Tag: family

New York City (Winter Version) pt. 4

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A cold brisk day in New York City and hunger overcame my little sister and I. Yesterdays dinner was so savory and flavorful so we both came with the conclusion that we should have a more sweet breakfast to cleanse our pallets. A destination that we were familiar with was Remi Cafe, however, we went to the bigger location in another part of the city. Known for its floral infused coffees and sweet treats we were excited to have a taste again. Today was going to be a very busy day filled with ice skating and meeting up with friends so we needed something loaded with carbs. During breakfast my sister and I truly did catch up on each other’s lives, even though we are around each other all the time we tend to ignore each other back home. We ordered a pumpkin cake, a jelly donut, a ham and cheese croissant and a muffin along with a hot matcha latte and a rose latte. It was a good breakfast that was light enough but still fulfilling for the cold we would have to embark that day.

After breakfast we decided to go to the huge ice skating rink present. It was a while since I skated last (roller or ice) so it did take a good 10 minutes to warm up to the feeling of my feet slipping. We skated for a good hour, my parents tagging along as well spectating from beyond the rink. Despite it being very cold, the motion that comes with ice skating did bring temporary warmth back into our bodies. To the point where I was able to take my jacket off and keep my hoodie on only. After the tiring amount of times we went in a circle we were hit by the surprise of some of our closest friends also being in New York the same time we were in. This initiated a search and find mechanism in us as we tried to find our friends in the big crowd of New York. The people who were over was one of my mom’s good college friends from engineering school in India and his family.

Upon catching up decided it was better to get out of the cold as we began the search for a restaurant to truly sit and catch up. My mom’s friend currently resides in Texas, so they too were not accustomed to this cold. He has two children, one a few years younger than me and the other one a few years younger than my sister, hence the immediate connection between us. We headed over to a Thai restaurant where the girl who was roughly my age and I ordered matching Thai teas. When I tell you Thai tea is one of my favorite teas I’m not lying. The tier list is Masala Chai, Thai tea and then Matcha tea. Alongside me and her also shared a good helping of pad Thai while the whole table shared two fishes that were super savory and very well prepared. I’ve always been fond of the Thai cuisine for its usage of intense spice while also intertwining subtle sweetness to the dishes (exactly like pad Thai). And do NOT get me started on Mango sticky rice, 10/10 one of the best desserts out there. Yes it’s very simple but the taste and quality can never be outdone.

After the amazing lunch we all headed to a really crowded area of the city where families were seen shopping everywhere. It was here that I bought a new North Face jacket for myself and me and my little sister went on a bit of a splurge buying Lululemon earmuffs and some skincare products from other stores. After when it became too dark and cold to stay out any longer and shop we decided it was probably time to get some dinner and head to the hotels to sleep. Our good friends were in a different hotel than us so we would have to split up later, but we decided why not order pizza for take out and eat in one of our hotel rooms? And that is what we did. If you have read my past New York blog then you would know Joe’s Pizza is my go to pizza place anytime I’m in the Big Apple. Overall a great way to end the day, it was a little sad knowing the fact that tomorrow afternoon would be the day we were flying out and back home, leaving our friends, and leaving a great city of memories.

Miami pt.2 & 3

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The next morning I met up with my cousin at a nice cafe called Cafe Flora, known for its aesthetics of the interior and food, I was really hyped to eat there. There at the cafe I met up with my grandparents, older cousin, my sister and my mom. It was a sunny and warm day, storms did loom in the distance because of a tropical storm rolling in, but as of right now we were ok. Of course warm days call for cold drinks, we ordered some lemonades which came with cutely decorated flowers (definitely not edible) and came in a nice big jug (perfect size). I ordered chicken and waffles because if others didn’t know already, chicken and waffles are one of my favorite foods. Maybe it’s from growing up in the south or maybe it’s because I love the sweet and savory difference between the two. No matter what though, it will always be a comfort food for me. My cousin got some sort of Tiramisu French Toast which is a super interesting hybrid to me, it was really good though and it looked so beautiful and delicate. My sister got an acai bowl (which at the time was her favorite obsession) and my mom ordered a spicy chicken sandwich drenched in a spicy sauce with nice and savory eggs. Lastly my grandpa and grandma shared a kind of breakfast sandwich with a more traditional toasted bread.

