I keep getting thwarted by the rain. I have every good intention of going for a swim in the morning, I even wake up early enough to do this but it's been raining as if it's monsoon here in Port Dickson. Then the sun comes out in the afternoon by which time I have eaten far too much and just want to curl up like a python and snooze because this heat and humidity doesn't encourage much else. I am hopeful that the weather will change tomorrow and I will be able to hit the pool. Although I feel dreadfully embarresed by my friend Ken Onishi's Facebook status from this morning. He apparently went swimming at an outdoor pool in London this morning where is was 4 degrees celcius, don't worry it was a heated pool where the water temperature was 25 degrees celcius. It's the kind of crazy thing my flatmate Corinna would do too. So what's my excuse again? Oh yeah it's this warm tropical rain, terrible tragedy. Although if I am not careful I might end up looking like Rotunda, check photo above. That's my chubby Papa :)

My not so little little sister has definitely acquired an air of adultness (?) recently. It has always been a bit of a inside joke that Shivani was the perennial student. All this came to an end ofcourse last year when she completed her doctorate and moved back to Malaysia. She has since acquired a job (ahem!), a car and her very own flat. Sometimes people don't do anything for years and then suddenly they do it all. It is with great pride that write about this as she seems to have taken to good housekeeping and was having a rather long conversation with Esther and Jyanthi about 'magic mops'. Will wonders never cease?!

Last night we had a little do at her place which was a combination of a flat warming, birthday party and help Esther finish her wedding booze. The sign of a good party is surely when the security guard comes by to get you to turn the noise down. Last guests left around 3.30 am taking with them a whole duck much to my despair as I was hoping to eat some of that bird for my breakfast. Never mind, I have a month or so in Malaysia to eat as much duck as I want.

It's my last day in India, I leave for Malaysia tomorrow. As much as I love India it definitely feels like it's time to go. India always gets under my skin, I love it so much and yet I can't seem to deal with it beyond 3 weeks. I was talking with some people I met last night at the SOAS Alumni dinner in Delhi and I was unable to explain why 3 weeks is my cut off point. On the one hand India is culturally as close it's going to get for a Malaysian of Tamil descent living in London but on the other hand there is so much about India that feels rather alien. I gather that as usual I am not being particularly articulate, never been a strength so bear with me. Once I find a better way to articulate these issues of identity, culture etc I'll give it another go. In any case, long story short I am super excited about heading back to Malaysia tomorrow.

I think the alumni dinner in Delhi went really well. The photo of the group catches the essence of the evening, it's was chilled out and a lot of fun. It's one of my favourite things about this job, the really cool people I get to meet through the SOAS network. So although these alumni dinners are 'technically' work they never feel that way and I think it's great to be able to say that work doesn't feel like 'work'. A real blessing! See if you can spot me in the photo :)

Bukhara New Delhi
Veda New Delhi

You must think that all I write about is what I eat and where I eat. Well that's because if I wrote about the other stuff I do when I am on these trips it would be tremendously boring as the rest of it involves work. I could I suppose include interesting little snippets about the people I meet but that might get me in to trouble and we don't want that now.

In any case I am in Delhi, got here a couple of days ago after a fond farewell to the lovely Calcutta. I like Delhi alot despite the various arguments made by the Bombayites that it's much more interesting and safe in Bombay. I think the wide streets, the cooler weather, the relatively well maintained monuments and the less blingtastic shopping does it for me. It's got nothing on Calcutta and it's charm but it's nevertheless somewhere I prefer to Bombay and it's nouveau riche chaos.

The first night in Delhi we ate at an uber trendy restaurant called Veda, there were queues outside so it was a good job that Louisa had called to book before hand. The menu wasn't very complex since you had to choose between ordering a 7 course taster menu or ala carte. I decided that a 7 course taster menu sounded like the bees knees and it most certainly was. With the exception of the pudding which was a weird concontion of condensed milk and lychee (I know..ewwww), the other six courses were delightful. I particularly enjoyed the chicken stuffed with lamb and the grilled fish served with lemon rice. After Veda we went to a poolside bar called Aqua which reminded me of the Bed bar I went to a couple of years ago in Miami. The only difference was it was actually freezing in Delhi and so the whole experience of sitting by a pool nursing a mocktail with very bad music blaring out of the speakers wasn't particularly positive.

