Monthly Archives: April 2014

Say cheese with a stranger

Posted on April 12, 2014 | 13 comments

Imagine, you are outside somewhere minding your own business and out the blue a stranger comes and says “Do you mind if I take a photo with you?”

Does it sound strange to you? Yap I had the same feeling when it happened to me quite a few times in India. If it had been just once I would have ignored it but it happened quite a few times so I am thinking I may look like someone famous in India ;).

I have experienced this a number times and I didn’t know what to do so I agreed.

The first time was when I was visiting Delhi with my parents.

We were visiting the famous Fatehpur Sikri in Agra in India and we were minding our own business when this group of boys came and asked if I would mind taking photos with them. For a second I was confused but then I agreed. It happened again on the same trip when we were in Jaipur admiring the amazing architecture when a young couple wanted to take a photo with me. Of course, I smiled for the photos.

Both my parents and I were confused when it occurred twice in a few days. However, I forgot all about it completely until a few years later when we went to Tiger Hill in Darjeeling. It was a cold winter morning and everyone was trying to get the best spot to see the sunrise. There were hundreds of people there including my parents and I. A group of boys asked if I wanted to be in a photo with them. As it was so busy, I was slightly confused in the beginning but I agreed later on.

Just to be clear I was wearing normal cloths while these incidents occurred and I was not in a superwomen custom or a chicken suit. 🙂

New Caledonia (13)

I am writing it about it now after so many years because similar situation occurred in Kathmandu this time. I was in the mall with one of my friends. We were busying browsing the shops when two young gals came to us and asked if they could take a photo with us. They looked sweet and all so we agreed. I was just curious why they asked so once we were done, I asked them. They looked at each other for a second and then one of them told us that she just loved the way I looked and the things I was wearing; the other one added, you look so nice. That really made me smile for sure. I know it sounds so vain but it feels great to be complimented even by a stranger.

But to this day I still wonder why the people in India decided to take a pic with me.

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When I talked to AS about it, he made fun of me but I am allowed to be curious so if anyone thinks they know the answer, I am all ears 🙂

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Just a thought bouncing around in my head today. Hope all of you are having a great day. Take care.

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Posted in General

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Visit to Doleshwor Mahadeva Temple

Posted on April 11, 2014 | 4 comments

Doleshwor Mahadeva is a Hindu Temple of Lord Shiva located in the Sipadol VDC, south eastern part of Bhaktapur District, Nepal. As my mum wanted to go there, one morning I went there with my parents. The temple is believed to be for the head of the bull at KedarNath Temple of Uttarakhand, India.

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Legend has it that Pandavas reached the Kedarnath region to seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva for the loss of lives during the 18-day Mahabharata war. But Lord Shiva was not ready to forgive them and he took the form of a bull. The Pandavas soon realized that the Bull was Lord Shiva and tried to stop it by pulling the tail. Suddenly the head got separated from the body of the bull and the Pandavas could not locate it.

The body of the bull is presently worshipped in the Kedarnath Temple. People have been searching for the head of the bull since the period of the Mahabharata as they believed that it was hidden in the Himalayas. But so far all search proved futile and now Bhim Shankarling Shivacharya who was on a visit to Nepal happened to visit Jangam math in Bhaktapur in Nepal and was surprised by the striking resemblance of rituals followed in Kedarnath and Bhaktapur. Thus the temple is believed to be for the head of the bull at KedarNath Temple.

The road leading to the temple is good until the last 4 km where it turns into a small gravelled road. I loved the green land and cute village houses that we find on the drive to the temple. It was a very quick ride I have to say.

Once we parked and went through the main gate of the temple, I was surprised to find that the temple was smaller than I had expected and not many people were around.

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My mum bought the puja from a local vendor and we went inside.

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We were lucky that we got to do our puja straight away because as soon as we were done, there was busload of people coming to worship. Suddenly the place was busy and noisy that we even had to watch where we stepped when we moved.

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Apart from the main temple, the area also has one Dhunge Dhara (a traditional stone water tap found extensively in Nepal), a big trishul (a trident, Shiva’s particular weapon) and damaru (A small drum, shaped like an hourglass) and a few small idols around.

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At one corner there was a sadhu who was blessing everyone passing by. I asked him if it is ok to take a photo with him and he agreed so here is the snap.

