all good things must end - part 1
so the trip is over and i am already back in the groove of things....things i can relate and make me feel at home...even when they get a little crazy sometimes.....singapore is too organized...too nice...too impersonal...too much red chillies in everything and i wish they had muslim showers running cold water to take care of their aftermath
told my boss that my hotel room sucked (yes, the one with the view of the beach obscured by palm trees that i posted earlier) and he agreed that i switch to a hotel closer to the office as well as the city centre...the better spots for shopping and food....and the obligatory walk to orchard road which i have not missed during any of my visits...this road is the main shopping street although malls dot the whole landscape....
maybe i have posted earlier too...that orchard road has one of the largest music stores...the HMV and i just lose track of time when i go there...they have three separate floors and sound proof rooms for jazz and classical...talk about multiple orgasms...yeah yeah yeah...men cannot have them but we can fake one too.....
then my credit card is rejected for a small amount and i felt so embarrased....the thing is that my hotel bills are settled by my company but when i checked into the hotel...yes the crappy one which took three days to change a broken phoneset, they took an impression of the credit card and blocked an amount equal to the room rent + incidental costs...
so these freaks blocked USD1500 which choked my card and had not released my card from credit hold even 2 days even after check out.....then i find that what tipped the scales against me was the new hotel, which blocked USD600 for two days
i ask them why would they block an amount twice the room rent...and they say for incidental and minibars...now as much as i would have a drink ten times its street price and check out all the porno movies they had in their stocks, i would still be short of USD600.
i tell them that hotel stay has been prepaid.....but they "have a poolicy not to unblock till the guest checks out"....sometimes i think these singaporeans really do not know their collective asses from holes all over the singapore streets...
i called standard chartered visa in karachi was useless...they "would not take my verbal instructions to release the hold"...then i let it go...if this "maturer singapore market' could not show basic customer service, how can i blame this christian fellow working the night shift in karachi...all he did was point out the problem...which was more than what the singaporeans could do.....
got CDs by the pretenders, the cure, james taylor, nina simone for myself and phil collins for my son....i did find two albums by cake and plenty of incubus but i forgot which albums to go for...so the one reader of my blog...let me have the recommendation before my upcoming trip...
i would have loved to say this but it is too soon for comfort....i will be going back in a couple of weeks for more than 3 weeks and i am dreading the trip already.....
now the CDs i bought....chrisie hynde of the pretenders is awesome...i remember the one trip when i moved from one cold-gloomy midwest 'teenage wasteland' to another gloomy city upstate NY city...the whole trip i had the pretenders playing on my car stereo...very surreal...
(to be continued)
9 Comments:
Based on what you picked up:
Look up Neko Case (Blacklisted or her latest one), Ryan Adams (Love is Hell pt1 or 2), Jeff Buckley (Grace - though I am sure you have that), and the Decemberists (anything)
sepoy
thanks sepoy...will certainly check these out...no i do not have any of these...i am such a loser...:) thanks a lot...Naveed
Well, allow me to urge you to run, not walk, a grab anything you can by Jeff Buckley. He is no longer with us but he was a mystic who shared Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's spirit.
If you want, send me an email and I will send you some stuff as well...
The scales fell.
You mentioned the bald drummer turned singer and I stopped reading and started looking for a barf bag.
Puhleeze, there should have been a warning on top :)
Your last comment to me 'regular progarm'? , what did that mean? oh so cryptic!
sepoy - mail address is naveed.m@cyber.net.pk...and thanks...
(w)alter...what bald drummer reference made you barf...do you mean chrisie hynde was previously bald and a drummer or both...hmmm that would make one hot drummer...:) me thinks
or did you mean phil collins...by golly..sure...he was the genesis drummer and took lead vocals only when the much talented peter gabriel bid his farewell to the band....i know phil collins is pop trash but my son only likes him because of the lion king sound track that he has drown up listening to.....otherwise i am sure this is just a passing phase....
today we were driving back from his evening classes and i had an old peter gabriel album "security" on...which BTW is also partly, the OST for an Alan Parker movie called the Birdy which is an all time fav of mine featuring Nicholas Cage, Mathew Modine etc...
listening to it he commented that peter gabriel was reminding him of phi collins and my wife told him about the genesis and how she felt that peter gabriel was a much better lead vocal...i thought it was sweet of her because she knew that i liked peter gabriel a lot whereas she also wanted not to hurt my son's feelings...
there is something special about your kids liking your type of music (and vice versa) and this is something, i think, some readers of this blog will probably relate to :)
Yes, Phil is who I meant.As usual, jumping to conclusions..not even reading the whole post,my apologies to your son :) We'll let him have Phil for now, and you can have Chrissie! But why evening classes for him? Just curious.
Do you still need album recommendations?
Are you for real?
Seriously considering Incubus?
Let me know, will check tomorrow for your response. Have been learning html code changes to blogs and am really tired now, exciting stuff though! Check my blogs to see if you notice anything different:)
I just realized I analyze your posts and comments as if I were reading an Insurance regulation , hence one comment leads to another to another ... sorry , just an annoying habit , but can't be helped.
BTW Here is a line I read last night that I thought you would also appreciate 'His music is not as bad as it sounds'.
(PS - you never answered my question about cryptic post)
the kid has a keen ear...yes he likes phil colins but he has his dad's habit of listening to all sort of stuff...he was asking me about james brown and "I feel good" and trying to do the james brown move slipping and sliding....both my kids are named after something of musical importance...and they have lived upto their names...BTW evening classes on time management really...he is pretty sharp..much smarter than i when i was his age..but there is this parsi lady that takes in kids for a 3 month session and he is enjoying it which makes the extra expense all worthwhile...i never think of money spent on education as a worry...it is a writeoff in my mind that is bound to give its return in the most expected ways....yes..give me your album recommendations...infact make it simple..give me the tracks that you like and then the album they are from..i can try to download from fileshare utility and then see if the album is worth buying...you are only being true to your art/training by reading my blog line after line but once in a while...you should just relax and read stuff for the crappy purpose it is being written which is to give vent to frustration, anger etc etc....i have missed the cryptic sign...was it about being back to the regular programing after my trip...well if so...then i am back and back to regular programing but not so much about my rambling on on anything specific.....Naveed
I am relaxed alright, it is just that 'enquiring minds want to know'.But watch me be quiet and not ask questions(well not many) anyway.I have so many just from this one post of yours.If I am not relaxed yet, will be tonight, going to see 'California Guitar Trio' concert to C'ville.If that does not work, glenfiddich has been promised soon;)I realize that my questions and the American (getting too familiar) part of me puts people on edge in Pakistan, you're not the only one.Its just that you get so used to people telling you their life stories standing in grocery store lines and also get used to reciprocating. Believe me,it does NOT work in Lahore.
Now, this is funny, the energizer bunny telling me to relax!
If I may be so bold, may I email you with a spreadsheet? it is much eaiser for me that way to send reommendations, and I won't be tempted to put too many editorial comments.
Confirm though that you will be considering Incubus.
And what about Beck?
Have a Happy Eid.
Will watch for your response and act accordingly.
yes spreadsheets are very helpful...please do send...would love to see your album recommendations...going out for buying bangles (choorian) for my daughter so will catch up with you later....Naveed
Post a Comment
<< Home