Weekend = yummy breakfast!

The whole week you get up early, rushing to work and there is hardly time for a small breakfast. Often it´s just a coffee to go or a little snack. If at all.. 

But then it´s finally weekend. You wake up with the feeling of having time. Time for yourself, for friends and family. And a good breakfast is part of it too. 
Newspapers on the table, a good cup of coffee or tea, leaving all the stress of the week behind. 
I often end up making some scrambled eggs and those don´t need to be done with bacon only.
There are many variations and this one has an indian touch.  


Scrambled eggs "desi style" 

ingredients for 4 people: 

2-3 tablespoons of oil 
8 eggs 
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (remove the seeds)  
half a bunch of spring onions, chopped
2 fresh green chillis, finely chopped (not a must!)
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder (or accordingly to taste) 
1/4 teaspoon of coriander powder  
(you can also add fresh coriander but then only at the end of the cooking time) 

Most of the spices are available in Asia-stores/ markets. There they are also at a lower price than in the supermarkets.   


Method: 

In a bowl mix the eggs, salt, kurkuma, chili powder and coriander powder. Whisk it properly, so that there are no lumps of the spices.  
Add the tomatoes and spring onions to the egg-mixture. 
Heat oil in a pan till shimmering. Add the fresh chillis and stir well for a minute.
Turn the heat down a little and add the eggs. Gently stir till the mixture curdles. About a minute or two.
Then put up the heat again. Stir now and then until the eggs are done but not too dry.
Have toast with it. 

With the same ingredients you can prepare an omelette too. You can vary it with different vegetables like zucchini or mushrooms. 

If you want to have the full flavour of the spices then put them into the hot oil and fry a bit, after that add the egg-tomatoe mixture.

Maybe you want to give it a try..

your SunShine

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Do you know Pinterest?

When I´m looking for ideas and inspirations, no matter which direction, then I love to browse on Pinterest. There you can find everything von architecture to quotes.

I love to look for decoration ideas and last time I got inspired to this:  

Method:

First of all I bought 3 linen cloth´s in 70 x 50 cm. Those you get in art and craft shops or to order on the internet. 

The letter "LOVE" and also the heart I got in a store calles "Dänisches Bettenlager" for about 6 Euro each.

At KIK I found the letters "HOME" and again it cost 6 Euro. Since I didn´t like the orginial red colour, I first painted them with blacl arylic paint. 

Then I tried many variations where I wanted to put the things on the linen cloths. Then the painting work began and I used "Intro Acrylic Violet" from Reeves. I fixed the letter with Pattex "Kleben statt Bohren" glue. At the heart was a little eyelet where I pulled a shoelace through and got it fixed on the back board with drawing pins.

You can also follow me on pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/0406Honey/

Your Honey

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Now in english!

Good news!!!

Our blog is also available in english now. Since some friends asked for it and we also hope to reach more people this way. :) 

Please bear with us when it comes to writing mistakes or anything. We will try our best and hope you will like it. 

Honey & Sunshine

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I love pink!!!

I just can´t help it...
When I have to decide for a colour for my nails, then most of the time I end up with pink.
After I beautified Honey´s nails with that wonderful blue, it was time to do my own nails the next day.  
Honey already told you about the new glitter and since it sparkles so bright I just couldn´t resist to choose pink. 

And what do you think about it? 

used products:  

-Primer Soft-Nail-Expert
-Bonding gel-Jolifin Studioline
-Pink passion colour gel - Nail-Expert
-Multiglitter from Jet Set
-Selex Gel thick von Jolifin
-Cleaner -Nail-Expert
-Stamping paint white - Nail-Expert
-Stamping pattern from Konad 
-High gloss sealing from Jolifin

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Something totally different!

Again 4 weeks are over and as ususal when my nails need to be done, the big question is: "What do we do this time?" 

But this question was answered very fast: It must be the new glitter from  Jet Set Beauty - Mixglitter Extreme. SunShine and me already had tried our luck with popular-priced and more expensive glitter.
This time it got proved that it´s worth to invest a bit more money. 

And we are very satisfied with this result: 

Used products:
-Primer Soft-Nail-Expert
-Bonding gel-Jolifin Studioline
-Multiglitter from Jet Set
-Selex Gel thick from Jolifin
-Cleaner-Nail-Expert
-Stamping paint white - Nail-Expert
-Stamping pattern from Konad 
-High gloss sealing (Hochglanzversiegeler) from Jolifin
(all products have been bought in Germany) 

Leave a comment to let us know how you like the nails. 

