Celebrating the simple things in life

This year for my birthday, I wanted to do something different. I told my husband that I didn't want to cut a cake. I just wanted to sit down and count my blessings. This year, my best birthday present is the baby I am carrying in my womb; I am eagerly anticipating for the arrival of my little angel - to make his/her special appearance into this world. 

I am thankful for the gift of life and for having all the wonderful people in my life. I am thankful for both my parents who gave me good health and sowed the seeds of good values within me; and to all my friends who have enriched my life. I am thankful for all the simple things in life. I am grateful to breathe in fresh air, to walk on this green earth, to admire the beauty of all God's creations, to be able to utter kind and loving words to everyone, to feel the warm embrace of my husband, to be tickled by my dogs' antics, to feel another life growing within me, to smell the roses and to be alive. Reflecting on these blessings in my life brings joy to me on my birthday - I feel contented. That's all I need to be happy today.

My 31st Pre-Birthday Celebration

Since Alfred had to go back to KL on Monday for work (I told him to save his annual leaves when the baby arrives), we celebrated my 31st birthday one day prior to my actual birthday. We decided to go  for the Malacca River Cruise - it's so cool to be a tourist in my own hometown. It was an awesome 45-minute boat ride along the historical Malacca river - felt like traveling back to the 15th century - the era where the Malacca river was an important conduit for trade. With the some old Malay songs playing in the background, the river cruise exuded a nostalgic and romantic feel to it.

 Inside the boat

Along the river bank, we passed by Kampung Morten Malay Village which houses some unique and traditional Malay wooden houses (rumah kampong) - which was preserved as a historical site. We were captivated by some of the murals on the buildings located along the river bank. The Malacca state government has done an excellent job in cleaning up and beautifying the river banks and the surrounding buildings and houses along the river bank. A few years back, I remembered the river being filthy and murky - a former colleague of mine from India even remarked that he thought it was a drain and not a river - how insulting it is to the river which was once the main artery of trade bustling with traders from all around the world. 

Costing only RM10 for adult and RM5 for children, this is a unique and nostalgic tour which visitors must not miss when you are in Malacca and of course Malaccans should list it in the list-of-places-to-see. The best time to go is at night when the lights are switched on to illuminate both sides of the river bank - simply beautiful!

 Ferris wheel

 Us after a nostalgic cruise along the historical river

 The boat

After the cruise, we dined at the Harpers Cafe. Situated by the side of the riverbank, it certainly promises a romantic dining experience. We just sat there enjoying the night view of the river while enjoying our dinner. I truly enjoyed the whole experience and am looking forward to going for the nostalgic ride again along the Malacca river. Sometimes, the best things are found just at our backyard :)

 A beautiful view while dining at the Harpers Cafe 

Thirusshen's 1st year Birthday Party @ Lukut

My former colleague's son just turned 1 a few days back and his parents celebrated his 1-year-old birthday at their house in Lukut. It seemed like it was just yesterday that Kavi gave birth to Thirusshen and now 1 year as passed - and the little hero has grown-up so fast. 

Us with Kavi and Thirusshen Kumar

We met up with Mages and Selvam there and they brought a delicious vegetarian butter marbled cake. 

Kavi and the vegetarian butter marbled cake :)

Mages and I

 Group picture (Thirusshen was already asleep by the time we left the house)

Valaikappu (Indian Baby Shower) ~7th August 2010~

My Valaikappu (traditional Indian baby shower) was held on 7th August 2010. I was 29 weeks pregnant at that time. 

This ceremony is performed during the odd months of pregnancy mostly during the seventh month for the expectant mother in her mother's house. Prayers are invoked for the well-being of the mother-to -be and the foetus. Mostly women are invited for this function. The expectant mother is made to wear a lot of bangles mostly glass ones of red and green colors and the sound of these bangles are supposed to reach the womb.

My mom insisted that she wants to do all the cooking by herself - she refused to cater. So, it was a merry occasion with all my relatives helping to bring their own home-made dishes to the ceremony.

Tairu (yogurt) rice made by my mom

Pulli (tamarind) rice courtesy by Aunty Seetha

Tomato chutney made by my mom

Ponggal (sweet) rice made by Bala Sinamma

I made this vegetarian butter cake

Idli by my mom

My husband and I

We started the ceremony at about 6 p.m. All my aunties were there by the time. The ceremony starts by Alfred having to break a coconut and put the garland around me.

Next is the bangles ceremony. 9 married ladies blessed me by adorning the bangles on me and prayed for a safe delivery and a healthy baby.

Next, I was asked to pick one of the three bundles of rice tied in a white muslin cloth. The three bundles being ponggal (sweet) rice, pulli (tamarind) rice, and tairu (yogurt) rice. It's a old wives' tale that if you pick the tamarind or the yogurt rice (both of which are sour), you will be having a baby boy and if you pick the sweet rice, it's predicted that it's a baby girl. Back in those days without the modern-state-of-the-art ultrasound device, they relied on this method to guess the baby's gender. It was fun for us as well since we don't know our baby's gender - we are leaving it as a surprise until the big day arrives. 

