My first French Song.

Voila!!   Moi Premiere Chanson Francaise!

 A couple of weeks ago I posted the tabs for this song. Here is the strumming version. I learnt this song quite some time ago although did not have the courage to post it. This song is easy to learn and a smart way to learn the language.      

                

Ah! Vous dirai-je Maman 

Ce qui cause mon tourment ? 

Papa veut que je raisonne 

Comme une grande personne 

Moi je dis que les bonbons 

Valent mieux que la raison.

TRANSLATION:

 Ah! Will I tell you, Mommy
What is tormenting me?
Daddy wants me to reason
Like a grown up person
Me, I say that sweets
Are worth more than reason

Just a sincere attempt.

I am not spoilt.. Just well loved.

At times I feel so lucky and loved. Theres so much love around me. Just a handful of true friends who love me more than their lives. A small but a very loving family who'd kill/die for me ;)

Just because you get everything you want and get everything your way does not mean that you are spoiled. It simply means that you are well loved and taken care of...and you deserve it.

 I feel flattered by all the love surrounding me. I am not spoilt, I am BLESSED, I am LOVED, I am PRIVILEGED..

Zee Cine Awards 2011

Its 3:20 am ,early morn and I am typing this out while everything is still fresh in my memory. Yet another magical night in Singapore. It was a starry night, stars on the sky and Bollywood stars in the enchanting Marina Bay Sands Hotel. MBS in itself is a building I can write about for hours(next time ).For now just take a look at the wonderful edifice.

Beautiful Marina Bay Sands

 The tickets were a gift from my hubby. A new year gift. $700 per person!! Made me feel special ;)Although I was not excited initially, when we entered the ballroom I could feel the excitement in the air. The atmosphere was all charged up .

5,000 odd fans awaiting for one glimpse of their favourite stars. Just to look at crowd itself was overwhelming!The Who's Who of the Indian Film Industry just to name a few- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal,Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Hrithik Roshan , Karan Johar, Subhjash Ghai and many more assembled for the event.

Akshay Kumar and Sajid Khan hosted the event and proved to be a  comedic extravaganza. Sajids funny tauts, Akshays sense of humor were to die for.A I must say Akshay is a hearthrob! At his 40's , and yet it seems time has been on his side..Zee Awards  revealed a whole new facet of Akshays personality to me: An amazing anchorperson. Priyanka Chopra was the prominant star in the whole event , making appearances every 20 min for Best Movie Nominees dancing for every song from the nominated movies. The dashing hunk Arjun Rampal just stole my heart tonight!

The lights , the music system was mind blowing! The backgrounds used during different dance/award ceromony were so colorful . The effort made by the Zee team hosting a majestic show so successfully is remarkable.  I have no words to decribe the experience I just had few hours ago.So I will just post few videos of Shah-rukh, Rishi Kapoor, and other distinguished actors whose voice you can hear as the videos are not very clear.

Another lovely moment was Shah-rukh teaching Hrithik how to treat his wife on stage! Suzanne Khan was called upon the stage. Shah-rukh made hrithik dance to the tunes of Sajda song for Suzanne . Hritik also showered his wife  with flowers and bowed down to her proclaiming his love to her in front of the whole world!!! SO romantic. And vice versa, it was Suzannes turn to say those 3 magic words...    sigh! How cute is that!( I am trying to upload 2 more lovely videos but blogger is having uploading problems and am off to India in a few hours. )

Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone Shahrukh all danced to the tune of Bollywood music and the crowd went berserk!

One thing changed in me tonight. I have disliked Shahrukh for reasons still unknown to me, and that has changed. I think I like him now :) and once again for reasons unknown hahaha I guess its the persona. Maybe its the aura he eminates when you see him upclose...

Being a proud ex-employee of Zee I am so glad Zee chose this small beautiful island to host the event this year. Looking forward to many more.

