Book of the Week: Still not reading...
Last day of work! Whoo-hoo! Just three days more before I leave for Malaysia! Can’t wait to see the dogs and folks and family again. I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents, especially Mummy, in the last few days – just going over all my years growing up, the debt of gratitude I owe them, and how very much I love them. I’m going to make myself an early Chinese New Year (and third zodiac cycle) resolution to tell them more, show them more and just generally make sure they know it.
Also looking forward to seeing my old friends from school again – can’t believe next year I’ll have known quite a few of them for 30 years. Just wish they’d get in touch more often rather than just at Chinese New Year. Ah well. At least a handful of us have a lunch date fixed for next Saturday in Kuantan, and, fingers crossed, there’ll be a better attended high tea in the works in KL some time over the next couple of weeks. Can’t wait to do the Malaysian thing – eat lots and talk rubbish!
Factoids of the Week:
The pika looks like a hamster but is more closely related to rabbits.
Wild yaks are the only herd of grazing animals to inhabit the Tibetan plateau, the highest in the world.
The emperor penguin, the tallest and heaviest of all penguin species, has an average lifespan of about 20 years.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Weekend
Book of the Week: Looking for something new to read after finishing The Narrows by Michael Connelly two weeks ago.
Gareth and I had a wonderful romantic weekend away from January 11-13. It had been something we’d been planning for a while, but it just always seemed to fall through. But e-mail at work, out of the blue, asking if I wanted to go away to Edinburgh for a couple of nights… because he’d checked out hotel prices and The Point were doing B&B for £144 for two nights, was I interested? After my squeals of excitement and enthusiastic yeses – and a quick explanation to colleagues that no, I very much doubted if the boyfriend was going to propose – it was quickly booked.
I couldn’t think of anything else the whole afternoon and was just counting the minutes until it was time to go home. Is there anything more exciting than packing on a Friday after work for a last-minute break? We wolfed down our fish suppers, then drove into Leith. We parked by the bins near our old place, and took the 22 up. It was absolutely freezing but – sappy though it may sound – we felt warm and fuzzy from the whole thought of “time together”. Our short walk up the icy Castle Terrace made us think of our short holiday in Florence, what with falling into our holiday routine of checking out restaurant menus to see if they were good places to eat, and my oohing and ahhing over the views of Edinburgh Castle from the side streets. If I were a tourist, I would have gone snap-happy.
Our room at The Point was cool. No 414. A bit spartan and squint (because it is a converted building), and the bathroom was starting to show signs of wear and tear, but hey – Castle, city and Forth views. Gareth nipped out to get some Coop chocolate chip biccies and hot chocolate, then we turned on the telly and watched Jamie’s Fowl Dinners. It was enough to turn you vegan, but we both like our meat too much so have decided that we are ONLY going to eat free-range chickens and eggs.
We spent the Saturday indulging ourselves. Did the tourist thing and started by walking down to the farmers’ market. It was still very cold, with iced-over puddles and even snow on Johnston Terrace. If we hadn’t already had a scrummy fry-up brunch (the crispy bacon and porridge with honey were to die for), I think I would have gone mad for the lamb burgers. It was just the sort of lazy, luxurious day for them. The smell of the lamb patties and onions on the grill always sends my salivary glands into overdrive – I can only imagine what the doggies there feel. We walked up to Castlehill and checked out the cashmere scarves and sterling silver rings on the High Street (preparation for Egypt), then spent a long, languorous afternoon in Waterstones and HMV. And a mushroom roll and a Bombay Bad Boy for tea, mmm!
For dinner that night, we went to Izzy’s on Lothian Road – our second visit and I’m pleased to say that our opinion of it has improved significantly. I took Gareth there on May 26 last year after I got my first ang moh paycheque, and, while it could be because we had had so much excellent Japanese food in New Zealand, we thought Izzy’s sushi kinda sucked. But their dinner service is simply immaculate – my bowl of fragrant steaming rice and tempura was fantastic. It was a bit of a rushed meal, though, as I wanted to get back in time for the season opener of CSI:NY. (A right cracking episode it was too – Lady Liberty splashed with blood!)
