Trip To Brighton

It is the long weekend in August and almost all of my friends have plans to visit a new place. A few of them are going to Scotland and others to Lake District, Bath, Salisbury and some even to Switzerland.
09:00 - And here we are over sleeping ourselves on a bright sunny Saturday morning! I lazily get out of the bed thinking what to prepare for breakfast.
09:30 - As soon as I remove the tea and put on the frying pan to prepare scrambled egg I hear my hubby waking up from his slumber.

10:00 - We start discussing how to best utilise the day while he starts with his morning exercises and me reading my favourite book sipping the tea. We are thinking of going to the library, going to the mall or just spending the day watching movies as it is only the start of the three day holiday.
11:00 - We finish the breakfast and are clearing the table and I am all grumpy about the fact that it being such a bright and sunny day (very rare in England) we are just going to do the usual stuff, when suddenly he says out aloud 'How about we going to Brighton?'
12:00 - I am all decked up and raring to go! We check the train timings, rates, places to visit et al on the net before we start. I pack something to eat and drink on the way.
12:35 - We reach the station and are in queue to purchase tickets.
12:51 - We are off to Brighton aboard the fastest train.
13:35 - We land at the Brighton station and start walking towards the exit.
13:50 - A short walk along the beachfront takes us to the Brighton Marina with beach volleyball courts, yachts, casinos, restaurants, Regency squares and crescents, modern arts, Fishing Quarters having their own museum, traditional sea side shops and Artist's Quarters where one can buy individual, one-off pieces of prints and paintings. By this time our stomachs are growling with hunger so we stop to munch something at one of the many quay side restaurants. We finish eating and start walking towards the beach, as we near we can make out the figures of men and women some lying down on the pebble beach, others reclining on the beach chairs, some sun-bathing, others reading books and some just having one helluva fun with the kids in the water. The sea water is so pristine clear when compared to the beaches in India. Every now and then we see a patrol officer making his rounds.





As we near the beach we can see a few kayaking, others on their yachts.
It is a blissful feeling sitting on the beach with your loved one by your side, the cool wind blowing on my face, the warm rays of the sun on my skin as I sit listening to the ever roaring sea. We shake ourselves out of the reverie and commence our stroll on to the famous 'Brighton Marine Palace and Pier' which is a pleasure pier. The pier has many attractions ranging from casinos having various games for the whole family to gambling, a range of rides, colonnades of shops, stalls. In short Brighton Pier is the theme park on the sea :)
With one of the catch of the day :)



At dusk when the sun goes down it becomes a plethora of bright, colorful lights which is a feast to the eyes.
20:00 - As we board the train back to home, I must admit that I have been bowled over by this charming town on the south coast of England. There is nothing quite like a stroll out to sea on the Brighton to clear heads and to revive that child like exuberance.
Overall it was an exhilarating experience for both us.

Yay! I have revived my reading habit!!

Yes! Atlast I have got into my long lost habit of 'reading'. Now I am a frequenter to libraries in Croydon & Purley. I usually goto Croydon library on weekends and to Purley library on weekdays during lunch time. I just gobble down my food so that I would get to spent more time at the library browsing through the amazing world of thrillers, biography, classics, travel..
I still remember those days of exam during my 4 years of B.E, when I used to wait anxiously for the exams to get over so that I can climb upon my scooty 'Spirit' and zoom to the Army library where upon I will bring piles of books back home and assume the supine posture on the sofa and relish reading each and every book taking my own time. I will start as soon as I get up in the morning after the exams and will take breaks only for food and other chores.
Those were really the amazing days..

Birthday Celebrations - 2008

It was just like any other day except the fact that this time I am in a foreign land. Away from my family, my good old friends, my home land. I had only my very good friend, my hubby with me here. Also I had made a few good friends at work.
My hubby had bought a bouquet of Chrysanthemums the previous evening, for presenting me with it at the stroke of midnight, but I spoilt the surprise when I found the receipt for the same. The look on his face was cute when I asked him where has he hidden the bouquet? Ha ha, but I consoled him saying this is the correct time as it is already past 12 in India :)
At quarter past twelve I got a call from my brother. It was heartwarming because as kids (to tell the truth even after we had crossed our teens) we just could not see eye to eye on any matter and never even cared about the each others birthday.
As expected the first call in the morning was from my parents. As usual they wished me well and asked me to go to any temple nearby.
Once I reached office I saw my inbox flooded with mails from my old friends. And so the day started in a very pleasant way, making me feel loved.
As is the tradition here in my office I had to bring goodies for all of my colleagues. And I was presented with a card by my team lead which was signed by everyone.
Later I got call from my in-laws and my loving uncle and aunties.
I started early from work so that I could get ready for the evening to have a nice cosy dinner at my favourite restaurant with my hubby.
As the day came to an end I counted my blessings and thanked God for it.

A Free Trip Around The Sun...The Way You Want It!

Interested!!??

I was just wondering the other day i.e. on my birthday.....how it is that we start a new 365 day trip around the sun. Even though the trip is the same..but our perceptions about the world around us keeps on differing in fact fluctuating in each trip. But with each new experience we learn something which we had not learnt before which may be correct or wrong depending on our vision, blinkered or otherwise.
From my childhood I have this habit of impressing upon myself the things that I learnt through interacting with this diverse world, and some of them are so ingrained that I become a slave to them, it just becomes difficult in fact next to impossible for me to change my views about certain things which makes me appear rigid when compared to my husband who is ever expansive.
Also one special thing about the trip is its open ended. We can determine the path (at least most of it) that we want to take during our journey. In fact I will say not most of it but 'all' of it because even if something happens which is out of our control we choose how to react to it, which will then advertently affect the rest of our journey.