Trip to Enchanted Gardens

                                                         

I would like to give you a peek into 'my kind of day' today.It is green, colorful, full of sunshine with walk in the neighborhood exploring the unknown kind.

We have learnt to explore new life after Covid has hit the world and it's about going within and respecting every bit of the living cell.

I love going to nurseries in my city whenever I can and learn about  new plants and tricks to keep them alive in my home.

I have found so much inspiration in these pots and plants as it's like designing your own ecosystem. How you can bring a beauty with your old travelcollectibles and arrange living and non living together to say a story!

A fairy garden idea is displayed with ornamental cabbage, ceramics, succulents and seasonal flowers.Beauty of jute, pebbles and stones comes together here so coherently.I guess the pot designers can be another career one can choose to be.I become a kid when i go there and run all around to absorb the energy.

Stone,wood,metal props going together with natural elements ....Mushrooms in different size and colors are one of my favorite props.Imagine a flower bed with mushrooms in soil will fetch a yummy pic!! 

Succulents, aero plants and cacti also steal a main stage as they are easy to keep indoor  and need low maintenance in terms of water and light.There is a way to hang glass pots and terrarium to enjoy chlorophyll in small enviornment.

We also get to see multiple colored flora in a big pot which is like a living bouquet.Its a great gift as one can cherish flowers for ever.I have gone around city looking for beautiful leafy tropical plants and surprise to find every little plant family down there.I have started believing that its better to invest in plants for decor than anything else.

The cows, turtles,elephants and multiple animal shaped pots spread beauty and amazing coexisting scene around.Its a way to say we all live on this planet and each one of us makes it special.I have tried to impart my love and respect for life through plants to my kids, so they have their plants which they look after in my sweet home.

Trip to New Orleans....Music capital of America

The Mississippi river

Live music in the air and cool breeze of Mississippi river takes you into old world charm.This city of Louisiana state boasts of Cajun food,Jazz music and arts on street.Our weekend trip planned on a short notice turned great with little one having her own time and picking the best from the city of NewOrleans.
A drive of five and half hours from Houston takes you to French quarters,Gumbo,Jambalaya and blackened catfish.
We being mix of vegetarians and non vegetarians got our own choices and trip turned to be exploring a new territory.
I tend to do brief home work before touching new soil and that took me to a breakfast place 'Cafe du monde'.Taking a street car and a day pass saves your day and hitting the 'arch' of Mississipi' is on our books.On the cafe a serving of coffee with famous 'beignets'(fried pastry coated with powdered sugar) starts your day.

Pedal car(ricksha of India)

Beautiful art by french artist

On to the Canal street and then to the French market is more an evening thing which makes you see anything creative all along,an artist posing long hours as a statue and artist singing their own creations all long the street takes you to the time when the city was a colony and still maintains its charms.The beautiful arts of local and international people is on display all through your walk.You can enjoy the sight of pedal cars,bicycles,scooters and all modes of transport which are not available elsewhere.

The 'gumbo'

Be open to try the 'Gumbo' which is available in chicken,shrimp and veggie broth.The 'Po boy' sandwich is another local recipe.Tasting Gumbo made me realize that soup must be the first food discovered all over the world with lentils,veggies and rice going in one pot and different staples in various proportions available must have landed different recipes.My toddler loved sipping it and I was one happy mother.

Tabasco shopping

We tried our hands on great 'Tabasco sauce' tasting outlets where you can try your hands on different chili sauces and come out with burning mouths and a

Audobon insectarium

memory of your choice of bottle to take home.'Peccan pralines' are another foodie goodie to come back home.
Going to a river side and not touching the waters is something I couldn't avoid so a ferry from Canal point touching Algiers point is a must.The ferry costs nothing and takes you around to give you a skyline of the city.
I would suggest to do go to the 'Audobon Insectarium' right in the downtown next to Shop on The Canals.It great fun to go and enjoy the world of butterflies and insects with your little ones.

Thai Temple-little Thailand in Tampa

My exploration in Tampa bay area took me to a temple named 'Wat mongkolratanaram' on a beautiful sunday afternoon with family.Its not a regular day of the week ,as here on sunday you find crowd of city rushing to taste the best food cooked by devotees to collect donation for the temple.Its a buddhist temple on the plam river side where the authentic thai food is served for a definite time (10:30-1:30 pm)

The food is home cooked,delicious and economical.We can find stalls serving from colourful desserts,Raw papaya salad,dumplings, banana fritters,wholesome pork and beef noodle soups(donot forget trying),coconut custard(must try),traditional curries with padthai and rice,eggrolls and even satay or barbeque dishes.The people like us need to carry cash as the place earns it as donation,so dont forget that!!!.Everything is good there and is really is....I found people coming from 10 -12 years for a great sunday brunch there .Its a success story of devotees for their sincere attempt to bring up their religion in foreign land.

The serene surroundings and sitting area makes it a must place for family outing.The temple also places a stall for selling Thai kitchen essential veggies,spices and produce for us to try our hand in kitchen with those wonderful recipes.Thats another way to bring traditions close to all those people who are unknown to rich traditions of eastern world....Right place where east meets west harmoniously.

Food is one thing which brings together people and all our sense organs are loving it!!!!

