very great combination. I hope that am not the only one out there, who enjoys it.

All Moments Are To Savour

Oh yes! Busy days going on. Busy at office, busy at home, busy with traveling. However, all these comes packed with tons of joy and happiness. The tiredness is getting over by being with the dear ones.

The Fun Parenting

Today is January 26th and while watching the Live Republic Parade in Doordarshan, with Ani, I was thinking about how our life got changed since Ikey came in to our life. 

Meanwhile, Ikey was enjoying his new gift from his Peppa, which arrived just then. That gave me sometime to ponder on some of the interesting facts, pertaining to him and us.

We both loved sleeping on weekends. Sleeping late nights on Friday's and getting up late by 11:00 AM in the morning. We enjoyed those moments. 

However, it isn't the same anymore. Our sleeping pattern's got changed. Now it is more disciplined. And we have to thank him for teaching us a tight scheduled life style.

A change in character is an obvious need when looking after a baby. While Ani improved with all the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, two of those gifts benefited me the most, which I had the least in my life.

I was telling Ani towards the coming of Ikey into this world - "I am not going to help you at the night time to take care of Ikey. I have to go to office and got work which are of high priority. I need proper sleep for my head to work just perfect. So don't expect me to get up in the middle of the night and help you."

And Ani said OK. 

However the things weren't the same as I thought. I realized the fact that that fatherhood factor inside me will not allow me to sleep, listening to all those sweet midnight music show happening around. So I began to get up, support Ani, help her with the diaper changing and all the other assistance required. 

That wasn't bad. I wasn't tired in the morning, not feeling any dizziness. It was just a myth and I lived with it for years. Man, I would have had a lot of productive time.

Nothing else matters these days for us, than watching him smiling while we spent time with him.

That is priceless.

Stroller Trial

Sometimes none of the positions work for Ikey. That is when I tried placing him in the stroller. Thought it might work, but he was very sad about that. 

Lesson learned  - It is not the time for the stroller yet. 

Diaper Changing Fun

Diaper Change - That is one thing my friends used to tease me when Ikey was close to come out to this world. 

To be frank, diaper change is not a tough job for me, except when it happens between some urgent work. 

Still patient and smiling, we make Ikey the happiest person in the world.

How to Grill & Bake fun on a Christmas?

Whats more fun than spending time together on a Christmas night. That is what we planned. Decided to do a grilling session for preparing the Christmas dinner.

Confirmed the menu the day before and Ani led the shopping for the items. 

Invitation & Menu

It was real fun to prepare the recipes for the grilling. Prawns, Chicken, Fish Fillets were all ready the day before. Perfect marination overnight.

The tough part as usual is to make the charcoal burn. We bought some Weber charcoal and lighter, which made the job easier compared to the last time.

The charcoal burned in few minutes, however cechi took all the efforts to make it burn :) Excellent job!

The prawns ready to grill on the skewers

Ani wanted to engage full heartedly to the grilling, however she did the complete job of marinating the items for us to grill.

Get smoked :)

Yummy prawns BBQ in the make

Fish Fillets

Encouraging the charcoal cubes in between

Veg Biriyani and Fish Fillets

Ready for dinner

Ani's creative shot :)

Ani tried the fruit cake for Christmas the first time. To be frank, it was awesome. The main ingredient is the wine soaked dry fruits. 

It was a real yummy deal.

Altogether a fun filled and joyous Christmas night...

When to grill next?

How to beat the Bangalore Winter

Grilling is fun

To be frank, climate is the main reason why I hate Kerala and love Bangalore. Climate, I can't compromise.

Many says that Bangalore is not the old Bangalore anymore. IT development and real estate is killing Bangalore at a faster rate (who is worried about it anyway).

Inspite of all these concerns, Bangalore winter is still good. It is a chilled December for me and Ani. While I enjoy the climate, Ani is not liking it much. Especially Isaac and mummy are facing troubles due to this climate.

It was on my birthday, Ani gifted me with a small charcoal grill set. I was excited to grill at the very moment. But for that I need to get some charcoal.

Took the bike and went around my place to get some charcoal. Nowhere they are selling it. Finally went into a BBQ restaurant and bought some charcoal for INR 60/kg.

