Visiting Rome

Its been just over 10 months since I travelled out of the country and it really seemed for ever....I had almost forgotten what to take while travelling as a family...We pinned down on Rome ( one must see cities!) as we were going during term time and couldn't afford to take the girls out longer.

So we decided we leave on an early Sunday morning flight so that we can do some sightseeing even on Sunday.All through I will mention things "What did I learn?"I thinks that's what will help any one visiting Rome next time.

the taxi drive from the airport to the apartment took us an hour and we were ready to begin exploring Rome by 1 PM.

We started with The Colosseum, followed by a tour guide who took us to Arch of Constantine,Arch of Titus and Palatine Hill.It will take you a good 3 hrs if you really like to immerse yourself what happened 2000 years ago....Amazing perspective on Roman History!

We walked back to the apartment only 10 minutes away after having dinner.and ice creams...being

We began the next day with visiting St Peters Basilica.....it truly shows the role of Christianity.....The opulence of the building's interior bears true testimony to the enormous wealth of the Catholic Church!

The Vatican Museum was a true eye opener ....The Sistine Chapel ....The museum seemed endless....

Post which we ended up shopping around Piazza di Spagna......the streets were lined up with all renowned brands and windows display on shops were outstanding...

Day 3 we decided to venture out on an open bus tour ....so that we don't miss any significant landmark of Rome. We visited the Pantheon ,Piazza Navona.....and finally after lunch decided to go shopping!We were lucky to get a 48 hrs pass as a special offer with kids free!


Our first mishap so shall I say unfortunate incident occurred....our camera fell down though we could continue to click pictures and the zoom functionality had stopped functioning!We were grateful it retained all pictures taken and it still worked.! But that was not the most disturbing experience I personally had.....I was nearly pickpocketed!  ( will write that on a separate post don't want you to be put off!)

We then took a bus to Porta di Roma shopping center .It is the largest shopping center in Italy and one of the most modern in Europe, with a total GLA of 97,000 m².We accidentally discovered it while trying to go to the fashion district which we didnt go as it was very far! Porta di Roma offers a good variety of fashion and daily needs which makes the shopping center attractive for leisure shopping and functional shopping. Needless to say we didn't visit all shops but loved the shopping there...We returned late as it a good one hour ride by bus from the main Terminal.....close to where we stayed.....

The next morning we were back on our Open Bus to have a final look at city of Rome.We stopped at Capitoline Museums and Piazza di Spagna.....We didn't have much time as we were warned of some political demonstration may delay traffic.....
We took the Airport express back to the airport to experience the Italian railway service.There was a lot of nice shops in the airport although we hardly had time to look around!

All of us were happy to be back in our own beds at home after the "Roman Holiday"!



Photos ...click on the link!





What did I learn?

1.We figured out for a 3 to 5 days trip from Gatwick its always better for us to drive and park at the airport!It is cheaper than booking the cheapest taxi to and fro .Also when you are in your own car you kind of feel your journey starts only when you reach the airport.

2. Although I have used several budget flights this is the first time I had experience of first come first serve seating although printing your baording pass and checking in does speed up the process at the airport as you can directly use the baggage drop only lane.So as soon as you drop the bags, it is better to queue up at the gate if you have any specific preference for the seat!

3. The cheapest and fastest way to get around was to buy a 3 day BIG Ticket ....travel is free fo children on with a 11 Euro ticket you can go around as much as you want!It will amaze you they have only two lines A or B with only one Terminal!

4. Rome was a great place to shop for curios and clothes!
and

5. Finally .....how close I was to be pickpocketed!........so be  VIGILANT all times!

Eleven Plus Exams

Well most of my summer has gone tutoring my daughter for these dreadful exams.

I found this video useful to explain the concept to one of my students.

Hope you find it useful!

