I went to Masjid India yesterday to buy some silk for a sari blouse for a wedding in Phuket. It was rather embarrassing to realise that at this advanced age I still have no real sense of fabric. I don’t think it’s particularly good silk. Ah well. I’ve found a tailor online, and if she […]
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Shit restaurants of KL
Just back from lunch and thinking dreamily of a website concept: Shit Restaurants of KL. This would focus particularly on restaurants which have superb reviews – in the first case because they have clearly paid off a reviewer, and in the second because they are instagrammable but the food and experience isn’t up to the […]
Catkins in Karachi
I’ll admit it, I loved reading the Famous Five books and didn’t really have strong issues with them. I enjoyed the adventures, wished I could see a painted wooden caravan or run away to a private island, or find myself trapped in tidal caves. I had no idea how miserable the English weather really is. […]
Noxious
I learned this morning that a prominent member of the Trump White House was not only in my year at university but belonged to my house. I don’t remember him at all, and none of my university friends do either except for one who knew him personally – there were countless young men of that […]
The Balmis Expedition
Just learned about the Balmis Expedition, a 19th century philanthropic expedition to vaccinate the New World against smallpox using 22 orphan children as reservoirs of the virus, passing it from one to the other by skin to skin contact over the course of the expedition. Good lord.
What aid is for
There was something in the Economist of a couple of weeks ago that got me thinking: Unless a government is wholly corrupt (and Liberia’s is not) it has two big advantages over a donor. First, it is mostly interested in outcomes. Aid agencies and charities often focus on inputs—the number of clinics built, the number […]
Brunei
Brunei was in fact as boring as it is advertised. The Gentleman Friend was unwell, though as I said to him, he could hardly have picked a better holiday spot to feel unwell in. The Empire hotel was blingy and expensive and had a Costa del Sol feel to the pool areas but comfortable and […]
Off to
To, well, Brunei. We leave tonight. It’s not the most compelling holiday destination so I am afraid I am filling up my Kindle and my iPad with reading material, downloading podcasts and generally expecting not to have much to do. We decided to go for a long weekend, unfortunately it is over the Gentleman Friend’s […]
Cold and dark and damp
I have just started listening to Hilary Mantel’s Reith Lectures.
Green thumb
We are both enthusiastic plant owners, but less good at keeping them alive. The Gentleman Friend’s boss is a keen gardener and on a brief visit this weekend was horrified at the state of the plants. He insisted on applying fertiliser and watering them himself, gave strict instructions on the plant care regime we should […]