Foodie Travels: Survival guide for Manali

Hola mates!

So after those dreadful 2 years of high school I'm finally emancipated. What better than to celebrate in the lap of Himalayas in our very own sweetheart town Manali?? So finally after days of sulking and coping with the 'Bored High School Passouts Syndrome', finally on a breezy dawn we jet setted off to Himachal on our cute little Swift. I gotta say, on a ride of about 9 hours with all the dizzying twists, eat really helps to carry a lot of biscuits handy.

It helps also to learn a few things while you travel and eat, you wouldn't want it to get all runny.

1. Whatever your parents might suggest, never go anywhere beyond the good ol' butter sandwiches on the Dhabas. Hygiene concerns apart(hotels have filthier kitchens,we know), you wouldn't want to see the semi-digested version of Dal makhani and the Kadhai Paneer you just ate an hour ago when you throw up on the road.

2. However tempting they may seem, NEVER dine in those floating dhabas where you eat with your feet in the cold water of the Beas. It seems thrilling at first bt even on a hot June afternoon it can give you the kind of cold that lasts days.

3. Ahh even when the 10 km gap b/w the milestones seemed like 50, imagine the relief of finally seeing 'Welcome to Manali' board. Oh wait, there's a hot-air balloon! While I became a balloon myself with joy it only flew upto 50 m. Thats it. Waste of money. And don't forget to grab your 10 rupee per cup Strawberries and cherries on Manali entrance. Dont mind the strawberries not being sweet. Nowhere in India will you ever get sweet strawberries.

4. Continental food sucks in Manali as much it sucks here in Ambala or anywhere else.

Yes we did dine in a really fancy restaurant on the Mall Road. And after that I swore never to touch Mashed Potatoes or Spaghetti again. I had Lasgna al Pomodoro in what was called the best Italian joint in whole Manali, and it was real good and I bet I'll have to jog about 20 days 24/7 to burn off the fat it gave me. Thats where the first pang of nostalgia for Mommy's food struck.

5. The good points:

There's a little bakery there near the temple on Mall that has the best strudels ever. Can't recalls the name but its adjacent to a grocery shop. Check it out.

Johnson's Lodge despite being one of the most expensive hotels in Manali(I actually drank strawberry juice worth 200 bucks), serves excellent Veg kebabs. Despite having my doubt over their Himachal Night, I did relish the elegance of the traditional food they served which summed up to be one of the best meals of my life.

P.S. Try avoiding food near any of the tourist spots. They can be pretty pricey sometimes. And the only way u can survive Manali shopping is by bargaining heavily. I remember a guy selling something at about 120 bucks near Vashisht temple that cost only 25 bucks on the Mall .

P.S.S. Nati dance around the bonfire was way cool..!

Well so what are your food/travel experiences ?? Don't forget to mention them in the comments section.

Love ya'll!!

XOXO Deeps

Preview:My new story entitled 'Felicity'

So here's the first preview:

It all started last night. Heaving a sigh of relief, with sleep in my eyes I crawled inside the blanket, the house wrapped in silence. Mom's bloody body was in the drawing room, my dog's head in the oven and dad was tied at the bottom of the pool. I lay the knife I had used to stab mom five times in the neck on the bed stead and slept soundly.

It was there in my sleep amidst the grotesque shapes and familiar faces that I first met her, Cira. I wouldn't daresay her her my doppleganger, for they are evil in the folklore. She was sweet. Her gentleness surprised me for in my world I had become accustomed to hateful glances I received everyday. And after what I had done tonight I wouldn't be God's lovely child no more.

It was strange how before last night I had never been able to remember my dreams with every detail before. But a break from my world was what I always wanted, even in something as trivial as dreaming.

How I metaphorized capacitance and finally understood physics

Hey ppl!

So I think Scott Young is one of the best bloggers out there. I started following his blog a month ago and the results have been stupendous. I was able to cover up all of what I had ignored in my syllabi for the whole year. Thanks, Scott.

So 2 days ago he started the 'Learning on steroids' program. The first homework for me was to metaphorise some topic I had previously not been able to understand into something I could retain in my mind for long.

So its my physics final on 1st May (Yikes). What best than to metaphorize capacitance?

So here is the original transcript of my reply to his email. See if this helps you to understand and visualize most of your concepts.

P.S. Visit www.scotthyoung.com for more details and how to ace your finals w/out actually studying (yes, really) and make the most out of your life.

P.S.S. Scott happens to be a really charming young university student. I personally admire his personality and charm.

Hey Scott!

Thanks a lot for your last newsletter. I have my physics 12th grade final after 11 days and I must say I was quite spooked out for some concepts. So after yesterday I decided to metaphorise the concept of introduction of dielectric slab and effect of the capacitance etc.

For parallel plate capacitor:

Assume your outstretched hands palms facing each other in front of your torso to be the two plates of a capacitor. A physics student would know capacitance increases on increasing area of plates and decreases on increasing distance b/w them. C= Area*permittivity / Distance

Assume charge to be polyester balls and our effort provided to hold hands like this as potential difference.

so if I increase the gap b/w hands, I would be able to hold less balls, therefore less charge. If one of my friend aligns his hands beneath mine i.e. increases the area, more balls will be held.

If someone brings in a slab (dielectric) below my hands it would support more balls. The effort to hold hands will be same (V remains constant). More balls, more capacity to hold them. Consequently more energy from balls is stored.

So this was the way I finally understood this concept.

Next time I'll be sharing other physics concepts as I keep on revising my notes.

Thanks a great deal for your tips.

Sincerely,

Deepali Garg

India