Recently my awakening has taken the top most priority in my life and after years of oblivion, I have found the path that will lead me to inner peace, contentment and enlightenment.
I have discovered "Buddha". The Buddha that lives in each one of us. Whilst, I don't fully understand Buddhism and the commitment it needs, what I do understand is that the "role model" I had been in search for all my life ... is no other than "Buddha". I am painted in His wisdom, His profound sense of detachment and His unsurpassed sense of contentment. I absolutely love His advice on "smiling".
They say, to become a follower one has to accept their mentor wholeheartedly and let go of the "ego and pride". Like the enlightened one says, " When you come to a point where you have no need to impress anybody, your true freedom will begin." I arrived at that point when I got to learn of the Great Buddha.
The simplicity in His preaching, combined with immense value to equip me with "Life Skills" leaves me in His awe each time I read something from Dhammapada or Pali Canon.
I revere Him with all my heart and seek to find the truth in everything I do in His footsteps. I will endeavour from here on to live in the "moment", not a minute ahead or gone by.
Thank you Thathagata for letting me believe that "I can be my own light and that I am complete within me."
Buddham Sharanam Gachammi
Apr 23, 2018
Feb 18, 2018
My love affair with Almond Croissant
Pre-warning: The blog below can be seriously disturbing to people who look at patisseries glass windows holding the neatly arranged bakery items and desserts and think of the calories rather than the potential it holds to bring foodgasms to people like me!
Years ago my family and I were travelling from Melbourne to Sydney on a vacation and decided to make a brief stop somewhere along the way in a small town (name of the town is still not recallable to me) about 3 hours from Melbourne. A cafe, no larger than my lounge room (seating area only), was just starting its business for the day. The fragrance of freshly baked goodies and brewing of strong coffee swept the cafe! If aroma could kill, this would be it!
Feeling a bit adventurous and relaxed I ordered an almond croissant along with my large cappuccino. First bite into the croissant and it was as if my taste buds attained nirvana and the craving to devour the pastry in front of me almost quadrupled as I saw myself using the knife and fork unstoppably. In about 10 minutes, 2 more croissant were ordered to share between 4 people.
15 minutes later after the satiation from the epicurean euphoria, it dawned on us that we still had the clock to watch and a schedule to follow. The rest of the family also enjoyed their breakfast and resumed the journey to Sydney. Needless to say the next hour was consumed in singing praises of the culinary skills of the chef and the baker with the almond croissant as the starlet of the chat.
The holiday to Sydney started and it finished with lots of highs and a few lows. On the last day, we started to head to Melbourne in the morning hoping to re-visit the breakfast place once again and savour the breakfast (also try other interesting delicacies from the same café). About 6 hours into the journey I took my iPhone, started google maps and activated zone searches on my current location. My track record with finding things on the internet is pretty good, (I know I see you think I am bragging but believe me its true!) but this time I wasn't so lucky. About 30 minutes went by and I started calling up the bakeries that popped up near me on my phone in the hope of finding that very café and fearing that we don't pass by the café without stopping by.
The minutes turned into hours and we hit the lunch time mark. By now, all of us were so hungry that we stormed into the first good looking neat restaurant and polished the plates without much fuss. The bakery for breakfast stayed a mystery .
At night we reached Melbourne (after a 10 hour drive) and the rut took over. A few weekends passed and we headed out for breakfast in a local Melbourne café. Melbourne being the food capital of Australia, my naïve brain didn't brood much on what I'll be provided should I order an almond croissant. And so I did.... and boy did I regret. This is where my hunt started. Café after café, bakery after bakery and coffee shops after coffee shops, I ventured everywhere possible to find that taste in an almond croissant which could equal the one I found in that small town en-route to Sydney.
My search expanded from down town CBD to the suburbia, further out to regional towns and even interstate without much luck. :-(. If I had taken pictures of every croissant I had ordered which turned out sub-standard, the blog would run out of space. Additionally, I could get sued for defamation by all the other companies - he he!
About 4 years later, just recently, after a very (read: very) late day at work, at about 7:45pm I shut down the laptop and headed to the underground station to catch the train. The digital clock showed about 18 minutes to my train. I started strolling inside the station and realized I hadn't had lunch and my stomach was rumbling. At a distance, I could see Hudson coffee and in one of its little glass window sat a voluptuous almond croissant. By now, I was so used to being disappointed each time I ordered it but in my relentless urge to not give up I ordered it one more time (keeping fingers crossed).
I got the "to go" pack and waited patiently for my train. The train arrived and I boarded. As I sat down, my stomach rumbled again. I peeked and gently opened the box, lifted the croissant and had a small bite in apprehension. The feeling that I had when it made its way down in me is indescribable. I could feel the medley of the pastry, butter, sugar and almond meal all dance in unison and create a flavour explosion in my mouth. I couldn't stop eating - bite after bite, flavour bursts - one after another. The crustiness of the pastry along with the smoothness of the almond meal and the crunch from the slivered almonds was as decadent as the croissant I had on my way to Sydney. The satisfaction in me translated to the radiance on my face as I finished eating the croissant and I discreetly put the box back in my backpack and alighted the train to get back home.
