Who can say no to pink?

I've been itching to get a bag from this store since it's "Rugby" days, but never worked up the nerve to open up the wallet for one no matter how many times I was told "it's an investment!" by various people in the know.
For many years, I would walk by the store (I conveniently worked down the street), enter with a smile, say hello to the nice gentlemen, look longingly, sigh, and leave...utterly deflated.

Well, I did it. After much stress, I bought a bag from there.

Some rationale in no particular order:
1. It's a travel tote (which I've been wanting for a long time)
2. It's the prettiest shade of pink ever
3. It's on sale
4. It's super soft
5. It's SO me
6. It's multi-functional
7. It's unique - or at least I hope I don't see (m)any people with it
8. It's an investment!

Imagine this in the prettiest pink possible...that's the one I've got! And for the sake of my selfishness (and rationale #7), for the love of all things fabulous, please don't go out and buy a matching one!

Go on, congratulate me on my fab purchase and let me bask in your jealously! =)

Next on the list: A black "teacher-y/professional/chic" bag

P.S. Special mention to the two fantastic fashionistas who did just the right amount of convincing on this "luckily" rainy day.

-picture courtesy of www.hilary.com

Another dream fullfilled?!?

I've found something to play out my dreams of waitressing, since I think that I won't be taking orders anytime soon!

Music to my ears

It's a common question: "What kind of music do you listen to?"

I never really have a good answer. For all intensive purposes, my answer is "everything", and that's pretty boring, but it's the truth.

Or even worse: "What's your favorite band?"
Or how about: "What's your favorite kind of music?"

I don't know the answer. Music is music is music. There's some kinds of music that I like better than others, but I listen to everything. All music is good for your soul.

I don't own a walkman. I don't own a discman. I don't own an mp3 player. I don't own a stereo. I don't own an iPod. I think those are a couple reasons why I don't get obsessed about certain types of music.
Oh, I guess I lied a bit. I do own a walkman or discman, but I don't use either of them. And they're both hand-me downs anyway.

At work I will put on MTV Radio to pep up the workroom. At home (in Neuch) I flip my telly to MTV France quite often.
My radio (in Neuch) is set to Espace 2 which I listen to before bed, and am woken up to the same sounds.

Here in Toronto, the radio in my room and in the car is set to Classical 96.3FM. Sometimes I switch to some kind of Top 40 station, but I usually end up back on Classical.

I grew up sitting in the backseat, listening to CBC Radio, before it became "Radio One". AM radio was where it was at. 740AM if I'm not mistaken (still remember listening to the show when they switched over and the personalities were joking about how they would have to learn how to use "FM" voices). Many nights of "As It Happens" (Radio That or The Show That *insert punch line here*) to the ballet studio and on the way home, "Ideas" which meant it was time for bed. Knew we were late for Chinese School if "The House" had already started. If we timed getting picked-up right, we got to hear the Gremlins theme song and "Double Exposure". I think that show is the only reason I know how different politicians sound. Couldn't wait for "Quirks and Quarks", and still love the show even after Jay Ingram passed on the torch to Bob McDonald. Knew the end of the Saturday driving marathon was coming to an end if "The Inside Track" and "definitely Not The Opera" had come and gone. I still do a double take when I hear Sook-Yin Lee's voice nowadays, because I still think of her as a Much Music VJ (I know, it's been awhile). And the hush that comes over the car (even to this day) when the beeps come on signaling the big hand reaching the 12 and the hourly news soon to follow.
In Grade 7 I decided to be cool and listen to 640AM with Tarzan Dan. That station folded, and years of following him along with the Jesse and Gene (don't know spelling - it was radio) Morning Show through various AM and FM Top 40 stations passed by.

The car radio has many stations pre-programmed that I'll flip through, but classical music seems to win out at the end.

Anyway, the point of this post was to say that I think I'll post some names of classical music pieces every so often just for fun. They'll probably be pieces that I enjoy for a variety of reasons. Take what you'd like out of my choices.

Epic

Last night, I dined at Epic...the newish restaurant at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Although Summerlicious was on, we decided to pass on it, and look at their full menu.
I asked the waiter for some kind of non-alcoholic drink (fruity, please) and he came back with the bartender's creation of a yellowish orange drink garnished with a lemon and an orange. It was quite pineapple-y, but wasn't bad.
We turned our attention to the "Water Menu". That's right. As a non-alcoholic, I was excited at the prospects of being able to sample some fine drinks. Sadly, the Swiss were not represented on the list, however I recognized most of the French and Italian labels. We ended up picking a sparkling Voss from Norway and a still Gleneagles from Scotland to start. Unfortunately, the water sommelier didn't come by to help us with our selections (we're thinking he wasn't working that evening).
I found the Voss very smooth. And for some reason, the Gleneagles was very filling. I think I've lost the taste of still water. Garnishes of lemon, lime, cucumber and ginger provided to be excellent. I quite enjoyed ginger in the sparkling water. It only accentuated the bite, and added that ginger essence that I have come to love.
We were given a Black Bean and Mango Salsa with a small tortilla which was quite delicious to whet our appetites and the bread was quite nice as well.
My appetizer was a Yam and Vanilla Bean Soup with Mascarpone Cheese Infused with Ginger. The mascarpone was delicious. It was quite a large bowl, and it got quite rich by the end. It was quite nice, but I think I would have enjoyed a smaller bowl with a thicker soup.
We were out of the Voss, so we decided to sample the Galvanina Blu. I thought this one had more bite, but the bubbles were so small you couldn't feel them.
My entree was Jumbo Gulf Shrimp served with Pineapple, Mango and Purple Potatoes. The shrimp wasn't anything too special, and it was such a weird contrast to how filling my appetizer was.
My dessert selection was rather limited due to the overwhelming choices with an alcoholic content. I didn't feel like asking if anything could be made without the alcohol and I didn't really need to because I was quite happy with my selection of a delicious chocolate cake served with a scoop of ice cream (don't remember the flavour - it was something unique I'm sure...but the flavour wasn't overpowering, hence not remembering what it was). The cake had the most gooey filling and the chocolate was fabulous (hey, I know good chocolate).
Petit-fours weren't too special - a pistachio biscuit, macaroon and a chocolate with a disappointing centre.
Our waiter was very pleasant and the service was quite nice. From looking around at the platters presented to Summerlicious diners, it really showed that you really don't get the chef's best food with that deal. An enjoyable meal, but next time might just sample a few appetizers and skip the entree, drink some great water and have a delicious dessert.

Beaches International Jazz Festival

Friday night, I went with some friends to the Beaches International Jazz Festival Streetfest.
We lucked out and found a parking spot super close by Queen St, and walked into the action. It was a gorgeous night. Not too hot...there was just enough breeze.
Queen St. East (between Coxwell and Victoria Park) is closed down for the event and a variety of musical acts, food/drink stands, craft tables are set up alond the sides of the street. Some stores are open later for the event and ice cream parlours including yummy Ben & Jerry's were in high demand. I decided to try "In A Crunch" and "The Last Straw". They weren't too bad. I think I was still really full from dinner at Saigon Sister just off of Yonge/Bloor to really be able to enjoy the ice cream. But of course I wasn't going to say no!
We walked pretty far down Queen St. I don't remember to where, but I think the streetfest has extended further than it used to be, because looking off into the distance it didn't look like the partying stopped. I could see a sea of people to forever.
I didn't pay enough attention to which band was which, but I really did enjoy the music. I guess you don't really need to be able to see the musicians to enjoy the music, but sometimes it was just a little too crowded for my liking. Not, "shoving people out of the way" kind of crowded (well, sometimes it was), but I felt too far away from the music.
I think my strategy for next time is to get a cold drink, pick a nice slab of sidewalk, and sit and chat the night away while listening to the fabulous music all around.
Walking back to the car, we walked on the boardwalk. Looking south, there was a dark void lit up by a fast rising, quite full moon. At the horizon is was a beautiful red/orange and turn yellow the higher and higher it flew. Stars speckled the night sky and I was very happy. Looking west, a bright sky reflecting the downtown Toronto nightlife had its share of speckling lights from the CN Tower and neighbouring skyscrapers.
And I couldn't be happier riding the fluorescent lit TTC subway all the way home.

I like it here in Toronto.

Shopaholic Ties the Knot

Shopaholic Ties the Knot, by Sophie Kinsella

The third of the Shopaholic series, yet another quick read, but either I'm getting bored of reading this series (which, if this is the case, no worries, because I don't have any more to read) or else this one wasn't as good. I flipped by a couple pages at the 2/3 point.
As always, it's still the same story line as before, except that you know at the end she's going to get married. It's always a happy ending for these kinds of books, but I gotta say that getting to the happy ending in this one seemed a little forced. The first part of the solution to the big issue in this book just seemed so completely bogus and like the author has to resolve the issue quick so she decided to go this one route and deal with it fast. It was a little annoying...and then got crazier and certain things happened which didn't make any sense, because if they did the whole problem probably could have been dealt with the same way right from the get go.
Whatever. It's just chic lit.
So I'm done reading a whole series of books. If you want a fun read, I would highly suggest reading the Shopaholic books. They're pretty fun. I liked the first on the best though.

