Day 29 A New Collection

Yesterday (30th Dec) before we left the Hotel in Pasikuda I thought I will gather a few corals that were lying everywhere on the beach and use them to add some glamor to our home:). I often find these basic items such as pebbles, stones, dried leaves etc used to brighten up interiors of rooms/halls to be amazingly stylish. Of course one needs a bit of creativity to get the best out of those but for now I am leaving them closer to the main entrance.

Day 28 At Centara in Pasikuda

Day 27 Pump it up!

As my Zumba instructor is away enjoying his Christmas holidays in Columbia, it was imperative that I find a good enough alternative. I tried out a new class which was totally not up to scratch and called up a few others and those did not meet my expectations. So I settled down to YouTube and so far I am loving it. I found so many cardio work outs, Zumba workouts, reduce tummy workouts etc and some of them were pretty amazing. I have now being trying those for  5 consecutive days which makes me feel pretty good thought I haven't lost any weight! I thought I will never be able find the motivation to do a 1 hour work out alone in my room but looks like I have been underestimating myself;)

In addition to the above, I have been keeping up with my movie objectives as well and watched 2 movies today- The Conjurning and The adventures of Tintin.

Day 26 Watched a sci-fi movie

I do not wish this entire blog to be about movies but 'Gravity' was a different type movie. I generally do not enjoy sci-fi movies but decided to sit through this one and I was not disappointed. Though there was hardly any storyline, it was an engaging movie that gives you glimpse of life in space. The movie emphasizes what we already know and yet it still leaves you astounded.  The countless challenges that astronauts have to deal with, the amount of skills, knowledge and the resilience required from them and the beauty and frightfulness of space were all fascinating. However I thought it was a bit silly that one astronaut-Sandra Bullock  was clueless on how to operate the control panels of the space craft and that by the time the fire alarm went off already half of the spacecraft was ablaze. I also found it very strange when Sandra bullock uses a fire extinguisher to jump through the atmosphere or did I get that wrong? I am making a mental note to double check on that. 

However I certainly enjoyed all the drama set in space! 

Day 25 It's Christmas!

This is the lunch prepared by me for Christmas day. As I don't quite celebrate Christmas and as no one in my family likes Turkey, it was a simple preparation which included only chicken. Nevertheless everyone loved it! I look forward to preparing a special dinner for 31st night. 

Day 24 Oz the Great and Powerful

As I was flipping through the TV channels today,I luckily stumbled on the movie- Oz the great and powerful. I had missed the first few minutes of the movie but I wasn't too late! It was a beautiful movie and since the last Disney movie I watched was 'Brave' which was many months ago, I was thrilled to watch this one as I am a big fan of those type of movies. The enchanted land was breathtakingly beautiful with many wondrous sights and it blooms in full color. The Oz the wizard, who is not a wizard but a simple carnival magician helps Glinda to save the land of Oz from the two wicked witches. I loved the visual effects of the movie, the story line, the magicallly bright colors and also the characters of Oz, Glinda the princess, the flying monkey and the doll. All in all it was a great movie that can powerfully sweep even  adults in to a world of fantasy and magic. 

Day 23 Decorating a Birthday Cake

Day 22 First Party of the Season

Day 21 Gift wrapping- learning new styles

Day 20 A visit to Ape Gama

I visited 'Ape Gama' last Monday-16the December. This was not a planned visit and therefore we did not have any preconceived ideas. So we were able to enjoy what it had to offer though it wasn't much at the time. I think they become fully operational after 7 when the food becomes available too. 'Ape Gama' is a replica of the ancient Sri Lankan village. It gives the visitors a sense about the village lifestyle. The simplicity of life in a village is portrayed through the simple houses and other key places in the village like the 'Kada mandiya' and 'Veda gedara' -all of them very basic and simplistic.

Day 19 Pie Crust

Today is officially my first day of the Christmas break and I had a great day relaxing, watching TV, tyding up the house etc. the things that I love doing. As I was a little behind in my blogging, I thought today would be a perfect day to get back on track. So I decided to teach my self to make that all important pie crust. Though I didn't actually get down to making it, I watched a few videos on YouTube and also read a couple of recipies and wrote down a few pointers which can be filed away in my recipie folder. I will probably try it out tomorrw. So all in all, it was a good start to my much awaited, well-earned holiday! 

Day 18 Picmonkey as a First.

Day 17 Pampering Myself

I tried out my new body polish today. It is called Grapefruit and Coconut crystal body polish. So far I am quite content with the product and my skin feels smooth and refreshed. It is still too early for comments so I shall leave that for a later date.

