Nature's Plus Spirutein Chocolate Shake review

I have been consuming Nature's Plus Spirutein Chocolate Shake for a couple of years now. It's a great product without doubt and you could see for yourself that all the reviews on the web suggest the same.

I never like eating cereals for breakfast, I'll always start feeling hungry in about an hour and would have to run to the vending machine or drink something. Not only was it not filling enough, but it was also not giving me enough nutrients that my body required. My doctor had always recommended me to have a high protein diet. Once when this topic of breakfast came up, a colleague of mine recommended me to Kashi's protein shake that she was using as her breakfast.

So, I did my own research on finding a good protein shake that would fit my needs and I settled for Nature's plus' Spriutein. Not only does this supply enough protein, it supplies all the other vitamins and minerals that our body requires, which kinda makes it a one big solution for all my problems.

I should admit that I don't feel hungry for a solid 3-4 hours after consuming this protein shake irrespective of whether I have it with Milk or Orange juice,in addition to that this satisfies the golden rule of starting your day with a high protein breakfast to promote healthy metabolism. It's also low on calories.

I should also mention that this product is not one of those muscle building protein shakes, this is for everyday use for normal people with a normal amount of activity. Most people choose to have it either for breakfast or before/after their workout.

The protein powder comes in a variety of flavors, I've tried the vanilla,chocolate and cappucino flavors. I loved the vanilla and chocolate flavors. Cappucino wasn't great but was still very much edible. One important thing to note is that these powders don't have the chalky smell that other protein powders have.

Now talking about the ease of use, I feel this powder mixes well with the liquids more than any other protein powders I've tried. I've tried making my protein shakes using both Hand shakers and Blenders. The powders blend well in both cases (Blender is a little better, in terms of cleaning). It usually takes me about 2 mins to make the shake and drink it, that's a lot less time compared to eating cereals in the morning. You can also use your imagination and add berries and other stuff to the shake if you'd like.

Stores like GNC and Vitamin Shoppe sell this product. I usually buy it from "The Vitamin Shoppe's" website. That's usually the lowest price I could find and they have the free super saver shipping which is about $2.99 compared to the $5 shipping from other vendors.

Overall, I've been very happy to drink this shake every morning :)

Barack Obama's church search - Stephen Colbert Show

I watched this video yesterday on the Stephen Colbert's show, I really really loved it. So, I decided to post it on my blog. If you are Hindu and can have a laugh...you should watch this...

Coldplay on the Jon Stewart's Tonight Show

Oh! boy...why did I choose to watch Jon Stewart's tonight show especially when I was almost ready to go fall asleep?? I used to like Coldplay initially but then I realized that they were a bunch of Radiohead wannabes, and it was so apparent that I stopped listening to Coldplay.
They played their new single (I didn't bother to know what the title was) on the show, and it wasn't annoying as I was able to continue doing my office work through it. Since their music isn't really harsh, most people won't mind listening to coldplay. But, my only problem is that they really didn't have anything new.
Even though the song picked up tempo, it still wasn't anything innovative.
I'm kinda saddened by the fact that this is the no.1 selling record everywhere :(
ah! as I'm watching they are playing another song...both of them sound so mainstream!!!
If you are a real rock-music junkie, you would really know what I'm talking about...

Mande Lular Sensuous Body souffle review

I've been using Mande Lular Sensuous Body souffle for about 6-8 months now. I've been a fan of this product since the first day I started using it.

I've been searching for a good moisturizer for years, none of them really worked for me on a consistent basis. I've tried almost every other moisturizer out in the market to a point that someone that visited my apartment thought that I was spending a lot on cosmetics but the reality was that I bought these moisturizers and they didn't work for me and I really couldn't return them.

