Manju Gone Blog

Lighthouse

2010-07-18T18:00:00.006+04:00

"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does.

Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining.

They just shine."

Standing for a century this year.

I have this strange fascination for lighthouses. When I was a kiddie I used to devour Enid Blyton books like no other, and I imagined lighthouses to be ridiculously romantic places, towering over an endless blue ocean. The interior would be cosy and intimate and a spiral staircase would lead the way to the top. And from that height you'd be able to listen to the peaceful sound of the waves, and the stars would feel so close.

Then, when I was six or seven years old I visited a lighthouse for the first time. It was the abandoned one in Ile aux Phares. It was empty, and in ruins and there were broken liquor bottles all over the place. It still stood wise and proud, overlooking the bay, but I liked the lighthouse in my mind a lot more.

Imagination is like this I guess, creating pretty fantasies, and how disappointed we become when we meet reality and the world fails to meet the heights of our expectations. Okay I sound so emo WTF.

Black River Gorges

2010-06-29T07:56:00.008+04:00

Two weeks ago, this is where I took a walk....

Black River Gorges National Park
(*UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List for Outstanding Universal Value)

6,574 hectares park proclaimed natural reserve in 1994. It protects the vast majority of the remaining indigenous forests of Mauritius, as well as some of its unique endemic plants and birdlife. The gorges have immensely contributed to the regeneration of some endangered endemic bird species like the Mauritian Kestrel and the Pink Pigeon.
Walk, walk, walk....

And..................the elusive Pink pigeon....

(Pink pigeon = Bimbo pigeon?? Hahahahahahaha)
It is still a pigeon anyway. Hate birds -_____-

......Keep on moving.............

(Don't) Save the Princess ?

2010-06-23T02:07:00.001+04:00

One of my friends posted this video on facebook and it was so superfunny that I'm reposting here.

Ever since the time of Super Mario, the “princess” has been usually portrayed as the helpless annoying little bimbo that always needs to be saved from the forces of evil. But ever wonder what happens after she's been saved (especially if she turns out to be a bling bling princess)?

Did you watch it?? Must watch okay.

Video: Dan the Man (by Studio Joho)

Look out South Africa

2010-06-10T02:30:00.013+04:00

Here comes some of the world’s hotness...

The American boys touch down in SA

Slovenia

Non-playing squad member David Beckham arrives with the rest of the England team

The England boys

Italia in their Dolce Gabbana sunglasses, suits and all <3

The Portugal boys dayummmm

The world cup song has finally grown on me.
When I first heard it I was like.....Waka waka? What the heck? loll

I'm officially done with exams, so I guess it's time for me to drag myself out of this blog neglect phase. Anyone miss me? Say yes. Lie if you have to haha.

pics via

On Judgement

2010-05-15T10:14:00.011+04:00

Short exerpt:

The Secret of Happiness

Nasrudin is known as much for his wisdom as his foolishness, and many are those who have sought out his teaching.

One devotee tracked him down for many years before finding him in the marketplace sitting atop a pile of banana peels--no one knows why.

"Oh great sage, Nasrudin," said the eager student. "I must ask you a very important question, the answer to which we all seek: What is the secret to attaining happiness?"

Nasrudin thought for a time, then responded. "The secret of happiness is good judgment."

"Ah," said the student. "But how do we attain good judgement?"

"From experience," answered Nasrudin.

"Yes," said the student. "But how do we attain experience?"

"Bad judgment."

Then there is no truly good, nor truly bad judgement.
It's a little bit of both, and it defines who we are.

Story quotation source: (Mulla Nasrudin) The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness by Joel Ben Izzy

Underwater

2010-05-02T10:47:00.003+04:00

Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, located five meters underwater, off the coast of Rangali Island

I want to go there. Because in the words of my evil twin sister,

Sleeping with the sharks sounds so Rad!!
I'd be kind of paranoid, but it's still so cool!

Via : The perfect loft is under the sea

Tummy Love

2010-05-01T04:06:00.000+04:00

I don't really know why, but everytime I tell someone that I can cook, they throw me these humiliating disbelieving, doubtful looks lol......FML.....

I'm not a food critic, not a chef either, but I do love cooking and baking, although I like to take my own spin on a lot of things and sometimes just go crazy with what I want to eat. And I love eating. A lot. And I love talking about food.

So I was really excited when Jaimie created a group food blog, and asked me to be part of the adventure, along with Kit , Angele and Carine-Olivia .

