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Manu

Book: First They Killed My Father

"First They Killed My Father" was on my To Be Read (TBR) list for sometime. Finally, I read it as part of my book goals for the year 2021. It is a heart wrenching memoir written by Loung Ung, who survived the Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia. The story starts off with Loung narrating her family and life at Phnom Penh before communists took over Cambodia; their family fleeing Phnom Penh due to Khmer Rouge’s attack; the struggles their family encounters while travelling from one village to the other, concealing their identity for survival; their ordeal working for Khmer Rouge. In the due course, Loung’s father gets killed, her family gets separated with Loung ending up in the Khmer Rouge troop as a child soldier. By the time Cambodia is liberated, Loung also loses her mother, 2 sisters and finally unites with rest of her siblings. The books ends with Loung migrating to the United States along with her elder brother and sister-in-law. It is a very well written book ...

Gearing up for First day of School

The day you first held your little one, the first time he smiled at you, those first steps, first tears, first words, first bike ride... You would have experienced countless firsts with your child so far. Before you knew it, your kid is just few days away from a very important milestone - his first day of school. If your kid is starting kindergarten this academic year, I totally feel you. I was in the same state of mind, exactly an year ago. After tending to my son for more than 3 years, that too as a stay at home mom, he is very attached to me. I was with him literally 24 x 7, except for those very few minutes I sneak into the washroom. The thought of how he would survive those 7 hours of school without me, haunted me for days. Next his preparedness to face the whole new world (without us) was dreadful. I had infinite questions/ doubts in my head. It is quite natural if you have an endless loop going on in your head. In this post, I sum up my experience of preparing my child and ...

Review: Anex Monkey Smart Watch

Hello Readers, Welcome back. While browsing through a weekly flyer by Canadian Tire, my eyes got hold of a smart watch, primarily for its name - Monkey Smart Watch. It's original price was $89.99. On account of Father's Day, the price was slashed 70% and offered for just $24.99 (from June 9th to June 16th). As it was listed on Canadian Tire website, I thought the product should be genuine and googled to know more about the product. But there weren't sufficient reviews online. So I decided to try it myself and booked it online. This smart watch was launched in the last quarter of 2021 as Anex Monkey Smart Watch. Last year, it had been sold for just $19.99 as part of Black Friday deal. Even after 5 days of waiting, Canadian Tire didn't process my order. On the other hand, the stock was vanishing real quick and only 80 watches were available in our near by store. When checked with their customer service executive, I was told to cancel my online order or wait until they p...

10 things to do after reaching Canada

Congratulations!!! Finally, you have received your COPR or work visa or student visa, packed your bags, said good byes to family and friends and boarded the flight to your dream country - Canada. There are few essential activities to do immediately after reaching Canada, which puts you in a better position and gives you the much needed peace. I am listing 10 such activities to accomplish, preferably within the first few weeks. 1. Finding an accommodation: Accommodation is the first thing you would need to head straight from the airport. So better to get it sorted before leaving for Canada. If you have relatives or friends at Canada, then it would be the best option to stay with them for a week or two, find an accommodation and move out. Alternatively you can consider staying at Airbnbs until you hunt a house. Airbnbs are budget-friendly compared to hotels. Check out websites like kijiji , craigl ist , facebook, indianeverywhere etc. You will get lot of o...

TEMU - Is it Legit or Scam???

TEMU is the latest buzzword, shaking up the North American ecommerce world!!!! How many of you have been constantly receiving ads, notifications in your emails and all of your social media platforms about TEMU? Until a few days ago, I haven't heard the word "TEMU". If someone talked to me about it, I would have brushed off the conversation thinking it is just another scam. When I received the first email, that was my immediate reaction and deleted it. But after few more notifications, I got curious and started digging about it, only to realize that it is an ecommerce app similar to Aliexpress, Wish, Shein etc. selling products at lower prices. Since China is ruling the ecommerce market, I naturally thought TEMU should also be part of China's ecommerce ecosystem, and my guess was right. Though TEMU is headquartered at Boston, this online retailer is a subsidiary of Pinduoduo (PDD), Chinese ecommerce giant with close to 900 million users. So technically, TEMU is suppo...

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