Day 16 Trying out Instagram

Instagram seems to be an application that has become widely popular in such a short space of some time or at least it seems that way to me as I am not using it. So today I thought i'll get my hands on this 'cool' app. 

Day 15 A Letter to the Editor

As I was browsing through the Time Asia magazine for this week I thought it might be a good idea to write a response to one of the articles as this is something I have never done. I checked out the 'Conversation' column where responses from readers are published and felt even more interested. So I picked the article about rising ADHD among younger kids in the US and wrote about how there is a lack of awareness among SL parents and teachers about psychological conditions and how such kids are marginalized in the society in this part if the world. 

Although I do not expect my response to be published, if it does, it will be a great start as I intend to write to Time Asia, occasionally from now on! 

Day 14 A Visit to House of Fashions

It is Colombo's latest department store and is claimed to be the biggest mall in south Asia with a single person ownership. So we decided we should no longer postpone visiting this new fashion hub in Colombo. Given these facts,it is hardly surprising that we had quite high expectations when we entered the place. The building, though not majestic, was quite grand from outside. We entered the car park without much hassle but once inside there was a fair bit of waiting around before we finally got to a parking slot. This was disappointing, given the magnitude of the car park and  that there were only a handful of vehicles. Once we stepped out we noticed that there were no sign posts indicating directions to an entrance. 'This way' said one security personnel and we headed in the direction pointed. 'Go up the way you came' said another after a bit of slope-climbing. So we ended up walking back up to the main entrance only to learn later on that there were other more convenient entrances from the car park to the mall. 

After some tottering, we finally walked through the doors and into the mall, with a growing awareness of our conspicuously falling enthusiasm and the interiors didn't do a great job of restoring it! 

The christmas decorations were sketchy and I was not all that impressed with the way in which items were displayed. There was of course  a considerable array of clothing items, accessories, gifts etc which was a plus point. However the display and outlook which I think are extremely crucial for a department store have not been given the place of prominence they deserve. The staff seemed inadequately trained and their presence almost overbearing. I almost got shouted at for attempting to take a photograph! 

Long way to go 'House of Fashions'!  But in their defense, this is a huge venture and it is just the beginning. No doubt, they will turn things around. Perhaps, they should start with the simple concept 'customer is king'. 

Day 12 Movie Review

Nearly a week ago I set myself a target to have a move week-one of the easier and most fun targets that I have ever set for myself. I am well on track and have been watching on average 2 movies per day if I have been keeping score correctly. Continuing the trend, today I i planned to check out 'World War Z' and 'The Side Effects'. I started with 'world war z' which was quite happening at the beginning but it soon bore me. So I switched on to watch ' The Side Effects' which I found quite interesting with its unexpected twist. It is a movies about a new drug for depression that totally fails to do what it promises or at least that is what the viewer is led to believe before it takes a cometely different turn all together. The movie also draws a certain level of attention to medical practices and ethics which adds value to it other than the pure entertainment value. 

Day 11 Out in the Rain

It's raining intensely. Winds are blowing fiercely and the sky has taken a grim look. For me,it's a perfect Saturday evening and I am up on the rooftop. I absolutely love this weather and love it when the wind carries across droplets of water splattering them all over and love it when all the trees around me sway precariously in the winds. Well,strictly speaking it's just two trees but with so many branches and  leaves, I cannot help but envision that I am on a tree house in the middle of a rainforest. ;)

Day 10

Today being the last working day of the month, I wanted to reward myself for completing another interminable week and a month. So right after work I headed straight to Spa Ceylon. My other alternative was to reward my self with doughnuts but somehow I steered my mind away from that and planned to get my self a new body scrub and a face scrub. After browsing through their big array of products for nearly one hour, I settled down for a body polish and a facial scrub with a mild Ayurvedic fragrance.

Day 9 Still it's Movie Time

I watched two movies today- 'Nothing but the Truth' and 'Parker'. 

Day 8 A Man on the Ledge

As a brand new 'first' I have decided to have an entire week of watching movies, specifically movies about cops, detectives, the FBI and the likewise. Today I watched 'Man on the Ledge' and loved all the action! The story is about a man who has been wrongly convicted and how he endevours to prove his innocence. I must admit that initially I felt as though the movie's plot is hardly intriguing and was bracing myself to watch for 2 hours, a  group of cops trying to negotiate with a man on the ledge of a high rising building. Doesn't sound all that inspiring right? However the movie proved to be much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Of course it is yet another American movie that glorifies the jobs of the NYC police officers but that suits me just fine. I think I must confess my long standing  admiration and curiosity about the FBI, Scotland Yard and detectives on general. Maybe my next 'first' should be read more about the detective agencies and learn the tidbits about them! 

This blog is certainly leading to some momentous transformations...

