Kancha Aam(kanchi Kairi to my non-bengali friends)...To a bengali it translates into hot afternoons, surreptitiously going up the mango tree watching up for the mali bhaiya...and then finally plucking out the beauty.....using a quick mixture of coarse grained salt and chilly powder...a quick dip and nirvana.....I am sure so many of you are licking your lips.....
So what happens when Kancha Aam is mixed with oyster sauce, sauteed peanuts, green and red chillies and lime...the end result....a Thai beauty (not of the Sukhomvit variety)....Thai raw mango salad.....
One of the freshest and most lip smacking delicacies in SE Asia.....try it to belive it....
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Between a "Cooks Tour" and "No Reservations"
It's been a year of travel and food...It started with my one month sojourn to Africa and out of Africa came my appreciation of "Fu Fu", "Kenke", Apapransha (though it was the holy mackarel that i remember more ) etc....
Since i moved to new business role, my suitcase has always been packed (for travel) and my stomach has been ready for adventure...Over the last 7 months, I have had the occasion to travel to Malaysia, Singapore,Vietnam,Indonesia, Thailand, China and of course India.....I have seen the sights and tasted the food....
Inspired by a friend, i thought that why not start once again on the blog but this time base it on food and travel...2 things that I seem to be enjoying a lot these days....
Let me devote some air time to the best dining experience that I had over the last 7 months and I will mention 3 of them.....
Chinese food served French Style : The Da Dong Duck restaurant is Beijing is by far the most superior Chinese restaurant that I have ever been to....Was privileged to have participated ina gastronomic delight that started with venison and ended with the ubiquitous Peking deck...However this experience also brough about some truth and busted some myths......
Myth 1: Duckmeat is suppossed to be had...Naaah...In the Da Dong restaurant they serve it like the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had it....they just slice off crispy portions of the golden skin and the meat is actually taken away.....The meat is later used as a base for soup if u choose to have it......
Myth No.2 : Chinese food is oily and typically the presentation element is missing completely...I would recommend a visit to this restaurant...The serving is done in the highest class of a French Restaurant in term of optical appeal...but the food tastes much better than standard French Food....... In fact they served a beef dish over a piece of hot stone...exotic presentation....
I give a definite thumbs up to this gastronomic experience.....
Vietnamese Food :
The Pho Ho' on Pasteur Road is a decrypt restaurant but it probably serves one of the best seasoned portions of the Vietnamese national dish Pho....A noodle broth in which you get boiled beef, pork balls, checken...it's a cook your own meal kind of thing...You put in lime, sauces, leaves, chillies and use your chopsticks to just slurp up the beauty of your own concoction.....Another special is Vietnames spring rolls which are not fried but is a exquisite presentation of different things wrapped in a rice paper....For anyone who travels to Siagon, it's a must do......
Cantonese Yee Mee ...as they make it at Fat Fat (Lorong Rahim Kajai- KL, MY)....The Cantonese Yee Mee can be described as one of my favourite foods when i am at KL....It is health (essentially soup based) and tasty...giving a blow to the philosophy that healthy food is necessarily not tasty....chuck in some chilli padi and u have heaven......
Before signing off...I must talk about my last experience in our own Delhi......Rajinder ka Dhaba somewhere close to the Hyatt in New Delhi...is God's gift to Tandoori food....Mutton Tikka, Chicken Tikka...Tandoori Chicken....Ma ki Daal, Paneer Tikka....coupled with a bottle of Teachers and wonderful company in the form of Sanjeev, Prashant, Rajeev and Goutam was the icing in my cake over the last 7 months.....
The end result ....ek khali bottle, haddiyon ki dher...aur ek behosh bengali.....
Watch out for my Korean Experiences...coming soon.....
Since i moved to new business role, my suitcase has always been packed (for travel) and my stomach has been ready for adventure...Over the last 7 months, I have had the occasion to travel to Malaysia, Singapore,Vietnam,Indonesia, Thailand, China and of course India.....I have seen the sights and tasted the food....
Inspired by a friend, i thought that why not start once again on the blog but this time base it on food and travel...2 things that I seem to be enjoying a lot these days....
Let me devote some air time to the best dining experience that I had over the last 7 months and I will mention 3 of them.....
Chinese food served French Style : The Da Dong Duck restaurant is Beijing is by far the most superior Chinese restaurant that I have ever been to....Was privileged to have participated ina gastronomic delight that started with venison and ended with the ubiquitous Peking deck...However this experience also brough about some truth and busted some myths......
Myth 1: Duckmeat is suppossed to be had...Naaah...In the Da Dong restaurant they serve it like the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had it....they just slice off crispy portions of the golden skin and the meat is actually taken away.....The meat is later used as a base for soup if u choose to have it......
Myth No.2 : Chinese food is oily and typically the presentation element is missing completely...I would recommend a visit to this restaurant...The serving is done in the highest class of a French Restaurant in term of optical appeal...but the food tastes much better than standard French Food....... In fact they served a beef dish over a piece of hot stone...exotic presentation....
I give a definite thumbs up to this gastronomic experience.....
Vietnamese Food :
The Pho Ho' on Pasteur Road is a decrypt restaurant but it probably serves one of the best seasoned portions of the Vietnamese national dish Pho....A noodle broth in which you get boiled beef, pork balls, checken...it's a cook your own meal kind of thing...You put in lime, sauces, leaves, chillies and use your chopsticks to just slurp up the beauty of your own concoction.....Another special is Vietnames spring rolls which are not fried but is a exquisite presentation of different things wrapped in a rice paper....For anyone who travels to Siagon, it's a must do......
