Tag: FRIENDS

The Monster!

March 1, 2026 / / 0 Comments

This little incident happened recently when all the four of us were returning home late, one night.

Mr.Bee was driving, I sat beside him. GBee was seated in the seat behind us and KBee was feeling sleepy,  so he sat in my lap. We were hardly 5 minutes away from our home.

Suddenly,  he saw the road sign to our right side….

I don’t know in what angle the road sign looked like a monster. It was either the lack of street light or the radium paint on the road sign shining under our headlights or the weird stick figure dropping litter, which must have looked like black liquid leaking from his stretched hand, or, KBee’s over- active imagination…Whatever!

I turned my head to look at what caused the panic….understood that the road sign was the culprit. I pacified the kid saying, it is just a road sign.

That soothed his brain.

He began playing again, with the cars in his hands. (His hands are never empty. He has something or other always in his hands.)

This little incident made me realize that even harmless stuff like a road sign can be a cause of worry for little kids.

Just like the lump of coat hanging from a peg, which dances at night, thanks to the high speed fan, anything can be a monster!

P.S :

1. This particular incident had taken place inside the car, but, drawing the inside of the car is too tedious. So, I have kept it simple. The cartoons are supposed to show KBee and me sitting in the front seat but all the extra details of car would have made the cartoon clustered.

2. While this incident was happening,  Mr.Bee was silently driving the car and GBee was shouting at the top of his lungs about his friends who stay nearby, etc. They were not involved in our conversation,  so I refrained from drawing them.

3. Turns out KBee is giving me lots of material for my blog posts. Incidentally,  both the kiddos name all their cars. We have vroom vroom car, First Asha, MK- 1 (short for Mortal Kombat), Point – 1 and Lighter! (These are some of their favourite cars)

Till the next post, cheerio!

The Boyfriend – Review

October 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

One fine Saturday afternoon,  after PTM at GBee’s school, Mr.Bee, I and the kids went to the Ashoka One Mall, which is the closest mall to his school, like less than 1km away. (There is another mall which is even closer, but it is still under construction) Incidentally,  Ashoka One Mall is GBee’s favourite mall. (KBee loves the Nexus Mall, we alternate between the malls, to satisfy them both!)

Anyway, after the usual car rides and toy train rides, both the kiddos were happy. That’s when I saw the bookstore. (During my days as a working woman, I would spend most of my lunch hours, browsing through Walden, the bookstore in our office premises.  I sorely miss those days!)

Once inside, I quickly got what I wanted. Two books by Freida McFadden and one by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I started reading the first book after returning home.

So here comes the review….

Review:

Written by : Freida McFadden

Published on : 1st October 2024

Read by Queen Bee on : 16th October 2025

This is the 4th Freida McFadden’s book, that I have read.

The book starts with Tom and his weird and mad love for Daisy Driscoll. It makes us wonder,  do people like him even exist, but I guess they do!

Tom is a poor but handsome, clever but a little scaredy guy. He loves Daisy but also dreams of killing her. He probably has some mania related to blood like hemomania because he enjoys looking at blood or imagining blood! Yuk!

Daisy Driscoll,  the school beauty, the girl Tom loves the most and the girl who loves and adores Tom.

Then there is Slug, Tom’s best friend, who has the habit of eating insects! (I have never read about two or more such characters in a book, ever.) Weird bunch, I tell you.

Also, there is Alison, bestie of Daisy, who hates Tom. She is one of those rare individuals who knows about the kind of a guy Tom is. She gets a weird vibe from him.  These are one side of the story.

The story alternates between two sets of characters.

The other set of characters include Sydney Shaw, who has been unsuccessful in love and is into dating apps. She wants a steady boyfriend,  marry him and settle down. But all she ever meets are weirdos like Kevin, who later becomes her stalker.

Sydney has two girl besties, Bonnie and Gretchen. Bonnie is in a serious relationship with a doctor, not even her friends have seen him.

Suddenly,  Bonnie is found in her flat, dead, apparently tortured to death.

