Drinking on a High..

Though Mrinal’s birthday celebration was a “low-key” event, her passing QE successfully was a “high-key” one - it was as high as LeVeL 33! Located 150 m above the ground, the spectacular view of Towering Marina Bay Sands and sparkling landmarks close by was a treat to our eyes. Glad with my secret wish of Mrinal staying back in Singapore today coming true, we made an impromptu plan to spend an evening at the World’s Highest Urbancraft Brewery. With the meeting being a spontaneous one, not everyone except Pratik and Raunaq could join us.

The special elevator took us to LeVeL 33 in a single quick shot, leaving our ears blocked with a sudden pressure drop. The brewery cum restaurant-bar looked fancy, thronged with office crowd, we being one of the few school going ones. Being a Friday night and with no prior reservation, we couldn’t manage to find a table for ourselves with an outside view initially, thus were put in a waitlist. We sat inside and ordered our first round of drinks, raising a toast to Mrinal for her QE and Rauanq for opening his new company! Mrinal, being a sample representative of “public opinion” ordered the only available vegetarian munchies for us- Bread- dips and fat chips.

Soon enough, the waiter informed us a table was available outside; the location offered the best view out of the whole lot. We were just on time to catch the light show at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore River was glittering in the vivid colours of the splashing laser lights. Pratik was his usual witty self, entertaining us with his one liner punches, his leaving Singapore soon being one of the excuses to meet up so often.  It was amusing to see Mrinal laughing and smiling her heart out on the most nonsensical jokes and comments. Raunaq, being the CEO of his new company, was excusing himself busy attending phone calls like professionals. Pratik and I took all liberties to mock at Mrinal for booking her tickets at the last moment, and surprisingly Raunaq, did make a couple of nice jokes too.

As the time passed, music in the background also changed to softer songs, completely complementing the ambience, time and eveyone’s frame of mind. Unlike 1 Altitude, which had loud music banging in the ears, jammed terrace, and marred view, LeVel 33 was a haven of peace and serenity and was perfect for spending a quiet evening we were looking forward to. As the night grew darker, breeze was getting cooler, urging us to order a second round of drinks, only to feel warmer. Sipping the drinks slowly, having the most random conversations, we didn’t realize how the time went by. At 1 am we compelled ourselves half heartedly to head back home as we needed some good rest for the plans following the next day. Pratik did ask if I’ll blog this evening giving various descriptions and ideas, I chucked the idea rightaway without giving a second thought. Seeing the pictures the next morning reminded me of the beautiful memorable evening spent, and hence this. It was an awesome evening spent, words still cannot describe the feelings! Cheers to us guys! 

                           Marina Run 2014- My first 10k

Despite providing myself a huge margin (>1 h) for unanticipated circumstances, I reached the venue late for my first ever official 10k. Misinterpreting the starting point to be on west side of Gardens by the Bay (GB), I was baffled to see no signage boards on the way. With twenty mins to go, I was informed that the starting point is on the GB East, which was 2.5 k ahead. Few others like me, who did the awful blunder of not looking up the venue/map properly, accompanied me on my way cribbing about it. Realizing the time constraints and distance to be covered, I started running at the Marina Barrage with my bag stuffed with sundry items. Running along with me were the finishing 5k runners playing with their colourful water pistols, who exasperated me further by splashing water on me while I was over phone. Already being a bundle of nerves, I started panting and cursing myself for being sloppy, but was surprised to see bunches of red tee’s (presumably 10k runners) walking calmly towards the venue.

Dropping my bag at the deposit counter with just 3 mins remaining, I rushed to join the broadly spread starting point, with time enough just to catch my breath, and do some warm up stretches. At the 0^th minute, we started walking towards the starting line, and started to jog as we crossed it. I already felt drained out within the first km – probably due to the last minute hassles and tensions.. Just to instill confidence in myself, I reminded myself of all the practice runs I did with Aicha and Joy in the past months. Practices at Green corridor, Park connector and the mock run a week before on the same path/time at Marina Bay- all were planned and thought through by Aicha. At the finish of the 4^th km, I was met by Joy-Sasha who were on the other side of the loop- when I realized they ran with the second wave of runners, which started 20 mins late(I panicked unnecessarily!). I continued running at my own speed, slowly getting comfortable and stable with the breath/pace.

Tired and weary, still running, 7k signage brought a faint smile on my dreary face. Just then, I heard a voice calling out- “Uttaaara, Yay! Your can do it!” It was Aicha, who was on her way with Peter to the half marathon starting point; seeing her waving at me and giving a hi fi turned the curve on my face into a broad smile, momentarily making me forget my agony. I felt so energized on being cheered at this point, when my morale and enthusiasm were flagging.

