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Showing posts with the label holidays

Antwerp Diary

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Before heading off to Antwerp, we visited the Atomium, a huge building consisting of nine spheres made to represent the structure of an iron crystal. At the foot of the Atomium was Mini-Europe, which housed little replicas of important landmarks in Europe, like the Eiffel tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I found Mini-Europe adorable, with the tiny toy people and boats and helicopters. Each replica had a green button in front of it. If the country the landmark was from was mentioned under the green button, pressing it would mean that the national anthem of that country would play. There were green buttons that didn't have any description under it, and on activating them, the toys would move, which made it fascinating. Mini-Europe was definitely entertaining, and the Atomium stood tall and intimidating. Our journey to Antwerp was by train, and we were looking forward to seeing the Antwerp Railway Station, as it is one of the most beautiful railway stations in the wo

The Holy Trinity Of Pissing

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On the train to Brussels, I was nearly dozing off when Mom suddenly realized that she had left her precious notebook, filled with things to do and places to see in Belgium, at home in Riyadh. Dad and I weren't surprised. It would be a lie to say that this was the first time Mom had forgotten or lost the research she had done before going on a trip. Sometimes she would lose the paper she had written on, right at home.  Brussels was picturesque and lively. Huge gothic cathedrals and buildings framed the bustling  streets, dark clouds drifted in the sky and the wheels of our suitcases made miserable noises as we wheeled them over the cobblestones while going to our hotel. Catalonia Grand Place was in the heart of the city. After dropping off our baggage, our next step was to begin a tour of Brussels. According to Mom, her superhuman brain had allowed her to store all the information about tourist attractions she had written down earlier, so even if memory had failed her

Back in Heidelberg

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Last week, my parents and I set off to Europe. Our first stop was Germany, where Dad had to attend an award function in Heidelberg. We marched like soldiers to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant , which was five minutes away from our hotel, Perkeo. Wonderful memories of the food there welcomed us and we breezed in through the door and into our seats like we were home. After a hearty lunch, we meandered to the Old Bridge, where we saw the Bridge Monkey. According to legends, if you touched its hands, mirror, face and the little mice next to it, luck would grant you another trip to Heidelberg. Till now the legends had not failed us, and I wasn't taking any chances. Later, Dad left for the function, so Mom and I bought gelatos and took photos of them to make Dad envious when he got back. We wandered around for hours before buying pizzas from Pizza Hut for dinner. The evening in Heidelberg was something out of a fairytale; the sky was purple, the streets and shops were illumi

Movie Time

 I watched a total of four movies in India this time- ‘ Inside-Out ’, ‘ Jurassic World ’, ‘ Premam ’ and ‘ Ant-Man ’.  They were amazing. But one notable mention is ‘Jurassic World’, which kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I hope one more movie comes out! I have watched all the ‘Jurassic’ movies and they get better every time! Raaawwrrrr!!! What I like about them the most is the suspense. One minute you give out a sigh of relief, next minute you’ll be screaming, and running like Usain Bolt from a hungry dino! Woo-hoo! Except ‘Premam’, I watched all the movies with Kunjunni and Kunji chechi, so it was double the fun. Kunjunni really wanted to see ‘Ant-Man’. But all I could say was ‘Seriously? Ant -Man?’ “It has a high rating.” “It’s going to be lame.” “You can decide that after the movie’’. In the end, I loved it. I declared that while we were leaving the  theater  and got a smug look in return, plus, an ‘I told you so.’ In fact, if there is a sequ

The Mehandi Designer

Well! Our vacation in India flew past and here I am again! As usual, vacation was a blast. This was our evening schedule- Kunjunni and Kunjichechi would come over regularly every evening. When it would be time for dinner, Kunji chechi would make a beeline for the kitchen. She would be the one to flip the chapattis for she really loves to cook. At 8, everyone would make themselves comfortable in the living room. Then we would watch “Sell Me the Answer” until the show ended at 9, which was the time Kunjunni and Kunji Chechi would get shooed away by Granddad to go home. Mom and I would watch them cross the street to their home and then wave to them from our window. Everything went on like this for a few weeks. When we went shopping for groceries once, I spotted mehandi cones and bought one. I like putting on mehandi and I rarely find good quality cones too, so this was a golden opportunity. When I had put it on my palm and showed it to Kunjunni, he was intrigued. Kunji c

