The mandatory goodbye 2013 post!

Gosh.. Its really been a while since i last posted. My last post seemed to be a rather inspid venting out post and i hope i have less of that.So it beens a year since we've come to mumbai. What was 2013 like? arguably one of the toughest years *b went through workwise...
As for me..Well I've been  on leave and the plan was to explore south mumbai on my own, visit chor bazaar, do all the 'mandatory things one 'must' do when one's a tourist.

Well... no surprises i did nothing! I'be just been sitting back, relaxing thinking about the year that went by. at least that's the excuse i would give anyone who would call me lazy!so 2013
1. finally I had a steady job and a job i like which is saying quite something considering the recent few years
2. I finished a year at the job which may seem like nothing to  most people but is for me
3. Travelled to the mysterious Egypt and breathtaking New Zealand 
4. My family temple which is my parents' pet project is rebuilt and im glad to see they are happy!
5. I restarted yoga which is a huuge deal for me :)
6. witnessed/witnessing my adorable nephew grow up and  seeing another side of my sister for the first time in my life.. now she has someone else to boss over!!
7.  Did a fair bit of cooking.. 


The more and more i write i realise that life is about the smaller things, and as i learn recently that its about exploring happiness under your own roof....
I hope 2014 brings me to a new phase of life..
I just need luck and the world to agree I'm ready...

sad :(

I have been meaning to write about Mumbai for a while.But today I'm feeling so down and low for completely different reason. For now let's just call it a 'complete goof up' . And that does happen very often to me and certainly not in my second month of  a new job but i just feel awful. I just want to fix things but i there is no time. It isn't entirely my fault but all of us who worked on the project thought it would come out Ok.I feel so utterly helpless and dismayed. I have not faced situation like this very often and perhaps thats why I find it difficult to deal with especially when i have no control over fixing it. We just have to deal with what we have,keep the chin up and move on

I cant wait for 2 weeks to pass when all this will be history and hopefully people will forget about it. Maybe I am being dramatic.But its an inexplicable feeling. I was just beginning to like everything and was actually considering myself lest i say,'lucky'.B* told me there's never a good time or bad time, its just time. Maybe i should listen to him more

I guess i tend to get too emotionally involved. I must decide to let things fail and allow them to never happen again. I need to be more balanced,more calm and not hyper ventilate.

Moving to Mumbai

Just under 3 years ago I packed my bags and left my friends,family and a job and moved to Singapore.I didnt know what to expect. I was a tad intimidated,bedazzled by the efficiency of public transport and enamoured by all the great food u got to ate. 3 years later  I am at waiting at the immigration counter at Mumbai and my heart sinks a bit... I know singapore has spoilt me a tad.. what with its clean cosmetic roads and all.Mumbai will be my home.. atleast for a bit.Too many people have raved about Mumbai, the magic of Mumbai...I feel a tad disloyal not ' having fallen in love' with Mumbai yet. My oldest memory of Mumbai is being stuck in a jam for 3 hours.The sights, the smells, the poverty,the chaos, the congestion assalts you the  minute you step out.I wonder whats in store

The agony of ageing!

Birthdays till a few years ago were fun! Friends get together, they'd smash cake on your face, you spend tons of money when you take out the boisterous gang out and your rejoice on your new found coolness on turning 20 or 25 or 28 even... Then 30's set in and it all changes!I hoped that I'd ring in my 31st without a murmur. I had a fantastic 30th birthday!..but i hoped my 31 would be uneventful, and would pass unnoticed. Its that age when you twist and turn in your bed and think about what you have not accomplishes, about the yoga sessions you should not have missed.....

But a day before my 31st, I got a call from B to wait  for another 30 mins for ' instructions' at 4 in the evening and then the instructions came...  we were treating ourselves to an awesome spa data with a gorgeous dinner afterwards,most of which was spent discussing whether the couple next to us were... married/ having a torrid affair while being married/ 3 rd date in a week .... all while i welcomed my favorite type of chocolate cake wishing me :)   and giggling like a sixteen year old!! Just when i thought my bday buaah was over, the boy surprised me with bunches of tickets to my fav shows for today and next week...so my bday that was supposed to be come and go without a  murmur ended up being  a week long celebration! On my 31st, I'm thankful for my a great husband, an awesome family and true friends :) i realize that at 31; I have a lot to be thankful  and grateful for!Aging.... if you would like to call it...does not seem so bad!.... atleast for now.

