Noisy neighbour

Posted on February 2, 2012 | 11 comments

Sometimes when you move into a new neighbourhood, you may have some noisy neighbours or someone new moves into your building and they are noisy. They may be someone who shouts a lot, have their music high every time or just wakes up too early and starts mowing their lawn. 

I have seen lots of times on TV, the war between neighbours from hell. Thank god I am not writing about someone like that but still for the last few weeks one of our neighbours is bothering us a lot. 

Looks like he had moved in recently as we never had this problem before. There is a guy who lives in our building 2 floors below us and he always has his music on high volume. It doesn’t normally bother me when I am doing things as I don’t hear it when I am watching TV or cooking but it bothers me when we go to bed. 

Even when I close every door and window in our apartment, I can hear Rihanna or Pink playing. Worst part is, it is not limited to weekends but it happens everyday. On weekdays, it is really hard for me to fall asleep as I am a light sleeper and the noise bothers me. I even tried to put a pillow on top of my head to block the noise but so far it is not working. I don’t get enough sleep which makes me tired during the day. 

First he started to play on weekends till 2am. I thought he may be having a party so thinking it as a one-off thing I didn’t give it much though. Then it started to happen every day till very late. I am not sure if the rest of my neighbours are bothered by that but so far seems like no one has complained. 

One evening, me and AS were coming home and as his apartment is on the ground floor, we have to pass it. The music was really loud as we passed his place so I just looked into the room thinking there must be a party on but there was none. It was only him and he was in the window shaking his head and singing along the music. So I think it is only him everyday who is enjoying the music but the volume is always on high. When I saw him the other day, he looked a bit weird like someone a bit crazy or someone on drugs so I don’t want to talk to him. Actually I am scared of him to let him know that his music is disturbing us. 

I am hoping someone will complain about it either to him or the building manager soon so I don’t get sleep deprived due to his loud music. If nothing happens soon, I am thinking to call the building manager to let him know that it is a nuisance. 

I am not the kind of person who wants to stop someone’s fun but I really don’t want to struggle every night just to sleep. 

I have been in the receiving end of people who wanted to stop our fun. It was Saturday night and I was having my birthday party few years ago. At around 9 pm, there was someone on the door. When I opened the door, there were two cops. They told me that some neighbours complained about the loud noise so we have to stop the music. I was a bit annoyed because it was a weekend and it was 9 pm but the cops told me that they had to come when someone called and complained. May be I should call the cop on my neighbour too. 

While on the topic of noisy neighbours how would you like to wake up in the middle of night to weird sounds? Yap, one of my friends has that problem and the worst part is it is her next door neighbour. When I visited her, I saw the couple and they seemed to be in their late 40’s. They looked friendly and nice.  But at least a couple of times in a week, their bed bangs against the wall next to my friend’s bedroom. Also the lady moans and makes all the other weird noises which wakes my friend up in the middle of the night. It has been happening for years now. My friend is too embarrassed to bring that up with her neighbour so she is still suffering. Often it has made her oversleep in the morning making her late for work. 

Did you ever have a neighbour from hell or just a noisy one? How did you deal with them?

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Horse Riding

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 7 comments

Horse riding in Nepal

I like anything that challenges my guts. Horse riding fascinates me as it is about controlling the animal which is much bigger than you with a lead rope. I had done some horse riding before, once in Fiji, and then in Nepal and India. 

The riding I had done in Nepal and India were on open, flat ground. There is no fear of falling and breaking your bones as the horse handler is running next to you while you ride the horse. On top of that they are trained horses which don’t run.(I guess 🙂 ) 

Horse riding in Fiji

When I did some horse riding in Fiji, it was in the beach so I remember it as being quite fun. It was flat ground and we were only 4 in the group .The horses behaved really well. So while we were in Hunter, I didn’t even think twice when we decided to ride horses. I was just happy to do the activity. 

We reached the place 15 minutes late as we lost our way on the way there. It was really far away from the main area and our GPS didn’t help us. It was asking us to drive on dirt roads where you can’t take your car. Anyway other people in the group were waiting for us when we reached there. After hurrying to meet the ladies who run the farm and signing the waiver form, we were given helmets and a quick guide on what to do with the horse to command it to stop and move. Then we are given a horse and I was surprised that these horses seemed a bit bigger than the ones I had ridden before. 

