Chicago and its Magnificence

Balance

I was in Los Angeles a few weeks back. I captured some pictures of the sprawling city, metal buildings & peeping sky and some of the beautiful blue ocean, birds flying and the setting sun. Everything has 2 sides; they are not necessarily good or bad – just different. While we yearn for the hustle and bustle that the city brings, we still love the peace and calm of the ocean. Peace and calm gets boring very soon. We get restless and wish for the craziness again. One needs a little bit of everything in their lives – laughter, tears, anger, love, joys and sorrows. It is balance that makes life interesting at the end. In order to achieve balance one must experience the highs and lows, the ups and downs – as I write this I feel that it is counter-intuitive. How can balance be about swings? But, I guess it is; because life cannot be perfectly balanced all the time – it just has to be perfectly balanced over time.    
 

Late Night Mexican Style

Last week Mexico celebrated 200 years of independence. I happened to stumble on these celebrations in various spots all over the city. First stop was La Bibliotheca – tucked away in the basement on 3rd Avenue & 40th street. This place feels like a library where the books are replaced by bottles of tequila. It is a cozy spot that will be great during the cold winter months when a swig of Anejo Tequila is just the thing you need. Mayahuel is the goddess of tequila; in New York it also is a great spot found on 6th street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I tried a few cocktails at this establishment; Some were delicate and subtle while others are boisterous and fun – something for whatever mood you're in. The Third spot I visited was Casa Mezcal. Mezcal is a distant, less refined cousin of tequila and is gaining momentum in the Mixology world these days. Here the Mexican fiesta was on in full form as we were very close to midnight. The upstairs is amazing – I fell in love with the big open widows and the beautiful coffee table surrounded by low comfy couches! Last but not least we stopped by PDT (a.k.a. Please Don’t Tell) – this establishment had nothing to do with Mexico but is a great speakeasy spot where you enter through a phone booth and they serve the most gluttonous food - Fried hot-dogs with Kimchi are one of the delicacies there. All in all a lovely night of great food, yummy drinks and a lot of fiesta fun!

Tennis

I was a little girl looking at a big poster of Björn Borg on my neighbors wall. That was my first introduction to Tennis. From there I progressed onto the steel prowess of Ivan Lendl and the anger of John McEnroe. I remember pining for the ‘cute as a button’ Stephan Edberg during my teen years, and who can forget Pete Sampras’ hanging tongue. Then there were the Agassi years - I recently read his book “Open” which took me back to the days when I used to stay up late at night watching the US Open in India - he was such a rebel one couldn't help but love him! After Agassi I sort of lost track of tennis; I think it was because I lived in places where it was not front and center and I did not seek it out. I moved to NYC in 2004 and ever since then I have been fortunate enough to go to the Open every year. There really is something special about Tennis at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It happens during the time of year when summer is just about turning into fall, there is a cool breeze blowing; the lights come on and there is an energy that cannot be put into words. Everyone gasps and cheers together at the hits and misses. As the game of tennis has progressed -> with fitter players, faster games, better rackets and bigger sponsors. I too have progressed from a girl infatuated with the game to a woman who enjoys the sport and maybe still is a little infatuated. Click here for some shots from the 2010 US Open.   

Rainy Sundays

Some Sundays I love that it rains. It forces me to stay home and relax. I am not very good at down time unless I am forced to take some – which means, either I have to fall sick or go on a beach vacation. I wonder if this is true of all New Yorkers – the constant need to live life to its fullest. You don’t really have to try that hard since you live in a city that thrives on constant “doing”.

Today I decided to indulge in cooking breakfast fit for a King (and Queen). I whipped up 2 types of whole-wheat (healthy) pancakes. One with berries & nutmeg and the other with Mango & Pistachio’s. The pancakes were drizzled with Adirondack Pure Maple Syrup that had been sitting in my fridge forever! The egg cooked over-easy was the perfect accompaniment to balance out the sweetness of the pancakes. To wash it down we had some mimosas. Great rainy Sunday morning – now for some quality time with my book as Monday looms over my head.

