The Geek and the Freak

Of course, there should be a Beauty involved to make the perfect triangle.

I am talking about the people that wanders in this grey vast dull kingdom which is the office. There are few gossips to entertain the masses, and testosterone-filled jokes, and swearing towards silly customers. Underneath it all is a general laziness and boredom. From time to time though, there is the odd challenging and interesting problem that sparks a bit of interest from everyone.

Apart from that quite depressing work, I finally got myself a flat that would ruin me for the next 3 months at least! But I'm guaranteed easy access to Brick Lane, and not far from where I am at the moment. I won't quite have the sun as bright because the window is facing west, but at least it's a good-sized room.

Fortunately I already have my outfit for the June wedding. I'll just have to buy the plane ticket later on. Next on the agenda is more packing and cleaning, strolling to catch the sun, and maybe a bit of drawing.

It's Labor Day weekend after all, and no work should be done.

Spring cleaning

It's that time of the year you might say. For me, it's that time when I am so angry and annoyed that all I can think of is clean. I suppose the state of my room lends to it....



The other reason really is that I have to move out of the room by the end of May so I am trying to pack up my winter clothes to bring to Paris next week. It already filled a huge suitcase and the cupboard is till stuffed! I will try to send out some books later on probably because that will be quite heavy to move.

It's a good time to sort out my paperworks as well...argh***. What annoys me is not to visit new flats, it's to meet new potential flatmates. To be forced to talk to someone you don't know for the sake of a not too expensive roof. A cheap room is so rare!A cheap room with decent flatmates? Even rarer!

At least the weather is cooperating. There are already some asian gangsta cruising with their convertibles and loud hip hop music...very flashy...by the way, asian boys here are more likely to be from the Indian subcontinent.

So am out with the old, and in with the new.

Once upon a time...

There was this girl surrounded by IT geeks!!! And they were all Star War fans and...never mind, it's just me getting a bit bored at work.

Something new this week,I have Sunday off due to expected massive partying on saturday: Belle and Sebastian on Trafalgar Square on Saturday, then Drum 'n Bass somewhere I don't know.

Until then it's tic tac toe and cubis on msn.

I hate Mondays

So last night I couldn't sleep and stayed up late. And when the alrm went off at 6am, hell broke loose: I had to take a shower, grab some breakfast and lunch for work, in 15min...which was feasible, but then I couldn't find my binocles, and that was less cool..so I gave up, missed the bus, and came in late...

Work was busy hell, and I just wanted to sleep. On top of that, the landlord pissed me off so bad on sunday that I am this close(.) to kill him...but I won't because they have laws against that in this country....pfffff...civilized...the landlord is definetely not civilized, just a heap of ignorant alcoholic stupid crap. In short, am looking forward to move out and move in a new place where people are considerate of others.....hopefully the place exists.

On top of that am broke, because I've been buying plane tickets for all over the world for the past 2 weeks. And to top it all, I miss my buddy hokies...So ate whatever what was in front of me: donuts, orange and chocolate biscuits, hot chocolate or mocha, the lunch I managed to grab, more biscuit...(I need professional help)

Damn...some mondays....Definetely a black cloud hovering over me.

What is a personal trainer?

So yesterday, I had an appointment with my would-be personal trainer. I have been doing the cross trainer machine for 2 weeks, and hoping not to be too rusty for whatever he'll have me do.

His first question was: 'What do you want ot what are your goals?'
Me:'To loose half my legs and tummy, and the flabs on my arms' (a reasonable request don't you think? Would take a novice genie to fix right?)
Him:'What do you do at home about it?'

Me:'Errr, nothing, I come to the gym to exercise.' (DUH, I paied to be here, remember?)

