Thursday, October 9, 2008

Trip: Day 1

Friday Oct 04, 2008

After a disastrous start (I missed my outgoing 1320 flight to London: reasons why ought not to be discussed, but I take the blame!), I caught the 1900 flight. Vahe dropped me at the airport. Was given an aisle seat, with a spare seat next to me, and managed to sleep for 30 minutes.

I  arrived in London at 1300 the next day, and was met by Adnan, who whisked me off to Richmond in his massive black Audi A8. We spent time talking about family matters, and in the evening were joined by Alexis, Adnan's girlfriend, who is an interior designer. 

Next, met my cousins, Sahar, Ali and Hasan, who are all students in London (Actually Sahar works at Barclays Bank). Had an Italian meal with them at a local restaurant, squeezing 6 people into the Audi. 

Adnan and Alexis showed me to a tastefully decorated room, with a new dual LED lamp and custom sun shades, where I fell into a deep sleep, where I dreamt that I was falling down a long, never-ending chute.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Woke up at 0930, after not being able to sleep most of the night. Adnan very kindly drove us to Angel, where we had a pleasant brunch, then met with the cousins briefly before making my way home by train, then having dinner with Adnan and Alexis

Monday, October 06, 2008

Went to the Riko gym with Adnan, stylish gym with its own coffee bar, internet-linked exercise equipment and classical music piped into the wood-panelled changing rooms. Then, had a snack with Adnan and went to Embankment station to meet Ali again. Adnan dropped me at the airport at 1900 after picking up Alexis, then boarded Air Mauritius for the epic, 12 hour journey to Mauritius.

Seated next to me was Jennifer, a delightful person and an instant friend, whose English husband has worked for Hong Kong telecom for 25 years. She lives in Trou aux Biches and knows Hugh Vitry (the Divemaster) and Shanaz and Coen (my friends in South Africa, also divemasters). We talked for nearly 11 hours. Truly delightful and very charming!

Met my Mum and Dad in Mauritius at about 1130 am, and was whisked to the house in the Honda CRV, with my mum driving and dad sitting in the back. We spent the rest of the day talking, though I had to interrupt for a 3 hour nap. Jetlag was starting to catch up.

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