Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Give me that pout!

Yesterday was another amazing and fun Toastmasters Meeting with our rockstar Toastmaster of the day Sandeep taking us through three hours organised so perfectly, my critical eye couldn't find a single glitch! The theme of the day was selfies, a subject close to my heart because I'm so in love with taking selfies! This selfie within a selfie won the best selfie award. I love this picture! Thank you to our new President Abdel Rehman for this gem!

Some interesting facts about selfies were revealed for example the first selfie ever taken was in 1920! The men's loo was not functional so out Seargent at arms said the gents could go to the park outside which left us all in splits!




That's Sohayla, she's from Syria and she delievered her third speech today. She spoke wonderfully about the holy month of Ramadan. Doesn't she look absolutely radiant!














See what I'm talking about! For a moment I thought to myself,"When was the last time I saw so many people laughing and smiling at the same time??" This has to be one of the most recorded moments in Dubai Toastmasters history! And I was so thrilled to be a part of it.








That's Smita and she was the secret lady with whom the selfie had to be taken. A wonderful thing about being in a club like this is that you meet wonderful people with a killer sense of humour to boot! When I said,"You have such lovely curly hair!" She replied,"Ya but no one takes me seriously! I look like I'm ready to go to a party all the time." I was in stitches!










I love the of energy of Toastmasters meeting. There is always something inspiring to take away from it. Yesterday Emmanuel talked about working towards your dreams. Write them down he said. If you want a car, decide which one, model, colour and cost. Then work towards making it happen. Create goals for yourself. You will be a winner!

That's yours truly pouting for the camera. I loved the meeting yesterday and let's raise our glasses to many many more of them!

Tuesday, June 07, 2016

The bog

After several days of relative quiet or rather quiet mornings, today I had to rush off for a meeting. I had a picture of the board where I was supposed to park. I kept half an hour to get lost and yet I was late because the board had changed to something else. I got there fifteen minutes later than the appointed time and apologised for my tardiness which was thankfully just waved off.

Everything went well and I was my usual vibrant and brilliant self. Then I took a bathroom break and got locked inside the toilet. Literally. I looked up but it wasn't the stall type of loo so I couldn't have climbed into the next stall. I desperately tried to open the door, twisting and turning and cursed myself for not bringing my phone to the toilet but who the heck brings their phone to the toilet? Next time I will, I promised myself. Finally I started banging on the door and called out,"Hello! Hello! Anyone there?" And then after a few minutes of anxiety viola! Someone opened the door from outside. I thanked the lady profusely and rushed back to the conference room. I was so grateful that no one asked why I took such a long time in the bog.

I watched the next episode of Game of thrones. Is it just me or is it getting a bit boring these days?

Monday, June 06, 2016

Toastmasters

Every other week on a Monday evening I attend Toastmasters meeting. It's a social club and the members present speeches. The objectives of the speeches rise with each level. There's a snack break during which we all have fifteen minutes to gobble up amazing samosas and parathas with white chickpeas curry. We joke around about it all the time saying that we just come for the snacks.

But seriously, I cannot describe how much value this club has added to my life. The speeches are always filled with human stories. Stories of courage and positivity and great dollops of humour. Some of the senior members are amazing speakers and sometimes the new members can surprise you with a stellar speech like Graziella did today.

I got there early today and took lots of pictures of flowers around the venue. These are my favourites. Such happy flowers.

It's late in the night and I have to prepare for a meeting so I'll be up a while longer even though I'd like nothing better than to lay my head on the pillow and walk into my dreams. Goodnight people!

Sunday, June 05, 2016

Playing catch up

I made some lovely friends at this office where I was working on a project. That bald beauty is Hassaan and the lovely girl is Shakila fondly called Shake. The two of them together are a laugh riot. I was supposed to do a tarot reading for them but I forgot to take my cards.

I was supposed to meet them weeks ago but I get so lost in my life that I didn't get around to it. Hassaan, the resident drama queen sent messages brimming with emotional blackmail, which he is really quite good at, to make me crawl out of my home into the sun.

Both of them are from Pakistan and I really enjoy their company. I don't understand why our countries fight? They're such nice people.

