Shopping a Belle Epine

J'ai traine toute la petite famille a Thiais, au centre commercial Belle Epine pour acheter de la cire a epiler et des dentifrices a Carrefour. Resultat des courses? On a acheter 2 sachets de courses, incluant deodorants, gel douche, fromage, yaourt, detachant, detartrant, et meme du talc...Les hommes se sont meme achetes des pantalons chez Celio.

Puis ce fut le gros repas chez le marocain d'a cote, ou on s'est empiffre de couscous..mmm trop bon. Finalement il faudra se coucher parce que demain, je vais devoir prendre un prise de sang.

C'est une bonne journee de balade en famille.

Happy birthday ZAB

Ahhh joyeux anniversaire ma vieille. C'est fini la puberte maintenant! Bon, les sauces de fajitas sont en route.
xxxx

'I'm practically perfect in every way'

This is what happens when you're delirious and feel cold even if you're sweating. Some silly song trots in your head and all you want to eat is chocolate. Ah wait a minute, this is happening to me everyday! And this monday it's even worse because my head feels like it's going to explode.

Last night, crazy Nadia brought the 4 Inu Yasha movies. So after the ratatouille fajitas, and some chai tea for my throat, we watched the first movie until midnight (entouree de mes culottes blanches toutes propres et fraichement lavees). I still don't know how to say 'shit' in Japanese though. The subtitles are not consistent.

Because I can't do anything because my body is so weak even taking a shower and eating is tough (well, if you do it at the same time), all I can do is lie down and try to sleep, before the neighbourhood kids get back from school and scream outside. And then my mind wanders: must be nice being dead and feel no pain; must be cool to forget everything and feel light; how does it feel to be skinny? would I change my future if I had the gift of foresight?

Ahh sweet delirium.

I am getting a cold!

I think I am depressed. I am getting a cold and I slept without eating last night. LOL
And I was pissed off and almoist killed the flatmate for taking the last roll of toilet paper from our bathroom to the guy's bathroom...I wish him to be very miserable for the rest of his very long long life and to not be pitied or loved at all...right I was not in rosy mood.

Today, I am not too happy either because it is so busy I can't relax and I am missing the sunday market on a nice pleasant summer day: not too hot (actually chilly inside at 23C). And I ahve a dry cough and can't sleep straight ahead. I only sleep when exhausted.

Arghh, can't wait to be leave and change air again...

The heat is on!

Ahhh lovely summer. Waking up drenched in sweat, a cool breeze from the window, blue sky, yellow sun..and no single smell of the ocean or sea...yup, stranded on a isalnd and miles away from the coast...And the water from the bathtub is not even cold anymore!

Welcome to Eileen, who will soon celebrate her first month in this world...congrats to the happy parents and enjoy bthe freshness of Chamonix. Another wedding in perspective for me to attend I guess...(sigh)

Another ridiculous news: I signed up to run a 10km race in october. Now I know what you are thinking, I just did it to have a T-shirt. But the fact is I already have a green t-shirt, so really I am doing this to motivate my fat ass to drag itself to the gym and sweat the fat out. Am sick of the jelly and woobly thing that surrounds my beautiful body. So may disgust drive my will till I get fit as a GI Jane.

If I was very vain, I would hope that Orlando Bloom will race too, and we'll be in the same group...let me hold that thought for now, it makes my heart race and it's good before going to jog...

IMAX and 3D effects

I was walking to go see Superman, and got mugged. Superman never flew in to save me from separating me from my bag and purse.

Superman is definetely created by men who probably don't know much about women right? because:
-the writers think women wouldn't notice that Clark Kent IS Superman. I mean come on! We notice when we cut an inch of hair, how stylish a shoe is, a change of complexion, etc..and you really think we won't notice that it's the same person wearing those geeky glasses and those blue leotard with red cape???? At least Spiderman had a mask on...
-Superman always rips off his civilian clothes somewhere in the elevator or somewhere he's never seen going back to...and how many of those clothes are ripped and tossed in mid air? And then they say we women spend too much on clothes? grrrr

hmm, I'll think about it more today and will add to the list later...

'Proming'

If someone asks you to the Proms in London, you might not wear that big prom dress just yet.

If you ever pass by the Royal Albert Hall from today, then you may find hordes of people over 40 nonchalantly sitting on the stairs under the blazing sun, wearing straw hats or with umbrellas, sipping white wine and holding the bottle. It is an odd place to have a picnic or an evening drink. Of course, there will be some tourists as well, hanging in there just in case it becomes wild and a 'happening'. But mostly those are freinds getting together to get entrance to the BBC Proms, which runs from July 14 till September.

In a way, it is a tailgating of some sorts. However, out here the goods are coming from a picnic basket or a Tesco bag (maybe even Mark & Spencer) instead of the back of a pickup truck or a Beamer. They drink wine instead of Miller lite or Bud Lite, and they certainly don't barbecue or have KFC.

I have yet to witness their peculiar behaviour inside the concert Hall, but I have no doubt they are not as rowdy as American football spectators in the arena. Those who didn't get ticket probably listen to the concert from outside anyway, as they are broadcasted live on BBC2 or BBC3.

All this to say I miss the Hokie games and the friends I used to hang out with...sniff

'If you can't say something nice....

Don't say nothing at all' (Thumper, in Bambi)

It is the FIFA World Cup final in the world I am living,and I wish all fans good luck..the players, they know what they have to do I suppose...play ball.

