On National Day....

Note: I wrote this post on National Day, 13th January, but I was waiting to get the pictures so that it would enhance the post. But then, I decided to take this post to a whole new direction. Sorry it took me this long to post it!

Firstly, I convey heartfelt warm wishes to all the Maldivians on this auspicious occasion. I may not be so patriotic, but this day brings forth a mixture of emotions.
As all Maldivians are fully aware, "In the year 1558, Portuguese attacked Maldives and killed the then Sultan of this country and established their own rule. It was later in 1573; Muhammad Thakurufaanu arrived here along with his companions and succeeded in ending the fifteen-year colonial rule. " We celebrate our National Day to remember the bravery of Mohamed Thakurufaanu and his companions.

While we remember the devotion and dedication shown by Mohamed Thakurufaanu to our country, we must also think about our current situation. We might not be under the colonial power of any country, literally, but I fear that our minds are being controlled by other cultures and beliefs altogether. This may or may not be an exaggeration, but how many of us would be patriotic enough to give our life defending this country? Only a few! Because we do not love our nation like we should, we are not proud of our motherland like we should.

We have valid reasons for that too. We have ex presidents who claim Maldivians are terrorists, we have politicians who portray the great House of Parliament as a circus, we have corruption everywhere, and we have surprisingly high crime rates for a country that supports only 350,000 people.

Sure, the generation before us gave us reasons to be ashamed of our country. But isn't it upto us now, to change that? If all the youth joined hands and work hard to bring changes, we can make a difference!

As individuals, we can refrain from selling our votes to the highest bidder. Instead, we can decide who would make the best president, who would serve our country best, who would save our country from this downfall and who would return the patriotism to the hearts of young Maldivians. We can elect Parliament members who would put the people's needs before theirs, who would work for the greater good, who would try and make a difference. We can hold the people in high positions accountable for their actions, we can question them, we can make them more responsible, as per our rights!

Youth united can strive for bigger things. We can strengthen our ongoing campaigns against crimes like murder and rape, help to bring out friends who are lost in drug back on the right path, fight against corruption, and demand the policy makers to be more responsible.

There is so much we can do, only if we cared enough. Everyone thinks, that's not my problem, that is for the government, for the Police, for the institutions. But the truth is, nothing would change unless we start at the grass root level, that being us, individuals, at our homes, in our schools, in our society!

I think that these thoughts are worth considering seriously, when we are celebrating our National Day. By finding our latent patriotism, we have to strive to bring changes so that on National Days our children celebrate, they can actually feel proud of their nation, and they would actually be willing to sacrifice themselves for their country! Let's be heroes of the Maldives, who made it a better place for the future generations!

Happy National Day to all Maldivians!

The Workaholic Me! - 2

Firstly, let me start by apologising humbly for disappointing all of you who were expecting weekly posts. I already mentioned that I am almost upto my nose with work and deadlines! I know it's not an excuse, but let's look at the bright side, because I have been so busy, I have so much to tell you all ;)

When I first wrote a post under The Workaholic Me, it was to be a one time post.. No recurrences. However, there is just so much to write that I thought, Hey, why not make it a weekly thing? But please be warned, I get into these moods where I will be a total workaholic for a week and then a total slacker in the other week- be it slacking or working, rest assured, I give it my 100% ;) My point here being, I might not be able to write The Workahoilic Me every week if it's a slow week, but you can be sure that it will appear every now and then! 

So, on to the me who can't rest if she gets started with some work until she finishes it! You might already know about my House listing for Economic Survey and Census, and if you don't, get enlightened right now by following this link!. And before you get your hopes up, I still haven't finished the data entry! The good news is, DNP hasn't asked about it yet, maybe becasue they understand the enormity of the work and that it wouldn't be completed so soon. But not to worry, with the help of my faithful Potayto, I hope to be done with it by today!  

