Avani Avittam in Bermuda

I absolutely love this festival- the only day I do any remote justice to the cool 25 grand my dad spent on B and me for our Poonal function. I love wearing the veshti although I have never managed to pull it off with grace. I always keep imagining that one day I will have a wardrobe mal function in front of Vicky-our neighbor’s dog and it will actually stick all 4 of its paws into its mouth and drop dead. But thankfully that has never happened and I don’t have to live in guilt for the rest of my life!

I also like the extra attention I get from patti when I wear the veshti- She constantly goes “Enda antha sreecharnmathae innum nanna ittukakodatho- Raja madhiri irrukada” (Why can’t you wear that Sricharnam properly- You look like King”) – (I am as surprised as the folks reading this). It is also the day of raksha bandhan- the day I get to act extra protective to my little sister. It is a day of overall happiness. There is a unbelievable amount of feel good factor when you celebrate these Tam Bram functions- I don’t know what it is – maybe the food or the day when everyone in the family actually forgives each other for all the mistakes we have made through the year. Trust me, coming from a joint family of nine people we constantly need these functions to keep us going- It gives a chance to forgive and re-start the wonderful journey (Man, I am sounding like Oprah suddenly!)

Having decided to go home for Diwali basically meant that I couldn’t be home for Avani Avittam (S, huge and sincere apologies for missing your wedding but my best wishes are always with you). So it was avani avittam at Panaoram Hill in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. Being the god fearing patti’s little boy that I am, I woke up early in the morning took a shower and diligently sung all 5 slokas that my mom taught me when I was a kid and changed my poonal. It’s unbelievable how you forget the lines if you haven’t even thought about any of them for 2 years. I still remember the dialogues from Rajini’s Moondru Mugam even though I haven’t watched that movie for close to 15 years.

I was thinking that I could have done a even elaborate thing if only I had the “dharbai” as K had ellu and other requirements while chennai online was having an online version of “parachu” at one thousandth of the cost (our vaathiyar in Chennai for close to 130 years who used to charge a million bucks for bringing 4 poonals and mouthing off mantras so fast that sometimes we had the feeling that he has shifted to the Karunanidhi’s school of thought and translated all the Sanskrit mantras into tamil!) Damn, I miss that man- God bless him!

Anyhoo, I had renewed my pledge to uphold to my vedic duties towards humanity at large
K and S being the wonderful souls that they are had invited me for lunch. I managed to reach their place by about eleven. They hadn’t finished cooking as yet and once we exchanged pleasantries the conversation inevitably reached the menu part. I haven’t seen so much food since B and L’s wedding. S had apparently started cooking at eight this morning and I was surprised that she hadn’t started earlier. I am bloody sure that her mom had fed her with Red bull instead of milk when she grew up and all the energy refuses to leave her body. K was his usual self trying to correct every minor error that cropped up and trying to perfect the art of cooking I was still wondering how they come up with the energy to cook so much stuff so early in the morning not only for themselves but for an outsider. Anyway, I am just thankful that such kind souls exist and I get to eat any food beyond Maggi and the magic pastes made at Grand sweets.

We enjoyed the brobdingnagian meal which included Kesari/ Parrupu Payasam/ Vadai (I hate it when people call it vada)/Mooru kozhumbu/sepan kazhungu/parrupu/thaakkali rasam/thayir pachadi/Maanga orukai. It was only fitting that we had such a meal in a vaazhai elai- So K plucked a few leaves from the garden and we couldn’t wait to get our hands on the food. It was unbelievably tasty and aesthetically pleasing! It brought back wonderful memories of avani avittam at Pattamal Street. Home away from home!

It also reminded us of a rant by M at Orlando where he cribbed about how Bermuda was such a horrible place to live and how we are unable to get most of the stuff at Bermuda at times when we needed it most We disagreed with him then, but now I know what he means- How can you not have Ganga water on Avani Avittam day????? It just spoiled the whole experience! – (Sarcasm anybody?????)

Cheers
S


PS: M, I am sure you would have enjoyed this day to bits if you were around in Bermuda. We do miss your wonderfully flawed logics and your innate ability to argue about absolutely everything under the sun, not to mention your gift of being able to speak first and then think about what you said! Good luck with everything you take up back home and wishing you the best in everything!!!!!

