Tun Hussein returned to politics in1968 after being persuaded by the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak to rejoin UMNO. He stood and won the general elections in 1969 and was appointed as the education minister. Tun Hussein’s meteoric rise continued when on August 13, 1973 he succeeded the late Tun Dr Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister. On January 15, 1976 he was appointed as Prime Minister of Malaysia after the death of Tun Razak.

Tun Hussein was renowned for stressing on the issue of unity through policies aimed at retrifying economic imbalances between the communities. For instance, April 20, 1981 saw the National Unit Trust Scheme being launched. He also gave serious consideration to the concept of Rukun Tetangga (a neighbourhood watch scheme) and the fight against the drug menace.

Tun Hussein, who was married to Toh Puan Suhaila Tan Sri Haji Mohd Noah, for 42 years underwent a coronary bypass in early 1981. On July 17 the same year, he retired from active politics and relinquished his prime minister post due to health concerns. He was succeeded by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Tun Hussein, who came from a family deep nationalistic spirit and political roots, resigned from the civil service to go into politics. In 1949, he became the first youth chief of UMNO (United Malays National Organization), a party his father helped established. In 1950, he was elected the UMNO a secretary general. Tun Hussein however left UMNO in 1951 to join his father in forming the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).\

With IMP losing momentum, Tun Hussein went to London to study law at Lincoln’s Inn, qualifying as a Barrister-at-Law. He came back as a certified lawyer and practiced in Kuala Lumpur.

The greatest gift from the 90s is the internet. In fashion? Grunge and Hip Hop were introduced. I will always have a soft spot for 90s grunge/alternative rock.

Tun Hussein received his early education in Singapore and at the English College in Johor Bahru. After leaving school, he joined the Johor Military Forces as a cadet in 1940 and was sent a year later to the Indian Millitary Academy in Dehradun, India. Upon completion of his training, he was absorbed into the Indian Army and served in the Middle East when the Second World War broke. After the war, his vast experience prompted the British to employ him as an instructor at the Malayan Police Recruiting and Training Centre in Rawalpindi.

Tun Hussein came back to Malaysia in 1945 and was appointed Commandant of the Johor Bahru Police Depot. The following year he joined the Malaya Civil Service as an assistant administrative officer in Segamat, Johor. He was later posted to the state of Selangor, becoming Klang and Kuala Selangor’s district officer.

The 80s – best known for the style and music.

In New York State, where I live, there’s a two year Global curriculum followed by US History and then, in my school, Human Rights.  I’m in the second year of Global History, preparing to take the regents in June.  We have the same textbook for both years, and I’ve read through a lot of it.  I’ve been realizing: we barely talk about women and their place.  I get that we won’t get to any of the waves of feminism until next year, but when talking about the Enlightenment, we discussed Voltaire, Rosseau, Montesquieu, and especially John Locke.  Mary Astell and Mary Wollstonecraft were mentioned in the textbook in the given chart and not even discussed in class.  We don’t really talk about the place of women in history.  I get that there’s a lot of material to cover, but should all of the names mentioned be male.  Even in our mini-unit on pirates, done in the three days before Thanksgiving break, the only mention that Anne Bonney and Mary Read got were that they were female pirates and escaped hanging because they were pregnant.

I have absolutely no problem with doing reading on my own.  I like history.  But the missed opportunities in class (for example, we could have had a really interesting discussion about Gandhi’s views towards women, based off an article that mentioned how one, his secretary, was not allowed to come on the Salt March) and the fact that a lot of us will become ignorant about what 50% of the human population did for thousands of years definitely pisses me off.

Disco, Hippies… People started taking note of what they put on their skin and how it affected their health and appearance. For those who tan easily (unlike myself) this was the decade where your skin tone finally got to shine.

(this is before we discussed makeup for photography so the shimmer and contouring is not easily seen in the photos as it was in person)

Watches are classic. They are an essential part of every wardrobe, but they must also possess style and functionality to the wearer. For years, watches have been extremely popular gift ideas while remaining a constant self-indulging accessory.