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The visit to the temple as short as there was not much to do. My mum bought some fresh veggies from the local villagers and we were back on our way home.

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The place is really nice to go to if anyone wants a short trip out of the city.

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Posted in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nepal 2014, Travel

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Exercise makes you feel better

Posted on April 10, 2014 | 6 comments

Today’s post is dedicated to everyone who has been procrastinating their exercise especially to those in the Southern hemispheres where it has been raining for weeks now and is so cold that it is easy to find an excuse not to exercise.

I have a close colleague/friend at work with who I go out for lunch or a walk frequently. For more than 6 months now, I have been nagging her to exercise with me during our lunch breaks. As I mentioned in my post before, I have been exercising regularly during lunch breaks now which means I see her less often and I miss our catch-ups and chats.

I knew she was not a runner but she loves swimming so I was asking her to come with me to swim a few days a week since summer started last year.

She had many excuses like. “I will be too tired after an exercise”, “Our lunch breaks are not long enough”, “I don’t have a proper swimwear”, “I promise I will come soon, not today” and many more. Finally, to my surprise when I came back from my holiday, she told me she got her swimsuit and was ready to go with me. I was happy that my constant nagging finally paid off.

So today, we went for a swim together. We had a nice chat on the way there and back. We swam in the indoor heated pool so she was fine. It was quite relaxing to be away from work and enjoying the lunch break. We had enough time to have a shower and be back at our desks in an hour. We both enjoyed it.

Birthday (12)

We decided that we will go twice a week together and I was happy with that. I came to my desk, had my lunch and continued with my work. Just now, she came to my desk and asked what I am doing during lunch tomorrow. She felt so relax after the swim today that she wants to do it more often now.

I am so glad to hear that from her. I am glad I kept pushing her until she went with me and now she wants to continue swimming regularly. But unfortunately I have already planned a lunch date with one of my friends tomorrow but I am going swimming with her the day after. She is now happy to go as many days as possible.

I am sharing this here because some of you might be in the same boat planning to workout but need that extra push and I am, virtually, pushing you to get up and exercise and keep yourself healthy. Without a healthy body, nothing else matter.

6 Comments

Posted in Health, Personal

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Positive thinking

Posted on April 9, 2014 | 6 comments

After the whinge on my post the day before, I did manage to go for a run though. The weather was still gloomy but it wasn’t raining so I went. I have to say I had a good run and only for last 5 minutes did it start sprinkling. The run sure made the rest of my day better.

I think generally I am a positive person and since AS came into my life, he has helped me to be even better. I really like the way he thinks most of the time and am glad to have his guidance when I am in confusion.

But I also learn one thing in life that it is so easy to be negative as positiveness need effort. I am saying it because I experienced that recently.

I was ignoring the negatives of certain situation for a while but then one day I couldn’t anymore which opened the Pandora’s Box. One thing led to another and I was drowning in negative feelings. Even AS’s best effort couldn’t save me this time as I was not able to let go. The ending was not good at all as it happened to be a waste of my time and energy in useless thoughts of ifs and what ifs. So I told myself that I will never do that again. I know I am saying never right now and it might happen in the future again but I am promising that at least I will try my best not to dwell in the past and think about things I can’t control and be sad about it.

Being positive or negative is like an addiction. When you have negative thoughts, you can go so deep into the negative attitude that it can make you really depressed. And that is the path I don’t want to go on if I can control it. In the same way positiveness is also addictive as well. When you are in a positive mood, it will take you deeper into a positive frame of mind that you are happy to let go, forgive and forget a lot.

Of course, I am not superhuman so I definitely will have different frames of mind every day but I’m trying to talk about the positive things and consciously trying my best to have positive attitude.

Therefore, if anyone has problems with me, that is his or her problem and I can’t do anything about it. I am not going to guess and make myself stressed thinking about why? If someone doesn’t want to see me and meet me, that is their loss as I will fill that time with others who want to see me. I have an amazing husband, supporting family and good job and it should keep me going. And I have this great place to vent my frustration with amazing support from each one of you that I think my life can’t be any better 🙂

“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”

Take care, everyone. Sending the positive vibe to each and every one out there…

M from nepaliaustralian

XOXO

6 Comments

Posted in Personal

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Prabal Gurung around the world

Posted on April 8, 2014 | 2 comments

My favourite designer celebrated his birthday his birthday on 31 March so I would like to start this post wishing him a very happy birthday. I am sure he had a great day  🙂

Happy Birthday Prabal Gurung

While I was busying enjoying my holiday, Prabal Gurung ‘s creation was appearing everywhere around the globe. Every time I am able to read about him or see someone wearing one of his creation, I feels so good. So here is the sample of footprints Prabal Gurung is leaving around the world . Love him so much.

