Ohhh Buddy!

Often uttered when he just asphyxiated you...I don't have any luck, Buddy is about my size now, at 8 months old.
Here's the beast with his 'Mummy'..hehehe


And here are 4 happy shoppers on the Stroget
. J. still loves wearing caps, and L. is keen on paper napkins, so all visitors out there, bring some of those to the young couple. If however you pass by London, bring me some candy...hihihi

I'll eventually snap back to the present time at some point, and live a normal life. Until then, let me hang on to my past...

hvor er in tog station?

I am not even quite sure it's grammatically correct. The original version that I could extract from my residual memory was: 'hvor er el toiletett?'which is a very useful question when looking for the 'powder room'. In this case, the sentence was used to interrogate a bemused salesman in a gas station, when trying to find Fredensborg train station. I even did the 'tchoutchou' sound, and another patron took pity and gave me directions in English (courtesy of Danish TV which dubbs rarely).

What's this all about anyway? Well, a long weekend in Denmark, to attend the wedding of J. & L., blissfully married on this nice last Staurday afternoon of June. R. and I experienced a full Danish wedding, with hilarious speeches, songs, quizz games, and of me (and other ladies at the reception) kissing the groom as soon as the bride went for the 'toilettet' (R. going for the bride when he goes)...and the dancing on live disco music, always so much fun!


Most importantly, and on the young couple's request, everyone dressed up according to their table theme: halloween trick or treaters, Christmas characters, pirates, cowboys, hawaian party goers, or Chicago gangsters. Everyone made a huge efforts and many had it down to the last details: boa scarves, jingle bells, Santa present bag, cowboy guns, cigarettes holders, vests and hats...it was the most amazing showing of costumes...and an unforgetable hunger for life, fun and food! Everyone were very kind and took pity on us foreigner with no notion of Danish.


While the S. enjoyed their honeymoon, R. and I drove around with caution (missig the passenger window that shattered and fell on my lap), exploring the area...well, actually retraced our steps to the Fredericksborg castle in Hillrod. We were looking for Ullrod I think, but I suck at directions so we ended up going to the same pkace J. took us two days before...And of course chillig in the house doing nothing but taking cat naps and playing with Buddy (who can poison a whole house with his farts).



I will remember this trip in Denmark fondly as those two showed me how it is to be in that happy place they see in each other's eyes...(sigh) And I have gained a whole new family in Denmark...people so friendly, simple and generous..

John Smith and Pocahontas

Today lots of things happened: I woke up at 9am for no reason, when I had nothing planned for the morning. All I had to do was to join Zab at University to grab lunch, a giant XXL modified Scnitzel (with ham and cheese inside). I managed to drag myself to the Belvedere castle under the scortching heat.
This is the residence of Eugene de Savoy, a Frenchman who defended Vienna back in the days:)



I could have explored the botanical garden nearby but I was drenched in sweat so headed home instead to have a nap. Later in the evening, John Smith and Pocahontas decided to have a little paddling afternoon on the Old Danube. So we sailed passed little bridges, passed the naked naturists, passed the various rowing boats and even a beautiful swan.



Then headed for the waterfront grill restaurant that had the slowest service ever in the history of serving drinks...we even got yelled at because we sat at a table of 6 and there were only 2 of us. But hte spare ribs were awesome and I know for sure now I'm completely hopeless in loosing that belly of mine.

Mozart concert and koalas...

Sunday morning rain is falling....and we had to go to a Mozart concert at 11am. After much cleaning and no eating (still digesting last night's fajitas), we headed out driving to the concert hall.


Only the second movement of the last piece was known to us, plebeians, and we were so happy we almost forgot we spent the whole concert jumping from one foot to another as we had...standing 'seats'...
Most impressive was the conductor who was also the piano soloist. So he would conduct when he was not playing his part.

Got gyros and moussaka for lunch, then headed for the summer residence of imperatrice Sissi...We headed straight for the garden, passed the maze and went straight for the zoo.


We managed to see the classic ones, including the pouting koala and the invisible giant pandas...

Traditional Vienna: Clergy and Army

We managed to spot a real monk in Stephan's Dom.


And we also saw these two weird guards guarding the Hofburg castle.

