Pamela Q. Fernandes's Blog, page 44

Merry Christmas everyone

Just wanted to wish everyone a  blessed Christmas...
Have a wonderful Christmas season. I hope all have got their cards.
God bless all

Christmas music

Can you hear the sound of bells jingling?
Well if you haven't heard the carolling on the street or the drums marching by. Too bad. Everyday we are serenaded by the groups of adults, oldies, children, teenagers singing their most preppy Christmas tunes. And I have a list of albums that you should check out as you decide what to buy for Christmas. Personally through Christmas week I just leave the internet radio on where they have Christmas music 24/7 365 days a year. You can find one on tunein or allchristmasinternetradio. Depending on my mood I switch stations. But sometimes the airwaves can be thin and signals get fogged up. Then I just go on to some favourites.

If you're a Jazz lover do pick Micheal Buble's Christmas special - he has a very jazzy way of doing it and it sounds upbeat, especially party kind. While I have only heard the 2011 version, I believe he has one for this year too.
  If you want something calmer and homely I guess Celine Dion's album - These are special times is for you. I love the French carols and also the duets that she has with Andrea Bocelli + R Kelly. She brings her own comfort while singing these. I usually play this when we're at meals or prepping something. Its just beautiful.   Of late I have absolutely fallen in love with Celtic and opera music. The quartets of flute, harp, violin and cello are just divine. There are two albums here that you should give a listen to. On the instrumental side is Dan Gibson's Solitudes which has beautiful arrangements of Christmas carols.  Another Celtic version would be the album Celtic woman- Home for Christmas. If you love opera music, then Il Divo's album The Christmas collection is just the thing for you. I feel with their rich voices this quartet can actually manage to sing like a whole range choir. You have to listen to some of their renditions though. Stunning. I'm embedding it from youtube for your listening pleasure.  

Josh Groban's Noel- I love his version of What Child is this? It almost always moves me to tears.
Then You cannot do with Boney M's Feliz Navidad, Brenda Lee's Rocking around the Christmas tree, Nat King Cole's - Christmas song, Jim Reeves - White Christmas. I could build this list to two hundred.
But what takes the cake is the Gloucester Cathedral choir.
 

There is plenty of good Christmas music for every taste and liking. There's no better way to express this joy and love that one feels at Christmas time than in music. So when you have your parties this year, can we please ditch the Bollywood noise and stick to the music of the season.

Happy Advent people, one more Sunday to prep. Squeeze confessions on to your list of to-do's.
See you soon.
 

A little cup of Christmas

Its Advent.
I just watched the movie Oh My God yesterday albeit rather late. And what I found strange was that while they kept saying we must practice and not preach, the Catholic community has been doing that for eons. We go to villages, leprosy colonies, Aids victims, orphaned children, Africa where no one else will go. Yet we do it silently, with no credit, with no praise for that is the true meaning of giving.
I have met so many people, who give till it hurts, offer meals from the little that they have, make time for causes even when pressed, generous people whom only God knows of various religions.

The only reason we go to church is because week after week and for some people day after day is because the flesh and blood of Christ edifies us through the week. That is the significance of the Eucharist and India is rightfully celebrating this year as the Year of the Eucharist. How little do people know about Christ in the flesh? It is the only place where God himself feeds his own people. I love this verse of St Teresa of Avila, 1515
Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.


And so even as we get agitated that the onions have become expensive, the sweets turned out bad or haven't been made at all, or the Christmas lights fused out, the star is not ready, decorations have to be put, the meats have to be brined, all that food has to be made... let us sit ourselves down and simply be thankful for waking up every morning. Imagine what went through Mary's heart. And if you need a little help turn on some music.

I have a list of Christmas music albums that you should listen to- will put that up in a post very soon.
Till then happy preparations. And don't forget 'all is calm, all is bright.'