Award Winners:

Best Actor (Male) Jury Choice

Hrithik Roshan (Guzaarish)

Best Actor (Female) Jury Choice

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Guzaarish)

Best Film Jury Choice

Udaan

Best Director Jury Choice

Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan)

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)

Arjun Rampal - Raajneeti

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)

Prachi Desai - Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

Best Actor In A Comic Role (Male/Female)

Boman Irani - Well Done Abba

Best Actor In A Negative Role (Male/Female)

Ronit Roy - Udaan

Most Promising Debut Director

Abhinav Kashyap - Dabangg

Most Promising Debut (Male)

Ranvir Singh - Band Baaja Baaraat

Most Promising Debut (Female)

Sonakshi Sinha - Dabangg

Best Playback Singer (Male)

Mohit Chauhan - Pee Loon (Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai)

Best Playback Singer (Female)

Richa Sharma - Sajda (My Name Is Khan)

Best Story

Karan Johar - Shibani Bathija (My Name Is khan)

Best Music

Sajid-Wajid - Dabangg

Best Lyrics

Gulzar - Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji (Ishqiya)

Best Dialogue

Rajat Arora - Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

Best Choreographer

Farah Khan - Sheila Ki Jawani (Tees Maar Khan)

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - Song of the Year

Munni Badnaam - Dabangg

Best Screenplay

Abhinav Kashyap - Dabangg

Best Background Music

Sandeep Shirodkar - Dabangg

Best Action

Vijayan Master - Dabangg

Best Editing

Pranav V Dhiwar - Dabangg

Best Cinematography

Ayananka Bose - Kites

Best Art Director

Guzaarish

Best Sound Design

Dileep Subramaniam - My Name Is Khan

International Male Icon

Ranbir Kapoor

International Female Icon

Deepika Padukone

Best Lifetime Jodi

Rishi Kapoor - Neetu Singh

Lifetime Achievement Award

Shatrughan Sinha

Best Marketed Film

My Name Is Khan

Popular choice awards:

Best Actor (Male) Popular Choice

Shah Rukh Khan - My Name Is Khan

Best Actor (Female) Popular Choice

Vidya Balan - Ishqiya

Best Film Popular Choice

Dabangg

Best Director Popular Choice

Karan Johar - My Name Is Khan

Whats on the menu today??

And so continues my local food adventures..

I tried the Chee Cheong Fun and also the Chwee Kuay.

Chee Cheong Fun(CCF) is steamed rice roll. Its famous in China ,Malaysia, Singapore & Hongkong.. It is in rolled form commonly, some even contain stuffing inside.The topping/stuffing has a wide range of variety from veggie to seafood. Its serves as breakfast for the Chinese. When I had it for the first time it reminded me of our South-Indian 'Neer-Dosa'!! No kidding!! Its almost the same except that the texture is tooo soft than Neer-Dosa. .Also the sweet sauce just adds to the flavour. They serve it with chilli too if you prefer it that way.The  Chee Cheong Fun I had was served with black sweet sauce  and sesame on the top.

 Some are also served with curry sauce or fried or cooked in soup, or stuffed with other filling.
The ingredients that makesChee Cheong Fun :

Rice flour
Cornstarch
Salt
Water
Cooking oil
Chopped spring onion
Sweetened soy sauce and sesame paste
The taste depends very much on the sauce that accompanies CCF also.

Chwee Kuay is steamed rice cake. Tastes exactly like the CCF except that it is in shape of 'IDLIS'!! Yes once again our South-Indian touch.. The texture is  soft and just like 'Raagi Halwa'. The crunchy scrumptious  topping is radish fried with garlic and sesame oil seasoning[Chinese use sesame oil for cooking-a recent revelation to me ] ! The ingredients are as same as CCF, only difference is the shape:) and the name :) Chwee kuay is available with different toppings/ Sauces.

I also tried another dish (name I dont remember now so will have to update later) noodles with veggies.

