Okay so it's nearly time to fly back to India and I must say I am looking forward to the sunshine, but am going to miss my family. The last few days have been fairly hectic as I always leave things in my personal life until the last minute, that is if I do them at all (I haven't got a suitcase yet).

So what have I been doing. Well here are the bits that I can tell you about without compromising myself to much. Wednesday I finished off my Christmas shopping before heading up to London to meet up with some friends for a few drinks. It was good to see everybody again and they were all as busy as when I left. The thing I did notice this time however was how many more people there were in the office. After catching up a few of us headed out to one of the many bar's and enjoyed several beers. I'll admit by the time I thought of taking the camera out I was a little to foggy and the "Vegas" rule kicked in. We had a good chat however and most importantly arranged the next time we would meet up (drinking session).

I was supposed to meet up with some other friends later that evening, but couldn't raise any of them on the phone so I decided to walk back to London Waterloo stationalong the south bank. It was nice seeing the regular sights, and I must admit I probably took more notice of them that evening than I have done for the last seven years. I got home about midnight and had no problem getting to sleep.

Thursday was a farce. I got a phone call about 09:30 advising me that there was a problem with my Visa and that I had to attend in person. So after canceling a bunch of things I couldn't / shouldn't really of canceled I made my way to the office. I picked up my paperwork and was in and out in the space of 15 minutes. I then grabbed a taxi down to India House and stood by the little "door" waiting for "the man". Now you have to understand India to understand the importance of the "little man", but I'll attempt to explain.

Every place you go there is a "little man". He is never taller than 5 ft and is usually softly spoken. He is however "the man". You give him your paperwork, and he vanishes. That's it; It really is that simple. What goes on when he vanishes I like to think of as magic. I imagine that he immediately reads through the paperwork and follows the processes set down by the Indian Government, and if and only if, you meet the criteria he approves it. He backs this up with the latest in computer technology and makes several phones calls to secret government agencies.

This is what happened. I stood by the "door" with about 6 other people. The "little man" came out and looked at one lady then her paper work, said NO you need a bank statement and sent her away, she tried to protest but she had been dealt with and there was no appeal. He looked at me and then took another ladies paperwork as it was thrust in his face. He looked at it, at her, at the paperwork again, and then me. I simply said "Employment Visa". He took her paperwork and then my paperwork and closed the door. About 15 minutes later he appeared again with the ladies paperwork, said no, said something about Tax and told her to wait in another queue. He then handed me my paperwork, which he had scribbled something on that i couldn't make out and simply said counter 5. The looks I got made me feel like I knew the secret and I all I could say was, "It's a simply renewal", smile, and walk towards counter number 5.

As I got to the counter a lady was waiting (Yes I think everybody sends the wife). Just as she was about to pass her paperwork over the young lady behind the counter closed her cash tin, and simply said "After my Lunch" and left.

ARHHHHHHH 13:00 and the Indian Lunch Hour.

Another thing to note about India, and I quite like this one. Nobody misses their lunch (If they can help it). We are terrible working on through our breaks. In the UK it's quite acceptable (expected) for you eat at your desk while working on.

Anyway 14:00 (ish) they open back up and I push my way to the front (pi$$ed off now). I hand over my paperwork and she looks it over, she then looks at me and says very clearly "ONE YEAR?". I smile and say "365 days!", not the smartest answer in retrospect, did I mention I was Pi$$ed off? She wanders out the back and the people around me sigh. Two minutes later she is back, requests £50, hands me a ticket and tells me to come back in half an hour.

Twenty Nine minutes and fifty seven seconds later I am stood my the little vent in the wall marked counter number 7 and they call my number, I grab my passport and make a break for freedom.

Slightly vexed I decided as I have wasted a day to walk back via Waterloo bridge. I stood on Waterloo bridge for about 15 minutes watching the RLNI practicing in a RIB and then made my way to Waterloo station. I have missed my sailing this year, and decided then to take care of that while I am in warmer climates.

Today I made sure I caught up with my "things to do list", I did pretty well but have a couple of things left for tomorrow, but this was the last chance I had to see my sister and Eleanor before I leave. I decided I had enough time for lunch but what to have? I don't have any craving's left but I fancied a salad but couldn't see the point in buying the individual items so opted for a Morrisions take away. I stocked up on pasta and potato and sausage salad and enjoyed it a little too much I think.

Just as I was about to get ready to leave Mum popped round with William. He walked straight in like he owned the place and immediately started to roll around on the floor with the stuffed dog that I have. Once William and Mum left (Not an easy thing as William was now on the look out for owls, I am going to miss him!!!) I made my way to Katrina's.

