Merry Christmas everyone!

Hi,
its been a while since i have updated this blog, which according to those in the know, is very bad blogging-style!! so my apologies to you all... to be honest, this month has been quite hectic.. although I am not a Christian/Catholic, i am a big Christmas fan... not so much the snow (yah, as if we get that out here) or reindeer flying through the air, but the whole concept of Christmas.. yes, the presents are sweet and an added advantage, but its the whole idea of giving and recieving.. its a very positive outlook for mankind on the whole..

Humor me a little... the concept of singing carols in a common place.. its a bunch of people who are unrelated to each other (for the most part, unless you came with your families) all coming together to celebrate the birth of a baby... all of them sing together and for one night, "all is calm".. we feel no hatred for the person next to us or for people, we only feel love to humanity.. even for a little while.. how about the idea of Santa... yah he's a fat man running around in a red suit, but he IS giving presents to everyone (ok, unless u were REALLY naughty).. but everyone gives presents to each other, or at least a card.. and you dont feel bad about it.. even the image of the Christ child in the manger.. He gently sleeps there, surrounded by not just his parents Mary and Joseph, but by the wisemen, the animals in the barn, and is surrounded with love.. granted they all knew he was God's son but still he was loved and had people around who care about him.. and thats what i believe Christmas is all about.. Love and compassion for your fellow man.. and most importantly HOPE.. there's always hope..

Talking about hope, maybe its no coincidence the tsunami happened the day after Christmas.. we were all caught up in our material lives to notice the small people and BOOM, God decides to give us all a wake up call.. i am just sorry so many people had to die.. but you know, it did wake us Sri Lankans for a change and brought all the ethnic groups together at least for a while... i just hope it doesnt take ANOTHER tsunami for us wake up!

Oh well.. i guess thats another side of human nature...

what is the other thing we have to do this season other than eat as much christmas pudding and turkey as we possibly can.. NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS.. ugh, i hate them and i always break them but somehow i have the courage to actually ATTEMPT them!! hehe so here we go :-

1. be more patient with my husband and my family
2. try and loose weight :)
3. stop biting my nails at least till Feb!
4. be more productive at work
5. try and write in my blog more often !

Anyways, thats all from me, have a wonderful and safe Christmas and an awesome New Year

Hellooooo... just got back from a lovely well-deserved (in my opinion, anyways) holiday with friends - Sabita, her brother Sanjay, his girlfriend Sarah, Prince and his girlfriend Julie... we went to the lovely hillside town of Haputale - stayed at Kelburne Mountain View.. Nisal and i stayed there on our honeymoon, it was fantastic then and it was awesome now.. its always fun to travel in a crowd and when you are with friends, its always fun... BTW in the pic, i look so awful so please excuse me.. BAD BAD BAD hairday!

Highlights from the Trip

• Eating McDonalds right before going - Nisal arguing with the lady at the counter as she was completely incompentant to handle our order


• Listening to corny music which we could all sing along to


• Playing the always-fun Settlers of Catan (Nisal won once, and i won once too!!)


• Watching Fallen (with Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland) and the Departed (Leo - he's grown up from Titanic, Mark Wahlberg [yum], Martin Sheen


• Going upto Lipton Seat and watching everyone run back up the hill


• The beautiful scenery - the mist was like fountains, rising up the mountains


• The clean air !!


• Watching Prince getting all competive on us and saying "i am playing just for fun" and him winning twice


• Talking about Hollywood gossip with the girls - always fun


• The food at Kelburne is absolutely amazing... the cook ther, Stanley can cook practically anything your heart desires - i recommend the Stringhopper buriyani with a nice chicken curry... yum!!!

Anyways, it was a good get-away from the city and the hustle and bustle.. we were lucky we had decent weather, although in the evenings, there seemed to be gale-force winds outside.. but overall, it was a wonderful trip..

***

Let me talk a bit about The Departed though... for the people who know me, know that i did have a massive crush on Mark Wahlberg (aka Marky Mark) for quite a while.. and no, thats not the reason why i ran to rent/buy The Departed.. i did actually hear some good things about it and was curious about the film.. overall it was a fun movie.. although lots of swearing.. but it kept you quite entertained till the end.. As i mentioned before, Leo has definitely grown up quite a bit since his days in the cutie roles in Titanic and Romeo and Juliet.. he's beginning to finally look like a grown-up man.. and i think its the first time Mark and Leo have been reunited since The Basketball Diaries.. that is also a good film..

