A few days without posting as I settle back into my life. It’s not quite the usual, as of course the GF’s mother is still here. She is lovely, but having another person is inevitably a bit disruptive. I have made myself a little spot on the floor of the bedroom where I have been […]
Never again
This, my first proper visit to Bali, has me convinced I will never return voluntarily. Our fellow tourists are truly awful. Either you have the Australian party animals or the spiritual yogi organic types. I don’t know which is worse. We did have an excellent meal though, surprisingly delicious, at Locavore where the GF and […]
The horror, the horror
We are back in Bali. The last few days at Sumba Nautil were enlivened primarily by severe itching and on the final morning I opened my eyes and put on my glasses to see, a metre away from my nose, a footlong gecko biting the head of another smaller gecko. I squawked and leapt onto […]
Blood in Sumba
A slightly less successful but still pleasant day. The tragedy was in the morning when I discovered what I should have known, that a machete with an 18 inch blade that, if one must be honest, looks like a sword, is difficult to transport across international borders. When wandering around a place where all the […]
In Bali
En route now to Sumba and I am writing this in the Bali airport hotel, probably the last chance for Internet access in a few days. I have set up my new computer which is beautiful despite the annoyances of Windows 10 and Microsoft’s efforts to Malaysia one give ones personal information, set up an […]
Preacher man
I insisted on going to the popup plant stall at Lot 10, and was delighted find some neem oil with which to battle the fungal and pest infestations that have tormented our plants for some weeks. We also ran into the preacher and the preacher’s wife, who were just returning from the evangelical communion on […]
Old friend
I met a very old friend after very many years last night. We had been friends when we were about nine, now it is 28 years later. We were at school together in Karachi, and then I moved to Lahore. She came once and visited, but then we drifted apart as children do. We reconnected […]
Not an oRing
We met one of the Gentleman Friend’s former colleagues and spouse for lunch today. It was pleasant tough rather too long – three hours, well past my limit – and I wasn’t feeling very well. I woke up last night for several hours, and felt a bit nauseous both in the night and at lunch […]
New computer
I’m terribly excited about my new computer. It is extremely expensive as it’s a Thinkpad (T series) and without the crazy discounts that Americans get. But my computers tend to last – the one I use now is six years old and would have lasted a few more years had I not dropped it rather […]
Urn churn
How relieved I am, in retrospect, that our death customs are so clearly laid out. I see others worrying about what to do with the urn of ashes, what to put in the funeral service, what music to choose, what flowers, which funeral director, what kind of coffin, whether to embalm, and am relieved I […]