Luckynumber13_Chai

A family of 3 (2 adults & a 6 year old), who are die-hard fans of the American sitcom TV series (named F.R.I.E.N.D.S.), spent an evening exploring a cafe themed after this famous TV show. Living in Singapore, Asia and being galaxies away from New York, USA where the original F.R.I.E.N.D.S. cafe is situated, they had little hope of visiting such a place. However, when a friend visited  from Sydney last year, she mentioned having had coffee from this place and that was enough to get them excited. Who would have thought the F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan base would travel all the way from USA to Singapore and have a branch here! The cafe is named Central Perk , exactly where the friends gang spent most of their days. The furniture and interior is totally inspired by the actual cafe. Our 6 year old was super excited to sit on the couch, in the exact spot where her favorite F.R.I.E.N.D "Rachel Green" normally sits. The cafe menu has adequate variety of dishes, ranging from pizzas to Agl...

Dad just got back from an overseas trip and brought a new clock for the house. He wanted to make his little one feel special and said he got it as a gift for her. She was excited to see the clock and ran to take a look. We heard her exclaim- Oh dear! This clock has 1,1,1,1,1,1 and only 1's and no other numbers. Dad, you should take it back to the shop and ask them to change it. A picture of the clock below!

November was fast approaching and we had just enjoyed a series of celebrations for Diwali & Halloween. Almost everyday, there was thunder & lightening with heavy rain in the evenings. Ishika and I decided that we should make a handmade card for her dad's birthday, which was on the 1st of November. Since we don't follow a tradition of giving a gift to the adults in our house, we did not buy him one (How I wish I was a child again.....sob sob!) She looked through the internet and chose a picture and message that she wanted to draw. On the eve of the birthday, she had a fight with her dad about using a permanent marker which was strictly off limits. In order to have a clear handmade card, she needed to use it and fortunately, she managed to get hold of it. In the end, the card looked more like a father's day card than a birthday one :) ( Picture Below ) Later that night, when we got ready for bed, she asked me a question. Ishika: How will Acha*'s friends...

Though it's a continuation of my previous post about the Vietnam trip, I decided to talk a little about the day I landed and the weather. A very dear friend, Mr. R, was kind enough to give me feedback on my last post and said I could have included a few more details. So here it goes! We landed in Noi Bai airport and headed to the visa counter, which is on the opposite side of immigration. We had done our homework and hence, we just had to submit the visa application forms with a photo attached for each person. Then, we were expected to wait for the visa to be stamped on the passport. There were sofas to sit and wait patiently.  The immigration officers were neither friendly nor rude. Our  photo is flashed on the TV screen when the visa is ready and since mine was flashed for our group of 5, I felt like a TV star!  If you want to know the cost of the visa and accompanying documents, ask me in the comments! The dress code of the female airport staff were elega...

Hanoi is called The city of peace . I would much rather it be called the city of motorbikes. The BBC even did a story about it, with some amazing pictures in the link here:  https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-47908800 . It is easy to get around the city by renting a 2 wheeler and if you have driven in India, you will see familiar traffic sights on the roads. They have no lane discipline or rules. You just need to be smart to drive around without stress. The people of Hanoi are so relaxed and patient. No hustle or bustle. They love to do slow dancing in the middle of the street, in the park or beside the lake (see video below). It is more like a slower form of Zumba and am sure it has its own health benefits. On a Friday night, in the weekend eve, the Old Quarter town around the lake are closed to vehicles and the entire place gets filled with street performances, children driving their little rides around and playing, slow dancers and food stalls and little shops. Its lik...