A day of binging.....

A day of binging….from farm food to street food to cool food

1. The Farm, Semmancheri, OMR, 2. Street food on 2nd Line Beach Road, 3.Haven Sampoorna, Bessy

Saturday, 13^th Jun, 2015

The Farm, Semmancheri Village, 

OMR, Chennai

www.thefarmchennai.com   

Tel: +91 9176050562

The Farm - The name could not be more apt. I really liked the place. They have Dairy, small poultry, stable with horses, organic vegetable garden.  Pavithra & I like the food (when have we not liked any food!!!???) while Anand just about liked the food. The restaurant is open for breakfast & lunch.  They also have rooms for stay & so restaurant is open for dinner only for the guests who have booked rooms at The Farm and not for others.

Went around the Farm & came back sweating – a visit when the sun shows some mercy, would be ideal.

On the whole, good food & a great place.  Pets are allowed…so one more trip to The Farm with our pet Sparky, for their bed & breakfast package, is on the anvil.

 

Came back home, a quick shower & rushed to office by around 11 AM !!!

While Pavithra & Anand had lunch at Ascendas…in the usual food joints there, I had only watermelon juice….keeping my stomach empty to hog the Burmese food, you see !

In the evening, had garam adrak chai (ginger tea) at home & started for 2^nd Line Beach Road (opp Burma Bazar) for the much awaited Burmese street food…athos & egg masala.
Of course, Anand did not wanna take risk & oh yeah, Pavithra & I gulped the Athos.  I could see people pouring the prawn & plantain stem yellowish soup on the athos – we had it minus the
soup.  Nothing great about the egg masala – just a boiled egg with deep fried onions & little bit of spice.  Satisfying experience…

By the time we were done with the Burmese food, hubby dear was feeling hungry…

Haven Sampoorna, 2^nd Avenue, Besant Nagar

http://www.havensampoorna.com

Haven Sampoorna at Besant Nagar – yummy food & a decent place.
The Madras curry soup, rotis & bhindi masala, Gobi Manchurian, desserts – everything was superb.  Packed fried rice for Sparky & returned home.

What a day it was….I liked all the food that I had today…sounding like a glutton??? Well, that’s fine….live as if there is no tomorrow!!! What says you….

The thirst for varieties of food being quenched, the road trip bug has now caught on & how !

The crow's struggle for freedom

View frm Window

When I entered the kitchen in the morning (kitchen has a window facing the road), I could hear noisy screeching of crows which I felt was unusual...from the window I could see something like a crow sitting on the branch but it was not moving despite so many crows flying around the tree and so I was wondering whether it was a bird or some object. With the mad race against time in the mornings, could not go out to check what was happening but the sound of the crows was disturbing - it was as if the crows were calling for help.

After some time when I went out, I realized that a baby crow's leg was stuck in a wire - one end of the wire was stuck in the baby crow's leg and the other end was stuck in the tree and so the crow could not fly and blood was dripping down on the floor below.  Had too many things to do at home and rush to work but.....  Anand was already late for office & so he left for work but he was feeling very sad.  We were wondering what to do.  Being helpless is a miserable feeling.  I called Blue Cross and explained the situation but the telephone attender said that they will be able to send their staff only by 10 AM which meant that the baby crow had to suffer for another 2 hours. 

I requested the watchman and Mr.Bala (who was kind enough to leave his child and help the crow).  They went to the house where the window was closer to the tree and tried to pull the wire with a pole - it was a difficult task.  By then, Mr.Manoj climbed the tree and tried his best to untangle the wire by pushing it from a pole but it was very strenuous for him to balance himself on the tree & lift the pole.  Bala continued with his effort and there were a couple of good hearted people instructing Bala from the ground.

