Chrismast back in The Dam

First of all apologies for blogging about the past, It's the first of April and I am very much of aware of that bu I've been trying to find the time out of my busy capitalist life style to get on here..

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the New Year; we all know start as you mean to go on..should imagine a lot of you were extremely drunk when 2012 crept in as is the usual way to celebrate the most overrated time of the year..anyway, less negativity throughout the rest of the blog I promise.

..So it is the 27th year of my life as 2011 becomes 2012...sh*t...27? Slowly but surely creeping up to the big 30 - which scares the shit out of me but once some very intelligent  man once said "Time waits for no man" and they were not wrong. Alas.. onto my adventures below:

Singapore -> Amsterdam -> Sunderland -> Amsterdam -> Singapore 

So, a 14 hour flight back to Amsterdam but at the time to be honest I couldn't have cared if the flight was 140 hour I was desperate to get back to Amsterdam. Four months in Singapore and I was missing Europe as a whole never mind my special little friends at the Coffee Shops; luckily for me Claudio was on the same flight, we had both convinced our bosses it would be beneficial for us to work from Amsterdam over Christmas..ahem it in fact left us with more annual leave for 2012 and also to be back in Amsterdam was simply priceless; evenings spent in the clouds in the beautiful little city I used to call home..

The old hangout...Blues Brothers 

My time back in Amsterdam over the festive period was of mixed emotions; main emotion for me was that I had missed this dirty little windy city and its attributes both positive and negative and that I was indeed happy to be back, very happy. The second emotion was that of Sadness, Sadness that I didn't live here anymore; I spent two full years here, straight from University, I started to become a man here, I met wonderful people mainly inside work..which is where the sadness really kicked in. After the Big D made it's reorganization announcement last year the office where I had so many happy times has taken on a metamorphosis of depression, solitude and has this swamp like negative atmosphere induced by the simple fact the wonderful and diverse pool of people who made Customer Service what it was will soon go, May 31st and the entire CS Operations in Amsterdam will cease it exists. 

I am so thankful that I got to spend two years here; yes it was hard work; late into the evenings and on throughout some weekends but without all the strife I would not have meant the scores of wonderful people who aided me on my journey in life and the journey from boyhood into manhood.

Below a few pictures of some of the great people I miss..

Claudio Claps (Left) and Marijn Baaij (Right) - The Handsome Duo 

The lovely Serbian Jelena Dzida

The beautiful Slovakian Erik Linhartova - before you ask, no I didn't..

Rebecca Smith (Left) and Diedre White (Right)

The Epic wonderful and perpetually lovely Dieuwke Swain - hope she doesn't get offended but kind of my like my substitute Mother away from home :)

"Do not dwell on the past, do not dream to the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha

If any of my old colleagues or friends from Amsterdam are reading this, thank you for everything and I will see you again :)

Thanks for reading...
TGM

Sunbeam Orphanage

A few weeks late in writing this up but been a busy old week at the Big D again (when is it not?)

A few months ago an email came out regarding a Supply Chain Christmas Celebration; mindlessly I signed it up for it; basically if it's not in direct relationship with my job or the items I have to do on a daily basis the usual practice is I never have time to read it so I either delete it, archive it (parking it in corporate lingo) or I mindlessly accept / respond and in this case it was the latter.

On Friday 9th December the day was here, the celebration was here and we were booked in the morning for the 2nd Annual Big D Ethics Day - I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty details of this exuberant day but gladly it were only half a day and were scheduled to finish at 12. In the afternoon as part of the Celebrations we were booked to go to a Child’s Orphanage near the Malaysian Border called Sunbeam. I didn’t really do much (any) research on it and when the time came I used the usual excuse of I’ve too much work to take half another half day out but I didn't resist too hard and before I knew it was nearly 1.30pm and we were approaching the location for the day. 

It was a beautiful day in Singapore on Friday 9th December 2011; I jumped off the bus with the others and it was 32 Degrees outside; the sun was bouncing off the pavement and the place we'd been taken too were serene; akin to those really posh Garden Centers you see in the countryside of the UK. The itinerary for the day was basically to help bake cookies with the kids of the orphanage, eat with them, then a balloon artist and a face painting pro were coming in to entertain the kids this was then followed by a Big D only after work drink and mini celebration. Needless to say with my phobia of Children I was dreading it and  running through my head over and over again why I'd accepted the invite as it wasn’t even mandatory.

