The Weekend

I will try to write this blog more as a personal 'journal' entry seeing as I have no definitive topic, which I wish to pursue. This one is going to be a mixture for three days.

Friday - It was a nice and peaceful one. Good way to start my weekend I suppose. After dinner, we started watching this Hindi movie “ Ek Ajnabee” and were agonized when the sound gradually began to disappear and we soon found ourselves staring at the caption on the screen. Can it get any more annoying than this?!!! The movie had just started to become very interesting. It had a unique story and was just not like any other regular Indian movies. The setting was in Bangkok! However, much we wanted to watch, we had no choice but the stop. We both had no other choice but to console each other saying "next time".

Saturday- We had a clear wintry morning in the city. Lately, I've grown tired of waking to a dark sky, but this one initiated with a brilliant sunrise and with the bird chirping, I could not be happier. The weather gradually became warmer and soon, it was Excellent. This was a good morning! Since we had a very hectic weekdays, we tried to make this day as relaxed and laid back as possible. Prasanna managed to play his guitar and was singing some of his favourite songs. This was also a catch up time for me in terms of doing some chores, basically cleaning the house. After our quick brunch of fresh tuna and parmesan“ baguette,” we decided to go for a nice drive. We made a quick stopover at the HAY MARKET. I love shopping at this open market. Not every weekend per se, but once in a while can be a FUN activity. The collection of vegetables somehow always manages to leave me overwhelming.

We had a quick swirl around the city and I managed to do couple of quick errands.We were also trying to find a "Waffle maker," since prasanna lovees waffle .Nope! we had no luck. Maybe next time. Another "next time" in two days!

Dinner was GREAT. We were invited at a house of a friend of ours. We had a nice “Business Talk,” YUP! I am talking A Real business here… =) Sorry, the idea is ABSOLUTELY confidential at the moment but surly and most certainly will expose it 100% once we become FAMOUS. ;) We had an American dinner with the mixture of salad, French bread, pita bread, hummus and turkey along with a good Chardonnay!

Sunday- GLOOMY DAY!!!! UGGHH!! I realized that I had become a compulsive thinker (Compulsive might be a strong word BUT I have become a REAL thinker!!!). Each waking moment, I would be thinking of something to be done, or bought, or needed to be said. I just would be ten steps ahead of the time. If I was not thinking I was planning, or I was worrying. If nothing else, I would catch myself daydreaming about useless thing and I mean ABSOLUTE useless thing. I constantly struggle with being overly sensitive to the "offhand" remarks that people tend to give me. I cannot help it. It is an innate behaviour that I have.This ANNOYING and relentless thought process had a telling effect. At the end of the day, I would feel fatigued and exhausted, even if I had done nothing physically demanding.

Yoga is the best way of helping your mind relax, ( I am aware of it ) but many people like myself =) find excuses not to practise it every day. All you have to do is let go of all thoughts. There is no need to even focus on your breathing, In fact, the whole intention is to focus on nothing, because focusing causes the mind to exert itself. Even though I have not joined YOGA classes,I am very much determined to join the Gym from tomorrow. I absolutely love running! I have stretched my mental muscles too far, without giving them a chance to relax. So joining the GYM is actually going to be a GOOD start.

How was my Sunday?

VERYYYY Relaxed. Prasanna had his Raag, so he definitely had a good start. The weather was back to being GLOOMY, so really we did not have too much zeal on going outside. Was skimming through the channels and “Australian open” was on. I rooted for the new dude from Cyprus, Baghdatis. He lost! He got defeated by the Roger Federer. But the fact he had reached all the way to the finals is already a prestigious thing. So I do not think there was too much of a disappointment for this new comer.

Now, I am about to continue the movie “ Last Samurai.” Very very good one. Good movie to add in the collection.The scenes of JAPAN were breathtaking. I really do not know where they shot the scene but I am quite definite it is not in Tokyo.I have lived in Japan for 5 years and have yet to discover lot of beautiful places. Well there is always next time!

Off I go, good nighhhtttt.

OR I should say, time to enjoy the movie.

Back to Reading mode

I try not to lose time. I frequently lose other things, like my keys, my notebooks, my pens, but never my time. Therefore, I have started reading a book.

“Love Creeps,” is its title.