By 9 AM, Anand telephoned from office to say that he had called the Fire Service Brigade and they had immediately started to come to our apartments.  He had in fact called Guindy Snake Park if they could send someone to free the bird by climbing the tree and they had suggested Fire Service department. 10 minutes after Anand's call,  bcoz of the continuous push and movement of the wire by the pole, the wire detached, and the baby crow flew off - what a relief it was to see the bird being free.  I then quickly called Anand  and told him to cancel the request with the Fire Department.  We really appreciate the quick action by the Fire Service department and their courteous behavior even when we cancelled the request despite the vehicle being on the way to our apartments.  There are many people who must have wondered why few of us spent so much of time and effort for....after all, a crow.  But it was heartening to note that there were a few who really wanted to save that little bird. 

Miracles do happen - Pichooku the Pigeon

 The Pigeon was hurt, probably bitten by a dog…it could not fly and was unable to keep its neck steady….

I was holding it in my hand and waiting for Anand so that we could  go to Blue Cross, Velachery, Chennai, – we had earlier taken a Kingfisher bird and a pigeon to Blue Cross where these birds would be attended to by Doctors and taken care.

But Blue Cross was closed, time being 7.45 PM.  We then went in search of a Veterinarian on OMR and finally found one.  On examining the pigeon, we were told that it had internal injuries in the neck and hence it could not keep its neck steady and could not fly…we were also told that birds generally don’t survive beyond few hours if it is injured internally in the neck.  The Doctor asked us to leave the bird somewhere since it would die soon.  Somewhere...where?

Both Anand and I did not have the heart to leave the pigeon in that condition and so we brought it home (I named it Pichooku)…but the problem was we could not keep it at home bcoz of our pet dog Sparky – he would definitely pounce on it.  So we kept it in a box in the little garden near our door.  It was pathetic to see Pichooku struggling with its broken neck and we were sad to know that it would die any time. Anand smeared Vibuthi (sacred ash) around its neck and we both prayed for Pichooku’s speedy recovery.

Next day early morning when Anand took Sparky for walk, Pichooku was out of the box, sitting on the compound wall.  Seeing us, it tried to fly but could not fly high. We both tried to catch it hoping to take it to Blue Cross/Vet for thorough check up so that it does not get bitten by dogs but it flew little by little and then flew high up.....what a joy it was to see Pichooku fly high up...

I strongly believe in the power of prayers.

My special friend

She is a special child of God – my unique friend Padma (friendship of around 3 years).

My weekly visit to her house to spend some time with her has been infrequent for the past few months.  Though she does not know the date/days of the week, surprisingly, every Saturday, she eagerly waits for me and pesters her Mother to telephone to me.  The half hour that I spend with her gives her unbounded happiness which in turn gives me an immensely satisfied feeling.

Being spastic and with various health problems, very poor eye sight, severe speech impairment, and old parents, she does not have any qualms, worries, stress, etc., etc., (unlike us when we are many times unhappy for nothing) – ignorance is bliss.

Pigeon with chicken pox

On a Sunday, a couple of months ago, Anand found a pigeon near our house which was not moving even when the car was nearing it.  Anand realized that it must have been hurt & we decided to take it to Blue Cross.  Next moment we were on our way to Blue Cross, Velachery. (our second trip to Blue Cross – first one was when we found the Kingfisher bird).  

The pigeon was sitting quietly in Pavithra’s hand.  It looked ill with some boils on its beak & body.  The caretaker in Blue Cross said that the Pigeon suffered from Chicken Pox & that they will treat it.  We hope that this little bird is healthy now. 

Blue Cross, Velachery, Chennai :  Phone: +91 44 2235 49 59 / 2230 0666 / 2230 0655

Special Guests

Meow Kutty:
Last year, on an April night at around 10 PM, when we opened the door to take Sparky (pet dog) out for a walk, he was jumping & barking – fortunately Anand noticed a tiny kitten beside our door & immediately pulled Sparky back. The kitten was shivering with fear on hearing Sparky bark. We named this kitten Meow Kutty. Quickly boiled some milk for Meow Kutty & fed it. Placed Meow Kutty in a flower pot (fearing that Sparky may attack it, if inside the house). Next day my father-in-law told the maid to leave Meow Kutty far away from our house – Pavithra was higly upset to know of this on her return from School. But wonder of wonders, Meow Kutty consecutively visited us for 2 days & then, it was not to be seen