I was really sorry to leave on Sunday, but with the hotel being just across the road from Erogenous Zone, I at least got to check out a sex shop for the first time in my life. (Ann Summers doesn’t count.) Didn’t know what to make of it (perhaps because I’m a bit more grown-up now and less of a sheltered Malaysian schoolgirl), but it didn’t feel as sleazy as I thought it’d be – though I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT touch anything, you know, just in case. Didn’t want to come away with some gloop on my fingers. I suppose some of the stuff in there is, well, kinda sexy if you have certain fantasies or want some adventure-slash-excitement in bed, but for the most part I just found myself laughing. Blow-up sheep. Classic.
Then it was off to Clackmannan for yet another one of June’s always yummy dinners. A lovely weekend on all counts.
In comparison, today was crap. Up at 6.15am, a loooong train journey into Glasgow (£20.30), some last-minute shorthand practice – but I think I’m going to fail anyway. Nerves got the better of me and I struggled to take dictation at 100wpm. I hate it when this happens. I know I can do it, I’m actually quite good at shorthand. I’ve been doing 120wpm the last couple of weeks, but today my hand shook too much and I was way too nervous. Only have myself to blame. So now it’s another month of swotting away at shorthand before I have to go through the stress (and possibly FAILURE) all over again. Bah. At least I have an Indian dinner to look forward to tonight.
Factoids of the Week:
Cairo has more cops per 1000 citizens than any other capital in the world. Wonder why that is?
The Amazon has a greater volume of water than the next 10 largest rivers in the world flowing into the ocean put together.
At its widest point, the Amazon is about 11km wide during the dry season, but during the rainy season, it can be 45km wide as it floods the surrounding plains.
The Amazon river dolphin (or pink river dolphin) is the largest of the world’s five freshwater dolphins. Can you tell we’ve been watching a particular episode of Planet Earth?
Gareth and I had a wonderful romantic weekend away from January 11-13. It had been something we’d been planning for a while, but it just always seemed to fall through. But e-mail at work, out of the blue, asking if I wanted to go away to Edinburgh for a couple of nights… because he’d checked out hotel prices and The Point were doing B&B for £144 for two nights, was I interested? After my squeals of excitement and enthusiastic yeses – and a quick explanation to colleagues that no, I very much doubted if the boyfriend was going to propose – it was quickly booked.
I couldn’t think of anything else the whole afternoon and was just counting the minutes until it was time to go home. Is there anything more exciting than packing on a Friday after work for a last-minute break? We wolfed down our fish suppers, then drove into Leith. We parked by the bins near our old place, and took the 22 up. It was absolutely freezing but – sappy though it may sound – we felt warm and fuzzy from the whole thought of “time together”. Our short walk up the icy Castle Terrace made us think of our short holiday in Florence, what with falling into our holiday routine of checking out restaurant menus to see if they were good places to eat, and my oohing and ahhing over the views of Edinburgh Castle from the side streets. If I were a tourist, I would have gone snap-happy.
Our room at The Point was cool. No 414. A bit spartan and squint (because it is a converted building), and the bathroom was starting to show signs of wear and tear, but hey – Castle, city and Forth views. Gareth nipped out to get some Coop chocolate chip biccies and hot chocolate, then we turned on the telly and watched Jamie’s Fowl Dinners. It was enough to turn you vegan, but we both like our meat too much so have decided that we are ONLY going to eat free-range chickens and eggs.
We spent the Saturday indulging ourselves. Did the tourist thing and started by walking down to the farmers’ market. It was still very cold, with iced-over puddles and even snow on Johnston Terrace. If we hadn’t already had a scrummy fry-up brunch (the crispy bacon and porridge with honey were to die for), I think I would have gone mad for the lamb burgers. It was just the sort of lazy, luxurious day for them. The smell of the lamb patties and onions on the grill always sends my salivary glands into overdrive – I can only imagine what the doggies there feel. We walked up to Castlehill and checked out the cashmere scarves and sterling silver rings on the High Street (preparation for Egypt), then spent a long, languorous afternoon in Waterstones and HMV. And a mushroom roll and a Bombay Bad Boy for tea, mmm!
