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Ente Lokam
Please see "Ormayiloreenam"
Cable cars
Going up
Wellington
View from the top
Windy Wellington
Look at my hood & Santhi's hair
The train to Wellington
Overlander
The lounge
Fan at Kulalampur Airport
I thought this was a very interesting fan
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Discover the World of Malayalam Music
About Me
- Latha
- McKean, Pa, United States
- അഛനും അമ്മയും ഇട്ട പേരു ‘ലളിത’ എന്നാണെങ്കിലും, ബന്ധുക്കളുടെയും, കൂട്ടുകാരുടെയും ഇടക്കു ഞാൻ ‘ലത’ ആണു്. For the benefit of the folks who cannot read malayalam - Eventhough my parents named me 'Lalitha', I am 'Latha' among my family and friends.
Welcome to blogosphere, dear sis!
ReplyDeleteYou may want to post the collection of your sunset pictures here....
ReplyDeleteI'm proud of you Amma, I think it's a nice idea! Unfortunately, I must not have the font installed on our laptop, because all characters are coming up as a little square. Will you be posting in Malayalam all the time?
ReplyDeleteNice picture! And I like the title Ente Lokam. Creative.
ahaaaaa.very happy to see you here chaaacheee.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you'll have a 101 things to share.
If you remember the link of the photo blog I created for you,you can add it here.
mole devi,if you can manage to read Mal.please install the fonts(I'll help you) so that we can communicate easily in both the languages
hiiiiiii latha valliammeee.......
ReplyDeletehow r u ????????
njanum ividundeeeee...
but i can't read anything what you have written in malayalam ... i tried downloading the font but still i cant read anything.....i think there is some problem...
anjukutty, you have to install the font after downloading it. Did you do that? So glad to see you here. We are doing well. See you in November.
ReplyDeleteKochaps, if I start posting my sunrise/sunset photos, there would be NO END. You know that, right? Also, flowers & 'phoo prakrithi'! :)
ReplyDeleteDevi, thanks mol. I have shown Achan the blog. He read it, but said he didn't have anything to add today.
ReplyDeleteamme
ReplyDeleteVery nice. Ente lokam oru nalla idea annu. Enniku ishtapettu.
Kirthi
ജന്മദിനാശംസകൾ!
ReplyDeleteLathaji,
ReplyDeleteyour caption of the blog is simply encouraging....
I have not written here in a long time - With the encouragement of my sister Jayashree, I am putting this in here today -
ReplyDeleteMy husband & I are touring Australia & New Zealand. We came to Melbourne and will be leaving back from Melbourne too. I have a nephew there and thats why Melbourne is our 'base'. We were in Sydney for a 3 days and now in Auckland. While in Sydney, one evening, this happened -
we had found an India/Pak food place near our hotel. We ate there on Monday. Food wasn't good - but, it was Indian. The curry was sweet. I have never eaten alu/baingan curry which is sweet. So, I didn't eat it - but ate the paratha with pickle and raita. That was ok. After we ordered, I saw 'idli/sambar' advertised on their wall and decided that next day I would order that. Then, on the next day we went to see AVTAR on their Imax theater (which is supposed to be the largest in the world) and after the movie, went to this India/pak place to get dinner. The movie was at 6 - so, we never ever imagined that this place will be closing by the time we got there. We got some yogurt, and were planning to get a couple of idlis and some rice (NO OTHER SWEET CURRIES) and go back to the hotel. Anyway, they were closing and no 'begging' from my part would change the waiter boy's mind. Then we turned around and ordered some pizza. (This was like a food court). As we were sitting down, I saw a very young couple going towards this india/pak place and they also were being turned away. But, I don't know what the boy (husband guy) told the waiter guy there - I saw this guy going in to get some food. I told my husband - this is not fair. I am going to tell him that. My husband told me to be quiet and mind my own business. But, I (that was me being me) was outraged at his action. So, I got up and went to the restaurant and told him that it wasn't fair. I told him I was a vegetarian and I can eat only in Indian places with a peaceful mind (which was the truth). He apologised and said he thought all food was put away (I doubt that) - and he offered to give me some rice too. So, I got rice, pickle and mango lassi from there. What a combination. Anyway, while this guy is picking up food, I talked to the 'young' girl. They were very young - both were really good looking and she had umpteen bangles on her hand. So, I asked her if they were newlyweds. She said yes. They came from Delhi and were on their honeymoon! How sweet. Then after getting food, we were leaving and there was a greek place. They had 'real good looking' baklava. (Baklava is a Greek pastry, which we have eaten before). It is very very sweet, dripping with honey & butter, rolled in nuts. I got a piece and took it back to the new bride. She immediately got up and touched my feet - then called her husband, introduced me and he also touched my feet. NOW IT WAS ME WHO WAS TOUCHED! She got teary eyed and that made me the same. I asked her if she was missing her mother. She asked me "How did you know". Is it hard to know that a girl would miss her mother so far away from home - on her honeymoon???????? I am sure Devi did not miss me on her honeymoon, but I sure missed my sister (since she was 'my mother') eventhough she was just 100 miles away. Anyway, I got a 'new daughter & son-in-law'. (Devi don't kill me for saying this - I only spoke the truth, right?)
