Whole-family hangout at mamaghar, honacha 3g with ND and bhauju, metal shopping, Ranjana soda with cousin, Yala cafe and shop checkout and meal, farewell hangout at Electric Pagoda and cafe, the doobies, evening party at mamaghar [Sun 30]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

End of the month, end of the journal posts for my project 100. I'm 30% into it with this post. The hope was to have been done by today, and if I get 40 ish posts done today, which is unlikely but not in the realm of impossibility I'll have 40-ish posts left. Left over two regular working days, it's not something that is hard to achieve. Fingers crossed if I can get that done, the next goal is working on my personal website and putting my works as 'showcase' to allure potential clients and employers. That would likely take me a couple of weeks. It'll be a nice change to work on something I'm hoping others will see instead of this, which I keep hidden from the world. Right, let's move on.

The wedding ceremonies having been completed and everybody in a relaxed mood, we were all gathered at mamaghar, for very soon people would start filtering away back to their cities and countries and who knows when a gathering of similar nature might happen again.

In the afternoon ND bhauju and I went to honacha 3g and had a grand lunch once again. Man I am never done with newari food! Then we did some metal shopping with bhauju, not a great amount, but bhauju bought more  metals than they could take back with them, almost!

Took a taxi to New Road, where we had Ranjana ko soda, they both enjoyed it a bunch! Walked all the way to Thamel, where we had a nice meal (a couple of hours had passed between us eating at honacha, and metal shopping, coming to New York, Ranjana, and walking to Thamel). Again, this place is a fantastic deal for money. I checked in the shop next door for mad honey, they said it was not the right season, and the stale honey wouldn't be too good. I'm beginning to suspect the authenticity of mad honey to begin with at this point.

Bhauju was still shopping, ND and I went to Electric Pagoda with their friends, the remaining ones who hadn't left yet. Had a final meal together, I got high. Bhauju joined us, and a morose, happy farewell conversation was had.

Took a taxi to mamaghar, where we had a nice big feast!

The mediocrity of Raithane

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Raithane, in the nice bougie part of Lalitpur, portends to present traditional Nepali foods and desserts in modern form, less of a fusion restaurant and more of a re-imagined cuisine. As somebody who likes eating food, is interested in culinary traditions and history, and loves engineering new food products, this was an exciting opportunity for me to understand what's the contemporary food scene in Kathmandu related to my interests. To put it differently, I wanted to like the place, I really really did!

Instead, the mediocrity of the foods, and the complete collapse of the service was a big disappointment. It needn't have been this way.

First the service: two of our ordered items couldn't be made, they told us 45 minutes after we'd taken our seats and ready to dig into the dishes. Then some item was burnt, they said, and it'd take them 30 minutes to recreate it. So on and on and on. It got tiring. The things they brought were...not specially inspired or creative, but derivative of existing brunch meals given a 'Nepali twist', if that phrase can be uttered without damaging one's eyeballs in the ensuing roll.

The dessert, which was supposed to be a khuwa cheesecake is what I was most excited about. I live for desserts -- and by the looks of it, might die by them, but that's a separate conversation -- adore cheesecake and am a big fan of khuwa. So the combo should have been the perfect dish for me. Not to be so, the dish hadn't been properly 'integrated', it would have been better as just khuwa, and a separate properly made cheesecake. The fusion was an abomination that just didn't work.

I really really really wanted to like this place, appreciate the cooks and the creator, and be proud about the work they've done. Unfortunately it's not in the cards as things are right now.

At SNR's home with JD, hosted by mother and bhauju, 18 different dishes, long wait, photo with Snr's family, to grandparents from the road behind the airport, big party with everyone in, evening hang at our place [Sat 29]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Took a pathao ride to a chowk near SNR's place. Her mom was to host Jd and me for lunch. Because of issues...I got there far to early, had to spend about a half-hour at a nearby restaurant grabbing a fruit juice because waiting outside like a nonce wasn't an option. Eventually we walked in to SNR's place and I found it amazing how much the neighborhood had changed in the 14years since I had last been there.

SNR's mom and bhauju hosted us, his brother had gone for an office event. They served eighteen rounds of dishes, as I've written only a few posts before, man those newa people sure know how to do feasts and foods. Snr's aunt came in a bit too, and we ended up spending like 4 hours talking and hanging out. In the end we took a photo with the two of us and his family.

Took a pathao ride from there to grandparents' place, taking the road behind the airport, the other side of the city. For some reason I had the impression it was under-developed and didn't have much going on, but that was a misunderstanding on my part, the roads are clear and quick, and there's even small towns strewn about.

At grandparents' there was a big party where everybody was there, spent a few hours there. Returned home with parents, where we had a big get-together with folks from mamaghar. Three feasts in one day!

What a life lived

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

I've made no money,
gained no knowledge,
and won no merit.
And now my time is up.
- Dandin, Vidhyakara's Anthology of Sanskrit Poetry (10th Century CE) edited by David HH Engalls.

Maybe I should have a religious garb for official occasions

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Yeah, like my parents got me a rudraksha ko jewellery, what if I bought myself a full rudraksha ko maala, rudraksha ko hand bands, a nice white pure dhoti, janaai, sandalwood for my skin and camphor stuff and went all in for religious stuff? And oh would I mind walking around in Seattle in the summer wearing dhoti? It's not a terrible idea, t-shirt on top, and a nice tight-fitting expensive dhoti for men on the bottom would give me an air of wisdom and transcendence that I can only dream of achieving through more straightforward means. Dress for the role you want to take, they say, the role I want is that of a respected philosopher, leader, a spiritual master, surely that would help me.

Unless of course the racists and skinheads attacked me due to me sticking out like a sore thumb. It would be a hate-crime but there's no way things would turn out in my favor, so that sounds like a stupid idea all things considered.

When I discovered actually I'm quite ugly, Ranikot trek

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

We were at the end of our Ranikot hike and either of the J's took a photo of me at the resort, by 'angel wings'. It was by far the most disgusting, unflattering embarrassing photo of myself I've ever seen. I was dirty, out of shape, old, unshaven and so raggedy. I was a bit depressed for a couple of days truth be told, send the photo to my sister who said it wasn't fair because the angles were all wrong and I was just done through a hike, but the discrepancy between my self-image and reality was so big it was a big shock to the system.

And that's how I discovered that actually I'm old balding, fat and quite ugly. Yikes. Not that it matters as none of these values define me anyway, it's like a pianist being told actually she's quite a bad taekwondo performer, but it hurts because it's valued generally so much.

Ah well.

Life goes on.

TD is dressed like a traditional married lady, five veggies dal and rice in mamaghar, TM birthday celebration, long hangout at yala cafe and coffee shop, cleaning up seeds from weed, latenight Sam's bar, fun walk, early out [Fri 28]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

From their hotel TD and bhinaju came to mamaghar, all dressed like a married hady with garlands and jewellery on, and it  was strange. They went to Pashupatinath, all the way inside and met with the head panda.

Morning bhat was with five veggies and dal, m had gone all out with the celebrations! We chilled there all day long, and celebrated TM's birthday in the early evening, with a cake and snacks.

