Weekend socials continue. Not that I am complaining. I’ll take all socials time with my friends as much as I can right now. Afterall, soon enough, I can’t just call them up for coffee/dinner with a mere 30 minutes notice. It’s a tricky business, to live in a different country.

Ranelagh is actually my old neighbourhood. I lived there for a good 4 years, loving the village vibe yet secure in the knowledge that I was only about 20 minutes walk away from south city centre. It is vibrant and dynamic, an area of choice of many young professionals of the city. For a short while, it even boasted a Michelin-starred restaurant, if only it was better managed. In the end, there just wasn’t enough good food to rescue the business from closing down. What a shame.

As I walked the streets of the village, I relived the memory of time past. One of my friends has just recently moved to the area and I think she would be very happy there. Had it not been for unwillingness of my previous landlady to renegotiate rent at a time when rental property prices were falling, I would have continued living there. I was happy where I was.

Question: How can one have an enjoyable evening when the day has been extremely windy and quite wet on top of it?
Answer: Attend an Indian-themed dinner party; eat, drink and be merry, and meeting a lot of new people. Once one decides to brave the weather of course. ;)

Mo and Kathleen hosted this dinner party over in Ranelagh but when I arrived, I was quite the lone soldier. Nary a familiar face except those of my hosts and a few friends I know would not arrive till much later. Fret not. Through the course of the evening, over tasty and well-spiced Indian food, luscious desserts and mango lassi, I’ve met and spoke to some very interesting people. (It also felt like a preview of what’s to come in my upcoming big move, where I’ll play the new girl and try to build a whole new social circle.)

During the first hour though, I found comfort to be near the kitchen, observing the cooking (and be one of the first to get something to my plate when they were cooked) and learning a few things about Indian food. I love Indian food, but for some reason, have never really added them to my repertoir of dishes to cook. It must be remedied.