Cantonese Yee Mee ...as they make it at Fat Fat (Lorong Rahim Kajai- KL, MY)....The Cantonese Yee Mee can be described as one of my favourite foods when i am at KL....It is health (essentially soup based) and tasty...giving a blow to the philosophy that healthy food is necessarily not tasty....chuck in some chilli padi and u have heaven......
Before signing off...I must talk about my last experience in our own Delhi......Rajinder ka Dhaba somewhere close to the Hyatt in New Delhi...is God's gift to Tandoori food....Mutton Tikka, Chicken Tikka...Tandoori Chicken....Ma ki Daal, Paneer Tikka....coupled with a bottle of Teachers and wonderful company in the form of Sanjeev, Prashant, Rajeev and Goutam was the icing in my cake over the last 7 months.....
The end result ....ek khali bottle, haddiyon ki dher...aur ek behosh bengali.....
Watch out for my Korean Experiences...coming soon.....
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The Indian Government.....It surely has changed
Recently i had the fortune of witnessing the huge transformation that different departments in the Indian Government have undergone.....I had to get some documents stamped by the General Administration department of the Maharastra government...Everybody told me it would be a pain....I would have to pay 500Rs. / document...but gues what I decided to do it by myself and it got done in 2 minutes and with great professionalism.....Thank you govt of India....and for all you naysayers...next time you need something dont listen to others...just go and do it yourself....
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Week that was...My African Safari
The Week That was....01st March-08th March, 2009
For a change it was a 5 day week :-) with Friday the 6th of March being a holiday to celebrate the National Day of Ghana...Their 52nd National day.... The week was mixed for me...some great results at one organisation and not so great progress for the other organisation that we are providing consultancy services to....However culturally it was brilliant....
Some interesting cultural things that happened in the week was a business negotiation that we attended...it took almost 45 minutes for the two parties to come to a point and it was interesting to see how well European folks have adapted to the African style of negotiation....On the whole a great learning experience and a move forward for one of our clients...as their European suppliers decided to continue supplies at upon 20% payment as oppossed to the full payment that they were asking for earlier.... Another interesting aspect of this day was the fact that most Ghanians wore traditional clothing with a message of some kind for Ghana stitched into it...Eg. Our host had a shirt which produly proclaimed that "Ghana- 50 years of Independance".....
Apart from standard work, we also had a chance to spend Rosa's birthday....She is our Italian colleague and her birthday was celebrated with great fun at a restaurant called "The Lite Bite"....The owner Rosemont also shares her birthday with Rosa and she was very pleased to have us with her at her restaurant.....
The Lite Bite is our preferred lunch destination in Takoradi....and it has served up almost all the delicacies to us starting from Fufu to various soups, kebabs and Ampesi (boiled plaintains or yams)....The meal was excellent for Rosa's birthday dinner and it was rounded up by Cake and ice cream provided by the owner Rosemont....Incidentally Rosemont, apart from running a successfull restaurant also is a great golfer.....
And that brings us to golf.....Takoradi has a quaint club known as the sports club....Probably started during the colonial times, it has an old world charm to the club house and a 9 hole golf course....One one side you have the greens and on the other side, you have the ocean....On the whole a very soothing experience....And let me say I am getting introduced to golf and have had many of my "convinctions" challenged especially those that stated that it is an easy game....
My current learnings are restricted to the fact that conditions, timing and the swing play a major part in this game and ..... lets just say that I am learning and have lost just one ball till date....The great thing is that all of us go for golfing and it's fun as well as a nice outing for most of us ......
So here comes the last and the most interesting part of the blog....As part of our one month experience in Ghana, our Partners, CDC (Citizens Development Corporation) alongwith the Western Region tourism board planned an exquisite trip for us ...... a visit to a 600 year old setllement which is floating on stilts at NZulezo and a trek through virgin equatorial rain forests in West Africa.....
The trip was on Saturday and after an interesting bus journey where enroute we stopped to see the birthplace of Dr. Kwame NKrumah the founder of Ghana and the first president...For those of you who are fond of history, he was a contemporary of Jawahar Lal Nehru and Nasser and was one of the movers of the Non- Alingned Movement....After a great stopover, we reached Beyin Beach....The Beyin Beach is unlike any Beach I have ever seen....You cannot see people on the beach even if you try to ...It is truly secluded and virgin and has only one good quality resort .... The Beyin Beach Resort.....
Owned by Nina and Patrick Sarpong they rent out their rooms between USD 20- USD 50 per night and they serve cheap but tasty food and very good South African wine.....But the real strength of their offer is the beach itself....Unspoilt and secluded, it offers you the amazing sight of watching Olive Ridley turtles come and lay their eggs...They are also in Turtle conservation and ecotourism in a very big way....If you wish to visit this area , please take a look at their web site www.beyinbechresort.com.....It's exquisite....
From the Beyin Beach Resort, we travelled a short distance by bus before moving onto to Canoes to row through marchy land to the NZulezo village.....Nzulezo village is made up of inhabitants who were originally from Mali, but who settled here as they fled war and other problems in their homeland....They have been living here in houses on water ----on stilts and do farming, fishing and other such agricultural activities for their sustenance...They now call themselves Ghanian and it was truly interesting to see that they had contentment even though they were living in such difficult circumstances.....
After lunch at the Beyin Beach resort, we got onto the bus and started for Ankasa one of the largest protected rain forests in Western Region of Ghana... In these forests there are more that 300 varieties of trees and the major fauna include Monkeys oif various kinds, Leopards, forest elephants and various animal species.....We first took a short trek to vists what is known as the "Bamboo Cathedral"....The Bamboo cathedral is formed by the bamboo shrubs as they arch over each other creating a cathedral type of ambience and feeling....In fact the silence of the place almost makes it feel that you are close to God....
