Review on Zahana Chennai!

I'm someone who is drawn towards jewellery, in particular earrings. Recently I was on Instagram and I came across a page that lured me into its pictures and by the time I knew, I was on their website booking a pair of earring and contemplating on buying one or two for the start.

But, now I'm regretting. I should've ordered more. The page is called zahana. Zahana is a contemporary creation and the selection of colors are beautiful, trendy and classy at the same time. The moment you enter you get attracted to all their products and are compelled to try some. The page is colorful and attractive. You can shop from anywhere and the process is that simple.

I love oxidised silver earring and I already have a collection of them. Will share that soon. This site has more than what we could ask for and the quality is beyond words.

I ordered a black and gold antique earrings which was on sale. The products have a additional amount of Rs 50 for shipping. I had a pleasant experience with them and unbelievably I received my order in 2 days despite the Chennai monsoon and rains. Too good.

I was so excited and cut open the package to take a look at my order. I was so surprised by the package and I was wondering why there were two pairs inside and outside the transparent ziplock, a handwritten note saying it was a FREEBIE with a small heart beside. That's it! I fell for it.

My earrings were packed so well with the brand card and a freebie, all carefully kept inside a plastic box so its safe and secure.

I wore the earrings and absolutely loved it. Will definitely shop again and I already added few items to the wishlist. The site is a must try and you wont regret it.

Here are the pictures.

This is the cute packaging.

Th is is the pair that I ordered.

The freebie.

Both of the earrings.

All of the pictures in a collage.

Jewelry lovers and online shoppers will fall for their collections.

Thank you ZAHANA for such a wonderful experience and I'm heading to your site soon after.

Until next time.

The most awaited trip with the Fam!

This post is about the trip we went to Pondicherry with the family.

Its more of a rambling post.
So, we took off in the early hours of the day. We packed Salami and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, coffee for a refreshment and some tit bits to munch on the go.
My outfit was more of lounge pants with a comfy top as we were on a road trip.
We left with the boy, my mom and me along with a professional driver on the wheel. On the way we picked up my mom-in-law and headed on the ECR road. It was a scary drive I must say and the weather was helping us that day by being cloudy but, no rains.

We pit-stopped for a stretch break and had our sandwiches and the coffee. We reached by around 11ish. It got delayed due to the pit-stop. We roamed a bit in pondy.
We went to a lake side and just drived by. Later, we went to Lunch at Kamatchi Biryani Veedu where all of us had a wonderful lunch.
The highlight of this hotel is they serve rasam with white rice towards the end for digestion and the rasam is something I've never tasted anywhere.

We finished and headed to the beach for a walk. By, this time it was kind of sunny. We did some shopping of clothes and eats. Back to the beach and dinner at Surguru.

We left by 9ish and reached by midnight. Both the moms loved it though they struggled a bit with their aches and pains.

Here are the pictures

On our way, at one of the tolls. 

Loved how green this looked and the different green hues.

Inside the car.

Welcome to the French colony.

The scenic view.

One of the corners.

The beach road.

Our dinner.

Black coffee with sugar.

I didn't click pictures of lunch as I was too hungry and couldn't wait to eat. This was our trip and the pictures. We had a lovely experience and we will definitely be going back.

Until next time.

Choco chip cookies - Recipe.

Chocolate chip cookies was on my to do list like forever. I had Chocolate chips and butter, eggs and all the baking staples but, never found the perfect recipe.

Finally, while browsing Fb found Fondbites. This is one of my favorite baking site. I used to be part of their bake alongs sometime back. Found the choco chip and made it.

 It was delicious. Especially, while warm I devoured two of them.
There was a small change though. I ran out of maida and added wheat flour instead. Worked out as a healthy option too.

Here's the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup maida, 1/2 cup wheat flour)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tspn baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 1 tspn vanilla essence

METHOD

• Line a baking tray using butter, ghee or oil or even parchment paper
• Preheat oven at 180 degrees for 10 mins
• In a bowl, melt butter to liquid form, cool it down.
• Add sugar and beat with electric beater on high for about 5 mins.
• Add the egg and beat gently, add vanilla essence and mix well.
• Sift flour, salt and baking soda and add this to the butter and egg mixture.
• I used my hands at this stage.
• The mixture was a bit too sticky and wet, so I added 2 tbspns more flour and it was the right consistency now.
• Add the choco chips and incorporate well.
• Make small round balls and place on the baking tray at a nominal distance.
• The heat is going to melt this and bring it in the form of a cookie so note the distance here.
• Bake for 15 mins. I kept an eye on mine at 10 mins and took it out by 15 mins. 

