Fireflies...

Yesterday we went to Kuala Selangor to see the famous fireflies. Kuala Selangor is a two hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. When we declared at office that we want to go see the fireflies, everyone said: "Yes, you got to be noble and donate blood", apparently the mosquitoes up there are really blood thirsty, so we went prepared with bug repellent, but to be fair we were not bitten even once. Once there we had to wait till it was dark, it was sometime close to eight when we finally sat in the little four seater boat.

You got to see it to believe it, the place is unreal. There wasn't much moonlight, so we were lucky to get a glimpse of nature at her best. The only sounds as we rowed in the darkness towards the bushes was the rhythmic sound of the oars hitting the water and the insects of the night calling out to one another. At first you could see nothing, then when you neared the bushes, you feel like the stars have temporarily descended from the sky and settled on the bushes along the banks. The tiny fireflies, flicker like little rice lights that are lit during Diwali. Our guide pointed out to the little bugs and to the stars in the sky and said 'See, they look the same!', to be honest they did look the same...

I read somewhere that life isn't about the breath we take, its about the moments that take our breath away, the moment when I saw the fireflies was one such moment that will be etched in my memory for ever. I could have stayed there on the banks of the river all night listening to the sounds of the forest and the gentle sound made by the river as it flowed and just watched the little flies go about the business of being alive. The whole scene had me thinking that I was so lucky to be alive and to have the good fortune to be able to enjoy these sights. Also I couldn't help but wonder that this scene has been the same since time immemorial, the only person extra was me, but the little insects let me into their world without any protest. If only we could be that understanding and learn to live the simple life, without the malice, the treachery, the plotting and greed, I guess we will help make this world a better place. If there is one thing I learned from them it is, that you just go and do what you do best, leave the rest to the supreme being who is up there looking out for you...

Disas Touch...

So I usually pride myself as something of a domestic goddess, who can manage a household whilst keeping her career. So when I had a day when everything I touched went kaput, it was disastrous for my confidence. 

Yesterday the first roadblock I hit was blowing the fuse because I was cooking at the highest heat level and apparently I should not be doing that  (Duh, who is going to tell me that, don't you think the apartment should come with instructions like... 

1) Do not use the hot plate at level 5, you will blow the fuse

2) Do not surf channels beyond no 10, the volume will reduce (yes this is what happens when you go beyond channel 10 on the TV in my colleague's room)

3) Do not empty morsels of food into the kitchen sink, you will block it  ( OK, I admit, I knew this, but was feeling too lazy to scrape the food off the plates into the bin).

So first while cooking I blow the fuse and was left standing in the darkness that was only alleviated to some extent by the emergency light near the door and the eerie red glow of the hot plate. So I called housekeeping  and they send a maintenance guy over, he takes one look at the hot plate and does something to the fuse box and the lights come back on, on further questioning him about the cause of the blackout, he points out to the hot plate as the culprit, don't use it at the top mark he advises, smiles a 1000 watt smile and leaves.

Next the biryani I was cooking resembled a very badly made khichidi and was nothing like the light and fluffy rice I normally turn out. I somehow managed to eat some parts of it and packed the rest to be eaten later... if possible.

After that when cleaning the dishes I managed to jam the blasted sink. No matter what I did the water refused to go, and I had to call housekeeping again, much to my chagrin the same guy came with the pump to make the block go away. I think the people at housekeeping will soon nickname me the Lady with the 'Disas Touch', Short for Disaster, to Rhyme with Midas touch... but being the opposite...

Sen from Heaven...

Before the rain...

And it is pouring...

After staying in a hotel for over a month and eating restaurant food for every meal, my nerves had reached screaming point. Just then someone up there in heaven took pity on me and decided that enough is enough and I need to be moved to an apartment. Lo and behold, I now live in the most divine service apartment. 

This is the view from the window of my apartment, it is on the the 22nd floor and when I look out it makes me feel like I must be close to heaven... Sen from heaven signing off...

Creativity at its best !!!