I was part of Table 5; when we arrived we were all assigned a specific child to sit with for the day. Mine was an 11 year old Indian / Singaporean lad called Gabriel and my first observation with this kid was his energy levels were through the roof and in comparison with some of the other kids close by I felt I was being punished for a conglomeration of past sins by being assigned to this one. He was loud, obnoxious, and rude and oh did I mention energetic? 

We started making the cookies and over time he seemed to rely on me for the complicated things; when I say complicated we had 4 ingredients and it was one of the easiest recipes in the history of mankind but he seemed uneasy with some of the tasks such as rolling out the final mixture for shape cutting etc. We worked together as an epic team and churned out a ridiculous volume of cookies which we sent off for baking to revisit later for the icing competition. I tried to be as friendly as possible so was addressing him as bro to which one particular comment he retorted "I’m not your bro, you're white and I’m brown" I had to struggle not to laugh out loud. So I switched the bro to dude and everything seemed more manageable from them on. The balloon artist came and the face painter and the kids had to queue for both. My kid was desperate for a balloon. So I decided to go queue for him; I asked him what he wanted for a Balloon and as if it was a magic lamp with three wishes these were his requests:

2 x Swords - I Purple and 1 Brown

1 x Train - Red and Blue in Colour with three x passenger cars and a cargo car carrying coal.

1 x Vacuum Cleaner

I managed to get him a train and an awesome one it was...

Thomas the Tank Engine - Or an attempt at it anyway;
this is a basic train and looked more complex that Astro Physics during creation..

On a side note; has anyone recently seen a balloon artist or magician or whatever the sugared job title is for them now? They're AMAZING to watch! It's akin to witchcraft I have to say...

I wanted to get my face painted into something sinister or maybe match the Spider Man T-Shirt I was wearing with some Spidey face paint but the queue was too long and didn't want to take the fun away from the kids.

On the way back from the balloon artists to my table; a few of the girls at the Sunbeam centre wanted me to sit with them and in fact told me I looked like Edward out of Twilight? They complimented me on my handsomeness and also on the fairness of my skin. Then I got very uncomfortable when they started asking me for face book details and to kiss them!! It was strictly communicated by those above beforehand that contact details were not to be given and I would have gone to jail for the kissing! A part of me wanted to say "give me a call in 10 years time" but I thought it wasn't appropriate so kept my mouth closed…I'm learning.

After the balloon artist and face painters it was time for us to decorate the cookies we'd made earlier. We got a selection of M&Ms and coloured Icing and basically just had to go for it to make the craziest shapes and colour combinations possible. Gabriel didn't really like getting his hands dirty so I took care of most of the icing for him (I enjoyed it perhaps a little too much). After the icing was done we gave out gifts to the children and said our goodbyes. 

For me it was a joyous day; a day I've never experienced before and my buddy Gabriel (can officially call him Bro now as by the end of the day there was a definitely a connection) he thanked me for my time and wished me a very merry Christmas and asked me to come back again someday. On my departure he gave me his balloon (pictured above) and one of his cookies.. I had to rush off into a shitty work call with Scotland and missed the actual waving the kids off but I felt extremely touched and in a potentially selfish nutshell felt like I had helped someone and done something worthwhile in my life. Even if it just was for an afternoon.

The epic Christmas Tree Cookie By Gabriel complete with missing M&M

Another lesson I learned this day; was how fortunate I was as a child; never wanting for anything and made me feel a bit ashamed of those tantrums I had thrown when I got the Die Hard Trilogy Game for my Play Station and not the Original Resident Evil game I'd asked for. What a douche I was as a child.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Jack

Doei Nederland, Hello-lah Singapore

It’s been almost a 5 month hiatus since I updated this blog, I’ve been meaning to do it almost every single week since my last update but as they say “time waits for no man” and it certainly doesn’t show me any favoritism. 

So, some big big updates since I last posted on this blog: What can only be described as an online diary; partly for my own entertainment and for those who are bored enough to read it or those unfortunate souls who come across it by accident.  

