The Ballerina also READS

Coping with a feisty research assistant…

Antonio: I need a summary of Mali’s history by close of play today.
Olivia: I have a ballet class this afternoon.
Antonio: OK. Midday?
Olivia: I’ll try. Need new reading glasses, you know.
Antonio: Get me all you can about Mansa Musa. If it’s good, I’ll foot the bill for new reading glasses.
Olivia: And new ballet shoes?
Antonio: Give an inch, they take a mile.
__________
Voice-over
Ad for a position considered: “Rigorous reading assistant needed.” Not mentioned: “No drama queens or ballerinas.” But what fun is scholarship without a bit of riposte?

Carnivore vs Vegan

Down the road from the farmers market...

Helen: Nice boots. Did the cow die of natural causes?
Grace: I’m sure it did. Vintage, thank you very much. Reduce, reuse, re-wear.
Helen: Touché. But at least my wardrobe doesn’t scream “I gave up meat but kept the wardrobe of a Bond villain.”
Grace: And yours doesn’t scream, “peace, love, and pulled pork”?
Helen: I am at peace—with my food chain. Circle of life. Hakuna Matata.
Grace: Circle of hypocrisy. Hugging trees, wearing plants, then biting into a burger like it owes you money.
Helen: Pu-lease. You drive a gas-guzzler and preach emissions. Your oat milk alone could drain a lake.
Grace: Okay, water wars aside, let’s talk ethics. A cotton-wearing bacon-eating yogi?
Helen: And you’re a leather-bound contradiction. Kale crusader in cowhide.
Grace: You know, we could both just admit we’re doing our best and leave it at that.
Helen: But where’s the fun in that? Brunch on Saturday?
Grace: Only if there’s a vegan option.
Helen: Jonathan’s does a side dish of salad.
___________
Voice-over
For these two, each always tries to have the last word. Jousting carries judgement. And as Grace, feisty for a vegan, says, “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Travels with a Cactus

Staying with a friend…

Sylvia: You travel with a cactus?
Antonia: That’s Rolenzo. I’m writing a book. Working title: Travels with My Cactus.
Sylvia: Graham Greene?
Antonia: But Rolenzo doesn’t chatter so much as an auntie. Very supportive. Just sits and listens.
Sylvia: I see he has a red streak.
Antonia: Everyone needs a bit of red in their life.
Sylvia: That pencil case? Be strong as cactus. And it’s green. You’re obsessed. Everything you own is green. Your bag, your water bottle, even your socks.
Antonia: Green is soothing. Like moss. Or tea leaves.
Sylvia: Does Rolenzo get a dedication?
Antonia: Of course. Page one.
__________
Voice-over
Antonia goes on to explain why Rolenzo is a perfect travel companion. Doesn’t need to be taken on walks or go sightseeing. “I am enough of a sight,” Antonia heard him whisper once.  Just a stoic little traveller who absorbs sunlight and doesn’t complain.

Offer of designing a hotel

1885 Job interview…
Lady Burdett-Coutts: I heard you picked up a building and moved it.
CT: Ah, yes. Chicago. It had its difficulties, being brick. Some fell off. But we did it. Big crane. Leverage. Steam. Lifted it up, turned it around and plonked it down on the piles prepared on the other side of the street.
LBC: My advisors were impressed. So they suggested you design a hotel for Southend on Sea. In brick. It would not need lifting.
CT: I have a year ahead of me.
LBC: You are not staying in England?
CT. It remains to be seen. There are opportunities in the Antipodes I hear.
LBC: Ah, you’ve been reading Samuel Butler?
CT: Actually the New Zealand Company prospectuses.
LBC: Well, we’d better press you into service before you leave us again.
___________
Voice-over
Who knows what other buildings CT would have designed in England? But he migrated to other shores, other stories. But before setting sail, he left this one which stood for eighty years.

Westward Ho

White Mooncake Rabbit

It’s mooncake time when the Jade Rabbit in the moon pounds the elixir of immortality (I’m a bit keen on that). Full of ingredients like lotus seed paste, red beans, seeds, nuts, salted egg yolk. So DON’T eat three mooncakes at one sitting. Not even ONE. (They DO carry health warnings). A quadrant with a cup of tea. With friends. Oh, and incant “WHITE RABBIT” THREE TIMES first thing on 1st October (even in a scientific world, I still give a nod to my grandmother’s superstitions - just in case).

A Dream of Red Mansions

At the theater…

Harold: Are you, by any chance Professor White?

Professor White: I am.

Harold: I’m Harold, I took your Chinese Literature course in Melbourne.

Professor White: But that was, 1972? Fifty years ago?

Harold: You wrote me reference. It got me a job.

Professor White: Happy it worked. Are you in academia?

Harold: Not as illustriously as you. You’ve published more than a hundred books and papers.

Professor White: Well. It’s a niche subject. Not many Westerners care to persevere.

Harold: I remember you took us through Hong Lou Meng. 

Professor White: Ah, so that’s why you’re here.

Harold: I couldn’t pass on a ballet performance of it 50 years later. And to bump into my Chinese professor at the same performance. An incredible coincidence. Here of all places!

____________

Voice-over

Glorious production. Never thought when I was wrestling with Chinese Lit in 1972, that the story of Baoyu playing around as his family disintegrates, that I could chance on a ballet performance of it 50 years later. AND meet my Chinese professor there. It’s worth staying alive for the surprises history springs.

1847: Francis Rejoins the Family Firm

Bernard urges a thoughtful Francis…
Francis: Feels oddly familiar yet foreign. London’s hustle has its own rhythm.
Bernard: It’s in your blood. Insurance, tallying—that kind of hands-on experience is valued. Though I have to ask—what’s this tale about advising Turkish Navy captains? it sounds more like an exotic adventure than my day-to-day work.
Francis: Ah, yes. Well, there was a lot of intrigue around Trieste. But the real story is less glamorous. Mostly figuring out their cargo losses and insurance claims while learning  local languages.
Bernard: Well, even so, you’ve got the experience. The business could benefit immensely. And we’ve got our father’s legacy to consider.
Francis: Speaking of father… his passing was such a blow. Tragic circumstances. Sorry I was so far away, India… Are you sure about this? Do you really think I should join you? After all, you’ve been running it here all along.
_________
Voice-over
Bernard persuades Francis to join the family firm, to complement Bernard’s London presence with the international experience of Francis. And who would have thought that their firm would still have brothers working in shipping insurance more than a hundred years later.

Setting out from Berlin 1796

Family meeting…

Rene: Berlin has limits, but London… it’s buzzing with ships, trade, and opportunity for an underwriter.
Father: Clearly, nothing we can say will dissuade you. And this… Lloyds, you say, will be your base?
Rene: A coffee shop. It’s where all the shipping news is daily shared. 
Mother: I still worry about highwaymen.
Rene: Berlin to Hamburg by carriage, then sail across the North Sea to London. The sea journey is long but safer.
Sarah: And what if soldiers stop you, getting suspicious of travelers amid all the unrest?
Rene: I have proper papers, explaining my journey as a merchant.
Father: And lodging? London isn’t kind to newcomers without a roof over their heads.
Rene: I’ve heard of cheap rooms near the docks where many sailors and traders stay. It’s humble but close to the action.
Genevieve: It’s brave of you to try. Better a life of risks and chances than one of waiting. I wish I were a man.
Father: Just mind your pockets on the road and your wits in the city.
Rene: I’ll keep my pockets tight and my wits sharper.
__________
Voice-over
The family wishes Rene well and sister Genevieve hopes that London can change his destiny and perhaps hedge the family fortune in these troubled Napoleonic times.

A talk with an underwriter in 1802

A booth at the coffee shop… 

Mr. Norton: Your porcelain shipment is a fragile commodity. The charge for insurance is contingent upon the declared worth thereof, and the character of the vessel employed.
Mr. Darcy: And what sort of vessel would you deem most fit for such goods in these times?
Mr. Norton: A sound merchantman, sir, possessed of a firm reputation. A packet ship, or an East Indiaman of robust build, would best secure your wares against the perils of the ocean.
Mr. Darcy: And what premium might be expected for coverage of said shipment?
Mr. Norton: Generally, one might reckon a rate of from three to five percent upon the cargo’s value. Given the unsettled nature of the seas, owing to the ongoing continental wars, the higher rate would naturally apply.
Mr. Darcy: Are circumstances presently perilous?
Mr. Norton: Quite so. The Napoleonic conflicts impart notable hazards—privateers, naval blockades. Such perils must be borne by mind and purse alike.
_________
Voice-over

Mr Norton, an underwriter with a good reputation, explains customary clauses relating to claims, delays and indemnification, and gives advice on selecting a well-appointed vessel under the command of a captain known for careful conduct. A further appointment is arranged for the signing of a contract.

Sarawak Laksa

Choon Hui Café 06:45 am…
Antonio: Sarawak Laksa. Medium size. Coffee and Poppia.
Mei: Poppia maker’s not in today, sorry lah.
Antonio: This was where he sat, right?
Mei: He sat there. Quietly. He finished the whole bowl.

Antonio: Breakfast of the gods. No photo of him up? The episode was filmed here.
Mei: Some things better left. He came as a guest.
Antonio: I understand. Pin the picture and trap the spirit.
Mei: Respect.
___________
Voice-over
There are many laksas. The Choon Hui Café laksa is special though. 

