A Trip to Canada’s Capital City

Ottawa, the main center of the Canadian government, is a quiet, introspective city which mesmerized me with its colonial buildings and Victorian structures. The many walking trails that weave around the city gives one the opportunity to investigate its varied environments. Whether it is the Discovery walk that begins at the Canadian Museum of Civilization on the banks of the Ottawa River, and ends at Parliament Hill, or the walking trails around the Provincial Parks, all of them provide unique experiences.

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A Peep into Spring

A 14-ft tall mannequin in a ball gown woven of red flowers – mainly roses, gerberas, anthuriums – is the highlight of the show. As per the flower show tour guide, the dress is made up of individual flowers in holders so that each one can be replaced individually without affecting the whole of the dress.

The annual Flower Show at Macy’s kicked off last Sunday, March 23rd. And the temperatures are still hovering around freezing. So the flower show feels like a look into the long awaited spring… a reminder that spring will get here eventually.

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Union Square Greenmarket – a cornucopia of delights

The Union Square Greenmarket is is an amazing place, specially for a food-loving person like me. The open air market is held four times a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8 AM to 6 PM – in a three-square-block area that is part of the Union Square Park, along Broadway at 14th street. Though it is a year round market, the tempo varies according to the season. Even now, when It is just picking up pace after a long long winter, the variety of stuff available is great. But just wait for a couple of weeks... man, the bounty of nature floods the place with such abundance!

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Abyssinian Ground Hornbill

When we talk about birds, the Abyssinian Ground Hornbill is one bird that has fascinated me ever since I first saw one at Murchison Falls National Park, many years ago. Since then, I have seen these beautiful birds a number of times on subsequent trips to Murchison and they always make me smile.

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An important announcement

We are happy to announce our new blog Pepper Route, A global food trail…

The chief focus of Pepper Route is food, food and more food. The creation as well as consumption of it… in all its variety and splendour. You can count on an endless array of recipes and other food related information, including interesting food trivia. So visit us there and enjoy the reading. And of course, Like us on Facebook, +1 at Google+ to keep in touch. 

Looking forward to lot of fun together!

An interesting dog situation

We have a dog situation at our condo. In fact, it has been present for a while. Only, now it has grown so big it can’t be ignored anymore!

To start at the beginning… Ms D, who lives on the third floor, has a dog. And this dog, Tigger, has a violent temper. Any movement in the corridor in front of the apartment would send the dog into a frenzy of hissing and barking and scratching on the door. According to neighbours, this would happen regardless of whether the dog was alone or D was in the apartment...

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A bit of spamology...

While recognising the nuisance they are, I have often been amused by the ingenuity of many spammers...

Spam comes in all kinds and flavours... And it falls regularly into our email boxes promising various things. But one thing common to all spam is that they all seek to deceive us. And it is up to us to protect ourselves from such deceit, which is not all that difficult.

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Season’s Greetings with a Fruit Cake

As the season demands, I’m all set to make a fruit cake. Fruit cakes are quite rich with lots of dried fruits and nuts. Unfortunately fruit cakes are looked upon with disdain.  So here I’m trying to uplift the image of our poor fruit cake with some changes in ingredients and how it’s made.

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Festive New York

The last days of December… The best time to be in the city. Just as we pull out our winter woollens at the first indication of the chill, the city pulls out its adornments of magical enchantment. Lights twinkling from every building and every tree, music percolating into the street, smells of hot chocolate and coffee wafting in the air… all add a lightness to your steps.

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