Butterfly oh Butterfly
December 2009, Anand saw a pupa on our neighbour’s wall - & his childhood memories gushed, memories of the wonderful time in Bhavanisagar, memories of the pupa that he had kept in a matchbox till it turned into a butterfly & he wanted Pavithra to see the butterfly evolution. So we emptied a matchbox, kept the pupa in it & half closed the box & kept it in the bedroom (ofcourse away from Sparky). Every now & then Pavithra & I kept peeping into the box. By the 3rd day, I was sure that it was dead – it had hardened. After 8 days, on a Sunday morning, the butterfuly was out of the box – magical ! We left it out in our little garden.

Family Package
March 2010, there were 4 kittens in a flower pot – after some time saw Mama Mia ….oops .. Mama Meow - the mother also happily in the flower pot with her little ones – but we were scared to go near. Few hours later, the family was not to be seen in my little garden.

Bye Bye Blue bird
April 14, 2010 – holiday for us & was hoping to have a relaxed day. Pavithra who had gone to play came back rushing saying that there is a blue colour bird downstairs & looks like it is hurt. Anand quickly went down hoping that dogs/cats/crows don’t pounce on it in the meantime. It was a kingfisher bird – he brought it home – kept it away from Sparky. We named it Bluebird. It didn’t drink water & we didn’t know how to feed it. We had decided to leave Bluebird in Blue Cross but before that it needed medical care. Anand searched in the internet for Blue Cross contact number. On their assurance that their doctor was available, we (Anand, Pavithra & her friend Kaushik & me) took Bluebird to Blue Cross. Paid an amount of Rs.500/- as voluntary donation. Our first visit to Blue Cross – the amount of love we shower on our pets – but here there were so many animals and birds (and not all were healthy) with few people to take care - it was like visiting an orphanage – came back with a strange sad feeling.

Fun times in the beach

My daughter Pavithra's friend, Parvathy (Pachu) was to stay with us over the week end and Pavithra was gung-ho about Pachu's visit. On Friday, the 9th April, Pachu came home - she too was excited to come back to the place where she had stayed earlier and meet all her friends. From then on, it was only play, play and more play. They quickly had dinner and again went down to meet the gang, rather the SJC GANG !



Both the girls got up early (no wonder, coz they had to go to play !), checked whether their friends had got up - what with the mobile & free intercom facility within the apartment. Came back for breakfast, quick shower, play, lunch, Computer games & then the much awaited beach visit.



Pavithra, Pachu, Subhadra & Jemi along with the responsible adults (!) my hubby Anand & me went to Besant Nagar Beach on 17th April evening. The girls started talking ninteen to the dozen & clicking photos in the car itself. We enjoy being with Pavithra & her friends.



Once in the beach, we straight went to the water, Mr.Clean, Anand, did not like the idea of his feet & pant being wet & then walking on the sand. So, while he stayed away from water, the girls and me had a blast in the water. The waves became boisterous as time passed. The sound of waves, unrestrained laughter, loud screams in between (while some twig came near our feet) and the numerous photos taken while in the water with various hilarious poses - wow, that was fun, UNLIMITED FUN. Anand had his share of fun talking to his friend non stop on the mobile (what with the wife & daughter not around to interrupt the talk !)



After being completly wet, we came towards the parapet wall near the road & had ice candy. By then Pachu's sister, Gayathri & their father joined us. Going to the beach & not having Maanga & Corncob - how can that be? Gayathri bought raw mango & corncob with a dash of lime & salt - ummm. Spent some time watching the group of elderly ladies playing some games (backward walking, kho-kho) - what indefatigable spirit.

Gayathri & her father went back home while the rest of us headed to Mast Kalandar for dinner.

All of us thoroughly enjoyed the outing. We decided that we will once again come to the beach with a much bigger group.