Tag Archives: new year

Status : Just Married

Life, Thoughts, , ,

Almost 90% of my conversations in the past 49 days have started with, ended with or has had hints of ‘How is married life?’. Yes, naturally so, I guess – but it’s such a mind-boggling question to answer to.

I am usually rather quick to put words together, but this question really catches me off guard, every single time. I change my answers in an attempt to find one that really would put it rightly – and am yet to find any satisfactory reply.

Thank goodness for this rainy chilly weather, and The Mister’s forty minutes of futile attempt to connect a laptop to his precious-oversized Samsung TV wirelessly – I finally gave it a thought, on how married life has been.

So far, married life with The Mister has comprised of :

Curious Case of the Comforter

For context, I’m a grumpy sleep-person.

On warm nights, when I break free – The Mister dutifully (and sweetly?) pulls over the comforter for me. I grumble.

On cold nights, he wraps himself with the comforter, I get cold – and yes, I grumble and struggle to steal it back. Also, for context, he’s a giant.

We discuss this matter in length, for days. *face palm* The Mister even went on to conduct an experiment, unknown to me. One time, he wrapped me in comforter when he woke up to watch a match and came back to find me ninja-ed out of the comforter. Next morning, he gleefully presented photographic evidence.

Adulting

I have lived alone in different cities away from family for some time now – but interdependency is a whole new level. Our ideas and preferences clash – so it’s been lots of discussion, Excels and timelines.

We make lots of plans for weekly market visits, what-to-eats, weekend to-dos and date nights. We then (sometimes) sit on our couch, ask ourselves what’s the plan, all over again. Some days are super-productive, some days we transfigure into sloths.

Like all twenty-somethings who are adulting, we do ‘happy’ things – like rewarding ourselves trip to theme park, and buying things that keep the child in us alive.

Damages (read : happy things) so far include a Shrek cap that comes with ogre-ears, two Jurassic Park mugs, a paper Christmas tree, miniature of 1970 Dodge Charge which Dom Toretto drove in Fast franchise, real-plants (mint, curry leaves and Japanese roses), matching Bumblebee T-shirts, large dew-shaped (faced) pillow, flower pot shaped with dangling string legs and … and by this point, I’m questioning the adulting.

So, to answer the question : How is married life?

It has been awesome – filled with conversations over nothings and every-things. I appreciate presence of The Mister (on most days) – and it’s been like living with my best friend with some obvious additional perks *cough cough*.

My phone time has reduced so much that I have left more and more messages unread. I have my own Volta Futsal team on FIFA 22. I have a patient partner to watch our wedding trailer for the n-th time, just because it makes me all giddy.

I know life’s no bed of roses, but these past forty-nine days have been – so I’m just going to archive it here as a pick-me-up (if required).

Here, I think I have a better answer now for the dreaded question. But it comes to mind, maybe this is far more answerable question than ‘Any good news?’. 😑

Newly married, still just-kids ourselves. 😛

Where Did 2019 Go?

Life,

Since I started blogging in 2008, for 11 years now, I’ve been consistent at these TWO things; 1) Not be consistent at writing, and 2) Writing a blogpost in the month of December.

I realized that most, if not all my December blogs were about how the year went.  So, I’m going to keep that tradition going this year too, because only then, I’ll credibly add ‘Writing Year-End Reflections’ in my list of consistencies. Amidst moving across three cities in 12 months – I felt 2019 flew by in a blink (also still certain somebody tweaked Time Machine).

This year was as eventful as 2018 – albeit the lack of awesomeness on my Instagram feed. The reason for that is my ‘digital detox’ endeavor in 2019. My attempt to stay away from social media did not last long enough though. But one good outcome from unistalling some apps and setting screen time limit is that now I feel lesser need to take pictures for Gram. Like a true millennial, I have a long way to go to strike a balance – let’s hope I work my way around it in 2020.

Professionally, it has been one hella packing-unpacking deal. I completed my first rotation down south in Johor in March. Then, I made a move further down south to Singapore for my ‘overseas’ rotation for 9 months. I saw and experienced things – at a much grander scale. Now, I’ve moved to Malacca – it’s been two weeks. In all of this, I’m glad that I met (have gotten to know more, this year) people my age from various backgrounds – how we are all different, but still the same. ASEAN curse word conventions, discussing brown parenting, learning new recipes, eating tasty home-cooked food (big hearty thanks to Uncle Manu and Mrs Manu) and and debating on random topics. I miss all this now that I’m in a place with only TWO other people.

Love life progressing on a steep gradient on our 5th Year of Woofness, as we call it. We finally lived in the same city since graduating in 2016, though for only 9 months. We had lots of fun gaining calories, exploring and failing to consistently go to gym. LDR sucks even if it’s just over 300 km yo! Our families met for the first time, and now warming up to each other’s family more. And…… we *cough* are *cough* getting *cough* married.

