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.