Diario de Mascarenhas

 I have not experienced a flooding before. I guess there is always time for a first time. It was a shocking experience and almost surreal to see the Strand looking like a lake.  It had been raining whole day long on the 27th. Apparently Auckland received one month's rain in 24 hours. I did not expect the water to rise so much and go inside our home. Steve had been here in this area for 22 years and I had been here for 18 years and it had never happened before. No one thought that the water will rise so soon. We only see these things on TV and now it is happening to us. It was shocking to see the water go in the garage and there was no way of stopping it. All I could do is save as much as I can. But in the end, nothing much can be done. The next day was one of the longest days of our lives. We cleaned from morning to night and had to dispose of a lot of things from our garage. I must admit that there were a lot of things that need to go. But I am very sad about my albums and so...

  We had an awful news that mum had a stroke and in very serious condition on the early hours of 29thNov. We had to take the plunge and go to India to see mum, for the last time it would seem. We flew on 1st December from Auckland to Malaysia. We had a 12 hour layover at Malaysia then another 5 hours to Mumbai. The flight to Mumbai was delayed for an hour so we only arrive in Naigaon on Friday at around 5 PM. We immediately went to the hospital.mum was in ICU and lucky they allowed all 3 of us to see mum together. It is heartbreaking to see mum in such condition. All we wanted was for her to wake up and say hello to us. But it was not meant to be. Mum stayed with us for 3  days. The 4  of us had shifts to be with mum in the hospital. On the Saturday, she was moved to a private room and we were able to be with her. On the early morning of 6th Dec when Steve and I were getting ready to relieve dad in hospital, we got the call that she had passed away. No more pain mum, no m...

  INDIA TRIP  by Steve: Day 1 Sat 3rd Sept Larry dropped us off at the airport 845 pm Checked in luggage. Boarded 1130 pm Free in-flight wifi  Supper was basmati rice & chicken korma. Yumm Zai had beef with mash. Just ok Brekkie chicken sausage & scrambled egg Zai had a separate seat but Pom guy was understanding & exchanged seats. Singapore staff escorted us to board flight To Mumbai. Flight was a bit empty Only 2 hrs free wifi. Brekkie of omlette & chicken sausage Suz & Zai had aloo paratha & paneer Landed 10 mins early. Did immigration Luggage arrived on time. As we went to get sim card Steve OCI was missing. Was found in Suz bag. Pick up driver was courteous & we arrived home 130 pm Good to see mum dad. Francis uncle & his wife were there & prayed over us. Lunch was pork vindaloo & roast. Was yumm. Day 2 Sun 4th Sept Ordered food from BBC. Goat biryani & chicken biryani yumm. Lassooni chicken tasty. Day 3 Mon 5th Sept Took o...