At 3:41 am

Wonder what am blogging about at3:40 in the morning, or should I call it night? Yep, the little Missy did it again. She woke up crying, god knows when, asking for the lights to be switched on. There she goes. She never runs out of things to ask in the middle of the night. Never cry for the same thing over two nights, lest mom gets prepared for the excuse.

So, lights on tonight was the deal. Fine, switched on the night light. Life is never easy, she wanted 'that light' , points to the big one. *curses Anto for having got those bright lights* We tried to sleep for a while with the lights on. But, the mind refused to believe .....


Hey, we managed to switch off the lights. After all, looks like life isn't bad afterall. Good night

good night sweetie little.

Teh Tarik & Kaya Toast

I discovered Teh Tarik & Kaya Toast  during my first year in SG and I, still haven't got bored of it. A little detail here. Teh Tarik is made from black tea with condensed milk and Kaya Toast is toast with a spread made from egg, coconut with a dash of pandan for flavour(am only guessing here). Its served with a slice of butter in between the slices.

Nothing interesting right? After all, its just tea and toast with a different name. You are mighty wrong, you definitely have to try this to believe it.

The dear husband is a firm believer in Do-Not-Try-Food-That-You-Haven't-Tried-Before, including your wife's!! So, it was my ex colleagues & good friends, Bala & Vanitha who took me to the Toast Box (City Link Underpass) for my first taste of Kaya toast and tea and I have been a true fan since then.

Finally, the big-dearie came around and tried it and bingo! He liked it. It soon turned out to be a weekly affair. The little-dearie followed after mom and she began to love it too.

So,  I began spreading word of it. Never had anyone whom I had cajoled( / bribed) into trying it hadn't gone 'Yummm....'. The list includes my mom , dad, bro and a few friends. Well, my bro & dad wouldn't need to be cajoled / bribed, they are always game to try anything in the name of food and I wish I had your guts(and did I tell you how my dad developed a itchy food allergy, after he tried some seafood in Malaysia once, that would another funny post... another time )!!

Long live Kaya Toast! Long live Teh Tarik!!Oh, Teh Tarik, is the closest to my mom's tea that I've ever had.

However,  I would suggest that you only try this from Yakun Kaya!!

Work while you work... Play while you play....

Now, you know why they give us 2 monitors. One for work and the other for browsing, of course.

Well, should I tell my company, that I would appreciate much if they would simply give me a bonus.

The Man.. The star... The super star...

He is an actor..., but the sad truth is he hasn't got THE looks, he neither has THE body. He can act, but cannot be graded anywhere near the giants, he can dance, well, pathetically. Lets see, then why is he such a craze amongst all the tamils and even the others too.

He isn't just another being, he isn't just another actor.....He is a phenomenon unto himself, best left unexplained. Its definitely something about this little known else-where star, in the tamil film industry the man is best known as Super Star Rajnikanth.(Haven't they added Rajnikanth into spell-check yet, tats disappointing.)

He needs no introduction. Well, I was never told by anyone who he is, I knew, but don't ask me how. Nephy will grow up to know him and No, she wouldn't be told, yet she will know.He eminates a charisma that hasn't been matched on screen yet. His dialogues are delivered in an accent that is uniquely Rajini-ish. The tone, the stress , the pause, and especially the style is all his, and no one, absolutely no one(Yes, Simbu, you just can't) can ever ever match his. If I were God, I would gladly give him a stunning face, and a greek-god-like body(Hrithik's), but then he wouldn't be Rajnikanth.

The man is in his glorious 60s and reaping a fortune with every movie and he has a heart of gold too, they say. Every movie raises rumors of it being the last, but he comes back with an even bigger bang. Its his new movie now, Endhiran. It isn't just another movie, its the bronze-god's own movie and its nothing short of a celebration.  The time between the release of the movie and the moment before watching the movie is spent in immense speculation and anticipation.

Yes, I got my tickets too, going on Saturday. I'm writing this before I watch the movie, because as I said its the anticipation that is enjoyable than the movie itself. My friends' FB status updates has only been all about the movie. A newspaper claimed, that we are now divided into those who have the tickets and those who have not. Soon it would be, seen it & not yet. For that matter, the world is always divided.

Whatever.......

And you Sir Rajnikanth, will forever remain a mystery..... and you are.... a star, the brightest ever.

Books... books.. books

Books that I read recently

Anne bishop's Pillars of the world
The story is aboutmagic and witches and fae and about about the road to the fairy lands disappearing. It’s a nice read if you like fantasy.

Gavin Hood's Tsotsi
A boy's change of heart after he finds himself left caring for a baby

Jeffrey Archer's Prisoner of Birth
About a fellow falsely accused and sentenced for his friend's death

Jeffrey Archer's Paths of glory
About a mountain climber attempting to climb the everest

Jeffrey Archer's cat o nine tales - short stories
With this, am done with all of Archer's , except for the one on Judas. Yes, I did the prison diaries, although they weren't good reads at all.

Iain banks' Wasp factory
Goethic story on a 17 year old. Screwed up story.

John Grisham's Appeal
A small town fight against a chemical company, coz the company dumped toxic waste creating a cancer cluster in the small town.

Toby Bishop's Airs beneath the moon
About a sheperd girl finding a winged horse. Fantasy again. I really wonder whats with me and fantasy.

Anne Bishop's Sebastian
Some stupid incubus wizard story and hell what is it with the landscaper, really dumb. I would strongly recommend that you do not read it at all. However, I have heard of a certain black jewels trilogy by the same author, which has raving reviews. Yet to get my hands on it.

Margaret Atwood's Hand Maids diary
A woman's diary about her forced life, as a General's child bearing servant maid. It was a nice read but it was sad though.

Daphne Du Maurier's The king's General
About a lady Honour and her warrior lover Richard. A lovely read. Supposedly, the author has another better creation called Rebecca, but yet to find and read it.

Lisa See's Snow flower and the secret fan
This is the same author who did Geisha I suppose. The book is interesting and it captures the old chinese culture of binding their feet, lily feet and the essence of a traditional chinese wedding. I loved the book for some reason.

