Mexican Rivirea

Mexican Riviera:

December 10 Thursday, 2015

Figure 1Grand Princess under Golden Gate Bridge

After embarking the ship and locating our room number 263 at deck Plaza and we get the mid-ship I say "we are in a good spot". Our  room being near the main hall where the fun activities go on we do not have to go far at the end either side. Once we get the luggage in our room we go for our lunch at the buffet at the 14^th  deck. As we approach  toward the buffet we are directed to sanitize our hands and then take the napkin with cutlery in the fold of the napkin. As we glance through the display of numerous and varieties of food, no doubt our eyes are bigger than the stomach specially when we are hungry. Starting with bread in different shapes and sizes then mashed potato, chips and eggs boiled, scrambled and poached uploaded in the plate the next table with pastas prepared with cheese, chicken roasted, steamed, rice plain and fried, pork and beef roasted, by now our plates are already full. lastly I see soup, two types one with chicken broth and the other tomato. Next table has all fruits cut and uncut.  As we hold carefully our plate full to the brim we look for a table but only sharing with other people available we settle at the available table. Well this is our first day why not enjoy. We enjoy our lunch and then only after we have our tea, we are ready to take the elevator down to the 7^th floor to watch the departure of the ship from the port of San Francisco. Grand Princess is still at the dock and not going to move till late in the eveningM to avoid encountering an approaching bad weather.  We jon a group of people  waiting for the ship leave tthe port and cross under the Golden Gate Bridge. Around 6pm the ship starts sailing, the stream of lights from the slopes of the city and also lights of the Bay Bridge slowly fading away. The ship slowly passes under the bridge in the darkness of the approaching night and my camera clicks to capture as much as I could. My mission accomplished we are ready to go inside try to locate our assigned restaurant for dinner. It is at Botticelli dining  located at he far end of the ship. We are already late by one hour  as it is 6.30 pm by the time I find the dining place.  we are directed to our table number 273. Emi apologized vigorously for our late arrival and I fee it is not necessary as it is our first day. Already two couples are lready sitting and we introduce ourselves. One couple is from City of San Francisco, Donna Parkare and Paul Fappiano, and another from Southern California, Mari Ryan and Joel Simoff.

  As the ship moves we feel the roughness of the sea, Emi starts feeling of dizziness and  taking advice from the couple in the dining room she gets herself a wrist band for the sea sickness, but she still feels it as the hand band has not yet shown its effectiveness.  We are lucky that one generous lady offers a plastic bag for Emi to use and hence there is no mess around.

December 11, Friday 2015

 Today Emi sleeps while I go around for breakfast and look for other activities like jumba and line dancing classes. By dinner time she feels better and ready to join to dinner alright. Later we go to  the comedy and music show by Steve Moris of North Carolina. As I feel tired and can’t stay awake I return to our room while Emi continues to watch the show till the end. I miss the invitation of Cruise captain Ronald Wilson to join the meeting of the inner circle as I skip picking up the card from the slot.

December 12, Saturday, 2015

Still at sea and anxiously waiting for docking at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Today  again I join the Zumba and line dancing classes at Vista Lounge deck 7 aft 9.45 am. Breakfast at DaVinci where we meet two ladies from San Francisco and another lady from Fairfield who owns a ranch who are  both singles. Today we try Hi tea at DaVinci, meet an elderly lady with Oxygen tank who has come alone from Seattle and also it is her 36 cruises during last 6 years. Very interesting to meet so many adventurous people. I continue walking at deck 7^th twice today  and I am overwhelmed to watch the wake of the sea as the ship passes. We enjoy the evening show at Princess theater “the British Invasion” a song and dance presented  by the cruise artists.

December 13, Sunday, 2015

Figure 3Wake  at sea of  Grand Princess

Still at Sea and anxiously waiting for to dock at our destination Port. The first thing I see is on the daily  brochure  a romantic quote of the day “Love is a fruit in season at all times and in reach of every hand.” Mother Teresa

Today, time change 1 hr forward and we lose sleep by one our as our daily tea is at 6.30 am. Finding out many of the passengers are  going to take shuttle or taxi but still we decide to go through Cruise ship the shore excursion of Puerto Vallarta costing for the shuttle $ 29.90 ticket each. Joining line dancing in the morning is very vigorous one and had slight pain at the lower back and hence rested in bed for some time and rubbed the icyhot. I felt better after some time and hence did all the walking and eating and watching all the program like piano, songs and band in various locations.

