Pongal and others

I visited my mum for Pongal last week, not at her condominium, but at her final resting home. Pongal was an important celebration for my mum. It marked the beginning of the Thai month, which I, for the longest time thought, was the first month of the Indian calendar. Mainly as it falls in January, which […]

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Thevaya

I learnt a new word from a local radio station, while I was driving. It was the Tamil word for necessary. I wasn’t particularly concentrating but I think the DJ said something about trying to teach listeners one Tamil word per day. A ‘learn-a-word-a-day’ sort of thing. As it sounded interesting and a bit of […]

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A new year

Another new year. No big resolutions. No big wants. No big expectations. For me, 2026 will be a good enough year if I can carry on doing the things I did in 2025. Do a bit more of what I didn’t do as much as I would have liked to. Plus, one or two that […]

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Nice … not nice

December is my favourite month of the year. Second only to March, which is my birthday month. Growing up, the final term school holidays was in December. Seven weeks of freedom, starting in middle November. The whole of December was ‘cuti time.’ As a working adult, December was when office parties and get-togethers were held, […]

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Money or passion …

Money or passion? Interests or needs? A few weeks ago, my husband and I had a good morning at an exhibition by students from a local art college. They were from the illustration department, and they put on an enthusiastic ‘show and tell.’ From the exhibits, we saw that much thought, effort, and time had […]

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Train of thought

Last week, the plan was to write about trains. And, the trip my husband and I took from KL to Ipoh via the ETS or Electric Train Service. It got derailed by buses. I kid you not I had no plans to write about buses, especially as I don’t like them. The years of pent-up […]

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Trains, not buses

I like trains. Buses, not so much. I’ve taken buses most of my life. To school in Alor Setar and whilst I was in university. For four years, I did a four-state hike of Selangor-Kuala Lumpur-Penang-Kedah. I travelled every three weeks, on a Friday, from Bangi to Kajang to Pudu Raya to Butterworth to Alor […]

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Online, they or them

Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s not.    And, I’ve wondered if it was/is I or me or ‘they’ or ‘them’ that make it not easy. To start with, it’s not easy to buy presents. For siblings. As they get older, they don’t want/need too many things. And, I don’t want to add to their clutter […]

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Happy events

My husband and I were invited to two graduation ceremonies. The graduates were my nieces, number 4 and 5, brother number 2’s daughters. Coincidentally both sisters had their graduation in early November. One on the 1st, the other on the 13th. 1st November was niece number 5’s big day. She got a First in Mechanical […]

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Lift pain

One of my phobias happened. Twice, in under two weeks. I got stuck in my condo lift, and I don’t like confined spaces. I live on the 30th floor. The first time, the lift stopped on level 25. My destination was level 7. Fortunately, the lift door stayed open. I immediately got out and walked […]

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