Happy 2011!

This year 2010 has been pretty eventful as well as interesting.

My Boss had been sacked just at the end of last year. One of my colleagues got removed from the office unceremoniously and legal suit filed against both of them. Change of Management brought in uncertainty as to where the company was heading to.....not that there was any direction earlier. It was time to move on....

Starting end September I took off for about 6 weeks to do a bit of travelling to places I had never been. I spent around 10 days with a friend I hadn't seen in 13-14 years in Java, Indonesia. The meeting was awesome. We hadn't kept in touch all these years but my friend finally tracked me down this year on Facebook! Even though she is now married and with a son, our friendship has withstood the time gap. It was just like yesterday. She took me all around Java and showed me some of the most beautiful Buddhist temples.

And of course, visit to Indonesia couldn't be complete without going to Bali! Bali was fantastic. So laid back and relaxed. I loved it and I am glad I stayed where I stayed...in Kuta! Sandy beach just walking distance, loads of restaurants, shops galore and opened till late late into the night!

From Bali, flew to Singapore to spend 3 days exploring the city. The city is really organized and once I got the hang of using the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit or the Railway System in Singapore) it was cheap travelling around. Taxi service here I guess is one of the best in the world if I may say so. There are these Taxi Stands and everyone stands in a queue to take the next taxi which comes along. The Taxi guy takes you straight to your destination and charges exactly what the meter shows! No haggling...no cheating...no extra charges!

Then onward to Thailand! Phuket, Phi Phi Island, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Bangkok, Ayutthaya, yes did all the touristic places as much as I could squeeze in. It's been so much fun travelling around, seeing new places and meeting new people. Staying near Khaosan Road too was a good decision. It is such a lively area with loads of tourists!

Then it was off to India to visit my Parents. Mom's been bed ridden for now 3 years or so. She hasn't improved much and it's awful seeing her like this. Dad's too getting old. Even our dog who always used to bounce up & down whenever I was down there no longer recognizes me. She's gone blind & deaf too I believe. She shuffles around barely. It was a depressing sight....

Coming back to work, there were more people gone from the company on one pretext or the other. No one seemed to be happy with the way things were going on. Work was getting to be really stressful. So last week, I put in my resignation.

Another year comes to an end. As always, New Year brings hope, dreams and lots of good wishes!!

Cheers!!!

I quit!

Had enough of the circus, so this morning I quit my job. Not a hasty decision.....I had been thinking about quitting for quite sometime now.

Thought I would first have an job offer in hand and then quit but just couldn't wait as another year passes by. What professionalism can you expect from a Company, owned by a Sheikha and is being run by one of her Secretary?! Yes, welcome to the Middle East!

Have given a month's notice as per my contract. The hunt for another job is now seriously on. If I don't have a job by Jan 2011, am thinking of terrorizing my lil nieces (5 of them!) if I were to go and live with my Parents! This would be really wicked of me....so wish me luck for a New Job with a Fat Salary soon!

Jogja Again!

Second day in Jogja and it's temple hopping once again!

We first headed to Prambanan Temple constructed in the 10th century. It has 3 main temples dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva and each had a temple facing it dedicated to their "vahan" or chariot. Garuda for Vishnu, Nandini for Shiva and Angsa for Brahma.

Candi Sewu, another temple built in the 8th century is the second larget Buddhist temple in Central Java. After the massive earthquake, restoration work was going on in full scale. The temple guards were real imposing.

Then off we went to Candi Kalasan, a Buddhist temple built in the 8th century. It didn't look like it had many visitors and the temple was in a poor condition.

The last of the temple visited in Jogja was that of Candi Sambisari. This was built about 8th century but through the years it was abandoned and then lay buried for centuries until it was discovered in the late 1960s. The temple was dugged up from the ground! This is a small temple and it's three sides are flanked by the statues of Lord Ganesha, a Rishi (don't know who) and Goddess Parvati? Inside the temple, we find a ShivLinga.

Amazing that Hinduism flourished so far away!

Jogja!

Jakarta was the point of entry but immediately on landing, I was whisked away to Cikarang, capital of Bekasi Regency by my friend. After a good night sleep, we caught a flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta or Jogja as the locals say, the very next day. Jogja I am told is well known for its strong Javanese culture and tradition.

After breakfast of "Paratha" (Indian Bread) made by the Indonesian Cook we headed to Borobudur, a world heritage monument. It was huge! No! It was humungous! This is both a shrine to Lord Buddha as well as a place for Buddhist pilgimage. This was built in the 9th century.

Borobudur Stupas!

Next stop was Mendut again a 9th century temple located just close to Borobudur. The temple contains 3 statues of Buddhas - one to liberate devotees from bodily karma, the other to liberate from the karma of speech and the third to liberate from the karma of thought.