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella

Book number two of the Shopaholic series...done!
Same sort of premise. Loves to shop. Goes into debt. Love issues. Work issues. Happy ending!
Only main difference is that a bunch of the book takes place in New York as opposed to London, so the brand names that's dropped are all different.
Another quick read, but I think I liked the first book better.

Next up: Book three of the Shopaholic series.

Dancing with the Stars

I didn't get a chance to watch this show, but now, after it's over, I'm hearing a little bit of buzz about it. I was looking into it, and I've realized that I've basically been watching the identical show off and on throughout the year in Neuch. Just the Italian version that I can't seem to remember the name of. I noticed that Dancing with the Stars was based on a BBC show, so I guess I wasn't watching the original one either, but it's just so strange that different countries seem to have the same shows. Yes, I know every country around the world has (or had) "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", "Survivor" and "Big Brother", but when I was watching this one, somehow I didn't think that it would fly in North America...although movie stars in North America are the equivalent of royalty in Europe, so I guess there would be a demand to see celebrities doing yet another TV show (even if they aren't A-list ones). Still it was a little weird to hear about this show being a success. I enjoyed watching the Italian one (even though I had no idea what they were saying) because the stars and their partners looked like they were having such a great time dancing, and isn't that what dancing's all about?

There's another show that I would watch off and on in Neuch. It was another Italian dance show called Amici about dancing. It might be similar-ish to the potential next dancing show phenom: So You Think You Can Dance. Because of the language barrier I couldn't completely figure out what was going on, but the dancers seemed to only have to dance classical, jazz and hip hop or something, all the participants sat on some kind of panel in the audience and would discuss each other's performances or bash each other (there was an episode with lots of crying - it was like there was some weird romance going on as well?!?), and after they were down to a smaller group of competitors it looked like they lived together in some weird set up in/nearby the television studios. For some reason I think there was singing too. It might have been more of a triple threat kind of show. The host lady had a crazy deep raspy voice and although the show was dance focused, there was a lot of question and answer stuff with the competitors, and the competitors would have to do/discuss different things. One competitor did a great impersonation of the host. It was pretty funny. Oh, of course there were judges, but they seemed pretty harmless.

Anyway, I love a good dance show (I loved the Wade Robson Project and the European version he did as well) so I hope the new show won't disappoint!

The baddest buttons around

Today, my brother gave me my buttons that he'd ordered for me a couple months ago.
They are SO dope. I'm going to be the coolest girl in school (come September). Everyone will be so jealous of me and my ubercool buttons (...errr...in Switzerland).
Bop bop. What-what!! Booyah. Woot woot!
I haven't figured out the coolest way to wear them yet, but it's got to be something fab.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella

Continuing on with my summer of easy reading, I just finished reading the first book in the Shopaholic series (I'd read a later one earlier this year - because it was easily accessible - with quite good results).
For sure a chick-lit book, it was quite easy and fun to read. Nothing too strenuous, and while I read it off and on, little bits at a time, I never had to worry about forgetting what had just happened. As long as you could get the gist of the whole book, you were fine. I mean there were a couple things that could have happened. She shopped and blew too much money. She went to work and was bored. She got letters from the bank/credit card companies. Something about potential blossoming love.
It was definitely a perfect ending type of story, but I think with this type of book, I would be disappointed if it wasn't. Gotta love a cheesy happy ending when everything works out perfectly. A warm-fuzzies book. I hope my life has a perfect-ending!
Seriously though, the next book on my list is the second Shopaholic book (might a well go through with the whole series since I've started)...I'm sure after I'm done that one, I'll have a similar kind of reflection on it. Not too much substance, but everything perfect as expected with this kind of book. Perfect for a mindless summer.

The trip home

I left Neuch early in the morning on Wednesday, June 29th and hopped in a taxi (didn't really feel like lugging my stuff onto the bus for one last time) where upon arrival to the train station, the driver tells me that he remembers me from a previous ride (I don't remember him, but I'm not good at remembering faces) and he mentions that I'm the last passenger that he's going to have. After a brief discussion, I realise that he means forever. He's taken another job, and I'm the last person to be using his taxi services. Wow. Didn't really know what to say, except for thank you and good luck in all of his future endevours!

Took the train to Geneva Airport (love how gentlemen here always help people with their heavy stuff without you needing to ask for their help), and because I'm so great at time management, I've got plenty of time to spare, and people watch until they call my flight to board. I initially wanted to ask the lady at check-in if I could upgrade, but she seemed pretty cranky, so I didn't bother. No big loss. I probably wouldn't have gotten one anyway.

I get on the small Austrian Airlines plane to Vienna where I am to stay overnight. It's a pretty short flight, that's quite uneventful. All I really remember about the flight was that the cabin was bloody cold and that I was sitting right besdie the air conditioner. And that my legs were cramped up from putting some awkward gift-ish carry-on luggage where my feet would have liked to be.

Upon arrival to Vienna, I go to wait for my luggage, and it doesn't come. Grrr. How frustrating. So after a little bit (eating unto my well planned out afternoon) I decide to ask the airline what's going on, to find out that my luggage had been checked through to connect with my flight the next morning to Toronto, and that I wouldn't be collecting it for the night. Too bad Ms. Cranky didn't tell me that in the morning. I guess I didn't ask her, but I didn't really say much to her at all, because, well, she was so cranky! After initally asking if I could get my luggage (I didn't have all of my overnight stuff with me - even though they say you're supposed to), and then waiting around impatiently for my stuff to come (which wasn't the airline's fault by any means - I was just impatient), I decided that I really didn't want to create a hassle for the airport workers and that I could make due with what I had in my bag. The airline guy even gave me an overnight kit (which contained all the things I already had anyway). It was still a nice gesture.
I take the bus (feeling like a pro) to the hotel (which I stayed at with my parents of the winter holidays) and instantly feel anonymous with the foreign language surrounding me. I love that feeling. A lot of people feel overwhelmed, or alone, but I like it for some reason. Sure it's a little annoying to figure out what's going on, but if you let all of it wash over you, it's fine. And quite enjoyable. I had a little conversation with a man on the bus, but after awhile, we both got a little tired and decided to just watch the world go by. We arrive to our destination, and both look up what times we need to catch the bus back to the airport the next morning and part ways wishing each other the best. I love travelling!
My carry on stuff sure is awkward and heavy, but it sure beats having to wheel around all of my luggage as well. I guess leaving it with the airport does make things easier. I was just a little concerned that it wouldn't get on the right flight the next morning, but I always worry about silly stuff like that. I go confidently straight to the hotel comforted by all of the familiar sights and sounds from the last trip there. I get to the hotel and settle in to my tiny little room, coincidently just across the hall from the room that I was in last time. I settle in, get a little obsessed with the scale they have in the bathroom (never really know how much I way, and with all of my varying eating habits it's kind of interesting to see the results) and when I'm ready, I head out for a quick walk around town. My first stop is the State Opera House, where I had seen from the outside the last time, but this time I wanted to go inside and take a tour. The tour guide was quite interesting with what he had to say, but the content wasn't as interesting as the Paris Opera House Tour. This one was cool though, because we got to go backstage, and the scene was set up for Act I of Werther by Jules Massenet. The huge tree was fabulous.
Afterwards, I shopped for a bit. The Hotel Sacher got some business from me...you gotta have some delicious souvenirs to take home! I also got a pair of pants and some socks (to keep my feet warm on the airplane the next morning - I'd planned to transfer stuff from my luggage, but obviously that wouldn't work out) from H&M and some other souvenirs from other places. I was so tired that I decided to grab a couple things from the grocery store and call it a night.
It was a quiet evening (which was fine by me) with a quick dinner and then lotsa sleep (because I knew I wouldn't be getting much for a couple more days).

The next morning I take the bus back to the airport and get some money from the "tax free shopping". Wander around a bit, head to the gate, and board the big plane to Toronto.

Again, an uneventful flight (watched Brother Bear, Spanglish and Ocean's Twelve), but the landing was quite something. Well, hitting the ground was really really smooth, but after taxiing to the gate, after everyone's already standing in aisles waiting to get off (the seatbelt light hasn't even been turned off yet - people are even more impatient than I am!) the captain comes on the loudspeaker and says that there's a problem with us connecting with the tunnel. So we need to wait a bit. A little while later (we're still waiting) and he come back on the loudspeaker and says that for some reason we're still having problems but they don't want to connect a ladder with the airplane and get us off that way and he's not sure hot long the delay's going to be. Now people start getting annoyed, and I'm feeling pretty relaxed about the whole situation. I mean, there's not like there's anything I can do about it right? He gets back on and says that airport control is telling him that he needs to move the airplane to another gate, but then moments later, he says something about how he can't move the airplane and that they're going to have to tow the airplane. We had to strap ourselves back in and put our luggage back in the appropriate places becasue we were going to be moving again. Fine fine fine. People were getting a little annoyed...and annoying. Some people were trying to make light of the situation, so that was great, and there was this one incident where an elderly lady didn't want to put her carry-on luggage back into the overhead compartment. She left it in the aisle. Obviously, a flight attendant asked her to move it, and she said something in German which made him really really mad. (Blast - I wish I understood German). He was speaking in English the whole time with her, but said to her that it wasn't appropriate that she said whatever-it-was-in-German to him. He explained the rules, she still persisted...it was quite a scene. The old lady was getting so mad, she was almost going to cry. Another collegue arrived to deal with the situation, and the two flight attendants started discussion what happened in German. I wonder why his didn't just speak German to the old lady in the first place? Whatever.
Anwyay, I think by the time we got out of the airplane, we had been on the ground for an hour.
I get through customs (chatted with the customs officr for awhile) and got my luggage pretty quickly and out of the gate to meet my Dad.