Personally, I could’ve done better with my New Year’s resolutions. I actually did read more this year (thanks to my book sponsor a.k.a The Mister!). I tried to limit single-use plastics – and jumped at every opportunity where I can spread the word among family members and colleagues. I saved more money than I have had since starting work. So that’s all good – I well deserve a Cheesy Wedges.

But…. I need to up my game in writing, healthy living, emotional intelligence and some other personal projects. To a more productive year in 2020. Looking forward to all the adventures that 2020 has in store.

May the poser-skills improved too in 2020!

Curtains Down : 2018

Life, Thara 25 Before 25, , ,

If I described 2018 as a roller coaster ride, it’ll be shamefully an understatement. So, let me do it justice.

It was like going to Disneyland all smiles and glee, and then someone offered me a sack of gold coins for me to get on a ride. The ride made me nauseous, and I couldn’t get off halfway. I had this nagging passenger right next to me – who kept nagging and made me lose my mind. But what kept me going is the thought of that sack of gold coins and my cute little plushy which I had carried along in my pocket (which I beat up whenever I struggled on the ride). At the end of the first ride, I was so thrilled that it was over, and extremely grateful to sign up for another ride.

Okay laaa, that’s a bit drama. But now I feel I justified my 2018 chapter the right way.

So, like every year, I am going to summarize the highlights of my year. So, here we go, a reminiscent walk through my 2018 memories.

  1. Crossing items on my 25 Before 25

I’m a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, always been one despite being not-so great at accomplishing them all the time. In 2018, however, I did not write any yearly resolutions. I resorted to completing my 25 Before 25 (which I will blog about soon!), a list I wrote when I was still doing my undergrad studies in UTP. It wasn’t a typical bucket-list of sorts with skydiving and all. It was a simple list of random things I wanted to do.  Some of the things include   :

  • Learning hand lettering
  • Volunteering for Build for Tomorrow
  • Watching Disney on Ice
  • Piercing for a second earring (my Amma isn’t a big fan of this!)

 

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The list is about 80% complete. Obviously I’m cheating a little there, because I turned 25 last September. But I decided to give yours truly an extension until February 2019.

  1. Completing my postgraduate studies

When I enrolled for my Masters program, I had one motto. Finish on time, on a high. I repeated that to myself; and in one way or another my close knits also kept me on my toes. I am more than exhilarated as I look back on my postgraduate journey. I think I did good. 🙂

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I wrote a longgg story about My Postgraduate Journey (if you’re interested). 😛

3.   Switching Jobs 

Going into 2018, I told myself that I will look for another as soon as I completed my Masters. Two weeks into 2018, I was already looking at job ads like an addict. I applied for my current job circa January 2018.

5 months and 8 stages of selection later, I got the job along with 9 others from all over ASEAN coutries. It was a ASEAN Graduate Programme which requires us to switch roles at different locations for 2 years. Now I’m almost at the end of my first block. If I have to be frank, some days are tough. I climb 2-3 stories high monkey ladders. I get asked if I am an intern at least once a week. But I am grateful for this opportunity – to spend 2 years to look for what exactly I want, and learning from the best people along the way.

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4.    Living Alone

My life has changed 274.5 degrees with my new job. I have to relocate every 8 months for different roles. For my first block, I was deployed (chewaahh) to Johor. After graduating from UTP, I had lived at home for a year and half. Transitioning to living alone was a little nerve wrecking in the beginning. This was different from campus life (I had the bestest roommate ever!).

The first time I cooked nasi lemak for a Saturday lunch and sent my Amma a photo, she replied, ‘Where you buy from?’.

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My first nasi lemak! I even made the effort to plate it nicely.

I bought scented candles, bought so much groceries (and throwing half of them, because I have no sense for expiry dates and portions). But living alone is not as miserable or pathetic as I imagined it to be! Sure, I do miss proper home-cooked meals. But living alone also teaches you a lot – like use a peg to dry your clothes so that your jeans don’t fly away from the 21st floor.

5.  The Mister’s Grand Introduction

I made up my mind about this circa 2016. I will introduce The Mister to my parents in the best possible manner, even if that meant that I’ll have to wait a little longer. I wanted a proper introduction, and I wanted it all to be certain. So, just a couple of weeks before my graduation, I called Amma and told her that The Mister is coming for convocation and that she should tell my father.

I came out of the hall in jitters, saw The Mister standing with the family. Everyone just grinning sheepishly.

Little Twin : Achu, pass ah this Etta?

Acca : Does he watch football?

