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A prayer

Today, on the occasion of World Tuberculosis day, I’d like to share an experience with you. More than a decade ago, I was diagnosed with Cervical Tuberculosis. The day S and I got the news, we were devastated, to say the least. From that day to the day of recovery is a phase we will never forget. We are extremely grateful to everyone – our doctor, family, friends, colleagues and The Divine for being with us during that phase and helping me recover.

Today, we pray for all those who are recovering from this illness. May God shower his blessings on you, and give you the strength to endure the pain and recover soon. May you receive immense support from all around you & may you heal from this illness soon. Amen!

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Holiday in Thailand – Phuket

The flight journey to Phuket was good, the best part being the landing. The view of the blue waters from the flight was magnificent. While landing on the Phuket island, the plane gets so close to the waters that we feel as though we are just a few feet above the sea-level. The lovely colours of the water make you feel so refreshing, and you’d just want to plane to pause there for a couple of minutes, but the it lands earlier than you’d expect 🙂 

The hotel where we booked our stay for 2 days had sent their driver to pick us up from the Airport. The road which took us to this hotel was a steep one. At one point, it became extremely steep and we had to hold our breath while the driver took the car over the slope. We heaved a sigh of relief when we crossed that part of the road. 

This hotel was situated over a small hill and was not like the other luxury hotels. It looked like a row house from the outside. When we went inside, we noticed a couple of rooms on either side of the swimming pool. The common area was a small, cozy one with a couple of sofas and a small bar on the opposite side of the reception counter. We were offered a welcome drink and it tasted awful 😀 God knows what it was made of. It seemed as though it was a conglomeration of fruits which didn’t go well together. We had a good laugh there while we waited to get the rooms.

The rooms in the hotel were comfortable too, and the balconies were big. From our balcony, we could see the the hills and we got a distant view of the sea too. Later in the evening, we went downhill to the beach. After returning, we spent sometime in the lobby of the hotel, chatting and listening to the various nocturnal sounds coming from the bushes on the hill. We had dinner and then took some good rest.

At daybreak the next day, S made some green tea and we spent sometime in the balcony, chatted for a while, listening to the songs of the birds and just looking at the hills. The view was so captivating that you’d never want to leave that place. We later visited one of the beaches which was at a short distance away from the hotel. We spent sometime at the beach, took off our footwear and walked along the beach, and enjoyed getting our feet wet. It was extremely sunny and our feet were burning as we walked over the sand, but the waves came to our rescue. We had lunch at a restaurant near the beach. The cab came to pick us in the evening. We relaxed at the hotel after returning. The next day we planned to travel to the popular Krabi Islands. A lovely day came to an end.

Sharing some pictures of the view from our hotel balcony – 

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Holiday in Thailand – Bangkok

Our second day in Bangkok was a pleasant one. The hotel offered a decent breakfast buffet. We started our the day with a sumptuous meal.

We planned to visit the Wat Arun temple in Bangkok, which is an amazing temple. Guess what, it’s located at the river-side and we had to take a ferry to reach the temple. That’s what made our journey exciting. We could see small huts set up in the low waters on either side, and so many people stay in those huts. A little boy looked out from the window of one hut and waved at us.

A small floating market was set up on the way. Beware of the sellers here, they sell souvenirs at really high prices. After a lovely 45 minute journey in the boat, we reached the temple.

The temple has numerous small Buddha statues at the entrance, arranged sequentially, around the main central tower. The architecture of the temple is very similar to the other temples in Bangkok.

We spent sometime inside the temple and then took a boat to return back. The return journey was a shorter one as we took a different route. The entire experience of visiting the temple was lovely. There are many temples in Bangkok, but this one is unique as we have to reach there by boat and that makes it even more exciting.

On our way back in the cab, we inquired about Indian restaurants. We were longing for desi-food and thankfully our driver did know about one. He dropped us at a decent Indian restaurant. The meal was good, but the restaurant guys took a lot of time to serve the meal. We didn’t mind as we had all the time to wait.

Later in the evening, just like the previous day, we visited a mall and then took some rest at the hotel. The next day we had to take a flight to the Phuket island.

Sharing a few pictures of the temple and the last one was taken on the way –

 

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My love for driving only increases…

The weekends have become even more exciting after I started driving our car in the traffic areas under hubby’s supervision. Yeah, he sits beside me and uses the hand-break when required 😉 Initially I started driving in the less populated, residential area near our house. I gradually started gaining confidence when I got more used to the gears, the clutch, the accelerator, and more importantly the breaks 😀

Since last few weeks, I have been driving in the traffic areas. I must say, one has to be extremely patient, cautious and alert while driving in the traffic areas of Bangalore where the traffic can even move at a snail’s speed, the buses just come to a halt without any signal, the autos and the two-wheelers never ride straight(they ride as much zigzag as possible 😉 ) Last Sunday, I drove for nearly an hour and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been riding a scooter from quite sometime now(more than 15 years) and I enjoy it a lot, but the experience of driving a four-wheeler is totally new and nice 🙂

I had set a target for myself of starting to drive in the heavy traffic areas before my birthday(occurs at the end of this month) and I am so glad that I achieved that target!! 🙂 I know, this is just the beginning. I need a lot of practice to be driving as good as my hubby does, but I will do my best to become better and better as days pass by. Riding a two-wheeler has always been one of the activities I have loved to do. Despite spending a lot of time in traffic, I enjoy driving to the core and now I am looking forward to becoming a better car-driver 🙂 Wish me luck friends!!! 🙂