The only time I got closest to golf was I taking a golf cart from point A to point B.
Playing the game was never on my mind.
Yes! The only popular player from the Game I had heard about was Tiger Woods for the game and his controversies, while flipping the channels on the remote.
So, during our visit to Goa, for a friends engagement. We had the opportunity to learn about the game from scratch and also play a few strokes.
The first time we were handed over the clubs, the stance and the hold and swing were like cricket for me, but the instructor taught us it’s nothing like cricket, the holding of the clubs need to be done in a particular way, just like gripping the bat, but here the force and the strength needed is not that much compared to cricket.
Here the challenge is to get the golf ball in the holes in minimum chances, which could be 3-5 strokes, strokes known as Par in the game of Golf.
The whole experience during the hour of the game was fun, and here in Golf you learn you don’t need to be physically strong, but mentally have the patience to play the ball.
I had been wanting an Aeropress. And for my 27th Birthday got it as a gift. Ever since then, I have been thinking of participating in the Indian edition and last year! It was my first time.
Aeropress is so versatile you can use the ratio of coffee to water the way you would like to have your cup of coffee. Espresso Style, French Press or a Pour over style.
Aeropress was founded by Alan Adler in 2005 in the united states who was a toy manufacturer.
It wasn’t until 2008 when A friendly competition of who can brew the best Cup of Aeropress Coffee Began as a joke in 2008 in Oslo, Norway.
Three Friends competed and two of them then founded the Tim Wendelboe by Tim Varney & Tim Williams.
It became a global phenomenon with more than 60 Countries hosting the Aeropress Championship.
In 2017 Mithlesh from Nagpur who owns a cafe Now “Corridor Seven” Became the 1st Aeropress Champion from India.
The championship begins with A country hosting regional rounds in a state or city.
Each State/City will have participants who would be participating in four rounds.
First would be like an Elimination round, then a Quater, Semi-Final and Final. Depending on the number of participants.
Each Participant gets 3 minutes for preparation. Where one can heat water, Weigh the coffee beans maximum of 18 gms, and setup the Aeropress.
Each participant then gets 5 minutes to brew his cup of Coffee on the day of the competition. You could preferably carry your own Aeropress. Or could borrow another competitor at the venue. Other equipment is available and provided by the organisers at the venue
As a Participant, you would also get the coffee as part of the registration that would be used on the day of the competition to try your recipes at your residence, a couple of days before the main day!
On the day of the competition, there were 100+ participants each competing against 3 brewers and each time one winner would be chosen to compete in the next round.
So I was competing with one home brewer & a barista from a popular cafe in Bombay. And couldn’t qualify for any of the rounds.
Cut to a year later 2023!
I participated again this year! And hadn’t tried the coffee that would be used for the championship even once! But, having Practised for over a year, With a lot of different coffees from India and my travels around I figured out the coffee recipe and participated and Qualified 3 Rounds #Top13
It was a huge improvement from the past year! Hopefully, 2024 Will be better!!!
Just keep brewing & explore the equipment.
A fun experience for coffee enthusiasts and professionals.
Dhaka! A foreign city that I visited more than any other city in the world!
First time about 5 years ago! It was all about being curious of one of our closest neighbourhood.
And today after three visits, you realise it’s so much like India and Sri Lanka! People here are Warm, Hospitable, and Kind.
Some of the things Dhaka beats us in is the traffic, it’s faster to walk and travel than to use a public transport or vehicle.
The Mosquitoes, Gosh! No amount of fumigation, odomos repelient, Odomos scent sticks, Odomos Roll on would stop the mosquitoes from sucking your blood!
And the language barrier- Bengali! If you know the language, you would not be lost in translation!
But, if you don’t know the language.
You would struggle to get things right!
The food it’s a non-vegetarians paradise!
And a vegetarian’s walk to hell!
You would need to keep looking until you find options!
Some of the chaat items too have egg in them!
And an eggless cake is a mystery to them.
The roads are wide, but everyone has taken the sides. You can’t turn, you can’t run you are stuck.
Most of the best designer clothes are manufactured here! But, you won’t find a single store selling them. Rather you would need to just visit one store for all the original’s first copies Astorian!
A lot of African, Australian, Malaysian chains of restaurant are there!
Surprisingly Coffee is big here too! A lot of small interesting coffee shops there!
With one or two coffee roasters selling homegrown coffee that’s grown in Bangladesh!
They enjoy a lot of Music and Movies! One of the reasons Bollywood is a big craze here!
Bollywood movies don’t release as often and as much since they believe they loose money from local cultural entertainment.
And if they are Die-Hard Bollywood fans they travel to Kolkata. a 40 minute journey by Air or about 7 Hrs by road.
No! Bangladesh isn’t cheap!
In fact it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world for expats living there!
Facts about Dhaka:
The world’s least livable city.
Longest female-led government.
There are a lot of Bangladeshis who live out of the country.
Currently only the below flights go to Dhaka directly.
The Trial: A Body is found on the riverfront, and a few minutes later, the main accused is arrested. But this is just the beginning of a high drama series. This Italian series is split into eight episodes. once the case is exposed, and this goes on where you realise it’s a one-sided argument, but since this is a courtroom drama, the case soon is getting Balanced, where you don’t know whether the accused will remain in prison or will be set free. This series keeps you glued until the end and makes you witness, how one manipulates evidence and facts to prove one’s innocence. This is a binge-worthy series!!
A book that was on my reading list for months !! A story themed around a wedding celebration.
Yes!! It’s unusual to find a thriller around a wedding and this was one reason the book got my interest and the second it being a thriller.
The writing style is similar to Girl on the Train!!
The Story starts unfolding when family secrets and friends start realising what relationships meant to them.
While even betrayal of trust is one of the elements of the story where some confessions let out secrets that never unfolded, But the island celebration changes many fortunes and reveals all the secrets.
A weekend fast-paced thrilling read by Lucy Foley.
A K H I L N A N D A 