9 hours of being cooped up in a VIP hen pen (on the return journey sitting with a monstrosity that et lill kids for breakfast). 48 hours in isloo: 7 hours of sleep. 3 hours of worrying/freaking out. 9 hours of extreme fun (not as extreme as extreme ironing, but fun): - watching two expert cooks cook what they are experts at... and trust me, it was lip smacking good. - gift shopping for a month-old toddler and getting water-guns for 21-23-year old toddlers (abez,aniraz) - hanging out at their dad's restaurant.. man. im a lahori. when i say the food was good - i mean it R O C K E D. (B, yer so seriously missing out on GOOD lasagne - i tell you, if a woman can cook, and cook so well... that's just like. wow.) - went balloon shopping for myself. 4 for a rupee. (what can i say, im easy to please) 6 hours of analyzing how excruciatingly painful government procedures can be. 2 hours of learning what the religion i was born in is all about. (and then arriving to the conclusion it was best left to experts) 7 hours of tv/film: - east is east. too much hype man, was pathetic. a waste of tym/effort/concentration. but the other option was the patriot :p - some movie with that american pie guy. he was the 'loser' in it. hated it. - star wars. really i tried. but i just couldnt. what force? - an oprah show which talked about women being abducted within the 2-mile radius of their homes. oh yeah! that can be a real spirit booster, when yer in a foreign city and your map says 'all roads lead to china'. 4 hours of internet. chattin mostly. haunting me people's blogs. 3 hours of chilling with the hosts and their young daughter. uff! one month olds are SO SMALL. it's not even funny. im missing a 7 hours in real time. dont know where they went. lets see. thys was my first real trip alone, as in, without friends or family. (till the end i was planning to pull someone along, but since all my plans are so haphazardly put together, and even i didnt know if i was leaving at the tym i was supposed to be leaving at, thyngs didnt quite fall in place). so on my way there, it was all nice, since it was a 'VIP' coach, and the seat next to mine was free. that meant i could put my legs up and chillax. except the woman who sat across the isle couldnt believe she had to be squashed in with her 38 yr old son or somethyng, so she insisted taht the 'aunty', who was travelling with 3 rowdy kids aged 9 and down, send one of her kids at the back, "there is a seat to spare" excuse me? am i stepping on your toes? it's amazing how generous people can be with thyngs not theirs. ive learnt one lesson in my almost 23 yrs. do not get too friendly with other ppl's children while yer travelling. no matter how cute a kid is, you dont want to spend a 6 hour journey holding someone's wet-diapered child. really, you dont. some ppl tell me i have all the adventures. honestly, i could do with lesser. i almost missed my bus home. if it wasnt for my watergun-totting White Animal abez, who rescued me, id still be stuck in isloo. (which wouldnt be all too bad if i had her brownies and aniraz's pizza to see me through, but im sure they were thys >< close to chucking me out :>) i had a good tym hanging out with the two women who were, actually, crazier than myself. and i met Chai, who is just SOOOO nice. we held our scrabble game waiting for her to show, but once she did, we got so busy having fun talking, we forgot to play :D thanx yo! you guys are officially great. im glad to be back home though. it's like, you dont have to wake up at 9 in the morning just to look decent. you dont have to not use the A/c cuz yer a guest (not like my hosts didnt want me to, i had their blessings, but making yerself at home away from home just seems weird). you dont have to keep the TV volume low cuz yer in someone else's house and they're asleep. at home, you can refuse the vegetables and live on ice cream from the freezer, and go around in yer pajamas all day long (mom'll stop shouting at you to change after 5pm). and you have yer own car, free to go wherever you want, WHEN you want. you can get pizza delivered at 2 in the morning. not because you didnt like mom's dinner, but you werent hungry then, but you are now. my hosts were the nicest ppl. i realised then when i remembered i had left my clothes discarded in the middle of the room. they picked me up from the bus terminal. they gave me food, shelter, a DVD player and a laptop. and i dont mean to be ungrateful, but dorothy was right: there's no place like home. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- in other news, me mom's received a wealth tax notice. it reads: Dear Sir, i have reason to believe your wealth has "escaped assessment".... blah blah blah *looks around* hemlock replies: Dear Sir, i have reason to believe our wealth has escaped us. goodbye