You can follow our yummilicious journey here at the Ti Pomme D'amour blog :)

(Ti pomme d'amour literally means small love apple, and is Franco-Mauritian creole for Little Tomato)

Life is short people, EAT

pic via

Stolen Moments

2010-04-19T16:22:00.007+04:00

Stolen Moments is Sretsis' Autumn Winter 2010 collection. The collection is inspired by classic Lladro figurines. Colours included in the garments are porcelain pink, sculpture grey and ice blue. Gold, silver and rainbow accents can be seen throughout the collection. The main print in the 'Stolen Moment's collection is "Smitten Kitten".

I love the current trend of soft, pastel colours with light flowy materials. This whole collection reminds me of cotton candy, marshmallows, airy whipped cream and meringue. Yummmmm....

Source : Stretsis Spring Summer 2010-11 on Wikifashion

Lustful Yellow Sponge

2010-04-18T23:19:00.004+04:00

The other day I learned from Tiara that the characters from Spongebob each represent one of the 7 deadly sins. Weird? Yes.

Gary is for gluttony
This one is pretty obvious

Mr. Krabs is for greed
Mr. Krabs is greedy and desires money.

Patrick for sloth
Sloth is the sin of laziness. Patrick lies under a rock all the time and doesn’t really do anything.

Plankton for is envy
Plankton is envious of Mr. Krabs because The Krusty Krab is a success while The Chum Bucket is a failure.

Sandy for is pride
Sandy takes pride in the fact that she is from Texas and likes to let everyone know it.

Squidward for is wrath
Squidward hates his life, hates SpongeBob, and is angry most of the time.

SpongeBob is for Lust

This is the weirdest of all, but lust can actually also be defined as 'loving others in excess' and spongebob always loves everyone around him, even if its not exactly mutual at times

It's still a pretty crazy cool analogy of what seems to be so random at first.

Lol and maybe that explains why I always see hideous spongebob underwear on sale at the market?

....Not really....

I still get creeped out by spongebob's f*cked up laugh and crazy looking smile anyway

Useless Helpless Powerless

2010-04-18T21:53:00.001+04:00

How am I supposed to be a good friend to you if there is really nothing that I can do to help you?

I hate feeling so useless.

Dammittttttttt.

One year older

2010-04-16T08:51:00.005+04:00

Exactly one week ago I celebrated my birthday. I wrote a whole post about how I feel about it, but does anyone honestly want to read that? I think just a bimbo post will do for now.

Got new shoes wheee!

I have a weakness for shoes with bright red soles

And I have a weakness for patent white shoes.

And I have a weakness for glitter

I just have a weakness for shoes. Period.

One of my friends also gave me these huge weird/cute Hello Kitty slippers as a present.

They're so soft and fuzzy, I kind of love them! Hello, hello kitty :)

But when you put them on,

it kind of looks like the kitties are eating your feet lol......this sounds kind of gory, sorry...

Anyway,
Hopeful? *check* Idealistic? *check* Confused? *check* Childish? *check* Stubborn? *check*

One year older, but I don't really know how many days the wiser. Age is just a number, it doesn't really give us the answer.

Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday :)

Up in the trees

2010-03-30T00:30:00.004+04:00

Dear little treehouse restaurant, where have you been all my life?

This gorgeous Yellow Treehouse restaurant was designed by Pacific Environments Architects for New Zealand’s Yellowpages ad campaign.

The concept is driven by the ‘enchanted’ site which is raised above an open meadow and meandering stream on the edge of the woods. The tree-house concept is reminiscent of childhood dreams and playtime, fairy stories of enchantment and imagination . It’s inspired through many forms found in nature -the chrysalis/cocoon protecting the emerging butterfly/moth, perhaps an onion/garlic clove form hung out to dry. It is also seen as a lantern, a beacon at night that simply glows yet during the day it might be a semi camouflaged growth, or a tree fort that provides an outlook and that offers refuge.The plan form also has loose similarities to a sea shell with the open ends spiralling to the centre. (via)

One day I would so love to go and have dinner there. Who wants to come along?

Rip-off

2010-03-29T17:30:00.007+04:00

Sometimes Balmain blows my mind....

Sometimes Balmain just blows...

(Seen on Net A Porter)

Point and Laugh

What....in...the...world......
Looks like some rodent had fun times with this tee. I’m really curious to know what inspired this 'statement staple'. Not that I am in any position to critize, but who in the world dishes out the equivalent of £726.09 for something like this? (It's sold out in some sizes already, so yes, there is really a market for this kind of thing.)

Now THAT's what I call a real rip-off...

