The Voice In My Head…

Karl flew down today on his bday (when I wished him earlier, he was in the Singapore Airport waiting for a connecting flight). Went over to his place late night to wish him - he’s looking as good as ever! Told me the same too

Couldn’t really catch up with him though (will have a chance later as he’s down for a while) as Priya kept yelling at me every two seconds to get over to her place before 12 midnight as she was having a special bringing-in party for dear Kat. As it turned out, was 10 minutes late (yes, did get beat up).

Had a great time though. Here’s a pic of the ladies (minus one who snuck in):

The pic is courtesy of Rosh who very kindly emailed it along with some very interesting (to say the least) videos that I didn’t know were being taken… LOL

Now I know what celebrities feel like

Rosh incidentally has a really sexy Merc with a Computer (which is fully loaded with Windows & can do everything regular comps can do) & TouchPad (for operating the car’s AC etc.). It’s a Very cool piece of work. Technology today is so fascinating. Knight Rider here we come.

(found this pic online, R’s screen is actually a lot bigger than this one)

On Saturday (24th) post baking class, I was uploading some pics I had taken from my Nokia 7250i to the comp, when suddenly my cell phone showed this msg “Enter Registry Number____”. Not knowing what to do I just put it off. On putting it on again, all it showed was “Contact Service”

And that’s pretty much been the fate of my phone. Will swing by the Nokia dealers & check it out a bit later today. Until then, have to use a 3310 a real negative-snob-value piece of art:

A lesson in humility for me perhaps?
Or a sign from above to buy a nice new sexy phone??

Also planning on buying the new Backstreet Boys album “Never Gone“. The song ‘Incomplete‘ was alright but I really love the single ‘Just want you to know‘ (in fact it’s playing on my MP3 right now). Am not a ‘Boy Band’ish sort of person (at 27 I shouldn’t even be looking at some of the babies) but sometimes the cutey boys also get some stuff right!

Rest? Yeah, right.

Didn’t go for my regular 10am Mass (had to go for an Anniv Mass @ 6pm) and instead had a morning of non-stop house work. Today was the first all sunny day in a very very long time. Washed about 8 towels & several bed linens in several rounds. Add this to all the hanging & taking down of dry clothes, putting new linens, putting back clothes etc I had to do & it would have been enough to tire out anyone.

By around 1.30 in the afternoon, went with Sean (thx!) to the Nokia dealer but they were closed (Sunday). So now will have to go again but probably will have to wait till Tuesday since tomm’s a really hectic day.

Sean had some work to do in the City so went along for the ride. On the way back home, he convinced me to go to Nehru Planetarium and watch a “Star Show”. Was pretty tired but went. It really was spectacular. (And yes, Sean did crack the inevitable “I took you to the moon & back” joke. Ha ha, very funny. Hmm)

Learned about different star clusters, how to identify star shapes in the sky, about nebulars and a ton of other stuff. Was very very intrigued by it all & would love to study further.

Came home really late & very tired & even more hungry… we had originally decided to pick something up from Subway but it was almost 5pm & we both had the MCPG Anniv Mass at 6pm so just headed to our respective homes. Had food at home but the microwave suddenly decided to act up. Don’t know if it’s the moisture in the air but the touchpad just didn’t work. So ended up eating some cold food. Yes, woe is me.

Mass probably was very good, but I was unbelievably tired and it was a wonder I didn’t fall asleep. Came home and was all alone & suddenly got a little attack of Mr. Akon. Mercifully didn’t last too long. Del came back & we headed out to TLE for some work & then afterwards to Andrew & Katherine’s for their baby daughter’s Christening. They named her Evangeline! Sweet.

Also met Benita & her baby Bevan (had missed his Christening), two other preggy chicks (is it something going around??) and tons of others. It was a nice party - on the terrace which was pretty gutsy given all the previous days & nights of rain. Didn’t rain however until after 11.30pm, so it was more or less good. Jived a lot after a really long time with a lot of the boys & generally had a good time.

Fernando Alonso became the youngest Champion in Formula One history today (@ the Brazil GP) even though he came in third (Montoya 1st & Kimi 2nd).

One of the cutest sights was the Renault mechanic who had this slogan on his T-shirt: ‘Schumacher who?’

With 2 races to go (Japan on 9th Oct & China on 16th Oct) , the youngest F1 driver is already Champion!!

Drivers’ Standings
Pos Driver Points
1 F Alonso (Spa) 117
2 K Raikkonen (Fin) 94
3 M Schumacher (Ger) 60

Constructor Standings
Pos Team Points
1 McLaren 164
2 Renault 162
3 Ferrari 98

Been a while since my last cooking class (well over a month).

Technically was a Baking Class & Sharda taught us to make the most delicious:
* Rich Chocolate Cake + Chocolate (Dutch Truffle) Icing
* Walnut Brownies + Fudge Icing
(The above two bases & icings are interchangable + you can even make the cakes without the icings which makes it 6 combos)
* Date & Walnut Cookies
(Also, as usual, the many variations on all the cakes/cookies. eg: Instead of Dates & Walnuts, one can use Chocolate chips etc etc)

By far this was the BEST class ever!!! It just all smelt so good!! lol

Del joined me for the class & we’re both going to try out the first cake this week (the Rich Choco one).

