Friends in Melbourne

aiyyo njaan chirichilla lo...I know these things happen....i have a friend who got her licence at the first go...but recently she decided to drop me off home and turned onto the wrong side of the road bang in front of my house.....I saw a car approaching from afar...so I calmly told her we drive on the left side of the road....it was only then she realised and panicked and switched sides...I will come by one day and help ya take the car out K2S...tension adikaan maatram onnum illa....I keep telling myself that the only thing to fear is fear itself...that usually gets me through...whatz for brekkie??

Pratim...I too have heard that dande is an easy pass....I got mine at south Oakleigh..just remember to calm the nerves...drive 5 under the speed limit...school zones be extra vigilant, and do keep looking into the mirror every few secs or so (just for the test)..and remember the order of mirror, indicate, head chk, mirror...some are sticky about the order...
also...IF by some stroke of bad luck you cannot do the test as planned...do call vic roads every morning by 8.30 and ask for cancellations..there are always cancellations in the morning and they fill up pretty quickly thru the day...I had to do tht as my overseas licence expired while i gone to India when my FIL passed away...and came back to a learners...my test dates were changed a few times ranging from Dromana to Mooroolbark, its only after repeated calling tht I managed to get the school timing slot at Oakleigh.

Precious ni drive pannumaa?? hmm..someday will get the rasam recipe off ya, in exchange for make up tips

Sruthu...I am a novice with a lot of enthu..which is why (pratim and I are) called enthu cutlets...google is my best mate...i chk n follow...but I could chk and let ya know...no beets n egg plants in my yard as my hubby n kids wont eat em
2 is a lovely age enjoy it before they begin growing a tongue on em and reason out everything...my older one is going to become a debating champ

Today being thursday..i will have to head to school for session 4 (literacy) after which I have volunteered for a sausage sizzle at school as my sons class has an incursion (baby zoo animals come to school) so they can learn about them...will go on till 7.30pm...this is the only way I will end up meeting new people...so have to force myself to go...
Have a fab day ladies...

njaanum chirichilla lo K2S A few months before coming to Aus, I gave my Drivin test in India for the sake of driving here. I went to the place where I learnt drivin some 6 years back. I had paid him fully then but not continued to get the DL. Used to drive with my Learner's So paid again and went to the RTO. Anyway, the test required me to drive the car(which I was used to only for 5 mins) in a 400m circle and then take reverse and stop the car. Open ground. I was the only girl. Had to pay some 100 bucks to anyone who asked! You wont believe, there was a guy who came and stretched left hand and then right hand and showed stop signal and then we were told to pay! Then there was another learner's driver who came up to me and asked me to remain calm and not to get tense. He told me that it was gonna be easy. Like I needed it - I was driving on and off for past 6 years. Anyway I jus smiled and left it. So the inspector sat next to me, I said hello and started the car. He asked me from where I was, my mother tongue and all that. This covered the first 200 m. Next he asked me if I knew who Mudaliars were. I said I dono. Tried to explain but anyway had finished my next 200 m. Then reverse. Then he told me I cleared my test. Can you beat that? My 2 year old nephew could drive and get a licence there. Ofcourse it;s a different story here!

I will remember what you have told Neev. I need to clear this else I will have to go back to learner's I used to hate eggplant and beetroot too. Now the same sentence has become - I hate beetroot. And thanks K2S. I need all the luck.

So Sruthu, I bet you will have fun now. My nephew is around that age and he was the hardest to bid goodbye to in India. He just kept calling out for me at the airport and no one was allowed inside and once we got in, we weren't allowed outside. Ofcourse, I went out once to collect cash from my FIL - extremely overweight baggage. It was more than the allowed 40 kg. Beat that. Anyway, I was asked to reduce baggage weight or pay, I resorted to the latter.

Precious, there were days when I had applied for ten jobs and days when I haven't applied at all. Mine varies and I do not yet have a time table of how to go about with studying my course and manage applying jobs. Soon I will have I hope. And some awesome meal there huh? Nice!

