January 11, 2011

Back after a fun packed holiday!

Yup now you know why you didn't hear from me for the past 1 month! I had been to Chennai to visit my parents, relatives and stayed with my parents-in-law along with hubby at Singapore on the way back to Melbourne! I had a fantastic time meeting them all, to say the least!

Parents pampering, mom's delicious delicacies, aromatic filter coffee, thattai, polli,kalli+kootu, mavadu, mahali kizhangu, margazhi kutcheris and what not! The list is never ending. Spending quality time with parents, eating great tasting food, relaxing, meeting relatives, going to temples, shopping and sight seeing were the main agenda and were fulfilled thoroughly!

Not even a bit of me wanted to come back, but no holiday can be endless right, so here I am back to reality although I am happy to be back in a way, back to my routine, back to my own world..:-) We are in the middle of spring cleaning the house and sorting out the travel and shipped stuff. We are expected to get back to the routine in a week's time.

So spare me for few days to elaborate more on the holiday and watch out for this space for some Kodak moments too!

Have a great week ahead and a very happy new year to all you guys!

P.S: thattai: a type of savoury
polli: a type of sweet which looks like thick dosa
kalli+kootu: a recipe prepared on a festive occasion
mavadu: a pickle made of small unripe mangoes
mahali kizhangu: a white coloured pickle
margazhi kutcheri: a series of carnatic music concerts which happens during December

November 12, 2010

ROSE is a rOsE is a RoSe is a rose


I am loving it! Yes I am in love with the spring esp with the blooming roses in our garden, the fragrance from them very time I walk along the driveway, the very welcoming sight when I get back home from work. Much to my whinging in the last post, I am happy that the real spring is here! Thanks to the house owner, who must for sure be loving gardening and ROSES (when I am saying this I am also referring to all sorts of garden tools, fertilizers, potting mix, lawn mower etc placed in orderly fashion in the car shed)! 

No doubt I have seen many flower shows and hill stations, but this is the first time I got to see so many roses, in so many colours grown in a household garden. In fact I see so many houses here in Melbourne blooming with flowers esp ROSES. Not just one colour, but in colours and sizes you might have not seen before!

Ok let me just stop talking and let you enjoy this visual treat!


November 3, 2010

Quarter century and so...

Yes I turned 25 on 28th Oct. I am happy that I am now officially old enough to have just 3 months of learner's permit for obtaining drivers license! I no longer need to pay additional car insurance for being under 25. Also it's kind of cool to say 25 because, in your early 20's you are considered YOUNG, also in your late 20's you are categorised as NEARING 30. So 25 is chic and safe..lol..;)


We are having a gala time with my MIL for the past 1 week. Sadly she will be leaving this coming weekend. Also with the outings we did, made my birthday exxxxsssshtra special!!!
 
Entrance of Dandenong National Park
  
Though our plan to visit the Lakes Entrance got cancelled due to bad weather (I know but it's supposed to be the beautiful spring season), we did have a plan B. So on thursday morning after a sumptuous lunch, we started for the Dandenong mountain ranges. This place is about an hour drive from our place. Thankfully the weather was superb (25 deg and bright blue sky)! We reached the national park at around 2 and planned to do the Living Bush walk which was moderately steep trail walk out of the many mentioned in the map there.



Tall green eucalyptus trees
 The first part of the walk was plain ground with little ups and downs. We walked through gigantic eucalyptus trees and huge fern plants. Surprisingly we saw a lot of people doing the walks though it was a weekday. Some were even running all the way till the top. My attire didn't allow that since I didn't want to sweat in my new birthday dress. But I am sure I shall be running there sometime in near future. It's a very good work out since it's not a monotonous route of plains to the top of the ranges.




That's me..:-)



After we reached the start of 1000 steps walk, we delibrated little bit about continuing further since it said that the route is steeper. But we wanted to fulfill the whole purpose of visiting there and so WE DID "THE 1000 STEPS". These stretch of steps were built in the memory of those killed in Kokoda Trail. Along the way there were plaques depicting the lives of the men who fought and died on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea during World War II. After reaching the top, we got a beautiful view of the city and the walk was worth it! The walk still continued from there but we wanted to return back since we didn't want to get late for the evening plans.

