Happy New Year 2011. A new year and time for new beginnings. As usual, here are my resolutions for 2011
1. Be a better person – a better mother, wife and employee
2. Make time to take care of myself – both physically and spiritually. This will mean exercising regularly, going for facials regularly and also keeping my faith.
3. Blog regularly.
I think these should cover pretty much everything. Let’s hope I am able to fulfil these resolutions this year.
In my last post about this topic, I had written that I will write about two plane trips that were most memorable.
The first trip was in January 2009, when I flew Jet airlines from Singapore to New Delhi and back. The onward trip was pretty uneventful and I don’t remember seeing much excep when we were very close to Delhi but the return trip was beautiful. The flight was an early morning one and since it was January it was bitterly cold. The airline was a small one, with a three seat aisle configuration. I think since the plane was a small one, it did not fly very high. So seated in the window seat, with Boone next to me, I was able to see the landscapes below. I could see india’s landscape as we flew past and at the exact same point we left continental india, somewhere between Puri and Bhubaneswar in the state of Orissa in India’s eastern coast, I happened to look out of the window. It was a beautiful sight and I could clearly make out the graduations from the browns of the beach to the turquoise of the shallow waters to the deep blues of the Bay of Bengal with all shades of blue in between. After that I quit watching the in-house entertainment channels and was just watching the scenery below me. I also kept the flight path open to check where we were. This way I knew when we flew over the gorgeous islands of the Andaman and Nicobar and also when we entered land again somewhere off the island of Penang. Mainland West Malaysia was beautiful from the air, and I could actually see the shadow the aircraft made on the buildings and on the ground. All said and done, I was happy to be home back in Singapore.
The other unforgettable trip was the day I flew when my hometown Mumbai was being held hostage by 11 gunmen. I woke up that morning feeling very excited and happy as by nighttime I would be home! But my sister called me soon from the US where she was at that time asking me if I was going to travel after all – this was a real shock for me and I wanted to know the reason why she asked such a question. When she told me about the gunmen, my first reaction was that of it being a big joke. Then I did what I always do when faced by something new – went online and started reading the news. My inlaws also called me to check if I was flying that night. I had to come in to work that day for the morning half, but I was totally unproductive and spent the whole morning calling my parents in Mumbai, calling the airline to check if the flight will take off and going online to read the news and see images and videos. What I saw was chilling, but when my dad said he managed to get someone to come with him to the airport and when the airline said the flight was going on as scheduled, I was determined to go. My inlaws were not too happy, but I didn’t want to waste my ticket and perhaps my entire vaccation. Also this time I was flying alone with D & P and S was coming after two weeks.
At the airport, it was calm, and I also got interviewed by Channel News Asia for the evening news. They wanted to know my reactions on what was happening in my hometown and also if I was feeling safe travelling. The flight was full and uneventful, although everyone was feeling stressed about what would happen once we landed in Mumbai. The airport in Mumbai was eerily empty and everyone was glued to the television screens which was showing the live action at the Taj Hotel and the Trident Hotels – scenes which will stay with us forever I think. I met my parents and the journey home which would take almost an hour due to the traffic took us just under 20-25 minutes, thats how deserted the streets were!
These two plane journeys are something that have been etched in my head. Maybe in the future there will be more such journeys (more of the first and none of the second please!).
As I’ve said before this month we’ve been on a revised working schedule due to the YOG (today’s the last day – thank God!), so I’ve been watching some television in the mornings after DH and the kids leave home and I am done with my chores. You must understand that this is something of a treat for me as in the evenings I rarely get to watch what I want because at that time P & D also stake their claim to the television to watch their favorite shows like Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, Casper. I too like some of them like Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons etc as they brings back so many memories of my childhood.
Anyway, I was digressing. So in the mornings I usually watch the lifestyle channels on my cable tv network. I like watching food shows, home makeover shows and in the past few days have caught a few reality shows also.
While I have no issues with people who are willing to put their whole lives for the vicarious entertainment of others, I always wonder about the children there. Some of the shows have multiple seasons and I would assume the kids there would have actually grown up on tv. They would find life with a camera trailing behind them 24/7 as normal. So what happens when the cameras get shut off or the show goes off air? Has anyone thought of this or even done some studies? If someone grows up with the notion that they mean something only when they are on front of a camera or that unless something is scripted, it is not real (did you actually think ‘Reality Television’ was…umm well ‘Real’?). I feel sorry for these children and their future. Hopefully they’ll realize soon that life is not a tv script and that contrary to what they’ve been taught, most people find a camera following them everywhere (except to the powder room I guess) is intrusive.
I typed this post on the way to work. When you have something to say, isn’t it amazing that words just fly from your fingers (in this case thumbs as I was typing on my phone)! Time to get off the bus and so time to post this entry.
The weekend’s almost on us. D&P have math test on Monday so my weekend will be filled with teaching them. What’s your plan for the weekend?
So I didn’t post yesterday! Like I was telling my colleague the other day – I will be happy when the YOG (Youth Olympic Games, which Singapore is hosting and whose Games Village happens to be where I work) ends today and from Monday we can go back to our normal timings. This month, i have been coming in to work at around 11:30 am (we were on a reduced work hours of 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, but since I take the private bus at 5:45 pm, I start at 11:30 am) and somehow my productivity levels have plummetted. I am a morning person and do most of my best work before lunch. But this month coming in just before lunch has made me well inefficient. So I am looking forward to Monday (never thought I’d actually say this!) and so will be blogging more the weeks to come.
I just checked my stats in WordPress and like I expected no one is visiting me! I should not feel bad, but then I do!! Ah, well, here’s hoping that my writing improves and soon people flock here. One reason that I am a bit (teeny tiny bit) sad is that I am a closet writer. I’ve always had a way with words and in school, composition used to be my favorite part of the English lesson. I used to love writing – the more dramatic and OTT, the better. In fact someone once commented that my reports read like stories and that I should tone them down a bit!
This blog was also started so that I have an outlet for any creative writing that I may do – but till today there has been no such urge. I do hope that using this blog as a reason, I write something – a short story perhaps? maybe at least once a month. Well one can always hope right!!
I am watching the diving preliminaries of the first ever Youth Olympic Games being held in Singapore. This is being hailed as a very historic event here and the Singapore government has spent about S$ 300 billion on it. This event is before another high profile event – the Formula 1 race which takes place next month here.
Nanyang Technological University where I work in is the official games village. About half the campus has been cordoned off and in the process I have to make a good trek to reach the closest bus stop to my office.
The past few days saw me having excruciating pain in my legs, especially in the heel. It was bad in the morning, but gradually petered off during the day and by the time I went to bed, the pain was quite bearable. Yesterday morning was unbearable – I could not even walk to the bathroom and so decided to see the doctor. The diagnosis was an inflammation of my Achilles tendon. (here’s the Wikipedia link to what it actually is). The medicines were very effective and with one dosage the pain was almost gone. Today the pain is hardly there.
D&P want to go swimming at their friend L’s place. The sky is ominously dark and it looks like rain. The pool will be closed if it rains and D is very disappointed if it happens. We’re going to take a chance but this depends on how soon P completes his homework.
Update – We did go swimming and both had a great time with their friend.
Memories and Such 