The bangles

When  you're with the right people, and surrounded by those who really want you to be happy, even the simplest ceremony can be eventful. :)

The bangles ceremony is an Indian version of baby shower. It is usually done during the 7th month of first pregnancy. Why only first pregnancy? I don't know and no one seems to know the answer either :P

The main highlight of the ceremony are the colorful glass bangles adorning the mother-to-be arms. My bangles ceremony was held on the first Sunday of October at my in-laws home. About hundred of close relatives and friends turned up for the event. The preparation, however, started months back! For the first time, I actually enjoyed preparing for something. Since the ceremony was being held at my in-laws side, host of relatives, neighbors, and friends got together to help my husband and myself to prepare for the ceremony. Most of the time, the husband hardly plays any role in this ceremony as it was considered exclusively for "women only". But then, my husband was the main mastermind behind all the work.

He prepared the house and decorated the living room very nicely for the ceremony. Weeks before the ceremony, we made plans for the food catering and gifts for the guests. We decided to forgo the usual "nallungu set" and bought 24cm stainless steel plates instead. The plates was the base for the gift set which consisted the yellow thread, some glass bangles, packed laddu, and a coin pouch which was handpainted. Each coin purse had some sweets in it and was tagged with our thank you note. 

It was a joyous event for me. I felt happy seeing my family, friends and relatives coming together to put the event in place. My husband also got for me and the baby a gift which was very thoughtful :) By the end of night, my arms were filled with colorful glass bangles! A friend baked a really delicious red velvet cake for me to celebrate. 

We ended the ceremony with the cake cutting and feeding ceremony.  :))

Purple and White

All I needed to make my day today. Very, very beautiful flowers and very thoughtful indeed. I have been feeling under the weather this past few days and a bunch of fresh flowers brightened up my day

24.08.2012

Lifetime companion

People may know me as someone who is constantly engaged in technology. I am simply surrounded by gadgets and a whole load of technologies that make these gadgets work in an interconnected way. That's how people perceive I am.

Well, true to a certain extent.

What most people do not know is my appreciation for things that bring me out of from my tech world. I appreciate every little thing there is. Whenever I get the chance to disconnect from my wonderful world of gadgets, I do so oh-so-willingly! The work I do, the knowledge I strive to earn and the skills I try to develop often leads me to my own solo-world - it keeps me away from things that I enjoy - a good walk outdoors after a heavy rain, watching sunset with nothing running in my mind, watch the birds fly, read a good book with a cup of coffee next to me, waking up late hugging someone that I love very much, walk to no where with a good companion. 

These are simple things but they mean a lot to me.

That is why when I got a pen as a gift recently, I was overjoyed. Never has anyone thought of buying me a pen as a gift - never! :) It is such a personal gift that I honestly feel only someone who knows me deep within my soul would be moved to actually go through the hassle of getting a fine writing instrument for me. Like I said, most people would not even had a blip second thought that I would appreciate a good quality pen - something that I can treasure for years to come.

But then, someone finally did! :) It even came with my name on it!

Happy New Year!!

There's a place that I go, that nobody knows
Where the rivers flow, and I call it home
And there's no more lies, and the darkness is light
And nobody cries, there's only butterflies

Take me away
A secret place
A sweet escape
Take me away
Take me away
To better days
Take me away
A hiding place

The sun is on my side
It takes me for a ride
I smile up to the sky
I know I'll be all right :)

Remembering Sathyan

I often find it hard to explain the kind of relationship Sathyan and I shared. Simple words just doesn't do the justice. And then came this song. Which explained oh-so-perfectly the depth of our beautiful relationship. When I listened and tried to absorb the meaning of each line, only one person comes to my mind - Sathyan :)

Last night, he came to visit me :) Sigh... such a wonderful husband - he knows exactly when I needed him.

This song is my perfect dedication to my love. In a week's time, it's his 33rd birthday and our 4th year wedding anniversary. Happy Birthday Pa and Happy Anniversary :)

பிறை தேடும் இரவிலே உயிரே
எதை தேடி அலைகிறாய்
கதை சொல்ல அழைக்கிறேன் உயிரே
அன்பே நீ வா

பிறை தேடும் இரவிலே உயிரே
எதை தேடி அலைகிறாய்
கதை சொல்ல அழைக்கிறேன் உயிரே
அன்பே நீ வா

இருளில் கண்ணீரும் எதற்கு..
மடியில் கண்மூட வா..
அழகே இந்த சோகம் எதற்கு..
நான் உன் தாயும் அல்லவா..

உனக்கென மட்டும் வாழும் இதயமடி
உயிர் உள்ள வரை நான் உன் அடிமையடி

பிறை தேடும் இரவிலே உயிரே
எதை தேடி அலைகிறாய்
கதை சொல்ல அழைக்கிறேன் உயிரே
அன்பே நீ வா

அழுதால் உன் பார்வையும்
அயந்தால் உன் கால்களும்
அதிகாலையில் கூடலில் சோகம் தீர்க்கும் போதுமா
நிழல் தேடிடும் ஆண்மையும்
நிஜம் தேடிடும் பெண்மையும்
ஒரு போர்வையில் வாழும் இன்பம்
தெய்வம் தந்த சொந்தமா
என் ஆழுள் ரேகை நீயடி என் ஆணி வேரடி
சுமை தாங்கும் எந்தன் கண்மணி
எனை சுடும் பணி..