Your Honey



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How Honey started with painting..

I´ve been interested in creative stuff since school days already but this interest got lost for a long time. 2 years ago I had some health issues and was in hospital for some time. That was the time when I found my way back to painting.

I don´t know if I´m creative or talented. This lies in the eye of the beholder.
For me paiting is relaxation, quiteness and to get away from everyday life.

To get an impression of what I paint, here are some pictures.

The idea of it, just start and see what the result will be.

This painting was a request of someome: 

My favorites:

This painting was a birthday gift for a former colleague of mine:

Here I tried myself on some texture paste:

And I think this pictures speaks for itself ;-)

Your Honey







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Ticket, Ticket, Ticket....!!!! India -Part 2

To catch the bus to Bangalore Shree and me had to hurry a bit and so there was only time for an egg sandwich for breakfast. Typical with it were potatoe chips and ketchup. 
Well, one need some energy for India, isn´t it? And it was yummie as usual. 

The bus should leave at 9.45 am +/- 1 hour. In India departure times are relative. Thus one should be early enough at the place of departure.  
Since we always returned to Chennai as our starting point, we could leave our big luggage at the hotel reception, which made everything much more easier. 

 Shama Sardar travels, waiting for the bus 

Of course the journey in the A/C Volvo took a bit longer again. Even the refuiling stop took almost 1 hour and I was asking myself what the driver and his conducter were waiting for. It turned out that they waited for the money to pay the fuel. 
Most of the passengers were youngsters from the college and they took it quite easy with all their gadgets like laptops and mobile phones..  
Finally we moved but the ride didn´t begin... no. Since we had still empty seats in the bus, they were looking for more passengers at some bus stops. The driver opened the door so that the conducter could shout: "Bangalore... Bangalore... Bangalore.. "
Now and then it worked, people entered the bus and paid in cash. Guess it was kind of an extra income for the driver and the conducter.
That they even transport furnitures with this busses,I witnessed on the trip to Hyderabad. But this I will tell you later then. 
  
Like I already mentioned in the Pondicherry report, the Pongal festival was about to take place and so the streets were full of sugarcane sellers. It´s a tradition that people have them at home for that harvest festival. They promise good luck and sweetness but also have a religious background. If you want to know more about it you can read  here . 

Sugercane 

The ride took around 8 hours. Hard to believe since it was just a distance about 350 km ( 220 miles) but roads are another thing in this country. There are motorways but not everyhwere or not fully developed. That´s why there is always a transition from motorway to normal roads and back. Then a cow is crossing the street or a tractor slows down the traffic.

But time was flying. In the bus they showed the latest Bollywood movies on dvd but I was more interested in the landscape and was starring out of the window. 
It was so beautiful to see how the scenery changed from the barren landscape to amazing mountain ranges and it became more and more green everywhere. It was something I enjoyed a lot.  

After a stop at an indian roadhouse for a really good lunch (chapati & chicken curry) and my first experience on a public toilet (not too bad.. hurry in, squat and hurry out and don´t forget to wash your feet afterwards  ;))  ) we reached Bangalore at around 6 pm. 

It´s possible to get off the bus even between the official stops, when it´s on their way and so we were standing right on the motorway after a flyover close to an industrial area. But we had everything under control. The hotel wasn´t too far and we called there to ask for the shortest way. The manager insisted to pick us up, since friends organised the hotel for us and they knew the owner of it. And so after 10 minutes he came on his bike with an auto for us behind him. Nice service :)

Hotel room Bangalore 

We were lucky again. The room was clean, the staff very friendly und the food was absolutely delicious!!!. 

After freshen up we hurried for dinner and decided for Palak Paneer. That´s an indian cheese with spinach. With it we had butter naan. So buttered, baked bread. 
Believe me, I was in heaven with that dish. 

The climate was so pleasant that we decided to spend some time on the roof top of the hotel. The evening was, in terms of temperatures,  comparable with a summer evening in Germany. Lovely cool breeze. Not for nothing the city is so popular by western companies. 
Due to the industrial location it was unsual quite, we just enjoyed it.






Next morning then off to join the hustle and bustle. I wasn´t interested in a guided tour or something like that and so the manager adviced us to use the public busses. The route he recommended led us through many parts of the city and our destination was Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens. 