In 1881, Kintaro Hattori opened a clock shop in Tokyo, which established a foundation for modern clock and watch making in Japan. This new brand was titled Seikosha. The store was the direct ancestor of the current Seiko Corporation, Tokyo, which is the parent company of Seiko Corporation of America. Eleven years later, Hattori opened a clock factory with ten employees. Two months after it is inception, the first dozen clocks were produced. In 1895, the production of pocketwatches began. Following that trend, the company began to produce alarm clocks in 1899, which was followed by the introduction of table and musical clocks in 1902. In 1912, Hattori began considering ideas regarding the production of a Japanese wristwatch. The following year, his company began working on the first Seikosha wristwatch to ever be made in Japan. In 1924, the Seiko brand was officially created. After 43 years of the company’s existence, the first Seiko wristwatch was made.

Since that time, there have been many modern advancements to the world of watches. But, throughout the changing times, Seiko has remained a powerhouse in the timepiece industry. In 1956, they produced the first self-winding wristwatch made in Japan. In 1964, Seiko released the world´s first quartz chronometers and became the official timer of the Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo. In 1968, they introduced the world´s first quartz wall clock. The following year, in 1969, Seiko released the first quartz watch. Also that year, Tiffany & Co. began selling the Seiko Astron 35SQ, which was encased in solid 18kt yellow gold. During the next several years, Seiko introduced many firsts to the world of watches, including the first multi-function digital watch and the first LCD quartz watch with six-digit digital display.

Seiko has served as the official timer for various athletic competitions and events. Among the collections offered by Seiko include the Tressia, La Grand Sport and Elite Collections, which includes the Sportura, Arctura and Coutura. Their line of technology timepieces include the Kinetic Perpetual, Kinetic Chronograph, Kinetic Auto Relay, Kinetic, Analog Digital, Chronograph, Flight Computer and Perpetual Calendar. The majority of Seiko timepieces are designed to be water resistant. The U.S. warranty for Seiko watches, which are sold by Seiko Corporation of America, is three years. The warranty for clocks is one year. Certain restrictions and exclusions may apply, so be sure to read your warranty information closely when purchasing any new timepiece and always retain a copy of all such warranties.

As with any timepiece, caring for your watch will promote a longer life for the product. If the battery is in need of changing, be sure to have this done immediately. Seiko advices that customers contact an authorized Seiko dealer for battery and other minor repairs. If the timepiece needs further repair or replacement parts not serviced by an authorized dealer, customers may return the watch to the address on their warranty card for proper handling. If the watch is under warranty, the repairs should be done at no cost. If the warranty has expired, however, the customer will be responsible for the cost of repairs and replacements.

Tun Hussein bin Dato’ Onn (Feruary 12, 1922 – May 29, 1990) who is of 3/4 Malay and 1/4 Circassian ancestry was the third Prime Minister of Malaysia, ruling from 1976 to 1981. He was granted the sobriquet Bapa Perpaduan (Father of Unity). He was born in Johor Bahru, Johor on February 12, 1922 to Dato Onn Jaafar and Datin Halimah Hussein.

Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Hussein Onn
Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office 15 January 1976 – 16 July 1981
Monarch	Yahya Petra Ahmad Shah
Deputy	Mahathir bin Mohamad
Preceded by	Abdul Razak
Succeeded by	Mahathir bin Mohamad
3rd Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office 13 August 1973 – 15 January 1976
Prime Minister	Abdul Razak
Preceded by	Ismail Abdul Rahman
Succeeded by	Mahathir Mohamad
Born	12 February 1922(1922-02-12) Johor Bahru, Johor, British Malaya
Died	28 May 1990 (aged 68) South San Francisco, United States
Political party	United Malays National Organisation-National Front
Spouse(s)	Suhailah Noah
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Islam

Part 1 of a step-by-step tutorial for balancing chemical equations, along with a worked example.

