I’m exhausted, bit annoyed, slightly confused, kind of worrying and can’t decypher few things clearly. I think I deserve (read, need) a short trip!
Me (mobile)
- January 9
- , 2012
Next stop Islamabad. Shitty internet at Dubai airport.
EDIT: For some weird reason this picture was stuck in my mobile and got synced automatically last night. To avoid any confusion this is from 16th of the month.
Almost 16 hours to go before I embark on one of the most important trips of my life.
By the way getting English bank notes is quite a hassle. I was told by Barclays that I should have placed an order 2-3 days before so maybe should check with their Barclays Wealth on Bothwell Street to see if I can get some from there. There though was able to get some English notes but couldn’t get them exchanged into Euros or American Dollars since they do not keep larger amount of Foreign currency in Bank and I will have to place an order 2-3 days in advance for them.
Anyway I just walked into a Cheque Centre and got most of the Scottish Bank notes exchanged for US dollars.
Many times while travelling abroad they just decline to accept the Pounds issued by Scottish banks - on that note even some retailer down in England act like that (nationalism?)!
From my trip to area around Inverness-shire and Loch Ness in particular. If you spot the infamous Nessie in any of these pictures do let know.
Some of these will find their way on to my Flickr account.
So the update for now is that my car needs to be written off because apparently to get the sun roof and rest of the stuff from Japan plus the damage to the car and the slashing of tyres will incur a crazy amount of money to the insurer. A salvage company will pick it up from me tomorrow and will give me an estimate market price of the car which the insurer will then pay me. Only issue is that I have a flight on 15th of September to Pakistan and I really hope everything can be sorted out in 7 days time!
Meanwhile I was supposed to help Edu move but did not have my car so we ended up having lunch at Rice & Noodle Bar on Dumbarton Road. Why didn’t Lan take us there before? The food was amazing and the best part was that I had a fish soup for the first time in my life and I loved it! I love fish but I have this theory that a dead fish should not be in the soup - I hate all the Pakistani or otherwise dishes with that, but this one really won me over. Then took a walk to University and then to this wonderful tea house - Tchai-Ovna at the Otago Lane. I had Japanese Sencha Hon tea which was good but I really loved the aroma of Chinese Lotus tea.
And it was there when discussing the Motorcycle Diaries about Che Guevara we discussed a possible trip through Asia Pacific on a very normal and perhaps second-hand motorbike. I have warned Edu that he needs to start this trip in start of November otherwise I am susceptible to a change in mind (those who know me long enough already hate my spontaneous plan making skills).
By the way I also figured out that Google Map does not give you much information for route planning between countries in Asia Pacific and it is not that the countries are not joined by roads at all but Google Maps got a mind of it’s own for this region. Try running a search for directions for: Dhaka - Yangon - Bangkok - Kunming - Ho chi Min - Phnom Penh - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore!
REPLIES:
Sorry for not replying quick enough:
ajewelbandaid, goodbyeblighty : Hey thanks guys no it wasn’t like a race attack at all and I won’t use that overly “misused” term. This was an insane guy who wants trouble all the time and did this when he was extremely drunk and maybe even under influence of something.
wajihah , beautifulsiesta : thank you guys :) all is well now - just has put things off schedule for me.
And really sorry for all the messages I missed before - really got myself in a tight routine recently.
finally get to hear Scottish instead of the pretentious English. Kind of a bitter sweet moment. Leaving Wigan (mobile)
At Leamington Spa station on way back to Glasgow. (mobile)
- May 22
- , 2011
Singular 3:
To break out of my monotone routine decided to organise a get together of friends. Starting from a BBQ at home, movie at cinema to finally driving 45 minutes away from Glasgow to Ayr. Really did great for me at least.
Shot with my Sony NEX 5D on 9/4/2011.
- April 19
- , 2011
Mogadishu, Somalia from International Space Station (via Astronaut Paolo Nespoli aboard ISS)
From Ayr around 2am last night. Not sure why it didn’t get published automatically from my phone.
- April 10
- , 2011
Just to let everyone know that I made it back in one piece.
Note to self: Never forget the calm feeling induced by those soft waves crashing on the beach at night.
- April 10
- , 2011
Got my Chinese visa from Edinburgh. One of the few good things about being Pakistani, free visa to China!
- March 2
- , 2011
University of Glasgow bag in Peshawar - Aun took this one on his recent trip to the city and I have a feeling that he took it for me. In any case I want him back in Canada!
- February 28
- , 2011
Just saw some pictures of hailstorm in Lahore and damn I so feel like going there right now even though I have seen worse this winter here.
I am supposed to get my Chinese visa by start of this coming week but now I am indecisive if I want to execute that deal there. A small part of me is telling me that it might be the time to just go there, forget business and drive from Kunming to Xinjiang via Tibet (passing through Ashk Chin somehow) and finally Pakistan by road. But of course I cannot take that trip so spontaneously given I have been given fair warnings by my Chinese friends about the safety along that route.
I am also not sure any more how long I want to stay here. Part of me is just making me look for something new or perhaps just something more stable to stand on. I am going to give myself another three months to decide if I am staying in Scotland any more or not.
My “bro” is getting married by end of the March and he is getting to an absolutely wonderful girl but I just feel so bad letting him go - especially our years of “bromance”. I am not entirely sure if I can be there before time but seriously I will hate myself if I am not.
Am glad that I went on out that little stroll with you guys earlier today, I really needed that.
- February 26
- , 2011