The name of the cafe and the town where we halted are still distant to my memory and I'll keep the search on for curiosity. For croissant, I have found a bakery/cafe just three doors down from my office 😊, ain't I blessed?
What I learned from all of this is:
Years ago my family and I were travelling from Melbourne to Sydney on a vacation and decided to make a brief stop somewhere along the way in a small town (name of the town is still not recallable to me) about 3 hours from Melbourne. A cafe, no larger than my lounge room (seating area only), was just starting its business for the day. The fragrance of freshly baked goodies and brewing of strong coffee swept the cafe! If aroma could kill, this would be it!
Feeling a bit adventurous and relaxed I ordered an almond croissant along with my large cappuccino. First bite into the croissant and it was as if my taste buds attained nirvana and the craving to devour the pastry in front of me almost quadrupled as I saw myself using the knife and fork unstoppably. In about 10 minutes, 2 more croissant were ordered to share between 4 people.
15 minutes later after the satiation from the epicurean euphoria, it dawned on us that we still had the clock to watch and a schedule to follow. The rest of the family also enjoyed their breakfast and resumed the journey to Sydney. Needless to say the next hour was consumed in singing praises of the culinary skills of the chef and the baker with the almond croissant as the starlet of the chat.
The holiday to Sydney started and it finished with lots of highs and a few lows. On the last day, we started to head to Melbourne in the morning hoping to re-visit the breakfast place once again and savour the breakfast (also try other interesting delicacies from the same café). About 6 hours into the journey I took my iPhone, started google maps and activated zone searches on my current location. My track record with finding things on the internet is pretty good, (I know I see you think I am bragging but believe me its true!) but this time I wasn't so lucky. About 30 minutes went by and I started calling up the bakeries that popped up near me on my phone in the hope of finding that very café and fearing that we don't pass by the café without stopping by.
The minutes turned into hours and we hit the lunch time mark. By now, all of us were so hungry that we stormed into the first good looking neat restaurant and polished the plates without much fuss. The bakery for breakfast stayed a mystery .
At night we reached Melbourne (after a 10 hour drive) and the rut took over. A few weekends passed and we headed out for breakfast in a local Melbourne café. Melbourne being the food capital of Australia, my naïve brain didn't brood much on what I'll be provided should I order an almond croissant. And so I did.... and boy did I regret. This is where my hunt started. Café after café, bakery after bakery and coffee shops after coffee shops, I ventured everywhere possible to find that taste in an almond croissant which could equal the one I found in that small town en-route to Sydney.
My search expanded from down town CBD to the suburbia, further out to regional towns and even interstate without much luck. :-(. If I had taken pictures of every croissant I had ordered which turned out sub-standard, the blog would run out of space. Additionally, I could get sued for defamation by all the other companies - he he!
About 4 years later, just recently, after a very (read: very) late day at work, at about 7:45pm I shut down the laptop and headed to the underground station to catch the train. The digital clock showed about 18 minutes to my train. I started strolling inside the station and realized I hadn't had lunch and my stomach was rumbling. At a distance, I could see Hudson coffee and in one of its little glass window sat a voluptuous almond croissant. By now, I was so used to being disappointed each time I ordered it but in my relentless urge to not give up I ordered it one more time (keeping fingers crossed).
I got the "to go" pack and waited patiently for my train. The train arrived and I boarded. As I sat down, my stomach rumbled again. I peeked and gently opened the box, lifted the croissant and had a small bite in apprehension. The feeling that I had when it made its way down in me is indescribable. I could feel the medley of the pastry, butter, sugar and almond meal all dance in unison and create a flavour explosion in my mouth. I couldn't stop eating - bite after bite, flavour bursts - one after another. The crustiness of the pastry along with the smoothness of the almond meal and the crunch from the slivered almonds was as decadent as the croissant I had on my way to Sydney. The satisfaction in me translated to the radiance on my face as I finished eating the croissant and I discreetly put the box back in my backpack and alighted the train to get back home.
The name of the cafe and the town where we halted are still distant to my memory and I'll keep the search on for curiosity. For croissant, I have found a bakery/cafe just three doors down from my office 😊, ain't I blessed?
What I learned from all of this is:
- Sometimes things are so near but they are still not in your horizon.
- You can throw hundreds or thousands on something that you really want, but if it is destined to be with you, it will just come your way.
- Hope, have hope, its all we need to brighten up the day and look forward for "the better"
- Don't give up, no matter what, its only a matter of time when the winning streak starts
- Lastly, I really really do love almond croissants.... that too only the good ones :-)
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