“ The world is Flat,” by Thomas Friedman and “ The Alchemist “ by Paulo Choleo is still on my top list. However, after several attempts at the library and in despair of not finding the book, reluctantly I decided to put it on hold and move on. “ Love Creeps" by Amanda Filipacchi caught my eye. The title sounded interesting and it was on the top 10 New Year’s Best Seller List. What is the risk one could have I thought?

How is the book so far? “ I am not at liberty to divulge that kind of information.” =) Just kidding!

The book is very interesting. Interesting than I thought! Reading this book made me realize sometimes incidents happen innocently. It is a story about a lady, Lynn, who is actually being stalked herself decides to stalk another guy. The reason she does this is because she claims to have lost the " interest and desire" in herself. Rather than gradually turning on a neurotic wreck by ending up restoring an alcohol or drugs, she decided to regain her power by taking this move of “stalking.” I suppose, she wants to test on her stalkee whether or not if it would be possible in succeeding through this means of "stalking." Yup! You have never heard a girl stalker.

But VOILA!! Here you go!! I guess this was her remedy to deal with the confusion in her life. Who has not been through this stage in their life right? Sounds bit ironic but let’s see how far she goes.

What to write today? I think writing in the morning is a lot harder. I have lots of thoughts, very broad, very expansive, but if I wrote them all you'd feel as if you were staring at the pattern of clouds in the sky. I really hope you don't at this very moment!

Well, I suppose when you make a concrete effort to write every day in a blog, then it will have to by nature turn to something more personal. It is hard to write day after day about something outside of yourself, unless you are highly familiar with it. RIGHT!!!

I started my fist class at Boston University yesterday. The class is “Finance and Managerial Accounting.” No, I am not enrolled in BU, just taking this course. The course obviously is accounting. It is the graduate level course with lot of financial statements, balance sheets, retained earning ratio,to name but a few . Along with the American students, the class is filled with mixture of international students from China, Pakistan, Egypt and India. I am looking forward to recollecting my old memories back.

What else has been happening…. I have been driving a lot lately. When Prasanna comes back from work, he usually likes to take me for a quick spin, which of course I always look forward to. Driving in downtown Boston is not a problem for me; it is just when we enter the highway and changing the lanes that gives me a fright.

“ Practice! Perseverance and Patience!”

I hear these words repeatedly. Thanks to Prasanna’s persistence, I have really come this far in driving. Really, I owe a lot to him. It was him who repeatedly reminded me to get the license and drive in Nepal and because of that I can drive a manual car. Not confidently, but I can mange it. His persistence is what makes me stronger. Had it not been for him, I would have given up HOPE! on a lot of things longgg time back. Taking “Risk” is what he has taught me and I would like to follow it diligently.

All right then.. So long for now!

Do I have the free time in the world or what =) Two blogs in one day! I must be kidding right?

Anyways, I just wanted to write a new one for this special occasion.

Yesterday marked the completion of the second year since Prasanna and I first met. Yup! I had first come to Boston on the 23rd of January,2004 and that is the day I had met Prasanna for the first time. So I guess we have met each other for two years now. Two long years and many more to come…..

We went to "John Harvard" yesterday and had a nice dinner and chat. Nice chat!! =) he he..

February 1st marks our one-year wedding anniversary. Something to look forward to again!

Ciao

Just when I thought the weather was finally going to be prefect, It Snowss!!!! Arghhhhhh

Weekend was absolutely gorgeous. It was in the 50s- or something with no wind. It smelled like spring. Really very rare at this time around. Early spring is so raw here. No flowers, or chirping of the birds or the bright happy flowers smiling at each other. Spring is my favorite season. At least better than the HOT and humid summer. Just knowing that in a few months everything will be shiny and new again, gives me a good reason to revive again.

So we had a snow yesterday. This one was probably the second big one for this year. It must have been around 5 inches I would say. However, the weather is sunny again. I have not dared to go out. Seeing people all buddle up does not really me that enthusiastic so my remedy was to stay home and try to make some “ Nimki.”


Let’s recollect back to the weekend shall we =). On Friday, we went to see the movie, “Memoirs of Geisha.” "Geisha" in fact derives from the Japanese word for art. A true Geisha is believed to have a power to steal an attention of a man with a single wink. This movie depicts an unparallel look at a strange, mysterious and exotic world, which has now almost vanished. In the 21st century, the word geisha is just a term and soon it will be gone and will be only seen in the Japanese history.