Finished the evening watching some guy doing haircuts onstage with techno music (Hair salon: black and white in colour) and walked home in disgust to get drunk on Pimm's and lemonade and lemon liquor....

Swimming in Wien and drinking Weissgespritzt

Watching the Old Danube....

Day 1 - memories of Vienna and lost in Wienerwald: Landing in an airport in construction, in a 23C city, I got a quick tour of the city and a refresher from 2001 trip: The Danau Kanal, the StaatOpera, the Rathaus, the Stefansdom. But most memorable this time is the search of that sweet swimmingpool that overlooks the whole city from the heigh of the hill next to Kalhenberg.




And overlooking the Wienerwald...

Finished the day in a Wine garden, listening to an accordeon and a violin play, eating local specialties while the mosquitoes eat us....

a cure from the effect of tryptophane? a trip to vienna and a trip to Copenhagen

After quite a weird tiring week, here comes a new exciting period of the month.....it's trip-time!!!
And for those who are completely out of the loop, there are many many many football fans in Germany at the oment watching loads of people running and kicking after a ball (World Cup 2006).

My contribution is to drink loads of alcohol while trying to watch some of the matches on boat on the Thames...have done it 3 times this week!

But this weekend I'll be in Vienna to eat chocolate, listen to Mozart concerts (maybe), drink some wine, play some board games and hang out with Zab.

Next weekend I'll be in Roskilde to attend Jay's wedding...so it's about time I loose a bit of weight...hmmmm..seems hopelesly late at this point but at least the spirit is there...

What a week!

After a week's worth of silence, a short entry to report that unfortunately World Cup fever took over the area..I even have a brazil fan outfit without any effort: green skirt, yellow top and flip flops, and green and yellow hair ribbons....shame!

Fortunately the weather is gorgeous, blue sky and sun (another blue and yellow), so I could escape seeing TV by going outdoors..and not paying attention to the huge screens out there.

The week has been very strange. Halluciantions, 6.6.6, and what not..but most of all realized how affected I was by last weekend sighting..grrrrr...stupid stupid subconscious.

Still I refuse to be defeated by some idiotic revelations and will have to work harder in getting in a better place, emotionally at least.

In the meantime, I'm a bit broke and will have to stop eating chocolate...arghhh...and will have to keep my room clean...so many earthly task to distract my wandering mind...ah well, my body will travel soon and hopefully will fit into those skimpy outfits for the wedding...nanda yooooo!

'Bloody' Titus Andronicus

We went to see a play in the Theatre in Southwark!!! Titus Andronicus, with fake blood that made the audience faint (seriously!) and fantastic Elizabethan special effects!

Inside the Shakespeare Globe Theatre.


Coco in front of the Globe Theatre

Weekend with a plan

Ahh so my friend Coco is visiting from Zurich this weekend and am expecting to be yelled at because I havent been keeping in shape at all! She my driving force when it comes to ambition and fitness. So I know I'll be sore and tired but also happy because of all that adrenaline.

So what's in for me?
-drinks at a fancy place in Covent Garden (St Martin's Lane Hotel)tonight. We could possibly catch a show if she's motivated.
-Saturday: Running along the Thames on the queen's walk..okay, make it jogging because I aint running anywhere! Good way to show her St paul and Tate Modern, along with all the fun around in the area. Maybe I'll do that London Dungeon thing..we'll see.
In the evening, if I can stand, we'll try that brazilian place for drinks and maybe dancing (Guanabara).
-Sunday: staying in Brick lane to enjoy the market and shopping in Spitalfields market.

-Monday: let's not think about it. It's only work.

I am invoking the Sun God with all my spite and spirit to be gracious this weekend and to give us sunny, warm, not too windy weather, here in this great city of London! Join me in prayers by writing and singing 'let the sunshine in...'

bittersweet Monday

Had mussels (yiikes in May?) and 3 or maybe 4 rasberry beers...gulp..topped by a disgusting dark beer in a middle age fiola after dessert...what was I thinking? By 11pm I was starting to nfeel like I lived in the bathroom.

After much debate and much bloodying my feet, we ended up in a well tucked lounge in soho (Soho Lounge). Music was good, crowd was good, and I got to sweat off the alcohol with the coworkers...mmm Let's face it, I'll probably be unable to look them in the eye after that..

