I like to explore the cuisines, new food at new places. However I can't let go the Kerala spice combination after all. What dinner without some rice.
European cuisine isn't that spicy. It's all sweet. If it is spicy, sweet exist with the spiciness. Not a combination that I like to enjoy.
Searched for a Kerala hotel around, couldn't find one at all. Which made me to go a level up for the search for 'Indian Restaurant'. That was a good option to get started. Indian cuisine is famous. However, majority of the Indian restaurants align to the European taste rules, which makes the traditional Indian curries sweet.
So when I had the chance to start cooking, I thought of treating my taste buds with some real Indian spiciness.
When travelled to Nottingham, my friend took me to a Kerala hotel. Cochin Fort. The Kozhikodan biriyani I had from that place was one of the best I had in London. Yum!
And he is one person who likes to cook and don't like the shortcuts in cooking. He uses all the spice combinations required for a specific curry. His kitchen is filled with spices. The real crazy chef friend I have seen after a long time.
Ani knows that I like to cook, but she hates the kitchen after am done with the cooking. One area that I have to really improve, if I really want to cook in Ani's kitchen :)
There is so much fun in cooking. Can't ignore that fact.
It was a fine weekend morning. Got up bit late. The normal schedule of calling Ani remained as usual. Simply moved the hotel curtains to gaze at the opposite garden. But what welcomed my eyes was the snowing. Grabbed the jacket and the camera, then ran out to click the pictures. Took the below video instead.
I was walking in the snow while shooting this video. The tiny snow particles hit my face and it felt wonderful. Chasing the snow is great...
Just being in the snow and enjoying the fall was a dream for me. More or less like how I enjoy the rain. It was a weekend. I didn't know what to do that weekend. I have seen the place before. Almost all the nook and corners. So there wasn't any interest to even walk outside.
The first channel on the TV was the weather forecast. And they told that it is going to snow. I looked out the window. No sign of snow and chuckled the sadness out of my face.
Then it was the evening. Got tired of being inside the hotel room. Located the nearest Indian restaurant and walked towards it.
And then it happened. From nowhere it began to snow. The tiny white particles came settling down. I watched it with wonder and excitement. And lot many people joined with me. It was the best snowfall in my life. All those places which I though I've already seen, turned into a magical white places. It was beautiful, covered in white...
These were the first group of people who were enjoying the snow fall. They were throwing snow balls at everybody around them, even at the vehicles (crazy!!!). They even threw one to me too. Look closer in the above picture. You can spot the snow ball in mid-flight towards me :) That was awesome...
I did make some snow balls and enjoyed my crafting skills. And I did miss Ani joining the fun.
Walked couple of miles enjoying the snow covered terrain. Those places looked very different that I have seen them before.
Another weekend in Scotland. A quiet one. Apart from some official catch-ups, didn't have any special plans for the day. Said NO to the room service for the second time.
Thought of taking a walk in the garden near by. Dressed up in the jacket and muffler and walked out of the hotel. There was a wedding event happening at the hotel, all happy people around.
Grabbed a coffee and walked into the garden. Well, it was pretty quiet there too. Apart from one guy who was feeding the pigeons and squirrels close to the entrance. He was quite enjoying the sharing.
It was windy and pretty cold out there. Sun was trying to peek out of the clouds in vain. But I did enjoy the walk. Fresh air and clear mind is precious.
I've been to this place before, but everything is changed with the season. I had to tell to myself that its the very same place. Where are those flowers which were there?
Just followed the path where it lead, took different directions at the cross roads and it was really fun to walk around. Only difference - no sweating. I was still shivering.
Looking out from the hotel window to the street in the morning is something that I loved doing everyday. It's a thanksgiving moment too. Remembering the grace of God, blessing me with yet another wonderful day.
This is one thing which I enjoyed being in the town. The colours from the street arts added more life to the place around. So exploring the art became one of the weekend activities.