For dinner that night, we went to Izzy’s on Lothian Road – our second visit and I’m pleased to say that our opinion of it has improved significantly. I took Gareth there on May 26 last year after I got my first ang moh paycheque, and, while it could be because we had had so much excellent Japanese food in New Zealand, we thought Izzy’s sushi kinda sucked. But their dinner service is simply immaculate – my bowl of fragrant steaming rice and tempura was fantastic. It was a bit of a rushed meal, though, as I wanted to get back in time for the season opener of CSI:NY. (A right cracking episode it was too – Lady Liberty splashed with blood!)
I was really sorry to leave on Sunday, but with the hotel being just across the road from Erogenous Zone, I at least got to check out a sex shop for the first time in my life. (Ann Summers doesn’t count.) Didn’t know what to make of it (perhaps because I’m a bit more grown-up now and less of a sheltered Malaysian schoolgirl), but it didn’t feel as sleazy as I thought it’d be – though I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT touch anything, you know, just in case. Didn’t want to come away with some gloop on my fingers. I suppose some of the stuff in there is, well, kinda sexy if you have certain fantasies or want some adventure-slash-excitement in bed, but for the most part I just found myself laughing. Blow-up sheep. Classic.
Then it was off to Clackmannan for yet another one of June’s always yummy dinners. A lovely weekend on all counts.
In comparison, today was crap. Up at 6.15am, a loooong train journey into Glasgow (£20.30), some last-minute shorthand practice – but I think I’m going to fail anyway. Nerves got the better of me and I struggled to take dictation at 100wpm. I hate it when this happens. I know I can do it, I’m actually quite good at shorthand. I’ve been doing 120wpm the last couple of weeks, but today my hand shook too much and I was way too nervous. Only have myself to blame. So now it’s another month of swotting away at shorthand before I have to go through the stress (and possibly FAILURE) all over again. Bah. At least I have an Indian dinner to look forward to tonight.
Factoids of the Week:
Cairo has more cops per 1000 citizens than any other capital in the world. Wonder why that is?
The Amazon has a greater volume of water than the next 10 largest rivers in the world flowing into the ocean put together.
At its widest point, the Amazon is about 11km wide during the dry season, but during the rainy season, it can be 45km wide as it floods the surrounding plains.
The Amazon river dolphin (or pink river dolphin) is the largest of the world’s five freshwater dolphins. Can you tell we’ve been watching a particular episode of Planet Earth?
Sunday, January 06, 2008
We're In Denial!
Book of the Week: Making slow progress with The Narrows by Michael Connelly.
We booked our tickets to Egypt at 11.21am today. It’s absolutely, positively, undoubtedly the most exciting thing I’ve done in a long time and the anticipation is already killing me. This is certainly the most fired up I’ve been about a trip I’ve been for ages and I simply can’t wait. It would be the fulfilment of a life-long dream, the final piece to complete the archaeological jigsaw I’ve had in my head since I was six.
Athens, Rome, Istanbul and, in four months’ time, Cairo. What a 36th birthday this is going to be. I thought sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge for my 32nd would be hard to top, but I can already see the morning of May 17 2008 in my mind’s eye: sunrise over the pyramids at Giza. Sure, we’re only going to be there for a week, but this trip is going to be the Mother of all Birthday Experiences. Mental orgasms and eye candy galore time. Not an exaggeration. It’s trips like these that really give my life meaning.
The trip will involve a few ungodly hours – our flight in arrives at 2am and the flight out leaves at 3.55am – but who cares? It’s Egypt! A trip doesn’t get any more important and/or significant than this. And to psyche ourselves up even more, the both of us get to prepare with a couple of very enjoyable rituals we haven’t done for a while: 1) start a countdown to May 15 (take-off date) and 2) say CANNAE WAIT! every time we think of it (and really mean it!). Yup, I really cannae wait to toot and come in and be in denial.
Oh, and yesterday we saw The Kite Runner. It is an absolutely gorgeous movie. Made me cry. Go see it.
