blog envy

(both photos by the massively talented philip jorgensen)

and a massive case of erasmus-envy, too. isn't he sheer genius with the light? :)

every time i pop by phil's blog, i feel like i'm a voyeur in his travels - and like i'm seeing everything for the first time through his eyes.

if you're feeling particularly masochistic, i highly recommend you too have a look at his work. amazing stuff. i wish i lived in his camera!

check it out, don't say i didn't warn you ;)

day 32

wednesday 9 june valencia to madrid

took the bus and almost missed it because some silly american (taking the same bus) was waiting at the wrong bay and insisted that was where we should be waiting. and i was silly enough to believe him.

thank god for divine interventions, and quick reflexes.

also, quite amazingly, i got a single at my hostel for the price of an 8-bedder (!) for the 3 nights i stayed there (!!!) i'd booked myself into a 8-bedder female dorm but was somehow "upgraded" to a female quad. and, rather miraculously, the bed i was assigned to in the quad was in a separate section from the other 3! so while i'd to go to the 'main' room to access the en suite bathroom, i enjoyed complete privacy thanks to a wall and door in between my section of the room and theirs!

day 17

tuesday 25 may 2010 paris

last day together in paris. walked around, checked out rue st honore (oohlala!) and, um, some jerk stepped on my archilles' tendon and bloodied my heel. nothing a few choice words and exacting demands couldn't solve. to console my wounded pride, he (love of my life, not the clumsy jerk) sat me down at one of the palace cafes, plied me with san pelligrino, cleaned the wound, stopped the bleeding, nursed me back to health and, um, bought me a wallet from CDG. ahh, i'm way too materialistic for my own good.

day 16

monday 24 may 2010 paris

this was by far one of the highlights of my entire holiday. the day was perfect from start to finish and i was very very happy. we began with breakfast at laduree along the champs with french toast that was all chewy, crispy perfection,

followed by a long, slow stroll to walk of breakfast. and when we tired, we sat on a grassy patch in the park. time passed without our knowing, just sititng and talking, enjoying the shade, enjoying the great weather, enjoying being young, foot-loose (literally) and fancy-free. such a humbling and empowering revelation at the same time. no responsibilities, and sheer self-indulgence.

after sufficient rest, we went on to the gardens by the tower and sat some more. people-watched in a contented silence. the kids making a pretend-slide on the fountain walls, a boxer chasing a ball, teenagers locked in passionate embrace, seniors locked in passionate embrace. someone had a radio on, someone else was rocking a child to sleep. he took photos, i lay on the grass. a busker took out his saxophone. when we got hungry, we went in search of chartier.

and chartier did not disappoint. we scored the last two-top and had one of the best evenings ever. good service, better food and, excellent conversation washed down with some house red. money can't buy happiness, but it sure can buy an amazing day in paris, with the city at her low-key, laid-back best.

day 15

sunday 23 may 2010 pisa to paris

back in paris, we whiled the afternoon away at a corner cafe along home street.

the frothiest cappucino ever, for him.

it's not san pelligrino, but it'll do, for me.

the prices almost sent us into cardiac arrest. absolutely exorbitant but that's the price to pay for the appearance of sophistication in paris!

delightful dinner with the Bs, our very gracious hosts. props to them for letting us use paris (and their delicious penthouse) as a base. F outdid herself with gratinated cauliflower with minced meat, which tasted much better than it looked and we enjoyed dinner in the sun on their terrace. ahhh, summer in paris. it's all about rose on the terrace and tanning over dinner.

day 6

friday 14 may 2010 vernon (giverny)

Visit Monet’s home in his beloved village of Giverny, where he lived for 43 years, until his death in 1926. You’ll explore Monet’s house, furnished as it was when the leader of the Impressionist school lived here, including his precious collection of Japanese engravings. Strolling the gardens, you’ll see the familiar Japanese bridge and water garden shaded by the weeping willows that so inspired this master’s work. Watch the light play on the pond which is covered with the water lilies reproduced in Monet’s numerous enchanting versions of The Nympheas (The Water Lilies).

my inner impressionista was in watercolour heaven in giverny. it's been awhile since i've seen so much beauty in a place at any one time. felt like walking right into one of monet's masterpieces. curiously, monet had never been to japan but from the world fair (and we thought the shanghai expo was in vogue...), he managed to grasp a relatively authentic visual take of the far east and replicated it in his gardens. sort of like globe-trotting without ever having to leave your front door.

