African Horned Melon a.k.a "Kiwano"

So you like fruits eh? Try this one -



Well, you might actually like the looks of it (?!?) since the African Horned Melon (a.k.a Kiwano) as it is called is used as an ornamental fruit(!) when not eaten. Frankly, I don't see both those uses from my side.
But, that being said, since goofing around is one of my specialities, my good friend Pranav and I decided to buy this ornamental delicious looking fruit (note the sarcasm). The excitement about it while buying the fruit was certainly not around when it was time to cut it. But cut it I did. Boy and does it look uglier! Check this -


It looks like a cucumber grown in a wrong place - a mutated cucumber. The horned melon is not very big, though the pictures make it look like it. Its just about the size of the big apples, a shade bigger perhaps
It tastes really yucky. The green gooey stuff you see is as slimy it looks and its a hard time biting into it. The seeds are not the softest and its even harder biting them through.

Well, overall, I just wanted you all to know about this thing lurking around in the super-markets and those of you who love to try out new fruits, might not want to try this one. I repeat - not want to try this one.

I was dumb enough to overlook so many others who tried to warn people with blogs like this (example) and hope that YOU won't be that dumb. Someone has to save the world you see .. hehe ..

BTW - have bought a Starfruit....

Biking can be good excercise for your arms...

...well at least the first day you decide to bike after a 3 month winter break.
Most of you must have guessed that it must be something to do with getting the bike back in shape. Partially right - just partially.

But if everything goes smooth (everything = cleaning and filling air) its not that hard. I am also sure (like every1 else) that 99% times everything WILL be smooth and I am a major part of that 1% that makes the 100. So heres my interesting 'first bike-ride after winter' tale -

I started by cleaning the bike - no problems there. Then checked the brakes and got them tightened - just to satisfy the 'you will fall' part of my brain. Then came the workout - filling air. I have this medium sized hand-pump to get air into the tires. Its not bad. The last time I had them inflated in about 20 pumps each tire. But today was not that day.
I struggled for about 5 minutes with the rear tire and that thing just was not ready to bulge a bit. This made me consider that the tire might have a problem. So I decided to check the front tire, but got the same response. That made me think, the pump is bad. Till now I had tried to pump air into both tires at various angles. It made me feel the muscles in my arm tense. Even more than the arm I used to pump the piston, the left hand that I used to hold the pump in place was excercised more.
Anyways, yes it was the pump. I disassembled the darned thing up and assembled it again. Its quite an easy mechanical tool. Took me some time, but was fun and interesting. That got it working and the bike tires inflated and me off on my merry way. :)

Run

With the spring season getting beautiful days with warm sunshine, its time to step out of the house. One activity I like in this season is running. The lovely canal just past a corner from my house entices me even more. (Check the pictures on the right)
Along with that, Indianapolis (where I am currently) has a mini-marathon to support the cure of Breast Cancer in the month of April. Its on the 21st April this year and am planning to participate. I participated in a Race for Cure against Prostate Cancer last year. Clocked about 28 mins for 5k. Hoping to better that - lets see.

I was therefore trying to get some tips about running properly and not injuring myself in the process. I got this nice article written by Jenny Hadfield. Along with helpful hints about how to run, she also explains how to train for half-marathons; in fact the article is about running half-marathons.

Hope this helps the running enthusiast in you...

Completely off-topic : I will be starting to get my earlier posts in too.

First page...again

'He who learns from his mistakes, learns the best' , 'Man learns from experience'

Both these proverbs apply to me, at least in the case of blogging. When new to this, now widespread self-publishing phenomenon, I had created various blogs related to different topics and situations as I encountered them. Each of these blogs had, on an average about 10 posts. I just did not have any other post to make to each blog since I did not have an experience in that blog's category; and if I kept adding new blogs for each category, I would have to keep a track of all the classification I make. MESSY...
I have been planning to get all the mess out and to organize the blogs in a single ... well... lets call it BLOB.
So in the coming days, weeks and months, will be getting all my earlier blogs in one place - THIS blog. Yes, will be adding new posts too as and when required.