Less than 48 hrs to go!!!
And all of a sudden there seems to be a million things to do. Well, the main thing is packing but there's actually more to pack than I realized. Actually, the main reason is that my schedule for tomorrow got thrown off because of the funeral for Jashaan's dad. But as long as I don't dick off then I should be ok.
Now, because I am leaving in a couple of days the family decided to celebrate
Rakhi a little early this year. For those of you that don't know Rakhi is the greatest, and oldest, feminist plot of all time!! Sisters tie a little piece of string on their brother's wrist and give them a little sweet and in return the brother gives the sister a gift!!! So you can imagine with 2 sisters and 1 cousin in Winnipeg these are the most expensive strings and sweets I have to get every year :P
I jest. It's actually a wonderful Indian festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters and an occasion my family always makes time for.
So for the impatient (ahem, Sarah :P) here are some photos :)
(Note: Unlike most years we did not get all decked out and dressed up for the occasion. I did not even shave. So basically this is the Chahal's at our scrubbiest :D)
Chilling in the back yard with Sheetal (left) and Asha (right)
The mom and her kids
The fam (Dadi in the centre)
Dev & Sheetal horsing around
My mom and my dad horsing around
Anjali in all her glory
Some rare moments of bonding b/w Asha and I that doesn't involve McDonald's :P
Finishing up w/ Sheetal
See you in Chicago ;)
ps - Congrats to Camilla who started her new job in London on Monday!!! Now you have a place to crash in London :P
Just one of those weird days...
Well, to be honest it was actually perfectly fine till about 7pm. That's when I went to go visit Jashaan for pooja at his house. As you may recall, Jashaan's father passed away a couple of days ago so the family is hosting poojas everynight till the funeral next week.
Anyways, it was just such a weird eerie feeling being there. As soon as I stepped into the house... silence. Complete uter silence. There were some other family friends there but they weren't saying a word. Everybody just staring at the ground. Jashaan was doing... well he was doing as well as could be expected considering the circumstances. I sat outside with him for about 15 mins, just listening to him and letting him talk. He for sure was trying to fight back the tears at time. I can't even imagine what he's going through right now. It was just such a weird mind trip being there.
As I was driving back home though, and contemplating life and death and how to deal with it, I was stopped at a red turning light when all of a sudden my car is jolted violently forward. Turns out the driver behind me had his foot slip off the brake and he banged right into me. Now this wasn't just any ol' car this was a Coca-Cola delivery truck... like a big beast!!! :S Luckily he hadn't been accelerating his foot just slipped off the brake so as far as I can tell (for now) there are only minor scratches and paint scraps to the rear fender, although my neck and head do hurt a little. Hello whiplash!!!
Now, when I got home I got a call from an old friend who is now a hair dresser. Earlier in the day we had spoke and I made an appt. w/ her to get my hair touched up before I go to Chicago. But she called me after I got home and said we'd have to re-schedule.... cuz she got fired!!! It's actually not her fault, really. She was in a pretty bad car accident a little while back and so has been working reduced hours because of it, but she was fired because she wasn't 'bringing in enough money' :S Anyways, I told her we will still meet up on Tuesday and she even offered to cut my hair at her house :D
So, all in all... just one of my weirder days..
Back in the day
My parents' 25th anniv. was earlier this year but we are having a massive celebration in October. One of the things we are doing for that is putting together a DVD picture slide show. So, for the past 3-4 days I've been rumagging through nearly 25yrs of photos (prints and digital alike!!)
Anyways, for those of you that have (or haven't) met my parents I thought you might like to see what they (and I) looked like back in the day...
My mom. An independant, spirited and fashionable lady.
My dad. A sophisticated gentleman.
I think my parents are making a prank phone call :P
And of course your's truly in his first ever shower
And the first seeds of sibling rivalry are planted :D
(That's my grandmother in the back and cousin Crystal on the left)
The realities of life....
Yesterday afternoon I found out that the dad of my good high school friend (Jashaan) passed away due to complications from a freak car accident. Firstly, my most heart-felt and sincere sympathies for you and your family Jashaan. I can't even imagine all the pain and sadness that you are feeling right now with your loss. But I know that you have enough strength of character to face the tough road ahead.
It was really weird learning about that though. Here's a good friend of mine, one that I grew up with and have known since I was 9yrs old, and all of a sudden his dad has passed away :( The sad thing is that every day there is always the chance of that freak accident occuring, or bad health catching up with you or any set of circumstances occuring which can change your life forever.
I've never really thought about (God forbid) my parents passing away. They've just always been there. And I can't imagine it any other way. But after hearing the news of Jashaan's dad I guess it just sort of hit me that the reality is that any day they could be gone. You know, I think I fear that more than my own death.
Especially, because I'm moving to Chicago I have to be more vigilant about ensuring they're living a healthy lifestyle, spending time with them and learning all their secret recipes!!! Because all of a sudden, unexpectedly one day I know I'm going to have to make those dreaded phone calls...
Messed up world
Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski, deputy chief of staff for the Israeli army, said Israel has not ruled out a ground invasion in its plan to limit the striking capability of Hezbollah.
"At this stage we do not think we have to activate massive ground forces into Lebanon but if we have to do this, we will. We are not ruling it out,"
Courtesy of
cbc.caAlso on 14 July, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that Hezbollah is ready for “open war” with Israel. In addition, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, warned Israel of a “fierce response” if it attacks Syria.