After breakfast I looked up some things to do in Miami, finding Superblue Miami (which is kind of like Team Labs of Japan but in Miami). A huge fan of the Team Labs back in Japan when I went in spring of 2024, we had to book tickets for it. The super blue lab definitely did not disappoint, when you first go in you’re greeted in a dark room, beautiful flowers start to grow on the screen illuminating the room in a beautiful light, subtle glow. The flowers once touched broke apart letting the flower petals float around in the dark. You actually have to go up to the stem of the flower and put your hand on the wall, that’s what triggered something making the flower fall apart. It was such a beautiful and peaceful moment to watch these petals swirl around you. The room connected to this one was a waterfall/flower room that was just like the floating flower room back in Japan. You could lay on the floor and just look at the ceiling and relax. I may have dozed off for a few minutes but if you do go, you’ll understand why. The next room was filled with lightbulbs, hanging from the ceiling in a nice twinkling ambience. Three posts were around the room, you place your hand on one of these posts and the lights start to flicker with a specific rhythm, mimicking your heartbeat. It was really funny to hear how fast paced my sister’s heartbeat was vs how slow paced mine was. The room after that was a mirror maze literally. Filled with stairs to spectate the people navigate their ways through never ending tunnels it was a fun little break from the peaceful environment of the place to just relive childhood and have fun. The last room, which is a room you need to specifically buy a ticket for is the bubble room. I know others might be skeptic to buy a ticket for a room full of bubbles but this was one of my best decisions of the trip. It was so fun, running through the bubbles, playing with the bubbles, touching the bubbles, it was in some kind of way therapeutic.

After going through this interactive experience, we decided to go to the Miami zoo. Walking around the zoo was proven to be a nice way to connect with my cousin again after years of not meeting with also admiring the joys of Miami. From Flamingos to seals to birds we saw it all. My favorite part though was we were able to go and take pictures with the dolphins here. Which was a really cute picture opportunity. We also saw a little performance carried out by the seals, just doing little tricks of flopping around on the deck and jumping up to get fish from the caretakers hands.

It was starting to get late and dinner was now looming closer. We walked around a little more and found a restaurant called Italianspiration. I will be honest, maybe we just came at a bad time, but the food was kind of mid. The pizza was ok, it wasn’t spectacular but that’s ok because the tiramisu defiantly made up for it. They had the traditional flavor and then a pistachio strawberry one which was also equally just as good in my opinion.

Our last day in Miami was going to be a chill one, this was the day I was leaving to head back home. Before going, I had to do what any sane tourist would do when they go to Florida, I had to go to the beach! The water was really cold and it took awhile to get adjusted to it. The view was really beautiful though and just sunbathing was nice enough. The tropical storm that was forecasted next to Florida was looming closer to Miami and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little anxious. I mean flying through a small hurricane isn’t ideal. What if my flight gets cancelled? Some wise people told me however that no matter the situation we must always think about the positive outcomes because thinking about the negative might just come true the more we will it. So after the beach I headed over to this really famous mall in the downtown area, stopping at Moxies to meet up with my cousins current boss and my moms old boss to have lunch, and buying myself a pair of new AirPods. The time loomed closer to my departure of Miami, I went to Rosetta to get one last cup of coffee with my cousin before wishing good luck and leaving to go back home. It’s nice to know that a family member has moved closer to you, I mean compared to India, him living in Miami is a wonderful thing to me because he’s incredibly close. I will definitely come back to Miami again!

India p.5

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Yes, it’s been awhile again. It is the ending of a school year therefore final exams, ap exams, ACT/SAT, a lot has been going on. However, I found some time to just write the last part of my India trip before I go to Japan.

December 29, 2023 Mumbai Madness part 1:

It was 4:00 am, my suitcase was in the back of the car and with a teary goodbye I was saying a farewell to my aaji, aajoba, kaki, kaka, and my little cousin. We were heading towards Mumbai where my mom’s brother lived. There we would meet my mama (mom’s brother aka my uncle), mami (my aunt), and my cousin. The 2 hour drive was pleasant, because I didn’t have to use the bathroom that time, and the sights I saw were incredible. I’m not used to the “city” life, so seeing all of these tall buildings were intriguing. Since I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before we left I drank some chai my mami made and some cookies I found in their pantry.