India must have one of the best bus networks in the world for super cheap prices and one gets almost everywhere all the time. 
It´s never boring, at least not for me and it already began at the bus stop itself. The journey is the reward somehow. And there might be time tables but no one  seems to care about it. Busses are coming and going just with a short stop, if at all. People also jump in while the bus is driving, when they know where the bus is going to. 

Though the Hotel manager gave us the number of the bus, he recommended the A/C busses,  however that busses always passed us in 2nd or 3rd road before we even could draw attention to us. 
That was because we weren´t standing alone there. It must have been at least 40 people around us, plus the passengers which were changing the busses or just getting down.  

After some time we were sick of it and asked some people which bus we could also take to get to our destination. We pushed into the crowd  when that bus came and somehow got into it. Uff.. finally.
  
The front rows were for ladies only and I also got a seat. 
Shortly after that the bus conducter came, always shouting "Tickets...tickets...tickets".  So you buy the ticktes during the ride. There´s no other option with such crowds everywhere.
I just imagined the german way. Everyone has to enter the bus at the front door, paying at the bus driver or showing their tickets....Impossible. 

We bought our daily tickets for a ridiculous price of 60 rupees (85 Euro cent/  1,10 USD). They were only valid for the non A/C busses. 
Though it was morning rush hour we made good time on the road and for most of the people I was an attraction in the bus. 
I thought that in Bangalore I wouldn´t look so "exotic" to the Indians. But I was wrong and so people looked at me in a curious way, sometimes they also starred at me. Some women also smiled to me now and then. Also a "where are you from" was common. 

After a 45 minutes ride we got off the bus on a big crossroad. The conducter said that Lal Bagh is close by. 
But distances are another thing in India. Everything is "just near by", "just 1 km away" or "just 5 minutes". 

It must have been around 45 minutes by foot at least in the burning sun. As lovely as the weather had been in the morning, also in Bangalore we had up to 32° c without any breeze during the day.

sugarcane juice stall 

But there was also a good thing in it, I was able to try my first sugarcane juice. (it´s essential to order it without ice!!) It was so tasty and refreshing and cheap too with 10 Rupees (15 Cent) per cup.

On the way we crossed many small food stalls and of course we had to stop at least at one of them. It lured us with various small cakes, milk sweets and also spicy snacks. We tried chocolate and butterscotch cakes and also yummie spicy Samosas. Later I had also my first fresh guava. India has a huge variety of fresh fruits and in Chennai I loved to have watermelons, pineapples and papaya in the evenings, since the stall was right infront of our hotel.  

Finally we reached Lal Bagh, the huge botanical garden in Bangalore. Entrance fee: 10 rupees (15 Euro cent!) 
The quite and calm atmosphere there is so relaxing and
 it´s no wonder that the residents of Bangalore love to go there for a picknick. That´s the best way to escape the stress and hetic rush of the city. 
There were young couples hiding under the trees, families with kids running around and the older gentlemen sitting on benches, discussing cricket and politics. 

lake in Lalbagh

Lalbagh

always ready for a picture 

small  pagoda

rose garden in Lalbagh

Lalbagh Garden

I needed a break 

We also enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere there and strolled through the park. After 2 and a half hours we left with a bus to Majestic bus station, a really huge terminal. The crowd there was amazing, so many people running around and the rush hour hadn´t even started.  
There we first went to a restaurant for a late lunch. We had a good mutton Biryani before we headed to the Metro. We just wanted to take a ride in it.  

A/C bus

So off to the bus which should take us to the next Metro station. This time we took an A/C bus, these busses were always almost empty because of the higher ticket price. It was around 15 to 20 rupees more than the normal busses. Occasionally it´s really nice just to take a breather even if the ride wasn´t long.  

And the conducter was very caring this time that we get off at the right stop and taking the right direction then.
Kindness is really a big thing in India. 






But India wouldn´t be India if this kindness sometimes is a bit overdone and so we ended up in an auto whose auto wallah (that´s how the drivers are called) told us that the next Metro will only go in 1 hour. So he could take us to some handicraft shops and clothes stores to spend some time there. He will just charge 20 rupees, which was already strange to me.. but hey... no risk, no fun, right? 

Off we were and after a 10 minutes ride we stopped at a handicraft shop, which was really beautiful and most of all, expensive. Nicely done for the tourists. They offered jewellery, scarfs, wooden statues and also marble things. They had wonderful stuff there and the sales people were surrounding us from the first minute we entered, offering everything they had.  
At the jewellery department I felt a bit pushed and I refused them in a kind way. 