And Neev - sausage sizzle sounds good! If there are veg sausages, m in too. ;) And there was a kinda sheep/animal thingy in a kindergarden near our house yesterday. Deadly odour from the animals. I was jus hopin that the kids wont catch an infection!

longgggg post..hope it doesnt go to mod!

hi everyone
It was great reading your posts. I will try and be part of this lovely group from now. I work part time. I have 2 daughters, one in secondary and the other in primary. they are fun to be with and they keep me busy all the time. Something about myself: I love to read(anything from sanathana dharma to Hollywood/BW/KW news), listen to all types of music(recent fav:Aadhavan, Down by Jay Sean, Meet me halfway by B.E.Peas and Golden melodies of Sudha Raghunathan), try all types of cuisine( my fav is always authentic Indian veg recipes). I am quite addicted to Coffee, Simpsons and Got your call(FoxFM). That is what my kids think. I would like to know your interests too.
Bagya

Heyy nice to hear from you Bagya. You are always welcome here. You seem to have a vast range of interests. That is interesting. We come here and we have fun sharing news and events. My interests are not that much...read a bit, listen to music and ......mmmmm...thats about it really. I am not working at the moment and enjoying my time at home. IL keeps me company too.

Neev - would really be nice to have you over and then you can coax me to take the car out. My hubby will be the most happiest of all. Enjoy the sausage sizzle at school. That must be really fun. Oh god what an incident with your friend alle. Thankfully no cars coming that fast in the opposite direction.

Pratim - You will never disappoint us when you post something. Always a stack house of incidents. I actually enjoy reading everything here on this thread. Its like a diary for all of us I think. Thoroughly enjoyed your driving episode in the grounds .

Talking of baggage allowed on flights - have you noticed that we Indians ALWAYS end up with excess baggage? OK that might be a generalization, but I find that very common among our people. What is it that we end up carrying to and fro ALL THE TIME. First couple of trips, OK understandable but even after that?? It amazes me - ofcourse I have been a culprit too on some occassions, but not anymore.

What happened to Precious and Subaby?? Subaby, are you sleeping in the office now ? hahahaha....... and possibly Precious is again helping a friend with an assignment. I am off to have chai. Oh by the way, my breakfast is always Oats with dates and sultanas and milk.

Look this up ladiess
Forum of the month- November 2009- Gardening

Neev, I feel you will do a great job here.

K2S - Karayanda chechi, karayanda. U will master the driving skills soon. Neev and Pratim are there to help u. Aren't u there gals? Na chechi was reading varalotti's stories. After tht was grinding idli batter. Jst now bck to sys. Oats in the morn, healthy bfst to keep u fit? Haven’t included ur interest abt writing? Our dear blog winner...

Pratim - No practice today? Nice post abt the Indian driving. Even mine varies, today i haven’t applied for any. At wht time u have ur test tomo? All the best!

Neev - I don’t drive. Enakku theriyathu...Ready to give the recipe, i am sure i will be profited more in exchange of makeup tips. Hope u r having fun with the little ones in the school.

Sruthu - Thts very true, we all learn with interest when we teach kids. My sis son is also 19 months old, i love watching rhymes with him. They look too cute when they dance for the rhymes.

Bagya - Welcome! Soooo many interests, great. I listen to music, (these days i tune into online FM) read books, try diff dishes make my hubby suffer, after coming here watching quite a lots of movies and ya i am searching for jobs. How long u have been here?

Subaby – Helloooooo….u there?

Thanks for adding it here K2S.

Neev - We all are watng for the post on ur favr hobby. All the best!

Yea Neev, go for it! If you are stuck somewhere, ask me for expert tips - I am from garden city of India. How uncharacteristic of me to come up with such PJs! Well may be I do have a split personality afterall

And yes Precious, I went driving today too. I guess if we had saved up without going for classes, we could've bought another car ;) Nah kidding!

K2S - ty ty ty! Gracias! Well yes, but then there is this gift buying thingy for people back in india and when we come here, all the sambar powder, this that! phew. It was so much fun being on the eating side of cooking than on making side of cooking. When I was about to come to Aus, we had been to grand sweets in chennai, we = my MIL and I. My hubby had given a big list of things he wanted. When we were orderin, a lady turned to me and said.. US huh.. (with a stylish "its so evident" I know what u r doin accent) and walked back in style. If she had waited for my answer, I would've yelled Antartica. Sometimes its just fun refutin people especially when they are so sure. Just for gigs ofcourse! No offense meant. If taken, none repented

And K2S - oats for brekkie, come on you can do better. I'll give you a recipe. Have this. Two slices of bread. Take a cup of whole fat butter. Slap it on both sides. Deep fry some potatoes and butter mushrooms. Yes those peeled and clean potatoes, so you don't have to do any early mornin exercise. Add salt and garam masala and red chilli powder. Add a lil sugar to enhance the taste. Btw, you may want to even fry it in butter for better taste. Put it between your WHITE bread slices. If you like cheese slices, add the whole fat ones. Voila! We have a very low fat, high fiber, low cholesterol and high in vitamin/mineral brekkie here!

