The unknown resides opposite the strict plant.

… with personal fond memories. I graduated with a MBA degree, healthy and happy! 2009 brought many adventures with traveling and meeting new people with different backgrounds and culture. It was a fun year and hoping for similar adventures in 2010. Times flies. Today would also mark our 2nd blog anniversary in the blogging world. Thank you to all of our readers, friends and families for making Chatterbox, what it is and where it is now

Apologies for making this post a brief one as traveling can be a challenging episode to blog. With poor Internet connectivity as such. Before I bid adieu to 2009, some of my personal 2009 highlights were my new year resolutions and the revisit, 2009 travelogues, the birth our self-hosting url; kirantarun.com, our photoblog, testing our entrepreneurial skills by establishing an eshop and of course, to be awarded with the Best Rockin Blog in Personal and Photography category by Orlando Sentinel.

I am not setting any new year resolutions for 2010, but would definitely revisit my 2009 goals once again. Over and out!

Have a blessed, happy and wonderful New Year every one

It’s been one of those crazy and busy month for me. I am currently back to Malaysia for 2 months. Missing hubby and Orlando already. Many incidents took place leading up to my journey back to Motherland. As a summary coz Internet here is failing me:

a) Watched Avatar. One word to sum up – AWESOMENESS!

b) An incident in the theater.

c) Almost missed my flight!

And many more which I shall elaborate as soon as the darn Internet connection stabilizes!

Hope everyone is having a blast as we bid goodbye 2009 and welcome 2010 . Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year…

Regards,
Kiran & Tarun

… has begun and I am a late poster. Sorry Poonam Too busy shopping and packing for my trip next week. Anyways…

This effort pioneered by Poonam and gang is aimed to recognize best posts from in the blogging world, yours and mine of course The process begins as such (and adapted from Poonam’s blog):

Phase 1 – Nominations can be made by me, you or your readers no later than December 20th 2009, 10pm IST (India time). Anyone who has a blog, can nominate their blog entries. After all, who knows better about the blog posts than the writer, right?

Phase 2 – The panel of judges will comprise of bloggers. There are two separate judges for each category. Judges’ score will decide which 6 best posts will go for poll.

Phase 3 – You, my readers, will poll for your favorite post in each category. Polls for each category will be created at Avant Garde Bloggies Awards Blog. (The blog is at the moment private, will be open at the time of polls.)

Phase 4 – The winners would be announced on January 15th, 2010.

Rules of Nomination (as adapted from Poonam’s blog):

1. Only the posts published from 1st January to December 15 this year can be nominated.
2. You can nominate your own blog posts as well as blogs of your friends. Anonymous nominations will be accepted as long as the post is worthy for the given category.
4. You cannot nominate star bloggers like Zen Habits, Web Worker Daily, Tech Crunch and so on.
5. The nominated posts need to be original. Anything copied, from forwarded emails, books, etc is not acceptable. Nominations will be canceled automatically, if the nominated post is plagiarised.
6. Same post can not be entered into more than one category.
7. Multiple entries by same author in a category is not allowed. In case of too many nominations by same author, the author has to tell us which one to consider. Or, decision will be taken at the hands of Avant Garde Committee – members to be announced.
8. We agree there are all rounders. However, same blogger can not participate in more than three categories. (Excluding all the blog award categories, they are free for all.)
9. Judges and volunteers can not participate in any category. Neither can any of my own posts can be nominated or awarded.
10. If there are less than 6 nominations in a category, that category will be dismissed.
11. I and the judges’ panel have the final authority to add and reject any nomination or delete a category in case of unworthy nominations.

You can see the list of award categories and nominate now. Please write in your nominations in the comments section at Poonam’s blog post. Kindly mention the award category along with the name of the writer and the link to the blog post.

Go on, nominate my posts and yours as well Not here. Visit Poonam’s blog for complete information Good luck!

… were present last night at the Eden Bar of Enzian Theatre, Maitland for the 4th Orlando Tweetup graciously organized by @etanowitz from Orlando Sentinel. I have been unwell since the tweet-up, thus the delay in this post and announcements. This was our first tweet-up and visit to Enzian. A regal, cozy and whimsical atmosphere, Enzian serves not only an open bar, but a delicious mug of Chai Latte. Yes, you read it right. It was a bar, with a chilly-breezy evening and I ordered a Chai Latte. What more can I ask?

