Tsunami Fundraiser Soccer Tournament

Palo Alto Panthers

The Net-IP organized a co-ed soccer tournament as a part of their Tsunami fundraising drive. I was part of the Palo Alto Panthers which won the tournament. Some pieces of trivia and statistical highlights- None of the team members lived in Palo Alto, there were 3 Maneesh's in the team of 7... and the football in the picture was not a soccer ball.

I had broken my toe nail in a game the week before, and was under penicillin and analgesics for a root canal treatment. Funny why playing with such a condition is called 'fighting tooth and nail'.

Hot Sauce Tasting Club

Hot Sauce Tasting Kit

The folks in Montreal indulge in a hot-sauce tasting event featuring some of the best hot sauces from around the world, guaranteed to incapacitate any taste bud that comes in its path. Connesieurs would distinguish the different ingredients- cayenne, chipotle, habañero, jalapeno, serrano, tobasco and mustard in between gulps of soda, heavy panting and wiping of sweat from the brow. The consensus was that Vasco's home made concoction was the tops. Off-the-shelf: Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce and the Ass Reaper topped.


'Hottest' Entrants

Visite de Montréal / Montreal Visit

Note: Only a few phrases in this post could be rendered bilingual as the author is anglophone...francly speaking.

I made my first trip of the year to Montreal, a city referred to by the Insight Guide to Montreal as the most interesting city in north america ahead of even San Francisco. It surely had all the makings, only I made it during winter when the temperatures were as low as -15 degrees C. The temperatures did get to -2 degrees C at which point the natives commended me on my excellent timing in getting here...perfect to enjoy the warm weather.



Rue Saint-Denis / Saint-Denis Street

I made several forays into the downtown areas that are active in Winter- Crescent St, Saint-Catherine, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Denis, my biggest find was an Indian Restaurant on Laurent St- Atma run by a punjabi family. The food was great and the decor/ambience excellent. My eyes went misty as I sipped the tasty, warm Mulligatawny using my near frost-bitten hands.

Picture of the restaurant entrance included...there was no way I could tell its name from the front door sign.


Atma: Cusine Indienne

Photos taken with a Treo 600 cellphone. My digital camera of 5 years- a Nikon Coolpix 950 broke down...exactly a few months after the extended warranty on it expired :(