Eleanor was asleep when I got there, but was all in pink. She looked so peaceful asleep. Katrina and I had a coffee and a chat and then Eleanor decided it was time for snacks. Katrina is a lot more mobile now, although she can't lift anything heavier than Eleanor (who would want to?) or drive. I got to hold Eleanor one last time before I left and told her the same secret I told William when he was born [Don't ask I am not telling you]. Mum and William arrived and it was time to say my goodbyes.

I had a final goodbye hug and kiss from Katrina and she insisted I leave, I was quite glad really as I was finding it really hard to walk away. I was about 15 minutes down the A303 when I remembered I hadn't picked up my Christmas presents. Katrina had given me a bunch of presents to take back with me but one of the most important ones was a snow globe with Williams picture in it. I couldn't go back tonight, it would be to hard on both of us. I phoned Rob and he told me Mum had picked it up and had it with her.

So that's it my last day is tomorrow and my Cab is booked for Sunday. My Dad has this evening driven to North Wales to pick up my Nan and bring her back for Christmas. Tomorrow night we have a family dinner.

I'll post one more time, but I am not sure if that will be tomorrow or from the airport, or during the flight. Tonight however I am done!

Check out the Photo Gallery as i have updated it with photo's of Eleanor that you might not have seen.

Tags: Baby, Family, Friends, Sightseeing

So what's been going on. Well I thought about writing about my Christmas shopping and how I haven't had the time to do all the things that I wanted to do while I was home, but it just seems so irrelevant now!

Why? Well today Katrina came home with Eleanor and it just makes everything else seem so unimportant. First things first Katrina is looking a lot brighter, but is still in pain (Not surprising really). Katrina has been told that she can't drive for a while, which given her independent nature doesn't sit well, but she is taking it all in her stride (she really is a great Mum). She is tired, but being home helps.

Rob is absolutely knackered with all the running backwards and forwards but is very upbeat and like everybody just glad to have his family back home safe and sound. William has a cold and isn't feeling great (He's off his food, which with William means he isn't right) not that he complains, but is very caring and attentive to both his sister and his Mum. He is constantly stroking Eleanor's head and kisses her whenever he can.

Eleanor is just beautiful (I admit I am biased), but she is so small holding her is kind of scary. She is very delicate but is a happy baby: but then she does sleep for 23.5 hours a day, It really is going to be hard going back to India. I was there for William and watched him develop and I think that's why we are so close. Needs must however and Mum and Katrina have promised to send me photo's on a regular basis, but it's going to be hard.

I have uploaded some more photo's to the Photo Gallery and have shot some more footage with the Handycam which you can find in the Movie Gallery.

Tomorrow I am off to London to catch up with some of the people I work with for a few drinks so will probably post some more pictures on Thursday, but thank you to everybody who has contacted me via the contact form with well wishes. I will pass them on to Katrina and Rob.

Tags: Family, Photography

Well what a busy weekend and no it didn't quite go according to plan. Saturday Lunch time Katrina was admitted to Winchester Royal College Hospital as she had been suffering with itchy skin which according to the doctors was down to the kidneys not working quite as they should be. A few blood tests were run and later that evening Katrina was rushed in for an emergency caesarean. Not quite the way she had imagined it but at 02:11 on the 25th November 2007 she gave birth to a healthy 7lb 2.5 ounce baby girl that she and Rob have named Eleanor Rose.

I have uploaded a short movie taken at the hospital yesterday which can be found here, and some photo's which can be found here.

Katrina is well, but as expected very sore and not looking forward to not being able to drive for 6 weeks!!!

Tags: Family, Baby

Okay so my mind has kind of moved away from food now I have satisfied the few cravings I had. The last few days have been spent catching up with friends and family, paperwork, and shopping. Yesterday afternoon I visited Katrina and William, picking William up from nursery. His face was a picture and while he gave my a big cuddle he kept touching my face to make sure I was really there. Today I have spent waiting in for a parcel to be delivered, which surprisingly hasn't arrived but it did give me a chance to catch up with all the paperwork that was outstanding, and to play with a few of the new Wii games that I have brought to take back with me. At the moment I am addicted to Star Wars with all the characters made from Lego.

Tonight I am off out for dinner and to the cinema, not sure what we are seeing yet but I am sure there will be something on. Tomorrow I start my Christmas shopping.

