New beginnings - From House to Home

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 3/29/2013 2:27:00 PM

'I haven't met a single person who says that building a house or making a home is easy! And from what I have discovered so far, it certainly is not.It is a very slow, tiring, hazy and frustrating project. Of course it does have its moments of fun, excitement and joy!! But by the end of it most home owners remember what this picture below suggests  :)Pic courtesy Coffee With an ArchitectThe first thing I realized, when we started thinking about getting our recently bought apartme(...)'

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Road Trip Day 6 - Bikaner

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/26/2013 7:20:00 AM

'On Day 6 we woke up in Bikaner, the last of our stops in the road trip. I have never been to Bikaner before this. So this was a first. We had only 1 day here, almost half a day actually, so we decided to do some googling and choose 1 or 2 places to see. The first on the list was Junagarh Fort. It is famous for being one of the forts that was never conquered. It was built in the city rather than outside on a hilltop, like Mehrangarh fort. It had a moat filled with water around it. Th(...)'

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Road Trip Day 4 & 5 - Sun city, Blue city - Jodhpur!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/22/2013 6:34:00 PM

'We loved Jodhpur! Period! It looked great, and has expanded well in the last 20 years. The Jodhpur part of the trip was very nostalgic. We visited the house we stayed in, the school where mom taught, dad's office and the school where me and my sister studied for 2 years. It felt like replacing a photographic memory with the actual image.My sis and me in the school campus in the pic below. Most of it was the same with a few additions, a fresh paint job and a new play yard. The curren(...)'

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Road Trip Day 3 - Jaipur - Ajmer - Jodhpur

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/17/2013 7:46:00 PM

'Day 3 could be summarized as loud and noisy! Noise of different kinds and types. Some tangible, some not. It started off at midnight with a tummy ache. Not me. N. Don't know the exact reason but maybe because of all the eating at so many places, the water and sitting for long hours. So in the dead of the night I walked to the parking lot to find Imli (tamarind) goli from the car. Two of those and some brisk walking in the room resulted in some burps and farts and all wa(...)'

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Road Trip Day 2 - Shopping in Jaipur!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/16/2013 5:26:00 PM

'All we did on Day 2 was shop! We shopped till we dropped! Well not literally but almost.It was raining in the morning and we thought "Sigh! There go our shopping plans." But the weather gods were good to us and the rain stopped by the time we finished sight seeing.We started by visiting Hawa Mahal. During our earlier trip to Jaipur about 20 years ago, this was one of the places we had been to and so we wanted to revisit the place. Took some pictures and saw Jantar Mantar and other c(...)'

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Road Trip Day 1 - Bathinda to Jaipur

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/15/2013 5:36:00 PM

'Day 1 of the road trip was supposed to be the longest. We started from Bathinda, Punjab and reached Jaipur, Rajasthan covering almost 500 km. We had planned to leave home by 7 am and we managed to leave by 7:30. Not bad! It was a slightly foggy morning with a few light showers at some places on the way and the fog cleared up pretty soon. We had our road companion, the GPS. It couldn't beat the age old mechanism of asking local people for directions, but still was a big hel(...)'

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Rajasthan by road!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 2/14/2013 3:01:00 PM

'I have been travelling across countries and within India since last December. It started with the Sydney-Thailand trip last Christmas, followed by the move to India in Jan this year.Once in India, I spent some time in Faridabad, Delhi, Bathinda, Bangalore and Chandigarh. Not more than a week anywhere though!At first I thought I would get tired of the living-out-of-a-suitcase and getting-used-to-new-accommodations part very soon. But it has been pretty OK. It helps that the kid (...)'

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Day 28 - Sawatdee from Thailand!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/27/2012 12:34:00 PM

'We are in Thailand now with friends!!! And it is awesome. Here are some glimpses from the first few days in Thailand - Bangkok and Koh Samui.The Royal Palace, BangkokReclining Buddha temple, BangkokMargarita on a hot summer day says holiday!!!Yellow curry, yumm!!Pad ThaiHolidays with friends is bliss. Happy Holidays!!'

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Day 27 - 3 iconic sights from Sydney

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/26/2012 11:00:00 AM

'I am in a hangover from Christmas so leaving you with 3 iconic and world famous sights from Sydney!!Sydney Harbour Bridge - People climb and do walks on top of the bridge too!Opera House - beautiful work of craftsmanship and super locationBondi Beach - sun, surf and white sands. Was awesome spending time there and resulted in a few sun burns too!This post is part of the Marathon Blogging December 2012. '

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Day 25 - Merry Christmas

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/24/2012 11:00:00 AM

'Merry Christmas to all of you. Wish you loads of happiness, fun and goodies!!There are Christmas trees, holiday crowds, finger licking food and songs everywhere we go. The tree in our apartment complexThe blue and silver tree at Wellington airportThe tree at Sydney airportYummy christmas macaroons at Lindt in Darling Harbour, SydneyHoliday crowds and carol singers at Darling Harbour, SydneyWe have been enjoying sunny Sydney and are off to Thailand now. Have a lovely week ahead!(...)'