Took a taxiride to  Yala Cafe and Coffee shop, I'll write a review on it later (to be posted to May maybe), but it's such a reasonably priced place! There we were all 15 of us, Td's friends and cousins, celebrating the end of all the official ceremonies, and the beginning of their marital life. I was responsible for cleaning up the seeds and branches from the weed, a task I took extra seriously, spending hours and hours on it. Eventually we toked the fruits of my labor, and fun was had by all.

We were at Yala until 11 ish, possibly a little after, I found one of td's friends funny and charming but acted like a silly fool. On our walk from Yala to Sam's bar, where we had to head since this place was shutting, she invited me to her town and promised to show me around but I said...fucking way...no. TD ended up paying half, possibly a third of what she was expecting to pay, she found it shockingly affordable and cool.

The Sam's bar situation was not great, there wasn't much space, the table was long and difficult to converse through, and everybody was tired and sleepy, not least because of the tokes we had been constantly toking up, including at the rooftop of the bar. In the end, we headed out early as it was insanely tiring and nobody could take it anymore. Apparently the gang stayed in for a couple more hours, but not much longer.

Sitar and qawwali listening

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

On some weeks I totally binge out on listening to sitar music and qawwali, and for a moment or so consider seriously taking sitar classes to learn to play the instrument. Then the reminder that the music implement would occupy all of my urban apartment's living room pops up and the desire is restrained. But man, the music is so deep, and I didn't even grow up listening to this, but I get the feels, for real, and it's so good. I wish I listened to music more consistently, instead of what I do, which is once every couple of weeks.

Relationship between pets and people in Nepal

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

The relationship between pets and people in Kathmandu, and in Nepal generally is interesting. People don't own pets, they co-exist with them for the most part.

I was in Newa Lahana in February, a cute little cat kept purring at me after I was done with my meal. I petted him and ask the staff if it was the hotel cat. They replied, it's a cat that shows up every so often, we feed it and it stays around, sometimes it gets bored and goes elsewhere. It's out for a couple of weeks even sometimes, and eventually when it feels like it comes back and we feed it.

SNR's mom shared similar experience with cats. There's apparently a litter of cats that grew up on their yard, but one day the mother abandoned them. Eventually all the cats went their own way, and came back every so often when they were hungry or just bored. Some were adopted by families, some apparently died of various reasons, but every so often they would show up. Eventually the children had their own kids, and the grandchildren of the original cat would come visit sometimes to be fed, if they felt like. Some cats came more regularly than others, she said.

In the mountains the villagers have a similar relationship with dogs. The dogs follow the trekkers, are fed by them, and once they end their trek, they latch on to somebody else. When there's nobody else to latch on to,the villagers feed them. That's actually how the stray dogs in Kathmandu live too. They are, very technically speaking, not super duper stray: they're community-owned creatures that are fed a bone, a biscuit, a box of dog-food at a time by kind random strangers. My parents feed grains to pigeons and other birds in the morning, the dogs are like that, except well they don't fly, and they can bite people or get hit by cars on occasions. They also tend to find amongst themselves, which pigeons tend to not do.

This is such a different modality of relationship between animals and people compared to the 'West', by which I mean large American cities. I've not checked out rural American communities, maybe they maintain a similar relationship with their creatures but I have my doubts, the people here are too individualistic and selfish for such a relationship to thrive.

Day of the wedding! All the events, so many people, so much food, hard to describe, the event, explaining, coordinating yadda yadda yadda, long journey of the return trip, random new friend's stay-abroad home, lost in the boonies, driven by sb's friend, rush and rest and recovery at mamaghar [Thu 27]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

The band came in, joyous and dancing, playing for hours, we put garlands on the groom's family as they entered the makeshift flowery gates, and the ceremony lasted for hours and hours when everybody who was not directly involved either got drunk, paid slight attention to alien traditions, or cared not a whit about the fiery happenings. It was the day of the wedding!

It was busy, many things happened, and Td was forced to take hundreds of photos against her wishes. My family from the other side came, and I spent some time with them. Most of the day for me was spent explaining the happenings of the day to TD's friends. Because td's boss's daughter didn't know anybody there, I talked her through the event and became her buddy.

Around 4 in the evening the ceremonies ended, and it was time to go home. I was in the car with Sb and her friend. We had to drop my new friend to her place otherwise she wouldn't get home until the night. It took us a long time to figure out the logistics of the whole situation, because we wanted to get tea or drinks or light khaja somewhere, but the locality was such that there was nothing to look forward to. In the end we went to the house she was living in, her host-parents' and spent about an hour chatting up with them, teasing her.

We were lost in the freaking boonies on our way back because the roads weren't good, it was in the middle of nowhere, and the small towns deep in Bhaktapur are actually slower to drive through than the highway at its very worst evening traffic, something we hadn't considered.

After what felt like hours and hours, we arrived at mamaghar where everybody rested and relaxed, recovering from the weight of events from all of those days. It was over! It was freaking finally over!

Shaandar momo

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Shaandaar momo is a chain of simple steamed momos that has locations in about 15 places in the valley. They make momos in these massive pots, their sauces come in large plastic bottles, all three types of sauces, and you order by the half-plate. During my stay I was able to make it to several of their locations across Kathmandu.

I like them! They're cheap, their sauces are incredible and bountiful, the insides are probably not made with the highest quality of ingredients but their turnaround is high so you're unlikely to get bad or spoiled food, everything has been made in the last five minutes or so. Oh and their sauces are so fucking good by the way if I haven't already said that, the momos are just an excuse to eat the sauce.

The ambiance in all the locations is that of a cavern, a dungeon. Long, windowless rooms with rows and rows of tables, everyone enjoying their momo and spooning their achaars. Two plates here, three plates there, very few people stop at one plate. They sell only momos, that's it. Cold drinks maybe, because the margin is high on them and the expenses minimal, but not much else.

What's to say? Love the tradition, love the whole vibes, let's spread it to the world, show 'em what we're made of! And kick McD's out of the fast food land!

Movie review: Pathan

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

I was tricked into watching the movie Pathan by my parents. I avoided some of the torture of this ridiculous flick my trying to take a nap in the theater, but the loud noises and incessant  songs weren't very conducive to a sound sleeping environment.

Let's start with this: Shah Rukh Khan should feel shame, as a man in his sixties, pairing himself against much younger actresses, and pretending age hasn't taken its toll on him and he's still a ripping-bod 20-something. Shame for showing an unrealistic portrayal of human body, and the male form, shame for disrespecting the viewers with not just absurd plot points but slap-at-your-face explanations and ignoring of common sense and logic that would make even the most forgiving watchers sigh. There's so many plot twists and turns, by the end of the movie one doesn't care anymore, just show us more of the scenery SRK, they beg him, and don't mind we won't complain about the threadbare plot that falls apart even at the lightest of introspection.

This is a complaint about Bollywood I used to have generally, but this movie does it the worse: the song placements are really awful. No complaints about the concept of musical numbers in general, but the way they're forcefully injected into the flow of the storyline is imperfect. Songs are though though, but I was seething as SRK danced with the much younger actresses. Get. A. Life. Dude.

I liked the ridiculousness of the movie though.

Seven stars out of ten.

