It is every newlywed couple's dream to move out on our own, and we decided to just rent a room for now so that we can get used to the new lifestyle. Besides, getting a house in Singapore is a huge financial commitment, and we wanted to just take it slow.

We started our house-hunting a few months back and our idea was to try and find one on our own - you know, without getting an agent involved. So we hunted.. and hunted... and hunted... checked out most of the real estate websites like propertyguru, stproperty, roomsdb, iproperty etc. but most of the listings were made by agents, and they had a very popular method of listing a much lower rental value just to attract possible tenants... and then when you contact them, they drop the bomb on you.

Some of them don't upload photos of the house / room in the listings. Sometimes, they even provide false listings. All in the name of competitiveness (I think there are more real estate agents in Singapore than traffic lights!)

So anyway, as we ran out of time, we decided to just change our strategy and seek the help of an agent. First we contact a Chinese agent, whose contacts we came across online in gumtree.com or something. He had listed a room in Hougang and all the specifications met our requirements as well.

SO we contacted him... and he told us to check out his website (which happened to be a blog) and see if there are any other listings we're interested in. We thought he's just so nice to get a list of rooms we're interested in so he can help us pick out the best one. BUT, it turned out that he'd already closed the deals for most of the rooms mentioned in his blog, and not only didn't he bother to update it but also conveniently forgot to mention that tiny detail to us. We wasted our time searching through his whole "website", and at the end of the day, he left us high and dry with just one room out of our shortlisted rooms available for viewing.

We decided to view it.

So we fixed a time for the next day. The room was at Boon Lay. We left early. We reached Boon Lay early.

BUT the room was so far inside the residential area, that by the time we found the block, we were half an hour late.

Once we were under the block, we called the agent and guess what. He had left the place, because he thought we were "not going to come anymore". Well, for the sake of simple courtesy or at least client service, he could have called me and asked if there were any changes in our plan. I find that very unprofessional and mainly because of that we decided not to take that room. It was a common room in a nice flat, with built-in wardrobes but no bed. We were to share the house with an Indian Muslim family of 3.

That was our first experience with a real-estate agent.

After that we decided not to take our chances with unknown agents, and contacted a friend of my parents' and PropNex agent, Mr. Arun Sathyan. He was really friendly and professional. Believe it or not, he found us a room which matched all our specifications within just one day! We were extremely satisfied with his service and would recommend him anytime to anyone who's looking to rent or buy a room or house in Singapore.

We signed the agreement and shifted on the second day. We're back in India now counting down to our wedding... :)

I will update his contact details here once he's approved of it. Till then, feel free to drop me a message if you'd like to get his details.

Here is a Foolproof Way to See and Experience Everything that the Singapore Night Safari Has to Offer

The Night Safari is a must visit attraction for anyone who visits Singapore. It is just beside the Singapore Zoo, but it would be better to visit the Zoo and the Night Safari on separate days, so as to enjoy both to the fullest, unless of course you have very high stamina to keep walking for an entire day and night. Here are a few steps to ensure a fully enjoyable trip to the Singapore Night Safari. 

1. Check for promotions 

The first thing to be remembered is to check the Night Safari website for any promotions that you may be entitled to during your intended time of visit. They often have discount coupons on their website, nightsafari.com.sg. You can also check out the highlights of the Night Safari in the website. 

2. Know the attractions 

All details regarding the attractions can be found on their website. They currently have 2 shows, the Thumbuakar Performance and the Creatures of the Night Show. These two are strategically timed such that if you plan your visit well and keep to your plan, you can catch them both. The Thumbuakar Performance is a cultural show of dancing with fire, which you can watch while having a snack or an early dinner at the Bongo Burgers restaurant. 

The first Thumbuakar performance is at 6.45PM, while the first Creatures of the Night Show is at 7:30PM. The Creatures of the Night Show is the highlight of the Night Safari, where they showcase the habits and instincts of various nocturnal animals. It is a 30 minute show, and you can watch it only on a first come first serve basis. There are no tickets needed for this show, but if the venue is packed by the time you make your way there, then you will have to wait one hour till the next show. Therefore, keeping up to your planned timing is crucial. 

You can choose to watch the Creatures of the Night Show first and then watch the Thumbuakar Performance later as well. 

3. Be early 

It would be a good idea to reach early, as you would not want your trip to lag behind schedule because of long queues at the ticketing counter. The Night Safari opens at 7:30PM, but you can get the tickets as early as you want. It is advisable to be there by 6:00PM. That would give you enough time to purchase the entrance ticket and grab a bite at one of the restaurants inside, before proceeding to watch the shows. 

4. Catch the shows before taking the tram ride 

There is a tram ride that goes one big round around the Night Safari. It is mostly always crowded at the tram station, and many tourists often make the mistake of heading straight for the tram ride before watching the 2 shows. This could be because they think they could catch the later show, when it is less crowded, or because they simply do not even know the existence of 2 such shows. 

