Friday, May 29, 2009

ATL-STL update!

Hellooooo... Im back in good ol' Springfield!! My break was simply awesommeeee!!
ATL: My first destination was Atlanta, GA. Even though I've been there a couple of times before, I was really excited going back.. Somehow it reminds me of home.. Not to mention the delicious Tam-Brahm food I stuffed my face with! SIGH! My aunt is such a great cook.. Each day she prepared a dish of my choice such as Avial, Molagootal, kootu etc etc etc.. I realized how tasty vegetarian home made food can taste! Seriously, once I get a job and move into my own apartment, I'm calling her and asking her recipes! Anyway, Day 2 my uncles arrived!! It was sooo great to see them! I have the greatest uncles in the world... They are so fun loving, carefree and hilarious!! We went a little sight seeing such as the CNN Center, Coke Factory etc.. Of course, they are such shoppers so a stop at Kohl's, Wal Mart, Target was mandatory. I now know where I get this passion to shop.. runs in my family.. We also went to one of my favorite stores "ToysRUs" :) I bought a BenTon toy for my cousin whose birthday was coming up!!

The rest of the days just flew by.. we did a lot of walking, riverwalks, eating, shopping, eating, watching movies and more eating!! lol.. I watched a horror movie called 13B starring Madhavan(he's still eye candy!).. Was spooky to me.. you know me.. I get scared for the slightest of things.. but seriously, this movie scared the crap outta me. I couldn't sleep for two nights!! :(

Before we knew it, it was time for them to leave...They were flying to Baltimore and I was leaving to come back to St. Louis..

STL: I love STL!! I don't know why.. There is something about this place that makes me feel good!! There's always things to do.. its gives a big city feel yet there are places that make you feel at peace.. I met with all my friends there and most importantly was good to spend time with my significant other! ;) I had another friend from school who was home for the summer.. So we went together to Grant's Farm on Day 1.. It was a huge expanse of land filled with greenery all around.. Breathtakingly beautiful! I fed the goats, clicked pics, ate Dippin Dots(yummy!), and watched an elephant show.. The next day she and her friend were going to the STL Zoo and I said I would tag along..That night we met a couple of friends for dinner at an Indian Restaurant(but of course, any trip to STL is not complete without eating at a desi place!)..

Day 2: Zoo STL is a heavenly place... loved seeing all the animals lazing around in the sun.. The reptile place was awesome.. They had so many different species that it was unbelievable.. unfortunately a lot of animals were lazy because of the heat and they were just sitting in their dens without much activity!! So I barely got some interesting pics.. Nevertheless, a visit to that place keeps me happy!! That night a bunch of my Monsanto friends showed up at home and we ate dinner and watched "Andaaz Apna Apna".. What a riot that movie is! Some of them even knew the dialogues by heart!! And of course for old times sake, we played some Taboo, made a lot of noise much to the annoyance of our neighbors..!

Day 3: I had promised a couple of guys I would meet them for lunch that afternoon at one of my most favorite restaurants in STL called Stir Crazy!! Its a novel place.. you get to pick rice/noodles, meat of your choice and mix n match your own veggies(even things like ginger, chillies etc), sauces(teriyaki+schezwan being my fave!) and then the chef prepares it right there.. Whether it tastes "out of the world" or "god-awful" depends on your creativity! Fortunately for me though whatever I tried till now has tasted excellent!! After lunch I went back home and watched a movie called "Provoked" starring Aishwarya Rai. I was soo disturbed after watching it particularly because its a true story based on a Punjabi woman.. I was shocked to learn that it is widely prevalent abroad.. A lot of parents back in India think that it is ultra cool to marry off their daughters to NRI guys who earn in dollars/pounds.. Little do they realize that more than 60% of these guys have no respect for women, treat them like slaves and have illicit relationships with "goris"..The movie disturbed me a lot since Im the type that gets involved in it too much..

Anyway that was the last day of my vacay.. Couldn't believe that a whole week had gone by so quickly.. I had a fun fun break and I was fully charged up!! It felt great to be back in good ol' SGF.. I've missed this place :)

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