Jingle All the Way !!!

This Christmas..though not as much fun as anticipated was still good. The snow blizzard kept us all in for 3 days and no one can move out or in and thankfully after 2 days the snow clearing ppl are outside my house to remove the 1.5 foot snow buried outside my garage. No way was I going to shovel all those myself and go out. I had to cancel my get together with friends to whom I was suppose to cook and have fun with before I leave but I guess its fine. I would plan the same when I come back from India. And with the fruit cake I was supposed to make...I don't wanna make just for myself...the whole point was to share with every-one..so that gets postponed by a month too and the best part about this is that the fruits get to be soaked for 2 months this time in rum and I believe it would test better than usual coz I hrd the more it is in rum the more tasty the cake wld turn out to be..so everything happens for good.. Other than the part that I dint find my degree certificate everything went on fine this Christmas..Its a sign i have to start becoming better organized and be careful n responsible here afters and may be that wld be my resolution for new year..lets c ..but for sure I would work on that and pray I dont get stuck in India and the visa person there doesn't ask for my degree and fail my visa...Fingers crossed!!!

Some pics from this Christmas :

Off to India

Its 44 months already and I am too excited to go to India in couple of days. what I am going to do there is still not decided but I am sure happy to c my house, my friends back home, n all my fav places back there and then waiting to do lots of shopping too...n most of all see my grandmom in dubai and stay with her for 3 days...i hope the trip turns out to be lots of fun :-)

Severes... Please... Avada Kedarva!!!

Versus

















Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince. Spoiler Alert!!!

Yep I saw the premiere of the much awaited movie of the year : Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince. Happy that the midnight sales alone crossed $22.5 million dollars..haven't heard such big numbers for the 1st day first show ever. but I thought I should share what I thought about the movie overall.

Half Blood Prince is my favorite of all 7 books. So yes I had lots n lots of expectations on it being filmed on-screen. But after watching the movie for 2hrs 33 mins yesterday I dint get the same feeling I got after I completed the book. Came back and thought about why that could be and realized that the director missed many things in the movie and he somewhat completely changed the mood of the plot.

Cons:

Firstly the plot dint have so much romance n comedy and somehow I felt it was the most prominent part in the movie..
Secondly, the plot was supposed to be DARK..where it was written in such a way that u wld hate Snape and Voldemort a lot throughout the book. You were not supposed to find out Snape as a nice guy until before last 3 or 4 chapters but in the movie they never concentrated him as a bad person nor gave importance to the half blood prince concept. In climax, he just says I am half blood prince and goes off and that was not how it was supposed to be the whole plot.
Furthermore, in this book we came to know a lot about Voldemort and his childhood, his family and all and how he had committed a murder before he joined Hogwarts and how bad a person he was. But the movie dint have nething about ne of this...they just showed couple of memories which lasted maximum 5 mins n said so less about his childhood. This movie should have made you hate and fear Voldemort even more to because you finally understood how Voldemort came to be.
Thirdly, the book starts off with the conversation between prime mister and ministry of magic n he resigning n all and it was never even mentioned in the movie..I thought if they could show death eaters in London city demolishing stuff and muggles getting to know abt them , they should have pictures the scene as a must.
The saddest part and the important part of the book is the funeral at the end. It was of the most important character in the book and it should have been given importance in a better way.
The mood and the anticipation we readers got at the end of the book 6 to read book 7 wasn't there at the end of this movie coz this is the book which paved path for the 7th. May be coz I am talking in point of view of a reader n not that of a from a non-reader.

Pros:

I think this is the best Harry Potter movie so far. The cast is matured and they keep gettign better in their acting skills. I thought they have shown a mixture of dark, thrilling and comedy together and did a good job of what they have together. More than nethign it was visually stunning and made me not complain on wat scenes which were there. I could only complain in those stuff they missed, but the ones which were takes where taken to perfection. Camera work was awesome to see and wonder how they move the camera around the castle from outside. The most favorite among this work which I could recollect was the scene where Ron n Lavender are snogging in one castle top and the camera just shifts to the next castle gradually where Draco is staring at the sky with some dark secrets inside him. I loved that scene.Snape has always been one of my fav character n Alan Rickman suits this character a lot. Felton was really good as Draco this time though I would have been happier if he had more dialogues n part to play as in the book. for a change nice to see Hermoine's emotions, reaction and matured acting. Was so different from previous movies. She seemed to have changed all of the sudden like a love-bug had bitten her. But it was cute. Radcliffe was really good too this time. Like I read somewhere"Radcliffe's growing maturity as Harry gives the role a touching gravity. His scenes with Gambon, superb as Dumbledore, exude ferocity and feeling, notably when they seek a horcrux, where part of the Dark Lord's soul resides, on a lake teeming with undead corpses." Wondered if non-reader understood about horcruxs at all.book concentrated about that for a chapter. guess it would be covered in next movie which is in 2 parts. I am sure the director would do justice n make it a grand finale...But it would have been nice if 6 and 7 where taken together n screen in a span of 6 months like LOTR did. Only diff LOTR , all 3 parts were finished filming and then they released the 1st one..

Overall I was completely entertained with the movie and was happy to go n watch it with 1000's of fans like me..sitting next to me..cheering for all scenes. Yes, the disappointment may be coz it was my fav book and I wanted all parts to be in but perhaps its not possible and they have to sell the movie commercially to the audience to get all the $ 355 million dollars they have put to it.

So my final verdict is..a complete entertainer which is the best among all 6 but could have had less romance as romantic angle takes up too much time of the movie. Next one is in November 2010..long time before I could even think about it..for now I have lots of stuff to do and next year I might have lots of stuff happening in my life..So Harry Potter until next year end..Goodbye...

Things to do in Vegas

I had a friend asking me what he and his family can do in Vegas. So I thought being an experienced person going to Vegas so many times, I shall consolidate what one can see and do in Vegas other than drinking , pubbing n gambling which I dont do. So here it is:

• Shark Reef Aquarium, Mandalay Bay . Really good but its needs tickets which means u need to spend.
• Canal Shoppes, Venetian. If not buy anything it is really nice to hang out here, do window shapping, eat at a restaurant n just take pics
• Classic car collection: Imperial Palace. If some1 likes old cars then this is a plcae to go n see what were there. Atleats I was amazed coz I had no knowledge of cars.
• Fremont Street , downtown. Best time to go is night. You get to have a full street topped with lights instead of sky surrounding you. Was fun to walk between the street. Shows every night on the hour every hour beginning at dusk with the last show at midnight.
• Dolphin habitat at The Mirage. Havent been to it but I heard its cool. It has tickets and so again we need to pay. There is also the white tiger habitat here. Another outdoor thing in Mirage which is free is the Erupting volcano. Show lasts about 3 minutes and can be seen nightly after dark, every 15-20 minutes until midnight.
• World's largest atrium at Luxor. I went in just to c how they constructed rooms n elevators inside a pyramid..it was amazing.
• Thrill rides which includes the 1,200 feet off the ground roller coaster: on top of the Stratosphere Tower (the only one i took among the 3 extreme rides). A worth for thrill seekers. I am a scare-crow n no way would I dare to try the other 2.
• Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo. Its free and its like inside a park inside hotel. Fun to walk around n take pics.The Wild Habitat has 14 penguins, 10 flamingos, assorted exotic birds, two albino turtles and koi. Open 24 hours a day on the terrace in the back next to the swimming pool.
• Madame Tussaud's wax museum at Venetian. Din't go for it coz I am not fan on taking pics next to celebs but heard its fun n since tickets r a bit expensive you can buy them at Half price shops(I would explain abt it below)
• Excaliber. Now this is a casino which is like a castle and though it looks like its for kids..I would prefer to go there n play the arcade games n win soft toys I am fond of but other than that you have Merlin subdues fire-breathing dragon in hotel's moat. Best viewed from the driveway or from the drawbridge. The fire breathing beast lurking in Excalibur's castle moat can be seen in battle every hour on the hour from 6 p.m. to midnight nightly.
• Bellagio(my fav) : watching the musical water fountains r a must n from the top of eiffel tower I would say is a sure shot Show 5:00 p.m. to midnight. Show run every half hour.
• Caesars Palace(another fav): the forum shops atleats for windows shoping r a must see. Atlantis Water Show(Free) in the Forum Shops. (At the end of the street by the Schwarz Toy Store). First show at 10:00 a.m. and the last show at 11:00 p.m., daily on the hour. Caesar and Brutus Show in the Forum Shops. (at the end of the street where Planet Hollywood restaurant is located.) First show at 10:00 a.m. and the last show at 11:00 p.m., daily, on the hour .
• Circus Circus: Visit the carnival midway located on the main casino mezzanine. Has over 200 games. Has thrilling circus acts including clowns, aerialists and jugglers are featured in the center ring.Also has the Adventure indoor theme park kinda thingy..I went once I think. has some indoor small roller costers.
  