After resting for a while, we climbed down the steps and reached the foot at around 4:30. We drove back home and freshned up for our temple visit in the evening.

The Shiva Vishnu temple that we usually go is huge and gives me immense pleasure and peace everytime I go there. After offering our prayers to the God, we drove to The Madras Banyan Tree for our dinner. I don't need to say much about this restaurant since the food speaks for itself. We had a fantastic dinner and were quite FULL after that. We returned home and called it a day.

Melbourians enjoying their sunbathe
 
The next day we didn't want to make the best use of gorgeous weather (because it rains in between) and so went to enjoy the sea breeze. We drove to one of the famous beaches in Melbourne city, the Elwood beach and it was the first time I went there and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Wetting the legs in cold clear water in warm weather was such a treat!




The couple
 

There were quite a few who enjoyed their sunbathe, walked along with their dogs, swam etc. We strolled along the shore for a while and did the very traditional thing of eating ice creams in the end. I loved my gelato..yummy!
And so these outing were like icing on top of my birthday cake..:-)
The next big festival Deepavali is kocking at the doors and we are looking forward for a dhamaka!




Advance happy deepavali to you all. Have a wonderful time with your family wearing new dress, bursting crackers, eating good food, watching newly released movies, catching up with friends and relatives!
Cheers :-)

October 19, 2010

Is it really SPRING season now?

Yup we are in the southern hemisphere (sounds like some alien) and it is spring here..but not really ;( Spring is one of those ideal getaway times when you just go on long drives, enjoy the beach walks, do trekking and mountain climbing, stroll along the park. Between how do you describe spring season? Temperature around mid 20s, blooming trees and plants, bright and longer days, early sunrise etc etc. I can hardly find any of these indicators here :( May not be us but our lawn is in full spring mood. It needs mowing every week...uffff. You might think I am kidding when I say that the average temperature since the start of oct has been 15 deg C. To make it even better it rains almost everyday and we are still wearing sweaters to keep us warm for the most part of the day!!! Ok ok no more whimping about the climate for hopefully it would get warmer in coming days...
October is special for me for many reasons. My hubby successfully completed his 2nd full marathon (Melbourne marathon) on 10th. Yes it's full 42.6 km and yes it's a very BIG deal!!! My appa celebrates his birthday on 20th, yours truly on 28th. By the way I am going to hit the quarter century milestone this year..;-)

My hubby's mom is planning to visit us for 2 weeks from coming saturday. We are super excited to have her with us. We are planning to do some sightseeing during this time and have good fun. Also this Deepavali will be all the more special! We shall make sure to see the fireworks at Federation Square which we missed last year.

Anyway I shall keep you posted about the proceedings. Meanwhile happy shopping for Deepavali..;)

September 21, 2010

Licensed Memories!

Driving like all other skills needs regular practising. Once you lose touch, it takes a while to get back on track. Last Saturday evening, my dear hubby offered to refresh my driving skills after which I realised that I needed to start from scratch! Though I have the Indian driving license, it turned out out to be just for namesake..;( Partly because since I didn't drive car after I passed the test (which is after I passed out of college and started working), so I hardly drove and also our college driving instructor ("Anna" as we call) was too naive to help me passing the driving test without much driving actually!!! I bet ya getting license here in Australia is real hard. One needs to get L, pass the test and then drive with P for 3 years, have a clean record before getting the full license!

We bought our own car last weekend (Toyota Camry - Sedan) and from now on the real ordeal starts. My lovable hubby has agreed to teach me driving during the evening. So hopefully I should be able to drive soon.

That evening when I was trying to drive after a LONG time, I was reminded of those days when we girls in final year in college enrolled for driving class in the mechanical dept in our own institute. Apart from getting good campus placement, we wanted to achieve something more! Our college is fundoo ya..has a driving school too unlike other colleges. "Jia ho NITT" and best part is they made sure most of us got our license!!! They had quite a few batches during both morning and evening. Morning means eeeeaaaarrrrlllllyyyy around 4-5 since there used to be 2-3 sessions then and each needed around 30-45 minutes. So we girls according to the slots available enrolled for both morning and evening sessions. If it were the morning session, we girls made sure that the rest of the goup got up early and were in time for the class. It used to be pitch dark outside then and also cold (talk about climate in Trichy).