Families in Transition

1. A moved from Taipei to Singapore
2. A moved from Mumbai to New York
3. A moved from Dubai to Singapore
4. A moved from Oman to Kochi
5. A moved from Taipei to Kualalumpur
6. A moved from Taipei to London
7. C moved from Taipei to Beijing
8. C moved from Nagoya to Chengdu
9. D moved from London to Kochi
10. D moved from Taipei to London
11. D moved from Dubai to Hongkong
12. G moved from Taipei to Portland
13. M moved from Taipei to North Carolina
14. M moved from London to Mumbai
15. N moved from Taipei to Bangkok
16. N moved from Mumbai to Singapore
17. P moved from Taipei to Dhaka
18. S moved from Mumbai to Wellington
19. S moved from Seoul to Beijing
20. S moved from Singapore to Sydney
21. S moved from Riyadh to Singapore
22. S moved from Jakarta to Hongkong
23. S moved from Taipei to Washington

I just listed most of the families that moved this summer who was personally known to us. Its amazing how Families transition each move. If you think they sound exciting , every move is equally painful in terms of logistics and all these are families who move their homes to new countries some of them which they may have never been to or heard of. Some movements are even across continents and a typical transition will take between 3 to 6 months from getting household effects shipped to the children finding their new friends in the next environment.

While most of the moves as is obvious are world class cities there are some like a move to Chengdu can be very daunting. It’s a city where you are likely to have not heard of or wondering what kind of schools and homes you would find and another 5 dozens questions that would follow with a typical move.

In this world of networking I feel very privileged sometimes how you can help out…so when my friend was moving to chengdu and it was announced on FB my first reaction was “Oh my God “ that’s a difficult move with two preteen girls to a city where English Language would be a rarity.I quickly responed that I knew two families who had moved there previously in 2007 and 2008 without any idea whether they still live there. Much to my surprise I immediately got am email saying she would be grateful if I can put her in touch with them.

So I did what I am at best dug out emails dating back over 5 years and hoped they still worked. I wrote to one of them and almost got an immediate response and also confirmed they lived there …..wow! It’s a great feeling if you help some one when you live so far away.

I turn 38

Not a major milestone yet I like to jot down what was my typical day!.It will bring memories to my daughters if they ever decide to check back.

One thing I always think what did my Mom do when she was 38.It just helps me to put things in persepctive.

When my Mom turned 38 I was almost 18 and in college doing my first year of undergrad.Getting me married in couple of years was definitely on the agenda for my folks.

I wonder what my daughters will be doing when they turn 38,hopefully they will be well settled in life....

Here I am 38 and tackling a 10 and 7 year old.Hardly can be compared.It was one of the rare birthdays Sedj was in town well I had to attend a training program to attend and he had a flight to catch by noon.But he did go out of the way to get me a nice card and wish me before we got onto our usual chores.

Its my second birthday in UK and I can say I feel very settled.I spent significant time in schools and am on the governing body of two of them.

Other activity that takes time is tutoring my girls..well thats been there for sometime and continues I am also considering taking up tutoring children between 7 and 11.

I have enrolled for CIMA which is a management accounting course - a tough one and hopes to puruse it so that at 40 I can seriously consider getting back to workforce with an updated qualification.

I have finally started swimming lessons and hopefully will be an ace swimmer in couple of months.Hope my instructor is there till then.

and the last thing on agenda as has been for the last 6 years is Reduce as in lose weight....it seems to be never happening any suggestions anyone...but I have to and its becoming almost essential and urgent.hoping I would make some headway here this year ....

Do you know what is P.O.S?

Its been the second time this is happening I try to get into the discipline of posting a thought every day and miserably fail!
Apologies for that!

Yesterday I learned an acronym -in a "Internet Safety" session.
I consider myself quite internet savvy although I dont own the latest iphone or any thing to that kind...I always thought I was on top if the happenings.
One underlying reason I keep myself updated I know for sure my daughters will be ahead of me soon and I should be aware of the latest till they pass the vulenrable age!

So I was surprised when the P.C Mark (stands for Police Constable in UK unlike the Personal Computer I grew up with) I was taken aback I didnt know that.
And I believe children as young as 5 type that if parent peers over them!

He did say LOL and a few others but this one made me sit up!