The run path though seemed eternal, was scenic- with river on one side, garden on the other, having people of all ages- biking, walking, jogging, skating and everything-ing.. Drenched in my own sweat, with my mouth growing drier every passing moment, I strongly resisted the urge to drink anything at the water stations- wary about potential stomach ache by running after drinking. Aicha always insisted on having sips of water just to wet the mouth- which I’m sure would’ve made me feel much better. During the last kilometer, I saw most of the people walking, which was so not motivating and defeated the purpose of a “run”. Despite the sore leg muscles, I kept running at a slow pace and soon we saw the cheer leaders shouting “Fast! Fast! You are almost there”. True enough, I crossed the finish line within a minute, when we were handed over the “10k Finisher Medals”- did feel a unique sense of achievement..! With the results out, I was ahead of 69% of the 10 k runners, and finished in a good timing.  

Marina Run, celebrating its 3^rd birthday, comprised of novice student coordinators, and wasn’t the best organized run-  it took atleast 15 mins of queuing before I could get the fruits and drinks into my system! Having just a single baggage collection counter resulted in a flooding of those counters.  I-Joy-Sasha were just on time to meet and wish Aicha- Peter & their friends before they started their half marathon, and they finished in an awesome timing!! I walked back to Bayfront MRT, which wasn’t very close to the venue either, so in all I did around 16 k in those 2.5 hrs, Sigh! Without losing much time, I crashed into Pushpa aunty’s house with a short notice checking their availability. I couldn’t have been happier that day- when I had the awesomest dinner cooked by Aunty, followed by long session on Aunty’s automatic leg massager machine- provided a much needed muscle relaxation that my legs craved for.

Sincere thanks to Aicha for motivating me to challenge myself with two fold distance run, it would have been impossible without you and your trainings! Looking forward to running more :-)

Swinging into Lunar New Year by the moonlight..

Not so motivated seeing the deserted labs on Chinese New Year (CNY) eve, frustrated to work, we all were desperately looking forward to having an eventful evening. After almost cancelling the plan due to unforeseen hitches and ditches, we made a last minute reservation at Moghul Mahal at Clarke Quay (CQ). Ranjit, Satty and I were met by Pratik-Raunaq at the MRT, from where we started walking towards the restaurant through the lively and brightly lit ever happening Clarke Quay.

Located on top of Novotel building, the fancy restaurant offered a beautiful view of the surrounding illuminated skyscrapers against the night background. After tapping in our orders on the iPad, we  started to play the “movie hints” game, with almost everyone lacking the skill to give intelligent clues. Pratik and I were already contending with each other for our jokes rating (by Mrinal), and most unexpectedly Ranjit joined our league today- most of the humor resulting from his unintended innocent replies, leaving even the waiters amused. Satty & Raunaq were the only non-PJ audience, laughing over whatever pleased them, and refusing to acknowledge any joke/pun otherwise. The orders were served much quicker than the time we took to decide them, comprising starter chats and nondescript yet yummy Punjabi maincourse. Despite lack of space for further input, we dared to stuff our tummy with the complimentary dessert- Rasmalai, almost crossing out the swinging plan.  

To feel lighter, we took a brisk walk through the crowded noisy lanes flocked by a hysterical crowd, gearing up for the midnight celebrations. Upon reaching the G-MAX swing, and seeing a group free falling, we freaked out and decided against it, as we just had a heavy meal. Being unplanned and haphazard, we simply pandered to our whims and did random things like relaxing on a massage chair, only to while away the time. Close to midnight, Pratik, Raunaq and I were again tempted by the “Extreme Swing”, since we had been planning this forever now, and then decided- we will do it, come what may (even puke!). Ranjit and Satty were stubborn and non persuadable owing to their swing sickness and sleepiness, thus preferred watching the show..

We could witness the CNY special fireworks happening at China Town from CQ, with its sparkling reflections falling on Marina Bay Sands Towers- it was a spectacular sight..! There we went bravely to THE G-Max swing, with cold sweaty hands, our hearts pounding out of excitement, fear and thrill. After Pratik and I backed out from volunteering to being the pilot, Raunaq had no option but to accept it boldly with a smile. The swing guys tied several seat belts and asked Raunaq to push the lever when we see a green light (changing from yellow) from the top. Pratik and Raunaq tried reassuring themselves asking the swing guys- if its dangerous/safe/scary, the guy retorted asking us the reason we bought the tickets if we don’t trust.. Seriously?!

