Food reviews from The Soi7 brewery and pub in Gurgaon. Unfortunately I had problems with the two beer reviews I did there and cannot upload them. But these dishes were amazing.
Month: April 2016
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
The Huntsman : Winter Wars is a 2016 film American high fantasy adventure film. It acts as both a prequel and, mostly, a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, and is based on characters from the German fairy tale “Snow White”, compiled by the Brothers Grimm, as well as “The Snow Queen”, by Hans Christian Andersen. The film, a directorial debut for Cedric Nicolas-Troyan who acted as visual effects supervisor on the first film, and is written by Craig Mazin and Evan Spiliotopoulos stars Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost and Sam Claflin, reprising their roles, and Emily Blunt, Rob Brydon, and Jessica Chastain, playing new characters.
The movie starts off as a prequel with Queen Raveena who learns from her magic mirror that that her younger sister Freya is not only engaged in an illicit affair with Andrew: Duke of Blackwood, but is carrying his child, who is destined to become fairest of them all. Sometime after Freya gives birth to a baby girl, Freya discovers that Andrew has murdered their child and, in a grief-fueled rage, kills him with her long-suppressed ice powers. Freya abandons her home and establishes a kingdom of her own and builds herself a solitary ice palace deep in the north, murdering anyone who opposes her while amassing an army of children and training them so their hearts will be forever hardened. Chief among them are Eric and Sara who fall in love with each other. As they grow up the two plan to elop but Freya is aware of their plan creates a massive ice wall to separate them before forcing Eric to watch as Sara is killed by her fellow huntsmen.
Seven years later, Raveena having been killed, King William of Tabor comes across Eric and informs him that the Magic Mirror was taken while en route to a place known as “Sanctuary”. Eric sets off to find it, joined by the dwarfs Nion and his half-brother Gryff. While en route, the trio are attacked by a legion of Freya’s huntsmen, but are rescued by Sara who is revealed to have been alive the entire time. Sara believes she saw “Eric” run away from the palace and feels betrayed by him. Eric concludes her death was a vision conjured by Freya in order to trick him. He reveals that he never stopped loving Sara and they agree to work together. Sometime later, the quartet is ensnared in a trap laid out by female dwarves Bromwyn and Doreena, but convince them to help find the Mirror. At Sanctuary they defeat the goblins who have the mirror but are ambushed by Freya and her soldiers and it turns out that Sara has been working for the queen all along. Nion and Doreena are turned into ice statues and Sara reluctantly fires an arrow into Eric’s chest. Freya departs with the Magic Mirror, unaware that Sara intentionally shot the arrow at a medallion she gave Eric long before, and that he is still alive.
Meanwhile, Freya approaches the Mirror and recites a spell that causes a golden liquid to emerge and transform into Ravenna, who reveals she sent her spirit into the Mirror before Snow White took her life. With the help of the other two dwarfs Eric infiltrates the ice palace and he attempts to murder Freya, but is stopped by Ravenna. When Freya realizes that Sara hadn’t actually killed Eric, she corners her and because of Ravenna’s wishes, sentences them both to death. Eric however has convinced his former comrades, some of the huntsmen, to fight against Ravenna and Freya After this, Ravenna kills many huntsmen, and Freya forms an ice wall between the huntsmen and the sisters. As the remaining huntsmen climb over the wall, the two sisters argue over the icy kingdom, during which Freya discovers that Ravenna cursed Andrew into murdering her child rather than risk someone being more beautiful than her. Freya is filled with anger at this and turns against her sister, joining forces with Eric and Sara.
Freya is fatally wounded, but not before she freezes the magic mirror, as Eric throws his axe, breaking the mirror and destroying Ravenna’s spirit. As she dies, Freya witnesses Eric and Sara together and states they were “lucky” before succumbing to her wounds. The inhabitants of the kingdom, now free, celebrate Eric and Sara kiss as they can now be together while Doreena and Nion and Gryff and Bromwyn confess their love to each other. Meanwhile a mysterious golden bird flies overhead, hinting that possibly Ravenna’s spirit still lives.
A bit dull during the first half and the action picks up a bit during the second but the movie is a bit dull and uninspired and had tons of cliches that you expect from this genre now. The only positive thing is getting to see Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain and Charlize Theron together in the same flick. Yet these lovely ladies cannot bring this movie up from mediocrity and I give it a 6.5 outta 10!