Arbitness

Its been 2 years since the last post was written on this blog and in an afternoon of total boredom where i dont have anything better to do, i thought might as well re connect with this.

Singapore has been a 5 minute movie playing in repeat mode. Same places, same people, same food again and again. We thought it was the place or the lack of it - but we realized that it was us - getting old, getting stuck with the same routine, being happy with the predictability and mediocrity of life.

Maybe it was worth to change - especially when you know that the things you took for granted may not be with you anymore. That is was the kick in the backside we needed to take off our blinkers and look around.

And around we looked - to a place called Arbite in a quaint little corner of Singapore that no one had dared to enter before. Being a middle aged couple with significant financial difficulties, proximity and public transport availability were critical factors.

The place was up a rickety old steps (with a hole in the wall - literally) near chomp chomp food court. Chomp chomp reminded me of bangkok red light districts - smelly, hot and R rated food being served in humungous quantities - take it or leave it style. We decided to hit that place on a calmer day when we didnt have to share our table with sweaty uncles and aunties swearing at the top of their voices for the food.

Back to Arbite - the place is small and cozy - would have been better if it were outdoors, but given our level of comfort with AC, we didnt mind. We got the last 2 seats and ordered ourselves a sangria and something called Mint cooler (knowing who wore the pants in the house, the lady got the wine while the guy got the girly green cocktail with a straw and mint leaves). The drinks were refreshing and enough to last us through dinner,

Food was ordered in a jiffy - Eggs Benedicts for the Mr and Papar Delle with Parma Ham with Mushrooms for the Mrs. The food was homely and delightful - Eggs Benedict seemed as rich and sinful (or maybe it was me reacting to egg yolk after 2 hours of hitting the gym) and the Papar Delle was as comforting as mom's home cooked soup when you are sick in bed.

The highlight was of course dessert - My wife's chocolate cake (no she doesnt cook - its the name of the dish)  - sinful dark chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate bits. It was like tasting heavenly pleasures and hellish sins in a dish. Enough said.

Overall the trip was well worth it. Reasonable place, budget friendly, no snobbish folks, loud singaporeans having a good time and good food close by to home.

Onward to new adventures. May the blinkers remain safely tucked away.

the new life

So I moved lock, stock and barrel to Singapore.. From chaos to perfectly manicured trees.I was not sure what to expect! Setting up house in theory is great..would it match up in reality? And to someone who is hardly domestic, hates housework
As I unpacked my suitcases,and our new home was jam-packed with cartons,Id often sit back and wonder what my new life would unfold. And I was amazed!
…..How excited I was getting a salad bowl and the serving spoons to go with it!
….. The pure delight in tasting sambhar after days of bread and butter!
…..the Ikea trips where I gazed in wonder when Ben and I sat on some hazaar sofas to find the ‘right sofa that felt right’
…..our first dosa experiment in the kitchen which was a disaster from a geometry point of view but thrilling none the less
….the excitement of me using my bright orangey placemats as well as my black and white ikkat placemats :D
…..the first time Ben and I cooked dinner and served our very first official guests!
….and how proud I was of Ben making the chappati atta !!
….for lack of knowing an English word,a fancy oil patram (vessel) that ive seen all the cooking giants use that made me so proud to own it!

I’m not saying I’ve turned into a domestic goddess.Now thAT would take a miracle!.Just discovering a new side of me

Karma kicked my ass!

I promised to revive this blog but laziness got the better of me .I am trying to remember why I named this blog whatever I did and I read my first post where I promised myself that I would write about how I became/am becoming me J Gosh….what all has happened since the last time I wrote!!..The unthinkable happened. I got married!

I always wondered if I would ever get married.I am not the girl who dreamt about the perfect wedding/dress…none of that!I also always told myself I would never go out of my way for a man like across cities/countries/continenets, give up my job…so much for my womens lib!I ended up doing JUST that. Come to think of it whatever views I had about marriage and about the man I would marry,if at all i did…the very opposite of it happened!!l ife is truly what happens to you when you are making all your grandiose plans… blah blah!!

Status now: married to someone who I knew from 9^th grade!!( and I thought I would find him half way across the country/world…if I only knew this it would have saved a lot of energy!),quit my job in Bangalore and moved to Singapore.I find my life beginning all over, starting from scratch.

New place, new friends ,need to find a new job, and a brand new husband.Karma surely kicked my ass!!!