How did she die? Is the stalker Kevin the murderer or the super of the apartment Randy, who always gave Bonnie the creeps?

Meanwhile Sydney begins to date Dr.Tom Brewer, who has many secrets of his own.  Who even contacts his girlfriend from a burner phone? Who lies about his name and place of work? Only suspicious individuals do.

Then there is Jake, Sydney’s ex, a cop who is set on finding Bonnie’s killer.

Just as Sydney begins to put two and two together,  to guess the killer,  she is in grave danger.

So many innocent people end up dead because of one supremely psychotic brain,  so who is the killer?

What I like:

Each chapter is a page turner. It has twists and turns, rightly so, since it is a thriller.

What I don’t like:

The heroine Sydney is a little slow. She is gullible too, she is like a lesser liked version of Rachel Green from F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

When Sydney is in a near death situation,  the only thing that’s on her side is, luck. She does nothing to save herself.

I don’t like the killer getting away with crime, after killing innocent people.  No, not one bit!

But that’s not a good enough reason not to read, go ahead and read it. Tell me what you make of it.

P.S:

1. The next time someone in power like a cop, volunteers to do a background check on the person you are dating,  ALWAYS  say yes, take help. This is my advice to all potential heroines in thrillers and mysteries!

Let me bring my bowl of puffed rice. Time to read, Do Not Disturb!

Cheerio…

Munnar, at last

July 18, 2025 / / 1 Comment

Day 4 :

After our breakfast,  we checked out of Pine Borough, bid goodbye to Kodaikanal and started for Munnar, in the last leg of our vacation.

As soon as we were out of the Tamil Nadu border, the climate felt sunny and mild and I was happy we were not in cold, chilly climate.

N stopped at a random eatery for his breakfast, while Mr.Bee and I had a coffee and tea respectively. The stall had photo of Amma, Jayalalitha and somehow, that reminded me of Thalaivii movie of Kangana Ranaut! (Beats me! Why did they cast a pahadi North Indian to play a pukka South Amma! Incidentally,  I also loathe the Chandramukhi 2 of Kangana. What a royal waste of time!)

Anyway, on our way to Munnar, just as we entered the Kerala border, we stopped for lunch, we were famished. We halted at Safair, which serves the worst food ever. We could hardly eat a mouthful of food. It must be heaven for non-veg customers, because, they were lining up like bees, but it is absolute bekaar and tasteless eatery for vegetarians. We could hardly finish eating the two dishes we ordered, lemon rice and curd rice!

N was surprised we returned in less than half an hour. We ate the fruits we bought, before exiting Kodaikanal.

I also saw a restaurant which was Bethel Suji restaurant and I remembered the famous dialogue  of Phoebe, “Who names their child Bethel?” LOL. (I am FRIENDS fanatic!)

GBee began counting bikes, all those which he saw on the highway and his score reached 1757. ( He entertained himself this way, because KBee would sleep as soon as we were inside the car!)

Even though we knew there were not any good restaurants,  we stopped at Safair because we wanted to take a scenic route to Munnar and NOT the shortest route. We took the Gap road. It is the best! ( Always go for the scenic route, not the shortest route!)

Gap road – Munnar, the most scenic road with tea plantations!

We stopped at many viewpoints, took photos and had fun. Munnar is basically heaven and just looking at it is not enough, you should also be mindfully present to enjoy it! Here, cell is just a distraction.

We saw all the tea and coffee estates, most of them belonging to TATA group, who have them for a lease of 999 years! Trespassing is prohibited, so, no photos from inside the beautiful tea estates.

At one viewpoint, since we hardly had a good lunch, we stopped for sweet corn, which is easily available along with Maggi, along the road at all the viewpoints. All the 4 of us were happily chomping our sweet corn cobs when Mr.Bee saw a group of monkeys running towards us. I swear they were at the top of the hills when we started eating. As we started eating, they came down hill, waiting to cross the road to snatch our precious corn.

Mr.Bee wanted to buy us some time, so he threw his cob towards them. They got distracted for a bit. I asked the kiddos to eat their corn, fast. I chomped as much as I could before throwing mine too, at the hunger- striken monkeys. (Situation called for a sacrifice!)