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Day 23 - Graffiti in Wellington

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/22/2012 11:00:00 AM

'I spend a lot of time walking around in Wellington, partly because we live in the CBD (Central Business District) or downtown and partly because we do not have a car. The city is very compact and everywhere we go on a daily basis, is walkable. S and I made a conscious decision not to buy a car unless we move to the suburbs. Though S does miss the driving around sometimes.I on the other hand feel that it's been working great for us. We are "green", get our 30 mins a day (and sometime(...)'

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Day 19 - My home tour on Magical Homes!!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/18/2012 10:30:00 AM

'My ex-apartment in Bangalore was featured on Magical Homes yesterday. The site also has a lot of tips and ideas on all aspects of a home. Makes for an interesting read. Hop over to check it out :) And let me know what you think, by leaving comments there. This is the 2nd home tour for my rented apartment and Dipika the editor has put together the post so well. Thanks Dipika!! We spent 2 years there and it was a wonderful stay. I miss my home, my neighbours, my fr(...)'

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Day 16 - What time is it?

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/15/2012 9:02:00 PM

'Look at the 3 pictures below and tell me what time of the day do you think it is?I haven't touched them up at all. So no editing, brightening, photo shopping done.All 3 have been taken at the same time of the day, from the balcony in our downtown Wellington apartment.The correct answer shall get a prize!!A big hug and kiss virtually, allllll the way from this end of the planet. I'll even throw a coffee in which I will enjoy on your behalf if you can't make it here ;)This post is par(...)'

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Day 14 - Christmas Parade and Carols

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/13/2012 7:00:00 PM

'In New Zealand, most of the work places shut down fully or partially around 15th December for a month. Yes, for a full month, work comes to a halt! Except the essential stuff, of course. Offices send out the year-end holiday shut down dates via email as early as May-June so that people can plan their holidays.Most of the public Christmas events, parties and school functions are done with, by Dec 15th. After which people set out for their personal or family vacations, celebrations an(...)'

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Day 11 - My Coffee Mornings

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/10/2012 6:38:00 PM

'Some days after I drop off N at the kindy (kindergarten as referred here) I stop to sit and have a cup of coffee while browsing through the day's news paper. Or I take it to-go and sip it while walking home. The cafe I go to, is this ancient looking coffee place with a grinding mini-factory right next to it so you can smell really strong coffee from quite a distance. My favourite is a mochachino which, as they say, is a cappuccino with a teaspoon or more of (...)'

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Day 6 - Summer fun!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/6/2012 12:26:00 AM

'Summer has officially started in Wellington, NZ some time back. And we have been making hay while the sun shines and doing all the typical summery stuff - picnics, parties, visits to the beach, shedding those layers of clothes and jumping into the water! We have been -  Getting summer flowers to brighten up the house. And yes, I do buy flowers for myself :) Eating strawberries and ice cream. Yumm! Hokey Pokey is a NZ favourite Having chaat parties (...)'

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Day 3 - Gift paper love

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/2/2012 10:45:00 PM

'We all have those quirks that define us. Some small, some big. I have traits that make me "me". One of them is that I have a photographic memory for birthdays and anniversaries (the ones I want and need to remember). Some of my friends admit to relying on me to remind them about common friends' birthdays. They say they don't need a calendar, they have me :) My other quirk is gift wrapping paper!!  I have a thing for it. I hoard it. Shhh! I just can't he(...)'

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Day 2 - Beach, Pizza, Talaash and Rajma Chawal!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 12/1/2012 12:23:00 PM

'The Marathon Blogging event where a group of us bloggers have resolved to write every day for the month of December is on! Check out the badge on the sidebar. To join us this month, send an add request to the Marathon Bloggers FB Group. Yesterday was Saturday and a not a very windy day (like it typically is, here in Wellington)! We drove down to Paraparaumu beach and spent time there. There were fluffy white clouds in the sky. The Tasman Sea waves were lapping up(...)'

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We loooove Avocados!!

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 11/30/2012 2:51:00 AM

'N and I... we both love our Avocados. In any form. We eat them cut-in-pieces-with-salt-sprinkled-over, as guacamole, in our sandwiches and our salads!They are healthy, tasty and colourful. Here are some ways we use them -Guacamole - We eat a lot of it, a LOT!! Give a lady her chips and dip and she will be very happy and grateful (the lady being me). I use a simple version of it - some diced onions (whichever ones I have at home - red or white), some diced tomato, crushed or finely d(...)'

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My 2nd guest post at ShopHealthy.in

Author : Simran      Blog : Simz Corner      Date : 11/15/2012 10:56:00 AM

'Here is the 2nd guest post I wrote for ShopHealthy.in's blog - 5+ A Day.The 1st one was a recipe for Oatmeal and walnut cookies - mentioned here. This new post is about getting 5+ servings of fruits and veggies in your daily diet and using all the food colour groups!I love colour in all aspects of life, except my wardrobe maybe... that has a lot of black, which I am desperately trying to change. Uh, well digressing aren't we? Let's get back to the point. I believe food should a(...)'

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