Dubai - Emirates terminal

The wonder that is Dubai. Well I have been planning this post for two years. Yeah two years since I last was there. But didn't think it would be a fair post. Now after having transited through Bahrain's Manama, Qatar's Doha and Dubai's rival, Abu Dhabi I think I have the research required to post. And I'm not the standard traveller that just looks for the gates and shuttles from one flight to the other. When I travel I eat at the restaurants, drink at the cafe's, shop for perfumes, chocolates and well keep shopping some more. I walk through the entire lengths of terminals no matter how tired I am. That's because airport transits are now like mini cities especially in the Middle east. And I probably won't transit through anywhere else unless its Singapore or Hong Kong.
I have been on long haul and short haul flights through here. Just for the record, if you're on a long haul flight do pick Qatar airways and Etihad for in- flight services. I have been on twelve and sixteen hour routes and these two give you the best service. Emirates is good on the short haul.
 Dubai fountain with live fish
The terminal- has the wow factor
Dubai has a train that runs between A and B. B and C gates are clubbed together. The restaurants are largely the same all over, but the fast food joints are different across the terminals. Basically the shopping that is available at the C gates is the same for B gates. So if you have walked the length at one end don't bother at the other end.
Seating dubaiAlso at Dubai if you are changing planes make sure you have a transit time of 3 hours minimum to ensure your baggage gets transferred and so do you, in time. There's staff at peak hours to direct you to your gate and routinely you will find people running to catch their connections. Its fun to watch especially if they're wearing a national costume.
The shopping I would say in Dubai is expensive and has no offers unlike other places. They usually charge MRP and you swipe your boarding pass before you pay. They accept card and they have currency exchangers, but USD works best especially if you want to make change.
Dubai's dedicated Emirates terminal is visually appealing and its like a piece of architecture, with its lovely elevators and giant wall waterfall, fountains and live fish. Plus you will be entertained, make new friends and the wifi is free + fast. They also have clean toilets if you're smart enough to find the less crowded ones like on the ground floor at A or just after transfers. Don't fall asleep here, gates change all the time. Keep your ears open while you stuff yourself. Somehow my other pics of the waterfall and musical lifts won't upload. Shame

Abu dhabiAbu Dhabi has centralized shopping for all its terminals. That means that wherever you are you have to go down to the central portion under the beautiful green dome and shop there. Its got greater variety than Dubai according to me. However its long walking to get to the shopping from the terminals and they have very limited seating. Its like you better not sit while you catch your flight. Also Etihad transfers are crazy long. It took me like an hour long in a very shoddy queue to transfer, what would be better is that you insist on collecting all boarding cards for onward flights from your primary destination. The toilets are always crowded and we could do with more. The food is just meh with McDonald's but you don't have a choice of dining like you would at Dubai. Their wifi is super duper slow.

Doha busyDoha is the best if you want to shop. They have offers on everything and I'm not talking about the car.On popular stuff they have deep discounts and its good stuff. Most of it is made in UK(also at the other duty free in Dubai ad Abu dhabi). If I was buying stuff anywhere else it would be made in China or somewhere else(I don't have anything against them but people think I was a fraud and could get that at my superstore in Mumbai.) They have a centralized shopping area which is packed. You now know why.  The toilets are crowded. Since I was too busy shopping, I didn't have time for wifi. But they don't have much eating choices. More cafes though. Seating is ample. Also you can get to your flights in time since nothing here is too far. So even shorter transits are great.

Its been over ten years since I got through Manama and will not comment because they are not long distance carriers but for short flights, service is great in flight for Gulf air.

So depending on what you like make your choice as you transit, it can be great fun if you allow yourself to enjoy the brief go through.

Song on my playlist: Nos Couleurs by Cheb mami
Movie I recommend: The company we keep





 

My novella is now on amazon..yay

I don't want to toot my own horn, but my novella 'Seoul-mates' is now on Amazon. For Kindle readers its at a discounted price. Just wanted to share this with you. Happy reading all. Yay...Thanks Naheed and Indireads team.

Check it out - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GFEVO5K



Movie I recommend: Rockin on heaven's door (this is a bittersweet Korean movie- I cried and cried while watching this)

Song on my playlist: If I die young by the band Perry

Beating the Mumbai heat

Back in aamchi Mumbai the only way to beat the sweltering heat is to either be at the mall, dine out and rather expensively I might add or stay indoors. I can't believe it's November and so damn hot. I honestly hope winter is coming to this part of the country.

I've been debating what to post this week. But my grey matter isn't responding to my hazelnut flavoured cuppa yet and so my otherwise fruitful mind is in disarray. So today I will just leave you with a few words of thanks.

