Me & Myself

My Utopia

2011-09-20T19:11:00.001+06:00

My brother has 2 kids, a boy and a girl. And I'm crazy about them. There isn't a day when I don't think about them. And eventhough they are two crazy brats they are my brats. My brother was always "Mr goody two shoes". I was the legendary brat of the family and my niece takes up after me. And she amplifies it a few knotches. But no matter how naughty the are, I love them as if they were my own. I love you my wah-wah bachcha (Arib) and my dushtu amru baby (Amira)... Ummah

PCOS and me

2011-08-09T16:17:00.001+06:00

Have you noticed people staring at you and don't feel comfortable? Insensitive people always advising you about a fascinating diet program they just heard of? You have grown out of your Sunday clothes? People congratulate you on your becoming a moher when there us no "bun in the oven"? Well maybe then you know just about how I feel.

I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). And it has taken its tole on me. I have always been a healthy person. My BMI never crossed 25. I was happy with the way I looked. I gained 10 kilos within a month before I was diagnosed with PCOS. My abdomen is unusually large and I'm overwhelmed with mood swings one can possibly handle. It's hard to cope with the emotional twists, more for my hubby than for me.

I have tried numerous things to lose some weight. I've tried diets, all sorts. I have tried free hand exercise, aerobics, counting callories, nothing seems to work. I have extreme cravings both due to PCOS and frustration. Now I have been trying for a baby for a few months, and the doctor said not to do exercise. And now, I am fat, I am frustrated, and I still cannot concieve after trying for five months.

Can anyone help me out? I'm tired of following healthy eating blogs and the PCOS lifestyle blog, nothing helps. HELP.

The first day of the month of holy Ramadan

2011-08-02T19:25:00.001+06:00

The first day of the month of holy Ramadan went by. It was a scorching 35 degrees celcius out today. Those of you who haven't experienced the rush hour of Dhaka, well there is no way for me to make you understand. All I can say that my home is 10-15 minutes from my office. It took me 1 hour to get home. And now are the longest days of the year. We are fasting 15 hours. But as a matter of fact it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be .

Eid and shopping!!

2011-07-31T23:43:00.001+06:00

Two more days until ramadan starts. There is still a month until Eid but it's inhuman to shop in this blazing heat while fasting. So I'll be finishing my Eid shopping within these two days. As Eid is the only time i really shop I was shocked to hear the prices these days. I think I'll have to go over my budget this time.

Boost me!!!

2011-07-29T15:32:00.001+06:00

So I know i haven't blogged in months but it's great to be blogging again. I have been through a lot of ups ans downs lately and didn't really felt like sharing.
But anywhoo... I'm back now and I hope to blog regularly again cause now I have an Ipod 4 and I just downloaded this awesome app that lets me write my blog anytime I want to and post it when I have a wifi connection. Now cool is that. I've doing all sorts of things with my Ipod. It's like I'm living a whole new life... . How did I ever manage without it?

I downloaded this awesome new app called period diary and it's a girls new best friend. You must check it out. And since My hubby and I have been trying for a baby fir a while now, it's tge coolest app ever.

So... We have been trying for a baby for a few months now. But as I have PCOS, i guess it won't be that easy but nevertheless pray for us.

And have a happy ramadan 

New year...old me!!

2011-01-25T13:00:00.002+06:00

Well.... I haven't blogged in ages.... and I miss it, though I was never a regular blogger.... but let's try and make a post here...

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Like every year...my number 1 resolution is losing weight. But unlike other years, this year I started aerobics.... again. I hate doing free hand exercises...they bore me... I like aerobics.... but maintaining my appointment everyday is becoming too difficult.

2. ... well that's about all of my resolutions...

The life of a university teacher...I though I'ld be pleasantly busy and would have a lot of time to myself...get to some of my hobbies.... meh... I don't even time to blog...forget blog... I don't even have to call my mother... btw... Gotta call her now...so

so long for now...

Prolonged week of sickness.... :(

2010-10-17T20:03:00.002+06:00

Okay... I'm complaining again... I've been coughing for weeks now due to a nightlong exposure to accidentally turned on air cooler... Tareq rolled over on the a/c remote in his sleep and it turned on and as a result were both sneezing and coughing for weeks.

Last Friday, we planned a trip to Comilla BARD. Comilla is about 2 hours drive from Dhaka. we planned the whole day, site seeing and everything... It took us a straight 6 hours to reach Comilla... the traffic was like... crazzy. we had lunch at a friends' place and went to BARD, stayed there for 20 minutes, visited another friend for 30 minutes and stared for Dhaka. Then... we had a flat tire, took 2 hours to change the tire and fix the flat (it was a toyota prado, big car...big tires). We reached Dhaka at 1.30 am.... it was a waste of a precious weekend...period.

And, due to the prolonged exposure to the car a/c, my subsided cold reemerged. I've been coughing again, and after today's dusting, I've started sneezing again...their should be a cure for dust allergies, it's more annoying than painful...so I'm crabby, poor hubby but he HAS to take the blow.... no mercy... :P

Pancakes for breakfast

2010-09-24T14:04:00.003+06:00

I usually don't cook breakfast...actually I usually don't cook. My mom-in-law is a wiz chef and she loves to feed us. but as she's on vacation this weekend I gave making breakfast a shot. I never made pancakes before but I knew it would be easy. So I did what I always do, I surfed....(the net you silly :P). and came across a good old-fashioned pancake recipe. They came out perfect... everyone loved them. :).

If you want you can try them. I give it my A+

New job, new Me

2010-09-24T13:53:00.002+06:00

Well...I've been busy...super busy!! I'm going through a switching-job-and-getting-used-ti-it phase. Yup... I quit Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and joined a private university as a lecturer. Why did I quit a govt. job to join a private firm with an uncertain future you may ask...well i have two for you... I'm sick and tired of travelling 80 kms everyday and I'm love to work. Surprising but true..my previous job left me sitting on my big butt all day doing nothing. I was their just for being their... there wasn't much to do and I hated waking up every morning at 6:30 and going to office just to count the minutes till it was 5:00 pm.

The bonus for joining the university is "I love to teach". I enjoy staying up till 2 am preparing for class...cause for once everyone is actually listening to what I'm saying :D

So congratulate me and get ready for happy posts and complaints about problem students :D

Brain teaser...

2010-08-24T17:19:00.002+06:00

Well... that's one for you... I haven't blogged in so long that I actually had forgotten my password. After a few random tries I remembered.

A friend of mine was asking me the other day, "What do you do when you have something so dark that you cannot let anyone in this world know about it, you can't tell your friends and family is not an option but you have to share it with someone or you'll go crazy?"--- I had no answer for her. I tried telling her to consult a very close friend. But she said, she didn't want any of her friends to know about it cause when she's with them she can forget about all the bad things and just be herself, she doesn't want to spoil it. Then I told her to share it with family. She said the problem WAS the family... she tried sharing with her closest family member but it doesn't seem to help. The poor thing... I offered my help also but she says she doesn't want me to think badly about certain people I know (figure that out...I couldn't).

Well...if you have any suggestions for my poor little friend be spontaneous to share and if you don't..then pray for her so that her problems are over soon ...

My First Ever Finished Baby Frock

2010-05-26T22:03:00.004+06:00

Finally, I finished one of my sewing projects. I usually start very enthusiastically but half way through- I lose interest. That's why I have a dozen or so cut up pieces of clothes in my dresser drawers that never see the light of day. But finally I finished the dress for my sweet little baby Amira (my 8 months old niece)... so have a peek :)

The Frock

Happy little Amira wearing the frock by her Chhotomaa :)

Mourning....

2010-05-11T22:45:00.003+06:00

Dear all, my BFF Shaia's father passed away on the 9th of May. The irony is that it was our friendship day... we celebrated it every year as the day we vowed to be best friends for life....

I am a bad friend... uncle was in Dhaka when he died and just a few blocks from my home. I didn't know... I didn't go to see him... I called about a week before and didn't call again until I heard the bad news.... I feel sooooo guilty.... I can never forgive myself for this....

My dear friends...please pray for his departed soul.... May he rest in heaven..because the great man that he was...

Why me!!!

2010-05-08T21:43:00.004+06:00

Again it happened... my cell phone was...how do you say it hijacked... from the bus... here's what happened...

I left office early that day... needed some work done. I have to change 2 buses to reach home from my work place (did I mention it is 40 km away from my home!!). It's a long way home so I engage myself on some music I store in my mp3 playlist of my phone memory. I was getting off on my last stoppage when it happened... while I was getting off the overcrowded bus I trip on something (probably was the thief I think), during the may-ham when I gather my bearings I notice my music stopped. I look down at my bag and my headphone is hanging loose and the pocket where I keep my phone is empty!! Then I did the heroic thing... I stopped the bus demanding to search every person on it... well it was impractical... so after halting the bus for 5 minutes.. I let go the whole thing... I block my SIM and say farewell to my NOKIA 7210 supernova. The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that the phone just disappeared from under my nose and I couldn't do anything about it...

So here I am, using my old trusty NOKIA 1200 again and longing for next month.. 'cause hubby promised to buy me a new phone when he gets his salary next month. It's gonna take me a while to gather the 300 phone numbers I've lost...so my friends out there...please send me a message with your name and number so I am able to reach you when I need to....

Craziness in Joypurhat!!!

2010-04-25T20:54:00.005+06:00

Another trip... another weekend... holidays always make me feel great...after two days of scorching heat, lack of sleep, unendurable tiredness....I'm feeling fantastic :D

I have a friend who's a captain in the armed forces of Bangladesh...she's a medical officer assigned to the joypurhat cadet college. She invited us to go and have a visit and willingly (it would be more appropriate if I said forcefully) agreed. We stayed at the college guest house and as the cadets were on holiday, we went absolutely crazy with their play ground... we almost broke their swings, stayed up on a tree for two hours, sang tuneless songs on the top of our voices... we became teenagers ourselves in the empty campus with no judging eyes... :)

We ditched our husbands and had a girls night where all we did was sleep...(come on...we were exhausted... I wonder if I kicked anyones butt in my sleep... my mom says I do that... Hubby however seems to have his own football skills in his sleep...so I guess I loose the game :P).

We went to Paharpur.... and found out that we had more stamina than the boys.... girls rule....... :D

So, I'm exhausted and my feet hurt and my whole body aches but I feel GUD.... :D

As kids see it!!

2010-03-27T18:25:00.005+06:00

My brother has been staying in London for the past 2 months on training. About 1.5 months ago, my sis-in-law and the kids went to live with him. They came back today. They had a trip to Paris within this time (I sooo envy them for this... :S). Well.... among all the interesting conversations I had with my nephew (He just turned 4 last September), one goes like this:

Arib: GGRRR....

Me: What's wrong my baby?

Arib: I didn't want to come back, I wanted to stay in London, why did baba bring me back?? ggrrr....

Me: Why??!! Your family is here, this is where you live, then why do you want to stay in London?

Arib: Roads here are all broken. The London roads are nice.

Well... he forgot he wanted to stay in London within 5 minutes but I wonder if anyone from the Govt. is reading this!!!!