Lifeline And Boredom Box
Describe your relationship with your phone. Is it your lifeline, a buzzing nuisance, or something in between?
I have an odd relationship with cell phones. I have been using them less and less for phone calls and more for social media and messaging for the past few years. Texting using Whatsapp which is a free service is the best and you reach out to a whole lot more people using groups. That’s how I mostly communicate and keep in touch.
I rarely make phone calls unless it’s for work or something related to customer care for my services – my internet, my phone or my USB internet service. Otherwise it is for contacting a friend or a cousin for a lunch or dinner event. That is like once or twice a month. Phone calls to home is a few and usually short as well. I am not a big fan of talking on the phone.
Otherwise I use my smartphone for Facebook, Twitter, other apps that I use. Sometimes I even pay bills or transact using HDFC’s app. I book tickets for movies (a recent thing) and other stuff. I answer emails and things of that sort if I am not near my laptop at the time. Calls? Very few! But it is a necessity ofcourse.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Time Stands Still
For a moment today, time stands still — but you can tweak one thing while it’s stopped. What do you do?
If time can stand still for a moment, it can stand still for a day or days on end if needed. And needed by me. I wish I could make time stop. Like when it’s almost time to get to work but I need an hour or say 5 more of rest and sleep. Or when I am took lazy to go to work and want to spend the rest of the day in bed and watching my fav shows or movies, then I would like to stop time for everyone but me for the next 24 hours.
And I wouldn’t mind stopping time in places that I want to be in for a while. In good situations or where I just want to take a breather.
Prompt from The Daily Post at WordPress.com
And This Is Not A Phase
From Night Of The Guitars special recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on Nov. 26 1988 – Howe, Powell, California, Haycock & Krieger.
Traveling Between Apartments
Good morning. Boy am I tired. Due to the fact that if I come to this apartment building late at night I could get attacked by that stray dog that sleeps in this front porch, I decided that the best thing for me to do is to go to my apartment at 2:20 am at night post my shift and sleep there. In the morning after I wake up and gone to the loo I can come back to this apartment where everyone else is and have breakfast, coffee and a shower and a shave before lunch and wait for the company cab to come and take me to work.
So that’s what I did last night. I had to take permission from the cab organizers (and I will have to do this every night) and boarded the cab at 1:50 am. I was the last person to be dropped and I came home and walked the 7 set of stairs to reach our apartment on the 7th floor. I got in and washed my face and hands and legs and the went to bed. I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night for some reason and then I went back to sleep each time. I finally got outta bed by 9 am and went to the loo, did my business and then brushed my teeth. I dressed and took an auto back to this apartment.
And I’m gonna have to do this 5 days a week atleast for another 7 more days I guess.
Cyber Mall & Soi7 Brewery Pub, Gurgaon
The second of the two pubs that I hit while I was in Gurgaon was the Soi7 Brewery pub in Cyber Mall. This mall is huge and it has a lot of eateries and other fun stuff to do. After coffee and breakfast and a long walk through, I finally went to Soi7 brew pup. Take a look at the photos the large outdoor mall and the pub
I had some awesome beer while I was there. They have their own brews with boxing related names. Enjoy the pics!
Menacing Canine
So last night I was almost attacked by a stray dog. As stated before I am staying in my sister and brother in laws apartment which is about 15 minutes away from my own. I am working my regular shift of 4:30 pm to 1:30 am for this week and last night as I was coming back to this apartment building and approached the door of the building I saw this black stray dog lying right on the door step.
This dog was a stray that had been hit by a car and was left lying on the road and a couple of people from this building moved it to the side and fed it as it recovered. Hence the dog has loyalty and considers this building as his and every night he comes back to the building, using an entrance that isn’t and can’t be locked, and sleeps in the car park area or near the door. People keep putting out food for this dog and hence he doesn’t go away and does keep off other stray dogs in the area. However he doesn’t look too kindly to strangers either. Since he doesn’t know me he didn’t like the fact that I was coming in.
As I approached the door he woke up and started snarling and growling and ferociously barked as he came closer to me. Not knowing what to do, I backed up a little bit and then yelled at the dog and waved my office bag at him. He moved to the side but still growled and so I walked back to the door, keeping my eye on him and opened it and came inside, closing the door behind me. Not sure what to do tomorrow.