August is for Open Roads

I was very excited when I discovered that this Saturday was the first of three Summer Streets 2010 days. I was up at 7:30 am to attack Park Avenue with my bike. It was a fun ride and I even got to check out the pool on 40th & Park. Some things to note if you are planning to avail of this wonderful open street opportunity. If you are on a bike don't expect a rigorous 7 mile ride. There are many stops and a lot of people; so tread carefully. I used to be part of Team in Training and now after my Triathlon is over I understand how this group can just take over the road; and how annoying this is for other people they share the street with - but its for a good cause so GO TEAM ! Other cool things - there is valet  parking (ha ha) for your bike on 40th and Park. You can rent bikes for free on various spots along the way; also on the house is free NYC water, bike tune ups and cool Reebok swag. The Pool - another aspect I was thrilled about is actually just a PR tool. There were more camera's and by-standers than people actually in the pool. The unique thing about this is the fact that you are swimming (almost) under Grand Central Terminal. All in all a very cool thing to do in NYC for the next three Saturdays. So I definitely recommend that you check it out. Along the way I stopped to click a few shots.   

New Orleans: A Little Nibble

I was in New Orleans this July for Tales of the Cocktails. It is always difficult to fit photography into a work-trip; but this was my first time in New Orleans and I wanted to at the very least explore the French Quarter. I got just a little flavor of the food, drink and the people. I can't help but want to go back for a real taste of this great city that has been through so much.  Below are some pictures that I captured. Click here for the full set.   

 

Peru Diaries 5 - Cuzco Chilling & Floating Fun

 After our hike and Machu Picchu we needed a day to just chill. We did this in Cuzco with no real agenda in mind. Meandering around town we discovered the local San Pedro market. This market had entire sections designated to just flowers or just meats or cheese or corn. I have never seen so many varieties of things in one place. After the market we moseyed on to an area called San Blas. This is a part of Cuzco that is very quaint with winding streets, art stores and lovely cafe's; we spent 2 hours at Jack's cafe where we had the most amazing coffee and food. I highly recomend you take a day to just relax in Cuzco you won't regret it !
The next stop on our trip was Puno. The town is very shabby but we were visiting the nearby Floating Islands which are a treat. We spent a day on the island of Uros and then visited Tequile Island. The Floating islands are man made; woven together with mud and reeds that grow in the shallow lakes. Walking on these islands feels like your walking on sponge. The local people are friendly and were very gracious. We ate a most scrumptious lunch of fresh trout, potato and rice. We had a spectacular view of blue skies and sea. The Floating islands were our last stop and it was time to head back to New York. One thing I am sure of - we are definitely going back to Peru; feels like we just scratched the surface of this beautiful country.

Peru Diaries 4 - The Old Mountain a.k.a. Machu Picchu

Aguas Caliente is a town that was built to accommodate tourists who visit Machu Picchu. We got there by 7 pm the day before our awaited visit to the "Old Mountain". On arrival, we wandered to a bar for a much needed beer. As we were sitting enjoying our beverage we heard a song by Nazia Hassan being played "Aap Jaise Koi mere zindagi mein aye  - toh baat ban jaye". In the foothills of Machu Pichu we hear music by a Pakistani singer that was popular in the late 70's - how bizarre is that ! Our wake-up call was at 4 am the next morning and an hour later we were put on a bus and off we went to Machu Picchu. We hiked up to the Guardhouse - from this spot you can see all of the city. We were the first ones there; but it started raining heavily and all we could see were clouds. There was much disspointment - but as they say good things come to those who wait; and slowly but surely the clouds cleared and we saw the Magnificence that is Machu Picchu. Ruben (our guide) gave us a great tour - I am not going to go into the details of each spot that we saw but it truly is a wonder of the world and it took our breath away. 

Peru Diaries 3 - Hiking in the Andes

If you are visiting Peru you MUST hike the Andes. Yes it is tough and the altitude will get to you but it is all worth it. The food that you devour as you lick the last morsel off your plate, the scenery that you see on your way up the mountains and the locals you will mingle with; will all be worth it. It is a truly unique experience.
We were picked up by Ruben our tour guide at 5:30 am in the morning; along with him were 2 ever eager helpers - the porter and the cook with their horses. We trekked from 6 am till 7 pm that night. In those 13 hours we crossed 10 mountains, saw the most beautiful valley that was covered with purple flowers and tested our limits as far as altitude sickness goes; but it was all worth it.
It was just us, nature and of-course ever eager Ruben prodding us along when we felt we could not go any further. We camped in Huchuy Cuzco which was where the Inca's first settled. We slept like babies that night. The next morning we woke up to see the sun rising over the beautiful mountains - it was magnificent. We continued to a small town called Lamay from where we would make our way to Aguas Caliente - which is the town that rests in the foothills of Machu Pichu.