I held/used Chop-sticks for the very first time!!Achievement of the month! (I need to make space for achievement of the month in my blog now.See? this is why I love blogging.An original spontaneous idea!). Like how a mother would snap the picture of her baby walking for the first time taking her first steps, my colleagues wanted to click my picture with chop-sticks.I was touched! Here it is.

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MONTH!

P.S   : If you are a vegetarian then extra precaution has to be taken to ask what the topping/stuffing are.......

The Unforgettable tune..

Haven't we all heard this tune before? Remembering your childhood? This tune brings back our earliest memories as toddlers. :) a warm feeling. 

Twinkle twinkle little star..  You guessed it right!    and wrong! Its also the tune of "Ah! vous dirai-je" (french rhyme) a composition by Mozart himself. Did you notice that Baa baa black sheep, and ABCD the alphabet song also sounds the same?

Yong Tau Fu.....!

All this healthy eating has set off the trigger. A week of subway submarine sandwiches and I thought I can do better than that! Make a diet plan such that I can never get bored of Subway (How I love it!).. So today I had the healthiest meal ! The Chinese Yong Tau fu. It is a clear soup containing a variety of food. It’s particularly healthy as you have the option to choose the  vegetables that are put in ( a-la-carte). The clear soup is based on water and contains soy bean, there is little to no oil involved during cooking and most of the ingredients.

This is how you order:  You choose the vegetables, greens,noodles that you want , these are then boiled (in front of you)briefly in the soup  and it’s served all together in a bowl.
I chose,
Lady’s finger
beancurd skin
Seaweed
Aubergine(brinjal)
mushrooms
Noodles:  Yellow & bee hoon(bee hoon is nothing but the vermicelli we use)
Sauce: Chilli  & sweet brown sauce
(Ofcourse you have a choice of seafood and meat . My Singaporean colleague/friend helped me pick out my veggies )

I had the dish served ‘dry’ with only the sauces and took the soup separately.

This is eaten with chopsticks but alas! I dont know how to use one! So I devoured my meal with a fork and a spoon!

Low in calories, carbohydrates and fat. High vegetable intake to get vitamins and proteins and tasty too! YUMMY! I have no doubt it will help my waist-line :)

This country is a Food Paradise and I intend to explore it within my vegetarian limits!!

The Subway Diet

2010 has indeed proven to be GLUTTONOUS. I indulged ......... in food....

Being a vegetarian can be a curse in a place like Singapore. Singapore being multi-cultural has various varieties of cuisine to offer... Be it Chinese (NOT Indo-Chinese) Korean, Thai, indonesian, Malaysian or Japanese. This place is filled with food courts on every street, generally called the  'Hawkers centre' or 'the market place'. The names of food I can never pronounce nor remember. Such is the variety ! Being a vegetarian I certainly missed out on knowing what it is to hold chop-sticks!!

Yet without being disheartened I decided that I will indulge. Vegetarian food is available in other cuisines as well isn't it? So along with a collegue of mine( who introduced me to 'the real food' ..Thanks Reema) I started off my adventure towards gluttony. I am over-weight by 3 kgs now in just 2 months but hey! No regrets :) I tried the Thai food first time ever in my life (all they have is a pineapple fried rice, and a jasmine rice with (red /green veg curry) but I certainly enjoyed it. I also tried some Indonesian vegetarian dishes , can't remember the names also authentic Chinese and varieties of fast food.(cheese cheese and more cheese........)

 Its all about trying new things ,once am satiated then I want things to go back to normal.  I want to come back to healthy way of living now. Eating healthy and shedding those extra pounds..The only exercise I get is the half hour swim every night which I have been missing frequently due to rain..So my new diet plan you ask?? SUBWAY!

 Ever heard of Jared Fogle?? He's famous as 'the subway guy'. Apparently this guy was overweight during his college days. 'Obese' is the right word . He started on a subway diet and lost 245 pounds!  That was almost a decade ago! And that changed his life! He got famous and so did Subway as they publicised on this and subway became a household name . After that several people have claimed that the subway diet indeed worked!