Courtesy of
haaretz.co.ilWhat is this world coming to? Now, Israel wants to invade and occupy the country? The Middle East is such a messed up place. And the US is basically backing a full out Israeli offensive... all in the name of anti-terrorism of course.
But in the end what this conflict boils down to is people and cultures wanting their own land, their own place to call home (or is that a naive view?). And it is such a shame that the egos and greediness of figureheads and politicians result in the death of thousands of innocent people.
BBQ Day!!!
The chicken is marinated, the kebabs are rolled and the hot dogs are... well, they're here! Today we're having a MASSIVE BBQ (almost 50ppl coming) to celebrate Asha's 21st birthday (which was actually last week) and my graduation! You know what that means... bring on the
tandoor!!!
Only a week and a half left to go till Chicago. I haven't packed yet, but don't really need to. My mom said she'll take me shopping for new clothes later on this week. Mexx here we come :D
Happy Bday to DannyB. I heard he had quite the bbq party last night. Knowing his family I'm sure he & Mel (his dad) were the drunkest of the lot :P
Ok, time to go cook the chicken :D
Now with video!
I decided to compile a number of pics from the Europe trip into a video so it would be easier to show family and friends instead of doing a slide show. These aren't all the pics, and they aren't any scenic ones. Rather they are a compilation of funny or happy moments from the trip (i.e. many Portrait of a Brown Man shots :P).
You can
click here to see it.
Warning!!!! The movie contains many, many, MANY scenes of nudity. So if you have a single sister or female friend btwn the ages of 18-23 make sure they are nearby ;) And it is 14mins long!! Enjoy :D
All booked
Well I haven't posted in a while (apologies) so I'll make this a 2-for-1 post.
Yesterday I booked my ticket to
Chicago. Woohoo!!! July 26 is the big day :D I found out that the corporate housing they are providing me with (for my first 2 mnths there) is just a 2 minute walk to work in downtown Chicago (aka
The Loop). I just hope I don't get too used to the luxury of waking up 10mins before I have to be @ work :P
A lot of people have been asking me if I'm excited about going. Well, I'm excited about the fact that I'm moving to Chicago, a wonderful and amazing city (from what I hear at least)!!! I've always imagined myself living in a big metro city like Chicago and the fact that it is relatively close to home is nice as well.
I'm already thinking about the things that I want to do when I get there to keep myself busy. For example, I will def. look into a couple of fall rec leagues (probably soccer or
ultimate) and I fully intend on taking up the drums. And I don't even need to mention golf ;)
Now all that is fine and dandy, but I guess I still have the same anxiousness and nervousness that I had before I moved away from home to Waterloo, or before I headed to Singapore. Moving to a new and (really) big city but not really knowing anybody very well is a bit of a daunting task. What if I don't fit in? What if I don't make any friends? What if I was wrong and I don't get along very well with my co-workers? These are all things that are going through my head. Plus, stuff with Camilla is still in my head so I hope that doesn't mess me up too much.
But I digress, overall I'm sure Chicago will be a wonderful time and I welcome all of you to come visit me anytime you'd like. My door's always open :D
But the real reason you've come... pictures!! And without further adieu...
Manchester,
Newcastle and
Geordie Cruise.
Well to be honest we didn't do a whole lot in Manchester. Mainly just walked around with Camilla for most of the day.
Of course Rohit had other plans (aka propoganda)
The boys!!!
Portrait of a Brown Man
Let's go eat some rocks!!
Season 5 of 24
Rohit falling in love with a statue
But me stealing his new man ;)
After walking around we met up with some of Camilla's friends (Lee, Tess and Andreas) and her brother for a wonderful meal at a nice Greek restaurant. Afterwards we went back to Andreas' place for some shisha. Unfort. your heroes weren't on the ball and didn't bring our cameras :( But we did drive down the road at 70 MPH!!!!
The next day Rohit and I said g'bye to Camilla and were off to Newcastle to catch our ferry over to Holland. I have to say though, one thing that I have found pleasant about England the two times I have visited there is the country side. It seems quite peaceful and beautiful. I am looking fwd to exploring it at some point in my life.
In Newcastle though we were mainly just killing time. So we walked around and loitered.
We also discovered that some people didn't pass Grade 2 English (can you spot the mistake?)
We also got slightly lost :D
But alas, we just headed for the big ship.
And Rohit showed his true colours.
But finally we were on board!!! Our cabin was actually pretty amazing.
What wasn't amazing though was the price of food!!! But being the smart Systems Engineers we are, we figured that out BEFORE we got on board. So, we walked on board with our dinner AND breakfast in hand :D
Then we proceeded with the usual shinanigans.
Now let me tell you something about this cruise. It wasn't a Caribbean or Alaskan cruise where you'd have some families, some young couples and some retired people. No. This was a Geordie cruise! The entertainment: cheesy Las-Vegas style lounge cover bands. The Casino: 2 VLT machines and 1 black jack table. The atmosphere: FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Although Rohit and I initially felt out of place (we were the only coloured people on the ENTIRE boat.. not just Indian, but coloured!!!) we ended up having a great time thanks a fun night club on the boat.
Ok, well mainly it was due to beer but by the end of the night we were known as 'The Canadians' and had a great time :D I don't know what time we went to bed. But I know that when I woke up we were already in Holland :P
