Feeling so real

G'day. I just cycled to the supermarket and back. And yes it was beyond 250 meters, so yes certain bodyparts are threatening to just sue me right now.

Last Saturday, I went to visit my good friend C. who was in the hospital at that time.
She is back at home now and hopefully things will be okay (big hug C!!).

I loooove London, just went back there last weekend for a quick visit to my partner.
He is working in the UK at this moment, on the filming of Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black.

We stayed at the Bloomsbury Holiday Inn (Russel Square) again, a nice clean affordable hotel. And they serve a very yummy breakfast! Yes I do splurge on a heavy, fat, rich, big english breakfast when I am in the UK or when I get the chance.

I must admit, my best english breakfast I ever had, was in Tamesloth near Marrakesh, Morocco. In the catering tent on the set of 'Prince of Persia, sands of times' with Jake Gyllenhaal. It was hot, even early in the morning but it was soooo good. I thought I'd never be able to eat again after that breakfast. But then came lunch, also very good lol.

Ok, back to London. We strolled through Carnaby Street, had excellent noodles at Cha Cha Moon! Discovered lots of cool little vintage shops and boutiques. We hopped on and off the tube, all over London.

It always amuses me how they (who is they anyway?) announce 'Mind the gap' on the speakers. In one train station they are really nice and pleasant sounding. In the next station it sounds like Hitler himself is giving you orders!

After strolling around, we made our way to Covent Garden. I love that place :-) But hey, Nine West, one of my favourite shops, is not there anymore??! Anyways, we then made our way down to one of our favourite places in London, near the Freemason's building (went in there for another film shoot, Green Zone with Matt Damon :-). It is a grand cafe called Lowlander

We sat down and ordered Brugse Zot, Kriek, belgian pintjes, had the cheese platter with fries and then an Angus beef sandwich, very yummy.

Then a walk and many tube rides later, back to the hotel.

That was day 1... much much more to tell you about, but for now, I'm going to enjoy the sun and an apero with some friends.

Bye for now!

I travelled to London last weekend. Unexpected. Left on Sunday morning to come back on Monday night.

So, the day before, Saturday, I checked the prices online at Eurostar, expecting it to be insanely expensive. But hey, a trip to see my partner is worth it...

Much to my surprise, I found a rate for 160 euro, return ticket in first class, or Leisure Select.

Not too bad eh? Especially not when you book it 12 hrs before departure! And I must say I do like the service on board the Eurostar.

If you can travel to London at 80 euros for a return in standard class, go for it! But if you know you won't have time for dinner like when you are travelling in the evening or late afternoon, well then by all means, it is worth checking out the Leisure select rate.

Free champagne, a small but good dinner, wine, beverages...

Guess what, the girl at the travel agency, didn't know that sometimes first class tickets for Eurostar can be cheaper than standard tickets...

I love Eurostar.
For me, living in Brugge, it does mean an extra hour on the train to Brussels-Zuid but it is worth it. 1h51 later and you are in the center of London.

Euro-u are a-star!

After googling funazushi, I came across a 'dish' called Ikizukuri. (Had to read 3 times to make sure spelling was ok :-). Also known as live sashimi.

Now I like my sashimi and yes I like my fish fresh but this is a bit too much for me.

What is it?

Source: http://www.japanfortheuninvited.com/articles/ikizukuri-live-sashimi.html & Wikipedia

Ikizukuri usually begins with the customer selecting, from a tank in the restaurant, the animal (shrimp, octopus, lobster, assorted fish) they wish to eat. The chef, who is most of the time a sashimi chef who has undergone years of training and apprenticeship, takes the animal out of the tank and filets and guts it, but without killing the animal, which is served on a plate, sliced, with the heart still beating.

Ikizukuri of fish consists of thin, sheet-like slices or finger-sized pieces sometimes garnished with lemon wedges, a decoration of ginger, or nori (seaweed). Squid and small octopus are usually wrapped around a chopstick and eaten whole.

Ikizukuri is a controversial method of food preparation, both in Japan and in other countries.

Live shrimp is also 'known' to be a delicacy.

Hungry anyone?

My partner knows I love japanese food. I absolutely love all kinds of sashimi, and good sushi. He recently saw a documentary on the Tokyo fish market, the Tsukiji fish market.

They showed a bit about what referred to as 'stinky fish', or funazushi. Wow, sounds interesting!?
Immediately, I googled it:

In most countries, rotten fish is thrown out. In Japan, they spend 3 or 4 years making it, and consider it an expensive luxury.

The raw fish is packed tightly in salt for a year, then dried and mixed with rice. This mixture is left to “ferment” for 3 years. The rice is changed every year, but the fish is allowed to decompose.

