2012. It’s been a funny year already but mainly in a good
positive, good-foundation-on-which-to start-a-year kinda way. I left London and
my family and friends at 7:30pm on the 31st December only to wake up
in Riyadh at 4:30am (I think) to the constant sound of mobile phone ringing.
The sound of a phone ringing is no longer noteworthy but it seemed like the
world I had woken up in was suddenly sponsored by the Nokia ringtone you know
the one – diddle-dee-dee-dee-dee-DEEEE diddle-dee-dee-dee-dee-DEEEE -
including the airport tannoy.
I went home, back to London town, for Christmas and I have
to admit that is was not relaxing but nor was I expecting or intending it to
be. It was a maelstrom of social jitterbug of flitting and shimmying making
sure I spent time with the people I wanted to while also crowbarring in those
who make my life the wonderous joy that it is. I feel/felt the need to state my
love for London and the UK because I do often as a retort to a remark like “I
don’t blame you for leaving this hellhole”. I am proud to be English and swell
with pride while wondering the street of my London town.
I have been ‘working hard’ (I add the inverted commas
because I can imagine Dad laughing at the fact that I am calling it 1) working and 2) hard) while I was home and I am now a product/user tester for a few
outdoorsy products. At the risk of sounding like I am kissing arse (ass for our
American cousins) a bit, I have to say I am extremely impressed with what I
have been given.
·
DD hammocks have given me a new sleeping system
to test and so far I am very pleased to say that their new Travel Hammock/Biviis excellent. I cannot wait to go out Mount Talinis now.
·
Pelican cases have also given me an iPod case
which is crush proof, watertight (but not submersible) and extremely light
considering what it is able to do
·
Paramo have provide me with a pair of their
Men's Maui Cotton+ Cargo Trousers. Anyone that has been following me for a
little while will know that my jungle trousers from last year got obliterated
so I set a few companies the challenge of providing me a decent pair and Paramo
were the only ones to step up. Not only that but their use a very ethical
supply chain (kind of like fair trade but for trousers) that starts in Bogota,
Colombia. All else aside, these are a wonderfully well made and very light
weight pair of cotton/polyester blend trousers. I already highly recommend
them.
I am really quite unfashionably excited for my near and far
futures. I know that any time spend at Liquid will be treasured for the rest of
my life. There is a 99% chance that I am going to spend the second half of this
year in Madagascar with an organisation called Frontier which would be a
boyhood dream come true so you’ll have to keep an eye out for that.
It took me over 57hours to get from Heathrow to Dumaguete. I
can hear everyone questions as to WHY OH WHY it takes me that long BUT I took a
long way round and it was fairly cheap too. Manila NAIA Airport Terminate 3, an
airport terminal I know intimately down to where the only power socket situated
next to a chair is and the wireless password to three of the closed networks,
was kind to me as usual. This time, I invested my time wisely by watching two
parts of the Lords of the Rings trilogy (extended versions OBVIOUSLY) as well
as a fair few episodes of The Wire. “Omar’s comin’ y’all”. I am tired but so
happily excited to be getting back to the country/island/town/resort I call my
home away from home. What should I do first when I return. Eat? Sleep? Dive?
LIVE?!? Probably all of the above plus maybe a drink or two. I also need a hair
cut but I think that that can wait. I am keen to meet Eva who is a new
DiveMaster Trainee as well as all the many others imminently arriving over the
coming weeks. (Gui has been busy).
I have bought a sack (disguised as an ASDA back for life) of
treats for my co-habitants which got me thinking. What would I miss from the UK
that I can’t easily get in Negros? I can access Ribena here which is something
that makes me feel at home when I am away from the UK, I do not miss chocolate
so much. Cooking-wise, Ricki and Peddi are able to turn their hand to anything
so, my favourite at home which is chicken in breadcrumbs is available then necessary
and then it dawned on me. I definitely miss my cat Li’l (short for little...
because she is little). I also think I miss Hungarian Salami - something I was
bought up on. I am not the most Magyar-ish of the Magyars although there are
definitely Detre/Frankl traits that are beginning to shine through – mainly
blagging and charming. This was bought to my attention when explaining my
favourite Jedi mind trick to my extended family which goes along something like
this. If I am faced with a situation which is likely to put a spanner in my
works then I explain, regardless of my experience of the situation, that “It’s
fine, it’ll be ok”. This is most useful when dealing with airports, aeroplanes
or the staff that man these entities. I have not paid excess baggage since I
first arrived in Asia and apparently I am able to use the staff facilities in
both Saudi Arabian and Filippino airports mainly because “it’ll be ok.”
I have to admit that this entry of my life feels a lot like
the gentle mental meanderings of a sleep deprived diving junglist without any
mention of diving or jungling. I admit also that were it not for the sleep
deprivation, the mental meanderings would probably be slightly more erratic. If
you have a problem with that then you should probably have stopped reading a
while ago. I ALSO think the jungle can be made into a verb. One CAN jungle.
Wild Child – Pillow Talk; Daughter – Candles and SBTRKT –Right Thing to Do were the main songs that highlighted and sountracked my
sojourn back to the UK. I heartily encourage you to give them all a listen.
I could have summed this 1,092 words up in a couple of
sentences:
Friends, family and
London - I love you and I’ll see you again soonish. Liquid, my family there and
Dauin – I love you too and Papa’s home!
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