Once I was shopping at Target and noticed this Sanctuary Spa's Mande Lular Sensuous Body Souffle. I kinda smelt it a little bit and read the description and noticed that the tub that I was looking at was the only one left so I decided to take it

Needless to say that this stuff smells exceptionally good. The Souffle as such is a little thick but I have no problems with it. In just two applications, my skin became super smooth and soft and it definitely made the skin look more brighter. The best part of this Souffle is that I can use this on my face as well and see the same kind of results. In fact I used this Soffule everyday for a few days and then stopped using it for a week, just so to see how my skin did and my skin didn't dry out for a considerable number of days.

I usually apply this Souffle before I go to bed. I don't use the Souffle every day instead I use it once every 2-3 days. But, I do religiously use it everyday on my face and many people have complimented me for my skin (I've always had good skin, but this product has made people notice it more). I should also note that the mositurizer works so well that skin doesn't dry out after taking a shower or washing my face.

This is my second Mande Lular tub in the past 6 months as very little Souffle goes a really long way. Unlike the really small boxes of body butters, this box is generously sized and only little Souffle is needed to get adequate moisturizing.

I paid about $15 for this but I honestly feel that this was very much worth the price by all means. I had spent a whole lot on other mass produced moisturizers like Nivea, Suave, St. Ives, Neutrogena!!! None of them stand a chance against Mande Lular.

I've seen it for myself that this Souffle works well on normal and dry-skinned people and I'm not sure about how it works on oily skin. But the bottom line is if you think other spa mositurizers and high end moisturizers are too expensive, Mande Lular might be worth trying. I'm so happy with this souffle that I never bought another moisturizer to even try it out :).

Origins Modern Friction and Modern Fusion review!!

Sometime back I realized that my skin is no longer smooth and soft, and I ended up searching for a product that'll even out my skin tone and make it softer.
I've always used my same body wash on my face as well or I've used Olay facial cleanser, both of which weren't enough to do any good to my face! So, I decided to go searching for some facial product that would do some good to my face.
Basically I have pretty good skin for the most part so I didn't really need something that was very intensive. All I needed was something that would make my skin more clear and nice :). Some of my friends use the 100% organic products but I ruled them out because I couldn't justify spending $60 for a beauty product, besides that I didn't really like it when I tried the sample.
So now having said all that I've tried many of the mass products but none of them really worked consistently. I went to the Westfield Valley Fair Mall that's near Santana Row and I wanted to just see the different beauty boutiques that are there and finally pick something.
Once I was in the mall, I got real curious about the Origins brand, the lady there talked me into buying this Modern Friction buffing paste for the face and the Modern Fusion serum. I tried this stuff on the back of my palm in their boutique and I should agree that I've never seen a better scrub.
I got charged about $75 for both of these and I really wasn't sure if it was all worth it, nevertheless I decided to try the product and if it really doesn't work then I could always return it.
Now that I've been using this product for more than a month, my skin shows very clear improvement. It's quite amazing as to how such really small quantity of the serum and buffing paste work so well.
About the buffing paste, it's not as coarse as the other scrubs in the market and very little quantity stretches all the way and I really like the fact that it lathers with water. I also like the way I'm able to massage this all over my face. The scrub has very clean rice and lemon fragrance which is quite refreshing and nice. I could clearly feel the skin to be soft every time I use the scrub and the result is immediate. I was advised to use the scrub about 2-3 times a week, but since my skin is really sensitive I only use it twice a week sometimes less. I could clearly say that my skin has improved with every use.
Now, to the Modern Fusion serum, I was told to apply this serum after cleansing my face. This serum is supposed to be worn under the moisturizer. Just a couple of drops of the serum helps cover my entire face and it gives a uniform matte finish to the skin and it seems to keep the face clear and nice pretty much through the day. I don't use separate make up or face-powder, it's pretty much the serum and moisturizer and the results are quite amazing. This serum also smells of rice and lemon and is very pleasant and its not as strong smelling as some of the other serums and moisturizers.
I can clearly see that my face has become more brighter and the skin tone has gotten better. I really love these two products. Despite the seemingly high price, I'm fairly certain the buffing paste would last me another 3-4 months and the serum might last atleat another 2 months. So, that makes the cost come down to roughly about $10/month, which is worth it for the kind of results I've seen using these products.
If you are really searching for skincare products that show results, Origins might be really good place to start.