Day7 Movie Time.

As strange as this may sound, today I watched a movie after a long time! I have quite a collection of movies downloaded and saved and as Rads rekindled my interest with her blog post I thought I will allocate this afternoon for a movie session. I ended up watching two new movies -'Prisoners' and 'The Call'. 

Day6 Holiday Planning..

It's finally that time of the year. The much awaited Christmas holidays are just around the corner. Spurred by all the holiday talk and the myriad of advertisements, I spent this afternoon, yet again flirting with different ideas for a perfect holiday. Earlier this year I was fascinated by some travel pictures of Iceland and New Zealand that I came across online and was overwhelmed by the abundance of natural beauty in those countries. Then, not surprisingly, my ever speculative mind completely changed and I was contemplating a cruise trip! How exciting that was as I have never actually gone on a cruise! But subsequently I remembered that I have been on a ship after all where I was attending a Xmas party. To my dismay I remember feeling a bit sea sick and once again I am left wondering if a cruise trip is the perfect holiday? Oh I forgot to mention, China was on my mind too as a holiday destination but that was a couple of months ago. Presently I am tiptoeing in the direction of a trip to Bangalore inspired by an airline advertisement which claims absurdly competitive deals, so I was thinking why not? 

At the end of this all, I feel like I have actually planned visiting half of the world. Oh for an indecisive mind! So much to do so little time! 

But then, part of the fun in a holiday is actually the planning stage. So I shall resort to enjoy this and when the holiday actually happens, well, it will be a nice surprise.

Day 5 A Childhood Fantasy

Today I spent a couple of hours reading one of my most favorite books from many many years ago. It is 'The Secret Island' by Enid Blyton. I guess some of us never really grow up or is it what they call 'young at heart'? Either ways I can't help but marvel at how enthraling I still found this story. It's almost like going back to my childhood and reliving a fantasy from the good old days. It proved to be an excellent tension-reducing and mood boosting measure. 

It seemed to me, as I kept remembering the excitement I felt as a child when reading this book has not faded with the years. Or perhaps, it's not the book or the  story but the feeling of being young and so carefree again. Perhaps it's not that we never grow up but those trouble free, beautiful days are infinitely precious and worth saving and re-living every now and again...

Day 4 A Date with Mom

Today I decided to spoil my mom and took her on a shopping spree and a  special lunch. We even indulged in some sweet delights which is usually forbidden for mom! I must admit, not without a pang of guilt, that it has been quite a while since I last spent some quality time with her and even longer since I did something to make her feel special. Because, let's face it, for many of us, one of the most vexing challenges is striking a healthy balance between our busy professional and academic schedules and our personal lives. When our free time is not properly managed, it's typically the parents who get pushed down on our lists of priorities! This is because only a few of us are inclined to spare a thought about parents when we are engrossed with our busy lives. But sometimes, it's great to just slow down, pull back and pause instead of just charging down the alley of life. This would give us more time for the loved ones thus enriching our lives evermore..

Day 3 Mighty Castles, Misty Mountains and Conquering Titans..

Day 2 Breaking the Vow of Silence

As I entered the office today, bright and early as usual, I had all but one thought on my mind - To make conversations! I won't be exaggerating if I say that on a typical day I appear like a person who has either taken a vow of silence or caught up in a severe state of abstracted musing.

This morning, however, was different as I was filled with an eagerness to interact, thanks to this blog prompting me to try out something new.

As I sat at my workstation getting on with my morning tasks,  I soon realized that despite my best intentions I was actually still in my own bubble and the whole venture was becoming less alluring by the minute. Already, a whole hour has elapsed and the right spirit was entirely absent!  Of course, I was not going to give up that easily, so I headed towards the pantry and instead of slipping away having given a half-smile like on other days, I actually got into an animated conversation with the colleagues. The day passed with a few other such engaging, high-spirited wordy encounters and at the end of the day, I left office, pleasantly conscious of a day well-spent.

I am en route to becoming a conversationalist....
 

Day 01 Bright Beginings.. Great Expectations..

Inspired by my friend who has already embarked on a 'Journey of Firsts' this is the first step of my trek through 365 days of new experiences.
Be it a whole new experience or a new perception of something mundane and conventional, I intend to have a wonderful catalogue of daily reflections to cherish in an year's time.

I hope this would inspire me to learn something new everyday and keep track of little things that would otherwise go unnoticed. And without meaning to sound philosophical, I think this would also help to stay in the present day and present moment without swinging through the passages of time into the past and future. It would be a leisurely paddle of daily musings, cherishing small achievements and aspiring to be a better person each day.

So this is my first step of a journey of 'Firsts'.