Enzian Theater, Maitland Florida

It was so much fun, meeting local bloggers and tweeps!

Of course, the highlight of the evening was the announcement of 2009 Orbbies Rockin’ Blog winners and finally, a chance of meeting them in person. Not all were present, but click here for the full list of winners. Check out their awesome blogs.

From left: Dave, Me, Bess, Teresa, Mark and Ricky. Congrats all

Congratulations to the winners!

I enjoyed meeting Dave Knechel, author of Marinadedave.com. With a hard-hitting journalistic writing skills, Dave covers important news and updates through his blog. My first impression of him – a witty individual

Bess is the editor of The Central Florida Top 5. If you need a guide to Central Florida’s upcoming events, thank Bess and say goodbye to Google/Yahoo/Bing for the time being! It was a pleasure getting to know her personally since we’ve been using her blog as our pad for event information.

Hello! Teresa from Disunplugged.com. The Dis Unplugged Disney Blog is an unofficial and unbiased blog about all things Disney. In the shortest time frame of introductory, I could sense her friendliness demeanor. Congrats on being awarded for the Orbbies 2009 Best Overall Blog category.

We also met Mark Baratelli, owner of Thedailycity.com, a blog that features culture guide for Orlando, Florida and a series of live events. He was amazed at my self-taught photography skills Thanks Mark!

Say ‘Hi’ to Ricky, author of Tastychomps where he narrates his dining adventures in Orlando and around US.

We won the 2009 Orbbies Rockin’ Blogs in two categories – Chatterbox for Personal and Shutterbox for Photography! Yay! Thank you so much every one, for voting and following our blogs. Tarun and I are extremely humbled. Of course, this couldn’t be possible without Orlando Sentinel. Our sincere gratitude for the opportunity and honors. Thank you Etan and his lovely wife, Daphne for organizing a tremendously successful Tweetup! This is sounding more like a speech during the Grammys.

Last, but not least, you should know about us by now. Else, stroll down the Chatterbox memory lane and Subscribe to us.

Penning off now before I ruin your mascara Off to recuperate!

Edit: FYI, the free header customization is still up for grabs!

There has been so much going on in our lives recently, thus the absence from blogosphere. A lot to write and share. But let’s first continue where I left.

Continuing from our trip to NASA recently, we proceeded to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. PSA warning yet again – this is a lengthy-photo-post. Don’t steal, ask for permission

At the Astronaut Hall of Fame entrance

Alan B. Shepard Jr - first American in space

Alan B. Shepard Jr [the first American in space] statue graced the main entrance of this enterprise. It’s mesmerizing. Almost life-like.

The Gemini exhibit

NASA honors the first brave flyers who journeyed into space

Tarun is awaiting his turn for the GForce training stimulation

Tarun is in one of those capsules. Everything seems to look good, until...

aaahhhhh... the speed is mind-boggling!

The Gforce stimulator moves at a great speed and height!

The GForce stimulator is exhilarating! But be warned, it was a nauseous experience. Tarun was all swaying, left and right, with dizziness and slight headache. I was just a spectator, thank you Of course the exhibition had a lot to offer. Interesting artifacts, informations, photos, collectibles, and historical time-lines all preserved for enthusiasts, tourists and such. I took so many photos, my bandwidth is crying

Mercury mission spacesuit!

Space exploration is something that I have always been fond of. There is so much of information and facts to learn. Test your knowledge with this small trivia and win 1 free customized header designed by me

Q1: When does NASA start counting down to a shuttle launch?

Q2: How many holds (when the countdown is paused) are built-in to a nominal launch countdown?

Q3: Where is the countdown conducted from?

Q4: Which Earth-launched satellite was the first to leave our solar system?

Q5: Apollo astronauts trained for Moon landings using the LLTV. What does LLTV stand for?

Q6: When in orbit on the Space Shuttle, astronauts experience ______ gravity.

