There are so many contenders for P, but I’m writing about the ones with the highest impact here. So, #1 is for our Pakistani friends, Bushra & Kashif. It was an association of two different yet similar worlds, that resulted in some fantastic times, always to be referred to as ‘daawat’. Yes, Bushra’s cooking made great waves not just in Ciputra, but with all my friends and family that visited. Besides daawats, we bonded over English conversation, baking, swimming, picnics and shopping! Hope to carry on the friendship over skype.

The other P is Posing for pictures, the national pastime of Vietnamese girls, or as Souvik calls it, world championship of Posing. You cannot turn a pretty corner anywhere without spotting a photo session of a bunch of girls, or girlfriend/boyfriend. The men don’t have to feature in the pictures, their only qualification is possession of a camera, anything from SLR to mobile camera. Only in the wedding season do you get to see men in the frame, usually looking sheepish wearing matching outfits with their bride. No matter what the occasion, a must-do pose is wide smile with two fingers in the ‘V’ sign!