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Pak'n Save - Why I don't shop from there?

Pak N Save in Napier. Photo / Glenn Taylor




Pak'n Save is again rated as the cheapest. But what prevents me from going there. I think it is the over dominating yellow colour. If they change the colour, I think I might shop from there. Do you think it is strange?

New Year Resolutions!!!

When I thought about new year resolutions, lot of things came in my mind. If you look at the list, you might think that I have a pretty bad eating disorder and I am over-weight. That is not very true. I have gained a few pounds in the last two years though, I am still in an OK weight range!

But these resolutions came thinking about the eating habits in the last two weeks of 2010. I can't believe, how much chocolates I ate in that time. I got a huge gift hamper including lot of sweets and chocolates from my company. They have given that to employees considering a big kiwi family.Being a very small family, Kannan and I didn't fail to finish those during the holidays itself.


1. Get up early.(at least at 6.00am)
Yes..This has been a dream for us now. We end up sitting late everyday and getting up late. Have to change that.
2. Reduce weight.
I have to reduce 5 kgs in 2011. Problem here is I don't know how to do that. I have been a skinny girl throughout my life till we moved to the land of chocolates and icecreams (what I think about this place, ok). This is the first time thinking out losing weight also. so very hard hard hard.
3. Exercise daily.(walking, yoga or gym).
I am so lazy to do this. Walking is ok, if it's not very cold outside. This is again linked to the first point. If we get up early, we will get time for this. Walking is fine, but yoga, don't know. I am not yet convinced about yoga. Gym..I don't think I'll go. There is a gym in our apartment. But it's boring. Walking is the only option I am left with.

4. Stop eating chocolates and fast food (chips etc also included).
This is the most difficult thing to achieve. When there are lot of very tasty heavenly chocolates in this world. But I promise I'll try my best.

5. Eat healthy.
We have a tendency to skip breakfast often. Will try to eat a healthy breakfast.

6. Do some extra curricular activities. Start learning music or something like that.
I like to do this. There is a starting trouble for things like this. I need to get a kick start.
7. Do socialise more.
When you live in land away from your roots, this is one of the most important things. In our workplace, we don't have much Indian colleagues. Non-Indians generally don't consider workplace and school mates as friends I guess. This process is linked to point 6. You have to do something else other than your work/study to have good friends here.
8. Watch less tv.
We were good last year in this. Kannan was so busy with his study, research and all. This year, we are bit more relaxed and watch Frasier,Shortland Street, Oprah, Dr.Oz etc etc. Watching tv is really tiring.
9. Read more books.
We go to library very often and take lot of books also. Kannan is good. I am doing the worst thing of returning books without reading it quite often. That's not acceptable.
10.Try to be happy and make others happy.
This is applicable for the days when we tend to be home-sick. We have already sorted out this problem. Now we have a new phone plan which help us to talk to our relatives and friends in India more frequently. We can call them as we need it. No need to wait for them to come online. We used to talk to our mothers once in a day or alternative days. Now we talk to them more than once everyday. This makes us feel closer to them.

It's real...

I remember someone sharing an experience in the Oprah show who used to dream about receiving cheques in post rather than bills.
It's really a big surprise when you receive cheques over post, that too unexpectedly.

Don't you think it is wonderful? It won't happen often..right?

So last week when it happened, we were quite skeptical. Kannan even thought that the cheque is not real..
anyway we went to bank and got the money..yeyyyyyyyyy....320 dollars..
Thanks to AECT...Auckland Energy Consumer Trust...They shared their profit with all customers..


isn't it really nice...? :)

Man proposes...God disposes..

I received a mail yesterday which gave me a very sad news..one of my friends passed away, who was just 27..He died in his sleep..a silent cardiac arrest.. how horrible it is..
He got married only 6 months back...she is also my friend..

The news came as a big shock..I still can't get rid of that or forget their faces..especially her..
somebody said it was at least a peaceful death...Does that really make a difference..at the age of 27....

They say everything happens for a reason..but what reason in such instances...That sentence is not true..may be only partially true..
It is a man made statement only to comfort people...

How uncertain our life is...nothing is true...everything is only true at the present moment..you can't believe anything...
You can't plan anything... I feel like you should never plan anything...Just live the life in the present..and if you want to do something, do it today...do it now.. who knows what is going to happen tomorrow..

I really sound pretty negative.... May be my thoughts are not making sense at this moment...
But...?? just a question mark only...

soccer...

Everyone around me talk about soccer only these days. Whenever two people meet, they talk only about soccer, soccer and soccer only.
It seems like they breathe soccer. I am not able to develop an interest in these things too.

