Hawkersan - South East Asian with a Twist!

Hawkersan is a fairly new restaurant which has sprouted up in the front end area of the sprawling Somerset hotel in MRC Nagar. As the name suggests, it's predominantly Asian cuisine with a distinguishing feature.

The concept works on the model of a course meal and you have 4 & 7 course meals for lunch and 5 & 7 course meals for dinner. There is no separate menu as such and the option for you is to have a full fleshed course meal based on the number of items which you wish to choose.

It is pretty elaborate and their course meals do touch upon every item you would look forward to while consuming a wholesome Pan Asian meal. There are starters, soups, salads, momo or bao preparation, main course and desserts.

I tried the 7 course dinner meal and it felt thoroughly justified. Started off with a juicy watermelon cooler as a welcome drink to start proceedings. Then arrived a delicious corn lentil starter infused with spices which was filled with aroma. The Lung Fung soup was delightful. They also served a wholesome spring rolls in a attractive presentable manner. It contains all the essentials to make one fall for it. The jackfruit based bao I felt could have been a tad better. The texture of the bun was super smooth but however the stuffing could have been a tad better.

In the main course we got a soupy noodles bowl and a rice with thai red curry. The bowl of noodles was filled to the brim consisting of different kinds of chinese veggies and was kind of nice to slurp over. The real winner however was the thai red curry which was simply sensational. The essence of coconut cream will no doubt bowl you hook line and sinker. We ended our course by polishing a couple of dessert jars one comprising of water chestnuts and fruits soaked in coconut milk and the other an evergreen chocolate offering.

On the whole, it was a very pleasing meal. The service was ever friendly and also the intervals of time needed to bring the next item in the fray was just spot on. The pricing seems quite competitive for such an expansive spread. All in all, if you're looking for a lovely chinese meal without thinking too much about what to choose and what not to, you can certainly try this specialty offering of Hawkersan which has the kind of wholesome spread that can surely cater to your needs.

Nostalgic World Cup memories recirculated after 23 and a half years

There are certain memories etched vividly in the mind and one such is the NZ vs Eng clash on Feb 14th 1996. I started following cricket seriously around the autumn of 1994 and the 1996 world cup happened to be my first big ticket tournament experience as a fan.

I was so excited about the Wills World Cup being staged in the sub continent and had done a thorough homework pertaining to the history of the past 5 world cups thanks mainly to a red covered book of Gulu Ezekiel 'The Story of World Cup Cricket' which gave a brief synopsis along with score lines of all the previous editions from 1975-1992.

The world cup in 1996 opened with the New Zealand vs England clash and as it was a school going weekday, I recall rushing back as soon as the last bell rang at 2:45 pm from P. S Senior Sec School, Mylapore to scamper home to watch a closely contested tussle which NZ held on to sneak through thanks largely to a platform laying hundred by Nathan Astle.

Over the years since 1996, England's performances have nose dived in world cups with them hardly ever putting even a meek foot forward whereas the Kiwis have consistently managed to get to a top 4 finish in most of the events gone by with even a final run finish in the last Trans Tasman edition in 2015.

And now almost 23 and a half years and 7 world cups later nostalgia is recirculated as these very same teams who I witnessed playing a world cup game for the first time in 1996 are locking horns with each other to earn their maiden World cup triumph. May the best team win!
#nostalgicmemories #beforegooglewasborn #preinternetdays #14feb1996to14jul2019 #longworldcupjourney #engvsnz #iccworldcup2019

Ironical similarity of 2 gentleman chasing sporting dreams!

2 gentleman ironically born on the same day 8th August (though 9 years apart) will be looking to create history around the same time come this Sunday down South of London just about 10 miles from each other in the most hallowed turfs to have ever hosted the sport of cricket and tennis viz Lords and Wimbledon. One will be looking to win his 1st major world title for his country and the other staking claim towards a record enhancing 9th championship at SW19 to etch his name a notch further up in the league of legends. Here's wishing the best to both Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Roger Federer of Switzerland.
#supersundaysportingspectacle #14thJuly2019

Notes : Some extra spicy information about these 2 sporting personalities with regard to their birth particulars and what the stars point out in the horizon
Roger Federer
Switzerland
8th Aug 1981
Vishaka Nakshatra Thula Rasi

Kane Williamson
New Zealand
8th Aug 1990
Satabisha Nakshatra Kumbha Rasi

Incidentally Vishakha and Sadabisha fall in air signs of Libra and Aquarius respectively and both these Nakshatras are said to indicate 'Dharma'. The final will take place when Moon is transiting Moola Nakshatra.

The 9 triangle:
1) The age difference in years between Roger Federer and Kane Williamson is 9 years.
2) The count of Nakshatras from their respective star constellations Vishakha to Satabisha is also 9.
3) The finals takes place in the constellation of Moola which happens to fall in the 9th sign of natural zodiac Sagittarius.
4) Fedex is aiming to win his 9th Wimbledon championship and Kane O his first world cup cricket crown with the difference again being 9.

P.S : Unfortunately it was not to be for both these 2 great achievers. They both came within an inching inkling distance of claiming the crown but nature had other plans unfortunately. Nevertheless they deserve the kudos for their sterling efforts.

Disappointing Exit in a Knock Out Clash

It must be very hard going hammer & tongs at a team who've performed admirably well during this whole World cup campaign but the ultimate truth is that this defeat would rank as one of the lowest ebbs in India's cricketing cabinet.

This was perhaps easily the greatest chance to win a world cup title and to go down against an unfanciful team like the Kiwis who themselves have had a history of getting outgunned by fellow Asians Pakistan (1992 & 1999) and Sri Lanka (2007 & 2011) in the semifinals hurts really bitter. This is one defeat which is personally a bit too painful as I've been slowly but surely dreaming of the big picture for sometime now. Especially having been in sterling form throughout the tournament swatting past virtually all opponents with ease, the expectations of the big triumph slowly started resonating. And when the moment came to actually stand up and conquer the world in the big knock out clash, the performance wasn't there to witness. The fall came at the most opportune time when it mattered the most.

I really don't have the heart like many to say 'well played guys, you fought till the very end' as finally it's the falling short which is harrowing the thoughts as history isn't created or replicated so easily. Today is an extremely disappointing day in the annals of Indian cricket and personally as a fan, this pill is too contaminated to swallow. Few days reminisced make me sad with respect to Indian cricket and this chance gone abegging stands added to the list of Indian cricketing woes.