Flowers

I decided to take pictures of the flowers on account of celebrating my birthday last week. It was a great delight for the eyes to see such colorful flowers. Every single one looked so pretty and so different from the others :).

I am posting some of the pictures in the blog...

Keeping yourself busy to fight boredom!

A lot of my friends have gotten married and have brought their wives to USA. A lot of these women don't work in US and hence have to find other ways to keep themselves busy.
It's no surprise that they'll lose interest for cooking three times a day within very few days after they land here. If they have previously worked then obviously they'll get bored with just doing the house chores and watching TV. To be honest, I'd rather be at work than stay at home and not know what to do!!!

In fact, I'm very happy that most of my friends were very open to the idea of their wives continuing their education here. In fact, some guys even went to the extent of searching for good schools and learning about the courses they offer that would interest their wives, I found it very fascinating. One person, prepared lunch for his wife and took it to her college :) (Could it get any better than that?).

Yea, now the point is that these women are lucky because they get to do what they want and they have enough support. But, not everyone has that kind of support and not all guys are open to the idea of educating their wives. It might totally depend on the guy's mindset and financial situation.

For the most part, you don't necessarily have to do an MS or MBA as a part of your continuing education, you could still find affordable courses online and some universities offer distance education program (UCSC offers courses right in bay area) or attend some of these pottery classes and other art related classes. Some of them even go to dance classes and give stage performances every now and then. But, if you really have some goodwill towards society (not like donating stuff for tax-benefit), you can even take to doing some social work.
These are just some things to think about.

Maybe you can ask yourself, will it be okay for me to say that my activities are "Surfing the internet" or to say "professional dancing, painting, etc...". I always wonder what kind of a person says "chatting" as their activity, but after seeing so many people, I am no longer surprised.

It'll always be good to keep in mind, that you cannot always expect your husbands to keep you entertained. If only one person goes to work, obviously that person tends to think that they are more stressed (they obviously will be) and will not be able to attend to the needs of others.

In the end, if you really want to fight boredom its you who should find out what is it that'll keep you busy and help you get by rather than just surfing the internet and watching Sun TV or putting together some stuff from Michaels!!!

Dasavathaaram: A big let down

Last weekend was kind of disappointing for me for a variety of reasons and one of them was having to sit through Dasavathaaram.
First of all, I am not a big fan of Kamal Hassan but I still decided to watch this movie because of all the hype. Even though my gut told me that this movie would be bad, I still gave in to the curiosity. Finally, there I was on Friday watching this movie.
I won't be going over the plot, I am only going to discuss the most atrocious aspects of the movie. After watching the movie, I can confidently say that Kamal played the ten different characters only for the sake of setting a record that no one else cares about. I understand that most of the money was spent on makeup, that looked terrible. I honestly cannot understand how Kamal or K.S.Ravi Kumar watched this movie and decided to release it.
Like the makeup wasn't enough to screw the movie, every single stunt was copied over from some other Hollywood movie. I could give them the benefit of doubt if it was just one stunt or two that resembled a hollywood movie but instead every single one was copied.
Considering the fact that Terminator is one of my favorite movies, I can never forgive Kamal Hassan trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger!!! (I should admit that it's not too bad when compared to Vijayakanth trying to look like Keanu Reeves in Arasangam)!!
Out of the 10 characters, about 8 of them ranged from below average to annoying and unnecessary. The Avtar singh character was a total waste of time and fact that he gets cured in the end reminded me of an old Muthuraman movie in which the doctor dies after saving Muthuraman (Which is total BS).
The 95 year old granny was the most disturbing and I am fairly certain that watching this character might just be a reason enough to have nightmares. This was by far the worst makeup I've ever seen in my life.
By now, you could see that I've already endured quite a bit of stuff here and on top that they have this Asin's character and every time she spoke my only visceral reaction was that I wanted to slap her so she would never speak.
I still don't understand why they made a big deal with referring to the common salt as NaCl and how no one calls it common salt. If they really thought that it would be a suspense until Kamal reveals it at the end it really wasn't. There was no suspense, everything was so predictable except for K.S.Ravi Kumars' dancing at the end! I was lost for words when I saw him dance at the end. Did he really have to put us through that??
Amidst all this annoyance, it was the Balram Naidu's character that shined. It was probably the only character that was worth watching in the entire movie. The interrogation scene was the only piece of the movie that's worth watching.
So finally was it satisfactory? No way.
was it gruesome? Completely so.
What did I get out of watching the movie: Migraine headache.

