In Bangkok the cafes and shops are in full Christmas mode, with carols playing over speakers, plastic Christmas trees with piles of wrapped presents, tinsel, and giant electric snow globes showering styrofoam snow which looks very out of place in semi-tropical heat. In Ambon, where we were only last week, they went in for far […]
Other worlds
Sometimes, at dusk, Lahore gets this strange otherworldly glow. It’s like that right now: quite dark in this neighbourhood where there are many trees and lush greenery, but overhead the sky is like an inverted copper bowl. Dusk is a distinctive time for Punjab anyway – if you’re in the countryside there is a quietness […]
Small things
A day of small things yesterday. Well, one big thing, which is a book I have been struggling to edit and is going very slowly and I would very much like to finish it and never think about it again. Then, an approach from an organization I’d worked for in the past for a small […]
Faltering attempt
Made a faltering attempt to introduce a vegetable to my father’s diet today. Since I arrived he has eaten only parathas, roti, naan, rice, daal and red meat, plus a seemingly endless supply of crisps and nimko between meals. Today I ordered one of the few vegetables he will eat, i.e. peas, and he didn’t […]
Anti-social
In an anti-social mood so didn’t go to a planned dinner with siblings. It’s hotpot which I don’t much care for, and really dislike the poor-quality premium-priced food trends that Lahore’s elite love and it would have made me grumpy. (I am already grumpy.) Plus, this way I can keep working. Also ignored some annoying […]
Doing the rounds
In the morning I met a couple of friends for breakfast. We arrived at the chosen breakfast place, selected because it had halwa puri, and arrived to find it shut. The friends admitted they really didn’t halwa puri and had only agreed because they know I like halwa puri instead. I felt rather bad at […]
Nearly done
The GF sent a flurry of pleased messages as he sorted a number of long-pending bits and pieces. A delivery from Ikea included a nice mop (a small but important development), the washing machine was repaired, the air conditioner returned (we decided to give up on installing it), the fan in the spare bedroom was […]
First visitor
We had our first house guest staying for the last few days, fortunately a very easy going and easily pleased one. Fortunately she is happy shopping by herself, so could be dispatched to the Grand Bazaar when I had work. She also brought over some things I’d requested from the US, which are very pleasing […]
Childhood dream
The kitchen tiling was completed, and the entire flat was covered in a thick layer of white plaster, even though the tiler had been careful to keep the door closed. He told me today he is a gynaecologist from Turkmenistan, with three children back home. What could I say but spread my hands hoping to […]
Good wife
As a good wife, I went to Ikea so the GF would not have to. It’s a surprisingly smooth and averages out as pleasant journey. There is the metro ride, which is like any other metro and often crowded, but against that is the beautiful ferry ride to Uskudar. I have decided that the old […]