frizzbunny

Time to Go-Off on Vacation

2007-06-01T10:40:25Z

Been such a long time since I put a pen to paper ;-)
Not that there wasn't anything blog-worthy but more like I had gone off the "Dear Diary" mode. I'm back here. Atleast I think so, for now.

It's exactly one year from the time I last went off on a vacation. The idea is to repeat the experience now. NOthing definite but may hit the road again towards the end of June. Hopefully to someplace nice and fun. Likely, we'll explore the Orient - Singapore & Malaysia.

frizzbunny @ 2006-08-11T23:18:00

2006-08-11T18:30:49Z

To pick up from where I left last, on 27th June late night we boarded that flight to Hong Kong from SFO. Arrived at Hong Kong, hopped on to our flight to Qingtao. Qingtao is situated in between Shanghai & Beijing. It was pleasantly shocking to see how modern this city was. It had the well-planned roads, skyscrapers and all. We stayed at our China abode atop the 22nd floor of a multi-storeyed building.

West Coast Days

2006-06-28T00:26:19Z

June 22, Thursday - Day at the Mall

I got dropped off at the Great American mall, Milpitas. Spent the whole day doing my rounds of the stores. In the evening we had dinner with V's friends at a Chinese restaurant.

June 23, Friday - Napa Valley

Soon after V finished his half a day's work in office, we started for the Napa valley. A lovely trip, wherein our first stop was at the Robert Mondavi Winery. Some pictures, and a visit to the souvenier shop later we went over to the next winery - Peju. Wine tasting was pretty cool. Tasted several great wines, listened to some interesting facts. After the several rounds of wine tasting, it's not surprising how all visitors that were present became friends and most willing to share details on the best place to eat, stay and so on. :-) Anyway, we were guided to this restaurant for dinner - Mustards, an excellent place where we had a really nice time savouring the 4 course meal.

We went to Yountville next. Yountville is this infinitely beautifull, quaint little town that's one mile in length. Step into it and you're transported to this other world that's almost unreal. Houses here are laid out in neat rows, and boy, each house is like a dollhouse, straight out of a picture book. We went into an Inn and were welcomed by the warmest of smiles and some lovely music being played by a guy on piano in the lobby. We got ourselves some wine and came out to go strolling on the street.... Imagine with a glass of wine in our hand!! All is fair here.

At 11.40pm, we're at the San Francisco airport to receive Sprina, my cousin. She was flying down from NYC to spend the weekend with us.

June 24 - LA, Here We Come

We started from Santa Clara in the afternoon and took the scenic route to LA. With the wide expanse of the Pacific ocean along side our route to LA, none of us minded the distance. Reached LA, checked-in at the Hotel and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner.

June 25 - LA - HOLLYWOOD

A fun-packed day. We covered every show/ride at the Universal Studios - Terminator-2, Jurassic Park, Waterworld, Studio tour, Back to the Future, Animal World, Shrek-2. Add to that a Brazilian lunch. Whoa!!

In the evening, we went to Walk of Fame, Kodak Theater & Chinese Theater.
Here I was at the world's most famous sidewalk - the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard. The bronze star plaques are embedded in squares on the sidewalk. The star-studded sidewalks stretch for 18 blocks (east-west) along both sides of Hollywood Boulevard, from Gower Street (on the east) to La Brea Avenue (on the west). Many of these were names familiar to me and many not.

Kodak theater is where the Oscars are held every year. Standing there, I could imagine the red carpet laid out and all hollywood big wigs making their way to the auditorium.

The forecourt of the Chinese Theater has messages from top Hollywood celebrities. A treat for the eyes.

June 26 - Return to Santa Clara

Started from LA at 1145am and made it in record time to Santa Clara (5.30 hrs!). Got back to our apartment. Sprina left for her night flight back to New York. We had dinner at V's friend's place.

June 27, Tuesday - Time to Say Goodbye to Uncle Sam

Here I'm at V's office after lunch - typing away, updating my journal. We'll start for the SF airport in the evening today. Our flight to Hong Kong is at 1.40am. Coming up - is the visit to China.

frizzbunny @ 2006-06-23T00:04:00

2006-06-23T07:23:48Z

June 15 - Thursday
Got off at Grand Central Station, walked upto Times Square. Lunched. Got ourselves passes for NYC sightseeing tours. Went to Empire State Building.