The fact is that the shows will always be crowded, especially later on in the evening. As the saying goes, "the early bird gets the worm". So it is always a better idea to be early than to watch the later show. Besides, the rush is always for the shows, so once you get to watch it, the sense of urgency eases off and you will be able to enjoy the rest of the attractions at a more relaxed pace, hence making it a more worthwhile trip. 

5. Go one full trip around on the tram 

Be prepared for long queues for the tram ride, but now that you have watched both the shows, you will feel calmer about waiting for the tram. Night Safari has a very good crowd management system, and as such, there is a tram picking up passengers every few minutes, so your turn will come soon. 

Once on the tram, in order to enjoy your ride to the fullest, listen to and follow the instructions given by the tour guide who will be on the tram with you. Flash photography is strictly not allowed, as this will disturb the nocturnal animals. The lights are dim, so as to imitate their natural habitats, in an attempt to showcase the animals' natural characteristics as much as possible to the tourists. Also, remember to keep your noise level down, so as not to scare away the animals. This is a ride where the animals tend to wander close to the tram, and you can experience this only if you follow the rules set by the guide at the beginning of the tram ride. 

6. Walk the trails 

You can find the Night Safari Map on their website. The tram route and walking trails are clearly defined in it. Once you have gone a complete round on the tram, you can start on the walking trail. These are two different routes and do not coincide with each other at all, except at the 2 tram stations. 

There are 4 walking trails, namely the Fishing Cat trail, the Leopard trail, the East Lodge trail and the Wallaby trail. This is the best order in which to follow the walking trail - starting with the Fishing Cat trail and ending with the Wallaby trail. This is because the Fishing cat trail starts from the place where the tram ride ends, and it joins with the Leopard trail, which then joins with the East Lodge trail, which subsequently joins the Wallaby trail, and ends back at the entrance. That way, you would have made a full trip around Night Safari and not missed out on any action. 

And this, so far, is the best way to make your trip to Night Safari a well enjoyed one. Of course, if you check the website, they offer a couple of different itinerary suggestions as well. You may choose to follow the one that would suit your needs the best. The Night Safari is also a wheelchair friendly park, so you do not need to worry about bringing young children on prams or even the elderly along on the trip. 

After a long night of rushing to catch shows, queueing up for tram rides and walking a reasonably long distance, it would be nice to relax and recharge at one of the bars or restaurants at the Night Safari before heading back to your place of stay.

It was a pleasant evening when I decided to hang out with my fiancé in the city a couple of days back. We took an auto-rikshaw and was halfway through our journey when we came across one of the very rare red lights that we see in Kerala.

While we were stopped there, I saw something that made me sit in shock for a while afterwards. Right there, in the middle of the peak hour evening traffic, was a man - thin and shabby, wearing a half opened shirt and a dhoti (sarong) - dragging himself across the road. He was carrying a bag too.

Both his legs seemed to be dysfunctional, but that's not what shocked me. My fiancé explained to me that he was probably working somewhere and must be on his way home now. He was quite old,  maybe in his 50's. He just dragged himself and weaved through the traffic like how we jaywalk. He didn't care about any of the vehicles. The motorists acted like he was invisible. Nobody cared! I was tempted to get out and help him, but my hubby stopped me, saying that he might get offended.

"This is a normal sight here. This is how they live. This is his life," he told me. And I saw the point in that.

My mind was immediately transported back to Singapore, where handicapped people like him were welcome everywhere. They had special spaces dedicated for them in every public place. Buses have built-in foldable ramps that the driver opens up to let the wheelchair-bound board and alight. Wherever there are staircases, there will be a ramp right beside it. It was a way to make them feel independent and like a part of the society.

There were none of that here... yet, did these people feel like the lesser human among their peers? Judging from the man I saw, I don't think so. He seemed very much independent and confident of his capability to do anything that we did.

And as much as I felt bad seeing him in that state, I respect him for his courage and persistence. In Singapore we come across blind people or handicapped people busking or selling tissue papers in public places. Not many people bought these packets of tissue or donated money to them. Whenever I used to see that, I always wanted to go up to them and tell them that there are other jobs they can do to earn money if they wanted to.

They had the luxury and opportunity there but many people don't see it - or rather, don't use it. Here, these people don't have much of a choice, but they create opportunities for themselves. That's the difference and that's the attitude that I find respectable.

I am in no means comparing the difficulties they face. And it's true that I can't use one person to judge a whole community of people, but one person who does it makes a difference.

If you know of someone who is challenged in any way, I would suggest you tell them that just because they are handicapped, it doesn't make them any less deserving of anything that we normal people can achieve. Their hurdles may be more difficult to overcome, but that should not stop them from building up the courage to step out and live their dreams!

