coffee

Woke up at 5 AM and packed the rest of my stuff. Karimbaksh got there at 5:30, right on time and we drove to the airport. Good LORD is there a lot of security. They frisked us and checked in our carry-ons while were boarding the plane. What, you mean the three x-ray checks, metal detectors and various (3 or 4) pat-downs on the way to the plane weren't enough? Sheesh.

Flight was in a little turboprop. I was in the front row, all by myself, so I got to stretch out, which was nice. The whole thing took a bit more than an hour. There was no one at immigration so I sailed through, and because I wasn't declaring anything I didn't have to go through customs. Strong controls there, Pakistan. The driver was waiting for me and we sailed on to the hotel.

Hadn't eaten yet so as soon as I checked in and got my room, I went down to the sandwich place and got a spicy-beef-and-cheddar sandwich and a POT OF FRESHLY BREWED COFFEE.

Let me say that again:


A POT OF FRESHLY BREWED COFFEE.

Not quite as earth-shaking as the famous pot from my last first day at the Serena, but pretty damn delicious and on a totally different planet from god-damn should-be-illegal Nescafe.

The only other customers, if you could call them that, in the sandwich place were the guy I took to be the GM of the Serena, Peter Hill, and a couple of other hotel management types. I eavesdropped a bit: they were talking about all kinds of plans, for a new staff break room and whether there should be separate rooms for men and women -- evidently they were going to seek guidance from the staff on this, for a new restaurant, for renovations to the gym(s). Twas interesting. The older white guy, who I think was Hill, was wearing beautiful shoes.

Now it's just about noon and because it's Saturday and I haven't heard from Karim, I think I'm at loose ends for the rest of the day. Will definitely visit the gym later. For now, I'll enjoy the just-right temperature in the room.