And then finally we went for a trek through the dense equatorial forest....it was dark inside almost like it was night and it felt eerie that we were surrounded by equatorial trees which dwarfed us in their presence....We saw trees which were mangrove like in their appearance (known as arrogant trees) and the classical equatorial trees which tower above you and are as thick as a apartment block....
And finally before I sign off, something hilarious happened....As we were reaching towards the end of our trek....I think someone stepped on a ant hill and by God... they just attacked us from all directions....I had ants up all over my body and got bitten in most places including several "inappropriate" places....I am laughing as i write this but Carolyn very aptly stated...."This gives a new meaning to the saying "Ants in your Pants" "....Anyway as we reach to the last part of our one month long tryst with Ghana....hoping for more exciting events and some great contribution to the client for whom we are working....
Ciao for now.....
For a change it was a 5 day week :-) with Friday the 6th of March being a holiday to celebrate the National Day of Ghana...Their 52nd National day.... The week was mixed for me...some great results at one organisation and not so great progress for the other organisation that we are providing consultancy services to....However culturally it was brilliant....
Some interesting cultural things that happened in the week was a business negotiation that we attended...it took almost 45 minutes for the two parties to come to a point and it was interesting to see how well European folks have adapted to the African style of negotiation....On the whole a great learning experience and a move forward for one of our clients...as their European suppliers decided to continue supplies at upon 20% payment as oppossed to the full payment that they were asking for earlier.... Another interesting aspect of this day was the fact that most Ghanians wore traditional clothing with a message of some kind for Ghana stitched into it...Eg. Our host had a shirt which produly proclaimed that "Ghana- 50 years of Independance".....
Apart from standard work, we also had a chance to spend Rosa's birthday....She is our Italian colleague and her birthday was celebrated with great fun at a restaurant called "The Lite Bite"....The owner Rosemont also shares her birthday with Rosa and she was very pleased to have us with her at her restaurant.....
The Lite Bite is our preferred lunch destination in Takoradi....and it has served up almost all the delicacies to us starting from Fufu to various soups, kebabs and Ampesi (boiled plaintains or yams)....The meal was excellent for Rosa's birthday dinner and it was rounded up by Cake and ice cream provided by the owner Rosemont....Incidentally Rosemont, apart from running a successfull restaurant also is a great golfer.....
And that brings us to golf.....Takoradi has a quaint club known as the sports club....Probably started during the colonial times, it has an old world charm to the club house and a 9 hole golf course....One one side you have the greens and on the other side, you have the ocean....On the whole a very soothing experience....And let me say I am getting introduced to golf and have had many of my "convinctions" challenged especially those that stated that it is an easy game....
My current learnings are restricted to the fact that conditions, timing and the swing play a major part in this game and ..... lets just say that I am learning and have lost just one ball till date....The great thing is that all of us go for golfing and it's fun as well as a nice outing for most of us ......
So here comes the last and the most interesting part of the blog....As part of our one month experience in Ghana, our Partners, CDC (Citizens Development Corporation) alongwith the Western Region tourism board planned an exquisite trip for us ...... a visit to a 600 year old setllement which is floating on stilts at NZulezo and a trek through virgin equatorial rain forests in West Africa.....
The trip was on Saturday and after an interesting bus journey where enroute we stopped to see the birthplace of Dr. Kwame NKrumah the founder of Ghana and the first president...For those of you who are fond of history, he was a contemporary of Jawahar Lal Nehru and Nasser and was one of the movers of the Non- Alingned Movement....After a great stopover, we reached Beyin Beach....The Beyin Beach is unlike any Beach I have ever seen....You cannot see people on the beach even if you try to ...It is truly secluded and virgin and has only one good quality resort .... The Beyin Beach Resort.....
Owned by Nina and Patrick Sarpong they rent out their rooms between USD 20- USD 50 per night and they serve cheap but tasty food and very good South African wine.....But the real strength of their offer is the beach itself....Unspoilt and secluded, it offers you the amazing sight of watching Olive Ridley turtles come and lay their eggs...They are also in Turtle conservation and ecotourism in a very big way....If you wish to visit this area , please take a look at their web site www.beyinbechresort.com.....It's exquisite....
From the Beyin Beach Resort, we travelled a short distance by bus before moving onto to Canoes to row through marchy land to the NZulezo village.....Nzulezo village is made up of inhabitants who were originally from Mali, but who settled here as they fled war and other problems in their homeland....They have been living here in houses on water ----on stilts and do farming, fishing and other such agricultural activities for their sustenance...They now call themselves Ghanian and it was truly interesting to see that they had contentment even though they were living in such difficult circumstances.....
After lunch at the Beyin Beach resort, we got onto the bus and started for Ankasa one of the largest protected rain forests in Western Region of Ghana... In these forests there are more that 300 varieties of trees and the major fauna include Monkeys oif various kinds, Leopards, forest elephants and various animal species.....We first took a short trek to vists what is known as the "Bamboo Cathedral"....The Bamboo cathedral is formed by the bamboo shrubs as they arch over each other creating a cathedral type of ambience and feeling....In fact the silence of the place almost makes it feel that you are close to God....
And then finally we went for a trek through the dense equatorial forest....it was dark inside almost like it was night and it felt eerie that we were surrounded by equatorial trees which dwarfed us in their presence....We saw trees which were mangrove like in their appearance (known as arrogant trees) and the classical equatorial trees which tower above you and are as thick as a apartment block....