But when I saw a marble Ganesha I couldn´t resist. The price was 1600 rupees (around 23 Euro/ 30 USD) and hearing that I laughed at the salesman, also because Shree told me what I should pay maximum. I tried to haggle and he was literally crying.  But I wasn´t impressed and so we left the shop. That made him realise that I was serious about it and he ran after us just to accept my last offer. 500 rupees (7 Euro/ 9USD) which I thought was a fair price. 

the marble Ganesha

  Back into the auto and off to the next shop for Saree´s and other clothes. We weren´t in the mood for another shop but what to do? We entered the store just to leave it again after 10 minutes. 
The auto wallah got gas vouchers as payment from the shop for getting foreign toursits to them. So it was all rigged in advance as we already assumed. 

He dropped us back to the Metro station and we were lucky to be free again. ;)) 
The station was very modern, big and clean. Security wise it was just like at the airport. Our bags were checked and we also got scanned before we could buy our tickets at the counter. 

For a change the station was not crowded at all, maybe because of the only 6 or 8 stops of the metro. 

Metro .. 

The station, no crowds

last stop

Madam, no pictures please....

The ride took only about 20 minutes and ended in no man´s land. But it was good and when we were downstairs at the station I wanted to take some more pictures. The staff wasn´t happy about it and so they asked me to stop that. 
Maybe they were scared of spying. :) 

It was alread 5 pm and it was time to get a bus back to Majestic. Again it was a little adventure. We had to change one time which wasn´t too easy in the rush hour. The driver and also the conducter were really kind, they said we should come infront so that we could get out fast of the bus. And when we reached the stop and got down he shouted that we have to take the bus infront of us. But that one was about to leave already, so we had to run to catch it. But somehow we made it and that conducter smiled to us as if he was proud of us. :)  

When we reached Majestic it was 6 pm and when I thought the terminal was crowded in the morning I was wrong. Now I only saw people everywhere. It´s hard to believe and to describe. We also have crowded places in Germany at stations. But I´ve never seen so many people trying to get into busses.
Luckily I have a good sense of orientation and I also remembered our bus number back to the industrial area. That´s why we found our platform immediately and our bus was already about to leave. The bus was absolutely full and we had to stand for 2 hours on the way back then. But that wasn´t too bad, you can´t fall over at all. But I got a lot of bruises, not the last ones in India ;)  

The traffic was so slow and we were really exhausted when we finally got out of the bus. We needed a refresher and a coconut for 20 rupees was perfect for it. I don´t like the water much but the flesh I love and it´s a real energy boost.   

Gebratener Reis

Mutton fry

Back in the hotel we were tired and very hungry. After a quick shower we had the best mutton fry ever. I had to lick my fingers after it. With it we had fried rice with different kinds of meat. And lot´s of water of course. For this feast we paid 500 Rupees ( 7 Euro/ 9 USD). Too much, isn´t it? :)  


By the way.. in India you eat by your right hand only. That needs some practice but after one week I was already quite good in it. Except of eating rice, that´s still difficult for me. ;) 







Unfortunately we had to leave Banglore at the next day already again. There was no other option in our time schedule. 
The place of departure of our bus back to Chennai was quite far away from our hotel and as you already know.. time is relative in India. So we didn´t want to risk anthing and left the hotel early even tough the departure time was only at 1 pm.

private bus for public transport 

After delicious Pooris (fried bread) for breakfast, we left to the bus stop. And we were lucky again to catch a private bus immediately which drove directly where we wanted to go. 

Just inside I heard that "tickets, tickets, tickets..." again and this time we had the full entertainment with TV and loud Bollywood song clips. 
That´s also a way to wake up fully in the mornings.
Because of our luggage we sat in the last row and had quite to do to keep sitting on our seats. There were many potholes on the streets and bumpers seem to be overrated. 



But after one hour we also survived this ride and were searching for the travel agency where the bus should start from. It wasn´t far and so we could buy some snacks for the long journey.
Again we couldn´t resist the sweets and had some snacks while waiting for the bus back to Chennai.. 


some more pictures: 

modern Bangalore

Metro on the bridge and not too much traffic down 

Gopuram close to our point of departure

nice colonial-style building

many sweets and spicy snacks

Police in Bangalore (I liked the hat :) )

Inside the bus with the TV screen above 

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"Madam, Madam.. Auto?!?!!!" India- Part 1

India!
Loud, dirty, dusty and colourful. That´s how one could describe my impressions I collected in the South. 
But these few words aren´t enough to picture such a huge and manifold country, which I visited for almost 4 weeks in January this year. 