V for victory

2010-03-16T21:45:00.003+06:00

Hey guys, I know I've been absent from the web but I was extremely busy with office. I had to make a presentation along with my boss and colleague for the company that funds our research. Guess who caught everyones attention... yours truly... :D

Well... I did work extra hard for two whole weeks, I even took work home... (Love you hubby for bearing with me while I hunched down on my computer on weekends), Everyone came up to me and congratulated me... (they would have shook hands with me if it were tradition here :D).

So, here's to success at work... hope to get my dream research opportunity :D

Movie Review: Avatar

2010-02-15T12:56:00.001+06:00

A+ Fabulous :D

Movie review: Paranormal activity

2010-02-02T12:37:00.004+06:00

So this weekend I got a hold of "Paranormal activity". I have been wanting to see this movie for ages and ages. So I grabbed hubby even though I know he doesn't like horror movies ( he finds them boring: can you imagine that?!) started to watch the movie.

We couldn't get through for even 10 minutes. We were quite doubtful whether it was the movie or not cause the whole thing was made by a handy cam. We paused the movie (cause the too much movement by the handy cam was giving me a headache) and searched the net and found out that the movie was intended to look like a home video to give it more realism. Everyone who saw the movie was praising it like WOW but We decided to go to bed and forget about the movie and I was sooooooooooo disappointed. :(

The next day I decided to grid my teeth and finish the movie to see what all the fuss was about. After about 15 minutes into the movie, I forgot that the handy cam effect was giving me a headache. I don't want to spoil your fun if you haven't seen the movie yet, but my suggestion is... if you find it boring just give yourself a little time to feel the movie. You'll enjoy it if you love being scared like me :)

So "Paranormal activity" gets an A+ from me.

Things I wanna do in my life

2010-01-28T13:35:00.007+06:00

1. Go bunji Jumping. Don't tell the parents or they may get a heart attack. My dad gave me huge speach on how I'm all grown up and should concentrate in my "shangshar" but hey... what can I say, I love thirll.

2.Own a speed boat, a big one. But I'll hire a captain. I don't wanna learn to navigate, It bores me :( I want to feel the wind on my face and the smell the salty water. The sea always amuses me.

3. I want to go and see the Pyramids.

4. I want to live in the jungles like savages for a month.

5. Work in a very sophisticated and well equipped microbiological laboratory :D

6. I want to be present when my grand children get married and everyone will say..."what a groovy granny" :D but that is not likely to happen cause I am still not a mummy yet :(

7. I want to have a nice house with rose garden in the back yard. The house will be made of glass...and only glass.... not a practical concept in the context of Bangladesh though :(

8. I want to climb a 100 year old redwood tree.

9. Go sky diving, scuba-diving, para sailing, snorkeling, air-gliding, water-skiing, skiing adn do everything else that is crazy.

10. Be trapped in an island with Tareq :D

Movie night after a long time

2010-01-26T13:06:00.004+06:00

So hubby and me have been planning and wanting a movie night for more that a month I think. The thing is we never have time. Our movie time is a bit on the late night side. You see, we live with Hubby's parents (over-seas friends, don't freak out, this is natural in our country, that is, in fact, what is supposed to happen if the parents are in the same city, and on top of everything, my parents-in-law rock :D). So we are usually up until 11 pm chatting with the family. By the time we are free and ready to watch a movie Hubby is tired, I usually can keep my eyes open for movie night (what can I say, I'm obsessed with it). So we go to bed, the one day weekend gone... :(

So, Hubby noticed me getting really agitated due to lack of movie ( it's like drug to me). So, we planned and even though hubby had a dinner party, was home early and we watched "3 Idiots". It was the best movie ever...well..may be not the best but I laughed and laughed and laughed and LMAO. It was a little tinsy bit melodramatic but hey, it's a movie, it's supposed to be dramatic. This one goes to the top of my list. So guys who wanna see it... go ahead and enjoy, 'cause I'm quite sure you will.

My "movies-to-see" list

2010-01-25T11:11:00.003+06:00

How many of you hate it when someone spoils your ending of the movie your watching or the book you're reading, raise your hands. Well... mine went straight up! I may read a book a thousand times but when I read it for the first time, I am not to be disturbed, I had a big fight with my husband once when he ruined the ending of Harry Potter and the half blood prince for me (I'm not telling what he said for those of you who still haven't read the book). And the same thing goes for movies too. I don't like to here stories until I have seen it. Unfortunately one of my closest friends is a compulsive story teller. But I guess she still remembers the knuckle sandwich I treated her with the last time she tries :P

I have a huge list but little free time :( I had a three day weekend and didn't even get free anough time to sleep :( But anyhow... here's my list:

1. Paa (Hindi)

2. Three Idiots (Hindi)

3. Public Enemy (English)

4. Paranormal activity (English)

5. Disney's Christmas Carrol (English)

And the list goes on till 33. So I'm waiting for a weekend of movies and chips and soft drinks :)

New Blog Design!!!

2010-01-24T10:25:00.004+06:00

Hi friends, this is your non-blogger blogger friend. I have not been blogging for a while now... was kind 'a bored with the design and limited customization options the blogger account offers. I'm a dummy when it comes to computer and editing stuff... I have been trying to learn adobe photoshop for years and still can't (I now use the one click solution of Picasa 3 :P). I was very jealous of all the other bloggers around the world for having cool blog designs and knew that I can never make myself one so cool....

I suddenly had a brainstorm... :D I have a friend who loves to redo her blog design every now and then and she's really good at it. So I put on my lost-puppy-batty-eyes face and asked her to design my blog for me... she made me questionnaires after questionnaires and asked me about every details and what I would like and finally she was done.... :D and I love what she did. So I and Farah present my new blog design...

Srimangal: The city of tea

2009-12-15T11:44:00.007+07:00

Last weekend Tareq and I went to Srimangal withMouly(the wify) and Robin(the Hubby-yes my over seas friends, Robin is a boys name in my country) who arranged the whole trip and it was bliss.

Like always, there were things that we weren’t prepared for, things unplanned…. Like missing the train!! Yup we did it, we missed the train. But what makes us different from other train-missers around the globe is… we were at the station half an hour early!! How did we manage it? Simply by trusting what we see in writings. Yeah, we went to the station and saw in writing that the train is due at platform 5. We waited trustingly on platform 5, while we watched, unaware, our train come to platform 7 and leave. After quite some time a railway guy told us that train left and that we can’t catch it on the next station either because it already left that one too. Major-bummer. We seriously thought we might have to abandon the trip, but all the bucks already paid for for our bookings at our bungalows forced us to think of other options. It was already 10.30pm. It would be difficult to find a bus to Srimongol at this hour without prior tickets. But we called up a friend who lived for many years in Sylhet, a city near Srimongol and asked her for bus times. Following her information we started on a wild goose chase. We went to the near bus station but didn’t find a bus to Srimongol, instead we found tickets to Sylhet. We took ‘em. We called up the car we had booked for two days staring the next morning, and told the driver to pick us up in the middle of the night, from the middle of nowhere (well, to us it seemed that way but the driver seemed to know the place :-p). Miraculously he agreed and did come to pick us up in the extremely heavy fog. I couldn’t even see the road, I’ll never understand how he drove us to our bungalow!!!

The next two days is about blending in with nature. We hiked, we boated, we went bird watching, site seeing and we took pictures, lots and lots of pictures, which will be appearing in my flickr account soon. We also went to a privet zoo. The monkeys really seem to like me :-p. We had great food and great laughs.

And our bungalow was sooooo cool…and cheap considering what it offers. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and drawing room and the most beautiful porch and yard. Not to mention hot water and refrigeration facilities. We were up half the night chatting and playing cards. We even had a wrestling match to see who gets the better bedroom. Naturally I won, but let the other couple have the better bedroom anyway…I’m an angel and all hearts J.

Pets

2009-11-17T20:53:00.004+07:00

I never wrote about any of my pets. That's because I never had any reals pets, not until Tunu & Munu, my turtles. But still I have had...ummm...animal friends for very little periods of time.

Our houses were not really suitable for pet keeping, not at least for keeping dogs or cats. But the real reason was because my mother is highly allergic to fur.

When we were kids, me and my elder brother used to be friends (:P). Several times we had stolen kittens and brought them back home and tended to them for days, though they never seem to eat after being taken away from their mothers (kids can be really cruel without knowing it, how could I have taken away a mother's child, I'll never understand!!). Maa sneezed and scratched herself for days before discovering the kittens in hard-board boxes. We got spanked pretty bad, but did it again anyway....kids!!!!

I once found an abandoned puppy in the bushes behind my house and searched the whole neighborhood for several days to find his mommy. But never found her. I tried to feed him milk but he never stopped whimpering long enough to allow me to put it in his mouth. The poor thing vanished after a few days and I never saw him again :(

Me and my brother, we decided to have an aquarium of fishes a few years back. But it is a tedious job and we didn't know if we were upto it. So we bought a small fish-bowl and bought only two gold fishes to start with. If we can manage them, we'll upgrade to big-fish-tank. But when we started to put other fishes with the gold ones, the new ones started to jump out of the fish bowl and die!!!! I never knew fishes can act that way!!! So we stuck to the two gold fishes, and after they reached age, they died. I had trained one of the fishies to nibble on my fingers, it was soo cute :(

My final pets were two turtles, very small ones. They were a gift from my friends. These are Thai turtles and usually don't survive in Bangladeshi weather but amazingly the smaller one survived one and a half years, he never came out of his hibernation (he was called Tunu) and the bigger one is Munu and he ( I think it's a he) is still alive and is taken care of by hubby deary. Munu likes to bite me, I don't know why. He never bites hubby!!!

Well that's about it. Ow... and there were the incidents of Eid-ul-Ajha. Every year my father bought two goats, one each for me and my brother. We used to spend the entire day with them for a week or so until they were sacrificed. That's why i still can't eat mutton. I never could eat their meat, I had called them by their names for crying out loud!!!!

When Munu dies, that will be the end of my keeping-pets days. I find it cruel to confine a helpless animal like this, if Munu could survive in the outside world, I would free him, I thought about it several times but decided against it cause I know he won't last long after staying in a box for his whole life span :(

Grease...my all time hook-up!!

2009-11-07T21:35:00.003+07:00

The first time I ever saw the movie, I was 5. And I have been mesmerized by it ever since. My hubby dear finds it very oldie and teeny. But teeny is my personal fav. And the music has always lifted my mood enormously. I had once bought the cassette paying good money, but eventually the cassette was out of date and mp3 arrived.

A friend of mine, Farah, has taken a huge step towards anti-piracy and I support and encourage her full heartedly. But as she is in the US it's easier for her. She erased all her music collection and recollected them but this time legally. But in Bangladesh there is no system of paying for songs online or stuff like that. the ones that you get to buy at shops are pirated too. So I went online found all my favorite Grease songs and downloaded them and mp3 ied them. I know it's not legal but I am now the owner of mood lifting songs.

So to my daily obnoxious 70 km travel everyday, take a hike. :D

New blog design coming up soon... :)

2009-11-07T21:23:00.003+07:00

I have a friend who is well into blogging and she knows her computer stuff. She's always modifying her blog and coming up with cool thingies. And I'm stuck with the boring blog design for ages and though why not ask Farah to design my blog. So I asked her and she was angel as usual and was enthusiastically asking me questions after questions to design my blog. She's known me since we were 6 and I think she knows me well enough and she promises me that the blog will reflect me and myself ;)

So I'm eagerly waiting to see my new blog design.... can't wait....