Volley Ball

Almost every weekend of the past year has been spent on the lovely beaches of Bermuda diligently playing volley ball trying to hone our skills. We have desperately tried to understand the nuances of the game. The exact rules of the game have remained as big a mystery as who killed Kennedy but that hasn’t stopped us from arguing about the net touch/net cross/ carry and what not. We have sledged each other so much that we would have put the aussies to shame.

About a month back we decided to enter an amateur tournament to test ourselves against the rest of Bermuda. After a zillion arguments about the team composition and strategy we decided to enroll 2 teams. The big day was Saturday Aug 9th. I am just back from the beach with a severe sun burn (Hey I’ve got a tan nowJ-) and a severely bruised ego. Within a matter of 2 and half hours we got fu*ked more times than a Bangkok prostitute would in a year.

Bring on the tennis from next week!

Cheers
S

Dance

I have always wondered why I am such a poor dancer! Honestly, I love to dance and it’s pretty hard for me to keep my emotions in check anytime there is an occasion to shake a leg. (Trust me, the only time I should ever shake my leg is if dog po*p is stuck to my feet). I have always been very passionate with the things I like and believe in and suffice it to say I don’t suc* at doing things I like to do. But despite my best efforts I have always ended up making a fool of myself when it comes to dancing.- Case in point being B and P’s wedding and New years at café cairo- I would actually give up all my savings (which isn’t much though) if I could go back in time and erase them- What the feck was I thinking?

I was randomly watching videos on youtube last week and there I found the answer to my question: I grew up watching these guys dance and now I am wondering how I turned out this good.-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaN_GJZo6ck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VnIaiVeHiM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkUyW1YHPbM

Enough Said!!!!

Cheers
S

Well Left!

Thank god for small mercies! The left party is out of the government – When were they in the government to be out of it? All they have been doing for the past 4 years is to raise objections to any scheme that would have beneficial to the country at large. One of the fellow blogger has raised a pertinent question as to why the Left hadn’t joined the government and taken portfolios like social welfare etc and show what they can do instead of doing a Ramdoss in Tamil Nadu.

For the uninitiated the nucleus of the Indo-Nuclear deal is as follows. The right minded people (read pro nuclear deal) see it as an avenue for increased supply of nuclear fuel without us having to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. We will be able to purchase nuclear equipment from the likes of Russia and of course the alpha dog YOU YES YEAH. We can safely envisage a situation where the entire country would become like Gujarat which proudly proclaims 98% of the state to have electricity. It will also hugely help us achieve the rather unrealistic growth targets we have for the next five years. These things are of course possible even without the nuclear deal but it will take a sweet twenty years and India cannot afford to wait thus long at this crucial juncture.

The anti-deal junta basically claims that it will affect India’s ability to pursue and develop nuclear technologies to the nation’s benefit and will make us dependent on the US for nuclear fuel- a stand which has clearly been challenged by some of the most intelligent minds in India including Abdul Kalam. (I can’t believe Ms Prathibha Patel is now occupying the same chair as Mr Kalam but I will save that rant for another day). I am no expert in this whole nuclear deal saga but am more than happy to follow the same as stand as the likes of Manmohan Singh/Abdul Kalam rather than a bunch of no-hopers who are not mature enough to take responsibility for their own actions and would rather criticize everything.

I would have loved to see what stand the left would have taken if the counter party to the nuclear deal was China instead of USA. I am sure Mr Karat would climb down from his moral high horse and would have started brown nosing the Chinese who in my opinion are as reliable a neighbor as the left are a coalition partner .The fact that congress has been losing all the state elections of late had given the left the edge in this whole “we will pull the plug drama” as the congress weren’t confident of winning any elections at this point in time. I am also terribly ashamed of BJPs role in this whole saga and the fact they have used this issue to try and bring the government down clearly indicates the abysmal levels to which modern day politicians have stooped to. I am sure Gandhi and Nehru are turning in their graves after seeing this latest Indian tamasha!!

No Longer do I have to wake up and read any statements issued by Mr Karat and Co and take any of this seriously. I was also reading some articles about the alleged bribery and horse trading that was involved in the trust vote- Here is my take on it- If such acts would result in left staying out of the government I am more than happy to contribute my share of bribery, please do let me know where to address my cheque! Please stay away from the government and you guys can keep continuing the wonderful service to Kerala and West Bengal- after all I couldn’t give a flying f*ck to any state that is rule by you guys.

