Making a memory

Friends and family are clearly bored with how proud I am of Singapore.
They disowned me when I wanted to by ‘I Love SG’ Christmas ornaments for the tree. They make fun of me when I refer to LHL quotes. Manu knows to look for me in the "Singapore section" if I went missing in the library, even though he accuses me of being an extremist and a brand switcher. Back in 2010, I hated the idea of spending the rest of my life in Singapore. I disliked Singapore even during the transits. In my defense, How can the Singaporean attitude fair positive against the humble Japanese or ever tolerant ever best chaotic Indians ?
The exact moment when the idea of loving Singapore first struck me was on the beautiful twilight of Aug 9 2011. That is when I heard 'Majullah Singapura' for the very first time. Well, it ain't just the anthem, but the collective force of Red & white clad people assembled at the Marina Bay area, the NDP, the anthem & the grand fireworks! The emotional results were complicated and I can see your perplexed face as I am trying to put the feeling into a single sentence. I had goose bumps, I missed the Independence Day celebrations back home, I felt patriotic and missed India, but somehow that was exactly the moment I started wanting to live in Singapore. But then, the hour which sealed the deal occurred a year later, when I watched the telecast of PM Lee’s speech, which he delivered at the NDP rally at the NUS campus in 2012. I remember wishing I could run to NUS from Ghim Moh right then, and be right there at the auditorim. It is the most impressive, thought provoking speech which I have ever heard. I felt leadership, vision, sincerity, true concern for the public, integrity towards the nation.
Now that I think back about it, one of the major reasons why I continue to choose to live in this city is that touching speech & his focus on Hope, Heart and Home. Another reason is the friends who have made Singapore a ‘Happy’ place to be.
The biggest beating Singapore gave me came after this speech. If I hadn’t heard that speech, we might not be living in SG right now, I wouldn’t have decided to apply for Permanent Residency, we wouldn’t have decided to achieve what we want in SG itself. The very fact that I follow LHL on FB, walk dismissively past the Indian stalls at food courts to queue for Char Kway Teow, be extremely defensive abt SG policies, being a strong believer of IRIS, know the bus numbers and transits even in semi-sleep state, devour incredible amount of local news, politics, history and SG events is described by Manu as Singaporean traits.

So, you can imagine how privileged I felt when NLB invited to me to pledge my blog as part of a Singapore memory project. Thanks, is what I would say, to motivate the lazy bones in me to restart writing.

Ads - A world of their own!

I love Ads!

I was always noted for watching commercials in between, rather than the movies :-|
Seems the media does care for people like me. There is this program in Channel 5, "Sport Rockz",on Mondays 9.00 PM, dedicated to sports Ads :-) No irritating programs in between !!

These were my fave 2 from today's show!
First one is a dance Ad - Ballerina Vs Dancer

Second is on Football. You are gonna love this!

Am sure you are humming a tune by now :-)

My experiment with the wax!

When our parents were here, Dad found this beautiful book on candle making. He was browsing the library for a good candle making book, as Mom is very interested in this. On a weekend, we went "arts shopping" and made beautiful gel candles. I was so thrilled about it that later they sent me a big block of wax, to work on. Then on, making a square candle for our room has been in my to-do list. 

As part of making the weekend eventful, I attempted it yesterday. 

Since I don't trust myself to continue candle making, my thrifty mind does not want me to invest on 'must have' items like double boiler, wick holder or dedicated molds for candle making. 

I was saving the empty bottle of olive oil for quite a while to use as my square mold. I used a long tooth pick as wicker. Double boiler was an old sauce pan strategically held in place to get enough heat from boiling water in another bigger sauce pan! (Everyone says, never heat the wax directly on stove top)

If I continue to practice and perfect this, I will surely buy the gadgets soon. 

The only causalities were my last minute panic and screams to get assistance to keep my dummy wicker straight in the center. Of course, instantly Manu engineered a technique to solve the on-site technical glitches! (I think I made the right choice by marrying him)

It was fun making this beautiful little turquoise candle :) 

Bali - Go Ubud

We had our plans all set to go Rafting with Nickie & rest of our friends, once the dive camp is done. Usually the end of diving is associated with depression and strange behavior like trying to stay under water in the pool. So, the idea for going rafting right after the dives sounded good.. The activities associated with water is more exciting. But, Manu was catching cold and showing signs of fast approaching fever. So, we had to take the hard choice of abandoning rafting. But we still were planning to move to Ubud.

Since Divya and Seleena  recommended the Git Git falls, we thought of taking a detour to Singaraja, on our way to Ubud. We saw multitude of temples on the way. We stopped at Batur first. The place and people were getting ready for the major upcoming ceremony on the full moon, over the weekend! I still don't know what these people do for a living and a full time job. They are at a temple in the mid-day making some offerings!

As the hunger stirkes, we decided to stop at a place on the way. A very small and tastefully decorated place, which serves western and Balinese food.. Price is not too cheap, but the food was beautiful and delicious with generous portions. To top it all, the view was amazing! The restaurant is facing the sea :-) Would recommend you to visit this place, if you are near Batur. Restaurant name - Mar Puthu. Oh, they have free wifi too.

See the scenic route ...