Horse riding in Hunter

In their website they said, “Ride the unique and beautiful Molly Morgan Range, experiencing the spectacular views of the Hunter Valley Wine Country and Lower Hunter and as far North as Barrington Tops, the northern boundary of the Upper Hunter “so I was expecting it to be a relaxing horse riding in a ranch but I was not ready for what came next. 

I guess these horses are used to having people ride them all the time but the horse I was riding, named “Sunny” seemed to be a frisky one. PA and AS wanted their horses to be frisky and fast but their one’s were more tame, may be because they looked a bit old. But Sunny seem to be younger and a bit out of control from time to time.

While we were riding we were meant to form a straight line and follow the lady in the front but my horse didn’t want to follow the other horses, he just want to eat grass so I had to constantly pull his head up and push him to walk. We rode on a small hill so there were lots of ups and downs. Because my horse was more playful than others I was having a hard time controlling him. On top of that my bum was really hurting so I couldn’t wait to finish the ride. 

Horse riding in Nepal

As it was an hour and half ride, there were lots more to come before we finished the ride. We were taken to pond where all the horses were supposed to drink water. All the horses waited for their turn for the water but not Sunny. He just passed the line and rushed to the pond. I was scared at that point because I couldn’t stop him. I was scared to fall and break my bones. Finally I was able to control him for a while and slowly guided him to the pond. There he wanted to go deeper into the water than the other horses so I had to pull his lead rope hard to divert him from there and follow others to the farm. 

From time to time other horses would make some weird noises from the other farms which scared me , as Sunny seemed to be get more aggressive when he haers these noises. On top of that my friend PA was trying to gallop her horse from behind me which didn’t help either. At one point, our horses were so close that both of them looked like they were going to hit each other. 

Finally after what seemed like forever we were back at the farm and then only could I think straight. For much of the time, more than enjoying the great view of the farm and watching wallabies and other animals near the track, I was putting my strength in controlling Mr. Sunny. 

When I was relived that it was almost over, PA dropped the lead rope of her horse. I was scared because if the horse moved at that point, she could have fallen from the horse and hurt herself.  Also I was near her so if that horse had come running I could have gotten hurt as well. Luckily the lady from the ranch came back to rescue us.

Finally when Sunny was back in his stable I was happy to get off him. It was an adventurous ride but I am not too sure I want that experience again. I will defiantly ride a horse again but not on the hills or uneven surface. It is just too dangerous. On top of that my bum hurt for rest of the day.

Click here for more photos.

If you have interesting story about horse riding, please do share.

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Hunter Valley

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 7 comments

Over the weekend we took a trip up the coast to Hunter Valley. It is around 300 km north of Sydney and is the wine country of NSW. It is the place to go for wine tasting and to enjoy the scenic landscape. They also do cheese and olive tasting. Aside from being a foodies dream, the Hunter Valley is steeped in quaint history and historical architecture, much of which you can learn about by visiting the various museums and historical tours. The Hunter Valley also boasts an abundance of wildlife in a world-class national park and one of Australia’s most scenic golf courses. 

It was a bit wet in Sydney so I was glad to get away. Me, AS and my friends SS and PA got into the car and off we went for our trip. On the way it was raining heavily at places so we didn’t know what to expect when we reached our destination but we were relieved when we found it was not raining in the valley. 

There are lots of tours on offer but we decided to set our own path. 

The first stop was the Hunter Valley Gardens. It is one of the places I visit every time I go to Hunter. I had been there many times, mainly to take all my visitors for a trip. But it was everyone else’s first time in Hunter so it was nice to see them excited with the view of gardens. 

Its website has the following description for the gardens. 

“Spanning over 60 acres, be amazed by the sensational sights, colours, and fragrances of the ten stunning feature gardens. Explore each garden one-by-one and enjoy an exciting journey through the thousands of flowers, trees, and shrubs with an air of discovery at every turn. Bask in a lavish array of colour and scent found in the Rose Garden with more than 8,000 roses on display; laze above the 10 metre waterfall and take in the superb views from the lookout; or step back in time with all our favourite fairytale characters in the Storybook Garden. 