I used to watch cricket and tennis when I was a child. I remember I started watching soccer as a small child. When I could only understand a goal as a winning sign. Then later when I started to read, I could enjoy tennis and cricket as well. During the course of time, I wanted and enjoyed playing Chess for some time. Don't know when I lost the interest in all these. Nowadays I don't watch any sports or games. I want to play tennis. But I don't know why I am not taking the initiative to start that too, nevertheless there is a beautiful tennis court in our new building.

what are my favourite things?

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favourite things.

Yes. These are definitely, except whiskers on kittens. I don't like kittens much,but I like puppies.


Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
silver white winters that melt into springs,
these are a few of my favourite things.

I miss snowy winter. It is not snowing here. :(

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favourite things,
and then I don't feel so bad.

hmmm...no I don't do that. I don't remember my favourite things when I am sad and that's not making me happy.
This is the sign that I am getting old....

I wanted to draw and paint. But I don't do that. I do listening to music at least. But that's not enough in this horrible winter. Watching TV would definitely be boring, if you are going to do only that. Luckily I am not doing that either. I like to write blogs. But these days I don't have the patience to write in Malayalam. I am a bit homesick. I miss my good friends too.

When you are away from your roots, when you are away from your loved ones, you should be really bold enough to survive the boredom I think. Today when I write these things I am really sad about a week-end I wasted. From Monday onwards, I long for a weekend. But when it becomes Friday, I am lazy and sit idle doing nothing. And at the end of Sunday, I realise how smartly I have wasted two days and feel sad. This is really bad. I have to do something to prevent this. I am planning to do things , but which are simply not happening for some reason. I think my plans are very abstract. You have to go into further details. Then only it will happen.

Anyway, again a new week. Have a good week to everyone. :)

freezing....

I feel like marooned this winter. It's not snowing..but it's either raining cats n dogs or freezing cold.
I am unable to do anything even though I plan to do many things. I increase the thermostat to maximum and it's severely drying out my skin. Cold or dry, both ways feeling terrible.

To make matters worse, I found a cavity in one of my molars which is really disturbing me or rather I really disturb it..
I floss three times daily these days...whenever I eat something, I feel like something has gotten into the cavity as well.

I am scared to go to a dentist also..I wish I were a dentist so that I can fill the cavity myself..I would have even dared to do the procedure myself if I found out some simple demo in youtube..

One good thing I have done to make me feel better is watching Prince of Persia...it has taken me a few years back in my study room...one of the first computer games I used to play when I was a child.. I liked the movie...It kept me thinking about the magical sands of time the whole night..If I get an opportunity to use that once, do I want to undo something from my life? I can find out many things from the world history...but from my life, I don't know..
But I can't find anything which would have been better in some other way...so one very good thing I realized is "No regrets about my life" .. At last a good thing to be happy about :)

flu? !!! no no

Feeling so so tired today. I can't even concentrate on my work. Flu is on air. At least one person in my office is taking leave every single day.
I am trying to change something in the framework. Tweaking framework is always a head ache.

I don't like writing blogs from office. But today to distract my mind, have to do something different. It's new job..Just completing two months
only. Taking leaves may not be appropriate in the initial days. But my hands are paining. I have got a splitting headache and I feel bit cold too. Am I getting flue?

As shmabu prays, God, pls I don't want flu now. A long weekend is coming. Met service says saturday is gonna be a sunny day. I don't want to catch flu now.

Follow your dream...

They say "live simple..live your dream!!!"

You have to do the things which you love to do. You have to do those things which you think of when you wake up in the morning itself.
What I am passionate about..I really don't have an answer for this. The things I am passionate about varry from time to time I think.
Do I have a real dream for which I live for..I don't know..

There was a time I remember I didn't have any dreams. Once my friend asked me what is your biggest dream. I answered " I don't have a dream"
to a person who dropped out studies to follow his dream to be an entrepreneur. I never had the courage to dream like that.
I never believed in luck, but only in hard work. I believed that hard work will be paid off and hence I followed my duties conscientiously. Nobody taught me the other way around. Now in the bigger world I see things other way. I have always been taught that "Knowledge is the important thing in your life". But now I see, hear, and read that dreams are the important things in your life. What you set is what is you get. Dream what you want. Follow your dream.

Do you forget things?

There was a time I used to wonder how can somebody forget something.
I really didn't know how this can happen. I was always thinking that it's an excuse only and it is an impossible phenomenon. I am talking about the good old childhood days.

Now I know this is a truth and we sometimes forget some things. When you are busy in life, you forget some things. And the tendency to become absent-minded is also getting increased.

Fascinating Cook Books!

I don't remember when I started reading cook books. I guess it aroused from my voracious reading of cooking blogs. Nowadays, whenever I go to library, I take some book from the cooking section.
At present I am reading "Lord Krishna's Cuisine". It's about Indian Veg cooking. The book was stacked up in the basement reserve of the library and I had to wait a couple of days to get it. What lured me was the captivating name of the book. Having started reading it, I felt it was just a normal cook book. I was more interested in knowing what Lord Krishna used to eat.

