Sunday, 15 December 2013

Tomato And Vegetable Egg-Drop Broth


Soup  Season  is  finally  here!
It  rained  last  night  and  it  is  so chilly  now!!  No  wonder  I  was craving  for  some  soup!!

So  I  went  on  the  internet  to  look up  some  easy  soup  recipes.  I  did find  a  really  good  recipe  to make Manchow  Soup but  I thought  I'd  twist  it  a  bit  (because I did  not  have  all  the  ingredients).

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Ombré Hair Update

Just  a  quick  update  on  my  recently  ombréd  hair.




I  did  get  quite  a  number  of  compliments,  I'm  not  going  to  deny.

But  there  were  a  few  who  did  not  even  notice  any  difference  until  I  mentioned it!! *quiet sobbing in the corner*

 I  had  mentioned  in  my  earlier  Hair  post  that  the  ends  of  my  hair  had  turned  quite  rough  and  dry  post-coloring.  I  was  also  not  sure  what  color-care  conditioner  I  was  going  to  buy,  and  I  had  just  one  wash  till  then.




As  of  today,  it  has  been  two  weeks  since  I  got  my  ombre  done.  Before  I  colored  my  hair,  I  had  to  wash  it  every  alternate  day.  That  is  mostly  a  side-effect  of  the  unbearable   and  humid  Indian  summers.  Now  I  have  resorted  to  washing  it  every  two  days  as  I  don't  want  the  color  to  run  out  too  soon.


I  have  been  using  the  Tec Italy Shampoo Post Color  which  has  been  amazing for my hair.  It  feels  a  little  gel-like  to  touch  but  lathers up  nicely.  And  I  feel  like  its  quite  gentle  and  nourishing  as  my  hair  is  very  much  back  to  normal  now.  I  have  already  prepared  a  draft  for  a  detailed  product  review  on  it.  But  I  want  to  wait  till  I  finish  the  entire  bottle  in  case  I  have  to  add  anything.


After  much  mind-jogging,  I  finally  chose  the  Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner for Dry and Damaged Hair.  I'm  very  happy  with  my  choice.  It  seems  to  work  perfectly  with  the  Tec  Italy  shampoo.  It  smells  really  nice  too  -  has  a  subtle  sweet,  candy  and  coconutty  fragrance  which  I  love.  Again,  I  will  be  putting  up  a  product  review  on  this  too.

Till  date,  I  have  probably  had  about  7  hair-washes  since  I  colored  my  hair.  My  hair-ends  are  no  longer  dry  nor  rough.  In fact,  it's  pretty  much  back  to  its  normal  self.



I'll  be  putting  up  the  product  reviews  soon.

Please  feel  free  to  leave  a  comment  below  if  you  have  any  suggestions  or  queries.

Until  next  time...
Love,
Nikky

Saturday, 14 September 2013

PHONEBLOKS | Opinions

The  "Phonebloks"  concept  video  uploaded  by  Dave  Hakkens  on  his  YouTube  channel  went  viral  recently.  It  seemed  to  me  like  a  very  interesting  idea,  even  righteous  at  that.  I  personally  think  it  has  the  potential  to  become  the  much  needed  green  alternative.




If  such  a  phone  actually  comes  out  in  the  market,  I  would  probably  want  to  buy  one  myself.  In fact  I (and  I  am  sure  many  of  you)  have  had  to  change  phones  only  because  a  single  component  of  the  phone  got  ruined  or  outdated.  There  are  so  many  features  on  my  old  phones  which  I  miss  terribly  on  my new  one.  So,  this  product  actually  has  the  potential  to  become  the  perfect  phone (at  least  for  me).

I  also  read  a  few  comments  many  of  which  put  up  good  and  strong  opinions.  Firstly,  we  must  keep  in  mind  that  this  good  fellow  is  just  putting  forward  an  idea.  And  he  mentions  in  the  video  itself  that  in  order  for  this  idea  to  become  a  reality,  big  companies  and  experts  would  have  to  work  together.

Now  it  is  this  part  that  I  do  not  find  very  feasible.  I  really  doubt  that  any  of  the  actual  big  companies  would  want  to  work  on  this  phone,  that  too  together.  One  of  the  main  tricks  of  generating  profits  applied  by  most  of  the  major  phone  companies  is  by  making  ever-so-slight  modifications  and  alterations  to  its  products  and  releasing  them  as  "new"  products.  This  "new  and  updated"  product  would  render  the  previous  version  redundant  and  hence  we  would  have  to  get  the  new  one.  Also  lets  not  forget  that  it's  tricks  like  these  that  keeps  the  economy  from  becoming  stagnant.  