Cheers
S

Cricket’s nearly men

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog about his favorite but unheralded cricketers (http://vatsap.blogspot.com/2008/06/back-to-cricket.html) and I have shamelessly decided to pinch his idea and come up with my own list of cricket’s nearly men. These are cricketers who are immensely talented but somehow did not make the impact commensurate with their talent. I have obviously not included the likes of V V Kumar, Bob Taylor, Sylvester Clarke for I haven’t watched them in action. So here goes my list in no particular order

1) Ian Bishop (West Indies)

Tall, well built and unbelievably quick- this Trinidadian could have delayed the inevitable decline of cricket in the caribbean. I love him even more for the fact that I don’t remember anyone troubling sachin tendulkar more than him. Any write up about Bish would be incomplete without a mention about his 6-40 at the WACA. Thanks to back injuries the world of cricket was deprived of a world class fast bowler.

2) Graeme Hick (England)

I have watched enough county cricket to be certain that he should have been in the same bracket as Lara’s and Tendulkar’s. The man has to be the archetype of unfulfilled talent. I don’t agree with the claims about him being “England’s answer to Bradman” only because I haven’t watched the Don enough. His innings of 405* against Somerset and his famous 309 in under seven hours against the Irish have been raved by everyone who has watched the game I have always thought Hick can be as good as he wants to be- and he turned out to be as good as he wanted. He never wanted it enough! His aversion to the limelight didn’t help his cause. A combination of Ambrose’s short pitched deliveries, Ray Illingworth being an idiot and Atherton’s infamous declaration wrecked a career that could have been so different.

3) Carl Hooper (West Indies)

As an avid supporter of the West Indian cricket and cricket in general there is nothing in modern cricket more frustrating than to see Hoopsy throw his wicket away. Till date the best players of spin bowling (that I have watched) have to be Lara and him. It is an absolute joy to watch him toy with the likes of Kumble and Warne. Cricket is the biggest loser as “Poor man’s Richards” hasn’t fulfilled his true potential.

4) Stuart Macgill (Australia)

Anybody who has picked up over 200 wickets in 44 test matches cannot be branded as unfulfilled potential. But, that explains what the world cricket has missed out on. It is an absolute shame that Stuey was born in the same era as the indomitable Warney. He would have been heralded as a modern great if he was playing for some other country. His inconsistency is unbelievable annoying but we have to bear in mind the fact that leg spin is the most difficult art to master in the world of cricket.

5) Vinod Kambli (India)

It is not out of contempt (towards Sachin) that I keep repeating that Kambli should have been a better batsman than tendulkar. He was prodigiously talented and the cricketing gods have wasted so much time in creating a player who was deemed not good enough for the Indian team Till date this has to be the biggest mistake the Indian cricket authorities have made- Not taking care of Kambli when he needed us most. His double centuries against England and Zimbabwe were the stuff of men against boys at the time when he was not old enough to grow a tasche’. Imagine if he had got the same support that Kaif and Yuvraj had from Ganguly and Dalmiya – he would have plundered attacks, given that he loves batting with Sachin.

6) Laxman Siva Ramakrishnan (India)

What makes the Kambli episode even more frustrating is the fact that we had a similar experience with Siva. Any bowler who can leave Javed Miandad stranded in the middle of the pitch with nonchalant ease has to be an outstanding spinner. The amount of wickets he purchased with full tosses and half volleys explains the dip that he’s got and is something Warne would have loved in his armory. The fact that Sachin wanted him to be his net bowler when he was planning the famous assault against Warne at time when Siva was coming back from his drug addiction is probably the biggest compliment someone can pay to him.

7) Basit Ali (Pakistan)

Basit Ali is the closest someone will ever get to the great Javed Miandad. If he had Javed’s temperament we would have been talking about a modern great and not of a nearly man. His unorthodox style and fearless batting made him one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl at. His 67 ball hundred against the Windies (second fastest then) was one of the best exhibitions of batting against fast bowlers in ODIs. Players like Basit and Kambli reiterate the need of professional set-up in cricket- What could have been?

8) Simon Jones (England)

I can hear you guys saying” One swallow doesn’t make a summer” but I really think this guys was the real deal. Freddie takes a lot of credit for the poms winning the ashes in 2005 but in my opinion it was Simon who made the difference. He was the unfashionable 4th seamer but he always did his job. I remember Boycott mentioning in an interview that he was watching jones bowl from behind the square he could hear the ball thudding into Geriant Jones’s gloves. He was deceptively quick and in my opinion the best exponent of reverse swing after Waqar Younis.

