The cycle that is life...
I feel like life has put me on the spin cycle and has suddenly spat me out. I'm sitting here dazed, bored and wondering what the hell I'm going to do for the next few weeks.
These last month has been so full on that these moments spent at home in the house are driving me abit bonkers. Royals Ascot races was such a treat! Being a first time race goer i was so pleased I got to see the queen (I only reaslied when i came home to find pics of her on my camera) and we won some decent £'s winning 3/4 races we bet on. We of course were in the cheapy circle but the atmosphere was awesome! It was especially nice to see so many men in formal attire complete with long tails and top hats!
There has once again been a farewell or two and a welcome here and there to yet more aussies. If I have said its like a mini cabramatta here, make that a mini sydney. You run away from home but it always finds you!
***Ohhh ohhh let me intterupt myself...it must be noted that im sitting here watching Sally Jessie Raphael, and todays topic is "Sally, please help me find my long lost love" (somebody save me)
My parents arrived in London a few weeks ago and it was so surreal having them here. It felt like I was home but in London at the same time. Seeing pictures of them in front of big ben and the london eye and all the typical monumental buildings looked almost as if they were photos shopped in. I just couldn't believe that they were here with me. All that inital emotion faded pretty quickly, on came the lectures and the "when are you coming home? when are you getting married?" and it felt like old times. It felt like it was the 4 of us sitting in out family kitchen gas bagging over dinner, only this time it was minus and brother and sub in the lover. Ahh good times! They have come and gone now, and boy was it nice having them here.
My plants are positively glowing and for the first time since i have moved in and inherited them, they are green....like all over! I usually have brown and burnt leaves at the tips (i don't know why) They have been repotted and pampered and almost brought back to life! All my pants have been hemmed and patched up and my missing buttons sewed on :) it's to great to have mum here!!!! I have vietnamese goodies in the freezer and 2 litres of vietnamese liquid gold in my fridge. I couldn't be any happier! It was like a years worth of family goodness rammed into a week or two.
I was lucky enough to spend a week with them in Spain and Morroco as well. I absolutely adore Spain, and was glad i got to share one of its wonderful cities with them. While in Barcelona i discovered razor clams, I don't think you can get them in oz but they are a type of clam/ scallop as long as knives and forks and boy are they blo0dy yummy! It was there that i fell in love with the works of Mr Gaudi, his park, his home and his amazing architecture was mezmerising! I could go on and on about spain, the people are so friendly, the weather fantastic and the food to die for.
Morroco was abit more hectic and hot. In Marrakech city it reached up to 50 degrees in at late afternoons and it felt like ants were biting me wherever the sun was shining on me. It was a hot and hectic experience but a rather funny one! Being in marrakech made me feel like in a different world completely. Almost everyone is muslim in Morroco and the mosques aplenty. We stayed in a gorgeous little Riad right near the main square and quite close to 3 different mosques. Starting at 5 or 6 am the call for prayers can be heard 4-5 times on the loud speakers throughtout the day. Non muslims arent allowed into the mosques but you can catch a glimpse of what goes on inside, just outside the doors where carpets are layed out for men who have arrived late and didnt secure a spot inside. If that wasn't enough to plunge us into a completely different culture then there where snake charmers and medicine docters selling bones and odd looking things in jars. One of my favourites attractions was a game they played called fishing for bottles. The aim was to place a ring tied to a fishing rod over the top of a bottle of soda, usually when you see this at a fun fair theres a prize gallery. There was I with a confused look asking "So...what the purpose and what do I win?" He wasn't able to tell me but i realised there was no prize, correction, there was a prize, it was the bottle? (a luxury to them) I hope i didnt seem rude. The locals were loving it!
The market square at night can be somewhat over whelming, as you approach the square you start to hear drumming and flutes and you can see a huge cloud of smoke ascending into the sky. Upon close inspection you will find stall after stall of cooked on the spot food and many many orange juice carts surrounding the stalls. You have your raw meats your cooked meats your deep fried fish chiggen vegies and salads all layed out in front of you on a cart and you point at what you want to eat and they bring it. I put my hygenisms and prissiness aside to have this first marrakechi meal and was doing ok until we spotted the kiosk across from us serving god knows what but it was being scooped out of a lambs head! If that wasn't enough to make me a schmiggen queezy, my waiter when asked to re cook a piece of meat scooped it up with his mechanic looking fingers and threw it on the grill. Yes yes i know, what was i really expecting? I think its the same the world over, your food will always be handled with hands but mind you i saw him digging out a nugget from his nose a few moments before. The food did look really good, the verdict afterwards? Not so good. Rather greasy and left a feeling much like i swallowed a spoon of msg in my throat. Hey it was only the first meal i was really looking forward to tucking into some tagine and cous cous the next day. One thing that i loved straight off the bat was the freshly squeezed orange juice. It was so sweet and cheap and so refreshing. After a meal or a hassling walk thru the Souks (markets) a glass of orange juice was the perfect pick me up.