.Puerto Vallarto.December 14,2015, Monday 

We are finally at Puerto Vallarta. Passengers are advised to carry the ship card before leaving along with government issued I D card.  As we have purchased ticket already for the shore excursion  we join the group in Princess Theater. We all are advised to follow the guide for the group. The guide Ms Santa introduces herself and also the bus driver Rahul.  She gives a guided tour of the new and old town of Puerto Vallarta.  We are told tha Puerto Vallerta was originally a silver mining town and still the mining goes on in some areas. There are many activities one can do here  like snorkel, swimming with Dolphins, and taste tequila at the factory at Hascianda Dna Engracia. Our guide takes us at the Diamond International as the cruise advises to do so. Another main attraction is the Cathedral and behind it is the house of Liz Taylor  gifted by Richard Burton. After we come back we decide to attend high tea at DaVinci and dinner and late night dinner at the same restaurant.

Manzanillo: December 15, Tuesday,2015

Here we decide to take a shuttle paying $20 each for sightseeing. The driver doesn’t know  English well and hence he takes the help of someone to explain whenever we stop at a place of interest.  He drives us to the flea market where products of local artists are sold. At the end of the

Figure 4 A a Iguana  farm in Manznillo

 tour he takes us  Iguana  farm(species of lizard) farm

Manzanillo  is the biggest commercial port on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Places of interest are Cuyutian Turtle Sanctuary for these endangered turtles, snorkel for colorful fish and popular hiking places. Gateway to ancient cities of Colima and Comala. Time change again as the ship’s clock forward. We have to get back by 3.30 PM as the ship starts sailing  just after.

At Mazatlam street E,mi and Jamuna 

Colorful fish swimming glass floor of boat.

Grand Princess crossing  Golden Gate Bridge

man ready to dive down 

Jamuna near the swimming pool 

On way to Manzanillo town

Jamuna in whale watching boat Puerto Vallarta

Mazatlan, Wednesday, December 16, 2015

As soon as the ship is docked at 8.15am  we all are allowed to go out of the ship and take tour of the town. We take a shuttle paying $25.00 each. The driver Carlos is eager to show us all around the old and new development of the town. The 19^th century Cathedral Basilica of Immaculate Conception is one of the main attractions with its interior design and the stained glass windows. The most interesting is the man standing for diving into the sea and people all around waiting to see him jump. We also wait for sometime but have to leave as he is still debating.

 For the first time today we try  at Michaelangelo restaurant and have only one menu of the day: fish and chips. Those two couples from Walnut Creek and another from Reno Nevada are very entertaining people. Food is excellent and we want to go again. But never have a chance to go again as it is no more open for lunch.

Cabo San Lucas: Dec 17, Thursday, 2015

Figure 5 Whale watching in Cabo S L

Figure 6 Emi and me posing at street of Cabo S L

At Cabo San Lucas we have to go to the shore taking tender as the ship is docked quite far away from the shore. Tender ride takes  about 20 minutes to reach the shore. Once on the shore we decide to take whale watching in a small boat. We have to wear life jacket during the ride to middle of the sea where the whales can be seen. On the way the boat man explained about the different rocks and the beaches along the sail. Lovers beach and the rock partitioning the Pacific ocean and the gulf of California are places of interest.                                            

Figure 7 Lover's beach Cabo S L

Cruise Summary: December 10 to Dec 20, 2015

Ports

San Francisco USA to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico  Distance (Nautical Miles) 1430

Puerto Vallarta  to Manzanillo                                                                            155

Manzanillo to Mazatlan                                                                                        289

Mazatlan  to Cabo San Lucas                                                                                190

Cabo San Lucas Mexico to San Francisco USA                                                   1138                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Lover's Beach at Cabo San Lucas

My Big Day

My Big Day.

While growing up

I never knew what birth day celebration was.

We Manipuri Meiteis of India, only had

A customary religious ceremony known as “Laiming Lauba”

During  puberty or older,

 sanctifying the young ones(like baptism). Thereafter

A string of beads known as Urik had to be worn

Around one’s neck for good. Then,

Eating eggs banned permanently,

Only  fish being allowed we became fish vegetarians.

When I turned 19,  I had become a part of Delhi life

And birthday wishes came by surprise from friends

But never from my Manipuri family;

Soon marrying an outsider brought more life style changes.

When I was soon to turn 80 my daughter

Shobha confirmed I had no objections to revealing

My age, so she planned a celebration. The day before,

I was in my room watching TV shows,

When two figures barged into the room.

Was it real or just imaginary? My oldest

 Daughter Lata and my son Jibesh had flown

From Toronto for my Big Day, Saturday

March 21, 2015 at Clay Oven.  I cherish every moment of it.

