Thorn Tree

I see these around the place, not so many of them in towns but there's one near my flat. They are not the trees to lean against or do anything else against for that matter.

I haven't found out the correct name for this yet so for the moment it's the Ouch Tree.

Seasonal changes

It's getting hotter, the cool days are gone for another year and it's getting more humid. The skies are becoming greyer and the nights hotter. I've seen a few banks of clouds rolling in from time to time but none as spectacular as these seen at sunrise two weeks ago:

Monsoon is still a good way off but this looked as though it was going to be a storm of epic proportions. It was just a freak of the light and conditions and in a few moments it had gone and the skies were clear. Still, it was pretty dramatic looking.

Beach time

I wasn't sure about how I would take to Goa. For sure I was up for a bit of in-your-face tourism with all the cocktails, beach loungers and eating places geared to the international beach bum. I wasn't too keen on the by product of all that, lots and lots of other people looking for the same thing but as it turned out I struck lucky. A guesthouse backing onto a busy beach at a part of the beach that wasn't too busy so if I angled my book right the place looked almost deserted.

I had a hammock at my beck and call

Visitors were few and very cute

Beach vendors were photogenic and not not too pushy


with just the right amount of creative framing the beach looked lovely

I've just realised, I didn't have one cocktail! Just as well I'm going back to explore another part of Goa in a week.

The Worlds' Most Stupid Product...

...probably

Imported from Thailand. Coconut water packaged in a plasticised carton, inside a plastic coconut, wrapped in a plastic label. Cost 120 rupees. Additional value? Sugar added.

Or you could just buy this:

Branding Nightmare

There are times I am entirely stumped by the brand names that appear on things. This is one of those times.

Who thought this was a good idea? Who agreed? Why has no one pointed out the error of their ways? And generally, WTF?

The weekend

Sometimes I wrack my brain trying to think of a theme to hang around the pictures I post. Not this time. Here are some unrelated pictures I took last weekend around where I live.

Aarey Milk Colony, grass being harvested to feed the buffalo which provide the milk that gives the place its name. I don't usually get this view from above as my flat is at a more oblique angle.


A short stroll away from where I live is Sai Baba Complex, older style flats set around streets shaded by mature trees. Washing is generally dried at, or just outside windows. The grills provide security, ventilation and decoration and are cunningly designed at just about the right width to stop pigeons getting in.


I get roped into taking pictures of all sorts of things, this particular weekend it was swimming.

What's in a name?

Ever on the lookout for brands that wouldn't sell so well elsewhere I'm delighted to present the snack-combination-to-beat-all-snack-combinations.

A delightful Full Toss followed by...


some satisfying Cheezooz.

Five Years Ago Yesterday

I noticed that my flickr account turned five years old yesterday, I had just posted the image above which I thought could be much better, I was considering taking it down again when I realised that, completely insignificantly, it was the last picture I posted before I was aware of the date. Caught up with concept that anniversaries matter I went for a wander through my photo's.

Way back then me and the man had taken the plunge and found ourselves jobs in Vietnam. The flickr account was one of the ways of documenting the "international experience', as is this blog. The name on both is a combination of our initials with an extraneous "s". We were both meant to contribute, that didn't happen but he does occassionally point out spelling mistakes.

The flickr account has pictures of leaving Scotland, sorting out the house for renting, arriving in Vietnam and getting settled. Trips and holidays all over Asia and a brief visit back to the homeland before our current incarnation in Mumbai. It documents my favourite places and views, my obsessions and interests of the time and it makes for nostialgic viewing. I'm working on improving my photography and getting more selective about what I post, hence my prickliness over the "significance" of the photo above. But if the last upload was so bad, how would I feel about the first one?

I was well chuffed! My very first upload to my flickr account was a shot of two buildings in Singapore which, when viewed from a certain angle, look like a great big c*ck!

Pure class.

Production line

Little Ganesh statues being manufactured in a village industries training centre. I still don't own a Ganesh but one day I'll find one that's irresistable.

Yusuf Meherally Centre

Street Jewels

I spent a few days at Kala Ghoda festival in South Mumbai, so did these girls as part of one of the folk entertainment troupes.



I hope that one day they own jewellery which is worth more but for the moment they're rockin the little mermaid theme.