I guess the biggest change in my life is that I moved, I moved from Diageo Brands BV and I moved from beautiful Amsterdam all the way to South East Asia on the next part of my journey. I’m sitting here typing this blog on the public transport system in my sunny new home town of Singapore. 

Let me side track for a second by saying highlighting the Singapore Public transport rail system otherwise known as the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) – try if you can to imagine being a sardine or an anchovy in a tin of the said fish you buy from the supermarket or even better imagine a packet of cigarettes, machine packaged into your little cardboard box, it’s just like that – and it’s like that pretty much every hour of every day. The Singaporeans in my new work team give me the condolences that “it’s better than Hong Kong” and maybe it is but I’m in Singapore and I f**king hate their public transport system. It’s not inefficient, slow, late or expensive – all the usual complaints us Europeans would highlight it’s just the fact it’s so busy all of the time!

Anyway…. enough of my complaints (for now), the Big D as I like to call it in blogs to try and avoid vindicating myself from negative comments I may be inclined to make have had a reorganization or a change of operating model; whatever corporate sugar you want to sprinkle on it. They decentralized their customer operations as part of the Supply Chain from Amsterdam into the respective markets and just my luck; Asia was the first market in scope. I remember hearing rumors back in May this year that this would happen after the first reorganization of the demand side of the business in Amsterdam and on a Sunny day in June we were pulled into a meeting room and given the “bad” news. The reaction as you can expect was mixed but surprised how tolerable the reaction was from those impacted; if it had been a room full of Mackems or Geordies it would have been very different; trust me. 

So not quite sure what I want to do with myself, with my career or my life I decided to apply for the new roles posted in Asia, pot luck really as I’ve made a few big mistakes in the early part of my career and surprised this was not held against me. To cut a long story short (and to remove all the BS) in the end I got the role and was the only person to move from Amsterdam over to Singapore in the first phase. It all happened very quickly and with rather lucky timing to be honest (Claudio my good Italian friend and roommate also moved over a week before me and our living accommodation had expired right on time). At the end of August, on a sunny Friday afternoon I said my goodbyes to my colleagues in Amsterdam (teary eyed as is usual practice for Jack in these types of situations) and on the 29^th August I took my flight from Schipol destined for Singapore.

The Boeing 737 taking me away from Amsty..

 I landed safe and sound on the sun scorched pavements of Singapore (my first time in Asia actually – quite brave / stupid – feel free to decide) happy to see some of the colonialist actions carried out by the British were still evident (driving on the correct side of the road was the first one I have to mention). I pretty much hit the ground running and started working the day after I arrived. The Big D had arranged for a rather nice studio apartment for me on the 27^th floor of a building close to work at a cost of 7,000 SGD (3,500 GBP) per month which I was very glad I didn’t have to pay – especially considering the place was 30m2 if that but my God It had one hell of a view..

View from the 27th Floor of the One North Bridge apartment building

The first month passed extremely quickly and of course; good things never last; the apartment rented for me was only for a month and post this month of holiday feeling I had to find myself a place to stay; obviously in true Jack style I left everything to the last minute and before I knew it found myself homeless in South East Asia. It was this point where I had to rely on the Italian, the tricolore, one of the nicest guys and epic friends any guy would be lucky to have. Claudio put me up for a week in his place him and his girlfriend were living in…unfortunately I had to play Gooseberry for a week but hey beggers’ can’t be choosers can they? 

During this period I was frantically searching for permanent residency, partly to held out Claudio as I didn’t want to impose on him and his girl any longer but mainly for my state of mind. I guess I follow the Maslow hierarchy more than I ever though and I need a permanent place of residence, somewhere to put my books and hang my coat in order to function properly. During this period of uncertainty I just wasn’t myself at work and was feeling pretty down in the dumps.

I eventually found an epic place; what they call a Condo Apartment here in Singapore, it’s basically shared accommodation in a semi-up market style (i.e. non Government buildings or HDB’s they call them here). It was in a place called Kembangang and had an infinity pool on the roof, a Jacuzzi and a BBQ pit for pleasure. The room was only 550 GBP per month and considering Id been paying 100 quid more a month back in the shitty place I was living in Amsterdam this made a fresh and delightful change. 