The  comment  below  also  put  up  a  valid  point  below  got  me  thinking -


When  the  blocks  are  that  easily  replaceable,  there  might  actually  be  a  boost  in  the  market  demand  for  newer  blocks.  I  guess  I  wouldn't  wait  for  a  block  to  go  bad  to  buy  a  new  block.  I'd  just  keep  multiple  options  and  assemble  my  phone  into  combinations  practically  everyday  according  to  what  I  have  planned  for  said  day.

So  it  makes  me  wonder  whether  the  companies  would  actually  work  on  something  that  can  have  a  profound  impact,  positive  or  negative,  on  their  vested  interest.

If  you  want  to  keep  yourself  updated  with  what  would  become  of  this  idea,  I  suggest  you  subscribe  to  Mr. Dave  Hakkens (he  has  other  rad  ideas  too).  And  you  can  also  go  here  to  know  more.

Monday, 9 September 2013

My Black-Red Ombré Hair


I  got  my  hair  ombréd  the  day  before  yesterday. I  went  for  a  purplish  wine-red  ombré  because  I  thought  it  with  go  well  with  my  naturally  black  hair  and  also  with  my  Indian skin-tone.  And  I  am so  happy  with  the  results!


Sorry  but  the  color  looks  way  redder  and  brighter  than  it  actually  is.(Also  I  couldn't  resist  putting  up  a  cliched  Before-After  picture!)

I  had  wanted  to  get  ombré  for  quite  a  long  time  now  but  was  very apprehensive  of  the  idea  at  first.  I  was  afraid  that  it  would  ruin  my  hair  and  make  my  the  hair  ends  go  rough.  I  was  also  not  sure  if  my  parents  would  approve  of  it.  I'm  not  trying  to  brag  but  you  see  I've  always  had  somewhat  shiny  and  smooth  hair  and  hence  I  hardly  ever  took  any  risks  with  it.  The  most  crazy  thing  I've  ever  let  to  touch  my  hair  was  my  Philips  HP8310  Hair  Straightener!!

So  I  took  my  time,  researching  and  rethinking.  I  would  recommend  you  to  do  the  same  because  it  does  not  just  end  with  the  coloring.  Its  the  post-color  care  that  is  the  most  important.  Make  sure  the  whole  process  is  within  your  budget.

I  got  my  ombré  done  in  a  salon  near  to  where  I  live.  They  had  to  color  my  hair  three  times  to  achieve  the  color!! THREE  times!!  It  wasn't  their  fault  though.  I  did  not  want  my  hair  bleached  or  pre-lightened.  So  we  went  for  the  professional  hair  color  in  a  shade  of  violet  that  was  meant  for  dark  hair  and  did  not  require  pre-lightening.  However  as  it  turned  out,  my  natural  hair  pigment  was  so  strong  that  it  did  not  get  even  the  slightest  tinge  of  color!  So  the  parlour  lady  said  that  she'll  try  again  and  mix  a  shade  of  red  with  a  little  bleaching  agent  this  time  to  which  I  agreed.  This  time,  after  washing  and  drying  my  hair,  a  very  light  tinge  was  visible  but  only  if  it  was  held  against  the  light.  So  the  good  lady  tried  again.  This  time  she  used  the  brightest  shade  of  red  there  was  and  said  that  if  this  did  not  work,  nothing  else  will! I  was  half  prepared  to  give  up  hope!  Also  the  ends  of  my  hair  had  already  been  through  so  many  attrocities  already.  But  thankfully  this  time  the  color  turned  out  beautifully! Third  time's  a  charm?

Most  of  the  good  color-care  products  are  a  bit  on  the  costlier  side.  Also  another  problem  I  faced  was  that  there  are  very  few  professional  quality  color  care  products  available  in  India.  So  make  sure  you  get  the  required  products  in  your  area.  Online  shopping  might  seem  to  be  a  feasible  option.  But  make  sure  to  go  through  enough  reviews  on  different  blogs  and  also  on  Youtube  before  you  invest  on  any.