Mary higgins Clark - noluck bad luck
No that’s not a book. Am just cribbing over my luck when it comes to this author. I have never had the luck to even finish a single book of hers.

Josephine Cox's
Looking Back
Rainbow days
Let it shine
Lovers n liars
All these books are about happy families, going through a crisis and how they come out stronger and happy endings. Classic feel-good books.

Jennifer Weiner's Certain girls
A fat jewish mom with the teenage daughter and her bat mitzvah. I loved the prose and the humour in her writing.

Diane Setterfield's The thirteenth tale
An author recalling her childhood. It’s a nice tale but it does have a few gothic touches.

Marker - Robin Cook
I like this fellow and his medical stories, even though the medical jargon goes over my head. I thought I had done all his books already, but looks like I haven't done this one yet. Elusive.

So, these are the books that I have done recently. I do forget most of the titles that I have read and then when I read the synopsis, it all comes back to me. Books have always been my abode and of late, the pleasure of reading a book in a tub filled with hot water, sipping something cool, with my iphone playing my favourite numbers has been my little heaven on earth.

On a Friday or a Saturday night, reading into the dead of the night is something that I have done for ages, but not since the little one showed up ;)

The credit of showing me this tantalizing world of books definitely goes to my cousin sisters, Val and Yam ofcourse. I remember them reading out fairy tales when I was too young to read and Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy later on. Thanks sisters!! If not for those fairies and cinderellas and the english ladies and their fancy gowns and tea parties, I would have lived this life without books, which I had better not.

Oh, what kind of life would it be, without you Harry potter!

I almost forgot, am still reading 'The Lord of the Rings'. A certain Bhai gave it to me, or rather, I took it from him and it has been my stand-by read whenever there is nothing else to read ;)
(I do not intend to finish it)
The little one already has a liking to books and our visits to the library aren't infrequent. I do plan to read to her fairy tales soon. Ofcourse, you know what will follow... Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy.. Yes M'am!!

Truce...

Finally, the war has come to an interesting end.

and no points for guessing the two fighting parties or what the war is about. The picture speaks for itself .

For you to know...

Well, if you haven't heard about it anywhere yet, then here it for you to know..

Huggies is running a promotion. There are different rewards listed for collecting those stamps that come along with the nappy packet. Ofcourse, mommy has her eyes on the touch and talk Story time one, for 30 pink stamps.

When 2 years and 4 months old

Hey dearie,

You are 2 months and 4 months and 3 weeks old. You have grown tall and you would be going to school this January.

First things first, a big thank you for everything. If not for your co-operation, I wouldn't have been able to get back to work. You got along so very well with your  grand-moms and never once gave any of us a hard time about me leaving you home. Yes, am ashamed to say that I sneak out of home every morning, unable to muster the courage to see your tears. You took it in stride and announced to everyone that 'Amma Office', once you found out that I wasn't home and thank you, you didn't bother to even miss me, thanks to your grandparents. With their help, we have been able to pull through a whole year now. Lets hope the coming years are easier.

Lets go on with you, enough of me and my stupid job(Yes darling, it would make a good set of people happy if I would just quit, but your mom being her ridiculous self, hasn't yet made up her mind to quit)

Your talks have improved in bounds and leaps. This morning, I found you playing with my credit cards (You really don't want to know about mom's rather pathetic finances and HSBC, they point blank refused to even open a credit line account , the gall. Never mind, lets get back to your story). So, I found you playing with my credit cards and I raised my voice at you. Your face  registered a change at once and turned apologetic and you said, 'Sorry , seyya maatein'(Sorry, I wouldn't do it again). Good enough to melt your mom's heart.

You still need a bottle of milk in the middle of the night. Sometimes, its more than one. My bad, I didn't make you forget your milk bottle early, because, you hardly ate anything and without your middle-of-the-night-milk-bottles, you would be starving. So, I let you carry on and you still do. I have been making a rather feeble attempt to get it out of your routine, but I definitely need to work harder at it. The night time slogan has been 'No paal, Only thanni' (No Milk, only water), but you somehow learned to create your own , with absolutely no help from us. You counter slogan 'No thanni, only paal'

Your drawing and your colouring are master pieces of art(Yeah, I know,  I idolise you, who dares to say against it? Even if they say so, Mommy goes deaf when that happens. Did I tell you that Mommy is horribly dumb when it comes to multi-tasking. The most popular example that your daddy recalls time and again is that, when am browsing or working, I go deaf. I am not taking any blame for it, coz its the genes, you mommy's dad's genes at that. Sorry, lets get back to your story.). You can recognise quite a few alphabets and most of the colours and all the numbers until 10. You also do a few puzzles and I think you genuinely have a flair at puzzles, especially shapes. IPhone played a good part at it and again, you have been such a thoughtful child and played with it with much care and caution (touch wood, touch wood). Your ABCs are still vague.

Its really really cute when you put our your act of taking pictures and keep saying, 'mile.. mile.. please...mile'(Smile).

You definitely have more manners than any of us at home, you shame us with you frequent thank yous and please. Well, you could definitely work on the tone of your 'please', it changes in intensity when we don't give it to you the first time you demand. However, am loving it all and sometimes, makes me think you are growing fast. You still give me sloppy kisses and big hugs and you still run around naked after your bath ;)

and today you are 2 months, 5 months and 3 days and it took you a while for your mother to get this post done.

What Your Blog says about you

Well, I came across this link, http://www.typealyzer.com/. Its a blog analyser, that says what kind of blog it is(Not that I already don't know. Its still fun to see what category of generalisation does it fit into.)

All you need to do is give the URL of your blog(For dummies, its the website address of your blog like http://.....,  If you still don't get it, its time you unplug your computer, go to the top floor of your block, spit, exactly thrice, and throw your comp out from there, please. ;) )

I tried with my blog on Nephy and here is the result.

ESFP - The Performers

 The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.



The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Look who.....