At this point he started to scribble stuff on this exercise chart.
Him:'What machine do you use?'
Me:'I've been doing that ski thingy for about 2 weeks, every two days or so, for 45minutes. '(The idea was to flood him with info to shut him up)
Him:'What about the bike?'
Me:'I dont' like the bike because it hurts my bums' (clear, direct, concise)

After more scribbling, the verdict came.
Him:'20minutes of treadmill, 6.3km/h, at 6% gradient. Then 20 minutes of bike and level 4, and 80rpm, then 10minutes of rowing to do 2km at level 10'
Me:'Sure'
Him:'After that come and see me I'll show you the things you have to do in the weight room'
Me: 'OK' (more like what? how long is this going to take?)

On the treadmill, I started to run it but lost my breath and my legs after only 5 minutes, so I just walked it all. He came once to check on me and was pleased to see I was still standing (or maybe surprised?), so he upped the speed to 6.5km/h....bastard!!

On the bike, I barely reached the 80rpm, and my bums, back and thighs were sore after only 4 minutes of that biking stuff...really boring too, so I just biked in aleisurely pace in between 2 minutes of effort. The rowing was easier though I only did 1.8km in 10 minutes....Level 10 is the highest level!

My flatmate was laughing so hard at me, and she was kind of getting bored of watching me suffer already. After a bit of stretching with her, I dragged my sore limbs to the weight room where all sort of torture machines awaited me.

The first exercise was ok, though after a serie of 30, I was ready to go home. Then he put me on another one that works another part of the arm....which kind of hurt my neck. Then he tried to put me on the press bench for the legs, but only managed to fold myself into 6 and be stuck, so he gave up and gave me the exercise ball and some heavy weight instead to play against the wall(squats and stuff). Then it was another arms exercise (bloddy hell!) and finally abs...

Now, I never liked doing abs exercises, and these were no exceptions. First, you're put into a vulnerable position, lying down on your back and having to sit up, with your belly tucked. Unfortunately his exercises requires more than a belly being tucked, which was too much for my fatigued brain and will. So I painfully tried to do the series, and wasnt at all amused by the use of different color balls...

Then another verdict came after all that was done. I'll have to do all that 4 times!

So now, I'll be my own trainer for weekdays, and will try to associate weight loss with exhaustion and pain...Thank GOD I don't pay that dude!!!

To celebrate my lack of extreme soreness or pain this morning though, I am waiting for my flatmate to wake up and make some pancakes before we go to the Tate Modern see the expo on Henri Fuselli Gothic Nightmare.

Queen's 80th birthday

So today is the country's ruler's birthday. Yesterday she was actually within the building I was working in, and saw it on TV, but kind of didn't realize it until someone rang the office to tell us...really, our work is very fascinating.
Enough sarcasm....here's a quick shot of what's leading to Buckingham Palace...a full row of those.



On TV, they had a show called 'The great British Menu', where chefs across the country face each other in a cooking competition. Each of them cook a 4 course meal to be served to the 300 or more guests of the Queen for her birthday. In my mind though, except chicken curry or fish and chips, I have no idea what a British menu should be, so it is a very interesting show! Let's face it, it's a good idea to showcase the different ingredients that can be found in this country but that we barely use, for lack of inspiration.

Another sight today was the mounted police force, strolling between Trafalgar Square and Aldwych (no worries, those places will be covered in London 103 or something like that).




Tonight, to celebrate her Majesty, I'm going to see the Premiere of 'La fille mal gardee' at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Very appropriate, don't you think?

Thank God it's the weekend

It's Thursday and I will soon finish my week's work. It's been a very difficult week because I have been trying to go to the gym everyday. The only problem is the more I exercise the hungrier I get and of course, there is no stopping me eating...ah well, at least I am eating.

Other than that, I lost Chip, the weird chick at work. There is a suspected mouse living under my desk at work so maybe it's that rodent that stole it for fun..

And I am going to see the premiere of the ballet 'La fille mal gardee' tomorrow evening. It looks really good on the preview I saw during the tsunami fund concert last summer.

Other than that, it's the usual market browsing, late morning sleeping and movie watching.

Easter Tuesday

I woke up to a nice sunny day.



And all the flowers in the vase were open.