Or maybe this tee is also meant to act as an idiot-detector, who knows??

La Princesse Endormie

2010-03-17T00:19:00.009+04:00

Once upon a time....

When I was a little girl....

I really really really wanted a canopy bed.

I used to call them 'Princess beds'

A little bit more than a decade later....

Dun Dun Dun...

~~I grew up~~ I still wanted one

So I was really excited when I finally got a canopy for my bed some time back....

....well for about a day or two.....

This THING is a major dust catcher.

Made my allergies go completely crazy

So sadly, the canopy had to go so that I can have a sneeze-free happily-ever-after...mehhh

Tomorrow it's back to work, so I'm off to sleep now

In my canopy-less bed

Pretend to be plastic

2010-03-15T00:17:00.001+04:00

I remember once I got tricked into biting a plastic apple by a five year old....FML.... D:

Sometimes there are plastic fruits that look like the real thing. And sometimes there's the real thing that looks like plastic.

Like these Jamalacs I ate last week:

Isn't the colour absolutely gorgeous? They look so shiny, they could easily pass for fake ones. Come to think of it....I have no idea what Jamalacs are called in english.....anyone knows???

Ladies & Gentlemen, we are floating in space

2010-03-04T03:22:00.007+04:00

You know what's amazing?

Have you ever been to the beach at night?

When the night sky is full of stars and the sea is calm, and everything is quiet all around you, then you can feel this wonderful sensation that you're floating around in space.

THAT is pretty amazing.

And it's true really, if you think about it. Even though we sometimes get too busy living our lives and forget it, we are all really travelling together in space, and we are, all of us, made of stardust...

pic via

CoCoCoColonel Chicken

2010-02-26T19:00:00.003+04:00

Long time no blog, huh? Yeah yeah I know it's been more than a week since I last updated this thing, but it's not because of this:

LOL. You make me laugh Uncle Shingo :)
I've just been busy, caught up between work and school.

Yesterday I went to KFC with one of my friends. We'll call my friend 'Pancake' on this blog okay, because she's crazy about pancakes.

*Stare and Drool*
Chicken somehow always tastes better out of a bucket niahaha

The KFC in quatre bornes was just renovated and we used that as an excuse to go there and stuff our faces,...not that we really need an excuse... anyway, pancake always says the bimboest things, like:

Manju: We ate pizza yesterday. Can't eat fast food everyday. Will get fat.

Pancake: 'Course not. Fast food makes you fat. But if you eat it slow, it's no longer fast food. Won't get fat.

Logic Fail -_- but just FYI we took about half an hour to eat a rounder...in slow motion....hahaha

It's never boring when we go hang out at KFC together. The last time a chicken nugget somehow managed to fall into her top. She absolutely freaked out and it was so hilarious lol. I love that girl.

Off for now

last pic via

Rise of the Zombie Cupids

2010-02-14T23:20:00.006+04:00

Since I love my readers and you guys have been asking for another Zombie post, I'll give you another Zombie Survival guide - A special Valentine's Day edition!

Zombie babies eat Kitteh brains

(This post not applicable to people who don't have brains of course. Everyone knows that bimboes are immune to zombies, duhhhh)

This is zombie repellent

So you suspect that your new girlfriend/boyfriend is a Zombie. But how can you really tell?

Not many people take this seriously. But it's extremely important that you know who the humans are and who the zombies are before it’s too late! See, you don't want to end up BEING the Valentine's Day dinner, do you?

Here's how you can tell if your date is or isn't a zombie:

1. Look out for pale, often clammy or decomposing skin. If your date looks a bit like this, then chances are that he/she is a zombie:

Ugly zombies, want brains. Your brains

2. If that guy you like keeps insisting that he only likes you for your brains, there's a very big chance that he might be a Zombie

3. A radical change of diet with a motivation to eat the brains of the living are another sign of zombiness. The next time some hot girl says she wants to eat you, first you have to make sure it's not your brain she's talking about....

4. No concept of personal boundaries, extreme restlessness are also a sign of zombiness

5. Poor hygiene and bad breath. Sure, some people are allergic to showers, but the smell of rotting human flesh is something else. Dead Zombie Giveaway. Excuse the pun.

6. If your date isn't very communicative, and only mumbles stuff like 'brainsssssss brainnnssssssss braiiiinnnssssssss' under his/her putrid breath then he/she is most probably a zombie.

7.If you're going to drop your date home and her front yard looks like this:

She's a Zombie. Even if she isn't, that's damn creepy. Run. Away. Fast.