Tell me when Neev comes to coax you for drivin, I will come too and sit behind and enjoy as you both take turns to drive. Please dont forget to have your backseat stocked up with some Smith chips too. I will go with the Thai red chilli, thank you.

And bagya some cool setta varied interests you have. And a very nice taste too :)

My interests, I love watching sitcoms, I read novels by Sidney sheldon or similar, read a lotta magazines, offlate ie, I download a lotta junk software most times. Though the last I downloaded was months ago - virtual DJ trial. I mixed a remixed song my style. I love playing guitar, I know very few songs and don't have one now. As much as you girls will love me to play, I hate to break it to you that I can't. ;) Apart from this, I loveee sports. Playing. This what I can think of now. Soon this whole list would've changed. And unlike K2S who is a super writer, I am a novice.

Over and out.

PRATIM DEAR.........GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DIRVING TODAY . YOU CAN DO IT . MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU .

Well, thank you for the fat free brekkie tip . Feel full just by reading it. I will surely remember to fill the back seat with Smiths Chips packets. Have you tried Kettles?? That is lot more better. Let me know after you try, so that I can buy the right one . Precious both you and me can learn our driving together with the help of Neev and Pratim. Company koduma plse ??

Making hubby suffer with food - God, that also reminds me of my first cooking after coming to Melbourne. Hubby's first home made meal by me was rice and burnt cabbage poriyal and burnt samabar.....Oh well, I can call it "smoked" sambar and cabbage and make it sound more exotic. Pavam he came home for lunch, as work was just two minutes drive from our place then. Expected hot food. It was hot and also burnt, thats all.

Neev, how was sausage sizzle? I hope you are going to take up the Gardening forum contest seriously.

Sruthu, how is the little one? How are you today?
Bagya, will be nice to see you here too when you can.
Subaby ?? Kahan ho tum ?

Hello all,
What a glorious day!!
K2S you never fail to amaze me with your wealth of info...I have a lot to learn from ya thanks for the gardening link...replanted my camellia near the gate....put in the creeping roses near my kitchen window fence and dug up a bit of the garden and mixed up soil with gypsum, vermiculite and manure...(not all by myself of course). Today we will try putting in the rest of the lil ones....have to get some top soil at some stage....have not driven a trailer so hesitating...karivepilla chedi yennikum vennum..dande il kitaan undu yennu ketu, must go chk..MKS il...
You are right about the over weight bags...although out of sheer practice I travel light...and make do with whatever I can eat...although the mysorepak and badam halwa from sreekrishnas is to die for...
Pratim....all the very best...you can crack this, go for it gurl...if you are tired after the test, come over for tea...feed ya some muffins as well...
Precious...idli for me too...some authentic chutney would be more than welcome...and varalotti's stories kahaan se?? stock pada hai to mujhe bhi dena pls...
Sruthu...are part-time jobs easy to find?? I am getting itchy feet...might just start looking...
Bhagya...wow!! you read everything...wish I could...I am a picky reader...I am a novice cook, gardener and seamstress...
you have 2 girls how lovely...lots of company for ya..its like my mum n I, we swap clothes and make up...its a woman to woman...beautiful...nourishing...good for you...

Sausage sizzler was fun...met a few parents and had a chat with em...finally met all the year 1s and man, are they a handful...the zoo bit was lovely...they had a baby croc, a python, a blue tongued lizard, some tree frogs, possums and lorikeets etc...my son came home with a puffed chest, since he got a chance to hang the python around his neck and hold its head in his hands and he also got to touch the croc...I was secretly gagging at the very thought...but it made his term...

So long ladies...hope you have a great day...driving, listening to music, brekkie, reading, working and all...ciao for now...