I  bought  my  shampoo  from  the  salon itself.  I  got  the  Tec Italy Shampoo Post Color  .  I've  used  it  today - the  first  wash  after  coloring.  I  was  afraid  that  the  color  would  go  lighter  after  the  wash  but  thankfully  it  didn't.  I  am  very  impressed  with  the  shampoo  as  it  has  left  my  hair  much  smoother  than  it  was  yesterday.  Also  the  color  is  perfectly  intact.

Conditioning  is  a  crucial  part  of  post-color hair care.  I  just  never  felt  the  need  for  conditioning  my  hair   before  as  I  had  quite  healthy  hair.  But  as  coloring  rips  your  hair  off  its  natural  pigment  and  with  it,  its  moisture,  conditioning  is  a  must.  Moreover,  the  hair  ends  are  the  weakest  part  of  your  hair  so  even  if  you  don't  have  colored  or  treated  hair,  regular  conditioning  is  a  habit  to  stick  to.  Unfortunately,  I  did  not  carry  enough  money  with  me  that  day  so  I  wasn't  able  to  purchase  the  Tec  Italy  Conditioner  along  with  the  shampoo.  But  I  was  so  impressed  with  the  shampoo  that  I  might  actually  go  for  the  conditioner  as  well.  I'm  also  considering  the  Herbal  Essences  Color  Me  Happy  Conditioner  as  I  have  come  across  a  few  good  reviews  on  it.  I'll  let  you  know  after  I  decide  and  will  put  up  a  product  review.

Hopefully  I  will  be  posting  regular  updates  on  my  ombré  hair  care.

Good  Luck.

Love,



I  hope  this  helped.  If  you  have  any  queries  or  if  I  have  missed  anything,  let  me  know  in  the  comments.  If  you  live  in  Delhi  and  would  like  to  try  out  the  parlour  I  went  to,  I  would  happily  provide  contact  details  via  e-mail.  Also  if  you  want  me  to  address  any  issues  privately,  any  at  all,  feel  free  to  e-mail  me.



Sunday, 8 September 2013

Apologies

I  just  started  a  new  blog.  And  I  practically  abandoned  it  in  its  infant  stage.  I'm  so  sorry.  I  do  have  a  genuine  excuse  though - I  am  a  lazy  idiot.  Also,  I  went  on  a  holiday  tour  of Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore  with  my  family  during  the  end  of  June (which was amazing...thanks for asking),  and  my  classes  in  University  started  early  July.  I  am  already  neck-deep  in  assignment  submissaions  now  and  haven't  been  able  to  create  much  content  for  the  blog.

I  do  have  quite  an  amount  of  raw  materials  for  the  content but  haven't  had  the  time  and  opportunity  to  work  on  them.  I will  be  doing  a  hair  related  post  very  soon.  I  will  also  be putting  up  a  review-ish  post on my tour which was a package tour offered by Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. However I will make no promises as I am very hard pressed on time right now.
Hope you have been well.
Love,


P.S. - If you own a blog of any kind, please leave your links on the comments. I'd love to check them out.

Saturday, 1 June 2013

Confused Monsoon

Its  a  beautiful day outside.


Yes. . .I  went  to  the  "Outside"  realm today. . .
Like  any  normal  Internet  addict,  I  went  to  sleep  at  around  five  in  the  morning  and  woke  up  at  around  one  in  the  afternoon  today.  I  drew  back  the  curtains  of  the  windows;  it  wasn't  the  bright  and  harsh  summer  sun  outside  as  I  had  expected
.


The  weather  outside  was  confused.  It  was  grey,  but  a  little  sunny  as  well.  It  was  beautifully  gloomy.  Cloudy.  The  trees  were  dancing  in  the  mild  wind.  Soon  there  was  a  flash  of  lightning  and  the  thunder  soon  followed - surely  like  a  little  brother  would  follow  his  elder  sibling.  There  was  nothing  scary  in  this  picture  though. . .


I  decided  to  go  out  and  document  this  beautiful  day.  Still  in  my  nightshirt,  I  got  my  camera  and  hopped  outside.  It  was  a  hop-worthy  day  after all.


 

But  outside,  it  was  kinda  sunny...cloudy,  but  sunny. You  know?

Well,  I  wasn't  complainig!!  It  was  perfectly  photogenic!!

That's  mi  casa...our  front  garden.




















My  Daddy  is  really  into  gardening.  Its  hard  for  him  to  even  imagine  a  house  without  a  garden!  Lets  just  say  that  for  Daddy,  a  house  isn't  a  home  without  a  garden.  And  he  does  it  all  by  himself! (ok,  with  a  little  extra  help  but..)