June 16 - Friday
Liberty island, Rockfellar Center. Watched a broadway show - Beauty & the Beast.

June 17 - Saturday
Day at the Met, Macy's, Times Square.

June 18 - Sunday
Family time at Rai Masi's home.

June 19 - Monday
Started for Agawam, Boston. Lunched with Dennis. Continued to Waltham. Dinner with Suresh, Nimisha.

June 20 - Tuesday
At 4pm flight to San Jose, CA.

frizzbunny @ 2006-06-19T18:17:00

2006-06-19T22:56:08Z

June 12 - To Syracuse

Reached Kannan's house in the night. Met Kannan and Shubha. After dinner we drove over to Syracuse university and walked around for sometime.

June 13 - Niagra Falls

Started after breakfast. Drove to Niagra, reached in 2.5 hrs. We went for the Maid of the Mists and Cave of the Winds tours. Truly amazing!

June 14 - 19 (New York)

Left Dennis' house at 6pm, reached White Plains, New York at 9pm. Rai mashi was waiting. We had dinner with the family. In the morning we went to NYC by commuter rail and started on our sightseeing.

Details to follow.

frizzbunny @ 2006-06-12T15:45:00

2006-06-12T20:07:35Z

June 11, Sunday

Met Mini for lunch. Matt couldn't join us as he wasn't well. The food was pretty good at Olive Green.
Was nice to catch up with Mini. She lives in Hopkinton and works at Boston downtown with a social organisation.

Around 5pm, we left Aditi & Rahul's place, loaded our bags into the car and set out for Mohegan Sun - the casino in Connecticut. In another car, Rahul, Aditi and Megha followed. Mohegan Sun casino is a TALL skyscraper within which lies this huge - huge arena of hotel, restaurants, shops and the gambling area - 6,000 & more slot machines and hundreds of table games. A totally glitzy place which is a world in itself. It never goes to sleep and never slows down. There were a million people playing with destiny, savouring the place, and with no idea if it was day or night. Dennis also joined in later. I played on the slot machnes for a while. Felt great when the machines popped out 20$, 5$ bills. We dined at Todd English's Tuscany. We drove back to Dennis' place
around 2 am and got some sleep.

June 12, Monday

We are all set to start for Syracuse around 430pm today.

frizzbunny @ 2006-06-10T12:23:00

2006-06-10T16:30:03Z

June 10 - At Framingham.

The day starts at 1130am, got my cuppa tea....checked mail. It's a drizzling outside same as past few days in Boston. Looks like we're going to take it easy today and just relax at home and step out for lunch in a while.

Lunch was at 'Chennai Woodlands' - a buffet. The packed with Indians.
We watched 'Mission Impossible 3' at the AMC theatre in the afternoon.

We returned home. Had 'A's sister, 'Nam' & her hubby with their li'l baby - 'Evanya' visit us in the evening. Later dinner at an Indian restaurant & dessert at TGIF where another fren, 'Megs' joined in.

Looking forward to tomorrow. We are to meet my friend Mini. Later evening at a Casino - Mohegan Sun.

frizzbunny @ 2006-06-09T12:27:00

2006-06-09T17:14:41Z

Boarded our Jetblue 'red eye' flight from San Jose airport (June 5, 9 PM). Arrived at the Logan Airport early at 5am. Hopped onto Logan Express that connected airport to Framingham (west). The bus service also runs for Braintree (south), Peabody and Woburn (north). I know that for sure as I saw those buses whizz past me while we waited. About 45 min later, we reached Framingham, off Massachusetts Turnpike Exit 13, between Route 9 and Route 30 at the Shoppers' World Mall from where Vcat's friend, 'R' took us to his home.

Some background info - Vcat has this whole bunch of friends in Boston, Framingham and Waltham. This is exactly the area where Vcat stayed for a good number of years - camping out, clubbing, socialising, and yes, working.

Back to present - In Framingham 'R' & 'A' have this pretty white cottage surrounded by lush green lawn. We plonked our bags in the guest room on ground floor. On first floor there's a big sun-lit kitchen with a balcony, and a neat living area. Above which is another bedroom.

