What kind of a world are we living in!

An attacker threw a grenade at tourists in Cairo's famous bustling Khan el-Khalili bazaar, killing a Frenchwoman and wounding at least 17 people mostly tourists, as reported by officials. This 650 year old bazaar at any time is packed with tourists buying souvenirs, and the bazaar is widespread inside narrow gallis (streets) and is quiet a maze.  The bazaar was last attacked in April 2005, when a suicide bomber killed two French citizens and an American. 

When we were in Egypt, we visited this bazaar twice and it was quite an experience, a bustling market packed with vendors, locals and tourists... it was one of our favorite places, the most fun and lively bazaar we visited during our stay in Egypt. The market square is lined with outdoor cafes and restaurants and is usually packed with crowds. There are also many historic mosques (one in the square and many others close by). This bazaar is in the old part of Cairo and is always very lively. This attack on Egyptian nationals and tourists is outrageous! I can't even imagine how scared people who were there must have been during this recent attack. What sort of a world are we living in that nowhere is safe. 

It's always sad to hear of attacks anywhere in the world, ones heart goes out to the loved ones of people killed, injured and attacked in these events, but today after hearing about the recent attack in Cairo, I thought about all the people we met in Egypt, especially the vendors we met and bargained with in Khan el-Khalili. I hope they are safe and their families are safe as well. Hope and pray for hatred to end, and for all of us to live in peace.  

People never fail to surprise you!

This one was priceless... on one of the airport reality shows on TV:

Early morning: Male Passenger at the check in counter, realizes he forgot his passport @ home, so he calls his girlfriend and asks her to drop off his passport to him at the airport... no biggie right... well not really... his girlfriend is home getting ready for work in Edinburgh, Scotland... while the guy is at an airport in London, England!

So he asks his girlfriend to catch the next flight which is in 20 minutes as that is the only flight that would make it on time for him to catch his flight from London, so he can be on his way for his vacation! The girlfriend dashes to the airport catches the flight just in time as the gates are closing, reaches London hands him his passport and is getting ready to catch her flight back home to make it to work on time... only to learn her flight has been cancelled and the next flight for Edinburgh is in 7 hours! So she sits and waits at the airport to catch her flight, while her boyfriend leaves for his skiing vacation... and while the camera crew is still on him, he drops and almost looses his passport before boarding his flight!

I could not stop laughing at this one... had to share it with you all :o)

Happy Valentines Day!!

Dear Friends & Family,

Wishing you all a very Happy Valentines Day! And we both are right here waiting for you all to be our valentine ;-)

Love & Hugs

Mattu & Sunny

I stumbled on there pictures a while ago on a design site & simply loved the effect the artist had given her pictures :o) I thought it might be fun to share them with you all on Valentines Day. 

We are going to be Masi & Masarji!!

We have a very special announcement to make & wonderful news to share :o) Our dearest darling Bebeji aka Rohini & Pravesh are pregnant!! We are going to welcome a beautiful little niece/nephew in a few months! We've been super excited since the day we heard the news (a few months ago) and can't wait to meet the little one :o) Attached is a ultrasound picture of the little one waving at us all and saying her/his very first hello! :o)

Dearest Sis & Brother-in-Law... we are so very happy for you both!! Can't begin to tell you how happy this news has made us all... a little heads up just so you both are aware and prepared... you both will be responsible for the little ones deciplined upbringing and we'll be solely contributing towards something even more essential and important in raising a child... teaching them how to be naughty little munchkins and spoiling them rotten :o) Apologies in advance... but that is how it works ;-) 

Congratulations Guys!! Super excited :D

Lots of Love

Mattu Masi & Sunny Masarji :o)

Snowman & Snow Fight time!!

Now it might seem like I am snow obsessed... he he... well I won't exactly call it an obsession, after all it doesn't snow like this in London all the time... it snowed at this scale after 18 years, so it's a pretty unique phenomenon, and I am entitled to a little excitement and snow blogging obsession ;-)

Actually, dear hubby was working from home-office all day and could not leave the flat to play in the snow... had been admiring it from the window, so in the evening we went for a walk and of course had an impromptu snow-fight and made ourselves our very first snowman! :D While we walked around Kew Park, we saw lots of other snowmen creations which were much more grand... and we took some pictures to share!

If this unpredictable weather continues, who knows this snow blogging obsession might continue as well ;-)

Our snowman lost one of his eyes :-O

Christmas in February!!

Unprecedented!!! We had not seen or heard of such things happening in 21st Century London ;-)... SNOW!... and lots of it :o) There is no stopping it, it's been snowing since yesterday and it continues! I woke up this morning and quickly ran to the window to check if it continued to snow and if there was enough all around to admire & build snowmen with... you see I had a dream, under the circumstances it could be categorized as a nightmare! ;-) The nightmare being when I woke up in the morning all the snow had melted away and everything was back to normal... cold for sure after all it is London, but snowless London... so after I discovered it has snowed a LOT, I quickly got ready to head our to take some pictures and to see everything around covered in snow. It's magnificent!... white and absolutely beautiful :o) Mostly everyone is home or working from home... as most buses and trains are not working, so lots of people on the streets with children... snow fights, snow men... it's like Christmas in February!! 

Unexpected snow bring out the children in everyone, but the latest tale I heard from Ginny is a different type of snow excitement! Earlier today, she was standing in her flat and admiring the foot of snow in her balcony and contemplating building a snowman out of it, when she noticed something in the distance... one lonely couple all by themselves in the snow and she noticed the girl was in her bath robe... her curiosity grew and she stood there to see what would happen next... guess what!... the girl took off her robe and now she was wrapped in a blue towel... then to Ginny's surprise she even took off the towel and she was standing in the snow in a BIKINI!... yes a bikini in which she posed for many pictures... LOL... was it a life long dream of hers, a dare, or was she a hindi movie actress shooting for a song... humm... anything could be possible ;-) People never fail to surprise and it seems like everyone is having loads of fun!!

Home sweet home... covered in snow! :o)

I say a foot of snow ;-)!

The local pub @ Kew... deserted! 

Even in this weather someone is riding his/her bike!!

And then there are others riding a different sort of bike ;-)

Let it snow!!!

After two cold winters in London, I finally get to see some real snow :D Yipeee!!!!

As mentioned in the earlier blog I am not a huge fan of cold freezing temperatures, but when it comes to snow... I am a total baby... love it!! We have experienced what I call, drizzle snowed, tiny snow flakes fall but not enough for them to collect on the ground, but today is a different story, it's cold and it's been snowing, on and off all day and there is snow on the streets, cars, lawns... everywhere, it's all white... it's beautiful :) We have snow in London, which doesn't happen to often and it's magnificent!!  Here are some shots we've been taking from the confines of our warm flat ;)

My heart is singing... let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... snow snow :)