Surviving Empty Nest

In my far and wide travels, I have stayed at many types of hotels – luxury to just converted old bungalows. Each stay was an experience. The hotels were usually rooms with the stated amenities. No big deal and usually were not meant for longer stay in the room. If you are on business trip, a hotel room is only for your to sleep the night and if you are on leisure trip, it is merely for showering and sleeping before more activities the next day. I have also stayed in converted bungalows where the ambience was more family-like. Be it in Kuching, Malaysia or Ayodhia, Thailand or Rangoon City, Myanmar – the feeling was the same. It did not make one feel alienated, or totally cut off from the rest of the world as one would feel in a hotel room. Then came along the new wave of accommodations – the AirBnB. People around the world were willing to let strangers into their homes – be it into designated rooms or apartments/houses that they owned. So far I have stayed in more than half

Well, folks, 2020 is arriving soon. It is time we all live our lives. Living means enjoying life as it comes and one necessity is money. With the Internet of Things taking over our lives, let us start looking at ways to make money, even while having a full-time job. I have compiled a list here (not exhaustive), see what works and if you have more ideas, do share for the benefit of others: 1.     Set up online courses – people these days prefer constructivism. That means, they like to learn on their own at their pace. Most of us learn from YouTube – yes, I get my recipes from them. Sometimes, we need quick fixes like how to set up a formula in Excel, so YouTube is the best place to look at. Of course, some of us still use search engines like Google, then again there are people who would like to learn a full course. Sites like Udemy, TakeLessons can be a good start but my suggestion is to browse these sites first before setting up anything online. Alternatively, use any websi

Now that the thanking part is over for 2019, let me start planning for 2020. So, here’s my new year resolution: 1.     Money, money, money – yes, my first resolution is to make money work for me. Well, either I land a job with a larger package or I find another source of income or I manage my money better so that I could pay all my bills and have enough at hand to make through the month; with some indulgences of course. It is not that I am earning lesser now, however, over the years debt had mounted as I put my second one through her school education – international school – and that made a huge dent on my finances. How and why she ended up at such a school is another long story, however, it is all worth it seeing her mature into a responsible individual. I am coming out of the woods, slowly but it may take longer without more money at hand. Plus, some heavy weight expenses are expected in the coming months, so, it is time to start thinking, job hunting and plannin

A week to go before the year ends – and yes, I have been silent for some time now. The Qatar project has taken off, progress is good though could be challenging at times given that internal and external experts are working on it. A trip to Doha made me busier than usual and that didn’t help to find the time to continue blogging though I was sure that I could blog from there but alas! So, here we are; almost at the end of 2019. I would like to reflect on the past months and thank a host of people and persons who made huge difference in my life. I would like to begin with my past employers – Manipal Global Education Services, with whom I worked for 4.5 years. Those were wonderful years; it was my Bosses at Manipal who saved my life when I was diagnosed with cancer and for that I would always be grateful, however, I wish I was treated better while I was there. It seems like there was a bias against me as I was a woman/single mother. Maybe they don’t feel that way, as that could be v

This is the second part to my earlier post on the Gaza Dream. My work note book has a saying on the cover - What the Mind Can Conceive, It Can Achieve - Napolean Hill. Yes, I believe that. My life has been such, till today. Whatever I desire to achieve, I set it up in my mind first. I am not sure who said it but it seems if something is etched in the mind, chances are your journey would be towards that destination, none other. Apparently, this is the power of the mind.  We all remember how Japan rose out of the WWII, post atomic bomb devastation in Hisroshima and Nagasaki to become an economic force in the world. The determination and of course the value system made them one of the most resilient races/country in the world. Because it all starts in the mind. Today, again, I write about the potentials of Gaza. A narrow strip which is still being bombed by Israelis. Shame on them, but the Jews are the Jews. Guess they do not know the meaning of shame or humanity.  But can Gaza ris

