The last time we were in Egypt was shortly after the Arab Spring, and there was a feeling of hope and dread. This time, hopelessness, of a kind that I feel I see again and again, wherever I go in the world. The mood of this age, a season of ashes. We went for dinner […]
Ministry of fun
Read a news item that made me grumpy: Nur Khan airbase wants action against ‘pigeon cages’ in vicinity. The basant that I grew up with is gone, the mehfils died long before I was born, and now they want to shut down another graceful urban past-time, and all for a bunch of military planes and […]
Not covid
The GF developed a sore throat last night and this morning woke feeling rather ill. It wasn’t covid if the test is to be believed, so we both remain free of the pest even as it rises again. What a strange time it was, and still is for some people, though I think without all […]
Chugging along
The back still quite painful, but shifted a little so that it no longer feels tight and seized up, but does feel more painful. Despite more stabby pain this felt like a positive development somehow. A day of small annoyances otherwise, some at work (a bad edit of something I’d written), some from myself (realising […]
Spa day
Yesterday was spa day, and thus very hectic. First, my hour with the personal trainer, then a quick shower and dashing off to a salon to get my arms and legs waxed as the spa would require bare limbs. Then dash back to find the GF in the shower, so made my tea. Then took […]
Sun and rain
The morning was sunny after several days of living under a steel bowl. We went to Postane, the neighbourhood community centre and vegetarian cafe (which also provides our weekly vegetable box, yoghurt and, when available, fresh milk) for lunch. Postane can be hit and miss but is generally wholesome and today they had yayla corba, […]
Animal shelter
Learned that someone in Pakistan has set up a shelter for retired police dogs who, the police in their enlighted way, would just shoot when their noses became less acute. Same for the horses. I was asked if I knew anyone who wanted to adopt a police dog, with the dogs available fetchingly named Cruiser, […]
Octopus people
My personal trainer, in Pakistan, told me, wide-eyed, that it’s such a strange coincidence, all of my clients seem to know each other! Such is class in Pakistan, especially Lahore. I didn’t say it, as a small tentacle of the octopus, but: Even today, amidst complaints about the nouveau riche, the Pakistani and especially Lahori, […]
Winter arrives in Istanbul
Winter begins properly today, the temperature has plummeted and the sky was heavy and grey, with the tiny pellet-like light rain that falls like snow. Unfortunately we have had to start reducing our heating temperature, as the underfloor heating must be taken down a degree a day, and we are going away soon. I bought […]
Bus bhai bus
This morning we caught a bus, unusually, but something we has tried last weekend, and we’ve been rather slow in using the city’s bus system. There are a lot of buses, but there is also a lot of traffic and the buses are often crowded and their routes are not the clearest. The morning’s bus […]