I’m baaaaaaack!

I was just thinking about random things and remembered how I so sporadically just gave up this blog.  I really enjoyed writing so I’m not sure why I gave it up.  I am really hoping to stick with it this time! My last post was in 2013!  Don’t worry – I’m not going to try…

Belfast Mela (2013)

Belfast Mela (2013) was held over the past weekend in the Botanic Gardens.  The Belfast Mela is hailed as “the largest festival of ethnic arts, culture and heritage in Ireland.” It was held on 24 and 25 August.  We checked it out on Sunday, 25 August.  We went pretty early and the queue to get…

Hong Kong

We ended our long holiday in Hong Kong.  We wanted to spend some time with my family and see a few sights.  We stayed with my Bhaiya and Bhabi so that we could spend as much time as possible with everyone. My Bhaiya and Bhabi had organised a dinner for us and for Milano’s birthday,…

Indonesia (Jakarta & Bali)

After our lovely time in the Philippines, we left for Indonesia.  We stopped in Jakarta for a few days before heading to Bali. Jakarta was hot and crowded but interesting.  We stayed at the Grand Mercure, which was a pretty nice hotel and close enough to a lot of the popular tourist sights.  While in…

Asia Travels – Philippines (Clark, Boracay, Manila)

We went to Clark for our friend’s wedding (Paul and Tori).  We stayed at the Widus Casino and Resort in Clark.  It was a wonderful place and the service was wonderful.  Barry really noticed how welcoming and friendly the Filipinos are and the customer service was great throughout our Manila trip.  We hit the casino both nights…

Asia Travels – Hong Kong

Our Asia trip started with a night in Hong Kong. We flew from Dublin to Heathrow to Hong Kong. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in K-11, the new (new to me) mall on Hanoi Rd in TST, Kowloon. I didn’t have that much time to enjoy the hotel as I had to get ready…

My Belfast

Now it’s hot!  Now it’s not. Now it’s cold!  Now it’s not. Now it’s windy!  Now it’s not. Now it’s raining!  Now it’s not. Now it’s snowing!  Now it’s not. Oh dear Belfast, you keep me on my toes! My day is always an adventure with you. xoxo

Finding my Voice

I completed a writing course, Finding Your Voice in Fiction Writing with Dr. Brenda Liddy, through Queen’s University last week.  It was a five-week course about learning how to find your voice in fiction writing. Each week we learned through exercises (group and individual) and homework, different tools to help us become better writers.  We…

6 Months!

Yesterday was our 6 month wedding anniversary. It’s amazing how quickly time has flown but I still remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. I am so grateful to all the family and friends who were there to support us and share our special day (weekend!). Yesterday was also Barry’s cousin’s wedding in Fivemiletown….

5p Towards a Greener Northern Ireland

From 8 April 2013, there has been a charge of 5p for new single use carrier bags (paper and plastic) in shops in Northern Ireland.  According to nidirect the main aim is to help protect the environment by cutting the number of carrier bags we use.  The Department of the Environment hopes to see an 80%…

All in my head?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about my feelings about being treated differently, sometimes unfairly because of the color of my skin or the way I speak (my ethnicity or my accent). Is it all in my head? I was born in India. I moved to the Philippines and was there for about 11 years…

Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s Mother’s day in the US today.  It’s in March in the UK.  I try to tell my Mommie how much I love her, how grateful I am to her, and that I appreciate what she does for me all year.  However, it’s nice to have a day when I get to express that in…