one year older one year crazier

i am twenty one. i guess the post is somewhat overdue but what the hell i'm kinda lazy to actually write on this particular issue. birthday celebrations are not my kind of thing and rather then those parties and bashes what have you, i prefer a quiet dinner with my close friends and like any other saturday night dinners, the company over gorgeous food and wine is priceless.

since i am on the issue maybe i'll take the chance to say a few words on casa verde, an italian restaurant belonging to the les amis group of restaurant which has awefully good thin crust pizzas and mains. there's nothing fancy or pomp but just simple food that is bound to bring a smile to anyone and gosh tempt you back for more.

i was busy scribbling down some information on the sights and sounds in tokyo on miss wu's notebook when suddenly someone started singing a birthday song. oh my it really caught me unexpectedly and oh how i really love my friends. we're certainly a bunch of odd balls making merry. all these years, i hope it lasts for more will come.

a temptation somewhat

how does it feel to backpack a country with no plans made ,no reservations for accommodations and transport what so ever. must be pretty exciting and confusing cause you have to start looking for a place to sleep and when the reservation books are filling up fast, oh my does it get any more of a hassle.

but what the hell, a journey like that would be really interesting without all the rush and anxious heart racing feeling that you're gonna miss the damn train and have coffee spilled on your sling bag making cool patterns. oh well, of course there's one last thing that i will have to carry along; a lonely planet guide book.

i want to experience just exploring the city and the nature around it without having a schedule to keep. just flip the bloody guide book and say i wanna do these and see these things today. so what if i took a little more time sleeping or walking around getting lost, there's always the following day. and talk about moody weather, just hop into a cafe and chill with a book. life is short so just live it to the fullest and take it easy.

what amazes me the most is that in theroux's dark star safari, he literally had no plans at all and delays on the african continent meant nothing to him. he could afford the days wondering in a dilapidated town or some forsaken village in the middle of nowhere. and yet he still manages to get from place to place, crossing borders by means of all sorts of ways.

i admire his courage to even backpack across sudan and ethiopia when there's nothing around but desert and flat land of nothing but scrubs and bushes. on the other hand, the contacts he has kinda made some sectors of his journey possible; contacts, never belittle them. and the way he can bus around alone with people of different culture that may endanger his life; what a traveler.

i found myself attracted to the story and how he described the african way of life and the kind of slap in the face reality that is going on there. i mean everyone knows about the poverty and the famines and the aweful governance that exist in some african states, but in his travels he talked to people, their opinions and views and through these conversations i learnt quite a few things.

tourism shows the safari parks and the big five, but there is so much going on in the continent from political issues to cultural issues that is causing the people so much pain and despair. theroux sees the unpleasent photos of places that sometimes we as travelers will never want to see as it simply spoils the "holiday".