It isnt easy looking asian and speaking english in marrakech, everywhere we went we'd hear ni hao konichiwa, arigato, you japosaise? chinoise? phillipine? When you shake your head to all of these and say australian they say bullshit. They do throw in a few malaysians and cambodians here and there but never vietnamese. Some of them have their english accents down to a T, exskoooooose moiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. After 4 days i was so happy to get away from the "just look its free, you sexxy girl, where you going? you buy my babouches, its real berber!!!!"
After the first nights meal i was ready to hit the tagines and cous cous, after the first two meals of such i was craving anything but tagine, anything but cous cous and bread, anything that wasnt cooked in those morrocan spices. Don't get me wrong the fo0d is awesome but there's no variety, you can either have lamb tagine and cous cous, beef tagine and cous cous or chiggen tagine and cous cous or pigeon pastry which was sweet (stomache churn). My last few meals in marrakech were pizza and pasta, and i tell you italiano never tasted so blo0dy good!
Sightseeing in marrakech is limited to mosques, palaces, more mosques and 1 museum. There are plenty of day trips to be done which i didnt want to do with the olds as it would have been too intensive for them. We did go visit some berber villages and waterfall(s). Theres 7 to be seen and i almost passed out after the first one so we didnt go on. We had the aid of a guide and he told us prior to taking us up a lady with silly shoes slipped and fell on the rocks and cracked her head open. Silly me only brought havianas with me on this trip and had to throw on my mum kicks for the trek up. I actually walked past the spilled blo0d and didnt feel so silly about the kicks at all.
Despite the hassling I received, the heat and the lack of variety of food. I have a special place in my heart for marrakech. I find the people while so aggressive with sales we very kind hearted and helpful when they weren't trying to rip you off. Their religion, customs, traditions and way of life will always mesmerize me. All this said i'll admit by day 4 i was very ready to leave, i was very over the heat and the noise but I know i'll be back!
There was only a night in between our return from morroco and my parents leaving. It sure felt like 3 weeks flew by within the blink of an eye. I found myself once again at airport bawling like a big baby, tears streaming down my cheeks and waving goodbye, story of my life!!! Only this time is was them leaving, not me.
These last month has been so full on that these moments spent at home in the house are driving me abit bonkers. Royals Ascot races was such a treat! Being a first time race goer i was so pleased I got to see the queen (I only reaslied when i came home to find pics of her on my camera) and we won some decent £'s winning 3/4 races we bet on. We of course were in the cheapy circle but the atmosphere was awesome! It was especially nice to see so many men in formal attire complete with long tails and top hats!
There has once again been a farewell or two and a welcome here and there to yet more aussies. If I have said its like a mini cabramatta here, make that a mini sydney. You run away from home but it always finds you!
***Ohhh ohhh let me intterupt myself...it must be noted that im sitting here watching Sally Jessie Raphael, and todays topic is "Sally, please help me find my long lost love" (somebody save me)
My parents arrived in London a few weeks ago and it was so surreal having them here. It felt like I was home but in London at the same time. Seeing pictures of them in front of big ben and the london eye and all the typical monumental buildings looked almost as if they were photos shopped in. I just couldn't believe that they were here with me. All that inital emotion faded pretty quickly, on came the lectures and the "when are you coming home? when are you getting married?" and it felt like old times. It felt like it was the 4 of us sitting in out family kitchen gas bagging over dinner, only this time it was minus and brother and sub in the lover. Ahh good times! They have come and gone now, and boy was it nice having them here.
My plants are positively glowing and for the first time since i have moved in and inherited them, they are green....like all over! I usually have brown and burnt leaves at the tips (i don't know why) They have been repotted and pampered and almost brought back to life! All my pants have been hemmed and patched up and my missing buttons sewed on :) it's to great to have mum here!!!! I have vietnamese goodies in the freezer and 2 litres of vietnamese liquid gold in my fridge. I couldn't be any happier! It was like a years worth of family goodness rammed into a week or two.
I was lucky enough to spend a week with them in Spain and Morroco as well. I absolutely adore Spain, and was glad i got to share one of its wonderful cities with them. While in Barcelona i discovered razor clams, I don't think you can get them in oz but they are a type of clam/ scallop as long as knives and forks and boy are they blo0dy yummy! It was there that i fell in love with the works of Mr Gaudi, his park, his home and his amazing architecture was mezmerising! I could go on and on about spain, the people are so friendly, the weather fantastic and the food to die for.
