Jai Ho...

A R Rahman's concert at the grand theatres at Marina Bay Sands , Singapore.

I saw the legend , the maestro today, and am still reeling from the giddy effect. An acute dose of music performed by the ARR himself, no wonder, I still don't feel my new shoes bitting into my legs.

The concert started off with the number O Sana... from Slum dog Millionaire and the whole 2 hours that ensued was nothing short of magical. The second number was from the movie Robot, the Rajinikanth starrer.

There were other songs from tamil which others sung, it wasn't ARR*disappointed*. Kilimanjaro...... Taxi..., that Blaze and Benny executed to perfection. I saw Blaze with his wife and 2 kids after the concert taking off in the direction of the Marina Sands hotel. For one second, I thought I would get a picture with them, the next moment, I dropped the idea. Afterall, its only Blaze, not ARR. I digress, getting back to my story line.

There was a particularly wonderful moment when everything sizzled, when the master started off with "Marhaba...Marhaba....". Of course, its "Oorvasi...oorvasi..." from Khadalan. Lovely. I can still hear the Marhaba ringing in my ears.

He played bits of music from VTV and other movies on the Piano.  The one performed at the Nobel Prize was done too. There was this number Lukha chuppi, sounded very delicate when he sung.

There were other lovely songs too, mostly bollywood numbers. Rang de Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar. There was a Classical Indian music section which covered nice numbers from Tamil & Hindi. Then, ARR Bhai put on his white prayer cap and I thought he was going to sing his famous Qaseeda, which I am still in love with from the moment I heard it first. No, he didn't. He performed a number from Jodhaa Akbar. You can listen to the qaseeda here.

He finished off the show with Jai Ho & Vande Mataram.
The final slide on the concert was "Ella pugazhum Iraivaivanukke", All glory is unto God.

I missed hearing Vellai pookal... wish he had sung that one. Wished & wished so many other songs too, maybe another time.To sum it up, the concert rocked. When Anto said that he should have bought the first row tickets instead, I chided him saying , he could even see ARR's pimples if he is that close. Well, Now I wish I had been in the first row and had seen the dirt in his shoes ;)

Almost forgot, My little baby darling came to the concert and trust me, I didn't even get up once. That well behaved, she was. She slept off the last half hour , otherwise she seemed to enjoy it completely.

Second hand TV on sale!

I would like to sell my TV at the earliest possible date. Soon, I might even consider giving it out for free. Its best to check out this page once in a while, there might be just an irresistable offer on TV ;)

The other good option would be to buy another TV, definitely bigger than his. ;) However, it all boils down to the money, and poor Betsy has no money lah! Anybody out there giving out a TV for free?

This dislike for TV started when the little one began to insist on watching Barney and friends over and over again. The dislike has grown multiple folds now and the reason and the only reason being the Cricket World cup. Worry never comes in single, they say, there is IPL to follow soon after World cup. I've always wondered what sort of game goes on for hours and hours, why not play for an hour or two and call it a day. Warning to all the cricket enthusiast, please refrain from reading this blog until the end of cricket craze for this season.

How I wish, I had graduated from Hogwart's school of Witchcraft and I could cast a spell on the cricket crazy husband. Magic wounld have come in handy then.The husband comes home only for cricket these days. I can understand if you watch the matches, but why the highlights, the players talking and whatever that is on cricket. The other day I even caught him watching something about the pitch and the ground. I'm sure he needs counselling.

In case, you come home and can't find my husband, please tap gently on the couch. I swear one of these days, he would turn the same colour as my couch and will be mistaken to be part of the couch. If the gentle tap doesn't work, a hard kick definitely will. 

My little darling has also been sidelined. She is allowed to watch her Barney during meal times on split screen. The first few days, she raised hue and cry, but even she seems to have realised that this isn't a good time to mess with Daddy. Hence, its half the screen for Cricket and half for Barney.

I tried to bet on the match today between India and England . I bet on India not going beyond 335 runs and he otherwise. He said I can buy a dress if he loses. Sadly, I lost and a lesson learnt, don't bet against the expert.

I tried another bet for 500$. My bet was on India losing this world cup and I wanted him to bet against me, but he just wouldn't. He says I can pick one of the teams and bet on them instead. Duh, whats the fun there? The probability that India would lose the world cup is much more than India winning the world cup, just in terms of maths and probability.

Inspite of all my efforts in making it fun for me, it isn't working out at all for me. Gosh, The other day the match at Bangladesh with the shrill blasts of whistles, honking horns which went on for hours, gave me a terrible head ache.

Finally....a  kind request to fellow readers, if you see a mom with hair springing out in odd angles, with a suitcase, a barney bag and a little girl, both looking lost, its probably me and Nephy. Please take me to the airport, look through my wallet, and you will find a supplementary credit card, with it, book me on a flight to Chennai and give my dad a ring. Thank you. 

Written some time in June of last year. Yup, this post is that old. Here goes....

Finally, she is talking.

Some snippets from my little one's little talk...

When mom or dad comes home after work(or out of the bathroom), she announces.. 'Amma coming' or 'Appa Coming'

When she is pissed off ...'Amma semma adi' and hits me hard with a toy that she has(which, by the way, is gonna go hiding soon)

When someone goes to the shop, she doles out her list 'Seez Stee'(Cheese Stick)

When the waiter asks, what drink, she jumps up to say 'Lama Tea'(Lemon Tea)

Then there is
'Amma go up'
'Amma go there'
'Amma ...na'(Amma... endha... like saying, here, take it)
'Amma ...no thoo'(Not that Amma is sleeping all the time)

When she gets naughty, I ask her to turn around so I can whack her derriere.
Now, she turns around willingly saying 'Bum Bum'... (Am trying to teach her some discipline, as she is teaching me that this can be fun.)

Anyone who comes to our home is served lemon tea from her kitchen.

She can figure out numbers , I mean she can match 1 to 1 and 2 to 2 and so on. Its 6 and 9 that confuse her, but she has caught on.

She can say my name as 'Bessie', her dad's name and my mom is called Defy(Even my dad wouldn't have said so many times in their 30 years of wedded life)

She requests for shows to be played in the Tee-vee(TV)... Play Barney.. Play cBeebies... Sometimes, there are even song request... Play Sun sun(a song from Barney) or Amma va va (Amma engae va va..song)

She loves Bags and shoes, like all girls. Don't u dare take her to the shoe shop. She wouldn't come out unless she tries each available/reachable one.

Her friends are Jayden, Adi and Rachel.

Her favourite teletubby is Lola and she is yellow in  colour.

Her favourite toy is a small little Barney doll. I have to put Barney to sleep before I could start my attempts on her

She is growing up fast. Am afraid its much too fast for lazy mom to capture it all. :)

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.