I was telling my hubby as we were walking back to the hotel that it was the highlight of my day! Of course, we have exchanged email ids and - don't anybody roll their eyes - I am going to write to her. My only regret is that I didn't take their photo. I even had the camera with me. GRRRRRR!
ReplyDeleteIf I had a 'nice story' at Sydney, I have a 'scary one' here. After we ate at another Indian restaurant, we were walking back to our hotel and turned on one road too soon. My hubby kept insisting that was the road & I should've known. Half way thru I told him that wasn't the road. (On our way over, I was taking photos and I couldn't find the 'same' houses/buildings on this road). The end of the road seemed to stop and there was a gentleman walking to our side. He seemed like he was coming back from the gym. He was an older guy and we asked him if he knew that street will cut the street we had to go to. He said he will take us thru a shortcut and started to walk with us. He said there was a park we can cut thru to the other side. It was almost dusk and we could barely see. Then he turned into this park - it was dark and there were too many large trees. There were steps going down and he started to walk down. We didn't have any other choice but to walk with him. It was like Malayinkil side. So hilly. I kept mumbling that we should go back and I think at one point my hubby said we were going to go back. This guy said "I am ok, I won't do anything to you" and then walked a few more steps. Then we came to a 'clearer' land and there was a bit more light. We also saw some street lights on other side. So, it was a relief. I kept telling my hubby that if he does something and throw us there nobody would even know. He must have sensed our fear and that is when he said that he would not harm us. (Well, anyway, if he were going to harm us, would he say that he was going to?)
ReplyDeleteAnyway.... we came to the other side of our hotel. It was nice of him to take us back to the hotel. He had a long walk to go back. Anyway... once we came up to the road where the hotel was, it didn't seem so scary. But, in the middle of the park, it seemed like we were in danger.
We have a nice hotel here in Auckland with a very pretty view of the harbor. The guy at the reception desk was Indian and I asked him if there were Indian restaurants around. He marked a little map and gave it to me, and I promptly forgot to take it with us when we went out. Our accomodation is like a studio apartment with a sitting room, kitchenette, a bedroom & bathroom. We won't get something like this in USA for this price, thats for sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Latha!!! This way we can read all about your adventures each day...
ReplyDeletegreat idea velyamme.... :) aa girl must have been so touched by ur gesture :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having fun. That was a chance you took with that guy in Sydney. Luckily it turned out well.Looking forward to the pictures.
ReplyDeleteLatha Aunty,
ReplyDeleteThis is great!! Just as I was just wondering why I hadn't received one of your really long mails in a while, you tell us about your blog! Can't wait to read more of your OZ adventures. Have fun!
BTW...I LOVE your picture!
ReplyDeleteHi Latha, Thank you so much for sending me the link to your travel blogs. I enjoyed them very much. Your narratives are more than just the usual travelogues that share photos and details on places visited and sights taken in. What makes yours special are the anecdotes on interesting strangers you have come across. Latha, you have this uncanny knack to reach out to others and that is what makes you a true 'people's person. Keep writing and soon you will have enough material to print out in a book form.