This movie successfully portrays how the district behind its facade of haunting beauty turns out to be a viciously competitive place where women strive desperately for men's favor,where personal trust is almost nonexistent, and where no woman can afford even to dream about love or happiness. This movie is also a dazzling portrait of a singular and most seductive woman, Sayuri who tells her story in a compelling first person voice. It is the true confession of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

“This is not a memoir of an Empress, or a princess but is a memoir of a Geisha.” This is how the movie ends, with this powerful statement and completely congeals us, the viewers.

The movie was beautiful.

The main character wrapped me up in her world with a beauty rarely seen elsewhere. She wove a mysterious tale, spun a web with her narrative, and fed me with heartstopping images and beauty I admired. Oodles of applause to Sayuri, for her bravery. Despite being the victim of a cruel and repressive system, she eventually managed to soar by becoming the “ desirable” geisha.

I had read the book long time back, freshmen year in college to be exact. It is indeed ironic how Arthur Golden, an American man who has written the book in the voice of a Japanese woman, illustrates the portrayal of a Japanese society, Japanese society in the 40’s before the Great Depression.

I really wanted to see this movie and finally got the chance. Thanks to my hubby. =) Japan looked so different then. The setting of this movie also reminded me that of "Oshin," the popular Japanese drama that was so famous back home when I was little.Little wooden house, clustered neighbourhood, tiny people is what I had in my mind whenever I thought about Japan.

My actual visit to Tokyo when I was 13 made me see the "New" Japan. My passion to learn about the Japanese culture forced me to learn their language and I still crave to understand their society, the society which is so vast yet so implicit. This movie surly helped me to get one step closer. "Last Samurai" is on my next list.

This was a good way to start our weekend =) I cannot complain.

Every now and then I get into a reflective mood, thinking about what I have seen in the world so far, pondering about what has happenned in my life, and in others' lives.Lot is inside me but still there are constraints. What could that be one may ask? Trust me there are lots! Life is not that simple is it?

I often sit in front of the computer with the desire of pouring everything inside me, but then again I get stuck. Amazingly, My smooth train of thought just stops! When will I be able to jot down thoroughly? I have been patient…well not that tolerant per-se but there is some degree to it. I do not know how long this will last. I am really hoping this will not go too long. (If you have no idea what I just wrote, just give me couple of days, I will explain everything!)

Today is little bit relaxing day for me. Yesterday was a complete marathon. I was just running around the town getting completely soaked in the Rain.

I got up in the morning. Made a fresh round of coffee and quickly skimmed through the Wall Street Journal I had got it from the Babson College yesterday. (If you are a student at Babson, the MBA student gets FREE WSJ! Amazing isn’ t. and NO!! I am not a student at Babson =) I was reading this article of a Stanford drop out student who later became the CEO of the Hubstub.com. This is a company where they buy and sell concert tickets and is doing GREAT!! His mum was not very pleased when her son decided to make this move. But now, with his status, I am quite positive; she must be gleefully enjoying the life he has now.

It is my grandfather’s birthday tomorrow. He is going to be turning 85. I browsed through muncha.com and Thamel.com and ended up buying, bed of roses for the occasion. Hopefully, with the curfews and all, it will get to the house by Saturday morning.

Now, I am going through the headlines at the nepalnews.com. Curfew has still been imposed in the capital for whole day tomorrow. Soon it will a year since the king has taken the coup d’ etat role. Yet, nothing has changed. Leaders talk, civilians agonize, rich are getting richer and poor getting worsevBUT the country’s political situation has not changed a bit. Nepal’s foreign donors are sending mixed signals about their future engagement in the country .The election are coming closer. That is the positive sign I suppose. Like all the Nepalese back home, I am optimistic about the action chairman Gyanendra will be delivering in the darkest hours. Some spirit that has kept the civilian’s hope up.

Filhahal- I finally got a chance to watch this movie. I had left it half finished about 3 years back with my grandparents. Lot has changed since then and I never really had the chance to actually see that movie again . I would go to the store and ask, but my bad luck I suppose, the movie would never be there. I FINALLY saw that movie. Really nice one. It is about the “ surrogate motherhood.” The story is really unique and the song called “ Filhaal” is absolutely beautiful.