Q7: When some shuttle astronauts reach space, they feel ill. This is called______.

Q8: The three space shuttle main engines release energy equivalent to ______.

Q9: On average, how fast does the shuttle travel while in orbit?

Q10: The first man in space was?

The winner would receive 1 free customized header designed by me! Good luck and may the force be with the one who is the first to correctly answer all questions in the comment section below

… sigh! I’ve been missing those Korean/Japanese/Cantonese drama series back home. It all started with much convincing from my friends back in 2003 Many of you would know what I am talking about. I just couldn’t resist writing a post on it. I recalled Winter Sonata during a phone conversation with my friend (Ms Suze) recently. The more we chatted about it, memories of this celluloid love story rush through my being. I could hear faint voices in my head, begging for attention, “Kiran..Kiran.. are you there? Hello? Ooiii!”

{I snapped back to reality!!!}

… ahem.. oh god! I redialed Suze’s number, but the connection went busy. I would try again later. Now as I am writing this post, I realized, the later was 3 hours ago! OMG! Suze, please have mercy on me!

Anyways…

Winter Sonata, a Korean directional, is a great love story, coupled with interesting twists and memorable acting from the main casts. Some of you might find it surprising, but this movie has a similarity to Bollywood serials. Don’t worry, not the length and endless die-alive-die again scenes, but just 20 episodes of great love story. Though I find it a little draggy in the first few episodes, it gained momentum thereafter and I was hooked! I couldn’t wait to complete the entire episodes. Just was way too curious to know how the plot ended. It was like re-enacting writings of Danielle Steele. This is by far one of the shortest tv show review I’ve ever came across. I won’t write much, instead get yourself hooked to Winter Sonata and tell me, did you cry?

I would fall off my chair due to a burst of excitement if I don’t reveal this quicker – Winter Sonata does offer some beautiful medley’s! or should I say, Original Sound Track. Yes, believe it or not! Bollywood serials had a rival after all to compete against You might find this fact a little dubious, but I was only

On a separate note, Speakbindas.com interviewed me about Chatterbox. You can read the full interview here. What do you think of my interview?

I posted this photo a few weeks ago on my photo-blog. My blog reader, Aditya, requested for the recipe. How can I refuse to such a darn simple recipe? I can never keep this secret to myself

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken tenders {chopped into bite size}
• 1/2 lbs broccoli crowns
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 tbsp Chicken Marinade [Any brand would do. If you can't find any, mix some sugar, cornstarch & soy sauce into some water to make your own marinade.]
• 1 tbsp chinese rice cooking wine
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Marinade:

In a bowl, add the chicken tenders, ginger and chicken marinade. Mix and let stand for 30 minutes.

Steam:

Wash and trim broccoli to bite size. I used a steamer to steam the broccoli in the rice cooker – covered, for 2 minutes. You can use a double-boiling system to steam the vegetables.

Method:

1. Heat skillet to medium-high, add cooking oil.
2. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 3 minutes each side. Don’t not stir the chicken till it’s cooked on each side.
3. Sprinkle in the crushed red pepper and garlic.
4. Add the rice cooking wine. Fry for a minute.
5. Throw in the steamed broccoli and stir-fry for 1/2 minute.
6. Remove from heat and serve immediately with fluffy, steamed rice. Bon Apetite!

The rice cooking wine and ready-made marinade has salt and seasonings. Unless you are using the homemade marinade, you might have to taste for salt. Sprinkle some if need be After adding broccoli, do not overcook it. A little al-dente, retains the color and taste.

…planning my menu > cooking my planned menu > cleaning after cooking my planned menu > vacuuming > scrubbing > dusting > planning another menu.. not again! Le sigh.. the endless list of household chores!

