Happy anniversary mom and dad! Don't think you'll be reading this, but I hope you know that its been a real treat being your son... You've taught me so much...and you've had such a great deal of influence in my life...Still don't know why I'm going to nepal with you tomorrow...I feel kinda outta place... :)

I'm bored... again! My cousins are having their exams, my nephew is busy with his marriage preparations, my parents are busy discussing the economics of buying a house in India, and the cricket has stopped for a while... leaving me to sit here in front of an ancient pentium1 80Mhz comp with a 56.6 k modem, writing my blog, while being forced to donate generously to the MAK (Mosquito Association of Kolkata... a subsidiary of the Mosquito Association of India), and being seized by sudden bouts of the sniffles... . Gloomy Day!

My nephew (who is 27 i think) is getting married this year. He stays in London but he wants a proper bengali wedding and my cousins are CRAZY with the preparation! The wedding is (as far as I know) going to be beside a lake, with the groom coming in by boat, and the girl coming by palanquin... and i have been nominated as a possible palanquin carrieer( I'm not exactly thrilled by the prospect, but it should be fun so I'll give it a shot anyhow. ). Whether, the marriage ceremony is going to be on the huge river boat that has been rented or on dry land, I don't know...but it should be quite an experience.

One thing that IS unusual (maybe not so much now... and defiantely not unusua lin my family) is that it is not an arranged marriage, but a love marriage. My grandma was always liberal, and her thoughts were way ahead of her time. She did soo much for the people of this city! She set up schools to educate women, and she set up a handicraft company for the poor. And she wasn't educated and nor was she exactly drowning in wealth. The house seems so empty without her... so very empty... .

I miss you grandma... .

Yeah!!! Made it to India safe...but bot sound... Had a horrible trip back... Had to pay $168 in excess baggage fees, deal with rude and lazy airport staff, airport bureacracy... and all this at 4am singapore time! Murphy worked on overtime man!!!Bloody Annoying!!!

But seeing all my cousins and relatives come to see me... touching ... we had 3 cars and 10 people coming to fetch the 4 of us from the airport.

Been watching cricket, eating and shopping the whole time... Bought a pair of original levis for 45 sing dollars... it seems that this place has become a shoppers paradise, with most everything on offer...from levis to live mongooses! And everyone tells me I've lost a lot of weight and they seem to be taking it as a personal challenge to see if they can fatten me up to my "good 'ol self " by the time i go back!

Will be going to Nepal on Friday for a week... It should be something... visiting the himalayas again...
Will try to keep you all posted, if I have the time to come to this cyber cafe...
C-ya guys when i go back! Take care people!

This is going to be my last blog entry for some time...
Finally! The day has arrived... going off to India tonight and I CANNOT wait! I miss being pampered!

Went to the gym for the last time this year...did a stripped down back routine, said by to my gym friends, then sent my maid off. She's going back to Surabaya... . I'm really gonna miss my gym kaki's!

Went to meet Wen after that at Jurong Point. I told her that she looks a bit chubbier and I think that she thought that it means that she was fatter... which is NOT true... It's just that her cheeks look more pinchable than before! :) Passed her some of my books to read... hope she likes them. And Adrian, just ask Wen if you're interested in any of the books... Oh well... time for some last minute packing and preparations...

Cheers guys and happy holidays. See you all in a month... :)

Sitting down in front of my comp on this gloomy day, I can't help but think that, in less than 48hrs, I will be on another part of the continent, seeing places I haven't seen and meeting people I haven't met in 1 1/2 yrs, to revel in their company, knowing that when I leave the country again, I might not get a chance to see them again. But death is as much a part of life as life itself, and hopefully I'll be able to come back with a bagful of memories, because, come the end, thats all you are really left with ...isn't it. Memories... .

I think too much...

Anyway, got my friends birthday present AND passed it to him today. Also bought giordano vouchers for another friend whose birthday also falls in December. My JC class has 5 people born in december, and 3 of those people are born on the same day!

Also met my CCK gym friends for the last time this year. Bought a CD by Armik but have yet to listen to it... am still looking for master and commander soundtrack (isn't out yet). Will get it when it comes out I guess. Will be going to the airport tonight to put the baggage, and will be sending my maid off tomorrow morning, will be playing basketball tomorrow afternoon in NUS, and then flying off tomorrow night... Thats the plan anyway...

And lastly... Happy 21st Birthday, Zhiming and Shiyu! See you guys when I get back!