 Last you heard, Jojo (my colleague at The Secretariat of The Fuvahmulah Atoll Council) was dividing the 8 districts into 27 blocks right? So after he divided them, I marked the blocks on each district map and started entering the data. This is where you see the real workaholic in me, because I entered the data at the office everyday, from 8 to 3, with the help of a cousin who volunteers there, Shafu, and after I come home, I call Potayto and we enter the data together from 4 to 7! I do not get paid for the overtime, but here I am, bringing work home and trying to finish it within the deadline! But alas, the workload is too much!

Even Shiakko, my younger sister, helped me once. But mostly it's been Shafu and Potayto, Potayto, more so! Looking on the bright side, I have finished 6 WHOLE DISTRICTS-yeah, that includes the BIGGER 4, hence, the excitement ;)) and half of one district. That was a really slow district because I had to find the names from the map and then search for the data for that house from the 20 or so pages of information (In other districts, the enumerators had written a reference number for each household so when I read off the number from the map, Potayto could look up the number in the list and read off the information almost instantaneously!) Nevertheless, I am determined to finish the remaining ones today, yes, working on a Friday, can I get any more obsessed with work? :P (And for those of you who are accustomed to Friday being the last day of the week, Friday for us, in Maldives is the weekend, Friday and Saturday, with the new week starting on Sunday!)

Here I mention guiltily, that my CPI work for the past two weeks are at a halt, because I was so busy with data entry. I did send December's CPI list on 6th January, just in time for the deadline (Deadline is 5th of each month, but 5th January was a Saturday so I got the extra day!). And I am sure I can send CPI of January by 5th February, but that is no small task either. Taking prices of over 200 products from more than 40 outlets is no small feat I tell you! 

Update on collecting the Key Indicator's list for MaldivInfo is, I have received the information from all the 8 Island Councils, last receipt was from Miskimmagu Council last night! You wouldn't believe how many times I had to call each council to get ALL the information. I called almost twice everyday since 14th January. Some councils were very cooperative and they sent it right before the deadline of 15th, but others needed more reminding and more bothering them to send me the data. Now that I have all the data, I have till 23rd to compile them, fill in any missing information from Fuvahmulah Atoll Council's database, and leave comments for each Indicator!

I had mentioned that the deadline for sending an updated map of Fuvahmulah as a whole for Census 2014 was 14th January. But Anys, a colleague at DNP, the one who is supervising the Map Updation extended my deadline to 20th January, after hearing my story. The thing was, I was so involved with House Listing and data entry (since it had a deadline for last Thursday), that I misread the letter DNP sent to me regarding the updation of maps. DNP had actually asked me to get the maps from the Island Councils, not update the maps myself! So ofcourse it was a huge workload off of me, but then I had to send the letters to the island Councils (I have to Thank Waheedhahtha for that, she prepared the letters for me,) giving them a deadline of 17th January, yes, yesterday. But even when I started calling them on 16th and after calling them several times yesterday, I'm still missing maps of 3 districts., 4 actually, the one sent by one dsitrict was in pdf format and I was unable to convert it to the required Corel Draw format (actually Jojo converted the autocade versions to Corel Draw format! Thank you Jojo!). So tomorrow I have to go to the office, on a Saturday, yes, AGAIN, call the people who are responsible for sending me the maps (I got their cell phone numbers, since I knew their work numbers wouldn't work on a weekend ;) ), get all the 8 maps, merge them into one, call Jojo, ask him to divide the whole of Fuvahmulah into 27 blocks (wouldn't be hard I hope, since he already did it for the House Listing! ;) ) and send them to Anys on Sunday! 

Well, those are my deadlines and targets for this week! Catch ya later! :D

Beauty Everywhere!

Our lives are such that we always have to be on the move, rushing, trying to meet a deadline. You must be thinking, look who's talking! I know, my life is the perfect example. Sometimes I'm too busy even to chat with my friends.
As you might already know, I'm really stressed out because I have a deadline for today, to finish entering all the data of the 8 districts, of which I have finished about 4 and a half, a deadline for 14th to send DNP this updated map thingy, and a deadline for 15th to get a certain information from the 8 Island Councils. So, yes, things are really out of control right now.
It was with all this stress that I dropped my baby sister off at Afith's place (Aunt who looks after her when mom and I are busy) since mom went to the yam field and I have office. After I dropped her off, I was racing my motorbike to get back to the office to finish the rest of the data entry when I noticed this nagging headache that has been there for a while now.