The gardens will heighten your senses with a wonderful display of sight, colour and fragrance.Hunter Valley Gardens is also wheelchair friendly and allows access to all areas. You can find out more here about wheelchairs availability at Garden Entry. Along the eight kilometres of walking paths are more than six thousand trees, one million ground covers and six hundred thousand shrubs. A floral display featuring a variety of plants and statuary, all of a standard that you won’t see elsewhere in Australia. From the main entrance, the visitor will enter through many feature gardens full of breathtaking surprises!” 

I love every corner of the garden and I have so many beautiful photos from the day. It was just such a colourful place to be. There were a few weddings happening while we were there. We had lunch in the café there before going for horse riding (I am going to write a separate post about my experience of it). I had creamy pasta and it was one of the best I have tried. I highly recommend stopping over at the café for lunch if anyone is ever going there. 

I should say the horse riding experience was bumpy and gave me a sore bum at the end but I did enjoy it. 

Then we were off to some wineries where we got to see the ripe grape vines and took some silly photos. It felt so unreal to stand in the middle of acres of grape vines. I just loved the smell of the fresh air and to see bunches of grapes ready to be picked. When you drive pass the area, all you see is grape vines and lots of cows and horses. I felt like I was far far away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney’s traffic and crowds. 

Overall a great day in a nice country town. Here are some photos of the day.

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Posted in NSW - Australia, Travel

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What’s in your handbag?

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 12 comments

A typical situation in our household almost every other day.

We (me and AS) just came back from grocery shopping. We parked car and headed towards the door that opens to the foyer to catch the lift. Both our hands were full of grocery bags. Our apartments have lots of security so we need to use a key to open the doors between garage and foyer. As my husband usually has more bags than I have I would volunteer to open the door. So I open my handbag and try to find the bunch of keys. It normally takes me a while as there are so many other stuffs in my bag and I never put the keys in the same place every time.

Then my husband’s normal dialogue is, “I told you to put the keys in the same place every time. Why do you have so many things in the bag?’ Hahaha. He has asked me this a hundred times at least and I still have a habit of loosing keys in my bag.

So today I decide to see what I normally carry in my bag. I went through it and this is what I found. I normally carry a big bag with:

  • A make up bag (lip gloss, moisturiser, a pair of ear rings (no idea why it is still in there), mascara and eyeliner.
  • A wallet
  • 2 sets of keys (house and car), House key set has 3 keys, 2 USBs and 2 key rings, one Paul Frank and other a metal half heart (from our early days , the other half heart is with my hubby). The car key has metal key ring and a remote garage opener.
  • Chewing gum
  • Old receipts
  • Lip gloss (don’t know why it is outside the make up bag)
  • A medicine bottle (I had cough lately)
  • Body spray
  • Phone
  • A pen
  • A comb
  • My work pass and tag
  • A tiny perfume bottle ( I hardly use it)
  • Bills (I meant to pay those so put it there to remind me)
  • Sunglasses
  • Loose coins

No wonder I don’t find my stuffs quickly as I have to dig through so many things.

So what do you normally have in your hand bag? Have a look now and you will be surprised what you carry around. 🙂  Please let me know as it may be fun to see what we carry in our bag.

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Posted in Fashion

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Arranged marriage: My perspective

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 31 comments

Lately I have been reading lots of blogs that have a lot to say about arranged marriage. Some of the views expressed in those blogs are general ideas while some of them wrote their own personal experience with arranged marriage. I agree with a lot of information while there are some with which I disagree. One of the biggest misconceptions about arranged marriage that I want to clear out is that “Arranged marriage is not forced marriage”.

I was born in Nepal where arranged marriage is common even till today. I wanted to write about arranged marriage for a while but then I had a love marriage so I was not sure if I was right  in commenting about it. Finally I decided to write about what I have seen and learnt about arranged marriage in Nepal. My ideas and views are of Nepali arranged marriage, specifically in Kathmandu. I do understand that it may be different from other South Asian arranged marriages.

Both my parents and parents in law had arranged marriage. Both couple are happily married for around 3 decades now. I see love between them every time I look at them and there is no negative effect of arranged marriage in their relationship.

With my parents, they met 3 times before they decided to get married. Everything was arranged by the two families and they met to see each other and make up their minds.  On their first date, they had company while on the other two they were able to talk to each other by themselves. According to my mum, in those days it was normal to meet your future spouse only a couple of times before getting married.

