Restaurant Review - Arusuvai Arasu, Chennai.

This joint by the king of delicacies (Arusuvai Arasu) Mr. Natrajan. He is thus also called Arusuvai Natrajan. It is located in East Coast Road in Chennai and recently a branch in G N Chetty Road has started.

Sri Arusuvai Natrajan has been caterer to many Indian marriages for very many years and this venture is by one of the best man in the industry.

Arusuvau Arasu is a pure veg south Indian restaurant. It has all traditional south Indian menu including a-la-carte and meals. Recently they have also introduced chat items. But I would consider south Indian cuisine to be their forte. The one at ECR has better ambience than the one at G N Chetty Road because of sea breeze, more area and location.

The pluses of this hotel would be good food quality, minuses would be some items being bit costly.

This is one good place of food I would recommend to south Indian cuisine lovers.

Funny Video 3 - Stupid people and funny bloopers!!!

Restaurant Review - A2B Restaurant, Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Chennai.

Ananda Bhavan or Adyar Ananda Bhavan as it is known famously is a chain of restaurants which opened initially in Adyar and expanded in areas like Mylapore and T Nagar.

This started as a sweets and snacks shop but diversified into a restaurant chain called A2B Restaurant. This is a multi-cuisine restaurant. I would consider this to be the cheapest and best in Chennai. But then non-availability of some items especially in Mylapore joint makes one feel bad. The one in L B Road, Adyar is much better with some new items like kambu cholam dosai and ragi dosai and specialities like bread pakoda and chat items. I love the bread pakoda available there. It consists of bread coated with groundnut flour, fried in oil and stuffed with masala and paneer. Paneer in bread pakoda makes this really special. Apart from this, I also love chat items like bhel puri, sev puri, dahi papdi etc and special chat items like special tokri chat and katori chat. I would recommend people to taste the special delicacies at L B Road branch. Veechu parotta is really superb. It may not be available on all days, but is very tasty.

The quality of specialities here are very good and food is really available at reasonable price. But do not expect much in terms of ambience in mylapore branch. L B Road branch has better ambience.

I would suggest people to visit this place for lunch and evening snacks.

Video of the week - Narayanamurthy on his successor.

Restaurant Review - Murugan Idly Shop, Chennai.

Murugan Idly shop, Chennai.

Started as a humble idly shop in Madurai, this expanded really as a south Indian high quality restaurant in Madurai and Chennai. In Chennai, it is located in Besant Nagar and T Nagar.

(Murugan Idli Shop at G N Chetty Road, T Nagar).

The speciality with this is the tradition it has maintained. It serves distinct south Indian traditional cuisine including tamarind rice (pulianchaadam), chakkara pongal, ven pongal. Apart from this there are usual iteme like idly, dosa, vada, uttapam etc. Take it from me, you cannot get all of these traditional delicacies together in any other joint.

There is one lunch (mini meal) available for around INR 50 which contains Tamarind rice, sambar rice, curd rice, sidedishes and appalam. The one at North Usman road in T Nagar also has a separate floor for unlimited south Indian meals.

But you may find big time crowd during lunch hours as there are lots of companies located nearby. Service may get slow during that time.

All in all, I would rate this restaurant from good to very good.

Interesting read - 'Solar tsunami' may hit Earth anytime: Scientists

The Earth could be hit by a 'solar tsunami' anytime now as an unusually complex magnetic eruption on the Sun has flung a large cloud of electrically charged particles towards our planet, scientists have warned.

Several satellites, including NASA's new Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), recorded on Sunday a small solar flare erupting above sunspot 1092, the size of the Earth.

The satellites also recorded a large filament of cool gas stretching across the Sun's northern hemisphere also exploded into space.

The explosion, called a coronal mass ejection, was aimed directly towards Earth, which then sent a 'solar tsunami' racing 93 million miles across space. When the violent cloud hits, which could be anytime now, it could spark aurorae in the skies around the poles and pose a threat to satellites, although not a severe one, it said.

