This is what I wrote during my 12 days in Tehran; it should have been posted then. Now, in the lobby of the Surabaya Marriott , a mere 7970 km away, it no longer seems familiar, as if a lie, a memory deadened by distance. As if memory’s judgement is susceptible to the diktat of [...]
oddities in space & time deserving of me. Coventry, Colchester: Rubbish places. Thank God for education; without that distraction, I’d have fried myself long ago. Tehran: Tehran, 40 degrees Celsius, but the low humidity made for a pleasant stay. The one hotel still standing in Tehran was the former Hilton hotel. Persian women are so [...]
Bali: an amazing race I. Armed with Tom Hodgkinson’s How to be idle, a colourful popular polemic tracing the advent of the work ethic. One of a slew of books which question the value of work without end.
An overnight stay in Hong Kong, fresh from a chilling fortnight in Northern Europe; fewer contrasts capture the myth of the Globalisation thesis.
Tough buggers, birthdays. Birthdays … these millstones. The thought of such a long commitment scares the adult into me. Tallinn is no longer the merely “ex-Soviet outpost” that we knew and loved; cultured, confident and consumer-centric, Estonians are now revelling as part of the new, “new” Europe despite the despicable arrogance of their near-neighbour Finns. [...]
Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport is nothing if not seedy. The claustophobic arrival halls and the spacious check-in areas betray budgetary profligacy along with an economy of planning not unexpected in Indonesia. There is some merit to this unwitting state of affairs; unlike Singapore’s Changi International, there is no pretense of an insincere over-familiar welcoming hug. The [...]
29th December to 7th January. Have a great New Year’s everyone!
18th to 19th November. This city of countless millions turns into a ghost town during Lebaran. Not a hooker in the seedy hotel bars. Heck, even the terrorists are on holiday.
30th October to 5th November. IMD offers a wealth of learning; the Beau-Rivage Palace is as heavenly as the ?ırağan Palace on the Bosphorus. Learn more about Lausanne.
