Catching up on 6 months!

So, we've been really busy since our last post. Yes, you can get busy in Darwin too.. Especially Navin, who has had a number of amazing opportunities with his photography. So I have taken over to update on what we've been up to.

I'll try my best to make this as brief and thorough at the same time! Wish me luck!

Since Lava, Usof and the lovely kids visited in Apr, we've been in touch, catching up on all we'd missed out over the years. We continue to be awed by their parenting style which we believe gives the children the best experiences as they grow up. No, we're not having kids but do appreciate good parents!

Okay, back to catching up:

May

Unfortunately, we had to miss the joyous occasion of the marriage of a dear friend, Aanesh to Naanthini, my cousin. We had very much wanted to be there to celebrate this union and we're glad they were understanding of our schedule. We managed to catch up on their day's proceedings when we met up with them in June. Nevertheless, we wish the newly weds a beautiful marriage and many decades of love, peace and joy!

May was a busy month for me as work brought me all over the Northern Territory and to Sydney too! I enjoyed my introduction to Tennant Creek (a town terribly disregarded for safety and other issues) and meeting the people who make the best of life, with the limited resources they've got. I was pretty excited to travel on a propeller plane for the first time too. 

My first 30 seater plane ride!

Aerial view of the beautiful landscape in NT

Devil's Marbles!

 June

Navin's birthday was meant to be pretty simple. We were to meet our friends at the Trailer Boat Club to enjoy the sunset, and I was supposed to arrive with Navin and the cake, which I had specially ordered in Navin's favorite flavors. Surely, this had to be messed up by Cold Rock not having processed the order after taking my payment. Anyways, I got a cake off the shelf, which took the staff 20 mins to pack (welcome to Darwin!). We made it just in time for the sun to set and had a chill birthday celebration.

The very next week, we were back in Singapore for the wedding of the year!  Navin & I were glad to be part of the elaborate ceremonies that led up to Murali & Mishalini's BIG DAY. As the groom's sister, I had official bridesmaid duties and Navin was the friendly, supportive son-in-law that made everything possible! We were happy to have been introduced to most of Mishalini's family, albeit briefly, and also got to catch up with family we hadn't seen in a while. 

With my brother, the groom!

This time we stayed with Navin's parents and got to have a few relaxing meals and chats with Aunty, Uncle and Deepa, Kumar &Manuushree when they came over. It was good to spend more time with Friday too! Yes, he still barked and growled at Navin. What can I say, it's a love-hate relationship.We also managed to squeeze in meet ups with as many friends as possible, and ticked as many items off our cravings list! Alvin gave Navin a mini belated birthday celebration when we met up for a quick meal together! Thanks Alvin! Navin & I had a feel of a Tamil club (we're not fans of clubbing and loud music, so this was new to us). It was a quiet night and guests got to sing their favorite songs, so Navin & Manoaj took to the stage to wow the band! 

Same same but different...

 

Aline dearest!

With Hannah and lovely mummy Elaine!

Our green-themed outing turned out to be more "blue"

After the very rushed week in Singapore, we flew to Sydney, where Navin was supposed to attend a photography workshop. Turned out to be a photography session of Andrew and Navin, while us wives were the assistants. A quick weekend escapade well spent with Victoria, Andrew and Shivani (who joined us after a crazy work week) before we returned to Darwin.

The month ended on a high as four of Navin's photos won Silver Awards at the AIPP State awards. The accumulation of these awards also won him the title of Emerging Photographer of the Year in the NT. While the competition is less intense in the NT as compared to other states/territories, this is surely a stepping stone to greater achievements! Well done Navin Chandra!!

July

True enough, things in the photography scene started picking up for Navin. Master Wedding Photographers Ryan Schembri and Nick Ghionis arrived from interstate to shoot weddings on behalf of George F, Darwin's No. 1 Wedding photographer. Navin, like many budding photographers, had long hoped to understudy these top ranking photographers since he developed an interest in wedding photography. This time, the opportunity came knocking at his door, in the form of his buddy, Jaydene! Navin got to understudy and assist Ryan and Nick, not once, but four times over the course of July and August! Of course he was over the moon, but managed to maintain his poise while he was with the legends!