Factoids of the Week:
The Opera House in Cairo, which burnt down in 1971, was completed in five months in 1868 for the inaugural celebrations marking the opening of the Suez Canal. Shame nothing works as fast in Egypt these days... except maybe the touts seeking a quick buck.
Sufi comes from the word “suf”, the Arabic for wool, which is what these semi-mystical whirling dervish types originally wore. One thing that has always puzzled me about these self-denying, suffering-is-good sorts: surely meditation and union with God is easier achieved when your mind is at peace rather than thinking which part of your body you should scratch next...?
We booked our tickets to Egypt at 11.21am today. It’s absolutely, positively, undoubtedly the most exciting thing I’ve done in a long time and the anticipation is already killing me. This is certainly the most fired up I’ve been about a trip I’ve been for ages and I simply can’t wait. It would be the fulfilment of a life-long dream, the final piece to complete the archaeological jigsaw I’ve had in my head since I was six.
Athens, Rome, Istanbul and, in four months’ time, Cairo. What a 36th birthday this is going to be. I thought sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge for my 32nd would be hard to top, but I can already see the morning of May 17 2008 in my mind’s eye: sunrise over the pyramids at Giza. Sure, we’re only going to be there for a week, but this trip is going to be the Mother of all Birthday Experiences. Mental orgasms and eye candy galore time. Not an exaggeration. It’s trips like these that really give my life meaning.
The trip will involve a few ungodly hours – our flight in arrives at 2am and the flight out leaves at 3.55am – but who cares? It’s Egypt! A trip doesn’t get any more important and/or significant than this. And to psyche ourselves up even more, the both of us get to prepare with a couple of very enjoyable rituals we haven’t done for a while: 1) start a countdown to May 15 (take-off date) and 2) say CANNAE WAIT! every time we think of it (and really mean it!). Yup, I really cannae wait to toot and come in and be in denial.
Oh, and yesterday we saw The Kite Runner. It is an absolutely gorgeous movie. Made me cry. Go see it.
Factoids of the Week:
The Opera House in Cairo, which burnt down in 1971, was completed in five months in 1868 for the inaugural celebrations marking the opening of the Suez Canal. Shame nothing works as fast in Egypt these days... except maybe the touts seeking a quick buck.
Sufi comes from the word “suf”, the Arabic for wool, which is what these semi-mystical whirling dervish types originally wore. One thing that has always puzzled me about these self-denying, suffering-is-good sorts: surely meditation and union with God is easier achieved when your mind is at peace rather than thinking which part of your body you should scratch next...?
Friday, January 04, 2008
Happy Anniversary
Book of the Week: The Narrows by Michael Connelly
Time flies when you’re having fun and when you look back at the years, you can’t believe you’ve come this far, this soon.
Mum and Dad celebrate 39 years of marriage today. I love you so very much, guys. It doesn’t feel that long ago that we were marking your 25th, and before we know it, it’ll be your 40th. I’ll be home for that. It’s going to be special! Must do big do.
My blog is a year old today. Seems like just yesterday that I started it – you know you’re getting old when a year seems to go in a blink of an eye. I hope I write a lot more this year than I did last year. I certainly plan to. I must.
Factoids of the Week:
The 40th year of marriage is known as the ruby anniversary.
Anniversary comes from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for “year” and “to turn” – meaning returning yearly.
Time flies when you’re having fun and when you look back at the years, you can’t believe you’ve come this far, this soon.
Mum and Dad celebrate 39 years of marriage today. I love you so very much, guys. It doesn’t feel that long ago that we were marking your 25th, and before we know it, it’ll be your 40th. I’ll be home for that. It’s going to be special! Must do big do.
My blog is a year old today. Seems like just yesterday that I started it – you know you’re getting old when a year seems to go in a blink of an eye. I hope I write a lot more this year than I did last year. I certainly plan to. I must.
Factoids of the Week:
The 40th year of marriage is known as the ruby anniversary.