the cruise experience would also be incomplete without mention of the two beauties in the first photo. aunty M is the planner extraordinare, 60 going on 16 and oh-so-youthful. she's brimming with energy and nothing but effervescent joy, single-handedly redefining 'grandmother'. she's got 101 little projects running concurrently, from turning her grand-daughter's nursery into a work of art (irridescent sparkles mixed with paint, lovingly applied with masking taped stripes. just hearing about how she pimped the crib exhausts me!) to deftly sewing me a hat band, improvised from voxbox strap no less, on the bus between sights. WOW. she's amazing, one of the few ladies who leave me feeling 'when i grow up, i want to be just like her!'. not to be outdone, is her daughter N.

N and i met for the first time on the barge itself but it felt like we'd known each other forever. we were roomies for the cruise and it was such a surreal, symbiotic arrangement. we just clicked (being the misanthrope i am, this is a very very rare occurrence, mind you) and seemed to have complementary routines. like she'd wake early to get ready and i'd roll out of bed and straight into the dining room. particularly liked how we were both out like lights by 10pm while the adults would stay up till the wee hours of the morning. no guilt because we 'young 'uns' had to stick together. appreciated N's unassuming, easy-going nature and she was a joy to be with. plus, she brought me the best ever earplugs money can buy, not that i even needed them. but still! such a sweetie :)

so yay to good company and very very likeable travel buddies!

interpretive dances

inter alia.

moot court was a blast. bolo showcased their creative spin on cluster munitions in free form dance while we mimed our interpretation of the nicaraguan contra warriors. or not :)

encouraging nods all round and it was a great performance. really enjoyed working with my group, my one regret is that i only got to know J and C so late in the course. our ever-worthy opponents were lots of fun too and it was good-natured ribbing all round. of course, no moot court's complete without a celebratory lunch after and we chilled at lantis while the other teams thrashed it out.

i've such a good class :)

it feels like

i'm trapped in one of those snow-globes. and it's awesome :)

generosity

this' K and he's unintentionally taught me a lot about generosity.

K's a phD student in stockholm. one night when we were chatting over dinner, i learnt how he was supporting his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews back in hyderabad. not uncommon, i know, but wow. his phD allowance gets stretched in so many different directions! such responsibility on his spindly shoulders. needless to say, we were all students on a budget but K somehow managed to be the most giving person i've met here. whenever he cooks, he cooks for himself +1. just in case someone's eating in and hungry. if there's extra, he'll have it for lunch the next day. but everytime he's cooking, he's more than happy to share. i've tried to repay him in kind, by giving him the ingredients to cook with, by sneaking sundries into his cupboard but he shrugs it off and refuses to accept anything in return. i mentioned in passing once that i missed tandoori chicken (believe me, i really wasn't hinting) and next i knew, K was cooking tandoori for me. K instituted this rule in the corridor that if there's any food lying around (and it's his), then it's common property and anybody can help themselves. how giving is that? this' one guy who shares unconditionally and thinks nothing of it. his humility is equally inspirational. he was accepted into the cambridge phD program but couldn't go because of lack of funding but not once has he lauded his intelligence over the rest of us lesser mortals.

and now K's gone! and i'm sad. i woke up to say bye (nothing budges me from sleep, so he's gotta be special) and there's a gaping absence in the kitchen :(

complexes

i love that he's infinitely smarter than me.

sneakers 'n stuff

like awesome milkshakes!

traipsed around the so-hip-it-hurts SoFo and N showed us this fantastic shop with a milkshake counter smack in the middle. what's more - there were 120 milkshake flavours to choose from, talk about spoilt for choice. after much deliberation, i settled on the isabel (daim, rasberries, milk and ice cream) and spent the next half hour in milkshake ecstasy. my favourite part of the cold is that my milkshake remains semi-solid for as long as i want it to! in singers, it'd have gone from milkshake to milk in two seconds flat.

