Growing up in Kathmandu

Being raised up in Kathmandu means having a myriad of mixed experiences. It is a demographic hub of people from many different cultures of Nepalese society. Being raised here means you get to know many things about communities scattered around different parts of the country. Part of living here also certifies that you are accustomed to getting your way through confusingly scattered roads as well as unusually large traffic and group of pedestrians.

Apart from its narrow roads and congested buildings, Kathmandu also retains seven of the UNESCO's "World Heritage Sites" within its area, all of which are symbols of our great past. "Boudhanath" and "Swayambhunath" are two Buddhist stupas that fall under the heritage list and are main focus for cultural enthusiasts and Buddhist spiritual seekers. Apart from that "Pasupatinath" and "Changunarayan" temples lie as nerve centers for Hindus as well as spiritual travelers from around the world. The remaining three being the three palace squares that are some centuries old. Being known as the "city of temples", Kathmandu has many other religious and historic structures to offer for seeing as well. For adventure seekers there is also an option for paragliding within the area.

Being in Kathmandu also implies you get to eat different Tibetan and Indian cuisines that have been brought from the neighbors India and China. One particular modified version of Chinese "Dumplings" being "MoMo" which is famous for its great spicy flavor. Then there is a dish called "lafing" (mainly found around Boudhanath stupa area) that also has Tibetan origins and is well known for stimulating the taste buds. "Panipuri"  and "Chatpate" (puffed rice with spices) are two snacks that has been influenced from Indian food. Apart from the Indian and Tibetan dishes that have been brought in and modified, there is also local "Newari" food that boasts hundreds of recipes with different variety such as "Choila" (buffalo meat with spices), "Chatamari” etc. Many of them are difficult to pronounce but  nevertheless having them for dinner or lunch is like having once in a lifetime experience.

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[RECIPE] Scallops with spinach, shallots and wine

Good food is simple to cook. You just have to try harder. Sarcasm eh? Like I said in my earlier post on How to cook a whole chicken in an oven that I would post recipe for scallops with wine. 

Scallops:
-10-15 good scallops. You can really do as many as you want.

-Salt/Pepper

-Olive oil (about 2 teaspoons, I just eyeball and add more if need be)

-1/2 medium shallot, minced

-Good white wine. I use whatever I have on hand, Need about 1/2-3/4 cup

-Butter 1 teaspoon

-Lemon wedge

-Teaspoon dijon

Spinach:

-about 12 oz of spinach, again as much as you want to make really

-4 cloves garlic, minced

-Salt/Pepper

-Olive oil (couple teaspoons)

-Pinch of paprika, to taste


Start things off with the spinach. Heat olive oil in large pan (I use a dutch oven with tall sides). Add garlic and brown a little (do not burn, burnt garlic sucks). Add spinach and mix garlic, adding salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Cover for about 1-2 minutes until its nice and wilted but moist. Give it another toss and remove and place on serving plate.

Using the same pan, or a different one, heat up some more olive oil. You want this to be hot to develop a good sear on the scallops. Pat scallops dry and season w/ salt/pepper. Place in the hot olive oil and sear 1-2 mins. Flip once and sear on the other side for 1-2 minutes. You are looking for color here, but do not overcook. More than a couple minutes and you can easily overcook scallops. Remove from pan and drizzle a little lemon over them. Add shallots, butter to pan browning a little bit. Add the white wine and stir. Let this cook down to about half the original volume of wine added. Add Dijon and stir. Remove from heat. Add the scallops back in with the sauce and let them get cozy for a minute.

Serving: Twirl your spinach on a plate and place a couple of scallops on top. Add shallot/wine sauce on top. Serve with good bread, wine. Good one to cook for the ladies.

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[RECIPE] How to cook a whole chicken in an oven

Do you have an hour this evening or even tomorrow? If so, just heat the oven to 450 degrees F. If there is stuff inside the chicken take it out and throw it away (or save for soup), dry it off with paper towels, coat the skin all over with salt and pepper and on the insides. Then put it on a pan and put it in the heated oven for one hour. Then take it out and let it sit for 15 minutes and it is ready to eat! You can cut it up (any old way will do but the prime breasts are on the top on either side of the thin middle bone) and eat it then or put it in the fridge for sandwiches or something tomorrow. If you are near a store where you can get some cheap macaroni or potato salad that is always a nice simple side dish. Get some fresh bread for sandwiches and all that needs is maybe some mayonnaise but I often just put some of the macaroni salad in there there with the chicken and some pepper.