P O S is Point of Sale terminal - in the modern technical jargon
P O S - as an Indian eceonomics student I remember it as Post Office Savings


But this one isnt that!


Scroll down and check it out!
Needless to say I will be delighted if you care to leave an comment!
Thanks in advance!



<

Parent over Shoulder

Of course they have a lot more than just that!
TOS- Teacher over Shoulder

to SOS - Someone over shoulder and so on!





Dont forget to leave your comment!

NaBloPoMo

I was trying to post every day of the month in Feb when all of a sudden ....circumstances took over and then I was unable to continue...and never could get back...so today when I received an email from NaBloPoMo, I said to myself "This is it!" Let me get back.

Writing Prompt for Tuesday, June 1, 2010.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I really have no vivid memories of what I wanted to be....I knew I will be one day married to someone my parents choose but that never worked out that way!

When I was recently cleaning up my home...I found a music notebook I had picked up from my home I grew up.I always have heard my parents mentioning I played the violin very well and started learning when I was three and so on..I often repeated that verbatim without being sure whether it was really true and often wondered if it was true.




I found this note book which actually says ..my first violin master in the right hand corner has written started in April 1976 I would have been 3 years and 10 months and I cannot believe I could follow the notes and actually play the instrument.

I did not pursue playing.... never was musically inclined....I think my parents tried till I was about 10 and gave up.It never appealed to me as an instrument.
But this page is a proof That I did learn and I for sure recall I was playing till 1983 because my school and I were included in various scenes of a famous movie called "Koodevide" I actually remember playing for the film!...dont remember if I ever featured in the final release!...

Vivid memory of my parents effort to teach me to play an instrument....I can still read notes and never agreed to my children choosing violin even when they wanted to...I told them to learn piano ....which I wanted to when I was little but never did till this day!

What to see in Dubai

Well my Dubai Saga continues.

Here is something I forgot to mention our first day in Dubai both me and hubby was awake over 24 hours.
We have to be get out of our homes by 4 AM so that we reach the airport at 6AM due to a transport in Kerala "our home state" in India.

So we had an unusually long wait of 4 hrs for an otherwise on schedule flight.
We arrive at Dubai only to have lunch and head for Quad biking and tour of city by the night...It was not over yet ...we went to meet a cousin who is celebrating his birthday.It was about midnight and spent couple of hours with the family and by the time we got back to our beds we realised that we had been awake for 24 hours...

Turn your Blog into a book

I thought this was amazing...I am not sure how long this existed.
By click of a button your entire blog can be turned into a book.Amazing!
Apologies if you all were well informed of this much much earlier.
It was my discovery of the day!

Yes they charge you ( a lot at the moment)but I still thought it will give a different perspective to the art of blogging!

I was thinking when my daughter walk out of home for university it will be a great gift to give them ..something to keep with them on their growing up!

Click the link below if you want to try it!

Turn your blog into a book

What to see in Dubai

Continued.

We had a wonderful drive through the city and watched the fountain at Dubai Mall.

I have been to over 10 cities where I was impressed be it New York,Paris,Sydney,Tokyo,Singapore but nothing like the sheer size and glamour the way the mall is.

It is indeed the ultimate,cutting edge experience of shall I say window shopping.
They boast of over 1200 outlets and a Gold Souk.

It has an acquarium and underwater zoo.
And the Dubai Fountain was superduper.
We were indeed lucky to see the world's largest dancing fountain.

The video sums up the essence of Dubai of what we saw!


A few photos from my personal collection - Dubai by night


At the acquarium



Fountain in Dubai Mall

What to see in Dubai

We had a stopover in Dubai during our transit.

We were extremely lucky to be hosted by a friends family.

Our first activity for the day was Quad Biking. And what struck me is the distances and the speed at which you were driving well over 100kms per hour...scary but it really didnt see so fast on the perfect Dubai Roads.

Then our friend too us for a Dubai by night drive!
The city was lit up so beautifully!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

We celebrated CNY(Chinese New Year) last week at the girls Mandarin School.