Given gifts is an understatement, I was lavished in gifts, my cousin gave me Sony noise cancelling headphones and he said even though I’m an Iphone user and maybe a hater towards Andriod things, I should give them a try. No joke, the noise cancellation on those things are SO good. For lunch we headed to an Indo-Chinese (Chinese food with an Indian twist) restaurant called Mainland China. The food there was no joke and it was an amazing time to catch up with every one, my aai and baba traveled with us to Mumbai. The thing I love about this particular cousin is that we’re the same and when we’re together we laugh about everything and everyone, even if it’s not funny. For example, my cousin and I were just eating some food and my grandma made a remark that we were growing tall, so we engaged in conversation about height. When we told her how tall we were she replied with she was a 1 and a half. I don’t know why that made us laugh but it did and I started choking on the miso soup that was served to us. Which brings us to discuss the food, which was spectacular. First off were appetizers, we had vegetarian dumplings, spicy miso soup and non spice, crispy corn chili, mountain chili sauce chicken, Japchae (which is Korean so I was confused), Hakka rice (super indo-chinese), Veg Manchurian, and some chicken (super good), as well as honey noodles and ice cream for dessert.

After lunch, we went to sea link, which is this huge bridge over the sea and is supposedly supposed to have a lot of beautiful views. Even though it was very sunny and humid, I couldn’t see the view at all because of the all the pollution. The bridge lead us to the other side and the building my Mama works in (which has a beautiful view).

Later as the sun began to set I was getting restless, all this sight seeing was nice but I felt like having a drink #coffeebreak. So we stopped at Marina International Hotel to get some tea and coffee, the top of the hotel is called the dome, because there’s no ceiling. However, it was reserved for 21 and up because they turned it into a night club with alcohol so we had to relocate and found a cafe in the same hotel. My sister ordered some hot chocolate, my cousin ordered a peach tea, and I got myself a Frappuccino. My other family members who were also there got some chai and other things and my mom’s cosuin (my maushi) who we met up for coffee ordered a cafe mocha.

Cafe frappe

After a coffee break we went out for dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant. We had hummus and pita, chicken kebabs, I forgot the name of the next three dishes next to the kebab, and baklava.

December 30, 2023 Mumbai Madness part 2:

I had an amazing night and so waking up early was super easy. I did go to bed pretty late because I was extremely caffeinated thanks to the huge glass if Frappuccino I drank. For breakfast we had vada pav, if you recall from my other post on the India journey it’s bread with a potato filling. After eating we played a game of charades and rapid ramble.

Afterwards, we went on a walk on the side of the beach, and not like a sandy peach, but a rocky beach. As we were walking on the side of the beach we saw this HUGE crowd outside of this house, I soon find out that is the house of THE Shah Rukh Khan. I was screaming I was fangirling, SHAH RUKH KHAN??? I was breathing the same air as Shah Rukh Khan. I was surprised, I thought the apartments in the back was his house, but his house is the marble, which looks so cool. Also the beach looked very nice too.

I started growing hungry but my Mami told me that we had a reservation at a very famous seafood restaurant in Mumbai. I forgot the name. Sorry, it’s been four months since I was in India. The thing I loved about this restaurant though is that they showed you the food you were going to order WHILE IT WAS STILL LIVE. The shrimp below weren’t live, but the crab that I thought was adorable and adopted as my pet was soon consumed by my family and I.

This was a melancholy lunch however because it was our last day in India. That night we were packing up our stuff, and I didn’t want to sleep. I knew if I woke up in the morning it would be time to leave. So I stayed up as long as I could (bad because we had an early morning) and hung out with my cousin outside of his apartment before heading to bed. The next morning after waking up we got ready and then we headed back to the states.

That was the Indian blog! It took a while to finish, I apologize but with juggling school time, extracurriculars, and others, I’ve been a little busy. I hope you enjoyed and the Japan blog will come out after Spring Break.

INDIA Pt.4

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Yes, again, it’s been awhile. We had a snow day today and I decided maybe I should sit down and write a blog post. I left off talking about day 5 when we were traveling to my aai and baba’s house.

Day 5: Travel day pt.2

After eating a fulfilling breakfast I started getting restless. I was bored and I wanted to see what Satara had to offer. So my dad and I decided to go visit one of the forts in Satara. Satara translates to 7 hills, and according to my baba each hill has a fort. The most famous one is called Ajinkyatara, the one my father and I traveled to. I’m so glad I did explore Satara because it was worth seeing where my mom grew up.

