Snow

Well! Snow! I haven't written in a while, even this post comes late. Last Monday (nearly a week ago) London had a lot of snow. I managed to get to work, but most people from the office didn't. After making a snow-man at work with the few who made it in, I returned home before lunch. Transport on Tuesday was problematic, so I worked from home. Here are some pictures of the snow:

London under snow

My walk to work

Our terrace at work

A snow man

My walk home

Autumn (rains a lot)

It's nearly mid-November and London is now towards the end of Autumn. I like Autumn. Not only are the colours pretty, it rains a lot here in London. I've been conscious of the fact that I enjoy rain since I was about 10. It's rained every day for the past week. It's great. At work I have a view of London's main business district - the City. Distant buildings look soft and grey through the rain. I'm not sure why, but I like that. So when I'm at work and I look out the window, I enjoy noticing the patter of the rain on the puddles that form on our terrace. Occasionally the drizzle becomes a minor deluge, but it's always raining. Great.

When I was a kid I used to enjoy being indoors, sitting by the window watching the rain. Maybe I was drawing, playing lego, playing with transformers, or watching cartoons. But I was always happy that it was raining. Sometimes the rain would stop and I'd notice patches of blue sky appearing between the clouds. That would always disappoint me, because I wanted it to drizzle forever.

Several years ago I flew to London via Korea, because it was the cheapest flight available. It was my first time to the country, and all I got was one night in a guesthouse near the airport. I went to sleep very happy that night because lying in bed I could hear the rain outside. Despite waking in the night to close my window to stop rain and wind getting into my room, I felt I slept very soundly because of the rain, and in the morning woke up totally energised and in good spirits. Later the same day on the plane I was chatting with Korean business man. He told me that the rain last night was in fact part of a medium level typhoon.

Anyway, this post is just meant to be a place for me to post of photos of Autumn in London. Rain photos may follow. Enjoy. =)

View from my flat

In Hyde Park

A squirrel

Bollywood

I'm still in Bangkok, it's now my last night. I've had a very nice stay. Apart from enjoying eating Thai food, meeting old friends, idly roaming Bangkok's streets and not working, I've been on a bit of a Bolly Binge.

The friends that I'm staying with in Bangkok (not Indians) have been taken away on a storm of a Bollywood, and since arriving in their house I've been swept me along with them. I've been here a handful of nights and I've already seen 4 Bollywood films - quite an achievement as each film is roughly 3 hours long.


Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966)

Probably my favourite film so far. Set in the beautiful hills of Darjeeling, tells the story of two couples from two generations, dealing with the issue of relationships crossing social classes. Powerful story with great music and dancing!

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

A particularly high grossing film in India featuring the (apparently) famous Shahrukh Khan. This film deals with the issue of love versus arranged marriages in India. Nice European scenery and again, powerful story. I think Shahrukh Khan plays a right twit, but overall quite pleased with the ending. Good soundtrack too!

Kismat Konnection (2008)

This modern film was much weaker than the older films above. Set in Toronto Canada, I wasn't aware that most people in Canada speak Hindi. This film doesn't explore any real social issues - and the plot resolves itself a little too easily. Some amiable characters, but content is just a hollow shell of eye candy. Not bad songs.

Golmaal Returns (2008)

I just came from a special screening of this Bollywood film in a cinema packed with Indians - myself and my friends were the only non-Indians. Quite simply this movie was dreadful. It was pure slapstick, silly sound effects, and no substance. After the above I've come to expect high standards from Bollywood and this let me down. The two songs in it were catchy, but not relevant to the plot and there were only two of them! Hope to find better than this.

Summary

Bollywood is great. From these few films that I've seen, the plot is pretty much always about an annoying guy meeting a girl on very bad terms and they end up marrying each other at the end. On the way from the predictable beginning to the predictable ending, these films have the potential to touch on some very key social issues in India, and I'm all for that. Have enjoyed what I've seen and am looking forward to more!

Bangkok

Hello. Well, *finally* I have reason and motivation to write in my blog. I've been spending some nice days with my girlfriend in London, taking pictures of the Autumn leaves in various London parks, but am yet to post those here.

Right now though, I'm on the road again. I'm not in the office today, nor will I be for the entire week. I am in Thailand, and being here feels like an echo of last year - when I had the whole year off for care-free travels. I don't have quite as much time this trip, but it's pleasant not to have to think of work. I'm come here for a friend's wedding.