One sunny morning, I was hanging out my laundry and there was this lovely little yellow colored birdie who came flying down to sit on the hanging rod. By the time, I returned back with a camera to capture her, she was long gone. But, there was somebody else waiting for my return and who like a well-mannered professional, graced a few poses for my blog. A red and black insect on my bamboo hanging stick. If you have been to Singapore, you would be acquainted with the rather unusual laundry drying rod. A few bamboo sticks are used to hang out the clothes to dry in the sun. Quite ingenious, and I love the idea. However, I have had a few not-so-good incidents in the past, of dropping my clothes and I do go knocking on the folks who live in the floor below us asking  favours. There had been times, when I had dropped a bamboo stick with Nephy's bed clipped on to it. It has already been a week since this happened, but I could still see the bed up on the tree...drying!! Hope, they don't take me in for killer litter. Considering the fact, that I live on the 15th floor, the bamboo rod with the bed would perfectly fit into the definition of a killer litter. 

All said and done, its absolutely lovely to look down on the top of the trees from up high, and to see clothes hanging out floor after floor after floor. God save me, if am falling in love with Singapore and I have feeling that I slowly am.....

This is what we did today!!

I have been working from home this week. I am eternally thankful to the great God above to have allowed such things to happen, and of course, the team. I have been trying to put in my best through this week. but, its a friday, and I decided to chill out a bit with my little girlie.

Nephy and I put up some cartoons on the bedroom wall and had a fun time playing. Here are some pics

Be responsible & Be informed!!

I came across this link on abused children.http://www.myspace.com/abused_children.

I had always refrained from reading disturbing topics, but this one tugged at my heart. As like the average human, I did and still do think of child abuse as something that happens in a world away. However, I have decided to educate myself and the others about the reality and how it could really happen in the safe haven called, home.

Listen to this....."The Biggest Myth about Child abuse:-
 .... is that the dangers to children come from strangers. In most cases. the perpetrator is someone the parent or the child knows and is often trusted by the child and family." That should be revelation to some.

There is no point in closing our eyes and assuring ourselves that this is not something that would happen to any of our kids. The threat is real and unfortunately, many us live far away from reality. The least that can be done is to make sure that our children are aware of what is a good touch and a bad touch, and nothing wrong in teaching them as early as possible. The child has got to know to say No or at least be able to know that its wrong and mom or dad need to know about it. When the child reports or even hints at it, as responsible parents, we should ACT and lest us not brush it under the carpet. Worst of all is reprimanding a child for it. "BELIEVE her when she tells you....YOU might be the ONLY ONE she tells!!!". It might not be our own kid, it might even be the neighbor's kid confiding in us. I wouldn't fool myself I would live peacefully ever, if I were to shrug it off and allow it to go on.

There is the most important CYBERSAFETY to be taught t children, "Anything you post online, anyone can see. Think before you post."

~~CYBERSAFETY FACT SHEET~~


There are an estimated 77 million kids online today.

There are more than 40,000 chat rooms where children can meet child predators.

Pedophiles lure kids in with games, establish relationships with them on-line, then arrange to meet face-to-face.

75 percent of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and/or services. (gifts, free samples, free online games, etc.)

Chat rooms and instant/private messages are two main tools pedophiles use to contact children on-line.

Online child pornography/child sex exploitation is the most significant crime problem confronting the FBI that involves crimes against children.

There is a 100% chance of a child meeting a predator in a chat room.



Be aware of what the child does on his computer. Its better to watch and curtail cyber liberties and actively monitor the child's internet activities. (Yes, he is bound to get angry and he would probably lock himself in his room. Well, its much better than he being in a wretched place with a sex predator or other filthy beings.)

For starters on cyber safety, my parents made it a rule that the computer stays in the living room until we grew up and became adults. Thats a good start!!

Thanks Mom and Thanks Dad and Thanks Prav!!(You guys sure did your best to watch out for me.)

From the mouth of a baby

Oh God! She is talking!!

I should have written this about a month back , but the delay is because I still haven't recovered from being amazed. It was like one fine morning, the little missy decided that she would talk and tats exactly what she did. No wonder am amazed.

Until she turned 2, I was quite worried because the number of words that she spoke was on the worrisome side. I was foolish enough to ask my doc if she needs speech therapy , which thankfully, she didn't recommend, the doc  instead asked me to just give her some more time. Me being me, read and read and read and read about speech therapies and early intervention and what not, and worried myself sick. All said and done, for the official record, Nephy was 2 years and 1 month old, when she started talking.

After all these months of teaching her my name, she finally said Bessie-amma. Oh, its nice to hear from you baby. For that matter all of us are addressed by our names. Anto-daddy or Anto-appa, Def Aasa, Raj Thatha and such.

Some snippets of her talk :-

Just a minute back, I took her for a night-time bath and her dad switched off the TV which was playing her all time favourite , Barney. She went to her dad and said 'Why Off TV'. What... what was that? Well, time she learnt the answer to such questions 'Because, I said so!!'

Another one, she said right now. 'Amma wait, papa go $$$$', looks like she has an urgent business to attend to.

Some not so desirable sentences of hers:-
'Appa Vaa moodu' (Appa, shut up) : This one has a history, and the world should know about it. One day, Anto and I were arguing about something and exasperated(as usual), he turned to Nephy and said 'Baby say, amma vaay moodu'(Amma, Shut-up). The plan back-fired. Incensed, she fired back saying 'Appa Vaay moodu'. Oh Boy, looks like its girl power.

'Chumma eru'(Oh, keep quiet) : The other day, my mom was saying something to me. In jest, I said 'Amma, chumma eru' and she picked that up.
Otherwise, we haven't accidentally taught her anything offending (I hope).

However, some words that she started speaking while young still remain the same.
Ammachi(Grandma) is still Aasa.
Teletubbies are Po, Lala, kaba-kaba(Dicksy) and Jakkamma(Tinky-winky), don't ask me why.
Barney is still Ba.
Water is stil tha-tha.

Although, I primarily use Tamil, she seems to be picking up the english words faster. Maybe because, she learns them from her friends in the playground, which is quite a number I should say. Her social life seems to be blooming too.

The little one is bossing us around with her new found tongue saying  'Go there', 'Open that', 'Close that'(However, we still only know 'that' and 'there', whoever has heard of 'this' and 'here'). My little baby bully!!