Morroco was abit more hectic and hot. In Marrakech city it reached up to 50 degrees in at late afternoons and it felt like ants were biting me wherever the sun was shining on me. It was a hot and hectic experience but a rather funny one! Being in marrakech made me feel like in a different world completely. Almost everyone is muslim in Morroco and the mosques aplenty. We stayed in a gorgeous little Riad right near the main square and quite close to 3 different mosques. Starting at 5 or 6 am the call for prayers can be heard 4-5 times on the loud speakers throughtout the day. Non muslims arent allowed into the mosques but you can catch a glimpse of what goes on inside, just outside the doors where carpets are layed out for men who have arrived late and didnt secure a spot inside. If that wasn't enough to plunge us into a completely different culture then there where snake charmers and medicine docters selling bones and odd looking things in jars. One of my favourites attractions was a game they played called fishing for bottles. The aim was to place a ring tied to a fishing rod over the top of a bottle of soda, usually when you see this at a fun fair theres a prize gallery. There was I with a confused look asking "So...what the purpose and what do I win?" He wasn't able to tell me but i realised there was no prize, correction, there was a prize, it was the bottle? (a luxury to them) I hope i didnt seem rude. The locals were loving it!
The market square at night can be somewhat over whelming, as you approach the square you start to hear drumming and flutes and you can see a huge cloud of smoke ascending into the sky. Upon close inspection you will find stall after stall of cooked on the spot food and many many orange juice carts surrounding the stalls. You have your raw meats your cooked meats your deep fried fish chiggen vegies and salads all layed out in front of you on a cart and you point at what you want to eat and they bring it. I put my hygenisms and prissiness aside to have this first marrakechi meal and was doing ok until we spotted the kiosk across from us serving god knows what but it was being scooped out of a lambs head! If that wasn't enough to make me a schmiggen queezy, my waiter when asked to re cook a piece of meat scooped it up with his mechanic looking fingers and threw it on the grill. Yes yes i know, what was i really expecting? I think its the same the world over, your food will always be handled with hands but mind you i saw him digging out a nugget from his nose a few moments before. The food did look really good, the verdict afterwards? Not so good. Rather greasy and left a feeling much like i swallowed a spoon of msg in my throat. Hey it was only the first meal i was really looking forward to tucking into some tagine and cous cous the next day. One thing that i loved straight off the bat was the freshly squeezed orange juice. It was so sweet and cheap and so refreshing. After a meal or a hassling walk thru the Souks (markets) a glass of orange juice was the perfect pick me up.
It isnt easy looking asian and speaking english in marrakech, everywhere we went we'd hear ni hao konichiwa, arigato, you japosaise? chinoise? phillipine? When you shake your head to all of these and say australian they say bullshit. They do throw in a few malaysians and cambodians here and there but never vietnamese. Some of them have their english accents down to a T, exskoooooose moiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. After 4 days i was so happy to get away from the "just look its free, you sexxy girl, where you going? you buy my babouches, its real berber!!!!"
After the first nights meal i was ready to hit the tagines and cous cous, after the first two meals of such i was craving anything but tagine, anything but cous cous and bread, anything that wasnt cooked in those morrocan spices. Don't get me wrong the fo0d is awesome but there's no variety, you can either have lamb tagine and cous cous, beef tagine and cous cous or chiggen tagine and cous cous or pigeon pastry which was sweet (stomache churn). My last few meals in marrakech were pizza and pasta, and i tell you italiano never tasted so blo0dy good!
Sightseeing in marrakech is limited to mosques, palaces, more mosques and 1 museum. There are plenty of day trips to be done which i didnt want to do with the olds as it would have been too intensive for them. We did go visit some berber villages and waterfall(s). Theres 7 to be seen and i almost passed out after the first one so we didnt go on. We had the aid of a guide and he told us prior to taking us up a lady with silly shoes slipped and fell on the rocks and cracked her head open. Silly me only brought havianas with me on this trip and had to throw on my mum kicks for the trek up. I actually walked past the spilled blo0d and didnt feel so silly about the kicks at all.
Despite the hassling I received, the heat and the lack of variety of food. I have a special place in my heart for marrakech. I find the people while so aggressive with sales we very kind hearted and helpful when they weren't trying to rip you off. Their religion, customs, traditions and way of life will always mesmerize me. All this said i'll admit by day 4 i was very ready to leave, i was very over the heat and the noise but I know i'll be back!
There was only a night in between our return from morroco and my parents leaving. It sure felt like 3 weeks flew by within the blink of an eye. I found myself once again at airport bawling like a big baby, tears streaming down my cheeks and waving goodbye, story of my life!!! Only this time is was them leaving, not me.