The Subway Guy-Jared Fogle

Before & After

Seeing is believing... So I will try it myself and let you know.. :) Of course am not looking at that big a weight loss. Just a few kgs.. But its an experiment , a harmless one at that..

My Lunch

Its been a week of subway every afternoon and my verdict is although I dont feel any slimmer, I definitely feel healthier.

The Language of LOVE

My acqaintainces often ask me , Why I chose to learn French?  And my answer is always the same. I Love French. The language and the people.!As simple as that!

As a little girl I have always fancied the Eiffel Tower. I even remember telling mom that I would marry a man who will take me to Paris someday. (at the age of 8??)

 Before I kick the bucket I will visit my dream city. Sometimes I feel maybe thats why I am preparing myself(unknowingly), trying to master the language so that I am well equipped for my voyage to France.  As I write this I am watching the TV Monde French Channel which all the more motivated me to type a few words right from my heart,as usual very spontaneous without any edits. The language is so romantic! So soothing...After English it is the 2nd most understood language  .. Its like music to my soul.. I donot know WHEN I will be able to speak fluent French, but all I can say is , I am getting there..

mon professeur français

During my study I have made a list of few French words we use in everyday life. Now we can see how much the French language has influenced English!

café ------------------>a coffee shop (also used in French for "coffee")
bon appétit ----------->    literally "good appetite"; enjoy your meal
bon voyage ----------->   literally "good journey"; have a good trip!
déjà vu --------------->"already seen"  an impression or illusion of having seen or experienced something before
chauffeur ------------->driver
fiancé/e ---------------> a man/woman engaged to be married.
croissant -------------->a crescent-shaped bread
décor ----------------->the layout and furnishing of a room
eau de Cologne ------->a type of perfume, originating in Cologne, Germany. Its Italian creator used a French name to commercialize it.
eau de toilette --------->literally "grooming water."
entrepreneur ---------->a person who undertakes and operates a new enterprise
voilà! ----------------->literally "see there"; in French it can mean simply "there it is"
façade --------------- >the front view of a building
femme fatale ---------->"deadly woman"
Grand Prix ------------>a type of motor racing, literally "Great Prize
haute couture --------->"high sewing" : FASHION
sauté ----------------->quickly fry in a small amount of oil
touché----------------->acknowledgment of an effective counterpoint; literally "touched" or "hit!"
début ------------------>first public performance of an entertainment personality or group
encore ----------------->A request to repeat a performance
potpourri ------------->medley, mixtur
rendezvous ----------->"go to"; a meeting, appointment

Here's what I learnt in Class. Should have posted it earlier. Better late than never. Such cute drawingsof clothes by my professor!

Les Vetements, La Mode = Clothing,Fashion

I love the language more than I know..It feels , sounds so exotic. It makes me feel exotic...If you know any french words or phrases also used in English please let me know...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A beautiful day, a beautiful year ahead...We had our Countdown Party in a very close and dear family friends place. (I would say extended family :)) . No pics to share, Sorry :(I was too busy having fun with the little angels to click any pics.

Today I want to start the new year with something new. So here it is,

My own random Chords, no retakes !Hope you enjoy it. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL PEOPLE OUT THERE!

Khano Ka Khan?? Tees Maar Khan!

     "Silent night, Holy night....."  the Christmas song in the background,yet its not a silent night! Whole of Singapore buzzing with activity. Hubby and I joined the crowd in Orchard Road on a Shopping Spree. Orchard, the epicentre for shopping . Series of Malls cramped with beautiful , expensive designer wear, electronic goods, and god knows what more..

Sipping on the hot 'TehTarik',in a local joint, "Coffee and Toast" we watched the crowd shop their way to madness! TehTarik means pulled tea, refers to the way its made.Tea is poured back and forth repeatedly between two vessels from a height, to thoroughly mix the tea with the condensed milk. It is also done to give the tea a better flavour. Teh= Tea, Tarik=Pull, Although Teh is a Mandarin word, Tarik is Malaysian..Then again, Singapore is multi-cultural so no surprise there..We walked around some more in the busy streets of orchard hunting for scented candles and window shopping.