ReplyDeleteI could not see any of the visuals if there were any. Enjoy the rest of the holidays! Sudha
A day in Auckland -
ReplyDeleteWe left our hotel this morning, started out by going to a rose garden at a walkable distance. Now, do not ask me if we have to go to Auckland to see roses. The garden was beautiful, but not as good as the Buchardt gardens in Victoria, Canada. That IS the MOST beautiful garden I have seen. After the rose gardens (my husband was staring at the road most of the time and I was like a crazy person running around with the camera focusing on all the beautiful roses) we took a 'hop on/hop off' tour bus. $35 per person. But, we could use the same ticket to get on and off till they were done at 4:30 pm. We went to a museum and spent some time there. At the museum, we got separated (not intentionally) and we were seeing things on our own. On the second floor, there were shows of volcanoes. A TV was there and it was telecasting "News Updates" and I listened to it for a few minutes. To my horror, they were announcing that in North Auckland, there would be a volcano eruption in the next 8-12 hours. I panicked and ran back downstairs looking for my hubby. I asked a museum guide about what I heard. She looked perplexed and said there has not been a volcano eruption in the last 1000 years. This made me feel a little better. I didn't know how far we were from "North Auckland" and I was thinking to myself tomorrow's train journey would probably be canceled. This guide told me that may be I heard "Indonesia" and not "Auckland". I sure know English and the difference between Auckland & Indonesia. Anyway, I came to the lobby and asked another guide about what I heard. He also said there was no such announcement. He also said may be it was a test announcement. In USA, if they show 'test emergency', they would flash on tv that it was only a test. Why would they announce on tv screen something like this? Just to scare people? But, on tv, the guy who was talking was a Ph D (geology) guy and he was being interviewed. God! Enough to scare people.
So, this was today's anecdote. I guess it just was a test. SIGH OF RELIEF!
At a walkable distance from the museum was a 'winter garden' which also was beautiful. Then we went to Eden gardens. Very nice too. After that, we went to a high up place called "Mount Eden". The bus driver stopped there for a few minutes and we got some photos taken. The next stop was "Parnell Village". But, once we got off there, I knew that was the place by our hotel and we went there last evening. There was another bus coming by and we got back on that one. We didn't want to waste time as we had already walked by there yesterday. Next (last stop) was at the harbor. There also we walked around. These buses are double decker buses. We sat on the top deck - just for a change. I remembered all the double decker buses in Trivandrum. They are not there anymore, right?
Whenever I see how well coordinated these things are done in other countries, I really feel sorry for our India/Keralam. Never in a million years these things would happen there. They have a fixed time for the buses to come to each of the 14 stops. Some are 5 and 35 minutes after the hour, next one 15 minutes & 45 minutes after the hour and so forth. This way, people can plan and sight see looking at the watch and the buses DID come and leave at the announced times. We did not see ANY traffic jam here. Lucky people! They said the population was about 1.4 million. So, it is not a 'small' place.
We are done for the day and back at the hotel. We leave tomorrow morning about 6:20 am taking the train at 7:25 am train to Wellington. It is an all day trip. Will be there in the evening at 7:30 pm.
Thanks Indu. If I get an email from Shilpa (that was her name), I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteSharada, which photo are you talking about? First/second or third?
Thank you Sudha for the really nice words. I wrote in our naalukettu and here too. Here, more people can read it. Seems like my buddies are interested. :)
You all are really good for my morale. :)
Sudha, if you are talking about photos, I haven't posted any. I probably will load them to picasa. Then I will send you a link.
ReplyDeleteKunjamma post at least one photo of places you visited here and keep the rest for picasa.
ReplyDeleteOk Raghu.
ReplyDeleteDear Latha chechi,
ReplyDeleteThis is great. I havent read anything yet, just opened it. I know I am going to love it. I am so proud of you. Just waiting for some quite time to sit and read. Keep it up, keep it up. Lots of Love from Latha in Littleton
Latha chitta ,I just had that trip with you.....it's really nice.
ReplyDelete