Tags: Shopping, People, Relaxing

So after lunch yesterday I caught up with some more email and paperwork and then sat down and watched TV for a couple of hours. It was strange watching British TV again, I soon realized that I wasn't missing anything. Mid afternoon I wandered up to my parents again. It's only a five minute walk but it was cold and wet and by the time I got there I was missing the Indian winter I left behind.

After a few beers and another round of catching up we sat down to a wonderfully cooked (Medium rare) fillet steak, onion rings, salad, and baked potatoes. It was a little slice of heaven. After dinner and a few more beers I was finding it difficult to keep my eyes open so headed for home. I tried to stay awake as long as possible, but by 21:00 I gave in and headed for bed.

I woke up this morning at a pretty respectable 08:30 and enjoyed a nice coffee and Sunday morning paper. I popped upstairs to check my email and found Laurence logged in. He brought himself a new iMac yesterday and was putting it through its paces. After a short chat we fired up iChat and had ourselves a little video conference. Very impressive. At 10:00 I headed off to the supermarket and stocked up on provisions and then headed round to my parents.

Katrina and Rob were already there with William and I got my first hug from William in three months. After that it was like I had never been away (except anytime anybody mentioned a place William would point at me and say Mark, he thinks I live on a plane).

We all sat and caught up with what had been going on both here in the UK and with my in India and then sat down to Roast beef (WOW). I got home about 17:00 and am now trying very hard to keep my eyes open. I am not sure if it's the time difference, or the beer and food, but I am blaming the time difference.

Well I think I am going to try and stay awake for as long as possible as I have a lot to do over the next two weeks and really want to make the most of the time.

Tags: Beer, Food

Okay so I am back in the UK. I left my apartment at 04:30 IST Friday 16th November for New Delhi International Airport. We took off about 07:30 and arrived in the UK at 11:35 GMT. I managed to get about 5 hours sleep on the plane so felt pretty good. I travelled with only hand baggage and had cleared immigration and customers by 12:10 and caught the 12:30 coach from outside terminal 4 to Woking train station. I arrived at Woking at 13:00 and the next train was at 13:16 so I had enough time to grab my first ham, cheese, and pickle sandwich in three months, which was made "even more delicious" (That's a joke for the guys in India) by adding a pack of walkers salt and vinegar crisps.

I arrived at Basingstoke station about 13:45 and headed straight for the Carphone Warehouse store to pick up my new iPhone. 14:30 I grabbed a cab and headed for home, arriving just before 15:00. The first thing I did was put the hot water on for a nice shower, while the water was heating up I unpacked and setup my laptop. As it downloaded my email I took a look at the post that had been delivered while I was away. Mostly junk, but there were a couple of official bits, but I decided they could wait. I phoned my parents and let them know I was back home, safe and sound.

Once the water was hot enough I had a nice long shower and changed into some fresh clothes, I felt human again! I had a couple of beers and read my email, then set about activating my iPhone. I was surprised how easy it was and within 15 minutes I had not only activated it but synchronized it with my iTunes library.

At 17:30 I walked around to my parents house to a very warm welcome, and an nice cold beer. We talked for a couple of hours before we sat down to one of my favorite meals, cottage pie. After dinner we caught up a little more and about 22:00 I walked home. I still wasn't particularly tired so I opened up the MAC OS X Leopard disks I had pre-ordered . I decided to follow the advise of Don McAllister over at ScreenCastsOnline and backed up my existing setup before even opening the disk box. Once the backup had completed I started the upgrade process and went to bed.

I woke this morning at about 07:00 hours and after a shower and breakfast I checked my MacBook Pro. It was complete so I logged on. I checked the applications that I use most often, mail, safari, and they all opened up without a problem. I then commenced playing with some of the new features.. At 08:45 I decided I needed to get on and headed into Basingstoke town center. First stop the police station.

Yes, I did say the police station. It would appear that last weekend some person (as yet unknown) thought it was a good idea to shoot at my Windows with an air riffle. My father had reported it but I wanted to know what was going on and needed an incident number for the forth coming insurance claim. The guy behind the desk was very helpful and gave me all the information he had and the incident number, and has advised the officer dealing will be in contact with me shortly.

From there I headed to the garage to arrange the annual service on my car and then for a fried breakfast at Mr Munch. After double sausage, bacon, egg, beans, and a fried slice I felt heavy but satisfied. I then took a walk around the town center window shopping for nothing in particular. The only things I did end up buying where a sailing and computer magazine.

It's now 12:36 and I am off to make myself lunch. Not sure what it will be yet but I will more than likely contain beef.