Morning puja at mamaghar, I'm rubbed with the red thing, wedding prep starts, bhat dal tarkari lunch, picking TD from battisputali, drive to Mrbl, TD in makeup, picking friends up from Srti, hella fantastic mehendi prep, I skip the dance, wonderful event despite the organization confusion [Wed 26]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Went to mamaghar early in the morning, this was the day for haldi and mehendi for TD, so a Big. Freaking. Deal. They rubbed the red besar on me after all the puja and the rubbing on her was finished, I didn't like that and ran away, was later told to tolerate such situations, whatever.

Morning bhat was standard with dal and tarkari, because we were going to the resorts and no greatness was needed.

Got on the big van, picked up the bride, and possibly the groom too, from the hotel they were staying at, and drove to Mrbl. On the way we suspected we'd left the groom's suit at home, but after a few rounds of communications, coordinated with somebody coming after us to pick it up.

TD was going to be doing her makeup, and everybody else was busy with organizing the event. I got in the van and went to Srti, to pick up all of TD's friends, almost a dozen of them. The group took its own sweet time to get ready, and eventually had to be herded into the van.

The mehendi putting-on was on, all of the foreign visitors put it on, the groom's side came in, and the events started. There were many coordination issues with the musical event of the night, due to lack of resources, coordination with the groom's side, and a missed communication on how we'd organize the event, but eventually, after very long and repetitive presentations from certain parties, things moved on. I skipped our dance due to lack of preparation and not having enough time.

There was a slide-show, and then everybody jumped into the dance floor. After the formal event ended, TD's friends hung out and kept partying until wee hours of the morning, I didn't join them because I didn't drink and didn't know anybody and exhaustion has taken hold of me.

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

The folds of her waist are the exudation of allurement
from the three interstices of the creator's fingers,
as he balanced her within his fist,
adding weight to loins below and breasts above.

- Bhavabhuti, from Vidhyakar's Collection of Sanksrit poetry (10th CE), edited by David HH Engalls

Dhokaima's tiramisu: a review

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Dhokaima Cafe at Yala dhoka has the largest tiramisu I've encountered. It's expensive, but so comically huge, it could be enough for desserts for three people! It was juicy and while it wasn't the best tiramisu I've had, it was pretty dang good, for the price-per-weight standard at least. Jbd and I shared it between the too of us in Feb during PhotoKTM and it was still far too big for either of us!

If you're looking to get Tiramisu in Nepal, get this one! Best quality, biggest size, perfect value for money!

Best publicly available toilet in Nepal

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

This is about the best toilet I've visited in Nepal. It's possible this might end up becoming the best toilet I've been to, ever, but there are some other pretty remarkable toilets that come to memory, so we'll hold that distinction for the moment.

The best toilet in Nepal is at the same complex that hosts Museum of Nepali Art and Kathmandu Guest house. There's a free art gallery you can get into, if the guards at KGH stop you, tell them you're going to MONA, and keep walking straight until the gallery is on your left. If you keep going, you'll be back on the street.

Walk right in, and fifteen steps to your right is the door. That's it. That's the best publicly available toilet in Nepal. It has soothing music playing, scent dispensers that make it a pleasure to use, the room is warmed specially it feels like, the toilet seats are soft and comfortable, and clean and hygienic. The water is treated somehow to not create a splash, and all your troubles and stress will disappear as you unwind. Relax. This is your space. When you get out, they have individual paper towels and the handwash is of good quality too. Heaven!

ten out of ten marks for this toilet, may all our publicly available toilet journeys be like this!

Mamaghar all day long, hang out with family and cousins, Hanuman Dhoka with ND and Bhauju, Dalle thamel with cousins and their extended friends, back home in the evening [Tue 25]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

All of us were at mamaghar throughout the day, all the cousins and aunts and uncles. I took ND and bhauju to hanuman dhoka, we ambled about as bhauju bargained and tried to buy trinkets and antique items from this ancient store that claims to have been the suppliers for the former royal family. Their friends showed up too, some more hanging out, and then we walked to Thamel, had dinner at Dalle, it was mostly momo and stuff, their meals are decent, not specially good.

We shopped for a few things the family wanted at the convenience store in the corner, and then took the taxi using pathao in the evening. ND claimed it was the cheapest ride from Thamel to home he'd ever had, in all the 10 years he'd been taking those rides, and that the online taxi system had really changed the situation for so much better!

PhotoKTM photo exhibition in Kathmandu: a review

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

This is a review of the PhotoKTM photo exhibition organized in the February of 2023. I know a few people who were in the organization committee, which would otherwise influence my impression of the event, were it not for the fact that they don't know I'm writing this, this is backdated like hell, and also I don't give an 'eff about nothin' man. Dunno, not a big deal.

I was really really impressed. The opening ceremonies were so artistic, so creative and inspirational. So strange yet approachable, loved that!

The exhibits were spread out throughout the old city of Patan, it took us two days to go through all of them. Some were better than others, but the general quality was quite high. I would go through pretty decent pains to be able to attend this event the next time. Some were rather boring, or perhaps we were knackered out by the end of the day and couldn't be bothered to go through the whole of exhibit. The volunteers were extraordinarily smart, driven and motivated, and offered to engage with us even as we had critiques of the exhibits. Man if one could get such volunteers as permanent employees at scale, their workplace would thrive and be extremely competitive at a global scale.

My only issue with the exhibition, not really anything to with organization or logistics but the content of the exhibits itself, was some of them were de-growther and came from a strange left-leaning noble-savages narrative. But that's the goal of exhibits like these: to start the conversation and provoke thought among the viewers. In that sense they completely succeeded.

So so well organized, planned and thought-out. Highly recommend folks attend the next round. I just wish I'd been able to make the dating event, stupidly organized a separate event to co-incide with that and was unwilling to reschedule it.

The young people in Kathmandu need to get a room, for real, yiiikes

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

These pages have borne witness to my tales of young people doing inappropriate things in public places in Kathmandu. One dare not sit on an empty-ish public bus, particularly towards  the back or in the dark if there's a couple nearby, because they will for certain start making out or pawing each other. The makeout culture in Nepal is really out of control, something that I've never seen in the U.S. It's understandable...they don't have a private space, getting hotel rooms is expensive, and for most people going out of valley to spend time with their partners is not an easy proposition. So they make the best out of their limited resources and feel each other up, kiss and even fingerbang at every chance they may get, even if that involves public spaces where they might be observed. Such as the back ends of busses, public parks, temples in the darks, museums, empty cafes, garden restaurants, near the bushes, corners of restaurants, that place outside the restrooms when nobody else is watching, hiking trails, biking trails, trekking trails, rivers, river-beaches, trenches, forests, schools and colleges, heaps of isolated trash, rooftops, stairs, and so forth.

It's not unreasonable, there's a sense of identification with those poor souls, one has surely found oneself in such a situation. Hopefully these things eventually fade out because it's just too much, maan!

3 veggies, dal and bhat for lunch, NIC day, selroti and tarkari lunch, mamaghar evening, puja tika, dal-bhat and five veggies for dinner [Mon 24]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat had dal and 3 veggies, at mamaghar.

Went to NIC during the day, it's possible this might have been my last NIC trip as the work there was slowing down, family events were nearing and my contribution's impact was decreasing. There I had selroti and tarkari for khaja.

We were all in mamaghar for the evening, the whole gang including the group from NZ. There was puja and everybody had tika on. For evening bhat we had dal and five veggies, this was a time for awesome celebrations!