I was back in Canada...and it felt a little weird.

Last big fling of the year

The weekend of June 17-19, my 2nd last in Neuch before the summer (and the last that I could get away from the city) I took a trip to what may be my favorite weekend getaway trip in Europe:

PARIS

It was the third time that I went there this past year. I could keep going back forever and ever. It's just so full of life. There's so much to see and do, I love being anonymous and testing out just how good my French skills have gotten.

I went by myself and was a little anxious because I was staying at a hotel that I'd never been to before (found on the internet but booked over the phone after calling to confirm a couple details), and well, I'm usually anxious about ridiculous things...so yeah.

The train ride was pretty uneventful. It was a Neuch-->Lausanne-->Paris one since I'd booked the ticket sort of last minute, so there weren't any reserved seats left on the direct train. This also meant that I had to leave pretty darn early in the morning, but it seemed to work out well because I ended up getting a really cheap ticket because of my age. Who knew being a young-in had so many advantages?!?

When I arrived, I quickly headed toward the Metro. I felt like such a pro. I've said it before and I'll say is again: I love the Metro. I got off at my stop and surfaced at an area that looked unfamiliar to me. It took me a bit to find my bearings, but I did it, and got to the Hotel. It was cute and seemed family run. Not as scary as I'd imagined it could have been.

It was ridiculously hot that day (the sun was SO harsh), but I had no time to lounge around...I was on a mission. A wedding present mission. I took out the map and made a plan of attack. The hotel was pretty close to LaFayette and Printemps, and those were my best bets, so I figured I'd go there first, in my minimal amount of time remaining in the day and hopefully get lucky and then have the rest of the weekend to relax and do other fabulous things.

On my way out, I noticed that the Cirque du Soleil was in town on their European Tour of Saltimbanco. I'd never seen a live Cirque show, and even though this was one of their older shows, I figured, hey, I'm going to get a ticket because I deserve to go see something that I've always wanted to see (makes sense doesn't it? Usually I decide to flipside though for some reason.) Anyway, bottom line is that I splurged on a ticket and felt good about it. I figured I wasn't sure when I would have the opportunity to see a Cirque show again anytime soon, so I might as well go for it. I reasoned it (I ALWAYS need a reason) as a "congratulations for finishing your first year" present to myself. I was here in a fabulous city by myself, so I was going to do fabulous things...by myself. So I needed to get back to hotel in time to change for the show (so I had an even more limited amount of time to shop that afternoon).

I headed out and immediately turned into a sweating machine. It was disgusting, but I was on a mission, and I was sure that the fab department stores would HAVE to be air-conditioned, so I just had to get myself there and I'd be safe. I walked all the way there to soak up the streets of Paris. I just love to walk around and see different things. There are so many different areas of Paris, that I don't know if I'll ever be able to discover each one in enough detail to satisfy me.

Anyway, I go through the two fab malls with ideas of what I was looking for, but nothing really stuck out to me. What a disappointment. The ridiculously huge and lavish department stores had NOTHING?!? I couldn't believe it. A little depressed, I headed back to get ready to see the show all the while thinking about what I would have to do tomorrow to make up for the lack of items found that day.

The show was fabulous! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I think my mouth was actually hanging open in awe for most of it too. It was a smaller venue than I'd imagined, but it was really really nice. I was in the second row in almost the middle. I obviously had a great view. Of the stage, of the gags going on in the audience and of the doohickey-thingamabobber that held up the tightropes and other gadgets for the performers. It was neat to see how the crew worked so efficiently along with the performers. It was definitely a well-oiled machine. I wondered if a lot of the crew were Canadian (the performers sure weren't), or the people selling souvenirs and stuff, or did they just hire people in the area to do the job. I always thought it would be really neat to have a job like that. I still think it would be really cool to try and be a waitress too. Okay, there's a lot of things that I'd like to try to do, but I don't think that it's possible. There's just not enough time to do everything that I want to do. Such is life. My favorite act of the night was the Chinese Poles, and the clown was quite hilarious as well. I noticed that the Double Wire performer tried to repeat a trick after screwing up the first time. The second time around was a little bit better, but still not perfect. You could see her grimace, but I guess she had to keep going on. I loved the bright costumes and the music. The lighting and acting was incredible. It was better than I imagined it would be. I can't wait until the next show that I get to see. On the website, I noticed that Dralion's coming to Zurich in the fall. Wonder if I'll go or not?

It was an incredible night. The show made me so happy, but I was so exhausted when I got back to hotel. It wasn't even THAT late, but I just crashed. I had to wake up early the next day as well to make sure that I found all the objects that were on my list.

The next day, just as hot as the day before...it was torture. I had to go back to the hotel a couple times a day to cool down. After a full day of running around to so many of the shopping districts, at the end of the day, when I had basically given up, I went back to LaFayette and Printemps for one last look. Success! I don't know what happened the day before (I bet I had tunnel vision - I usually do when I'm on a mission), but there they were, exactly what I was looking for. Everything worked out. Well, not quite. I had bought everything I needed for other people like I was planning on, but at the same time, I was supposed to be looking for fabulous things for myself as well. I wasn't successful in that venture. It was a little sad. But, you know, you gotta make sacrifices for the better good right? And honestly, I could go back to Paris next year and find all of those fabulous things then. No biggie. And I got to see Cirque du Soleil for goodness sake. They couldn't take that away from me. Whoa. I'm rambling.

I went back to hotel with all of my purchases, and remembered that I hadn't eaten the whole day. No breakfast, no lunch either...and it was almost dinnertime. I'd only had a couple yogurt drinks that day. It was just too hot to eat, and I was too tired to go out to a nice sit down place, so I popped in to a grocery store and just picked up a couple things along with other items for the train ride home the next day. I got back and after just my soup, I was full. I guess the heat, along with not eating anything throughout the day just made me not have an appetite at all. So I saved all my food for the train (even though I probably wouldn't be able to eat all of it)...well, that's less groceries that I'd have to do in Neuch I guess.

I go to sleep completely exhausted, after having a little chat with the concierge in French. My French had held up pretty well that weekend. A sign that I had gotten better that year. Parisian French scare me. They just talk so fast that while my brain is registering what they're saying, there's that awkward silence in the air, and I hate awkward silences. I find that when I speak French in Neuch, I just register what people are saying to me, and it's all good. But in Paris (at least with the fast speaking ones), I have to repeat at my own speed everything that they said again in my head (in French) and then do some quick translations in my head. What a waste of time. It's getting better though, and that's all that matters.

Oh, I forgot to mention my haircut in Paris. I needed to get something done to my hair before the wedding, and since I wouldn't have anytime to go to somewhere in Toronto after getting home, I figured it'd be fun (and another treat to myself) to go somewhere fabulous in Paris. I was hoping that they'd go something super-duper great. I don't really care what stylists decide to do to my hair. I trust them. All I tell them is that I don't usually use any product in my hair, and I don't blowdry it, so please give me a cut that will work for that. I mentioned to this guy as well that I had a wedding coming up that I'd probably need enough hair to put up, but other than that I was willing to go with anything fabulous that he wanted to do. The salon itself was pretty fab. It was in a great area. I won't even discuss the price. It was a treat. I don't think the language was an issue (although there was less conversation going on than I would have liked...I said I hate awkward silences). The combination of fast talking and loud hairdryer didn't work well for me. Anyway, bottom line was, I was disappointed. I mean, when I walked out of the salon, I felt great. It was shorter than before, so it was lighter, but it really just looked like the normal layered cut that I always have. Sigh. I was hoping for something totally out there and fab. Another problem. This cut really only looks THAT fab when it's blowdried. I've already told you that that would never happen on my own. Darn it. Maybe it's just a sign. My face shape is calling for a layered look. With the same length everytime. I'll just keep trying different places I guess.

The next morning, I pack everything up, leave it by the front desk and head out for a last walk around town before I had to catch my train. I decide to head out to Montmartre and wander around the Sacre Coeur. Yep, I wanted to Amelie it up. It was another scorching day, but the walk was fabulous. It's such a beautiful area filled with life. It was the only really touristy monument that I visited that weekend. I had walked by a couple of other things, but hadn't really stared at anything except for the Sacre Coeur. I sat, read some of my book, people watched, looked at the world passing by. It was a great morning. The only thing that put a damper on it was the vendors who rudely thought I was a Japanese tourist. I hate that. There's nothing wrong about not knowing where someone's from, but the way they assume, or are pushy about knowing just bothers me. A LOT.

Anyway, I head back to the hotel to get my things after an all in all great weekend, and get on the train to head back to normal Neuch life laden down with bags filled with gifts. It's like Christmas in 30+ degrees weather.

I love Paris.

