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Showing posts from September, 2009

Bonjour Eiffel - Euro Trip 1

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Imagine yourself in fashion capital and having nothing to wear! Isn’t it a nightmare? That’s what happened to me when I landed in Paris airport. The luggage I checked in at Amsterdam airport didn’t show up in the belt. Not just mine but for a handful who took the same flight. We were told that it would be delivered to Hotel soon. Mr R who is related to me in so many ways and also the guide cum host for this trip told me its normal and has happened at least 3 times either to him or people who travelled with him. So I am left with a sweater, a laptop, a "sorry kit" from Air-France and life long lesson to carry clothes in my hand luggage. We took a 30 minute train ride from airport to reach the "Gare du Nord" the city's main metro station. I was amazed to find plenty of Indian restaurants and shops just outside the train station. We hogged on idly, dosa and masala vadai before checking in to the hotel. The "sorry kit" had an XL sized t-shirt which generou

All good things...

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Hello friend! How you been doing? I am great, actually better than great :) While I am still catching up on my sleep , I thought I would write few lines just to be in touch with you.I have no idea where to begin and how much to write about each place I visited. I try to make it smaller and provide many pictures. I am also hoping to catch up with your posts as soon as I can :) Taken in Holland near the old dutch city, these windmills are still in operation. "Dream" is the probably the best word to describe the trip I have taken and It still feels like I had a dream.Three countries, countless hours of travel by flight, train, boats, delicious meals and most importantly the interesting people I met in my trip makes it all worth it. I had very less motivation to take my return flight. I hoped my flight would be delayed and/or somehow my trip would be extended. Sigh! its hard to return from the wonderful sights and sunsets, to the roads filled with cars. But I guess thats what

Let the good times roll

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It started raining in Singapore, quite regularly. Its awesome sight to watch the greenary around drenched in rain( the above picture is taken several months back). I now understand how beautiful a writer's life is. I stick numerous post-it notes on my mind (while bathing, eating, even while peeing or sleeping) to write like 5 paragraph post twice a week. I even type and save them, if I were in front of the computer, knowing fully that I may not use them in any post. Most of these notes are discarded on the second read. Sometimes they give birth to new ones and sometimes when I finally finish writing the post; it would be about something else :) Yet writing is fun, it makes us look around for an inspiration to write. Once we start writing our life would never be the same. I can bet a million dollar on this. Be it chat with a friend over the coffee or a normal day at work, we would start seeing them in new light. It gets only better and interesting as the days pass by. We write our l

A fight against 3 toed sloth

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Today I am fighting one of the worst enemies, boredom. Off late it’s very quiet at work and I am flipping out. I believe busy is good; at least it keeps us away from the devils of mind. Otherwise boredom would crawl in and spread like a virus. Then we would feel low, lethargic and slowy turn into 3 toed sloths. Worst of worst it could kill our spirits like a slow poison. Then we merely exist. We accept a less than ordinary life as if it’s the penance for being born on this world. We resent, blame the situation and god for all the wrong things in our life. We pretend that we are bothered about it. But we have already retired from fighting a good fight! Several months back, I have witnessed my spirit rotting because of my job which is not fulfilling. It’s like travelling in a wrong train and realising it after many stations have already passed. I found my passion in media industry and decided to shift, which is easier said than done. Ten years of IT work, good pay, comfortable lifestyle

Losing is good

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TGIF! Today is one of the “nothing interests me” days. I feel like doing nothing, although on second thoughts that sound funny, how can I be doing nothing when I am doing nothing: P. Everything seems very boring, even calling my friends/loved ones! May be this is a best day to sit on a bean bag and watch soap operas and don’t even bother to change channel during commercials. That’s Lethargic! Yesterday I donated blood. Although I have donated a bunch of times before, it’s my first time in Singapore. So they put a sticker on me which said “Treat me nice, this is my first time". Unlike in India, the registration and screening itself is a 20 plus minutes process. After filling a 3 page form, medical history consultation, and the finger-pricking-Haemoglobin test (they have a better pain less instrument though), I was given a local anaesthesia! That's comfort! They asked me if I am feeling okay (which they did umpteen times) after the donation, and I replied “I am little tired but

Let life flow

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Last weekend was perfect! It still lingers on my mind, like the sand in the shoes that walked the beach. My friend and I went to “Fountain of Wealth” - The largest fountain in the world, on Saturday evening. Every night, after the laser show, visitors can dedicate songs and laser messages for free! If you are visiting Singapore make sure to see this. It’s my 5th visit here and like Emma I too feel a deep connection and profound happiness watching flowing water (Have a look at her neat travelogues ). As we sat there watching the huge fountain in awe, I noticed most of the messages are either wishes for birthday/anniversaries or love messages. I looked around. I saw couples sitting hand in hand, some kids sitting on their parent’s lap, some playing in the puddle, friends laughing and tourists taking pictures. No difference of any sort, no hate and no debate. Just a group of people appreciating beauty of life, breathing the air filled with the drizzles of fountain and love. We had tastie

Remy's Recipe - Coleslaw & Papaya-honey shake

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TGIF! One of my friends is dieting and I wanted to write a dieting recipe to encourage her. The famous Davis quote says "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. So, the first mantra to dieting (not starving) is to have a healthy breakfast. And if your cereal box says it’s nutritious, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy. Don’t get carried away by commercial messages, especially the ones about Kids’ cereals. (They often have more sugar than sweets, which is not healthy). Breakfast wakes up the metabolism and gets your engine running which is needed to burn to lose weight. It also sets the tone for the rest of the day. So here is a easy to make breakfast recipe which is worth trying: Remy Coleslaw and Papaya-Honey shake. To make the Remy Coleslaw salad you need: Lettuce 1 Onion 1 Tomato 1 Lemon 1 Spring onions 3 Carrot 1 Bean sprouts (optional) Yogurt 2 teaspoon Tartar sauce / Mayonnaise 4 teaspoons Honey 1 teaspoon Pepper & salt to taste C

Gossip galor - not gone!

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I am pretty much addicted to music. I can survive Mondays without coffee but not without songs. The first thing I do at work is tuning into AOL online radio and put on my earphones. Also I have noticed that they play songs according to my mood, blame it on law of attraction! I am very choosy about what I hear and take my time to upload a song to IPod. If I like a song thats being played in the radio, I find it in YouTube. I hear it online few times and only if it's impressive I download a mp3 copy. I don’t want to buy the entire album just for the one song I like - Which mostly turns out to be the only good song in the album. Off late I find recycled music everywhere. It’s either a remix or a tune that resembles one or more songs. Last week I was listening to Kelly Clarkson new song " Already gone ” which sounded like Beyounce’s- “Halo”. I noticed a striking similarity in the backing track, piano and drums. Apparently I am not the only one who felt this way. During YouTube ho

Tags, Rags and a grateful life

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Everyday life brings us gifts. Some are pleasing and others are not. The last couple of weeks are such. A close friend got married and another got pregnant. While these long awaited events made me happy, an unexpected death of a close relative pushed me deep down :(. I miss you vasu anna, may your soul rest in peace! This has helped me to realise, how grateful I am for each breath I take. To own a comfortable life and many caring people in it. Today, it’s been three months since my honey has walked into my life, its only getting better and better each moment. I love you so much da! Today is another happy day to remember =) One of my best buddies from blog world G3 is celebrating her birthday. From the number of posts written to wish her and their ragging comments, you can see how much she is loved by everyone. Happy Birthday G3, have great days ahead! : P Aparna - a new found mate is very good at writing small, sweet and sensible posts about her son "Chotu". Her po