Airplanes and Nandos Chicken

This will very likely be my last post as a resident of Dubai. After all, I'm flying out to my new life (with the family) on the 26th, and taking up as a student in Scotland. 

That's right. TWO DAYS.

Excited? Yes. Terrified? Very much so.

Why are you scared, you ask? For one thing, I've never lived on my own before (yes, blah blah, I'll make new friends and all, but still). For another, it's a whole new world for me. And most fantastically fearful of all:

I'm deathly afraid of airplanes. 

I don't even know when this fear started. Honestly, I've been flying my entire life. But this fear has come around fairly recently; I'd say that it developed over the last three years or so.  I hate turbulence like anything, since I convince myself every time it happens that the plane is going down in a ball of flames, and I can't even jump out because I'm not that strong a swimmer (I tend to conveniently forget the altitude when I picture myself in these situations...also that I can't dive, and I'll probably die of a belly flop).

While I'm terrified of the actual flight, I've no problem with the airport and boarding part of it all. I actually like that part. One of my favourite times is when my brother and I race through the aisles of the airplane (yes, we are both almost 20, but age will never stop us) to get to the window seat first. Window seats are heaven, and much-coveted, although for no more reason than that we get to look outside. Our flight this time is a daylight one, which I am very thankful for. I don't know why, but I always feel safer when it's a daytime flight. 

Anyway, the plan is to fly (via Qatar Airways) to the London Heathrow airport. We're going to spend 3 nights in London sightseeing, and then we're doing a drive up to Dundee, with a night's stay each in Manchester and Edinburgh. We were originally planning to fly to Edinburgh, but one of my dad's colleagues encouraged doing the drive instead; apparently, the scenery is gorgeous. I'm perfectly happy with this, seeing as it means less flying involved. 

And more good news! I got an e-mail from the uni last night saying that I'd won a scholarship for the architecture course (partial scholarship, don't get your hopes up yet)! Oh God, Dad was so happy. I mean, no seriously, the look of utter happiness on his face was so awesome. Don't forget, he has to send Aehshaan to uni next year too, and recently he's been a bit...quiet, shall we say? The rest of us felt so bad for him, seeing as he's the sole bread-winner and all, and he's been really stressed with work recently. I really had given up hope of winning the scholarship; I'd been under the impression that if I'd won it, I'd have been notified already. BUT NOT SO! Ah, so relieved. 

On a different note. 

I found out that if you eat at every single Nandos restaurant in the world, and can prove it, you get to eat free Nandos for the rest of your life. Seeing as I love Nandos and plan to live to a very ripe old age (Insha Allah), this seems perfect. 

Below is the e-mail I sent to the Nandos people earlier today:

Hello there! 

First, before my question, let me thank you for the wonder that is your amazing food. I can't get enough of it. I also stock up on almost all the flavours of your Peri-Peri sauce that I can find - that stuff's a godsend. 

Anyway (before I get carried away detailing everything I love about your food), I wanted to ask what kind of proof would be required in order to show that I've been to your restaurants all over the world? A picture with me eating the chicken from inside the restaurant, or posing with an employee? Or maybe posing with the sign? Because I'd really like to try that Hungry Traveller challenge and get myself some free food. You know, what with the recession and everything. 

Please do let me know! I'm contemplating travelling the world for you, after all. 

Much love (from an extremely satisfied Nandos-chicken-lover),


Shimali

P.S. I'm also an avid fan of coupons. Just saying. 




And there you have it. I really hope they send me some coupons.

Ja ne.

How? HOW?

I don't just go around handing out my e-mail address. I give it out when I see a little box saying, "We will not use your e-mail address for third-parties blah blah blah," or if the store or person I'm giving it to has a genuine reputation or reason for needing it.


And yet, STILL, I'm getting junk mail. WHERE HAVE I GONE WRONG? One of these websites/stores is lying, clearly, and giving out e-mail addresses to whoever asks willy-nilly. How can we trust the world in these troubled times? I just deleted a bunch of e-mails from my Junk Mail folder in my inbox: Fucbook, ROLEX GIVEAWAYS FREE GET IT NOW, Enlarge Your P*N*S...and some girl keeps e-mailing me, asking where I've been and didn't I like her anymore. 


LADY, I DON'T KNOW YOU, STOP E-MAILING ME ABOUT SOME NON-EXISTENT NIGHT WE SPENT TOGETHER.


I'm resorting to writing out letters now. It's fun, if a bit of a pain for my hands. Ah, how we have evolved, if we (or maybe just I) find holding an actual pen tedious. I wrote to Niki while she was away at college this past year, and I enjoyed knowing she was receiving them. It felt nice - almost like a blast to the past, to the old days when our parents wrote letters because e-mails didn't exist.


Woah. A world without e-mails. Almost unthinkable to us now, isn't it? T'was called Snail Mail for a reason. No immediate way of contacting someone with official details and files attached. Of course, junk mail has existed since then too. No doubt our parents were getting fliers about brothels downtown, or the newest supermarket sales (sans coupons, the bastards).


Obviously, I'm not really resorting to hand-written letters all the time. Like I said, it's a pain. Also, e-mails are free, and I'm frugal/stingy. 


Ja ne.