Update and more

Dear Readers,

I have been amiss in not posting anything on this blog since the past nearly one and a half months. I will offer no excuses for this, but I do wish to say this: I have missed you all as much as you have missed my posts - perhaps it is a greater loss for me. 

So, after the passing of the one-year milestone, my life in the hospital and in Blackpool went into a routine. Nothing exciting was happening and I was plodding on from day to day. I did locum duties about 6 days in all, and they were mostly in Bolton and at Bassetlaw. Of course, they helped me save more money and earned me a bit more of practical experience.

Back home in India, my family began gearing for my expected visit to Mumbai in the first week of January. This time, the primary reason for my Mumbai visit would be to attend the 40th reunion of my GS Medical College batch of '77. We would be going to Kashid and our stay would be at Prakruti Resorts. This is a large resort spread over a big area of 100 acres. There are indoor and outdoor activities here, including carrom, tennis, a swimming pool, a discotheque, and more. The rooms were decent, and in line with their 4-star rating. Nearly 60 out of our batch of 160 attended the get-together. We - i.e, my family and I travelled together. Inas and Hannah were initially apprehensive about what they would occupy their time with as they would be the only offspring to travel to this holiday. In the event. they were quite happy with the entire package. There was much they could do as a pair, and also, they played with the rest of the class when we had beach handball as a game. The food at the resort was really good, and they varied the menu at every meal so that I had a taste of many different kinds of foods and hence, enjoyed myself.

The reunion itself was remarkable. It was a memorable experience because we had all had different life jouirneys  but were now on a common platform with no differences of sex, social backgrounds, religious beliefs, financial standing or any other yardstick,

In addition, I had a good time with my family. I ate out with my daughters on a few occasions and with the whole family (i.e. including wife Nishrin) on a few more. It was all quite enjoyable. The outing with both daughters was in a mall, where I had food with them in Bombay Blue in a mall known as Phoenix Market City near Vikhroli. This was a lovely lunch with mostly a mix of Italian and Mexican food. 

With Hannah, I had a meal or two in more casual outlets when we went shopping together. With the family, I went to World Streat Foods at Nariman Point  unique experience.  This is a recently opened restaurant that brings world street foods to you in the ambience of a comfortable, indoor place. We really enjoyed this one. We had food from Sri Lanka, East Africa, the Americas and also stuff from other parts of the world. 

As I have posted on social media, I was able to help out some people with their life-problems. One of them was a mom with a child with a borderline delay of milestones. Another was an ex-patient of mine searching for advice on the choice of post-graduation in his chosen field. 

Finally, this short visit, I rejuvenated myself to return to the UK for some more serious work.

My first solo-trip: A walk in the woods - Monsal Trail - Part 1

On last Friday, the first day of the new year, I woke up with a thought of going somewhere to spend the next few days, as I have no weekend and holiday duties. I searched for nearby places of interest, and came across descriptions of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire. This region of the UK is located south-east of Manchester, and includes many locations such as Buxton, Ashford-in-the-water, etc. One of its attractions is a trail known by the name Monsal Trail. It is the route of an old railway line that ran from Manchester to London and was used by commuters and cargo trains from 1860 up until 1968. Once modern railway lines were built, the route fell into disuse and was refurbished over the last several decades into a woods walk, some 10 miles long, from Wyedale on the west end to Bakewell into the south-east ... the trail passes through some very picturesque woodlands, from Wyedale to Cheedale, Millers' Dale, Litton, etc, till it reaches Bakewell in the south. For nearly 60-70% of its distance, it follows by the side of the meandering Wye river. 

More famous for visiting during the spring and the summer, the Monsal trail can be accessed throughout the year. To reach there, one has to either start at Wyedale, join it at Miller's Dale, or start from the Bakewell end. I chose to pick up the trail from Miller's Dale, a place that can be reached by a 15-minute bus ride from Buxton. As I was travelling alone, I decided to only do the trail from my starting point to its western end at Wyedale. 