Why I like the idea of colouring the walls in the neighbourhood? First of all it is beautiful. Rather than keeping the walls neutral, something creative of this sort can be done. Recently there was a news about the graffiti artists painting around the places in Bangalore. Why they have to do this under cover? Why don't they have the freedom of creativity is not appreciated? I have no idea.
What is special about these anyway? It looked special for me, as I have not seen street wall drawings of this size before. I am not an art lover and cannot vouch for those scoring evaluation points anyway. From a common mans perspective, I could simply stand and watch the beauty of the talent behind this.
What else? Looks like the person had a story to tell. I don't know what the exact story is, but the cage, birds in it and the cat watching it's prey - he had something in his mind. Is it the freedom he is looking for? So when I assumed that the drawing is a perspective of freedom, the person still had a cage inside him? No idea.
The size The cars parked next to these walls looked so small. First I though those vehicles were a disruption to my photos. But when I look at them for a long time, someway everything becomes a perfect combination to the frame.
The town is all square blocks. To find the wall paintings I had to take a walk around several square blocks. You know when a traveller wants to find something, then no one can stop them :)
Isn't those looking amazing? Those were the animal related paintings near to the Glasgow green streets.
However the below one was on a pub wall. Sorry, I have no idea who those people on the paintings are. But again looked so creative and beautiful. This time, it was a blend of black and white paintings. Quite different feel.
Below are the murals from the university perimeters. More like student and knowledge centric.
Look to your left, there is something amazing on the wall :)
I hope they are all very popular personalities.
Look out. You got a hash tag right there to use. #STRATHWONDERWALL. Try this on Social Media.
This complete side of the building is covered with the murals. That's an effort.
#TEAMWORK? That's what I would like to call it anyway. It is like Christopher Nolan movie. Everyone thinks they got the idea, but all had different versions when discussed.
The above one had a connected mural paintings running for few meters on the wall. Like a jungle and very intense on the nature. Never seen those animals that big before. So perfect in the details.
Those red cherries were huge. Intense red, and 3D effect.
Are you taking my photo? Some people are so disturbed with the photography. See that squirrel looking at me.
This one is my favourite. A complicated mural because of its richness in detail and colour. I might have stood and watched this for at-least 20 minutes for sure.
Again, the nature and animals. This entire stretch of murals on the wall was a treat.
The below one is near to the suspension bridge. But this mural changes more often than compared to the above ones. And the wall looked like a perfect canvas. Artists will be so tempted to put their creativity out there on it.
I might have walked miles searching for these paintings. But the exploration was fun. Checking out with the locals and getting to know the places is always fun. They know things better than Google sometimes.
The video below shows the other wall paintings around Glasgow. The last one which is shown as in progress is the one which is right behind my office, the university campus.
Went to this place, as the photos of the Tall Ship was so calling for a visit. Never been to a big ship like this one before. And it was an exploration time.
Took the City Sightseeing bus from my place to the museum and the ship was visible from a very far distance. It stood mighty compared to any other structures close by.
Came to know that it was pretty old, but wasn’t quite seeking the history then. The only intention was to visit each and every part of the ship, enjoy its beauty and photograph if possible.
The below cleaning utilities were functional. Kids were really serious about cleaning the ship with these.
The ship's interior is refurbished to include a big hall for functions and a nice coffee shop.
While exploring the ship's inner areas, I was thinking about the life of people in the ship while they were in the middle of the sea. It is always a frightening fact for me.
The engines were still visible from this deck and that area looked like a pirate ship. It was so dark and not much light in there, but can see the huge motor which once powered this merchant ship.
View was awesome from the front deck. There were couples trying out the Titanic posture. That was funny to watch.
Too much of strings and ropes all over the deck. Am sure that each got its own function. It should be pretty complicated to control the ship with the rope technology.
Walking in and out of the ship is through the souvenir shop. That's a good idea. And they had this calligraphic greeting which was something of my interest.
The view from the front side of the ship was towards a boating deck. People were getting into the boats for a short ride through the Clyde river.