Marinated the chicken with the traditional Tandoori Chicken recipe. And started the grilling by 9 pm.

But the tough part was to lighten up the charcoal. It took my life to make it burn as I didn't have the right tools to do it :)

Freezing cold outside, but the heat from the grill was so soothing.

However at the end of the grilling - satisfaction made me to SMILE.

BTW - the chicken was yummy :)

Getting grilled in the traditional way

Ready to savor...

Dear ones in Bangalore after a long time

It is 1.5 years before they visited us in Bangalore. We wanted them to be here, to spend time with us in our place, where we live... And they came and we had a wonderful time with God's grace...

Moments like this kind, helps to realize how blessed we are, for having a wonderful family in this world to love and take care of. 

The Promised Outing

We love to play with this little guy. And he often take some time out from his parents to play with us. Enjoyed this outing to the core...

Visiting Planetarium - Stars & More

For me, like anyone else, the universe is always a wonder. And we had a wonderful moment at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium. Thought Isaac would be awestruck to see the stars twinkling during the day time. But for him, sun reminded about burger and the moon turned to be a half cooked chappati. 

Still a crowded place, the children brings the parents to this place and you can see the wonderful transformation of the parents to a child, while the show goes on. Visit this place with your kids, they will love it for sure.

How to enjoy KFC?

Isaac loves KFC and he enjoys every bit of it.

2014 Republic Day Celebration @ Ciber

Watch it in HD

It is always fun to be with the people who share the spirit of the season. That's what I could see on the floor yesterday. Wonderful time with the team, during the Republic Day Celebration event at Ciber.

Ooty: Pine Forest

A walk in the woods in a chilly windy climate, how wonderful that will be. We enjoyed it and there wasn't very much people around. So the nature was very visible. With the voice of the joyful birds around - that walk was like in heaven.

Ani was excited to walk around the place.

Ooty: Fern Hills Palace

"Deep within the blue forested hills of Nilgiris in Ooty, sits an english country manor, bought in 1873 by the young prince..."

And you will really feel that richness of the old dynasty, once you enter the place. Everything has a royal touch. Even the chairs in the garden, they look so royal :)

We decided to go for this destination because, we knew this place through some movies and really got fascinated by its beauty and architecture. The place came up in the research while we planned for the trip to Ooty and we really wanted to visit this place. 

To the garden for a walk, after finishing up with the lunch. Must say that the Biriyani was ROYAL.

I was disappointed when the management blocked us from clicking the pics around. Fortunately, as I explained them about my intention for the pics, they finally allowed to click the photos. Now I feel proud being a blogger...

A very special thanks to the property manager for the understanding and approval.

Each and every moment we spent there, we were in an entirely different world...

The backside garden view of the palace

An old building spotted in the palace premises, when we went for a walk.

A broader view of the palace from the garden.

Felt like in an another world.

Luxury at its best...

The front view of the palace resort

Extension of the palace resort restaurant where we decided to have the lunch. Why we chose? - The ambiance and privacy along with the stunning view to the garden.

Looked like the palace was opened for us alone. 

The wall of richness. And a pub which serves the royal drinks.

I couldn't find a piece of space without a royal touch. Completely covered and maintained.

Attached pub room for private discussions.

The walk way with the history depicted all over the place. Walking through the ways which the royals walked once :)

This will be a familiar location for the Keralites for sure

Naalukeetu type construction with a small garden in the midst.

Tiny cute garden

Tweeting the travel dots from the palace

Another view of the palace restaurant extension room.

Ciber Xmas Celebration

Christmas celebration at office - so much fun it was. As usual, I went along capturing some awesome moments.

Isaac in Toy Train

Isaac and his grand mom decided to go on a train journey. Amidst the sprouting Christmas feelings all around, he enjoyed the journey all along... 

Always A Day To Remember

November 27th, is always a day for me to remember with joy and thanks giving. The day I got a perfect partner and wonderful parents to my life.

A new life started with lot of changes and convictions. Going strong with the blessing of my Jesus and the support of our family...

The day ended with a wonderful buffet dinner at Ruh Restaurant, Bangalore.