I sat in the middle, tightly holding Pratik and Raunaq’s hands on either side, legs gripping the rods on the swing. We started sliding back up on the rope slowly until we got a panoramic view of the city, looking down from there was the scariest thing. The swing stopped at 50 m height, when our face was parallel to the ground, we still tried keeping our heads up to drive the fear away. The whole body weight was resting on the belts forward, with legs hanging down, and absolutely nothing in our control. The yellow light way down there turned green, we held our breath, on Pratik’s count of three, Raunaq left my hand and pushed the yellow lever down. 

The next instant, all we felt was the swing unhooking and there we went “free falling”, with a burst of adrenaline rushing, we screaming and whooshing down at 200 kph almost crashing down, until it went to the other side and swung back at almost half the speed.. Sighh! we survived it, without closing our eyes, or puking, or even realizing how the swing whizzed by in a fraction of a moment. The swings later weren’t as exciting - with no stomach jolts, we only let our heart beats normalize, legs still shivering as a thrill after effect. No fear, no fun! Oblivious to the attached camera, our natural reactions, excitement and expressions were captured candid by it and the video is going to be an amazing memory ( link attached). Satty and Ranjit, lethargic and drowsy managed to stay up until we were done, and promised us they’d join us in the next Reverse Bungy swing. Hi5 to Pratik and Raunaq for making our long time planned event happen! It was such a beautiful way to welcome and enter the New Year.. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Fevers, Delirium and Fun

Not much later after the Bintan holiday, we all started falling prey to Mr Rhino one by one, until it left us all sick and immobile by the weekend! All of us specialized with different kinds of infection with I- sinus cold, Mrinal- killer dry cough, and Dhiren- cold fever. Mrinal and I having decided to rest and sleep through the weekend, lolled on the couch savouring the hot tasty soup made by Satty.  

Post lunch, Mrinal and I took an afternoon nap only to feel worse by the evening and realizing that we cannot consult health centre doctor for the next 36 hrs. Restlessly idle and craving for company, we asked Dhiren to come over to our place to spend and celebrate our sickness together. Packing aloo parathas, sabji with hot rasam from Koufu, we had dinner at home disinterestedly just to finish the mundane daily rituals. After enough consideration and looking up on the internet, we decided on watching the spy thriller D day at night 10. Having nearly reached my sleeping time, I was dozing off short lengths in the first half - losing the gist of the movie, much to Mrinal and Dhiren’s annoyance, since they essentially had to narrate the whole story.

By midnight, Satty joined us after watching Dhoom 3 and we whiled away the time watching some random Bollywood classroom videos. With Mrinal-Dhiren and I being desperate attention seekers, Satty acted as our virtual thermometer to check our forehead-neck temperature to decide who was most “hot” and needed more care. Very soon Mrinal and I succumbed to our tiredness and hit the bed, whereas Dhiren continued watching movies with Satty, and thus proving to be the least sick of all.

After having slept with intermittent coughing, sneezing- nose block disturbing our sleep, we woke up late on a Sunday morning to find not much improvement in our health. Satty and Mrinal made breakfast and tea for us, while Dhiren and I lazed on the couch grumbling about not feeling well. It was commendable how Satty’s immune system was strong enough to resist and fight back all the infection that had potentially attacked her by being amongst us three. Indolence overpowered our appetite, with us “kindly” ordering Satty to do every small thing for us- Pratik accuses us of child Labour. After reaching heights of procrastination, we finally stepped out for lunch at 2 in the afternoon, where we were joined by Amar who was still recuperating from his two week old similar infection.

Pratik living at the other end of Singapore, self-invited himself to visit us patients and spend some good time together in the evening. Satty – Pratik belonging to the non-infected league, tantalized us with yummy chocolate ice-cream, I resisted it with determination while Dhiren gave in to it. After mediating the differences in opinions among people’s choice for restaurants, the decision finally rested on Mrinal who saved it as a surprise for us (I knew it though!). We reached Komalas only to be disappointed to see them serving very few, not our favourite south Indian meal options.

 

After placing our respective orders, we started chattering amongst ourselves excitedly, swaying to the music being played, being our own selves oblivious to the surroundings. Us breaking into riotous laughter after every sentence spoken, did prompt one of the waiters to enquire about us- if we were new to Singapore and where we belonged to.  Far from being embarrassed, we enthusiastically continued our nonsensical talks and jokes, although Amar could not relate to most of it since he has missed out on many of the events/outings owing to his work pressure. Nothing can ever stop Pratik-Dhiren from the Andaaz Apna Apna jokes and their “mutual Understanding” one liners, incomprehensible to most of us in the first go. They continued picking on Satty for every word that she uttered, and she sportively chose to be mocked at. There was an outrageous repetition of jokes, until Mrinal imposed a limit of 5 times for one joke. The frequency match and comfort level was so amazing, that nobody shied from exposing their mindless self.

This was the first time I didn’t miss home while falling ill - having sick and non-sick people to take care, and had such an eventful sickness. Sometimes I wish time goes static, and nothing around me changes. Love you guys, thanks for making the good and not-so-good phases of my life equally exciting and fun-filled! 

Penalizing Budding Talent

One fine morning upon arriving at my desk, I found something lying on my table with a note, that seemed to pose a grave threat to one of my most valued congenital faculties- my Punning Humour! A cuboidal pink coloured piggy bank secured with a lock, which has been in the pipeline for weeks now, has finally been materialized by Aicha.  Not just me, it endangers Peter and Kim, who  also suffer the obsessive compulsive disorder of playing with the words. The audience comprises Aicha, Joy and CS mostly, and sometimes rest of my lab members.

The final rules and regulations of this deal were attempted to reach a consensus, with the welfare of all the people around in mind. According to the implemented laws, someone who makes a bad/lame/poor joke/pun is liable to a penalty of S$1/bad joke, which happily makes its way to the fancy piggy bank. How to judge whether the joke is good/bad -- if at least half the audience ends up smiling/laughing, the person is waived from the fine, otherwise you know the fate... Aicha has been generous enough to introduce special discount schemes to encourage us during peak hours (like coffee time) called "Jokes Happy Hours", wherein we will be charged $1/2jokes. With all the honour and privilege, I inaugurated the PB because of a joke which was considered unacceptable without a second thought. Depending on the rate at which the money is collected, we plan to have a small party with the small money.

This PB is taken for every lunch/coffee break, group meetings/events, and is surprisingly proving to be an effective preventive measure. The number of poor joke incidents have drastically fallen with having people to watch their words, in order to save their precious $1 coins (normally preserved for laundry machines!).. Courtesy Peter, one of the inflicted victims, has been able to persuade the committee to reduce the penalty to $0.5, effective from today. The only unreasonable part of this deal is even if someone makes a good joke, there is no $1 reward. The PB is by the people, for the people and of the people- so let’s hope amendments to this law happen soon, in the favour of doers...  

Great Eastern Women Run 2013

After spending an anxious night tossing and turning on the bed, I woke up to a dark lousy Sunday morning for the much awaited run. The sky veiled with pregnant clouds made me wonder if the event would be interrupted by the rain showers. I was lazier and less prepared for this run than my first NUSrun, ran only when Aicha called for a practice and reminded me about it. Fortunately now my body is better conditioned to run continuously than it was a few months ago..

Priyanka and I took an MRT, surprisingly cramped (many GEW runners!), for as early as 6 am on a Sunday morning. We were informed that the run would commence as per  schedule since Marina bay didn’t experience major rains, luckily the roads were dry and not slippery too. For a run with 60k runners, the event seemed well planned and organized, with ample baggage counters, affable volunteers answering the questions being shot, guiding and cheering people through.The start line spreading over around 300m with thousands of red sleeveless ladies ahead of me was a sight unbelievable and slightly daunting. Entertaining commentators in the background, with banging fast beat music to tap our legs was just perfect for waking up the sleepy souls to warm up. Priyanka and I enjoyed dancing to the music, stretching our bodies in rhythm to the songs, further building up to the excitement of the run in such an amazing location.

                                          

We started running near the Singapore flyer overlooking the towering Marina Bay Sands and numerous other adjoining skyscrapers along the Singapore river. I ran the first kilometer fast to evade the cumbersome jam in the beginning, and cooled down to my normal pace thereafter. The first two kilometers, followed by a downslope near Nicoll Highway was effortless owing to the initial energy and enthusiasm. It was annoying to see people walking right after a few hundred metres and obstructing the run path in the middle, inspite of legit instructions for slow runners and walkers to stay on the left throughout. I sometimes went out of the periphery (longer yet faster) covered with damp grass, to overtake the people blocking the way out.

The hydration counters midway were inundated with thirsty runners, swooping down to have a sip of water and 100+ quickly, providing a much needed relief to their dehydrated throats and bodies. During the second half, there were boards reading “smile ahead”, following photographers taking pictures on the way, where people even posed with props. The last kilometer seemed eternal with countless curves and turns, with more of the dispersed crowd condensing, and the finish line to be seen nowhere. The energy levels were still high, thanks to the runner friendly weather, mild drizzling wetting the sweat and chilling the body. After covering a significant distance, I could see a light flashing “Finish”, with cheer leaders on either side bucking up people to run the last length faster.

