Well, here I am in Sunny Dubai, almost feeling like I never left. Except, of course, that I did leave. A fact that I was reminded of when I took a slightly wrong turn tonight on the way home from Madinat Jumeirah and found myself on the way to Sharjah. As is standard practice in this city, they've changed the roads around again and the once familiar home town is turning into my own version of Planet of the Apes.
But it is good to be home - a pleasure to enjoy all my favourite things about the homefront without having to deal with the routine irritations that led to me wiping its dust from my shoes. Hurrah for shawarmas at Al Mallah after a night out; special queues for ladies at any government office; getting manicures and pedicures at NStyle just on a whim; the best fries in the world, served at Bar Zar; massages at SensAsia; random catch ups at one of the myriad coffee shops; the band at Jam Base; being able to drive to places rather than sweating over train schedules and tardiness; exchange rates of 7 to 1 working in my favour for a change. And of course, biggest hurrah for the family and friends that I miss, who make me feel so loved and popular that I forget it's still me we're talking about.
However, no points at all for having to work out of an office where smoking is allowed indoors for the benefit of so called creatives who apparently need nicotine to spur the sort of ideas that I wouldn't bother writing down for fear of offending the paper. Mistakenly allowed people to use the conference room I'm in for an impromptu meeting/brainstorm this afternoon. About 30 seconds in I was surrounded by a cloud of Marlboro Red's best work and having to stifle giggles over the apparent idea that dancing sausages could be used to promote mobile phones.
Oh and no nostalgia for heat, humidity, lecherous wrong number diallers who say they want to be your friend anyway, traffic jams and road rage either.
Moving on, a spot of unplanned Ceroc-ery with JP at Jam Base tonight reminded me of how long it's been since I did any sort of dancing and how truly ungainly I can be. Must remember to dance around my bedroom before I attempt a class on Saturday.
Aerosmith tomorrow night and several catching up extravaganzas scheduled over the next couple of days. At some point I must remember to pop along to the British embassy and sort out the visa that is actually the purpose of this visit.
Preparations for Cam's (and Tiina's) birthday jamboree continue and I'm resigning myself to not feeling particularly well rested until some time in July or thereabouts. Am also mildly concerned that truly drunken behaviour the other night following a painfully meagre amount of vodka might mean that Russia is not the most prudent destination for Lakshmi. Or perhaps it just means I need a bit of re-acclimatisation (is that a word?) after all the wagons I've been forcing myself on lately. Am sure it will all come flooding back once I get going. Hopefully only in the figurative rather than the literal sense.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The speed of sound
Time flies when you're having fun. Or really, time just flies no matter what you're doing it seems. Almost the end of May meaning almost half way through this year already.
Strangely increasing workloads mean that I don't seem to get nearly as much time as I'd like for keeping this blog updated. Still, am doing better than Aimee whose once-inspiring example of bloggery has now fallen far short of the ideal.
First off, I must take back anything I said about the Finnish embassy - clearly the service you get there, like so many things in life, is completely dictated by the mood of the woman behind the counter. My second attempt went smoothly, with no signs of suspicion and my visa ready in three working days. So all systems are go for the Finland/Russia jamboree. Now all I need is some money and some clothes that fit.
After a full week of work (mostly consisting of many pointless graphs and charts that I put together and we then didn't use in the Dell quarterly review) and a Chinatown themed dinner experience with Mr Kenny, I settled into having no plans for the weekend, after Jamila deserted me and went to some sort of drumming event instead (yes, drumming - don't ask, I don't know).
Watched Spiderman 3 on Saturday afternoon - a lot more of the same sort of thing as Spidermen 1 & 2 but enjoyable nonetheless. I could criticise the length of the movie and how it possibly loses focus along the way by having too many villains on the go, but overall, I was most amused by how Peter Parker embracing his dark side mostly consisted of him wearing his hair badly and disco dancing goofily down the street. Still, fun to watch if you take it for what it is i.e. the third part of a successful franchise and thus under no obligation to be original. Pirates 3 and Ocean's 13 come out soon too but looks like my upcoming travels will get in the way of timely movie watching over the next few weeks.
