Author: jay

This author has written 70 articles
goa / India

Birthday Shennanigans….

what can i say, i'm a lucky man. from the early morning birthday serenade from my two little men, to the moment we fell into bed full, tired and more than a little tipsy, it was about as good a day as you could responsibly hope for. some highlights include: the only omelette in Goa made with imported cheese (thanks to the missus), a couple hours tooling around the interior on the bike, a rub down from Dr. Johnny (on the cement floor of a disused hut - he forgot to mention that his place with the table still wasn't ready), a lovely cake and presents (after countless fakes, a real pair of Aviators!), a slap up dinner of red snapper and Kingfisher, and a late night stroll down Palolem beach. big, and special thanks to the missus, who carries on her family tradition of magicalised birthdays, and a big thanks and shout out to everyone for all of the well-wishes that came in throughout the day. miss you all. xx (Egg is following in my footsteps as a photographer - master of the awkward moment)

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November 13, 2010
goa / India / Uncategorized

salvation from a dangling cable….

following last week's appointment with the good folks at (un)Reliance, an internet cable has been run from our landlord's house through the trees of the yard, and now hangs, tantalisingly, outside of our window. when will someone be along to hook it up? God only knows. if you're reading this in 2010 then it has happened sooner than expected. but if it does happen this year, we will also suddenly be seriously connected. more so than at any other point on our trip, since there is no transfer limit on our 512kbps. so folks, who's up for some serious menage-a-quatres video conferencing? or maybe some live gaming while catching up on the new alan partridge (this no joke. there's a new series apparently. thanks again Uncle Chancey). heck i might even do a spot of hosting on the side... update: we are now installed and online! the final step involved uncoiling that cable and pushing it through our open window (which we can now no longer close). with nothing permanent than a treebranch securing the cable between here and the road (about 70 meters), we may find ourselves back offline soon enough. but for now, let the games commence!

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November 13, 2010
Kuala Lumpur / Uncategorized

KL revisited

Yesterday completed our 5 month Balinese time warp. It took eating the same breakfast in the same hotel with the same irrepresible two small people to feel like the circle had been completed. This may, in part, be because Egg has been going on about the breakfast at this hotel almost daily since we left. And so it was with a building sense of anticipation that we dragged ourselves out of the first real airconditioning we've had since leaving here last May, and down to the poolside breakfast room that offers such Egg-friendly fayre (as we were to discover, precious few other places would meet these exacting standards). Prior to this, we spent a week at with 'Uncle Timmy' and 'Auntie Brenda' across town in the shadow of the Menara KL. Theirs is a lovely, spacious flat, in a great part of town. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, although we might have been just a little on edge owing to the unpredictable playing habits of two energetic boys under six. Still, it was great to catch up with Tim, who was our first first flatmate(and BFF) after we got married in 1996, as it was to meet Brenda and get a my ass whipped in squash (although yesterday's rematch has us back at evens, and me staggering around on stiff legs and groaning like Homer's dad) Continued visa wrangling looks to be the forecast for the rest of this week, then we will be back on Goan service with Uncle Chancey from Friday. bing bong! Three Imaginary Boys wreak havoc with one hose (called the Bum Blaster, apparently) Tash sporting the latest Two Ringgit timepiece chic Uncle Timbo and his skyline. One of these three kids still finds Toy Story amusing Caught wet-handed Water fighting is exhausting work The deep sleep of the very naughty My new camera has smile recognition. struck dumb by my first pint of real…

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October 20, 2010
Bali

selamat tinggal Bali

Somewhat belated, owing to the sporadic availability of time/internet/functioning brain cells, but this a short and heartfelt word of thanks to the Balinese massive, who made our time there such a special one. Difficult to say when we will be back, but be back we must. Here are some reasons: Agung: Bali's towering centre (more in a basketball than a geographic sense.) National Geographic unfolding on the wall in front of you Batur - the more likeable, bikeable volcano Having coffee here every morning... and going to bed here every night   and looking down from here generally... on our very own slice of the Campuhan river the fabulous Nyoman. Salad-maker without equal. doesn't bode well, does it? kids in bali: the graph is ridiculously skewed farewell karaoke my all time favourite person in Bali...and possibly anywhere. just a shame i couldn't get him to bust out his usual, single-toothed smile for this photo. it changed my day every time i saw it. trouble masquerading as innocence peanut butter parfait the daily cartloads of artwork from Pelangi school. the fantastic friends we made. thanks for such a great sendoff (all of them). you'll be sorely missed. ...i found the tooth.

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October 17, 2010