The Mister : *sheepishly nodding*

Acca : What team?

Me : MU.

Acca : Then okay, pass. 

You see, mine’s a conventional Indian family. You can be 25 and still be anxious about having found a boy you like. I was just relieved that the cat was out of the bag after being in there, gasping for air for FOUR years (although later Acca sarcastically told Amma, ‘You think I don’t know anything ah? I know.’)

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Round table interrogation by the senior council members. 😛

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As I complete this write-up, it dawns upon me that every part of the highlights deserves a blog post each. I keep saying this at the end of almost every year, (and it’s always true!), but 2018 has been the most eventful year of my life *clears throat*, thus far.

Happy New Year to all who’s reading!

May we all have a better 2019, and all the strength in the world. 

P/s: I have not been to any Disney parks, so that was purely fictional. But, no, that entire first paragraph felt so real as I typed it. 😛

4 Thoughts We All Have As The Year Ends

Festives, Thoughts, ,

2017 is coming to an end, and almost abruptly so, don’t you think? Facebook and Instagram has been bugging and nudging to show us our Best Moments of 2017. As you look at the pictures, Tsunami of memories come flooding your way. As 2017 bids us farewell in just over a day, I thought I’ll write something that’s inspired by the year end vibes. So, here are some thoughts we all have at some point during year end season :

Where did the time go?

Is it just me, or someone has been seriously tampering with Time? Where did 2017 go? It feels like just yesterday when I was joyously (too much la kan, but teachers used to say adjectives got extra marks, so I use laa ah) rolling in bed, thinking that here’s to a year where I become a full-fledged adult. Apparently, adulthood means living your life in a day-to-day routine, not even realising how time slipped by. At this rate, the next time I am conscious of what month it is, I will probably be looking in the mirror, freaking out about grey hairs and wrinkles on my face.

So, every now and then, we’d better stop watching YouTube videos on autoplay, and start thinking about life. *clears throat* ‘Twas a note to self.

Time

Resolutions, or No Resolutions? 

Yes, I am one of those people who diligently sit their bum down as New Year dawns, to write resolutions for the year. I have been writing down my resolutions ever since I read The Last Lecture (if you haven’t read the book, and want a shortcut, you could just watch the real lecture here. It’s a video of just a little over an hour). You pick a goal, make a plan, start January off on track and yet, come next December, you’re making the exact same New Year’s resolution all over again (no, consistency is NOT key in this situation). Some say new year’s resolutions shouldn’t be a thing, some say, why not. I think it’s Law of Attraction. If you truly believe something, maybe the Universe would conspire to make it work for you.

Effective Next Year

For a Master Procrastinator like yours truly, New Year is the perfect excuse to conveniently (and shamelessly, may I add) throw around to postpone anything and everything in life. Now is the safest time to say, I’ll start afresh next year. So, yes, I want to start eating healthy, go to the gym, pick up my violin again, write more, and sleep less. I will do it next year. 1st January is and would always be the best time to start, right? By now, you’d probably realise how I should be the last person giving you life advice. Heeee.. 

What To Do For Countdown?

It’s a race for the best Insta-story, whether we like it or not. *clears throat* Just know that some people are far ahead of you, with a 48 hours of countdown at Marina Bay Sands. After all, your emotions when midnight strikes on a new year will resonate how your year is going to be, right? For Indian house elves with a 10 pm curfew, we’d resort to watching fireworks through windows of our cosy house. Don’t be a lazy ass and sleep the night off (note to self, again).

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I wish you, (yes, you!) a very happy new year. I’d like to let you know that you made the heart of a small time blogger leap in joy when you clicked open to read this post. May 2018 be the best year you’ve had by far. 😀

4 Resolutions I Always Broke

Life, ,

I’m amongst millions of people on planet Earth who thinks it’s imperative to write down my resolutions as the new year dawns. Some years, I even plan weeks ahead, strategizing my resolutions, planning how in the upcoming 365-ish days I will become this person worth being a TEDex presenter. I soon came to realize how some of my resolutions were repetitive year after year, reflecting how ‘progressive‘ I was. New year’s resolutions can be likened to making babies; it’s easier to make them but keeping up with them could be the exact reverse *awkward pause*.

This year, I resorted to analyse why I keep breaking these few resolutions of mine, and attempt them in a different approach. Here’s the final results of my analysis :

Resolution #1 : To lose weight.

On the first week of the year, I will browse through every weight loss article online, trying to plot my way to be Deepika Padukone look alike within 3 weeks. Then, I tell myself that next week I’d start running 5 km daily, eat healthy, reduce carbs and etc. I once ate mashed cauliflower for a week, eventually when life got busy, I ended up munching on potato chips for lunch. I never did ever get on the treadmill.