Habi-Jabi...

2009-10-11T16:23:00.004+07:00

I have been to Bogra this weekend...with my Dad. My aunt(Dad's sister) is really ill and wished to see me. She has been paralyzed for the past 5 years. I left Tareq behind on this trip cause his and my weekend holidays don't match.

I had an uneventful visit except that my cousin started talking to me after about 3 years. I was a witness of a painful memory of his and he avoided me for 3 years.

During our office lunch break today, my two colleagues and a thesis student and me, we went for a stroll down the path leading to the nearby market, which eventually is a bit far away from our office. Our office surrounded by overgrown weeds and a very small lake. We walked to the nearby store cause one of my colleague offered to buy us soft drinks. We started taking chocolates, biscuits, chips and everything else we could think of and our colleague went quite pale in the face. Well...we actually didn't buy all that stuff, we were only teasing. But we did buy some chips and 2 liters of coca cola. I think I heard a distinct sigh of relief from him :D

Horror struck!!!

2009-10-04T10:49:00.005+07:00

HI friends, this Friday was my sister-in-law's engagement party. I was supposed to be there by 6.30 pm while the other family members will join later...but I fell asleep and woke up at 6.00 pm. I phoned her that I'ld be late. I got ready and at 7.00 pm we all took the new family car to go to the party. Midway to our journey, (I won't go to specific details on how) our car's right front wheel was on the divider island and the car almost toppled over... for a brief moment I thought we were all going to die. But miraculously the car settled on the road, only the front right corner of the bumper and the right wheel badly damaged, but otherwise unharmed. My aunt-in-law's car came to our aid shortly after and the disaster was managed in an hour or so. We were helped by total strangers from the street, and the near by house. They let us park our car in their garage for the night, until we come with our own mechanic in the morning.

It's amazing how unknown people can help you, may Allah bless them.

An angel has arrived.... :)

2009-09-28T21:43:00.004+07:00

Hi friends, I know I've been absent again but this time I have a strong excuse... you see I now am the "Chhotomaa" of an angel little girl...yup Arib has a baby sister. So I was genuinely busy. She looks just like an angel... by the way guys...anyone got a suggestion for a name for my angel? Muslim Arabic name... Persian will do also...please leave me a suggestion I'll be ever so grateful... pray for her okay?

Long time no post!!

2009-09-16T15:07:00.003+07:00

Hi friends, Howz it been goin'? I know I'm a baddy, it's been more than a month since my last post. I should be more regular, I owe a lot to my blog and you guys now don't I? ;)

Well, in the past few weeks I've been busy and lazy... a lot lazy, 'cause it's the ramadan days. and after a looong day of office and a 14 hour fasting, I really don't feel up to sitting with my lappy again... so that's my pathetic excuse :(

But, before ramadan started, Tareq and I went a weekend trip to Chittagong with my dearest friend Urmi and her husband, Belal (vai). We actually stayed at there place (Belal vai is a resident of Chittagong). And we have had the pleasure of meeting such a nice family, all of them were so cordial and friendly and .... well let me put it this way... I felt just at home :)

We had great fun there, we went to sea world where you have to take trip on a boat and cross the Foy's lake to reach there and the aftermath is just bliss... :D we very well literally had laughed our asses out. The whole trip was eventful and every night we stayed up until 3 am and chatted (well...except for Belal vai, he started snoring well within 5 minutes of our night-long chatterings.. :)).

We ate masala fried crab at the Neval port...and I must admit it tasted much better than any of my sea food experiences in restaurants. We attended a traditional Chittagonian wedding (Holud) ceremony that lasted until 3 in the morning :D... it would've been more fun if I weren't falling off my chair in drowsiness...oh come on!!! I was tired...

We enough about my trip... It's eid time!!! Eid-ul-Fitr is a yearly festival among Muslims all around the world. And it's due on next Monday or Tuesday.... I can't wait...partly because the ramadan days are beginning to look extremely long... so see you soon.... :)

Busy last week...

2009-07-29T12:29:00.003+07:00

Well last week was eventful. We had a "school friends get-together" on the 20th night at 'Baton Rough'. Personally I don't like buffet food, cause you spend too much time collecting and tasting food when in the first place you went to a restaurant to have a quality time. But majority rules. We had a great time though, meeting friends after soooo long. Getting in touch with our lives again, though facebook has gotten us closer that ever. It was nice to see some of them bring their spouses and one even showed up with her kid!! Too bad some missed the party.

Then this weekend I had to go to this wedding thing, my mother-in-law's cousin's daughter got married. I was cool with it, until i reached there. It was roasting hot. I was practically soaked in sweat within seconds. I hardly knew anyone there, and as a "BOUMA"('daughter-in-law') of the house I had to spend time with old ladies talking about their illnesses and other really boring stuffs (trust me u DON'T wanna know about it). And when it was time I had to put on my saari and makeup and jewellery to play the bouma part. If I was a wax statue, I would have melted. I was glad to get out of that Saturday afternoon. Tareq kept on telling me not to bother about getting all dolled up for the party, but the mother-in-laws had some different opinions (you have to do so many things against your will, it's not always worth getting married, unless you are crazily in love like me). My trip back was bad, real bad. There was something wrong with the car sit and it won't bend. I had to make the 6 hours trip with my back straight like a log. Had severe back pain for 2 days... ouch!!

Started working the very next day, wish I could rest but they don't pay me for taking rest do they. Speaking of pays, My first ever check is due next Sunday...YAY....I can't wait.

Off Day!!

2009-07-29T12:12:00.004+07:00

I skipped office today. Well, I am a bit sick, I have a terrible cough and a low fever but still I got out this morning to catch the stuff bus of my office. Fully ready and determined. But fate had something else in mind, there were no rickshaws in front of the house, we usually have to drive them away with waving sticks but now when i badly need one, there is not one single rickshaw in view. I started walking, and eventually found a rickshaw puller who asked for double the usual fare. I had to agree. Then the wise-guy started to take the long route to the bus stand. I started telling him to go back on course but he won't listen, then i gave up. When I finally reach the bus stand, I see my bus leave without me, I was on the other side of the road, no way to stop the bus. Then I started staring at the rickshaw puller with the meanest and most frightening glare I could manage. But the guy was absolutely cool with it. He kept humming a stupid song. I started yelling at him again. He thought it was funny, he brought out all his dirty teeth and smiled at me and said "Now what do you want to do?". I gave up, what's the use. So I told him get me back to my street, and called in a sick day.

So now I am home, comfortable, and sleepy, I'm gonna take a quick snooze and watch movies all day :D

New Job Life!!!

2009-07-10T16:40:00.003+07:00

Hi everyone, it's the weekend!! I never thought I'ld say this...but hear goes... YAY...!!!

Well... my job is great. I get to do my research and I get to see peoples eyes pop up when I say where I work ( it's kinda' top ranking research facilities in Bangladesh). I like my colleagues. They are two fun boys with common interests with me... like, climbing trees and stealing fruits from our small forest, as we like to call it.

The area is huge, I have to work in two different buildings and they are about 15 minutes walking distance apart. And they are actually closer together than the other ones, so imagine how far the other departments are. The area has acres and acres of green lands and lakes. It's beautiful. You can actually feel the freshness of the air there.

But there are some bad sides too. Firstly it's a government research facility so, even though there is every equipment and facility, there is a huge load of paper work to be done before every step and that slows down things immensely.

Secondly, all the other scientific officers are...how do I put it... umm... well, they are Senior citizens, either physically or mentally. They all think that I am a research student hear and started to call me "tumi"(it's bangla word for "you", but to be meant for younger people or the ones more close to you, otherwise, it's an insult). I think I am going to be going to office in my saaries for a few days until the fact that I am an officer sinks in.

JOB!!!!

2009-07-04T12:32:00.004+07:00

Dear all, You would be happy to know that I won't be whining anymore about not having a job and how everyone is so unfair. Instead you will be hearing how awful my day was cause it was too hectic and how I have had a bad day at office :D. Because, yes, I finally have a job at the reputed Atomic Energy Research Establishment as a Scientific Officer (Microbiologist). It doesn't pay much but it has the possibilities and challenge I wanted. It is in fact a researcher's job.

So, wish me luck.... :)

Shonarga, the ancient city!

2009-06-09T15:27:00.006+06:00

Well friends, I'm back with a story and some pictures to share with you.

We stay in this jungle of concrete, like robots we pass our days, tiring ourselves of our own existence. A break is well deserved. One Sunday morning me and hubby grabbed two friends and went to the ancient city of Panama, Shonarga, Dhaka.

Shonarga was the capital during the Isha Kha's era hundreds of years ago. It holds the culture and artwork of the British times, the Victorian times. We were taken by the beauty and history that existed so near us but untouched.

We let ourselves go to flow with our feelings. Tried to catch the beauty and magnificence of the city in our cameras. But the experience can never be held in a frame. Still I would like to share the few moments that I have framed. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/noshin_me.

A gift for my readers: Twilight Free Download Now!!

2009-05-25T12:41:00.005+06:00

Hi friends! I have been off my mood and so off my blog page for a while, I know, ma' bad. I promised to be smiling but that is another boring blog post, so let's not talk about it. I bought this movie, you all already know about it I'm sure ;) Yup, I'm talking about Twilight. Apart from the fact that the star Robert Pattinson is totally HOT, the story line interested me, but I haven't seen it yet. I met with my BFF Urmi yesterday and she told me that she is going to read the book first. She doesn't want to spoil the fun of the book by knowing the ending before by watching the movie, a thought that had not crossed my mind. I as some of you may know HATE it when the charm of the ending is soiled, and "hate" is a very strong word.

And as I am a couch potato and had to cancel my trip to the book store because of the rain, and couldn't wait until I got my hands on them, I turned to my next best friend: the Internet. And surely enough, after an agonising hours' search, I found the perfect site and exactly what I was looking for. And as I am a goody good person and can't hold the joy within my self, here you go. Knock yourselves out :D

http://www.lagahit.com/2008/11/twilight-series-ebook-for-f-r-e-e-download-now/

P.S: This site has all four books in perfect pdf form. I thank Rodelio from the bottom of my heart for these books.

My new play toy.. :D

2009-05-08T14:01:00.004+06:00

Hubby bought me a new thing to play with. He calls it a camera but my parents think it's my new toy, cause like any child I usually loose interest in my new things after a while. But that's a whole different blog post. Today I'm psyched about my new NIKON Coolpix P80 Camera.

It is a 10.1 megapixel camera with VR and ISO 6400 and 18X optical zoom plus digital zoom. I have been obsessed with it ever since. I'm taking pictures after pictures. I think all the crows from around here have posed for me :D

You can find a few of the photos I've taken at http://www.flickr.com/photos/noshin_me/. I'm not a photographer but the camera so cool..... :D

Killing time and being creative!! Part II: Glass Painting

2009-05-06T21:07:00.012+06:00

I've been off the blogger for a while but I'm back with some nifty crafting.

