Day 224 : Yet Another MRI.

And after all those wonderful celebrations, comes the D-Day. Madam's next MRI scan.

So as always, we set off for Mt. Elizabeth hospital, got her admitted (the children's ward was full, so she got admitted into the rather boring and depressing adult ward which quickly got her bored in 2 minutes), did the whole routine of changing into scrubs, getting vitals checked multiple times, get wheeled into the MRI centre (totally unnecessary but we make it a fun wheel chair ride), wrestled with the anesthesia process as always, waited outside as the little one got her umpteenth MRI done, waited for her to come out of the anesthesia, slowly got her to drink water and juice and eat some food after several hours of fasting, kept her entertained until discharge, gave into all her macaron and chocolate demands, and all the while waiting for the results.

Usually the doctor comes before discharge and gives us the update but today, he was caught up in a surgery and we were asked to come back tomorrow.

So that was that.

What was beautiful about the day?

The fact that she braved through another day in the hospital, and was as fresh as ever when she got back home after several hours.
The fact that we have such a bunch of supportive friends, a few even came down to give us company in the hospital, even though it was only a scan and not something more serious like the surgery. God bless them!
The fact that we could all still smile and laugh and crack jokes in the midst of it all.

I guess for now, that will do. Tomorrow, we get the results.

276 more to go. 

Day 223 : The Real Birthday & Diwali!

So Madam's "real" birthday falls today, October 30th. The reason why neither of the two birthday parties were help today was because we wanted to take it easy. Tomorrow, she will be going for her follow up MRI scan and we didn't want to do a late night, high intense celebration right before that.

Instead, we made our way to the temple in the morning and had a quiet Diwali celebration in the evening at home. After the visit to the temple, Madam and I even made a visit to McDonalds for her favourite treat - Nuggets with Ice Cream. We also spent some time reading through all the birthday messages that came pouring in for her.

Thanks to our helper who was super enthusiastic about celebrating Diwali as well as Madam's birthday, there was a pretty Rangoli outside our front door, there was a lot of prep for a puja and there was payasam and puri and channa made especially for the occasion. Such was her enthusiasm that she even convinced me to wear a sari to conduct the puja! It was the first time the husband and I found ourselves doing a proper puja at home of any kind, all on our own, and of course, we had to take the help of Google on how to go about it.

So yes, that's how the "reel" birthday (as Madam likes to call it) was spent. It was quiet, peaceful, and I think in a lot of ways, spent in mentally preparing for tomorrow.

At the temple

Rangoli

Puja prep

Diyas

Sari time

277 more to go. 

Day 222 : Birthday Party #2!

It was time for Madam's second birthday party! So once again it was time for some shopping (not just for the birthday but also lights, flowers, sweets for Diwali), prepping the house, dressing up and all that jazz. It was yet another real fun party! 

As usual, it started with the cake cutting (the gorgeous floral cake was courtesy of my friend who had attended the party with her two lovely little darling kids) and then ended with the kids and adults going wild with some serious dancing! 

The kids were so tired and hoarse by the end of it all, but nobody wanted to end the party. Only after many promises of meeting again soon to dance together could the kids be separated. 

Ah, what a beautiful evening and what a beautiful birthday! 

Blowing the candles!

The gorgeous cake!

Play time!

Me & the kiddos in our kaala chashmas, all set to shake a leg to the song!

And then we danced....

And danced...

And danced!

278 more to go. 

Day 221 : Inspector Singh, Again!

I breezed through one more of Shamini Flint's Inspector Singh murder investigations. This time it was the "Inspector Singh Investigates : A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul" that I picked up from the airport bookstore, where else?!

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of humour and thriller. I believe I have been through most of the series and I am going to really miss reading them once I am through the last one or two remaining.

But for now, Inspector Singh & Shamini Flint rock!

279 more to go. 

Days 218 - 220 : China again!

Yup, I found myself back in China, for the second time within 2 weeks!

The key highlight was the food this time. Our global CMO was in the town and she ensured the team went out for dinners on both the days I happened to be there.

On the first day we went to Mr & Mrs Bund on the Bund in Shanghai, which is like one of those super high end Michelin star restaurants or in my CMO's own words, "One of the best restaurants in the world!". And the food didn't disappoint at all.

On the second evening, we made our way to Chinese restaurant that specializes in the hairy crabs that Shanghai is famous for, also a Michelin star one, if I may add. I avoided the crab, but gorged myself on everything else that was laid out on the table, topping it all up with some Chinese rice wine (too strong!).