Tags: Food, Relaxing, Shopping

Okay so this week has been the slowest week since I arrived here. Not that its been any less busy, time just seems to have gone by slower. I think it's something to do with flying home for two weeks holiday tomorrow morning.

Well It has been a little quieter this week, if not on the work front, on the social front. Tuesday night Chris and Sandra hosted a Mexican food party as we had some visitors over from the UK. I think everybody had a good time, but we all looked a little jaded on Wednesday. Wednesday night was a quiet night in to recover and tonight I am getting an early night as I am on the early flight out.

I must admit I am looking forward to a rest and catching up with everyone again, not to mention a nice juicy steak. That said I am not looking forward to the weather, I have got used to walking round in shorts.

Well that's it for now. Next update will be from the UK.

Tags: Travel

This week has been a pretty quite week. There were a lot fewer people in the office, and those that were in were distracted with Diwali preperations. Last night Laurence, Chris, Sandra, and myself went for a Diwali dinner and drinks, and enjoyed the vocal delights of a young chinese singer who sent and received text message through every song.

Well today is Diwali and a National Holiday so I took the opportunity to have a lay in. I am still suffering with Man Flu so have settled for a nice quite weekend, although I don't suppose I will get too much sleep as there are fireworks, and firecrackers going off all of the time. I think I'll take a walk this evening (and some photo's) as the place is very well decorated and there will be a lot of parties in full swing.

In other news it's nearly time for me to return to the UK for a break and a few home cooked meals. I am back in the UK the week commencing the 19th November for two whole weeks rest and relaxation, so if you want to catch up let me know.

Well that's it for now but I have added some pictures to the gallery here of a few of the gang taken yesterday, and I'll post some more later of the decorations.

[UPDATE: 10/11/07 03:45] Okay well the fireworks ended about 2 hours ago, and I have been having a few beers with Laurence. I tried taking some pictures with the camera but as it was dark and the artificial light was so strong they didn't really work. So instead I have captured pictures and footage with the Handycam. I will try an put this together over the weekend.

[UPDATE: 11/11/07 12:08] Okay I have uploaded the footage I shot of the Diwali fireworks, you can find it in the Movie Gallery.

Tags: Beer, Food, Friends, Party

Okay, well I have been struggling for the last couple of days with Man Flu, yes "Man Flu". Every man out there will understand how brave I have been carrying on despite this debilitating illness, and will also understand how today it finally took over my body and resulted in 6 doctors and 4 ambulances being dispatched to my apartment. Of course they wanted to rush me to the nearest Intensive Care unit but I refused, insisting that all I needed was rest and lots of water.

So today I have mainly slept. In fact since 07:00 this morning when I woke up and 18:00 (the time now) I have been awake for about an hour and a half. I am feeling a little brighter, but still have a stinking headache and the sniffles, I am now trying to stay awake for a few hours so I will sleep tonight, but also so I can get something to eat as I am starving. I can never remember if your supposed to starve a cold and feed a fever or the other way around, but I am hungry so that pretty well makes the decision for me. Now all I have to figure out is which one of the 368 take away menu's I fancy.

Tags: Sickness

Well last week was a busy, but good week. I managed to leave the office by 18:00 every evening and have even caught up on some reading and movie watching. Wednesday night Chris, Sandra, Vikram and myself went out to dinner with Eve Green and Bianca Kress, and Friday night Chris, Sandra, Vikram and myself enjoyed a typical Friday night drinking session.

Saturday morning I really didn't want to get up (I think it was the peanuts), but I had to go shopping for my outfit for the COLT Diwali party. I met up with Chris and Sandra at one of the malls (I really have to start remembering the names) where we selected our traditional outfits. I left Chris and Sandra shopping and went and picked up some groceries before heading home for lunch. After lunch I couldn't decided between going sightseeing or going to the gym, so I selected to have a nap and think about it. I woke up about 17:30 and grabbed a shower and then headed off to TGI Friday's for dinner and a few beers.

Yesterday morning I had a nice lay in and spent the day relaxing, watching TV, and listening to some Pod-casts, in preparation for the Diwali party. I left (feeling slightly uncomfortable in my outfit) just after 17:00 and headed towards Sun City Farm near Delhi.

It was a good evening with plenty of beer and food and I think everybody enjoyed themselves. Everybody including myself was tired this morning and I think there will be a few early nights tonight. I have created a gallery with a few of the pictures here for those that are interest in such things.

Tags: Beer, Food, Friends, Party, Fun