I painted my mirror...yay...it was fun and my mirror looks less boring. But the painting didn't go according to plan cause firstly, the mirror was up straight and the colors were too thin, so a looot of drippings; and secondly all the craft shops I know have sets of glass colours that only contain a maximum of 10 colors, my imagination is far more colourful than that. They do not sell extra colour of your choice. I was dying to paint a purple butterfly but ....

So here is a preview of my new improved mirror :)

What is coming?

2009-04-26T19:04:00.008+06:00

Bangladesh has found a new gas field!! Yay...so let's forget about saving our resources and enjoy life... don't wanna waste a matchstick? no worries, keep the gas on, save your matchstick...

Is this what you think? Let me let you in on a little secret, YOU ARE WRONG. Let me explain why...

My hubby works with petroleum resources in the world, and the facts he lays out are pretty darn scary. The flat fact is, if we don't save our energy, we will be out of gas well before 2017. That is less than 8 years from now friends. The new field can only supply Chittagong for a few years.

Our electricity comes from natural gas. So, when you waste electricity, you waste gas too. The government has come up with a strategy called "LOAD-SHEDDING". This way every one gets electricity, but they get it for only a few hours a day. Some people who live in central Dhaka get a bit more. But still the government DO NOT deny shopping mall proposals. There are shopping malls in every corner of the city, central AC and other benefits. We are proud to present Bashundhara city complex and Jamuna future park, but dose out country really have the privileged? Our people are starving and we are rapidly running out of power. Food, Clothes, Lodging, Education and Treatment... our people are deprived of these basic needs of life.

People please I beg of you, save your resources, what will our next generation have? Turn off your gas burners when you're not using it, the cost you pay to save a matchstick is far too high. Turn off your lights and fans and other appliances when not in use, Think of the consequences. Bangladesh has no more large gas fields, and come on...we can't afford to buy it either. Think about it!!

Killing time and being creative!!

2009-04-24T18:03:00.004+06:00

I was sick and tired of doing nothing. So I started doing things to occupy my days (needed a break from watching 4 movies a day). So, I started tidying up my things and soon i ran out of things to do there too. But I found a clay mask on the top of my dresser and had a brainstorm (excuse my expression).

I had a clay mask, I had some glitters, and I had glue. So I went crazy. The result is this.

I am not so satisfied with the result. I don't like the colours I used but these were the only colours I had. But the work was flawless. So I plan to make others with colour of my choice. I plan to do other creative colourings in my room, but all in good time. So tell me what do you think?

Organizing!!

2009-04-10T09:38:00.003+06:00

I spent four straight hours yesterday organizing my drawers. They were super messy. I know I'm lazy and I'm messy but when I tidy up, I'm Monica(*F.R.I.E.N.D.S). So, here's what I did:

I put all of Tareq's things in his own drawer, Organizing everything into a proper corner of its own.

I took my jeweleries and put everything into separate boxes. I mean I have ear tops in one, ear rings in one, finger rings in one, silvers and golds in separate boxes, now my drawer is fully organized with small, medium and large boxes.

I have my face make up in one drawer(I hardly use them anymore), my eye and chick make ups are now in two separate compartments of my estee lauder box.

I always wanted my dressing table top to be empty. But there was always too many things and nowhere to put them. But yesterday I cleared out some space in the bottom shelf of my TV trolley and put my lotions and stuff there. So now I have a semi empty table top ( yeah.. I had to keep the estee lauder box and the cobs on it)

So now my room looks the same but My drawers are much better. I wish I could reorganize my room but I have tried every other option, there is no other way to organize the furniture. I think I'll change the drapes for a different look what do you think?

Confession!!

2009-04-06T18:28:00.003+06:00

Today I am here to confess....hold your horses...no I haven't committed any crime, just confessing the bad things about me. OK here goes....the worst things I think about me are:

1. I am a very dominant person. I tend to dominate everyone around me- friend, family, you name it.

2. I hate it when someone tries to dominate me...let me rephrase that- I hate it when someone so much as even order me. I like to be asked, not ordered!

3. I hate it when someone tries to restrict my freedom. Yes this means parents. I like to think myself as a free bird, high spirited; I may or may not be that but I hate it when someone tells me not go someplace or not to do something.

4. I am very rude to people I don't like when I am angry.

5. I don't easily forget or forgive. If someone ever said anything bad or rude to me, I find myself remembering that for the rest of my life. And even though when someone says sorry and I say that I have forgiven them, it takes me quite a while to actually forgive them.

6. I hate to hear the word "NO".

7. I am very cranky if I don't get it my way.

8. I am extremely lazy(but I can work like a donkey when I have to or feel like it, which does not happen very often).

9. I hate it when someone doesn't believe my info. I feel extremely insulted.

10. I consider myself very intelligent and am pissed off if my conversation partner is slow. And when someone laughs at or jokes about what I just said, I find it very insulting to my intelligence.

11. I am a very jealous person. I am jealous not about materialistic matters but about my share of love, any kind of love.

12. I don't trust people very easily.

13. I easily judge people.

14. I hate house chores.

15. I am a foul beast when I am angry.

16. I like to order people around, a contrast to my own dislikes, I know.

17. Right now I am extremely depressed and angry.

Well...it didn't turn out to be confession, it;s more like a list of my dislikes. There people who may think I am wrong, either to think this way(then they don't know me that well) or for being so(sorry!!I can't help it). But this is the bad me. I know I have many mores, even some I don't want to share. Will I be able to overcome my lackings? I don't know, I may compromise some of the times but basically these are my built in properties ;) now how do I get rid of that?

What am I doing?

2009-04-03T11:36:00.003+06:00

It has come to this that I am always in an offensive mood and feel like biting someones throat out whenever they ask me what I m doing right now? Instead, to friends I sarcastically say that I am a housewife, and they get the message and don't ask further more about the matter; and others... I hope Allah gives me strength to deal with them...and my situation.

Next month it will officially be a whole year since i started applying for jobs, I had just finished my thesis report and was very hopeful about my carrier. After a year, I now stand with nothing. I rejected 4 job offers so far, 2 because they were too far away from home, and the other 2 were accounting jobs, and I am a Microbiologist (and pretty proud to be one...though what is good about it I no longer understand!!). The jobs I was desperate about were already taken.

Everyone around me is saying that I should have gone for the accounts job...it payed good and it would have been a good time pass. May be true, but I love Microbiology and related subjects, I was afraid that I would drift apart from my carrier of choice and will never be able to find my way back. Bad excuse and idea I suppose cause a year later I am still unemployed and my frustration and depression is reaching clinical stage and everyone is pissed off at me for being so. They believe(truly) that I myself have brought this upon me(no sweat, don't they know that I know that).

So...happy anniversary to my unemployment!!

My Trip to India: Part V: Kolkata:

2009-03-28T21:18:00.003+06:00

After a bit of rest and TV we set out for the "Forum" a shopping complex. We did a bit of shopping and a lot of eating. You have to buy food coupons and eat there. The best thing was a glass of baked corn mixed with spices, I mean I had corn before but this was different, kind a' like our "chanachur makha". No luck with dosa either, they were out of dosas and the chhola bhatora was better in Dhaka. But the movie theatre was great and we watched "Billu barber" there. The other movies were sold out including "Slumdog millionaire"(I didn't like the movie that much, I mean India made far better movies than that like Taare Zameen Par, but no Oscars there!!)

The day was only about shopping, we ventured around in the New Market and had street foods now and then and long walks just looking at the streets and people.

We heard about the Pilkhana massacre and heard that the border had closed. So we decided to stick around for another lazy day. It was great, no rushing to places for visits, we enjoyed a lazy day in a tour. We watched movies, had pizzas and more street foods and juices, fresh yummy juices. Then it was back to Dhaka.

My Trip to India: Part IV: Darjeeling, New Jalpaiguri, Kolkata

2009-03-23T08:05:00.003+06:00

The next morning we had Tibetan tea for breakfast. I don't know why they call it tea though, it's actually a mixture of melted butter and ... yup salt. It tastes ok but I don't think I want to try it again. They need it though cause this drink instantly warms you up.

After breakfast we went to the mall again, but fog fog and fog, so no view, no Kanchanjangha. We just sat there staring at the fog for a while. We deliberately missed the toy train, cause if it breaks down on us again, we will miss our train from NJP to Kolkata. We planned to take a Tata sumo to NJP. So, we went back to the hotel, packed and fixed a tata sumo and went for a bit of shopping. At about 1 pm we boarded our ride and made a really twisted road back to NJP.

We reached NJP at around 4 pm I think. Our train was not until 8 pm, and with all the luggage we couldn't leave the station to have a look around either. So, we bought us some books(if you are a Bangali then you'd remember reading the Nonte-Fonte comics in your childhood, that's what kept us busy :P)and loitered in the station until then, having all sorts of junkies meanwhile :D.

An uneventful journey back to Kolkata. Reaching the 300 year old city at 6 in the morning.

My Trip to India: Part III: Darjeeling:

2009-03-16T11:28:00.011+06:00

Tareq fell asleep instantly, snoring comfortably, I was awake watching TV, then the phone rang, I was wondering who could it be, no one knows us here. I answered to find out that Sandeep bhaia had called. His determination was praiseworthy, he had to call the police station to get our hotel number, knew the name but no hotel in Darjeeling helped you with a number to another hotel, business rivalry I guess.

They wanted to spend the next day with us, a bit of site seeing and a lot of getting-to-know-each other stuff. We instantly ruled out going to the Tiger hill to see the sunrise because of two reasons, we were dead tired from a two day long journey and there was too much fog to see the Kanchanjanggha(the decision proved to be a very smart one later on cause the Kanchanjanggha didn't show that day). Sandeep bhaia suggested a

guided tour of the tourists' sites. I agreed and went to sleep, hoping for tomorrow.

I wondered if it was morning cause there was no sun light, but the clock suggested it was 7:00 am. We looked out of the window and there was fog everywhere. We took a bath!! It was freaking cold (even though it was a warm bath), but after that journey, one was well needed. My teeth chattered for about half an hour.

The first thing we did after getting out of the hotel was buy some warmies. I bought gloves, muffler, a double layered jacket, a woolen cap, and a pair of socks ( I wore two pairs at a time cause my feet weren't warming up. Tareq just bought gloves and a cap cause he figured the shawls can warm him enough (yeah i know, the tough guy image ;) ).

I had dosa for breakfast, I'm usually crazy about dosas, I love 'em, but this one was yacky, I couldn't finish it. After breakfast we met with Sandeep bhai and Priti didi. We went to a nearby rent-a-car and hired ourselves a Tata-Sumo for the entire day. It was really cheap for us, Only 1000 rps for the entire day, visiting up to 7/8 spots, we shared the fare so it was 500 rps pr couple.

First we went to this Buddhist temple called the Japanese temple. It was so peaceful and quiet, and after we reached there, we were suddenly covered in clouds and fog. It was like smoke coming out of a chimney!

After the temple it was to the Mahamaya lake. It was beautiful. You could hear the soft drizzling sound of the spring. The water was icy cold...brrr... There were Nepali dresses for hire and photography. Tareq and took the opportunity to make a fool of ourselves, it's funny but the memory is priceless, that's why we never hesitate to volunteer :D.