We got to watch Dragon Dance and they got Hong Bao in RMB!These are red packets filled with money given to young and children by the elderly and parents.

We had geat Chinese food prepared by the Parents.

Parenting

Have you ever wondered where you fail in parenting?
Or why children can be so different.

Both T and R got a week of Readathon at school.

It was a sheet they had to record what they read as to how many pages/chapters/books and we "poor Parents" had to sponsor an amount per page/book etc.Atlaest they had a maximum mentioned of 10 pounds.

When the week began I told them read as much and I was willing to give upto 5 pounds each..

Well T didnt really care and I dont bother given a choice she will read 3 to 4 hours a day.But R is not yet into so called "Chapter Books".She reads if she has to and we are behind her back to get her to read on most days.

The sheet had 4 columns.Date you read the book/Title/No.of pages and Parent or Teachers Initials

Well it all began in the right spirit on a Monday morning.R had read a few pages from three books so I filled that up and signed each line.As the week progress there are atleast another dozen things to attend to so I didnt quite bother to check their sheet they are required to update.Alhough R constantly reminded me how she needs to get 10 pounds.

Friday morning I knew they will have to submit their readathon sheets so I took up R's sheet.

She had filled about 10 lines more with titles of several books she had probably browsed through and written a few page numbers she claimed to have read.

What shocked me is she had even copied my signature on every line.T on the other hand had read a few books written the title and left the sign/initial column blank.
When asked why did you do that R says" I can do your sign so I didnt wait for you"...

Tell me now did I miss out any strict parenting mantras or should I just say they are so different!

Although I gave R a strong warning saying she cannot repeat my sign and also erased every line and resigned...I am not convinced that she understood the gravity of the fact that she has done wrong!.....so I will have to wait and watch and hope that it doesnt happen again!and pray nothing serious occurs!

Cost of having a car in UK

Sorry this is rather a dry topic...
But half of my last week went running around getting things done for the car.
I am not a vehicle person.

Given a choice I am happy not driving one...and my knowledge is zero how a car operates and I am not interested!

Well but here in UK I happened to be the driver and my luck is such that whenever something needs to be done, the better half is away on a business trip...

So even though I am completely ignorant I have to get things going.

We have used the car for a year so we had to get an MOT done.
Any one who owns /drives a car will tell you ...yes get an MOT done?
I wonder and quite sure that 90% of them dont know what that abbreviation stands for!

I just found out that it stands for Ministry of Transportation test- a licencing authority that checks if you vehicle is eligible and fit to drive on UK Roads!

I got mine done after a retest...so it woke up the accountant in me...How much does it cost to keep a car in UK...

So here is my rough and ready calculation...

Trust this will help someone some time!

Car - Depreciation £1,200.00 ( well this is 20% depreciation - I am assuming you will at the worst case use the car for five years!)

Insurance £1,000.00 (This has lots of stories around it...bottom line is it costs about one grand per year...as you stay longer and is accident free and claim free it is said to reduce!)

Car Tax £115.00

MOT £54.00

MOT - Related £400.00(MOT - they will fail you if lots of things are not met!...and thats how I think these centres make their living!)

Petrol £1,200.00(Thats what I think we spend on an average for about 10000 miles)

Thats a total of 3969 pounds a year!

Per month £330
Per Day £11
Cost Per mile £0.4 (Thats Rs.30 per mile in your car!)

I hope this is useful to some one some day!

Diorama

Well I am not sure about you all....this is something I heard of two years ago when my daughter had a homework project - A diorama on Pupfish...so as usual I reasearched asignificant amount and completed the project.

What is Diorama?

Diorama is a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase or normally in a shoe box...

Why am I writing about it?

I spent 2 hours helping Thirty 9-10 year olds in my daughters school to make a Diorama of their choice.

Here is an image I stole from the internet!

Ties to myself!

I was tagged by Jyoti almost a month ago...I finally got to do it...Sorry I have not tagged anyone as I have very few blogger friends!