I slowed down my motorbike, and took a deep breath, pushed the thought of work to the back of my mind, and looked around. I was driving through an area so dense with trees that there was no hot rays of sunlight burning my skin, since the trees formed canopies. I realised how serene the place looked and I closed my eyes and let the wind caress my face. I felt the headache slowly slipping away.

I opened my eyes and looked around. There were these little plants with all colours of flowers on them. The flowers were so tiny that you wouldn't even notice them if you didn't look for them. It reminded me of a time in London, when I would notice cute flowers on plants grown at the most unexpected of places, like on top of lamp posts, road signs and teeny tiny balconies.  But when I zoom in and focus on them, they look so beautiful. When I noticed those, I thought, So beautiful! How did I miss this before?

I had walked on that road, driven on that road thousands of times. But I didn't notice the beauty waiting to be appreciated until I slowed down and really looked around!

We see many things, just normal everyday things we are so used to that we don't even notice them. We take them for granted, there is nothing special about them. But it's only when we look closer, looking for the tiny details, that we see the real beauty in it, and we realise how special it is, in it's own unique way.

We just have to learn to see things with appreciative eyes, look for beauty in the most average things. Because, once we take a closer look, there is beauty everywhere.

So go ahead, slow down, look around! Find the beauty around you, and you will feel yourself relaxing, calming down and seeing things in a whole new way! And don't worry, the world wouldn't end just because you took some time to appreciate the good and beauty in your life! :D

Just Press Play!

As you might already know, this week for me, has brought a whole new meaning to the word "busy"!! So I apologise for not writing longer posts, but hopefully by the end of next week, I can go back to writing endlessly! :D

So on this week's list I have:

The Motivational Song:
Life's What You Make It -Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana -

Ever since I watched Hannah Montana, I have been listening to this song whenever I need to remind myself that I can't slack off or give up just because I have too much to do or things look too depressing. And when I sing along, I feel a surge of energy I never knew I had before course through me, making me more enthusiastic and ready to finish what I started.
The parts I especially love are:

 "Don't let no small frustration, ever bring you down
No, No ,No, No
Just take a situation and turn it all around
With a new attitude everything can change
Make it how you want it to be!"
"Life is hard or it's a party,
the choice is up to you!"
"Things are looking up, anytime you want
All you gotta do is realise
that it's under your control
so let the good times rock and roll!"

The sad song: 
Behind These Hazel Eyes -Kelly Clarkson-

One of my best friends, Maan, sang this song to me and the minute I heard it, I fell in love with it! Even though listening to it makes me sad, it's just so beautiful that I simply can't skip it! This is also a song I know by-heart and sing along to!

"Here I am, Once again
I'm torn into pieces,
Can't deny it, Can't pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
but you won't get to see the tears I cry
Behind these Hazel Eyes!"

The happy song:

He could be the one -Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana-

No matter how depressed I am, this song always makes me feel better. When I sing along, I feel like I am in love (even if I'm not :P) and the awesomeness/shyness of the first phase -The Crush Phase- of faling in love surges through me! :D And when I sing the first parts, I can't help but smile! It is one of my Happy Songs! 

"He's lightening

Sparks are flying

Everywhere I go he's always on my mind and

I'm going crazy

About him lately

And I can't help myself from how my heart is racing

Think I'm really digging on his vibe

He really blows me away!"

The post breakup song:
Better Than Revenge -Taylor Swift-

The minute I heard this song, I started laughing, because Taylor said at the beginning, "Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did!" Only if some one would say that to heart-breakers! ;) The song's fierce and the seemingly rock music makes the whole concept of typical breakups due to cheating much less painful. And I love the things she says in the song.

