Year of 2010 - Memories Replenished

2010 !! I would call it a big year for me..

My 2010 year started with people saying "Kalyana kalai vandhachu" and "soon to be bride". These words sent tickles in my stomach as it was a big and huge step for me. Single life was soon to get over and I had to start thinking of the big future ahead of me. !! And when I used to go into this mode, some thought would tap and wake me up and ask me to move towards reality. I was working towards making myself more responsible for the coming year where I have to not only take care of myself but another person who will be the most important in my life. January flew like a whirl wind and the calendar dates were rushing into February which was going to be a big month for me. I wanted to enjoy this feeling but I know I was too late to start enjoying it. My visit to India in Feb before the wedding.. would I call it mixed emotions.. Yes ! I was soon thinking of returning back and stepping into Singapore as a couple. I will not be on my own but with my best friend who was going to be my husband. Life was breezy then and when I think of the fact that I need to treat my best friend my husband, felt weird in a way but nice. And yes.. I was tapping myself up this time as my flight landed in India. First time did I feel the gush of excitement and tension rushing down each nerve in my body. Writing an exam or attending an interview was better I guess. I was given a princess welcome to India. I knew noone would bother if I landed or not if not for the wedding. :) Thats the fact. Pampering was not the word I could use. Everyone at home would feed me with fruits and juices just to make sure I look flashy with glowing skin during the wedding. Oh gosh !! I am what I am I would think. Slowly I used to get night mares of leaving my parents and sister to live at my husbands place. But my mom used to keep saying that I will be in good hands and that things have changed so much these days when compared to her times. My sister used to comment that she will be at peace after I get married. lol. :) True ;)

Soon days flew and even before I could enjoy this pre-wedding fever feeling, there I was with Mehendi all over my hands and legs. And luckily it was bright red this time. And I think the calendar skipped a day or two :) and there I was at the most important place where a big life decision was going to happen. And yes it was the wedding hall. I had my best friend around me which gave me some strength. Literally yes :) Colorful silk sarees, kilos of gold, traditional Indian food, wedding decorations, mehendi, hairstyles, wedding gifts, meeting old old friends, music, hugs, kisses, flowers, garlands, agni, mantras, wedding wishes, etc etc. Typical Indian Wedding it was. And the big big day arrived. I was decked up with all jewels and traditional wear and at the blink of the eye, the mangal sutra got on me and I was "someones" wife. Totally different feeling making my best friend my husband. Well !! We wanted it this way :) It was one great big wedding I would day. Thanks to my parents to have made it such a wonderful celebration. The rest of the month flew by visiting temples and relatives and having nice Indian food.

And then back to Singapore.. Same old Singapore but new life I would say ! It was still like a small dream land where I was responding to wishes and comments on Facebook. :) Back to work, emails, laptop, meetings etc. March rushed and we were all waiting for the planned holiday in April. Phuket it was.. and with 10 of us, I was sure we would have crazy fun. We were all totally looking forward to this trip. We had a gala time in Thailand and we dint wanna get back to reality and work !!!

April was a crazy month and it flew past and with May entering we decided we needed a break again :) Yaaay.. Honeymooning. We did a lot of research and booked a trip to Australia. We were totally looking forward to visiting Beautiful Australia during winter. Shopping for winter wear, new clothes, shoes etc etc. Shopping spree I would say. The day arrived.. and yes I panicked as it was my first long haul flight. I managed to get through it and we entered the winter wonderland. The trip was awesome. We learnt a lot of new things and saw different places. We explored trains, different cuisines, enjoyed the winter, shivered like crazy, awestruck looking at the gigantic oceans etc etc. We were totally rejuvenated when we came back. June flew with all Australian memories. And then my birthday month arrived. It was a simple and calm birthday with small gifts and presents.