Marie Olympia of Greece wears sky technical tweed bomber and pencil skirt from the Spring 2014 collection for the March issue of Tatler.

Julianne Moore wearing the ivory silk cloque hand draped dress with navy, silver and grey paint-stained printed lurex jacquard asymmetric skirt from Prabal Gurung Fall 2014 collection in Los Angeles.

Nicole Kidman wears the white silk crepe off the shoulder dress hand-embroidered with swarovski crystals, silk grosgrain and organza ribbons and graphic black mako stripes from the Spring 2014 collection and Casadei for Prabal Gurung shoes for the March Issue of InStyle.

The pearlescent pink technical bonded satin shirtdress with white sable yoke insert, open back and mesh paneling from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection in the March Issue of Vogue China.

The pearlescent pink, white and abstract rose printed hand-draped silk/cotton duchesse strapless dress layered over double bonded cotton bustier from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection in the March Issue of ELLE Magazine.

Camilla Belle wearing the white windowpane organza 3/4 sleeve off the shoulder shawl sheath dress from Prabal Gurung Pre-Fall 2014 collection tonight in West Hollywood.

Magdalena Frackowiak wearing the wearing the lavender, mint and black abstract rose printed napa leather sweatshirt and pencil skirt from the Spring 2014 collection for the March Issue of Vogue Japan.

Maja Salamon wears Prabal Gurung kelly graphic rose screen printed translucent PVC raincoat from the Spring 2014 collection for the April Issue of Vogue Russia.

The pearlescent pink technical bonded satin shirtdress with white sable yoke insert from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection with V Magazine.

Prabal Gurung vermillion graphic rose digital printed rayon muscle tee and vermillion technical tweed pencil skirt with disintegrated rose motif from the Spring 2014 Collection with this weekend’s The Telegraph.

Cobie Smulders wears the sky translucent glitter printed laminated tulle pencil skirt from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection for the April Issue of InStyle Russia.

The lavender, mint and black abstract rose printed napa leather sweatshirt and the lilac rose sable pant with tonal satin inserts and white mesh overlay from the Spring 2014 collection for the April Issue of Elle Vietnam.

Prabal Gurung Pre-Fall 2014 ivory polarized rose printed silk duchesse a-line pleated colorblock dress and Pre-Fall 2013 bright pink and turquoise graphic lily printed silk / cotton tee for the April Issue of Elle Vietnam.

Kareena Kapoor Khan wears the kelly classic rose printed silk crepe de chine draped back blouse with contrast yolk and sleeve inserts from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection for the March cover story of Vogue India.

Sonam Kapoor wearing the lavender rose sable deep-v dress with hand-draped bodice, dolman sleeve and white mesh raceback detail from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection.

Martha Hunt wearing the translucent nylon pointelle sweater with hand-embroidered vermillion and black ribbon rose embroidery and vermillion graphic rose printed technical duchesse pencil skirt from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection for the April Issue of ELLE Magazine (US).

Sarah Gadon wears the lavender rose bonded technical satin hand-draped dress with cascading back ruffle and exposed double bonded cotton poplin corset from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection for the April Issue of InStyle.

Elettra Wiedemann wearing Prabal Gurung Pre-Fall 2014 ensemble for the screening of ‘Dom Hemingway’ last night in New York.

Prabal Gurung black and white fil couple silk and cotton pant with graphic black and mesh inserts from the Spring 2014 collection for the May Issue of GLAMOUR UK.

Elettra Wiedemann and Isabel Lucas wears Prabal Gurung.

Rita Ora wears the pearlescent pink, black and white abstract rose printed napa leather pencil skirt from Prabal Gurung Spring 2014 collection for the May Issue of Elle UK.

Kate Upton’s Prabal Gurung gown from the February Issue of Vogue.

Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt in Prabal Gurung Resort 2014 .

Bollywood actress Kajol in Prabal Gurung.

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Posted in Fashion, Nepal

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