Armed with this information, I booked a hotel room on Friday morning. It would be a single room at Hotel Portland in Buxton (£ 40 per night for B & B). I informed the gentleman that I would reach there by evening. I began my journey by taking a train from the Blackpool North station. I had booked the journey online, so I had to just go to a ticket self-serving machine, insert my debit card for verification, and print out my tickets (£ 26.40 return). I took a York train, got off at Preston, then changed to a Manchester Piccadilly train, and at the latter station, changed to a Buxton train. The entire journey took about three hours, including the two changes. I arrived at Buxton a little before 5 p.m. It was a cold and windy evening, and I had almost no difficulty finding the hotel I was to stay in. It was located on the main road ahead of the Palace Hotel, the Buxton college and a few private residences. The owner, a Mr. Robert ___. recognised me from the phone call I had made earlier. He and I chatted for a while on various issues concerning India and my life in it earlier. I really enjoyed his company. He is around 60, with a wife, two daughters and two grandchildren. He manages the hotel all by himself through the entire day, sleeps in there all the six nights from Monday until Saturday, and only goes home on Sundays, when a friend of his turns up at the hotel to manage it for a day. I guess he gets a helping hand on each morning when he serves a full breakfast for all his guests. I met with the lady who helps him out the next morning. 

I went to my room - No. 31 on the second floor. It was a small but clean room with a double bed, a table, two chairs, a cupboard in the wall, a well-appointed bathroom with a toilet, two side tables and a lamp, and a large window with a view of the town below. 

Portland Hotel

My room

Another view of the room with the table, the TV and the cupboard (white
in colour with two knobs)

I could hardly see anything, as it was already dark. I watched the ITV channel for an hour before I decided to go out for dinner (the hotel does not serve lunch or dinner). There were several restaurants that I looked at before settling for the "Indian Palace" Restaurant on the main market road. 

This was a busy place, and I was quickly led to the upper floor, where I was allotted a table to myself. The waiter, one Mr. Husain, a bearded guy who told me this was a Bangladeshi restaurant in reality (and that he, himself, was a Bangladeshi). Around me were other guests - a six-member party of three Caucasian couples and a three-member Asian party of a couple with their young daughter who spoke to each other in either Hindi or Urdu. I settled in to order. My order was tandoori salmon tikka and chicken vindaloo with chapatis.

Indian Restaurant, Buxton

Upper floor

Salmon fish tikka

Chicken vindaloo with chappati and papad

After dinner, I returned to the hotel and watched some more TV before turning out the lights at midnight. I was looking forward to my outing the next morning ... please click here to go to the next day's description. 

A week gone by, II: A buffet meal at Michael's, an Indian restaurant, with my friend Michael

Okay, so it's just a co-incidence. The Michael I went out with is not THE Michael after whom the restaurant is named! I discovered this place during my visit to the Whitegate Drive Health Centre on Monday, the 21st of December. Let me back up a little, though. The diabetes nurse who saw me at the local GP's clinic about a fortnight or three weeks ago set up a routine visit to the aforementioned centre to get my retina checked as a part of diabetes care. I had gone for this. The Centre is located about half a kilometre from the gym I visit (Helio). It is a huge place indeed. There is a GP-led centre, a Children's Centre, a general area for community services, children with learning disabilities, and several others that I did not visit or see. 

The nurse who dealt with me explained everything beforehand, including the information connected to her use of dilator eye drops to be able to shoot photos of my retina. The actual photography took hardly two minutes. I was in and out of the centre in about half an hour. On the way back to the hospital, I came across many restaurants and eating places on Whotegate Drive. One of them was Michael's, which had an imposing facade and a lovely byline: Indian food. I sort of wondered if I'd ever be able to afford eating at such a grand-looking place. 

Then, when I had reached the hospital, and was about to go to Costa for a cup of coffee, Michael called me up and asked me if I was free to join him for dinner the same evening. Originally, I had plans to have my coffee and go back to my room to change into my gym kit and go to the gym. However, Michael joined me within a few minutes at Costa. I agreed to go with him, and when he said he was willing to go anywhere, I, sort of half-heartedly, mentioned that we could go for an Indian dinner. He agreed immediately, and I then asked him his budget. When I realised that he was happy with spending up to 25 pounds between the two of us, I offered to go to Michael's. 

We walked all the way to the restaurant, and arrived there at half past seven. To our pleasant surprise, we discovered that they had a full Indian buffet dinner service with 15 varieties of starters, soup, main courses (rotis, nan, rice and about 8 different gravy preparations) and dessert (sadly, not Indian) - unlimited - all for just 12.50 British pounds per person! 

And thus. we had a stupendous dinner, chatting about each others' lives, sharing thoughts and generally getting to know each other better. 

Mike and I

Enjoying the food

The food plate

We finished at about half past nine, and then walked back together until at a certain point, we parted as he went towards where he stays with an Asian room-mate. I walked back from there, skirting Stanley Park, till I arrived at the point where there was a road that went on towards the hospital, from where I reached my home by half past ten.

This would be recorded as one of my favourite days since I came to Blackpool last month.