Monday, August 14, 2024
Westport-Fairfield, Connecticut
A Varied but Fun-Filled Day with Friends and an Unusual Japanese Dinner at Sakura.
I am still waking up early, but as it gives me a chance to read and catch up with my blogs, I am not complaining.
Early Morning Routine:
Today too, I awoke early enough to read (finishing The Covenant of Water—it is really a looooong book!) and blogging. I had a quick chat with Llew (leaving Goa and en route to Bombay) before I made myself my breakfast (muesli with yogurt and milk) and left Sitara to make me a decaff coffee (which was delicious) before I began teaching. I taught three classes in a row of one hour each (Yash, Vir and Trivik) before I was able to relax. I felt very tired and sleepy actually, so I did stop to take a 20 minute nap before deciding to try and finish off my book!
A little later, when I realized that everyone else in the household had left to do their own set of morning chores, I walked down to Trader Joe’s to get myself some lunch. I chose a Lemon Chicken Salad with Arugula—the base was Israeli couscous which was quite delicious and very healthy indeed.
Another Annual Medical Appointment:
At 1.00 pm, I sat in front of the TV and ate my salad at the same time that I tried to get myself ready for leaving the house by 1.30 pm when Leslie would drive me to my next medical appointment. I had an appointment with Dr. Sapna Tandon, my gynecologist at 2.10 pm and Leslie was kind enough to get back home from her chores and take me there en route to her work at 2.00 pm.
A half hour later, I was facing my worst annual nightmare—my routine gynec exam. Enough said. However, I have known and gone to the same gynec for the last 22 years. I trust her with my life. She is fantastic and we have a very special relationship. This resulted in the visit being much more pleasant than it could be and within 45 minutes, I was all done. There! That was out of the way. Although I will have to wait to get test results, she did say she did not anticipate any problems.
Browsing Through Fairfield Center Stores:
I had some time on my hands and much as I would have liked to roam at will through all the stores of Fairfield Center, I am still mindful of my weak knee and do not wish to provoke any further physical discomfort. Hence, I restricted my browsing to just Loft, Chico and Capri—these are stores where I have found really good bargains in times past. And in Chico’s, once again I did. I found a really lovely, chunky silver-toned necklace at the throwaway price of $10 (otherwise priced at $60). It was a no-brainer and I bought it.
Since I drew a blank at Capri, I thought it would be best to walk across to the Fairfield Public Library where I could browse through the newest bestsellers. I did just that and for the next hour, I leafed through Nigella Lawson’s latest book Eat, Cook Repeat (only to find it woefully stingy with pictures). Then, just as soon as my eyes began to close, I took a nap—yes, right there on a chair in a quiet corner of the library!
Meeting my Friend Diana for Ice-Cream (but first an Errand at Fairfield University):
I had texted my friend Diana Thompson earlier to find out if we could meet this week and she had happened to have a window open this evening. Naturally, she drove across to the library and picked me up from the parking lot. Before we set off for our tea/coffee/ice-c ream, however, I asked a favor of her. Could she drive me to the campus of Fairfield University so that I could pick up tickets form the box office of the Quick Center for the Arts? I wanted to buy tickets to a bunch of lectures/talks at the Center for my friend Leslie who had told me that she was interested in them and wanted to buy them herself. I thought they would make a great gift that would keep on giving throughout the next year for Leslie who is interested in Judaic Studies. Well, Kyle at the box office (who knows me well) told me that the office was technically closed, but that he would keep it open for me if I could get there in a few minutes. I did, as Diana just revved up her car and took me there.
In the next half hour, I bought Leslie eight tickets for four different events. I picked the ones that I knew would be of special interest to her as she had mentioned Barbara Herschel, Tim Snyder and Dana Hor. I also included another big event: Art Speigelman, author of Maus, one of the most successful graphic novels of all time (and one which I teach my IB students) was also coming to the Center. Since Leslie is a librarian, I thought she would really appreciate this event and so I included it too.
That task done, Diana and I could relax for at least the next hour. As Diana had never been to Shake Shack and I was keen to have one of their chocolate milk shakes (which is made extra thick so that it resembles a giant chocolate ice-cream), we ordered shakes, settled down on tables outside (as it was a tad too chilly inside) and caught up on all the happenings in the life of her sons, Matthew and James and her husband, Jonathan. It was just lovely to spent time with my English friend who is always full of fun and humor.
Back Home for Dinner Out:
As this was the evening I would be taking Leslie, Sunil and Sitara out for dinner to Sakura, I told Diana to drop me back by 7.00 pm. This left me enough time to run in for a quick shower and to get ready for our 7.30 pm reservation at Sakura, a long-standing Japanese restaurant in Westport which is their favorite and which does a very novel version of hibachi—the table-side grill that involves a great deal of drama.
Well, it was all that and more as we drove there as a family, found our table, took our seats and then gave ourselves up to the novelty of Japanese dining. I have to say that I was surprised how packed the restaurant was. It has a huge hibachi room and yet every seat was taken.
Hibachi dining involves a few set items on the menu (such as noodles, rice—choice of brown or white--a helping of vegetables, and a couple of shrimp). Then there is one’s individual choice of a protein such as swordfish, shrimp, chicken, steak, etc. Each of us chose a different protein and, when it came to our turn, the server arrived at our table and began his ritual. There were five other people at our table and he served them and us simultaneously as he tossed and stir-fried and added oil and butter and a bit more fire. Occasionally, the fire revved up leaving lots of room for video or still photography. We enjoyed the showmanship of our server and everything else that led to a large meal being placed on our plates with two types of sauces (ginger-garlic and chilli) plus soy that did the rounds at our table.
Just before it was time for me to pay the bill, I gave Leslie the gift I’d brought her and Sunil and boy, oh boy, was she amazed! She simply could not believe that I had bought them all these tickets! Of course, she was simply delighted and thought it was a most relevant gift that one she would most certainly enjoy in the coming fall and in the spring of next year. I was so pleased to see her look so surprised and delighted by it all .It was a big success!
All that was left then was for us to drive back home (where we reached in 5 minutes) and get ready for bed. I fade away by 10.00 pm as I am still awaking early.
I am pleasantly surprised at how fulfilling and fun each of my days in Connecticut are and what a good time I am having!
Until tomorrow… cheerio!
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