And finally before I sign off, something hilarious happened....As we were reaching towards the end of our trek....I think someone stepped on a ant hill and by God... they just attacked us from all directions....I had ants up all over my body and got bitten in most places including several "inappropriate" places....I am laughing as i write this but Carolyn very aptly stated...."This gives a new meaning to the saying "Ants in your Pants" "....Anyway as we reach to the last part of our one month long tryst with Ghana....hoping for more exciting events and some great contribution to the client for whom we are working....
Ciao for now.....
Saturday, February 28, 2009
My African Safari----The Week that was
The Week That was....23rd Feb-28th Feb, 2009
For those of you who have never visited Africa.....dont go by what TV suggests...slow country where people do not have work to do and not enough businesses....to say the least , it's been an invigorating week.... We have been working almost 10-11 hour days everyday...
The IBM Corporate Service Team - Ghana 3 is also known as Team TAADI and our motto is One month One dream....We are assisting via CDC (Corporate Development Corps) two business organisations in Ghana , The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) AND THE Association of Ghanian Industry (AGI)....We are located in Sekondi-Takoradi which is the part of the Western Region in Ghana, West Africa....
One team which is Kacie (USA), Carolyn (SA), Prasad (India), Volker (Germany) and Yaw (USA) is helping GNCCI redefine their business especially their alternative channels strategy (via their website). The other team which is myself, Tasha (USA) and Rosa (Italy) is helping two of AGI's clients - A established business Multiwall paper sacks (WA) Ltd. and a start up West-West Agro Processing.....
The introduction is important so as to set a baseline in terms of the work that we are doing....Our work for AGI is as different as chalk and cheese and yet they converge in a pretty unique manner....We are helping a established business, Multi-Wall restructure financially and organisationally so that they improve their current business condition and also face the future better....On the other end we have West-West which has got smart management thinkers who have got business and need supply chain help.....
I last touched financial re-structuring and supply chain when I was in Xavier Institute of Managment, doing my MBA in 1999-2001 and I never thought that I would have to filter through the cobwebs of my mind and get some of that knowledge to work for me once again....
Since we are helping two concerns .,..I cannot disclose much in a public forum...but just to let you know....In my working Life I have worked on behalf of IBM to enable Bank's to automate their operations including loan origination and here I was on the other side of the very system that I helped design ....I appeared on behalf of my clients to various bank's in Takoradi including a bank for which I had helped design their loan origination system to propose a financial restructuring plan for their financial portfolio system....It was exciting and least to say a tremendous learning experience....We are close to seeing light at the end of the tunnel and are hopefully adding value to our clients....
The other interesting thing in the week was the first travel to West-West Agro which is situated in village Ayiem (45 minutes drive from Takoradi)....Upon visiting Ayiem, I felt that I was trasnported to Jharkand and West Bengal (where I was born)...because the rural setting was just the same....Our office in West-West has a little village for company and when we visited the village , it was probably a riot there as children ran out of their houses (very much like an Indian village) to run after us and pose for photos....Our office overlooks intensely dense equatorial forest land which almost climbs onto the road that we drive on....Sadly for me, this was also our first brush with bush meat....which is any creature in the wild that gets killed and the meat sold so that the villagers can get some money for the same....being a person interested in wildlife...it was not the bets thing for me.....
Now to some other interesting things that we did during the week which did not have a work element involved in it....
As is usual , let me start with the culinary commentary....We have tried various kinds of Ghanian food and the stand out items (in terms of my preference) has been
Groundnut Soup with chicken alongwith Kenke.... The dish is amazing because it is afusion of Indian, African and the West....Kenke is made by boiling maize (corn) and then steaming it post mashing it with a man sized pestle....I think it is also fermented....I would like to call it like a maize idli....Eaten with hand, it is usually mixed with a dip made of tomato, hot red pepper, onions hand blended together and a soup (similar to gravy in the Indian context) made of groundnut, spices and grilled chicken....The only thing I can say about it is that, it is exquisite and heavenly....I just love it everytime I have it....The other interesting thing to eat is the same soup but with Fufu (pounded steamed cassava and plaintain) mixed with the soup....In this case you have to dig for your soup and fufu and the whole experience is just great....
However once u have kenke and fufu alongwith groundnut soup....the most appropriate action is to take a nap...However work prevented us from doing that.....
The second item on our list are the people....Ghanians are fiendly, go out of the way to help you and are very much like Indian....I would take this occassion to let you know about two interesting spectrums of Ghanian people in terms of the people whom I have met....
We met a gentleman by the name of Dr. J.A. Addison who is the Chairman and MD of Multiwall and is 90 years old....He would put all of us to shame as he walks without help and runs the company as if he is not a day older than 50....Educated in Harvard, he has been a true visionary in Ghanian Industry and had even run for the Ghanian presidency at one point of time....Evrytime, I meet him I am amazed at his abilities and vision....
On the other spectrum, we met a young guy called Richard who is just like us...young and raring to go...Richard introduced us to the young part of life in Ghana...which is similar to life in India....Thank you Richard for taking us out on Friday night and showing us the sights of Takoradi...When I talk to Richard, I am reminded of the fact that here is someone who can bring about change is truly righ way to Ghana....He believes that even before schooling one must worry about healt and he is trying his bit by distributing mosquito nets whenever he can.....Way to go Richard......
