31 October 2022

Wait. Where am I?

Landed in Chicago airport. Flying Delta from Atlanta. In the last 4 years, I have probably done this 80 times or so (counting the pandemic period!). I was on a call as I walked out of the plane, instinctively took a right turn and soon realized that I was totally lost.

Where the heck was I? Why does the airport have so many bright lights? Which airport did I land in?

I walked back to my gate. And took a few minutes to put the whole thing together.

Delta has now moved from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5. Terminal 5 is the international terminal. It is much much better than the previous one. It is so much more spacious, well lit and the Sky Club? infinitely better.

I am really, really happy Delta has moved. Now I have to wait another month till they start Clear in this terminal.

#firstworldproblems

Category: Travelogs | LEAVE A COMMENT
30 October 2022

Arranged all my CDs. Well, about half of them.

After my vinyl record collection, now I am into arranging my CDs! Thankfully, I had never discarded my music CDs after streaming and music-in-cloud took over. Brought out the 1200+ CDs I have, selected about 500 of them (mostly 90s and before) to keep for ready access and put them in these neat looking book cases.

Love the CD storage boxes. Took my a month to find something I would like.

Now I am ready for more music with Jay Jay. Who, for some reason, has equated Indian music without Pringles to be a cue for him to go to sleep!

Category: Music/Poetry | LEAVE A COMMENT
30 October 2022

From the bartender’s corner – Negroni variant

Last week, Hunt mentioned that he had tried a Negroni with a Old Tom gin instead of a regular gin and that he rather liked it. Old Tom gin is a precursor to today’s gin (often called London Dry) and is usually aged in barrels unlike gin.

To go back a little more in time, I tried mine today with Genever. Which is the original source of today’s gin. In fact Old Tom gin is considered the bridge between Genever and modern day gin.

The effect was indeed remarkable. I think it was the ageing (the wood aroma) that you could feel on the nose that made the difference.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
29 October 2022

A classic one from Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

“Do you not have a party to go to?” I asked her innocently.
“Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“No. No. No.”, I lied vociferously.
Like I had any chance of she not seeing thru it.

Truth is that in the small house, I do miss my corner in the evening where I can listen to my own music with Jay Jay with the lights dimmed to my own mood. Not saying she does not adapt to it – she absolutely does. But some things like music is very, very individual.

Right at that moment, she got a call from her friend to see if she was open to go out for a wine.

Boy, was she ever ready for that call!

Indeed, was I ever!!

Thanks to Paromita and Seemita-di, I was able to bring out an old “Bade Ghulam Ali Khan” record (another gift from Deval’s dad’s collection), clean it up and play it for myself.

Nobody has ever done “Yaad Piya Ki Aaye” to my ears like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan has. This evening was no different.

Category: Music/Poetry | LEAVE A COMMENT
29 October 2022

From the bartender’s corner – Manhattan

Normally, a fall evening should start with an Old Fashioned for me. But I remembered a discussion I had earlier this week with my friend and an absolute aficionado of classical brown alcohol drinks – Hunt – and decided to go with a Manhattan. Unlike him though, I refuse to have my Manhattans with any other kind of whiskeys than the ryes!!

I thought of throwing in a Luxardo brandied cherry for the garnish, but the concept of anything sweet did not sit well with me after the cold motorbike ride and the cold boat ride.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT