Hen’s Night with Chics, Theme: Russia

With one week to go for Joy’s D Day, we planned a bachelorette party for her, trying to incorporate some Russian element with every activity we did (She’s marrying a Russian!). Joy had no clue about it: was a surpriseee!

Aicha, Joy and I headed to the “2 degree Ice Art Exhibition”, located in proximity to the Bayfront MRT on a warm Saturday evening. Aicha explained to Joy the reason why we chose this: to make Joy get acquainted with the cold climate in Russia (No, she isn’t moving there so soon..). Fastening the long fluffy rented jackets, we entered the exhibition experiencing the sudden transition in temperature from 35˚C to what felt way below -5˚C. The exhibition had a display of monuments from all over the world sculpted in ice, with colourful background lights. Starting with a statue “Father of Singapore: Raffles”, there were various ice carved tourist attractions of Singapore like Merlion, Singapore flyer, Raffles hotel etc. There were a few famous ones from rest of the world like, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, I must say I was surprised not to find Taj Mahal!

It was around 15 mins by the time we spotted the ice slide, Aicha refused to join us. Joy and I went up climbing stairs, with slippery surface and all crushed ice into my shoes, my legs were literally frozen and started to ache. Aicha and Joy have weathered such extreme temperatures, and wasn’t a big deal at all. Having experienced only tropical climates of late, I was shivering throughout and could even feel my teeth getting sensitive in the frigid air. It was a situation similar to Bikram Hot Yoga (42˚C) that I did last week, both having polar temperatures: I simply wanted to run away from the room to normal temperature.

 

Joy quickly did one normal slide along the sides, Aicha captured it on phone, and immediately we just rushed out: it was so difficult to run with my legs almost numb! We enquired from outside what the inside temperature was: it was -15˚C; misnomered to “2 degree ice art exhibition”! We just munched some snacks to warm ourselves up, by the time Joy’s friend Bilge joined us. We made a second (last permitted) entry into the exhibition and re-visited the initial part quickly, taking a lot of selfies; which was the only fun part. This time I joined Joy for the bumpy ice slide, we had to sit in the tire and slide down: this area predominantly had kids aged 8-10 years, so we moved ahead. By this time again it was icey cold, with the time-space continuum, it was hard to guess which parameter was more crucial.

We came out with all frosted peripheral ends reddened, for one time relieved to feel and breathe in the warm humid Singapore weather. We went to the Ice bar adjacent for having a shot of the almost Russian national drink: Vodka. With around the same temperature inside, the girls ordered Vodka shots, whereas I tried the beer in ice-mugs. Vodka shots were ofcourse quickly gulped, but I still needed their help to finish my chilly bitter beer. Following which, we proceeded to ice wall where the ice mugs had to be smashed at to be crushed into pieces: sole reason for me having beer!

It was great to have Aicha organize this, she being a vegetarian chose a Russian restaurant which had considerable veg options as well. The restaurant looked elegant with an affable modish waiter (Indian!) serving us, who specially customized menu for us on request. We started off with potato and mushroom stuffed Veraniky, with Russian bread on the side. Each of us ordered a drink, raising a toast to the end of Joy’s bachelorhood. I followed Aicha’s suggestions, she being a wine connoisseur, whereas Bilge and Joy ordered cocktails. We realized it was such a multi-national group: one German, Turkish, Taiwanese and Indian each with no Singaporean! Random conversations filled in the dinner: Intercultural differences, Industry vs academia, marriage, some jokes too! Everyone else except me got their maincourse orders soon enough, and the waiter was sweet enough to serve me as well some eggplant wraps for that time so that I wasn’t left alone; that was enough for the girls to start teasing me.

The waiter let us taste different wines before we could choose which one to go for next; red wine it was. By that time, I already started feeling funny in my head, so Aicha and Bilge strictly did not let me have much of the red wine before I finished a glass of water. Being a bit tipsy, I was too dazed to notice that Bilge actually took away the glass from me, and made me finish my dinner and had some bread. The waiter, who had a sound knowledge on wines, and did recognize Aicha to be a wine fanatic showed her around the various wine bottles they had preserved since 1900’s, a couple of which were known to have been on the Titanic. In sometime, a live band started playing and singing some music, but we already had to leave.

We then spent sometime in a bar at Clarke quay, drinking and talking on random topics. I felt slightly unwell, and had to make a move first. Others went clubbing until early morning and had a lot of fun; apparently here too the waiter played a significant role. It was such a memorable evening spent with company where everyone hit off well and comfortable; different ideas, opinions, conversations, sense of humour: it was refreshing! We all wish the bride a Joyful and fun-filled marriage and togetherness with her husband! 

                                  Aping the Primate - Adventure!

