Last night was Loi Krathong, the festival in which Thais float lanterns on rivers and lakes to apologise for polluting them the rest of the year. We were told to go to Saphan Thaksin to watch it, and so we it. It was immensely crowded, though there is clearly more personal space in Thailand than […]
Around Lazimpat
We had a quiet Sunday as the Gentleman Friend was not feeling very well at all. At lunchtime we went for a stroll around Lazimpat and I was impressed by how pleasant it all was, particularly after Thamel but even after Patan. Lots of quiet very narrow streets connected by even narrower alleys between walls […]
Move on
Yesterday we checked out of the hotel and moved to our next Airbnb, a room in a family house in Lazimpat. This is the embassy district of Kathmandu, about a 20 minute walk from Thamel. The main road is full of restaurants and shops, and behind it is the usual Kathmandu warren of very narrow […]
Hot day in town
Yesterday was Saturday and I began the morning with a trip to the West Hampstead farmer’s market, there to get bread, ravioli and whatever else looked good. I forgot both bread and ravioli and instead returned with a broad selection of berries, vegetables and yoghurts. One punnet of raspberries in a virtuously recyclable cardboard container […]
A vision, thwarted
I had a vision of a top suitable to wear with loose, short trousers but that was not a snug crop top. This was a vision of a loose button-down collared shirt, down to the hips, and cinched at the waist by a wide fabric belt. With this vision in mind I went to Covent […]
Junk food diet
For some reason Joe Millionaire popped into my mind. This was one of the earlier reality shows, the setup was that a number of carefully selected young American women were invited to the chateau home of a young millionaire on the look out for a bride. The question was, whom would he select, and how […]
Greatly satisfying
The box packing is now completed, all that remains is to tape them up and finish the paperwork in time for collection on Wednesday. I was absolutely shattered, though; I don’t find it emotionally taxing to pack up a home as some do, but it is physically tiring and anxiety inducing. Even more satisfying was […]
Only the end
We watched the first episode of Only the End of the Fucking World Again on Netflix. I thought it was very good: funny, sharp and two teenage characters who captured the intensity and insecurity of teenagehood in a way that most screen teens don’t, for me at least. And bad news regarding Dhoop kinare; I […]
Return to childhood
I watched the first episode of Dhoop kinare, an Urdu TV drama from the 1980s. I have never really watched much in the way of Urdu television. I always knew it was supposed to be very good and quite highbrow, but I was not a TV watcher ever. Now, as the GF has stopped watching […]
Stupid sentimentality
Today was almost overwhelmed by sentimentality. I watched the first episode of Aakhri Station, which was getting some buzz as a good new Urdu drama series, sort of like a feminist Black Mirror. The conceit is that it is set in a women’s carriage on a train from Lahore to Karachi and each episode is […]