• MGM Grand: Lion Habitat which is free n u get to see some lions through see through glasses.
• New York-New York Hotel/Casino: the skyline n the roller coster is fantastic..a must go
• Treasure Island: A pirate battle in Bucaneers Bay shpow which I saw first 2 times has been replaced with an new show called Sirens featuring female performers. Show is free and performed nightly seven days a week at front of hotel at 4:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Its outside the casino n is free.
• Tropicana: Magician Rick Thomas's tiger habitat located in front of the hotel. FREE to the public, the habitat offers guests and passers-by a rare opportunity to get close to a few of nature's most majestic creatures. The habitat is open Saturday through Thursday, 1 to 10 p.m.
• Rio: Masquerade Village Parade performances every hour from 4pm to 10 p.m. Dark Tuesday and Wednesday. I kinda liked it and its free and had time.
• Eiffel Tower: Paris Hotel & Casino: A must see. If possible please take the elevators which is paid n go to top n watch bellagio fountains. I would prefer payign n going here than stratosphere as I am scared of thrill rides neways.
• Coke store and the M 'n' M store. I like both tthese products so I went there n roam around n got lots of M 'n' M's. ( this is one of the places u get the half price tickets)
• Visit each casinos..take pics..that would take off half the day u have got
• Watch shows..vegas has some relaly talented ppl and even the adult shows have a limit in showing nuditiy and they make sure they make it musical n have less vulgar in it. I took my mom n dad to a show called V the ultimate show .There was some relaly talented ppl and they enjoyed and I enjoyed. Ofcourse for all the shows or for wax museum or for spl dinner I always go to the half price shop.

Half Price shops:
Las Vegas has a place where folks who don't plan ahead and who want to save some bucks for the slot machines, can line up and save. Their website won't list the shows up for grabs at half price but you can get a "sneak peek" to entice you. Show availability posts at 9:30am and the box offices open at 10:00am.

Where are the Box Offices?

Showcase Mall - South Strip at the base of the giant Coke Bottle just north of the MGM Grand Hotel, across from New York New York.
Hawaiian Marketplace - ½ block south of Planet Hollywood in the Hawaiian Market Place (just in front of the Polo Towers). Look for the big red awning just south of Harley Davidson Café.
Fashion Show Mall - middle of the strip just past Treasure Island, underneath Neiman Marcus directly across from The Wynn Hotel.
North Strip - middle of the strip just past The Wynn Hotel & Peppermill Restaurant just before the Riviera Hotel.
Fremont Street Downtown - Downtown at Four Queens Hotel facing the Freemont Street Experience. Note: Four Queens is open from 10am – 7pm
Bills Gambling Hall and Casino - across the street from Bally’s

Last But Not Least - A Savings Coupon!

The Tix 4 Tonight folks provide a $2.00 coupon for you to save a couple of bucks on the service charge. This can be found on the website. Print out the coupon before you head to the box office.

Las vegas is lots of fun. I might have missed lots of stuff but I think you would know what to do once you land there. Time just goes away easily and end of day you get horribly tired.

Trip to Cookgramam a.k.a Pattikaadu a.k.a Countryside

Oh yes...for the past 3 weeks I have been making trips and I was tired of them, but something that made me excited is that I am gonna have my first time visit to a country side home and have slumber party with gals. Furthermore the fun part was it was Liz's parents house we (Dilusha, Sarah, Radhika and Liz) . Liz and I have been like twin sisters and luved each others company and always had fun times with each other. It was so nice that she invited all of us for 1.5 days to her parents house just months before she was leaving Kansas for good.