Ah Loy Thai

I am not a foodie, so if I am writing a blog on a it, then its absolutely safe to try even if you are the finiky-est eater in the world. To add credit, it was Anto who wanted to go there. So, thats double guarantee, I tell you.

Its a simple and a humble eatery, hidden inside Shaw Towers. A thai restaurant, Ah Loy Thai. The place was quite full and there was a queue too. We managed to get a table and it was Anto's boss' name that did the magic. I had no idea about Thai food except for Mango Salad and Tom Yum Soup. However, the latter wasn't my favourite because I always found it too hot and too spicy, almost a torture. I was wary, and Anto went ahead and ordered the following.

Tom Yum Soup
Kailan
Mango Crispy Chicken
Pandan Chicken
Mangp Salad
Kumquat Juice

The Juice came first, a tall glass of  yellow liquid, had a slight lemon tinge, but very refreshing and very different. 

The Tom Yum Soup, good enough for 3-4 people. We ordered Tom yum with prawns and mushrooms, and what a surprise it was. Simply just great. Wasn't too hot and too spicy, just perfect. I would strongly recommend it. 

The Mango Salad, with chillies and a watery sauce on it.

Mango Crispy Chicken, as the name says, its crispy chicken and again it was the sauce that was totally 'grrrrrrrrreat'

Pandan Chicken , rolled in palm leaves. Well, the tomato chilli sauce did it again

Verdict : I think this place is a definite go-go. The food is absolutely fabulous and sure is interesting.

Pictures : Flicked from other sites on Ah Loy Thai. Oops...Sorry

Location : Shaw Towers, Singapore.

Thanks To : Anto!!

Lost weekend

A certain gentleman, played Mr.Grumpy all weekend. No, I wasn't the reason behind he being grumpy. It was most certainly a fellow who goes by the name Ang, the so-called renovation expert. The grumpiness(is that a word?) started out with a call to Ang on Saturday morning.


Work on one of the bathrooms started about a month and a half back and since then the family has been using the only other one. Mr.Ang(Hmm, thinking again, I wud skip the 'Mr'. Not since he is a good friend rather because am totally pissed off with that bugger). There is a petrol bunk, that is being built opposite my house which was started when the renovation started. Ang, I wud like you to know that they are almost done. Yes, its a petrol bunk and its almost done. And mine is just a bathroom, and it isn't done. Makes one wonder if its a bathroom like the Queen's to be renovated for close to 2 months. But no, its more like a humble little one and it should hardly take about 10 working days.

So, Mr.Grumpy was grumpy all weekend. Thinking back, I should have thrown him out and locked the doors, or rather,  asked him politely book himself into a hotel and be grumpy as much as he pleases. I did neither. Ha... damn, late realisations.

All the negative energy, made me feel like am running a boarding & lodging house.
Of course, I am the manager.
My maid, the room-boy.
My baby , the little helper
and the special chef roped in from India, my mom.

So, the visitor, Mr.Grumpy, books himself into my lodge and avails all the services
- a neat room with an A/c with clean sheets. (Sorry, about the bathroom though, its under renovation Sir),
- free unlimited home-cooked food (Yes, I am talking about my mom's fish curry & avial)
- the lounge (I mean my TV & Sofa)
- Fresh Lemon Tea (served from a toy Kitchen, morning noon & night with a very big smile by a lovely little waitress)
- in-house DJ (who plays Barney one after another after another...quite a DJ that one)
- Laundry & house keeping services
- and we accept supplementary credit cards, diamond & gold trinkets & cash
- and No, we don't take any other visitors

Lets make things clear and I'll tell you what... Am not running a **#$#^&*^&^%$ motel here. Its our own home!!

Bintan , Indonesia

Day 1 was a bright and sunny day and we ,includes Anto, my mom & dad & my baby, left to Bintan Indonesia from the Tanah Merah ferry terminal. The ferry ride was quite bumpy and Nephy started screaming ka-ka. For once, I was sorry for potty training her. She refused to do her business in her diaper and she wanted to go to the loo, which in that fated-ferry, happened to be outside the cabin at the rear-end. Surprise...Surprise...The most lovely sight awaited us there. The trail left behind by the ferry in the sea. A water trail with huge gushes of water. It was quite a sight to see and it got me thinking 'Nice start'. 

After 2 hours in the ferry, we got down on Indonesian soil at Tanjung Pinang. At the immigration, we were waiting for our visa. Anto started off this story, about how the place is corrupted and how they might even hide one of our passports and demand money in return. The immigration officer promptly asked, Where is the fifth passport? Boy, Oh Boy, Does it have to be mine? We blamed them, they blamed us. After frantic searching by both the parties, dear old Anto digged around and brought out the passport. I was gonna whack his behind then and there, but my mom had brought me up with better manners. I'll save it all for a private moment. A hour's journey from there and Voila! The nostalgic Yasin.

Oh lovely huts built on the beach,sorry on the sea. A small little cottage with a sea view and small little balcony with the blue skies and blue seas. Absolutely lovely setting for a nice romantic movie. 

The Nostalgic Yasin!

Well, we weren't on our honeymoon and the huts with its low railings, scared the living soul out of me for fear of an uncontrollable toddler falling over. I chickened out and chose a villa built on hard land. We settled in for the night, after a light dinner and lazing at the resort's beach. Anto & I & Nephy slept peacefully, oblivious to the fact that we were in the middle of another country and a villa almost at the end of the resort with nothing but the wild flora & fauna for a good distance. My dad hardly slept, keeping gaurd the whole night or so he meant, but my mom assured that he indeed slept well and snored well. 

The Villa where we stayed

Day 2 dawned well & bright. Morning buffet at th Agro beach resort, a couple of metres away. I have absolutely no complaints about the Indonesian morning buffet. Had a good number of items to try and you know what, they even had susiyums. I swear they were. Small sweet dumplings, made from green beans and palm sugar. There was tapioca cooked in sweet sauce and bananas deep fried, like those ones we get in Kerala. The Indonesian items were quite interesting.