Despite being separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometres, the two events may be linked, said astronomers who studied the images from SDO that hint at a shock wave travelling from the flare into the filament.

"These are two distinct phenomena but they are obviously related," said Len Culhane, a solar physicist at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London.

Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth.

It is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights.

"This eruption is directed right at us," said Leon Golub, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

"It's the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time," Golub was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

Scientists recently discussed the implications of volatile space weather at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum. One of the biggest concerns is the potential for a major blackout.

Daniel Baker, Space Scientist, University of Colorado-Boulder says, " One of the that things we really saw the major impacts would be on the power grid. That a major storm could cause immense damage. It could cause major blackouts that could last for weeks, possibly months or even years."

In August 2003 a computer malfunction played a major role in the US's worst blackout putting 50 million people in the dark, including all of New York City.

The effects of a solar storm on the power grid are still unknown, but researchers are trying to assure they are prepared for the worst case scenarios.

Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division says, "Hours is okay, you can get along. A few people stuck in elevators, a few people on heart-lung machine, it's very important for them. As you go into days our water supplies are impacted. And that's an essence of life. So it's potentially a devastating blow. But we think it's an unlikely blow."

NASA recently warned that Britain could face widespread power blackouts as well and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation 'space storm'.

Earlier scientists had said that they believed the Earth would be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes "from a deep slumber" sometime around 2013.

It remains unclear, however, how much damage this latest eruption will cause the world's communication tools.

Dr Lucie Green, of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Surrey, who followed the flare-ups using Japan's orbiting Hinode telescope, said this was a very rare event.

"Not one, but two almost simultaneous eruptions from different locations on the Sun were launched toward the Earth.

"These eruptions occur when immense magnetic structures in the solar atmosphere lose their stability and can no longer be held down by the Sun's huge gravitational pull. Just like a coiled spring suddenly being released, they erupt into space."

"This means we have a very good chance of seeing major and prolonged effects, such as the northern lights at low latitudes."

So how should individuals prepare for solar storms?

Richard Fisher says, "I think a little bit of extra water, a couple of flashlights, and a transistor radio are a few good things to have."

Scientists are preparing, too.

(Source: NDTV)

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/solar-tsunami-may-hit-earth-anytime-scientists-41912?cp

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/solar-tsunami-may-hit-earth-anytime-scientists-41912?cp

Travelogue - Madurai and Kodaikanal: Part 3.

Just on the way back from Berijam lake, we saw a very good view point. It is called the Coaker's walk. It 's truly a walker's paradise as the name suggests. We were simply spell bound with some of the most beautiful views. Just check this out.....

We wrapped up our trip to Madurai and Kodaikanal with a visit to Silver cascade falls:

View from a view point:





This is a view of the surroundings from the same viewpoint:












And here is the close-up:

A view of God Vishnu (the protector god in the Hindu mythology).

So, it was a superb trip to one of the most sacred pilgrimages and the most famous and beautiful hill stations. Kodaikanal also seems to have got commercialized like Ooty but if you want to enjoy the nature's bounty then "be lost" in to one of those view points or walks along the mountains.

Restaurant Review - Punjab Restaurant.

Delhi is especially known for Punjabi cuisine. And this restaurant does full justuce to that. This place has been there since long time in Ajmal Khan road, Karol Bagh and one of my favorites. I remember my hay days when I used to buy samosas in the evenings whenever snacks was not available at home. At that time there used to be a non-AC restaurant and a place for making and serving chats and sweets. It was initially called Punjab sweets corner.



Now it has grown into a biggie. Now called Punjab Restautant, this has all the needs of a good restaurant, superb food, quick service, couteous staff etc. Dont go by its name because it does not only serve Punjabi food but also South Indian items, chats and chinese cuisine.

Apart from a-la-carte items, you can also oget deluxe thali (Punjabi meal) for INR 150 which is reasonable enough. The meal includes 2 pieces bread, 3 tandoori side-dishes, one rice item, sweet, papad, salad, pickle etc.