"Sophistication isn't what you wear or who you know
or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go
Oh, they didn't teach you that in prep school, so it's up to me,
no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity!"

The party song:
Spotlight- Selena Gomez

I love this song mostly because of the music. It's just sooo sway-able! CAn't help but move my body when I hear the song! :D The lyrics is cool too!

"I can tell by the way that you feel
Something ain't going your way
Jeans too tight and your hair ain't right
We all get some of those days
Oh, throw that mirror away
Oh, you know it's gonna be okay"

"Wish I could press delete
We all got somethin' we don't like
Even Angelina Jolie
Oh, throw that mirror away
Oh, don't be going M.I.A"

"I can tell by the way you talk the talk
That something ain't going your way cause
Your jeans too tight and your hair ain't right
Well, we all get some of those days just
Take another deep breath, try to hit your reset
You know that I can relate, throw your
Hands in the air now, let me hear you shout out
Well, get out of my way"

I gotta run! Put your headphones on! I have data to be entered! xD

YourSingapore Day 3

It is the BIG day, exam day! 25th July 2012! I woke up at 7.30, took a shower, got ready, walked to Bugis Junction, which is about a 2 minute walk from my Hotel, went straight to Subway and got my favourite personalised Tuna Sub. Then I went to the closest 7Eleven and got a juice bottle (because the drink at Subway was fizzy and I was having too much butterflies in my stomach for anything fizzy) and a water bottle and rushed to the taxi stand. It was at 8.25 that I reached the closest Taxi Stand.

My plan was to have breakfast IN the cab, but once I got in, I didn't find the idea so appealing. I kept wondering whether there were any laws in Singapore about not eating in cabs. So I took the breakfast bag, which lucky for me wasn't that big, in to Quality Hotel, Marlow. There was a hotel personnel in the doorway welcoming us.

Lobby of Quality Hotel
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He asked us to go to the 7th floor (if memory serves right) and I went into the elevator with a bunch of other people, not all of them my age. When I stepped off from the elevator, I saw how crowded it was. There must have been about 100 people in there, and that was just outside the ballroom where we were supposed to have our exam. I could tell that unlike the hotel I was staying in, this was a "quality" hotel. Everything from the customer services to the rooms to the elevators to the restrooms spelled GRAND. Since it was only 8.45 and the exam wouldn't start until 9, and since it was a 3 hour exam and I didn't have any food in me since 6pm the previous day, I sneaked in to the 7th floor restroom. I ate my sub quickly (it is not yucky or ew as you might be imagining, because even though it was just a rest room, it looked so royal, and hygienic! :D). It was half way through my juice bottle that the exam fever entangled me in it's merciless claws. I just couldn't finish the fruit juice.

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We had to stay for quite a while before they started registering people. By now I realised that most of the people in the room were family members of the students who were there for moral support. But there were some mature students (old people) as candidates too. How could I tell? By the yellow horror which was our exam ID slip needed for our registration.

One by one they started calling out our names. Mine was called after quite some time and when I finally went into the ballroom after registration, there was an invigilator who asked me to leave everything except my water bottle, exam slip and stationery on the floor near the entrance.

This is the ballroom. Even though it wasn't this grand during our exam, the place looked as awesome!
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The exam began, and I attacked the paper. First section was easy, but since I had never actually timed myself doing it, I suddenly found myself looking at the clock with 10 minutes left and 2 whole pages untouched. I tried my best, but I left about 2 questions incomplete.
Section 2 was better (that was the section I liked best, about Psychology, people's behaviour, how to deal with different people in different situations! I scored highest on that section even in practice tests!). I finished 10 minutes before time was up and I even  had time to visit the restroom before the 3rd section started.
Section 3 was awful! Again, try as I may, I wasn't able to finish almost 1/3 of the questions before they asked us to stop writing.