8. Courtesy of Ejannz: another giveaway: if your date's torso shows more than six pack i.e bowels are showing through, he's definitely a zombie.

What next?

So if you've established that your boyfriend/girlfriend is a Zombie, what happens then? First, consider this:

1. It doesn't necessarily mean that romance is dead. Zombie Girls never say no.

2. Not shallow like your last boyfriend. The zombie boyfriend will love you for your braiiiiiiinsssss

It's do or die

Then you have to decide:

1. either you cross over to the Zombie side too or

2. you whip out your shotgun.....or a toilet cover. Toilet covers are very effective when it comes to bashing up Zombies ( Things you can learn from watching Zombieland)

Lollll, anyway, Happy valentine's day everyone, zombies or not!

Baby, I eat hearts for lunch

2010-02-14T19:00:00.002+04:00

Valentine's Day is....the perfect excuse to eat heart shaped food

Valentine’s Day is here. It's obvious by the abundance of cutesy Valentine’s Day cards, legions of giant pink bears and other tacky stuffed animals holding up hearts.

Love it, hate it, you cannot escape it.

I'm not really all that into Valentine's day. Extreme displays of cheesiness give me the heebie-jeebies. But I do hope that today your heart is filled with love, and your tummy filled with chocolate anyway. Happy Valentine's Day, whether if it's with the love of your life, your friends, family, pet cat, goldfish, invisible friend or your computer.....have a love-filled day.

Also, happy chinese new year! Xin nian kuai le tigers and tigresses :)

We Own The Sky

2010-02-12T12:20:00.000+04:00

You Are My Sunshine, My only sunshine
You make me happy, When skies are grey
You’ll never know, dear, How much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away

It's been so rainy the whole week. I've been trudging through mud and huge rain puddles, and coming home looking like a drowned rat with soggy shoes.

But because of Mahashivratree festival so many pilgrims have been braving the terrible weather to accomplish the long annual pilgrimage to the lake of Grand Bassin (‘Ganga Talao’).

I love this period of the year because there are volunteers all along the road, giving out food and beverages to the pilgrims and even to random passers-by. Despite the grey weather, it made me so happy to see everyone smiling and talking to strangers, cheering each other on, sharing out food and supporting each other.

I wish people were this friendly and giving every day. Why do we need there to be a giant event to be nice to each other?

Frutina et Macarons

2010-02-07T17:52:00.003+04:00

How can it possibly be that we're already one week into February?! Noooooooooo, I'm sorry.... but time must stop moving so quickly. I have spoken. (...yeah right....as if that's going to make any difference...)

There's so much going on in the next few days. It's a little bit daunting but I'm really looking forward to all of it anyway:

1. I am starting a new job this week. This offer was totally out of the blue. It involves corporate finance and what I really love is that it also involves encouraging sustainability in emerging economies. The feeling of contributing, even a little bit to the bettering of communities and the environment is very motivating, and I am so excited about it all. Resolution: Work hard, learn a lot and not lose this excitement. I want to be that person who loves doing what she does.

2. I am also starting my new course. Going back to school feels a little bit surreal for now, but I'm also really looking forward to this.

3. Maha Shivaratree festival. If I'm not dead on my feet from exhaustion by the end of the week I shall maybe join in the pilgrimage. From my place I think it's about 48km or so to GrandBassin and back on foot...We'll see..

4. Chinese New Year. One word - Fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood :D

So before things get super hectic, I'll just sit around with my frutina slushie and breathe a little bit for now.

Oh, and French Macaroons too! I was finally able to find some macaroons in the Caudan Waterfront patisserie, thanks to a heads up from Vali :)

(Pics from my phone, so super bad picture quality. I can't be bothered to go get my camera lol)

I choose you....Pikachuuuuuuuu

2010-02-06T02:42:00.014+04:00

Naahhhhhh....not really....... I don't.

I have a friend. He has this nutty theory. He says that the reason we're having so much lightening and thunder everyday is because of ....Pokemon...

Yes... he IS kind of crazy...He's a very weird guy. Idk why I'm friends with him Lol.

I want to blog, but I feel kind of braindead right now, so this lamespice blogpost will have to do.

Gris Gris

2010-01-31T16:56:00.004+04:00

Yesterday I hung out with my family at Gris-Gris beach. 'Gris-Gris' in Kreole means black magic and it is believed that at some point in the past black magic was practised here. I think that it's a delightfully magical name for an enchantingly beautiful place. I love going there anyway.

If you look well, you can see one end of the rainbow going into the ocean. Cool, huh?

.....The sun now starting to set...

