Big Cat Diary

I have finally completed all seasons of Big Cat Diary. 7 amazing seasons of wild adventure.
I was till probably a few years back only amazed by a couple of big cats, the Tiger and the leopard of India.
But after watching a few episodes of Big Cat Diary at home in Bangalore and now watching all the seasons of the Big Cat Diary on the internet, I am in awe of all the Big cats, both in India and in Africa.
It feels so good to have seen the true raw nature of the African big cats, their lives and their story.

Anyone and everyone should watch this show. its just amazing.... 

Brands and their Made ins...

Here in the US, when you are living in a small town, and nothing much to do in the area, you will visit a nearby city and some of its Malls, as I do quiet often.... you will do loads and loads of the so called window shopping.. but here in the US it is not as much as window shopping...
You will find clothing brands and stores... The clothes, the styles and designs of course  change with season, but after a point, specially for guys, you will almost find the same kind of clothes every time....
There will be very few eye catching clothes that tempt you to have a look or even try some... Over the past year, I have seen numerous clothing and have noticed the 'Made in...' tag. You will put off immediately on most occasions...
You will not be surprised at all to find that it would be mostly 'Made in China'... Almost everything... but off late for the clothing in spring and summer, I have noticed that the clothing has not just 'Made in China' but also Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Thailand, Philippines and even Pakistan for that matter...
I could never have thought that I will find a 'Made in Pakistan' in the US.... I have seen very few items or things made in the US itself... I understand the business side of it, the enormity of this was something that I was surprised with...
Then When I look at the overall retail picture in the US, you will find that this is not just with Clothes, but with almost everything... From Shoes, electronics, cushion, comforters, jewelry, accessories, crockery and the list will go on...
I saw one store selling a women's hair band for 28 $ after sale and the original was 40 $. Again made in China. I also saw one guy selling a plastic transparent bag for 25 $. Nothing seems to be made in the US???

Well this is just an observation, I am sure there is plenty more like this here...

Food Tour

It has been just over 6 months away from Bangalore and I am slowly starting to miss every bit of it that is India, my home!
Well let me ask you something before I tell you what makes me feel so...
Have you ever thought of planning your outing just on the basis of food and everything else comes second?
Well to think of it, it sounds a bit like the HOMP show... but when I actually tried it out, it really works well.
You have to have company that loves eating food though...
What made it very interesting and surprising for me was that we planned a trip on the basis of what we wanted to eat and where we wanted to eat... Then once we finalized our food tour, we then planned what tourist spots to see...
This plan worked very well as we saw all the places that we planned and also saw more. We eat all the Indian food that we had planned...To add to this we did not have any confusion in our head as to whether we are missing out on some tourist attraction or not... the reason being tourist attractions were not on our mind when we planned, but the food was. tourist attractions were part and parcel of the food tour you can say :) :).
Well this all happened over a 2 day weekend... short time and had loads of fun and great food...
After this very successful trip I am thinking of using similar ideas to plan a trip. For food lovers like me and my wife, it will surely work.
Now coming back from the trip has been a bit tough... I am missing all the good Indian food and then again saw Dhobi Ghat which reminded of the India in a very realistic and different way... Missing home for all the great food by my mom and then again missing the street food of India...
For all the food lovers, you can give a food tour a try and let me know if it worked for you?????????

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