A little post, a little update

It's been a hectic week. I slept little and I barely had time to blog or read - hence the lack of responses to your comments recently. Sorry.

The upside for the week: I did manage to catch up with some friends last week.

Last Friday was a great night for friends. Alice gave us the "progress report" on her pregnancy. Leslie gave us the report on his rejected marriage proposal to his fiancee (she's a smart one, this girl). And Tinny said she was going to bring durians.

(For the uninitiated, durian is a type of tropical fruit with a hard, thorny outer shell, and a creamy flesh inside. It's has an intense, pungent smell that turns off a lot of people. But we love it.)

Tinn thought about what I would miss most in Dubai, and she decided on durians - the King of Fruits with the bitter-sweet creaminess that is so much a part of what we know as Home.

I'm often negligent, too caught up in my own world to notice the people around me. So sometimes I'm just caught off-guard by the lightest gesture of love and friendship. Tinn's consideration was one of those reminders of how lucky I am to have these people as my friends.

As for the rest of the weekend: I managed to catch a few movies - Hellboy 2, Red Cliff and The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger totally crawled into the skin of The Joker in this one. Who are they going to cast as the Joker now that he's claimed the role? Maybe it's because I really liked Jeph Loeb's Batman run on The Long Halloween - Two-Face is one of my favourite Batman villain. (And if you're interested, the Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween has an introduction by Christopher Nolan (director of The Dark Knight himself!)

A moment of literary confession: I should be reading Dubai Explorer: The Complete Residents' Guide right now. It's pertinent research afterall - but I would much rather read The Idiot.

I'm reading The Idiot slowly - not because I'm not enjoying the novel, but because I enjoy it immensely. I would read a scene and I find it necessary to reach for a pencil, or Post-It notepads - to make notes. Sometimes I would read something so interesting I just have to stop - and think. Then the mind just takes itself into other places until you lose track of your reading.

You see why not reading this book fast is a very good thing? It's a delicious book.

Finally, for everyone who's asking: Dubai might still happen - again, I'm not getting worked up until I see the air ticket. We might have to be there right before Ramadan though - which means we have the hottest season to look forward to. Oh. Joy. :(