Also on an interesting side note, we attended the naming ceremony of a 2 month old child....It was interesting because , it was pretty similar to the "Annaprashan" ceremony that we do back in India for our children....The grandparents invoke the blessing of their ancestors and they make the child taste water and schnapps ....water representing what is positive to life and schnapps representing what is not so positive in life :-))....The child is also given a name which is from the family and is a choice of the father / grandfather....This is followed by the Father thanking the mother for the child and she is given great respect and given traditional gifts ...including a goat....This was followed by some tribal dancing of the Fanti region of Ghana....I was again reminded of the famous Chaw dance practices in the Purulia region bordering Bengal and Jharkhand...The drums, leaps were exotic and out colleague Volker also did a war dance alongwith them....The important thing was that...They dances tell stories in a extremely artistic form....
Last but not the least....The music is just awesome....There are 2 popular types of music...Hi Life and Hip Life....The beat is infectious and you just start grooving to it...even gospel music is amzing and fast paced....looking forward to putting in some CD's to my iPod.....Carrying on with music, celebrated AR Rehman's Oscars by listening to Slumdog Millionairres tracks on my iPod and thanked Steve Jobs for this great device that he gave to the world.....
Finally before I sign off....here is a collection of Fanti words that I have picked and if any of you come to west AFrica especially Ghana, they can open doors for you...where none existed....
Akwaba....Welcome
Midasi...Thank You
Mindasi....Response to Thank you...equivalent to Welcome...means "It's nothing"E
te san....How are you ?
Aeeyaaa----I am fine....
BTW my Ghanian name is Kwabena means I am male and I as born on Tuesday.....Thats all for me about the week that was.....Adios for now.....
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Day 4...My African adventure
Today was Sunday...an off day....Got up around 6 AM ...I dont know why....something to do with the fact that I am sleeping at 9PM everyday.....After breakfast, decided to do a looksie of the town and then onto some other activities....
Takoradi is part of the twin city Sekondi-Takoradi and has been the epicenter of one the biggest oil finds in western Africa....It was a sleepy fishing hamlet and but is currently in the danger of being overrun by the American and the European Oil companies....The twin cities can be divided into two parts....The Dutch Sekondi complete with it's colonial building and colonial architecture very remiscent of the fort area in Mumbai or the Writers building area in Kolkata....and Takoradi which is a lazy fishing village quite like Palolem Beach in Goa or Kovalam Beach in Kerela.....
After a ride through town, picked up water and other necessities and lunch.... We hit the beach....The water was lovely and we must have been there for almost 2-3 hours and I swam a lot....it was reminiscent of Kerela and Goa as you had white sand, swaying palms and of course football....
Ghanians are very organised when it comes to football and ultra skilled and it was interesting to watch as they weaved intricate patterns on the sand....it was actually exhilarating....am planning to try my skills against them at least on one occassion during my stay here....
We were present for a security talk by the District Commandant of police in Takoradi....He was very precise in his speech and said that in Takoradi crime is very low...which is great to hear...People here are also very friendly....
Anyway after the talk by the police folks, we were also given a small service listing by our hotel manager Charles Hackman and he is agreat guy who wishes to give us the best possible service to make our stay as memorable as possible....
Had dinner in Akroma plaza and I tried Fufu which is something like a mix of idli,mashed poatatoes and yam....and palm nut soup....Interesting ombination...and finally we wanted some fried ice cream...but good for me that it was not there....
Tomorrow we start work with our partners in Ghana and am looking forward to it.....
Takoradi is part of the twin city Sekondi-Takoradi and has been the epicenter of one the biggest oil finds in western Africa....It was a sleepy fishing hamlet and but is currently in the danger of being overrun by the American and the European Oil companies....The twin cities can be divided into two parts....The Dutch Sekondi complete with it's colonial building and colonial architecture very remiscent of the fort area in Mumbai or the Writers building area in Kolkata....and Takoradi which is a lazy fishing village quite like Palolem Beach in Goa or Kovalam Beach in Kerela.....
After a ride through town, picked up water and other necessities and lunch.... We hit the beach....The water was lovely and we must have been there for almost 2-3 hours and I swam a lot....it was reminiscent of Kerela and Goa as you had white sand, swaying palms and of course football....
Ghanians are very organised when it comes to football and ultra skilled and it was interesting to watch as they weaved intricate patterns on the sand....it was actually exhilarating....am planning to try my skills against them at least on one occassion during my stay here....
We were present for a security talk by the District Commandant of police in Takoradi....He was very precise in his speech and said that in Takoradi crime is very low...which is great to hear...People here are also very friendly....
Anyway after the talk by the police folks, we were also given a small service listing by our hotel manager Charles Hackman and he is agreat guy who wishes to give us the best possible service to make our stay as memorable as possible....
Had dinner in Akroma plaza and I tried Fufu which is something like a mix of idli,mashed poatatoes and yam....and palm nut soup....Interesting ombination...and finally we wanted some fried ice cream...but good for me that it was not there....
Tomorrow we start work with our partners in Ghana and am looking forward to it.....
Day 3- My African Safari
Feb 21st is the big day...Today we get to meet Barbara from CDC and also other folks from various ministries who are going to speak about the economic vision of Ghana....
After breakfast, met up with the remaining 3 folks of our team, Yaw, Kacie and Rosa...and did they have a interesting experience last night.....In their flight, some had a heart situation which could easily have reculted in far serious problems and thankfully he got saved....and more pertitently they came to the Elking hotel to find that it was overbooked and they did not have any place....They were going to be shifted to new hotel....They did settle down into the new hotel after almost 2 hours of concalls discussions and decisions...anyway they had a good night sleep and after breakfast we are ready to hear from Barbara and the Ministry folks....