I didn´t go as a backpacker neither was I looking for enlightment. 
It was just making a dream come true for me.

Lidia and me reached Chennai airport (which reminded me of the former German Democratic Republic because of all the grey cement) at around 8:15 in the morning. 
The stamping craziness at the entry checks took some time but when we finally left that behind us, we stepped out to the humid, suffocating heat. It felt like 35° c. The pilot blathered something about 22°... guess the poor guy was overtired. 

My friends Shree and Raghu were already there to receive us, just like almost each and every taxi driver of Chennai as it seemed. "Madam, madam... auto???!!!" - The sentence which I shall hear dozens of times a day for the next couple of weeks. 
Auto is the way they call their tuk tuk´s, this three wheelers. Always offering exorbitant prices to foreigners.. but I was a quick learner and soon I knew how to handle that topic. 
In this case my friends arranged a taxi to the hotel.

On the way then the first cow´s at the roadside, chaotic traffic with horns, lot´s of emissions and people. So I finally arrived.....culture shock? No. 
I have been interested and concerned with India since such a long time, that everything what I experienced was what I expected. 

 

The rooms were clean, the food in the hotel restaurant super good and as almost everywhere, really cheap... 

Dinner for 2 people costs around 250 to 300 Rupees (and even much cheaper is possible!!). That´s around 4 Euro or 5 USD.
What more can you ask for? 

The following cities were on my list: 

Chennai, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad.

I hadn´t planned anything on to how or in which order.. and that was my luck. Because everything worked out superb with a little bit of spontaneity. 

The first day trip has been to Pondicherry then. With a short stop in Auroville. 
On the way I already saw many "white" people driving around on their motorbikes and scooties. Well.. it´s said that Pondicherry is the Goa of the east coast, so I didn´t wonder about it.

Auroville turned out to be like a kind of commune or a paradise for hippies. A town which belongs to no one.. or better to the whole human kind. Most of them were europeans or from the US which sell self made products very overpriced to the tourists.    
That was a big no for me and I didn´t like the place at all because that´s not India for me. 
It felt like Hippieville with lot´s of positive energie and vibes. Only the group hug was missing.. .
So Shree and me were happy when we left the place, without taking any pictures or buying souvenirs.

Pondicherry itself impresses with the french influence.
I haven´t felt like I´m in India. At least not in the french part of the city. 





Everythings was very clean and neat.....perfectly done for the tourists. Life was missing on the blocked streets as you can see on the pictures.... 

The beach on the other hand was much more crowded. Indians love to walk at the beach, posing for pictures infront of it but seldom go into it. Well, that anyway wasn´t possible at the cliffy beach in Pondicherry.

 


The Pongal festival (harvest festival) was about to take place and so there were many Rangolis on the streets. The decorative and colourful designs are for decoration and is thought to bring good luck.  

 

Sowly we entered the indian part of the city and lucky me... my first and unfortunately only meeting with a temple elephant took place. I even got blessed from Lakshmi (that was her name) and that´s something special, at least my indian friends told me so. I definitely felt special in that moment. And to top it, from that moment on nothing bad happened on my India trip. 
Thanks to Lakshmi. :)  

driver paying road charge 

All the queues at the museums and at the little temple in the french quarter were quite long and we haven´t been in the mood for standing there. So we spent some more time at the beach, fending off the souvenir sellers and strolling through the streets before the bus left to Chennai again. That was a good decision because it led us to one of my first Gopurams.  This monumental towers mark the entrance of a temple, especially in south-India.   



                                                                                                                                                       





                                             
We left with our super bus around 6 pm back to Chennai. Shock absorbers are a different thing on such bus rides. I guess they are not needed. Just like shoes maybe... most of the drivers were not wearing any shoes. Maybe they have a better feeling when they use the break. Though.. most of the times it were full breaking in India. But one gets used to everything, right?

roadhouse the indian way

We reached Chennai late in the evening.. very exhausted and quite dirty because the busses always go with open windows (except of the A/C busses of course) and so all the dust and exhaust emissions sticked on us. That means we first had to take a good shower before we went for a delicious dinner to be fortified for the next day again.......

Chappati, fisch curry & butter chicken

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