As we travel to Git Git, I was talking to Gade (our driver) about the Balinese culture and beliefs. I was too curious that, even with the hell load of toursits and modernizations, how is this simple and religious life preserved in Bali? Is the younger generation as religious as the ones before? I even dared to ask him, do you find it a disturbance to have so many visitors here ? Maybe Bali and people need a break ?  His answer was quite simple. " We, Balinese, believe in Karma. If we do bad things, we will suffer.  There was a time when some Balinese had stopped going to temple or give offerings to God. But, they all had some disease or problem or bad luck; which taught us not to deviate too much from the old practices." He insisted on having more tourist coz he sees it as an opportunity to make Balinese get over the poverty!

Thats the key.. Belief and faith is what drives them!

Anyways, back to the landscape.. We reached the parking spot for the waterfalls. From there, a long walk is required to reach the falls. The path is quite beautiful with small common house, rice terraces and unavoidable souvinier shops. The falls and stream is very beautiful.. And seeing the statue of Gods right at the mouth of the waterfall, I couldn't help smiling.

Next stop is at Ulun Danu temple, quite beautiful reflections.  The place was misty and a bit cold. After Bali Kopi and snacks, we went into this small serene temple. (Ticketed entry at 30,000 IDR/ Pax )

Later, after an hour plus drive to Ubud we were reaching the location by night fall. I got a glimpse of the night life, fancy restaurants, shops selling wonderful clothes/ interiors.. We drove on to a quiter lane, with rice fields all around. I was wonderfing where my stay would be. When the driver was finding it hard to locate the place, I got a feeling that itz going to be a wonderful stay :-)

As promised by the owner at the home stay, it was a beautiful Balinese cottage in the very midst of a rice field !

Wait for the next post ..

Photo courtesy - Dragonfly

My Update - It might be motivation to you :-)

Guys & Gals ...

I have a wonderful news to share. After 3 months of dedicated work out & almost sticking to my diet, I am starting to see results.

My face has become smaller.. My chubbier cheeks have returned to being just chubby ;)

I can run a bit faster and I don't need pause to catch breath while running to catch the bus. So, I get to be on the same bus as my friends
:-)

Well, (Here you have to imagine me jumping up & down) The scale is showing 4 Kilos less.
Another point to note here is that the scale is static for the last 2.5 weeks. Stupid thing is not tipping down! But somehow I can fit into few of my old clothes! Maybe my muscle mass went up!

People at work have started noticing & the ladies are coming to Me for weight loss tips and Motivation. Since I have done whole load of research on this area, this is one thing I can help everyone with.

Major fact - I have not gained weight during any of the 3 vacations I had this year. I plan to keep the strategy on for rest of the year :)

I am going to India tomorrow for multiple reasons.

Thatz where I should be wearing my Salwar suits and maybe Saree too. Hopefully, I can fit into the clothes which I had from 2011 beginning. Then, I can escape shopping, especially for bigger clothes. If I do not go shopping, I will get to spend more time with my li'l nephew ..

See, I knew there were multiple benefits in losing weight ;)

If you were thiking about starting work out & getting fitter, just start on it right now !

Get Moving !!  

I CAN Run !! So can you ....

People! Remember, yesterday night I was quite disappointed with the self.
After writing, I thought I should really go on that walk. There is a 2k trail right beside my place. The guy was busy with something else, so I went walking with music. Well.. After a while I got bored with walking and thought maybe I should run so I can reach home early. So, I started running….

And for the first time in my entire life, I ran 2.5 K without stopping! I did not have to take my customary stop every minute!! I couldn't believe myself! I realized, running ain't that bad as I thought before. This set me to thinking.. Why I used to hate running. I have so many friends who share with me, the extreme dislike towards running.

I have BIG news for all of you who hate running.

Actually, we don't hate running! None of us! We just dislike it because we are unable to do it. Itz the very basic human nature to get away from things which make you feel negative about the self. For me, running was a topper in such a list. But, with the regular hourly work out in the gym, somehow my stamina has built up. After yesterday, I am not anxious any more about running.

The secret for running/jogging is to build up your endurance beforehand. I never had this approach before and no one gave me this tip. Maybe there are a set of people who build up their stamina through running. But, for us who are demoralized by the very act, this isn’t the way. Our path is a bit different. We just need to pick our favorite work out, slowly increase our own threshold & then try running on a highly motivated instance. Just remember to stretch before and after, so that you don't injure your legs.

I am looking forward to have a good run over the weekend, in some new park or so..

Motivation

During a lunch hour, we were discussing food, diet and work-out. Eventually the discussion led to the question.

What motivates you to lose weight?

Instantly my pictures when I was in Japan and the time back in India were flashing in front of me. Oh wow ! I liked how I looked those days. I really really wish to be looking like that.
I remember a lot of those clothes stashed in the corner of my wardrobe.
So, yeah.. The goal is set. I wanna start wearing those.
My biggest challenge related to work-outs or Gym is "When to"?
I am not a morning person & Manu finds a zillion interesting things to do every evening! So, decided to hit the gym in the lunch hour. I signed up for the nearest gym (painfully realizing that the monthly fees is expensive than some of my air-tickets!)
So far, it is going on pretty good for me. One month plus & I am already feeling fitter!
Who doesn’t? After the amazing dance moves, body combat and the body pumps :)
Only side effect is, on the days when I take combat classes, I tend to keep punching in the air for the rest of the day!
I am famous for getting hyper-excited after work-outs. As far as I gauge, my productivity has increased for the second half of the day.


What’s your answer ? And how are you achieving it ?
Feel free to share your answers and motivate the rest!