The downside was that I had a horrible experience travelling back because of continuous delay in the flight timings thanks to Shanghai's overcrowded airspace. But that was more or less compensated by the really cool Italian film I watched called "The Perfect Strangers"on the flight. It was a super low budget film - set over a dinner party and featuring 7 characters - but with absolutely brilliant writing, direction and performances. Loved it!

Thus wrapped up yet another, and hopefully the last for the year, China trip.

280 more to go. 

Day 217 : 8th Film Festival!

Today I realized that we had gotten into the International Film Festival of Prayag, originally conducted in Allahabad but to be conducted in Delhi from 2017. With that, we are on to our 8th film festival for Pularum Iniyum Naalekal! Who would have thought!

283 more to go. 

Day 216 : The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man!

Yet another incredibly hilarious, totally recommended book - "The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man" by W. Bruce Cameron! I caught myself laughing out loud SO MANY times! I picked it up from my favourite Times bookshop at the Changi Airport on my last visit to China, mainly attracted by that dog's picture on the cover. But what a superb find!

286 more to go. 

Day 215 : Birthday Celebration #1!

It was Madam's Birthday Celebration #1. Her actual birthday is on 30th, but I decided to split the celebration into two - one for my gang of friends from NUS and another one for my gang of "film" friends. It was just easier that way to manage the crowds, suit people's availability and of course, Madam gets two birthday parties, so there were no complaints there.

The whole day went in shopping and decorating and prepping and of course, the party itself. Madam had a ball with her besties while the adults had a ball with the "loom band bracelet" activity I had gotten them to do. The winner of the activity was judged my Madam herself and it was all pretty fun! But, I shall simply let the pictures do the talking on this one!

With the indispensable Lakshmi aunty!

The custom made Paw Patrol cake, following every word of Madam's brief!

Me explaining the rules of the game. 

Time to unwrap all those gifts!

Choosing the winner of the loom band bracelet activity!

The proud winners!

The proud winners with their winning prize - a whole set of bands with loom to make more bracelets! :D
 

Thus Birthday Celebration #1 came to an end. A super, duper fun day! 

285 more to go. 

Day 214 : The Super-Dad Come into the Picture!

When I had read the lyrics for the promotional song a couple of days back, it was difficult for me to fully make sense of how this worked with the music. So today, my music composer sent me a rough recording of the song together with the lyrics and then it seemed to flow a lot better. However, there still seemed to be a few areas for improvement, so I brought none other than my Super Dad!

Well, my dad is a musician, his Malayalam is pretty strong, and he is a good critic of songs and lyrics. So there couldn't have been a better person to help us with this. I passed the task of fine tuning the lyrics to him and just like that, overnight, the full lyrics for our song was ready!

He is indeed a Super Dad! It was my first time collaborating with him on any of my films - usually I show the film to him after everything gets done and he gives me pretty constructive criticism. But I must say, this worked out pretty well too. What's more, he actually really like the song!

Made my day!

286 more to go. 

Day 213 : "Little Chef"!

Today there was a fun activity at Madam's school. The kids were to partner with their dads to make breakfast for their mommies. Needless to say, it was a fascinating event! All the dads looked visibly uncomfortable and ready to run the minute someone would let them off.

We had to carry our own ingredients for the event, so we armed ourselves with some fruits, bread and spreads, because what else would a dad make except for sandwiches. OK fine, some made muesli and salads, but you get the point.

It was a really fun event - Madam seemed to really enjoy herself (at least for most part of it), what our Junior Chef and her dad made was quite pretty, and we moms had to go up to the stage and taste and comment on it. It was all quite amusing.

A good day for the dad, the daughter and the mom who watched it all!

All set for the Little Chef event!

The Chefs at work!

The Chefs at work!

The final product - Red Riding Hood & a Bunny, apparently!

At the final "presentation"!

Madam's classmates checking out her cooking skills. They LOVED the Red Riding Hood!

After much begging, she obliges with a full sized chef photo. 

287 more to go. 

Day 212 : "Us"!

I read a delightful little book called "Us" by David Nicholls. It was so heartwarming, so thought provoking (could almost be a guide on marriage and parenthood) and not to mention absolutely hilarious! Loved, loved, loved it!

288 more to go. 

Day 211 : Lyrics!

For ever now, we had been discussing the making of a promotional song for the film. The music was ready because it is based off the background score from the film, but there had been no lyrics.

However today, a set of lyrics came in. Just like that. The music composer had been working with someone on this and suddenly it was just popped up in my inbox!

The lyrics wasn't 100% there, but I was thoroughly excited because a whole new chapter seem to be born on the film.