Unfortunately I lost out to a pair of boobs; trying not to be sexist here for the possibility of a wider audience but it was a single French guy renting out the place and If I was in his shoes I’d probably have done the same thing. Anyway two good things came out of this viewing; one I met a really cool Filipino guy (the guy who was leaving the apartment) called Oryx who has one of the most beautiful English accents I’ve heard for a non native, almost poetic with a twist of South African. The second good thing to come out of this was the fact that he recommended me to his two friends who were looking for a new roommate and alas this is the place I stay now, in other words it was because of this chance meeting that I’m now living in an epic condominium in a place called Paya Lebar (which means White Swamp in Malay), so if you’re reading this Oryx; thanks a million!

The epic Swimming Pool I have to put up with every day :

 I’ve now been living in this Condo for a couple of months now and I have to say I probably wouldn’t still be here in Singapore or at the Big D for that fact if it wasn’t for Oryx and this new place. I live with two American guys, well when I say American it’s in the most general tone possible – both have American accents but in reality one of them is Mexican (Enrique) and the other a French Canadian (Nico) both of whom are working for 3D Effects companies making and rendering special effects and animation for movies, video games, TV etc. One of those really cool jobs we would all love to do if we’d studied hard enough at school or had the dedication to go for. 

Ok so that’s it for now; we have an up and coming positively gonna be epic BBQ this Saturday (3^rd December 2011) at the BBQ Pits in the Condo with about 40 – 50 people coming. It’s going to be a mash up. Will keep you updated ;) oh and another thing – I must try and post more often to minimize the length of these posts – no one likes reading an essay right?

Peace,

Jack

Nisa & Jack - The Second Time Around...

So, I took her to the airport. Walked her to her departure gate and let go of her hand. Off she went through the barriers looking back occasionally over her shoulder, a tear in her eye...me the other side of the barrier tears almost flooding the airport. That was it I told myself and as she passed through security and waved goodbye I turned and headed for the car park. 

I remember jumping in the car driving back to the place where I was living with David and walking the stairs without effort, my body dragging step by step. I opened the door to the apartment and walked into my bedroom where only hours earlier she had been in my arms; there was a postcard on the bed with a picture of some Asian Skyline, on closer inspection it was a postcard of Singapore and when I turned it over I found beautiful words. Nisa had written something like 

"Smitty, So much to say so little time to say it, thank you for a wonderful time, until we meet again"

I knew I liked this girl, but I wasn't sure we'd meet again, no firm commitments were shared by either party after the initial get together but we stayed in close contact and communicated across Messenger and phone / text daily. After a week or two of her return I received a parcel in the mail from her... I'm afraid It's my pleasure to keep the specifics of this item from you but trust me when I tell you i still have them and they bring as much a smile to my face now as the did when I first opened the package ;)

It was late August or early September and I found myself missing her dearly and unfortunately that meant I displayed the green streak I'm assuming (hoping) most men display from time to time and I got jealous of her in photos with other guys and actually gained this complex where I couldn't bring myself to check her facebook page just in case I saw something I didn't like. I know it was all unjustified and feel like an absolute douche when I look back. It obviously (coupled with the distance) made us argue and fall out from time to time and at some points she probably would have been just in telling me not to call again and hanging up, but she never did..

It came to a point in early September when we were talking about Christmas and Nisa was contemplating booking another flight and coming BACK over to see me. She planned to meet some friends in London and we hypothetically discussed me flying from Amsterdam, meeting her in London, spending some time in London then somehow making it back up to Sunderland for Christmas and New Year. She toyed with the idea as I continued to act like a massive douche every now and then and then just as thought I'd ruined it I received an email from her, and it had an attachment. I remember vividly opening the email and seeing a PDF attachment without any text. I double clicked the adobe icon and the PDF opened; it was a booking confirmation email from Emirates. She had done it, she had booked another flight, I was going to spend Christmas with Nisa :)

I worked very hard at work to ensure I got the time I needed off at Christmas and booked all the relevant flights. We planned more specifics about the holiday but mostly I just looked forward to seeing her.

In total..from the moment she went on the airplane back to Singapore to when we would meet again at the back end of December it would be almost 5 months since we were last together. That sort of time can pull on the strongest of relationships, mine and Nisa's was new and maybe that's why it lasted all that time apart. I thought about her almost everyday, I'd never met anyone I'd adored as much in my entire life. 



