Kicking About!

 If I could ever play a sport professionally, it would be football. The adrenaline rush, the energy, the ever building tempo of the game, the togetherness of the team, I feel it’s a sport that can fill you with life. I haven’t had many girls sharing this sentiment with me. Especially in India, where Cricket is the unofficial national game now. 

Many of you might wonder why football. Hey! I played football too! And don’t you dare give me stuff like “Girls playing football?” As a little girl I was the only kid with a football in my circle, which by the way included several boys. And my shots were famous. They would cover half the field. We even had code names for different types of passes. Just to get a professional feel.

Me and my Dad used to play a lot of football. He taught me lots of passes and moves. Although I never got to play a real game with goal posts, I remember those times in the park. Given a chance, I would have definitely joined an official team, but sadly, in India, that’s not easy to come by. However, last month, I did get a chance to see a World Cup match, here in Medellin. So, I am doing an event review this month. I have chosen the movie, “Bend It Like Beckham,” for the movie review. For a restaurant review, I have a guest who will relate his experiences in the “Sports Bar.” 

 

We could learn a few lessons from this game. Obeying rules, manipulating them, but not breaking them and a never-say-die attitude. Working in a team towards a common goal (literally), supporting each other and making decisions in the heat of the toughest moment. Trying all that in life, we could get pretty far. Let’s try that this month!

All is blur but the post

And the billowing nets behind

So thorn in your limb

Or dust in my eyes

Comrades, let’s score one more!

From the Magic Box!

Managed to capture a few Caribbean scenes while holidaying.

Many of these fellers were shying away among the rocks.

Local kids at the beach

Empty beer bottles on the beach

My son and his dead 'fishy.'

Casino Rio

Sailors asking for directions to 'fun.'

Broken guitar at the Hard Rock Cafe.

A local fruit seller

A Caribbean 'thulla' on a cycle.

A hawker selling his wares at the Old City.

Caribbean skylines

Pigeons at the 'Pigeon Square.'

Feeding a flock

A beautiful window grill in the Old City

Imagining a lane in the Old City

A street lamp in the old city

A busy street in the Old city

Dawn by the sea

Centuries old waters

Flying on the wave

A swimmer and a flyer

Flirting with the sea

Scouring for fish

Neat flight

Flocking in the evening

Sunset

Caribbean Delights

I have been thinking of ways to bring back the Caribbean to me. In the midst of all the paraphernalia of daily life aren’t we all looking for some time to relax? Try out these recipes during those lovely times called ‘weekends.’ Let me know if you found the Caribbean feeling in your heart.

Choco-coco

Without rum, its not Caribbean. If you can explain that to your mother, try out this recipe I discovered and named after one of the popular Caribbean drinks I tried in Cartagena, called Coco-loco (a concoction of coconut water and rum).

Ingredients:

Chocolate milk

(I made this with one of those kiddy milk shakes you get. You could use Tiger or Amul. Also, you could make it yourself. Just remember, the darker your chocolate, the yummier your drink.

Coconut milk

Sugar (preferably powder)

Rum (of course!)

Mix the sugar and the coconut milk in a bowl and set aside.

Fill your glass half way with the chocolate milk. Add the rum and then the sweetened coconut milk and go nuts!

Happy Caribbean

If your mother still didn’t agree to the first recipe, impress her with this one. A dear friend of mine gave me this simple recipe and I love it. The recipe is so easy that you’ve probably figured it by now. Its nutritious, and very Caribbean!

Ingredients:

One musk melon

Powdered jaggery (bhura)

Peel and chop the melon. Mince it in the mixer with the jaggery. Add as much as you want. If it comes out too thick add some water. Serve it chilled!

The Dann Cartagena: Mixed Impressions

The white building in the middle is the Dann

Its quite a puzzle to choose a hotel in a place you have never been. You just have pictures of models lazing about the place and the price range. After being totally confused by many such pictures, we chose Dann, Cartagena, situated in Boca Grande. And after we reached there, we were pleased and peeved in different ways.

View from our balcony

As we arrived amidst a downpour, I noted that

View from our balcony

there was no roof over the porch where our taxi parked. But as soon as the automatic glass doors opened, we entered a well lit and grand reception area. The staff was well dressed, smart and alert, 

but there was a sense of city slickness, loss of  personal touch. Our room was on the 17^th floor, and we loved it immediately. It was spacious, with a king size bed (important for us because of the kid), very good closet space, and a big balcony. We got a sideways view of the sea and the beach, flanked by the new and old city buildings, making for a brilliant skyline. Also, our room faced east, so that the morning sun flooded the room cheerfully.

The restaurant, though classily done up, was a little disappointing. Breakfast, which was complimentary, as is in most hotels, was mundane. 

The bar

 The same thing was there every day. And the dinner menu had more chicken dishes than fish! We tried the Catfish Medallion on our first night, which was delicious, but couldn’t find anything else worth ordering. However, the hotel is minutes away from the market and thus has access to several cafes and restaurants. Maybe that’s why they haven’t done anything about the restaurant.

They do have access to the beach but they don’t have a private beach. The photographs suggest otherwise. This means that you meet the entire city on the beach. It was quite crowded. And you have to pay for the chairs and tables that you use. However, their pool is unforgettable. It looms up as soon as you enter from the beach, sweaty, sandy and tired of taking care of your stuff. And you just abandon everything on one of the deck chairs, take a quick shower and plunge. The toddler pool is the safest I have seen and the Jacuzzi is a part of the pool too. And the pool bathroom showers are equipped with both shampoo and liquid bath soap. Very convenient.

For a pricey hotel, the Dann could have done better. But overall, it wasn’t all that bad. Next time if I happen to go to Cartagena again, I’ll try another hotel and let you know my opinion.