Saturday, June 04, 2016

Nice guys

I saw the trailer of 'Nice guys' recently and it was so funny that Natasha and I went to watch it today. Ryan Gosling has some serious comedy chops. I was pleasantly surprised. Russell Crowe was alright. The movie is nice comic fluff. Worth one watch.

The whole mall seems to be under renovation. They're planning to make it much bigger. I don't know if I'm thrilled about that. It's one mall I've become so accustomed to. I like that it has just one floor and is basically in a straight line. Well, as long as Shakespeare Cafe remains to be where it is I'll live with all the renovations.

Natasha used to work for me for a short period of time. At that point there wasn't enough time to really get to know her but I always liked her. She came across as a sweet and shy girl. We connected on Facebook and at some point decided we should meet up and I'm so glad that we did because now we're as thick as thieves. She looks a lot like my sister and I'm always reminded of her when I meet Natasha. You know, when you're an expat your friends become your family. She's family.

I have a small circle of friends I meet one on one mostly because they don't know each other. But I'm so blessed and so loved. I thank God each day for giving me such wonderful friends. May you all know such deep and lasting friendships in your life!

Friday, June 03, 2016

Almost

I almost forgot to post today. The day was so quiet and peaceful and I was generally so relaxed that I almost retired with my book. Now I'm writing this post on my phone, sitting happily in bed, all warm and comfortable. I like this technology thing. It allows you so much freedom.

I went for a long drive with Anshuman and we drove and drove and ended up at a deserted petrol station with an equally deserted McDonald's. I got myself a fish fillet burger and an icecream. The staff looked so bored. Poor things, stuck at McDonald's on a Friday night. I could feel their boredom emanating like a waft of smoke.

We got a little lost on the way back and Anshuman said," I don't know where the hell we are." I said,"I really don't care." It made us laugh and eventually we found our way home. Now everyone has been fed. Mili is sitting next to me and staring at my face. I should let her lick my face and cuddle her or else she will keep staring at me until I do.

I hope for many more such lovely days. And I wish you all a lovely evening! I'll come back tomorrow!

Thursday, June 02, 2016

I don't get it

 I went to an art gallery today. It's called 1X1 and an artist called Sunil Bonde was exhibiting his work there. I should have been there by 11:30 in the morning but I got there at around 3 in the afternoon. I'm slow like that. I mean some days are slow like that. Fortunately I had the GPS coordinates so I listened to the directions of the annoying Google Maps woman and reached the place after getting lost for precisely five minutes. I was very proud of myself.


I looked around and the installation above looked interesting. When I looked closer I realised that the little objects hanging from the wall were beakers and lamps with wicks. They seemed to be everywhere. On the right the wicks are on the backs of elephants.




And here's a rooster melting on a globe with a wick on its head. Anyway, it all went a little over my head. I was later told that the artist was making a statement about the effect of oil on the globe resulting in wars and such. I thought it was a lot of effect and very little skill. Somehow his work failed to grab my attention.

There was also an installation which was essentially Queen Elizabeth's crown all in black plastic with cheap shiny crystal type things in place of the jewels. Again, I shook my head. "I don't get it." May be I'm just too slow and ignorant about modern art.









There was a mirror in the gallery so I took a selfie. They also had an amazing collection of art books. I will surely go again!

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

The drive

I've written before about my love of driving and I'm going to do that again. I cannot stress the sheer therapeutic power of  singing at the top of your lungs in your car whilst driving very very fast. I mean it's not that I was in any hurry to get home but being in the fast lane in Dubai has a thrill all its own. I usually drive in the second lane so that I don't have to be hyper vigilant of the traffic but today it was a pleasure to drive at exactly 119 Kms/hr. If you exceed that, you pay a hefty fine. I've only ever paid a speeding fine twice. The first time was when I had just got the spanking new Pajero and couldn't help but push the pedal. The second time I was hopelessly lost, in fact I was so lost that I never reached my destination. In my anxiety I was driving too fast over a flyover and got flashed by the radar. I must have looked really annoyed in my picture.

Today the drive was perfect and I sang "It's a beautiful day" along with Bono and for a moment there everything was absolutely perfect.