I picked the sour rice - so everyone is guessing a baby boy :) Let's wait and see!

My husband feeding me the rice

My mom feeding me

A shot with my sisters and cousins

With my uncle, aunties and grandpa

 

Chin Lay, Me, Shuba, Durai and cute Nithish

 

I was so happy to see my good friends Chin Lay and Shuba and Shuba's family. It was a great celebration filled with love and joy. I feel so blessed. 

Muthukumar weds Manggai

Today is my cousin, Manggai's big day. We are very excited to attend the wedding and to meet up with all our relatives.

Pictures taken in our condo:

The beautiful and glowing bride:

The beautiful mannavarai setting:

Nanthakumar and I

After the wedding, we went over to my cousins, Umapathy's and Devi's place in Puchong to visit their new home co-shared by the two couples and to visit Devi's newborn baby. After that, we went over to my grandma's house at Old Klang Road and spent a couple of hours there. Though I was dead tired at the end of the day, I felt happy meeting up with everyone.

Wedding @ Melaka

Today was one of my mom's close friend's son's wedding in Melaka. It was a nice and simple wedding and the food was awesome - I had a hearty vegetarian meal. Met some of our relatives and friends there and had a good time catching up. I forgot to bring my camera to the wedding - so missed out the photos of the bride and groom.

Photos taken at home just before leaving for the wedding. 

 

17 weeks preggie

Nahleen's Birthday

Today Alfred surprised me by taking emergency leave. I was so elated at the thought of having the whole day together. For the past few weeks, I was staying alone in the condo while he is away at work - and it has been depressing for me - I thought I was going to go crazy and I didn't have mood to do anything except to lie on bed. All sorts of unnecessary thoughts come to my mind - and I can't seem to control it. I presume my loneliness is exacerbated by the raging hormones within me. 

Well, anyway, it was a happy day today. Instead of driving, we decided to take the commuter to his parent's place to have breakfast with them. The break from the routine was exciting for me. We had a nice Indian breakfast with his parents - talked about our baby-on-the-way - everyone is so excited for the big day! After breakfast, we ran some errands and then headed home. 

When deciding what to do tonight, I reminded Alfred that it was Nahleen's birthday today. We called to wish her and she invited us to join them for a dinner at a Thai restaurant near Jalan Gasing. It was great meeting up with all of them. All in all, it was a great day - and I wish for more days like these - when I feel upbeat and driven and happy.

It was Nahleen's and her cousin's birthday

Nahleen and I

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and mothers-to-be! I am blessed with a great woman in my life - who inspires me, motivates me and nurtures me from birth. She is the most hardworking woman I have ever met - and she is full with energy and perseverance in whatever she does. She brought her 5 children into this world - and each of us are thankful to be born to her. She has been always an enterprising lady ever since I could remember. I remember her venturing into various types of business to earn the extra money to support the family. I recall spending time in the video rental business premise which she was running back when I was still in primary school. When that business slowly loses its popularity after the advent of other forms of entertainment, she tried her hand in catering, baby-sitting and tuition to help keep herself occupied and earn the extra buck. I still remember joining the other kids in the tuition classes she conducted every night. I also received private tuition lesson from her since primary school. 

I owe most of my academic accomplishments to her effort in educating and inculcating the value of education in me. Back when I was in primary school, my class teachers used to complain to my parents that I might be having a learning disability - I tend to day-dream most of the time in the class - and nothing the teacher delivers will register in my head. My mother got very worried and she started her tutoring and coaching lessons with me - showing me the fun way to learning. I picked up maths very well and started scoring excellent grades. From then on, my results have always been great until I completed my secondary school with 8 As for SPM. I owe all this to her - her unwavering faith in me and the hard work she put in to educate me. 

Not only in academics, she has educated me greatly in being a better, kinder and more compassionate human being. All the values that I hold closely to my heart now is from her teachings. She always advise me to treat people with love and respect no matter how they treat you - her patience towards everyone - regardless how they treated her- has always marveled me. She rarely says no to any favor asked by anyone - she will do it sincerely and with love - that has always been her greatest virtues. Although it may seem that she is sometimes taken advantage of because of her kindness, she always tell me that "When you do good, only good things will come to you - in whatever form that may be; it might not be today, but one day you will reap the benefits from all your kind words and actions". 

Even though it's a tough game for me to emulate a great woman with great qualities like her, I've grown to appreciate the wisdom of her words and beginning to walk her talk. I am so blessed to have you as my mother, Amma. I count that blessing every day. I love you with all my heart. I wish you good health and joy and abundance in everything you do. My greatest gift to you will be a grandchild to fill you with joy and happiness :)