" If I had known Papa was going to pass away so early, I would've documented his life on paper and shared his stories in words. But I didn't. I was seven when he passed away and the unfortunate regretful fact is I will never know him the way others did because I was only seven. " For the longest time, I avoided talking about Papa. The truth is, even hearing people talk about him stirs an unfamiliar feeling in me and I'm not sure I know how to deal with that. Recently, though, after numerous interviews with writers, I set down my determination to start on a new project of letters addressed to Papa. I titled the new collection Letters to my Papa  and this comes years after I unintentionally put away my paper and pen and left my passion for writing behind. I used to write short stories when I was in Secondary School. I would marvel at the way words moved me the way my first essay dedicated to Mama moved her to tears. I was awed by the power of words a...

Good day, every one! This weather calls for bun-up hair! Beginning the post with a #selfie I took before I left the house early this afternoon just because I decided to try a different style today. I decked myself in comfy clothes since I was going to spend the day with my baby cousins. ;-) Gonna asteric (*) some terms I'll be using in the rest of my post so read till the end to find out what they mean. The Indian blood in me is part of a relatively small group of Indian dialect known as Malayali, originating from the Indian state of Kerela (which is where my Grandfather is from). And because we're considered a small group in Singapore, terms we use to address our family members are quite unfamiliar to others. There was a time I didn't embrace the Indian blood in me because Indians were the minority and people often made fun of the Tamil language. Whenever I said I'm half-Indian, I was immediately associated with the Tamils and hence became a subj...

Haven't been able to update with ease because I recently sent my Macbaby for servicing, which cost me $128 , and so I've no means of transferring my photos from my camera to my iPhoto. And then my phone has started acting up again so Camera360 keeps crashing and when I tried re-installing, it just won't load anymore??? Also, my phone's running out of battery very  quickly. I think it's a sign that its time is up. Admittedly, barely anyone nowadays would use a phone for more than 2 years. My iPhone 4s lasted me through 4 years. -inserts proud smiley face here- Well, only 5 more months till I get to change my phone! Anyway, here's the update I've been wanting to post: Yesterday's get-up in the sister's  Ohvola 's dress. It is a size L and slightly big on the armholes so the laser cut don't show as nice and it's supposed to be (but I'm not complaining). Body hugging on the top and flare at the bottom is a piece I really appreciate....

I recalled attempting the #100happydays challenge but it seems I've failed to keep track of the days. ☹ Instead! I've thought of a real   good topic for today's post. ( I think?  ☺) One of my aunts was reading a self-help book and she was coming up with 30 things she liked about herself. During which, she asked me if I could think of any adjectives starting with the letter B. And I gave her brilliant . With that in mind, I decided to come up with some 30 things I like about myself. ☺ I find that I'm always so hard on myself. When I fail to meet expectations, when I'm pressured to do consistently well in school, when life challenges me; I blame myself for all my shortcomings. I guess all I want to tell myself is you've done well . Through the years of endless struggles and difficulties, I've come this far in life. ☺ I stand strong and firm and I'm proud of myself for being me. And to every one else as well: You've done well. I know we all ...

Disclaimer: Long post ahead. I had to Google search adjectives starting with S  in order to come up with the title because I wanted to sound a bit more classy but I went with something simple and easily understood anyway (since that's the whole point of blogging to an unknown group of people - to be understood). Like the title suggests, today was pretty much a social  day for me. ☺ I woke up slightly past 10AM to a reminder from a colleague that I had to work this afternoon. I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about initially until I went through the conversation I had with my boss then I realized I agreed to relief a class of P5 Math from 12 to 2PM, which I did. Thank God I woke up in time. I haven't gone back to the Khatib branch in a long, long time so I wasn't sure if I was going to recognize the kids but all went well thankfully. I still remember the days I spent working at the counter, talking to all the parents and building rapport with the childr...

Finally put my mind to down to dedicating a post to my favourite fur-friend. ☺ Most of you, by now, should already know I've a dog, which I affectionately call Baby  or Shelty . He's been such a great source of strength and comfort to me since he stumbled into my life and that's probably the main reason why I'm penning this post - I want to remember him. Shelty's been with us for… close to 9 years now. We first brought him home when he was merely 7 months old. He hasn't changed very much since then. Judging from his name, Shelty is a Shetland Sheepdog. But, unlike the local ones you see, Shelty's pretty big . He was born and bred in Australia and although we were told he's a pedigree dog (meaning he's pure breed), we suspect he's a cross between a Collie and a Shetland Shelty, fully grown It was Vesak Day 2006. I remember because I had just entered Sec 1 and days before, my school arranged this event for us to purchase our tablet PCs...

