MiniKhan has finally arrived in Europe.

After a sugar free red bull against his jag lag we talked a lot last night and this day. Mini will stay for some time with me, as i need time to organize europe trip and as i am traveling through austria next week (holidays!)

First we both discovered that we both like World of Warcraft a lot.

Mini likes my Char Gultan on US Realm “Velen”.

Mini told me he plays two chars there, also on US Realms.

One undead, but perfect and impressing looking rogue called “Rajnikanth”.

And a pink little baby gnome woman called “Abhishek”.

Don’t know where he gets the ideas for this names from. But looks like it will be fun with him.

P.S.: Every European who wants to host him: Write me.

(This post was written by Grrlpretty and posted by Beth.)

[This must be why we call him “Mini.” It’s like a flock of plastic Abhisheks back there. Mmmm, a flock of Abhisheks. - ed.]

Friday night we had a rare rainstorm, and I hung out with friends inside like a true Californian. We made a traditional Indian dinner (except for the ketchup!). We were so hungry that we didn’t take pictures of the food before we started eating, so here is a picture of the remains….

At some point, he decided to be a bad boy and hang with the other bad boys in the smoking lounge…(Bad Boy)

Saturday was errand running, with a trip to the threading studio. Vinita’s is a chain of threading and beauty studios in Southern California, and it is amazing to see how many metrosexuals show up to get their eyes done

Also, note that her pants don’t stay on too well when she is sitting I also tried to get photos at the Desi Grocery Store, but as the only woman in there, I got some weird looks when I pulled him out of his case and quickly put him back…

Saturday was location scouting for a film, and while there were no good photo opportunities, it was good to catch up on the gossip of our mutual friends and others back in Mumbai…

But, then we went to the mall. South Coast Plaza is one of the fanciest shopping malls in the country, and is so well known it is a tourist destination for travelers worldwide. Here are some pictures of the day.

Check out the closeup of him checking out the Man Fur (yes, fur coats for men - in California!)

and the famous carousel….

I work near the county offices of my county, a rare historic district in Southern California, and an area near where I grew up. I took Mini Khan on a tour of my town. First, a trip to the courthouse. You may have seen this before, quite a few films get shot here. [Including Legally Blonde, if my research is right! Imagine, a building that has housed both Luke Wilson (a former FPMBF) and SRK! - ed.]

The city I work in has the distinction of being the most economically disadvantaged city in the United States. Which means that, among the homeless that live in the area and the aging buildings, artists have settled in, bringing good restaurants and art galleries. Here is a picture of him on a sculpture by Firouzeh Karamlou in the Santora Arts Building, an old office building that is now rented out to artists.

Then, lunch on the patio of one of my favourite restaurants, The Gypsy Den (Gypsy Den Cafe Lunch Patio)

There is a secret garden that one night a month turns into a hidden, not so underground club. Here he is on a quiet, not rave day…(Santa Ana Secret Garden)

Then, to 4′th Street, a Mexican neighbourhood that has not gentrified, filled with traditional clothes stores, restaurants, mobile phone card dealers, and everything you would expect from a neighbourhood dedicated to the population it serves. One of the amazing things about the street is the dress stores. In Mexican culture, they take their Catholic sacraments seriously, and dressmaking is a major business. From first communion, dresses and suits are elaborate and expensive, and to walk down the street you will notice the windows filled with 16th century inspired corset dresses for every special occasion. I tried to get a picture with one of the more elaborate dresses, but kept getting chased away from taking pictures until I got this one. Not very good, but you can get a feel for how elaborate the dresses are…(With All the Pretty Ladies).

We also had time to catch up on some passionforcinema.com reading.

And, I couldn’t resist this last picture. SRK’s new look (six-pack abs) in Om Shanti Om is big news. But, he was only trying to emlulate Mini Khan. I tried to get the pose right, but couldn’t, so settled for a standard, almost beefcake shot.

What a fun week, I only wish the weather was better so we could go to the beach, and that it was two weeks as there was still Disneyland, Sea World, and so many other places to see…

So time to make a little break and think about this special bollywoodbloggers event world wide. Was it fun, was it nice? How is it to host such a special guest? Why have you decided (most of you) not to take a pic of hero and yourself? Miss you him allready? Want him back? Or feel lucky that he has left you? Soon more here about this event of connecting the world…

(This post was written by Miss Bolly and posted by Beth.)

After our visit to Grinnell, Mini Khan and I flew back to Phoenix where it was a balmy 103 degrees. But only because there was cloud cover.

Mini Khan is hyper-aware of how good he looks in picturesque surroundings, so we went out to have a photo shoot in the desert.

He went for relaxed:

He went for pensive:

He laughed in the face of danger (I believe the exact quote was “Thorns? Bah!”):

And then he got a tourist shot for good measure:

(This post was written by Miss Bolly and posted by Beth.)

[Aren’t cats inauspicious in India? - ed.]

There’s not much one can say to fault midwest hospitality. When my friends invited us over for a meatloaf dinner, Mini-Khan had a bit of a hard time grasping the concept of meat as loaf, but he did appreciate all the attention he got…especially from the cat:

More later!

(This post was written byGrrlpretty and posted by Beth.)
[Sounds like Grrlpretty is keeping Mini Khan really busy out in la-la land. She sent me these photos and captions to tide eager readers over until the end of their jam-packed weekend. - ed.]

The first is of lunch on his first day here as I took him to the office so he can get a taste of how a proletariat government worker lives. Since there is no Indian food around my office, I took him to a traditional with some tastes to remind him of home - Tamarindo (a juice made from tamarind), chilaquiles (chips soaked in green chili mole), and pickled carrots with spicy hot salsa.

We also took in a Mighty Ducks game. OK, so they are the Anaheim Ducks now, but the old name is still better because of the Hollywood connection…

(This post was written by Grrlpretty and posted by Beth.)

Yes, he arrived from Phoenix today, with a guest who I will now call Bipashu, and they immediately put on bathing suits and sunglasses and started checking out the surfboards. It is late and I have work to do before I go to sleep, so I put them in front of Mani Ratnam’s Bombay DVD before we make plans for the week…

Where o where could he be?

Note to the gossip rags: we don’t know who the girl is - she might be from either the southwestern or midwestern United States (though speaking as a midwesterner, we are all good girls and would never do something like go traveling with a foreign movie star to parts unknown) - but she was with him when Grrlpretty unpacked the box! Shocking!

(This post was written by Miss Bolly and posted by Beth.)

So, I was lucky this week to be able to go back to visit my alma mater, Grinnell College, in Iowa and of course Mini Khan came with me. He had heard me talk so much about my fantastic four years there (so much that he even had to tell me to shut up at one point, but in a very kind way) that he was very eager to see this place that was so great.

I had a very busy week while I was there. I even got to teach a belly dance workshop to some of my former students! Being back and teaching was like coming home. There is a huge crossover between belly dancing and Bollywood. Many belly dancers I know love to watch Bollywood movies and my students were very excited to see Mini Khan had graced our class with his presence. He even got to show off a few of his moves, although unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures. Afterwards some of my friends did want to pose with him.

We had a great time fooling around! More to come later…