Saturday night I finally finished the present I was working on for Baby Samantha - I have hesitated to mention it before because a) I didn't want her parents to know I was working on it and I flatter myself that they might read this blog sometime and b) it didn't look like I was going to finish it before Samantha went off to college so I didn't want to draw attention to my own inadequacies. However, now that it's done and I am all set to entrust it to the mails I can at least mention it in passing. That said, I have been known to send Christina her Christmas present in October of the following year, so maybe I shouldn't speak too soon.
Visited Shafina on Sunday and she is looking well and truly pregnant by now. Baby #2 is due in about September and at the rate little Yousuf is growing I'm concerned that the next time I look over at her, she'll have two teenage children who will roll their eyes at me and look bored at everything.
Can everyone please stop having babies?
Random boxes all over the office at the moment as we prepare for yet another desk swapping experiment. I'll miss the initial madness of unpacking and settling as I'll be in Dubai next week but that also means by the time I get back, my desk won't be where I left it. I can almost smell the confusion this will cause. In the meantime, have emptied the drawers of my desk and found that they contained:
Strangely increasing workloads mean that I don't seem to get nearly as much time as I'd like for keeping this blog updated. Still, am doing better than Aimee whose once-inspiring example of bloggery has now fallen far short of the ideal.
First off, I must take back anything I said about the Finnish embassy - clearly the service you get there, like so many things in life, is completely dictated by the mood of the woman behind the counter. My second attempt went smoothly, with no signs of suspicion and my visa ready in three working days. So all systems are go for the Finland/Russia jamboree. Now all I need is some money and some clothes that fit.
After a full week of work (mostly consisting of many pointless graphs and charts that I put together and we then didn't use in the Dell quarterly review) and a Chinatown themed dinner experience with Mr Kenny, I settled into having no plans for the weekend, after Jamila deserted me and went to some sort of drumming event instead (yes, drumming - don't ask, I don't know).
Watched Spiderman 3 on Saturday afternoon - a lot more of the same sort of thing as Spidermen 1 & 2 but enjoyable nonetheless. I could criticise the length of the movie and how it possibly loses focus along the way by having too many villains on the go, but overall, I was most amused by how Peter Parker embracing his dark side mostly consisted of him wearing his hair badly and disco dancing goofily down the street. Still, fun to watch if you take it for what it is i.e. the third part of a successful franchise and thus under no obligation to be original. Pirates 3 and Ocean's 13 come out soon too but looks like my upcoming travels will get in the way of timely movie watching over the next few weeks.
Saturday night I finally finished the present I was working on for Baby Samantha - I have hesitated to mention it before because a) I didn't want her parents to know I was working on it and I flatter myself that they might read this blog sometime and b) it didn't look like I was going to finish it before Samantha went off to college so I didn't want to draw attention to my own inadequacies. However, now that it's done and I am all set to entrust it to the mails I can at least mention it in passing. That said, I have been known to send Christina her Christmas present in October of the following year, so maybe I shouldn't speak too soon.
Visited Shafina on Sunday and she is looking well and truly pregnant by now. Baby #2 is due in about September and at the rate little Yousuf is growing I'm concerned that the next time I look over at her, she'll have two teenage children who will roll their eyes at me and look bored at everything.
Can everyone please stop having babies?
Random boxes all over the office at the moment as we prepare for yet another desk swapping experiment. I'll miss the initial madness of unpacking and settling as I'll be in Dubai next week but that also means by the time I get back, my desk won't be where I left it. I can almost smell the confusion this will cause. In the meantime, have emptied the drawers of my desk and found that they contained:
- Box of tissues
- Eye shadow
- Throat lozenges
- Nail polish remover pads
- Hair straighteners
- Yellow highlighter
- Hazelnut syrup for flavouring coffee
- Blank notepad
So, lots of useful, professional objects then.
Am travelling in three days time and have not yet figured out how I plan to get to the airport. Must get to that.Monday, May 14, 2007
Golden jubilee
50th post today.
Busy weekend - as in me actually doing things and being out of the house, not just full due to watching multiple episodes of Buffy - although, let's face it, I did do that too.