Let it cool and devour to your hearts content. Trust me you can't stop.

Store in an airtight container. 

Lloyd's Tea house - Restaurant review!

Lately I've been visiting Lloyd's tea house regularly. like say, once a month and I've always had something to drink there. Once, I had the Bruschetta platter and I was kinda ok with the taste. I could make that at home.

But, last week on a Sunday evening the boy and me decided to have something there as we were really hungry. Read through the menu and the boy decided on Pan Seared Basa with Pesto while I had Chicken Lasagna. 

The Lasagna came in first, we loved it and half way through the Basa arrived and we never let it go. The basa was accompanied with a salad, sauteed vegetables and mashed potato. The mashed potato was out of this world. The food was great and great ambiance too. We finally ended with something warm. The boy had peppermint tea while I had my favorite Hazelnut cappucino (I've never had such an amazing cappucino anywhere). We thoroughly enjoyed our food.

The service was good and the place is a great one to try

Here are the pictures.

The chicken lasagna.

The pan seared basa with pesto.

The basa alone. It was divine.

The accompaniments.

The beverages.

Overall, a wonderful dinner and the total cost was Rs 1011 including vat. The cost is a bit on the higher side but, wonderful food.

Rating ****.5/5 minus 0.5 for the price.

Until next time.

Perks of being a teacher - Part II

Here I am again with the series - Perks of being a teacher. I'm glad I received several comments on the Part I and I enjoyed reading and writing it too.

Today, the Perks of being a teacher are Semester breaks. Oh yes, I love this profession for this reason as well. Which job pays you to sit at home?. That's just another benefit however, there are more to list and they are on their way.

So, I had this 10 day break last week and I so loved it. The early morning chaos and routine was given a pause button and I took all the rest I needed though I missed my kids from school at times.
Throughout this time I baked, went for walks, slept like there's no tomorrow and helped with the boy getting prepped for work. I watched Breaking Bad back to back.

Now, I'm back to school but, recalling that break feels good and I believe every profession needs this as it helps you reflect on your life and unwind. No stress involved.
I've worked in a corporate, as a nurse, as a Nursing tutor and at a Hospital in administration but, nothing gave the amount of happiness and rest I receive from Teaching.

Hope you enjoyed reading. 

Until next time and the next Perk. 

This is written for #MondayMusings on WriteTribe.

Banana Cinnamon Muffins!

It was a holiday and I wanted to bake something quick and tasty.

Browsed a bit and decided it's going to be Banana and Cinnamon Muffins and the boy loves muffins compared to cupcakes.

Got started and it was yum and the smell of cinnamon with banana wafted indoors.

Here's the recipe

Ingredients

• 2 small bananas
• 1/2 cup castor sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup odourless oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Preheat oven at 180 degrees
• Line the muffin tray with liners
• In a bowl, add bananas and mash them with a fork
• Add oil to the bananas and mix well
• Add the egg and vanilla essence
• Sift the flour, add salt, cinnamon and baking soda
• Add these to the wet ingredients and mix well
• Finally add milk and incorporate everything
• Don't overmix, gently fold all the ingredients well.
• Scoop the batter into each muffin liner and bake at 180 dgrees for 25 to 30 mins
• Cool it and serve or store it in an airtight container.

Here are the pictures

The liners are in sync with the color of the muffins.

Until next time.

Restaurant review- California Burrito!

It was a Sunday and not so productive Sunday. The boy and me were not in good terms and decided we'd have a cup of coffee each.

After coffee we didn't feel like going anywhere and decided to while away some more time at the food court. I had been there sometime back and spotted this place called California Burrito but, never bothered to glance at the menu or the food.
But, this time I decided to give it a go as we had time and it was worth it.

Great food, good service and value for money. They had a variety of combos like the mini and mega combos, I opted for the mini as the boy was not interested in food. I went for the non-veg salad, chips and salsa and pink lemonade. I added guacamole and chips to the bill and I didn't regret it.
The combo came up to 170 plus and the guacamole and chips were 30 plus and taxes and all that, came up to Rs 270.
After I received the food, the boy who said he didn't want to eat gave it a try and did not let go of the fork. We loved the food and will go for it again for sure.

Overall wonderful dinner and light on the pockets. My rating for this would be 5/5.

Here are some pictures I took.

The outlet at Ambit IT park Ambattur Estate.

Our tray of food.

The spicy chicken salad topped with sour cream.

Aerial view.

Until next time.

