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Travel Journal Asia 1982 Day 7

Tuesday June 22nd 1982 We went to Newton Circus this evening and I gave up my brief spell as a vegetarian. I enjoyed a delicious chicken satay and a pint of pineapple juice! After dinner, Suzie took us to a country & western club where a friend of hers works. Soft drinks cost the same as alcoholic drinks at S$5.50 so J and I had Pernod. Suzie's friend Sandra appeared with a tray of drinks from a guy at the bar with a message, could he join us? Minutes later a loud and uncouth welshman called Davy. He works in Singapore. It took us a while to get rid of him, but eventually he took the hint we were not interested. Soon after another man joined us – a rich guy with a bodyguard. His name was either Harry or Henry Douglas. He offered me a job on his private yacht along with trips to New York, Peru, and/or Australia! I didn't ask what this job entailed and told him I wasn't interested. When he tried the same spiel on J and got the same response, he left along with the bodyguard. It had turned out to be an amusing evening but we were pleased to leave with Suzie. We'll be leaving Singapore tomorrow and heading into Malaysia. Numerous people have tried to talk us out of going to Sri Lanka and India, but India is one of the places I'm most looking forward to. The whole idea of this trip was to mix with people from cultures so different to our own, neither of us felt the need to change our course although, if any country would have been able to do it, it would have been Singapore.

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Travel Journal 1982 Day 5

Sunday June 20th 1982 Awake at 8:30am, got up and went for a swim. We were going to sunbathe but the rains came pouring down. When it stopped we went out for a game of tennis, but it started to rain again! Temperature was still 30˚C. Suzie's father came around this afternoon and we spent the afternoon chatting with him and Suzie's friends. We've changed our itinerary, missing out KL and going straight to Penang and on to Haadai in southern Thailand. From there we'll go on to Bangkok and Chiang Mai then back to Bangkok and over to Sri Lanka. We can't go to Burma as it would take too long by boat and it's expensive to fly. We did end up flying in and out of Burma as part of the trip. I met Wai Yin at 5pm. We went to the Wesley Methodist Church; great service. He's a really nice guy. I didn't know when I met him in London that he's a doctor! We walked alongside the river after church and Wai Yin showed me the poorer side of Singapore. Here, people live in small huts and it's filthy. There is a mix of religious symbols and artefacts in the bushes with traditions from Muslim and Chinese faiths. Numerous altars lined the way. Wai Yin told me people used to come to die here, though not so much nowadays. Half-sunk barges lined the river, mostly empty, but some with sacks of rice on board. Singapore was once a small fishing village until Sir Stamford Raffles landed in 1819. He brought the British over, who colonised it. It was taken over by what was then Malaya in 1963 and gained independence in 1965. Skyscrapers are being erected throughout the city and the cost of living is rising. There's…

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Read more about the article Travel Journal 1982 Day 4

Travel Journal 1982 Day 4

Saturday June 19th 1982 Woke feeling shattered. Jet lag has caught up with me, awake half the night and wanting to sleep all day. J drove Suzie's car while the Singaporean acted as guide. We visited Tiger Balm Gardens, elaborate gardens with Chinese sculptures of wise men and buddhas. The torture chamber was a trifle gruesome with models of torture etc. A group of American's were singing Christian choruses which was a pleasant interlude. Posing with a Buddha Tiger Balm Gardens After our Tiger Balm visit we went to the Chinese Gardens in Jurong where we had lunch. There was a gorgeous lily pond and botanical plants. On the way back we picked up two of Suzie's friends and they played Gin Rummy for a while. I phoned a chap I had met at All Souls Church in London, Wai Yin who's going to take me to church tomorrow and then J will join us for dinner. J and I went for another swim. Suzie and her friends took us to Chinatown for dinner. The markets are vibrant and busy throughout the evening. We also saw fortune tellers with crystal balls, tarot cards and the like trying to attract tourists. We ate at one of the street markets. One of Suzie's friends paid, she wouldn't let us open our purses at all. These people are so generous. The poorer side of Chinatown was laced with shanty houses, beggars on the street and poverty. My purchases were a set of chopsticks to take home and a t-shirt. Linda Ho called Suzie's at the end of the evening and has invited us to spend the afternoon and evening with her. I need to call Wai Yin early tomorrow to see if we can go to church tomorrow evening.

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Travel Journal 1982 Day 2

June 17th 1982 Landed in Dubai at 04:30 local time (01:30 BST), temperature 27˚C, dawn is almost breaking, so is Dawn with swollen feet and ankles! The air stewards have been lovely to us although food comes round almost every hour as we pick up new passengers. 05:30 we've just been for a walk outside, now daylight and very, very hot. We're exhausted as we haven't had any sleep yet. 09:45 local time landed in Karachi. We've disembarked to change flights. There's no such thing as queuing here, people just shove their way to the front. Stepping off the aeroplane was like stepping into an oven – 29˚C – hot with wet humidity. My skin has never felt so clammy. Flies are everywhere, no sooner do you swat them away than they're back. Huge, dopey things, I guess I'll have to get used to them. We had a thorough frisking by a large, angry woman before being allowed to enter the transit lounge. We have no idea when the flight to Singapore is. All I know is we're both extremely tired and it's baking hot. 7pm local time we landed in Kuala Lumpar. We're on a Boeing 707. The temperature is 30˚C: boil, boil, roast, roast. The flight from Karachi took 6 hours. I met a chap called Hamar, a student at Glasgow Polytech studying engineering. He's come home to Malaysia for a 3 month holiday and has invited us to stay with his family when we come back. It will be interesting staying with a Muslim family. We changed plans in Malaysia and didn't visit Kuala Lumpar 10:30pm (3pm BST) we landed in Singapore at last – 22 hours travelling. We've been worrying about where we will be staying in Singapore as I'm not sure the NZ chap (friend of…

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Monday 7th March 2022

I finalised events for the literature festival I chair and managed to get them all up on the website. The day pass tickets are now up for sale, so if you live near to Derby, feel free to take a look here. I'm continuing edits on my two-thirds finished draft of Murder in the Highlands and made steady progress with it today. It's starting to come together and I'm getting a handle on the characters and suspects, developing them at the same time. I've spent a few months exploring the social media platform Tiktok and will be creating more videos for my author presence there. If you would like to follow me you can find me here.

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Read more about the article Sunday 6th March

Sunday 6th March

Work in Progress I'm going through the editing process of Murder in the Highlands before taking the work forward. This helps me to refocus my attention and sets the stage for the final third. I'm almost two-thirds of the way through so it makes sense to do this now, making sure that what I've written so far is making sense. At this stage in almost every book I've written, I hit a brick wall and get a little bit bogged down by my internal critic. Once I come out of editing mode, I'll be able to silence the critic and switch back into creative mode! Looking forward to that. To be honest, I've been distracted by world events of late... who wouldn't be? Other Stuff As it was Sunday, I tried to take some rest and get other more mundane things done around the house. I went to virtual church as I have been doing since the pandemic started. Funnily enough, I've been able to go to a church in London which I went to when I lived in the capital forty years ago. All Souls Church in Langham Place has been putting on virtual services throughout lockdown and is continuing to do so. I've enjoyed returning to somewhere that seems familiar in spite of the number of years that have elapsed since I last went there physically. Literature Festival In 2018, I founded a literature festival which I now chair. I spent the morning creating and adding the final few graphics for events to the website and put the day pass tickets on sale. Tomorrow, I'll need to read through some guest blog posts for the site. I love doing the festival but while it was cancelled for two years during the pandemic, I'd forgotten just how time consuming it…

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