But I decided not to let the paper ruin my otherwise perfectly awesome trip to Singapore. I was leaving on 27th and I decided to make the best of the 2 days I had left. So I grabbed a cab and went to my hotel to get my things. Iko had asked me to go to their place after the exam. So after a hasty lunch, and an enjoyable chocolate-something dessert I grabbed from this cupcake place (they were holding a promotion!), I went to the taxi stand nearby (just 20 feet from my hotel) with all my luggage, grabbed a cab and went to West Bay Condo.

It was almost half past 2 when I reached Iko's apartment. I left my things there, and told Iko that I wanted to go to Botanical Gardens. Matt was home, something about fixing the AC ;) Iko told me she would be busy since Soph and Ad had a play date that evening and I assured Matt and Iko that I can totally go by myself! In fact, I was excited at the prospect of having to go alone! It would be like an adventure! :D

Matt wrote down the buses and MRT trains that I'd have to take to reach the place and gave me the directions twice! So concerned! I felt lucky to have had them to take care of me in Singapore. Matt gave his number in case Iko was busy with the community centre volunteer thing later in the evening. And not ot be forgotten are the glasses of water Iko keeps bringing me constantly! It's like she can FEEL it when I'm thirsty! Almost Psychic ;) And she made sure I ate fruits, and cutlets and all these awesome stuff that she makes!

So I went out the back door, to the nearest bus stop, which was around 10 feet from the back door. I took the correct bus (bus no 19 I think) to Haw Par Ville. (I do not remember that well, so there might be some mistakes in the Bus numbers and mid-stops, I hope you would forgive me for that, but I assure you, the final destinations in each case are accurate!) Again, I did not know how many stops until the place, so I asked this guy sitting nest to me, and he was kind enough to tell me. All the time I was snapping pictures of all things beautiful that we passed (if you know me, you'd know that that would be almost all the blooms I saw :P lol!)

Platform Level at Haw Par Villa MRT train station
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Map of MRT Trains
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The bus stop near the back door
Image Credits to Google Map

I got off at Haw Par Villa and went in to the MRT station, caught the train to Botanic Gardens through Circle Line. This was the 1st time I was in Singapore underground! It was much like London Underground! All the Lines that the trains took were drawn there, along with intersection points, and the stops along the way. So it was way easier than travelling by bus!

Singapore Underground
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There is no "Mind The Gap Please", like in London :P These doors open only when the trains arrive and close as soon as the train leaves :D
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And just like in London Underground, the place where you swipe your cards and the doors open to let you pass :)
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The lines are shown, and the glowing lights show which stations you have passed! Really easy, even if you fall asleep, you wouldn't wake up and have an unneccesary panic attack!
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I got off at the right stop and followed the signs leading up and saw the gate of Botanical Gardens right ahead!

MRT Station at Botanic Gardens
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On the right, you see the MRT station. On the left is the awesome gate of Botanic  Gardens
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Since I'm really busy these days, I'll leave you at the gates of Botanical Garden today! Meet you there next Monday! :D

The workaholic me! :D

It's been a  hectic week for me at the job. I am supervising 3 major projects that are underway, all due before the 3rd week of January! ;)

So the first project is House Listing for economic survey and  Census 2014. Every single building and household is listed during the process, and I am supposed to make sure everything gets done on time. So first I had to find enumerators ( 1 for each district of Fuvahmulah, which has 8!). The catch was, the one person had to be the enumerator for the whole district, and I know how people feel about going alone on surveys and stuff ;) So, my selling point was that they can take some one with them, but they would have to split the allowance! :D  

So I called some people who were already a part of Maldives Red Crescent, because I knew that they had experience in surveying and all, and some people who I knew for a fact to be totally bored at home with  nothing to do and would be glad to earn some money! :D So I called Shafu (my cousin who volunteers here at the Atoll council), Ahthu, Shamy, Sheeth, Mashiq, Shahyd, Aamal and Sir-Rim and they were really enthusiastic about it!