Celosia

Did  I  mention  how  much  I'm  loving  the  Celosia  flowers  this  season?!















We  had  never  planted  it  before. . .but  when  Dad  came  to  Delhi  earlier  this  year,  we  went  to  a  nursery (the place where you get seeds, plants and pots. . .not  the  school thingy  for  little  kids),  and  bought  a  few  packets  of  seeds  of  Celosia.




























They  turned  out  to  be  quite  different  from  the  picture  they  had  on  the  packet  though.  These  were  not  as  "tamed"  as  they  showed  in  the  picture.



But  I  kinda  like  the  wild  structure  of  the  plant.  Its  very  different  from  the  lined,  tamed  and  trimmed  look  that  out  Winter  garden  usually  has.  This  has  a  somewhat  English  Garden-y  feel  to  it.


Also  gracing  our  gardens  this  summer  are  some  Bleeding  Hearts!


Bleeding  Hearts



I  wanna  meet  the  genius  who  came  up  with  the  name  "Bleeding  Hearts".  How  very  romantic  and  poetic. . .and  also  kinda  ominous  and  disturbing.  I  wonder  how  his  or  her  love  life  is  doing  though...


Periwinkle















And  here  are  some  shots  of  the  Periwinkle  flowers.  Doesn't  this  humble  flower  have  like  the  most  beautiful  name  of  all  flowers?  I'm  not  even  kidding!  Its  a  cute  name  for  a  cute  little  flower.
















I  have  absolutely  no  idea  what  this  pretty  tree  is  called.  So  I  did  what  any  normal  human  would.  I  Google'd  it.


I  tried  to  find  it  through  the  "Search  by  Image"  feature  on  Google  Image.  And  guess  what?  Even  Google  didn't  know!  Instead  it  showed  me  this!  What?!

















I'll  let  you  know  if  I  ever  find  out  its  name.  Dad  probably  knows.


Moving  on. . .


Things  aren't  as  pretty  in  our  kitchen  garden  as  they  are  in  the  front  one.  Don't  judge  us!  Its  monsoon!  Weeds  dominate  this  season!  And  they  are  resilient!
























See  what  I  mean?

The  vegetable  plants  are  still  there  in  lines  as  usual. . .but  it  kinda  looks  like  the  aftermath  of  a  wild  party.

Look  at  those  lean  mean  bean-stalks 
And  from  the  left  we  have  some  Lady's  Fingers (Okra),  baby  Brinjals(Egg-plant)  and  Aloe Vera



Aloe  Vera


Yes. . .we  have  Aloe Vera  in  our  kitchen  garden.  My  dad  takes  a  small  amount of  peeled  Aloe  Vera  every  morning.  Apparently  its  good  for  people  with  Diabetes.


Lemon  Tree


Look!  We  have  our  very  own  lemon  tree  in  our  backyard!



























Unfortunately,  they  don't  have  lemons  like  these  in  Delhi.  The  Delhi  lemons  are  tiny  and  round  and  not  as  juicy.  Many  a  times  my  Mom  has  parceled  lemons  from  our  garden  all  the  way  to  Delhi  for  me!  Yup. . .just  lemons.


























More  Aloe Vera  near  the  Lemon  tree!


Nuh-uh-uh-uh!  Wait!  We  don't  just  have  a  front  and  a  back  garden.  No.  We  have  a  friggin'  side  garden  as  well ! !















Here  we  have  the  beautiful  Hibiscus,  a  Star-fruit  tree,  two  Beetle-nut  trees  and  guess  what ?!  More  rows  of  Aloe  Vera !!


Hibiscus


























Moss!














And  an  artsy  little  picture  of  a  moss-covered  wall.  And  below  we  have  Mr.  Caterpillar  sayin'  "Get  out.  You  are  making  me  uncomfortable.".  (Thank  God  for  optical  zoom!)















Well  this  is  what  the  Outside  looks  like.  The  outside  of  my  house.


Now  GET  OUT!



PS :  If  you  actually  read  this  whole  post  and  not  just  the  pictures,  THANKS!  I'm  sorry  it  somehow  turned  into  a  bad  botanical  tour

Feedback  is  appreciated.  If  you  have  a  similar  post  about  what  your  Outside  looks  like,  please  send  me  the  links  in  the  comments.  (I'll  only  look  at  the  pictures  most  probably).  Also  if  you  don't  have  a  similar  post,  make  one !  Its  Fun!