9) Darren Lehmann

Boof has to be one of the most intelligent one day cricketers of the modern era. Apart from his odd moment of brilliance and being one of the best team players his potential was largely unfulfilled. He has scored more than 10,000 runs in Aussie domestic league (which is one of the most competitive leagues and is not like England where every tom dick and harry can amass 10K runs if he plays 100 games) before making his test debut. Warne rates him as a better one day batsman than most of his contemporaries.

10) Shoaib Akthar

Cricket’s most popular bad boy had to make the list. If his will to succeed were as big as his ego or his desire to be in the limelight he would be entered the cricketing history books as one of the best fast bowlers in the modern era. Graham Gooch famously retorted to Ian Botham “Who writes your scripts?”- It would have been even more apt for Akthar- His every comeback is even more dramatic than his downfall. There is always a feeling that Akthar plays cricket for the Camera’s- Perfect for the IPL as my friend keeps reminding me.

Thank you gentle men – You guys have made the sport what it is today- What is sport without these nearly stories. Every time I watch the game I have silently prayed and hoped that this would be the game you will shed you nearly men image and prove to the world your real worth.

Cheers
S

Travel Diary- Orlando – Part Deux

Day 3- Sunday June 15th

Yesterday was quite hot but the forecast for the day was for a few possible showers. We didn’t want it to rain but would definitely have welcomed the odd shower. The agenda for the day was to visit the Sea world and do what we called the “fancy dinner”. Fancy dinner is nothing but our jargon for trying a new cuisine. We narrowed our choices to either of the three- Brazilian, Mediterranean or Mexican. It is funny because in all these restaurants there will exactly be one vegetarian dish and we would literally plead with the hot waitress not to add anything which remotely resembled a broccoli or a mushroom and we would want it desi style with unbelievable amounts of masala. Hey, you can’t take the indian out of us!

Sea world- there is something about a theme park that brings out the kid in all of us, especially if it has anything to do with water. The irony again is that 3 out of the 5 of us couldn’t swim. We were totally looking forward to it despite being bloody tired. We watched dolphins glide in a pool and were quite desperate to touch it but smart bugger wouldn’t come near us unless we had food in our hands. I did manage to touch a slimy jelly fish and trust me it didn’t feel good touching it. Then came the biggest challenge- the KRAKEN- this was supposed to biggest and longest roller coaster ride in all of Orlando. Those cheeky bastards had posters all over the theme park daring us to do the ride and it was the challenge the three little (actually quite old) devils were up to. KD tried to spice up things a little bit by pushing S and me to do the ride by sitting in the front row. I came up with a rather lame excuse of longer queues for the first row and “chickened out”. I was nervous and was having a chat with the operator and she scared me further by saying that the ride would last 3 minutes and 45 seconds. I was sure that it would seem like eternity on a roller coaster. I told myself I am not going to yell irrespective of how scary the ride was – As Russell Peter’s says “Be a man do the right thing”. I didn’t yell and enjoyed the ride while S let out the customary shriek and I think KD was scared for the first time. I don’t think the ride lasted more than 2 minutes. I indulged myself by buying a rather costly panama hat after the successful ride. I think it looks cool but my friends except KD think it looks quite silly.

We watched a show which was based on the Pirates of the caribbean and was enacted by Sea lion and 2 otters. The sea lion had an uncanny resemblance to me given its size. Thank heavens I shaved my moustache a year back or else even my mom would have been confused. We grabbed a quick bite and then decided to go a wild arctic tour. We had to reach the place in a simulated chopper ride which will plummet into the ground and then take off just before hitting the ground. The estimated speed of the ride was 440 mph/-. We did not understand the magnitude of the ride until we experienced it. It had all of us shaken and stirred and another couple of minutes I am sure one of us would have puked. The most affected was K- he was sweating like a pig. I am sure the man was the first and probably the only bloke who will ever sweat in the Arctic. We saw a polar bear which apparently sleeps for 16-18 hrs per day. I remarked- Its not sleeping it has just fainted seeing K sweat in the arctic. K and M had opted out of the all rides because they wouldn’t feel comfortable and ironically joined us in the craziest ride of them all- the simulated chopper ride

The highlight of the day was the “Shamu show” that we watched. It was a show about 5 killer whales that worked with a few men and women and put up an incredible performance. It just seemed to obey every order (or request- those creatures are unbelievably big) that was laid to them. For the second continuous day the last act was incredible and the best of the day that we went back quite satisfied.