Because I had so much chocolate and onion and spinach pakoras yesterday, I am now disfigured with millions of zits (ok, 3 but in top star location), so I will only leave my dear cover at dusk, when the red or orange rays of the sun will set a golden glow to my skin, and prevent other people from distinguishing red zits from red face!

Those are the signs...

A bit of sign seeing:


Yes you can afford a dog, but can you afford the fine? If you live in Notting Hill, where this sign is located, then you surely can!

In contrast, this is what I see outside in the street I live:


Notice that it is not screwed on the post but attached? Yes, it's a different level of income definetely. We don't care about dogs, just about the properties.

Happy Easter!

This is the season when one eats his/her weight of chocolate! So Happy Easter everyone and hope you don't abuse of the yummy goods. I didn't get to do an egg hunt this year, but got 2 new pet office: Chip and Tweety. See for yourself.



Tweety is on the left, as it looks very happy and always singing about. Chip is on the right and it is looking puzzled. I saved them from being dusty decorations at the cafeteria on the second floor. And instead of buying Cadbury chocolate eggs, I stole these cute chicks....hehehe



So instead of eating chocolate eggs, I ate this whole bar of white chocolate and peppers instead...

Tourist in London 101

I finally managed a larger enough collection of photographs to share...Well, as a long term tourist in London, what else is there to do than roam around and mingle with the flash tourists? Sure, I got friends to tend to, but it is quite a pleasure to rediscover places without a purpose.

So I jumped on a bus and ended up at Westminster tube station...For tourists, it's one of the first stop becaus eof the House of Parliament and Big Ben. The Westminster Abbey is also quite a popular venue, and the trick is to come and visit early in the morning to avoid the huge queues at the entrance.



That's a view of the House of Parliament from the South Banks. Big Ben is quite impressive and towers over the Thames.



As you walk towards the Abbey, colourful banners surprise you at the turn, and reminds you of how the world is full of savagery and massacre, and how the Parliament should be dealing with these issues to affect the daily lives of those fortunate enough to be represented.





And at that time, the old London signature doubledecker bus 159 drove by.


Across the bridge, on the south banks stand the London Aquarium in the old County Hall, and next to it, the British Airways London Eye.


The other part of the County Hall is a restaurant and here is the entrance to it.


I am aware that there is more to see in the area, but that is probably the must-see that can be done in an hour or two. I prefer to be around in the evning, when all the crowds have gone home or to their hotel, but others, like this man here, would indeed prefer a crowd to cheer him up.



He was trying to move on next to the London Eye...To be fair, the wind was really strong, but not enough to discourage the crowd to stay out..it is London after all.

January blues

I've got the blues.
The sun is ignoring this parcel of land where the wind is blowing death through my bones! Mr Sandman brings me weird dreams of snowy mount Fuji and someone I like is enjoying himself up there, and bacterias are populating my sore throat.

As I said, I've got the blues.
My younger body is leaving me, making me weak and feeble.
My eyes are sleep deprived, brain unchallenged.




And I like blue.

Food diary

This week, I really used my days off to do some culinary travel...to try out the things that people advised me to try..and more.
So here is the verdict.

For lunch I managed to walk to Queensway and try this Shawarma place:
Taza, between Queensway and Bayswater station: excellent shawarma. I had a lamb shawarma take away, as the shop is pretty small and Hyde park was just nearby. I ran to the park, sat on the bench and just ate it all in less than 5 minutes! It's so good, for 3£ only...

Then I took the bus for Oxford Circus to look for dessert...ended up in Piccadily Circus instead and found this Donughts and Sandwiches shop right off the place..oh my goodness, I was eager to get one warm donought...Alas, it turned out to be a disaster. All I wanted was an apple custard filled donut..and it cost me...£1.25....And it was the worst ever donut: hard like cardbox, cold, and so small..I almost cried in the cold.

Test Griffor

Sur le test griffor (http://test.griffor.com/) mon score est
47 points
39% positive sur les questions sur le sexe
11% sur les boissons
0% sur les drogues

Commentaire general:
Vous etes presque normale mais vous avez du mal a vous lacher....