Village highland resort, Ranikot, a review

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

This is the resort we went to, jd, jbd and myself at the terminus of our Ranikot hike. Readers of this blog will remember I didn't not have a good time in the hike, for the trails were unkempt, the area was dirty, and the 'peak' was a disappointing area with rowdy loud people who trashed it. But the post-finale, so to speak, the post-orgasmic smoke break so  to speak of our hike was this resort.

It's possible because of the terrible experience in the hike my standards were lowered. It's also possible because the weather was absolutely perfect, warm and sunny when the winter had not fully ended, that my mood was high. And the village we were expecting was small and not very rich in tourist amenities, when we found ourselves in the height of Nepali tourism service industry treatment. The scenery, overlooking Bhaktapur was incredible. Our couple of hours of stay in this resort as we got three thalis of bhaat was as perfect as it could have been.

We got a thali, all of us asked for three extra servings because it was that good. The place did seem to be targeted specially towards the tiktok-oriented clientele, but that was of little bother to us: here we were on a weekday afternoon with very few people to bother us. Jd found somebody from way back whom she knew, and jbd also had a friend who came over to say hi, so it was a crazy co-incidence, but besides that it was peaceful to perfection. On the one hand, the lack of public transport to take us back to town should have bothered us, as we did walk all the way to Suryabinayak, but that also meant the tourist pressure on the place was reasonable.

Great scenery, lots of places to take pretty pictures, good food, and not outrageous prices.

Eight out of ten stars to this resort, would go again!

Five item yummy bhat lunch at mamaghar, dropping bhinaju at eyeplex, walk to Old Baneshwar, meeting jd and jbd, masala beads, art gallery whoa, afternoon Sam's bar, lunch and Dechenling Garden restaurant, decent experience, Mheecha exploration, grand family party at mamaghar [Sun 23]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat was dal with five tarkaris, folks really went all-in.

After bhat, dropped bhinaju at eyeplex at the barbershop, and walked to old baneshwar (or I took the tempo, don't remember), from where I went to Ratnapark. Met jd and jbd there, we went to masala beads, the art gallery across the street from the British embassy, near Sam's bar.

Ambled around the whole area, ended up at Dechenling Garden restaurant. Jd bought some clothes, jbd bought antique items. We had a decent meal at Decenling for more money than it was worth, but the ambience of a nice garden restaurant in the middle of the madness was great!

Went to Mheecha on my way back and explored different bags once more, to figure out what I really wanted to buy. I'd come once more to actually make the final purchase. Ambled about Durbarmarg with friends, Jd took the bus, the rest of us did too, I got off at New Baneshwar.

Had a grand family party at mamaghar, everyone was in. These are the good times!

Six-item yummy bhat for mamaghar lunch, PU feels crappy we hang out at Best Brew coffee in Patan barely a couple of hundred rupeese cash between the two of us, everybody but the NZ'ers are here, extended hangout in our place [Sat 22]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

For morning bhat in mamaghar there was dal and four other vegetables, all the special-occasion meals are insane there, such a pleasure.

In the afternoon friend PU wasn't feeling happy about certain things so she picked me up and we drove to Best Brew Coffee in Lalitpur, and she vented a bunch. Unfortunately for the both of us, there wasn't much liquid cash available, so we combined all the moneys we had together and checked the menu on items we could order, basing our order on that. So funny, this was the silliest.

There was a family hangout at our place in the evening, all the family members were here except ND and bhauju who were coming in the next day or so. So much fun, and connection. Man I'd give a lot to have all of this group outside Nepal settled permanently near each other.

Brown-sugar/raw sugar for jalebi

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

In my 4 month stay in Nepal I tried so many desserts, this has been the most dessert-dense period of my life.

Something wild I'd never considered that I got to try was jerri made not with syrup of regular sugar but jaggery syrup or raw sugar syrup. It gives a brownish tint to the jerri, the texture is also slightly crispier, and the flavor is a tad more metallic, earthy, deep. It cuts through the sharp sweetness of the syrup and provides a warm body as a contrast. And it's fun to look at. I tried it at a wedding and then at a mithai pasal, I became a big fan. It's probably due to consumer tastes that they're not more popular, but I'd like to live in a world where jerri made from raw sugar was just as popular as regular jeri.

Picking up our foreign friends in tourist van, to Bhaktapur square, showing them around ancient town as a tour guide, potential career, Newa Lahana Khwopa dinner, so much so yum, rest in mamaghar, moksh bar with friends ignoring cousins, bummed out, picking momo for myself and dad, home early by 9 [Fri 21]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Quick breakfast in the morning and we were ready for the day! A tourist van picked us up, we guided it to Thamel to pick up our foreign guests, and off we went to Bhaktapur!

The prices for the Square entrance for tourists is insanely high, but I guess that's how the city implements its socialist policies. I played the role of a tourist guide and cultural educator as we walked through the square, all the temples and watering wells and squares. The group had a really good time, I could possibly take the role of a tourist guide, for reals.

We had lunch at Newa Lahana Khwopa, where I'd been to once (or was it twice?) before. Loved the food, we ordered eight different items, this was the real authentic Nepali food. So filling, emotionally and physically!

Went to mamaghar from there, and rested for a couple of hours. Cousins and sister went to Thamel, I abandoned them and went to Moksh bar in Jhamsikhel. Bad idea. Everybody was low on energy, had nothing exciting to talk, and there wasn't the right vibe. I don't know what was off, maybe it was the strange space, or the music situation was weird, but it didn't feel right. So very wrong. Just as the concert was about to start, I called it a day, finding a pathao bike took forever, but eventually I got on and packed to momos in Shandaar momo in mid-Baneshwar, the same one I'd gone to with Sbk and SN several days ago.

Took the food for dad and myself, since mom was somewhere else. It was a lowkey and sad evening, somehow, I think because there was no vibe with friends.

Getting tired of plants

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Am I getting tired of plants at home? I don't think so. They're sort of low-maintenance generally and some of them have failed to take root, the nerve plant I took a cutting from Sb's old place has died and come back multiple times but appears to have died for good. The large-leafed plant I got from PN's place is in a state of semi-death, a zombie that I'd be very surprised will make a comeback. 

The succulents are doing decently, except the one from Sb once again, but that was due to my lack of familiarity with the cutting. The oldest succulent has so many children, and the branches have gotten so large they're popping off the plant all by themselves. Then there's the pothos plants. They're in various states of semi-survival. They're not necessarily thriving as much as I'd hoped, or have seen in other people's places. I suspect it's due to my fear of trimming them aggressively and replanting them. That's my next plan.

The one downside lately has been cleaning up the browned leaves and dying stems. They weren't an issue when the plants were young and taking root, now that they're more mature I must learn to handle their adolescence and old age.

The Spring is about to hit very soon, and it would be the perfect time to trim and repot, replant and fertilize, to have the plants not only stabilize but thrive beyond my dreams!

King college early in the morning to judge, I'm ugly and flaking off, big event and puja at mamaghar, visiting Mbl and Srti resorts, figuring logistics out, family enjoys, yummy grubs at Srti, evening dinner and hang in mamaghar [Thu 20]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Got up quite early in the morning and went to King's College to judge the final projects of one of their Product Management courses. Some of the projects were really good! Unfortunately for me I was just recovering from a bad bout of cold which meant my lips were flaking off and I looked like a freaking' hobo!