Comfortable afternoon, and I'm struck with grief. Remembering the last time I saw someone that I would never see again. Denying it would just increase the pain next time I'll remember. I was planning a great trip, enjoying and worrying what lied ahead. He was visiting to give out some news about an ailing family member.

Those are not tears of pain but of regrets. I cry for having overlooked that last moment with him. I cry for not being able to comfort his loved ones. I cry because I will not see him again in church, up there among the deacons, his dad and family. And I cry because I needed to cry!

Then I stop and life goes on...very sad!

Cult of aloneness:

'The need for autonomy at all costs, usually at the expense of long-term relationships. Often brought about by overly high expectations of others.' (Generation X, D. Coupland 1991)

Amen!



Stumbled on that book again on a somehow rainy day that interrupted Wimbledon live feed. Take that for an eye opener. There are funnier definitions as well such as...

'Black holes: An X generation subgroup best known for their possession of almost entirely black wardrobes.'
'Green division: To know the difference between envy and jealousy.'
'Native Aping: Pretending to be a native when visiting a foreign destination.' this one is can lead to hilarious situations.
'Option Paralysis: The tendency, when given unlimited choices, to make none.' yup, happens to everyone. Though for groceries, I tend to get whatever I haven't tried before.

And of course this one which is still very much practiced by 98% of movie stars:
'Dorian Graying: The unwillingness to gracefully allow ones's body to show signs of aging.'

And to finish this Generation X special, let's see if you can guess this one.
'Air Family:...?'

Heat 'wave', no fireworks, no BBQ!

Happy Fourth of July..I got pop corn and sushi..what did you get?

Tennis, beach and Champagne

So I did wake up at 8:00 again on Sunday but only managed to go to the farmer's market. I was too lazy to go out again and run to the Columbia flower market to get some flowerpots. Also managed to get to Wapping at 11:30 just in time to warm up for 15minutes and play with that exercise ball again until noon. It was 30degrees outside but I was goign to play with somebody else's raquet so I figured I should get ready for the worse...and it was horrible. The raquet was really heavy on the head and the grip was tiny (that husband of Helen must have tiny hands..LOL).

We played for about 1h45min total, including chat time...Had to drag myself home for a shower then it was time to wander to the market with Huene and Laureline, friends of my ex-flatmates, visiting London... And here is a view of the Truman Brewery Beach.

Later that evening, after having some korean tea (well, we had juice, no tea in that scortching weather), Nadia made risotto and we brought saucisse seche and champagne to the parc just behing Shoreditch station...

Yup, had to pop the champagne and take some pictures.


And after that bubbly I tried to get some sleep...

90 minutes of silence

This should have been up since saturday... ah well

I woke up too early as usual (8:00) but managed to moderate my excitement at the prospect of going to my first tennis coaching in years...which was at noon! After turning around like a caged lion, I finally set off to the Isle of Dogs, to the John Orwell Centre. Believe it or not, I got there at 10:30, and had to wait patiently for my coaching by doing some exercise machines...I probably spent 15 minutes on that cross training machine, then played around with the exercise ball for 30 minutes, pretending to do abs exercises..who am I kidding? Then I discovered the 2 machines that work out the thighs...hmmm I'll be addicted to those. Then soon enough, it was noon and I finally hit some balls, not too impressively but still I was feeling the shots pretty good, given I haven't played since last summer. Ieven hit one long volley in the 15th minute of coaching, which destroyed my strings! Arghhh...had to play with the trainer's racquet for the rest of the hour, under the blazing sun...mind you, the coach brought some sunblock with her...yup, it's a her...showing her black lace bra and everything..seriously..I miss Sibanda!!And the court (yup, the centre has ONE tennis court), is made of bitume, which will destroy my shoes in 2 months. But at least there are only 2 big cracks on ecah side of the net...It was a group lesson (3 students) and the 2 others were...beginners..sniff sniff...so they had to be explained the technique and all...arrrrghh. The only thing the coach told me was to move my feet and run for the balls...as usual...I need to make tennis playing friends............

Then I ended up in Charing Cross road looking for a bus to Oxford Circus, and got a sample of the remnants of the Gay Pride Parade: men with cute buns in electric blue speedos...and they were tanned and fit and very gay..ah well...I didn't have my camera, and lost my camera phone so I can't share that sight here. Also got dragged into a parade of England fans, for the upcoming match against Portugal...

Which brings me to the late afternoon walk up Brick lane, on my way back home:no soul outside walking, except for police officers strolling in pairs every 50m. It was dead silent and all you could hear was the TV commentator. Peeking at the score between the shoulders of the spectators outside looking into the various pubs, the score was 0-0. But the match seemed intense enough and everyone I saw just had their eyes stuck to the screen. I bought a mint magnum on the way (to compensate for my loss of calories earlier at tennis!!!), and the shopkeeper didn't even give me a single glance. The corner indian shop didn't sell any pakora today because football spectators took all the space...I was left without dinner and had to make do with chicken strips from the local joint. And when I finally got home, England had lost by penalty shots...how disgusting...The whole country must be crying now...except the Scots...(no names, promise). And cute Gerrard was lying on the grass, contemplating his tears...I wish I could console him in my arms but i think the German women entertainers would do that...or maybe he'll get a spanking...yay!

All in all, a very nice day spent doing nothing brainy...Tomorrow is another day, hopefully filled with flower pot shopping.

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!