In between Marnixstraat and The Naussaukade, Amsterdam, December 2010



December soon came and with it came heavy amounts of snow across Europe, but severe amounts in Scotland. As a result work became unbelievably stressful and I couldn't wait for December 18th to arrive so I jump on a plane and go meet Nisa. I worked all the hours God sent to ensure things went as smooth as possible; this coupled with the Discounting L/C project they throw at me every six months..December went quickly and before I knew it the time was upon me to pack my bags and fly to London. 

The weather in the UK got so bad that lots and lots of flights were canceled causing a public outrage and how unprepared the Airports were for the weather. As a direct result of this tomfoolery by the big wig airport execs my flight on the Saturday was canceled. I tried to the call the airline for hours but all the phone lines were continuously blocked. Airport and carrier websites were crashing and I couldn't get any information what so ever. Instead of contacting the airport or carrier I just decided to forget about my canceled flight for the time being and look for an alternative one to get me to London. I managed to get myself a KLM flight on the following evening but this time I was strategic; and decided to pay a little extra to fly into London City Airport. A small new airport on the outskirts of London; right next to the Lyons factory, the company that make Golden Syrup :) 

On top of all my Drama Nisas flight was rerouted from London to Manchester then to Glasgow then back to London but she finally arrived in London on the same scheduled day, the Saturday but thankfully she bumped into a friend at airport and they helped her find the right underground train she needed to get to Euston Station, which is where out Hotel was booked; the Premier Inn right outside the station in pretty much the heart of London.

I got my flight on the Sunday evening and thankfully it wasn't canceled, but the flights at the other two main airports of London were! Thankful I'd been strategic I landed in London City Airport and got the DLR to the Underground and made my way towards Euston station so very excited that I was going to see Nisa again. I finally got to the Hotel and made my way to the room after some deliberation with the counter staff as I hadn't arrived the previous day even though I had called ahead informing them my flight was canceled, the message didn't seem to be relayed amongst the other staff. Never mind...I was finally in the elevator on the way to the Fifth floor where Nisa was. As the elevator reached the floor and the kind lady voice of the elevator informed me we were on Floor 5 I stepped out and became insanely nervous and full of trepidation. Nisa Latifah; all thoughts from what if she doesn't like me anymore? What if she has changed? What if? What if?  Assuming like I always do..

I got to the door of the room, took a lungful of confidence and tried to look through the peephole; not being able to see anything I could hear the just more than silent babble from the television which was on in the room. With one final lungful of confidence I swiped the card down the reader on the side of the door and pushed the door open and walked in.


There she was...looking even more beautiful that I remembered her. Her eyes and her body language rang with nervousness and i quickly understood she was just as nervous and shaky as me. It was so strange to see her again.. no matter how much contact you have with someone it's amazing what physical distance can do, she felt uneasy it was obvious, I felt uneasy It was obvious too. When we slept that night she did the cutest thing and slept with a pillow in between her legs.. I took this as a sign but it wasn't the correct assumption.


We spent time together in London and for me it was magical, not because it was London and not because I was off work but because It was Christmas (I'm a sucker for the festive season) and mostly, mainly, because I was with her. We went shopping, we ate great food, we even went to the London HQ of Diageo while she picked some stuff up for work, I met her Filipino friend Red and he took us to a great Italian Restaurant under a bridge (a bit cramped but the food was great) and I got to wake up next to her every morning. To me, this is what life is simply all about.


When our time in London came to a close it was evident that the weather was still playing havoc with the transport; the train's were all over the place and our train was delayed but eventually we headed off to London Kings Cross to take out train to Sunderland for Christmas. While waiting for the train randomly I saw the British Comedian Justin Lee Collins but I wasn't going to ask for an autograph; I'm not that kind of person - I wanted to touch his bouncy flowing locks however but he was in a bit of a rush or so it seemed. We boarded the train for the 4 hour journey to Durham and I've got to say it was the best train journey of my entire life. We got a few supplies before boarding the train but (and she'll probably kill me for writing this on the internet) we were both extremely err..how do I say this tactfully.. Frisky on the train and we got up to a considerable amount of mischief considering we were on a packed and quite close quartered metal rectangle of public transport...ahhh great memories. We eventually arrived in Durham to be met by my Grandmother but because the Weather was bad the train was delayed and my Nana being my Nana left her phone at home; she'd arrived and waited..waited some more and then waited a little bit more before heading back home. So in the end we took a taxi back to Sunderland and arrived safe and sound, the night of that day was a lot of fun emphasising the words "a lot" as much as I can. She was back, in my bed in my silly quiet hometown..looking back, this fact alone is testament to how much she cared for me at the time.