The Chicken tandoori and fish curry, mixed vegetables,

Raita (yogurt with thinly sliced tomato, green chilli, salt), Paneer curry,

Kheer/rice pudding, accompanied by basmati rice, Nan/roti

Wine and beer in abundance along with fruit juices

In cans and bottles for all the guests,

My Indian and American friends along

With my loving family members. I love them all

And I love fish preparations in any form

And chicken dishes, too. I cannot ask for more.

Written by Jamuna Advani 10/15/15

Looking inside fridge

The cool air rushes out of the fridge as I open the fridgd and the aroma of the left over fish curry hit my nose. I inhaled and think of my lunch at noon with rice and fish curry forgetting my intention of noting down the contents inside the fridge for a moment.  My eyes fall on the two cartoons of milk one Almond silk milk for my daughter and the other regular one  meant to be consumed by rests of the family. My daughter is allergic to regular one. Today she has just got the food stuffs necessary for the week and already  all  loaded in the fridge. I see vegetables, salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, butter, ketchup, hot chilli sauce and so on. In the frozen section the drawers are difficult to close with all the frozen packs of meat and other food items. So I decide to skip looking at all the contents. Otherwise I might have to spend whole day doing that.  I decide to write about one thing which is missing from her today’s purchases. That is cottage cheese known as Paneer which is one of the popular luxury  food items in North India.  Paneer motar curry ( cottage cheese and peas)  curry used to be one of the items cooked for the vegetarian guests when I was a young mother. As reminiscence of my life’s cooking experiences I plan to write something about Paneer today.

Method of making Paneer at home:

Paneer was not available in regular stores those days . There used to be only at particular locations where paneer was sold in different localities of Delhi. Hence we rather made it at home boiling the milk and adding lemon juice to curdle. Once the solid is formed and clear liquid, it was strained through a thin muslin cloth and hang for few minutes to drain off remaining liquid. Then it was placed in between two steel plates to make it flat with weight on top, making it quarter inch thickness, After about one hour or so it was ready to be cut into cubes,(the size of one’s preference, usually cubes 1 ½ “by ½”.)

There are quite a few ways to prepare for the day’s entrees with paneer.

1.      Paneer motar curry( cottage cheese and peas)

2.      Paneer sag (spinach)

3.      Sahal paneer (with lots of onion)

4.      Paneer wrap (wrapped in tortilla)

5.      Paneer pakaura ( this is usually a starter or a side item) It is dipped in flour batter. And then it is deep fried in hot oil until crispy and brown.

Today here is the recipe of the “Paneer motar curry” which I used make at home when I was a young mother and even now sometimes.

Ingredients:

Paneer  ½ lb, Peas ¼ lb,

olive oil 1 table spoon.       

ground ½ onion {big sizes}

Ginger ground 1 tsb

2 Big tomatoes thinly sliced.

Green chilli 3 cut into small pieces, cilantro already cut into small pieces.

Jeera/cumin seeds ½ tsp, turmeric powder ½ tsp, coriander powder 1 tsp. Salt to taste.

Method:

Heat the oil in a wok or fry pan. Add jeera/cumin seeds, stir till it turns brown. Add ground onion, stir till it is light brown, add all the ingredients except cilantro, salt and stir till the tomato become paste . add fresh peas and ½ cup hot water and simmer When the peas are cooked add more hot water enough to make gravy. Add paneer and salt. Keep for 5 minutes to simmer and lastly sprinkle the cut cilantro into the curry

It can be served with rice or tortilla.

Thus I venture today into my cooking and the recipe and hope everyone enjoys this recipe for an Indian meal. Wishing you all good luck and enjoy.  

As a young mother and wife I had all the enthusiasm and excitement of doing something  new always. Those days when we were settled in Shillong, a hill town of  Meghalaya state in North East India our girls were studying in Loreto Convent and our son was in St Edmund’s school. Those were the perfect days of our live. Every year when the children had three months winter break  we drovel to New Delhi by car spent  winter with my inlaws at 7/18 South Patel Nagar . My husband had to be at the site where his work was going on and hence we travelled mostly without him. But we had our driver who dropped us and returned to  the site where my husband worked. The kids enjoyed their time in Delhi along with their cousins.

My sister-in-laws and their husbands along with their kids visited mmm my mother-in-law’s house  most of the weekends.  My mother-in-law Neni was very welcoming and always ready to give special non vegetarian   meal for her son-in-laws. Even though she herself was vegetarian she cooked excellent non vegetarian meals.like chicken kabab, mutton curry,  we two daughter-in-laws, I and my brother-in-law’s wife cooked different vegetarian dishes.