Prasanna is coming back from San Fran today. I am excited. He has been gone for 2 days, 2 lonnnggg days. I am glad today in Thursday, one more day and the weekend. My old college friend Jennifer is going to be visiting her brother in New Hampshire, so I am thinking about catching up with her.

I found this cute picture of the Kumari bhagwan at the internet. I saw Kumari for the first time, last winter when I was in nepal. It was a wonderful expereince indeed.

Rain Keeps Falling on my head.….. So I just did some talking' to the sun. ( Just hoped for the Sun!! It was no where to be seen) .I just wanted to sing this song all day. The only thing I wished was that I the rain was actually dripping on my head and not my whole body. It was one of those craziest weathers.

It rained all day and it was heavy downfall. I was completely DRENCEHED AND SOAKED!!!
It was one of those tiring days. Anil dai, dropped me off at Babson this morning. I got up like 6 0’ clock. I had the alarm for 6:30, but I had a fear of over sleeping and got up really early.

After the meeting with Mark, I took a cab and went to the Riverside station and then came home. Took the paper Mark had asked me to fax and again, off I went to the Harvard Station.
Waiting for the bus, and walking towards the Kinkos was the most atrocious part. This was where I got completely washed by the outrageous rain.

I came home, cooked dinner. Prasanna is away for Business. He has gone to San Francisco and is coming back tomorrow. Yup! he is off to San Fran AGAIN! Unable to cope with his absence and to have some fun, I had invited Arpana. =)Arpana and Navin came for dinner with cheese cake :) I made tuna dip and crackers with wine for snack and typical nepali food for dinner. We had a nice catch up after long time. It had been ages.

The dinner is over. They just left for home. It has been a long and strenuous day for me. So I am off to bed! Good night…..

I was debating on whether to write this or not BUT!! then I thought WHY NOT!!

Life is not always blissful. Yup! Shit happens.Well today, was one of those days. Not keen on having something like this again!!

I did not do anything special. Was studying for a almost all day and that was about it.

Last night was fun. We had the YADAV familys along with Neevs and Anil dai for dinner.It was the loonnggg owed dinner for Anil dai and Neevs. We had fun. I had cooked Alfredo Shrimp Pasta but by the time we had our dinner, all the alfredo sauce was gone and the pasta was pretty dry! It did not look like this when I had just made it. I guess I had that in the oven for a long time.

So long for today. I just am not in the best mood to write today!

The Excitement is yet to be finished….

Our Euro tour was indeed a marvelous one. Very very memorable. This is something I will cherish forever and will share it to my great grand children if I still live by then =)

Life back to Boston was slowly going normal when one afternoon I got a call from my husband. “Would you like to go to San Francisco this weekend?” I was still in a surprised state when he said that. “ I have the client meeting on Monday and Tuesday.”

I have made it as far as Los Angeles, but not to San Fran and I have really heard a lotttt about the place. My husband is really in loveeee, I mean absolutely in love with this place and really wanted me to see it. I was bit hesitant. I had my final paper due that weekend. Even though it was a take home, it would need lot of thinking. My case was on Procter and Gamble and I still needed to do bit of a research.

However excited I was, I still was double minded. Should I go or not? He was going to be gone for 4 days and I just could not imagine what I would be doing for this period of time. But on the other hand, I still had my finals.

Nevertheless, I did manage to go there at the last minute by using the extra ticket I had from my mileage.

San Fran was beautiful. The weather was absolutely beautiful. It was more like a summer time for us(considering how cold Boston was). The first day, we made a drive to Monterrey, along with my brother in law, Malu. He is an investment banker and lives in San Fran. The drive was beautiful. The ocean was right there and luckily the weather was NOT playing against our favour even though the forecast had
predicted “ showers.” We also made it to Palo Alto and had a quick visit at the Stanford University. I was really happy to see the sculpturs of RODIN. I love RODIN and we had just visited the " musee de Rodin" and it was like DEJA VU seeing it all over again! I was happy! We met up with one of my husbands friend from school and ended ourlongg day with a lovely
“Burmese dinner.”