White Borneo Rabbit

WHITE RABBIT

WHITE RABBIT

WHITE RABBIT

Arriving in present day Sarawak was not quite the Borneo that Biggles flew into in a Beaufighter in WWII but still required moderate levels of planning such as digital entry card, changing flights at KL, initiating Grab for transport, securing DEET sprays for mozzies against malaria, dengue and encephelitis, and vocabulary for indigenous languages. Biggles only had headhunters to deal with.

Using Surnames as Forenames

Getting to know you…

Harry Winston: Been meaning to ask why do you go by Oliver when your first name’s William?
William Oliver: Well. In southern Georgia, it’s not uncommon. Folks often use their middle or last names. A way of feeling closer, more familiar.
Harry Winston: Interesting. In England, especially at boarding school, everyone was called by their surname. Even your closest friend was “Hawthorne” or “Bennett.” First names were practically reserved for your mum or your cat.
William Oliver: Your cat?
Harry Winston: You wouldn’t call a cat “Mr. Tibbles” every time you fed him. You’d say “Tibs” or “you little menace.” Names soften with affection.
William Oliver: That’s true. My grandma had a cat named “General Lee,” but she just called him “Gen.” Unless he knocked over the vase, then it was something else.
Harry Winston: Exactly. So when you say Oliver, it’s about intimacy?
William Oliver: Right. It’s like saying, “This is who I am to my people.” William’s on the paperwork, but Oliver’s who I am in conversation, in community.
Harry Winston: Fascinating. For us, surnames were a kind of equalizer. Everyone was “Winston” or “Thompson,” regardless of status. It was oddly democratic. Not everywhere.
William Oliver: Same in the South. Some folks go by nicknames, some by initials. I’ve got a cousin named James Earl who goes by “Bubba.” No one’s quite sure why.
Harry Winston: Ah, nicknames. The great equalizer. I had a friend named “Badger.” Never knew his real name until his wedding.
William Oliver: That’s the charm of it, isn’t it? Names aren’t just labels, they’re stories. They tell you where someone’s from, how they want to be seen.
__________
Voice-over
Names as equalizers, as a social identity to include acquaintances. And surname use is a kind of back-take on that.

Histamine Memory

Seeking help…

Jeff: I used AI to generate a list of questions a doctor might ask me.

Dr Sirinat: Hmm. Very helpful. You’ve had hives for three months?
Jeff: I moved to an old house, a dusty one and developed urticaria. 
Dr Sirinat: Possibly dust mites. Still itchy?Jeff: I’ve cleaned the dust, rooms are almost sterile with all the dust gone for two weeks. But I’m still itching.
Dr Sirinat: Maybe you’re suffering histamine memory.
Jeff: Like muscle memory?
Dr Sirinat: Yes. A metaphor. The immune system remains sensitized after the initial trigger.Cells can keep releasing histamine for weeks. Hives and itching continue even without bites or allergens.
Jeff: And for how long?
Dr Sirinat: Can be weeks. Even months.
___________
Voice-over
Jeff is prescribed low dose prednisone and antihistamine tablets. Also cream. Told to report back in two weeks.

David Gibbins: Marine Archaeologist

A writer who can do thrillers and history…
Antonio: He writes thrillers, is a diver and an academic. Trifecta.
Ricardo: He caught a few lucky breaks though. The early 2000s were ripe for Dan Brown-style thrillers with historical twists.
Antonio: He’s got credentials: PhD from Cambridge, fieldwork in underwater archaeology. 
Ricardo: I won’t argue with his chops. But success in publishing? Right place, right time? Plenty of brilliant academics never land a book deal, let alone eleven novels.
Antonio: Eleven novels featuring Jack Howard! Sustained creativity. And A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks?
Ricardo: I liked that one, actually. Especially the chapter on the Uluburun wreck. Makes the Bronze Age trade routes feel cinematic.
Antonio: He fell into a good niche. And he’s contributing to understanding of underwater heritage. Still diving. Not just theorizing from a desk but mapping wrecks, finding artefacts.
__________
Voice-over
Growing up as diver since his teens, Gibbins brings authentic experience to his fiction and his non-fiction. A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is a good read.

Steampunk coffee shop

Sign on a Kitsch street…

Hugo: Hmm. And are the coffee beans here ground by a dirigible?
Sophronia: I’ve heard the barista’s name is Percival and is famous for his froth portraits.
Hugo: It’s early, but I could go for a second cup. My stamina gauge is flickering.
Sophronia: Same. There’s a whole morning ahead. I need fuel for philosophical rambling and shoe shopping.
Hugo: I can imagine the taste: smoky, with hints of mahogany and existential dread.
Sophronia: Come on. We have to try it. It’s practically calling to us in Morse code.
__________
Voice-over
There are steampunk coffeeshops. Design elements: gears, cogs, exposed pipes. Colors: gold, browns, reds. Metals: copper and brass. Mixing retro with futuristic. Makes you wonder what Victorian coffee shops really did look like.