Uber Useful
Uber to me is relatively new. I first started using the services of the multinational transportation company in December of 2015. At that time I was stuck doing excessive shifts due to a crunch situation in our company. Hence 12 hours or more was the norm and because I was in a day shift I wasn’t eligible for the company cab option. I don’t have a vehicle and public buses stop running after 8pm in that area as well which made it difficult for me to get back home. I didn’t have the Uber app as I used a BlackBerry and hence I would ask help from colleagues to book me an Uber. Once the driver reached the office, I would go down and tell him that I would pay in cash.
In December and January I must have used Uber in this manner, borrowing a colleague’s phone to do the booking, atleast 10-12 times. February came along and I didn’t have much use of it but I knew that this is a great way to travel in Cochin, unless it was within the main city areas, for which the autorikshaw is the best option if you don’t have a vehicle of your own. In mid February I was told that I would be sent to Gurgaon for 2 weeks and I knew that getting the Uber app was a necessity while I stayed there.
As it so happened I was also looking to change my phone from a BlackBerry to an Android based device. So in late February I bought a new Samsung Galaxy and the very first thing I did as soon as I put in my SIM card was to install Uber. Even before any other app (to be fair, it came with Facebook, Twitter and a few others right outta the box)! And a day or two later I booked my first ride using my own phone. Since then I had used Uber quite a few times; to and fro the office, going to Lulu Mall, booking it for my parents to go for a wedding and come back.
It’s become an essential option for people like me and I don’t see me using the normal taxis unless it’s for a much longer distance like to another city or so.
Chic, Modern Yet Cozy & Contemporary
Awesomely decorated, chic and modern yet cozy contemporary home in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Planet Mine
You get to design your own planet: tell us all about your planet — the weather, the seasons, the inhabitants. Go.
Welcome to Planet Roshan. Discovered in the year 2016 it was named after it’s discoverer, Roshan. Hence the name. It is a lush green planet with 40% land mass and 60% water. There are no hot summers, harsh cold winters – just gentle and cool breezes all year long, nice cool showers, a mild yet crisp winter with some snow and beautiful autumn seasons as well. Nothing extreme but yet everyone will love all the seasons.
We have lots of dogs and cats, cattle, horses, some other animals as well. No insects, we just don’t need them. No reptiles either. Lots of birds. Lots of green fields, meadows and hills and snow capped mountains. Lakes, rivers and ponds. No deserts and no ice fields. Wild animals are enclosed in areas where they have plenty but are kept away from the human folk. No tornadoes or hurricanes and no huge thunderstorms. No quakes either. And now for the humans.
It’s just me and lots and lots of hot women. Big butts and busty and long hair. Blondes, brunettes and redheads. Lots of women. All randy. And I have a ton of viagra! Watch out ladies here I come! Ok, time to stop being disgusting.
Sunderland 0 Arsenal 0
Sunderland climbed out of the relegation zone with a deserved point against an uninspiring Arsenal. Both sides had penalty appeals for handball denied and Patrick van Aanholt struck Arsenal’s post with a free-kick. Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone had to be sharp to keep out Mesut Ozil’s free-kick and Alex Iwobi’s follow-up. Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere came on for a first game in 10 months, but the visitors relied on numerous Petr Cech saves to preserve a point. The failure to win could prove costly for Arsenal, who occupy the final Champions League qualifying spot, but lie just five points above fifth-placed Manchester United, having played a game more.
It was perhaps an opportunity missed against an Arsenal side whose performance was sluggish from start to finish. A 19th-consecutive season in the Champions League is by no means confirmed and after three draws in four games, and Arsene Wenger’s men are seemingly opening the door for FA Cup finalists United to make a late move into the top four. They forced the best saves from Mannone in the first half but were devoid of ideas after the break, when they could only muster two shots on target and none from their striker Olivier Giroud, who is now goalless in 17 Premier League games. The introduction of England trio Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and Wilshere failed to spark any invention for the visitors.