Wat Mongkolratanaram 5306 Palm River Rd. Tampa, Florida 33619
Phone : 813-621-1669 Fax : 813-626-8850

Tex mex in a bus....

 Living in texas for three years made me fond of mexican food and that made me search a local joint in Tampa ,this one is known to be the best serving Tacos,burritos,quesadilla and tostada place in Florida state.Well the place reminds us of a bus which is the kitchen and hence named 'Taco bus' .They have a tagline "Broken english perfectly spoken"

Try their tacos with veggie fillings and meats..they are fresh and juicy,the place offers lots of choices for vegetarians and their vegan 'steak strips' are recommended for first time goers.Veggie crowd can also try 'rajas con queso' which is roasted poblano peppers with queso fresco.

Non vegetarians can try their fish tacos(specially recommended) and chicken,beef,pork all other meats are available too.
Talking of drinks try pineapple water,tamarind water,cantaloupe and watermelon ones are seasonal.they are fresh and go well with the food.'hibiscus flower lemonade' is specially recommended.
The place is casual ,economical and open all 24*7 all days...try satisfying midnight hunger there.( can do that online too)
Location
913 E Hillsborough avenue
Tampa 33604
813-232-5889

Trip to Shivasamudram ,Sangam and Mekedatu

Last weekend we had one day trip with my husband and his team to list of waterfalls around Bangalore.Best List of lovely places for water lovers out there.We started our trip morning 7 and got breakfast packets.While going we enjoyed the lush green corridor of Bangalore and game of Dumb-charades,Well!We acted on funniest of movies and thoroughly brain stormed our knowledge on movies to make the boys loose, the game ended tie.

I didnt realise when we reached Sangam where the river Arkavati confluences with river Kaveri .The ride of beautiful round handmade boats called Parisal take us to other side of river.The boats are ones which I had seen in movie 'Roja'.Cute ride as water level not very deep and one could slowely reach the place of great natural beauty.The right place to experience water and take a relaxing dip to cool oneself.My daughter had a great time there in her diapers.She didnot want to come out and that made our trip memorable.I noticed people cooking marinating chicken and enjoying country style food,I tell you aroma was too tempting.

From there we head to Mekedatu ,Meke(goat) datu(leap).A gorge 3.5 km downstream drive from there all along the river course. It is a cascading waterfall gushing through a narrow gorge and flowing through a ravine of granite rocks and hence one of the favourite spots for people.There is a staircase taking you down there and mindyou donot carry food, monkeys follow you if u donot share your chips.We enjoyed the great gush of
river Kaveri and scenic view down there from rocks which were hot and shining.

We had our lunch coming back at a place right at entrance where hot fresh food made us recharge for further
journey to Shivasamudram falls from there.We take Malavelli route from there and it is 20km from Malavelli,lies in Mandya district and one of the majestic falls of Karnataka.There are Bharachukki(western) and Gaganachukki(eastern) falls which are must for real time experience. Shivasamudra was first hydroelectric power plant for Asia.The city of Bangalore was the first to get power in India.Is it not amazing??We enjoyed a local sour fruit and headed back to home and day was successfully closed with good night sleep.

Distance in kms-
1)Sangam 89 km from Bangalore via Kanakpura
2)Mekadatu 4km from Sangam
3)Shivasamudram falls 125km from Bangalore and 60km from Mysore

A humble request to all you people out there,Please do not leave plastic waste,we being educated crowd are doing lot of harm by throwing bottles and packets there and destroying our gifted natural wealth.......

Trip to lush green Coorg...Untouched world..

Long weekend and my family packed for much needed break for three days..My daughter had great fun and we made the most of those three days with a supportive toddler.We had booked with a coffee estate and drove from Bangalore on 31 august at  6:30 am.Our final destination was 266 km and Mysore was another attraction on our mid way.We touched the city of 'silk'-Ramanagram also famous for movie 'sholay' the chartbuster.Driving from there we touched Channapatna-city of 'toys' famous for its wooden toys and lacquerware at around 60km from Bangalore.Well our daughter bought her kitchen ware and is loving it...We drove to Mandya-city of 'sugar' which is 100 km from Bangalore.Our driver and guide recommended us the place  for breakfast 'Shivalli ' restaurant where the famous 'glass idli' is served.We enjoyed the hot dosa and idli platter and drove to another famous city of Srirangapatna - Fort of TipuSultan is the attraction.Then finally we touched the city of Mysore where we decided to visit Chamundi hills Temple.Beautiful drive on a hill and great view of the city from that height,my hubby captured the Mysore Palace from there.

FAMOUS SHIVALLI  GLASS IDLI

CHAMUNDI  HILLS TEMPLE

HUBBY AND AVIKA 

NAMDROLING MONASTERY

DUBARE ELEPHANT CAMP

Our drive to never ending green Coorg began from here,We  reached Periyapatna and then it was a drive which  is unforgettable,I have not seen such lush dense greenery in my life,it was driving in a coffee and blackpepper plantation for miles and miles to see  glimpse of people.We loved the place and were amazed by its beauty and life there.We reached Biddanda estate and surprised to find a nice cosy dwelling called  'Elephant Corridor'.Our hosts Mr Viju and Mrs Nimmi were there to welcome us with hot tea..our daughter chose her place and was swinging and singing her rhymes .