Month: October 2006

Went to Southall on Sunday just gone and happened across this mini-bus in a side street. Just had to take a pic. Thought it was an Indian-style at first (which it is I suppose) but later found out that it’s actually Pakistani – and is a common sight on the streets of Lahore as well as cities in much of North West India for sure.

It belongs to a Southall-based catering company. Very strange seeing this in a West London side-street. Made me smile. The blaze of colour and intricate detail. Would make anyone smile wouldn’t it? There’s something really happy (or hippy) about it.

For the next week it’s going to be dark when I leave home in the morning and dark when I get back. When the clocks change next weekend it’ll be light when I leave home (for a few weeks it will anyway) and dark when I get back. It’ll then be dark, dark, dark. Until March next year.

I’ll be looking forward to when the light returns, but in the meantime it’ll be dark wet and cold. A lot of quality thinking time to myself.

There is a very large rotating radar “thing” at London’s Heathrow Airport that can be seen for miles around the vicinity of the airport. As far as I can recall it’s been there forever; I remember gazing in awe at this when I was a child; on trips to the airport to pick up or drop off relatives flying to or from North America or India. And I get that same feeling of wonder every time I see it, even now, as I go about using Heathrow as my local airport for occasional flying trips to this place and that.

I’ve travelled through many international airports all over the world, but there is nothing that looks quite like the Heathrow radar “thingy” anywhere else in the world. I always wonder why? Whatever. There is this really Thunderbirds-esque quality to it: Toy-like. Retro hi-tech. Quirkily British. But reassuringly London.