Thursday, February 26, 2015

A day out in Hanoi

Hanoi becomes very active on weekends. The night market on the side of  Hoan Kiem lake is worth a visit. It bustles with life. You would find everything from clothes to handbags to ceramics. Grab something to eat on the roadside. It is actually a street but at night on friday and saturday, the traffic is barred and shops are set throughout the length of street.
Entrance to the night market
There is no dearth of art in Vietnam.  The handmade paper cut outs cards are too beautiful to be used. I got some but have not had the heart to use them. They are awesome.
It is also a very common sight to see women crocheting mobile phone covers or small bags.
Another sample of 3-d cards !
Isn't the paper craft awesome?
Paper quilling 
I have seen quilling but have never come across anything like this. They are terrific. They look painted from a distance. There are huge panels made with quilling! It indeed must not have been easy.
The pavement turns into a badminton court!
Another thing I have noticed in the South-Asian countries is their love for execise. The whole family goes out to a park and spends time together. They also get a chance to meet friends. It is a fun filled time. The side walks or the pedestrian walks are marked into badminton courts and by evening all courts are occupied with enthusiastic players. Using a motorbike as a net was a good idea! Look at the picture above.
Time to catch up with messages !
A common sight with mothers busy with their mobile phones and children having fun roller skating!

Plenty of shops full of wood enameled plates, trays, boxes flood the place.
Hanoi traffic
Tile painting
You cannot miss but notice the huge stretch of tile paintings by the roadside on way to the airport. This 10 km long stretch of tile paintings is made on the dyke wall of Red river. The tiles were made at Bat Trang, Bat Trang, the pottery village near Hanoi. The project was finished in 2010 and features as the world's largest ceramic tile mural in the Guiness Book of World Records.

All this art work makes you realise the resilience of the Vietnamese poeple who have fought and repelled several invaders, yet have not given up on art and other finer pursuits of life.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Cook Islands, beautiful Pacific islands

One of the things I enjoyed living in Pacific is the quaint beauty of the islands. They are still largly untouched by the commercialism. Islanders are so happy and contended in their life. Makes me wonder about the rat race all over.

Cook islands, like all Pacific islands, were formed by volcanic activity. It used to be just a couple of hours flight from Fiji but in the recent years, you need to go via New Zealand which increases both the travel time, as well as the fare. It is closely linked to New Zealand in which the islanders have the choice to live and work between the two countries.

The inhabitants are Polynesians called Maoris who migrated from Tahiti many centuries back.

The Island is a collection of about 15 islands. I visited just one island, Rarotonga.

Kia Orana! This is how everyone gets greeted in Cook Islands. We checked into Rarotongan Beach Resort. The staff, like all Pacific islanders, is very friendly.
The place is perfect to relax. The dining hall is near the water and you have the option of sittng outside.
plenty of fish in the water
Just below the wooden ledge, the fish are so conditioned that during the breakfast time, they all gather near the area. I would take my leftover food and feed them. It was a fun to see all the fish fighting over crumbs of food.  No, you cannot fish here. The area is protected.
After a heavy breakfast, the beach chairs invite you to take a book and laze around. Rarotongan resort has plenty of activities which keep you busy throughout the day. My first venture into snorkeling was here. The clear waters were too hard to resist the temptation of not getting into the water.
In the reception area, was this beautiful applique work on the wall. While, walking through the small shops, I saw many women working on applique projects. I found out that it is done by the islanders which helps them in their economy.

One of the things I really enjoyed about Rarotongan was their activity schedules. They had one activity planned everyday. Below, I am mentioning few such activities.
This activity was scheduled for night. It is the crab race!
The night before the race, everyone is invited for crab hunting. With torches in hand and a container, we went down the coast during low tide. There were plenty of hermit crabs which we picked and put in a container.
A sea snake slithers in water
The crab race begins with beating of drums and blowing of huge conches.
The hermit crabs caught the previous night are put on a tray. The crabs are already numbered.  A circle is made and the purpose of making the circle is that whichever crab crosses the line is declared a winner.
Everyone gathers around and waits for the crabs to come out of their shells. Slowly, they come out and start going here and there.

Excitement in the crowd
Next is the hurdle race! Everyone piles their slippers in the center. A barricade of coconut leaves is also made and crabs piled in the center. Again starts the race, but this time the crabs will have to climb over the hurdles.
There is a lot of cheering and excitement as the numbered crabs cross over the hurdle to clear the race.
Another activity which I attended was making your own sarongs using spray painting.
See the steps below on how to make customized sarongs. They are spray painted where the color comes out with a force from a nozzle, the other end being dipped in the color.
Below are few cut outs associated with Pacific islands. They were put on top of the fabric in a pattern of your choice. The cloth is sprayed with colors over the cut outs.
spray diffuser
They used this spray diffuser. The long pipe is dipped in paint and then you blow from the upper side.
Once, the paints dry, the stencils are removed and your custom made sarong is ready.
Pretty island sarong
The Pacific islands are known for their weaving. The coconut palm which grows in plenty are efficiently used in making mats, baskets, fans, jewelry.
A basket and a fan made out of coconut fronds
Coconut is one of the important crops in the Pacific and so they are adept in coconut climbing without the need of any rope or ladder