Ironiquement, le moment le plus long que je passe avec toi est pendant ta soiree d'adieu. Et on se parle a peine, sur des banalites, mais ca me convient parce que je suis fatiguee et voudrais juste poser ma tete sur ton epaule.


Nothing else happened really. And I shouldn't look back because there is no point. My feet are sore and I need to ge tready for my Saturday jog with Miss C. arghhhhh!!!

Rainy days

So this is early summer in London...temperatures not exceeding 16C, strong winds shifting heavy black clouds and destroying umbrellas, and intermittent rainstorms.

Far far away under a warmer climate was Daddy's birthday: Happy Birthday Dada!!!
And because it always falls with Mother's day: Happy Mother's day Neny!

For me, except for being splashed with a big roadside puddle, there is nothing going on...I haven't even managed to catch on my sleep yet. Luckily this coming week is a light week, so I should regroup and rest.

Four corners of 'my' world

Upon urgent requests, here is the state of my new room... I'll include the leafy garden when the weather is sunny and I get to enjoy it later in the year I hope!




So the left side of the room is almost viable.


All these are going on the oversold bookcase and in the drawers of the desk still to be included in the room. The wine goes in our stomachs when we everything is cleaned up.

Anecdote from our late trip to IKEA last night: after shopping, we got some really creamy ice cream before going out in the dark and the 22h30 rain. Then it was time to visit the toilet. So we, ladies, set off in pairs (typical). We found 3 closed doors with relevant signs: men, disabled, woman and baby. We thought out loud: 'really, you cannot be a regular woman without babies. It's either disabled or baby bearer, how rude!' So we opened the door with the baby changing room sign, rushed in it and found... a sofa, a changing table in a room the size of a small closet.

After exchanging a puzzled look and a good laugh we finally found the door with the single woman sign on it. It was already opened so we didn't spot it...

Aquarius Woman?

So, another horoscope or at least a description of the Aquarius woman:

"If you are in love with a woman in this zodiac be prepared to be very happy
or be very sorry. She is a very busy person with her own matters similar to a guy in this zodiac. She is able to live by herself without any guy in her life, a very strong person indeed.

Not because she does not have a dream guy, but if she can not find such person, so what. Because she thinks she could do anything that a man can do. She is a leader , a real confident type.

She likes to do things by herself, such as serving herself, opening the door
herself. Because she thinks waiting for a helping hand is a waste of time,
and she is not patient enough to wait around for that. If she starts to ask
you out, do not think she starts to flirt with you, but because she thinks
it is a waste of time to wait for you to be the one who asked.

She likes a COOL guy who sometime act like he is ignoring her, so he has a
chance to show him his own confident. She like to guess her man's reaction,
but at the same time she likes to has many men wanting her. She is a daring
type who could just do thing differently from other people in her same
society. She dare to fight for what she thinks belonged to her.

Even she acts confident she mostly feel lonely and alone. If she breaks up
with someone , she won't show any emotion even deep down inside pain and
agony. Not for long she will come back to be the cheery and merry person
again, because she looks at the world positively and has "Faith" in the
word "Love".

She has more men friends than women friends, so do not be a jealous type if
you date her. She could be slightly jealous, but she hates jealous guy. She
loves "Freedom" so before and after marriage, her freedom has to be the
same. She likes you to trust her, even if she does not trust you anyhow.

She likes to be the one who is "Right", so if you argue with her , let her
win if it is not a big deal for you in that subject. She is a straight
forward type, so if she does not love you anymore, she will just tell you
straight to your face. Her love and relationship are always real, so if she
say "It's over" be prepare to leave, she is not testing you.

She is not a vulnerable type, so do not have to worry about her, she will
survive by herself. If she is with you when you get sick, she will certainly
take care and look after you, even look after you mean "small loan". Do not
have secret with her, she hates it and really can piss her badly. When
she is sad , be understanding. When she is happy, be happy with her,she likes
that.

You will not get bore with this type of girl. Someone who is close to her will know that deep down beneath that confident and cold hearted person, she is just as fragile as any woman. She is a fun and talkative person and she likes to tease you. Do not let she talk alone, if you do she will leave.

She has many type of jobs because she beliefs what a man can do, I can do.
If you want her to work for you, forget it. When she is in love, she will
just leave her job in the day time just to come to see you, but not for long
she will go back to work seriously again. Prepare to live and love with a
"Working Woman" then you will be OK.

