There and Back Again

Hey everyone, I’m back from my month-long vacation. It’s been one hell of an interesting ride. Highlights of my journey include:

• Venice, ah beautiful Venice, I don’t have a bad word for you
• Amsterdam caught me by surprise! I love the this city
• The charming cottages complete with grazing cows in the very picturesque Swiss Alpine region
• The people! So many helpful, friendly people who’ve helped make this trip a memorable one!

My feet are covered with blisters and my body is aching. It’s been a great experience. But oh, does it feel good to be back home. :)

See You Later

Absent
Hey all. I’ve just crawled out of my week-long semi-comatose state. I was down with a particularly bad cold. Had fever 4 days straight. I was convinced I had the flu but no, just the common cold, insisted the doc. In my drug-induced stupor, I kept trying to console myself that some good will come out of this and whaddaya know! Having spent my days mostly in deep slumber and awake in the wee hours of the night, my body has somewhat adjusted to Central European time! Yup, I will be leaving for my European adventure in a few days’ time. I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging on the road so if there are no updates here next month, do pardon me!

Present
While lying sick in bed the other day, it dawned on me how we tend to really be in the present during extremes in our lives — in mirth or gloom, when we’re experience great pain or pleasure or during moments when we were this close to death. The other parts — those that make the bulk of our lives — we merely go through the motions, only to be referred to when current times are bad: “those were the days”, “I wish things were back to normal”, etc. Over the past few years, I’ve been trying to live my life positively in the present and I have to say that it has helped tremendously in the way I see and live my life. I genuinely believe that living with a positive mindset coupled with affirmative action has helped me achieved a lot of my goals — one of which is this very trip I’m taking. :)

Tomorrow is May Day for many of you folks, so enjoy the long weekend!

Lost and Found

The little break I’ve taken has done wonders. I’ve chilled out, contemplated, rejoiced.

Lost
My husband and I went to Little India, an ethnic enclave a few minutes away from the city centre, last week. We ate chicken biryani and samosas. Walked through rows and rows of colourful shop houses. After awhile, it became evident that we didn’t know the area that well.

We were lost. For hours we were wondering aimlessly, discovering quaint little corners tucked away from the main road. It would have been really fun if not for the 32-degree (90 F) heat. But that’s okay, a day like this makes an icy cold glass of coffee taste just that much better. And I need to maintain this positive mindset because we’re probably gonna get lost quite a bit come May. Why? We’re planning on going for a month-long vacation to Europe and I’m very, very excited about it. It will be our first time and I didn’t know where to begin! It would be nice to get some info from family and friends who’ve been there but the general consensus when we hinted about the trip to them has been negative - “better to save your money”, “it’s a bad time to go”, etc - so no, we didn’t get much help from them.

Found
I’m thankful to have people around me who cared enough for me to dispense well-meaning advice. I’m grateful too for the privilege of being able to make my own decisions. I decided that if I didn’t go now, I would probably regret it later.

Firstly, the exchange rates are very favourable now. Secondly, I have less work now. Yes, you heard that right. Less work. While I couldn’t possibly envision myself taking a month off work last year, there’s a definite dearth of projects in the coming months. Time, once a great luxury to me, has become more affordable now. Still I felt that I need a little reaasurance, and turned to my best friend.

“Just go,” said my best friend.

“But why?” I asked.

“Because,” she laughed.

Embrace the now, be spontaneous, grab the silver lining, get inspired, live without regrets - she summed it up with one word.

Happy New Year

Thank you for reading Growing Happiness in 2008. I’m ever so grateful for your company.

Here’s to a great 2009! :)

Happy Holidays

Have a good one! :)

Well, Chill

Sorry guys, I was down with a nasty upper respiratory tract infection. I asked my doctor about the rashes I have on my arms and legs which I initially thought were a case of fungal infection. Apparently I have stress-induced eczema. I told him that I was under no pressure from my work nor personal life but he laughed it off and asked me to chill. Is it possible to be all stressed up and not know it?

Before I left the clinic, the good Doc reminded, “no ice-cream and chocolate bars for now!” Unfortunately, the two things I had been yearning for the past few days were a big tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a whole family-sized bar of Toblerone. Has my doctor been reading my blog?

PS: No, doc, I didn’t give in to my cravings. :[

The Wedding Poultry

I’m back. I probably have 3 (5? 10?) loads of washing to do and currently in a state of post-holiday slump. Well technically, it wasn’t really a vacation:

“You will be the free-range photographer.”

“Free-range?!”

“There will be an official photographer capturing the couple’s every move. You’ll document everything else.”

“Oh, I get it, I’ll be running around like a crazy chicken.”

“Exactly.”

PS: Happy Election Day, US folks!

Be Right Back

The gifts are sorted and the packing almost done. I’m going out of town for a wedding. Will be back next week!

I’ll leave you with some of the blog posts I’ve enjoyed recently:

Chris invites you to consider today, the first day of your life ;
Damien examines the beauty of this temporary life;
Karen inspires me to grow my own lettuce (it’s that simple?)
and I so want to try a cup of Vietnamese iced coffee NOW, Diane and Todd!

Ok, I’m out!

An Apple A Day, Eh?

Thank you for all the get well wishes. I didn’t recover as soon as I’d expected. It took two trips to the doc and two rounds of antibiotics before I got better. And no, I didn’t cave in to my cravings, I’ve actually been eating apples daily for the past three weeks. Something else has cropped up so I’m going off to the doctor’s again later. Hmm…

Something’s Not Right

I dragged myself to the doctor’s office yesterday after a sleepless, breathless, wheezing, cough-filled night. My husband was diagnosed with bronchitis less than 2 week ago. He’s okay now but it seems that it’s my turn.

When I’m sick, I crave for all the things that’s bad for me - French fries, Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk, Oreo cheesecake, icy-cold drinks - and none of that chicken soup or porridge thing. Right now, I could use some Famous Amos chocolate chip and pecans cookies. I really don’t know why but I don’t think alone in this (craving junk food when unwell).

Posting will resume when I’m better. Or when I get my ice-cream. :o

(Apparently I also have a habit of drawing when I’m sick)