Pet Lover's Paradise at Galiff Street, Kolkata

I have been thinking of visiting the Galiff Street in Kolkata since I got here 2 years back. Used to go home every weekend hence missed on this. Galiff street sits every sunday from early morning to evening & is like a Plant & Pet Lover's Paradise :-)

Took 215A bus from New Town to Shyam Bazar Metro & walked down from there.. The street starts with a huge section of vendors selling plants. Good to find a lot of plants at one place & dont need to go scouting different nurseries!! I got some of my favourites here including Kalanchoe verticillata :)





Lets a closer look at those rose plants


Around 10 am, the market had already crowded up!




With the terrestrial or land-Plants section phasing out, started the Aqua zone with fishes, Aquarium plants & snails :) :)  That was actually my main purpose of visiting the place..




Was amazed to find so many of the blood worms & black worms as well :)




We just strayed further to check out the Cute Chicks, Puppies, Rabbits, Mice, Guinea Pigs, Birds :-)


We returned back to the start point combing the streets with what we missed.. Couldn't find a good deal for Shrimps / Prawns and could not find any Neon Tetras anywhere :(. However could lay hands on some Aquarose and ferns :)

And to my delight found a bonsai (Ficus microcarpa) for a great price around ₹ 500 for a 6 yr old!! Walked around for some nice Danios, Apple snails & a yellow hibiscus pot :). Took a taxi back home as we already exhausted!

Admiring the catch back at home :) :)

Cheetah-Leopard-Jaguar

So this is a topic which generates confusion. What is the difference between

• Cheetah
• Leopard
• Jaguar
• Panther

Are they all different species or similar. Are they related?
Actually the Cheetah is smaller than the Leopard & the Jaguar.The last two are different species, both sturdy and built to climb trees.

And a Panther may be a black Leopard and/or Jaguar.

Topic	Cheetah	Leopard	Jaguar
Tear Lines	On the face	No	No
Black Spots	Evenly spaced Oval black spots	Complex Flower like black spots called Rosettes	Bigger Rosettes with spots in the centre.
Region	Parts of Africa & Asia	Parts of Africa & South Asia	Parts of South America.
Others	Small Head	Robust head & body Structure. Climbs on trees & Stalks prey	Robust head & body Structure. Climbs trees

You can be what you want to be

It's funny how many times we hear this phrase "You can be what you want to be"....sounds like wishful thinking.....

I even get to hear "you live in an idealised world..wake up...get real." or "yeah..This sounds good in books....not in real life"...so on.

Where words fall short, actions come afront to dazzle us :)

Oscar Pistorius lives yet another of his days that infuses reality into idealism as he runs off to glory in the London Olympics 2012.

 

Known as the blade runner, this man from South Africa debuted yesterday in the able-bodied London Olympics after a long struggle & litigations that overturned the International Committee's decision (of blocking him from the events). He posted a second-place finish in a 400m heat guaranteeing a place in today's final race. He is the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics.

The athelete's legs were amputed below the knee before his first birthday & runs with the aid of carbon fibre artificial limbs. He has come up to win numerous medals in international events.

It is an honour to watch "the fastest man on no legs" sprint on the tracks of the greatest sporting event!

And that's how it is done

Well, after being pretty much impressed by the Smoked-Flambe-Pasta at a pasta place, the cook in me was inspired to try it out..

”Food on fire”, “Smoked”, “Roasted”...I didn't have a clue what was it called....several google searches later, I finally found the word, “Flambe”...meaning “flamed” in French.

Ah, so there it was.... But I could not find a single page which would tell me the secret to replicate the flambe without alcohol :-/ I was like damn these firangs, puting alcohol in food as well :P

I was damn sure the pasta place did not use alcohol, nor do the awesome cooks in India.

So...

Some RnD later, I found out the secret... thought of sharing it with people who wanna try it :)

Steps:

1. Put the (thick) pan on high flame for about a min. 
2. Pour in some cooking oil and some more flame.
3. Raise the pan and shake it while adding 2 spoons of the paste*

paste*= Giner-garlic paste, half a lemon, some sugar and some water (I used this)...

Well believe it or not, there was some awesome fire, even after putting the pasta toppings on it...

And the pasta was delicious....and by the way, the hand in the pics is mine :)