Morning bhat was at mamaghar,w here we had a big event and puja, ready for the wedding.

Two cars from the family went to Mbl and srti resorts, to make sure the logistics are confirmed, and the rooms are booked. I'd been to Mbl before, but it was first time at Srti, and it's nice. Liked it better than Mbl, but it's also really expensive.

Everyone had fun at both the places, we got snacks and lunch at Srti resort.

Drove back to mamaghar, and had dinner there.

Turns out there's a reason people don't eat wild saags

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

I went to Kakani with my parents a couple of weeks ago and we had lunch at place owned by a family friend. They brought us greens that the locals ate, foraged from nearby wilderness, nothing you could find in the markets. I was excited: this is as locavore to the end, natural and authentic and anti-industrial as much as it could possibly get. Oh and the nutritional value must be so great!

What I discovered was: there's a reason we have the greens we do on our grocery shelves and the fields. Those plants have been bred and treated to optimize the experience for those that eat, in terms of texture, flavor, and color. There's a reason people don't go around foraging and eating wild greens all the time. They don't taste amazing, the texture's alright, and on the whole one'd rather have something better that is available in the shops if possible.

Yeah a good chef could figure such greens out and come up with proper cooking techniques and methods after a while, and work on great recipes. But that's the problem. They'd have to do that for every different kind of green/veggie. And not everybody wants to do recipe experimentation and development in every meal. Most people would rather not deal with recipes at all, we're all technicians, craftsmen at best, very very few of us are artists. And that's the problem with such foraged wild greens.

To the airport to pickup TD and bhinaju, mamaghar hangout, bhat dal saaag kauli golbheda achar lunch, rooftop hangout with family, ambling about in Durbarmarg, thinking of buying Mheecha bag, Fire Pizza, meet family in Ason, TD bhinaju and me catchup and restaurant, extended family hang at ours [Wed 19]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Went to the airport in the morning with that to pickup TD and bhinaju. Hung out at mamaghar in the morning. Morning bhat was with dal sag kauli and golbheda ko achar. Later, hung out in the morning Sun with family on the swings.

During the day I went to Durbarmark, ambled about Durbarmarg, checked Mheecha out and considered buying it. Went to Thamel on foot and had a pizza from Fire pizza, never a day has gone by when I didn't enjoy it ack!

Walked towards Indrachowk and just stumbled into my extended family group who'd left after an hour after me. Joined the group and went to various clothing stores and jewellery places as they shopped supplies for the wedding.

TD bhinaju and I went to a restaurant and introduced bhinaju to the local cuisine. We went home on a pathao taxi after.

Printing custom posters

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

What happened to the thing from that time I said I'd get a bunch of custom posters that I'd design myself and put them on all over my apartment? Couple of different things.

First, it turns out AI-generated art is not that awesome. It is specially unsuited to being scaled up and printed physically. The artifacts are not pleasant, and it's that weird hump, that is really not pleasant to watch and appreciate.

Second, sticking the existing posters on my walls has been bit of a journey, not as easy as I had hoped. The stickies I bought from temu were a big fucking disappointment and I should have gone for a local solutions rather than a pie-in-the-sky panacea.

Third, it's becoming clearer to be that mounting such posters on a frame is a much interesting experience than having them stuck on the apartment wall. That needs extra infrastructure, to be acquired most easily from Ikea. Which isn't in my to-do list for the moment.

Fourth, my living room wall has gotten as busy as it can reasonably be while I can still pretend to go 'minimalist' so the need isn't there anymore, not since I bought the couple of Chinese prints in late 2023.  The walls of my bedroom are bare, but I don't know if I want to put poorly designed posters for myself.

Here we are now, waiting for ideas to make my bedroom better-looking and more livable.

Bank and pan number work with dad, selroti anda samosa lunch at NIC, meeting a professor, falling down and getting hurt on a pathao motorcycle, walk back home out of fear, not much else [Tue 18]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Went with dad to a couple of banks to finish the stock transfer finally, and the district office to have my pan card made, I have never had the tax card in my life.

At NIC, I had Selroti, anda samosa and takari for lunch. Met a professor of microbiology who gave me some really interesting pointers and ideas for the future.

The return trip from NIC was traumatic, the motorbike rider seemed kinda' crazy, and we were involved in a minor accident near UN park. I got bruised legs and arms, he was hurt much worse. It was clearly and obviously my rider's fault, no doubt. I was scared and traumatized after the accident, walked all the way home from there out of fear.

Dinner must have been pretty remarkable, I have no record of any other kind.

Snail moisturizing cream

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

The Snail 92 snail moisturizing cream that I got last Prime day has been great. It makes my skin feel like a baby's, all for less than fifteen dollars. I haven't used it as much as should, and it's so gloopy and challenging to handle, but Cosrx snail 92 is one of the best skin softening and moisturizing creams I've used and I'd highly recommend it!

Rules for my ganas for when you think you might want to disturb me during my earth stay

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Dear followers, the ganas, the bhutas, pretas and rakshahas making the coterie of my surrounding groups at Mt. Kailasha. As you are aware, I am currently on an Earthly stay, and would strongly prefer to not be disturbed. Having said that, if you really really really need to reach out to me, please look at the following rules, and if you feel taking my time is worth still, then only reach out to me. thank you, and may peace prevail on Earth.

1.  Do not come calling as the entire Gana in front of the abode of my human residence, and start chanting for my support, specially not in your standard garb. Can you please put some effort and try to adapt with the ages so the humans don't find it strange?
   
   
2. Consider whether an occasion really demands my attention. Ask yourself: is the universe really really ending, or are we overreacting and failing to use cool-heads, and reach out to me only and only if you really really think there's no other option to save the Universe from total annihilation.
   
   
3. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT, try to use Parvati to try to coax me back, or to leverage her to emotionally blackmail me in anyway. I have gotten the hint to your machinations and I'm not going to go along. You guys are just creating a distance between her and myself at this rate.
   
   
4. Do not under any circumstances tell the swarga dwellers my location, no matter how hard they plead and cry. If it is really that urgent, and the Universe is actually going to end, which again, see point 2, then you guys come to me, instead of handing out my secret address willy-nilly.
   
   
5. Don't try to trick me to come back by holding back the guests in Kailash, by telling them that I have gone for a meditation and will probably be back soon. You know you are lying technically, and we have discussed what that pertains. I'm not going to come back that easily no matter who is waiting for me.
   
   
6. If some impatient sage, such as Durvasa shows up demanding to see me, and you are at the threat of a curse, let them know clearly in simple words that any attempt to disrupt my stay on Earth for minor reasons will be taken very seriously. Specially with Durvasa, I have had enough of his shenanigans, he most certainly can not come to where I live, it's already hard as it is in Kailash to light up fragrances and agarbattis, I can't stand him on Earth like at all.
   

Haka and the drop

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Very soon. You will. Meet god. The world. From where. Came the Kyaak. Haka stopped breathing. His head throbbed. His mind blanked. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Come soon. To the closet. Come for your date. With date.

