Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness - Walk through : LEVEL 13: THE HALL OF SEASONS : How to go past Red Ghost!

Yeah, I found my summer time fun, another game like Indiana Jones Infernal Machine. Time to cross out another one from my bucket list. This is one of older version from Tomb Raider game series, but it simply reminds me the good old days of simple 3D graphics and first-person shooter style. 

If you are stuck in the Level 13: The Hall of Seasons with the Red Ghost, and you want to know how to beat it and grab the First Obscura Painting, heres a simple walk-through. I took part of the description from Stella's Tomb Raider page.

RED GHOST/BROTHER OBSCURA: The goal is to grab the FIRST OBSCURA PAINTING from the hands of the statue that's holding it, but the ghostly guardian is not going to give up his treasure easily. If he so much as touches Lara, her health drains away. To further complicate the process, the painting moves randomly from statue to statue. (It glows blue so you can tell where it is.) Also, you can't take the painting unless the ghost is stunned. If you try, the painting will just move to another statue. So you'll need to shoot at the ghost until it stops moving, which only lasts for a few seconds. During that brief window you must run to the blue light and grab the painting.

The ghost can't harm Lara while she's crouching, so immediately duck and start crawling around for the pick-ups. You'll find a large health pack, 2 boxes of V-Packer shells and the V-PACKER SHOTGUN (if you don't already have it) along one edge of the room and 2 more boxes of shells on the other side.

Now figure out which of the standing statues has the blue light. Crawl toward it but don't get too close or the painting will move to a different statue. Remember to save before this step if you find a statue with blue light. Try the closest position to the statue while crawling few times. Stay bit side to the center of the statue with blue light. Now save one more time. Now get health boost (click tab, while holding crouch position). Also get the draw the shotgun. I found that the statue to the left of the main statue (or the front statue when Laura comes to the room) is the best position.  Once you're in position, save your game. When the ghost moves away, stand up, draw the shotgun and crouch down again. (Here is a screenshot of Lara in one of the spots that worked for me. If you need an extra visual aid, check out Jeff's excellent YouTube video, which shows the whole sequence.)

Shoot at the ghost and then duck when it swoops toward Lara, but don't put away that shotgun. Wait till it moves again from back to front side of you. Also Red Ghost moves bit further away from you sometimes. So fire during this time because when stunned you have more time to run and collect the painting. Eventually it will be stunned (shotgun got lots of ammo's, make sure empty rounds and reload when ghost is behind). It's a bit difficult to tell when the ghost is stunned, but if you look closely, you'll notice that when it's not stunned, it sort of leans toward Lara and inches forward before swooping toward her. it takes about 22 shotgun ammo's to stunned the ghost. When it's stunned, it just hangs in the air motionless for a few seconds. When this happens, quickly holster your gun (otherwise Lara can't run straight) and run toward the statue with the blue light. As soon as you see the Hand icon, press Action to grab the painting. Here it may help to approach the statue slightly off center and grab the painting from the side. Then crouch again, check your inventory to make sure you have the FIRST OBSCURA PAINTING and save your game. (Whew!)

You know that Kerala Matta Rice is somewhat similar to Sri Lankan Red Rice?

I recently found that the Kerala Matta rice is pretty similar to Sri Lankan variety of Red Rice. Specially if you are in this part of the world (North America), its pretty hard and expensive to find the Sri Lankan red rice unless you have an Indian grocery store close by with a big Sri Lankan section. After moving from Austin, Texas to College Station, I found that its not easy to get the red rice I used to eat anymore. Luckily, one of Indian store in town "Bryan Mini Mart" got the Rose Matta which is pretty similar in-taste to samba red rice. There's couple of different versions of Matta, "Rose Matta" and "Kerala Kuthari Matta" which I think very similar in-taste and in pinkish color.

Matta rice and kerala red rice are same. Brown rice is unmilled, has only the husk removed, and retains 100% of the bran. Red rice is semi-milled, with the husk and some of the bran removed. White rice is milled and polished to remove the husk and all the bran. Unlike white rices, brown/red rices are high in fibre, have a wonderful array of nutrients, and possess properties that help control blood lipids, and blood sugar levels. 

Similar to brown rice, red rice has undergone minimal processing, still has its bran layers and takes 45-50 minutes to cook. Brown and red rice are somewhat chewy, fiber-rich and chock-full of B vitamins— thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. Red rice also has a nutty flavor, but many find it more savory than brown rice.

The caloric density for red rice is similar to that of brown rice, so one-third cup has about 80 calories. Whether your rice is brown, red or white, one-third cup counts as one diabetic exchange—the amount of a particular food that contains about 15 grams of carbohydrate such as 5 crackers, a slice of bread or 3 cups of salad greens. But high-fiber, high-carbohydrate foods like brown and red rice have been shown to improve blood lipids, blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin (Hemoglobin A1C), a longer-term measure of blood sugar control. Both have more to offer than their white rice counterpart.