German Diary (Deutsch Tagebuch)

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I put down my headphones and observed everyone around me. Mom was sleeping with her mouth open and Dad was nodding off.  I had just watched ‘Night of the Museum 3’ on the TV in front of me, and I gotta admit, it was kinda lame compared to the first two movies. As the plane touched down, I quickly put in my earplugs and felt the pressure on my ears. I looked out of the window and saw Germany’s surface. Mom, who was now awake (and had quickly closed her mouth) looked out with me. Dad’s project had won an award from SAP and the award ceremony was to take place at Walldorf .  So Mom and I came too and we decided to stay in Heidelberg for 5 days. As we neared the exit of Frankfurt airport, I saw someone holding my name. Boy, was I surprised! I mean I have seen plenty of people do that, but for me…… awesome! Germany was amazing; in fact it was beautiful. It’s like how you see in those movies; lush green trees on both sides and then later endless green fields stretching on a

3 movies and 2 books

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A complete week of Hajj holidays has been over and now it is the second week. As Dad too has holidays for one week, he wakes me up every morning in a different way. One day, he shook me awake and sat next to me and kept talking until I forced myself out of bed. Another time, he placed the alarm clock under my bed. It did not wake me up, but instead it woke Mom.  I watched 3 movies this week- “ The Syrian Bride ”, “ Psycho ”, and “ Baran ”. After watching “Psycho”, I got a bit scared and never moved an inch away from my parents. But that was only for a day. “Psycho” is a classic 1960 horror-thriller movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It  wasn't  the plot, but the sudden-scary music that really got me. Seriously. Like ‘Scree! Scree! Scree!’ ‘‘The Syrian Bride’’ was full of suspense, mostly like “What’s going to happen? Will she be able to go? Huh? Huh?” “Baran” is very touching and sad, but it is funny also sometimes. According to Mom, I am now old enough to wat

Bahrain Diary (Part 2) - Tree of Life

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A group of women wearing short dresses got out of their car. The car’s tire had sunk in the sand, and refused to move.  Some men surrounded them, giving them smiles and offering their help to the girls. Their own car had got sunk in the sand, but they hardly paid any attention to it or the “ Tree of Life ”, now that they had something else better to look at …… . I gazed at the tree from a distance. This ancient tree was called the “ Tree of life ” as it had survived in the desert for 400 years without any known water source. When we were just about to reach, I had seen a tree next to the roadside but it was only my size and I had felt disgusted, since I thought that was the great ‘Tree of life’. But when the real tree appeared in sight, bigger than its imposter, my disgust turned into wonder and amazement. Many people, the newborn, the middle-aged and the old, were sitting on the tree happily and trying to climb it. Some branches of the tree touched the ground while the ot

Bahrain Diary - 1

I groaned while I lay on the back seat, feeling bored and tired. The traffic crawled, moving 3 inches in every 10 minutes. My Mom had adjusted her seat so that it leaned back. Her eyes were closed and had her hands folded on her lap. My Dad rested his hands on the steering wheel. We were on our way to Bahrain. We had started out early in the morning and had been going for 4 hours. We left Khobar and reached the middle island though King Fahd causeway. Finally, when we got past all the traffic and visa checks after 2 hours and reached Bahrain, I became more relieved. We reached Hotel Ramada . It was a really grand hotel, with a swimming pool and breakfast every day. We would stay there for 4 days. Mom was tired and asked me and Dad to have lunch and get a take-out for her. But that was where the trouble started. I and Dad went out, ready to go to ‘ Saravana Bhavan ’. Ajay Valyachan lives in Bahrain, so he had told us about this restaurant. He gave us directions. We

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Dubai 1

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After watching fairy tales, we always expect Kings and Queens, Princesses and Princes to have long gowns that sweep the ground, glittering tiaras, crowns studded with jewels, and excessive amount of jewelry. Right? It may seem like I am lying, but believe me, I am telling the truth. I ACTUALLY HAD A CHANCE TO SEE THE KING OF DUBAI, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM !!!!! A King or Queen is a normal person like us, except they are born famous; they rule a country and everyone knows them. They wear normal clothes just like us, according to their traditions. My parents, Kunjunni (also known as Rockstar Nara , Detective Nara etc..) Kunji chechi, and Valyamma were also there when we saw him. We were at Dubai Mall. Dad and Mom were sipping a cappuccino at the coffee shop while the rest of us went at the top of Burj Khalifa . The view was spectacular. We were “Aaah”ing and “Ooh”ing the whole time -while we waited in our group, in the fastest elev