Next was calling them to a meeting and explaining to them how it worked. I brought them here to the Atoll Council, and we discussed the questionnaire together, making sure they understood all the questions and how the form should be filled. They asked their doubts and I tried my best to clarify them. All the while, I treated them more like my friends (they ARE my friends, all of them ,yeah! :D) more than people I hired for the job ;) I hope they liked it that way! :D 

So, after the explanations, they were given the forms, files, pens and maps of their district and they went off.

It went on for three days, starting on the 2nd January and ending yesterday. Yesterday, after so much hard work, everyone brought me their files which had completed forms and the serial number of each building listed,  marked on the map where the building was supposed to be. I should mention that they were all very dedicated and they did their very best, and for that I thank them from the bottom of my heart! 

Next is entering the data. But before that, the 8 districts need to be divided into 27 blocks and the data should be entered block-wise. Jojo is already working on the map and hopefully, would have them ready by tomorrow! I am trying not to think about how I am going to enter the data of 8 whole districts, me all alone! :P lol!

But for now, I have to worry about CPI too. That it Consumer Price Index. I have taken all the prices of products from all the outlets, (there are about 50 outlets in Fuvahmulah!). I have around 5 outlets' data to be entered and 10 outlets' data to be verified. I have to do all that by tomorrow and send the forms to DNP tomorrow at the latest! So here I am, working on a Saturday, even when I do not get paid for the Over Time! Talk about a workaholic! ;)

The 2nd project is the map updating for Census 2014. The most updated map DNP has of Fuvahmulah is from Census 2006, and since that was 6 years ago, you can imagine how outdated it would be! ;) So we need an updated map as a reference for the Census next year. It is my job to make sure that the planning unit of the Secretariat of the Fuvahmulah Atol Council sends it to DNP by 14th January 2013. Thoriq, my supervisor and head of Planning unit, said that we could use the data we gather from house listing to update the map, so that hasn't started yet, but I'm hoping this project would start soon! :D

The last project that I'm responsible for is getting the information regarding the key indicators of development from each island council. Since we have 8 island councils, each of them as slow in delivering any data we require from them as the other, I have to constantly bug them about it, until they complete the related forms and send the data to me. I then have to put all of hem together in one place, verify them and send them to DNP. I can't start checking the progress of the island councils since I haven't received the official letter sent by DNP to the councils. So once I receive the letter, I have to remind the secretariat of the 8 island councils to deliver the information before the deadline!

I feel so overwhelmed, but here I am, relaxing with a HUGE packet of Cheese Balls, slowly working on the CPI work! Because if I panic and freak out, none of the work would get done! :P So, catch you later! I'm going  back to my work! The prices are calling me! :D

Just Press Play!

I just realized that I haven't written any posts about music, but I can't function properly without it, which is why I just HAVE to write about music ;) The inspiration was Shaha's blog, Diary Girl , Where she writes about music every week. :D

Here's something that made me go "Wow"! (All credits to Potayto!)Maybe you've seen this before, but this is the first time I saw it and I totally loved it! (video link at the end of the post! :D)

So, it is called PopDanThology and it's a mash-up of the best songs of 2012. It's not that it's just a mash-up, it's the way it was mashed up that made me speechless. You have to know all or atleast most of the songs in the mash up to fully comprehend the hard work of Daniel Kim, and how talented he is at this sort of stuff ;)
Here's a list of some songs you have to check out, if you don't already know them, before you see the mash up video :D (Even I don't know ALL of them, but these are the ones I think you'll like, because I sure do! :D)

1) Payphone- Maroon 5 

2) Glad you came- The Wanted

3) Whistle- Flo Rida (The whistling tune is so catchy! ;))

4) Scream- Usher

5) Dance again- Jennifer Lopez ft Pitbull

6) Don’t wake me up- Chris Brown

7) Sorry for party rocking- LMFAO (Hilarious!)

8) Stronger- Kelly Clarkson (Inspirational!)

9) Domino- Jessie J

10)Turn up the music- Chris Brown

11) One more night- Maroon 5 (Gets stuck in your head, specially the chorus! ;) )

12) Call me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepsen (Awesome!)