No woman would like to be a single mother unless she has been badly hurt emotionally, treated extremely badly in a marriage, actually physically abused, forced to choose singlehood due to some unavoidable circumstances or just can’t live with the spouse who may be taking a free ride on her. Yes, some marriages just die with time. But at times people hold on to loveless marriages due to financial constraints, social stigma and/or children. My advice? None of the above reasons are valid to hold on to something that not only does not make you happy but also add to your stress in life. Sometimes, we just have to let go, to be peaceful.   That was what I did. I let go of the toxin in my life. But I was not very well prepared to undergo life as single mother; the alertness and intelligence that I had in ending the marriage was not there in planning single motherhood. So, here I share some ideas on how your journey can be smoother as you embark on being a single mother or single woma

My Palestinian friends started posting their faces half covered with their palms, on Insta. I asked Raed why and he shared a photo of a journalist who lost his left eye, assaulted by the Israeli army, in the ongoing Israeli oppression in Gaza. Israeli killing innocent people is like watching the sun rise everyday. They do it without any remorse or conscience. They do it like how we do our daily chores. They just kill. They taunt the Palestinians in Gaza and West bank. They bomb Arabs in Syria. They do it freely because no one actually questions them. They do it because even the United States rallies behind them. They call others `savages' because to them anyone who is not from their faith are not human beings.  Who are these Israelis? I actually did research online to see who Israelis are. Where did they get their mindset to kill at will? There is one commentary online which says Israeli nation is a fiction. Probably, because they exist only because of the Holy Land th

My dad passed away and I got thrown out of the family. Yeap, that happened.  On 2nd November, dad was admitted to a hospital about 150 kilometres away. Suddenly, a family Whatsapp group was created, I was added (!) and updates were made on his condition. It was pretty much assumed that he was dying and probably that hospitalization could be his last. I was deliberating to visit him because my car was not in the condition to travel far. Then, the news came that my sister who lives in the US was flying down. I figured I needed to visit him, in case that was his last hospitalization. And my Gaza muscle man said he can drive me to Malacca. Claudia, yeah, that's my car, did not have aircon then, it was under repair the preceding 18 months. So, it was a very hot 150 kilometres drive to Malacca and thank God Raed did not speed and could withstand the afternoon heat. I discovered later that the car was in no condition to speed. Dad was sleeping when I reached the hospital. The rest w

The last Indian movie I watched was `Bigil’ starring actor Vijay. He was and is known to act in movies that convey strong messages. Bigil was one of it. It had two strong messages – women empowerment and end to gangterism. The women empowerment part was where a girl, who was a football star, was acid-attacked by a spurned lover, scarred her face so badly that she decided to go into hiding for a few years, sending her football dream into freezer. Vijay, the hero, talks to her and convinces her to leave her `prison’ and face the world, despite being scarred. She does and finally shines again as a football star. The second message was an advocacy to end gangsterism. In the final scene, the hero chases the villain through the streets, till his house (gangster’s house) and all the way to the son’s bedroom! The son was studying but when he saw someone with a sword chasing his dad who tried to hide in a corner of the room, he dropped his book out of shock. So, then came the hero’s dialo

Dear Dr sa’ab, Greetings from Malaysia! Sir, you do not know me, the same way my dad does not know your son. But it was the will of God that your son and I met. It wasn’t planned, it wasn’t orchestrated but it happened because God willed it. Why He willed it, only He knows. Today, your son has left for Gaza City with my heart, leaving his, here, for me to take care of it carefully. And I surely will. Dr sa’ab, I have lived on the face of earth for 54 years, had somewhat good education, come from not so rich family but a family with good talent and values; have two daughters of my own. They are grown up now and have started their own lives. Thus, I think God decided that I need a man in my life and He sent me your son. Dr sa’ab, I am a very independent woman who does not think twice to walk the streets on my own any time of the day (heard one can’t do this in Gaza). In the same breath will also not think twice to board the flight to Cairo en route Gaza. Such is my independ