End of grade Six

Yaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!! I am sooooo happy! SA-2 (Summative Assessment) has finally finished. Now, there are 2 weeks stretched in front of me which I am going to spend by watching TV, playing games on the computer, reading books etc.  And of course, no studies. I am going to be in 7 th grade and I already feel so grown up. I can still not believe how fast time flew. Today, my BFF Daniya is hosting a party and I am also invited. She has also invited my other 2 best friends, Anne and Chandana. Since Daniya is leaving Riyadh and going to India, this is  a goodbye  party. The 4 of us are best friends and we always stayed together as a group. I love them all so much  J .   Daniya said we could wear a traditional dress so I am going to wear my mango-colored latcha. Anne said she would wear her churidhar, and Chandana planned to wear her half-sari. On the first day of the holidays, we went to AppleBees for dinner. Yum! Just thinking of the food served there makes me h

The first kid to get The Third Wheel @ Jarir Bookstore!

The winter holidays have started and now I am totally looking forward to the whole of the two weeks that are stretching out in front of me. But there are many obstacles lying in front like the dozens of projects that I have to complete before the holiday finishes. Seriously, why do teachers have to give projects and holiday homework? It is almost like this in every vacation. I HATE HATE HATE CLASS PROJECTS! If I ever become a school principal, the most important rule will be, No holiday homework! ***** We went to Jarir bookstore today to buy some things that I needed to make my projects and besides, I also wanted to check if the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel had been released. We could not find it anywhere and I was a teeny bit disappointed because I really wanted to read it. Later I just took a few books, sat on a bench and began to read. I was halfway through Big Nate Goes for Broke (I love Big Nate) when Dad came over and said tha

Holiday Infection :(

Even though I have written in some of my entries that Riyadh was boring, there is also one reason I like about it. That is because of Saudi National Day!!!! Saudi National day is on 23 rd September, which is near the weekend. And here the weekend consists of the days Thursday and Friday. So, we get Saturday and Sunday as holidays too! How cool is that?! Saudi National Day is celebrated because it is the day King Abdu Aziz Al Saud in 1932 concluded the unification of the country. At first I and my classmates thought that Sunday would be the only day we would get holiday. We were like” Oohhhh Noooooo!!” But then when we got the slip that said we actually had 2 extra days’ holidays, then pandemonium! Now I am sitting at home, writing this and stuck with eye infection. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Dad had eye infection too a few days back and I think that now I got it from him!! Why should I get eye-infection right at the beginning of my holidays?? It’s not every day that S

Holiday news

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Only 9 days left for the holidays to finish!  Oh! NO… And to make it even worse, I have caught a cold. I don’t want the holidays to finish. They are so good. But there is one problem and that is the climate. For few days there have been sandstorms and it was cold too. And just yesterday there was drizzling. So in the evening we only go to malls and no parks. But last night, I had a good dinner from Applebee’s .  We had Blue Ribbon Brownie for desert. French-fries were so crispy and tasty that my parents who always tell me to eat only few French-fries because it is too fatty, stuffed themselves.  But desert was best. Blue Ribbon brownie was chocolate cake along with ice-cream. We decided to go to Taco Bell too on the day when I get my results. But that will be possible only if the results are good. If not, goodbye Taco Bell.    I sent a mail to my best friend Eeshta , who is now settled in China, asking her how was China. She replied that China was horrible place wher

No more studying!

Diary, I have exciting news. Today is my first day of holidays after the exams! Ok, perhaps it’s not exciting for you because you are the one who gets holidays practically on almost all days.  And when I write on you, maybe you feel like the pencil is massaging you. Who knows? I don’t lead a diary’s life. But the minute you laugh at me, I will tell mom and you are going to be in big trouble because mommy is going to be angry that you laughed at her darling daughter. And so you better watch your tongue. Kunjunni’s exams are still not over. But Kunjichechi’s and Savithri’s exams are over. Today is Savithri’s first day of holiday too. But she has summer vacation. I kind of felt jealous when I heard that because during our summer vacation we need to study for the monthly tests next months. And my cousins don’t need to even look at their books during the you- know- what. Oh well. I guess India and Saudi Arabia have their differences. I can now see my cousins after a week havin