Routine Post

• We rode to Nandi Hills and back on our cycles last Sunday. The whole journey of 130 KM was done in 9 hours, including breaks. It was a fun trip and I won't rate it as too tough. The climb up Nandi and the ride down was the highlight of the journey. The ride up took me around 45 minutes (covering a little over 7 KM), but downhill was lightning fast and was finished in 12 minutes. 

• I made Mysore Pak the other day. It's supposed to be hard to get right the first time, but I seem to have done a decent job -- at least I didn't have anybody say that they didn't like it. I followed this video to make the sweet-dish (the guy has a pronounced Indian American accent. Don't we all love those?).

• Lately the same old "Shoes are a waste of money and you should run bare-feet" debate has started again. Rather than believing what journalists write, I would like people to read what scientists and running-coaches believe. To summarize, the studies (which the journalists are using to say barefoot running is good) were done on professional athletes, not amateur runners. If you are already habituated to running with shoes, getting to run without them is going to take time and is prone to injury. Shoes protect your feet from the glass on the road -- and if you are in India, also excreta of various animals

Routine Post

Obama won a Nobel and I have a cold. Here goes:

• I have been cooking for almost three weeks now and it's been going good. I can do Dal, Sambar, Pulao/Biryani, and some vegetables. All my cooking is done on a small gas stove. There have been no major disasters in the kitchen yet (touch wood). In fact, I invited couple of friends over for dinner yesterday and they quite enjoyed it. I had cooked Dal, Egg Burji, Aloo Jeera, Rice and Semiya Paysam. All simple stuff and it came out well. Turns out, I enjoy cooking and cutting vegetables. Washing utensils: not so much.
  

• The BSA Bangalore Cyclothon is tomorrow and unfortunately I will not be attending. Reason? On Monday, I decided to go for a morning run. As I was planning it to do in the office campus, I got up early (5:30 AM) and left. The morning was cold and I was not wearing a jacket. To add to that, there was no traffic and I was zipping on my bike. I ran a 5KM, but by the end of the day I had a sore throat. Fast forward to today and I still have a cold. Given my past sickness, I don't want to push it and thus will be sitting out of the event. Second in a row -- first was KTM.

• I'm planning on applying for a MS again this year. Last year's debacle -- I applied and didn't get selected anywhere -- could be attributed to my confusion and procrastination. This year I'm not confused, just procrastinating.

• I have had been playing Farmville the entire of last week. While I was in Delhi, I had started playing it, but gave up after three days thinking "what's the point?". I started again, watching my roommate play it everyday. I gave it up yesterday (again), thinking "there will be no end to it." Let my crops wilt, let my trees cry, let my animals die.