Napa, was our target for the next day. After making a quick stopover at the Golden Bridge, we took the Route 1, and drove all the way to Sanoma and Napa valley. We had a lunch at this Nepalese restaurant in Sonoma. Yet! another pick from Malu babu and what can I say, it was very delicious indeed!!

Yup! Vienyards,( actually without any grape vines), is what we saw throughout our drive. We made couple of stops to do the wine tasting. That night, we watched the Golden gates at night and it was really really beautiful. The Silhouette was breathtaking!!

Overall tour trip was really nice. On Monday, I also took a tour at the famous “Alcatraz jail.” San Fran was actually our third trip in a month. London, Paris and San Fran.. and we had also made it to Tokyo this past summer so I cannot complain =)

I Absolutely LOVE travelling.

Did I tell you I am discovering more moles in my feet. =) I seriously have six moles.

The excitement continuous…..

Bienvennu PARIS!

After the 3 days trip to London, on the 29th, we headed towards PARIS. We took the Euro Star from Waterloo Station, London to Gare du Nord, Paris. PARIS was FABULOUS. “ You will really like Paris,” priti had told us prior to our departure and it was very true. The city was splendid.

My school friend Aradhana, aka Aru, had emailed us all the details on how to get to our hotel from the Subway. With that direction, we did not have a single problem. The hotel was situated right at the exit of the Ballard station…very convenient place.

This was our first evening at Paris. After freshening up we met up with Aru and her gang at this resturant called “ les Rousollion.” This was one of the hang out spots for Aru and her gang and the most surprising thing was, Aru while skimming the page of lonely planet landed on the same page where this restaurant was recommended! Funny isn’t.

After the quick nibble we went for a stroll around the city. The roads were small yet packed with shops, bakeries, cheese shops and farmers market. Louis Vutton, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Chanel, all the famous brand name shop laid right in front of my eyes. The street looked very similar to the one in New Roads, London on the other hand, mixture of New York and Boston.

Eiffel tower!!! Wow! Got to see the Eiffel tower! So beautiful and so big!

The Japanese have also also made the “ Tokyo Tower,” kind of like the replicate of Eiffel tower. Tokyo tower, is beautiful, however, the only thing that I do not like it is the how the tower is situated in the middle of the busy city. There are no gardens or walking area like the one in Paris!

Our next stop was Louvre. I was excited about going to Louvre. Especially about seeing the Mona lisa. I had read Dan Browns “ Da vinchi code” and was very much looking forward to seeing it. Louvre was simply amazing. The architect.. WOW!!!

The other intersting news is that- they are now planning to open LOUVRE 2, and amongst the 200 applicants, they have selcted a Japanese Architect for the design. YEAH!

We spend about 2 and half hours inside the museum and YES!!! We managed to have a good look at the Mona lisa. Also managed to take her picture. The palace was beautiful. The architect.. Simply breathtaking. Another picture that struck me most was the “ last supper.” The size of the painting was as big as the size of the whole wall, yet the picture was so descriptive. It clearly must have been of years and years of work!

After Loure, we had a nice and collddd walk near the Notre Dame area and had a relaxing lunch at one of the restaurants at the Latin Quarter. One thing you will enjoy for sure in France is the Food!! The food there is unbelievable. It is really really good!

Picasso’s museum is also a must go place and another of my favorite one is the Musee of Rodin! I had studied about Rodin during my junior and senior of high school and finally had the chance to see it. The thinker, the gate of hell… I had read about it and was happy to have actually been able to see it!

We also had a nice boat ride at the Saine River. The view was spectacular. It is really amazing how many bridges the town had. There really were lots!!!

New Years was great in Paris. Together with Pradeep dai and Kamana, we welcomed the New year 2006 in Paris, the city of love.

We had bit of a trouble finding cabs as all the train station was closed. BUT, huffing and puffing, we did manage to get to the hotel at 2:00 in the morning. It was a memorable incident.

Again! Happpy New Year to everyone!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Adieu to the year 2005. Yet another new beginning has arrived. Both my husband and I, we had gone for a short Euro Tour. We left Boston on the 23rd of December and arrived back on the 2nd(this gives a very good reason for my being behind on the blog worldJ)

Our first stop was in London. We got off at Gatwick and then proceeded off to the Lime Street, Liverpool. The train ride was marvelous other than the bit chaos we had for taking the wrong one. “Virgin Train,” it was called and it could not be any smoother and the view of the countryside was absolutely gorgeous!