Wilshere’s return will have been the greatest positive for Arsenal, 330 days since his last appearance for the club, when he played the final 13 minutes of the FA Cup final win over Aston Villa last year. He went on to feature twice for England in the summer but suffered a hairline fracture in his left leg in August and then needed an operation in September to aid his recovery. His career has been plagued with ankle problems and since 2013 he has been ruled out by 21 different injuries. The 24-year-old has less than three weeks and just three more games to prove to England boss Roy Hodgson that he is fit and sharp enough to be considered for Euro 2016 in France, with the squad to be announced on 12 May.
It’s Been One Week Away From Home
So it’s been a week at my sister’s place. My folks and I moved in here and luckily there is another apartment as well with a 3 bedroom-bathroom in the same building where her mother in law stays. Since she lives alone, my two nephews stay and sleep there in the two empty rooms. I have one room and my parents use the second of the two big rooms. Ofcourse there is Burfi the pug who sleeps….well anywhere he damn well chooses to.
I spend most of my time in the room, at my laptop and online using the USB dongle. If not I a watching tv shows or movies on it and feeling sleepy a lot more than usual. I don’t listen to as much music as I do at home for some reason. Yesterday I spend the whole day inside, took rest, drank lots of coffee and watch a bunch of stuff and overshot my data limit (the bill cycle starts midnight tonight). I am used to unlimited data and not 15 GB a month. Anyways, I also took a small nap in the afternoon and pretty much was online from evening till about 10 when I started watching tv shows again.
Today I will go out for a long lunch and some long overdue beers. Gosh has it been almost a month since I have had beer? Well that just won’t do. Perhaps a cousin will join me and then maybe in the late afternoon I will go for a movie. We’ll see.
Personal Facebook Policy
I wonder what other people’s Facebook & Twitter rules are. I usually will add / accept invites from people I know and even people I haven’t met but who I share common interests with. These are usually from FB groups on Star Trek, Atheism, Horror movies, other science fiction shows like BSG, Stargate and music groups. This is usually after we have had quite a few interactions on the group in questions and or notice that we have several groups in common.
I do not add my uncles and aunts (except for a couple who will be cool about most of the stuff that others will balk at) and no kids! My nephews and nieces are a no no. Hmmm what about colleagues? I have a policy – I do not add people who are working in the same office as I do. No way in hell. Unless ofcourse I knew them from before and I had already added them, then it’s fine. But otherwise I do not add them or accept friend invites no matter what. It is a policy I stick by. Ok, I might make an exception if they are super friendly with me and we are really close. But otherwise no. It’s just not a good thing to do.
I often have to delete or ignore friend requests from colleagues because of this. When I meet them I will apologize and tell them and explain and hopefully they get it. I just don’t like it if an issue comes up and then it is discussed in details at work the next day.
Food Review #82
Finally I got to visit a Dunkin Donuts as well while I was in Gurgaon. In some outlets in India, Dunkin is paired with a franchise called Too Much Burger. At the large Cyber Mall there are a bunch of eateries and pubs and I started off my day with a late, late breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. I had a smallish smoked chicken burger with an Mocha chip Dunkaccino and a Boston Cream donut. Delicious!
Now that you have seen the pics, enjoy the videos.Food Revie
Arsenal 2 West Brom 0
Alexis Sanchez scored twice as Arsenal beat West Brom to strengthen their hopes of a top-four finish. The Gunners had drawn their previous two games but Sanchez settled the nerves with a neat finish on the turn from outside the area. West Brom’s Gareth McAuley hit the bar with a header but that was as close as they came to a goal. And Sanchez’s driven free-kick secured the win for Arsenal, who move up to third, five points behind Tottenham. The win helps ease concerns the Gunners could miss out on the top four – they are now four points clear of Manchester United in fifth.
Striving to stay in the top four is a far cry from how Arsenal’s fans would have imagined this season finishing considering their position on New Year’s Day, when they were top of the table. The north London club were ideally positioned to challenge for a first Premier League title in 12 years, but a run of just five wins in 2016 prior to the visit of West Brom all but ended their hopes. A disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday left the Gunners 13 points behind leaders Leicester and some fans had made their discontent clear with boos at the final whistle at the weekend. Fan apathy was evident in the number of empty seats at Emirates Stadium on Thursday, and there was an eerie atmosphere when the game got under way. An early goal was needed to ease the tension and Sanchez duly stepped up to deliver with a finish of real quality. The forward received a pass from Mesut Ozil and turned Sandro before firing beyond Ben Foster.