Here's your Macy's 20% off coupon...but you just can't use it!!!

I have been shopping regularly at Macy's ever since I have moved to California (for about 2.5 years), I personally find it easier to shop at Macy's as its a lot easier to find the smaller sizes there.
Last weekend, I was at Macy's shopping for some apparel and watches and I wanted to use the 20% off coupon that I had received by mail. I was fairly certain that coupon wasn't valid on Watches but I was fairly certain that I could use it on the apparel. So, when I offered the coupon, the cashier told me that I would not be able to use it. I found that quite ironic because, I tend to buy the same brand and I remember using a similar coupon only a few months back. Not only that, I specifically went over the "Excludes:" list to make sure that the brand I was buying wasn't listed in it. I found it interesting and odd that the cashier didn't even have to look at the clothes or the brand name to tell me that I just cannot use the coupon, especially when the coupon says use it for apparel and accessories.
I was unhappy not because I had to spend more but because I really felt cheated. If I literally cannot use a coupon on any merchandise I buy, I really don't see the point in them sending this coupon, it almost seems like Macy's has just stuck to this strategy to ripoff customers. Well, most people like me that have taken the pain to go to the Macy's store would not just return home once we find the coupon to be invalid instead we would still go ahead and buy the merchandise to avoid the hassle of going shopping a second time or finding a better deal somewhere else.
From what I remember, it never used to be this way until a few months back. In fact, in most stores people are nice enough to give you the discount as long as you have your Macy's card. But this time it was awful and I've almost decided to search for another more straight forward and no-frill store to do my shopping rather than deal with such crookedness.

Something's cooking!

I'm a South-Indian vegetarian that only knows how to cook south indian food. I don't know much about north indian cuisine. But, anyways I wanted to make some curry that I can have with roti and I was searching for recipes online and I found this Potato in Yogurt gravy recipe video. I was just wondering who in the world had all the time to make a video and post it.
Anyways, I decided to try the recipe.

When I was in the process of trying the recipe (actually watching the video), I realized how very nice it was for someone to upload the video. Watching the video eliminates any doubt regarding the actual quantity of the ingredients used. When they mention table spoon or cup you really get to see what kind of spoon or other utensil that they use for measuring. I know that a cup signifies 240ml or 8oz but I've noticed that in most Indian recipes people somehow have it wrong. I once read a recipe in which the cook had specified 1 cup of chillies for making rasam (south indian dish), I couldn't even bring myself to imagine eating a dish that has 1 cup of chillies!!! It's plainly brutal!

So, anyway the video was pretty good because unlike some other recipe blogs the person clearly tells at what heat you're supposed to cook and how long, most others miss this info and they let us use our judgment to decide. The video was about 8 mins long and the making the dish took me about 10 minutes in all. I was very happy the way it turned out (the most important reason, why I even thought of writing one such post).

So, I guess it is a lot more helpful when the person posts the recipe or the procedure to make a certain dish in the video format as opposed to just writing a few lines and just posting a pic of the end product. I'm in no way suggesting that everyone that posts their recipe online should do this, instead I'm just suggesting that it might be better to do it this way.