If she mad, find a shelter for the "Hurricane" is here! Her bad temper will
last very shortly though. She is not a revenge type and will not think of
"pay Back" time. Most people might think of her as "One of a guy", but in
fact she is a 100% woman. She is easily hurt, so be nice with her. If she
really loves you, then you are lucky because she is an honest, truthful
and will never bored you. Understand that sometimes she will be over
confident and sometimes like to have power or act bossy."

Another monday

So it's Monday evening...and I'm looking forward Sunday.

Nothing much except the weather is aweful, cold rainy, windy...so much for summer. And I'm still trying to recover from my trip in Praha.

Woke up because it was too cold, realized I was in my new room, which is a dump since I have no furniture, went downstairs to have breakfast and found the kettle completely disgusting with that brown thingy all over (beuaaaark!) and the microwave didn't look promising either, so ended up drinking water from my Brita...I guess I'll get my own kettle.

Went back to bed and cuddled with the laptop, which surprisingly has got a good wifi signal, yay! probably had a nap until it was time to write those birthday cards that will get to Yemen late...anyway, got into the garden to check out on the millions of birds feeding in the neighbours (he has like 7 birdhouses and feeders). Got myself some flowers for my room, and then got ready to face the working world...Really, Mondays should be optional.

And this year, I'll support Englad at the World cup because there is £80 at stake!!!They managed to enroll me in this sweepstake at the office so now I'm all for England. but I won't go as far as learn their songs!!!

moi...et...

Moi et… un animal que je pourrais jamais bouffer ? Ben..du moment que c'est cuit, et qu'il ya de la sauce tomate, je pense que je mangerai.

Moi et… mon permis de conduire ? Euhhh. j'ai le permis de marcher aux US..

Moi et… un truc qui me fait me cacher les yeux ? Tous les films d'horreurs

Moi… en mieux ? peut etre avec des jambes carrement plus fines. Sinon, je suis bien la!

Moi… et le pire truc au monde ? La bombe atomique

Moi et… un secret ? Ben le secret reste un secret, sauf si on me le dit quand je suis saoule, alors la, je ne me rappelle plus que c'est un secret

Moi et… une inculture flagrante ? Hmmm, les stats de sports. J'aime bien regarder a la limite, mais les resultats, performances, etc....je ne sais pas du tout...

Moi et… mon premier amour ? Bah j'avais 10 ans...et je revais qu'il me tombait dessus d'un escalier...plutot effrayant a 10ans.

Moi et … mon dernier acte héroïque ? bah vu que je n'ai pas ete felicitee recemment, je ne sais pas si j'ai ete herouique ou pas...

Moi et… mon prochain achat ? un ticket pour le danemark pour voir un beau gosse se marier, sniff.

Moi et… ma vie ? bah, je la survit.

Moi et… les blogs? tres accros. Entre Zab, Eveine, franponais, New Scientist, Itadakimazu, Ati, ca me prend bien 1h a chaque fois

Moi et… ma fringue fétiche ? Mon jean tres (tres tres tres) serre qui est maintenant transparent entre les cuisses a force de frottements.

Moi et… le cinéma ? J'aime beucoup sauf que je n'y suis pas allee depuis septembre vu que c'est cher a Londres

Moi et… le café ? Seulemet quand je suis de rota a 7h du mat. ca me done des palpitations ce truc et je pete la forme quand je le prend.

Moi et… mes sales manies ? je me ronge les ongles des 10 doigts de la main depuis que j'ai 6ans.

Moi et… mes bons côtés ? Il y en a tellement....

Moi et… ma plus grosse connerie ? je la fait tout le temps, je ne saute pas sur les mecs que j'aime bien et du coup ils me sautent pas dessus non plus..

Je rajoute:

moi...et le pire boulot

'Mustek, Prestup na linku A'

And that's what's the lady says when we are at station Namisti republiky in Prague...
and it's only the second sentence I know in Csech, apart from 'Dobry Den' which means good day.

I've just got back last evening and trying to gather my wits together after 3 days of sleep deprivation. Drinking, window shopping, and sightseeing were the daily activities, and most enjoyable was the dancing in Solidny Nejistota: 80-90 music playfully remixed...awesome!! The hardest part was to remeber how to dance on Vanilla Ice 'ice ice baby'...magnificent.