CN Tower

Today, I visited the CN Tower right here in downtown Toronto. Typically Torontonians don't go up the tower on their own, and today was no exception. I met up with a friend and another who was visiting from Dublin, Ireland.
I like being a tourist. I think it's because tourists are usually really excited by what they see, and I am a fan of exciting times. I hadn't gone up the tower since the fall of 1998 and a lot has changed since then. For example: the security check to get in involves this arch/port/thingy that you have to stand in/under/on which would beep/flash/blow air at you. The bursts of air came from all directions, which was a little scary when wearing a skirt. Luckily I wasn't the first in line, so I saw this coming and was prepared for it. (No Marilyn moment for me!)
I also remember the glass floor being larger.
Oh well. It was really really fun just to watch the city go by below. Like a little toy Sim Town going about normal life. It was really fun to see the city from above. The strategically placed parks, skyscrapers fighting to be the tallest...a well placed and bright blue coloured (you know the blue I'm talking about - it's all over the place) iPod advert on the south side of the Paramount Cineplex Odeon on Richmond St. Trying to pick out the buildings you've grown accustomed to at ground level, trying to see past the smog (luckily we went first thing in the morning, so it wasn't too bad).
A fun day for sure.

P.S. Since when did the Skydome become the "Rogers Centre"?

Score two for Toronto

I really wasn't homesick this year while I was in Neuch...so it was really hard trying to decide what I missed about Toronto. (Other than family and friends)

Today, I figured out two of those things (after experiencing them again):
1. MEC
2. Greg's Ice Cream (Roasted Marshmallow is my fav with Ginger being quite close behind...)

I'm sure that I will find more things that I missed once I get back into my old Toronto life.

On tap for tomorrow:
1. Yorkville browsing (will purchase a little later)
2. SC2005 (quick hello today, but wasn't enough time to stay longer)
3. White Hot Chocolate (skim milk, no whip) from Second Cup (across the street from the ROM)

Speaking of the ROM, look at my baby! It's growing so fast...I'm so proud.

One point for the Europeans

I like the fact that I don't have to add in how much I have to pay on top of the ticket price for darn PST and GST.
It's annoying (and means that you're actually paying a heck of a lot more than your brain initially thought when it read the price tag)...or maybe after 10 months my brain kind of forgot to automatically add 15% to the ticket price when thinking about how much everything costs.
Meh, I guess it's the same as trying to convert prices in your head.
Still...Switzerland's not as expensive as a lot of people think. Or at least little Neuch isn't. I gotta get used to Canadian prices again.

Lost in Translation

I had high expectiations for Lost in Translation, and is quite often the case, was disappointed after watching it. It was OK I guess, but it didn't blow me away. I could have been tired and wasn't in the right state of mind to watch it, but I found parts of it a little slow. I think that's the point though. That life is slow when you're "lost".
I usually like either super-duper Hollywood movies (because as cliche as they are, at least I know that's what I was getting myself into) or completely the opposite (not sure how to classify the type of movie I like - not Indie perse, which I would consider the opposite of mega-Hollywood), and this movie I guess would classify as the latter, but anyway...it wasn't THAT great.
Okay, the more I think about it, the more I liked it. But at the time, I swear I was bored.
I'm sure there's great discussion about it (or it's known somewhere out there, but I'm way behind on the times)...but what does he whisper in her ear at the end? (Maybe it was audible, but by that point I wasn't paying much attention).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling

My first book of the summer, and I figured it should be an easy one. I get the feeling that most, if not all of my summer reading books will be pretty light and airy. Not sure how much time I will be able to dedicate to one book, and you know how bad my memory is, and how frustrated I can get.

Anyway, obviously part of the wildly popular Harry Potter series. Book number three, and like the other two, read AFTER watching the movie. I was actually planning on reading this one BEFORE watching the movie (was going to read it last summer - no prospects of being able to watch/rent the movie), but headed off to Switzerland before I could read the book and had no idea when Harry Potter would enter my mind again.
You may have noticed that a previous post shows me watching a whole lot of DVDs all of a sudden in a pretty short span of time (which I never really explained, but still and putting that post off for a little while longer). Harry Potter, Number 3 being one of those DVDs. So I watched it, and enjoyed it.
Just a couple days ago, I got hold of a copy of the book, and read it (quite quickly I might add!). I'm not sure which one I liked better. It was sort of weird because certain things I knew happened in the movie didn't happen exactly in the same order as in the book, so I was waiting for them to happen, or was confused when something else happened first. I don't know. Maybe because I'm pretty visual I enjoyed the film better, or maybe because it was my first experience with the story-line so I was more on the edge of my seat. Nothing to take away from the book though. I really really liked reading it. Enough for me to not want to put the book down. It was really easy to get through the book. I felt like I was being compeled to keep reading, I think mainly because I wanted to get to parts I knew were coming.
Anyway, I definetely enjoyed both the book and the film and I'm looking forward to reading book number 4 this summer (which if I find interesting means that watching the movie first isn't what makes me like reading the book!).

Here's to a great start on lots of summer reading!

Can't get no...satisfaction...

I wonder if it's a character flaw that I will never be satisfied for what I've got. Once I attain a goal which I think will make me happy (which it does - at least for the time being) I always look to the next goal on my list and continue to work towards acheiving that one and all the rest to follow.
Will I ever just sit back and say, "This is enough, and I'm happy with what I've got?".
Not to say that I'm ungrateful for what I've got right now or anything. No way, hopefully you can tell by this blog that I love my life and everything I've had the fortune of being able to experience, but will I reach a point where I don't strive for more?
I'm not sure if I'm explaining exactly what it is that I'm trying to get across, but yeah. I guess that's it.

My first wedding

Congratulations to the FAB bride and groom, I couldn't have asked for a better couple to have as my first wedding to be a part of.

My first bridesmaid duty, and hopefully not a sign of "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" to come. She knew what she was getting herself into, but I was still really really sad that I couldn't be around for the whole year to help with the prep and stuff. I'll never forget the one thing that I am so fortunate to have been able to experience: the dress search.

I KNEW it was the one as soon as she put it on. There was the whole dilemma with that other dress, and I definetely didn't want to sway her eitherway, but this dress was perfect. It was the case of seeing it, and just knowing. I'm glad she decided that it was the right one as well. She was absolutely stunning on the big day. If I had any emotion, I would shed a tear...=)

Seriously though, even though I wasn't around throughout the year, I guess they wouldn't have gotten such International presents otherwise. And seeing as how one special store in Yorkville is now gone, the bride wouldn't have been able to get two FAB pieces (if I do say so myself) otherwise! I hope that they enjoy their gifts as much as I had looking for them and carrying them around on various plane rides! It was stressful looking for the perfect gifts (and heavy), but you're both worth it. I really hope ya'll like 'em!

It was a couple days filled with first experiences (which I love!). I missed the bachelorette (after hearing the stories, maybe a good thing!) so couldn't experience that, but can't have it all. I can't even put into words how great this past weekend was.

Here's to just a few of the countless fabulous moments and memories:
- a good massage experience (to make up for sketchy Budapest)
- a pedicure (still feel sorry for the lady who had to deal with my horrible feet - and remember when I was so terrified to put polish on my nails way back when?)
- 4 parades?!?
- a strapless dress
- the perfect musical selection for everything
- that ridiculous walk that everyone has to do down the aisle
- relaxing and rejoicing in the back room
- stretch limo
- ultimate jet-lag but wouldn't change it for a moment
- busting a move on the dance floor with your best friends
- seeing two faces of utter happiness and full of love

A special Kudos to the make-up guru who did my eyes in such a way that I actually liked! Now that's no simple feat! I should've paid more attention to how it was done! Darn it.

Another special mention to some girls who shaped my university life. A group of highly accomplished and driven young ladies. Can't wait until our next big hurrah! To the future lawyer of the group: we WILL see each other again soon.

I can only hope that if I get married, my wedding will be as perfect and beautiful as theirs!

To the new Mrs: You're fabulous and I love you...

"Home" for the summer

I'm not really sure where I consider home right now, but I'm back in Toronto for most of the summer.
Leading up to my trip home was hectic. Lots of last minute things to get done, but it was fantastic. I'm not going to dwell on my professional life (I said I would never discuss it on my blog - I guess that got shot out the window a long time ago), but I've got to say that it was fabulous being on the other side of a graduation ceremony. I have graduated for the past two years afterall. I KNOW I'm in the right profession. I love what I do. I hope I never lose my love for this job. Ever.
Anyway, I'm back in Canada and have made my list (I'm a list-maker) of "Things to Do this Summer". It's pretty long.
This week I'm hibernating, but next week I'm going to be let loose on the streets of T.O. Watch out, cause here I come!

Encounters with wildlife

Myth: Squirrels do not exist in Switzerland. Throughout this year, everyone that I know (non-Swiss) here believe that squirrels don't exist in Switzerland. Or at least in Neuch. One was even trying to describe such a creature to a local without any success. Must have been the bad French that caused the confusion.

Fact: Yes they do! And I saw one outside my apartment. It was small, scared of people (unlike in crazy K-town/downtown T.O.) and brown (instead of grey - like I'm used to seeing at home). Apparently I was really lucky to see it. I mean, they don't roam freely like at home, they just hang out in the forest here, but my place is almost in the forest, so I was lucky.


Also, a couple nights ago, I was walking home pretty late at night (so it was dark outside), and I saw two little neon green lights beside one of the fountains in my neighbourhood...they were so small they looked like little LED lights that turn on with on/off switches or something. I thought it was weird though, because the fountain doesn't run on electricity and I'd never seen lights on the fountain before, but whatever.
I kept walking home and in the grass I saw more little green lights. I thought that maybe there's some Swiss toy/item that's like a glow stick and some young people just scattered these little pieces all over the place. It just looked neat though (you know me an my star/glowing things/lit up things obsession). Like little green stars on the ground. I was so intrigued...could this be an organism? I used a twig to poke at one, but it didn't move. There was another "one" close by and it moved though. It was so dark that I couldn't see the blades of grass or anything, just a glowing light.
So, I've come to learn that I have an encounter with glowworms, and that I should feel lucky (again), because they only come out in areas which have not been polluted with pesticides and other chemicals. No wonder I've never seen any in T.O. Oh and they're always in pairs. A cute little buggy couple. I wonder if I poked the guy or girl...and if the other one was coming closer to fight me off from taking away his/her lady/man. How sweet.

Four Blondes

Four Blondes, by Candace Bushnell

Thinking that I could use another "easy reading" book, I picked up this "chick-lit" book by the same author of the now super famous Sex and the City.

I was disappointed. I actually thought this book was really boring, and I had to flip through most of it to get to anything that seemed remotely interesting.

I finished the book so I'm glad that I got to read another book, but I didn't enjoy it at all. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Easy does it

Over the past three weeks, I've been typing up little thoughts on my computer and saving them for when I was ready to post again. I'm back, and have posted most of my thoughts.
The most important post it yet to come. I haven't finished it yet, partly because "it" isn't over. It'll be a long one, but I'm not quite ready to deal with it yet.

Chocolate trials

Written: Sunday, June 05, 2005 @ 8:18pm

I was having some friends over for dinner, and decided that dessert would be an ice cream sundae extravaganza. Being in the land of all things chocolate, I opened up my cupboard and saw some uneaten chocolate bars and thought that I might be able to turn them into some gourmet chocolate sauce.
Breaking up the bars of chocolate and putting them into a microwavable mug seemed smart enough and everything seemed to be working out alright. I was concerned that I’d burnt the chocolate because it was smoking a little, and when I tasted it, it was a little weird, but I figured it was because of the fact that I’d melted dark chocolate bars. Dark chocolate being something that I’m not too fond of. Adding a little bit of water and sugar made it a lot better.
I decided though, that if I didn’t like it very much, I probably shouldn’t try to serve it to my guests. So, a couple milk chocolate bars later and the same sort of set up, I’m ready to go. Sort of. See, I melted it first, and then had to let it sit around, and so the once solid, now liquid chocolate had become solid again. Luckily enough, as I was busy being a bad hostess and talking on the phone with someone, my friend decided to sit the cup in hot water (double boiler) and liquefy the chocolate again.
It all worked out.
The next day, as we were chatting, we thought it would be fun to use my concoction as a chocolate fondue (something actually non-existant here in fondue land – go figure, the chocolate fondue was thing made up by non-Swiss people).
Let me tell you, this is a bad thing that I was creative one day and decided to melt chocolate. When boredom and my sweet tooth takes over, you better believe if I’ve got some fruit lying around, I’ll be dunking it in chocolate being warmed in a pot of hot water.
Lovely.

Tuesdays with Morrie

Written: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 3:23pm

Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom

Read on recommendation from the same source as usual.

I’d heard of this book before, but had obviously never read it. I think this book may be one of the fastest books I’ve ever read. The pages were just turned so easily, and I didn’t feel like I had to stress out when reading through the story. It just flowed so well, and I didn’t feel like taking any breaks or anything. It must be what people call “an easy read”.
Maybe it’s because I’m still in the stage of “I want to make a difference in people’s lives and be an inspiration” part of my life (a stage that I hope I will never grow out of), but I liked this book.
I really liked the book. And you may have realized it takes a lot for me to actually like something.
I can only hope that I meet someone in life like Morrie (maybe I already have, but just don’t realise – or should I say, cherish it yet), or that I can be a Morrie.
Read the book. I can’t really say much more about it, because it’s just one of those things that for some reason leaves me at peace, without having anything to say.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Written: Thursday, May 26, 2005 9:56am

The Five People You Meet In Heaven, by Mitch Albom

Read on recommendation from the same source as usual.

After quickly reading Tuesdays With Morrie, I thought I’d try another book by the same author and give it a whirl.
I read this one just as quickly. It’s another small book with a nice sized font, so don’t think that I’m all of a sudden a reading machine.
I liked this book as well. It was kind of interesting seeing how everything related to each other and how the “journey” of the main character unfolded. Nothing spectacular in terms of plot or anything, just a good read. I’m convinced that everything in life (good or bad – or at least they may seem good or bad at the time) happens for a reason, but often it’s not until something else happens that you realise why the previous event(s) that may have been so tough to deal with happened. Or sometimes you can’t figure out why something happened, but you just know that it’s been another experience chalked up, another battle wound, another learning moment.
Anyway, I say read the book. I enjoyed it.

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Written: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 2:10pm

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, by Liz Jensen

Read on recommendation from what seems to be my book source here in Neuch.

A small book, this one took me a while to get into. I’d started reading it a long time ago, but for quite some time didn’t open it to continue the story. Luckily, once I’d finally started reading again, the story seemed to pick up pace and my reading drought changed (as it always seems to).
With everything in my life, it seems that reading comes in waves. I’ll start getting into a rhythm and I’ll be able to keep reading for quite some time, but then if I stop for whatever reason, it takes me awhile to get started again. In high school I attempted to start running everyday. I kept a running tally of how long it lasted on the wall of the school Yearbook office, but now I forget what it summed up to. 11 days? I have no clue. I forget things easily (another character flaw that I’ve often lamented). Same goes for my attempts at trying to get a six pack. Or running on the treadmill in the basement. Even watching TV while running doesn’t help matters. I think I’m pretty good at controlling myself from seriously porking out on Swiss chocolate. I have resolved to try every single chocolate bar at least once during my stay in Switzerland, but gradually. Although, if I start eating the stuff, I seem to continue for a couple days and then stop again cold turkey. Seems like I either snack on peanut butter constantly or not at all. Does that mean I’m a binger?
Back to the book.
I wasn’t really sure where the plot was going as I started getting into it, which I guess was a good thing, because it kept me interested. Once I started feeling comfortable with the style of the book and I guess starting to understand what the author was trying to do, the rest of the story was pretty predictable.
It’s a neat book I guess. I didn’t LOVE it, but I’d recommend it to others to read.

Drogerist

Written: Saturday, May 21, 2005 @ 3:50pm

There’s a job that is unique to the Swiss Romande region. A droguerist works in a store and gives health advice. So you go into the droguerie and maybe say something like: “boy, has my skin been really itchy lately, and I’ve been really tired as well.” Then the droguerist recommends creams/lotions or vitamins or whatever other remedies that may help to make you feel better. A droguerie also has perfumes. Some believe that a droguerist is the first line of defense. If you have any problem, you go there first and then if they say it’s something serious, you go to a doctor. The droguerist will give you advice but may recommend that you see some kind of specialist. They don’t give medication. They need to know about everything. Nutrition, anatomy, medical issues, sickness, beauty care…it’s sort of like a very knowledgeable salesperson at Shoppers, but they’re not a pharmacist. You know how you see a doctor when you’re sick and want to get better? It’s sort of like you see a droguerist when you’re healthy to maintain your health.

Sort of.

I don’t completely understand what a droguerist is.

Swiss BBQ

Written: Saturday, May 21, 2005 @ 3:28pm

Last night I went to a Swiss BBQ. A friend’s birthday, she had kindly invited me to help her celebrate it (it’s actually today, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!).
I’m not a camper or anything, so my only experiences with BBQs have been machines in people backyards and the few instances that we’ve BBQed on a permanent grill in a park. This BBQ would be different. In their backyard was a fireplace, and attached to it was a device that you could attach a grill to. It was so fantastic. Not only was the fact that there was a fireplace outdoors appealing (just think of how wonderful it would be to sit outside in front of the fire), but it was really neat to watch the grilling take place.
There was SO much food. Meat, veggies, potatoes, corn on the cob, salads, drinks, mini pizzas, this amazing dried mango that I have to ask where they got it from, ice cream, cake, coffee, champagne, chips and other snacks…it was fantastic.
Although we started snacking at 5:30pm-ish, we didn’t actually start putting anything on the grill until 9pm. By 11pm we were still grilling and eating. I could see the night continuing on for much longer, but I had to get home at a relatively decent time to rest.
I’m quite proud of myself. Of course the whole evening was conducted in French and I’m not very good at mingling and meeting people. I’m actually a really shy person (or at least on first impression). And then when friends get together (youthful friends especially), the chit chat goes faster and faster. I admit that I didn’t follow every single conversation that happened that night, but I think I did pretty well!