Lesson Learned : It’s a PROCESS. Start slowly, but be consistent. Eat healthy and work out to your capacity. Do some research to help you through the journey. Like the one below, not very community friendly though.

OK-maybe-more-than-little-research.gif
Okay, well. Not all sources are as trustworthy. 😛

Resolution #2: To be part of the 5 a.m. Club

This one has been on my resolution list since I was 14 when I sat watching The Opera Show on TV. On the show, they discussed about successful people who woke up early in the morning and how it led to their success. I have my alarms set to ring from 4 a.m. just so that I could snooze every one of them and go to bed. Some days when I’m on my disciplined mode, I used to wake up at 5 a.m., revising, reading or writing. This too usually does not last. On the days I had to go to bed late, I console myself to tarnish my 5 a.m Club attendance.

Lesson Learned : I think this was on my resolution list solely because I thought it’d be cool if I was in the 5 a.m. Club. I wasn’t really convinced about this theory. Yes, it’s always a good thing to follow the leads of successful people. But, if you do not truly believe in something, it’s not worth pursuing. In 2017, I’m not carrying on with the 5 a.m club resolution.

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Important question before resolution.

Resolution #3: To be happy.

Well, I am a happy person. I have not faced great tragedies in life. But, I always wrote this on my resolution lists because I thought I needed black and white announcement to myself. I never scratched this one from the list every single year I wrote it. I kept believing better things will unfold as the new year comes.

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Some days of the month makes it all more complicated.

Lesson Learned : Resolutions needs to be clear, better if measurable or quantifiable. Happiness is an ongoing process that has no deadline. This year I resorted to listing down all the important things in my life, making a mind map to what I wanted to accomplish for every one of them.

Resolution #4: To make the scar on my forehead fade.  

I think my parents are most concerned when this resolution never get crossed year after year. The scar on my forehead is self-inflicted. If I were to say that it’s skin picking disorder, certain person would roll their eyes saying that I am developing the scar just so that I could tell this cool story. *rolls eyes* But when you’ve been doing something for almost all your life, it’s hard to stop.  I pick on my forehead when I read, write, study, sleep or when I’m just bored or zoning out.

Lesson Learned : Bad habits are hard to break. Very hard, may I add? But it’s not impossible. Quoting my skin doctor, “You just need little bit of cream and lots of discipline.” I am currently making the best progress ever that is even surprising to my parents.

So, learning from these four recurring resolutions, I think I made better resolutions this year. Hope this helps you to reflect on some of your always-broken resolutions (opppss! if I am the only one with broken resolutions). Do comment below on some of your resolutions, or how you broke or achieved your 2016 list.

*raises imaginary glass for all your resolutions (and mine) to work this year!*

Why 2016 Became My Favourite Year?

Life, ,

It’s that time of the year when there’s plenty of reminiscing and memories-videos popping up on your social media feeds. As a self proclaimed word bum, it’s my utmost pleasure to help you spend your last day of the year reading this post, although you’re actually not bothered at all how my year went (heeee. Thank you for reading this though. Yes, you!).

So, 2016 tops my list of favourite years ever since I came into the world, kicking and crying (1994 is a close runner-up because I probably was a happier person when I slept 15-16 hours a day). Here a list (duhhh..) of why this year is my all-time favourite, some of the lil things, some of the major ones :

1. It’s been a good year for me academically. I scored my highest GPAs during my final year.

2. I graduated with my favourite set of people.

3. I read complete set of John Green’s (and while I could’ve bought the books in local bookstores, I had the books imported for me all the way from Goa and Sydney).

4. I also crossed another item from my bucket list (big shoutout to Keshy a.k.a Thenmoli, Seko and Lotus) – this should be left unelaborated.

5. I drove a car with no supervison beyond the boundaries of my taman. I then became the proud owner of red Cliff (everyone should name their car, no?)

6. Crossed another item on the bucket list, which is to purchase a blog domain.

7. I started with my first ever real job.

8. I had the best last days in campus, unexpectedly (thank you for relentlessly dragging me out of my room and driving me around, Keshy, Vimmy, Shaavesh, Vinod and everyone!)

9. It’s been two awesome years of Woofness.

10.  It’s been a year of plush toys gifts. I don’t remember having many plush toys as a kid. Now at the ripe age of 23, I find myself sleeping with a team of plushies. 

I am thankful for the beautiful memories this year gave me. Thank you to all souls who have been part of my happy journey in 2016. To all my kawans, who always have the kindest, most motivating words to tell me (you know who you are), lots of love to you.

Let us all look forward to a better 2017. Wishing all my readers the best of everything and strength to face every challenge that life has in store for you. 😀

HAPPY NEW YEAR, y’all!