Saturday, June 29, 2013

Chasing hoolock gibbons in Lawachara Forest!



 Chasing hoolock gibbons in Lawachara Forest!

Whenever I get a chance, I prefer traveling by train. Its so much better than bus. This time our train started at 645 in the morning. I bought a cup of tea from the train caterer just for the fun of it, although I had full breakfast at home before starting. A young man approached me and asked if I would swap seat with him in another compartment. They are traveling in a big group and want to sit together. I agreed joyfully. My new sit was front facing, which was good, and by the window. An old man sat next to me. After a little while we started chatting, about different things, specially the recent political turmoil in Bangladesh. Its surprising what a change of mood can do to you. I would have never said things that I have said to that old man sitting next to me in the train unless I was going on a trip. It was a pleasant experience.

My station was Srimongol, the tea capital of Bangladesh. I my memory Srimongol was a romantic place. I have never stayed there, but once had to travel through the town long ago. I still remember seeing carts after carts of lemon and lime people were bringing to the town in early morning. These lemons grow in the hilly areas surrounding the town. Anyway, Srimongol arrived and I got off the train. At the station I bought my return ticket in the same train. Then I walked into the town looking for an eyeglass shop. I broke my sunglass that morning and needed to repair that. After that I had to some shopping for my one week stay in Srimongol. I booked a room in the ‘Nishorgo’ cottage which is away from the town and in the forest area, so I was not sure if there would be any shops in that area. Although later I found that there are quite a few shop in the Radhanagar village where the cottage is located. I bought some dry food and some fresh fruits.

I started for the cottage in a shared CNG run autorikshaw and got off at the gate of the cottage half an hour later. There were actually three cottages in the ‘Nishorgo Nirob’ premises. The one that I have booked is a semi-concrete building with tin roof. It had a attached bathroom with high commode and a veranda over a small garden. I was greeted by the Chef and the Caretaker as the owner/manager was not present.

After lunch, I took little rest and when the sun died down I went out for a little walk. I took a right turn and that took me into the settlement. This part of the village Radhanagar is almost ‘in the forest’. If you look around you will see the remnants of the old forest here and there, on top of the hillocks and into the streams which are known as ‘Chara’. There are rubber plantations on the North West side of the cottage, property of a tea estate. As the night approached I returned to the cottage and opened my ‘Kindle’ and started reading. There were a lot of mosquitoes so I could not stay in the veranda for long and locked myself inside the room.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Captain's World: a second class fast food joint!

I have heard about Captain's World restaurant from my friends and family a lot. I also had take away food from the restaurant. So when I decided to go to the restaurant for a family dinner, I had big expectations.

They have three outlets, one near Jahangir Gate, New Airport Road; one Uttara (Sector 4); and another Road - 3/A (Satmosjid Road), Dhanmondi. We went to the original one, near Jahangir Gate.

The restaurant is housed in three floors of a building near Jahangir Gate, immediately before the BAFWA Shopping Complex. There is a car park on the west side of the restaurant, but when we were leaving we saw a few cars also parked on the road in front.

On arrival we climbed to the first floor and started to look for a table. The restaurant was divided in to two rooms each floor. There were two types of tables, one sort like the usual light steel based fast food tables and chairs and these were more than the other sort, which were artificial leather sofas. The sofas were by the windows only. We first sat in the middle of the room on the light chairs and moved to the sofas as soon as they were available.

The ambient is not good, it looked and smelled like n average fast food place. I later discovered that the wash room is not very clean either.

This is not a fine dining restaurant, its a fast food place. They have fried chicken, tandoori chicken, dip dish type heavy crust pizza on the menu, so you get the picture.

The food was nothing special, its average fast food with excessively high price. The chicken was alright, but the tandoori naan was hard and chewy.

If you still want to visit, here are the phone numbers: +880-2-8824123, +880-2-8823559, 01716433383, 01721603142

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Prawn salad

Prawn salad


Ingredients

1 cup shelled prawns
1/2 cup sliced onions
2 boiled potatoes
2 sliced cabbage leaves
1/2 cup boiled peas
3/4 snake beans
1/2 cup sliced tomatoes
1 table spoon slices green chillies
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lime juice


Instructions

  1. Quickly poach the prawns and then lightly fry them on a little oil in a pan. 
  2. Cut the potatoes in bite size pieces. 
  3. Chop up the cabbage leaves and boil them quickly in water.
  4. Cut the snake beans in 3/4 inches size and blanch them.
  5. Now combine the ingredients.
  6. Season with salt and ground b;lack pepper and serve immediately.