There I went to cross the finish line Yayyy-ing and cooling down to let some oxygen fill my lungs in. Grabbing some electrolyte drinks and refreshments, I crashed down the floor in front of the stage with people performing on victory songs like “Jai Ho” and “Waka Waka”, and lay there still for a while.  I then queued in endlessly for having a picture with my finisher medal, and posed under- “I conquered the race!”- with a background of  tall buildings shrouded in mist.. I have dared myself to a longer distance (10k) to improve my running potential and endurance, and thus registered with my lab friends- Joy and Aicha-Peter, Kiran (21.2k) for the run coming up in Feb. The strategy and training is still in the planning, looking forward to the exciting group runs and practices!

                                                    

                        Bollywood Dandiya Night

The excitement and delight for the Saturday Dandiya Night owed to several reasons- reminiscing the navratri in Gujarat, dancing our hearts out to the garba songs, spending an evening with friends- all of which were fulfilled to an overwhelming extent by the end of the day.. The preparations commenced post lunch with Mrinal, Ekta and I learning, rehearsing and synchronizing simple and most popular garba steps.  After reaching a level of confidence, we started sprucing up- a process which could potentially have been longer than the dandiya night itself. Mrinal wore a traditional maroon Chaniya Choli embellished with brilliantly shining mirror stones, whereas Ekta and I chose to wear sarees tucked in typical Gujarati style, doing justice to the “ben” look. Devika joined us later, and just like Falguni Pathak’s “Yaad piya ke” girls, we spent ample time mix matching accessories and preening ourselves in front of the wardrobed mirror until satisfied and certified by each other.

At the stroke of 7:30 PM, we rushed out to a restless wait, after which we hailed a cab to the venue at Goodman Road, in proximity to the East coast of Singapore, where we were met by the rest of our gang. The huge hall albeit inadequate, was flocked by multicultural Indians decked up in ethnic attire and shaking their legs to the not-so-garba music. Complying to the high entropy with people spread randomly making their own groups, we took possession of and reserved one of the last vacant attainable spaces and started dancing to the music being played. The music spanned contemporary danceable fast beat numbers like “Rangeelo Maaro Dholna”, “Beedi Jalaile”, with minimal Gujarati/Garba songs- surprisingly contrary to the purpose of celebration. We let ourselves loose and broke sweat to the intoxicating music, with intermittent breaks for gulping chilled water slaking our thirst. While we managed to fit in the Garba steps in every song, Pratik and Dhiren shook their bodies harder, neatly blending multiple dance styles to lead our group. Ronak, shy by nature and new to our group, joined us enthusiastically too, enjoying being in his own world of music.  A pro Odissi dancer, Lavanya left all amazed with her elegant and graceful dance moves, with us following only the few doable ones. We made a train, dancing and shoving our way through the lively and energetic crowd, spreading the hall, and continued the garba dancing till we were short of breath and sapped out.

 

Obeying the commands of our rumbling stomachs starving to be fed, we headed straight to the food coupon counter. Impatient with a long sluggish queue ahead, Pratik and I started swinging our shoulders to a dancy number in the background, with Ekta and Mrinal joining us dancing in the mirror, all of us conveniently avoiding the amused stares by the people around. We grabbed our food quickly, with desi chat and fast food constituting most of it, and managed to save a table big enough for a bunch of ten plus to fit in. After going bellyful, Utkarsh and Bassi rendered a famous heart wrenching song “Tadap Tadap” in their impeccably toned voices, stimulating us to accompany them, Ekta and Dhiren tapping the table in rhythm to the songs that followed.. The enthusiastic organizers comprising of a few middle aged couples challenged us for Antakshari, which we graciously accepted, and  thoroughly enjoyed singing some old and beautiful hindi music, until it was the time to wrap up the event, our gang being the last to step foot out.

Undecided what next and knowing its early to call it a day, we did the first thing that came to someone’s mind- went to the East Coast Park beach at night 12 clock. With most of the café’s and restaurants around being closed, and majority of the camping crowd asleep in their cozy tents, the beach gave a serene and peaceful look. The stars and sky view was marred by the natural Singapore light pollution and clouds hovering over. Ensconced on the rocks abutting the beach, and watching the sea waves hitting it, looked like the perfect way to unwind and revitalize ourselves after the eventful evening. Giving in to the irresistible urge of music, we all sang our favorite numbers, with Lavanya and I, being loyal followers, tried to include many of Sonu Nigam ones- woe betide anyone who’s against him! After singing to our satisfaction, we thought it was time to conclude the fun filled day, and waved a sleepish goodbye to each other at three, dispersing in different directions to hit our respective destinations…