Last night I went out with Uncle Mike and his family. We went to the Bukhara restaurant which is a much coveted venue. I am never sure why as the food is best described as mediocre. I stayed at the ITC Maurya last year and so managed to get a table for myself and a couple of International Officers and someone was tricked in to ordering a naan that cost £20, I kid you not £20!! So this time around because none of us were staying at the ITC Maurya, getting a table was a bit troublesome. Nevertheless Mike got Kanika to pull some strings and we got a table. The food was good and I am not sure what the bill was but I am pretty certain it wasn't good value for money. I suppose it's just something you have to do when you're in Delhi, just like going to the Gymkhanna Club but I guess that's for tomorrow.

Eating has always been central to who I am and I think to some extent it irks my mother because it means I will never be skinny like she wants me to be. Oh well, you can't always get what you want. Amma will just have to get over it.

The reason I mention food is because last night I ate so much again I am now lying in bed (it's morning) contemplating whether I am actually allowed to eat anything ever again, well at least for the next two days. My friend Shiraaz who is quite an eater himself took Louisa and I out for dinner last night to a new Calcutta restaurant called Krazy Kebab. Before that we went Shiraaz's house/office where he keeps his art collection. Shiraaz owns over 3000 pieces of art and it's all amazing. I took a couple of shots at his place but was too caught up with the eating to remember to take photos.

I am in Calcutta which is my favourite Indian city, well of all the cities I have visited so far. On the way here I was reading an interview with Paul Theroux about his new book which is set in Calcutta. Theroux as always couldn't help but take a swipe at Naipaul. In any case this swipe is irrelevant because my point is, so many writers Indian and otherwise seem to have drawn inspiration or something like inspiration from this fabulous city. There is certainly something about it's decaying/crumbling quality and pace of life that makes me feel a sense of peace despite the obvious chaos. I had a lovely dinner with the Calcutta alumni last night, it was hosted by Nayantara at her home and I am still thinking of the food I consumed last night. I think it's probably the best meal I have had in India EVER, which is saying something. Photo of me and the alumni after the massive meal is deceptive, I am really struggling to pull my tummy in despite the wide smile.

So the sun returned to Mumbai yesterday much to my relief. If I am to fly thousands of miles away from London then I expect good weather! I spent of yesterday running around visiting schools and then went to a meeting in Nariman Point. Travelling from Bandra to South Bombay is a bit of a nightmare even with the new Worli Sea Link. The good news is I had a really nice evening at the Dome with my friend Sashi, now the proud father of baby Aleeshya! I managed to take some lovely photos of the sun setting on Mumbai. I also managed to get some nice shots of the palm trees at the hotel. Sachin Tendulkar is downstairs giving a press conference and I am in two minds about whether to go and get a stalkerish photo.

So there is a concern that a cyclone might hit Mumbai at some point today. I have spent most of the day trying to get to various meetings around this manic peninsular but the weather has got in the way. Lots and lots of rain, so I took some photos to calm my nerves. Some of these were taken in Bandra but mostly in Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade.

India loves red tape. I arrived in Mumbai this morning and was flabbergasted by the number of forms I had to fill out and the number of civil servants milling around doing not very much. There was a guy whose job it was to just pick up a small bit of paper from passengers exiting from the terminal. The swine flu screening was farcical because it involved me just giving a man a form promising that I don't have flu like symptoms. Surely some kind of thermal screening is necessary? South and East Asian attitudes to sickness/pandemics/endemics couldn't be more different. Bureaucracy at it's best/worst.
That's one extreme and the other being the impeccable service of the Taj staff. Service in India is almost overwhelmingly good when there is money being bandied about. Not my money obviously but I am fortunate enough to enjoy these privileges. I do feel fraudulent though when I am called Maam.

I had just over a week in London and now it's time for India. I have a mixed relationship with India, I do love it so but sometimes it drives me nuts. Lets focus on London though before I go on some kind of India rant. My friend Ken decided to make a commitment to Jesus and invited me along to be part of that special day. I was really pleased to be supporting Ken and it was also a great opportunity to visit St Paul's Cathedral. I took the photos with my BB so they aren't great, plus I got told off mid shot. St Paul's is apparently the second largest church in the world after St Peter's Basilica in Rome, can anyone confirm this? Wikipedia doesn't seem to know.

I spent a lot of time in the last month being up in the skies. It was relatively pleasant, except I am convinced Taipei 101 is a Decepticon which is waiting to transform for evil activity

I stopped blogging some time ago, just lost direction I guess. Still unconvinced of the need to blog as it seems pretty narcissistic. Although I wonder if this thought is to do with the approach I took previously of sometimes wearing my heart on my sleeve and sometimes writing things I wanted people to read instead of actually writing things that might be of interest. It does seem a shame that with all the travel I do I have failed to document the high and low points over the last year. Do people really want to know though?