“Time stops for no man”, so we’ve been told by the good ole phrase makers. Discovered this week, that it stops for no woman either…

Was a hectic week if ever there was one. Our full time maid did the bunk (about 3 weeks ago), added to that our cook’s mum expired (which meant she too didn’t show for about a week). Add these trivial details to the fact that two inmates in my cell were being released into the wild this week (being successfully pardoned by relevant authorities) & that meant I had hordes of shopping, packing & weighing (help!) to do. And yes, I haven’t quit my full time job - which despite the fact that the official “Season” hasn’t started, is on FULL swing.

Breather.

Still, Romans 8:28 says “God works all things out for good” and so things miraculously have fallen into place - despite the odd groginess I feel from having to get up at 5.30am to feed dogs etc

People have gone & others have come (I have a new cell mate ) and mostly I’m doing fine.

As you have (or should have, shame on you) noticed, have even moved url this week. Though I try (really, I do) to make it stop, the voice in my head is now being endorsed with a URL all to itself! Welcome, welcome y’all (and also thx Aj).

Have added a couple of links to a couple of blogs I read regularly (plan to adding more soon). Request those of you who link to me to update your links ::thx::

Will sign off now. Have tons of stuff to do today (& it’s supposedly my day off). Am also going for a Class on Baking Cakes today (am thrilled to bits about this!!!!), will let ya know how that turns out.

In the middle of the hustle that is my life right now, managed to sneak away for a lovely weekend (17th/18th) at the ever so lovely Khandala…

Saw only about every place to see, did only about everything we could and took oh, give or take a few, million photographs!!

Plan to writing in greater detail about the weekend, it should be a good guide for anyone who wants to figure out which places to see in Khandala / Lonavala, but am trifle busy right now… will defintely do so real soon.

Till then, enjoy this picture of my dearest Del & I on the hills with waterfalls gushing behind us… ah!!

UPDATE 21st SEPT 05: Have created a new page called “Khandala / Lonavala Photo Diary” - lots of details & lots more pics!! (as with all new pages, a link is also in the left column). ~ Mel

Very busy (& pretty stressed out, pray for me!) with work at the moment, so won’t be checking in here for a week.

Until then, visit this new page called “The Bandra Fair in Pictures” which I created for my friends who can’t visit in person (& also for those who can but don’t want to) to experience the magic through my lens!

A link for the same is also on the left column under ‘Internal Links’.

Also will be moving address soon, will autodirect you. When that happens, please update your links… On my part, I promise to link back to y’all from the new address, lol!!

Have a great week,

M

These are pics of what is commonly called the “Giant’s Wheel” here in Mumbai City. However the actual name for these is the “Ferris Wheel”, after bridge-building designer George W. Ferris who first created one of these for a fair held in Chicago in - get this - 1893 (!) to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s landing in America.

Apparently Chicago Fair’s organizers wanted something that would rival the Eiffel Tower (which was built by Gustave Eiffel for the Paris World’s Fair of 1889, which honored the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution) (original huh??)

My dad used to always take my big sis & me to the fair where we’d ride these with great pleasure. Am so perfectly chilled in them that I usually get (yes, sadistic) pleasure by standing up mid-ride just to scare my friends riding with me. (Ok, I’ll try to grow up)

Of course the ferris / giant’s wheel is nothing compared to a Roller Coaster (really love these rides - rode one in HK which did 3 complete 360 degree loops) but they’ve got their own charm and own fear factors:
* the oldness of the steel towers supporting them (hehe),
* the fact that they don’t start the ride until every cart is full (meaning you get to sit down - sometimes right on top - for quite a bit before the ride starts, can be quite tedious for the vertigo-inclined),
* the fact that due to our brilliant technicians and safety regulations the rides can break down at any time - I actually once sat suspended in air (pretty close to the top) for over 2 hours until they fixed it (I had a great time!!) lol.
* and of course all the fun of sitting in a rotating little bucket with everyone around screaming their lungs out…

So, you feeling lucky today?

Started the day with the Novena as usual - had a bittersweet moment when I realised the 9 days were up, happy I made it for all 9 days & sad it was over. Really was a blessed time. Good sermons, lots of peace. Love my Lord!

Was stuck at work for a long time afterwards. The President of India, His Excellency Dr APJ Abdul Kalam will be coming to a conference in Mumbai this Monday. It’ll be the second time this year I’m privi to hear the man live and this time I’ll also get to meet him

Unfortunately having the President visit live (as opposed through Video Conference) means endless security clearances (yesterday a team of 50 people came to do preliminary checks!!!) & protocol. Sat through hours of protocol meetings today, till we were all tired of the seeming silly things that need to be discussed… stand, sit… feel like a dog being trained…

After the President’s protocol men left, I took the senior members of the GFH to check out several restaurants in the Bandra/Juhu area (close to Grand Hyatt) for a private dinner, post conference. Of course, Zenzi, Seijo & Olive (all my favorites) were on the list, but unfortunately got chucked. We’re going to stick to the hotel apparently. OK then.

Came home late, tired & crashed. A pesky little friend woke me up insisting I “Get up & Party”, but am going to just sit this one out. This week is work week.