Christmas Day came and so did the abundant Christmas Lunch that only the legend that is my Grandmother can prepare; Soft and doughy Yorkshire Puddings, Creamy smooth mashed potato, perfectly cooked carrots, crispy pork and onion sage stuffing, chipolata sausages wrapped in crispy bacon, slices and slices of slowly cooked British beef, angel white Turkey Breast and lashings and lashings of thick, fragrant home made Onion Gravy. Typing this is making me as hungry as hell but when Nisa was at the table waiting for her very first British Christmas Dinner and the food was served her eyes were like a Japanese Anime character, like a child on Christmas morning being greeted with a barrage of sparkly, shiny and colorfully wrapped boxes... they were Wide open with awe and amazement. God her appetite is awesome for such a small girl, it's one of the things I love about her most...

Me & Nisa @ My Grandmother's house - Christmas 2010

Nisa making Snowball's in the front Garden

After Lunch, we went outside as Nisa was loving the snow! She threw some snowballs at me, threw some snowballs around the Garden oh and fell over in the snow (which was epic) I've got that on video somewhere.. it's epic. She made the worst and smallest Snowman you ever did see... like a Snow Dwarf Man..haha how cute.. I won't put that photo up and embarrass her though :) Not only was it her first time eating Christmas dinner but it was her first time seeing Snow.. whatever happens with his whether we work or not I hope she'll always remember these days and selfishly hope she associates them with me.. 

The Worst but yet the Best Snowman ever made - Sorry Nisa! I posted it :)

After Christmas was over we spent a few extra nights in Sunderland before planning a trip; I realised after a very short period of time my Hometown is boring.. well to me it's normal but to the girl from the bustling bright lights of South East Asia and the growing and partying that is Singapore it would be very very boring. So we decided to go to Scotland.. up to Edinburgh for a few days away. Before that however we went Bowling and it shames me to show this...

Can you see that? No word of a lie... I did not let her win.. Had to swallow the XY pride big style

After the bowling we did a bit of a Photo Night; taking lot's of silly random photos in silly and random poses all but a few of them clearly spoiled my presence.. 

Don't know what's nicer about this photo? The clear love for the Dog or that ass to the right? :)

We then took on the 116 mile journey from Sunderland to Edinburgh but because the MR2 was off the road we had to take another car... the parents needed the Clio so God Forgive me I had to borrow my Grandmothers Citroen Berlingo..... I know I know, tell me about it. 1.6 Litres of French scrap. 

I booked us a small bed and breakfast pretty much in the centre of Edinburgh, set the Sat Nav to on and we went for it. We arrived in Edinburgh a few hours later, myself getting stressed to the Max trying to find the B&B and Nisa the angel calming me down as she always does and eventually we rocked up outside the B&B, slapped on the Disabled Badge :) and parked. 

Nisa @ The Foot of Edinburgh Castle

Our time in Edinburgh was mixed I think both for her and me, we had a few well.. I wouldn't say arguements maybe disagreements and we voiced some things we wanted to say to each other which I guess is healthy. For some reason to me she can't do anything wrong, she's close to perfection for me but I know deep deep down I know there's something not quite right with her.. it's like she can't open up properly or give me the emotion I give her. I know I'm an emotional boy, more emotional than most maybe but I don't know I can't quite put my finger on it. I do know however I love this girl to bits and right now in this moment writing this 6 months after I last saw her face to face I'd probably do anything to be with her again. I'm contemplating moving to Singapore to be with her; I tried for a role in March / April but unfortunately I didn't get it..