Heres a glimpse of busy streets..

After a quiet dinner at Komalas, We headed to the theatres.. Tees Maar Khan.A movie gone wrong, thats what I would call it..I wont tell you the story of the movie, thats for you to watch. 

 I give you 3 words...Absurd, Wacky,Trashy... Except for the 'Sheila Ki Jawani' theres nothing much engaging in the movie. The movie is a series of meaningless, lousy jokes and painful one liners. 

"Copy karte student ko fail karna aur Tees Maar Khan ke dimag mein se chori ka plan mita na namunkin hai!"

"Kutte ke muh mein se haddi aur Tees Maar Khan ke hath se noto ki gaddi, dono cheenna bekar hai!"

and so on..Akshay Kumar the Con man  looks amazing, Katrina, the bimbo in the movie looks hot as usual, no acting skills needed in the movie. Akshaye Khanna, with his straight haired wig is a sight to see! 

Whats good about the movie? Cant think of any. The movie is a one time entertainer. The silliness of the movie would make it unbearable to watch it all over again.Overall a 2.5 out of 5.. (am I being generous there? )

Another Christmas gone by. Time to look forward to the new years!! More fun, more dreams, more to accomplish... 

Rhapsody of Christmas....

Its that time of the year again! Christmas is beautiful in Singapore.All the lights, the festivities, the crowd ... You can just feel the Christmas spirit everywhere..My Second Christmas in Singapore. Singapore is multi-cultural, yet Christmas is celebrated with such enthusiasm and vigor..
I celebrated Christmas last night with my colleagues at an enchanting Spanish restaurant- Esmirada @ Chjimes.


What an exquisite dining experience! The ambience, the food -a gastronomous experience. We arrived at the venue after work. 


Delectable dishes after dishes, and all of us chattering away , getting to know each other on another level.I am still a newbie, it was an ice-breaker for me. What touched me the most was that care was taken by my colleagues so that I was being served vegetarian food...I just love the place and the people..!


Anyway the dinner was a grand affair. The dinner menu was a feast to the eyes and the palate. After the delicious meal it was time to exchange gifts! How I love unwrapping gifts! I picked cute soft toys... On the way back home my colleagues even christened them... Chiku,Minku,Doggu... All Pics below in sequence of my wonderful, magical Christmas 2010.

JOY TO THE WORLD...!!

PEACE AND JOY! MERRY CHRISTMAS!- Joyeux Noël

A time for Reminiscence

At work a friend of mine brought up the subject. She asked me whether I had any emergency situations onboard any flight in Air Deccan... And that took me back in time...Like in the movies , flashback as they call it.
The vigorous emergency procedures , the grooming, the tests, the first aid training(particularly the CPR !).More than glamour the job revolves around safety.More than make-up time goes to fill in safety check list forms, performing safety procedures pre and post flight  ensuring passenger safety during flight. The job is more than just looking pretty and serving refreshments, its about being alert and keeping passengers safety first.Also sticking a plastic smile on your face even when the passengers are being obnoxious and impolite. I’ve found that working for an airline  has been one of the hardest jobs I ever had, and yet the most enjoyable.So what emergencies I had on board you ask? Can remember 3 major ones that I would love to share..