So, last weekend was a blast {literally} with a trip to Kennedy Space Center – NASA. Some might quote me as geeky, but I heart NASA If only, whilst growing up, my parents had coaxed me more towards space engineering. Anyone out there, dream of being an astronaut? You have my blessings for sure

This is a lengthy post, filled with photos. Don’t steal, ask for permission before using any photos. Considered warned

If you are a Floridian, I would suggest getting the yearly pass to NASA, or for that matter, any Disney theme parks! Total tour takes a whole lot of time. With unlimited returns to NASA via a yearly pass, you can plan your trip and cover every nook and cranny. You have 1 year to do that anyways There’s a whole lot of exhibits, tours and gadgets to see, test-drive and familiarize with. We arrived around noon and was greeted by some gracious security personnel at the check point. It was a fast and easy-peasy process. They were absolutely friendly. I heart friendliness. After a click of the above photo, me and Tarun were famished and begin our tour by visiting the Orbit Cafe for a scrumptious meal of chicken fingers and fries. It’s fast food for us whenever we are on the road.

With a happy tummy, we proceeded for our first bus tour. This is not our first trip to NASA. We skipped visiting a couple of exhibition sites that we’ve visited before and instead, choose to enjoy the informational bus tours and clicked away endlessly with our Nikon These photo’s below are some of scenery’s taken from the bus:

Awaiting to board the tourist bus

This is where the orbiter is fitted & engineered with the Solid Rocket Boosters

The Crawler is used to transport the orbiter to the launchpad for the countdown

Pebbled pathway for the enormous Crawler!

We returned to the Visitor’s Centre Rocket Garden and enjoyed a full blown view of orbiters, shuttle rocket booster and experienced a whooping simulation of a shuttle launch. Goodness! It was so thrilling! No photos allowed in the simulation as it was a very shaky ride. Wouldn’t want to hurt yourself or any one else! I could never understand how these astronauts are able to handle such working conditions, riskiness and pressures. Kudos to them, I can never do it because of my vertigo. And the fact that I am very well under-qualified Sigh… this is the little astronaut in me, spewing words from the beyond Enough of me, let’s get back to more photos:

A model of a solid rocket booster!

A model of an Orbiter, where astronaut's are housed during shuttle missions.

The Launch Simulation Hall.. Exhilirating!!!

That’s it for now! Stay tuned for Part 2 – our visit to the Astronaut’s Hall of Fame. Yes, this tour was a long and enjoyable one!

On a separate note, we want to take this opportunity to thank our readers and well-wishers for your continued support, love and participation during the 2009 Orbbies: Orlando’s Rockin’ Blogs competition. We are eternally grateful

So, what are your plans for the weekend? Anything in the lines of … 3…2…1… Lift Off?

I know, the title is very cliche. As you’ve noticed, the blog is going through some serious face-lift. I’d struggle to find the perfect theme for my blog. The hunt and journey has finally come to end, with satisfactory results of course. The weird part is, I’ve been sucked into a journey of self-learning. Well, I never had the knack or patience in html, css and countless technology jargon’s anyways.

Now if you are like me, looking for a perfect, easy customizations yet affordable theme for your blog, look no further. Thesis is the one! No mess, no fuss, Thesis by Chris Pearson is the only theme you would need to kick off a beautiful blog. It is packed with loads of easy buttons, knicks and knacks for a basic self-learning programmer like myself. While some might argue the need to pay $87 for Thesis, it is every bit worthy of your penny. Sigh. If only I’d discovered this theme sooner. Well, better late than never

The main reason I spent money on Thesis is for their amazing Thesis Support Community. All questions and doubts are generally just a “search” button away! Isn’t that simple? More time to blog, less time coding That’s my kind of fun time! If you are already a Thesis user, congratulations! This might be your wisest purchase ever.

Every Thesis purchase option comes with killer benefits, including:

• Lifetime theme upgrades
• Complete access to the Thesis forums
• Downloadable “stuff” that you can use to customize and enhance your theme (like background images and styles)
• Support from the creator himself, Chris Pearson

I chose to write a review on Thesis because I am so happy with it! If you are a beginner looking for more information on this fabulous theme, feel free to leave your queries, comments or concerns in the comment section below. I would be more than glad to help and guide you on how I’ve customized my blog thus far. I’ve never been so excited for something this technical. Thesis made this excitement, possible Stay tuned for simple step-by-step Thesis customization on Chatterbox. Soon.

Voting for the 2009 Orbbies ends on Friday, Nov. 20 at 5 pm (US Eastern Time). Have you cast your vote for us yet?