Minneapolis Desi style

Back from the Twin Cities!! I finally got the meet the famous blogger, Sita-ji, from Bollywood Food Club. She was one of the few who welcomed me in the blogging world, which was two years ago!! She's also on Twitter. In addition to her, I got to meet Jill from Bollywhat & Twitter who loves Indian cinema, particularly Telugu films & Jenna from Twitter who not only loves Indian cinema, but also Korean movies and music!! I love social networking. It helped me meet wonderful people like them.

They were so hospitable, trying to show me some Northern love while talking about my Southern accent, hehehe. Yes, this Hmong chick has a slight Southern accent with shades of roughness.

Sita-ji is definitely a wonderful tour guide. I was very impress with her knowledge because she knows Minneapolis inside and out. Then combine that with Jill’s knowledge too since both love the city and grew up there. Jenna lived farther but was able to meet me for a few days, which I thought was extra sweet of her!

Now, I have plenty of family in MN but was very surprised with the Desi population in the Twin Cities! Wow! Look, there’s even a temple!

Their website - http://www.hindumandirmn.org/Home.aspx

No surprise that I am a huge John-Bips fan but I was unable to find their magazine cover in Atlanta. However, I found it in Minneapolis.

 On Twitter, I tweeted about how different Filmfare is now. Granted the last magazine I bought was in December 2008 because John-Bips were on the cover too, but still! What I was most impressed with is the Surya article and then right after that, a section with South Indian stars from Ram Charan to Allu Arjun to Rana to Trisha to Ileana to Priyamani! I will scan these this weekend and share.

There are not many Mom-and-Pop Desi stores in the area I live in. I may have to go to a different area. There are a lot of International markets that have Desi, Hispanic, and Asian items all in one. I took pictures of what I saw at the Desi stores there.

And look, a few with Juhi, Shahrukh, & Madhuri.

And found a vintage Akki poster :D

On top of that, I found Telugu and Tamil dvds, with English subs. What’s impressive is at the back of the dvd, there’s a distributor in the MN area. Wow!

Look, Bunny & me...excuse the paleness...the sun was in my face.

Or is this better? Tweeters say I look too serious since I usually smile in my pics...

Okay....how about this? Pic taken before the wedding I attended in MN.

South Scope rocks! :)

My Leader review is coming up soon after my scans. I did post on Twitter that I am going to be on a hiatus but that has been delayed. Although I'm no longer on hiatus, I won't update as much and keep up with others tweets. Sorry for that. Feel free to unfollow me but I will reply those who @apunbindaas me :)

 
A toast from Sita-ji
Thumbs Up, Limca, on mural from Patel Groceries on 18th and Central Ave., Minneapolis, MN, USA 

Another photo post with Desi items found International Market

The last time I did a post like this was back in October 2009. I blogged about finding Desi food at my local International market. (Yes, I still carry my digi cam with me)

This time, I went to a different International market and found more variety in Desi food there!

I know, this is a pointless post but just wanted to fill in your RSS readers ;P

PS - still working on Parugu review

Vishal Krishna Reddy - my latest crush

Beware.

Be very, very cautious.

This is going to be nothing but an
EYE CANDY

post.

For the past few days, I've been checking out this new hottie.

It's all because of imienazwisko. Yep, it's her fault. She tweeted a picture of him on Twitter and got me wondering who this guy was.

How can I not know who he is?

Ain't I the one who is the eye candy person? LOL.

When she told me that his name is Vishal, I quickly went to google him. Gosh, he's hot.

Vishal is a South Indian actor who has appeared in mostly Tamil films and a few Telugu films.

Woah, has it really been one year? Journey of this blog...

Although I haven't been blogging like I used to, I can not believe it's been a year since I started this blog. Time sure flies!

You know what's funny? When I tried signing up with Blogger, I didn't realize that I already had an account. Strangely enough, I had the idle account for seven months and didn't know about it!

Besides the 411 information on the right hand side of my blog, another reason why I wanted to blog was to keep a track of the films I've seen. Sometimes when I go back to an older post, it's great to look at the screen caps again. You know the feeling of nostalgia when you haven't seen a film in a long time.

On June 1, 2008, was my first post. Since John Abraham is one of my guilty pleasures, a friend asked me to make some avatars from John Abraham's film, Water. So, of course, I was happy to oblige :)

Since my first post was nothing but pictures and no movie reviewing, I didn't know how to start off. During that time, I didn't watch many 2008 films yet (I am still behind on sooooo many films too!!!) Finally, I decided to blog about the five films of 2007 that were very underrated, to me -- 1971 Prisoners of War, Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee, Aawarapan, Dhokha, & Johnny Gaddar.

Race was my first "real" review. At that time, I was unsure what format I wanted to do. Still was learning about blogging. But I did know for a fact that I didn't want to blog about any spoilers. And if I did, I would caution others before reading.