Problems: Crowded, being in main area and a commercial centre, and at the corner which is the intersection of Ajmal Khan Road and Valmiki marg. Service may become a little bit slow during peak hours.

But as it is for any other restaurant in Delhi, the superior food quality will make sure you would complain neither about the crowd nor about the slower service.

Interesting read - Stocks and bonds to become hazardous to wealth?

Within the next 20 years, the most profound changes in economic history will sweep the globe. The economic chaos and turbulence that we are now experiencing are merely the opening salvos in what will prove to be a long, disruptive period of adjustment.

At least that's my theory, and careful investors owe it to themselves to hear me out. If I'm right, long-term investing in stocks and bonds will deliver lackluster returns at best and be destroyers of wealth at worst.

To explain why, I need to tell you about how "Three Es" -- the economy, energy and the environment -- are interconnected and why we need to consider all three at once.

The first "E" refers to the economy. Even if we were to limit our analysis to this realm only, I could make a compelling case that stocks and bonds face the most daunting structural headwinds seen in generations. As I argued in The Great Asset Bubble, as baby boomers transition from being net savers to net spenders, this will have a dramatic downward effect on the value of the stocks, bonds and real estate that they will need to sell.

Further, we might note that the developed world has doubled its debt load over the past 10 years and seems unlikely to be able to do so again. Even more dramatically, there has been an explosive expansion in unmatched pension and entitlement liabilities. Without these increases in debt and unfunded liabilities, global growth over the past decade would have been a great deal less than it was.

Source: Federal Reserve

Figure 1: Total credit market debt in the U.S. doubled from $26 trillion to $52 trillion between Jan 2000 and Jan 2009. It also doubled in the 1990's, as it did in the 1980's. Can it double again? To continue the trend, it would need to go to $104 trillion in the 'twenty-teens' somehow piling on an incremental $52 trillion, or more than $5 trillion a year.

Can debt continue its parabolic growth? If it doesn't, it's safe to say that the behavior of the economy that most investors accept as "the way things work" will change, and probably quite dramatically. By extension, much of what we've learned about investing in stocks and bonds during this period will mislead rather than guide.

The Second "E" -- Energy

When we bring in the second "E," energy, the story quickly compounds in urgency. Our economy is dependent on growth. Not just any kind of growth, but some percentage growth every year. Not much, just three or four percent -- but such growth is an absolute requirement for stocks to grow and for bonds to get paid back, at least in aggregate.

Petroleum -- oil -- is the undisputed king of fuels that drive economic expansion. It has no substitutes and no replacements. And it is depleting. There is growing alignment between various government and private institutions in predicting the date when an irreversible peak of oil production will occur. This does not mean "running out," mind you, just that slightly less and less will be available each year -- though at increasing extraction costs, despite our best efforts.

Some say the peak has already happened (not me), some say it will happen by 2015 (I'm with them), and a shrinking few say it will be around 2020. We have no substitutes ready to take its place. Alternative fuels are decades away from being able to operate at a scale sufficient to make up for the gap left by depleting oil.

To a long-term investor, none of these are acceptable outcomes because they all indicate that the mechanism of economic growth and wealth creation will profoundly change within zero to 10 years.

It's easy to model, predict or even intuit that a peak in oil will coincide with a peak in economic output. After Peak Oil, when there is incrementally less oil to divvy up across the global landscape, economic growth will stagnate and then decline.

The Third "E" -- The Environment

What else comes with Peak Oil? A peak in everything that depends on oil, which brings us to the minerals and other resources that we secure from the environment. Again, this is not a story of "running out" -- this is a story where things get just a little bit harder and a little bit more expensive. As a result, fewer and fewer resources will come up out of the ground and course through our economic body.

We can already see the possibility of reserve depletion of five key mineral ores over the next 15 years:

Source: www.theoildrum.com

Figure 2: Left to right, the first five elements are: Strontium, Silver, Antimony, Gold and Zinc.

Does all economic activity cease with the depletion of a few key elements? No, of course not. But neither does our economy continue to operate in precisely the same way that it did when demand alone dictated supply.

