Places Far From the Madding Crowd

London. The height of summer.

After spending many hours on the plane getting to London, I spent many hours trying to get away from it.

Thankfully, it was a spectacularly freezing summer. But unfortunately that did nothing to deter the hoardes of tourists. Staring at the Egyptian mummies in the Bristish Museum together with a hundred people loses all the mystique and awe that ought to accompany it. And while on the topic of awe, since when did Topshop on Oxford Circus become a tourist detsination?

Luckily I have relatives who live in the sticks. Penn and the area of around it is where I spent many of my impressionable teenage years. I remember the wide open commons fringed by trees, to which we sneaked out of school in the evenings to meet boys (or rather, stare at them from afar). I remember picking wild blackberries and eating them on the railway bridge. I remember chilly summer evenings lying on dry grass, rolling them into 'joints' and trying to smoke them without much success or pleasure.



Duck feeding - a must in the sticks



Country walks cook up huge appetites and the need to eat, al fresco!

The fruits of our hard labour.

Good times. I'm glad I got to relive them again and to share them with my son.



Wide open space!



A Soft Landing

One of the highlights of my trip to the Maldives last year...apart from the amazing fact that I was in the Maldives, was that I would get to fly in a seaplane.



Small but sturdy (I hoped)



For me, it conjures up such exciting associations, primarily with a particular British spy who flies them, beats baddies up in them and then blows them up. Seaplanes are to me are as glamorous as pink champagne and ordering room service. Makes me feel really chi chi.




Footless pilot doubled up as the porter. Multi skilled. I was reassured.

 

And of course, what a priveling to travel by seaplane in the Maldives, which where these atolls look their best, hundreds of feet up in the air. Hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed the flight.

Cheap Thrills

Malacca is so picturesque but if you think about it, old Portugese ruins, hill-top Dutch churches, generations-old Chinese graveyards and a snaking waterway through the old town sets a pretty spooky backdrop for unsettling angles, low light and shadowy corners for the imagination to fester.

I had so much fun doctoring these pictures too look a little spooky. This is ironic and not a true depiction of this little trip at all, which was cheerful, fun and full of colour. But what the heck, this is my small attempt to make Malacca look a little different. 



Window 1

 

Church on the hill

Staring at you





What do you see?



Through the window

 

The Band At India Gate

The afternoon sun was winding down after a hard day's work over the Indian subcontinent. India Gate was coming alive with couples holding hands, families with children and tourists like us.

We were lucky. A band was playing! Sorry to say I took more photographs of the people that I did of the glorious India Gate.

Lots of pomp for the circumstance

Wow we made the news

And so did lots of happy people

Bollywood turned up





How To Enjoy A Kebab

Look out for nice juicy bits of meat

Greasy chips a big plus  

Slather on the tasty tomato sauce, pickles, and what the heck, throw in a couple of chips too

Dip kebab in a pool of meat dripping before searing for a smokey flavour

Take large bite without looking

Ahh! Naughty kebab man slipped in some peppers without telling!

Just kidding! Ahem, of course I can eat spicy!

Marketing

For a good dose of culture shock, visit the local markets. The smell, the squelchy ground and the very strange looking merchandise. Pudu Market is particularly good at attacking the senses. It is way too... real. And real can be well, a tad scary!

It all starts off well...Bunga Kantan stalks - so pretty and pink

.

Then it gets a little hairy. No idea what this is but its uncanny resemblance to my unshaven legs was too much to resist

Purtee dried shrimp looking golden and pink at the same time

The long beans were selling particularly well that day.

"I'll have the vegetarian option please."

Ex monk?

I don't know if it's the energy or just my inner hopeless romantic. Often, when I get to a holy place, I feel the need to pledge my soul. Maybe I was a monk in my previous life?

Sigh, alarmingly beautiful

On my second visit to Yeni Camii in Eminonu I got really intrigued by these men and their ablutions. It's still one of my fav pics of Istanbul.

Abloush, bloush, bloush