tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193011472011-04-21T13:27:17.987-07:00Tom's TravelsTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.comBlogger391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-91662322932707462622008-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:002008-03-06T04:48:50.579-08:00

South Africa was one of the most interesting countries I have visited in the past few years, particularly because I have made so many good South African friends since coming to London. Because of them I had a certain idea of what South Africa would be like, but it still managed to surprise.One of the first things that struck (shocked?) me were the electric fences everywhere. The vast majority of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-71720455712761182682007-06-09T04:25:00.000-07:002007-06-12T14:37:25.827-07:00

Some English expressions I like:1. Proper. As in 'He's proper minted'. Or 'She's proper ugly'. Pronounced like proppa. 'E's made a right proper mess of this asn't e?'2. 'Orright?'. Used like 'How's it going?'. 'Orright Tom?'. I don't tend to use this one much but everyone else does quite a bit. I still haven't quite worked out the right response to this one. 'Orright?' 'Yes, I'm well.' or 'Uh-huh

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-35689700073656355952007-05-13T07:04:00.000-07:002007-05-13T07:06:23.518-07:00

create your own visited countries map

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-73740740458223492162007-04-11T15:06:00.000-07:002007-04-11T15:16:14.271-07:00

So what really has been going on over here. I guess I haven't written a great deal because England, and London in particular, are jam packed with Aussies. Jaf(f)a's...Just Another F***ing Aussie. In India I felt like I could write about what was going on because I was doing something unusual, but over here I feel like I am doing the same thing as half of Australia.None the less, I've decided to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-91379845836611189682007-02-07T14:41:00.000-08:002007-03-01T13:50:10.100-08:00

The last six months in photos...A trip to Amsterdam I don't remember too wellSeeing Dita Von Tease ...John came to visit:I don't remember that too well eitherWe went to StonehengeAnd BathI finally moved out of the legendary Duke of WellingtonAnd into 'Sunny' BrixtonI received a rousing welcomeMe and John spent two weeks travelling through Dublin, Rome, Florence, Paris & Amsterdam (again!) with

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1156869432587641082006-08-29T09:34:00.000-07:002006-09-04T03:04:54.680-07:00

The first thing I saw on leaving Edinburgh train station was a bearded man wearing a kilt, playing bagpipes, with a sign around his neck saying “Welcome to Scotland”. Clearly, these Scots had a great sense of humour.Actually, what I liked most about Scotland was that the people were still Scottish. For instance, you see different guys on the street randomly wearing kilts, and not just punks

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1153303745418283222006-07-19T03:00:00.000-07:002006-07-19T03:09:05.430-07:00

Today will probably be the hottest day ever in the UK. Which isn't too bad by Australian standards, but it will in the high 30's so hot enough. Catching the tube is a nightmare - apparently it got up to 47 on some of the trains yesterday, and up to 52 on buses.Unfortunately, with perfect timing my bike was stolen last night, so I was on the tube this morning. I left my bike locked up while I went

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1152197224869555692006-07-06T07:45:00.000-07:002006-07-06T07:47:04.883-07:00

Can check out where I live if you're really keen:http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=sw112eg&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=51.466527,-0.174075&spn=0.002887,0.010729The white building slightly above where the arrow is pointing.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1151054529646814702006-06-23T02:19:00.000-07:002006-06-28T07:29:47.280-07:00

Did you vote for this man?

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1150903372323828342006-06-21T08:08:00.000-07:002006-06-28T07:30:50.863-07:00

Apologies for the below post sittting there rather cryptically for the past few weeks. My boss at my new workplace was the owner of that particular quote. Considering we work for a rather well known firm, and he is in charge of around 100 odd people, I thought it worth remembering.I expected the high-flying world of English finance to be a pretty fast-moving, hard-working place. So far, I've seen

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1149776907281626432006-06-08T07:27:00.000-07:002006-06-08T07:28:27.296-07:00

As long as we keep getting paid who cares a shit

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1146560757935276132006-05-02T01:51:00.000-07:002006-05-11T02:55:48.913-07:00

