amongst the tourists

it is high tourist season here in nyc. i always try to avoid any spots that might be touristy, because the traffic moves slowly and it is always over crowded.

however, yesterday, along with students for a free tibet- Team Tibet- I went to wait in line to see Coldplay perform live for the Today Show (NBC). Coldplay has always been pro-Tibetan independence so we went to try and get our signs on TV and to try and get the lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, to wear a Team Tibet t-shirt or button.

We planned to show up at 5:30am, which we thought was PLENTY of time (for a 7am show) but it turns out that people had been waiting since 5pm the earlier evening and spent the night in Rockefeller center! So we did not end up getting in front but a few from our group squeezed their way to the front and one of them threw a "Team Tibet" button on stage- and amazingly, Chris Martin picked it up and wore it on his jacket! (albeit on the lower part of his jacket).

It was a lot of waiting around and annoying people around us, but we did get to hear Coldplay live for free! To see the video of it, click here (and make sure to notice the bottom part of his jacket for our button!)

friendships... obligations and evolutions

today i am thinking about friendship and obligation. and how friendship changes and how it can quickly disappear without even realising it. i had this friend who i met about 6 years ago, and when we hung out we had a fantastic time. we had all of these things in common and could just talk and talk for hours about everything from music, movies to philosophy, religion and politics.

this person starting dating another person (and let me stop you right there- this isn't a typical story of the boy/girlfriend coming in between two friends) and since then this person and i spent less time together. this was understandable. i also started grad school and got really busy and didn't see most of my friends. however, the next few times we hung out, it wasn't the same. when they were with their significant other, it really wasn't the same. without the significant other, it was better, but still not the same. now, mind you, i really did like this significant other, but the dynamic just really changed.

a couple years have gone by, and everytime i see my friend it just isn't fun anymore. it's never what it used to be. maybe this is just the way the friendship has evolved. but i don't want to be obligated to go to functions that are really impersonal and boring. and full of booze. are we even really friends anymore if this is the only way we see each other every 6 months in these impersonal situations? i'm not so sure. seems superficial and part of me thinks i just don't have time for this shit.

on the other hand, my "kind of people" are very rare for me to find. maybe i should step it up and make the effort. can't decide.

meditation through step aerobics... and yoga, i suppose

I went to yoga class after not going for over a month. I thought I would be completely out of shape and was prepared for a miserable class- but fortunately I was surprised! I did not struggle with much (except the usual wrist paining basic of downward facing dog)

I have always wanted to be a yoga regular, but have not been able to get into it as much as I have hoped. I've taken yoga classes here and there for years... many have told me that yoga is just not for me (due to the fact that i have carpal tunnel in both wrists) In Dharamsala, we took yoga almost everyday. It was not easy for me, I did not really like the instructor and I definitely did not like the assistants pushing you into positions in a very rough manner (i pulled a muscle thanks to one of them) However, being in a huge room in the Himalayas with a view of the mountains made it easy to keep going back.

As of January, I've been going to Vinyasa flow yoga every week. (Yes, it was one of my new years resolutions) I think what appeals to me about Vinyasa flow is that it is not too slow- none of the asana's are held for too long so my wrists do not get too uncomfortable. The yoga studio I go to is right across the street from my apartment. It is always packed and the instructors are generally good, although I wish they had a regular schedule of instructors. Instead you don't really know who you are going to get, even if you show up at the exact same time and day every week.

As far as clearing ones mind and getting into the meditative state, I don't get that to that place with yoga. My most meditative activity is step aerobics, believe it or not. During step class, my mind HAS to be clear to pay attention to the different moves. And slowly my mind goes into a sort of trance, a conscious trance where I just stare at the floor while stepping and jumping up and down. If i mess up or miss a step, its because i get lost into a thought and miss the cue!

It should be noted that I am also taking an abs class, which is neither fun nor meditative. It is hard and my abs feel like they are on fire for the full 45 minutes. Yikes!

thoughts on eating animals...

In many places, if you are vegetarian, people look at you like you are a monster. A green hairy goobly-eyed monster. And it scares them. Why? I want answers.

In India, for instance, on trains and planes, you have to specially request a non-veg meal if you want chicken. The norm is "veg"

I think most people eat meat for several reasons: 1) it is the way our parents/families have brought us up eating 2) in many places there aren't other options available 3) people are un-imaginative 4) people have no idea that kind of torture and slaughter the poor animals go through 5) the power of advertising (if you grew up in the US, surely you remember the advert on tv "Beef: It's whats for dinner!")