Instructor: John Appleseed

Best defined as a Cultural Revolution that has found it’s own struggle to be heard in today’s culture.

taken in class.

For Halloween my sister went as a 60s chick.

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A rare peak inside the early days of the engineering dept. at Indian– year unknown.

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Charles B. Franklin joined Indian in 1914, and was the first ever formally trained engineer on staff since the motorcycle firm officially opened its doors in 1901. Franklin’s background in engineering, as well as racing, gave Indian someone expertly qualified for the position. Born in Ireland in 1886, Franklin was a graduate of the Dublin College of Science in 1908, then joined the engineering department of Dublin’s municipal government. He was passionate about motorcycling, personally owning several makes and models before finally fixing his sights on Indian in 1910. Franklin entered several local motorcycle competitions where his riding ability and success in the events brought him to the attention to the UK Indian importer, Billy Wells. He was a member of the famous Indian racing team that swept the 1911 Isle of Man TT, gaining second place behind Oliver Godfrey, and in front of Arthur Moorhouse, in the historic first 1-2-3 finish for Indian.

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1916 Indian Powerplus 1000 cc motorcycle

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1919 Indian Military Powerplus– the motorcycle that helped the US win WWI.

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1918 Indian Powerplus motorcycle advertisement.

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There were major forces at this time impacting Indian’s technology aspirations.  Manufacturing preparations for WWI were gearing up, and production resources for commercial production were limited.

1920 officially ushered in a significant decline in domestic motorcycle sales to make matters worse. Thankfully by this time, Indian had become a major exporter, chiefly to the UK, where events like the Isle of Man TT were dominated by smaller displacement motorcycles.  Franklin’s Irish heritage surely played some part in Indian’s efforts to not only dominate Europe’s racing circuits, but also aggressively go after more market share overseas (a point soon made moot when England introduced a steep import tariff in 1925 to support Triumph, Norton, and other local motorcycle manufacturers).

In 1922, the US National Championship sanctioning officials, motivated by a public outcry over the ever-increasing motorcycle fatalities, introduced the toned-down 30.50 cubic inch (500 cc) class of motorcycle racing.  It was a clear attempt to slow motorcycle performance– as speeds were scarily lapping rider safety advancements.

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“Grandma Beal” AKA Ruth Beal on an Indian Powerplus

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Indian set-out to dominate Harley Davidson in the small displacement wars by throwing its engineering staff at the new field by developing new, potent smaller engines– where as Harley’s answer seemed to be to lop a cylinder off their standard 61 ci, two cam engine.  By 1925, the 4-valve 30.5 ci (500 cc) powered Indians handily surpassed the H-D “half-twin,” giving them 4 out of 5 US National Championships in their class.

Technology aside, Indian would soon have Harley Davidson beat in another department– Looks.  Indian created a strong following with iconic and stunning design.  The new era of Charles B. Franklin designed street-bikes soon became known for their sweeping, deeply valanced fenders and signature Indian-head ornament on the front fender. Indians were the ‘leader of the pack’ in terms of looks and style– whose design cues are still fiercely coveted  by today’s motorcycle purists. Undoubtedly one of the most loved (and oft imitated) trademarks of the old Indians are the incredible multi-toned, high quality paints jobs that began to appear in 1929, when Mr. E. Paul DuPont of paint company fame, became President of the motorcycle company.

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To be continued… next up, the Scout, Chief & Big Chief.

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No, I’m not talking about the social bookmarking site.

I’m talking about education and food. That’s what this blog is supposed to be about and in a Twitter response to my last post, @ToughLoveforX remarked that high schools should have teaching kitchens.

I disagree.

All schools should have teaching kitchens. Maybe even all classrooms.

The earliest lesson that I remember from my schooling was when, in first grade, we shook heavy cream for what seemed like forever to make whipped cream and butter.

The next lesson I recall is when we made applesauce.