After being in the airplane for almost 8 hours, this ride felt like Heaven!

I was very ecstatic to meet with my sister. She is a second year medical student at the University of Liverpool. Priti along with her friend lona were waiting for us at the Train station. I was very excited! and estatic!!!

After having a quick lunch with the Gray family, we went out to see the Liverpool town. The “Beatles” town indeed was a very small town basically dominated by the pubs. It was the Christmas Eve and basically everything was closed, however, we did mange to get a quick glance of the overall downtown.

We had a very good night sleep and was awakened by the Birthday girl at 11 0’ clock in the morning or should I say in the Afternoon!! It was the Christmas Day!!!!! and Priti’s birthday. She came inside our room with two stockings in her hand. The Grays had also made us two Christmas stocking filled with Cadbury chocolates and gifts. I got the “ English Tea Set,” and my husband got the English Wine and the London Ale. We had a delicious English breakfast, beans, potatoes, sausage, toast, you name it !!

There were lots!!!

That afternoon we went to another English family for Christmas dinner. We really had a chance to enjoy the classic English feasts. This was more or less like an American Thanks giving dinner with Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing’s, sprouts, carrots, gravy along with the best English toffee pudding for dinner!


Boxing day followed the Christmas day and the town was practically dead. Everything was closed except the shops of course!! Major Christmas sales were going on in the downtown Liverpool. Priti took us around her university and we visited two of these different yet magnificent cathedrals from the 18th centuries. Later that night, we went to her apartment and got a quick tour and headed off to London the next day!! This was a short but very very memorable trip with my sister.

It took us about 2 hours to get to London and we both fell in love with the city right away. Our hotel was in Piccadilly Circus, the heart of the town. We were both very excited to see London. After taking a quick shower, we headed for sightseeing. We took a walk to the Trafelaue Square and went to the National Gallery museum. The museum was beautiful. After spending about 2 hours, we went a nice evening walk. (cause it was the winter time, I would say, night walk to be more precise!! )

Both my husband and I, we had this dream about coming to London and that dream was right in front of us. We were actually walking in the city of London, right next to the West minister abbey and passing by the Big Ben!! The sight was simply marvellous!! That night we had a lovely dinner at this restaurant called Kahn recommended by malu babu. After the dinner we walked around even more. The street were signing with the Christmas lights.. we walked and walked and walked even more!!!!

The next day, we made the trip to the famous Buckingham Palace and was really hoping to see Prince WILLS!! My bad luck, he was no were to be seen. But we did manage to take a quick glimpse at the changing of the guards!! Poor them, it must really be a torture to wear that big hat!! This was not the very pleasant day as the weather was really cold. We decided to take the open bus tour!! Bad idea… however beautiful the view of London was, the torturous wind was not going to stop following us. It was unbearably cold!!!!!! The wind chill was throbbing our hearts!!! We soon forgot our pain, upon entering the Madam Taussad’s museum. I had seen the picture of my parents’ long time back and had always wanted to come here and VOILA!!! Here I was!! The museum was really amazing. I did manage to get some pictures with hot studs.... including Sadam Hussain !!!! Nope.. I am not kidding.. His statue was there as well along with Pablo Picasso, and David Beckham.

That night we took a quick spin at the most famous HARRODS!! The mall was magnificent with encrypted woodcraft of the Egyptians Pharaohs in the walls and staircase railings. I met my old high school friend PRIYA, after 6 years. She drove us around London and actually showed us the residence of LAXMI MITTAL!! The billionaire of England. Just couple of weeks ago, I had watched a show titled, “ Most extravagant wedding,” and the Mittal had actually rented the PALACE of VERSAILLE for his daughter’s wedding!!! MAN!!! What a life…

That night, Priya took us to her resturant, “HIMALAYAN SPICE,” and we had lovely and delicious, dhal,bhat and masuuuu!!!! yup! this was HER resturant!

This is it for today.. Next time.. I will fill up with the story from PARIS!!! the city of love!!

Promise.. lots more to come!!