Adding screen caps to blogging would help readers visualize what the movie is going to be about. Plus to me, it would add some oomph to my boring blog. Or even make others interested in watching the film. Or help newbies put a face to a name. Or others could see the actor and/or actress in a different avatar, if that is the case. Or it could just simply be, for me, just eye candy ;P

For my earlier postings, I want to re-watch those films and have lots of screen capping, listing out the characters and songs, which is my format for the blog now. Even for the films I've seen in theater.

Actually this blog would be nothing without the warm wishes and love from everyone. Especially those who have greeted me. I have made some friends and hope to make more in the future.

When I started blogging, I just blogged, not visiting many sites yet. The following bloggers greeted and welcomed me in the blogging world.

Ajnabi was the first to greet and welcome me to the blogging world, even though she was a newbie herself. However, that didn't matter. Just grateful to have others read my blog. Crediting and totally giving thanks to her, I have met so great bloggers online. I was fortunate to have met her this year in March when she came to Atlanta to visit. It was a short, brief visit but well worth it. Her blog is definitely Paisa Vasool, including her reviews, fantasy film version, picture-filled posts, non-filmi fun posts. Hey, she understands and shares the cougarness for a hot, young stud even though she's a happy wife and mother -- I understand that cause I am in the same boat.
http://ajnabi1977.blogspot.com/

As much as I love Bollywood, I am such a noob when it comes to the classics. Thank goodness there is Bollyviewer. Her wonderful, descriptive posts helps educate me with the Bollywood stars of yesterday. When adding screen caps, she adds humor captions. Just reading her blog, makes me miss oldies. Old is Gold. http://bollyviewer-oldisgold.blogspot.com

The Abhay-loving fan, Shweta not only blogs aout Bollywood, you will read about about other film cinema as well. What I love about her blog is she identifies the pros and cons of the films she is reviewing -- many films I have never seen or heard of, making it very interesting. Besides, she watches horror films, a genre I enjoy, but her willingness to watch many more Bollywood horror films amazes me! Just like me, she has another blog (okay, I have many more - I have four! but her other blog is interesting too!) http://apnieastindiacompany.blogspot.com/

Even though Sita-ji didn't have Blogger and have Wordpress instead, she came to my blog and greeted me. Living in MN, where there is a huge Hmong population, she was very familar with my ethnicity. Although Bollywood films is loved by many Hmong people, not many will blog about it. Her blog has many useful information in the MN area guiding Bollywood fans what to look for next. Although her blog makes you think it's a food blog, it's not. There are reviews with screen caps, even some posts with some news and gossip. Besides I'm jealous cause she had the opportunity to visit India and shared with us pictures :)
http://bollywoodfoodclub.wordpress.com/

Aamir Khan is King. Not Shah Rukh Khan! Let the debate start! I do love SRK, but I love Aamir even more! Sorry! If I wanted to talk about how great Aamir is and not have someone tell me that SRK is better, then I will talk to theBollywoodFan aka tBf. Never, have I ever known anyone so passionate about Aamir. Not only will you find the reviews of Aamir's films and many other great films, you will find English translations to film soundtracks, which is very helpful and useful for a non Desi person like me. Or even anyone else who doesn't speak Hindi. Very informative since a lot of older films did not have songs translated (dumb, right? the movie is subbed except for the songs) Although many films now have English subtitles, some do not have good translations. This blog is so famous now that it has been featured in Filmfare - March 2009 edition.
http://thebollywoodfan.blogspot.com/

There are many more great bloggers that I have met. Bahut Shikriya Blogger! Even though I haven't post as much as I used to, I hope to run across many more wonderful bloggers. And even meet them in person!

Until then, I hope to continue to make it to another year here on Blogger.

Family estate dazzles with Bollywood chic

Oh gosh, I have to post something this month. I haven't even done that yet! Therefore, I decided to just save and post an article I found in AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution).

Actually, I saw this article a few days ago but forgot about it until just now. This is my dream house.

I've always wanted a home with an interior decoration Indian style (although the article does say Bollywood). Since my hubby likes to landscape, I always wanted a beautiful Japanese garden (fell in love with that ever since I saw Bruce Lee's movie, Chinese Connection).

So here is the article post from the AJC.



Shelina and Ali Chunara, originally from Bombay, India, have been Georgia residents just as long as they've been married - 21 years. They bought their six-bedroom home in the Bridgewater subdivision in Snellville in August 2004 to have more space for their growing kids, Farzeen, 13, and Shehzaan, 17.



Shelina and Ali Chunara moved into their 7,900-square-foot home in August 2004, and because they spent over $100,000 on interior fittings and custom treatments, they didn't have to renovate the construction.



Guests are greeted by this stunning custom rug in the foyer which was actually the last of the twelve rugs commissioned to "brighten the place up." "My wife came up with the suggestion of putting ornaments on her, " says Ali. "She has nail polish color matching her eyeshadow, " adds Shelina. She's not crafted in the likeness of a particular Bollywood actress though she looks the part.