Now to the fancy dinner- I had a terrible head ache and didn’t really care which cuisine we chose as long as we finished dinner and were back to the hotel early. An over zealous M talked us into trying a Mediterranean restaurant while the rest of us were leaning towards Mexican. Unsurprisingly as it so often is the case we didn’t get a huge variety of vegetarian dishes and this led to M wanting to change our dinner place. KD was already quite annoyed about having “late” dinners (at 8.30 or later) and came bloody close to flipping out. But she held her nerve. K, S and me understood the situation and said that we wouldn’t mind having a pizza as long as KD held back. M didn’t quite the hint and was insisting for a change despite being the guy who picked this restaurant. The moment passed peacefully and we did do Mexican.

Day 4- Monday June 16th

Last day- The plan was to do a boat ride in a swampy area and have the chance to look at some exotic birds and a few alligators. Given that the trip involved two pretty women there isn’t chance in hell that we couldn’t have got away without shopping. We left the hotel by about half nine in the morning and took a 30 minute drive to reach this place. There weren’t a lot of people and the water wasn’t tempting. We went on a speed boat and got quite excited every time the water splashed on our face. The gators chose not to see my face and all we got to see was one baby gator and 4 birds which basically meant we spent 4 bucks per animal. Quite costly I would say.

Given that I had bought a panama hat yesterday I felt like a crocodile hunter and decided to pose with a gator in my hand. The fact that its mouth was plastered seemed trivial to me but seemed ultra important to anyone who saw the pic- people are picky. We did some shopping in the afternoon and I bought myself a pair of shoes and some clothes. It seemed quite strange to me that K was taking the missus’s advice every time he picked a shirt- this from a man who used to dismiss everyone’s idea about which clothes to pick till about 3 months back. Marriage does bring a huge change in men.

We went out for a drink in the evening and also wanted to catch a glimpse of downtown-Orlando. The place was unbelievably quite and empty and we couldn’t believe that there were so many bars and corporate houses in that area. We were having a quite chat and did some touristy things like taking pictures in front of statues. The madness was increasing and we then decided to smoke a cigar. We bought 2 cigars and decided to share them – None of us had a clue about which cigar to buy-the only ones we knew were Cubans and these are illegal in the US. We decided to go with something called a blondie- It is so much different from a cigarette – KD and M explained it was because we weren’t inhaling the smoke.

We came back to the hotel and ordered Indian food and turned in by about 12. We had a flight to catch at six in the morning and had to leave the hotel by 4 much to M’s annoyance who didn’t have a flight to catch until half seven.

Orlando is a wonderful place and I would recommend it to almost anyone. I am so glad we didn’t do a vegas.

Cheers
S

Travel Diary- Orlando – Part Uno

My exams got over about 2 weeks back and I have had all the time in the world to do some things I like doing / plan to do- Go on a vacation/ finish reading John Wright’s book,learn a new language to mention a few. Top of that list was a get away from the island for a short vacation. I didn’t care where I went as long as I got to do something new and see a few new faces. Further, M and R&K (who got engaged recently -hearty congratulations again- you won’t believe how happy I am for you guysJ-) would be leaving Bermuda soon and we have been wanting to do another Montrealesque trip. After exchanging countless emails since mid-april about the likely dates and destination we finally decided sometime in end of May that it would be Orlando between June 13th and June 17th.(which BTW is an outstanding achievement given our history of making plans through emails have been as successful as South Africa winning a cricket world cup).

To be honest I was never convinced about this trip being an enjoyable one and my fears were compounded when G& KR decided to drop out due to personal reasons and R got stuck at work and couldn’t make it. Anyone with whom I discussed the trip about came with the remark- “Why Orlando? You guys should do vegas”. I have never been a fan of vegas despite all my acquaintances drooling over the prospect of a trip to Vegas. Just like alcohol, gambling has never fascinated me. I really don’t understand what the big deal is???? Is it so cool to gamble and lose money????? Anyway we decided to go ahead with the trip and it was K,S,KK (ok I will do this only once to annoy you – hence forth I shall address you as KD) M and me. I was just hoping that KD wasn’t going to be bored as R had pulled of the trip and it would make it extremely uncomfortable for the rest of us.