Next was the rock garden. Another beautiful place with natural springs and a spectacular view. Tareq and I took the short way of walk and enjoyed the view.

We drove around the city and saw a tea garden and did a little mountain climbing. It wasn't actually mountain climbing, the people actually dragged us up :D.

Our tour ended at the base of the mall (pronounced Ma-l). It is a flat spot at the top of a mountain from where you can see the scenes around. We took a lazy walk to the mall stopping at the shops on both sides of the road. When we reached the mall we didn't see much, it was foggy and night. But I shopped a little while Tareq was bored and Sandeep bhaia and Priti didi went to the hill top Shiva mandir, it was Shiva's birthday.

We went our separate ways after that, we had such a great time together, laughing and monkeying around all day, it felt bad to say good bye not knowing when we will meet again, if we ever met again. But Sandeepji and Pritiji were going to Gangtok the next day and we were returning to Kolkata.

Tareq and I had dinner at that Tibetan restaurant that night and met a British and a Spanish family. We had a great talk over dinner with them.

A great day had gone by. We sacked out early. Dreaming of the fantastic day.

The cute couple: Sandeep bhai and Priti didi

My Trip to India: Part II: Jalpaiguri & Darjeeling:

2009-03-12T21:23:00.010+06:00

It took us only 15 minutes to reach the train station, so we had more than an hour in our hands but couldn't go anywhere cause of the luggage. We tried to spend the time in the cafe but after an omelet and tea, their nothing more we desired. Tareq went out to get a chain and a lock cause there are petty thieves everywhere who snatch your luggage while I waited in the station waiting room. Tareq came back with a odd gift for me, an inflatable pillow- he knows I can't sleep without a proper height of pillow (I was overwhelmed by his sensitivity).

The train started a exactly 1:35 pm. We had tickets for the sleeper class, lower bunks. At first we were the only two in our row so we stretched our legs and got comfy :D .... but not for long. The other passengers got on a few stoppages later. But it was thrilling to see and be at the

stations like Hawrah, Damdam, Belgharia etc, the ones we only read about in books, the mental pictures we had since our childhood suddenly came to life.

We had nice conversations with our fellow passengers, they were very friendly and interested in us when they heard we were from Bangladesh. It was nice to talk to people in our own language when we were actually abroad!!

I have trouble sleeping in moving vehicles so i took a sleeping pill to aid me, and before I knew it I was drowsy. We had traded our lower bunks with two old ladies who had requested for the lower bunks as they couldn't climb up to the uppers. So I got up to the middle bunk and fell asleep, but not for long. We thought we would reach Jalpaiguri at 6 in the morning but actually the train reached there at 3:00 am. Tareq had to drag me down from my bunk cause I was absolutely out from the pill. It was getting cold too. I put on my sweater waited for the train to

stop. Then I suddenly found out that my cell was catching Grameen phone network, we figured we were near the border, but the signal was gone before O could even type a massage for home.

We found the 1st class waiting room and we grabbed a 3 sitter and I instantly got down to business, sleeping. I lay on the seat and Tareq found a newspaper and spread it on the floor and lay there, he always puts my comfort first, that's one of the thousand things I love him for. The waiting room was fine but the toilet was....well let me put it like this, I had to go to the gents' toilet just after it was cleaned by the sweeper, the ladies' toilet was unthinkable even after cleaning ( and to think, some people were taking baths there too!!).

We had breakfast at the station and then crossed to the other side of the platform to catch our train. We were excited about it cause it was a steam engine, these trains are extinct, well almost, they run only in new Jalpaiguri(NJP) and Shimla, as lost arts. They run on coal and are called

Toy Trains. But we both were disappointed to see the train. It was small and slow, too slow. You can jog beside it, that much slow. By road, it takes about 3 hours to reach Darjeeling, by toy train, it takes 8! We met some people on that train, there was Ishika, a 3 year old and her parents, a British couple, and Sendeep and Priti, the newly wed on their honeymoon. Ishika hated for the door of our compartment to be open, Sandeep bhaia bumped into her while opening the door and she was so annoyed that she said "usne bell kiun nehin bajaya?"(Why didn't he ring the bell?") I was so bored within a few minutes I decided to catch up on my sleep. I lay on Tareq's lap and fell asleep. Then suddenly Tareq woke me up and i saw we were going through a tea garden! It was so beautiful! Then the sites got even more interesting. We were climbing the mountains now, and the rail tracks were just beside the twisted roads, it felt like we were circling a mysterious road!! The journey by toy train had started to pay off.

Then at about 1:30 pm the train got derailed. After waiting and waiting and waiting we got off for a stroll. We had a few photo sessions and a lot of chit chat with our fellow passangers. We had a great understanding with Sandeep Sharma and Priti Sharma from Indoor. The train was railed at about 3 pm or so, we got back on the cart and started when again it derailed and derailed again, at 5 pm, we were literary stranded in the middle of nowhere all the other passengers had hitch hiked their way to Darjeeling. Only four couples in our compartment were left with the train. Then Tareq and Sandeep bhaia started to walk towards Kursiang which was supposed to be a mile or two uphill, fortunately they got a ride to there, they got a Maruti-Suzuki Omni for us and backtracked to pick me and Priti didi up. We told the other two couples to wait in the train and we would send a taxi for them. Unfortunately, while fixing a taxi for them, our car got stuck behind the train while it was detaching the faulty boggy. After a very bumpy ride, we reached Darjeeling at about 7:30 pm, we had a booking at Hotel Meghma, Sandeep bhaia and Priti didi dropped us there and went to their hotel. We were absolutely freezing over there, we had our sweaters and shawls but by bones were freezing up, later I got to know that the temperature was a freaking 4 degrees that night. We just dropped our luggage in our room and went out to dinner cause all the food joints are closed within 8 to 8:30 pm.

We went to a Tibetan restaurant a bit downhill and had momo for dinner, and it was yummy. We got back to our room and freaked out cause the room had no heating and we were freezing. We called for another blanket and got straight to bed, all dressed in our warm clothes and made a mental note the buy more warmers first thing the next morning!!

My Trip to India: Part-I: Kolkata:

2009-02-28T16:48:00.006+06:00

I have been absent for a while cause me and hubby went on a trip to India. I know you might say that we go here n' there all the time but this was special cause it was our first trip abroad ALONE, no kabab-mein-haddi s if you know what I mean ;).

Actually it was supposed to be a family outing, but Baba didn't get his ex-Bangladesh leave (crap need by the government officers...yeah, even doctors), and Naheen's class started in the University. Btw, did I say that Naheen got into Dhaka University? It's a miracle but it happened.

So...it ended up to the two of us who had visas and Tareq was so tired from his office he was dying for a break. So, we started for Kolkata at 11:00 pm on 19th of February, Thursday, 2009.

Us Bangladeshis are quite nostalgic about Kolkata even thought we may never have been you the whole of Bangla used to be together before separation in 1947. We still share culture and books. We grew up reading books about Kolkata and the West Bengal, it feels like i know these roads though I have never been there before.

We reached Kolkata at around 4:00 pm the next day, it took a long time as we took the bus. We checked in in a nearby hotel in Free School street. We went for a walk immediately. We took a walk through park street towards Victoria memorial hall. On our way we bit our greedy teeth into all the street junks we could manage into our tummies, momos and orange juices and panipuris and what not. But by the time we reached Victoria memorial it was closed, we saw it from the outside. Then we sat in the park opposite it saw the dancing fountains. We ate strawberries there.

Then after dark we went to the new market and saw again all the things that our parents and grand parents used to talk about. We had the famous Kolkata rolls and more juices. Fruits are quite cheap there. We walked until my feet were soar. Then we took the tana rickshaw(rickshaw literary pulled by the puller, no paddles, only feet) back to the hotel, I feel very bad about this, I think it's a very inhuman way of traveling, but I couldn't walk another step and there were no other way back. But at the end of the day, I am guilty as charged.

Next morning it was another stroll through another side of park street and we had breakfast in the streets. We had Rumali ruti(bread that looks like a handkerchief), and curry, not to mention it was delicious. At 12:00 pm we started for the station cause our train to New Jolpaiguri leaves at 1:35 pm.

My daily workout...

2009-02-14T22:54:00.003+06:00

I have finally joined the gym. My gym is called "body shape", and is in the same block, so I can walk there everyday. It is a simple gym with the usual equipments and a personal trainer. I thought joining the gym would be a good idea since I don't get much exercise at home.

I started just two days ago, and now I have muscle pain all over my body but I still feel great, I have a feeling this will work for me. My trainer has started gently with me and slowly she's going to increase my daily workout and give me routine to follow. This is my daily work out so far in the gym:

1. First I start with some simple breathings to worm up.

2. Then 3-5 minutes on the cycle.

3. 5 minutes on the treadmill at 5 miles per hour.

4. 5 minutes of tummy twister.

5. 5 minutes of stepping.

6. Free hand workout-

a. arm twistings

b. foot works

c. waist and chest workout

d. 45 sit-ups

I know this can only be done in a gym and very time consuming but hey, I am a freakin' housewife right now, what better thing do I have to do ;)

My Illness: Part 2:

2009-02-09T20:45:00.004+06:00

I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. For that, I took steroids for three months and another month after that I had a TVS done. My consultant, Dr. Nafisa Amin Khan is a relative of mine and is very open about things. She told me I had no improvement, medication is not helping, I was and going to continue to gain weight no matter how little I ate unless I do some serious exercise. She told me to have a baby as soon as possible because in future I may not be able to conceive or have serious complications. I was frank with her about my situation. I do not have a job, I haven't been able to start a carrier yet and if I wait another 2-3 years, I may as well have to spend my entire life as a housewife(oh how I loath this word!!). So, she gave me a tiny bit of hope, the only solution to get my hormones under control is to lose weight!! She gave me a months time to reduce some weight. Then we can think about other options. If I can't lose weight after trying and trying...then there is no other option.

Allah knows how badly I want to be a mother, to hold a child in my arms that is mine, but this is the worst possible time for me.

So now I am eating diets, controlling myself with every last bit of my energy not to eat that choco bar in my fridge and started exercising. Today I did some simple push ups and a bit of crazy dancing(this is the best type of work out ever, you have plenty of exercise and yet you have loads of fun). From tomorrow I'm starting walking. After a day or two I'll start jogging.

I'm trying to go against nature and medical science here, I'm trying to lose weight when my body is supposed to gain even if it doesn't get the food(how do they do that??). So I need blessings and help. People, don't hesitate to drop a line of advice now and then, you might change my fate!

Delicate Fudge Brownie!!

2009-02-06T15:24:00.008+06:00

Hi everyone, I'm not much of a cook but I came across a fantastic recipe for brownies and eager to share it with you. So, here's what you do...

Ingredients:

Cooking dark chocolate/cocoa powder if you don't have the chocolate: 200 gm

Butter/margarine: 200 gm

Eggs: 4

Sugar: 1 cup(ground)

Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

Flour: 1 1/3 cup

Cocoa powder: 1/4 cup

Milk: 1 cup.

What to do:

*Take a 8"/12" baking pan and grease it well.

*Pre-heat your oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

*Take the butter and chocolate in an aluminium pan and melt & mix on a gas burner. If you are using cocoa powder instead of chocolate bar then add a little sugar to this mixture after removing it from the burner, you don't want caramel believe me.