Seen in the washroom of one of the food joints in Melacca, creativity or rather a practical example of 'Necessity is the mother of inventions'. This chopstick is a trailblazer of sorts, it surely has been to places where no other chopstick has ever been before and done things that no other chopstick has done before :-D...

Portrait...

A street artist in KL, drew this portrait of mine. I like to think that he saw my inner beauty when he drew this, as to be honest, only the eyebrows and double chin are mine, the rest belong to Rani Roopmati... not that I'm complaining, I love this picture to bits!!!

While he was drawing this picture a huge crowd had gathered to see the progress, from kids, to young boys and girls to older people all formed part of the crowd. It is really funny cause, people who were walking on the pavement would stop, look at the sketch and then look at me and back at the sketch. If I happened to catch someone eye there would be smiles all around.

All the while it was being made I was unable to see the picture, at one point, a horrible thought came in my mind, 'What if he was making a fool of me and drawing a picture of a monkey ?', like how whimsical artists sometimes do, so I asked my colleague as much, it was only when he assured me that the artist was really drawing a lovely picture that I could relax. The end result is for all see, it is a thing of beauty and I know for sure that I'm going to frame it the minute I land in India and this portrait of mine will be with me to the day I die...

Surviving Malaysia...

So we have completed three weeks in Malaysia and the common theme of our most serious discussions and decisions is usually ...FOOD. All this because the hotel were we are put up doesn't have a restaurant, so we really have to put a lot of thought towards where the next meal is going to come from. My colleague likens us to the daily wage workers, who will get his meals only if he works, in the same vein, we will get food only if we go to the hotel, no Moms around to shove food down out throats at regular intervals...

Every day the question that pops in our minds when we wake up is 'So where are we going to have breakfast?' Once breakfast has been consumed and the mind is free to begin it meanderings it starts worrying about where lunch is going to be and once body and soul has been fortified with lunch, the next deadline...dinner stares us in the face. 

I am quite OK with meat, poultry or seafood, but my colleague who is a strict vegetarian goes green when the smell of sea food hits him, so sea food restaurants are totally out. Breakfast is usually at a Mamak place near our hotel, and lunch happens at different locations depending on how bored we are to walk to the various food joints. Dinner is invariably at one of the food courts in the malls or the street food hawkers. Never in India did I have to worry about food as much as I have to just now...

My happening life - Part 2

 With two accidents happening around us in as many weeks that we have been in Malaysia, my colleague has branded us 'Pandharya Payache' which is marathi means unlucky, the kind that spell disaster, and whoever comes is contact with said person the forecast for him is nothing but gloom and  doom. The latest in the series of unfortunate events that seems to be dogging us is a tree collapsing on a passing car. Read on for the unfortunate details...

We left office at half past six and instead of going straight to the hotel decided to stop at our friendly neighbourhood eatery which is just across the road from our hotel to to fortify ourselves with some Teh Pasan (glorified name for tea, which is served piping hot). We had just parked ourselves at our favourite table when it happened, all of a sudden the trees in front of the eatery shook wildly and far to the south something crashed....Kaboom...

 If there is one thing I have noticed about people in Malaysia... it is that they are fond of their calories... at any time of the day if you looked around, you will find scores of people just sitting around at the numerous street food stall... eating. However the crash has such an impact that even food was forgotten and everyone ran towards the place where the noise seemed to be coming from and all that was left for people to see was a huge tree lying across the road and two cars crushed under it. The bonnet of one car was flattened and the other more unfortunate car, just happened to be passing by and took the full impact, so much so that the driver was also pinned to the steering wheel, with the tree on top of him.

I for one have no stomach for casualties and refused to go anywhere near the place (we had to pass the place to get to our hotel), even if it meant sitting at the eatery for the next hour. Some 15-20 mins, we could here the blaring of the siren signalling the arrival of the fire brigade and police. After a decent length of time has elapsed and I was fully certain that the coast was clear that I allowed myself to go near the place. At that time the fire brigade were cutting the tree to extricate the car from under the tree, the man was nowhere to be seen, my guess is he was already rushed to the hospital.