We then rushed towards the car. N banned us from eating in car and monkeys won’t let us eat in peace!

We also had to throw away the kids corn cobs, before going ahead. The kiddos found the throwing away of half eaten corn cobs towards the direction of monkeys, very entertaining! (They were like, mom let me throw, let me give it to monkey.)

We took in as much beauty as we can, staring at our surroundings and all. Kerala government is strict about the cleanliness, which means we get to see wire bins in unique shapes at almost all important locations, for collecting plastic waste like bottles.

Plastic disposal bin

After spending most of our afternoon checking out the streets of Munnar, we checked into the White House hotel.

The kids were highly impressed with the White House hotel. KBee was so sweet as to believe we were staying there forever.  GBee was laid back and knew, we were only on a vacation.

After quick baths, changing into fresh nightwear, we reached the in – house restaurant,  ordered our dinner.

We also made plans for the next day, after discussing with our hotel manager.

We went to the kids play area, played for sometime (kids had fun) and returned to our room.

The room service brought our dinner, which was simple as ever, fried rice, watermelon juice for all.

Since the weather was not cold like Kodaikanal (Oh, how I hated wearing socks in the hotel room in Kodaikanal), we had fan running at full speed and AC on, we slept like logs!

P.S:

1. Gap road in Munnar is the best. I remembered all the movies I had loved, thanks only to the beautiful tea plantations and estates which were in the backdrop, demanding my attention!

Remember Chennai Express and Life of Pi?

2. India has huge potential,  but maintaining the cleanliness is the problem.  Let’s hope for the best!

Till the next post,  bubye!

Home Alone – The Queen Bee version

April 5, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Long ago when I was busy with my job, designing super passages and under tunnels, leading a carefree life, my family had to travel. I excused myself from the trip and stayed back alone at home. I didn’t want to miss out on the fun at my office.

Being in ‘the’ design team in our office was a heaven. It was like being in a girls gang. 6 of us, under the guidance of the most cool headed team leader, our AGM. Those were the days. Since we had the most technical knowledge, due to our area of work, there was always someone who needed our help! We were always busy and had most fun during breaks, being in the same age bracket also helped! We even celebrated each others birthdays with much fan fare, cake cuttings and gift givings. It was the golden period in the technical division.

It is rare to find such camaraderie in civil engineering companies, because, we either have above 65 year old consulting employes or 20 something employees, fresh out of engineering colleges. That is because civil engineering needs experienced people to guide the young blood and thanks to software boom, most people avoid civil, it being a job which also includes site visits. (Personally,  I love visiting the construction sites and looking at our designs in their magnitude.)

Anyway, it all comes down to me staying alone at home for 2 days and 2 nights! Thankfully, I spent the days in office, doing the work I love in the company of the team that I admired, so that’s that. But once I returned home, I was all alone, like Kevin McCallister, except there was no imminent danger of rogues and thieves entering the flat, then!

While I planned on watching my favourite TV shows and  eating my dinner in a jiffy, the tough part was sleeping alone in the flat!

As soon as Mrs.G saw that I had parked my Mahindra Flyte in the cellar, she gave me probably 5 minutes to fresh up and knocked my door.

She meant well….

Mrs.G asked me if I wanted to eat something. She even asked me what I had in mind. I gave her a vague answer, as I really had no idea what I wanted to make for dinner. I didn’t intend to inconvenience her.

I wanted to eat samosa cutlet chaat, pani puri and even a pizza. But I refrained from telling her all that. I don’t remember what I cooked for myself,  but Mrs.G returned to give me a bowl of freshly made potato fry and won my heart and stomach too!

That hit the spot. I slept well, thanks to a full stomach.

Even the clothes hanging from the peg, which made a ghostly shape didn’t scare me, one bit!

Even the rhythmic sound of anklets and whispers around me, could hardly stop my droopy eyes from closing!

“Good night, to you too” , I whispered in response!