The room door creaked. Haka steadied himself. This was it. Footsteps, approaching, shoes on carpet. The world stopped. Moments elongated. Eternity.

Heavy blows. Catatonic victim. Confused. Unable to respond. And then. Silence.

He heaved. Backache. Up the stairs. One step. Pause. Rest. Another step. Up Up up. The door opens. Fresh air. Sack scrapes the roof. No matter. Unpack the gift. Heave, heave, lift. And drop.

Haka packed the sack. Underneath his shirt. Run, run, jump. Next house. And the next house. CC cameras never saw him.

Another success. Now he would be saved.

Questions the heavenly imps were asked as they reported the Universe needed to be fixed or else....

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Since when? Who found it? What is the impact? Will long-term planning  be affected by it? How are humans dealing with it? Does anybody else know about it? What can be done to fix it? Does anybody understand the full details of the matter? Why should we care? Are curses affected? What about the boons we give out? Do the dwellers of Swarga know about it? How long might it take to get this right? What are the consequences if we can't get it fixed on time? What is the backup plan? Can the higher ups change this in an instance? Should we bother them or reach out to them only in the last moment? How disruptive will the temporary changes be? Will the temporary fixes have impact on the everyday lives of any beings? How did we not know about this before? What might we do to not repeat this in the future? How were we able to identify it right now? Is it possible someone is knowingly causing these problems? Can we pool all the resources and tackle this in one go? Will everything else be affected while this issue is being solved? What steps need to be taken immediately? What might we do to assist your current work? How might we communicate the situation to everybody? Does anyone else need to know about this at all? Are their existing solutions that can be applied to the problem? Why were you all so fearful to come up to report the problem? What gave you the impression that you will not be respected, or there will be negative consequences for reporting the matter? Who is the ideal individual to lead this initiative? When's the earliest the work on this can begin? Cam we gradually ramp things up and down without impacting anything else? How do we know this is not a subversive plan by one of the demonic groups? How might they try to take advantage of the situation while this mater is being looked at?

Bhat dal karela sag golbeda ko achar lunch, visa troubles, anda-pauroti khaja, roti-tarkari dinner, all day home [Mon 17]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Stayed at home all day long. It's what I do in Seattle anyway besides the regular walks, as in there's no meeting of friends, or doing of wild things, but somehow when that happens in Kathmandu the days feel emptier, sadder. I wonder what's up with that, if my days need to be spruced up in Seattle or if I have really high expectations out of myself in Kathmandu!

Morning bhat was with dal garela, sag and golbheda ko achar.

Had trouble figuring out the US visa reapplication BS, they were giving trouble with giving dates, and the filling of the forms was really problematic, plus my visa hadn't arrived since forever. I was worried.

Khaja was anda pauroti with sauce.

Had roti and tarkari for dinner.

Finishing the stockbroker's work, hangout with SN and SBK at Shandaar momo and coffee place, sister is here, alu-roti for dinner [Sun 16]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Went to the stockbroker's office and completed the last part of stock registration with dad. The 3-year journey was finally complete and I wouldn't have to worry about stock transfers or anything.

In the day, I hung out with SBK and SN, updated on the state of affairs of the country, SN's business, SBK hiring SN's nephew, and how he whom everybody considers to have succeeded in Nepal is seriously considering bailing out of the country because everything was fucked up. We chilled at Shaandaar momo, and it's possible we went to a coffee place later, though it might have been a separate occasion. That second place was like a training school for baristas!

Sister was in Kathmandu for the wedding, so lots of spending time with her happened at home!

Had alu parautha for dinner, with achaar and sauce.

Smell in ancient Sanskrit mythology short-sentence

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

Excerpt from the book Sandalwood and Carrion:

Perfumery is an especially interesting aspect of South Asian history to study because perfumery is not just a matter of mixing aromatics in a vessel, but it is effectively a network, where texts meet practice, trade, geography, politics and religion in a literal and material manner. As an artifact, a jar of medieval South Asian perfume was both the focus and product of several discourses, such as theories of perfumery, pharmacology, scriptural injunctions, literary associations, ideas of wealth and statecraft as well as the sort of olfactory dialogues with other perfumes that the scholar Alain Corbin describes regarding France. Perfume and incense were materially constituted from things with remarkable olfactory properties, such as camphor and musk. These were usually only available from specific places, and they had to be transported to the Indian subcontinent from great distances, often with great difficulty. Perfumes -- expensive, rare and aesthetically striking -- were a vital part of religious and royal practices both for the body and for the environment, both in private and in public. Given the nature of my sources -- Sanskrit texts 00 I will focus above all on the connections of perfumes to various discourses. I will also discuss the relations of perfumes to institutions, such as temples and royal courts. However, because of the difficulties of historically locating many of my sources with any precision, these later observations will be a little more general. And, given my training and sources, I will focus least of all on the actual trade and origins of aromatic materials, though, it is important to remember that odorous stuff found in widely scattered parts of Asia and the Arabian peninsula is always a part of the picture, and the nature and origin of real materials powerfully shaped other aspects -- discursive, economic and institutional -- of the world of smell in medieval South Asia.

Thirteen things I want to learn

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

1. Can one combine soy ferments and rice ferments to design an excellent fermented sauce or dip, like the Viet Tu'ong.
   
   
2. Was there really no restaurant culture in the entirety of South Asia for thousands of years, or is that a misunderstanding of our history?
   
   
3. Are mushrooms really that hard to grow or is it just me?
   
   
4. How have Tibetan and South Asian cuisines and cultures interacted in the past, and in recent times
   
   
5. The history of Tibetan cuisine and its evolution through the ages
   
   
6. Culinary cultures from different Nepali ethnic groups and their histories
   
   
7. Can BSFL be used for municipal waste management at scale?
   
   
8. Are 3D printers for personal usage overrated, or is it a technology whose time has come?
   
   
9. How the hell does one draw well
   
   
10. How the hell does one write fiction decently enough
    
    
11. How can one keep writing on the same piece of work through disjointed writing times over a long period
    
    
12. Should I buy the grains I need, or did my friends gift them and are waiting for it to ship to me?
    
    
13. Is eating just kimchi and rice or some grain healthy?

Is it me or has my writing become more florid, better generally?

This is a part of 'project 110, going back and re-filling', writing is happening 8ish months after the date.

The sad part of the writing journey is this: I wrote this title for a blog post in Jan 2023, possibly December 2022. It is now Jan 2024 and the time has finally come for me to write on it. What was originally thought has been forgotten, the original context has long gone. All one has is a whole lot of desperation and a little bit of confidence. Not very much skills. Persevere one must, however. Let's go.

Sometimes my writing feels like it's improved over the years since I started writing on this blog. Not for all kinds of posts, specially not the boring journal-type, or for sentences like these. In certain ways the quality of my writing has gone down, that is not just an impression but a true fact. But on very few occasions, the words take a florid turn, ready to tie themselves into a glorious blight fragrant garland, ready to elevate the wearer into a league that has royalty and Gods. No one is claiming that my writing has become professional here, no no, but when some writers say the words write themselves? It's possible they may not be making that crap because I too feel that sometimes. Specially on days when I'm a bit tired, not feeling it, my eyes are heavy with sleep and exhaustion and my brain rests. My fingers however keep moving and when I wake up hundreds of words later, I see the written word, creation from these very hands. It's good guys, sometimes that written word is so good! It shocks me and confuses me because here we are, untalented and ungifted, unable to be helped even by the best, and even we do get lucky on occasions because the creativity spirits decide to visit us. The words take a life of their own, and  all of this misery is for that, to use one as a vessel for creation for higher entities. That is why I do this.