We loved the Agro beach resort because it housed a playhouse and lovely gardens and it looked like it would be fun for Nephy. We decided to move in to this resort  and so we did. 

The Bintan Agro Resort

Lazed around in the beach for a while. Nephy refused to set her feet down on the sand. She thinks its dirty. For your information, your highness, we had a ball of a time playing in the sand when we were your age. I would still happily do it, if not for my much-hated inhibitions. Then followed food yet again and a nap.

We decided to have our dinner at the Sun & moon restaurant, which was build a few feet into the sea. It looked absolutely amazing. We tried a few more of the Indonesian cuisine. There were curries that tasted almost like our own chicken curry.

Sun Moon Restaurant

Day 3 dawned and with it came Nephy's fever and rains. No pool no sea. Spent it lazily in the playarea and the restaurant.

The Sea, The Pool & The rain

After the rains

Day 4 , the final day in Bintan. We packed our luggages and left early to explore the town. By explore, I meant shopping. Shopped in a crazy mall with crazy discounts of 90%. How wonderful was it to shop in millions. Nephy's dress for 3 million and with 90% discount, its 30,000. The Indonesian rupiyah is approximately 6500 for 1 Singapore dollar. Where in the world will you ever get an experience of shopping in millions. 

Finally, took the ferry back to SG. We went to the top level in the ferry, out in the open and the views were splendid. The blue sky with the sea and small islands spread across and a lovely trail behind. I loved the ferry ride back home.

......... and am still wishing that its Day 1 and am setting sail just now.

Of As & ABCs

A is hired by ABC to work in a reputed company for a salary X.

A is happy , goes to work and is at peace.

After 7 months, company ABC calls A to say that, they are giving out a hike of Y$(Believe A, Y$ was quite a hike). Company ABC calls again the next day to say, they wud indeed be happy to pay this revised salary for the past 7 months too.That is Y times 7(months) = 7Y$ to be paid as arrears.

A think this is quite fishy and don't you too? A thinks A was indeed entitled to get the X+Y salary from the start, but due to some crook(and he would know when he reads this, if at all he reads this) in ABC , A was being paid less. In plain english, A thinks A has been cheated out of A's rightful money for the first 7 months.

A decides to do some investigation.
A goes asking around. Finds out that a friend B reports the same and exactly the same.
A asks another friend C and the same and exactly the same.

A strongly believes that company ABC has screwed all of its consultants for a good while and A is not able to decide what is it that is rightful that should be done.

No points for guessing A & ABC.

Funny Fellow

This post is about about none other than our very own Anto. For those of you wondering who is Anto, he is my knight in a shining armour...and to those of you who have seen him and imagining him so, its high time that you stop rolling on the floor, laughing out loud...Please get up to read the rest.

Once Anto &  I were walking down from the mall to our home. On the way, I saw this girl who had a rather tiny face, pretty yet odd to an extreme , almost devlish(Forgive me Lord. I know all your creations are godly, but You messed it up with this one. You were probably working on a friday evening. Please be reminded in future, that You do NOT work on friday evenings)

Getting back to my storyline, I quietly pointed her out to Anto, and you wouldn't believe me, but the fellow said he had noticed her long long back and I gotta be blind for not having noticed her before. Thats when Anto shed light on his theory.

All girls,rather anything female, within  the radius of 20 m are given a quick scan.
Blink, blnk, blink... all above-averages are give a small little red hallow
Finally, the red-hallow-ones are given a good look, all in a matter of seconds.

Ha ha ha... Men and their silly stories and my husband says the most incredible tales. Have I ever mentioned, that he has an incredibly good sense of humour(No, I wasn't paid to say this).

Well sometimes, he goes over the top, and does really silly jokes and I take this opportunity to let him know that such mokkais(jokes) aren't anything but mokkai mokkais(dumb jokes) and here is one such for the world to savour.

I asked him if he wants an egg omelette or scrambled eggs. His reply 'an omelette with green chillies'. It was only a day before that he said that he didn't like green chillies in his omlette. Hence, I was muttering to myself when he sprang up to say, ' for tomorrow, Can you make my omelette without eggs'.(I promptly replied that I would throw him outdoors and lock the door)

Hope my little darling inherits his funny bone, minus the mokkais though ;)

Interesting....

Our very own Antony's :
"T H E F I N A L E . Chennai vs Mumbai. Govinda Govindaaa for Hyderabad."
(Whats it with men & cricket)

My SIL's bro :
"Early Bday Gift - A Baby Girl"
(Congrats Bro! My Lil niece has a cute lil cousin to play with)

My BIL
"Awesome Team Chennai !! Glad you showed the exit to Team Deccan..... :)"
(Annanum thambiyum ...same kuttai-la oorina mattais :) )

A frnd from Infy :
"chennai ku whistle podu.. Dhoni ku whistle podu... Chennai Super Kings"
(oh God... Men, find something to do)

Antos frnd's wife:
"All I need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."
(Hmm... hints to her hubby I believe)

A fellow relative:
"IS google run by the templars? or is microsoft, or intel? which company is similar to abstergo"
(This one definitely needs therapy)

A frnd from College :
"When we believe in the Lord Jesus, an exchange takes place. We give Christ our sins, and he gives us his righteousness and forgiveness. There is nothing we can do to earn this. Only through Christ can we receive God's righteousness. What an incredible bargain this is for us!!!!!"
(How true?)

From Someone whom Anto looks up to :
"Risk is the currency of life. Without risk, there is no life. We have to be willing to risk failure in return for a sense that we are living. And it's when we're really living that we really have a shot at changing the world!!"

Another frnd from college :
"No Thangamani ENSOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!"
(Ha ha ha.... I wish my thangamai and my chinnamani would give me a night off too...)

A Coll frnd and a new mom :
"There are 3 dolls in a man's life... 1) his daughter, baby doll 2) his girlfriend, barbie doll and 3) his wife, Panadol!! ;-) hehe..."
(I like this one!!)

