Saturday, February 25, 2006

The grave of Michael Jackson


Digging in the archive and discovered this pic taken around July 2005. Was visiting this church in Norfolk which is on the east coast of the UK, and in the churchyard I stumbled upon the grave of a Michael Jackson. Yes I know there are many MJ's in the world, but was amusing at the time. ;)

Gallery - Random Objects



My obsessive need to snap away - even in other people's homes! Here at a friend's apartment in London a withering rose and a metal bull sculpture.

Nischol's Wedding Reception






The reception was held in this really great restaurant. It was very tasteful and just plain pretty with roses, champagne etc. It was a la carte. Can't remember what people ate, but mine is the one with the sunglasses in the background. It a veg burger of sorts. Yes I know it's not wedding food, but one of the few veg things they had. Thankyou Nischol and Leana for a great day.

Nischol and Leana






Late 2005 my cousin Nischol and Leana tied the knot. As Leana is from Estonia and Nischol from South Africa, I was the only family member present! So I together with Nischol's employer served as witnesses. The day was also shared with a few close friends and associates. It was a beautiful ceremony in the city of Cambridge and after we went to this really great Italian (I think) restaurant for the reception. They're born on the same day of the same year and are made for each other in so many ways. Here's a couple of pics.

Masala Zone






Remember how I said a few months ago how i missed curry. Well that's over! In Leicester where I currently live, they have a huge Indian population and curry in abundance. But when I went to London to see Mariah, we went to this really great curry place called Masala Zone. It's rated as one of the top 10 cheap eats in London (great food without breaking the bank).

The food was some of the best vegetaria food that I have eaten. Okay nothing beats 'prayer food', but this gives it a good run for it's money. Quite a tasteful setting with kinda like chalk drawings on a rough plastered effect wall. Huge 'containers' - can't find the word with fresh flowers etc. Highly impressive.

Gallery - Starbucks and Eat



Hi there. Some of you have complimented my photography. I get a kick out of it cos I love photography so much. Since I bought the camera kinda addicted to taking pics. Just can't seem to put it down. I like getting really close to a subject and capture the essence of it. Maybe it's beacuse I've art directed photo shoots for SPAR photography and inanimate objects that I still love arranging random found objects a bit wherever I find them and taking a snap or two.

Anyway here's a couple of pics taken while eating out.
One is at at Starbucks. It was a cold winter morning in Cambridge and a warm coffee with a couple of ginger biscuits was very inviting.

The next is at a place called EAT. I think it was a brie and cranberry melt or something like that. Mmmmmm.....

Thursday, February 16, 2006

me and mariah






Hey welcome back!!! I know some of you have been asking whay I haven't updated my blog in such a long time. I didn't intend to start this out as an online diary as such. That would be x-rated and would need to be by invitation only. Instead it's the light version of 'Kamlan's travels' or something along those lines.

Remember a while ago you might have got an email about me and Mariah. Well it was me, mariah and about 150 other people. A friend, coousin and me found ourselves in London on a Saturday, with the intention of just chilling out and maybe a bit of sightseeing. We heard that Mariah was making a appearance to sign CD's or something at the London branch of HMV - His Majesty's Voice - which is kinda the equivalent of Look and Listen - only bigger. If you bought her CD - The Emancipation of Mimi - you would get a pass to see here the next day. They were giving it out for a couple of days ago - so it must be gone - we thought. To our surprise, us three managed to get the last three passes! Fate - we thought.

We had to line up outside th back entrance of the store the next day. It was a great atmosphere, with people chanting and singing. MTV was there and my cousin Nischol sang along. he's the biggest fan ever.

We were ushered into the store and lined up to meet her. It was a really great time, chatting to all the fans. her videos were playing on the big screen and album playing on repeat. It was simply an attempt to gain further sales and interest in her album by releasing it with a couple of extra tracks. 'It's all about the fans' she says - but it's actually about the money. We were having a good time and didn't care.

After much anticipation - she arrived. She walked in from the opposite end of the store. As she approached, a moment of madness overcame me. We were separated by long lines of CD racks, so we, the fans were in one aisle, and she walking down the other. As she approached, I decided spontaneously to climb over the CD rack -which was about 1.5m off the ground and take a picture. I snapped continuously. when she appoached me, I put out my hand and she came to me and touched my fingers. She kinda rubbed the ends of them, as if to say - 'yes, I'm touching you'. It was very surreal.

Then reality grabbed a hold of me, and I thought - what the hell am I doing getting all excited about this woman. She has a great voice, but she's only human. So when I went to her to sign the CD, I kinda told her in a very calm voice something along the lines of: 'it's a pleasure to meet you. I wish you al the best in future'.

It was funny cos she was looking at me expecting me to be that crazy fan that jumped out at the in the aisle. She was very natural and humble. Her 'people' on the other hand were fussing about her, and she didn;t care'. When she signed my CD she was looking at me expecting me to tell her my name so that she could sign it, and for me to tell her how much I loved her. I just kinda shook my head as if to say: 'no thanks, can you just the sign the CD. I've been waiting 4 hours and now I need to go pee'

Ag shame...was fun though. ;)