Because there was a fire, I was telling people about how we toast marshmallows (because I hadn’t seen any marshmallows here in Switzerland). In candy stores they have marshmallow candies, but not the plain ones for hot chocolate or for toasting. Conveniently enough, there were marshmallows in the house (the multicolored, twisted, candy ones) and so they thought it would be exciting to try to toast them. I was surrounded by a lot of skeptical people. The coals weren’t quite hot enough to toast the marshmallows, and I wasn’t close enough to the fireplace, so a toasting rookie awkwardly stuck some marshmallows on skewers into the fireplace not sure what to expect. I felt so bad for her. She was so confused. I mentioned that the coals probably weren’t hot enough, and we probably needed to get the fire going again. In the meantime, people experimented with tealight candles. Yup, it wasn’t too bad. Mine worked out pretty well I thought. Helpful hint: candy marshmallows lit on fire very quickly. But if you’re a toasting regular, you’ll know this isn’t always a bad thing. Let it char for a bit if you desire and just blow it out. There were a lot of panicked yelps and awkward laughing, because flaming marshmallows wasn’t in their comfort zone. How funny different cultures are. I tried to explain the novelty of s’mores, but I think it was a lost cause. They couldn’t understand why you would mix those three objects together. They also don’t have graham crackers here, so that didn’t really help. Any generic cracker/biscuit still seemed like an odd thing to meld with chocolate and marshmallow. Luckily we didn’t try to make any that night. I didn’t want to think us American/Canadians were too weird or anything. So the toasted marshmallow thing didn’t go over very well. The birthday girl seemed to really like them, but every one else just looked confused. One girl wouldn’t try them. I’ll blame it on the fact that we used the wrong kind of marshmallow, although I’m sure it really doesn’t make that much of a difference.

It was yet another wonderful experience. Seeing how a different culture runs a BBQ, what kinds of foods they eat, spending time outside relaxing and chatting and meeting new people, seeing the sky suddenly become dark, candles and of course the obligatory 15 minutes of rain and the mad dash to save everything from being soaked. The is what life is all about. New experiences.

Movies watched

Started compiling list on Saturday, May 21, 2005 @ 4:53pm

DVDs watched since Friday, May 13th

Ray (DVD extras)
The Incredibles (+ extras)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (+ extras)
Shrek 2 (+ extras)
Uptown Girls
Bowling for Columbine (+ extras)
Some recent episode of Joey and Will & Grace
The Aviator
The Best of Friends, Vol. 1
The Best of Friends, Vol. 2
Dirty Pretty Things (+ extras)
The Best of Friends, Vol. 3 (+ extras)
Friends – Season 2, Disc 1
Friends – Season 2, Disc 2 (+ extras)
Friends – Season 2, Disc 3 (+ extras)
Friends – Season 2, Disc 4 (+ extras)
The Best of Friends – Season 3
Shallow Hal (+ extras)
In America (+ extras) …a fabulous film! Watch it…
Pirates of the Carribean (+ extras)
Malcolm X
Sideways (+ extras)

On the mend

Will update with many posts soon once I get myself organized.
It's been an interesting 2 and a half weeks.

Another movie

Last night, I watched Ray. I didn’t know anything about Ray Charles’ life, except for that he was an incredible musician. I was also expecting great things from Jamie Foxx, as I knew he won the Academy Award for this film.
Wow, his life was incredible. I didn’t like the character for basically all of the movie, and I wished that the movie continued on to show more of Ray Charles’ life. More of the stuff closer to present day. More of the stuff after some of the hardships.
I was impressed at Jamie Foxx’s amazing ability to portray Ray’s character. The mannerisms, the whole fact that he had to portray someone with a disability, and of course there’s the whole thing about the piano playing. I love when actors have amazing hidden talents that you never would have suspected. I mean, going to college on a piano scholarship?!? Coolio.
It was a pretty good movie all in all (I’m too picky). The acting was great, but I didn’t like the graphics that they put in every so often. I also felt like it dragged a little bit (could have been the state of mind I was in at the time I was watching it). Like it was going on too much about the same themes. But at the same time, as mentioned before, I wish it would have continued on longer. LOVED the character portrayal. Great casting for all parts. Liked certain nuances, like the fading in slowly from blackout when the sound of the new scene has started (like being blind).
Sorry for the vagueness. I’m trying not to ruin anything for those few who haven’t seen it yet. If you’re one of those people, change that.

A day away

Only a 45-60 minute train ride away is Bern, the capital of Switzerland. When feeling like you need a little bit of a change, or just a day away from Neuch (it's a fab town, but it's always nice to do something a little different every so often) Bern is the perfect place to go.
Berne (the French spelling, "Bern" is the English/German spelling) was actually the first city I revisited from my original travels here in '97. It was pretty exciting remembering certain things from my time here all those years ago.
Bern has a pretty big market compared to Neuch. One half is food stuffs and the other side is crafts and gift ideas. And then there's a whole lot of stores too. It's nice to see a little bit of variety every so often. One big attraction of Bern for many people I know is, disappointingly, the Starbucks (I'm a Second Cup girl, as you all know). The town itself is beautiful as well. I love just walking around and breathing in the air and seeing the sights and sounds of the city.
I love discovering cities by walking around, so I spent a lot of time wandering around myself yesterday. I didn't mind the alone time, I actually enjoyed it, because all week long I'm around people, and sometimes you just need some time to unwind and be completely at peace with yourself. I took the train in with people (only because I happened to bump into them at the train station), then planned to meet them later that day after we'd gone off to do our separate things, and met another group for lunch (and then split up again afterwards).
The one thing I don't like about Bern is that stores close at 4pm on Saturdays. TOO early! Alas, you deal with what you get.
Which means, after everything closes at 4pm, and you're too tired from walking around all day to do anything else, you sit and have a coffee/dessert before going to watch a movie (more selection in Bern compared to Neuch).

Yesterday, we decided to watch The Interpreter. How long ago did this one come out in Canada? We saw the original English version (with German and French subtitles), and because I don't make too much of attempt to stay in the loop with the world of entertainment, I had no idea what the movie was about. I tried to ask about it, but no one else seemed to know that much. Slightly annoying, because I usually like going into movies knowing exactly what's going on (not that I want to know how the movie's going to end, but just what the plot line is and stuff). Oh well, it's something that I'll just have to get used to I guess.
I actually enjoyed the movie (except for the last 10 minutes or so). It was pretty exciting. I've never really seen anything with Nicole Kidman in it (yes, not even Moulin Rouge - shame on me), but I've seen Sean Penn before in some stuff and I really enjoy his acting/movies, so this was (I guess) another reason I was willing to watch a movie that I knew nothing about. I'm sure everyone does this to some extent, but I love guessing what's going to happen in movies. I don't watch that many movies, but the last one that was worth predicting that I saw was Ocean's Twelve, and I pretty much predicted the whole thing. How boring. This one gave me a little bit of a harder time. I could decide which way the story was going to go, and for some things I'd guessed right, but for a couple other things, I just wasn't sure how the director/writer/whoever was going to keep going. I just couldn't read the director/writer/whoever well enough. Anyway, bottom line is that for picky movie watcher me, weighing out the pros and cons of the movie, overall, I would say that I enjoyed the experience!

Week 2 of Spring Break

After a fantastic week with Habitat, I was really sad to leave, but we had to continue on with our itinerary and meet another group in Athens, Greece.

We arrived Saturday late afternoon, and were bussed off to the most extravagant hotel that I've ever stayed at. The Hotel Imperial was out of control. What a change from Beius. It was actually laughable. That evening, we were taken to downtown Athens, and had a chance to walk around. I was in awe. We walked all around the base of the Acropolis, and I just couldn't believe I was there. The Parthenon was lit up, and we walked by the Amphitheatre of Dionysus among other things. The weather was gorgeous, and I had such a wonderful time. It was another truly satisfying moment. We rode the metro home and it was gorgeous. It was all new for the Olympics, so who knows what it's going to look like in a couple years, but still, for now, it was pretty immaculate.

Sunday morning, we went to visit the ruins of Delphi. Now that I could see some ancient ruins up close, I was in even more awe than the night before. I couldn't believe how these structures had been built and what life must have been like back then. Thousands of years prior, there were people walking the same paths and going about their daily lives. (Okay, not "regular" everyday life there, more like worshiping Gods and Goddesses in that particular area.) I really wanted to walk right up to the columns and touch them, for I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing, but we weren't allowed to get too close. It was indescribable. Everyone MUST visit Greece if they get then chance. Lunch was our first experience to sample real Greek food, and boy, was it fantastic. A small group of us ordered every appetizer on the menu, along with a couple other things and shared everything. Incredible. We were SO lucky to have someone Greek travelling with us. He could talk with the locals, and find out the best places to go, to eat, to see. It's always good to have an insider who speaks the language. It gets you in.

That evening, we went back downtown and walked in wonderment yet again. I love cities that are lit up with lights. It's the whole "sparkly" obsession thing I think. There were apartments with balconies that looked out to the Acropolis. How I'd love to sit on one of those balconies and dream.

The next morning, we pack everything up and head to Piraeus to board The Emerald for my first cruise ever. It sounded like a good time. I'm excited to see my little room (a little disturbing that the life jackets are placed on your bed as a reminder of the risk that you're taking), and explore the boat. After we depart, we run through the standard emergency simulation. Kind of interesting to see how it was "supposed" to happen if something serious did occur. I wonder how effective it would be.
We cruise almost all day and arrive to our first stop in Mykonos. What a wonderful port to start at. They had just what I was waiting for. Blue and white buildings. It was absolutely exquisite. So picturesque. Just as the word suggests, it was exactly how I'd imagined Greece would be after seeing pictures in books and on TV. We didn't have much time onshore, but we explored a bit and then found a little eatery to sample some more Greek delights. I wish we could have stayed there longer.
We reboarded (and are scanned in every time so that the crew doesn't leave anyone behind) and settled down for the night.