We decided to leave on Saturday morning and come back by Sunday evening 4:30pm. I was decided we 5 were going in my car. We were supposed to bring 3 meals for Saturday and Sunday. Liz's parents were supposedly providing us breakfast for sunday. Sarah, dilusha and Radhika were supposed to come to my house at 6:30 am on Saturday. with difficulty I got up early enough not to be complained by ne1 tht I was the reason to be late and it turned out that other were late and they came by 7am. I then went to Liz's place and we started from her house by 7:45 to her parents house nearly 4 hrs away.

Liz preferred to use her direction instead of my nuvifone n said hers wld be a shorter time than nuvi getting confused n recalculating n delaying us. We finally reached there around 11:30. As I was parking the car in their yard...3 huge dogs started coming towards our car. For me it takes time to get friendly with a dog until which I get freaked out by its presence..but somehow I got used to it n tried to find my way inside the house to find 3 more small dogs inside..all which were running around our legs trying to lick us everywhere...Liz intro her sweet parents and then she asked me to go upstairs n asked me to select ne one of the two room there and choose that as our bedroom for the night. Dilusha was my roomie for the night. It was a beautiful room under the roof of the house with stars stuck to the ceiling..was like a dream come true . We then freshened ourselves and went outside to have our horse back rides. They totally had 5 horse that day..3 belonged to each of Liz, her dad n mom and the other 2 were what they were boarding in for others. They were really cool horses. Liz got Gabby her hrse ready along with one of the horses they were boarding for us to ride on. Sarah volunteered first followed by me and dilusha. I was awesome ride in their 120 acre patch. After that we took off to walk on her fav pasture n c the missile base. I was a fun walk By the time we came back it was getting dark and we were all sooo tired. We ate our dinner and then went to bed..

Next day we headed for another walk in her neighborhood and came back for lunch where we had dilushas vadas n brownies, Liz's mom's pie with ice cream along with what we had got. We then took off around 12 back home as we had to be back for Sarah's church mass at 5pm.

It was really fun and a different experience of my life...had good girls day out!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

This weekend was my quarter century b'day and I cannot think of anything perfect than how it went. Compared to usual, my birthday celebrations started a day before. I had scheduled lunch out with my closest buddies at Garmin. Among everyone I chose Liz, Radhika, Dilusha, Sarah, Brian and Abhish. Each of them have cared and still care for me so much and have always been there for help. Another plus was though each one was from a different department in Garmin, they know a lot about each other through me and I don't have to introduce and make them know about each other. We all went to Pei Wei, an Asian diner. It was fun 90 minutes lunch with all of them. The best part of the lunch was me wearing the dress I stitched along with Liz. Without her idea and help, I could not have even come up with this dress worth just $2.50. I love dresses and it somehow suited me well than I thought it would. I wore it on Friday just to surprise her and make her happy and yes she did. that million dollar worth smile i s nothing compared to the effort I put in

Around midnight I got few of my friends coming over with a cake (the cake was chocolate fudge make and tasted awesome). They spent around 45mins with me and it was fun talking crap as usual :-P. I had some 10 people call me to wish me. Thanks to them for remembering and doing so. Even my friend from Finland, cousin from England and a friend from India called me(not bad I had international well wishers too :-D).

Then next day morning phones started pouring in right from 8:30am and somehow I felt I was talking non-stop for the next few hours until lunch time came where I made rajma n paratha and ate it while talking to friends. Somehow evening came and I had sent out a mail to some friends asking them out on a dinner in an Indian rest if they are free. around 6 had replied and I went for the same at 7:30. We all had a wonderful dinner (totally fulfilling) and to my surprise margi had got another cake and I cut it at the end of the dinner...Now this was surprising knowing I had already cut one midnight..was really sweet of her. We then came out of the restaurant and nearly talked for an hour before we headed to our houses. I was happy this day and that what counts. I don't have to do something special all coz it was my birthday. I did exactly what I like to do and it got me enuf happiness.