After marriage, they slowly started to know each other and build their relationship. If you see them now, you will agree with me that they are soul mates who are in love and living their happily ever after.

My dad has 6 siblings and my mum has 3, out of which only 1 of my aunt and 1 uncle had a love marriage and the rest were arranged marriages. All the arranged marriages are going strong. Out of 2 love marriages, one has ended in divorce (not the fault of love marriage of course) and the rest are doing well.

You might say it is an old story but I know people who had arranged marriage just a few months ago and even a few weeks ago. One of them is a good friend while other is my cousin.

With my friend, she is a bit shy so she didn’t want to date anyone even though she had lots of guys after her when we were in college. When the marriage questions were asked by her parents, she told them to find a suitable match. So she was engaged last year and after a year of knowing the guy finally they got married in December.

With my cousin, he lives in US where he is super busy with his work. He never stays in one place for long enough (due to his work) that he gets to meet girls let alone fall in love. So when the family started asking him to get married, he handed down the responsibility to his parents who found a really nice girl and they got married last week in a traditional Newari marriage ceremony. His parents are really happy with this marriage and both bride and groom had 100% say in the decision.

The point I want to make is that just because it is an arranged marriage does not meant that it is a bad thing. It may sound weird to a society where it doesn’t happen but please do have an open mind when you think about it.

Let me put it this way, the modern arrange marriage is like joining rspv.com in the western world. Even I considered having an arranged marriage at one stage (read here for more). So it is not silly or backward thing but just a tradition in most South Asian society.

These days when a girl or guy tells their family that they are OK with arranged marriage, first the family and relatives look for a prospective partner with qualities like

  • Similar caste
  • Similar family reputation
  • Girls/guy’s qualification (study, job)
  • Girl/guy’s qualities  (look, hobbies, background)
  • Cultural and/or religious understanding

It is like RSVP scanning anyone who wanted to join their site. The hard part is done by the family so the girl/guy only meets prospective partners who are suitable.

So as a first step, photos of the prospective partners (already filtered by the family) are shown and they can pick a few they like. Then they will be given either phone numbers or/and email id of the prospective partners so they can talk and chat. These days Skype and Facebook seems to be the way people choose to communicate.

At this stage both guy/girl has time to evaluate the person and if they want, the next step will be dating. They normally meet a few times and stay in touch before they tell their family if they are happy with their prospective partners or not. I found out that at this stage most of the prospective partners fall in love. (I think it is similar in dating world as well anyway.)

If both parties have positive response then the family will get together and have an engagement function. These days I see couples engaged for one or more years before they finally get married. In some cases, marriage happens after only a few weeks after the engagement as well.

So both the boy and girl have full say in who they are going to marry even if it is an arranged marriage. Parents don’t treat their kids like a commodity to negotiate and scrutinize and make them marry just anyone without asking them. Family and society have changed according to time in Nepal so they understand that it is important to get the children involved on making decisions of their life.

Here are some advantages of arrange marriage

  • Financial security

You can call me materialistic but money does matter in real life. It is only in fairy tales that people can live happily ever after in a swamp or jungle. No parents wants their kids to suffer so they make sure when they are looking for prospective partners that they are secure and well off financially and is in the same level as their family.

  • Caste, cultural and/or religious understanding 

Family make sure prospective partner belongs to a similar caste and culture so they can easily adjust into their new life. It is same as RSVP asking what religion or ethnic group you belong to, in their form.

  • Family approval and support

As you know, eastern society live in a close-knit environment, it helps a lot when your in laws approve the prospective partner. This way the couple will get help from their parents physically, emotionally and in most cases financially as well. I think it is not a bad thing to have two sets of families in your life.

  • Avoidance of  (more) pre-marriage relationships/courtship

They say you have to kiss many frogs before you meet your prince charming. We all see and experience that and we have actually gone through a few relationships before we settle with Mr. Right. With arrange marriage, it eliminates the years many waste dating multiple persons, and allow a person to find a good spouse if you choose to follow this path from the beginning. In other cases, you have been there and done that and didn’t not want to go through the heartaches again, this can be a way out to make your life bit easier.

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*From independent, confident strong women to dependent, needy wife *Ta, Timi, Tapai and Hajoor *Making a cup of tea…

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Posted in Marriage

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