The Chilean was at his marauding best and he continued to torment West Brom before deservedly scoring a second, driving a free-kick through the West Brom wall. Arsenal have now won 500 Premier League games, the second team to reach the milestone in the competition (Manchester United have 584 wins).The Gunners have scored in all 20 of their Premier League games against West Brom – the best 100% record in the division. Arsenal travel to struggling Sunderland on Sunday hopefully for another 3 points.
RIP Prince
The 80s music icon Prince, had huge hit songs such as “Kiss” and “Purple Rain” and defied the music industry in a fight for creative freedom, died Thursday. The 57-year-old singer was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said. Paramedics tried to perform CPR but were unable to revive him, the sheriff said. He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m., less than 30 minutes after sheriff’s deputies responded to a medical call at the scene. Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, Olson said. An autopsy is scheduled to take place Friday.
Earlier this month, hours before he was set to go onstage, the singer postponed two shows he’d been scheduled to perform at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta as he was battling the flu. A week later, he took the stage in Atlanta to perform two concerts with 80-minute sets, unusually short for him. Between 1985 and 1992, he released eight albums, one per year, including the soundtrack for Tim Burton’s “Batman.” He starred in two more movies during that era: “Under the Cherry Moon” and “Graffiti Bridge.” He also put out a concert film. “Sign ‘o’ the Times” hit theaters in 1987. He infamously changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in the 1990s during a dispute with his record label, Warner Bros. He started to become known then as the “Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” In 2000, when the singer’s publishing contract with the company expired, he reclaimed the name Prince.
Prince won seven Grammy Awards and earned 30 nominations. Five of his singles topped the charts and 14 other songs hit the Top 10. He won an Oscar for best original song score for “Purple Rain.” The singer’s predilection for lavishly kinky story-songs earned him the nickname “His Royal Badness.” He was also known as the “Purple One” because of his colorful fashions. Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. But let me be honest – I never thought he was half as great as all that. I used to get irritated at his personality and the man thought too highly of himself and he was ludicrous at times. He did have a few songs that appeal to me but those are few and far behind yet the fact that he has passed away brings another icon from the time of my childhood and teens dying.
RIP Joanie Laurer Aka Chyna
The official page of former WWE star Joanie “Chyna” Laurer is reporting the former WWE star has passed away at the age of 45. Laurer’s manager has confirmed she was found dead Wednesday at her home in Redondo Beach, California, but the exact cause of death is unknown at this stage. Sources close to the situation claim Chyna had been on medication for anxiety and sleep deprivation and the possibility of an overdose is being investigated.
She became a wrestling star after debuting in 1995, and her close bond with Triple H saw her become one of the original members of D-Generation X — the famous tag team comprised of herself, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Rick Rude. She was one of the biggest drawcards for WWE, even going on to fight in singles matches against the men. She won several belts, including the Intercontinental championship. Such was her success and popularity she was promoted as the “Ninth Wonder of the World”. Her fame on the wrestling stage helped her branch out into other areas once her career finished.
She appeared on reality TV program The Surreal Life more than a decade ago, then went into the porn industry, releasing six films between 2004-2013. The relationship between Triple H, her former real-life boyfriend, and Stephanie McMahon (with whom Laurer claims he had an affair and then left her for), was a major factor in her dismissal. She left the WWF on November 30, 2001, several months after she had been taken off of television. In 2007, then-WWE employee Jim Ross claimed that she was not fired, but rather chose to leave for personal reasons. Laurer, in a 2015 interview with Vince Russo, stated that after a meeting with Vince McMahon about the Stephanie McMahon situation, she was sent home and was later sent a fax telling her that she was not needed anymore.
In 2002, Laurer joined New Japan Pro Wrestling and made her first appearance at the New Japan Thirtieth Anniversary Show, refereeing a bout between the Steiner Brothers and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kensuke Sasaki. In September and October 2002, she wrestled several matches for the promotion. During the May 3, 2011, tapings of the May 12 edition of Impact!, Chyna made her TNA debut, introduced by the returning Spike TV network consultant Mick Foley. He introduced her as Kurt Angle’s business associate (she had been previously referred to as his Mistress) and tag team partner at Sacrifice, where they would face Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett. During the taping she also took part in a battle royal, from which she eliminated Jeff.