Saturday morning saw me set off with Heather and a few of her friends on a London walk themed 'The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie' which trekked us past houses of the prosperous of 19th century London, including the original Mr. Debenham. Started off around Holland Park and ended up in the Kensington Palace Gardens/Albert Memorial area. Quite a hike but very nice, in spite of the near constant rain and feeling a bit like a tired drowned rat towards the end.
Decided nobody could top Lordi so skipped Eurovision that night and went out with KY to her friend Chris' 30 birthday at Chateau 6. Champagne was flowing freely and yet I drank water all night. Damn you, diet! Met a gentleman there who said he thought I was 'intriguing' and 'quirky' but as he did not ask for my phone number before I left, I assume he really meant 'questionable' and 'strange'.
Extricated myself from the drunken masses at a respectable 11.45pm and then proceeded to have to run for every last train from every station I got to (Fulham Broadway, Earl's Court, Green Park, Stockwell) since the night bus I'd been informed I could take home did not actually turn out to go anywhere near my house or indeed Clapham at all. 15 minute journey to this shindig, 80 minute journey home in the early hours and in hurty pink shoes. Oh well, the price I pay for sociable behaviours.
London was cold and wet and pretty revolting on Sunday, but I braved the elements to do a bit of errand running as this is probably my last available weekend before I head for the sandlands. A cosy evening by the fire and a few episodes of Buffy rounded out the weekend. The musical episode is perhaps proof of why this might be the funniest and most self-aware show ever filmed.
I knew she'd eventually hook up with Spike.
Busy weekend - as in me actually doing things and being out of the house, not just full due to watching multiple episodes of Buffy - although, let's face it, I did do that too.
Saturday morning saw me set off with Heather and a few of her friends on a London walk themed 'The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie' which trekked us past houses of the prosperous of 19th century London, including the original Mr. Debenham. Started off around Holland Park and ended up in the Kensington Palace Gardens/Albert Memorial area. Quite a hike but very nice, in spite of the near constant rain and feeling a bit like a tired drowned rat towards the end.
Decided nobody could top Lordi so skipped Eurovision that night and went out with KY to her friend Chris' 30 birthday at Chateau 6. Champagne was flowing freely and yet I drank water all night. Damn you, diet! Met a gentleman there who said he thought I was 'intriguing' and 'quirky' but as he did not ask for my phone number before I left, I assume he really meant 'questionable' and 'strange'.
Extricated myself from the drunken masses at a respectable 11.45pm and then proceeded to have to run for every last train from every station I got to (Fulham Broadway, Earl's Court, Green Park, Stockwell) since the night bus I'd been informed I could take home did not actually turn out to go anywhere near my house or indeed Clapham at all. 15 minute journey to this shindig, 80 minute journey home in the early hours and in hurty pink shoes. Oh well, the price I pay for sociable behaviours.
London was cold and wet and pretty revolting on Sunday, but I braved the elements to do a bit of errand running as this is probably my last available weekend before I head for the sandlands. A cosy evening by the fire and a few episodes of Buffy rounded out the weekend. The musical episode is perhaps proof of why this might be the funniest and most self-aware show ever filmed.
I knew she'd eventually hook up with Spike.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Dingoes ate my baby
First Bank Holiday of May now over and I mostly spent it on the sofa, watching Buffy and reading Do Butlers Burgle Banks? - and scoffing vast amounts of ready-meals in preparation for giving up carbohydrates of all descriptions as of this week.
Got bored of the detox Diet of Death and am now on Day 2 of Atkins. No doubt I'll tire of this shortly too, but it might work while it lasts.
More embassy shenanigans scheduled for this week as I pick up my passport from the Russians and hand it over to the Finns. Wonder if dropping a word about my fondness for Lordi will win me any Brownie points with the Finnish embassy?
Have officially bought my ticket for trip to Dubai in a couple of weeks - am looking forward to seeing my old friends at N-Style again and Deema tells me Aerosmith will be playing during the week that I'm there. No doubt they'll have changed all the roads and put up a few dozen new buildings, so I won't be able to find anything anymore, but I'm looking forward to it. Despite the searing heat that will undoubtedly feature largely in the goings-on. If nothing else, it will be nice to wear heels again since I'll be driving rather than walking everywhere. Although, once my road rage sets in, I may take that back.