I was so happy to reunite with my good crazy purple friend (no, the Smurfs are blue). I did stay in her room at the Hilton, when we had the chance to sleep that is.

The city is beautiful, once you get over the uninspiring soviet block building used for social lodging or dorms.

Upon arrival (wednesday) I got a quick tour of the famous Old Town Square and its clock. I also got the first taste of the cobblestone streets and sidewalks. It seemed the city made every effort to design beautiful patterns with the cobblestones, but disregarded their long time effect on tourists' feet: mind defying pain. With the complicity of coffee shops and cafes all over town, it sure brings in the Krone.

Pargue is known for its beer. But I had none of that. instead I got a huge paprika hotdog, goulash and loads of ice cream...mmm. It's also the capital of Bohemian crystal and all souvenir shops would sell you every quality of Crystal and porcelain.



The castle in Prague is on the hill that overlooks the river Vtlava and the sinuous Karlov Most (Charles Bridge), and the view is magnificent. The famous bridge is packed with stalls and tourists during the day so on our last night, we pulled an allnighter and caught the sunrise on the bridge, almost alone.

And now, I am trying to pack, and hopefully will catch on some sleep before going to work.

Snake and crisps

'Snakes tend to be extravagant creatures and love beautiful clothes and possessions. Luckily, you have a stout financial mind so you are gifted at making your money go a long way.

Although the Chinese Snake is not as sly as the western stereotype, you do enjoy being party to a good bit of gossip and you are very skilful at eliciting people's secret confidences.

Snakes have a deep-rooted scepticism and jealousy and distrust can mar your relationships if you don't loosen the reins of control occasionally.'

For chilli lovers, this is my favourite chips (or crisps they are called over here).

At the back it says:
'In this bag, real chilli creates a gentle heat, while a dash of soy sauce, onion, tomato and garlic add a delicate sweetness for a sublime taste contrast.'
And it's 202 calories...grrrr

Wow, that's proper english!!

Baishakhi Mela

Yeah, a festival just outside the house.

Check out the programme of the event here.

Unfortunately I was working night shift so I had to sleep until at least noon on Sunday. When I managed to wake up, clean up the remnants of the previous night's house party, take a shower and dress, it was already 2pm. As I walked down Brick Lane, I noticed nothing unisial except for the horrible amount of people. It was 10 times more than usual!!And restaurants were having tables and chairs set up outside. The good thing though is that they blocked off traffic so pedestrians could fight among themselves to walk the lane.

I didn't manage to get any interesting pictures of floats or colorful banners.

I did visit smaller alleys off Brick Lane but then decided I needed to enjoy my short afternoon and went to Spitalfield market:found a pair of crocheted gloves, a cute hair accessories.

On my way back, I saw this group next to the 1001 bar.


In fact they were trying to show up capoeira but it wasn't very good. Looked like people trying to have a chat then act up some leg ups and all that...quite embarassing really, I hope they didn't expect any money for their show. The musicians, those hitting on the weird instruments were much more interesting to observe.

Sunshine in the City

Unbelievable. I got to enjoy sunbathing in the garden while writing this, with my iced chai on the side and chicken salad on the other. Unfortunately my free wifi network is not reachable from this end of the house. My suspiscion is confirmed, the
network I usually use is an office network that is only switched on during weekdays during office hours. And it is on the east side of the house. Ah well, at least I am roasting in a peaceful garden.



I'm trying to decide whether to write that love letter or not. It was meant to be addressed to a particular person but then i realize I might write all the unexpressed feelings I have ever had for so many people before as well. I am not expecting any reciprocated feelings, although that would be great. Sometimes it's as if I was in love with Love more than anything else. Or the fact that I am relatively new in this environment makes me vulnerable to wanting a companion so bad I just fall for the first nice guy that comes along, without knowing better.

And I'm taken into the same painful cycle of being thunderstruck, unable to speak or get my act together in his presence, which doesn't really help in putting myself forward. And all I can do is replay each encounter word by word, second by second, sometimes delighting in what he could have meant, or being dissapointed by what I
understood or did...why is life so difficult????ARGHHHH