1. What is your current obsession?
Teaching my daughter for 11+ exams!
2. What are you wearing today?
Black trousers and a white top!
3. What’s for dinner?
Rice ,Egg, Bindi and Pork and Sambhar
4. What’s the last thing you bought?
Books
5. What are you listening to right now?
Capital FM
6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
a keen blog reader
7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Singapore – a four bedroom with study please!
8.One thing you wanna change about yourself ?
Giving up my job!
9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Shanghai
10. Which language do you want to learn?
Chinese
11. What’s your favourite quote?
Experience is what you get ,when you didn’t get what you wanted!
12 .would u cook for me?
yes…unless you don’t eat Indian food!
13. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
Ignore and safely stay away
14. What are you afraid of the most?
a secure future
15. Who do you want to meet right now?
my mentor
16. What is your favourite colour?
purple
17. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.
Be yourself!
18. What is your dream job?
Options Trader
19. What’s your favorite magazine?
Readers Digest
20. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Art material for my children
21.what food do u like?
All kinds
22. Who according to you is the most over-rated writer?
I think all of them who win awards!
23. What brings a smile on your face instantly?
some rare incidents with hubby!
24. A word that you say a lot?
Really
25.What kind of haircut do you prefer?
Beautiful and Straight
26. What are you going to do after this?
Sleep and dream
27. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Eat or Pray
28. What makes you go wild?
When I am used and taken for granted!
29. What are your favourite movies?
Hardly see any..kuch kuch hota hai!
30. What inspires you?
Lives…living examples!
31. What do your friends call you most commonly?
Vinoo
32. Would you prefer coffee or tea?
Tea
33. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
only friends
34. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Anything sweet!
35. How many tabs are turned on in ur browser right now?
about seven
36. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
need to put Mehndi soon!
37. Favorite Season?
Autumn
38.One wish that you really want to see it come true?
Making a million dollars sitting in my home
39. What breaks your heart?
when people take me for granted and when they say half truths!

Kodai - My Ties

I am trying to recall what I did from June 1983 to March 1987 in PCK ...( Presentation Convent Kodaikanal)

I recall the weekdays Timetable quite well...
Will try to see if I can pull out how we spent weekends from my rusty brain.

6:20 RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRnnnnnnnnnnnnng

Wake up time .I think by 6:50 we had to complete our morning ablutions and report for breakfast in a line outside the doors of Dining Room in full school uniform including blazers /jumpers!


7:15 : Breakfast.
We start with a morning grace.
We are served two buttered toasts and one plain slice of bread.There was always a form of egg very often scrambled.A fruit - most days a dark colored banana which I still detest...then coffee/tea/milk...

We are out from the dining room for STUDY-

Study was about 45 minutes and we are to report for assembly inside or ouside Wellington Hall depending on the weather.

If you didnt know what study time was we had to sit quietly at our desk and chair and do homework or study the days lesson or read.We were not allowed to read story books unless we hid them in a text book and no talking to your neighbors!

Can you imagine your 8-12 year old doing that just now?!


After assesmbly we have classes till 12:15 - Lunch Time

We had rice almost all days.I specifically remember Rasam on Wednesdays and we had a desert or a fruit everyday.

Then we report back to our classrooms by 1:00 and had school till 3:30 -which was Tea Time.

We had compulsory Games from 4 to 5.I was never the sporty kind and was so lean that I could never serve over the net in throw ball...How bad is tat?

After Games we had to report for Study from 5:30 to 6:30 in our night uniform followed by dinner at 6:30PM.Dinner was again bread most days.

We had free time till 8 and lights off at 8:45 everyday....

That was a typical Monday to Friday for 4 years I spent there.

Point to Note:
No phone calls not even to your mom...No mobiles of course ..they didn't exist...no ipods mp3/mp4 players...though some children did have walkmans with cassettes....no television....at all.....

My Ties to Singapore

I have several reasons why I have this city very dear to my heart!

- It was the first city outside of Bangalore I got to travel with my better half...in 2000....by the way it was not a honeymoon...we had T with us who was 6 months old.