Here's the video for Potato Curry with Yogurt Gravy

Yellowstone National Park

Hooray!! after nearly a year of busy schedule at work, I am finally free (well partly atleast). I was wondering how to best spend the lean time and decided to kick-off by going on a group trip to Yellowstone National Park. This was one of those trips that was a lot of fun from the day we left home till I got back home.

Old Faithful Geyser

I'm usually scared of animals and when I agreed to go on this trip, I really wasn't sure as to what I had gotten myself into as YNP is filled with wildlife. We didn't see much of Wildlife on the first day. It was more of Old faithful Geyser and other smaller geysers near it. Despite stinking so badly they all looked very colorful and no two geysers looked alike. Rain did play some spoil-sport in the morning...but I guess our prayers were answered with nice sunshine later in the afternoon. We walked up and down the trail to see all the smaller geysers near Old faithful.

Trail near Old Faithful

Since the temperature was close to freezing temp there was a lot of steam near the geysers, which I thought was pretty cool. We also saw some waterfalls, I personally liked the Gibbon falls more than the other waterfalls I had seen that day.

Gibbon Waterfalls

On our way back to the cabin, we got to see Bison herds walking all over the roads not caring about traffic. Bisons looked more like the cousins of Buffaloes (I guess everybody knows this already).

Bison Grazing


More Bison

Next day began with Norris Geyser basin on our way we saw some Elks just hanging around, well this was more of geysers and bacteria growing near them and stuff. These bacteria are called Thermophiles (every time I hear this, the word pedophile comes to my mind, which is pretty weird!!) and they thrive well near these hot springs and geysers.

Bacteria

We kept going and we came across more waterfalls and snow. As we proceeded north, the elevation increased and the whole place was filled with snow. It completely reminded me of Tahoe. In the afternoon, we got to see some Moose grazing, it felt so good to see something other than Bison and Elks :P.

Moose grazing

Then we drove for a while until we saw lots of people waiting with their telescopes and binoculars. We were curious too and so we stopped by to see what was going on near Tower falls. On our way to Tower falls, we got to see Black bear at a distance. We always had to maintain atleast a 100 meters distance from the bears...so, we could never get to see it like we would in a zoo. I somehow think Tower falls was more picture perfect than the other falls that we saw.

Tower Falls

After watching the bear, we drove around and finally ended up at the Grand Canyon of the yellowstone.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

It was quite amazing although I was a little scared on the insides. It really, truly gives you a sound sense of proportions even if you aren't good at math. I felt so small staring at the breathtaking canyon, the waterfalls in the canyon was beautiful too. The canyon was the highlight for the first two days.

On the third day we had no real agenda in place, in order to cover the areas left out we decided to leave more than an hour earlier than our usual time. In fact all of us got ready and we were so happy that we have more time than usual and wanted to make the most of it, only to get stuck in bison traffic for more than hour. I was quite frustrated during the wait, but on seeing the bisons, I forgot it all. We went to see the yellowstone lake, it was completely frozen. I've never seen such a huge water body completely frozen before.

Frozen Yellowstone Lake

It was really beautiful. On our way, we even saw a wolf. I have to mention that despite being smaller than all the other animals that I got to see, the wolf looked the most cunning and ferocious. I guess I'll remember it for my entire lifetime as to what its really like to stare at a wolf and have it stare back at you. It was a really dull day and we went on see Mammoth springs and also visited more geysers before returning to the Cabin.
In order to keep the size of the post from being too large and lengthy, I haven't added quite a bit of beautiful photos that we took at YNP. I'll have another post exclusively for the interesting photos taken at Yellowstone.
For some reason, I felt that we weren't lucky with much of wildlife viewing, but after talking to people at work, I realized that I was a lot luckier than most people as most of them weren't even lucky enough to see the bison close by. That made me feel lot more happier ;).
Over all, this was one of the most joyful and satisfying trip I've gone on and the memories of it I'm sure will definitely linger for a long long time.