London.I've just passed the fortnight mark in London now so I suppose I can start writing a little about how its been.Photo on the right is of me and Sarah when we went out with Simon who was in town for a little while. Sarah was nice enough to let me stay on her sofa the first few days I was here, while Tim was in Poland.I have had some success finding a place. Although it is still in Clapham

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1145019308444808572006-04-14T05:46:00.000-07:002006-04-14T05:55:08.863-07:00

This was pretty much France. Far too much red wine going around.I've now arrived in London. I got off the airplane and was shocked by cold, grey, windy, wet weather. Who would have thought London would be like this?I don't know what I've gotten myself into.London seems very ugly after being in some of France's most beautiful cities the last couple of weeks.Still, it was nice to go out last night

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1144429928930267572006-04-07T09:58:00.000-07:002006-04-07T10:12:10.480-07:00

FranceSo I have been out of India for a week and a day. I have stopped saying 'huh' (like yeah in Hindi) when people talk to me, and am doing less head waggling then I was, which I'm thankful for as I look quite ridiculous doing it in France.I spent about five days in Paris, which I quite enjoyed. People on the street kept talking to me in French, so I was quite flattered to be mistaken for a

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1143736919092602312006-03-30T08:32:00.000-08:002006-03-30T08:42:02.283-08:00

I arrived in Paris today.I spent the past couple of days with some friends of my parents in Mumbai, Shobahn and his family.What a city. Beautiful in comparison with Delhi with lots of beautiful colonial architecture coupled with some equally great Indian buildings (I have to be PC, after all).They took me around to see some of the sites but the highlight had to be some of the fantastic

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1143368893640501142006-03-26T02:16:00.000-08:002006-03-26T02:50:38.213-08:00

I haven't written for a while. The past couple of weeks I went first to Agra and the Taj Mahal, then up to Rishikesh in the mountains.I'll write about the Taj when I'm in a position to upload the photos. Rishikesh was brilliant. Its up in the mountains about 7 hours north of Delhi, in Uttrachnal. The city is situated in a valley with the Ganga running through it. On either bank sit temples and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1141883941184232322006-03-08T21:53:00.000-08:002006-03-08T21:59:01.193-08:00

Last night, after writing my last post, it finally rained. And what rain - a real tropical storm. I was out buying train tickets at Okhla station, and while I waiting it started raining. After fifteen minutes, the streets around the station were flooded. The dirt roads had at least a few inches of water rushing down them.Some of the power lines must have been knocked out, so the whole area around

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1141797585425032042006-03-07T21:57:00.000-08:002006-03-07T22:12:13.876-08:00

Only three more days of work left here. Although I'm looking forward to heading on to Europe, there are a lot of things I'll miss about living in India.Definitely the rickshaws. I'm come to enjoy zippng around in the little gizmos. Bargaining I'll be glad to see the end of. But I'm sure I'll miss them next time I'm forced to pay for a taxi.General lifestyle. Very relaxed at work here. I'm sure

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1141365279327139992006-03-02T21:46:00.000-08:002006-03-02T22:05:19.780-08:00

I haven't written an update for a while...I haven't been on too many trips lately, just hanging around in Delhi. I was going to go to Agra last weekend but one of my wisdom teeth was playing up and I had to get it pulled which was very pleasant.I'm still enjoying life here. The house has been good, lots of cultural exchange going on. For instance, last night Mauri shared some Napolitan wisdom

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1140420236272708242006-02-19T23:13:00.000-08:002006-02-19T23:23:56.283-08:00

First weekend for a while that I stayed in Delhi. We had a little launch event for a comic and film on forests Saturday night so I had to stick around for that.Sunday I went to the 'Great Indian Rock Concert', which wasn't great, but was ok.Unfortunately the international act that was there, Sweden's Freak Kitchen, were a terrible heavy metal group, and were supported by several equally terrible