There was a time not that long ago when most high schools and middle schools had classroom kitchens. Most were removed shortly after Russia’s first space shot galvanized American educators to get serious about science and math because we had to put a man on the moon.

Been there. Done that.

Now its time to reexamine that decision to remove those kitchens.

Kitchens are the perfect venue for teaching middle and high school students.

Those students have an abundant interest in food and eating, so there is incentive to show up for class.

Each of the major disciplines can be addressed in the process of completing the task of planning, preparing and reflecting on the flavors of a menu.

Researching dishes to include on a menu involves language arts, social studies and nutrition science,

Scaling the recipe of a dish for a smaller or larger number of servings is measurement math and multiplication or division.

Costing the price of the ingredients, creating a budget and doing the purchasing incorporates various math concepts and skills.

Cooking and baking involve chemistry, physics and nutrition science.

Invitations, dish descriptions and critiques all involve writing.

And so on.

And why stop there? Sewing classes, woodworking shop, and other venues of practical skills are rich with academic possibilities.

Every day I have students coming to me and asking for food. Every student in my school is eligible for free breakfast and lunch, but I hear stories about how mom works two jobs and doesn’t come home until midnight and then starts to prepare supper.

It is a long stretch between an 11:30 or noon lunch and a midnight or 1:00 AM supper. Even if there were no academic benefits to having teaching kitchens, doesn’t it make sense to give these students the ability to prepare a nutritious meal or two?

There is a big push right now to introduce more and more technology into classrooms and I’m all for that. But the technologies most classrooms need are not interactive white boards or hand-held computers; what classrooms need are stoves, ovens, chopping blocks and refrigerators.

The investment for a classroom full of computer-based technology and a teaching kitchen are roughly the same but kitchen equipment is far more durable, more easily maintained and far less likely to become obsolete within a few years of purchase.

Critics of my proposal, and I expect there to be many, will say that classroom kitchens don’t teach 21st Century skills, or that I’d just prepare kids for flipping burgers.

Nonsense.

Writing a recipe is pure concept mapping.

Planning a menu requires the accumulation and integration of information from a variety of sources and the creation of a cogent new document. Its a process of planning, drafting, gathering feedback, revising, proofing and publishing. Sound familiar?

Well run kitchens require collaboration, planning, critical thinking, problem solving, adaptation to changing circumstances, the ability to gather and evaluate information, mutual respect, attention to detail, and the ability to apply principles learned in the synthesis of new concepts.

Those sound like 21st Century skills to me.

Is there some risk in giving your average high school student a cleaver and 10″ chefs knife? Absolutely, but far less than giving that same student a car.

The fact is, the technology most classrooms need is not an interactive white board or hand-held computers; what they need are stoves, ovens, chopping blocks and refrigerators.

OK, maybe a computer or two to access recipe sites and to write the class blog.

The era that fashion not only came alive, but found it’s voice. We are still listening to that voice today… femininity meets sophistication, innocence meets flirty….

My twin sister went as a 50s gal for Halloween this year. I have an updated 50s photo that I will put up here in the next few days (have to get it from my photographer).

:real man-made interior:

This is my favorite place in the world.

:diner 29, historical landmark:

Or will be, until this Tuesday, when legislation goes into gear in Virginia that means that I can’t smoke inside of Diner 29.

:ashtray in diner 29 - rectangle:

I’m sorry. I like to have my smoke and my coffee after a long trek into Fairfax County.

:but don't i look so beautiful and happy?:

Seriously, though. With Big Tobacco VA out of the picture, where can I smoke cigarettes?

Wikipedia says:

Michigan

Wyoming

Kansas

Oklahoma

Missouri

Texas

Missouri

Mississippi

Alabama

South Carolina

Indiana

Kentucky

and

West Virginia.

What? That leaves us happy smokers only thirteen states to happily smoke in. This is filthy communism!

Apparently others feel the same way:

:whoa:

Back off my happiness, US of A!