Listening to the Ministry folks especially Ministry of Trade and Commerce as well as the Minsitry of Telecommunication, I was driven back to Nehru's "Temples of modern India"....A time when India desparately wanted to create home based Industry and self reliance as oppossed to imports and foreign capital....And actually it did serve our needs well at that point of time...especially the 60's and the seventies....
90% plus of registered business in Ghana are MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises) and they have major challenges like Access to Capital, Markets etc....Also came to know that the interest rate is almost 28% plus for corporate borrowing and corporate tax stands at a staggering 35%....I was reminded once again of India in the 90's as we are waiting to be unleashed onto the world and which finally the govt of those times allowed us to do....1992 and the great Indian liberalisation....
Ghana, I believe is also at that tipping point because the govt of the country has invested significantly in telecommunications and infrastructure and the country virtually sits on a huge crude supermarket...with exciting offshore finds around Takoradi (where we are put up) and potential finds onshore also.... The talk given by the person from Ghana National Petroleum Corp was amazing and very well appreciated....It was also interesting to see that most of the exploration work is being done by American and European firms and there was no ONGC Videsh and Sinopec .... surprising but I am sure that we will see one of the two definitely joust for their share of this oil supermarket.....
Honestly , i hope the discovery brings wealth and prosperity to the Ghanian people who are just great and friendly....btw contrary to perceptions...I think Ghana is a very safe African country....and I feel very happy to be here....
Anyway after the talk, we were famished and we ran down for lunch....Lunch was again exotic, Jollof (Fried rice), Barracuda with white sauce, Grilled chicken, Kelewele (Barbara tells us that the street version is the best .... but cholera is around so I guess sampling will not be easy)..... and some vegetables.....
After lunch, we took the bus to Takoradi approx 180 Km's from Accra .....The bus trip was great reminded me of my college days and it was a discovery of each other on very personal aspects....I realise that this trip is going to be a great opportunity for all of us to learn about our cultures our choices and preferences....
Anyway we have reached Takoradi and I love the Valley Beach Hotel....Lovely rooms and internet that zips....And th best part there is a fan in my room apart from the Air conditioner...I can sleep well as I will not miss the Mumbai/India feeling of having a whirring noise while I sleep....
We had some great political and development discusions as we sat down for dinner on the terrace at the hotel....the food was excellent....Shrimp provencale and steamed rice....Guys and Girls you have to bear with me on food descriptions....it is the best way on my personal front to describe culture....
Anyway ciao for now...tucking into bed and it is king size ....hope to have a good nights sleep and keep watching this space.....
After breakfast, met up with the remaining 3 folks of our team, Yaw, Kacie and Rosa...and did they have a interesting experience last night.....In their flight, some had a heart situation which could easily have reculted in far serious problems and thankfully he got saved....and more pertitently they came to the Elking hotel to find that it was overbooked and they did not have any place....They were going to be shifted to new hotel....They did settle down into the new hotel after almost 2 hours of concalls discussions and decisions...anyway they had a good night sleep and after breakfast we are ready to hear from Barbara and the Ministry folks....
Listening to the Ministry folks especially Ministry of Trade and Commerce as well as the Minsitry of Telecommunication, I was driven back to Nehru's "Temples of modern India"....A time when India desparately wanted to create home based Industry and self reliance as oppossed to imports and foreign capital....And actually it did serve our needs well at that point of time...especially the 60's and the seventies....
90% plus of registered business in Ghana are MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises) and they have major challenges like Access to Capital, Markets etc....Also came to know that the interest rate is almost 28% plus for corporate borrowing and corporate tax stands at a staggering 35%....I was reminded once again of India in the 90's as we are waiting to be unleashed onto the world and which finally the govt of those times allowed us to do....1992 and the great Indian liberalisation....
Ghana, I believe is also at that tipping point because the govt of the country has invested significantly in telecommunications and infrastructure and the country virtually sits on a huge crude supermarket...with exciting offshore finds around Takoradi (where we are put up) and potential finds onshore also.... The talk given by the person from Ghana National Petroleum Corp was amazing and very well appreciated....It was also interesting to see that most of the exploration work is being done by American and European firms and there was no ONGC Videsh and Sinopec .... surprising but I am sure that we will see one of the two definitely joust for their share of this oil supermarket.....
Honestly , i hope the discovery brings wealth and prosperity to the Ghanian people who are just great and friendly....btw contrary to perceptions...I think Ghana is a very safe African country....and I feel very happy to be here....
Anyway after the talk, we were famished and we ran down for lunch....Lunch was again exotic, Jollof (Fried rice), Barracuda with white sauce, Grilled chicken, Kelewele (Barbara tells us that the street version is the best .... but cholera is around so I guess sampling will not be easy)..... and some vegetables.....
After lunch, we took the bus to Takoradi approx 180 Km's from Accra .....The bus trip was great reminded me of my college days and it was a discovery of each other on very personal aspects....I realise that this trip is going to be a great opportunity for all of us to learn about our cultures our choices and preferences....
Anyway we have reached Takoradi and I love the Valley Beach Hotel....Lovely rooms and internet that zips....And th best part there is a fan in my room apart from the Air conditioner...I can sleep well as I will not miss the Mumbai/India feeling of having a whirring noise while I sleep....
We had some great political and development discusions as we sat down for dinner on the terrace at the hotel....the food was excellent....Shrimp provencale and steamed rice....Guys and Girls you have to bear with me on food descriptions....it is the best way on my personal front to describe culture....
Anyway ciao for now...tucking into bed and it is king size ....hope to have a good nights sleep and keep watching this space.....
