Happy New Year!

A count down to the start of what is hopefully a year of peace and joy for us and ours.

Favorite photos from 2013

Some of my favorite photos from 2013 arranged chronologically. Click on the months to view more photos.

January...

February...

March...

April...

May...

June...

July...

August...

September...

October...

November...

December...

Fleeting expressions

I was so lucky to capture these precious fleeting expressions of this child...

Indian Spot-billed Duck

Here's one more beautiful bird I encountered at the Karanji lake, Mysore. The Indian Spot-billed Duck is a subspecies of the Spot-billed Duck also known as the Spotbill.

More birds from Karanji lake here and here.

Black-headed Ibis

This Black-headed Ibis was one of the many birds I enjoyed watching at the Karanji lake, Mysore...

Common Name: Black-headed Ibis or Oriental White Ibis
Binomial Name: Threskiornis melanocephalus

Karanji lake is located in the city of Mysore. It has a beautiful park around it.The total area of Karanji lake is 90 hectares. While water-spread area is about 55 hectares, the foreshore area measures about 35 hectares.

This is home to lots of bird species, both local and migratory. I could spot Egret, Grey Pelican, Open Bill Storks, Black headed Ibis, Red-naped Ibis, Peacocks, Spotted Ducks, Cormorant and Herons.

The picture of the Red-naped Ibis can be found in my earlier blog post

A Fun Sunday with LEGO Ferrari Cars

Last Sunday, me and my son were invited for an exclusive preview of never-seen-before collection of LEGO® range of Ferrari cars. The event was held at the Puma Social Club...

Nishant was so excited to get his hands on the collection of LEGO Ferrari cars on display...

There was the Scuderia Ferrari truck...

And the Ferrari 458 Italia...

Also the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta...

The organizers, Shell India had planned some fun filled competitions for the guests.

The guests displayed great enthusiasm for the activities like Lego car building...

Me and my son participated in the Parent Child challenge.
We clocked the fastest time in building a LEGO Ferrari F150 Italia in 4 minutes and 34 seconds...

Here's Nishant collecting his prize for the feat...

Ferrari model cars in the LEGO collection are available for purchase exclusively at Shell stations in India for INR 249 each with:

A 25 L pump of Shell Unleaded or Diesel
A 20 L pump of Shell Super Unleaded
Purchase must be made in a single receipt for 4-wheelers
Two-wheelers may accumulate up to 4 receipts for purchase of same type of fuel.

Here are the Lego collections. Click on the images to view details...

Top 10 Ways Legos Are Educational for Your Child: Learning with LEGO

Leopards at Mysore Zoo

Red-naped Ibis

Common names: Red-naped Ibis, Indian Black Ibis, Black Ibis
Binomial name: Pseudibis papillosa

A good bottle of Indian wine

I received a bottle of Four Seasons Viognier wine to review. Viognier (pronounced vee-on-yay) is one of the world's finest white wine grapes.

The wine scene in India has never been this vibrant. Four Seasons with its vine yards at Baramati, Maharashtra, has been producing some outstanding variety of wine.

Interesting patterns formed by the bubbles in the bottle

Four Season's Viognier is a dry wine with strong aroma of peaches and a faint note of nutty flavors. At around $10, the cheap price makes the wine more palatable.

Here are some more info from their website:

Type: Still White Wine

Grapes: Viognier

Origin: Baramati, Maharashtra, India

Style: Off Dry

Tasting notes

Color: Bright and clear gold.

Aroma: Intense perfume of blossom, with delicate hints of dried apricots and peaches.

Palate: Well-rounded with balancing acidity and an attractive lingering finish.

Serving suggestion: Enjoyed best at 10 -12º C as an accompaniment to sprout based salads with fruity dressings, or light fish and chicken dishes.Also pairs well with mildly spiced Indian and Asian cuisine.

For more information on Four Seasons visit: www.fourseasonsvineyards.com

Follow Four Seasons on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FourSeasonsWines

My earlier blog posts on wine tasting:

A rendezvous with wine