(Props to Daniel K for research and photos)

World War II. Arguably the “greatest generation.”

The 1940s is another one of my favorite decades to study.

America survived the Great Depression. We found ourselves dancing to Big Bands and dreaming once again….

The roaring 20s with all the flapper girls and prosperity.. life was good until “the crash”…

I forgot my camera, so a photo of me in 20s makeup will have to do for now.

I am not afraid to admit that, as clownish as it looks, I love this era.

I used plasto to conceal eyebrows  (will redo this look after I take my effects class) and Ben Nye ’s white foundation cream.

I created this brief montage to add a pinch of awareness to the Youtube cesspool regarding the under-recognized Hellenic Genocide. From the album Defixiones by Diamanda Galas, “Orders From The Dead” is a call to remember and to recognize these persecutions. “DEFIXIONES” refers to the warnings which were placed on  graves  in Greece and Asia Minor. They cautioned against moving or desecrating the corpses under threat of extreme harm. They were a hex, a curse and a call from the souls of those who were deemed unworthy of grace. In a world where much of our struggles are influenced by cultural and religious fundamentalism – Defixiones could not be more relevant.

Hello!

The European Union Film Festival starts in Vancouver at Cinematheque on Howe Street. Many great movies are going to be screening during next two weeks. I have had a chance to interview with Corinna Avraamidou, director of “The Last Homecoming” (Cyprus). This film screens on November 30.

“The Last Homecoming” won several awards in 2009 – for Best Feature Film at the London Greek Film Festival and for Best Newcomer Director at the Alexandria International Film Festival. This film was also an official finalist at the Canada International Film Festival in 2009.

I would like to share now some of my interview with Corrinna Avraamidou. The entire interview has been published in the Russian newspaper Vancouver Express.

- The “Last Homecoming” is your first feature film. Tell me a little about your previous work.

- In 2001 I wrote and directed a 25 min short film with the title “The Secret of the First Day” which was a psychological study of a young man’s frustrated life and his complex relationship with his disabled mother. It won Best Screenplay at the Cyprus Short Film Festival. Since 1992 until today I have been working in the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation as a director, mainly of serials and television movies. So my strongest experience comes from the background of television.

- What prompted you to make this film?

- I always wanted to make films, ever since I can remember. Also, when growing up, the sorrow and memories of the 1974 events in Cyprus “haunted” my childhood, in such a way, that artistically I needed to find a way to “exorcise” my country’s tragedy through my work. My mother’s family house was in Kyrenia; she was born and raised in that beautiful seaside town that has been under Turkish occupation ever since. So the idea of a family reuniting just before the break up of war during that specific summer of 1974 started to develop, with the characters becoming more and more alive, full of their own passions and secrets.

- How long did it take to complete “The Last Homecoming,” from the time you began to write the script? Did you experience any difficulty during making the film?

- I wrote the script in 2003 and went through script development until the day I shot it in the summer of 2007. The main difficulties we experienced had to do with the funding of the project. Cinema is a very expensive “hobby” and especially in Cyprus where the funds are limited and Cyprus cinema is at its early stages we fought some difficult battles in order to be able to gather the amount to start production. In 2008 the film was completed and was ready to face the world!

- Producer Kyriacos Tofarides said in one of his interviews that movies are made either with big money or big love. If this movie wasn’t made with big money what was your big love? Cinematography? Cyprus? Something else?

- Our great love was and will always be the art of making films. That and our need to make films that are Cypriot, that have the smell, colours and “taste” of the Mediterranean island that we call home. As Theo Angelopoulos once said the more specific and local one film is the more universal it becomes.

- Tell me about the name of the film? Why is it the last homecoming?

- Because for the characters it signifies the end of their life as they had known it up to that moment. The war changes their country, their home forever. It draws a dividing line between the two communities, nothing is the same after the disaster.

- Why don’t we know what happened with Alexandra and the two brothers after the war? Were these also their final days in the homeland?