உனக்கென மட்டும் வாழும் இதயமடி
உயிர் உள்ள வரை நான் உன் அடிமையடி

பிறை தேடும் இரவிலே உயிரே
எதை தேடி அலைகிறாய்
கதை சொல்ல அழைக்கிறேன் உயிரே
அன்பே நீ வா..

விழியின் அந்த தேடலும்
அலையும் உந்தன் நெஞ்சமும்
புரிந்தாலே போதுமே ஏழு ஜென்மம் தாங்குவேன்
அனல் மேலே வாழ்கிறாய்
நதி போலே பாய்கிறாய்
ஒரு காரணம் இல்லையே மீசை வைத்த பிள்ளையே
இதை காதல் என்று சொல்வதா?
நிழல் காய்ந்து கொள்வதா
தினம் கொள்ளும் இந்த பூமியில்,
நீ வரும் வரும் இடம்..

On Thoughtfulness

Sometimes, among the many things you get on your birthday, a wish that comes from the heart is probably the best gift ever. :) Sharing three of the best I received.

A rose without thorns..

...  is like love without heartbreak - it doesn't make sense. 

And so what am I without the dearest of my dear friends? (I would probably make more sense, maybe?) :)

My birthday cake this year from the devils! :)

Prior to my birthday (which happened to be yesterday), I wasn't really looking forward of celebrating it. It's just never the same without Sathyan - the master of surprise planner in our group. Every year he will organize massive dinner plans, inviting every single person near and dear to me - to shower me with love and smother my face with cake! Even when it is his birthday, I'll get the cake all over my face - somehow! Every restaurant that we go to will definitely end up in disaster. 

Cakes everywhere except on our plates and stomach.

I still remember the time he made me stand on a chair, sing a song at a pepper mill and blow my birthday candles almost two feet away while still standing on a chair at a restaurant! Oh, not to forget the time he tried his best to cook something up for me on my birthday and the best he came up with was egg and cheese sandwich - which still had egg shells in it. It was really cute! The look on his face when I pulled out the egg shell, was priceless. I still ate it :)

I celebrated my last birthday with him last year - at that time I didn't know it will be our last celebration together. Yes, even at the hospital the cake got on my face as well...

I'm forever grateful for the wonderful girls who has always been with me and made my life and day much brighter yesterday. I thought I would be sitting in a corner of my room, keeping to myself and cry from the break of dawn till the wee hours of midnight. But that wasn't the case. And I am also so very deeply grateful they did not waste the Baskin Robbins cake on my face or the floor! It would have killed me instantly to see an ice cream cake die tragically outside my mouth!

So here's a BIG thank you to everyone who made it a wonderful day. I know Sathyan is smiling - he left me in good hands. :) But sorry girls, I still cannot promise a place in heaven for all of you though (I know my place is already reserved :P).

We had lunch at Golden Triangle - Sathyan's favorite restaurant. I could just feel him all around me yesterday :) My favorite was the prawn of course. Here's a picture of the big juicy prawns we had (I finished most of it anyway).

Yes, that wasn't the kind of treat Sathyan would give, was it? I know, I know... So, I will plan for a better one. He's going to be so proud of me. ;)

Pictures taken using SGS2.

Introducing my Senshie

An unexpected birthday gift from a friend - Sennheiser HD229. Well, it's about time I upgraded my current earphones and this headphone came as a savior!

I named it Senshie. Loving it very, very much :)

It's Friday! I made it alive!

Work has been tight and Friday came today as a breather. Finally I had no meetings (had one but got cancelled) and I was not on-call. Of course I had lots of things to follow up and resolve, but today seemed much brighter than any other day.

I thought finally I could have a "free" Saturday tomorrow, but nope, that's not the case then! I have to go for work on Saturday and Sunday. I've been working for every single weekend for the past three weekends. On a brighter side, I'm glad I have my work to keep me occupied. It seems like a better thing to do than sit at home and look at the blank walls and... look at another wall. Haha...

Since it was Friday, Puspa and I decided to make it a day to ...erm.. celebrate... because...ermm... it's finally Friday, of course! So what did we do? We headed to Secret Recipe and bought a slice of cake each. Yummy!

Android Invasion!

Whenever I open some video on Android device review, I always see a really cute Android toy. Making me want it so much. Using Google, I found out there is an official distributor in Malaysia who accepts online orders!

Cool, huh?

I placed my order for two. One is the standard edition - the good 'ol green Android. The other one was an individual box from Android mini collectibles series 2 - which was kind of a mystery buy because every box looks the same so the sellers could not choose (hence I could not choose either when placing the order). So what did I get out of the 16 designs available? The Iceberg Android! Cool has a new meaning now, haha!

Pictures below. Hopefully I'll have more spare time this weekend to take more shots of my droids.