- I was so impressed that I decided if we ever get an opportunity this is the city I would like to live , work and play as their Government puts it

_ I was lucky and my prayers were answered and we moved to Singapore in 2004...and spent a little over two years.

- Words cannot describe what I learned and how my outlook to eveything changed in those two years.

- since I had no clue that this was going to be only two years when we moved ...I feel there were lot more things I could have done...may be....but I did enjoy myself!

- my children loved it to from the place we stayed and the activities they could do.

- Since its only a 4 hour flight back home it never seemed too far away.

-Over the years we have some very good friends to go back to every now and then.

_ Even today I talk to friends living in Singapore atleat once every week.

- I read Business Times almost every day.

- Its my dream to retire here one day...I know its not the most exotice seaside or the magnificent mountains..its the convenience and orderliness that attracts me to the city.....

- In short everything works the way it ought to.I love that!

Can you guess this city?

This is in the Main Shopping Street in one of my favourite cities and wish I could retire there one day!

Any guesses?

Thats my daughter T on the left!

There is definitely a few clues thats almost a give away! Keep guessing!Will answer tomorrow and tell why I am TIED to this city!

Wordless Wednesday

Ties to Nature...

Sometimes you can't stop admiring the beauty of a sunset!





Sunset - in the Desert!

This is in Dubai - the evening we went Quad biking!

Like Kodai - I will write one day about my Dubai Ties too....

Ties to UK

Average Household Wealth

This is something that ties me to UK...where I currently live!

I read some interesting statistics in a local newspaper and was eager to share.

Its the chart "How Britain's Wealth Divides"

Its the table that caught my eye!

Some amazing facts
Indians by ethnic origin is the second only to White by 17k in terms of average house hold wealth...
Well this is average so there could be very poor and very wealthy billionnaires...but it still caught my eye.....You will see when you read the other ethnic origins are less than 50% what "Whites and Indians" average household wealth is...

Another fact!

90% of full time employees earn less than 47k a year.....which translates to less than 34k after NI(National Insurance) and Income Tax...

That is approximately 2800 pounds a month which is about Rs.2.2 lakhs a month...that may sound a lot but not if you compare it with the expenses here.

At least a 1000 pounds of that will go in housing and related utilities no matter how small your acco is going to be....then average person's commute cost will be 150 pounds....so you are left with 1650 pounds for everything else....that is still 1.2 lakhs a month....to do everything else ...depending on the your size of the family...

This is just a calculation based on what I read.....I just found the information useful...and thought some of you may too....

Yeh...didnt forget about Kodai.....that is coming in detail soon!

TIES

I’ve taken the challenge to write a blog post every day for the month of February for National Blog Posting Month.

I had done this one month about 8 months ago.It indeed proved to be challenging and interesting..

This month its about TIES.

I decided to choose for the first day my TIES to cities.

Kodaikanal:

This is a town that I hold deep ties to.The reason this is where I grew from a child to a teenager in search of real me!....This was few decades ago as you can guess but I still hold fond memories of the town.

I do not remember all of my life spent there but I do have some vivid memories.
After I completed my School in 1987 I had a chance to go back there twice once during my graduation about 4 years later and once with my husband...about 15 years later.....although there are some vivid spots and activities I clearly remember there are several things I cant match up even in my thought...I have to content myself saying I was too small to comprehend and never thought I will remember them two decades later....

This is a very small town those days...It was apparently established by the British in 1845 as a Summer holiday Retreat. I will continue to write about our life in the boarding the best of my memory from my perspective.....

Twin Objectives

Inertia...Inertia...laziness...laziness...If there is any one giving awards for this I am sure to be receipient...
I have tried to get back to blogging all month long ...all year long and all decade long....but it just hasnt happened...
Let me not get into the detailed excuses that any one can give....

This year has been different....
We were just back from a whirlwind trip of Singapore - Bangalore - Kochi - Dubai - London all in a span of less than 14 days....All in all I think I slept in almost 10 different beds in the 14 days of travel....so now you see I had a reason not to blog...

Well this post is not about that its about what I intend to do this month and decade...