I have been a ovo-lacto-pescetarian for 10 years, and went vegan a few months ago. To be honest, I am tired of "excusitarians" - people who make excuses for eating meat. We live in a day and age where eating a vegetarian diet is as easy as can be. There have been countless studies and evidence which shows that eating a plant-based diet is healthier. If those miss the taste of meat, technology has come a LONG way- there are mock meats which taste remarkably close to the real thing.

If you want to be a vegetarian or eat less meat, you can. Any average grocery store carries a countless number of items that are necessary to make many delicious, nutritious vegetarian meals. And another thing, there is NO SUCH THING as "humane meat." If you eat a dead animal, under no circumstance is that humane.

One thing I am constantly telling my non-veg friends is that they should remember this- non vegetarians can eat anything that a vegetarian can, but NOT the other way around. So when non-veg people refuse to eat at a veg restaurant and insist on going to the place of their choice, they constantly forget how difficult it can be for those veggies among us.

Keep this in mind: if you have enough corn to feed ten people, but you use it instead to raise beef cattle, you will end up with enough beef to feed one person.

Now, my goal is usually not to criticize others nor is it to preach. But aren't I allowed to rant every once in awhile? ;-)

The Media has been Charged with SEXISM (duh)

Thanks to the New York Times for writing this article. It has been quite obvious to me that the media has been disgustingly sexist, and how much the media has played a role in Hilary losing. (Remember folks, I do like Obama, I just think this whole thing has been very unfair).

You can also watch this video, which chronicles the sexism throughout the Hillary campaign. This just further illustrates the above article.

restrictions for attending olympic games in beijing

It turns out that to attend the Olympics in Beijing this year, you are restricted from:

• bringing printed materials,  photos, movies

• displaying religious or political banners or slogans

• performing rallies, demonstrations or marches

You are also restricted from attending if you have any sexually transmitted diseases or mental illnesses.

I know that they will search bags and people for things like printed materials and political banners, however, my question is this- how do you control people with mental illnesses and STDs from entering the games? Do they give everyone a medical exam before entering? 

(*This info is from a New York Times editorial. I tried to go to the official beijing olympics website to find the original source for the article, but it turns out I have been blocked from the website.)

Operation Lets Muslim Women Reclaim Virginity

I don't even know what to say about this.

Just another tidbit that confirms the double standard of women having to be virgins, while men do whatever and whomever they want. This is not a criticism of Islam, this is something that spans across many cultures and religions.

happy for obama, but sad for hillary

everyone i know is pro-obama. yes, he is inspiring, he is smart, he is CHANGE. i know all of these things. but in my heart i really wanted hillary to win. perhaps its because over the years i have felt more "connected" to her. though i met her only briefly, i really got a good vibe from her. i read her autobiography and have seen her as first lady, then as ny senator.

maybe i just didn't know much about obama before he decided to run. and my sentimentality about having a woman as president. even though i know that obama will be a great president, and it is great to have a black man as a president... yet something still tugged inside of me that leaned towards hillary.

i also hate when people say she acted too much like a "man." What the hell does that mean? Why are we generalizing gender roles in any case?

ANYONE is better than mccain. my favourite out of them all, though, is kucinich.

in any case, go obama. i doubt this will happen, but i hope he picks hillary for VP.

found the bag

after buying many many bags online (and returning most of them) i have finally found THE ONE. that's right, the perfect handbag. and yes, it is not made with leather. Yayyyy!!!

it fits everything i need. i am so happy. yes it is a bit big, but it fits my laptop too

www.mattandnat.com

love for avocados

maybe it's because i just got back from mexico, but i really LOVE avocados... i've been eating them a lot lately. it's been so hot out, so as a quick dinner or lunch i just smush some avocado in a tortilla with some fresh red pepper, sprouts and a bit of fresh salsa. it's the most refreshing thing ever!



what's your favourite way to eat an avocado? my good friend shriya told me her favourite way is to put some soy sauce, salt and pepper and eat it with a spoon. sounds strange, but i'm willing to give it a try!

distrito federal (aka mexico city)

so i just got back from a short trip to mexico city. i had previously only been to acapulco, but many years ago so i do not remember it. 

before leaving, all i had heard in the news and from other people is how dangerous mexico city is. that made me apprehensive about going. however, i was going to stay with my cousin who lives there so that made me feel more excited than nervous.

well, i will just say that i did not feel unsafe at all! Maybe that's because I had my cousin with me everywhere I went, maybe it's because I speak enough spanish to get by, or maybe it's because the whole unsafety thing was overhyped.... 