June 6 - The first day was sunny and cool (no rains). We drove from Framingham to Boston. Spent the day strolling at Harvard after we had managed to park. The convocation ceremony was going to be held at the University the next day. We found the stage all set for that. Walked around the Harvard Square. It was so charming to see musicians playing music on several streets while students, locals and visitors buzzed around. We snacked at a popular Spanish joint, surfed through books at Coops. Returned to Framingham in the evening and dined at TGIF with the same friends.

June 7 - We drove upto Nashua and went over to the Nashua Mall. Dinner at 'Legal Sea Food'.

June 8 - We drove around Waltham and the historic Lexington. I cooked fish for dinner at home which turned out to be finger-licking good as all said.

June 9 - Got off the Boston Commuter rail at its last stop - South End Station, and then walked over to the Wharf, Fanuill Hall, Quincy Market, North End, dined at Italian restaurant with R & A. Went to a pub next where another friend - 'S' showed up. Home now. Time to Zzzz.

2006-06-09T04:38:44Z

June 4, Sunday

My birthday, every year, has been spent in the company of my close friends and my family. And this year many-many miles away from my desh, it just so happenned that I spent the day with my aunt in Palo Alto. Vcat & I drove up to Palo Alto, chatted away until it was time to have lunch. Had some great home food. Relaxed for a while and then we all went for some gelatin ice cream and carried on to the Stanford University. Got a lot of pictures. Returned home. My aunt had things all planned out for some lavish barbecue dinner. Finally the day came to an end and we returned to our apartment in Santa Clara. A lovely day indeed.

On a Roll

2006-06-04T04:54:46Z

Frid ay, June 2 - Met a friend.

Having rounded off my Thursday with a Round Table Pizza, am all perked up for the weekend. On Friday, PK came over to my hotel around 6. We sat and chatted about ole times, the good times and what was new. Daughter of my dad's good old friend from Dehradun, PK and her folks have been a part of our lives since my childhood.

So the two of us met at the unlikeliest of places and prattled away. She had come directly from work. In an hour's time, we're out of the hotel, driving off to Milpitas in her swank black Toyoto Corolla. Her first stop was at her office where she showed me her cubicle on the first floor of the fifth building of KM Temcor. Next we went to the Fair Valley Mall (a HUGE mall) and finally to the Great America mall (another BEEG mall). When hunger struck, we drove straight to Mc Carthy road and went to Banana Leaf where V joined us.

Saturday, June 3 - Explorer, that's me.

At 1 pm, we started from our San Jose hotel for San Francisco. The first stop was at Golden Gate. The famous bridge connecting SF to Marine County was a delight.

Next went to Sausalito - an artistic, extremely pretty place located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, offering spectacular waterfront views. Sausalito stretches to 2 & one half miles. It's a small town of only 7,500 residents.

Next we were taking the steep rise and fall of the zig zag Lombard street. It was one of a kind!! Lombard Street is America's crookedest street.

From here, walked upto Fisherman's Wharf and strolled by the many shops, seafood stalls and a museum. U.S.S. Pampanito, a fully restored World War II submarine is docked right behind the museum.

Back to the hotel by evening.

Ready to drop off now ..... ZZzzzzzz

On Vacation

2006-06-02T05:24:10Z

Started from Mumbai, Sahar airport at 4.45am Sunday May 28 on Cathay for Hongkong. After a brief stop over, we headed for SFO. Being totally pampered aboard Cathay business class, the 7000 miles just flew. Lunch was totally "Haute-cuisine". I nibbled my way through the five-course lunch, sipping the champagne. Slept like a log stretched on my seat that reclined at 180 degrees.

Arrived at San Francisco, Sunday 2.30pm. We rented a sizzling red Dodge and went vrooom to our hotel (2131 Gold Street, San Jose). Dived into bed, slept off the first spell of jet-lag and woke up fresh in evening/night here. We made a quick dash to V's office. Next stop was at Albertsons to get some grocery. Returned to the apartment to cook some dinner and lazily watched TV over our dinner, sleeping only at 5am! Next day was the Memorial day here, and the plan was to hit the SFO spots for a totally touristy day. And?...It was around 530pm when I finally woke up! Anyway we made the most of our evening by driving upto Stevens Creek Boulevard, parking and strolling over to Santana Row, next to Westfield Valley Fair mall.