My Cupid profile: The Sonnet

Just did a test here
http://www.okcupid.com/profile?tuid=17240047800557806434 and my profile came up as:


Romantic, hopeful, and composed. You are the Sonnet. Get it? Composed?

Sonnets want Love and have high ideals about it. They're conscientious people, caring & careful. You yourself have deep convictions, and you devote a lot of thought to romance and what it should be. This will frighten away most potential mates, but that's okay, because you're very choosy with your affections anyway. You'd absolutely refuse to date someone dumber than you, for instance.


Lovers who share your idealized perspective, or who are at least willing to totally throw themselves into a relationship, will be very, very happy with you. And you with them. You're already selfless and compassionate, and with the right partner, there's no doubt you can be sensual, even adventurously so.

You probably have lots of female friends, and they have a special soft spot for you. Babies do, too, at the tippy-top of their baby skulls.
Your exact opposite:Genghis Khunt(Random, Brutal, Sex Master)

Made in Belgium

4kg overweight (ok, more than a week before), and a lot of things to remember, I 've just returned from Bruxelles...yes yes, where you eat fries and chocolate until you die...
So I survived..my dear friend and her husband made sure I eat healthy. Still, the fact is there..So you wonder if everything made in Belgium is so delicious?

I can confirm that the fruit beers are actually nice and I can drink those without wrinkling my little nose to the smell of manly, bitter beer. I tried a kriek beer, which is a cherry one. It drinks like juice and I like it that way.

Other things nice about Belgium? It is a fact that Belgium has the most density of population owning comic books (bandes dessinees) in the world. And I can assure you that after going throgh the comics or graphic novel section at the Made in Belgium Expo, all I wanted was to have all those comics and read them for the rest of my life....just imagine
Natasha, Thorgal, XIII, Lucky Luke, Boule et Bill, Cubitus, Pierre Tombal, Largo Winch, Bob et Bobette, Blake & Mortimer, Alix, Le Psy, Claire et Julie et..., Le Chat, Marsupilami, les stroumpf, Tintin et Milou....arghh..and so many more!

Also at the Expo, I discovered that so many artists are from Belgium: benny B, Lio, Annie Cordy, technotronix...and even Adamo...Phillippe Lafontaine, and of course, Jacques Brel...

So hurrah for Belgium....

More shopping...

Saturday morning. I managed to stay awake on my home from an overnight shift. Out of the warm underground, I met the quiet streets and the chilled air. My favourite time of the day. The beautiful sound of silence and the illusion of clean crisp air. Hopped on the 52 bus, struggled to keep my eyes open, and didn’t miss my stop. Dropped the handbag, undressed, and slipped deep in the soft warm comforter. Closed eyes, exhaled, and drifted into heavenly sleep.


Sweat dropping down my back. Roaring engines covering the whispers of the leaves in the wind. It must be afternoon. I need my daily walk into sunlight before my night shift tonight. Besides, I have nothing to read anymore and could use some window shopping. And I remember I should get those leather belts down at the market. They were only 12 pounds. Gathered all my strength, grabbed a peach, and headed for the crowded market.

On a mission to find something to lift my spirit.
A pair of handmade earrings made of seashells and grains? 7 pounds.
A chocolate brown fake suede leather jacked with white woolly lining? 20 pounds
One handmade wide leather belt with metal thingies incrusted in it? 40 pounds (gasp)
Smells of great Caribbean food? Free!
Colourful handmade glass jewellery: rings, earrings, pendants? 25 pounds at least

Wait. I need a lamp or a light bulb for my room. Bought light bulbs the day before but they don’t fit. Looking at those garland lights in the shape of flowers and stars (10 pounds). Got into the deco shop having a clearance sale. Got 2 candles for 2 pounds. That will do. I won’t dress in the dark tonight.

Laughter tickled my sleepy brain: just saved 38 pounds and won light!

