It's fascinating to move to a whole new country, start a whole new life with whole new people!
This blog post is to mark a year since my move to this country, which soon enough became "home away from home"
As I'm counting down to my 25th birthday, here are 7 (because for some weird reason, it's my favourite number) learnings from my last year, which in ways more than one, moulded me into a better person (as I'd like to believe) and I trust will guide me well in the future as well:
(in no particular order)
1. A penny saved is a penny earned
This was my first stint with financially independent living. For calling dad over every little thing or just catching a bus home, was just not an option! Earning my livelihood as an Emergency doctor; paying my own house rent and utility bills, on time; signing up for critical illness, hospitalisation and life insurance...etc! Things I often wouldn't be involved in when I was back home, now were things I was sitting and discussing with close attention, with a financial consultant! And thus, I was managing my finances, as well as saving for a rainy day! I learnt from Prantik, to save first, spend without fear later - which gave me so much more financial freedom!
2. Live life with a little spice
I never did much cooking before moving to Singapore. But here, I had to cook to survive! And as my grand-aunt would say, "If you like eating, you should learn to cook it!" Easy it sounded, but what was most amazing however, was the realisation that I actually liked cooking! I'd listen to Saavn Radio and chop and stir - over the year I've surprised myself by recreating mum's recipes and of course, mom-in-law's too - right from Cholay Bhature, Paav Bhaji to Beetroot cutlets; Cream of mushroom soup to Tomato rasam; Reshmi Paneer to Thai Green Chicken curry; Pesto pasta with saute'd vegetables to Appam with Vegetable Stew and even Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani; Kerala Vermicelli Payasam to Gulab Jamun - my culinary adventure has been so much fun and exquisite, to say the least! And a home-cooked meal has the secret ingredient-love! And nothing beats that, ever!
3. Do what you love, Love what you do
I did have teething issues, working in a completely different environment; with more electronic documentation every hour than I did during my entire year of housemanship back in India; working with people from different ethnicities and work culture - but, it was a fun-filled upward learning curve and the people were very helpful and supportive. And soon enough, I was loving it and it only translated to happier working hours, increased productivity and obviously happier patients :D It always feels fulfilling to be on the receiving end of appreciation and time and again, it only reassures that this is the place I want to be and I couldn't be happier!
4. Work Hard, Party Harder
I had an erratic work schedule and I learnt to work around it, to spend time with my husband and of course, our gang of friends. There were fun birthday and anniversary celebrations; even a wedding in between! Additionally, movies over the weekend and Sunday brunches, exploring new cafes and cuisines which was like a blessing in disguise for a foodie like me - bonuses include the Kebab and Biryani Festival at Raffles Hotel and from down south, the OnamSadhya. We also threw in fun activities in between, like watching F1 Grand Prix from the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands, walking nature trails (MacRitchie), visiting the zoo and bird park, Diwali lights and house parties, BBQ at Labrador Park, Secret Santa gift exchange during Christmas, watching plays and screaming at music concerts; and not to forget, the crazy fun singing and dancing that followed a few tequila/Kamikaze shots :P