We drove up this HUGE mountain to the top where the entrance to the fort laid. I was surprised by how huge the doors were. They were ginormous. According to my dad they had to be huge for elephants to be entered in, which made no sense because the other side of the door were stairs. I don’t know about you but I don’t think elephants can climb up small stairs. Once you climb up all the stairs on the other side of the fort you’ll be able to overlook all of Satara. There were multiple paths hidden in the tall looming grass. My grandparents driver however helped locate many hidden treasures that weren’t part of the path. Such as a temple. I didn’t go inside because I didn’t want to take off my shoes in the middle of wilderness, so I didn’t step on the temple due to respect. Another path led us to a secret door that had a beautiful design on the front. It also had spikes on the top, which concluded to stabbing elephants. Apparently, when there was an attack on the front, the spikes on the door were to prevent elephants getting close to the door as it would stab them in their eye area. On the way to the very top of the mountain where the famous sign Ajinkyatara resided I ran into a monkey. I feel we bonded a lot before I was forced to back up, monkeys are viscous but so cute. We found more ruins and inside the ruins I found two wells that was the forts source of water at the time. Looking through that well transported me back in time, like in Frozen 2 when Olaf said water has memory.

Spikes were used to stab elephants

As we started the trek back to the house I just zoned out and looked out the window. Seeing where my mom grew up with my uncle, seeing where she went to school, etc. It was nice to see my parents go through the nostalgic tunnel. I also saw a wedding ceremony going back home. Traditionally, the groom is carried to the bride on horseback. Which is super cool to think about my dad on top of a horse because he’s scared of a lot of things that could possibly injure you.

Afterwards I chilled at home with my cousins and played badminton, table tennis (ping pong), football (soccer), and cricket. We were very active that day, and later at night a huge family reunion was in stored for my family. It was fun to see all my family again, we would all stay the night in my grandparents house (which it did become very full), and the next morning everyone would leave.

Day 6: Satara, how lovely you are

I bid goodbye to everyone as I saw them go back home. My aaji and ajoba (dad’s parents) and my kaki and kaka (dad’s brother and sister in law) as well as my little cousin where the only additional family left. They were going to stay the night before going back to Pune the next day with us (yes we went back to Pune for a day before heading to Mumbai). It was cut short however when my kaki was feeling a little sick. Before that we went to see two temples (which I couldn’t take pictures at), they were so majestic. I mean breathtaking. Bharatanatyam (traditional Indian dance originating from the state of Tamil Nadu) moves were written all over the base of the walls. While I was exploring temples, my momwas seeing family in Kolhapur because recently a family member passed away. I didn’t want to go because I know I would get to emotional and it would ruin my day so I stayed with my grandparents. I also saw more monkeys.

Anyway, before my dad’s family left to go back to Pune, we went to my great aunts house that lives right next to my grandparents. Which is so cool that my grandpa lives next to one of his sisters. (My grandpa has three sisters). We had fried fish, and it was so good. Mouth watering good. After lunch my dad’s family drove back to Pune, which again is like a 2 hour drive. Later for dinner though we went to my baba’s (mom’s dad) other sisters house for dinner. I met up with my uncle and his newly wed wife, who was so nice. We had a nice “barbecue” I say that in quotations because it’s not necessarily a barbecue.

Before I knew it, it was time for us to leave Satara and go to Mumbai to see my mom’s brother.

India pt. 3

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December 25, Day 4: The Proposal

Now the title for this section might surprise a few, as if who would be proposing, well….you’ll see. That morning when I was devouring that poor omelette on my plate my mother came along and mentioned something about visiting the place where my dad proposed to my mom. See the meaning of the title now? Apparently, my dad proposed in a parking lot (so romantic) and on April fools day (to which my dad says he did that in case he was turned down). So now we were all going into the car, not the same one there’s a lot of people, but divided I tuned out the world and looked at my surroundings. We were traveling to FC Road, remember the first blog post for the Indian trip I went to MC road? My kaki was giving me a little tour whilst in the car. While driving I saw a college COEP (College of Engineering), that my mother said is where she went to college. Supposedly the school’s 100 years old, to be completely honest, it looked like it. We also drove past Sancheti hospital, the hospital where my kaki’s dad (my grandfather, which for some people is crazy because they don’t address their aunt’s family as anything since the aunt married into the family, THAT’S NOT HOW INDIAN FAMILIES WORK) lost his leg in a medical accident. I’ve always held a grudge for the hospital since.