For those of you who don't know, I used to live in Bangkok, and I've been back as frequently as I've been able. I know the place well, it's really like another home for me. I am of course farang (the Thai word for foreigner), so there's plenty I don't know about the place or haven't discovered, and each time I come back there's lots for me to learn and lots of new food to try.

People have very different views on Bangkok - some love it, some hate it. I can sympathise with both views. Everyone, I'm sure, will agree that Bangkok is a sensory overload. Bangkok attacks you through every sensory channel - strong smells, either putrid or divine, force themselves in your face; loud sounds, pretty or coarse, are always at your ears; the tropical heat penetrates you from every direction, leaving you sweating much like the steam in your bathroom after you've had a very long, hot shower and your ventilation isn't working; the food, famously, is divine; visually, you will never be bored - there are endless arrays of street food vendors, sickly dogs, flower-stalls, khlongs (which are canals but also open sewers), everyday I walk past a chap doing welding work without gloves or glasses of any kind... etc.

Well, that's all I've got to say for now. Am attaching some photos. Bangkok: the place and it's food. ;p

A typical Bangkok lane

A hot, wet, sweaty day in Bangkok

Thais wearing the King's colour yellow on the King's day (Monday), as is their habit over recent years, to show solidarity & support for the King.

Lunch - Pad Thai noodles with prawns (& a section of a banana flower)

Lunch - the Thai take on a Chinese pork dish

Life

I'm at home now, it's late on a Sunday evening, and I'll be going to work in the morning. It's dark but warm out, today was an unusually warm day. I have a lamp on and I just listen to some soft music as I get ready for bed.

I'm very busy these days. I seldom get a chance to write my blog, as any readers of this blog should know by now. I take pictures from time to time, snapshots of my life in London. I'll share a handful here.

Work
I work just east of the City of London. I get out at Liverpool Street Station every morning, as do thousands of other city workers. Together, as a great mass of bodies, we heave out of the station to go to work, day in day out.



London
There's lots to do and see in London, I stroll around a lot. There're nice parks and architecture, there're classical concerts and plays, art exhibitions, and all sorts of other things to occupy one's self with. Outside work, being involed in London takes up a lot of time. As nice as London can be, I find I haven't much time to myself. I also get the feeling, increasingly, of being too couped up in London, I sort of yearn to get out into nature a bit. I spent most of my time in buildings.



Home
I have a nice room to myself, not far from Hyde Park. Occasionally I get the chance to roam in the park after work. Usually the only time I spend at home is in the evening. I have a view of the next building's fire exit. I can hear pigeons in the cavity between. I'm happy enough here.

My new PC

Well I've now got my own PC. I wish I didn't have one, because having one disrupts my otherwise calm life-style. It's 2am now and if I didn't have a computer I would have read and gone to sleep by midnight. I've had the laptop 3 days and already the Windows Vista Anti-Virus tool has told me that I have 452 viruses on my computer and prompts me to pay £50 to buy a licence to be able to remove them.

On running my computer for the first time, my machine had to go through a series of updates which took about 2 hours. Not very pleased with welcome I've had to Windows. I'm thinking about why I didn't get a mac or why I shouldn't soon move to Linux instead.

Frustrated.

Routine

After *a very long time*, my life has fallen back into routine. Work on the weekdays, relax on the weekends. My current lifestyle doesn't allow for much blogging. Work is busy and outside work, well, I seldom have access to a computer. I quite enjoy not having a computer at home. But there's pressure on me from various sources to buy a computer. So I might have one soon. If I do get one, I expect it will mean more regular blog entries from me. I've been taking all sorts of photos as well, so it might mean I actually get to put them on here. Maybe even back on my Flickr! ^^

Today rained all day. It didn't affect me so much as I was stuck in the office. But now, in the evening, it's pleasant being indoors while it rains outside. I listen to soft songs by a genius of a musician called Jo Yun-Sook but who goes by the title of 'Lucid Fall'. Some songs are here. They're all nice, but try 'Why do I need feet when I have...'

While I enjoy not having a computer, I do miss being in contact with people. It's hard to squeeze in all my communications at work, having a computer at home would let me do that! Oh well, this is all I have to write right now. Wishing you all the best. Yoni