The view from the living room sofa hints at the spacious floorplan of the home that made it a perfect fit for the lifestyle of the Chunaras and their growing teenagers.



The formal living room, set to the left of the foyer, also has a striking visual art display set beneath furniture sourced from Huff Fine Furniture and Design.



Shelina and Ali Chunara agree: There's a youthful spirit captured and reflected in their furnishings. Shelina sourced this fashionista lamp online and placed it near an entrance to the living room.

By design, no two rooms are to have the exact same color scheme, though the formal living room (pictured) does sit well opposite the formal dining room which is in white and gray and also completely furnished and designed by Huff.



Among the fun fixtures adorning the foyer and hallway is this lamp for which a rug was custom-designed to rest it on.



In 2006 the Chunaras hosted 100 guests at their home for a re-election fundraiser for Governor Sonny Perdue. "He was here for an hour-and-fifteen minutes, " recalls Ali. Perdue departed before guests sat down for the catered dinner.



"We came across these tables at Bova Furniture in Gwinnett and couldn't stop looking at them, we bought this breakfast dining table, then saw the coffee table and said, 'if they're alongside the same area we could flow them together', " recalls Ali. "At the same time we were doing rugs, we took a picture of the table ... we wanted the squares and balls on the table in the rugs as well."



The living room in the home of Shelina and Ali Chunara is fitted with a wall-to-wall custom rug fashioned after the coffee table which was sourced at Bova Furniture.



The coffee table in the living room influenced the custom wall-to-wall rug that bears circular inserts crafted with leather.



The sunroom, set near the living room, offers a panoramic view of the groomed grounds that encircle a nearby pond.




We do entertain several times," offers Ali sitting in his kitchen, "guests usually come from out of country, out of state at least once or twice every two or three months. Everything is catered, we barely cook here."

Guests usually help themselves to supari which the Chunaras have 14 varieties of stationed near their formal dining room. "After a good meal back home," says Ali, "people in a restaurant would offer you this kind of mint, people do have it in their home as well, and you can buy it on the streets in India. Basically it's a mouth freshener, there are several different varieties: the hard kind, Milan, and disco [which] has colorful seeds that are sugar-coated."

A bronze and gold leaf wall treatment adds punch to the cheetah room and an illuminating backdrop to an assemblage of animal replicas.

The "cheetah room" is set in the middle of the four upstairs bedrooms and is the family's favorite room. The cheetah motif started with the sofa, shares Ali, then grew to include gold and bronze leaves on the walls.

A plain black table was enhanced with a hand-painted portrait of a cheetah done by the same artist who crafted the home's many custom rugs.

"We're not that crazy about wood and oak, " shares Shelina, who insisted that the mirror motif on the bed she sourced from Huff Furniture would be echoed by throughout her master suite.

Mirrors are not just for the walls, they also adorn the tray ceiling, nightstands, headboard and ceiling fan in the master suite.

A guest room on the first floor is delicate and whimsical. A custom rug in the shape of a rose rests at the foot of the bed.

My husband said people go to India to see the Taj Mahal, I'm going to make one right here for you, that's how we came up with the idea of [crafting] a Taj Mahal for me [in the master bath], " explains Shelina. "It took about a month," she adds.



"When we bought the house most of the wallpaper was chosen for us, " says Shelina, "the master bath wallpaper had leaves on it so I asked the [rug designer] if he could do rugs in the shape of leaves."



"I'm crazy about purses," admits Shelina. She began collecting them 8 years ago. "The first one I picked up was the cheetah design (pictured in her hands). I bought some from New York and Bombay. The most expensive cost $400, I use them when I go to church and special occasions when I wear my saris and shalwar kameez."



At last count Shelina has roughly 225 saris. "Every year I go to India I need to bring in 20-25." She has "more than 250 shalwar kameez, every color, name it and I have it, from black to red to orange to blue to green, I have it color coordinated in my closet." Her shoe collection is so vast it's stored on three shelves in their two-car garage.



Window treatments in the game room are playful yet mature.



The game room contains ice hockey, ping pong and pool tables, the Chunaras applied the striped black wallpaper and the room wouldn't be complete without a customized wall-to-wall floor covering.



Shehzaan demonstrates how to play on the carrom board in the game room. "In India, it's a recreation for millions of people, it's the cheapest pastime, " shares Ali. "We bought it from Bombay, it's got a few wooden round coins and a striker, you try to hit the black and white wooden coins into one of four holes in the corners of the board."



A tasteful portrait of Aga Khan, like this one in the game room, hangs in every room of the home. Ali shares: "He's our spiritual leader, by having the picture in front of us it keeps us calm and emotionally balanced."



The deck overlooking the manicured backyard and a communal pond frames a serene setting on a picture-perfect day.