Manu's Medley

White Christmas..... sounds so dreamy. Isn't it?  This term was alien to me until I heard for the first time when I was in the States. It was the month of December and snowing quite a bit. Everyone started speculating it could be a white Christmas that year, while many wished silently it shouldn't be coz of an upcoming project go-live on the New Year eve.                                    So what exactly is this White Christmas? If we wake up to a blanket of snow or snow fall on the day of Christmas, it is considered White Christmas. Since ages, the very thought of Christmas brings the picture of Santa riding on his sleigh over snowy mountains carrying loads of gifts. Though I grew up in a city, which could never get a speckle of snow, Christmas always made me think of snow. Many songs and novels associating Christmas with snow, like the classic by Charles Dickens, Christmas ca...

It's the time to be jolly fa-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.  Definitely this is the season to be jolly as the whole world is in festive mood celebrating Christmas and eagerly awaiting to ring in the new year.  It is also the time, when winter kicks in and brings bountiful of snow at Canada. Wind chills, snow aren't just a reason to be at home, though there are umpteen activities that we could do while we stay cozy in the comfort of our homes. Check out this  post  that details about how to engage yourself during winter. But, for me, I wish to be out once in a while and below are great activities to do during Christmas in and around Kitchener in Ontario. Most of these are free events. Scroll down to know the deets!! Enjoy the Christmas fervor at Malls - Price: Free Malls are the best place to be at this time. They will be decked up with beautiful lights, christmas trees and decorations almost from end of November. Moreover we can roam inside the malls free of cost and the win...

Though we were excited about travelling to India (from Canada), deep down both me and my husband were dead scared as how to handle our son during the journey. It was his first flight travel and that too a day long one (close to 30hrs from Canada to India, inclusive of the travel time to-from airport, air travel and layover). Even minutes before starting from home, we double checked if we are ready for the expedition, as travel with a kid calls for unexpected surprises.  In this post, I shall be sharing how we prepped for the travel (along with few personal tips) and how it turned out in reality. 1. Don't miss on taking enough rest day(s) before travel: First and foremost, we as parents should have proper sleep and pumped up energy to handle the tantrums of our little one. But with all the last minute shopping and late night packing (for obvious reason to avoid any distractions by the kid), sleep was the last thing I could accommodate. But luckily, my son slept during the first leg ...

While travelling through the city I live, I often came across tiny boxes (similar to bird houses) holding books near a park, residential communities and other public places. Initially, I wasn't aware that they are libraries open to public, until I saw a passerby walk away from it, with a book. They are called little free libraries.  Little free libraries are small placeholders where anyone can take a book or share a book. It isn't mandatory to leave a book for every book we take. But certain free libraries insist so. In any case, these libraries serve a great purpose, where we can give away the books we no longer need. This helps in improving book access, minimizing book hoarding and lessen wastage wherein we end up throwing books in garbage.   There are close to 15 little free libraries in our city and it is a well known phenomenon in most of the cities in Canada. Similar public accessible book shelves prevail in other countries under different names like roadside l...