My immense gratitude to Vic and Reg, Mark and fly for the prayers and best wishes through this time. I can truly tell you that through those prayers I have experienced God's continual presence.

Also a shoutout to Fr Michael Gribbon at St. Therese of Lisieux, parish, Avenue D. Congrats on your installation as pastor of a warm and vibrant parish. All the best to you, Fr Delva and your team for the future.








 

Books I'm reading: The 7 most powerful prayers by Adam Houge

Song on my playlist: Walk right back to me by the Everly brothers

Movie I recommend: Skytten (Danish political movie)

Have a great November people. 2013 seems to be stopping for no one.

Han river at night

Greetings from New York folks,



I have just been crazy busy to create a post even though there's so much to share. Like I said will be continuing the series of pics of scenes from novella 'Seoulmates' which is being featured this week on Indireads.com.



And right from the chapter, 'In Good times and bad,' is the scene where Jihan drives Katia after the meeting with his family. The Nam San bridge runs across the Han river and has some spectacular sights in the evening with the light show.





pic from myseoulsearching.com



Another link of the view from the river bank where they talk is here. Samik Ghosh has some lovely pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonaks/5109605285/



Thanks for the emails. I'm doing fine and the weather is chilly in NYC. I wish I had more time and more friends out here to go and see everything. But alas.... Take care, stay warm. Hope to post some pic of the Big Apple soon.

 

Bukchon Hanok village

I'm asked sometimes if the places in my novella 'Seoul-mates' are fictional. And while I have never been to Seoul, none of the places in my book are made up. Its all factual.








 
Like take the Bukchon Hanok village in the chapter 'To have and to hold.' Basically its the chapter where Katia and Jihan climb up all the way, only to have Jihan engage in his first heart to heart conversation with her. You can see the steep downhill and the narrow lanes going up. Just to give you a sense of the scenery in that book I have attached a few pics. Will do a series of these for all the imagery of the book if possible.  And no this is not a Korean tourism blog. :)



Credit to Tim Thumb & Mark Wiens



Movie I recommend: Julie and Julia

Song on my plalist now: Rachel Diggs Hands of time



 

Where is my voice?

Thousands of innocents die in Syria,

where is my voice?



Gunmen open fire in a busy mall on Children's day,

where is my voice?



Women are harassed on the streets of Mumbai,

where is my voice?



Religious missionaries are persecuted in far flung regions of the world,

where is my voice?



Female babies are killed for being just that, female

where is my voice?



Bribery and corruption are rampant around us,

where is my voice?



Injustice occurs right before our eyes,

where is my voice?



Where am I?

what am I doing?

where is my voice?

why have I become immune to a bruised and hurting world?





I am not a poet by any means, but these are just thoughts.

If we can do nothing we can certainly offer up a prayer and stand in the gap even if it's just a line. There's tremendous power in that line.

After all a world united in prayer is a world that cares.

Today is also the first day of The Novena of St Therese of Liseaux, a Carmelite nun. While this novena is especially to pray for other 'roses' in the making namely other nuns, you can also use it to pray for the world at large. A simple way would be use praymorenovenas.com.

John Paul and Annie work really hard to make sure these prayers get to your inbox every morning for free. So sign up with them and end this month with the feast of the little flower.

She has these beautiful words, 'the world's thy ship and not thy home.'



http://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-therese-novena/



Movie I recommend: One day in Europe (this is fun esp if you watch football, the backdrop is the Deportive vs Galatasary match and four robberies that take place in different parts of Europe)

I am not reading now ;)

Song on my playlist now: Timeless love by Kelly Clarkson and Justin

 

Published in the Literary Yard Journal

This came as a complete surprise, my short story was published in the online Literary Yard Journal yesterday.

The story, 'the weeping wall' is not my usual writing. The voice, tense and person are very new to me. If you've read my novella, you would know I like writing third person and my voice isn't that calm. It is usually quite caustic with sarcasm. Here it was a bit different. I may have fumbled with the tense. So it's not a perfect story, but it's a short that was simple.

Do let me know what you think of it either at the website link below or here at the blog. I would like some feedback on the story.



http://literaryyard.com/2013/09/16/story-the-weeping-wall/