We went to a really popular South Indian restaurant, I ordered idli which is like this savory rice cake that literally melts in the mouth, and shared a dosa with my kaka. Dosa is like this nice, fluffy, savory pancake. Idli normally comes along side chutney which is a sauce and sambar which is almost like a soup you eat it with (or typically poured on). I also had this amazing coffee with it, I have no idea what the coffee is but it was amazing. We were at the restaurant to meet my mom’s college friend, and it was really cool because he works in Cybersecurity and I absolutely adore Cybersecurity.

After eating lunch we did go back to the mall from the previous blog which why not? After that though it was a pretty chill day, but I was getting restless. I always get bored if I’m doing nothing, I have to be doing something. Especially because I’m back to a country I haven’t been to in a long time. I always have to try something new. So I went with my kaki and mom to go vegetable shopping. It wasn’t bad, only bad reason was there’s no grass so a lot of dust was going into my nose and I was sneezing non stop. Even though Pune is a city, my family lives in the more “town” side. I say town in quotations because it’s so big with skyscrapers and everything but it’s not the main city part.

Then for dinner we had another very very famous and typical Marathi street food, that again we didn’t get from the streets but a restaurant. We got pav bhaji. Pav bhaji is a sweet bread roll coming along with a nice vegetable curry that you eat together with. I didn’t take a picture because my family did absolutely devour that meal, and by the time I was eating everything was almost gone. Then before going to bed I talked with my sister and cousin and laughed at my sister who was panicking because she put hand cream on her feet.

December 26, Day 5: Travel Day

No I’m not traveling back to the USA, this is the day were we started the trek towards my aai and baba’s house in a city called Satara. Now Satara compared to Pune, it’s not a busy city with skyscrapers, see Satara is more of a scenic and historically rich area. See this is the area where Shivaji Maharaj, the king Maratha Empire, had his forts. Maratha Empire are people of Maharastra. We are also referred to as Marathas or Marathis.

Waking up at 5:30 is not desirable. However traffic in India is BAD, and we needed to beat the traffic. So for breakfast I just had some milk (which is weird because it’s sweeter then American milk) and Ladoos (which is like a sweet ball, like grits but roasted in ghee and then coated in a sugary syrup and then shaped into a ball). We did beat the traffic which is good! So we got to Satara at 8:00 because it’s about a 2 hour drive from Pune. The car ride wasn’t bad and then it took a twist. I forgot I drank milk and didn’t use the bathroom before we left so the last 30 minutes of the drive I HAD TO PEE. We found a really clean bathroom but you guys, I’m AMERICAN and I CAN NOT squat and pee. It’s not POSSIBLE FOR ME! So I held it in. After using the bathroom I ate some breakfast over there and then headed out with my dad and my grandparent’s driver to explore a fort owned my Shivaji Maharaj. Breakfast was Sabudana Khichdi, which is tapioca pearls, and sheera which is like an Indian pudding.

To be continued

India pt. 2

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December 23, Day 2: Shopping

The sun beamed from the curtains and into the room as little cracks. It was now morning, but I was super jet lagged so I woke up around 5:00 am and tried to go back to bed finally waking up to the light pouring out from the window. We had poha which is literally rice that’s flattened. It normally contains nuts and chev which is like a sort of chip to make it crunchy. Sometimes if you put lemon it has a nice tangy taste that’s just perfection. Today was going to be a day of exploring so I ate as much as I could so I could go and explore Pune. Before heading out to the Phoniex Marketplace, which is a huge mall, I played badamsaath with my little sister, little cousin, and my aai. Badamsaath means badam 7, I actually have no idea what badam means but the rules of the game is the person who holds the 7 of hearts has to play first, then once that’s laid everyone has to put cards done numerical order on that 7 of hearts. If you hold another 7 you can put that down to start another sequence of numbers.

After playing 3-4 rounds of the game and my mom and kaki (uncle’s wife, my aunt) came back from the fish market so we can have grilled fish for dinner. We all headed into the car to drive to the mall, we meaning my aaji and aajoba (my dad’s parents), my aai and baba (my mom’s parents), my cousin and sister, my mom and dad, and my kaka and kaki (my aunt and uncle). Whilst in the car and beginning to park a little girl approached our vehicle and held onto our door handle and wouldn’t let go. She was holding a tin bowl, my sister got a little scared but she’s not as used to the poverty difference in India then the little state of Arkansas that we’re from. She didn’t go for a good ten minutes, the thing is when someone approached your car with items to sell or just approaching your car all you need to do is look away. Don’t look at them. If you do they think you’re deciding whether or not you want the thing they’re selling. So just look away unless you want what they’re selling. I advise if they’re selling a fruit and your a foreigner in India don’t eat it, always eat fruits that can be peeled, apples, bananas, cucumbers, and so on.