From left to right: Mel Silva, George Fragopolous, Nick Ghionis, Ryan Schembri and Navin

July was an eventful month in more ways than one. Thiru, Navin's friend from JC, arrived in Darwin on his own, while his wife, Nathini and furkid, Leo were to come when Thiru had settled in. It was quite timely as our lease was ending and Thiru was taking over from us! Which means... We Moved!!

With the help of Pearl, Sid, Richard and Thiru (Jules was with us in spirit!), we transported our stuff over to our new place in Woolner. Back breaking, but we managed to unpack all the necessary items in time for our first visitor!

Haha! Yup, we moved in two days before Sreeram arrived to visit us in Darwin. (For those who don't know, Sreeram is a cousin of mine, whom Navin tutored and they both developed a bond so strong that I'm doubtful of what happened during tuition.) So while Sreeram was here, he spent his days bus-hopping and chilling at home, while Navin and I went to work. Ohh, and while I was away for two days, the boys had a random bachelor party - just b'coz! And I returned to ruin the fun. 

We had to get our previous house cleaned and inspected before it could be handed over to Thiru. The day we spent cleaning turned out to be quite an adventure. Navin, being Navin, somehow managed to lock his car keys in the car together with his handphone. Using my phone and car, he got in contact with Thiru and Sreeram, and brought them over to render their assistance in breaking open into Navin's Nissan. After almost 2 hours of trying and some ingenious hacks (which resulted in damaging one of my clothes hangars), the boys finally managed to unlock the car albeit with some scratches and damage to the door seal. 

The next day was a public holiday, and the day of the inspection. However, all the cleaning wasn't up to the mark. Navin and I spent the entire morning re-cleaning the apartment with our agent, while Sreeram and Thiru waited. We cleared the inspection past mid-day and made it to the showgrounds. It was the Darwin Show Day after all! Navin assisted as one of the official photographers at the event (due to his involvement with the Darwin Camera Club) and we tagged along! 

Over the weekend, we booked a BBQ boat and self-drove through Corroborree Billabong - sighting crocs, birds and wallabies to give Sreeram a taste of the NT lifestyle! We also made it to Litchfield National Park's waterfalls! Quite sure he enjoyed it! Got to say I enjoyed our quiet catch ups over drinks as much as the activities! Sreeram is a blessing to everyone he's around and we're truly amazed by his drive to succeed, his maturity and his genuine care for the people around him. Here are some photos of the crazy week with Sreeramaaa!

August

So five days after Sreeram returns to Singapore, dear Sentill and parents arrive for another amazing week! We had planned for this visit for nearly a year and have been eagerly awaiting our chance to play host to Uncle and Aunty especially! (For those who don't know again, Sentill and I are cousins but more importantly, Sentill and Navin have been close friends since they were 10. Over two decades, Sentill's parents have grown to become one of our biggest well-wishers. They've always had their doors open for us and have given us so much of their time and love - we've long wished for an opportunity to repay their kindness) OK. Getting Emotional.

Since this was Sentill's second trip, he kinda took the back seat while we planned activities around Uncle & Aunty. We were eager to give them as much of the NT experience as possible. Cullen Bay sunset, Nightcliff sunset, Mindil markets, sunset cruise and the casino. We also spent three days on the road - Jumping Crocs, Ubirr sunset, Litchfield waterfalls and termite mounds. Uncle and Aunty seemed to have enjoyed the road trip and the sunsets and more importantly, trusted us with all the water activities we brought them too.