A bit belated but here's wishing all mothers:  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ! I've always believed these set dates (e.g. Father's Day, Mother's Day, etc) are pretty over-commercialized but they have their purposes, especially for those who live every single day forgetting to be thankful to your mother. For me, I'm generous with my ' I love you' s. I make it a point to tell Mama I love her at least once every day, usually before we both go to bed. Mama is really… a wonder-wall to me. She raised the 3 of us on her own when Papa passed away suddenly 14 years ago. I was too young back then to understand what that meant but now I sort of figured how hard and challenging it must have been to bring us up. I'm really proud of Mama for fulfilling all the duties of both a father and mother. ❤ Unfortunately, though, we didn't celebrate Mother's Day this year because Mama was busy completing her coursework. She's been working hard the past 6~7 weeks,...

Greeting y'all with a selfie fresh after my haircut last week! ت I went back to bangs and also took 1-inch off the ends. And I've been receiving positive feedback ever since! My friends say I look different, younger and more innocent . My family, however, don't praise my appearance very much. In fact, they don't say anything whenever I change my hairstyle. ☹ That's that! With Monday coming to an end, I thought it'd be a good time to update this site a little before I plunge into completing a virtually never-ending list of items, which revolves around meeting deadlines and preparing for whatever upcoming (graded) assignments. Thankfully, it's the final week of school and as much as I'm nervous for the consecutive challenges , I can't wait for Friday to be over. ت There was literally  nothing much in school today. For the first time after 5 weeks, I met my group mates to think up a phenomenon to write a 5 page report on, which is...

23 minutes passed midnight and I suddenly had this urge to update this site. Moments ago, my mom, sis and I were sitting on the bed and we started talking about family . I conclude there are two kinds of family - the immediate one and the not-so-immediate one. In all honesty, I absolutely love  my immediate family. 5 years ago, I'd never have thought my family could mean this much to me but today, I know I can't live without them. (': Okay, the picture is missing the brother but you get the point. These people are the closest, dearest relationships I treasure unconditionally and I don't know what I'd do if we never found the meaning of truly being a family. I consider myself very blessed that my family, having been through all sorts of ups and downs, never gave up on each other and we stand firmly together. Even though the father left me at a very early age, even though I spent 10 years trying to fill that void he left behind, I'm proud to say I n...

The last day of September is always a very special day to me. And, truthfully, I look forward to this day every year because it is the one day I feel especially proud of myself, and of the person who made everything possible for me. Happy birthday, Mummy! In celebration of Mummy's birthday this year, she invited some close relatives to the house for dinner on Saturday. The peach-flavoured eggless cake we got from Emicakes. (-: We paid ~$49 for the 1kg cake and I was personally satisfied with it. Every one managed a slice of cake (there were about 20 of us, including 4 children). And what's even better is that it wasn't too sweet! I like the overall simplicity of the design and the taste was pretty decent too. (-: Quite worth the $49 we paid, in my opinion. They also have many more designs available for birthday cakes, mostly catering to children so the range for adults' cakes were rather limited. But the major plus point would be that all their cakes ...

Yes, I finally, finally  am willing to update the site on the last part of my vacation in Cardiff. ☺ 5 July 2013, Friday The siblings came to join us! ♥ Aunty Shyam and I waited close to an hour for them and I couldn't express how excited I was becoming with each minute passing. (I think everyone now knows I am extremely  close to my sister which explains why I couldn't wait to see her.) And when we finally reunited, I couldn't stop smiling! We drove home and it was almost lunch time. While Aunty Shyam and I were out waiting for the siblings, Aunty Su and Mama cooked lunch so there was literally a spread awaiting us when we got home. ☺ After that, we asked the brother what he would like to have for dinner. This being his virgin experience away from home, we had to make sure everything fell nicely into place (I say we treated him like a king ). Anyway, he said he felt like doing a BBQ and that was what we did! Everyone else went out to Asda to get whatever ingredient...