At the mall we first stopped at Mac because my little sister really enjoys wearing makeup, she got eyeliner there that was waterproof which is cool I guess. We also went to a number of shops. I think my favorite stop had to be Starbucks though, there was a variety of different items and the iced chai was super good! Better then the Starbucks in America but India is home to chai so that makes sense. (Also if you say chai tea in India people will look at you funny because chai means tea). Even if they’re not drinking chai that Americans are accustomed too they’ll still say chai. For example, Earl Grey chai, etc. I also advise if coming to India not to eat ice because you might not know where it came from. I took the risk and got a slight stomachache but felt better after a while.

Coming out of the mall ready to get home to take a nap for the jet lag was hitting again I spotted a camel running down the street, so that was interesting. After that we grilled the fish that we brought over from the market to eat. It was pretty good but I have a pet peeve, I HATE fish bones because they’re so delicate that you can swallow them but it’s such an unpleasant feeling. Also there’s so many fish bones, like little ones that look like hair.

December 24, Day 3: Party

The third day was a very busy day for me, I wasn’t able to take as many pictures because today was the day that I was meeting all of my family on my dad’s side so we could all celebrate my Aajoba’s birthday. It was going to be a very busy day, last night we made diya’s (lamps) out of chapati dough so we could use those for the arthi (a type of way to worship someone). When doing arthi you light a candle, diya, or anything ignitable and then hold that thing and use it to make a circle motion. For breakfast, before going to the hotel where the party was being hosted I ate some appe, which is a sort of savory pancake ball made of rice batter and coconut milk.

A big oopsie I took no pictures of the party because I was too busy meeting people on my dad’s side for the first time. I always am able to see my mom’s side and my mom talks about them a lot. However, my dad rarely talks about his family, maybe because they weren’t super close. For my mother, she always was close with almost everyone in her family for they all lived next to each other, or she would stay at their house for sleepovers, or they would have parties all the time. I met my sister in law, which in India we address all of our cousins as sister and brothers, so it was my cousins wife that I met. We talked for a while and we got to know each other, so it was nice. I also met my baby cousin who was so cute.

After the exhausting party however I wanted to go for a drive to explore Pune at night, since I couldn’t drive but I was getting restless at home I tagged with my mom, kaki, aai, and baba who were traveling to a gold shop to buy some gold jewelry, which is crazy because it’s real gold they’re selling. The fact that so many people think Indians are all poor yet so many people in India are flocking towards gold shops tells something. Oh my the driving rules in India are so scary. First off, in America if you honk without reason you can get fined, however in India people love to honk. Honking is basically the indication to move out of the way, even though the cars there have indicators. Even if you did nothing wrong, someone will honk at you. Also motorcycles don’t like to use indicators, even though again it’s provided, they prefer to use their hand. (My dad when he was young liked to use his foot). Plus seat belts aren’t required, unless you’re the driver. Also most people driving aren’t licensed, but don’t worry even if you get caught you can BRIBE THE COPS WITH MONEY. WHAT???

While driving I felt like getting ” street food”, I say that in quotations because it came from a “restaurant” (more like a building making food really quickly but not necessarily fast food). You could get food poisoning from street food so I didn’t want to risk it so my kaki walked me to this building, again not necessarily a restaurant more like a food store with no front wall, meaning no door or wall that would normally hold a door. Does that make sense? We got Maharashtran street food, vada pav. I LOVE VADA PAV! It’s my most favorite native Maharashtran food. It’s literally a potato sandwich but with spices and chilies. I’m sorry for not showing the potato part of the sandwich. The potato part looks like a ball of fried potato which you then put inside the bread, squish it, and then eat it.

So far, my India adventure had been successful and fun.

India Trip (mostly a food blog)

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It’s been a few months, my fault, I’ve been studying for finals which are now over! Recently, two days ago, I flew back from India and because of that I’m extremely jet lagged. I woke up at 6 am despite going to bed at 10:00 pm and am fully energized. This blog post has been more of a food blog for I’ve done nothing but eat my grandparents food and meet family.