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1140160884632869302006-02-16T23:21:00.000-08:002006-02-16T23:21:24.676-08:00

sanchi gate 1 Originally uploaded by lamoney. Sanchi was the destination last weekend, a small village in Madhya Pradesh (central India) famous for its Buddhist shrines built around 200 BC.After a marathon 14 hour train trip and 2 hour bus ride, we arrived. It was nice to get out of the Indian cities - Sanchi was a lot more laid back and you didn't have to deal with touts and other

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1139485753691396872006-02-09T03:35:00.000-08:002006-02-09T03:52:20.746-08:00

Last weekend I headed to Gwalior with Kate, whose photos I have selfishly claimed as my own; they are posted here.Gwalior is in Madhya Pradesh, central India. The town wasn't really too special, but they did have a nice fort with some good views.Gwalior is not really on the tourist map; I saw only a couple of other foreigners in the town the whole time I was there. While this can be a good thing,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1139477798992699882006-02-09T01:36:00.000-08:002006-02-09T01:45:05.100-08:00

rajasthani woman Originally uploaded by lamoney. A couple of weekends ago I took a trip to Jodhpur with Dorin my housemate (I've stolen his photos and uploaded them here).Jodhpur is in the western part of Rajasthan, which is quite barren and on the edge of a large desert called, from memory, the Thar. The landscape reminded me of Australia; a lot of low, scrubby brush, a few trees, a lot of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1139221330732621252006-02-06T01:59:00.001-08:002006-02-06T02:34:42.503-08:00

Slum Demolitions in IndiaWe recently met with an Indian film-maker who has put together a documentary and photo-book on slum demolition India. We will hopefully be publishing his photo-book over the next couple of months.Over the past two years India has destroyed thousands of slums rendering millions of people homeless. Generally there is little, if any compensation, and frequently, no notice of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1139207145745026162006-02-05T22:09:00.000-08:002006-02-06T01:55:55.386-08:00

Mein Kampf in IndiaLast week here in Delhi I headed to a book fair as part of my work with Viveka. There were stalls there from thousands of publishers and distributors across India.One thing I couldn't help notice was five separate editions of 'Mein Kampf', Hitler's little rant which he wrote while he was locked up, before coming to power in Germany. Five editions! I saw this book almost as

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1138343213894947382006-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:002006-01-27T01:06:14.143-08:00

Republic Day Parade Yesterday was Republic Day here, so I headed off to see a parade they hold in Delhi which heads through India Gate and down to the Red Fort. I was there with one of my housemates by 6.00am to get prime seats; unfortunately we didn't know that cameras and mobile phones cannot be taken in because the parade is a 'high security operation'. And here I was planning on selling

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1138083222412707352006-01-23T22:13:00.000-08:002006-01-23T22:18:58.156-08:00

jaipur festival Originally uploaded by lamoney. I've posted up some photos from the Jaipur festival and our workshop.The workshop went really well...the kids there were all from the Rajasthan School of Art. Although they were all between 18-21, they are so much more polite and innocent-seeming then western kids of the same age, that in some ways you had a hard time believing they were older

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1137067517076273222006-01-12T03:39:00.000-08:002006-01-12T04:21:41.623-08:00

So aside from Eid ul-Adha, I have not been up to anything too exciting. At work we are running a comics workshop this week with a Belgian comic book artist. The poster is on the right (guess who designed it). We have also put up a comics exhibition to run alongside it. I spent last weekend putting it up, and this week have had to put it up and take it down each morning as, unfortunately, its

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1137063839776451172006-01-12T03:03:00.000-08:002006-01-12T03:20:57.526-08:00

Eid ul-Adha Buffalo SacrificeOriginally uploaded by lamoney. I wouldn't recommend checking out my latest photo postings. I have put up my photos from the Eid ul-Adha festival. You will see this buffalo die. The Eid ul-Adha festival celebrates Ibrahim's (Abraham's) sacrifice; God asks Abraham to kill his first-born son, Abraham takes him to a certain spot where the sacrifice is to occur, the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1136354990001465862006-01-03T21:39:00.000-08:002006-01-04T04:03:44.570-08:00