Flight delay/Cancellation:
It was the month of December. According to my roster,I was to fly Bangalore-Delhi-Bangalore flight on an Airbus(A320).We took off from Bangalore early morn and reached Delhi ,an uneventful flight..December time in Delhi can be very cold and foggy. At times the visibility drops to  'zero'. In such conditions the pilots are not allowed to fly for safety reasons. Our flight back to Bangalore was delayed due to dense fog which was not very uncommon.Delays in Air Deccan were not uncommon hahahaha.So we gals disembarked from the flight for a lay-over.. Little did we know that this would be a once in a lifetime experience..The Flight got cancelled again eventually as the conditions did not improve. The next morning we girls got the news that the weather conditions are still not favourable. Hence the continued delay. The aircraft sat at the tarmac for 2 whole days until we got the the thumbs-up sign to fly back to Bangalore.We were instructed to follow the security guards to enter our air-crafts..Why? The passengers who were stranded for 2 whole days were fumingly furious!The media was there, so were the TV Cameras..Its a sight I will never forget.. We were a crew of 4 girls being surrounded by the security guards protecting us from the angry ,threatening mob in the crowded terminals.The provoked passengers recognised the Air Deccan Crew by our uniforms and tried to pounce on us!I clearly remember a few chanting; "Air Deccan hai hai"
We reached the aircraft but the worst was not yet over. We had a fly back 180 angry passengers back to Bangalore! A two and a half hour flight of angry looks and mockery!! Luckily all the training and fake smiles got us through the day. Yet an horrifyingly unforgettable experience, almost being attacked by marroned irated crowd.

Cockpit window Crack:
Another Bangalore-Delhi-Bangalore flight. A320 flight.  (Why does it happen on Delhi flight? I wish I knew).After the flight announcements, headcount , safety demo with the passengers seated,their seat-belts fastened the plane was ready for a take off. We taxied alonng the runway. The 4 cabin crew seated in our respective stations.I was in the rear of the aircraft being the junior most among the crew. We were on our brace positions sitting on our jumpseats at the Galley area. And the purser informs us of the emergency situation on hand. The Pilot alerted the crew of a crack in the Cockpit window. The situation is serious than it sounds. As the plane flies to a higher altitude the pressure increases with altitude. The chances are the window might break complelety resulting in the rapid decompression. The oxygen inside the cabin depletes resulting in suffocation and ultimately death.The Captain took a wise decision of turning around immediately and landing  after getting the permission from the ATC(Air Traffic control). That day the aircraft was abandoned in the  ramp  to be serviced  and we had a lay-over.. again.The whole episode again horrifying as every minute was precious till we landed back to safety.Every minute praying for a safe landing at the same time recalling all the evacuation and safety & emergency procedures from our training days in case there should be a mishap. The pilot in commands presence of mind and all the prayers brought us back on sweet mother earth without a scratch whatsoever.. An amazing experience..

Fuel cap blew off during take off:
It was a 46 seater ATR 42-500, and guess what I was the only Cabin crew on board! Of course along with a Captain and a first officer. As far as my memory goes it was a Bangalore-Trivandrum-Bangalore flight. After all the pre-flight procedures , I took a head count finished all formalities and closed the aircraft door.The In-flight annoucements were done , also the safety demo showing the passengers how to fasten their seat-belts, how to use oxygen masks in case of decompression, how to use life-jacket in case of emergency. The passengers seated near the emergency exits were briefed how to operate the exits during an emergency. After the Captain-in-command announced the take-off I went back to my jump seat preparing the galley for the take off. The aircraft taxied along the runway and gained momentum for the take-off. While I was seated in my brace position I hear a commotion in the small bus-like aircraft. The seat-belts signs were on so it would'nt be right for me to unbrace and walk to the cabin. Yet curious about the passengers safety I walked my way to the emergency exit seats to find a panicky passenger sitting in the window seat yelling that he saw something fly off the wings. I was alarmed and immediatley informed the Pilot. All this while the aircraft was taking off! The pilot came to a safe alltitude and turned back to Bangalore to  land safely.The 'thing' the passenger saw flying off the wing was the fuel cap which would have proved fatal if the Captain had not decided to touch ground instantly. Either  we would run out of fuel soon while cruising OR the aircraft would explode mid-air . Phew...Was I scared?frankly  I dont remember..

The uniform in Air Deccan was pathetic!Compared to that of Kingfisher Red now that it is..I wish I had lots of picturesto show you.. But I have only a few to share..Back to my old ways???..Another post about ME   ;)

In Uniform...The only picture..