Many people, handicapped or not, get very comfortable with the help they get from others, especially help groups. I hope more people will see the opportunities lying in front of them rather than pitying themselves or relying on others to help them out.

What do you think?

It is not very often that I experience a black out. It is only when I come to India that I experience it. Now that I'm in India after two years, I need to get used to power cuts that are seemingly normal here.

Living smack in the middle of a city. for some time there wasn't any black outs since I'd arrived. But then the rains started pouring in the evenings and the power cuts followed suit. The first time, it wasn't for very long, but the time frame started extending subsequently.

And last night, I experienced the longest one yet. The power was back on after 45 minutes, then went off and on until past midnight. Not used to staying such long periods of time without a source of heat-relief, I was absolutely positive I was going to die of heat stroke in the middle of the night.

There I sat, for a couple of hours, fanning myself. But I was perspiring like crazy. I thought a cold shower might be a relief, but it only made me feel the heat more. Slightly after midnight, when I could no longer keep my eyes open, I retired to bed thinking I might fall asleep quickly (I was wrong!).

And as I laid in bed fanning myself with a magazine, trying to convince sleep to take me in it's tides for the night, I thought to myself the predicament our world will face if there ever was a situation where we ran out of electricity. How would we overcome the problem? Now that temperatures are rising everywhere, how would we find a way to cope with the heat? Places like Singapore, where people are so pampered in air conditioned environments wherever they go - what will they do?

Alternative energy sources have been identified by scientists and intelligent people around the world, but why are they not in mass production yet? True, there are some cars that run on hydrogen or water or electricity now, but if I'm not wrong, they're more expensive than normal cars. At least, in Singapore, they are. So what are the huge corporations (or governments, maybe?) trying to prove? 

On the other hand, there are professionals predicting that our energy reserves are only going to last for the next 50 years. Then there are others who say it will last for way longer than that. Who should we believe and what is the truth? How will we know?

I still couldn't sleep. It was too hot.

The electricity came back shortly after, and I slept even later. But I did come up with a list of things we could do if ever faced with such a situation. Writing it here, now, in this post would make this post awfully long. Besides, it would kill your interest. So I would like to know your solutions 1st... and I'll list down my ideas in another post.

Let's see what we can come up with :)
 

When I was a little girl, I could never fall asleep without covering my eyes with a cushion. It was big enough to cover my entire face, but I would adjust it such that it covers only my eyes. I was afraid of the dark and wasn't very comfortable sleeping on my own. And being the first child, I had to sleep on my own from a pretty young age.

I remember thinking that all sorts of monsters and aliens would enter my room at night and I would be invisible to them if I kept my eyes closed. Pretty much like how a cat thinks nobody sees it eating or drinking because it's closes its eyes when eating or drinking.

But no matter how hard I tried, curiosity always had the better of me, and I would take a peak - just to be sure that there weren't any ungodly creatures invading my room when I'm trying to sleep. So, the solution I figured one of those days was to use the cushion to cover my eyes.

I slept like that for many years. We shifted a few houses in that duration and nothing changed. Then we bought a car, and my mom decided she needed back support and took my darling little cushion. We've given the car away but I've not seen my cushion since. Of course we've had many other cushions but somehow none of them were as comfy as the original.

Thankfully. by then I'd outgrown my fear of aliens and monsters and was only afraid of ghosts. So I still had to cover my eyes. With the cushion gone, I resorted to using a blanket instead. At first I used a comforter but it was too hot. Then I traded it with my sisters for another warm but thinner blanky. And immediately grew very attached to it.

But it had an itsy bitsy problem. I had to hold one corner of the blanket up around my face with one hand. That way I covered my ears and eyes but left my nose and mouth out to breathe (smart!). But I'd grown taller over the years and now one leg would stick out. What could I do? I had to choose between my leg and my eyes.. and I chose my eyes.. My leg stuck out like a thermometer gauging the temperature of my surroundings. Now I'm used to it.

It remained like that until the near future. I don't know when it changed, but now I can sleep with or without a blanket or cushion covering my face, and if a ghost ever decided to take the chance to bug me in my sleep, it would really regret life in the afterlife.

This is just a very small example of changes in our daily lives. It is little changes like this that we often miss to realise in life. Most of the time when people say we have changed, they are not referring to big changes, but little changes like this. Most of us are too busy to look within ourselves to identify how we have changed with the times but are the first to step up to another person and accuse them of changing at the slightest bit of change in their habits or behaviour. That's because it's human nature to resist change and it's easier to observe others than observe ourselves.

But that's never a good habit. Firstly because it will create a false sense of confidence that we are better than others. Secondly, a person can never grow unless he/she looks within, realises their own faults and put in a conscious effort to change for the better.

I hope this message with inspire at least one of my readers to search within and become a better person for a better future and a better world. And do share with me your memories of change in your comments to this post :)

Taken from www.gauraw.com