G*Nice: I'm a tourist in my hometown!

Recently returned from a trip to London, I noticed how my relationship with my hometown has changed now that it's no longer my "home".

I recognise a lot of positives in these changes. For one, every time I visit, I enjoy the city through the eyes of a passing visitor.

It's a bit like when you are invited out for dinner and you get to enjoy all the flavours and the experience without having to do any of the hard work of preparing the food or washing up afterwards.

The only consideration is that these pleasures need to be paid for. This realisation is made easier by the fact that I feel I am in "holiday-mode". This sensation is created just before departure and is one of the magical aspects of airports.

There's that sudden urge to buy stuff I didn't even know I wanted. Despite owning so many sunglasses that I would never wear them out even if I lived on the sun, I always go in search of new models. My other weakness is fragrances - I test so many that I end up smelling like a chemical factory!

Anyway, this is all good mental preparation for arriving in London, where it seems to cost money just to breathe the air. The weirdest thing is that arguably it is not that much more expensive than Dubai in many ways but, by spending pounds rather than dirhams, it just feels much more substantial.

Can you believe that even a simple coffee shop breakfast of a couple of coffees, a flat, squashed sandwich and soggy croissant will set you back nearly 100 dirhams?! I consider myself blessed that I can ignore the financials to a degree and just suck up the constant expenses and trust that eventually I will pay for it at a time in the future. Stupid I know, but hey, that's the way I roll - blissfully ignorant with blinkers on!

My trip this time was great. I wasn't chained to my family responsibilities as I usually am, so I stayed in hotels and lived in and around the bright lights. I was lucky to get tickets to see George Michael at the Royal Albert Hall.

These tickets were organised by a friend who has contacts within Georgie's office and he spun them a line that I was a visiting executive from Dubai who was looking to potentially book him for a rich bloke's birthday!
 
I only found this out as we were waiting in the entertainment area before the show, so I had to prepare myself for a performance bigger than the star himself. But hey, I'm an expert blagger who can present himself as anything apart from an intellectual. Let's face it, I have survived as a writer for years so I have my game strong!

Catch-me-if-You-Can-ingly Yours