*Take four eggs in a mixture bowl and beat them to an even texture. Do not make a foam. Add the sugar & essence and blend it in.

*Add the chocolate mix and blend in.

*Mix the flour and 1/4 cup cocoa powder fairly well and softly fold into the mix.

*Add the milk and mix it well. This gives your brownie the nice chewy and moist texture. I don't like my brownies too dry.

*Bake at 180 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

This will give you squarely 25-30 pieces of soft, chewy, moist, yummy fudge brownies. Enjoy!!

My illness!!!

2009-02-04T22:28:00.004+06:00

I guess everyone now-a-days have some physical or mental problems, if you follow my blog then you already know that I have been suffering from clinical depression and...yes Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS.

About a year ago I suddenly became obese (I have no other words to describe my physical appearance), especially around the waist area. I thought it was because I got careless or maybe I just got married or maybe I was on pills. But a few months later I was diagnosed with PCOS. I have been on medication ever since. But the other day I was doing a little research on PCOS and found out that my obesity was just a symptom of the disease. So my wish to lose weight is quite a challenge at this point. My excessive depression is also symptom. I know the reasons but it doesn't make me feel any better but worse. I want to be slim again, I want to look slender, young...the way I used to be. I lose my interest of exercising just after a days work out and it takes tremendous effort to start working out again. I'm using my every bit of will power just trying to be sane.

I hope when I'm cured I'ld feel better. But meanwhile, the time is tough.

Sweet & Sour Fish (deshi style):

2009-01-27T15:51:00.003+06:00

I'm not much of a cook but a few days back my Maa told me to cook a dish... fish, with tamarind!! I was surprised cause I never heard of any dish like that...but I complied. I cooked the fish regular style and then added a little tamarind and sugar to taste...it came out marvelous. It was awesome!! So here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Oil : 1/2 cup

Chopped Onions: 1 cup

Ginger paste: 1 tbsp

Garlic paste: 1 tbsp

Cumin paste/powder: 1 tbsp

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Turmeric: 1/2 tsp

Chili powder: 1 tbsp

Tamarind juice: 1/2 cup or to taste

Sugar: 3/4 tbsp

Salt: to taste

What to do:

Take a pan and put in the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Fry then until they are light brown. Add all the spices except the tamarind and sugar. Add a little water. Fry until they smell of the spices change. Then put in the fish and add water ( the quantity depends on you, if you want it gravy add more if not then less). When the fish is cooked pour in the tamarind and add the sugar. Cook for another 5 minutes...you can add 1/2 whole green chili. You are now ready to serve.

You can also fry the fish a little before you start cooking.

This dish tastes awesome and really easy to make....knock yourselves out!!

The love of my life!!

2009-01-15T18:46:00.005+06:00

Everyone has a love-story to tell...so do I and the name of my love is Tareq.

The story began very early. The thing is I hated boys... no matter how they were like, I hated them. I was always picking fights with all the boys around me. So, clearly I hated Tareq, too...yes we went to school together...we practically grew up together. Tareq came to our school when we were in the third grade. We didn't care much about each others existence till the

age of 15.

It was the tenth grade, our last year in school. We would go off to different colleges after completing SSC. And also, I overheard a classmates conversation and realised that the boys think really ill of me. So, I decided to treat the boys nicely for a change so that they

don't remember me as a spoiled brat...and guess who's best friend I become. Within a few months we were inseparable. And before my 16th birthday we realized that we were in love.

It was very likely for us to fall apart...we were too young to handle a relationship...we went to different colleges, but nothing mattered. After 11 years we are still together and we got married in September, 2007.

Tareq is the most wonderful person I have ever met in my life, and I realised that even more after we got married. He is not only the greatest husband that I could ever hope for, he is also a good son, a great brother and a wonderful son-in-law. He cares for my every little comfort and he makes me want to be a better person.

Tareq, I love you....so very much.....

New year's resolutions!!

2009-01-02T09:05:00.003+06:00

The new year has arrived and a day has passed. Today I am going make some new years resolutions that I intend to stick to. Though I don't know how long I can...

1) My first resolution is to lose at least 30 lbs before March. I have started exercising yesterday and I'm going to continue that, and I'm going to quit all the fatty foods. I can't go on a crash diet coz I hate them and usually overeat after the diet is over, and moreover, Maa is gonna have a fit if I do... ;) but I want to be able to wear my old pair of jeans.

2) I'm going to take care of myself, my looks. Yesterday I saw mt face in the mirror and could hardly recognize myself. I put on a little lipstick thinking it might help. Well it helped alright...it helped making me look like a fat monkey. So my second resolution is to be tiptop at all times.

3) My third resolution is to get my singing voice back. I'm going to start practicing.

I guess all my resolutions are about me me and me. But after all my blog is named me and myself!! ;)

Vote!!

2008-12-29T21:43:00.004+06:00

Today was vote day in Bangladesh. I was a voter for the first time. It was interesting for me. I went to the voting centre with my husband, baba and maa. We met a lot of people at the voting grounds. It felt like everyone was there.

But still it was sad to see that so many people voting from villages were not even interested about the candidates. They are either selling there votes or giving votes to the brand rather than the candidate. They say "My father voted for this party, so I'll vote for them". They donot realize the power bestowed upon them, the power of democracy! They are so unaware of the situations. Well....who amI to judge. I am sitting here on my laptop making comments and there they are thinking about how to arrange their next meal, if they can! What would I have done if I went a day without food? So, what we need to do is decrease poverty and increase social awareness.

Recipe for Beef pot roast!!

2008-12-26T11:53:00.007+06:00

To day I was talking to a friend of mine and talking about my having breakfast with hunter beef. She asked for the recipe, and she thought why not make a blog post out of it. So here is the recipe for beef pot roast...i like to call it hunter beef.

Ingredients:

A chunk of meat preferably from the thighs: about 2 kg.

Ginger paste: 2-3 tb sp

Vinegar: 1/4 cup

Lemon juice: 2 tb sp

Green papaya paste:1/2 cup

Salt: 2 tsp

What to do:

You take the chunk of meat and make holes all over, using a fork or a knife so that the ingredients can penetrate properly. Then take the ginger paste and apply it all over the meat so that it is properly mixed. Then add salt and the papaya

paste and mix well. The papaya paste provides papain that tenderises the meat. Then add either vinegar or lime juice for flavour. You can use both but then reduce the quntities.

Your beef is now ready for merination. Put it in a covered microwave oven safe pot. You have to marinate for at least two hours. But it is best if you can keep it overnight. Then put it into the microwave oven and cook it on medium power for 60 minutes. When done, plunge a knife into it to see if the centre is cooked. If not, then put it on for another 30 minutes. Now your pot roast is done.

After it cools down, cut it into slices and serve.

Weddings in Bangladesh!!

2008-12-24T14:22:00.005+06:00

I'm am going to attend a "Gaye Holud" today. It is a ritual followed in our country as a part of the 4 day long wedding ceremony.

First the gaye holud of the bride is celebrated. The second day is the gaye holud of the groom. The third day is the actual wedding day when the bride and groom say "I do" or more accurately "Alhamdulillah" or "Kabul". This is the day when the bride leaves to go and live with her husband, in our country, the in laws. The fourth day is the "Walima" or "Boubhat". This is the day the bride takes the groom to visit her home.

But the number of ceremonies are varied from time to time. Like extra days where the registry or akhd is held on a different day, and there is the engagement party. Sometimes the days are lessened when the holud of the bride and groom is held on the same day, together. Not a very popular thought tough, cause, the bride and groom are not supposed to see each other before they are officially married. And sometimes the wedding reception and walima are held as a single program.

Well, I am going to a combined Holud today. Both are my friends. So I hope to have a blast of a time. I'm going to take out a beautiful saari and doll-up myself and go.

What to say???!!!!

2008-12-22T09:33:00.004+06:00

This is me- Noshin...back to my lappy but this time with a heavy heart and an uncontrolled rage. I'm going to tell you a story that is so shameful for me and my country that the newspapers won't print it. But I think everyone should know where our taxes are going...and feeding who...

My father, Dr. Azadur Rahman is the MD of Acumen consulting house, those of you who don't know, this is the company that is designing our Kuril or Purbachol fly-over, whatever you call it. Abba is the chief designer and consultant of the project. So naturally he was the chief speaker in the opening ceremony held on last Wednesday, 17th December 2008. This is where my story begins.

The program was supposed to start at 11:00 am; Abba and his team were told to report at 8:00 am. They started early to set up all the projectors and screens and computer stuffs to prepare for the presentation. Everything was going fine. The chief advisor was the chief guest, so only 300 guests were allowed and without camera or mobile phones...well you know the security stuff. Only Abba's team was allowed mobile phones because without this particular piece of modern invention, they couldn't operate and communicate with each other.

Then the scanning team of SSF (special security force, the security force specially trained for the safety of our prime ministers and chief advisors) arrived. They scooted everyone out so they can scan the whole place and then scan everyone in again. Abba put his cell phone (he owns a Nokia 6120 classic, available at 12,200 taka in the market) in the pocket of his laptop bag and went out with everyone else. During this time only the members of the scanning team of SSF was there. After scanning the whole area the scanning team left and everyone was scanned in again. Abba was the fourth person to enter the area. The first thing he did was reach for his cell phone to make an important call. He opens his bag and the phone was gone!! He tried calling his phone from another phone but it was turned off!!

I guess it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who took it. Abba was so outraged he started shouting and calling back the SSF team. Everyone comes out to calm him down but Abba kept yelling “I don’t care about the phone or the fact that all my clients and contacts were lost. The highest security team of our country are mobile phone thieves? Obviously one of them detected the phone on their scanner and just took it. No one else was there. What is our country coming to where the highest security officials steal stupid mobile phones from the civilians? Are we paying our taxes to feed these thieves.” He threatened to take his team and abandon the whole program, and to tell the newspapers and everything. The SSF chief then comes and hushes him, “Please sir, this is very embarrassing for us, please don’t let anyone hear you, we’ll replace your phone.” Abba was even more angry then, “I don’t care about the bloody phone! Give me the microphone and I’ll shout to everyone that SSF are petty thieves!! Why don’t you do something about it??” Then you know what the SSF chief says? “The scanning team is a different team and they have already left we can’t do anything about it!!” Then after a lot of argument and apologizing of the SSF members, Abba cooled down and proceeded with the presentation. But he has filed a GD and is reporting to the RAB-1 with the IME number of his phone to track it when ever it is turned on no matter where. He won’t tell the RAB that the SSF took it, cause obviously then they won’t cooperate.

Meanwhile, the government has replaced Abba’s phone with a Nokia 6500 slide. The SSF won’t let us tell the newspapers, so I’m writing this on my blog to let everyone know.

So tell me, where are we going and why are we feeding and keeping these SSF and army if they instead of protecting us become the enemy and harassment to us??!!

Days of my life.....

2008-12-16T13:50:00.005+06:00

By now you know I'm not a regular blogger.....in fact I doubt if you can call me a blogger at all....but still it feels good from time to time having to unload your mind right?