On the way back from Edinburgh I tried to do a thing that Men are known not to be able to do; I tried to multi task. Whilst driving I tried to remove my Jacket and during my wriggling around succesfully managed to look like a mentalist trying to escape from his straight jacket and I had a histeric Malay girl sitting to my left pointing and laughing her ass off at me; this may sound trivial to you but she has a beautiful laugh and I'd be more than willing to make a fool of myself every single day just to hear that laugh again.

I won't bore you with anymore fine details; we returned from Edinburgh and before I knew it her stay was over and it was the night before her train back to London to catch her flight back home to Sing. I remember lying there, propped up against my pillow / back of my bed just watching her sleep. I must have sat there for an hour maybe more completely wide awake watching her chest move in and out (not in a pervy way) and listening to her cute little snores. I wanted to just hold her so tightly and tell her how much she meant to me but didn't want to wake her from her dreams. Eventually I too drifted off with the Sandman.

All of a sudden; we were in the car and I was taking her to Durham train station for the return journey. I wrote a silly stupid letter and slipped it into her luggage without her noticing before we set off - hopefully it would be some light reading material for her to help her pass the time while being reassured how much I cared for her - I never did found out what her reaction was. The drive to the train station was bad, like I'd lost a family member or I'd been given some really bad news I was just numb knowing that with each metre the car travelled was part of the countdown before she had to go back; I wish however she'd felt the same obviously I think (hope) she had an OK time with me over the festive period but could see she wanted to be home with her friends and family which is completely understandable. We arrived at the train station and it was absolutely freezing I remember the cold like yesterday, with tears on my cheeks the cold was like being bitten by an insect so raw against my skin helping the memory to be burned into my brain. Just before we left the car she pulled her Monkey face; she actually did it very well and it made me laugh amongst all the emotions she actually made me laugh. What a girl.

I had a stupid appointment with the dentist that I couldn't cancel and I had to leave her at the train station to wait for her train, I guess it was for the best otherwise I'd have had to put her on the train myself and that would have been just too God damn hard. The drive to the dentist I was numb again tears streaming down my face like Niagra falls wondering if I'd ever see her again. I had to go to Singapore, I have to see this girl again.

Merry Christmas Nisa, thank you from the bottom of my squidgy heart.

IMY. Elephant Juice.

Part 3

Coming Soon

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John le Carre

About a year ago now I started reading a book by John le Carré that I picked up absolutely randomly at the bookshop in the airport before flying back to England during my time in The Netherlands. It was called "A Most Wanted Man" and was a Spy / Espionage / Terrorist themed book with a fantastic story line and an abrupt non-satisfying ending...which funnily enough I seem to enjoy. A Most Wanted Man was the follow up to the critically acclaimed "Constant Gardener" which I have not yet read..After finishing the book I was again catching an Amsterdam->Newcastle flight and picked up two more le Carré titles for £10. One book called "The Mission Song" and another called "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold".

Let me start by saying this book is possibly one of the greatest books I've read in my life. It gripped me from start to finish; I found myself unable to put the book down, powering through the streets of Amsterdam with the book in my hand; navigating society on autopilot as I was so engrossed in the story and so attached to the characters I just couldn't put it down... A high period of high pressure and stress at work turned the pace of progress on the book back down to low but I've just finished it today; the last few pages keeping me trapped on the spot in the middle of the street, unable to go anywhere until I had finished.

The book is based somewhere in the 60's, in post-WW2 Britain where espionage and spying is still top priority for the governments of Europe. The book follows Alec Leamus, a 50-something year old veteran spy brought back to England after a string of failures in Berlin, on the verge of retirement finds himself with one last mission; probably his most dangerous and high priority mission in his career. Along the way Alex hits a string of unfortunate incidents but finds a flower amongst a graveyard when he meets a young librarian girl called Liz. The story comes together in a big high tensity ultimatum in true le Carré style.

John Le Carré; a former intelligence officer himself working for both MI5 and MI6 sections of British Secret Service which enables him to make this particular story so en-capturing. Le Carré also admits in an epilogue to the book that during the time of writing the book he was in a very dark place within his life and he believes some of these experiences he experienced formed parts of the main character Alec Leamus and you can feel it as you turn the pages.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who may be interested so I'm going to wrap up here. If you like James bond style spy, espionage and high tension thriller book's I'm sure you will enjoy this tremendously.

5/5