I was more fascinated by two other cook books I recently read. "Everyday Indian" by Bal Arneson and "Monsoon Diary: A Memoir With Recipes" by Shoba Narayan. Monsoon Diary is more of a biography, beautifully told through the tales of Indian recipes. I enjoyed the book very much. The book portrays the author's life journey. It started from her infancy, proceeded through her childhood ,studies and married life. At the end of each chapter, there is a mouth watering recipe. I liked the way, it was presented.

"Everyday Indian" by Bal Arneson gives you 100 fast and healthy recipes. Apart from my husband, this is the book that created a passion for cooking in me. After reading this book, I started to use grape seed oil for cooking. Grape seed oil is rich in omega 6, contains vitamin C & E and most importantly it is not filling my apartment with the strong burning odour of oil. More than everything, the book is truly motivating. It talks about the importance of eating a healthy diet and tries to create a passion of cooking in the readers.

2012

Is it going to end? I am not sure.

Anyway I liked the movie, though I went with mixed feelings. I feel it's a realistic movie, even though it received a lot of criticism. Of course, I don't have the back up of knowledge to talk about the catastrophe theoretically. I don't know anything about Mayan Calender and prophecies as well.But I believe, the movie portrays something which can happen.

Some of my friends laughed at me when I said I liked the movie. They say, it's a movie for children. My nephew, 7 year old Shambhu believes this is going to happen on 2012. He is making a list of ToDos and Not ToDos. He has prepared a huge list of psp games to be played and movies to be watched. In the list of Not ToDos, he is having a big consolation of not getting married also. I don't know what made him think marriage as a big burden. I remember my niece also said(9 year old) once that she will never get married. When I asked why, she said she doesn't want to have children. I did not try to ask again why. Anyway Shambhu's lists made the family laughed a lot. :)

I read some where about some teenagers writing to NASA Director saying that they are going to commit suicide before the year 2012, since they can't see the end. This trend is not good, if the movie results in such thoughts also.


In short, I enjoyed the movie.But I don't want to believe that it's going to happen.:)

palmistry

Proverb 3:16

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.


Something I learned today. A reference about palmistry in bible also.

Interesting, right?

wierd!!!!!

I hate the phenomenon of having curiosity about others' life. Am I normal or not?
Even if it is your so called friends, I hate people make comments about how you do some things which you really want to do or as a treat to yourself. I am not talking about any bad addiction or anything of that sort. But for example, I am a person who loves traveling. It is my current policy that we should not waste the opportunity and time."Time and tide wait for no one". I regret many decisions which I made and thought was very practical at that point of time.

So if some one makes a comment like " why you are going for that trip now. Why you are wasting money? " at you, I seriously can't forgive him/her. It is my life. I know what should be my choices better than any one else.

Why people are so curious about others' financial matters? Why they are fuming so much when they realize some one else is enjoying? why people are lying so much? Why people want everyone else to think in the same lines they do? Why people are so negative? Why they are so cynical about others?

I am pissed off!!!

Julia Child...

Last week we saw "Julie and Julia".

I became a fan of Julia Child and french cuisine though I have never tried french cuisine yet. Soon I'll try it. :)

And I am thinking of the cooking passion. Do I have anything like that? :)
let me find out that also...:)
More updates soon....

I Dreamed a Dream

Les Miserables - I Dreamed a Dream Lyrics
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There was a time, when men were kind
And their voices were soft
And their words were inviting
There was a time, when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they turn your hope apart
As they turn your dreams to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my dreams with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'd come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from the hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

Can see Susan Boyle's Song here.

Can see Susan Boyle's Song here.

Edelweiss - One of my favourites

Edelweiss(Sound of Music) lyrics

Captain :

Edelweiss, edelweiss
Ev'ry morning you greet me
Small and white
Clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

The Captain, Maria, and Children:

Small and white
Clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

Do we?

Never explain
    because your friends don't need that
    and your enemies are not going to believe it.

Some body said this. Yes..it's very true.

I was very convinced about this when I was a small child. I used to have a healthy don't care attitude to some people around me. I had a strong belief that I need to convince and explain only to my parents. And definitely I had the intelligence to distinguish the people who really care for me.

As I grew, I think this ability got reduced. We need to be diplomatic and assertive at the same time in this competitive world. In between those hard trials, we often  fail to distinguish the so called friends and enemies, and the people who really care for us. I realize we don't need to be pleasing to everyone and we have to get rid of the approval syndrome.

You don't need to explain things to those who don't deserve it. It's going to be of no use, rather than simply wasting your energy and time.