Day 1- Friday June 13th

We took the afternoon flight and reached Orlando via Philadelphia at about 10.30pm and M joined us directly from New-Jersey. The flight was rather pleasant and we had booked ourselves a nice and comfy hotel which was quite some distance from downtown Orlando but was close to the other places which we wanted to see. We went out for a drink and were planning to be back early. The next day was birthday and it had made it mandatory to stay up until 12 so that we could have the customary but embarrassing and “SURPRISING” cake-cutting ceremony. S exhibited childish exuberance while I was cutting the cake while the rest of the crew (including me) went through the motion. It is no wonder she is the youngest of the gang (not by much though!). I had a pomegranate margarita as KD’s insisted that I should. I am no alcohol virgin but this is the first time I had ordered a full drink for myself and I am rather embarrassed that I had picked myself a “girly” drink. I am thinking I have to watch a few hundred girl on girl porn videos to move away from the feminine feeling. We were back at the hotel by half twelve. Long day ahead tomorrow.













Day 2- Saturday June 14th

Ever since my 23rd birthday the lead up to my birthdays has been rather depressing. The fact that I wasn’t where I should be at this stage in life was always bothering me and hence the my birthdays haven’t been happy occasions irrespective of how and with whom I have spent the day. This year seemed different. I was feeling nice. We had breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel and made plans for the next 3 days including reservations and taxi appointments. As is so often the case KD and K made all the planning whilst I kept nodding my head and making wise-ass comments which added no value to the discussion. M was his self as he kept saying “Perfect”, “sounds good” without adding any new ideas while S was just way too excited about the trip that we were sure she wasn’t even listening to the plan.

We had planned to spend the whole day at Universal studios. Of late I have wanted to overcome some of my bat-shit insane fears in life. Some of the rather embarrassing ones are fear of dogs/cats (even if they are as the same size of a squirrel) fear of water (I have enrolled myself in a swimming class and I am working towards getting over it) and the perennial fear of talking to pretty women. As a kid every time we went to an amusement park all I would do was to eat pop-corn and sweet candy and wait for long hours for the rest of the gang to comeback from the rides. I kept telling myself I would feel giddy going for these rides while I have never ever been on one. Deep down I was scared of those giant-wheels and roller coaster but I conveniently believed it that I would feel giddy.





KD,S and me decided we were going to do all the crazy rides while K and M opted out of the roller coasters and agreed to join us on the others (alternatively as KD likes to remind the boys they “chickened” out). I think M wanted to do these rides but wasn’t confident enough. Hey, who am I to judge after all I was scared all these years. We decided to do the mother of all roller coaster rides first- “THE INCREDIBLE HULK”. It was humongous and quite scary for someone like me who doesn’t enjoy looking through the window from an airplane. It was unbelievable and we thoroughly enjoyed it. KD absolutely loved it (she has done these before), S was thrilled to bits and she let out a girly shrill which lasted the entire ride and sounded pretty much like the old mice which gets stuck in a mouse trap and I was too scared to let go the hand guard even when it looked like my glasses would fall off. Through out the trip we were suckers for good snaps and we ended up paying 50 bucks every time the camera in the rides captured natural images of being scared. We ended up spending quite a bit on photos alone but am sure it will be worth it.

K and M decided to ditch us and went to watch a blue men group show- A trio of mute performers. They enjoyed the show while we were busy conquering every other crazy ride. A special mention has to be made for the “Mummy returns” ride which was unpredictable and had nice 3D-animations. It was quite hot in Orlando and we decided to get a drink and something to eat before we watched the Cirque du Soleil show. We were bloody tired and weren’t too keen on watching the show. The group is from Quebec and only way KD was missing this show was one of us had a stroke. So we reluctantly went to this show which features acrobats, dancers, gymnasts and clowns in a combination of theater and circus. We were soooo wrong- the show had to be the highlight of the trip. It was a performance for an hour and half and the synchronization they displayed would have put Olympic swimmers to shame. Absabloodylutely fantastic! A long day where I had overcome one of my fears- A birthday I will remember for quite a while.


Ok, this one is taking much longer than I expected but I shall continue my blog when I find time. Sorry folks you might have to wait for some more time!

Cheers
S