December 22, Day 1: The Journey

The tiring adventure started with an easy 1 hour and 30 minute flight to Houston, Texas. Not knowing how long and extended the 9 hour flight to London and then the other 9 hour long flight to Mumbai was I decided to NOT sleep. Other then that everything else was nice, I had business class for every flight so it provided me a more comfortable journey. The only thing was I think a dog sat in my seat last cause there was a lot of dog hair, but no harm done. There was slight turbulence for some parts of the flight but I found out that singing in the plane helps keep me calm. Walking out of the Mumbai airport and out into the humid and polluted air was a huge wake up call. It was currently 3 am at this time and I was busy examining the crowd outside the airport for my grandparents (my moms parents) who will be taking me to Pune (the city where my dad grew up) to visit my other grandparents (dads parents). They didn’t tell me however that Pune was a 4 hour drive from Mumbai. Thanks for that. It was nice though, the drive, I got to see Mumbai during night time. The thing about Mumbai is it’s very densely populated and ok driving. Pune on the other hand is very dessert like with just straight up city but no grass. Seriously I looked everywhere and couldn’t find any grass. Also the driving is terrible, no one follows the street lights, to the point I question why are they even there.

Finally reaching at last I had some breakfast at my uncles house (shares the house with my grandparents). It’s been a while since I last saw my aunt, uncle, and little cousin. My uncle looks nothing like my dad he’s much taller which really made me think, why didn’t I get the tall genes? No one on my moms side is tall, and sadly my dad is quite short so I got the short genes. My aunt made some sheera which is like a sort of cake but made with semolina which is a different type of grain so it has a different texture. It’s really good when you pour some milk in it, or you can have it on the side.

I was going to go back to bed because I was EXTREMELY jet lagged, but my little cousin was persistent and wanted me to be there when she performed her Christmas play at school, so I gave in and went to see it. For kids, it was pretty good. Afterwards my aunt went to talk to the principal to let my little cousin get out early, so while my little cousin was in class and my aunt was in the office I was totally and completely lost. I decided to explore so I went down the stairs, one of the teachers stopped me and said “Do you want to go onto the elevator?” but I was like why not get my steps in so I said “no”. He kinda looked at me weird so I continued walking down the stairs finding out soon that it led to a wall. How convenient. Finding my aunt wasn’t too hard after that and we got out of the school, another thing about India is belts aren’t mandatory, I mean the police don’t care enough. I understand a little though, there are a lot of people in India and it can be hard to keep track. Little later after we reached my grandmas plural because both of my grandparents were there served me some cauliflower bhaji, Chapati (the bread), some dal (which is like a soup), and I actually forgot the name of the green things.

Afterwards I took a nice nap, but soon grew hungry. My aai (which means mom in Marathi is what I say to call my mom’s mom) said we were going to meet another uncle at MG Road, which is a famous marketplace. Unlike a mall, MG Road is a road full of shops and very crowded. At MG Road, my aai, baba ( father in Marathi but again what I address my mom’s dad), kaka (what you call the father’s brother), and cousin came with me to meet my other uncle ( who I call *insert his name* mama). So how I’m related to this uncle in other words (my mom has a brother, that brother is married making his wife my aunt, my aunt’s brother is who we’re meeting), and of course my parents and sister were along. Together we explored the marketplace, we first went to a dessert place called Theobroma, a famous dessert shop. OMG those brownies there are so good, aka best decision I’ve ever made. Later we found a cafe called cafe peter and wow the first thing walking in I see BTS??? Cardboard cut outs but that was a little surprising. My cousin and sister as the designated BTS fans they are ran towards it to take pictures. Once I got the menu I scanned quickly and found RAMEN??? It was so weird, but I obviously chose that. It looked really good. Then I realized, I got to pee, but I dreaded what I knew I would have to face. For starters, Indians love to use water to wash instead of wipe with toilet paper so they don’t hurt the environment anymore with paper. I luckily had toilet paper on me that I had to use and then throw away (not flush because that can start plumbing issues) because I’m too American to use water.

Whilst eating an employee came over handing my little cousin and sister snowman headbands. Apparently they wanted a picture of my cousin, sister, and I for their Instagram and my little cousin was thrilled at that idea. Later afterwards we went to Biba which is an Indian dress store and I’ve been dying to go to one for my closet is dry of Indian clothing. I later found the perfect one, Indian dresses may be super hard to put on but once it is you feel on top of the world or like a princess.

So far the first day was pretty fun, it’s nice to rekindle my Indian side and it was nice for my dad to be happy and feeling nostalgia.