On Sunday, it was raining all morning and it just stopped suddenly and the sun popped out and it turned out to be a wonderful day to be outside. so I headed out to the zoo with my friend coz I knew our zoo was pretty small that I can cover it in 3.30 hrs before it closes at 4pm. Yahoo1 I did make it and completed the whole trail of the zoo close to 3 hrs. Was a looooong walk but was worth with the wonderful wind after the showers stopped.

This weekend was very perfect and there's gonna be more coming next weekend when my niece Niyati is celebrating her 2nd b'day!!! Watch out for a blog on that very soon!

Laid-Back Chicago Trip

Last weekend I went to Chicago yet again to visit my friends and have a relaxing weekend, the only difference being I would be in Shanky's house relaxing n not in my house. It did turn out I had a wonderful weekend. It was relaxing as well as productive. I could shop, go and watch Ayan, meet Meera and Sharmi after 5 years, make enuf mokkai to bug Shanky, plus have a road trip of 8:30 hrs. It was perfect weekend. I think this month does turn out to be fun for me all the weekends. This weekend being my b'day I hope I do somethign fun, next week is my niece niyati's b'day and I'm off to California to celebrate it with her and the weekend after that I am gonna visit Liz and her parents in concordia alogn with my lunch mates and their respective husbands. wow April Madness has started and I'm enjoyign it already!!!

Dental visit!

Last Month I had a dental visit and I thought I would share my experiences with you all(drafted it the day I came back but never got time to update). I went at 10 am for the visit and the doctor called me in 10 mins. Thereafter she did xrays 4 of them(diff angles) and 1 more whole mouth x ray. She then asked me if I had ne concerns. I told her that past few days my gums r bleeding while brushing and felt there is some infection perhaps. She then confirmed that it is as I assumed and I have a disease called periodontal disease. I have this link which totally explain what it is(Click this: Explains gum disease and treatments and Explains Periodontal disease in particular). She then asked me when I went to a dentist last and I think I went 7 or more years before. She told my teeth r really strong n helathy but my gums r infected. She said this is coz of constant accumulation of plaque between tooth and asked me if I floss daily. She said sometimes not flossing can cause infection soon. Click here for knowing whats flossing and Press here for a picture of flossing . She then showed me few videos about the disease and showed me how they r gonna treat me. She then said she would treat the right side of the teeth today since doing the whole mouth would take lots of time. She first used a cotton swabs and applied topical anesthetic over upper n lower jaws (Click here to know wats topical anesthetic). then she gave me 8 injections 4 on the top and 4 bottom between each tooth. It was a big sting like feeling. Donno if the topical anesthetic was ne use..it did give a sharp and strong sting. but she was saying not bad u did it really well. She gave injections for local anesthesia(Click here to see how the injection was). I was amazed actually as there weren't many syringes n needles but this one system. Plus like in india I dint had to spit every time the blood. They had this suction air inside mouth which as anfd when she treats and pours water sucks it automatically. Mine was Early periodontal disease with pocket size from 4 to 5mm. so she did Scaling and Root planning and taught me how to floss. She also said power brushes r better than normal ones for the gums. they were really nice to me today. At the end of 2.5 hrs treatment, my right side was totally clean. she showed me the pictures she took earlier and my present state. was a huge difference. They don't have ne vacancies till may 12th but would call me if ne cancellations before that. Thankfully insurance covered 80% and I dint have to pay much. It was around $50.

Funny part was my right side was numb for next 3 hrs at work. I had to eat lunch and I dint feel a thing on right side. The doc warned I would bite my jaws while chewing so I ate on left side. I could not pronounce lots of letters and Brian had good fun making me speak words especially words starting with P and B. I am glad I went today and I asked her so many questions and now I know a lot abt gums n teeth and will make sure I try my best to keep it healthy.

Wake up Masochists!!!

It's 11:50 now and I am not sleeping but writing this blog..Interestingly I was about to sleep an hour ago but then I started watching Sex and the City. What I thought I would watch for 5 mins turned out to be for 30 mins. There was something really interesting about the show today: it was about Carrie's and Mr.Big's relationship. I learnt 2 new terms today : S/M relationship and La Douleur Exquise! Now S/M relationship meant : a sadist/masochist relationship where in the guy inflicts pain all the time(sadist) and the gal accepts the pain, the punishment from him(masochist). La Douleur Exquise meant: The pain of loving someone that you know you can never have; by circumstance or subjective decision. In simple words its the exquisite pain of loving someone unattainable. These 2 things got me into thinking about how many Indian woman go through this in their day to day life. Since I have seen a lot of it, I thought would write a blog on what I feel about this.