The next morning, I awoke to the sight of a new port. Kusadasi, Turkey. Another country visited. We disembarked and rode a bus to another site of ancient ruins, of course. Ephesus was pretty impressive. To think how advanced they were thousands of years ago was incredible. The toilet/sewer system was the best! On the way back to the boat, we shopped in the local bazaar, and boy are those Turkish salesmen aggressive. Selling fakes is quite normal in Europe, but never have I witnessed that a bag/shoes/shirt/whatever is fake to be a selling feature! They just don't let up. It's pretty crazy! Some of the fakes were pretty impressive, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy any of it. I'm not a fake person, so I don't want any fake merchandise. Only the real deal for me. I have issues with fakes. The cake topper was what I can only call a "commission stop". We were led into a Turkish Rug Factory (I can say I've seen authentic Turkish rugs now) and the owner and his henchmen proceeded to wine and dine us (okay, apple tea and Turkish Delights) into buying his wares. I could stop laughing. It was actually appalling how blatantly they were trying to make money off of us (even though this was supposed to be an educational stop). I wonder how much commission the tour company got from us visiting the store. I have to say that some of the rugs were very beautiful, but definitely not worth the money (even after bargaining them down). And the whole idea of buying a rug from that place creeped me out. I couldn't believe it. The owner talked for a good half hour about the different rugs as his crew elegantly rolled out various examples on the floor such that by the end of the talk, the floor was a couple inches higher than when we had come in. It was like they choreographed which rugs would be rolled out when, in what manner, and where they would be strategically placed to ensure maximal selling potential. It was just all so wrong.

Back on the boat to cruise to Patmos. A long trek up the hill to see a monastery and some place with some serious Catholic significance (sorry, it all got a little over my head), but the best part of the stop was seeing all of the lemon trees in everyone's gardens. I wanted to take one, but my conscience won out. I'd never seen a lemon tree before! Of course the obligatory pre-dinner stop (which was actually enough food to cover dinner, but this way I could justify eating a second dinner on board to myself - all meals were included onboard the ship) where we sampled perhaps the best calamari I've ever eaten (that's a pretty big statement coming from me).

A full day in Rhodes, which I was quite dismayed in. The medieval town wasn't all too exciting, and it wasn't warm enough for the visit to the beach to be enjoyable. Shouldn't complain too much. I was in Greece! The one cool thing though was seeing jellyfish in the water. Wanted to touch them, but for obvious reasons, I didn't. Part of my group witnessed a cat getting run over by a car. That's not too great. By the time I could walk over to it, an elderly gentleman had pulled it away. There was a lot of blood still left, and what looked like a liver left on the street (sorry, that stuff doesn't gross me out...it's actually kind of cool...yes, I'm a cat lover and owner, sorry if that's disturbing). Speaking of cats, they're all over the place in Greece. They literally take over the streets (well, not when there are cars involved - sorry, sick sense of humour). They're pretty cute and stuff, but I wonder if there's any attempt at controlling the population. I guess the Greeks don't have The Price is Right (har har har). I digress.

Next day is Heraklion and the last day of our cruise. I'm a little tour guided out by this point. I feel like I've seen all of the ruins I can take for awhile (unless they were REALLY spectacular), but we trudge on to Knossos. I actually didn't like this one, because they'd tried to reconstruct the palace, and it just looked too fake. And we didn't get ANY time at all to walk around the town. It was just a stop to see the ruins and then back on board. I was getting a little tired of "cruise life" (see rant below).

We cruise during the day and arrive to Santorini late afternoon. This is our last stop before going back to Athens, and boy did they save the best for last. I wanted to stay there forever. Santorini is up on a cliff, so you either had to take a cable bar (boring!) up...or...ride a donkey! So fun! I felt bad for the donkey's doing all the work (oh, I forgot the option of walking up along the same path as the donkey's), but it was an experience. I hope they're treated well. This was the ultimate. Blue and white buildings. Blue sea. Blue sky that just got bluer as night descended. Shops with ethnic wares. Culture and life everywhere you turned. The last big Greek feast of the trip. Potentially the best (HUGE shrimp!). Lots of Ouzo was imbibed during this trip. (It smelled like black licorice.) I didn't want to reboard the ship.

Friday morning we had some last minute time to discover Athens. This was the day that we trekked up to the Acropolis and walked around and saw the Parthenon from up close. Again...a state of awe. I just couldn't believe that people had built and used this thing. Lots of touristy snaps taken. Driving/walking along the streets of Athens, you could see that the streets were lined with orange trees. After my excitement of seeing lemon trees, this was still pretty exciting. I wondered if the fruit were fair game to passerbyers, but apparently the oranges are inedible as they are of the sour variety. I was a little confused by that. Why not benefit all by planting a species that is edible. That would be so fun! We got to see the original Olympic stadium that was renovated for the recent 2004 Summer Games. It made me wish I could participate in the Olympics. It would be another incredible experience. Alas, I'm SURE that dream cannot come true. I wish I had more time to shop (there was so much to see and do), and I'm disappointed that I did not buy any souvenirs from the trip. I just didn't fall in love with anything I saw. I was hoping to get an oil painting of blue and white buildings overlooking the gorgeous blue sea, but for some reason I was convinced not to. I don't regret it much. I really didn't fall in love with anything, so there's nothing to regret. I did see a cute bag and a hat that I liked, but nothing fabulous. My souvenir was the many pictures I took along with the fantastic food that I ate. I'm ashamed to say that in all of my Torontonian existence, I've never been to Taste of the Danforth, but I think after this trip I'll have to go to see how it stacks up to the real deal. I also brought some Greek pastries back with me to Neuch (for myself, and as a gift to some friends), and they were delicious, but they were SO messy. So messy in fact, that all of the honey leaked all over my stuff on the plane. Not fun. But worth it. Delicious.

What an incredible two weeks it was. I can't believe how fortunate I am, and wish that you could all be here to share my utter bliss with me.


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I'm not sure what I think about cruises themselves. I loved living on a boat. It was something new and exciting. Just like at a hotel, you didn't have to worry about anything. Meals were taken care of (and the pounds were waiting to be packed on), you could ask receptions for anything you needed. There was some entertainment on board, and you could sit and soak up the sun.
I guess it was the timing of our cruise, but the weather was just weird. Everyone got sick after a week onboard. When the sun was out, it was so incredibly hot, but when it went away, it was so incredibly cold. And then there was thing called wind. Being on the water, of course it would be there, but it was bitterly cold. We were lucky in that it didn't rain much (I think only one day), but it was still really difficult to decide what to wear. Layers was the best solution, but even still, it was a little bit annoying.
And then there's the whole idea of cruising itself. We cruised more than we were docked. I realise that this is due to the geographical location of the various ports, but I felt very useless sitting (or more often, napping, because I had nothing else to do) onboard, waiting to arrive to the next port. Sure, we cruised every night to get to the next place, so that was fine, but I really didn't like the days (almost all of them) that hours during the day were spent travelling from one place to another so that we could visit two ports in a day. I would have rather visited less places, but stayed at each one longer. The cruise was more quantity over quality, and the ports that we stayed at the longest seemed like the wrong ones. Sure, it was a good opportunity to get a taste for what Greece has to offer, and like most trips so far this year, I want to go back, and now I know where I want to visit again, but while onboard, I was a little perturbed. This is the same reason I don't like going on tours. You have to stay with the group and do whatever is on the group itinerary. I feel like there's never enough time to explore the things that I really want to see. Sure, tours take you to all the right places, and let you see things that you probably wouldn't see on your own, but the extra time just isn't there.
For something like the Caribbean, maybe it would be better, because there's not as much to see (more scenery and beaches to lounge at), but for Greece, I didn't feel like a cruise was the right venue. I must admit it was so relaxing and enjoyable to lie on the deck and look out to an endless blue sea with islands popping up every so often, but after awhile the wind was really cold. I'm convinced that had it been in the summer, I would have enjoyed the cruise that much more.
Maybe also if we were on a more bling ship, it would be more interesting, but while the liner had all the amenities, it wasn't THAT impressive. Also, the crew left a lot to be desired. There were a couple very friendly and helpful crew members, but I unfortunately have to say that the majority of the staff that I met were most unpleasant. I was not the only one complaining either.
Well, it was yet another experience. You can learn something from everything.

Curious crisps

Forget the standards of BBQ and Sour Cream and Onion, Europe definetely has some unique flavours when it comes to chips/crisps:

Much like with carbonated beverages, I am a sampler. I think it's important to try everything at least once (sometimes it works out and you try something really really good, other times it's crappy - see some previous posts - and you just end up spending a LOT of money on plain, oh okay, refreshing, fresh alp glacier water).