Bhat dal sag kakro ko achar and alu for lunch, at grandparents', dahi chiura khaja, back quick, pommegranate-citrus snacks, walk to Dailo/Dockyard and hang with PU, small sip of Gorkha beer [Sat 15]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Had morning bhat with dal sag fried alu and kakro ko achar. In the day we went to my grandparents' place where we had dai chiuraa for khaja, stayed there for like only an hour or so.

Had snack of pomegranates and mausam that mom cut.

In the evening, went to Dailo/Dockyard restaurant and got up with PU, standard hang and chat, took a small sip of Gorkha beer because I was just feeling like it.

Bhat-dal-karela lunch, home all day long, mamaghar dinner with bhat-dal ladiesfinger [Fri 14]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Was home all day long, didn't go out or nothing.

Had morning bhat with dal and karela. Went to mamaghar for dinner, had evening bhat with dal and ladiesfinger and yogurt..

Dal-kauli-ladiesfinger lunch, some time NIC, YKD drives me there, she has toilet problems, hangout with YKD at taudaha, walk and fishes, light lemon tea, fancy Bhaisepati korean bakery, seeing YKD's house, sadeko momo near home, at mamaghar [Thu 13]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat was had with dal kauli and ladiesfinger.

YKD picked me up in the morning, and we went to NIC, where I spent 3 hours talking to people and making sure everything was in order, introduced MB to YKD as well. She had bathroom problems as the ladies' toilet was nasty, I was told to communicate that to the management.

At around 1, we drove away, and hung out at the Taudaha pond. Took a round of the pond, and got tea and chatted at a tea stall. I might have also gotten a sadheko chauchau, can't be sure. That pond is overstocked with fish that the buddhists release, and no one's allowed to fish there, so I woe at the poor water quality and the overcrowdedness.

Went to Bhaisepati where we went to YKD's favourite Korean bakery, then to her house, for the first time. It's a nice modern building, build in modern Nepali style that's a bit far too away from anything good, but otherwise quite nice. The whole complex is still in construction, I wouldn't want to live there having spent the entirety of my life in the core city area, but I can understand how young families could possibly want to be there.

Had sadheko momo at one of the places near home.

In the evening I went to mamaghar and had dinner there.

Walk and tempo to Bagbazar, shit on by a nasty bird, momo eating at puskar sekwa corner to cleanup, to Ason with JD, exploring Suraj arcade with friends, chill hanumandhoka hang, Sandwich point arancini and sub sandwiches, jbd shows up, juice in New Road, pathao home [Wed 12]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

 Had bhat in the morning, and then went to Bagbazar in tempo. As I crossed the road though, a bird shit on me, at a rather inconvenient place, and there was nothing to do but clean it, so I went into a place that google calls 'puskar sekuwa' that definitely wasn't, it was the momo place at the Bagbajar intersection and got an order of vegetable momo despite having left the house after eating. Cleaned myself up, and then met up JD near Ason. We walked to Suraj arcade, got lemon soda at my favourite restaurant near habnumandhoka, and then had lunch of sandwich and arancini (cheese balls in Nepal) at Sandwich Point. Good old sandwich point, it'll never change, it's been upgraded and the building has changed in the last 15 years, but so little else has. The entire jhhochhen area is like that.

Friend jbd caught up with us, we walked around for a bit, and had juice at shop nearby newroad gate. I had to head home early for work, so I took pathao as they were talking.

bhat-dal-tarkari lunch, nic workday in pathao, toward the end of my term as the teams make progress and I have nothing lot to contribute [Tue 11]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

For morning bhat, I had dal and a couple of tarkaris.

Went to NIC in pathao, it was coming towards the end of my assistance as the drone project hadn't made a lot of project and I had used up all the resources and abilities to influence teams and their leaders in making progress, or even clarifying, their goals.

Back home in a pathao, nothing else worth nothing.

Drive back to Kathmandu, yummy sugarcane juices on the way, home in early afternoon [Mon 10]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

We drove back relatively early in the day, after getting our morning meal.

Stopped at the sugarcane shops in that area for couple of cups of sugarcane juice, so freaking good, my weakness. In the next month's journal readers will find out I'll eventually suffer because of this, but that's at least three weeks away!

We got home pretty early in the afternoon, around 2pm!

Hotel breakfast, Indian, kinda nice, boating in begnas lake, no scenery, going to the other side and resort relax, parents eat yummy overpriced fish, Balen love, drive back to Chitwan, roti simi and bhindi dinner [Sun 9]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

The Indian breakfast we had in the hotel was surprisingly decent, roti-tarkari and veggies and bread-and-butter plus eggs. It wasn't the best of its kind, but compared to the 'continental breakfast' offered in the US, it was heaven.

We drove to Begnas lake, rented out a boat, and glided across the lake to the other side, where there were a couple of resorts. Dad went on a quick hike with the boatman, mom and I stayed in, appreciating the scenery and paying one of those gandharvas, whose rates have gone up to crazy levels honestly! Parents ate yummy fully grilled fish in garlic, I had some other food that I don't remember, it was just alright, don't remember whatever it was.

We discovered people here were crazy for Balen, Kathmandu's mayor, despite him not being a local guy, and have nothing to do with the place. There's a LOT of political disappointment and anger in general public.

We drove back to Chitwan after Begnas, the path to and from which was also quite bad despite being a popular tourist destination, taking the really terrible road.

Back in chitwan, we had roti simi and bhindi for dinner.

Bhat, gedagudi jhol, saag and achar for lunch, to Pokhara on the awful, terrible road, walking by the lakeside, Swapna Bagh resort, mood not good, dinner at Boomerang, mediocre food for insane prices [Sat 8]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat was with gedagudi jhol, saag and golbheda ko achar.

After the rice, we set out for Pokhara, the road to which was really really bad, the likes of which I hadn't experienced in Nepal in a very very long time. It was actually confusing and shocking how bad one of the major highways was in this day and age.

We chose a hotel randomly in Swapna Bagh resort, unloaded our belongings, and walked by the lakeside for a couple of hours. My mood wasn't good because of the general vibe of the thing.

Also there were forest fires happening all across the country at this time so the smog was thick and one couldn't see a hundred feet ahead, let alone the beautiful mountains that are otherwise visible.

We had an extremely average and outrageously expensive dinner at Boomerang. I'm really done with places like that. So disappointing. Nothing good worth expecting.

We walked again for a bit at night, around time for an evening stroll, and went to our hotel room.

Bhat dal simi for lunch, hangout with parents at CG Landmark mall, food court, hours and hours of bhatbhateni shopping, customer conflict with management, waiting outside BB and observing, picked up by parents, back home [Fri 7]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat was with dal and simi.

In the afternoon we went to CG Landmark mall, where my parents watched some movie and I chilled at the food court. The food court food was..mediocre, as a general principle it turns out it's never a good idea to get momos outside of kathmandu, specially at places that are not known for it.