I’m sure like me, thousands of women all over the world asked themselves the same question after watching the episode “La Douleur Exquise!” off Sex and the City’s Season Two Episode 12: Do we really think a relationship has to be hard work to be successful? Yeah..at least I believe that anything requires hard work..but how much..is there a limit??? Nowadays, so many women stay in relationships which are abusive or somewhat destructive, and for what? Why do we women feel the need to put ourselves through it? Now trust me if I am writing this ..means I have really seen it happening...A number of women may end up with a few cuts and bruises or a scratch here and there and worst she has to come up with reason to hide it from the rest of the world. Emotional and psychological abuse happens in a lot of relationships, except this type of abuse is a more subtle form of violence. This can include telling her she is useless, stupid,telling her she is a hopeless mother/housewife/daughter/girlfriend/sister, making threats against her, keeping her isolated from friends or family, and making distorted ‘justifications’ for the abuse to make her feel it is her fault and that she deserves it.

Thinking about all these I thought to myself WHY? May be coz' it is not an easy choice to give up on or stop loving someone, especially if you have committed your life to them. At least I would feel like that, if i love someone and am totally committed to him. Many women would also have children by these men, which can also be a factor as to why they stay. In our culture, women are regarded as responsible for the balance of family life. When things have gone wrong, women fear that it will be seen as their fault and will often see the failure as their own. Interestingly we women ourselves will come up with reasons as to why we stay.

Reason one. ‘Being hopeful!’ The woman will begin to believe that love conquers all and will not leave since she is still in love with him. She may believe that the violence and control is not really her partner’s true nature and that she has a special bond with her partner, to which she will never find with anyone else. The woman may think she can help her partner over come this and she may refuse to leave, as it may be seen as she has failed. Then comes total denial. She will stay as she wants her relationship to go back to the way it used to be and believes the abuse is not all that bad.

Reason two. ‘Afraid of being alone!’ She is used to life with her partner and does not want any change. She believes she will never find any one better and she does not want to raise her children alone. All her confidence has gone and she feels mentally beaten down and that she can not make it on her own. Again, in total denial and so she will think she needs him.

Reason three. ‘Sense of responsibility!’ She feels she owes it to her partner, as a good woman stands by her man. She refuses to give up, as she cannot bear the responsibility of the relationship failing. It is partly her fault, she feels the responsibility is hers for her partner’s behavior and finally, again total denial, She can’t leave him, as he is not well and so needs her.

But some women seem all ready to forgive men. They are willing to pretend to themselves that they do not care about certain behaviors. They believe in second chances. Then the third, forth and fifth ones. These women gradually become immune to the negative behaviors of men, to the point where it is acceptable. But why all these?? : coz' they cannot imagine being on their own??? very well possible...or do they think something similar to what my mom brought me up with: ' anything that happens..happens for good'. Is this why they stay together??? I really don't know the answer..but I do know its wise not to stick in a relation when you realize its going beyond conrol. This is not a fairy tale to think that no matter what the guy does we can live happily ever after with him...its time to wake up. Time to know when Enough is Enough. These are few quotes from that episode, I liked : "Recognise when the growing pains stop in your relationship and when the pain pains take over. We are being masochists, not optimists if we continue to walk this line in a relationship. We are the sadists if we tie ourselves to these destructive relationships, even though our partner has the whip. So untie yourself. There may not be anything exquisite about it, but at least you’ll be free."

P.S I know its such a sentimental and emotional blog I wrote today...Donno may be coz' I could relate to what I saw in my life, that I thought I should write something for those ladies..the ladies who are brought up with a culture that one should stick with a person no matter how bad he treats u and accept to live with it for the rest of her life..But do we have to?? Whats right and whats wrong??? I just hope I can find an answer to this question one day!!! Perspectives differ, people differ and so do I in my thoughts from others..Thanks for reading this looooong blog!!!