Santana Row is a shopping area where there are upscale shops - Gucci, Burberry & Brooks Brothers, luxury restaurants, and muti-million dollar condominiums. Santana Row is said to be "Northern California's answer to Rodeo Drive featuring one of the highest concentration of luxury retailers in the Western United States."

Here we met V's friend and dined at a Mexican restaurant.

Tuesday - After a leisurely day at the apartment, in the evening we went back to Santana Row for a jazz festival. We ended up having a sort of picnic. His friends had brought along many many bottles of wine and snacks. We sat around a table, listening to the music. The place was abuzz with a lot of people.

Wednesday - Dinner at In & Out.

Thursday - I went out for lunch with a bunch of girls at the downtown area. Then went over to Miki's cozy place for a video watch (Shop girl). Then to TJ Max mall and finally got dropped at V's office.

More laters'

On a Jet Plane

2006-03-29T10:04:01Z

Looks like I'm living upto my resolution this year - Travel more often!! Ain't I glad :)

Post my flying Kolkata trip from 24-26th February, dashed off to Delhi (18th-21st March).

Delhi was pretty inviting as mercury wasn't soaring high as you would expect at this time. Weather was fine, the stay at home with family was great, and it was delightful to meet friends who were such an intrinsic part of my life in Delhi earlier. To top it all, my meeting at the US embassy for visa was a cakewalk.

Back in Pune, back to work and play. Look forward to V's granny's visit this saturday.

On my list next: Return to Fabindia to explore more. Lookout for paper lamps, bookshelf. Get the photographs I've selected framed s'time soon.

Check this out

2006-03-03T10:06:47Z

You Are 76% Open Minded

You are so open minded that your brain may have fallen out!
Well, not really. But you may be confused on where you stand.
You don't have a judgemental bone in your body, and you're very accepting.
You enjoy the best of every life philosophy, even if you sometimes contradict yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

check this wierd stuff out

2006-02-28T10:24:34Z

A Feel Good (Thurs)Day

2006-02-23T11:11:24Z

Tomorrow I shall travel to Kolkata for the weekend - Almost a year and a half from my last trip. I'm excited about meeting my granny, whom I've always considered special. Good that my mom dad are in Kolkata too at the moment. So will be able to spend time with all. There will be much to do and very little time. I'll be back before I know.

Though it will be a very short trip, I'm glad I'm taking the time out. Because unless I consciously do that I shall remain entangled in the mesh of my everyday life.

How do I remember Kolkata? Kolkata has only been a vacation place for me. I'm a bengali who never really stayed there. When school would break for summer, I would go to Kolkata (from Rishikesh) to spend time with my granny & granpa. I would enjoy the finger-licking bengali food at home; and the outings - Walk by the Lake next to our house in Ballygunj; Going to movies (children movies shown weekly at the Ramakrishna Mission) with Granpa; Rick-ride to Gariahat, where I would sample all amazing snacks, sweets; Drive through Park Street; Going for shopping to New market, AC market, dinner-outs at Amber etc .

For me Gariahat was like a christmas tree, with surprises at every alley...The objects of my fancy were trinkets, books (I remained a big-time bookworm throughout my childhood, some of the books I went nuts over when I was small - amar chitra katha, enid blyton, mandrake the magician, phantom, all sorts of fairy tales, and so on), clothes, toys.

Actually I grew out of toys fairly fast. It's my brother, S, who was all nutty when it came to toys. I think he possessed all sorts of toys. I especially remember this one time we were passing by Toyland in Gariahat and S (a kid then) threw a BIG tantrum ... apparently he wanted a new toy he had just seen!!! (Just the day before that he had got a new toy car or something)

S had a huge collection of toys first, then games, later video games and action movies. I prized my heaps of storybooks and trinkets.

Raring to set out on my trip tomorrow and hoping to check out my good old Gariahat and see what winds of change have blown over it.

Small Joys

2006-01-20T12:21:38Z

Have to jot this thought down before it again disappears into the realms of mind...

During College, when days were full of fun...me and my friends also attended a lot of campus rock-shows. The first of the series was when Parikrama performed next to our hostel at the JJ crossing (JJ stood for Jai Jawan tea stall) in DU, North Campus. We totally freaked out on the music (and the musicians)!!