13) Wild ones- Flo Rida ft Sia

14) We are young- Fun

15) Set fire to the rain- Adele (there's a certain charm in it, kinda addictive!)

16) Part of me- Katy Perry (Hell, yeah!)

17) Give your heart a break- Demi Lovato (Love it!)

18) Wide Awake- Katy Perry

19) Boy Friend- Justin Beiber

20) Good Time- Carly rae Jepsen & Owl  City

21) Gangnam Style- Psy (If you haven't hear this, you literally live under a rock :P alright, time to get out from under the rock! Go ahead and click the link! :D)

22) Die young- Kesha (again, Awesome!)

23) What makes you beautiful- One Direction

24) Diamonds- Rihanna

25) Live while we are young – One Direction

26) International Love- Pitbull ft Chris Brown

 27) Where have you been- Rihanna

28) Somebody that I used to know- Gotye

29) Finally found you- Enrique Iglesias

30) Give me all your  lovin’- M.I.A ft Nicki Minaj

ALL RIGHT!! Now you know atleast 30 songs, you can fully appreciate the beauty of this mash up! You are ready! :D 

Here you go! Have fun trying to figure out which song's which! ;)

And for those who haven't figured it out yet, here's a video with the vocals and instrumental separately labelled! :D

New Year Celebrations!

It was 10.30 pm on 31st December 2012. I was watching Pretty Little Liars because I had nothing better to do! (Yeah, I never celebrated New Year or any other day for that matter, not at 12am any way, except for the last month-versary) It was at 11.30pm that Mausooma Miss called and told me that they were coming to fetch me and to be ready. They called before and asked me if I would like to join them for dinner, and I told them that I'd love to, but I could go only if my Dad said I could. Apparently Dad gave his permission to them!;)

So I got ready, wore the most party-ish dress I owned and Mausooma Miss, Raid's Dad, Riu and I went to Royal Restaurant (for those of you who don't know the place, it is one of the best restaurants in Fuvahmulah, based near the ocean, allowing the cool breezes to caress our faces when we stay on the terrace!).

The whole place was decorated with Chinese Lanterns, Twinkling lights, Garden Lights, and the "Fulhi Bahthi"s ;) The place looked so magical!

Fulhi Bahthi

We went for the buffet table which had a "Dhoni" on it. It was when we were putting the food on our plates that we noticed something was going on. People were suddenly moving towards the little huts near the ocean. So we went there to see what was happening. It's not that clear in this picture because I do not have a "Big Camera" as I call it, but that was the numbers 2012 on fire. Symbolic, huh?  Burning out 2012! :P hehe

And then these twinkling lights appeared overhead, which read, Happy New Year 2013! It was just so very beautiful!

Then we ate dinner, took some pictures of the place and ourselves, (mostly me and Riu ;)) laughed real loud and left! :P

And then this evening I went to Thundi again with my friends, Musly, Maashy, Huly and Aadhu. We were later joined by Nuhy, Shazu and Luba, and we went to Real Breeze, another restaurant, to eat pizza. I have eaten pizza from Pizza Hut and such famous Pizza places, but Real Breeze pizza is still the best for me! We were too starved to wait and take pictures of the pizza, so no pictures of the pizzas :P

As usual, when we got together, things were so crazy! We could see other people in the restaurant giving us quick looks, but we couldn't help the fact that we were laughing so hard! Even the terrible mosquitoes failed to bring us down :D We did all sorts of funny, illogical things like the one in the picture below :P

The M&M resembling bracelet has it's arms around the glass of water, hugging it tight!

Then comes the key which has a variety of coloured elastic bands attached to it. The  M&Ms like the key, and they are together. But they face pressure from the society since they aren't alike!

Finally, the key with colourful elastic bands finds another of it's kind, a key with  no key chain. The colourful elastic band key leaves the M&Ms for the new key, leaving the M&M behind, M&M gets lonely and goes back to the glass. And all of them lived Happily Ever After :P lol!

We then went for a little ride before coming back home! Thus ended the first day of 2013- a rather good beginning to the year, I'd say ;)