Well...I've been under a little stress lately. I still don't have a job and it's killing me inside. I have always been a bit of a careerist, a bit ambitious. I hated the idea of anyone ever calling me a housewife, and guess what, I have turn into one. When people ask me what I do, I'm sooo embarrassed. I tell them that my results just got out and I'm in search of a job, then they go on asking, "that means you're not doing anything now, you're a housewife yeah?" Believe me if there were anyway for my thoughts to happen, they would be roasted to a crisp within seconds. Grrrrr......

I wonder how i can deal with this situation. No matter what I do to occupy my times...the thought that I'm still jobless haunts me all the time and I'm embarrassed to go anywhere or talk to anyone. I'm more frustrated everyday. I sometimes try to console myself with the fact that I had been offered four jobs that i rejected cause they didn't suit up to my expectations but that doesn't work either. I'm still jobless at the end of the day. All my friends are doing great jobs...and I'm still waiting for my dream job to happen....wonder when that's gonna come...

Anyway, I'm trying to cheer myself up cause I have an interview the after tomorrow. It's not a great job but i have to begin somewhere right? And it's related to my area of interest. I can switch when I have a better offer....so I think I'm going for this one, and I hope I get the job...I also wish it pays handsomely :p

So wish me luck...if I don't get the job...at least wish that I am in my sane mind and don't sink in my depression again.

Weekend over the sea....

2008-11-09T12:34:00.007+06:00

Well......if you've read my blog then you'll know how bad my first marriage anniversary went. There is one thing here....in Bangladesh, we sometimes register our marriages in one date and then on a more suitable day we arrange a reception party. But in the time in between, the newly married couples stay separately in there own homes until the reception...that's what happened with me. My Akht...the registry was on the 7th of September and the reception parties were on the 1st and 3rd of November. So practically we started living as man and wife from the 1st of November. So we decided, since our anniversary sucked...we will have another anniversary on the 1st of November.

So we planned a vacation to the place we had our honeymoon...Cox's Bazaar. We heard a lot about a hotel named "The Sea Crown". The hotel wasn't that good but offered a fantastic view of the sea as it is the closest to the sea. We stayed there and knew exactly why a non-star hotel is so popular...you wouldn't bother about the rooms once you get a view off the balcony...but mind you pick a room on the 5th floor or above for the ecstatic view.

We just relaxed in our rooms and on the beach this time. We went to Maheshkhali, an island nearby for a quick tour...but that's all. What really clicked is our anniversary dinner. There are two restaurants on the beach named "Tropicana" and "Angel drop". They are just upon the seashore, like a dock. When the high tide comes at night, the sea is practically under the restaurants. We decided on having a chicken bar-b-Que on the beach top restaurant on our anniversary. We went to "Tropicana" and ordered our chicken for that night and booked a table. I was very excited about the dinner, so I got out my Sari and wore it. When we went to out "wooden balcony" restaurant, we had a surprise waiting. The waiter had put on table cloths and fixed the table up for the two of us!! It was so wonderful that we decided to disregard the fact that the food was yack...except for the tuna salad. We sat there for hours and saw the sea crawl beneath our wooden balcony. There isn't anything in the human language that can help me to express the feeling we had. It was unspeakably wonderful!!!

Post Eid days...

2008-10-06T19:14:00.003+06:00

Back at my lappy after a while. The eid is gone...after eid daoats are gone...but we had fun...especially at Pitu fufu's. We ha ha and hi hi-ed our day..the food was fabulous. We suddenly had a fabulous idea of going to the movies. We voted and desided on Tokyo Drift. We got tickets and went to the 7:10 pm show. Zarka treated us with pop corn and Pepsi. The movie was great. And afterwards Anjan treated us with Hello soft ice creams. So...as a whole, a nice and MOJAR day!!!

A lazy day!!

2008-09-28T12:20:00.003+06:00

Today is a really slow day. It's Tareq's weekend and still all we are doing is hanging from our bed. We plan to go out soon though. But I'm feeling really sick. My tummy aches like hell... We are going to buy a birthday gift for my boy Arib. I wonder what he will like!!

Ramadan is almost over. 2 more days. I'm doing a bit of cooking this Eid. I might add some of the recipes here. So if you want some of my modified concoctions you can try here. So until Eid...Eid Mubaraq to all.

Mt first ever Dahi Bara!!

2008-09-16T17:02:00.008+06:00

I'm not a regular cook, but time to time I like experimenting my possibilities. This time it was Dahi bara. I got the recipe from Boumoni and it turned out great.

Preparing the bara:

1. First, you have to take lentils(mashkolai dahl/not fried) and keep it in water overnight. Change the water from time to time or the lentils may go bad (it smells horrible as it is).

2. Then rinse off the water and Grind the lentils until they make a smooth paste. Add a little water if you need it.

3. Add a little fried jeera powder and some Chaat spices and beat the mixture until it floats on water (you take a pinch and put it in water...if it floats then the mixture is ready).

4. Deep fry the mixture in small balls until they are golden brown. Don't over fry them or they will get hard.

5. Keep a pot of warm water nearby and add some salt in it.Take out the balls and emerge them in the warm water. Keep them their until they are nice and wet.

6. Then rinse the water off using your palms and set the "baras" in the dish you want to serve them in.

Preparing the Curd (dahi):

Take the curd. Add chaat spices, a bit of fried jeera powder, and sugar. Beat this mixture until the sugar melts.

Now, pour the curd all over the already set baras.

Preparing the tamarind paste:

Dissolve some tamarind in water and add a handsome amount of sugar to it. Cook the mixture until it is thick.

Spread the tamarind paste over the dish and garnish it with chaat, chili and jeera powder. Chill it. Voila...it's ready to serve!!

Sudden rush!!

2008-09-16T16:03:00.004+06:00

My day started just like any other day..dull and boring. Suddenly Eme called to say that the job I'm trying to grab is almost slipping away from me...some smart-wannbe thinks he's smarter than me...I rushed to meet a few people and confirm my CV for consideration. Urmi rushed out of her office to help me. She came all the way to Mahakhali from Shiddheswary just for me. I love this girl. She does all sorts of things for me and on top of all...she loves me...and I love her...but today she touched ma heart again... :)

So now I'm back home waiting for Tareq to come home and wish we can have ifter together.

My grandma in law sent ifter for us..she's such a cutie... :)

I hope I get this job..I have been dreaming for it for ages. I dunno what I'll do if I don't get it... :(

1st anniversary!!

2008-09-13T23:49:00.005+06:00

Last 7th September was my first wedding anniversary!! The things I imagined about this day were a warm, loving day...with family around...romance...romantic dinner...more romance...music...a quiet time with him...candles...outing...

How did my day really go? We spent the night of 6th at Uttara...we got gifts from abba, amma, bhaia and boumoni...next morning we came to Dhanmondi. Our autorickshaw broke down in the middle of the road. After some time we managed another and started again. This time we got caught up in traffic. After 2 hours of scorching heat we arrived at Dhanmondi. Then we went shopping for groceries cause Tareq wanted to grill chicken and I thought of flame grilled beef (kinda' like shikh kebab). Then I spent 2 hours cutting and preparing the meat. and another hour mixing spices for marination.

It was ramadan, so not much romance was there. After ifter, I started grilling the beef. It took three hours. At 11:00 pm that day, we had dinner with grilled chicken, grilled beef and parata. I was so exhausted that I could barely move a muscle. I went to bed and sacked out emediately.

Well this was my day!! It was my first anniversary and by the time I went to bed I felt like crying my eyeballs out!! This is what I have to remember for the rest of my life? I was never this much disappointed...so was Tareq. We both wished for a much better day...but some how it ended up just like any other day, only with extra work. May be we'll have a hundred more anniversaries...but there is always only one first anniversary, right?

Before Ramadan hours!!

2008-09-01T07:53:00.001+06:00

Ramadan is starting tomorrow. This is my first ramdan at my new home with my new family. I don't know what to do...

My birthday was last friday. It was fairly well...Arib and bhaia,boumoni,abba and amma came to visit me on my birthday. Arib was very excited over the cake.

By the way I got 3 cakes for my birthday!! One from my dearest hubby, one from abba,amma,bhaia and boumoni and the last from my friend Urmi. The brat forgot my birthday and when I threatened never to talk to her again came downstairs with a cake saying "Sorry sona!" How can I be mad at her now??

I got wishes from far away people, thanks to facebook.

I recieved a birthday card from Audity, my dear sweet cudly friend from Pulman, USA. It arrived late but the charm of surprise wasn't spoiled coz it was so unexpected!! Thanx honey..you made my day!!

My vacation in Thailand...the land of smiles!!

2008-08-25T11:17:00.003+06:00

7th July 2008:
We reached Bangkok on the 7th of July 2008. The local time was 2:45pm. After freshening up we went for walk around the block, mainly to cash our dollars. We ate some street fruits, they were delicious.

We window-shopped at Sukumvit 3,4,5 and 11...may be even more streets I dunno...we walked for hours that day...until it was 9:30. Our travelling buddies were still energetic enough to go to the late night bargain shops. Tareq & I was so tired that we went back to our backpackers hostel "Suk-11" and had dinner...which by the way was also fruits we bought on our way back to the hotel. We rested for a while and then we went out for a little more of sight seeing. I wanted to ride the Tuktuk. Tareq hired us a ride around the block. They asked for 100 baht but we settled for 50 baht. Still expensive though as it was only a 10 minute ride.

After a little shopping in soy 5 we came back to the hostel and found out that our companions hadn't returned (where on earth did they get the energy??). we sacked out for that night..we heard our friends stomping back to there rooms at around 1 or 2 am.

Our travelling buddies were some colleagues of Tareq: Oshim bhai and his wife Shuvra, Asif bhai, Hasan, Mishu, Ashraf and Ajanta.

The place we stayed in was really trendy. It was a wooden house, very cosy, you do whatever you like or take whatever you wish and pay whenever you like. We had full access to the kitchen and everywhere else. It was a beautiful place and just outside the hostel was a spa and some small cosy restaurants. The place was wonderful.

Next morning we went to the safari park in Bangkok. The last time I went to a safari park I was 5 so I don't remember much except that a monkey drank our whole tank of windshield-washing-soap-water. So this time is was almost new for me and I enjoyed it thoroughly. First we went around the park in a bus watching animals gazing freely while we were caged inside a bus; weird feeling after seeing the "Dhaka Chiriakhana". The irony was seeing Royal Bengal Tigers relaxing on the land of Bangkok. They were so beautiful!! "Bangladeshi hoia bideshe gia royal bengal dekhlam".

After the tour around the park we went inside to see some shows organized by the park. The orangutan show was the funniest. How do they train them like that?! We also saw the seal show, the dolphin show and a western show (we called it THAI JATRAPALA :D).

We saw birds in colors I never knew existed.

I never knew there could be black swans.

There were some people carrying orangutans and tigers for tourists to take photos. For 300 baht you get to take 1 photo. Within an hour they will Print and frame your picture in an authentic safari park Paper-frame. The picture Tareq and I took was with the orangutans. They were so friendly and trained!! The one you see sitting on my lap was practically pulling my hand towards him/her. And they were so light, no wonder they can swing to good. This picture is from our digital camera but the one they gave us is more clear and beautiful. So anyone planning to go to the safari park, don't miss this, it's worth much more than the 300 baht they are charging.