- It is open to interpretation. The fact is that the betrayal, both in their personal life and in the level of their country was what had such a strong impact on them. What happens after, will always have the dark shadow of their loss haunting them. They can never be innocent again, the way both Cyprus and their youth were innocent. They have matured, pain has made them stronger, maybe more sad, but definitely wiser. So they are not the same and their choices would be more unpredictable.

- Despina Bebedeli said that art in Cyprus today is a weapon, both offensive and defensive, of a peaceful attack. She also thinks that art works as a tool of enlightenment. Is the The Last Homecoming a weapon, or a lesson, or both?

- I would hope as Despina Bebedeli says that the film is seen as a way to open a window, to make a point in the peaceful way that art makes a point, to be able to let people in Europe and elsewhere understand what happened in Cyprus, the way it affected our world and hopefully help us find a way to resolve our differences and move on. That would be a real blessing…

- In the end of the film one of heroes said “The world is sometimes so beautiful that my heart aches”. Are these your words: is it your heart that aches?

- Yes, indeed, my heart aches for a world that is no longer…

- What are your future plans? Are you currently working on any other films? (If so: Would you care to share anything about your next project?)

- For now me and Kyriacos Tofarides are working as co-directors in the development of a new feature film called “Home, Sweet Home”, which is a political comedy. We are working with the development of the script as well as trying to find money for the production-again! It is a never ending struggle, but… it’s great!

To see you.

]]> http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/suicide-bombing/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:02:49 +0000 KING-slave of ALLAH ! http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/suicide-bombing/

Suicide Bombing

Al-Nisa (The Women) Sura 4: Verse 29 (Partial)

“… And kill yourselves not, for God is truly Merciful to you.”

People who are driven to despair are thus reminded to have faith in God’s mercy in the hope that they may be relieved of their suffering. Since suicide is prohibited, anyone who tries to facilitate it, or acts as an accomplice, is also liable to a deterrent punishment that may be quantified by the court while taking into consideration the material circumstances of the case. Commentators have, moreover, drawn a five-point conclusion from this verse as follows:

1. the obvious meaning is that suicide is forbidden;

2. the text also stipulates that ‘you may not kill one another’ nor facilitate suicide;

3. one may not undertake a task which is likely to cause his own death, even if it be in lieu of a religious obligation;

4. no one should deprive himself of the necessities of life to the point of self-destruction; and

5. the text covers cases of self-destruction regardless of the manner in which it is done.

The manuals of Islamic law are silent on the issue of suicide bombing, a disturbing phenomenon of our time that became frequent in connection with Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially when Israel unleashed a new wave of aggression on the street processions of unarmed Palestinian youth in 2000-1. The aftermath of 11 September 2001 and more recently the horrendous violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, added new dimensions to the incidence of suicide bombing among Muslims.

Suicide bombing in the name of Islam is a ’sociopolitical phenomenon, not a theological one’. And any long-term solution to the problem must also address the causes that have brought so much pain and hopelessness to many Muslim societies.

It would be simplistic to lump the Palestinian suicide bombing with Al-Qaedah terrorist activities. One can hardly deny the genuine suffering of the Palestinian people and legitimacy of their struggle against sustained Israeli brutalities. It would appear equally simplistic, however, to equate suicide bombing with martyrdom and jihad. This is because suicide bombing contravenes two fundamental principles of Islam: prohibition against suicide, and deliberate killing of non-combatants. The argument that proceeds over reciprocity and retaliation is also flawed by the involvement of innocent non-combatants in suicide bombing.

Those who have raised the issue of ‘collateral damage’ in this context have also exaggerated their case, simply because non-combatants are chosen as the direct target of suicide bombing. They are, as such, neither collateral nor incidental.

The Muslim fighter who is motivated by the spirit of jihad enters the battle, not with the intention of dying, but with the conviction that if he should die, it would be for reasons beyond his control. Martyrdom in Islam does not begin with suicidal intention, let alone the linkage of that intention with the killing of non-combatants.