Now let's see where this goes!

289 more to go. 

Day 210 : Achieved the Impossible!

OK. So. I had clearly been bad at this blogging. The last I checked, I had about 3 whole weeks of pending entries. But over two days, I have managed to complete all the backlog, which I thought was never possible! That's all the way from Day 188 - 210... that's pretty cool, I would like to think!

So here's to achieving what I thought would be impossible to achieve! 

290 more to go. 

Day 209 : Science Centre!

Today's "outing" was to the Science Centre, mainly to see a show on Dinosaurs at the Omni theatre (planetarium). It used to be my favourite haunt in my first few years in Singapore and I used to make sure it was on the itinerary of every visitor I had from India.  But over time, somehow the fascination had died. But I was thrilled to discover that Madam has now taken on the fascination and she watched the huge screen and the dinosaurs on it with much focus and much wonder for 30 minutes.

Post the screening, we spent about 2 hours inside the science centre, "exploring", "experimenting" and "discovering" various things. Madam was completed smitten by the place and she even spent a good half an hour poking things on to this Marble Wall.

I guess we all left the place feeling a little bit enlightened!

Dad & Daughter experimenting on the "Marble Wall"

291 more to go.

Day 208 : The Diwali Dhamaka Begins!

October is clearly a month of festivities. After Durga Puja, now we have the Diwali celebrations kicking off. For us, it started with a party at my brother in law's house. With some great food and fun games, I had a good time!

I am determined to make the most out of every bit of festivities that are coming up - Madam's birthday parties and Diwali, before we need to return to the hospital for her next MRI scan on the 31st of this month. That would be nerve wrecking as always, but till then (and after that)... it's going to be fab!

292 more to go. 

Days 205 - 207 : A Good China Trip!

It was yet another China trip with the highlights being (other than a couple of smooth work days) :

1) The Tamil film "Irudhi Suttru" which has what I believe one of the best female debuts on Indian cinema by Ritika Singh. The film is a well taken typical sports drama, but I was completely blown away by her performance. She was absolutely spectacular with her very natural portrayal of a foul-mouthed fisherwoman who takes up women's boxing. What more, she is not a Tamilian but can give all other South and North Indian actresses who make a mess of lip syncing in Tamil, a run for their money!

2) I managed to make about 10 pages of progress on my film script. Now I am officially stuck. I have the bits and pieces in my head but it is not flowing anymore. Time to take break, dream about it, and then get back when the time is ready.

3) I complete yet another book from the Inspector Singh series written by Shamini Flint. This time it was "A Calamitous Chinese Killing".

All in all, a happy Chinese trip!

Day 204 : Delhi International Film Festival!

Today we got confirmation that Pularum Iniyum Naalekal has got official selection at the 5th Delhi International Film Festival! That's 7 festivals and 3 awards since August this year! Super duper happy!!


296 more to go. 

Days 202 - 203 : Saptami & Ashtami!

This year we celebrated the 7th and 8th days (Saptami and Ashtami) of Durga Puja over the weekend. Celebration to me and the hubby, is mainly just going to the temple. Usually to the pandals by the Bengali Association of Singapore, but given that has turned insanely crowded and commercialized over the years, we decided to skip it this time.

Instead we made two trips - first to our favourite little Toa Payoh temple on Saturday and then to the Ramakrishna Mission on Sunday. While the celebration at Ramakrishna Mission seemed to be very much on the usual quieter side like that of an ashram, the celebration at Toa Payoh was more in line with what I was familiar with from Kerala - well decorated dieties, a spectacular Golu or Bommalattom, and little girls all dressed up to sing and perform Bharatanatyam and Kolattam! It was so beautiful and brought back a lot of childhood memories!

While seeking Durgaji's blessings is a big part of the puja, it also happens to be my annual sari wearing time. Incidentally my DSLR also happened to be at home and not on his sojourn somewhere (I tend to leave it with my film team more often than keep it with me).

So this year, we took the opportunity to also take a lot of good family pictures and I am incredibly happy about that!

297 more to go.

Day 201 : Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom!

It's been a while since I mentioned any film here, but I watched this super duper hilarious Tamil film "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom". It was so hilarious that I realized it was a bad idea to be eating one's dinner and watching it because I almost choked on my food a few times! Totally made my day!!

299 more to go.

Day 200 : Like Madam, Like Me!

Today I discovered that Madam and a much younger me, look about the same. Usually her round cheeks are attributed to her dad. but am happy to note that I might have had something to do with those cheeks too. Talk about small joys!

300 more to go.