There on whenever the group would perform at a college, we would go and plant ourselves right infront of the stage and dance till the last song. =) I was sure that the performers were too wrapped up in their own world to notice that.

At Priya (movie theatre) one day, while were ambling and waiting for some show to start, this guy comes from behind and ruffles my hair (my mop of curls) and keeps moving. As I turned to set him ablaze, I saw that was the lead singer from Parikrama merrily walking past us. And..that made my day ... and many days to come!!! [flutter-flutter eyelashes!!].

People and Idiosyncrasies

2006-01-12T13:04:38Z

Pam may seem your average house-wife next door. But you have to wait till she lays her eyes upon you and opens her mouth next. Those days I was staying by myself in the flat. One evening after work I returned home and started to unwind. I changed into my floral skirt n top, switched the TV on, flopped on the couch and grabbed one-among-my-many bright cushions close. That’s when the doorbell chimed. As I opened to door, Pam and her daughter (a speck of a girl) trooped in. Once in, she quickly introduced herself as one who lives on the floor above. Looked around the room, sat herself down and started to talk. By the time she finished, I was privy to some very hush-hush details about her life. Some of them weird, some funny, some run-of-the-mill and some could easily even be shocking. She wants to see her Dotty turn into a model as early as possible. The other day at a next-door housewarming party when Dotty refused to leave Pam’s side and mix with others, Pam said to me – “Look at how shy is. How will she become a model like this?”

Another day, Pam & Nutty came over. Nutty is my next-door neighbor. By the time they were gone, my living room looked somewhat different. Pam had put to use her talent in interior décor and changed the placement of a few things in the room. Not bad!

I’ve chosen not to quickly slot her in either the trusting, naïve, friendly category or a big-mouth, tell-tale kind. Hopefully she’ll be a nice person. She’s likable and fun anyway.

Warm Winter!!!

2005-10-26T10:41:08Z

Four days from now would be Diwali. Since my time today is not all taken up by work or pleasure, I have much of it on my hand .. I slip back into yesteryears to reminiscence about what Diwali meant then.

Through the years in Rishikesh - The festivity and cheer didn't leave anyone untouched. We stayed in a cottage by the Ganges surrounded by the mountains. Unreal, but true. Okay now here's a personal observation - It may not have any takers, but I've come to believe in it. "If you come close to Nature, you automatically turn into a genuine and nicer being." - It could be a vacation at a hillstation, a walk by the sea, or taking to the rapids in the gushing river. And better still if you live at a place resplendent in nature's bounties.

Beginning with Durga Puja in October, then Diwali followed by Christmas & the New Year eve, the months would be absolutely fun-filled. The cold cold winter of the North offset by the glow of decorations & diyas, and the happiness in our hearts. It was a time to exchange gifts & wishes, light crackers and meet with friends. Every year the new year party at the company guest house in the colony, would see bon fires crackling into the wee hours, roars of laughter from where dad, and uncles were, and lilting conversation wafting from where the ladies were seated while we, the children, simply ran around with great purpose (For what I can't remember though!!). I do remember my playmates - Rashmi & Moni.

We moved to senior school. Met new people. Friends started to mean a lot. We would study together, hang out, and talk to each other all the time. Ritu & Gauri were my best friends through school. Labelled the 3 witches from Macbeth by senior classes, we're a real naughty bunch. Our grades kept the teachers quiet. We were inseparable and visited one another on festivals too. If ever my parents or Gauri's would be driving to Dehradun (45 min away) for some work, we would tag along only to be dropped on the Rajpur road & picked up on their return trip. Rajpur road in Dehradun is what runs upto Mussoori. There're some great bakeries, book-shops & gift-shops here. We would start from one end of Rajpur road and scout the shops, mostly for greeting cards.. We loved to buy these cards...some would be witty, or just to say 'hi', sometimes mushy.

All this changed when I moved to Delhi for college. Not that I wouldn't visit my folks on holidays, but it was more as a guest. Soon I was caught up with life in Delhi with friends, studies and later work. Since then Diwali and festivals in general are more of a time to say hello to friends minus the frills. At times, Shelly (my friend since college) & I even managed to get a get-together rolling on Diwali.