Asif bhai took a photo with a 7 month old tiger. He fed him milk and had taken a very good and cute picture. His smile was one of a kind. It was just like Abbajan is feeding Asif-junior. Later on, Asif bhai gave me the picture for safe keeping and for the rest of our trip every hour he kept on asking if his picture was alright!! :D

We went back to the hostel after 2:30 and on our way back we picked up the tickets to Phuket. The agents gave us first class tickets. We were all excited wondering how the Thai first class ride will be! I was planning on a good night's sleep and relaxed journey already.

We freshened up, packed and a micro-bus came to pick us up at 5:00 pm. We laughed our way to the bus stand and heard the bus would be late. We checked in and sat down for a little snack and some more laughter. We had Thai noodles with chopsticks, the shopkeeper gave us forks just in case...which by the way came in very handy. As I am the big MATOBBOR that I am I finished my noodles with the chopsticks leaving residues that was impossible to catch with the sticks. Why did the Chinese invent this thing?

At last we started for Phuket at 7:00 pm. The first class bus turned out to be very disappointing. It wasn't until the next morning that we found out that the agents had tricked us and we were stuck with a local bus (Kind'a like that 3 no. bus in Dhaka). The bus was slow and uncomfortable. No matter how I arrange myself I'm still uncomfortable and I'm only 5'. Poor Tareq couldn't find any way to settle his 6'1" body. Not to mention the Punjabi guy in front of us decided to lower his sit which crushed Tareq's legs. In spite all these difficulties, we started our journey with a jolly mood and a series of Bangla songs. The people in the bus were quite annoyed by this. One Thai guy stood up and said with much difficulty "eta apnar basha na" and received a very warm welcome of "bangla galis". The night crawled away and at around 5:15 in the morning the conductor told us to get off the bus, saying that we needed to chang buses to get to Phuket. Oshim bhai adn Tareq went to check it out and found out that we were stuck with a local bus that is not stopping at Phuket. They told us that a bus would pick us up from the restaurant where they dropped us off. After a long wait, a vehicle resembling dhakaia tempu came to pick us up!!! We were tld that the tempu will take us to the bus stand and offered us to take us to Patong (where we had our hotel reserved) if we paid extra 200 baht. But we knew that the ride from Phuket city to Patong beach was not more than 30 baht. So we refused. Another guy was stranded with us named Treck (I think). He was from Netherland and was taking a trip around the world and staying for months at each country. When we asked him how long he'll stay, he said as long as his heart desires!! Then he asked us how long we were staying, Tareq smiled and said 3 days.

After reaching the bus stop, The fat, ugly, Shaitan beti that was the ticket manager took off our stickers (in thailand tickets are stickers that you stick to your clothes) and didn't give us any for the ride to Phuket. Then we found out that she was saying that if we don't pay the 200 baht extra money they asked earlier, they won't even take us to Phuket!!! Another group of British chaps were stuck with us. We all protested but nothing happened and then we called the police man near by. You should've seen the look on her face. She came running to us and saying something in Thai and giving us tickets. We finally started from there for Phuket at 10:00 am. We reached Phuket at around 2:30 pm and to Patong at around 4:00 pm. The hotel was great. There was a small swimming pool just at the entrance, the staff were very friendly, and rooms were fantastic. We could see the swimming pool from our balcony, you could jump straight into the pool from there. That afternoon we went for a dip in the ocean. The water is so clear and to salty. The color of the water was beautiful but the beach was too small. In cox's bazar, your feet wil start hurting from the walk across the beach, it's that big, but here it was practically a stones throw away!! But we enjoyed our dipping.

Later that evening we went for a walk around the blocks again, and window shopping. This was the day our great Asif bhai got his new nick name "Asibbai". We came back at the hotel exhausted sacked out right away.

10th July 2008:
The next morning we started at 7:00 am for Phuket. At 9:00 am our boat to Phiphi island started. The ride to Phiphi island was great for me but Ajanta had sea sickness. Tareq fell sick because he didn’t have his breakfast :D. We stopped at Maya bay and snorkeled there. At first I was scared out of wits coz I am not a good swimmer and I couldn’t breath through the snorkeling gears they provided us. On top of that our BISHISHTO BIGGYO Hasan had a sudden brilliant idea of walking on the life rope. The rope went under water several feet and people who were depending on that rope, like myself, had to let go. Because of there faulty gear and BIGGYO Hasan, Oshim bhai almost had a heart attack. He climbed out of the water immediately. The tide pulled me away from the rope and I couldn’t find my way back. At last with the help of a few people I found the rope. It was then I finally held my breath and looked under water. It was the most spectacular thing I ever saw in my entire life…I have never seen anything like it. All different colors of corals and fishes and Allah knows what…I have never known that there could be so many color under the sea. And when I pulled my head up, I saw that the fishes were swimming all around me and between my fingers. I could catch any of them if I wanted!!!

Then we had lunch at Phiphi island.

We walked around the island for about an hour and then headed back to Phuket. In the afternoon hours the underwater-mountains were even more beautiful. We came back to the hostel and had a dip into the pool.

That night we went to Bangla road…obviously the name attracted us. But honestly why did they name it bangle road really can’t understand. Bangla road is the perfect example of Thailand night life, there are bars, dance clubs, night clubs and all sorts of weird people showing themselves off- not a thing relating to BANGLA!!

11th July 2008:
This day was non planned day and the best one too. We took our time getting up and went out to beach near by and watched the sea.

Then we walked along the sea and all that we did was sight seeing. Then we saw people on water scooters and parasailing. Tareq and I jumped up ran for the offer. After much bargaining we settled for 2800 baht for parasailing and water scooter for two persons.

Then it started!! I got suited up for parasailing and when they signaled me went for the running start hoping to splash onto the water. But before my feet even touched the water, I was soared into the air. At first I couldn’t realize what just happened. I looked down and saw that I was flying…I was actually flying like a bird. I screamed in joy and excitement. I spread my arms and looked into the air and I was flying. This is one experience that would be very hard to match.

I landed softly on the beach sand and it was Tareq's turn. I was practically jumping up and down and dancing on the beach.

Tareq splashed into the water while taking off and his guide said "you make me take water". He enjoyed this ride just as much as I did and we both wondered the same thing- if only the ride was longer!!

The ride on the water scooter was also very exciting. Tareq and I went together on this one. For half an hour we skied over the water surface with wind on our faces. After the rides we were two happy boy and girl :D.

Seeing us, Asibbai and Hasan went for the rides, and again Hasan was smart enough to overturn the scooter and give Asibbai a nice bath.

Then it was time to ge back and pack. That evening at 6:30 pm we started for Bangkok and this time making sure that our tickets and buses match this time :D

12th July 2008:
We reached Bangkok at 6:30 am the next morning. Until now Oshim bhai had reserved our hotels from Dhaka, but this time we didn't have anyplace to go. Oshim bhai had asked a friend of his, "a smart man" to book a hotel for us. We were due to check in at 9:00 am. So until then we had no place to go. We grabbed a taxi and went to the hotel "Nana house". We requested them to give us one room to keep our bags and freshen up. The hotel was dirty, filthy and had a bad reputation. It was in the middle of soy-3, which was both good and bad. Good coz the market was practically downstairs and bad coz after sunset, it was the centre of night life in Bangkok. AFter 9, we got our rooms, One on the 1st floor, one on the second and the last on the fourth!!Detouched from each other!! Our plan was to stay out of the hotel as long as possible. We went out and talked to a travelling agent and arranged a city tour for the next day. The we took the sky train and went to Siam paragon.

We window shopped and looked around. We wanted to go to Ocean world at siam paragon but The price was too high. The Oshim bhai's friend told us that he could arrange us tickets at half the price. So we went to the top floor where the theatre were and planned to see "Kung-fu panda" in the imax theatre the next day. Then we walked to MVK. We shopped for gifts there for the rest of the day.

13th July 2008:
We got up early the next morning to catch the bus for our city tour. We went trought china town to see three different Buddhist temples. First we went to the Temple of the Golden Buddha! The buddha here was made of 18 carat gold. The golden Buddha sits in the "stop the evil possition".

Then we went to the temple of the sleeping or the reclining Buddha. Myth says that Buddha knew that the next day he was going to die. So he left all his work, and lay down to rest. That possition is called the reclining possition. This Buddha is 40 meters long and 15 meters high!!

Then we went to a temple that held Buddha statues of differen possions and counries. Like, Buddha in Japan or China.

After this our tour guide took us to the "Gems gallery". They showed us how the Jewels were made and then took us to the show room. Tareq bought me a silver ring with 21 Zirconium stones perfectly cut and setted. It is BEAUTIFUL.

Then we went to siam paragon again. But this time we walked straight into the Ocean world with our discount tickets. It was wonderful. We spent 2 fantastic hours in ocean world. Tareq bought me a pair of Nemo slippers from the souvenir shop. :D

I wanted to go to the hall of mirrors but we didn't have time for that. Instead we went to watch our movie. We bought tickets and waited in Starbucks until the movie started.

The movie was fantastic. Apart from the fact that the screen was gigantic and gave a 3D effect, the movie was funny,hilarious and had superb animation work done, I could even see the weaving of the clothes...Tareq was very inspired by the movie as you can see in this picture :D

Then we went to MBK and did a lots more shopping. I wanted to go to the night markets of Bangkok so much but the night markets were all too far from where we were staying. So I had to miss it this time but the next time I'm in Bangkok, I'm not missing this one. :D

14th July 2008:

The next morning was relaxing morning. We just stayed in our beds and relaxed. Oshim bhai and the others went to Pantip plaza, the IT city. Mishu bought a very cool video camera from there and a cool set of wireless headphone. I had half my mind set to snatch it from him but then decided not to..after all..bachcha manush, kende dile?

Tareq took me have a foot massage at a nearby parlour. He waited like a DAITTOBAN husband while I had the spectacular experience. I was almost falling asleep but kept myself awake just not to miss the fabulous comfort. It was soooo relaxing and fun. We started for the airport at 12:30 pm. Tareq bought me "after eights" from the duty free shop. We reached home at around 7:00 pm that evening. Good things don't last long I know but I still craved for more!!!

A dull day!!

2008-08-25T08:24:00.001+06:00

Life is dull and eventless at the moment. I guess that's why I am blogging...I'm not the type of person who would keep a regular blog so I'm quite sure I will be absent frequently. But still, there's nothing like dumping my thoughts now and then, takes off the load off my mind.

I sure hope I get a job pretty soon...I'm bored.

The house is empty, Tareq's off to his office, so is Maa n Baba. Naheen went jogging. So I'm all alone, can't think of anything to occupy myself. I don't cook anymore. I don't know why. I've been thinking about making jello-pudding or baked potato with bar-b-que beef, but we really need to loose weight so.... Doesn't help though. There is always sweets in the house, somehow there is.

I think I'm gonna go and have some breakfast. Todays menu: Atar ruti with vegetable. Maa makes the best vegetable ever. I never had so much fun eating vegetable before. She makes this Alur Dom, fabulous. If I'm eating so much vegetable you'ld be thinking I must have lost weight....I don't know how I'm still gaining. I wonder how long it's gonna take before I explode?