‘Home’, Sweet ‘Home’
After what should have been only a 2.5-day absence stretched to a full eight months away, the belated homecoming to Slovenia was as bizarre and unreal feeling as would be expected. It was also short, only lasting eight days in total - one of which was spent at the coast and another in Trieste.
Marco. Polo.
Landing at Marco Polo just a bit ago to complete the Cairo-Athens-Venice airport hopping threesome today. Seeing a bit of green after so many months in the desert is also nothing to complain about....
On This Day: 18 June 2020 (in Kuala Lumpur)
This post might look like it's about grass (or electricity), but it's actually about tall buildings. More specifically, tall buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
It also includes a Sean Connery reference, which is a bit of a coincidence, because there's a recent photo from Cairo waiting to be posted that includes Sean Connery.
"Today's photo du jour from Kuala Lumpur also comes from our Sunday stroll through the the district of Ampang, and is an alternative view of the city's impressive skyline.
Most known for the twin Petronas Towers, which were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004 and also featured prominently in that one crappy movie with an over the hill Sean Connery and peak of her powers Catherine Zeta-Jones, the two buildings taking centre stage here are new additions.
On the right with the weird top is the 445-metre, 106 floor super creatively named 'The Exchange 106', which you can find near Ikea and one of KL's unofficial red light districts. While the smaller looking one under construction on the left is actually soon going to be the second tallest building in the entire world. Known as Merdeka 118 (or PNB 118), it should top out at 644 metres next year.
Meanwhile, in the foreground is the even more aesthetically impressive Malaysian wild grass, which is 100% sustainable and energy self-sufficient, organically designed and reaches heights of let's say 145cm while being home to all kinds of native insects, rodents and birds.“
‘Home, Sweet ‘Home’
Home, sweet home. Or more accurately 'home', sweet 'home'.
The panoramic views from the rooftop with the Alps in the distance are still breathtaking of course, especially at dusk, but the fact that you can now see, hear and even smell the gentrification that's been steadily turning the place into a soulless shell of its former self from 14 floors up kind of ruins it. At least partially.
In short, (almost) everything was better in the past, (almost) everywhere is worse now. Thanks, late capitalism!
A Little Bit of Beach Time: Priceless
A trip to the coast a couple of days ago for a bit of beach time didn't go exactly according to plan, but in the end it was still priceless....
A one-week highway e-vignette: €16
A second one-week highway e-vignette (because the friend you're borrowing the car from changed his registration plates and didn't tell you): €16
Parking for only an hour because the water is full of slimy algae: €2.90
Parking for four hours at the other end of the coast, only to find even more algae in the water: €5
Giant portions of fried seafood with a side of fries: €18
Filling up the tank of the Clio: €46
Watching a parking lot full of Slovenes go dead silent and some children literally start crying after Serbia scores a last second stoppage time goal to pull out the draw (mere seconds after telling the Slovenophile British friend standing next you that you wanted nothing more in this world than a last second goal by Serbia so you can see the parking lot full of Slovenes go home sad): Priceless
Trieste on a Sunday in June
Pope Francis Express
When you send out 15 or so postcards from Jordan just before Christmas, and half a year later there are still only 2-3 confirmed arrivals, but this is one of them - delivered to Italy as if by divine intervention....
On This Day: 24 June 2022 (in Mexico City)
Has it already been two years? Probably time for another trip to Mexico and perhaps some other places in Latin America....
“With no rain forecast for the first time in two weeks and work on two projects serendipitously cancelled for the day, a good chunk of yesterday was spent walking down to the district of Coyoacán, which is most famous as the long-time home of Frida Kahlo and now seems to be where expats and tourists congregate to experience México City, while actually experiencing a charming little Spanish countryside town - it was the original capital of New Spain back in the 1520s and is a world away from the rest of the city.
Of course we skipped the private Frida Kahlo museum (book an appointment in advance? No thanks), opting instead to see the house Trotsky lived, raised rabbits and was assassinated in in 1940 and just wandering around a large swathe of the city, for some 32km in total according to Google. Our day wasn’t totally Frida-free though, as this is México City, and coming across this original work from Brasilian graffiti artist @siprosgraffiti in the trendy Roma district on the way home seemed a fitting conclusion.....”
Careful what you wish for….
While looking back nostalgically to those handful of heady postwar years when your city was some kind of bizarro international zone is totally understandable, whoever is responsible for the lower signage here is obviously not a horror film aficionado, or else they'd realise that inviting in devils, ghouls, vampires, etc usually ends quite poorly for the homeowner....
The Real Mystery
The recent Adriatic algae bloom was photogenic if not exactly great for swimming in. The real mystery though is how someone accidentally forgot their creepy carved watermelon head on the waterfront promenade - they must've been disappointed when they got home and realised it was no longer with them.....
Souvenirs
When you travel for months at a time with only a small carry on sized backpack, you've got to be quite judicious in your collection of souvenirs, mementos and other keepsakes. But this one was worth the effort, as it really ties the room together....
Left: Amman, Jordan, 17 November 2023
Right: Ljubljana, Slovenia, 25 June 2024
Reminders
When a bottle of local hipster craft beer is €3.19, but a subtle reminder that you still haven't got round to seeing a single episode of a critically acclaimed TV show (and, let's be honest, probably never will) is totally free....
It's all ideology
This doesn't really look anything like Žižek, but it's the thought that counts, right?