Perks of being a teacher - Part I

Teaching as a profession is more than what I asked for. What I majored in and what I worked as, and what I studied further has nothing to do with my profession as of now.

I don't regret my education though, I regret my working experiences sometimes.

But, now everything's changed. This job taught me so much and I still learn something new every day.

Being a teacher, the moment I enter the class in the morning, I am greeted by my children who are aged 3, 3 1/2 and 4years old respectively. It gives me so much joy and happiness when they come up to me talking about their weekend or their amazing experience at the park. Sometimes, I even get compliments about my accessories (my watch, earrings and eye glasses - though I wear the same every single day). And, to add on to these the children walk randomly up to me either kissing my hand, elbow or if they can reach, my cheek. What more do I need to make my day?

There are tons of perks and I've jotted only a few as of now.
That's the reason I've created a series by the name 'PERKS OF BEING A TEACHER'. If you are a teacher or aspiring to becoming one, you will get what I'm trying to exaggerate here.

Image cortesy - Google.

Until next time.

Written and posted on Write Tribe #MondayMusings.

All Good Scents review!

So, as I was whiling away some time one fine evening reading few blogs, I came across a couple of blogs talking about a website featuring perfumes and testers for a moderate price.

Headed to their site and saw a lot of interesting features like the perfume which might suit you  and the tester samples. Immediately chose two for me and one for the boy which I felt might suit us.
The product claims it is made in France and each one of them are different.

Opted for the COD option but, it charged Rs 50 extra for shipping while it said free shipping charges. Anyway, chose the netbanking option and paid Rs 165 altogether.
It took almost 6 days to reach and I was expecting the delivery. Well, it reached and the fragrances for each of the ones I ordered didn't let me down.

Here are the pictures.

The 3 scents : Love & Joy (yellow one), Chic (white one) and Urbane Nights (Black one).

Along with it came a booklet with the list of all their fragrances and a discount of 15 % on my next purchase. The fragrance is amazing and lasted for a really long time. The amount is less though. I'm definitely going to get the bigger versions of it. Nice buy overall.

Rating - ****/5

Check out their site here.

P.S- This is not sponsored, I purchased with my own interest and wallet.
Until next time.

The Dramatic Walker's park!

The other day after a heavy lunch at a Restaurant the boy and me decided to go for a walk to one of our favorite walker's park and we did.

I've been to a lot of parks before and the sight there is usually fitness freaks, wannabe fitness freaks, health conscious youngsters, preventing diseases middle aged adults and following doctor's advice on walking elders. Or, at the most we might see some children enjoying their swings and see - saws if there was any at the park.
But, I was shocked by the sight at the park I used to go to before I got married. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set.

Every corner at the park, I saw couples mostly unmarried or in a relationship kinda couples sitting so close to each other. Some were the desperate ones and some were the get a room kinda ones. I was surprised though I took a short walk around and the boy couldn't control his nap by the time I came back.

It was entertainment for me and peace for the boy.

The scene opposite to where we were sitting.

Some hanky panky happening (If you look closely or zoom in) I focused on all four sides to where we sat.

The path I took for a walk.

A beautiful looking tree that was being dug out.

A small lake alongside the path.

The huge tower.

Nice day with lots of memories.

Until next time.

P.S - Ignore the slang words. I couldn't find more appropriate words to match what was in my head.

This post is going for the #MondayMusings on Write Tribe.

Restaurant review - Mainland China!

This was my second time visit to Mainland China - Anna Nagar and I went there the second time because of the wonderful food and amazing experience we had during our first visit.

Both the times we opted for buffets and the spread was wonderful. The cost of a buffet for one person is Rs 640.
The starters consisted of Prawns, Chicken and minced meat and dumplings, fried wontons and soup. The main course had a variety too. My favorite was the Lamb with hot sauce and the Fish in Chilli mustard sauce. We could also try the vegetarian if we opt for a non - vegetarian buffet and that's a plus.

The dessert platter was good I would say. Just, for the fact that the dishes were not exquisite. They had ice creams of three flavors, meery mousse - a coconut and creamy mousse, a chocolate tart, gateaux, silk cake (I never tried that) and Darsaan. Darsaan was my favorite last time and this time.

Overall, a memorable day and good food but, heavy on the pocket too. The vat and service charges came upto an amount wherein another person could've had another buffet.

Here are the pictures.

The table we dined at.

The buffet section, one part of it as the others weren't filled up.

My plate of food.

His plate of food. A typical foodie's plate.

Longshot of his plate with some pickled veggies.

The dessert side.

Very good experience and I would rate the Restaurant a 4/5. 4 because of the cost.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Until next time.