deja vu

This is the A380 that brought us back to our mundane lives. It was a nice holiday, really. We had the good luck to stay in a glorious flat just several feet away from Hyde Park. On the first morning, I woke up to the clippety-clop of the horses and...the familiar smell of manure that they heap in vengeance.

The A380 was cozy and the flying time was shorter than usual but long enough to allow me to watch "Atonement" twice, thrice...

wishes come true - bournemouth revisited

That was last year when we had this conversation. Bournemouth is what I imagined to be. The air was biting cold but it was sunny - enough to embolden young girls to don their bikinis.

a tower raven

Ravens at the Tower of London have a lot of history - mostly ominous.

in Oxford

We came from Paddington Station and arrived at Oxford to visit friends; ate scampis; heard stories about our friends' first visit to the Royal Ascot days before; and showed Meeza around in case she would want to go to an Oxford institution for studies. She seemed interested and I was quite pleased, I just had to cross my fingers.

stonehenge, close-up

the brits showcase

We were on the River Thames Cruise. It's a cold summer. In a little while we were to see the dungeons of old, torture chambers and of course, the Crown Jewels.

state of affairs

There are not many Sundays that you wake up to:

• Hillary bowing out of the presidential race. It is a cause for sad feelings for people in the US of A expecting to see a woman president in their lifetime. The Kenyans from a distance are genuinely happy for their "son", though.
• read that a young man had met his death in a car accident yesterday at dawn. Was he reckless?
• see Stephanie giving Donna an ultimatum, "Give me back my husband and I'll give you your family back." And you are left thinking how Eric can be that irresistible. Eeew!!
• watch Jolie's full lips on the TV screen as she berates Matt Damon for being the ever busy spy that he is. The Good Shepherd tells a boring story of the volatile early 60's and I reckon that they really wore lipstick that red. Those black and white photographs don't really tell the shade.
• Oil per barrel has gone up to almost $140 and might reach $150 by July. Should I cancel the trip to Hua-Ho Manggis then and save my petrol or am I correct to think that we will never get a price increase in our gas because we produce it??? Talk about complacency.
• feel that whatever bad news or bad shows there are, we got to hang on with dear lives and think about the blessings that the day may yet to bring.