Cut to present... Will light diyas & candles like every year & let the festive season cast its glow on me.

The D Hang-over!!

2005-10-21T13:02:05Z

Just like the other time, nostalgia surrounds me post my week-long Delhi trip.

During the week, I attended my friend's wedding. It was a moment of pure delight. While the pretty lady was dressed in all her finery, the groom looked elegant in his ethnic attire. The flowers added shades of pink and mouve to the setting. Chirping away in the background were many friends who showed up.

To a true blue romantic like me this was beautiful. Akin to what you feel everytime the screen hints at "..and they live happily everafter" I could melt. It's magical when two people in love come together for eternity.

Also saw Durga Puja with family & fully enjoyed the mirth & gaiety that goes with it.

In all, a good trip.

Sweet Memories!!!

2005-08-20T11:55:42Z

My best friends wedding is around the corner.

What I first need to do is to see to it that I attend!! At times like this I dream for a job that gives me the freedom to do what I please at the time I please. Anyway, I've set the ball rolling. Applied for leave well in advance, am working on saturdays to make up for the absence. But it's only when I get the OK that I can get the travel arranged. Soon, I hope.

Her wedding day would be a very SPECIAL day for me. The friend in question is the one whom I have known from college, and since then done everything together...for years.

We have been together through all this and more...

Been the silly best as 'in-college', 'flutter-eyelashes' Mirandians. We all were so smug, basking in the attention that came our way. But kept our nose high-up and never took any guy seriously. Did things that would now seem outrageous. To explain that further...The roll call at Miranda House hostel would happen at 7:30pm every night and then dinner. So you could've bunked your class, taken a flight to Timbuktoo. Did what you pleased, but you gotta get your sweet self back before that 730pm bell goes off. Come what may!! Despite this scenario, we girls would set out on every off-day to catch a movie (at times, two) at Priya, Vasant Vihar, which would be the other end of the city for us in the North campus. And how? We would hitch-hike our way to Priya!!! We were always 4 or 5. (A 'saving' grace, as we now know that Delhi tops the chart for crime against women). The funny part is we would end up taking a dozen rides from people driving to different directions to finally reach our destination. So many times we have scurried back in at 730pm dot.

We watched 'Dirty-Dancing' and played the songs in our room A-6 for a week at such high decibels that we almost had the hostel warden coming down upon us. We went for 'Rendezvous' (the annual festival) to IIT and were swamped by nerds..who only had this to say - "Can I have the next dance with you?" :=)

What cannot go unsaid is this - Much to our teachers dismay the attendance register at Kamla Nagar would show a 100% presence for my group unlike the hapless class register. Kamla Nagar is the market abuzz with students all day long, first half with day-scholars who flock the place from all parts of the city while second half was earmaked for the hostellers, US. One particular week, I went home to Rishikesh along with my friends. The day we returned to the hostel, I had a visitor in the evening. When I heard the call, I came out and scanned all the faces at the hostel gate. There was nobody familiar. But then a guy walked upto me and said - Hi. Before I could say my line - Do I know you, Mister? He began explaining...See, I always saw you and your friends at Kamla Nagar every day, except this last week. I came calling to check if all was well with you guys. Me and my friend still guffaw over this episode.

Also, we had crushes on the same guy. Took the first step into our career. From being a rookie soon turned into career women.

I wish her the VERRY BEST in life.

Crazy Crazy Me

2005-08-13T07:23:25Z

The GRAY Matter

Last Thursday after work smiles_tina and I headed out for dinner. We decided to first explore Koregaon and peek into the many knick knack stores that dot the South Main Koregaon road. Knowing her, I wasn’t surprised that were going into this Optical store to check what was new in colored lenses. It was here while we were zeroing in on a lens for her that I thought of just trying one on myself…A gray shade, and behold! The mirror on the wall framed an interesting character. Maybe someday, I will take the plunge!!

The Rising

The next stop was at Malaka Spice for dinner. We settled down in a cozy corner, unburdened ourselves of handbags, purchases, the laptop, and ordered our dinner. I talked her into trying the momos for starters.