5. Take Vacations - Make Memories!
For the truth is - we can always make money; we can't always make memories. And I'm so fortunate in having found a life partner who believes, just as much as I do, in the power of making memories; and thus we feed our wanderlust. I'm more of the meticulous planner while Pran, is the more spontaneous traveler. We thus, enjoy the best of both worlds! Our travelogue kickstarted with a lovely relaxing honeymoon at Lombok, Indonesia - snorkelling amidst the colourful schools of fish and even turtles, is still a memory I revisit often. We spent Valentines' Day at Melbourne, having grabbed last minute tickets to the starting game of the Cricket World Cup 2015 and a day later, at Adelaide, ticking off one of our bucket-list items - India vs Pakistan World Cup game! We had short yet sweet holidays with the family - with my folks, at Poovar, Kerala at a beautiful golden sand beach resort; and with his folks at Selangor, Malaysia, living in villas over stilts, enjoying the most gorgeous sunrises ever! We just got back from a splendid break with the friends at Galle, Sri Lanka (look out for my next blog post on that!) and I'll be honest, our vacations for the next quarter of the year have been planned too :P
6. Gift Love
Pran and I were blessed to have a lovely wedding #SocialShaadi, spread across 2 cities, over a week! What added to the beauty of it all, was the money we managed to raise along with Milaap, for causes we believed in - education and vocational training. We also raised money for 2 institutions in our respective home towns. And thus, our wedding had a whole new dimension and with this spin, it had so much more meaning. Our marriage thus kickstarted on the grounds of giving. And love only multiplies thus. It is said that "it is in giving, that we receive" but I completely believe that unconditional giving is a form of divine love; and Pran and I aspire to give each other and others, not just material gifts (Pran surprised me with gifts to mark 1 year as well!) but more importantly, quality time, always.So, when we just chill at home, watching Scandal on Netflix or just play Scrabble on the diwan, we know, we are basking under the warm glow of love.
7. Keep Calm and Love Yourself
The journey of the past year has only gotten me closer to myself and more in love with life. I'm grateful for the umpteen opportunities life has bestowed me with and I am enjoying learning new things each day, and adding more items onto the "must-do/must-try" list. Amidst my seemingly busy schedule, though not so religiously, I do make time for yoga and kriya, for blissful meditation sessions, for walks by the beach, for red moon spotting, for indulging in frozen yoghurt or milk tea with lychees, for lying on my couch and losing myself in the pages of a book. And of course, with this blog, I've reignited my itch to write and express myself as well :)
These are so simple lessons yet life-changing. And I'd swear by them, every single day!
We visited the Ganesh temple, on Ganesh Chaturthi to give thanks to the Almighty for all things bright and beautiful ... for a fun-filled year gone by...
I have no idea what life has in store for me, but if the last one year was an indicator of any sort, I can say, the rest of my time here in Singapore is going to be rockin' for sure!
A week marking a year on this island!
A week of reliving memories.
A week of gifts, of love.
T-3wks
This blog post is to mark a year since my move to this country, which soon enough became "home away from home"
As I'm counting down to my 25th birthday, here are 7 (because for some weird reason, it's my favourite number) learnings from my last year, which in ways more than one, moulded me into a better person (as I'd like to believe) and I trust will guide me well in the future as well:
(in no particular order)
1. A penny saved is a penny earned
This was my first stint with financially independent living. For calling dad over every little thing or just catching a bus home, was just not an option! Earning my livelihood as an Emergency doctor; paying my own house rent and utility bills, on time; signing up for critical illness, hospitalisation and life insurance...etc! Things I often wouldn't be involved in when I was back home, now were things I was sitting and discussing with close attention, with a financial consultant! And thus, I was managing my finances, as well as saving for a rainy day! I learnt from Prantik, to save first, spend without fear later - which gave me so much more financial freedom!
2. Live life with a little spice
I never did much cooking before moving to Singapore. But here, I had to cook to survive! And as my grand-aunt would say, "If you like eating, you should learn to cook it!" Easy it sounded, but what was most amazing however, was the realisation that I actually liked cooking! I'd listen to Saavn Radio and chop and stir - over the year I've surprised myself by recreating mum's recipes and of course, mom-in-law's too - right from Cholay Bhature, Paav Bhaji to Beetroot cutlets; Cream of mushroom soup to Tomato rasam; Reshmi Paneer to Thai Green Chicken curry; Pesto pasta with saute'd vegetables to Appam with Vegetable Stew and even Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani; Kerala Vermicelli Payasam to Gulab Jamun - my culinary adventure has been so much fun and exquisite, to say the least! And a home-cooked meal has the secret ingredient-love! And nothing beats that, ever!
3. Do what you love, Love what you do
I did have teething issues, working in a completely different environment; with more electronic documentation every hour than I did during my entire year of housemanship back in India; working with people from different ethnicities and work culture - but, it was a fun-filled upward learning curve and the people were very helpful and supportive. And soon enough, I was loving it and it only translated to happier working hours, increased productivity and obviously happier patients :D It always feels fulfilling to be on the receiving end of appreciation and time and again, it only reassures that this is the place I want to be and I couldn't be happier!
