23 November, 2013

Normal life?

I'm back in Australia. Did the exam, waiting for semester results. Just about over the jet-lag and on normal sleeping patterns. It feels so strange to have nothing to do that needed to be done yesterday...
I decided to spend this weekend catching up to 'normal' life - unpack, clean up the messy house, wash Ziggy the car. And then what? What do people with lives do in their free time? 

14 November, 2013

Dubai-extras=Canberra and mobile Indians

Maybe I've been away for too long, or am infected with some form of brain eating virus ala Japanese Encyphilitits B, but Dubai minus all the high rises, glitter, expat workers, etc., is a lot like Canberra.
Oh and it doesn't have as many roundabouts, I didn't see one actually. Tuggeranong Hyperdome instead of Mall of the Emirates? ;-)
I have a photo of the view from my window, but again technology surpasses my abilities. Manana...

Catching taxis today, all of the drivers here were from India too, I started to wonder who is it and what about are they constantly on the phone on? Every driver today had a headphone in his ear and was going off in Hindi or Bengali.
Ask and you shall have.
(Talking to the wife in India about buying furniture. Put on your best fake Indian accent)
- Cream, cream! Nay! Something, something, something, something. Nay! Cream not white!

And here I thought they were talking about India-Pakistan nuclear arms race....

Photos of my Istanbul cemetery cats!

Real Love!
I think all these cats are reincarnations
of people like me.
Tolerance


11 November, 2013

One of the Bangkok Cat Purr Cafe is ready!

My friend N and I enjoy Brzezinski, or at least pretend to!


I almost ended up with a cat! 
World through Asian eyes...

Not many places to escape
 the paparazzi... 

Photos! Old ones....

Again I am having problems with new photos but my last Istanbul photos have showed up! So enjoy March 2013 Cemetery cats and Spice bazaar.
Spices
Teas 
Don't wake up the cat!

My cemetery cats 

Try before you buy! 



Istanbul

Oh what can I say, even working weekend, when I'm in Istanbul I'm in 7th heaven!
I have been here full 3 days now, two of them working but I have managed to cut my hair (no small feat with a hairdresser who speaks no English at all). At worst I though it will grow back and as usual the colour stayed black, but the end result was very good and the whole deal cost me peanuts. Well worth putting yourself in the hands of untested strangers, especially when they hold sharp objects.

So far I have bought two kilos of cat food and visited my cemetery cats twice with breakfast. And unlike Thailand all the cat access is free and they all want a pat! I also carry a couple of pouches of whiskas fish flavoured food, for any needy cats I encounter on my travels. I love it here. Next life I still want to be reborn as a cat in Istanbul.

Tomorrow after work I'm off to buy a special Turkish tea pot and some tea glasses. Who's coming for Turkish tea?

03 November, 2013

An extra nice trip to end the travelling year!

Hello from Nigeria!!!!


Not really, just Thailand, really. As the title says a nice easy trip to Thailand, Turkey and UAE, to finish up a less than the usual jet-lagged year. After my usual bout of being sick of/too old for/too scared of travel, I again have recovered enough and after 4 moths back home decided to get back on the road. With the dreaded Bangladesh trip turning out a lot better than I expected, I am happy to be on this one, especially since I have my brief trip to the most romantic Istanbul, oh how I love that city! So far every night here in Bangkok (3 nights total) I've had Istanbul dreams. With dreams like that I want to stay in bed all day! Of course I have work to do and preparation for my end of year university exam, but hey, not often you get dreams like that!
But so far, apart from work, I have done plenty nice stuff in Bangkok:
- 2 massages one for jet lag and one with hot herbs slapped all over!
- my nails are all matt blue and toenails aqua sparkly - after I did them I found out the owner of the salon is Israeli, which broke my boycott of Israeli products... Ah but they are too nice to remove... And we had a discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis with predictable result. Customer is always right! Photo of nails to come.
- my eyelashes are extra long, very vain, I know... But since I also had all summer waxing done, I needed to add hair in other places! I was thinking about it - how stupid to remove some hair and add hair somewhere else, and pay doubly for the privilege!
- oh and I got reading glasses! I decided that it is a necessary motivation for study and since Thailand is cheaper for these things I organised myself and did the tests and chose the frames. Now I will be able to do 2 subjects at a time!