After spending a couple of anxious days overthinking if I should go ahead with the Forest Adventure, I finally decided for it, mainly because my friends Pratik, Aicha- Peter would be leaving Singapore soon. Feng Wei (FW) who initiated the plan tagged a friend along; My friend Satty jumped on hearing the word “Adventure”, and was excited to join us without even dwelling on what the courses consisted of. So it was a multi ethnic group of seven adventurers, all set to embark on the venture in Bedok forest!

We were dot on time (12:45 pm), and after signing the indemnity form, we headed straight to the safety briefing. The instructor explained and demonstrated to us the way to use the carabiner, pulley, interpreting the signage boards etc. I volunteered to demo the wearing of the safety harness and headgear, wasn’t as big a deal though. Being the most apprehensive of the whole lot, I dictated the sequence in which we would journey the whole trail, making sure every girl has a guy on atleast one of the sides’, FW being the first, and Pratik being the last.

The grand course consisted of four sites, each with increasing level of difficulty. The first site was essentially to register in mind the usage of the different safety systems, learning and applying the skills in a less risky course, while the instructor was monitoring us constantly. Anyone who violates two of the “don’t” or “do’s” rules, is kicked out of the course, so one couldn’t really afford to be mindless. All the sites started with climbing onto a tree with a rope ladder, I literally shivered while doing the first one, and Satty helped by holding the rope tight from below. It was followed by walking on a rope and finally a mini zipline to learn to steadily land cycling on the sandpits. During the later part of the same site, we climbed a longer rope ladder to a circle platform surrounding the tree. Securing the Pulley and Carabiner on the rope, we jumped from the platform swinging fast and landing on a cargo net, from where we climbed up the web like Spiderman to land on a tree platform. At all times, we would make sure there are two people on the same platform to ensure the locking systems were secured in the right manner and  bid a bye to the next person! Seeing me anxious, Peter would make sure I understand what all to do next before he leaves, whereas poor Pratik who took care of Satty, had nobody to check on him. Every site ended with super fast ~100 m long zipline running above the Bedok reservoir water, landing on the other side into the cushioned bed of sand.

Site 2 started with the rope ladder onto the tree, the first task of which was a child’s play- walking on the rope with wires on either side to hold on to. Peter and FW took the longer and complicated route whereas the rest of us did the V-shaped 2-obstacle path. Now came the task which freaked me out the most- walking on a rope with other ropes hanging from up to pull. Initially I held onto the loose and unstable rope where I had my pulley attached, and realized that I couldn’t balance myself. Aicha who was already on the other side, was screaming that I should hold onto the higher hanging ropes as they are tighter. At one time, I was shivering and shaking so much, Satty and Aicha could see how frightened I was and tried to buck me up. I tried to grab the hanging rope on one side, and couldn’t reach the other one, so clung on to the rope with my teeth. Had I lost the grip, I wouldn’t have fallen down, but it would have been so difficult to have made a come back – I anyway would have to be on my own to save myself. With my hands sweaty and panting, I let my breath normalize before I started taking measured steps again, and there came and end to my seemingly eternal trauma. Satty and Pratik managed this one with no trouble. As Aicha says its less about fitness/strength and more about the fear in the head.

Site 3 was the longest, most complicated and demanding of all the sites, it was however more doable for me than the previous one! There were different kinds of obstacles connecting the trees, each one being challenging in its own way. Having Peter ahead of me was indeed helpful, but it was always misleading as he would finish every task effortlessly, leaving me baffled and unable to perceive the difficulty level! Most of the obstacles consisted of placing one foot on the circular rope/small bamboo blocks, resting the weight on the hands to place the other foot forward. One of the most difficult ones had hanging metallic rings to place one foot on, where the taller ones having longer legs were definitely advantaged. This course also concluded with a swift zipline, which was the most relaxing bit of every site.

We took a short break after this to moisten our throat with chilled water, whereas FW went on to finish the last set of tasks soon after. Site 4 mostly had milder repetitions of earlier obstacles and thus was quite a relief. There were again two options to go ahead with. Peter went ahead with the Tarzan Swing, which was a 2m free fall, then swinging and dashing into the Cargo net with a high speed; our little daredevil Satty and Pratik followed doing the same. Whereas Aicha and I evaded this path to do normal rope swing to complete the remaining common obstacles. Except Peter, all of us landed on our butts during the last leg of zipline, which concluded the two+ hour forest adventure.

 

Climbing the trees, jumping from one to another; reinforced the fact that during the process of evolution, man has still retained some skills from our ancestors. I highly recommend everyone should experience this kind of adventure atleast once in lifetime to test the strength of your core muscles, and experience the adrenaline rush through your body while adventuring!

My video falling on the Zipline

Adventurous Uttara on Flying Fox!

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...