The London Olympics 2012

Well I am not much of a sports fan so to say but this Olympics caught my eyes because it was held in one of the most amazing cities in the world....London.

Australia Down Under....again and again and again

Yes this is my 10th trip to Australia and I cannot get enough of what she has to offer...first in 1992 ( Perth ) 1994 ( Perth ) 1996 ( Perth & Melbourne )  2000 , 2001 , 2006 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 and again in 2012.

Hello 2012

A New Year...a new beginning.....

Goodbye 2011

As I look back at the year that has passed and ponder over all the moments that took place...some sweet , some a little bitter but all in all it has been a good year blessed by Our Lord.

The Shanmugam Family welcomes Bam Bam

Today our family welcomes a new baby ...as my niece Tharishini and her husband Anantha added  a bouncing baby boy into the Shanmugam Family. He was born today at 4.31pm and weighed 3.9 kgs! What joy another boy...the 3rd grandchild into the family...the 1st being Mikkel Rahul who is 5...the 2nd is Reshven Rheul  who is nearly 2 and very sadly whom I have not see due to some silly family conflicts...and now the 3rd who is yet to be named...but we call him Bam Bam.

My parents had 8 boys and me the only girl...and they had 16 grandchildren with 9 granddaughters and 7 grandsons...and now they have 3 great grandsons..wow they would have been so proud and elated. The family has now got 37 members and sadly we have lost 5 of them...my two older brothers Mohan and Vijay and my nephew Dheepak and my late parents. Actually many say when we have family gatherings we do not need to invite anyone else. And we were One Malaysia from before the term was introduced as there are Chinese , Punjabis and Eurasians in the family. 

Well this Shanmugam Family has been through many trials and have survived and will continue to grow and I thank God everyday for everyone of them as they are a big part of my life and as my mum always told me that she is leaving this big family to me to continue the tradition of family gatherings so that everyone is united. I have always made an effort with my dear husband David who treasures this big family...The Shanmugam Family gatherings will go on no matter what because I want to continue what my father and mother have built..and I pray that my children and their cousins will continue doing so. Family gatherings  keep my parents  memories alive because each one of us is carrying a little part of them in us .

PS

Bam Bam has been named Ivaanesh Nadarajan.

These are my darling parents

Mikkel my first grand nephew

Reshven Rheul my second grand nephew

This is my original family in 1971

This is my family with all the extensions in 2009

Chennai Tamil Nadu India

Well we have arrived in Chennai which was Madras formerly and as David says its my country because this is where Tamilians come from..yes my dad is from here and the last time I visited this city was when I was 2...so I do not remember a thing...except for some photos which I have. My mother brought me and my younger brother to Madras to visit with my paternal grandfather and some other relatives. 

David was so excited that he could be driven in an Ambassador car...his dream come true and in the heat of Chennai it was not an AC one. Anyway we made our way to Nugumbakkam to meet our host Mrs Chamu Inderjith whom we got aquainted with when her husband joined Proton recently. She was such a gracious host who just wanted to cook and care for us. After having a beautiful home cooked lunch we made our way to T Nagar for some shopping...my dream come true for more saree shopping. It was crowded and we went into Pothy's and I never wanted to go into any other shop...it was awesome with so much of choices. I could have spent the whole day there but we moved on and went to buy some sandals. And we went to an authentic Chettinad Restaurant for dinner and the food was great. And we retired for the day tired but satisfied that I got some good bargains.

The next day after breakfast which Mrs Inderjith prepared we went jewellery shopping to Padma's Jewels and made a purchase there too. Later we went back for lunch and relaxed and in the evening we went to Marina Beach..again I remembered my mum and I had taken some photos here on 1962. Later we visited Express Mall a large shopping centre which housed all the top brands even Marks and Spencers. We made our way home to have dinner and called it a day.

On the 7th of September we made a quick trip to Pothy's for some last minute shopping and then we had to bid Mrs Inderjith a tearful farewell and made our way to Chennai Airport. Flight left on time and we were going home with such beautiful memories of India and now we know why they call it INCREDIBLE INDIA and we will be back for sure in the future.

Riding in the Ambassador taxi

The wall paintings can be seen along the main roads in Chennai

David and the auto rickshaw

Enjoying a ride in an auto rickshaw

And I will be back to ride in one of these

Hyderabad , Andhra Pradesh , India

Today is my 3rd day in Hyderabad and I have survived this very crowded and busy city. David and I landed at the modern Hyderabad airport on the 1st of September 2011 by Kingfisher Airlines.The flight was good with some very good looking Indian air stewardesses dressed in red. We were met by Anoop..who is Naveen our host's brother. They drove us through the city and we even got onto one of the world's longest elevated highways about 13km long and Hyderabad welcomed us the Vinayagar Charturthi celebrations. We arrived at our guest house..Oyster Habitat situated in one of Hyderabad's prime area...Jubilee Hills. The traffic conditions were slightly better than Bangalore...but the hooting of the horn was the same if not even worse. We left our luggage and went for some authentic Andhra food at Rayalaseema Ruchulu in Jubilee Hills and the food was just awesome. Then we went back to the guest house where we were met by Naveen at the guest house. After a cup of beautiful Bru coffee we headed for Naveen's office for a look around. And later Anoop drove us to Charminar...a small town surrounding a mausoleum..an iconic monument of Hyderabad. This place was dominated by Muslims and had a large number of fruit stalls and an unbelievable row of bangle and jewellery shops. Wow an Indian woman's paradise for shopping of jewellery. After an hour of shopping Anoop took us to Big Dosa for a thosai dinner and we called it a day.

At the Oyster Habitat Guest House.

Large statues of Ganesha welcomed us into Hyderabad

The iconic Charminar

I loved all the bangles I saw.

Having my thosai at Big Dosa

On the next day the 2nd of September 2011...Naveen's driver Malesh picked us up and drove us to Ramoji Film City which is a must if you visit Hyderabad.It was a long drive about 1.5 hours through very crowded parts of the city. The entrance to Film City was truly exciting...seeing as to I love Hindi and sometimes Tamil movies...but for David it was just going to be a sightseeing tour. This film studio is the biggest in the world covering 2000 acres of land . The tour was good as they took us to various places where different scenes of movies were shot...airports , railway stations , houses , streets and the list can go on. The guide also said that many Hindi movies were shot there and that rang a bell for me as I always saw that songs were shot in Film City and I was actually standing on some of those sets. After the tour we were taken to Sitara Hotel for a 5 star lunch and it was just awesome..the highlight of the trip I should say. After a lovely lunch the driver took us back to our guest house . After which David went to nearby Harley Davidson showroom...the first ever in India and Naveen's daughter Nayaki took me saree shopping to Birslay and Neeru's...2 of the famous shopping places in Hyderabad...and I was spoilt for choice.After which our graciuos host Naveen and his family took us to dinner to The Great Kebab Factory...which was famous for its grilled meats. And we sat for dinner and all these beautiful pieces of meat were flashed before our eyes...a feast I should say...and we were full up..and then guess what ...they told us that was the starters!! And then they brought out the briyanis and breads and we just could not eat anymore. A full day of sightseeing and eating I should say.

The grand entrance to Film City

One of the beautiful sets for songs

Yes Hollywood in Hyderabad

Guess what I had my own movie star hero

Lunch at the 5 star Sitara Hotel

And dinner at The Great Kebab Factory