To justify suicide bombing under the banner of retaliation, or as a form of jihad, is therefore questionable, simply because it begins on an erroneous note, which goes against the essence both of just retaliation and justified jihad.

Compiled From:

“Shariah Law – An Introduction” – Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 283-288

We had a short drive to the beach resort of Jurmala and when we arrived we had another tour reorganisation discussion that convinced me to finally dispose of my useless personal itinerary.  This was really beginning to irritate people so I was pleased when it was all sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction and we were allowed to get off the coach and head for the beach. 

 This was a real surprise for this was a very high quality beach with miles of scrupulously clean sand and a clear Baltic Sea stretching out towards Sweden over the horizon.  I had expected the sea to be grey and forbidding like the North Sea of my childhood holidays but instead it was a serene denim blue and looked genuinely inviting.  Under the Communist regime up until 1991 this was a popular destination for high-level Communist Party officials and it was a favourite destination of Russian Presidents Brezhnev and Khrushchev. 

There were a few holidaymakers on the beach but not many in the sea because I suspect that looks were deceptive and that the Baltic remains fairly inhospitable for most of the year.  I wasn’t prepared to take the testicle shrinking test to find out.

We came dangerously close to another incident when we found a beach bar to stop for a drink and Alona helpfully gave menu interpretation assistance.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I am reasonably proficient in ordering a lager from a menu in almost any language in the World and there really wasn’t any difficulty at all here in translating from the Latvian ‘beer’ to English ‘beer’.  Kim however interpreted the offer of help as down right interference and I think Alona came within a whisker of finding the menu deposited somewhere that the sun doesn’t shine! 

After the beach we separated and half the party returned to Riga and the others went to a Spa resort at a hotel and enjoyed the saunas and steam rooms, the swimming pools and Jacuzzis.  I choose the Spa resort and enjoyed a session in each of the attractions including an especially memorable fifteen minutes in the sauna with  curvy Alona and another fifteen minutes in the Jacuzzi with  voluptuous May while the others went off to enjoy a massage.

Tonight we had agreed to eat at the Maritim and when we arrived the others were waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel.  At the bar there were some misbehaving Brit-louts who had been drinking heavily and were rearranging the furniture in the bar so we declined to join them in there and had a drink in the lobby instead.  Eventually Nick joined us, looking pretty rough it has to be said, he clearly hadn’t recovered completely and he rejected the offer of a beer.  I have no idea exactly how much he had had to drink the night before but it certainly resulted in the loss of a whole day of his holiday so it must have been a considerable amount.  The restaurant was on the top floor but it was quite a challenge to get there using a lift that absolutely refused to cooperate with our instructions; we pushed the buttons but found ourselves going up and down like an out of control yo-yo with frequent stops at floors we hadn’t requested and a couple of return visits to the lobby.  We laughed ourselves silly and were about to give in when it stopped one floor below the restaurant and we decided that this was probably the best we could hope for and so took the stairs for the final part of the way.

The restaurant was nice but it was posh and I wasn’t really in the mood for posh.  Or the posh prices either I have to confess!  By Riga standards this was very pricey indeed so when Kim, after heavy prompting from me, decided that she didn’t fancy it either and left I let my mean streak take over completely and was quick to follow her example.  We took a taxi into the old town and went instead to our favourite from our previous visit, the Lido pub where we had beer and wine and copious amounts of food at the sort of prices that we prefer.

We finished the evening in the top floor bar at the Albert, which on account of it being Friday was busier tonight.  There were two burly bouncers at the door whose main task seemed to be to supervise the activities of the prostitutes.  There were a lot of dubious looking women about looking for customers and there was a continual flow of what we took to be hookers going up and down in the lifts to the bedrooms below. 

There was a lot of ‘fucky fucky’ at the Hotel Albert tonight that was for sure!