Its been two weeks. I see a lot of changes here and there, but the essence of “home” remains the same.

I was in Bangalore for a week and in Trivandrum for another. Bangalore, every where I turn, there is something new. Trivandrum has a few things changed here and there, but overall it is just that same old city! Everybody was also apprehensive of me driving, to say the truth even I was, a bit. But it was not the least difficult. Ok, first few minutes I tried to do things “right” but very soon my Indian instincts took over and lo I was honking, not stopping at pedestrian crossings, not following lanes.. hehe.. it was smooth from then on! One thing that changed regarding driving in Trivandrum is the number of FM stations available. When I left, there was just one.. now I turn the radio on and there seems to be a channel every other frequency – Big FM, SFM, Club FM .. what not! Then I see that there *are* traffic symbols posted neatly in India, just that before I never noticed them before and even if I did, never knew what they meant. Enough of blaming the government, our road culture is the first problem, nothings gonna change without improving that!

Most of the week in Trivandrum was spent visiting & being visited by friends and family. I even cooked for them. The shock on my mother’s face when she saw me cooking (‘Chicken Trivandrum’ ;) ) was a priceless moment. Nobody thought I had it in me to cook :D Well, not any more dear ones.. Even I can cook! Many evenings were spent idling away in the city.. brought back many flashes of nostalgia. I even managed to go to a cultural show organized by some department of my old college in the amazingly beautiful Kanakakunnu palace grounds. Sat there for hours with my college buddies… it was the best feeling ever! :D

It was a not a totally smooth transition, but not as difficult as I expected. Things seem changed, and I look at things differently than before.. But I am so happy being back :)

1 This was the first time (also the last till date ;) ) I had the chance to travel in Germany’s fastest (and potentially the fastest in the world according to my German collegues atleast) train – the InterCity Express or simply the ‘ICE’. It was a good experience, that much speed on land was new (though not any more). The interior decos were interesting too, I especially loved the bord-bistro, though I chose not to dine since prices weren’t too catchy for my pocket :)

Once in Hildesheim, I was treated to some great Indian food prepared by the one and only Anu, and surprise surprise I got an early birthday party complete with a cake, candles reminding me I’m turning old (grunt!) and even a few Germans ;). It was a major surprise for me and I loved it! After the mini birthday party we went for a fair in closeby Hannover. We were a very unique gang that day, friends representing 4 countries – India, Germany, Turkey and Romania.. truly international. Everybody was discussing our (the Indians’) age and how we can be so young and working.. hehe.. and I thought I was growing old.. That was a relief! It was great fun and we spend a lot of time chit chatting in the banks of Mach see, having been denied access to the ‘Pepermint dome’ because our clothing was too informal. Boo!

2 I had told Anu that next time I will come driving and she was like no way that is possible. Well it was possible and it was done :) This time we had the full troupe for the trip and not just me. Ginu, Renu, Sandeep and I, geared up from in front of Bosch Plochingen on a Friday evening at around 1630hrs for the stated 5 hour drive to Hildesheim. 1.5 hrs of the stated 5 hrs was lost in the traffic of Stuttgart. It was a tense but good experience for me, since I had not driven much ‘on the wrong side’ in the cities of Germany. Anyway the stated 5hrs extended to nearly 8 and we finally managed to reach Hildesheim by midnight after also getting my first speeding ticket ;) It was a long drive, but with undampened spirits we held on till around 3 am in the morning watching some great Mallu comedy clips :)

The highlight of Saturday was a trip to an amusement park – Heide park – in a small town called Soltau some 100 km away from Hildesheim. The rides were brilliant and the best thing was since it was during off-season we did not have to endure the long queues we had to wait in while we had gone to Europa park. There were some great rides I would recommend any day, especially the biggest wooden frame roller coaster in the world. By night fall we were back, but this time there wasn’t enough energy left for the marathon all night film screenings and so we all had a nice good sleep. Sunday was spend experiencing Ms. Ann Mary Philip’s cooking. We were all good food testers I believe and the quality of food meant that we were all filled up by the time it was time to leave. We also made a short visit to the Hildesheim church and spend a few minutes in the serenity of the cathedral.

3 Two weeks later and we were back. Again in the car, with more drivers, with more experience and no speeding ticket this time, but anyhow managed to get a parking ticket – punishment for a slight lapse of memory :( Saturday we went again to Hannover. Mach see was so different this time, I couldn’t count more than 5 people in the whole area. Last time I was there, there was no place to even turn around without bumping on to some one. Anyway we spend some more time there and was back at home by evening. Mach see seems to have some uncanny relationship with birthday surprises. Since even this time there was not one, but two surprise parties – one for our hostess Anu and one for Renu, each being planned by one another and we three being the common factor. We pulled it off fine and I think they were not acting surprised ;) That was good too. Two more surprises well done in Hildesheim.

The highlight of the trip was yet to come. And that would be a surprise even for you, my good friend – Kappa (tappiocca) and beef fry – Kerala style in Germany! Wow.. that was the tastiest food I have had in ages. Serious and I am not writing this because I know Anu will read this sooner or later ;) but it indeed was… incredible!

Three incredible weekends in the quiet sleepy town of Hildesheim. All credits to Frau. Philip aka Anu for making it all so unforgettable. This post is dedicated to you, Anu.. :)

I had gone for a trip to Bonn last weekend with Ginu and Sandeep to meet the latter’s cousin. The main purpose was not to see the city, but anyway we roamed around the place – the old capital of West Germany. It was a bit surprising, the city was too small to be a capital of any country! But small does not ever mean bad. It is a pretty little city by the river Rhine and the ‘Friezeit Park’ was quite nice.

After the initial roaming Sandeep’s cousin, Soumya chechi agreed with us to make chicken, even though she didn’t know heads and tails of how to make it. So I decided to take the lead. Yeah, it was an risky experiment with just 3 months of cooking experience but I decided to give it a try. With all the resources obtained we started out joined by Saumya chechi’s brazilian roommate Maria. She said she will make us a nice Brazilian Omlette while I tried my luck with the chicken. It wasn’t the best of conditions, but anyways it did turn out good., atleast better than what I expected ;) and I even got a compliment in Brazilian Portuguese for my cooking.. who would have thought!!

The recipe is simple – (ok, most of this is copyrighted by Mathew who is the total inspiration behind my cooking): Take chicken, marinate it with curd and masala (any variety you could get) for a while. Grill the chicken for about 20 minutes. After that fry some onions till golden brown, add some tomatoes, salt, pepper, chilli powder, masal till cooked. Then add the grilled chicken and cook for about 15 minutes. There you have it, the delicious Chicken Bonn is ready! Serve Hot!! :D

Sunday we bid goodbye to our excellent hostesses and headed towards Koeln (Cologne). This was my second visit there and since it was mostly unplanned we had the option of just walking around. It was really good. This city is truly nice. I had always thought of coming to Cologne again and exploring it properly, but even this time we didnt have the time to do it. So by afternoon, we took the train back to Stuttgart. A nice short inexpensive trip and fun too, thanks to the Chicken Bonn!