but the best part of the milkshake experience was the nice man! nono, it's not what you think. don't you hate it when you order a drink at (insert generic coffee chain) and the barrista chucks the blender remnants after mixing your drink? like, helloooo if you can't estimate properly then gimme the extra! and the scrooge / greedy glut within me writhes in agony every time i see 1/3 of what's rightfully my drink being poured down the sink. so this time, i was proactive enough to hustle the remainder and lo and behold the milkshake man TOPPED UP MY CUP!!! and there was enough for A.Mc to score some too :) so yayy for generous, non-wasteful milkshake man. i told him i'd go back! reminded me of that time in the marrakech medina where one particularly enterprising OJ man gave me a half-refill after i gulped down my glass. now that's smart marketing for you!

and because i'm such a satisfied customer, if you're ever in stocks and want a good milkshake, go to sneakers 'n stuff at Åsögatan 124, SoFo.

the shelves and shelves of candy to choose from to mix into your milkshake

milkshake man!

sausagefest

get your mind out of the gutter, it's not what you think :)

this was one sausagefest that i voluntarily attended! in fact, it was a long-awaited, highly anticipated event because A had been raving about these little babies since we first met. even when we were in portugal, he had us fantasising about the sausagefest we'd have once the first frost fell (alliterative, no?) although first frost in germany technically happens some time in early december, because we're so north and it's already snowed a few times, he took the liberty to bring forth this magical date that gives us licence to eat, drink and be merry. then again, when you're on exchange in the far-flung reaches of the earth, any excuse is a good excuse.

if we wanted to be puritanical about it, we'd have done it the old fashioned farm hick way and loaded a cart with bottles of beer to fuel a tipsy ramble through the woods, drunk a bottle at every corner, played drinking games and subjected the losing party to copious amounts of alcohol. however, because only A knew how to cook the wursts just right, we couldn't risk letting our star player get inebriated so no pre-gaming.

the wursts went beautifully with tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork. subtly salted and really fragrant. even though i probably ODed on piggy the past 2 days with my bak ku teh, i couldn't say no to this gorgeous platter.

A cooks the wursts and pork in the cabbage so it is infused with the taste

and Z's contribution, spanish torta so authentic i could hear flamenco in the background

Z and L hard at work on the sangria

awesome meal and riveting dinner conversation in line with the menu about romanian pig sacrifices. well whaddya know :)

summer

or the rare autumn day.

(i love waking up to blue skies)

having not seen the sun in over a week, it's good to know that he's hanging around.

off to make the most of the beautiful weather!

le bar rouge

i swear A.Mc should compile a hitlist of his stockholm finds. the boy's got a knack for sussing out the gems just about to make-it-big, sort of like cameron in there's something about mary. le bar rouge was no exception and he apparently stumbled upon it while playing tour guide to a friend! quiet evening out, just the few of us all cosy in a plush red booth seeking refuge from the wintry cold.

and, they've got the coolest contraptions! see the old school telephones? you can dial the extensions at the other booths. perfect for eavesdropping or interrupting a friend's budding romance. not that we do that, of course, we just accost the almost-couple in the street and tailgate them to the tunnelbana. mature, i know.

this just in

i don't know how it happened but i'm accidentally in the guest room of a sprawling penthouse along avenue victor hugo in the 16th. i can see the eiffel tower from the living and dining rooms (panoramic view) and from my bedroom (also quite panoramic). it has flashed once already since i arrived and i will watch it flash again and again until i slowly enter dreamland. i have a huge huge bed and a huge huge room and an en suite bathroom. the kitchen is well-stocked and i've been given carte blanche to raid the fridge and the boys' stash of candy. there is also a nespresso machine that i'd love to cart back to stockholm with me. this is pretty much my idea of heaven, with pain au chocolat for breakfast, freshly baked from the boulangerie around the corner.

and yes i'm a little embarrassed by how big a deal this penthouse is because i thought i was too refined to be this overwhelmed but NAAAARHH who am i trying to kid???

creature comforts aside, my hosts are superlatively wonderful. they are so warm and generous and hospitable and they met me at the shady shades bus terminal and gave me a tour of paris after dark and it felt like i was cinderella or something. from ryanair flight and correspondingly exploitative bus to their palatial crib. M has the most rib-tickling sense of humour and F is sweet yet sassy, if a 40year old lady can be described as such. and they are so obviously in love and it is great to be with them and their beautiful boys who were running around pretending to be davy crockett! really excited and auughhh i don't want my carriage to turn into a pumpkin on tuesday :(