My Fragile Throat

When it comes to my throat, I have had a hard time struggling with the painful days this throat gives me at times. On top of that, you'll definitely feel disturbed a lot when you love singing so much and you get sore throat so often. If I'm not wrong, my kind of condition is called post-nasal drip. That means it's not only throat that's creating trouble. The mucus formed in nose also comes down to throat and makes the condition worse. So, you'll find me always with a hot beverage when I'm in a restaurant or a cafe (even at home) since I drink no cold drinks.

Ginger & Lemon with Honey was what I had at Patio 747. I'm just recovering from a soar throat. So, I didn't want to eat anything oily or spicy, and ended up with a veggie soup. It's a little hard to find healthy food at restaurants. Most of them are deeply fried. And most of the times I have to eat those fried dishes with no options. Sometimes I wish I could find a place where all healthy and fresh dishes are served. I mean somewhere where the menu is totally different from what we find in other restaurants.

Coming back to Patio 747, I wish the service was a little quicker. Restaurants and hotels purely rely on hospitality. So, it's obvious that the guests should be served well. I have this habit of experimenting while going to any restaurants. Until someone comes and asks for the orders, I stay quiet and check how fast they approach me. And sometimes the waiters don't even notice me. That's when I know how conscious they are about hospitality. I really appreciate the service of the staff members at some places where they immediately approach their guests with smile and courtesy and make them feel welcome.

Just a Late Post on Coffee & Onions

Himalayan Java Coffee, Boudha - Yes! That's where I was a few days back. Having done some shopping downtown, I ended up going to this place, as I was thinking about it before but hadn't made it.  It's a cool place to go. I found it way bigger than I had thought since I wasn't aware of its space, including smoking zone I guess. It had a nice ambience. The name itself brings to one's mind some expectations of finding it nice, cozy and impressive as it is quite popular in town. And I'm not disappointed with what I saw. Obviously it's a coffee shop, so I wouldn't expect for too many varieties of dishes. I wasn't hungry at all. So, I was looking for something light to eat with the coffee. I finally had onion rings. They were tasty. And as expected, I received quite a nice service. It's when the staff is friendly that you want to visit the place time and again. So, I may possibly visit there again. But since this first visit was just for some experience I'm not yet sure about when and how frequently I will be there for coffee. Meanwhile I took some snapshots of the place.

Observing Saga Dawa - Tsepa Chonga

It's full moon today (9-June-2017). In the evening I went to Boudhanath for circumambulation and to light some butter-lamps. Every full moon day is a crowded day for this holy place. However, it's not the usual full moon day today. This full moon comes once a year. The day of Buddha's birth has already been marked and observed in many parts of the world a month ago. Yet the sacred day is observed today too.

According to Tibetan buddhist calendar, Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana (death in ordinary sense) fall in the fourth month i.e. Saga Dawa (also written Saka Dawa depending on the way it is pronounced in Tibetan language, in absence of an exact quivalent in English). And today is the day, the fifteenth day of the month (tsepa chonga / tshes pa bco lnga) or the full moon day. Many devotees come to Boudhanath today to mark the holy day by doing Kora (circumambulation) and reciting prayers. Many people complete 108 Koras today. Most of them start the night before and finish by morning or day time. Others make 13 Koras around the relatively bigger area of Swoyambhunath. The shrine itself is smaller than Boudhanath but circumambulation is done around the whole area of the hill at the top of which the stupa is situated. I have had the experience of completing both 108 at Boudhanath and 13 at Swoyambhunath. However, it's been a few years that I have not been able to make it for some reason. Today I just went to Boudha and did 3 rounds and lit some butter-lamps. Well, the prevalent belief is that if we perform any positive or negative deeds on this very day, they are multiplied hundreds or thousands of time. So, I should not be regretting for having done just 3 of them. As I mentioned, today is the 15th day and Saga Dawa is there till the 30th day.

I hadn't written for so long. So, this post is just a kind of "knock-knock! hey there" for me to  remind myself to write again. And I can feel that it's taking me a little time to go into the flow. Let me hope that this post is not just a surprise visit. I am definitely looking forward to seeing myself posting more. It's already going to be midnight and I must post it before 12:00. Otherwise I will have to replace every 'today' with 'yesterday'.