Went to Bhatbhateni and went to all the four different floors inside out, heard a guy losing his head at the manager about how he'd seen much better service abroad (it was about price-matching) and they didn't know how to run a business and this was the worst ever.

Tired of staying inside, I went outside and chilled, saw a bunch of families hang out with their kids, high-school girls planning a hangout and talking about their friends. The world has changed, Nepal has changed since our times, for sure. There's a lot of feeling of well-off cosmopolitan urban vibes everywhere, regardless of how reflective it may be of reality.

Parents picked me off after hours of watching movie, and we went home.

Bhat dal cabbage and saag for lunch, anda chiura khaja, saag, bandaa and carrot-onion salad with roti for dinner [Thu 6]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Went to the river bank in the morning, by this sitting place. Horse or animal shit all over, the national park people were quite rude about directions. The walk was not as pleasant as I'd hoped because it was so poorly maintained and dirty. There were some creepy people on the riverside. I will never not enjoying staying by a river and watching water flow though, great times were had doing something so simple!

For morning rice, we had dal cabbage and saag. 

Khaja was andaa and chiuraa.

DInner was bandaa and carrot-onion-cucumber salad with roti.

I didn't do anything or go anywhere during the day because it was hot as fuck outside, and I wasn't curious about anything else.

Walk in Chitwan to the Bhatbhateni, discovering the joys of modern supply logistics in the second city, home for chiura-bhujia and eggs lunch, Chiya adda hang with PB, nature view restaurant and bar, beachside with parents, MOSQUITOES! , dinner at Mustang Thakali, live music, light food [Wed 5]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

In the morning I had to give my legs a workout, so I walked to Bhat Bhateni. Nice neighborhood, loved the veggie carts and vehicles, the local agriculture scene was something to marvel at, the shops and their 'culture' a little different from what we had in Kathmandu.

Had an incredibly good time walking and exploring Bhatbhateni, discovering the joys of modern supply logistics, it felt like I wasn't very far from civilization and the amenities of Kathmandu even in Chitwan. Having all the things at the same place does make a big difference, it turns out, something I hadn't previously considered.

The trip back from BB was crazy, a moronic pathao rider who didn't understand the place and barely knew how to ride a bike fucked me over, left me like 15 minutes of walk away from home, so despite having taken the pathao to avoid the heat, I walked home anyway. Really annoying, so irritating.

For morning meal, we had chiura-bhujia and eggs, because the cooking situation wasn't fully figured out.

During the day I had planned on meeting PB, who lives with parents in Chitwan. I took one of those Magic public transport things and met her. Lots of catchup, talking about class matters in Nepal and the absolute mismanagement of everything that had frustrated all of us. The place was surprisingly fancy, quite amazing, I was impressed. We walked next to the highway later until my parents picked me up.

We went to Nature View restaurant and bar, right next to a river 'beach', lots of mosquitoes, but it was quite nice, we got a few snacks. So pleasant.

Went to Mustang Thakali restaurant near Gaida Chowk, got light food. There was a band playing to an empty restaurant and it felt weird: how are those bands paid, how long does the struggle last, how do they deal if nobody is there to listen to them, is that a part of every bands growth? Regardless, weird night out. Oh in the middle of this all, the power went out, so we were left in the dark for a while too!

Driven to Chitwan with parents, rice thali at Muglin bazaar, yummy food always, Sauraha, Hotel Jal-kapur, abandoned place, different restaurant, Sungava retreat and work, back home in the evening, comically wretched stay in Chitwan [Tue 4]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

We headed out for Chitwan early in the morning, around 7ish. Stopped at Muglin bajaar for lunch, thakali meal full on, it was super good, I remember their sitting and restrooms so distinctly well all these months later it's a bit surprising.

After unloading our belongings at the room there, we went to Sauraha. The first destination was hotel Jal-kapur, which on the plus side had a swimming pool where a couple of guys were swimming. On the downside, the restaurant was next to the more 'still water' part of the river, so there wasn't much to see, the food was just alright. Which is why we drove to a different restaurant, the Sungava.

Sungava restaurant was much better, pretty decent food, despite limited options. The service was just okay, since the server must have been new as he made like ten mistakes over the course of a couple of hours. I took a team meeting from the restaurant and did some work. Lots of earthwork happening to protect the resort from the river, so a little bit of disruption, but besides that it was pretty relaxing.

Drove home in the evening, back to my comically wretched room, I must send that photo to all friends and family who will bother be for having a place in Chitwan because that could have been a place from a peasant's home 2000 years ago. So. Very. Wretched. A store room, a coop and a bedroom all in the same place!

Sleep wasn't specially hard to come by, despite the heat and everything, surprisingly!

Workday at NIC, hoping electric machines get made, pathao back home [Mon 3]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Took the Pathao to NIC, where I worked with an EV group, and tried to have them work on EV auto-rickshaws. The work was getting slow and my achievements losing relative effect. Took another pathao home, nothing else happened, had khaja there, probably with jeri, unnecessarily so.

Bank-search day, finding the right bank in Gaushala and Purano baneshwar for hours, discovery, bhat dal golbheda achar and jackfruit for lunch, paanipuri and chap khaja, honacha bhimsen and a feast worth kings all by myself, 8 items and chhyang!, walk home [Sun 2]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

This was the day dad sent me to the bank near Gaushala, but it had moved, and it took me like 30 minutes to locate the right location. Then I went to yet another bank in mid-baneshwar for more bankwork, this was like such bs work that had to be done.

Morning bhat was with dal, golbheda achar and jackfruit. Mom made khaja of aloo ko chop and paanipuri.

Bored, nothing to do and nobody to hang out with, I walked all the way to Patan Durbar in the evening, and went to Honacha bhimsen. This was my first time at the place, it wasn't my favourite compared to the other place (3g), the flavors were just okay, the prices higher and it smelled more strongly of the restroom. but regardless, I ordered like nine or eleven items and had them all by myself, so much food, ugh so filling, it was literally a feast worth a king. Those newa people sure know how to eat!

With lots and lots of buffalo meat and garlic and chiura and thwon in me to give energy, walked all the way home at night.

Bhat-brokauli-dal lunch, 20-40 all by myself because of reasons, youth envy, walk to dillibajaar shandar momo and having local momo of all sorts in the evening [Sat 1]

This is a part of 'going back and re-filling unwritten journals' project, the real writing is happening 8ish months after the date as a part of 'project 100'.

Morning bhat was with brokauli and dal.

Because I was getting a bit of a cabin fever, I went to 20-40 in the afternoon and checked out the menu. There was nothing of interest in the menu for me, so I just ordered fresh lemon soda. I overheard all the young couples talking, fighting and having a generally good time and grew green with envy, but I was also relieved by the fact that I didn't have to go through all the troubles and travails as them.

Still hungry, walked to Dillibajar, stopped at Shaandar momo and ordered couple of plates of momos, including maybe half-plates of buff and possibly pork for myself, after trying veggie first. I liked them all though the meaty ones don't go well with me so I get the terrible burps after eating them. The sauces, three kinds in total, are so yummy I go there mostly for the sauces, and the smell is so 'classic' feel, slightly raw Nepali style dough smell, can't describe it but I don't consider any momo without that smell a real momo, which is most momo in the US.