Ten Things I Like About IndiaGoing through the blog and looking at the comments from one Indian person who happened upon it, I have realised that I've started to write a little negatively about my trip so far, and about India. Which really annoys me because I hate whiney travel writing! Oh, this is different, people are so rude, I can't get my shoe size, the place smells like a toilet. And I have

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1136276633706391322006-01-03T00:07:00.000-08:002006-01-03T00:59:54.010-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a good night.I decided to stay in Delhi - Friday I was feeling too sick to face the train trip to Nanital. Teo ended up staying in Delhi as well, he was afraid Nanital would be too cold. Apparently it was freezing, around 1 or 2 at night, although the photos Mauri and Paula brought back were beautiful. I'll have to check it out in a couple of months once

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1136275482029267062006-01-03T00:04:00.000-08:002006-01-03T01:47:38.313-08:00

early morning on the gangesOriginally uploaded by lamoney. I've uploaded some of my photos from Varanasi, available here.They're not in a set as I am not allowed to create any more sets - but the last twenty or thirty odd photos are from Varanasi and they should be the ones that come up first.I forget to mention the ceremonies on the Ganges that occurred. They had a nightly concert with lots

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1135934039244354242005-12-30T00:52:00.000-08:002005-12-30T01:25:57.103-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years all.I am sick for the second time in a week so not at work today. I used to think I had a pretty tough stomach. I had made it through three months in SE Asia without getting sick and two in Beijing. But I've been here not even one month and twice I've eaten something that has disagreed with me in a big way. I don't know what is so different about their cooking

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1135158375974619022005-12-21T01:39:00.000-08:002005-12-25T05:47:20.543-08:00

What else have I been up to besides checking out Humayun’s tomb on the weekend? Well, Saturday night I headed to a party with some other people doing internships here. I was able to meet a few Indians and expats alike. Good to know a few more people in Delhi. Also some of them will also be stuck here for New Years, meaning hopefully I won’t be sitting around at home by myself on the big day!I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1135144269401776592005-12-20T21:51:00.000-08:002005-12-20T22:04:30.760-08:00

210509Originally uploaded by lamoney. Last weekend I went to Humayun's tomb. Beautiful buildings and spectacular gardens which made a nice change of pace from the stress of Delhi. Humayun was a Mughal emperor, meaning he was Muslim - most of Delhi's great architecture is Muslim in origin, and many other famous Indian buildings, such as the Taj Mahal, also share this heritage. You can see my

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1134551621286256792005-12-14T01:13:00.000-08:002005-12-14T02:30:12.686-08:00

taking it easyOriginally uploaded by lamoney. This weekend I headed off to Jaipur, Rajashtan, which is about 5 hours drive from Delhi. Went there with Kate & Ruth from my house. The bus trip over was pretty average….freezing cold, 11.30pm – 4.30am, the usual cramped seats and terrifying driving. After a while you learn you're better off not watching where you are going. Jaipur itself though

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1134135955206243002005-12-09T05:33:00.000-08:002005-12-15T22:24:45.366-08:00

i've finally moved into a house in new delhi. i'm living with six other people...ruth & susanne, germans, kate, slovakian, paula, spanish, theo, south korean, and mauri, italian. so its a bit of a melting pot. they're all about my age and pretty good fun so i think i'll enjoy living with them. its a three bedroom place so would be a little crowded, except that we're only all there from 9pm

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1133843547580277772005-12-05T20:23:00.000-08:002005-12-05T20:36:24.810-08:00

So, I have made it safely through to New Delhi. A quick rundown on the past couple of days...I arrived Friday night after a very long day of flights and airports. A couple of guys from the group organising the intership (AIESEC) picked me up at about midnight and drove me to a conference they were holding over the weekend, at a nice little spot in the countryside outside New Delhi. Stayed there

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19301147.post-1133055979183021062005-11-26T17:46:00.000-08:002005-11-29T22:59:31.456-08:00

bar open Originally uploaded by lamoney. Out last night with a few friends for my going away. Went to the standard hotel & bar open. Here's Judd, Lou, John, me and Ronan at Bar Open upstairs. More photos are available here.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04265942797626947424noreply@blogger.com5