Going shopping

While waiting for the tube, I blankly stared at a huge poster promoting Toronto as a destination. The top level showed four young women, arm in arm, laughing with their teeth out, and looking very happy in a bustling street bordered with tall skyscrapers. The text in huge font was spelling out RETAIL. The bottom of the poster displayed a woman wrapped in a white towel, lying on her belly with her eyes closed, and awaiting for a masseur. The word THERAPY spanned the width of the picture. And it quite fitted my needs at the time: retail therapy or shopping session was always welcome in my world.

I used to consider grocery shopping as a mere activity to get bread and milk for the fridge. Living 15minutes from the Portobello Road fresh market changed all that. One Day I had a good list of groceries set up in my head: bread, milk, some oranges, tomatoes, and most importantly, toilet paper. I got out, and decided to walk my way down to the market in an attempt to burn some fat. To be honest though, it was because my bus card had expired the day before, and the weather was pretty sunny. I rolled down Ladbroke Grove road, turned left and found myself in the middle of hordes of tourists. I forgot it was Saturday, which meant thousands of tourists with cameras admiring the antique market and the handmade goods at various stalls.

So I fought my way through, and started admiring the vivid colors of the fruits and vegetables on display. I got myself a box of raspberries to nibble through my shopping. The cries of “5 mangoes for a pound” startled me and I instinctively walked back to the stall and got 5 mangoes. Which was not a good idea because they were huge and heavy and I haven’t even bought anything on my list yet. I told myself this was my weight training of the day.

My next stop was the flower stall, where I stared long minutes at flowers of unknown names, and bought nothing. I suspect it was just an excuse on my part, a way to calm down before passing by the bread and snack vendor just next to it. The stall was adorned with bagels, fruit tarts, pizza, baguettes, round breads with Italian names, foccacias, donuts, and more…

Walking up the hill with a newly bought chocolate donut, I almost bought a stamping rubber with an intricate flower design. Fortunately I didn’t have enough cash on me. I passed by various jewelry stalls, old and antique leather and wooden toys and games stall, an expensive macaron shop, and more antique merchants. Finally I got to Notting Hill gate station and topped up my bus card. I got home by bus, to realize I absolutely didn’t buy anything useful. And while washing those beautiful mangoes, I discovered they were all very ripe and soft, and needed to be eaten soon.

The day’s worth? 5 mangoes and no toilet paper!

Random things

Cool books:
-Idoru, by William Gibson, same guy who wrote the Neuromancer. Very futuristic and lots of technical computing jargon.
-Microserfs, by Douglas Coupland, very funny story/diary of a tester working at microsoft. A must for all people who know what ADA, OOP and coding on sundays are.

Very random:
-top up your mobile here! = add money to you cellphone so you can actually call people!
-Jog on! = Fuck off
-Take away = to go (when ordering food)
-coppers, the fuzz, the old bill, the bill = the cops
-one large Domino pizza 2 toppings here (medium in the US) cost almost £20 = $40....eeeks!
-I've been told over here that real men have beer belly (muahahah)
-I am officially a spinster I think (where is Mr Darcy?)
-Chandi or something like that = beer+lemonade(or sprite)...yuck
-Pubs stop serving alcohol at 23h....unbelievable! But there are off license shops that sell alcohol after hours..
-Tesco = city Walmart
-Sainsbury = city Kroger
-Kebab =favorite food of drunk people

british way of life

For 3 full days now I've experienced a british way of life.
here are few things
-always bring an umbrella, no amtter how beautiful it is outside
-it is better to cook at home vecause every meal is over £5 at the cheapest restaurant
-to add minutes to your cell, it's called to top up
-prepare to walk if you want to save on public transportation
-most people share a house, since it is so expensive to live in London
-people come back from work and hang out at the pub before coming home. Then everyone go back to sleep at around 10pm..
-of course you look right firt before crossing the road

well thats it for now, I'm still adjusting...watching tv is nice though, even if there is no cable. The accent is worth listening to, just to adapt my hearing to it.