Last 5 years I have had the same two objectives...

Reduce weight ( my body weight I mean!)
Find a job ( in my language have an income!)

Well I have concluded that while the first is in my hand the second isn't completely...

So this year I thought let me begin taking one...reduce weight...
Now I am not getting into how I am going to do it...and but I can tell you soemthing

I need to immediatelty reduce 20 kgs...I know thats a lot...so I really need a miracle...

I am in no hurry and would be happy even a kilogram in a month....so all of you be prepared to get an update every month if I managed to reduce at all....
Its an onerous task for me....and I have not been able to do it last 5 years even when I really wanted to...
the second objective will wait as you see in further post what I am busy with most days....

So here I am with my new year/new decade resolution - a month late...its late than never I believe!

When Tanya was 9

This post was long overdue and ideally posted on December 11th...Thats how life has been just trying to catch up...but I am determined it should be posted at least on Jan 11th.

This is written how she would have hopefully perceived the world as it unfolded when she was 9 years old...

I turned 9 at Taipei .I remember cutting the cake on a cold morning and heading to school.I cut a cake in school too.I was really excited to spend a whole evening with two of my best friends at the American Club Taipei...Swimming and having all junk food.

Within a week we went to Singapore and then to Kochi where my grandparents live.
We celebrated Xmas there...When we headed back my Mom told me that I am no longer going to school in Taipei.It is time for us to move again...

The remaining days were hard as my parents were busy settling lots of things before we move.I was lucky to go to school one day and say Bye to all my friends...

We then landed in London and had to stay in Canary Wharf.It was a great break from all the activities I was involved in.The only thing we could do in the service apartment was watch local British Channels. We missed Disney Channel a lot.We were either looking at houses or watching TV.As usual my mom continued to pester me to do Kumon sheets but we did very little work.

About 10 days after our arrival it was snowing...we enjoyed watching the snowfall from the balconies as mom was very scared to send us out to play with snow should we fall sick...We finally moved to our home with very little things.Its going to be months before our things arrive.I began at a new school and started making friends...
I used to be one of the youngest in my old school now I am one of the oldest.
I am not too happy about it but there was no choice.

After about three weeks, I got admission in the current school and I had to move to the 6th primary school.I was thrilled to find out I was one of the best swimmers in my class.I spoke with American accent and people often asked me if I was from America.

As we settled down my family made friends with N one of my special friends in London...the only problem is we live very far away so we dont get to see each other very often.

We went to Paris Disney Land and to America during summer.I always wanted to go to America.It was a wish come true.I really liked the Niagara Falls.

The summer days were fun as we could cycle in the evenings and we made lots of friends in the neighbourhood.

I also acted in a pantomime for the first time.It was long hours of practice and I slowly gave up my dreams of becoming an actress.I am good at singing and I thing I will stick with that.

I started enjoying chess a lot more than before.
Finally I turned 10 and my mum held a Xmas party at home on the same day.We had good fun.

Photos can be viewed at When Tanya was 9

Blogging

Its taken me over a month to come and scribble here....
Thank God ...Google doesn't delete the blogs that are not active....else I would have to start one every few months.

I would love to blog much more often but sometimes you get tied in daily rituals that just needs attention the blog gets royally ignored and often forgotten.

It is these times I love fellow bloggers who pull me up....they come and leave a comment so much to say!...."Whats up Buddy " "Are you there still"

During this long silence these are the souls who reminded me " Hey you still have a blog!"

Ruch

Stopped by and commented...and also left a note that my blog is sometimes giving and error....

Thanks Ruch...I will get around to figure that out!

Ajai
I have not figured out how he got to my blog...but did leave a comment.Thanks Ajai...It is an effort to read other peoples blogs especially when you dont know them.

Then Reflections
has been kind nough to award me when I have almost forgotten that my blog existed...that was indeed a wake up call!



Then Jyoti tags me when I am sleeping on my blog.....

Thanks All for waking up...so hopefully I get back to the old vigour and spirit to the one thing we have in common..."we read and write blogs!"