During this time I also joined classes like doll making with costumes of different countries, dress making, machine embroidery, and some special cooking classes. My youngest sister in law who was still studying in college joined  me in most of  these classes. I was always up to something and learned an new one every time I came to the city of Delhi. Those precious days are my unforgettable ones.  

Amazing Yellow Stone Park

Trip to Yellow Stone.

“Anticipation is one of the greater pleasures of love, travel, painting. Knowing that something exciting is going to happen and more or less how, gives vitality. So you set yourself for it.” Robert Genn (artist).

Today after two months of waiting for this day I arrive at Seattle on July 10^th 2015, to join the trip which my niece Shilpa and her husband Praveen have been planning. Her mom Manisha has just come from India and I will have a good company.

My host’s family had just returned from a camping trip during July 4^th weekend. Now again they are ready for the next trip to Yellow Stone National Park.

12/2015

Starting around 11 am from Redmond city, Seattle and a short stop for lunch we could reach Missoula by 9 pm. During the long drive the kids Aarav, 10 and Trishaa,6 we see them becoming restless even though they are kept occupied with movies, stories of their choice. This is but natural for the young ones and they are much better than most of the kids in general. Their father announces a witty suggestion , “ look out for wild animals and whoever can spot one, will be given one dollar.” That works well for some time. At the end of the day no one could spot any wild animal but only few cows and horses while passing the rural areas.

 Praveen  is a bit weary hence after driving whole day, Shilpa takes over the wheel. Long drive no doubt takes toll of energy of everyone inside the vehicle.  At Missoula we drive around the town looking for a restaurant to have dinnr before we check in the hotel. It looks as if the town is asleep as all the stores and restaurants already closed. Finally after driving inside out, we can spot IHOP and luckily it is still open. Another trying moment, waiting for the meals ordered to come on our table we almost lose our patience. But when the meals are on our table, surprisingly we forget the wait as the meal we get, all are superv. We are now happy travelers.

Figure 4Manisha in front of LaQuinta Inn

We check in at the La Quinta Inn where we have two rooms with a connecting door in between. Manisha, my sister-in-law is my room mate while the kids and their parents occupy the other room. The  kids are having fun calling us from their room and finally we have to disengage the phone placing the phone down from its hook.  As my head touches the pillow I feel as if I am in heaven dozing at a Mughol rose garden bench lost in a twilight dream.

July 13

            As soon as I change into night gown, brush and paste in my hand once in the bathroom, I splash cold water on my face. It is so invigorating and refreshing. I complete my evening prayer. Later Manisha joins me doing the prayer

Having had a good night’s sleep I make our morning tea for both of us. Tea is like a healing  balm to my soul and mind. Then morning shower and prayer we go to the lobby for breakfast.  So many different types of cereals, and also scrambled egg and bacon, inside the hot pot and slices of bread

and butter, jam lots of fruits are all there waiting for us. Plenty to choose we are quite happy to be there.   Enough time in our hand while others are getting ready we decide to take some pictures in front of the hotel before we leave.  Here is the photo of Manisha  in front of the LaQuinta Inn.

  We do a quick tour of the front yard for some time when we return Praveen and Aarav are having breakfast at the lobby. Trisha and Shilpa are still inside their room getting ready.  Once everyone is ready we are again on our journey toward our destination.   Arriving around 4pm we check in “Yellow Stone Lodge where we have our booking.

Then we immediately venture out toward   Grizzly & Wolf  Discovery Center just in time to see the live show of the bears’ food hunting. They would be out soon to let them look for the food hidden by the kids in the allotted areas under the heavy weights of rocks and logs of wood. Not to waste any more time Praveen gets our tickets for the entry which were valid for two days (next day included).  As we enter inside, visitors are already lining up with cameras in hand  Standing on the upper deck, we  could see a group of kids already busy hiding  foods. After they finish their tasks the kids are directed to march out of the area.  Five energetic bears come out running and each trying to get their share of food as much as they can.  The way they pick up the heavy logs and rocks and throwing aside to get the hidden food amazes the spectators. They leave no stone unturned till they finish all the rations. Once their search is over they loiter and play around until they are directed to go toward their comfort zone provided as natural surroundings.  Visitors happily proceed toward the museum where one could read information and writings about the local habitat and also see display of stuffed animals.

Once we are inside the museum, six year old Trishaa, goes straight to the receptionist and asks, “Can my brother and I  sign up for the next day’s program?”

 “Yes, sure” Receptionist gives assurance to the bubbling girl. Their names are entered and enrolled for the next day’s activities.