For instance:

In Switzerland:
(of course there's regular chips)
Paprika replaces BBQ
Provence replaces Sour Cream and Onion
and then there's
Bacon
Roasted Chicken

Doritos:
Americano replaces Cool Ranch
(the standard Nachos Cheese)
Mexican Taco
there's some other ones, but I forget what they are

England was kooky:
(regular)
Walkers Nobby's Thick Ridge Cut Chip Shop - Salt 'n' Vinegar
Walker's Sensations - Slow Roasted Lamb and Mint
Walker's Sensations - Thai Sweet Chili
The Real McCoy's Ridge Cut Potato Chips Specials - Thai Sweet Chicken
Walker's Sensations - Oven Roasted Chicken and Thyme
Walker's - Cheese & Onion
Walker's - Prawn Cocktail

I saw but didn't try:
Walker's Sensations - Four Cheese and Red Onion
Walker's Sensations Oriental Crackers - Peking Spare Rib & Five Spice
Walker's Sensations Oriental Crackers - Tangy Malaysian Chutney
The Real McCoy's Specials - Peppered Rib Eye Steak

Everything tasted as they should have. Except the Prawn Cocktail. That one tasted a bit like Ketchup chips. So I didn't like the lamb one, because I don't like the taste of lamb. It was so weird...they've got the flavours down to a T...which is also a little bit weird that they can pack a whole meat and veggie thing into a seasoning.

The ridge cut chips were so good. They were really thick chips, so you felt like you were really getting a lot in your tummy. You could say that they were hearty chips.

Please visit:
Walker's Sensations for other ingenius flavours. Or why not just visit Walker's in general. It's astounding! (I wonder if these flavours would fly in Canada?)

Movie delay in Neuch

Last night I went to see Vanity Fair. It just came out recently. It gives you an idea of how behind we are here in Neuch. How long ago did it come out in Canada?
It was in a cute little theatre that reminded me of the Screening Room in Kingston. Good memories from there. Like, fab friends who brought pieces of licorice for all!
We watched the original version with French and German subtitles. I guess it takes awhile for them to translate it eh? I wonder how much longer it would take for them to dub it?
Million Dollar Baby just came out as well. Coming soon is Shall We Dance?. There's hype for the next Star Wars as well.

Two stores in London

I was also excited to visit two stores in London which remind me of my childhood:

Marks & Spencer
Boots

I didn't get to visit the former, but I did visit the latter...to look for blister remedies (no 2nd Skin unfortunately). I have two wicked blisters on the arches of my feet from playing ultimate. What a fab sport. Darn the combination of cutting when you've got a really fast guy covering you and silly orthotics.


***
In my ballet hair kit, I still have the first gel I bought for my exams. Boots Hair Gel. The ghetto stuff which gives you helmet hair. It's pink. It came in lots of different colours, but did the same thing, so mom told me just to pick out my favorite colour. I had an "indecisive moment" (a frequent occurence in stores), but after some careful analysis, I picked pink. It wasn't even a Boots store on its own. In what is now called "CentrePoint Mall", there used to be a Woolco. It was in there. I never use it anymore, but I still keep it in my kit for memories sake.

London

This past Tuesday, I went on a day trip to London. I was so excited for this trip because I had never been there before, and had heard so many fabulous things about it. I had a couple goals (being the ever so goal oriented person I am) for the trip. In no particular order:

1. Be really touristy and see the major Londony things
2. Shop
3. Have tea and crumpets, or scones, or little tiny sandwiches with the crust cut off
4. See a musical
5. Ride the Underground
and of course:
6. Buy a Burberry scarf.

You may know that I have been planning goal #6 for quite some time. A cashmere, typical brown Burberry plaid, thick, wrap around your neck to give lots of warmth. Not the wrap around once. I mean the one with volume...no, that's not the right word. The one that piles around your neck...oh nevermind. I wanted a scarf. A costly scarf. It would be my belated present to myself for my fabulous current existence.

Anyway, little do I realise that I would only have a limited amount of time to do goals #2-#6. See, Herstmonceux Castle is a good 3 hours away from London...and then there's the time added on to it because of rush hour traffic. It didn't help that our bus broke down, so we had to wait another hour for a new bus.
Then we go on a super rushed bus tour of London. Buckingham Palace (the Queen was in), for a quick photo opp (no changing of the guard that day - rainy), driving past Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the British Museum, the London Eye, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, the Thames River...basically everything. And we drove by a HUGE Burberry store...but we kept driving. We didn't have time to stop and walk around on our own.

We had a quick stop for lunch in Covent Gardens, where I realised that things in London are EXPENSIVE!!! The prices seemed normal if they were in CHF or in Canadian dollars, but then with the conversion...jeez. I bought cookies from Ben's Cookies. Heavenly. You MUST try them. I had time to pop into the gift shop at the Royal Opera House (read: the same place that the Royal Ballet performs) and I didn't want to leave. It was fabulous. It also had the same ballet pencil cases that I got in a little stationary shop in Yorkville. The overpriced pencil case that I justified purchasing because I needed a "judging pencil case". Right. I forget the company, but I'll figure it out soon I'm sure.

We went for a walk around the Tower of London and boy do the Royals have a lot of bling. The guards in their get up are surprisingly friendly. They were mingling with the tourists and stuff. And the ones who are supposed to stand without moving do move. At least they were smiling when we were talking to them. We didn't see anyone wearing the big bear fur hats. Oh well.

By the time we were let loose, it was 6:45pm. We were to meet back again at 9:15pm. Luckily, we were dropped off just beside the big Burberry store that I'd seen earlier. Unluckily, it was already closed. I looked in the window in dismay, but noticed that there was another store close by on Oxford St. I knew stores would close at 7pm or so, but as much as I wanted to get my scarf, I wanted to figure out if I could still see a show. I knew that most shows started at 7:30pm, so I figured that none would be over by 9:30pm (the LATEST I figured I could be late), but who knows, maybe I'd get lucky somehow. I quickly went to the half-price booth, and the only show that would be over by the required time was The Vagina Monologues at the Wyndham Theatre. How exciting! I had wanted to see the annual student production of The Vagina Monologues at university, but for some reason, I never ended up going, but here was my chance. Sure, it wasn't a musical, but it was darn better than nothing. So I got tickets (2nd row!), and we were off to go shopping.

Back to Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street (not much time until the 7:45pm start time) and as it happened, only enough time to go into two stores (not even London-chic stores at that - Mango and Zara), and then a quick dash to see TopShop from the outside, and by this time, I've already given up on the scarf, because I know that I'm going to be late for the show. On the way to TopShop, I notice the other Burberry store, and for a moment there's a glimmer of hope. Quickly squashed because it too is closed. Alas. Oh yeah, there was a huge Apple store too. HUGE. (I'm excited to visit Yorkdale and see all of the new and exciting stores there.)
Anyway, we actually run to the theatre, and go in just as they're closing the doors. The theatre was fabulous. A small and cozy venue. The show was fabulous. SO funny, I recommend everyone (women AND men alike) see the show at least once. There are tons of Vagina Monologues all over, so there's no excuse. Turns out the Sharon and Aimee Osbourne were supposed to be in it, but due to some "personal illnesses" they pulled out. Right. Sharon would have been hilarious! Still, the three ladies on stage were so funny, and it was time well spent. A funny ending to the night. At 9:30pm, we're eyeing our watches, because we're still sitting in the theatre as the show has not ended. I'm starting to get antsy, but there's nothing we can do about it. See...there's a lady on stage having an orgasm. And it's been going on for about five minutes, and it doesn't seem like she's coming (no pun intended) to an end anytime soon. I mean, we have to leave, but how rude would we be for standing up and leaving in the middle of her orgasm? So, we sit there awkwardly, hoping that she finishes soon, but all the meanwhile, laughing hysterically. So she finishes her thing, and we rush out of the theatre (the show hasn't ended yet...I hate leaving a show early), and we're late to meet our group...but what else could we have done?!?

So yeah...I only really fulfilled goal #1, and sort of half assed at that. I don't even consider myself to have visited London, because of the lack of stuff that we did. I didn't really get any souvenirs (just a couple postcards). I did see some things, and I have an idea of what to do next time, and where to go, so I did get something out of the trip, but not enough to warrant it being a "first experience in London".
The whole time I was there though, I was in awe. Complete awe. I was actually giddy. It was a fantastic city (from what I could tell), with so much going for it. There's just so much to do and see there. The fact that so many of the museums there are free is just an added bonus. I've already started to look into when I can do next. Even though I will be here for at least another year (although going home for the summer eats away a lot of precious travel time) my time here seems so limited. Which brings me back to my confusion of my not so distant future. It seems like I always get so confused after a trip.


********************
I'm not even sad about not getting the scarf, because I know it was out of my hands. By the time I could make my move, the store was closed, so it wasn't even like I had to chance to buy it...or chicken out for that matter. Some people I was with were sad for me...others said it was a sign. Funny how I've got people discussing this famed purchase, and all that's involved with it. At Gatwick Airport on the way home, there was a Burberry store. I was alone (which was nice after being with people all week) and I went in to eye the merchandise. Probably Tax Free at that, but I decided that it wasn't the right venue. When I bumped into my group, they quickly mentioned to me that there was a Burberry here, and asked if I was going to buy the scarf. Then they started to discuss the pros and cons of buying the scarf there and then. I wasn't even really part of the conversation. It was kind of funny how important this scarf was to them...because they knew how important it was to me. (I just realised that I never really talked about why this scarf is so important to me, but I guess that's not important to you blog-readers.)