Got bored of the detox Diet of Death and am now on Day 2 of Atkins. No doubt I'll tire of this shortly too, but it might work while it lasts.
More embassy shenanigans scheduled for this week as I pick up my passport from the Russians and hand it over to the Finns. Wonder if dropping a word about my fondness for Lordi will win me any Brownie points with the Finnish embassy?
Have officially bought my ticket for trip to Dubai in a couple of weeks - am looking forward to seeing my old friends at N-Style again and Deema tells me Aerosmith will be playing during the week that I'm there. No doubt they'll have changed all the roads and put up a few dozen new buildings, so I won't be able to find anything anymore, but I'm looking forward to it. Despite the searing heat that will undoubtedly feature largely in the goings-on. If nothing else, it will be nice to wear heels again since I'll be driving rather than walking everywhere. Although, once my road rage sets in, I may take that back.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
From Russia with love
Well, it's been a full week.
Full of embassies, that is.
I've been to the Finnish embassy twice this week and am still no closer to getting a visa for Finland. This is more of a problem than it seems, given that Finland is an integral part of the Russian extravaganza and without the appropriate visa, I have little or no access to half that week's plans.
Anyway, the lady behind the counter at the embassy doubted my bonafides from the very start. She viewed me with unconcealed concern when I attempted to take my outer layer of clothing off (on account of it being a warm day, not some sudden desire to flash her). Admittedly I was wearing what counts as a 'hoodie' but if I look like the sort of person to have a bomb/weapon concealed about my person, then this is the first I'm hearing of it. She also clearly doubted the validity of my invitation letter from Tiina as she asked how I knew her and then obviously disbelieved my response that we used to work together. For an otherwise chilled out race of people, the Finns seem to have a severely bureacratic consular section at their London embassy. And they take two weeks to process applications, which doesn't really sit too well with my current travel time frame.
Contrast the Russian embassy this morning, where I waited in a queue for over an hour and then a grand total of 10 minutes submitting a mere two documents and paying for my visa. And, depending on how much money I was willing to pay, I could have the visa back on the same day or within a week. A glowing example of how embracing bare-faced capitalism isn't always a bad thing.
Met with my soon-to-be personal trainer last night and was gratified to learn that my upper body strength, flexibility and general fitness levels are better than I thought. Now if I just used them more often, I wouldn't be needing a trainer at all, but that's as may be.
Bank holiday approaches but finances dictate that Lakshmi will be spending the weekend sitting on her sofa, watching the final three seasons of Buffy. Oooh and Spidey.
Full of embassies, that is.
I've been to the Finnish embassy twice this week and am still no closer to getting a visa for Finland. This is more of a problem than it seems, given that Finland is an integral part of the Russian extravaganza and without the appropriate visa, I have little or no access to half that week's plans.
Anyway, the lady behind the counter at the embassy doubted my bonafides from the very start. She viewed me with unconcealed concern when I attempted to take my outer layer of clothing off (on account of it being a warm day, not some sudden desire to flash her). Admittedly I was wearing what counts as a 'hoodie' but if I look like the sort of person to have a bomb/weapon concealed about my person, then this is the first I'm hearing of it. She also clearly doubted the validity of my invitation letter from Tiina as she asked how I knew her and then obviously disbelieved my response that we used to work together. For an otherwise chilled out race of people, the Finns seem to have a severely bureacratic consular section at their London embassy. And they take two weeks to process applications, which doesn't really sit too well with my current travel time frame.
Contrast the Russian embassy this morning, where I waited in a queue for over an hour and then a grand total of 10 minutes submitting a mere two documents and paying for my visa. And, depending on how much money I was willing to pay, I could have the visa back on the same day or within a week. A glowing example of how embracing bare-faced capitalism isn't always a bad thing.
Met with my soon-to-be personal trainer last night and was gratified to learn that my upper body strength, flexibility and general fitness levels are better than I thought. Now if I just used them more often, I wouldn't be needing a trainer at all, but that's as may be.
Bank holiday approaches but finances dictate that Lakshmi will be spending the weekend sitting on her sofa, watching the final three seasons of Buffy. Oooh and Spidey.
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