Opalites correct me if I am wrong, the practising route started from the sports club or civil dept - left at library - along the other entrance road along SC/Compsci - till the boys hostel intersection - left at Pearl (not sure though, but some boys hostel) - drive till other end - left again at Chemical eng dept - straight to the Mech dept - practise reverse gear near the T.P building/Meta dept. We drove Maruti 800 (white colour, manual car) and a jeep. Many among us felt driving Maruti was easier but I personally felt the jeep was easier. Anyway apart from the car, we were taught to drive 2 wheeler too. We practised on a old Luna like moped on the sports ground near the main entrance.

The driving sessions used to be quite fun. I must admit that the Annas were quite patient and instructed us every time we stopped the car while leaving the clutch or speeded when we were not supposed to! While driving near the boys hostel, the guys walking on the corridor or playing cricket on the backyard would yell out our names. We used to get bit nervous during that part of the drive. We didn't want to drive to the ditch with the guys watching us (insulting ya!!)

With many days of such training, we girls (around 10) appeared for the license test at the RTO, Trichy with our beloved Anna. The RTO office is situated in the outskirts of the city. After finishing the paper work and paying the fee, we proceeded to the actually driving track which was further from the RTO. We girls formed small groups and hopped on to the jeep which we were supposed to drive. The procedure was like each of us took turns are drive the jeep a short distance with the Brake Inspector sitting beside us, Anna and other girls sitting behind. The Brake Inspector must have been in his BEST mood that day, because he let Anna prompt us while changing gears (manual jeep again), applying brake or speeding. Come on ya, we were tensed, don't think we were so dumb! We kept our fingers, toes and everything possible crossed till all our girls did a decent show. Thankfully I was just asked to drive around few turns and not asked to take reverse in which I suck!!!

After we girls test drove, we were asked to wait under shade for a while. Meanwhile Anna collected Rs.100 from each of us and drove the jeep with the Brake Inspector alone leaving us behind under the tree. We all had butterflies in our stomach. Atleast all these days practise should be worth it. GOK what happened, but Anna came smiling saying "You all got your license!" What more could we ask for then! You won't believe but Anna said that he was not so scared before for any other group for getting their license. May be the Rs.100 helped in sanctioning our license! We had to wait for long to get our photos taken and license made. WHATEVER..we all got our license for next 10 years! Yuppy..;-)

On the way back to the college, Anna was kind enough to take photocopies of the license and make duplicate license for general purpose. After returning to the college, we stopped at the Mechanical dept and you won't believe, we all took photos with our Anna for we were so happy that we got our LICENSE!

Hopefully I pass the test here and get the Aussie license too. Watch out for this space for more of my driving adventures!

Have a great week ahead :-)

P.S: Anna: Elder brother

September 2, 2010

Sweet Memories of Gokulashtami

அப்பம், வடை, வெண்ணை, முறுக்கு, சீடை,தேரட்டிபால், பாயசம்...Yes it's about my memories associated with Gokulashtami. It's the festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna. This was not a holiday during school days. But conveniently it is celebrated in the evening.

Amma is an expert in cooking and needless to say she makes numerous sweets and savouries during such occasions. She usually makes appam, ulundu vadai, seedai (uppu and vellam), murukku, payasam, uppu avil, vellam avil, therattipal (yeah the list is long!). Being a school teacher, she used to come home a bit early on this day and start preparing the dishes. When I get back from school the whole house would be filled with aroma of butter...Ummmm yumm! Akka and I used to lend our hands in preparing for the pooja. The job I liked the best was to keep footprints of Lord Krishna from our house entrance till the pooja room. This is made mixing crushed rice with water. At homes where there are small kids, people would make the kid to step on the rice mixture and walk on the floor. These footprints symbolises baby Krishna entering the devotee's house. They also dress up their children like baby Krishna.