Good  Luck. ^_^

Monday, 27 May 2013

Egg-less Chocolate Cake!!

Can  there  be  a  better  way  to  start  a  blog  than  by an  amazing  Chocolate Cake.  I  think not!

But  no  this  is  not  just  any  chocolate  cake, this  is  a  Egg-less  Chocolate  Microwave  Cake!! You  know  what  that  means!  It  is  feasible  for  all,  cheap,  super  fast,  and  easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Before you go all "eh! Egg-less? pfffft!!",  I promise you this chocolaty thingy is absolutely delicious!!

The  measurements  used  in  this  recipe  would  serve  4  or  at  the  most  5  humans.  If  you  are  a  family  of  giants  who  live  in  the  castle  in  the  clouds,  I  suggest  you  increase  the  proportions  by  250  times.


Ingredients :
  • Refined  Flour (Maida) / All  Purpose Flower / Cake  Flour  -  1  Cup
  • Baking  Powder  -  1/2  Tsp
  • Cocoa  Powder  -  5-6  Tsp
  • Sugar - 1/2  Cup
  • Refined  Oil / Vegetable  Oil  -  1/2  Cup
  • Wisked  Curd  -  1/2  Cup
  • Milk - 1  Cup



Procedure :

1.  Sift  the  flour  and  the  baking  powder  through  a  sieve.  (Oh!  Who  are  you  kidding?!  I  know  you  made  patterns  in  your  flour  too!!)
                 

2.  In  a  gigantic  mixing  bowl,  mix  the  sugar,  oil  and  cocoa  powder  and  keep  whisking  like  your  life  depended  upon  it  till  the  sugar  melts.
                     
                     

3.  Now,  make  sure  you  drop  your  whisk,  make  a  mess  and  make  your  life  harder  than  it  already  is.
                                      

4.  Moving  on....Add  in  the  curd  and  whisk  again.
                     

5.  Start  adding  the  flour  little  by  little  and  keep  mixing.
                 
                                   

6.  Once  the  flour  is  all  mixed  and  pretty,  add  in  the  milk  and  mix...AGAIN!
                      

7.  Grease  a  microwave-safe  bowl/dish.  Dust  it  with  flour.

                     

8.  Pour  in  the  cake  batter  neatly.  Bake  it  in  the  Microwave  at  high  micro (900)  for  about  6  minutes.
                       
                 

9.  While  the  cake  is  in  the  Microwave,  clean  up  the  massive  mess  that  you  have  obviously  created.
                      

10.  When  the  Microwave  beeps,  do  the  tooth-pick  test.  If  required,  cook  for  a  about  2 - 3  more  minutes  max.

11.  Once  done,  let  the  cake  cool  inside  the  Microwave.  If  you  try  to  take  the  cake  out  of  the  pan  while  it  is  still  hot,  there  is  a  heavy  chance  for  it  to  break  or  crumble.

12.  Once  the  cake  is  cool  enough  to  be  held  by  bare  hands  or  once  it  reaches  room  temperature,  take  a  sharp  knife  and  slide  it  carefully  all  around  the  edges  to  make  sure  the  cake  is  not  stuck  to  the  sides.
        Now  take  a  plate  or  a  cake  stand,  cover  the  cake  pan,  and  flip  it  quickly  like  a  boss!  Tap  the  bottom  of  the  cake  dish  if  necessary.  Your  cake  should  slide  off  the  dish  perfectly!
                      

13.  Slice  the  cake  and  serve  it  to  awestruck  guests!  You  can  even  serve  it  with  a  dusting  of  Icing  Sugar  over  the  slices  if  you  are  feeling  fancy!!
                       


Try  out  this  recipe.  Let  me  know  how  it  turns  out.  Feedback  is  appreciated - be  it  positive  or negative!!

Also  feel  free  to  turn  this or  any  of  the  recipes  in  this  blog  into  a  Youtube  video!!  But  don't  forget  to  send  me  the  link!  ^_^

Good  Luck!!

PS - I  apologize  for  the  blurry  picture  at  the  end...I  was  too  busy  jumping  with  joy ;)

Also...In  case  you  are  new  to  this  blog,  please  don't  take  me  seriously.  I  tend  to  incline a  lot  towards  non-sense!