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Day 2 - African Safari....
It's 12 PM on Friday 19th, 2009 and we have just come back from the A&C Super market in East Legon in Accra...stocked ourselves with water, a power adapter and we are awaiting our first meeting with our colleagues....Carolyn is expected at 12:10 PM....
Just found out from the reception that Carolyn has arrived and has checked in...spoke to herand decided we would meet up at around 7 in the evening for dinner....
Walked down in search of the Golden Oyester Sea Food restaurant and saw directions but could not find them....so took the best alternative and took a local "rocking" taxi for 2 Cedis to a newly opened Chinese restaurant called "The Palace".... The Palace reminds me of the Chinese restaurants that you get in the Eastern part of India ..... to be precise the ones in Tangra, Kolkata....
We had a great meal and this is the first time after Perth , 07 that I am tasting Chinese food made the Indian style or rather the Bombaiyaa style....even the taste is the same...After a hearty lunch, me & Prasad walked down to hotel a good half an hour walk in the hot sun ....I think if i do this every day...I have a chance to reduce the mountain which always seems to build around my tummy....:?;-))
While doing blogs etc, I listened to AR Rehman's music in Delhi 6 and listening to the home country music in a foreign land truly gives u a great feeling...way to go ARR...also listened to this wonderful rendition of " Blowing in the wind" by Stevie Wonder for Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary of singing.....
Me and Prasad watched 2 movies, one the Hollywood adaptation of the hit game Eidos made called "The Hitman" and another historical movie about the crusades and Jerusalem called " Kingdom of Heaven"....Hitman was an outright masala action movie...pure entertainment of the rough kind and the second one was much more softer....
It almost 6:30 PM and I will go and catch a quick shower and be ready for dinner at 7...Our rooms are quite nice and cozy at the Elking Hotel and I am reading Nandan Nilekani's "Imagining India".....
We had dinner together Carolyn, Prasad and myself and we sort of discovered each other and our cultures....The food was also exotic.....I had Jollof which is like Thai fried rice and Grilled chicken with brown sauce....Carolyn tried Banku and grilled Tilapia fish....Banku is made from Yam's and Cassava and is a really heavy dish....It's typically had with hand and is mixed with dips like tomato salsa and pepper sauce....Interesting food...and hopefully healthy....
It's almost 9 PM and we meet Volker....Volker had a great experience because he could not find the hotel shuttle and finally came to the hotel with the help of some locals (in exchange for a little tip....of course)....Volker is German in the true sense , He is tall 1.98 m and is a great guy....While chatting up with Volker...Tasha walked in and we exchanged pleasantries and chatted a bit before winding down for the night....
I am reading the preamble of Nandan Nilekani's book and I have a eerie feeling because I actually had to encounter many of these challenges as I was growing up especially the challenges of opportunity and education.......
I hope to get some sleep tonight as hopefully I will not be as jet lagged as yesterday....Ciao for now Good Night.....
Just found out from the reception that Carolyn has arrived and has checked in...spoke to herand decided we would meet up at around 7 in the evening for dinner....
Walked down in search of the Golden Oyester Sea Food restaurant and saw directions but could not find them....so took the best alternative and took a local "rocking" taxi for 2 Cedis to a newly opened Chinese restaurant called "The Palace".... The Palace reminds me of the Chinese restaurants that you get in the Eastern part of India ..... to be precise the ones in Tangra, Kolkata....
We had a great meal and this is the first time after Perth , 07 that I am tasting Chinese food made the Indian style or rather the Bombaiyaa style....even the taste is the same...After a hearty lunch, me & Prasad walked down to hotel a good half an hour walk in the hot sun ....I think if i do this every day...I have a chance to reduce the mountain which always seems to build around my tummy....:?;-))
While doing blogs etc, I listened to AR Rehman's music in Delhi 6 and listening to the home country music in a foreign land truly gives u a great feeling...way to go ARR...also listened to this wonderful rendition of " Blowing in the wind" by Stevie Wonder for Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary of singing.....
Me and Prasad watched 2 movies, one the Hollywood adaptation of the hit game Eidos made called "The Hitman" and another historical movie about the crusades and Jerusalem called " Kingdom of Heaven"....Hitman was an outright masala action movie...pure entertainment of the rough kind and the second one was much more softer....
It almost 6:30 PM and I will go and catch a quick shower and be ready for dinner at 7...Our rooms are quite nice and cozy at the Elking Hotel and I am reading Nandan Nilekani's "Imagining India".....
We had dinner together Carolyn, Prasad and myself and we sort of discovered each other and our cultures....The food was also exotic.....I had Jollof which is like Thai fried rice and Grilled chicken with brown sauce....Carolyn tried Banku and grilled Tilapia fish....Banku is made from Yam's and Cassava and is a really heavy dish....It's typically had with hand and is mixed with dips like tomato salsa and pepper sauce....Interesting food...and hopefully healthy....
It's almost 9 PM and we meet Volker....Volker had a great experience because he could not find the hotel shuttle and finally came to the hotel with the help of some locals (in exchange for a little tip....of course)....Volker is German in the true sense , He is tall 1.98 m and is a great guy....While chatting up with Volker...Tasha walked in and we exchanged pleasantries and chatted a bit before winding down for the night....
I am reading the preamble of Nandan Nilekani's book and I have a eerie feeling because I actually had to encounter many of these challenges as I was growing up especially the challenges of opportunity and education.......
I hope to get some sleep tonight as hopefully I will not be as jet lagged as yesterday....Ciao for now Good Night.....