The next part was to make the idol of baby Krishna out of clay. Usually it is made in a crawling posture. Amma did this since I didn't have much skills to do that. The clay idol was then decorated with peacock feather and kept in a small craddle stand.

Tulsi leaves are very special offering to Lord Krishna and so are used to do the prayers. Since we have a huge garden at home, we had abundant flowers and leaves to offer. We chantted Vishnu Sahasranamam praying God and offered all the dishes. Once the pooja was done, came the best part..eating the sweets and savouries..he he..;-) This way we used to have fun celebrating Gokulashtami every year.

On Right: My parents were so thoughful to send me the photos of Gokulashtami they celebrated yesterday. Felt so nostalgic...
Many thanks to them..:-)


While I was preparing for the pooja here yesterday, I was reminded of those days at home with parents and sister. After getting guidance from Amma I tried making vadai and appam. Vadai dough was a bit watery so could not make hole in the centre, but appam was a success! Anyway both tasted good...:-) My hubby and I prayed God and offered all the dishes.

Those leaving away from your parents shall very well understand the homesickness especially during occasions or festivals. Nevertheless the technologies nowadays help you overcome that.
(To the technocrats in India, please for God sake don't ban SKYPE too!!!)

I hope you readers also celebrated Gokulashtami and had fun with your family.

P.S: appam, ulundu vadai, seedai (uppu and vellam), murukku, payasam, uppu avil, vellam avil, therattipal: Hard to explain each of them but they are sweets and savouries
Pooja: Prayer
Amma: Mother
Akka: Elder sister
Vishnu Sahasranamam : Holy mantra

July 28, 2010

My sins against gender stereotypes

I know that it has been quite sometime since Banu tagged me. Not that it has vanished from my memory, but I have been waiting for the right-feel-moment to write this post, for I find it pretty interesting. Meanwhile this unknown guilt factor has made me write this post and delay no further. 
( Note to self: Need to post a sequel for the housewarming party after taking pictures of the house. )      

As per this tag - I need to list at least 10 things that I have ever wanted or done which my gender is not supposed to.

First of all, I am not very comfortable with not-supposed-to-do logic. I feel that this kind of notion is affected and determined by society for the most part of it. Any child by birth doesn't know what he/she is entitled to do and not. It's the people around them who form the boundaries and they need to follow them to lead a hassle free life. I am no feminist and at the same time can't stand male chauvinism. There has always been times when the ques WHYs and WHY NOTs have arisen in my mind and where else other than my blog can be an ideal place to pen them down!

1. Is it possible to practise payyan paakum padalam ?!? he..he..;)

2. Always wanted to stroll alone along the streets late in the night counting the stars, listening to the nocturnal birds and admire night life!

3.  Want it to be less-a-burden and more-a-fun opening the wardrobe and choosing clothes to wear in the morning

4. Happy to have inculcated more interest in soccer and F1 car race 

5. Wondered how men have conquered the skill of shrinking shopping time to just few min where I end up spending days...please please don't mistake, I still love shopping ;)

6. Wish had more interest in electronic gadgets and politics

7. When I was in school, it was considered not-a-lakshanam for girls to stand near the street corners and talk with friends

8. Wished to get back to hostel well after roll call time (say 10 pm), walk right-royally through the entrance and smirk at the guard

9. Tempted to slap those perverts who lean-pull-push you in the bus under the pretense of over crowd or jolter of the bus

10. If I could give good (in fact massive) piece of my mind to those "Street Romeos" who utter and do all nonsense just to attract you

Well having said all these, I am not unsatisfied even a bit for how I have been brought up and living till this day of my life. Kudos to my family!!!

Now for the fun part - tagging! I am more than eager to read the versions of you guys.

My hubby
Sary
Saandy
Subbu
Saranya 
Meenu
Vivek Raj

See you soon :)


P.S: lakshanam: characteristics
payyan paakum padalam: boy seeing/watching ritual instead of the usual girl seeing/watching process when looking for alliance