Another Coll frnd :
"STAY TRUE TO THE DREAMS OF THY YOUTH.... :)"
(Hmm... he is probably feeling old :))

Puri :
"U S of A,here i come"
(Bon Voyage.. Hey Puri, When Anto broke the news, he said 'Us family Utham poguthu'.. No, he wasn't drunk!)

A friend of a friend :
"Confused , doesn't sound like me :P"
(Yeah rite... Multiple Personality Disorder)

Anto's lil cousin :
 "சூரியனை பார்த்து மணி சொல்லுறது அந்த காலம், மின்சாரம் போறதை பார்த்து மணி சொல்லுறது இந்த காலம்!! Thanks to Government!!!"
(Funny!!)

A friend of a friend :
"Wat am i gonna engage in IPL is gonna be over Sooooooon "
(Men...)

A frnd from Infy :
"ஒரு வேல இப்படி இருக்குமோ! இல்லனா அப்படி இருக்குமோ....இல்ல இல்ல இப்படி அப்படி இருக்கும் "
(Ayyo pavam.... ennamo aayduchu)

A frnd from College :
 "Patience is the mother of all virtues!"
(Somebody must be testing hers...)

Fellow Mom :
 "To be a mother is to know true love, pure joy and sweet bliss ... AND change diapers, clean up vomit, and never sleep again !!"

A from from coll and then in Infy :
"…into her arms he poured his heart!!"
(fallen in love...must be...)

Antoher one from Infy :
"To live happily.. Stop expecting and stop giving expectations.."

A senior in college, and a relative (my mom's sister's husband's cousin's daughter... maybe)
"Clash of the Titans' average..no where close to Gladiator"
(I do find these quick reviews helpful)

My dear Arch :
"“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is - infinite”- William Blake"
(Philosophical...)

Another frnd from Infy :

 "Jcpenney makkals .. bringing Chakkara pongal for you.. don't miss it "

(:( left it all behind me long back..Given a chance, I wud definitely go back)

One from my bestest circle of frnds - Rats :
 "All izz well"
(Enna dee spelling marandhu pocha?)

Anto's lil cousin :
"Happy Birthday Chiyaan"
(Little fellows...)

Arch again :
"To bring out the kid in u , get a bicycle(Gift) !!!! Geeeee!!! I am so happppyy....    "
(She is excited abt something..... is it the person who gave her the gift or the gift)

Prabs says :
Yeah!CSK wins.But tough competition ahead.This kind of batting wont do against MI. Dhoni, Murali, Hayden(???????????????) or someone... pls bat well!!
(.......wo'MEN'.........too)


finally


Me:
Anyone of you wants to hire a home-based .net programmer... Please say yes ;)
(Wishful thinking... This whole week of 'work from home' is making me tipsy.. )

& 

Nephy 

"I love you Mommy and Daddy"

(If you haven't yet made out what these are...These are status messages....)

At work...

Things are quite different at work here than in my first work place.
There... Lunch was a colourful affair. A guaranteed minimum of four. The usuals being Arch,Preeths,Div & Abi and sometimes J and soemtimes the two gundans. No topic was left untouched. No lunch ever ended without a friendly banter.
Here.. most of the days I go to lunch alone, somehow I am very much comfortable being alone, left alone to my thoughts and my own world. I call Nephy who would refuse to talk to me on most days and my mom who never refuses, always welcome. Live live moms!!

There.. I don't smile at people I don't know...
Here, I do.

There... before I reach my desk, I would have said Hi to atleast a minimum of 5 or more friends(not just colleagues)
Here... I go to my desk quietly , an occasional nod here and there.

There.. 'How are you? ' is the start of a friendly chat
Here... 'How are you?' and there is this fellow who always answers it with 'Very Busy'. Tell me, you are fine, just great, bad, pretty bad, sad or anything. Why 'very busy'... I've made a note to myself not to ask that fellow, how he is. But nonetheless, he keeps asking me how am I and I end up asking how he is and yeah... I hear the 'very busy'. People!! (Put your hands in the air.. roll your eyes a little and give that 'Whatever' look, for my benefit)

There.. My team size was from one to about 10 and my manager was most of the times sitting on top of our heads. It wasn't just the manager, even the onsite fellows took the liberty of using our heads for desks.
Here... My team size is a modest 3 and the manager lives in London. Nope, no sitting on my head at all.
(I definitely have to mutter counter-jinxes here for all those of you with the kolli-kannu)

There.. team mates were friends.
Here... thankfully, my teammates are very nice chaps. Kinda helpful and quite the techies that they are, but without the attitude. Makes my workplace a lot better.
(Again... am muttering counter-jinxes. No worries, no one knows of my blog's existence, so am allowed to say all that I want to)

Fine... gotta catch up with work.
There... They spell out deadlines and what a race it used to be to the line..
Here.. I spell my deadlines...

Nephy's 2nd birthday

My baby's 2nd birthday on a lovely sunny day(considering we live in Sunny Singapore, thats not special, yet who would want to have a special day with a heavy downpour, like poor Mommy's wedding, when it rained cats and dogs and then elephants and dinosaurs).  I was of course, the first one to wish with her, a kiss and a wish and a silent prayer.

Followed a church visit with grandpa & grandma & Dad. Traditions.
Bought So-so(Chocolates)
Posed for a good number of pictures
Did I mention the Payasam that grandma made... yummy!
Followed lunch and nap-time. Don't we stick to routines even on birthdays!

At last it was Evening, I was quite nervous if she would agree to dress up. Believe me, it wasn't fun to trick her into her new dress. The little party was to be at this lovely little Indian restaurant. A few of our friends had already arrived. Nephy had fun with her exploits until the others arrived. Finally, the cake was brought out. A beautiful prayer was said asking God's blessings for my baby. The Happy Birthday to you song was sung. I hissed, blow your candles baby. And She bent down and did a foo and blew out her candles.... and cut her cake and offered a bit to mommy , some to daddy and then on to everyone else.