Hopefully you have some people around there and I often find that the best thing to do in this situation is bring food over so I hope that you get some help in that regard. And then please come back here whenever you can and learn some more simple (or fancy) recipes! Best of luck and I wish you the best!

Note: The dark meat is mostly in the legs (and the wings maybe) if that is what you like. You can really get in there all over picking it apart with your fingers if you don't mind getting messy. There are little bits of edible meat all over so get right in there and get it all! You can even put BBQ or any sauce like that on it if you have some in the fridge.

I will post another recipe for Scallops with spinach, shallots, wine. Be tuned! 

Adios Amigos.

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How to buy cheap and feasible computer parts

Buying computer parts maybe be quite tricky if you are doing this for the first time.So here I am writing a few points about buying cheap and compatible computer parts.

• Don't cheap out on the Power Supply. You'll regret it when you get a new GPU and your system fails/explodes/catches fire/kills all your parts in a shower of sparks and flashing.

• While the physical PSU quality is incredibly important; getting a 600W PSU for a computer that uses 550W is also something to avoid.

• Read reviews, consumer reviews as well as company reviews on a product/part. Take the reviews with a grain of salt of course, but you can get a sense of how the part performed under heavy loads.

• Sound cards are almost always not needed.

• Have patience and accept the fact that what ever you buy now, can become outdated in a month or less. 

      And Finally

• Spend more. The more you spend, the better you get. 

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What is Beauty and Ugliness

Morning spread its arms, embracing all. The sun's rays entered the woods, penetrating the trees, straight as arrows. Buds opened into flowers as the rays kissed them good morning. Dew drops shone on the green leaves, looking like diamonds embedded in an emerald stone. After enjoying their glory for some seconds, the dew drops vanished into eternity. The lake water flowed gently, allowing the sunlight to reach the depths of the lake to wake up the aquatic life. The rustling leaves seemed to provide a soft music while the singing was provided by the birds. The lake water too, at intervals, joined the leaves in the nature's song. Like every day, morning proudly revealed its beauty with panache.

Somewhere, on the soft, brown earth, a black scorpion killed an innocent insect. While it feasted on its prey, the insect's blood fell on the soft earth, drop by drop, wetting the earth.

Everyone would choose the morning's beauty over that scorpion's gruesome act because none looked closely to realise that where the scorpion killed the insect was the very same earth where morning danced to nature's song.

Because few know that beauty resides along with ugliness.

Because few know that beauty and ugliness are the same side of a coin.

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13 ways to spend money on yourself wisely and irresponsibly.

Here, when I am talking about money I am just talking about $1,000.  So, be cool guys!

This post is imaginary because I shall never have one thousand dollars but, again what the hell right? Okay then. I have $1,000. Still unbelievable to just write it down.

Let me start with my $1,000 fantasy

• Upgrade my graphics card, a new mobo, and blow the rest on games. God I feel guilty saying that.

• Heroin? Anyone say heroin yet? Yeah, heroin.


• Either one $1000 hooker or one thousand $1 hookers.

• A flare gun: I've always wanted a flare gun for no particular reason.

• 20 years worth of Xbox Live.

• Cocaine, beer, and pinball games at the local arcade. I already have said heroin, haven't I? 

• All the premium porn subscriptions.

• 100,000 penny sweets. Duh!

• A functional replica of the Wallace Sword, a pair of cheap guns, and a sheath and holster for all of them.Then I can go out into the streets at night, and become......Mel Gibson-man.

• Those gold flakes that you eat to turn your shit golden.That's the dream.

• wigs and clothes to dress the way I FU***** WANT TO, MOM!

• Four good hookers in batches of two.

AND FINALLY

• A one way plane ticket across the country (lets assume 500) and when I get there, go to the closest gas station and buy lotto tickets, a 6-pack, and some jerky with the remaining money.After which I'll spend my time drinking the beer, using a penny from the penny cup to scratch the ticket, and gnaw on some jerky whilst scratching my tickets hoping for enough money to make it home.

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