During the week, Punitha Aunty had been preparing meals at home while Navin and I went to work. We'd return to our favorite dishes and even extra portions for lunch the next day(or week/month). She also bought us an Appam pan from Singapore together with premixed batter. We set up our Appam station in the balcony as we needed a gas stove instead of our electric stove in the kitchen. Our favorite breakfast craving satisfied, thanks to Aunty! On their last day with us, Aunty threw us a feast, so big there wasnt enough space for our plates! And marinated meat for us to bake and have for dinner for the rest of the week! I actually just had the last piece of Salmon this week!

Appam station in our balcony

Our feast, complete with Crab Shell Cracking and Disposal stations 

It was with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to Uncle, Aunty and Sentill. After two weeks of having loved ones with us, countless outings and hearty meals, returning home to an empty home was rather painful. Thankfully another work trip kept me busy! However, I returned feeling unwell and gradually this developed into a bad cough, fevers and headaches. Over the next few weeks, Navin & I took turns feeling sick. Some days we had coughing symphonies at home! Not very pleasant to the ears and throat though.

August did not end too well also because Navin's entries didn't score as well as we'd expected in the National APPA Awards. Good experience nevertheless. Getting familiar with the trends and expectations.

September

September started out AWESOME! What was supposed to be a quiet getaway in Bali for Navin & me turned out to be a surprise(for me) party - Manoaj, Nirmal, Jaspal, Usha, Charlene, Sharan and Nirmal's cousins Harpreet & Amarpreet were in Bali too! Celebrating Jaspal and Nirmal's birthdays!

In just four days, Navin & I :

• Ate to our hearts content (swearing that diet will commence the day we got back to Darwin); 
• Spent quality time with the party people (when they were not partying) ;
• Enjoyed three relaxing dives at PadangBai with Manoaj, Nirmal and Harpreet - this time Navin brought his Go-Pro instead of the bulky underwater camera set up he usually brings to stress him up at each dive 😒 (Sadly, PadangBai happens to be exactly where the Singaporean lady doctor died a week later. Rest in Peace, Lady)
• Climbed our very first mountain together! It was Bhaiyyah's birthday and we pushed our way to ALMOST the top of Mt Batur, where we sang him a birthday song and got him to cut his tiny muffin-cake. Not the most comfortable experience, but doing this with great friends and for the birthday of a very special friend, made it truly meaningful! Cheers guys! (By the way, if you haven't tried steamed bread with butter and banana slices, do try it! They served us those on the mountain)
• Satisfied our durian craving! It was sheer coincidence - we were walking in search of local cuisine to be our last meal in Bali, and passed this lady selling durian off the back of her pick-up. She guaranteed the durian would be sweet and creamy and that she'd wait for us to come back after dinner. And she did! We had our tiny roadside table and dug in (with plastic gloves) to the creamiest, sweetest durian we've had in a long time - for EIGHT DOLLARS!!

Mt Batur - 1,717m

The best part of our Bali trip was seeing dear Manoaj looking like a completely different person from just three months ago! Navin & I had trouble getting our eyes off Manoaj, who'd lost substantial weight and emitted a healthy, joyful radiance - all thanks to Charlene! Amazing how true love brings out the goodness in someone!

We returned directly to a busy work week and somehow, our cough and headaches resumed too! But that didn't keep Navin away from work and photography.  Since Navin switched to a 4-day work week, he'd been keeping himself busy with shoots for the marketing team of the new mall, Coolalinga Central and corporate shoots for the ANZ Mobile Lending team. September marked another milestone with him starting work in George F's studio, editing his photos and learning from the Master.

We also had a quick visit by Gerard, returning to Darwin for some official matters and stayed with us. With all that's been going on since we moved, we finally had the weekend evening available for Pearl and Sid to join us for dinner. We prepared a little Indian dinner in appreciation of their help with the move. I doubt we'll ever have enough to repay them for their love and guidance, but we'll do our best in the years to come!

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DONE! Not brief, not thorough..but you've got quite precise snapshots of the past half-year!

Will try keep this up-to-date so I would not have to cram another six months into a single post again. 

Reflecting on the past six months, we've only got two things on our mind : We badly,badly need to DIET & EXERCISE!!

Catch you next time people! Cheers!