Ha ha... who am I kidding? In reality, she was happy with the birthday song and clapped with us. Then it was time to blow out the candles. But, she refused to go anywhere near the cake,much less the candle. Finally ,I had to do the honors of blowing the candles and Anto, cutting the cake.  You should have heard her screaming 'No-No-No' when asked to blow her candles. Well, its gonna look really silly when we do our rehearsal's for her next birthday with a cake & a lit candle, but SHE asked for it. ;). The whole thing was quite funny and in a sort of a way, cute to watch.

Altogether, it was a lovely evening with friends & family.  Thanks all for the lovely gifts. Nephy had a great time with all the gifts. A special thanks to the one who bought the baby doll. It worked Nephy out of  her tantrums like a magic, when said 'Amma is gonna play with the baby doll, and not with the bad girl Nephy'.
Sadly, she gave it a good number of (well deserved)whacks, and now the baby doll is nurturing a broken leg. No other casualities though.

Finally, she is 2....and not a baby anymore!! When did she grow up so fast.....Wasn't she that little reddish thing, that I was holding on the 1st of April 2008, unable to even open her eyes and look at mommy ?

May the celebrations begin!

Its Nephy's birthday tomorrow. The little one, when asked what she wants for her birthday, starts off with .. so-so,chatta,cuck (Chocolate, Dress, Cake) in the said order and finishes it off with a neat blow of her imaginary candles (Applause please!)

Its embarassing to admit, but yeah, I'm quite excited about her birthday. Its like  the enthusiasm of a long-awaited-birthdays in my primary & sec school. In college, birthdays were a different affair. My friends made sure there were cakes & gifts. I really wouldn't wanna spoil it all by mentioning about a pack of dumb squads and their dumb ideas in a dumb college. Moving on, birthdays were just another day, other than the gifts Anto buys for me. But this little one's birthday isn't like mine. Her birthdays are indeed special, much more than mine.

The hunt for a good fluffy dress started off last week at the mall nearby. Surprisingly, I did find one that I liked. A woman being a woman, would never be satisfied with the first thing she likes, so  the woman went hunting in Orachard Road. Found a few almost-like-the-dress-in-my-head for my baby. That price tag, What an eye-sore.  Ah, I should have grown that damn MONEY tree. Abondoned Orchard Rd(forever). Thus, the first dress I saw is finally declared the winner. But the world conspired, the lovely pink is gone(oreddi..ma), only the white one left. Fine, I'll take it and I took it. Hasn't been able to get Nephy to try it. She raises hell when I try to. Wonder if she would even wear it tomorrow. Amen!

The cake has been oredered. The crowd has been pulled in. Dad is taking the day off tomorrow. Mom is planning to come home early and still contemplating if she should work from home or even better, take the day off. Grand parents are here, added bonus. Gifts have started to arrive. Her Chithappa's gift was the first one officially. Nephy says 'Tha-thu Thappaa'

oh Boy, I just can't wait for tomorrow.

Numbers start with 2!!

I say 'One', She says 'Two'
I say 'Three', She says 'Four'
I say 'Five', She says 'Six' if its my lucky day, else 'Eight'
I say 'Six', She says 'Eight'
I say 'Seven', She says 'Eight'
I say 'Eight', She says 'Nine'
I say 'Ten' and  She says 'Ten'

There.... don't we just rock when it comes to numbers!!

Nee enn uriyin vizha

Unn Nanban ellai, Naan Vaanin Nila
Unn Nanban ellai, Nee enn Uyirin Vizha...

Anbe Ododi vandhu enn kannai Paarthu..
Kaadhal dhaan endru solli enn kaayam aatru..

As I hear snatches of this song a line here a line there, I close my eyes and see you come running to me, holding your face close to mine, and nodding your head as if to say Ofcourse, I love you...
and everything else just vanishes... Just you & Me...

Then I hear another line..
Melum melum urugi urugi, unai yenni yengum idhaiyathai enna seyven..thoughts of you again.

And why, why, why do I think of YOU baby doll when in truth, I should be thinking of your daddy!!

An interesting Facebook status message

The recent Facebook status message that is making the rounds is :

 If you have a wonderful husband, fiancé or boyfriend that works hard to provide for you and would do anything just for you and your family, then repost this as your status to give the honest well behaved men out there the recognition that they deserve............because great men are few and far between, and I have one ♥

I say 'Holy crap'. I am not giving any credits for that one. I will, if it were as below:

If you have a wonderful husband, fiancé or boyfriend 

that works hard to provide for you and would do anything just for you and your family,

who the children adore, 

who hates TV, 

who doesn't open the laptop at home, 

who helps around the house, 

who doesn't bother staying in his in-laws place, 

who takes the family on exotic holidays every year, 

who doesn't mind rocking the baby to sleep in the middle of the night while you sleep 'like a baby', 

who surprises you with incredible gifts on your birthday, anniversary, V-day, (his birthday, his mom's birthday.... sorry, I drifted) 

who lets go of the remote control, 

who doesn't snore, 

who sides with you at all times, 

who is romantic,who takes u to dinner to nice places

who thinks you are beautiful and says so and notices when you get a new hair cut(I know am ranting.... no man would notice that... but he SHOULD), 

who cooks mouth watering foods and cleans and does the dishes too (hehehe), 

who doesn't gape at ladies walking by no matter what they are wearing(one almost impossible thing to do... Well, its my list and I write what I wish, don't I ? ), 

who sits with you talking late into the night after the kids are asleep,

who manages to come home before 7 everyday,

who thinks shopping or window shopping isn't a waste of time ,rather helps watching over the kids while you happily stroll by from shop to shop, 

who doesn't count the number of handbags & shoes you have, 

who is game for a midnight ice-cream treat,

who surprises you with flowers once in a while(Lets keep the 'while' short) ,...... on and on and on...

 then repost this as your status to give the honest well behaved men out there the recognition that they deserve............because great men are few and far between, and I have one ♥

(and I will fall on your feet and worship you.....)

This sounds a lot better and worth being an FB status message. 

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya...

Finally, I stole an afternoon and watched the movie, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya. Quite a difference from the usual tamil movies. I must say I loved it, except for the twisted ending. Looks like, tamil movies are steering towards a good path. Thank You Gowtham!!