Anniversary comes from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for “year” and “to turn” – meaning returning yearly.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Feeling Broody
Book of the Week: The Narrows by Michael Connelly
Lovely fun half-day at work, and the best part is that I’ll get two days off in lieu of it. Dashed off a quickie on Philip Riddle getting an OBE, though after sending it in discovered that I needn’t have gone to the trouble of trying to get a quote from VisitScotland because it won’t be used in tomorrow’s paper anyway. And then it was away to Forth Park in Kirkcaldy to speak to two mums from Dunfermline about their little girls who were born yesterday. The babies looked so cute and cuddly, my biological clock almost detonated like a time bomb. Don’t know if it’s just my hormones going crazy (tail end of the wrong time of the month) or because babies are adorable and generally have that effect on people, but I just went all mumsy-like. And then I got a call from Hoon, and, after I calmed down from freaking me out (because she hardly ever calls me over here), got talking about kids. This has so far been a very pro-kid day. I need a mental contraceptive.
On a less scary note, I’ve decided that I want to go to Egypt for my anticipated mid-life crisis birthday this year. Should tick all the boxes to help me get over turning 36: it was probably the first country (civilisation?) to register on my consciousness (I knew more about ancient Egypt at five than I did of Malaysia), it’s got all the stuff I’m interested in, it’s a country I’ve never been to, and part of a continent I’ve yet to set foot on. So yeah. Definitely Egypt. Achievement of a lifelong dream and a hell of a lot more of life lived. As I can’t see myself getting too much time off, a week in Cairo will have to suffice – I’d much rather try to do one place in depth rather than run around like a headless chicken trying to see everything (don’t get me wrong though, I do WANT to see EVERYTHING in Egypt).
This must be some kind of record for me – three posts in as many days. I must be on a roll. The new year period really does fill one with renewed zeal and resolve. Watch me degenerate from this point.
Factoids of the Week:
Egypt has a literacy rate of only 58%.
Only 4% of the country is arable farmland. But the annual flooding of the Nile deposits some 40 million tons of silt, replenishing the topsoil.
Antony and Cleopatra were ugly. Researchers from the University of Newcastle examined a 2000-year-old Roman coin with the images of the famous lovers and found that Cleopatra had a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose, whilst Antony had bulging eyes, a thick neck and a hook nose. The researchers say the ancient Roman writers back their claims: while Roman writers describe Cleopatra as intelligent and charismatic, with a seductive voice, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty.
The earliest known surgery was performed in Egypt around 2750 BC – although there are remains from the early Harappan periods which show evidence of teeth having been drilled dating back 9000 years.
Ramesses II (“the Great” – a.k.a. the Moses pharaoh) lived to the age of 90 – the oldest pharaoh in history.
Lovely fun half-day at work, and the best part is that I’ll get two days off in lieu of it. Dashed off a quickie on Philip Riddle getting an OBE, though after sending it in discovered that I needn’t have gone to the trouble of trying to get a quote from VisitScotland because it won’t be used in tomorrow’s paper anyway. And then it was away to Forth Park in Kirkcaldy to speak to two mums from Dunfermline about their little girls who were born yesterday. The babies looked so cute and cuddly, my biological clock almost detonated like a time bomb. Don’t know if it’s just my hormones going crazy (tail end of the wrong time of the month) or because babies are adorable and generally have that effect on people, but I just went all mumsy-like. And then I got a call from Hoon, and, after I calmed down from freaking me out (because she hardly ever calls me over here), got talking about kids. This has so far been a very pro-kid day. I need a mental contraceptive.
On a less scary note, I’ve decided that I want to go to Egypt for my anticipated mid-life crisis birthday this year. Should tick all the boxes to help me get over turning 36: it was probably the first country (civilisation?) to register on my consciousness (I knew more about ancient Egypt at five than I did of Malaysia), it’s got all the stuff I’m interested in, it’s a country I’ve never been to, and part of a continent I’ve yet to set foot on. So yeah. Definitely Egypt. Achievement of a lifelong dream and a hell of a lot more of life lived. As I can’t see myself getting too much time off, a week in Cairo will have to suffice – I’d much rather try to do one place in depth rather than run around like a headless chicken trying to see everything (don’t get me wrong though, I do WANT to see EVERYTHING in Egypt).
