The formalities are expedited rapidly and we are happy to be greeted by our friend Dragana, who efficiently organizes a Uber to their expat pad in the plush Holland Park neighborhood.

 They live in a very nice compound with excellent amenities. Ryo is happy to find Luka and Mila, and they don’t take long before going down to the very nice compounds’ pool while we discover our friends’ elegant apartment. After a good shower the sun has set and we join the kids by the pool, with beers, wine, spring rolls and pulled pork brioche for appetizers. It’s nice and warm, and Arash manages to escape his north American conference calls for a drink.

Meanwhile Maricel, the Filipino live-in help, is preparing an enormous dinner. We are treated with Filipino pork, Indian paneer, Iranian style rice, baby bock-choy and Malaysian cucumber salad. Dragana prescribes a ginger and curcuma drink to Sandra who has been sick for 3 days, courtesy of Ryo.

The kids settle in front of a movie with an ice cream under the watch of Maricel who takes care of the cleaning while the adults go out for drinks in one of the trendy neighborhood bars. It’s happy hours advertised as “one for one” (?) and we order beers and cocktails and Arash has some excellent pork crisps and spicy deep brought too. Balmy night, great ambiance and nice conversation with our friends, it’s vacation time!