A simple love story, beautifully said , absolutely lovable songs, Simbu(Karthik) & Trisha's(Jessie) neat acting. Must salute Simbu for having stayed away from his usual tortorous acts. Trisha , just lovely. Trisha's voice in the movie, which I believe is Chinmayi, added that extra pinch of essence. Jessie in her sarees, always pretty pretty. Karthik looked good too.

Love strikes at him, and then the girl too. A wedding in between. A love spell. A separation. A wedding again and the rest I have erased it off from my memory. Screw you Gowtham, for that twisted ending. I hate it. I would very much advise anyone who hasn't watched the movie yet, to walk out when the movie inside the movie ends.

Wow, how loves strikes.Still makes me wonder, how amazingly well it has been captured. Songs & the picturization were just out of the world. It still sweetly lingers in my heart. After a long time, I watched a movie, I truly love. If you know me, you would know that I am not a big fan of movies. I would rather spend an afternoon at home with my books. But, not this movie.

 My husband thought it was dumb for Jessie to leave Karthik, as she just didn't justify herself well. Well, I say its good enough of a justification when she says, 'I would rather be hated by you than by my parents'. Sounds a little extreme, but somehow it convinced me. Whatever....

All together, I think it was absolutely beautiful. Well, the movie would leave you dreamy... which would last for a good while.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya..
Pudavai katti-kondu Varuvaaya...

No Singlish Please!

Oh My God! My baby is speaking Singlish!

Yesterday, Nephy screamed at me, for having left her in the middle of her play to drink water. And she screamed 'Amma... No... Go'. Man.... I don't speak that kinda English. Then, realization struck. Its my maid, who talks Singlish. Thank you M'am, but No, Thanks! For your information, my baby can understand Tamil very well.

My heart aches to think of the fact that , growing up in Singapore, she would speak Singlish with the verbs , pronouns missing and an 'already'(actually Oreddi) attached to every sentence. Ofcourse, the famous 'lah!'. The 'can-can'. No, darling , Please don't.  I might not feel so bad, even if you were to speak Tanglish with a 'va' attached to everything. Like 'ok-va?' 'No-va?' . My heart would still ache to hear Tanglish, but not so much.

I think its time to teach my baby some proper English. I do consciously try to speak to her in English at times, but then its forgotten and the tamil always comes first hand. It isn't like, when she is doing something naughty to tell her 'Nephy.. please stop doing that'(with an added English accent). Its more like 'Adi vaanga pora Nephy'.... and believe me, the latter works like majic(sometimes).

Until then its 'No...Go..'

The other day, my neighbour said to Nephy, 'You shop oreddi, you no go,  I no go shopping oreddi, I go..' Well, go figure....

Finally, a movie after 2 years!

After 2 years, I finally managed to go to the theatre and watch a movie with Anto (Sigh! Sigh! I believe the feeling is mutual. Wish it was Jay & Prabs or Augus & Nithi & the rest of the coll gang)
When growing up, films weren't a part of family tradition. We never went to movies on family outings. As a kid, I remember, the only movie that we went as a family was 'Anjali'. Later on, during trips to KK, there were a few movies watched with cousins. Then, it was Prabs & Jay who opened up the world of cinemas when in school. In College, I don't even have to say, what the ten of us were up to? Crazy times!

Tats past. Sigh! Sigh! Sigh a lot!

It was my idea to watch a good tamil movie in good old Satyam on my last trip to Chennai. But you know what happened to my vacation? Chickungunya happened and nothing else happened. So, into the drain went my grand plans of Satyam cinemas & butter pop corn.
During chinese new year. With 4 days of holidays and no trip planned, we ended up staying at home for 4 days and Nephy provided all the necessary entertainment. It was the only long weekend for a long while , so a good chance to catch a movie, while the lil one was left at home with her grandma and the maid. Anto & I went to the theatre and damn! No tickets for the only tamil movie there, which happened to be Goa. Settled for an english movie. Valentine's day. Nothing great abt the movie. Too many characters, revolving around Valentine's day.
I realised a few things. In the first place, I was never a movie buff and still am not and movies don't give me the thrills. The second thing I realised was, Nephy was much of a better entertainer. The third thing, sweet pop corn is still tastes good.

Nephy's vocab list

So-So means Chocolate - and don't you dare mess around with her when she cries out for So-so.

Amma - Appa - Anto

Numbers are always 'Two', How many Grandmas u got? Two... How many birdies did you see? Two... How many so-so do you want? Two.. Ask her to say 'One'... 'Two' tumbles out, 'One' never
Its still Aasaa for Grandma, however Grandpas are spared, she calls them Thaatha.

The maid is called 'akka'

Water is 'Tha.. Tha..' Milk is 'Pa-a'. Toys are 'Jaamaan'. cheese is 'Seez'. Shoes is 'Chappal'. Food is 'Chapa', fish is 'yum-yum'.

Uncle is 'Mama' , Auntie is 'Athai' and chithappa is loving called 'Thaappaa'.

Teacher Sapea is called 'Apea' and she still continues to smother us with kisses when asked, what would you give to teacher Sapea.

Shampoo is called 'Shampoo' . Thanks Sweetheart! That seems to be the only one which is said the way it should be.

There is Apple, Ball, Bow-wow for dog, ba-ba for sheep, 'Yaana' for elephant.

You dont wanna know what is Kakka & Susu... yup, we are potty trained(almost). However, occurences may happen with no warning whatsoever and occurences may not be notified or subtle hits may be given out by asking for a mat and trying to wipe it off before being noticed. That is all that I can remeber for now.

Natalie baby is fondly called 'No-no' baby

Did I tell you that my niece, Natalie's vocabs has grown too. She keeps crying out on the phone...'Kaaka paathiya'.. Yes, darling, I indeed did. (Did you know that there are no crows in Singapore, sad lot, these folks kill all the crows just becoz they aren't fond of a small little birdie's droppings) and she does call out to her dad, Mathew cutely as 'Matt-Thuu'. Can't wait to teach her 'Dey.. Mathew'. Then there is the 'Thanni Thaa' 'Mummy Thaa' and lots of other lil things.