As you’d expect, funazushi has an overpowering smell, which discourages many people from trying it. The taste is sharp and vinegary. It can be used in soups, deep-fried in batter to make tempura, or served in green tea.

History of funazushi

Around 1000 years old, a preservation method called narezushi came to Japan from China. In Shiga, narezushi became funazushi. Fermentation was used as a way to preserve food stocks for the winter. Like many other Japanese foods (umeboshi, natto), funazushi became a national delicacy, even when fresh food became available all year round.

Funazushi is increasingly rare. As fresh fish has become available, modern sushi has been developed, reducing funazushi to novelty status. Younger Japanese people, who have more Western tastes, are less likely to develop a taste for the dubious treat. Recently, it can only be found in Shiga, and the smelly preservation technique may soon be redundant.

Source: http://www.japanfortheuninvited.com/articles/funazushi.html

It does intruigue me... but wait there is more!

I went to Antwerpen yesterday, on my own, by train.
The weather was good, I had the time, so why not, I felt like doing a little shopping.

I have been looking for a new handbag, but arrgh it is so hard. I'm difficult I think, I want a funky, classy yet timeless piece. And preferrably one for which I don't have to sell one of my kidneys to afford it.

I did found very cool ones from Skunkfunk and Desigual, but still not the one I was looking for. I want one with a long shoulder strap. Ah well, it's a life long search isn't it? Just like the perfect pair of boots. But us women, we don't give up do we! :-)

I found a few new shops, one of the perks of being in a big city on your own, you tend to discover a lot more.

I did treat myself to 2 new items from Cora Kemperman, very clean, sober but with a twist. That is why I like her collections.

Also treated myself to a sashimi lunch yay! At Sushi Palace. Sat on the terrace waiting, watching life go by. It did take long though before they served my food. Good thing it was raw fish. Wonder how long I'd have to wait for something actually cooked? :-)

But it couldn't spoil my mood, I had a great day.

Walked back to the train station, bought my mom a nice card for Mother's Day and took the train back.

Will be repeated!

Dear blog, forgive me for sinning, I neglected you.

Not because I don't love you anymore. But did take you for granted, it won't happen again!
I will attempt to write more little bits and pieces about every day life...

Starting now...

With love,
Nathalie

This morning, we sat together in a taxi, driving me back to the trainstation.

The driver was a friendly old guy, and P. asked him if he'd be working all day long today.

The taxi driver answered: 'Oh no, I hope to stop as soon as possible for the day, I've been up since 4 am. Plus it's a strange day. It's a strange period. Not a lot of customers lately, people are taking their last days off for the year, dealing with Christmas, plus a lot of people are losing their jobs and are scared'

P. and I both agreed. Then the taxi driver looked at us and said: "But hey, we all did the most important thing to do for the day'. We looked at him, waiting for the rest of his sentence.

The taxi driver said: "We all got up this morning. That is the most important".

P. looked at me and said: 'Indeed, we woke up and got up together'.

We did, together. Thank you taxi driver. To me today, you were an angel.

Just a few thoughts put on paper. Or screen really.

I love Facebook. I am a pretty outgoing person, and yes call it narcism, I enjoy putting pictures online, sharing my experiences, letting people know what i'm up to. To a certain degree.

Sharing... the big word here. The word that makes some people smile and enthousiast. The word that scares some people.

Where's the 'final frontier'? Where does the sharing stop?

Is it the moment your boss wants you to add him or her as a friend? Does your CEO really need to know you have a hangover after trying out pole dancing in the italian restaurant?

Or is it when your customers suddenly want to be your friend? Are you allowed to 'throw a sheep' at a customer? To 'kidnap' him or her? Or worse, what do you do when a person you hardly know, had one meeting with for business, suddenly wants to add you to his or her top friends? Aarrgh? Do you suck up and confirm the request or do you ignore it, and hope they'll never give you the 'hey sucker you should have confirmed my top friends request on Facebook but you didn't so I'm gonna give you a hard time' look when negotiating on an offer?

Not an easy question. But hey, if you share with them, it means they gotta share with you.

Maybe we should just let it pass us and not worry about possible consequences.

I've gone beyond it. I am me. People will have to accept that. So will my 'friends' on Facebook. My true friends know what I'm up to, sometimes even before I know it myself. They don't need Facebook, or Twitter, or whatever social community. The rest, well they will have to take me as I am. With sometimes whacky status updates, blunt remarks or off days. Just as in real life.

And if you are reading this, it means you are either checking out my blog, reading my Facebook updates and probably sharing your 'life' with at least one social community...

Allright, gotta go update my Twitter now.... ;-)