Going to the beach always makes me feel so rejuvenated. It's kind of like....... magic :)

When bored....Make babies

2010-01-28T02:20:00.004+04:00

The title of this post really got your attention, didn't it? Lol... (I'll have you know that my blog is not THAT kind of blog). This post is going to be very random and is probably not going to make any sense.

Today I came across another-random-game-in-the-weird-department on Facebook. Clicking its link, I somehow ended up on this even weirder site called Make Me Babies, where you can upload the pictures of two people and see what their babies will look like. It's pretty dumb, but kind of fun anyway, so let's see, if these people had babies, this is how they'd look like:

Just because they're both supposed to be flawless,

Fang-Face Cullen and Doll-Face Barbie

.........It's a baby boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will call him Barbward. See, he has Edward's hair and he likes music....Such a snooty looking baby! He probably already knows that he'll grow up to be flawless and all sparkly...hhmmpph

Just because they're both so badass,

Rihanna and The Dark Lord

It's a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will call her Darthanna. Is it me, or does she really look kind of evil?
Such a mean stare. I kind of shrivelled up inside, just looking at her @_@
Darth Vader: 'Darthhhhhhhhannaaaa....*wheeze* I am your fatherrrrrrr *wheeze*' LOL

Just for the heck of it, total opposites,

Stephanie Meyer and William Shakespeare

And it's.....a nerd!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kind of looks like one anyway...

I will call him Howard.
I have a feeling that when he grows up he's going to look like Howard from the Big Bang Theory.
He'll use cheesy pickup lines in vain and out of forced abstinence,
he will write a book that will destroy the world.

Just because birds of the same feather flock together,

Miley Cyrus and Donald Duck

And it's.........??????????? O_O

......it's definitely nothing like Donald Duck....
....tsk tsk...certainly makes you wonder what Miley has been up to......

This post has like....no point to it at all....

Merry Christmas, I haz a ball

2010-01-24T22:41:00.001+04:00

Finally, I was able to watch Avatar! It was really spectacular. But honestly, am I the only one around who's bothered by the fact that the little aliens are so BLUE? I sat through the whole movie thinking that they sort of reminded me of smurfs T__T

My 'Stash'

Anyway, I went food shopping with my parents yesterday and noticed that all the chocolates from Christmas season left in the aisles were on more than 75% off clearance even though they're supposed to go bad in June. My squirrel instinct kicked in, and I pretty much hoarded a load of it. Lots of chocolate around = Manju happy. Simple equation. I love Christmas, even at the end of January mwahaha!!

On a very different note, the write-up below is a review for the pretty Angele, and my friend N (damn lurker who reads my blog and never comments...)

Last year I came upon this article about how exercise balls were being used instead of normal chairs in these classrooms and I found that fascinating.

Sitting on an exercise ball, your body is constantly making small adjustments with the postural muscles, abdominals, gluteals and leg muscles. It's "active sitting" rather than the slumping and poor posture we develop even in ergonomic desk chairs. And honestly, I do have really poor sitting posture. So after researching, reading around and hankering after one, I finally went out and bought an exercise ball.

Wheeeee....my new toy ^_^

Here's 4 reasons why an exercise ball is so cool:

1. It forces proper spine alignment as your body needs to balance itself on it, and improves posture and balance.

This is the main reason why I got one, and seriously, it works. I've been sitting much straighter and I can feel less strain on my spine. Also, sitting on an unstable surface all day is supposed to improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. Result - An overall better balance. This is totally a plus point, given that I am a natural klutz

2. Fitness at your fingertips.

You can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. You can also use the ball for workouts, pilates etc and it's supposed to be more effective. But I seriously cannot do crunches on it. I've tried, but it rolls away and I end up on my bum everytime. FAIL T_T

3.Work your abs, improves your circulation and you’ll feel more energetic.

Your body primarily uses your abs muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. You're essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but if you consider the amount of time you spend sitting, at your computer. Those hours can build up, and help in a strengthening of abs muscles. Using an exercise ball keeps blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use. Also, it has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around will give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized.

4. It is FUN

It is a perfect scapegoat to kick around when you're annoyed. And even the idea of bouncing around and hanging out on an exercise ball is fun. So yes, I kind of love this new 'toy'. I am kind of 'rolling around' as I write this haha. Considering all the above, it's really cheapppp, you just need to remember to make sure you get the right size for you.

Some linkies in case you're interested in more info:

Using an exercise ball as a chair
Choosing and using an exercise ball
Exercise balls in pilates