Friday, February 20, 2009
Akwabah....Welcome to Africa Day 1
Akwabah...or welcome as the Ghanian's say....We had our first experience of Africa aswe looked out of our plane windows to see Africa's tallest mountain Mount Kilimanjaro....It's look just like I had read it in the novel " The Snows of Kilimanjaro"....Towering above the clouds , you can actually see a bit of ice on the top which is a volcanic crater...
After a heart breakfast ....we landed in the Jomo Kenyata airport...and were greeted by a weather very reminscent of the Bangalore of the old.....a nice nip in the air.....andof course the never ending undulating grasslands and the flat topped accacia trees....After about an hour of listening to music and generally walking around aimlessly....we were called for our flight to Accra....
It's is a 5 hour 10 minute flight to Accra from Nairobi and flies over places like Lagos,Douhala etc....The flight was very much reminescant of good ol' Jet Airways....and ourseat mate was a Sierra Leonian (of Blood Diamond fame).....The flight was largely uneventfulexcept that I was quite surprised that our mate actualy had a great deal of respect for India (He also knew about the under $ 100 Simputer) and said that we had moved beyond thedeveloping country bracket....Felt nice and proud...
Then came the biggest surprise and that was the food...The meal option was chicken and riceand guess what it was a straight lift of our traditional pulao and chicken curry...augurswell for the rest of the stay as food for me as you all know is an integral part of my life...
Anyway landed in Accra about an hour ahead of schedule and got through immigration without much difficulty...
Outside the airport, it was like Kolkata or Mumbai...people running around to help youwith your luggage for a tip of course....It almost felt like home....Danielfrom the Elking Hotel picked us up and after a 10 minute drive checked into the New ElkingHotel...
The part of Accra where we are staying is the East Legon part and believe it or not, itis a welcome change to see lovely houses as oppossed to just apartment blocks....It's a bitlike India small towns eg. Jamshedpur (where I grew up) or Ranchi (where MS Dhoni grew up) :-))....
After freshening up, it was time for lunch and I tried some African food - Peanut Soup with Chickenand Rice Cakes and lo and behold I was transported to Kerela because the food there is justthe same....great beginning as far the culinary journey is concerned.....
After the meal....Jet lag and big time Jet Lag hit in...(Ghana is on GMT so 5.5 hours ahead of India)and the combined after effects of beer and jet lag meant a long sleep.....
It's 4:30 AM and I am awake and listening to CNN, BBC, S Sports...Net Net cant sleep...Waitingfor daylight and a looksie of Accra....
It's finally daylight and me and Prasad have gone a for a short walk around the area...it'sgot a nice wind and is relatively cooler...Time for breakfast....
PS: The CDC folks Barbara and Edem are taking great care of us...We are waiting for the others to join in....
Keep checking my blog for daily happenings...signing off...Slum dog Millionairre time...
After a heart breakfast ....we landed in the Jomo Kenyata airport...and were greeted by a weather very reminscent of the Bangalore of the old.....a nice nip in the air.....andof course the never ending undulating grasslands and the flat topped accacia trees....After about an hour of listening to music and generally walking around aimlessly....we were called for our flight to Accra....
It's is a 5 hour 10 minute flight to Accra from Nairobi and flies over places like Lagos,Douhala etc....The flight was very much reminescant of good ol' Jet Airways....and ourseat mate was a Sierra Leonian (of Blood Diamond fame).....The flight was largely uneventfulexcept that I was quite surprised that our mate actualy had a great deal of respect for India (He also knew about the under $ 100 Simputer) and said that we had moved beyond thedeveloping country bracket....Felt nice and proud...
Then came the biggest surprise and that was the food...The meal option was chicken and riceand guess what it was a straight lift of our traditional pulao and chicken curry...augurswell for the rest of the stay as food for me as you all know is an integral part of my life...
Anyway landed in Accra about an hour ahead of schedule and got through immigration without much difficulty...
Outside the airport, it was like Kolkata or Mumbai...people running around to help youwith your luggage for a tip of course....It almost felt like home....Danielfrom the Elking Hotel picked us up and after a 10 minute drive checked into the New ElkingHotel...
The part of Accra where we are staying is the East Legon part and believe it or not, itis a welcome change to see lovely houses as oppossed to just apartment blocks....It's a bitlike India small towns eg. Jamshedpur (where I grew up) or Ranchi (where MS Dhoni grew up) :-))....
After freshening up, it was time for lunch and I tried some African food - Peanut Soup with Chickenand Rice Cakes and lo and behold I was transported to Kerela because the food there is justthe same....great beginning as far the culinary journey is concerned.....
After the meal....Jet lag and big time Jet Lag hit in...(Ghana is on GMT so 5.5 hours ahead of India)and the combined after effects of beer and jet lag meant a long sleep.....
It's 4:30 AM and I am awake and listening to CNN, BBC, S Sports...Net Net cant sleep...Waitingfor daylight and a looksie of Accra....
It's finally daylight and me and Prasad have gone a for a short walk around the area...it'sgot a nice wind and is relatively cooler...Time for breakfast....
PS: The CDC folks Barbara and Edem are taking great care of us...We are waiting for the others to join in....
Keep checking my blog for daily happenings...signing off...Slum dog Millionairre time...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
My African Safari begins.....
I start my African safari tomorrow as part of a corporate services corps assignment in Takoradi, Ghana.....Yellow fever vaccines taken, anti malarial tablets taken and overall very excited to be a part of a multi-cultural team (3 US, 1 German, 1 South African, 2 Indians & 1 Italian).....
Will return in 5 weeks time till then.....
Follow my African safari on this blog.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