This must be some kind of record for me – three posts in as many days. I must be on a roll. The new year period really does fill one with renewed zeal and resolve. Watch me degenerate from this point.
Factoids of the Week:
Egypt has a literacy rate of only 58%.
Only 4% of the country is arable farmland. But the annual flooding of the Nile deposits some 40 million tons of silt, replenishing the topsoil.
Antony and Cleopatra were ugly. Researchers from the University of Newcastle examined a 2000-year-old Roman coin with the images of the famous lovers and found that Cleopatra had a pointed chin, thin lips and sharp nose, whilst Antony had bulging eyes, a thick neck and a hook nose. The researchers say the ancient Roman writers back their claims: while Roman writers describe Cleopatra as intelligent and charismatic, with a seductive voice, tellingly, they do not mention her beauty.
The earliest known surgery was performed in Egypt around 2750 BC – although there are remains from the early Harappan periods which show evidence of teeth having been drilled dating back 9000 years.
Ramesses II (“the Great” – a.k.a. the Moses pharaoh) lived to the age of 90 – the oldest pharaoh in history.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Not A Good Start...
Book of the Week: Just starting on The Narrows by Michael Connelly
The first 24 hours of 2008 haven’t exactly been very good. First there was a minor spat this morning – it was assumed I was in a bad mood when I really wasn’t – which, naturally, got me pissed off AND in a bad mood, not least because I didn’t want to start the New Year on such a crap note, and having a wee argument isn’t the first thing you want to do after waking up. (I can’t help it! I have a grumpy face! Either that or I think I need to lighten up.)
And then, on the way back from Clackmannan after dinner, I realised that not only am I going to be in a new marketing questionnaire age category this year – I’ll no longer be in the target 18-35 group but be one of the 36-45s. AUUUUGH! And not just that… I’m also getting scarily close to 40. Only four more years! It’s not like it’s just dawned on me that I’ll be 40 – I’ve been aware of it even since I turned 30 – but that it’s so close now just freaks me out. Doesn’t help that the last six years have just zipped past. I foresee a mid-life crisis every birthday for the next four years.
God. I’m depressed.
Factoids of the Week:
Only 53% of the population of China speaks Mandarin (or to be precise “can effectively communicate” in the language).
The average duvet is home to 20,000 dust mites. This is turning out to be a great New Year, isn’t it? I’m going to sleep really well tonight...
Books used to be bound in human skin. And the condition of being born without an ear is called microtia.
Dogs can have two noses. Still cute and cool, though they do look a bit like the love children of Miss Piggy and something out of science fiction.
The first 24 hours of 2008 haven’t exactly been very good. First there was a minor spat this morning – it was assumed I was in a bad mood when I really wasn’t – which, naturally, got me pissed off AND in a bad mood, not least because I didn’t want to start the New Year on such a crap note, and having a wee argument isn’t the first thing you want to do after waking up. (I can’t help it! I have a grumpy face! Either that or I think I need to lighten up.)
And then, on the way back from Clackmannan after dinner, I realised that not only am I going to be in a new marketing questionnaire age category this year – I’ll no longer be in the target 18-35 group but be one of the 36-45s. AUUUUGH! And not just that… I’m also getting scarily close to 40. Only four more years! It’s not like it’s just dawned on me that I’ll be 40 – I’ve been aware of it even since I turned 30 – but that it’s so close now just freaks me out. Doesn’t help that the last six years have just zipped past. I foresee a mid-life crisis every birthday for the next four years.
God. I’m depressed.
Factoids of the Week:
Only 53% of the population of China speaks Mandarin (or to be precise “can effectively communicate” in the language).
The average duvet is home to 20,000 dust mites. This is turning out to be a great New Year, isn’t it? I’m going to sleep really well tonight...
Books used to be bound in human skin. And the condition of being born without an ear is called microtia.
Dogs can have two noses. Still cute and cool, though they do look a bit like the love children of Miss Piggy and something out of science fiction.
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