Talking about study, for my very difficult Geopolitics subjects I handed in THE WORST essay I ever wrote. I was ashamed to hand it in, and almost quit the subject because of it (the lecturer talked me out of it and gave me an extension to finish). And yet I got the highest result so far for that damn essay! I got some criticism too, as per this lecturer, but not the usual tough critique. So what's the lesson here? Don't apply yourself? Upon further reading the essay isn't as bad as I first thought, so maybe what my work friends who hear my drama first hand say: next time you're panicking over study, I am not listening and telling you to get over it! Cry wolf too many times? Me? No...
OK time to go, cat cafe opens soon. Yes, I am back to having one day stands with strange cats for hire. So what! Call me a Cat Punter!
(I almost combined the two words but the result was funnily offensive!)




17 September, 2013

Bangladesh hypochondria

Sorry I could not post from Bangladesh but the connection at hotels was sloooooow...

Chittagong, Bangladesh:
Talking to my translator (boy in his early 20's) in Chittagong I notice he has rather yellow eyes and since I've seen this a lot in India too I decide to ask about it.
"Oh that just means people have malaria. I have malaria. But, mosquitos don't bite me anymore since I got sick. So many people here have it, but they don't know it because they don't have money for doctor to test it."
I take out my insect repellant and apply for the 50th time that day, since I saw mosquitos at the airport, on the plane and in my hotel room. This air-conditioner equals no mosquitos doesn't apply here!
But for those who remember my old China trip on anti-malaria medication will know I can't take it and remain sane.

10 September, 2013

Bangladesh oh Bangladesh...

I think I have fleas... Really. I'm covered with bites and they're not mosquito bites, I look like I have the pox. And I remember the recent story about a boy in Kyrgyzstan who died from plague which he caught from a flea bite... So, who wants to sit next to me on the plane? ;-) 

06 September, 2013

Out of darkness, into the heat...

Namaste from Sri Lanka!
Mother of all jet-lags here! Must be out of practice after a 4.5 month break.
But I am travelling again. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, hmm... Hot and... don't get me started...
Right now it's raining, pouring really and I have 3 meetings today in about 1hr.

Am also a conscientous student still and fell asleep last night while reading about US foreign policy towards Central Asia during the Cold War, geopolitical perspective... (Wake up! It's fascinating really!) Can't remember anything I read.

Meanwhile, overheard on the lift this morning:
4 people getting on the lift at level 1 - local looking man, Asian couple, yours truly.
Ding! Lift stops at level 2, local man gets off. Door closes.
Asian couple to each other (impatient tone, American accents) - He could have taken the stairs!
Ding! Lift stops at level 3, Asian couple get off. Door closes.
Me (to myself) - Right...
Lift up to level 8. (Pre-emptying the question).

28 March, 2013

Khabarovsk -20!

On the frozen Amur river.


A fishing hole with wind shield.
Meeting the locals!
Sunset in Khabarovsk


Russian military


Vladivostok port with ice floating.

The WW2 submarine
(not the Kursk one...)
Keeping the troops motivated
(inside the submarine)

Interesting sleeping quarters
inside the submarine
And that's how you
launch them!

Vladivostok cold!!!

Start of Trans-Siberian Rail
Frozen sea with fishermen in the distance

Fire safety in Russia!
You throw wheel outside
and lower yourself out
until fire ends...
Or rope burns through! 












It's spring! Ice melts in parts!
Testing that ice!

Teotihuacan pyramids

Moon pyramid on the left, in the distance the Sun pyramid.

Mexico pyramids, taken from the Sun, view of the Moon.


Sun pyramid - start climbing!

Much easier down!



Mexican style

Pumice stone buildings in
Mexico City. They need to be light
 since city is built on a lake!
Spot the odd one out? Religion and alcohol meet!


Diego Rivera murals of
Mexicao city history.

He was the husband of Frida Kahlo,
who had an affair with Trotsky. 


Mexico devils

Pink and grey skull with devils
came home with me!
You wear the jaguar,
you become the jaguar!





Be saved!!!

Felix's new friend!


Scary Mexican jaguar masks
with real teeth and porcupine needles in eyebrows!


Mexico colours


Paper flowers everywhere!

Tree of life.

Skulls everywhere too
Tiny beads jagua
Interesting use of those
tiny beads on a real skull.

26 March, 2013

Bogota Gold Museum

24k Gold outfit
Jaguar mask
Shell covered in gold.
The shell is long gone.

Little nightmare jars
If you can't be a jaguar, you try for a bat!



2m high, 15m long... Gold Gold Gold!!!