4. Work Hard, Party Harder
I had an erratic work schedule and I learnt to work around it, to spend time with my husband and of course, our gang of friends. There were fun birthday and anniversary celebrations; even a wedding in between! Additionally, movies over the weekend and Sunday brunches, exploring new cafes and cuisines which was like a blessing in disguise for a foodie like me - bonuses include the Kebab and Biryani Festival at Raffles Hotel and from down south, the OnamSadhya. We also threw in fun activities in between, like watching F1 Grand Prix from the infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands, walking nature trails (MacRitchie), visiting the zoo and bird park, Diwali lights and house parties, BBQ at Labrador Park, Secret Santa gift exchange during Christmas, watching plays and screaming at music concerts; and not to forget, the crazy fun singing and dancing that followed a few tequila/Kamikaze shots :P
5. Take Vacations - Make Memories!
For the truth is - we can always make money; we can't always make memories. And I'm so fortunate in having found a life partner who believes, just as much as I do, in the power of making memories; and thus we feed our wanderlust. I'm more of the meticulous planner while Pran, is the more spontaneous traveler. We thus, enjoy the best of both worlds! Our travelogue kickstarted with a lovely relaxing honeymoon at Lombok, Indonesia - snorkelling amidst the colourful schools of fish and even turtles, is still a memory I revisit often. We spent Valentines' Day at Melbourne, having grabbed last minute tickets to the starting game of the Cricket World Cup 2015 and a day later, at Adelaide, ticking off one of our bucket-list items - India vs Pakistan World Cup game! We had short yet sweet holidays with the family - with my folks, at Poovar, Kerala at a beautiful golden sand beach resort; and with his folks at Selangor, Malaysia, living in villas over stilts, enjoying the most gorgeous sunrises ever! We just got back from a splendid break with the friends at Galle, Sri Lanka (look out for my next blog post on that!) and I'll be honest, our vacations for the next quarter of the year have been planned too :P
6. Gift Love
Pran and I were blessed to have a lovely wedding #SocialShaadi, spread across 2 cities, over a week! What added to the beauty of it all, was the money we managed to raise along with Milaap, for causes we believed in - education and vocational training. We also raised money for 2 institutions in our respective home towns. And thus, our wedding had a whole new dimension and with this spin, it had so much more meaning. Our marriage thus kickstarted on the grounds of giving. And love only multiplies thus. It is said that "it is in giving, that we receive" but I completely believe that unconditional giving is a form of divine love; and Pran and I aspire to give each other and others, not just material gifts (Pran surprised me with gifts to mark 1 year as well!) but more importantly, quality time, always.So, when we just chill at home, watching Scandal on Netflix or just play Scrabble on the diwan, we know, we are basking under the warm glow of love.
7. Keep Calm and Love Yourself
The journey of the past year has only gotten me closer to myself and more in love with life. I'm grateful for the umpteen opportunities life has bestowed me with and I am enjoying learning new things each day, and adding more items onto the "must-do/must-try" list. Amidst my seemingly busy schedule, though not so religiously, I do make time for yoga and kriya, for blissful meditation sessions, for walks by the beach, for red moon spotting, for indulging in frozen yoghurt or milk tea with lychees, for lying on my couch and losing myself in the pages of a book. And of course, with this blog, I've reignited my itch to write and express myself as well :)
These are so simple lessons yet life-changing. And I'd swear by them, every single day!
We visited the Ganesh temple, on Ganesh Chaturthi to give thanks to the Almighty for all things bright and beautiful ... for a fun-filled year gone by...
I have no idea what life has in store for me, but if the last one year was an indicator of any sort, I can say, the rest of my time here in Singapore is going to be rockin' for sure!
A week marking a year on this island!
A week of reliving memories.
A week of gifts, of love.
T-3wks
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