UMU:
Underground cooking is a very traditional and heat efficient way of cooking food. This is known by different names in various islands, It is called Lovo in Fiji, Umu in Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga.
A pit is dug and a fire made. Stones are put inside to heat them.
Meanwhile, food to be cooked is prepared by wrapping it properly in banana leaves to conserve the moisture.
When the pit is very hot, food is placed in layers depending on the amount of heat it needs to be cooked. A whole pig would take a long time and needs the most heat so it is placed at the bottom. Coconut leaves are added intermittently to help build up steam and not let the food go dry.
Vegetables as taro, potatoes, pumpkins are also put. Fish needs the least amount of heat so wrapped in banana leaves, it is put on the last layer.
The food is now  covered with plenty of coconut fronds. On top goes wet jute rags and finally a tarpaulin sort of material to seal the heat inside. The food is left undisturbed for 8-10 hours. After that the umu it is opened and food taken out.
      Cover about to lifted                    steam coming out                        first view of food                          cooked food

The Saturday Farmer's Market or the Punanga Nui is a must. The market buzzes with activity on Saturday from 6 am and is over by 11 am. From fresh fruits, vegetables, green drinking coconut, craft stuff which includes masks, souvenirs, sarongs called pareus here, the famous black pearls of Cook Islands, this place has it all.
The craft shop
The fresh vegetables get exhausted very quickly. Behind these shops are plenty of places to eat. Something which should be tasted is the Ika Mata, where very thin slices of raw fish is marinated with lemon juice and later thick coconut milk is added along with a dash of red hot chillies and seasoning. It is called Kokoda (pronounced Kokonda) in Fiji Islands.

Trying a black pearl necklace
The black pearls in Cook Islands are the same quality as the Tahitian black pearl but you get some at very reasonable rates here.  The lady showed me a tray in which depending on the quality and color you could buy a single pearl from $10 to $500!
Shell fan
 The shell fans are intricately made from the fiber of young coconut and take a long time to finish. No doubt they are quite expensive.
We saw the folk dance of Cook Islands and the flexibility and charm of dancers had everybody tapping their feet. Watch the video below, I am sure you are going to enjoy it.
A fast track dance of girls and boys. The swaying movements mesmerizes you.
This was a slow dance by girls which is very different from the  dance above.

The above video is of Wigmore's waterfall. We drove and drove between thick growth of trees.  In fact, I had started wondering if we were on the right track and suddenly we see the falls.
Waiting outside the airport
So quiet an airport!
There is so much see and experience in this island. You will always feel the shortage of time in such beautiful Pacific islands.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Calendar make over

Have you had a calendar that you rely on but it has this organisations pictures that are not really cheerful? Makes you feel that it should have been more artistic and made you smile when you look at it?
I had this calendar and early in the morning a look at the pictures did not me make me as cheerful as I would have liked. I like to start my day smiling and laughing. But, a look at the desk calendar did not make me happy.  I thought of giving it a makeover and turning it into something that would cheer me up and make me smile.

I cut paper the size of  the picture I wanted to cover, painted flowers on them and stuck it on top of the cheerless picure.
My pretty calendar for 2015 is ready!
Now, I look at the flowers early in the morning with a smile.

original calendar
modified one
Some more pictures....



So next time, you are in possession of a calendar, the pictures of which you do not like, give them a make over !

Friday, February 6, 2015

Spicy ginger syrup

It has been a long time since I posted any recipe. I was busy writing my travelogues. Side by side there were many pending craft and art work to finish.
My ginger syrup was about to finish so I thought of making some more.


This time I planned of adding some zing to my syrup. I added hot red chilies! yes, red diced chilies along with peppercorns. Try it and I am sure you are going to be hooked to it.

Ingredients:
2 cups water
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 tbsp crushed ginger
2 thai birds eye chilies
25 cracked peppercorns
2 stalk lemongrass
3 lime, more if you like your syrup sour

Method:


Assemble the things needed.



Scrape the ginger and then either grate it or cut into small pieces. I feel grating is better, it takes out the juices.


Now, in a pan, put the sugar, water, crushed red chilli, cracked black pepper, grated ginger, and battered or diced lemongrass. Skip lemongrass if you don't have one.


Bring the syrup to a boil and then lower the heat to let the syrup boil gently.


Let it boil for around 10 minutes. It would start giving a pleasant smell. Turn down the heat and let it cool.


I prefer to use glass bottles instead of the plastic ones. Somehow, I feel that putting anything acidic in a plastic bottle is not good. This is my vinegar bottle which I recycle. I am in the habit of labelling everything in my house :)

Squeeze out lime juice. The amount of juice depends on the quality and size of lime. If you like your syrup on the sour side, add more.



After the syrup has cooled, either strain or transfer to the bottle. I like to see red chilli pieces in my drink. Wow, the spicy lemon-ginger syrup is ready to use.

How to make a drink:
In a glass, add some ice cubes or crushed ice. Add 2-3 tbsp of syrup. Top with cold water or soda water. Taste and add more syrup if desired.



Variations:
  • Add a tbsp of vodka or gin to a glass, some crushed ice, and the prepared ginger chilli syrup. Add water or soda and around 10 drops of bitters. Add more vodka if you like your drink stronger.
  • Add the syrup to a cup of hot water and drink to relieve cold.
  • Add to green tea and have it cold or hot.