Talking about Mark, he does have some fun in this movie.. but two things, unfortunately.. he does look older, and HIS HAIR???!! why does he have this old-fashioned haircut.. it looks like his mother spat on his hair and pushed it down.. ugh.. i hate hair like that.. he could have just had a crew cut.. but i guess they (the producers, directors etc.) wanted him to look mature.. BUT WHY!!! tragic... just tragic...

anyways, another reason to watch The Departed is Matt Damon.. he's quite good in the film and his Boston accent really comes out.. its quite funny to hear it, esp. because he hides it in all his other movies... Mark has his accent in full force.. The movie is based in Boston and it really takes me back to living in Worcester.. yes, Boston does look quite dodgy in the movie but it does deal with the Irish mob so it really is no surprise.. but still, listening to the accents and looking at the scenery really does remind me of living at Clark..

One of my favorite things about the movie though, is the dialog.. it had some awesome lines.. let me demonstrate (dont worry, no spoilers)

Dignam (Mark's character): Who am I? I'm the guy that does his f****** job! You must be the other guy!

***

Ellerby (Alec Baldwin): Go f***yourself.

Dignam (Mark): I'm tired from f****** your wife.

Ellerby: How is your mother?

Dignam: Good, she's tired from f****** my father.

***

Just quite funny.. but it was a good film :)

First time, blogging...

After much pressure from friends (you know who you are), i have finally succumbed to using a blog... now the question is, how long will this last.. haha well it probably will last as long as i remember the password for this account will be..

i guess i would have to introduce myself to people who may or may not know me on this... my name is amrita, and i am 24 years at this point.. i just got married in august, and happily living in the small island of sri lanka.. i am currently working for two companies, one being my mother's organization - producing baby clothes for export and the other - a publication here in Sri Lanka. It is called Lanka Woman and as the name suggests, it is a women's magazine, catering to the interests of the female of the species.. i dont have a column persay, i just write about what the editor tells me although i do enjoy the movie reviews... not because i can watch movies for free and write about them (though that is a definite perk of the job).. i went to University in the States - at Clark University in Worcester ("woo-ster") Massachusetts.. i went to school in Sri Lanka at the Overseas School of Colombo..

I can see y'all yawning now so i better stop my meaningless rambling... or at least get onto something interesting...

Since i just got married, i seem to be always hearing the question, "Has married life changed you... whats it like... do you feel 'grown up'..." honestly, it does not feel any different... not to sound corny but you gotta approach it like an extension to your friendship... I mean, I love Nisal and I know he loves me and it just feels like we are two big kids living together and enjoying ourselves... the only difference is, we have a few "grown up" things to take care of, such as bank accounts, sorting out the wedding presents (one of the more fun/unpleasant aspects of getting married), finding a place to live, etc. but otherwise, its quite fun...

the only advice i can give anyone is, make sure you marry the person that is right for you... no duh, you may say but its so true.. i totally encourage living with each other before you marry as well because then you can get used to each other's schedules etc. however, in conservative Sri Lanka, that can pose a TINY problem but it does help.. also always remember marriage is a compromise and you have to give and take.. but at the end of the day, its really your friendship and the respect you have for your partner that will save you.. Oh, and have excellent if not wonderful in-laws.. i think i was really lucky that way, Nisal's parents are truly wonderful.. Another question i get is, "what is the best thing being married".. one thing is, waking up to the man i love every morning.. i can hear you guys saying "awwww" but its true.. also having great supportive parents on both sides... plus having a partner who supports you in everything you do, plus a person you can nudge to get you smoothies and milkshakes in the middle of the night..

However, i think some of you guys have started avoiding us saying "you need time to yourselves.. you must be so busy".. what busy, we are just trying to settle in.. but thanks for being patient with us :) i know i have been USELESS calling some of you and i am truly sorry.. just been really busy with stuff.. also just getting back to work after the wedding, then i caught a bad case of the flu etc. i know these are excuses but its truly the honest truth.

i think that was a pretty decent introduction, dont you think haha.. so until next time, "have a safe tomorrow" (who says that?)