August had nothing significant that happened as it was work work and only work !! September was flowery and happy as we had a family reunion at Singapore again :) Time went past very very fast and October was the month of travel. Double trip to India over the same week just for the fact that I did not have leave and my company refused to give me unpaid leave for management reasons. Oh yes !! if you ask me about it, am still furious. But at the end of the line, looking at it in the positive sense, I made it to both the functions. One was 70th Birthday of my father-in-law and the other was Diwali (Thalai Diwali). The birthday function went on very well and this was one of the first 70th birthday functions I've attended so far. Meeting relatives and having good Indian food is what every NRI would dream of during a holiday. Rite !!!? ? And it was fulfilling. Next in line was the Thalai Diwali celebrations for which my parents have been preparing for more than 6 months and it was a very nice close family function that they organized. New clothes and good food is what I can think of now :) And obviously crackers and fireworks after 3 full years of non-cracker fun. We enjoyed every moment with our parents :)

And then it was back to same old Singapore... I keep whining I say !!! ;) ;)

I had something to look forward to.. I had arranged a surprise for my husbands birthday and that was a trip to Bintan, Indonesia. We were just back from a break and we already needed one! Bintan was relaxing and calm. Nice people, good food, archery, beach, ATV etc etc. Fun-filled weekend. As we stepped into December, we were pushing and pulling days for the holiday season thinking there will not be much work ! But here I am, sitting in office on 31st of December 2010, hardly working (with loads of work piled up) and working hard on my blog. :) :)


Overall a calm , nice and festive year :) And that was 2010 for me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! :)

Bintaning !!

Bintan is one of the Riau islands in Indonesia. Riau islands are an archipelago located in the east of Sumathra and south of Singapore. I think the archipelago has more than 3000 islands, of which Bintan is one of the most famous and beautiful tourist spots.

It was a very short trip to Bintan. We boarded the ferry (ARIA BUPALA) at around 12pm on a rainy afternoon. The ferry was huge with economy and emarald classes. The journey was for around an hour and we found people from different countries traveling with us.

After an hour, we reached the Indonesian immigration and got a visa on arrival. We boarded the bus that went to the resort we booked (Bintan Lagoon resort).



The garden facing room was very beautiful. We dropped our bags and ran towards the beach. It was an awesome view with white sand and light blue waters. It was a calm and relaxing beach with children making sand castles, boys playing throw ball, some of them playing in the beach, some clicking pictures and enjoying the water sport activities.The rocks had weird pencil like drawings on them. And when we clicked a picture zooming on to the small parts it looks like this



After relaxing for a while, we managed to catch a slot for the ATV (All terrain vehicle). We were supposed to follow the guide with the ATV. Surprisingly, this vehicle moves on any terrain, for example, beach sand, slush, hard roads, water, mud etc.
We went around the resort to have a look at what it had. It had many shops selling shirts, beach wear, fridge magnets, massage oil etc. We were tempted to buy a few souvenirs :) We also realized that if we pay them in Indonesian Rupaya they return the change back in Singapore dollars. :) The country's currency has no value I suppose. We were carrying millions of IDR as 1 SGD = 7000 IDR. I was shocked when I saw a million dollar Rupaya note :)

The next morning was very sunny and we managed to reach the free breakfast buffet on time. Usually when you go out for vacation, you tend to sleep a lot. The international breakfast was a big hit. We were totally impressed with the donuts they had. Oh yeah !! I think they knew what I liked :D

We got a foot massage done and it felt so good. Indonesian massages are equally relaxing as Thai massages. We managed to get some beach beds to relax on the sunny beach mid afternoon. It was very sunny and were totally tanned.. Again, we saw a lot of Caucasians relaxing and having fun with their family. This was totally a relaxing holiday spot.

After 3pm we decided to go for Archery to try it out. We were taken to the golf course and I think this was one of the greenest places I have ever seen. Sometimes I feel they've poured green paint all over. Lol. We had an awesome Archery session. And now I feel I wanna do more Archery :)

We still had 4 more hours for our ferry back to Singapore. We decided to rent a Buggy to get around the place and see the different kinds of Villas they had. It was awesome fun going around the 300 hectares of deluxe island resort.

We took the last ferry back to Singapore and it was a very memorable trip :)