one thing that did turn out to be a disaster was being able to eat anything vegan. everything was meat, meat and more meat. on most menus, there wasn't even items that were vegetarian (with dairy)! so i basically had beans. it did not help that i was with 3 carnivores as well. I had done some research beforehand so i dragged everyone to a vegetarian taco place that was AMAZING! if only i could have had meals like that the whole trip. i did buy an avocado, and let me tell you i have never had an avocado like this in my life! creamy and buttery and sooo flavorful! just that one avocado was worth the whole trip :)

we did a lot of sightseeing and just checking out different neighborhoods, which was really fun. mexico city is HUGE! we saw the ancient ruins, teotihuacan, frida kahlo's house, some diego rivera murals, and got cleansed by aztec shamans. i also got to meet my nephew for the first time and spend time with my cousin, whom i hadn't seen in 10 years! all in all it was a great trip.

check out my trip photos here

new shoes!

so this weekend i went to "moo shoes" in the lower east side of nyc to look for some new shoes. i found some cute walking shoes!

i was so excited to be in a store that specifically sold only cruelty-free products, and that they were all very cute and trendy (as opposed to other vegan products i've seen)

they also had lots of bags and belts and things that really tempted me... i resisted though, and just bought a pair of shoes. 

search for the perfect vegan leather bag

i know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is! i cannot seem to find a handbag NOT made of leather that i actually like. matt & nat is a great vegan leather handbag brand, and i found a bag i liked from there, but once it came in the mail, i realised it's a duffel/travel bag! simultaneously, i ordered a bag from this brand un apres-midi de chien which is made out of nylon but it was too small!

see, i need to fit my laptop (15") into my handbag which i carry around with me almost everywhere. so i need something that will fit my laptop AND the rest of my junk and will also be adequate to carry around without my laptop. 

sounds superficial. but its just not easy to find the right bag... right now i have a leather bag, but as a vegan i am on the road to purging all my leather bags and shoes etc. all the other vegan handbags are made of materials like hemp. yech.

veganization of a pre-vegan recipe

last night i decided to take a recipe that i used to make pre-veganness. it's a recipe from giada's "everyday italian" show on the food network called "sicilian swordfish with eggplant penne" what did i do? i took out the swordfish. and it was still fantastic! and cheaper and took much less time to prepare.  i must share!

eggplant penne with white wine

ingredients:

2 japanese eggplants

   -diced, covered in olive oil & roasted in the oven for about 35 minutes on 500F

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes (cut in half if preffered)

1/2 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley

olive oil

1-2 cups of white wine

1/2 package of penne

red pepper flakes

salt & pepper to taste 

instructions:

1) cook penne until al dente and drain

2) in a large skillet over medium heat, add a little olive oil, garlic, 1/2 of the parsley and the eggplant. sautee for about 5 minutes, until eggplant is cooked.

3) remove eggplant and add the wine until alcohol is burned off. 

4) add penne, eggplant, tomatoes, salt, pepper, a little more olive oil and the rest of the parsley and stir together well

what is vegan pizza?

one of the saddest things about giving up dairy was having to give up my favourite pizza from Three of Cups, a fantastic brick oven pizza place in the east village. it is the roasted garlic and eggplant pizza with ricotta cheese. yum! 

so a week or so ago, i ordered pizza from a vegan pizza place. to be honest, it was just ok. lots of veggies which was good, but it was loaded with soy cheese- that was not melted, or even warmed. when i took a bite, it fell apart all over the place- even when eating with a knife & fork!

enough of that, i thought! i called up three of cups and made them improvise for me. roasted garlic and eggplant. NO cheese. and throw on some peppers and mushrooms while you're at it. it was DELICIOUS! i didn't even miss the cheese.

problem solved! 

the food network... more meat than anything else

so... i am a huge food network fan. even though in my ovo-lacto-pescetarian days, i used to watch everyday! mostly for the techniques, the personalities and being able to take some of the recipes and take out the chicken stock etc. and i just love food in general! however, i always was frustrated that they didn't have an asian focused show, and nothing for vegetarians! 

since becoming vegan, i have been even more annoyed with the food network. there is nothing for me to watch on this channel! instead of me being able to take the fish recipes and use veg stock instead of chicken stock- there is NOTHING for me!

how hard would it be for them to start a vegetable focused show? or at least make all the shows have one vegetarian dish per show? and what is with the lack of diversity in their shows? well, they added "simply delicioso" which is a latina chef, so that's something i guess. then they added "down home with the neelys" which is all about MEAT! ribs, bbq-ing all that stuff. ugh.

ok, it is official. i'm boycotting! 

welcome to the world of chanditarianism(s)