Adjoining to the Mendut is a monastery/library. A beautiful place with lots of Buddha statues everywhere.

A lovely day well spent seeing these beautiful monuments from long long ago!

Far East!

A month long travel, the longest that I have ever done! To Indonesia, Singapore & Thailand! Travelled extensively and squeezed in as much as possible to make the most of the time. It was awesome! Met quite a few women solo travellers and bonded. Wonderful experience in all! This was last month, the whole of October and now am back to work....and wondering when I would travel next!

Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Kunafa!

Coming to the middle east, I was introduced to this cheesy & sweet dessert called Kunafa for the first time about 8 years back in Kuwait and I simply felt in love with it! I have always loved cheese....all kinds... so it was obvious that I would favor this cheese based dessert!

Kunafa is a traditional arabic dessert and is quite popular particularly around Ramadan. Don't know why but during Ramadan many shops would make this dish in huge pans and just the look of it would be so tempting!

By far the most delicious Kunafa I have ever tasted were the ones in Kuwait. The cheese were real soft with a crispy layer of vermicelli on top and were bright orange in color topped off with sugar syrup. It was sweet but not so sweet and I could easily polish off quite a bit of it.

Two weeks back, knowing my love for this sweet dessert my friend prepared Kunafa just for me. The cheese was too little and it was more of the vermicelli. The vermicelli was too hard and it was tough to chew. It was a disaster but I was sincerely touched by the thought that went behind it. I will never ever forget this Kunafa!

Then today, I passed by Carrefour and I spied Kunafa in the delicatessen section! It wasn't that good to look at and now having tasted it, it wasn't that good at all!

One of these days, I shall learn how to make Kunafa. One of these days....

A letter from a friend

Amongst my papers I stumbled into this gem of a letter....

Hi M,

So good to hear from you too! It really does seem to be a good year - I had quite a run of doom and gloom last year. This year things seem to be looking up already - two emails from a chum and good news in them too! don't worry about being "not exactly the budding flower". You could just be a late bloomer.

Age creapt up on me faster than I could imagine. I still think young but from somewhere (quite likely from the sky - not the hundreds of bars of chocolate I scoff on a regular basis) the kilos have piled on. Weight is certainly the enemy to age. If you can fight off the fat, you will have no problem - age will be your best friend. At the moment my body is my main enemy with its ally - a rapidly expanding waisline!!

.........

Right now we are experiencing the worst summer ever. Steaming hot days and rain at night. You would think we are in the tropics! One good thing about it - it keeps me indoors so I can catch up on my writing. I haven't managed to publish anything yet. I lost most of my early work when my computer crashed. So its back to the grindstone from scratch. You'll have to hang on for that autograph for just a little longer. Maybe in years time I'll have completed a collection of short stories about women who have overcome odds. Serious stuff! When I get to writing about fun times I'll have to consult you - remember our flashes of hilarious moments? Laddoos and naps in the sun?

My phone number is xxxxxxx. Do you know the time difference between SA and Kuwait?

When is the best time to call? Hoping to hear from you soon.

Lots of love
Su...

We lost touch after my visit to SA. Wonder how she is? Did she publish her book? I did email her but received no reply. I will try the number she gave here hoping it's still the same....

PS:- I called after doing this post and yes! the number still was the same. It was her at the first hello...the same ol 'Su!

Taste of Thai

When it comes to eating something light on the stomach but filling, nothing comes close to Thai Food! Here too where I am currently living I have found a quaint little Thai Restaurant nestled among one of the busy streets. Where trees are rare there is a couple of lean trees richly decorated with those small colored light bulbs which makes it look so christmasy! One could sit outdoors as well as indoors.

My usual meal would consist of one of the famous hot & sour soup called Tom Yum to start with. The main ingredient I always choose for this soup is shrimps. So it it the Tom Yum Shrimp soup flavored with aromatic lemon grass, lime leaves, cilantro and fresh mushrooms. Believe me when I say this is yummy!

Then comes salad. Sometimes it would be the Shrimps Salad. This is shrimps mixed with red onions, lemon grass, cilantro & lime juice served on a bed of lettuce. At other times it would be the Seafood Salad. This is shrimps & squids with the same ingredients as the former more or less.
For the main meal, I like to have rice with any of the shrimps dishes. Shrimps with Basil Leaves, Green Shrimp Curry (shrimps & vegetables in green coconut curry with Thai Basil & chillies), Shrimps in Red Curry, sometimes with bamboo shoots and at other times with mushrooms. As an extra, the rice is topped with a fried egg!

All these food would be washed down with one of the Thai drinks.....Thai Iced tea or Iced Longan Drink usually though at times I could go for the Coconut Water.

A good meal in whole.....a little expensive albeit....but money well spent!