And that's my key message here. There is a wealth of data suggesting that a period of profound change is either already upon us or coming soon enough to capture the attention of any serious long-term investor. We can no longer constrain our thinking to just one "E," the economy.

Conclusion

If my thesis and data are correct, corporate earnings will falter in the coming years. The vital ingredients needed for economic growth will be in short supply, and stocks will fail to grow. Similarly, bonds require repayment of both the principal and the interest components, which means that, in aggregate, bond values are explicitly dependent on growth. Yet Peak Oil looms in the near distance.

With this in mind, our financial models go straight out the window. We'll need new thoughts, tools and expertise to guide us towards wealth creation and maintenance. Stocks and bonds in general simply will not behave as they have in the past as we enter a new world of constant economic shrinkage. Current discount models feed on earnings growth and compounding interest that will no longer be obtainable.

In a world without continuous economic growth, we'll need a lot more than a formulaic approach allocating assets into broad market categories. Investing will have to transition away from following time-tested formulas that no longer apply. It will require a good understanding of the changing circumstances and their effects. We'll need an exceptional amount of due diligence in order to pick out the individual winners from the losers.

As I see it, trends in energy and the environment have gained too much momentum to mitigate, and global economic stagnation is the new normal. Though more effort will be required than in the past, those who can understand this and adapt have a good chance of preserving and even growing their wealth. Unfortunately, most will miss the turn. Don't be among them.

(Source: Yahoo Finance)

Funny Video 2.

Compilation fo funny video. Enjoy your week-end.

Restaurant Review - Saravana Bhawan, Chennai.

In my opinion and as far as I have heard, this is the best south Indian restaurant in terms of food quality and uniform standards of food preparation and service. Saravana Bhavan is a chain of restaurants head-quartered in Chennai and located at many places in India and around the world. There is one in Connaught Place in Delhi and many in Chennai.

The best thing about this is that they are time-tested. They have rendered quality since day 1 and are continuing to maintain and striving to improve quality even to this date. They also have diversified into Italian, Gujrati and Rajasthani cuisines wherein they have performed decently well. But South Indian cuisine is their forte. The yummy dosas, uttappams, vadais, rice items, meals etc are hallmarks of this chain of eateries. 14 idly is a speciality of this place. It is nothing but 14 small idlies in a small tray drowned in yummy sambar. A more recent addition has been paneer dosa. It serves masala milk in the evening which is again a Saravana Bhavan speciality. It has self-service as well as full-fledged service restaurants. So, this caters to all segments of people.

Pluses: Quality, standard, good service, self as well as full service and diversification into other cuisines.

Limitations: Some people, especially Chennai's locals find this place too costly. They have another complaint, viz. quantity of food has reduced considerably over the years vis-a-vis the cost. For example the size of Dosa or uttapam or quantity of rice has reduced.

But still, they have maintained the same flavour and taste in their delicacies over a period of time, which many restaurants have failed to do.

Video of the week - Murali magic !

Kumble speaks on Muthiah Muralitharan's magic on his retirement...

(Source: NDTV)

Travelogue - Madurai and Kodaikanal: Part 2.

We then went to Kurinji andavar temple which is a temple of lord Kartikeya who is the main deity in Kodaikanal.

The temple: It is said to be a sub-temple of Palani which is one of the six sacred abodes or Arupadaivedu of lord Kartikeya.

The handsome lord:

Image: Kurinjiandavar, Kodaikanal.

Lord Dandayutapani, Palani.

Our next target was to reach Berijam lake which is a high altitude lake located more than 20 kms from Kodaikanal:

For this we needed to get permission from the forest rangers which we got. The route to this lake was through dense forests, but I was stunned by the nature's beauty and bounty there. There was no question of any pollution or big crowd there, though there were some vehicles going towards the lake.

These are the sort of the places I am talking about, totally stress relieving and pure. See this ......

This is the view of the lake from one of the view points on the side of the road leading to the lake:





And then we reached the lake ........





Rest in the next post. Meanwhile do keep visiting.