P.S:

1. Who doesn’t like a bowl of potato fry!

2. Although I don’t celebrate Christmas,  December 25th is not complete without watching the handsome and naughty Kevin McCallister being left home, alone! White Christmas is a dream…

3. Chandler Bing is one of my favourite characters,  which inspired the dialogue in my third cartoon.

Till the next post, cheerio!

The Good Boy!

February 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Thanks to his brother being a second grader and the BBC kids shows, even before KBee can write alphabets, he has learnt the multiplication tables upto 10. He recites them, even during bath, like a bathroom singer!

He is proud of himself and he likes to test me on a daily basis. He asks me questions and when I answer them, he compliments me, the routine I had  with him daily to get him to talk. Now that he is talking and learnt tables, he is teaching the teacher that taught him, at the age of ‘almost 4’!

My most important pass time of the day is doing laundry and folding them. If I am not blogging or watching K drama, I must be busy, make a guess, doing laundry! (My KBee enjoys making mess and playing with colours, poor me!)

Anyway, he keeps testing my multiplication skills….

Even a tea break is quiz time for me….

During one such quiz session, GBee had overheard the compliment I got for answering a question….’Good Boy,Mommy’. Now you can see how my KBee is even mimicking the affirmations he gets from me! Lol.

GBee took it upon himself to enlighten his younger brother, about what and how to give positive affirmations!

Gita Upadesam, by GBee to KBee.

Although Lord Krishna taught important life lessons to Arjuna during the Mahabharata war, He had an attentive disciple Arjuna. In our case, KBee was like, I know mom is a girl, tell me something new!

So, at the drop of a hat, KBee manages to throw in a few ‘Good Boy mommy’ throughout the day and I don’t correct him at all.

Who doesn’t like being called a GOOD BOY!

P.S:

1. I had many posts planned, but KBee has begun his schooling and that is like inviting the viruses and other stuff to come home freely. Both the kids were ill and as usual my blogging had to suffer on the back burner.

2. My new favourite track is Apache Apache by Bruno Mars and Rose.

3. On a different note, I want to visit most temples of India and immerse myself in the colourful architecture.  The insta reels are making me say this. They are the best. Let us see…

Till the next post….bubyeee.

Sculpting the Ice

April 9, 2023 / / 0 Comments

As you must have guessed, this hobby post I am blogging about has little relevance in India, thanks to it being a Tropical country! Only the people at the tip of the Northern India have any semblance of continuing this hobby! But there is no harm in learning more about Ice Sculpting.

So, let’s check out, I for Ice Sculpting.

Ice sculpting is all about sculpting naturally formed or artificially made ice. It is also one of the most temporary kind of art form (Ice melts away, isn’t it?)

Ice sculptures made of clear ice look like crystal, more like Swarovski crystal!

Cupid ice sculpture

The ice sculptures made of clouded ice look something like this, resembling snow.

Ice sculpture-China

Ice sculpting requires tools like chisels, hand saws and hair dryers and is mostly taught at culinary institutes and schools. Clear water ice, which is free from impurities is used for sculpting. Frozen rivers are generally cut into blocks of ice and used in the sculpting.

The sculptor must work at top speed if the sculpting is not being done under cold climate.

International Ice festivals and sculpting competitions take place around the world.  Basics of Ice sculpting are sometimes taught at the Ice Festivals.

Ice Sculpting is also a part of Winter Olympics, not as a sport, but for showcasing the talent.

Wait! Did I mention Ice Hotel, in Sweden? Yup. If you ever visit Sweden, go ahead and check out the Ice Hotel where you can even stay for a night or two! (There are around 20 such hotels around the world. I just mentioned one of the oldest.)

What a beauty!

India also boasts of an Igloo Stay at Manali. Why not plan a night stay?

P.S:

  1. Ice Sculptures are also used as decorations at wedding receptions. If you are not happy with just ice decorations, why not go the Phoebe Buffay  way and marry during a snowfall! (A silly FRIENDS fan here!)
  2. The other hobbies which start with an I are also related to Ice, they are, Ice Skating and Ice Fishing.

Till the next post, ta-ta!

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