While we waited for our starter to appear, we saw this guy walk in and take pictures of paintings on the wall. Nice. But next we know he is at our table. He asked us if it’s ok to get a picture of us…with the paintings. At that instant, images of MMS, morphs, rolled past my mind. In a stern voice I said – “NO. You may click the paintings but leave us out of your picture”. Mortified, he walked away to a painting at far end. Smiles said – “It could be okay, he was from TOI.” That’s when I realized I had just lost my chance of instant stardom. I begged Smiles to call him. Promptly he came back, took a picture and showed it to us. I broke into a giggle that just wouldn’t stop – I had just seen my picture with the stupidest of hair – rising up in two horns. But the deed was done. Ever since that day I have religiously scanned the newspaper. Hope the guy has the sense to trash the shot.</span>

What a Sunday, Not a Funday!!

2005-08-09T12:26:04Z

Up unusually early, I thought it wise to replenish my supply of veggies. So when the subziwalli rang the doorbell, I promptly left my hot cuppa tea and answered her call. I stepped out to pick a few stuff out of her colourful basket. (By the way, she's always so not happy with my purchase, coz I would just get the regular potatoes & maybe few beans, and leave everyithin else untouched. She had tried some hardselling, failed miserably and given up forever.)

Ok, so as I was standing there and peering at the display, and we heard this loud BANG!!! And turned to find my front door shut. Shut with me outside - no key, no money, barely decent an attire (Remember, i had just woken up, still groggy) and nobody in the city known to me other than smiles_tina (smiling tuna) residing somewhere far away. WOW!!

My first thoughts - Break in! But then better sense prevailed. Told the subziwalli to rise above her mundane tasks and do something useful. That she did and came back with Mr. Conman. Together we paid a visit to the flat below mine, and requested the nice lady to allow us the use of her balcony. Next, Mr.Conman fixed this ladder there and climbed upto my balcony. Easy. And came out of the front door looking victorious!! By the way, he wouldn't budge till he got his reward for the accomplishment.

Once again everything was fine with the world. I had a roof over my head. And after the 30-sec reheating, my tea was as good as new.

Raindrops Keep Falling...tra lala la

2005-08-09T12:01:50Z

The soft pitter-patter of the rain is the only thing that's been constant in our lives in the recent times.

Having shifted from Delhi to Bangalore last year, and then to Pune now, my idea of 'rainy days' has been on a spin.

Rains in Delhi let all have a welcome break from the scorching sun. It's celebration time, and it's rare. As for Bangalore, the rains have a rather "professional" aura. It would rain at convenient times, act as a catalyst to maintain that lovely Banagalore weather.

Speaking of Pune - Man, its something else. The rainy season is like a season of non-stop rains for days!!! I'm not sure if that's how it is every year, but certainly true this time.

Well, on the brighter side (literally), things look up now. I see the sun making a comeback. Cheers to that.

frizzbunny @ 2005-07-22T18:46:00

2005-07-22T13:24:40Z

Perched atop my desk, right next to my comp, is this package. It comes from bhuntar who has packed in just the thing I had been looking high and low for. A pretty, floral, strappy, summer dress. Thanks Moni, it so made my day.

I had to exercise much restraint to stop myself from running to the ladies room here and trying this on! Well, I already know what I'm gonna be seen in tommorow (Thank God it's Friday).

Watch out, Pune.

frizzbunny @ 2005-07-22T18:03:00

2005-07-22T12:41:40Z

Got something really funny to share with you.
Don't wait. Just read up.

The Setting: Just another day at work.
Characters: Smiles_tina and yours truly.

An excerpt from Smiles_tina's jounal..."Frizzbunny and I share the same phone extension at work as we sit next to each other. For some strange reason, I simply cannot remember the board number of this place. So whenever anyone needs to call me at work, I hurriedly open my mail box, then open a new memo, see the complete phone number in my signature in the new memo, and then give it out. I was just mentioning this stupidity to frizzbunny yesterday saying how much easier it would be to just remember the board number. Frizzbunny replies: You are still better than me. If someone asks me for the phone number, I open my mailbox, look for your mail in my mailbox, open it, and then take the number from your signature at the end of your mail!!!

What The Hell Happened Last Night?
LJ Username
What did you drink?
You wake up in the morning next to:	smiles_tina
...who is wearing:	fake tattoos
...and rolls over to you to say:	Are you putting the kettle on?
...and then:	nibbles your neck

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