i took adrian to a mini date this afternoon for just a little recoupe and regrouping.
adrian and i do this regroup and reconvening away from home, away from the energy of work, and the mundane..and away from the computer, because when were at home, him and i are at our respective computers typing away (him on his work), while i, on my research (or Facebook,haha).
so today, we had a little date. not planned. not organised. just a "come,lets go, lets make an ordinary saturday evening special by chatting".
so we did.
my date
the place..cafe rouge
chatter chatter chatter
pleased missus...
***
on another note:
a few saturdays ago, i attended a first year old's birthday party. she is my grandniece Anya=)
my!! this little madam is now growing..why do i say so? she now knows she's being photographed..just look at the head tilt=)
if i want to remember what i did for the past few days, i get a reminder thru the pics on my iphone..
the photos on our phone are swatches of what happened during the week, as theyre the easiest and handiest photographic tool one is carrying these days.
i wanted to organise what i did this week, but i was thrown off by the anniversary date, in between events that happened before and after that.thank goodness from phone cameras, most especially, big storage in phones.
here are some photos from the phone (interspersed with photos from my Dinky Niki phone)..
ebi katsu from Wagamama meal Adrian and i enjoyed over last weekend..(iphone)
and the yummy chcken katsu curry...(iphone)
coming out of the resto/wagamamaplace, this was the lakeside 's array of restaurants.. (Nikon coolpix)
a view of how busy a weekend meal could mean...(Nikon coolpix)
*
also, i did a make up job this week, for a friend of mine.She is the mother of the bride.
she was quite happy with her make-up..For someone who doesnt wear make up, she asked me to have look that will look fresh and stay the whole afternoon til the wee hours of the morning.
(iphone)
(iphone)
(iphone)
Lisa was so happy most of all, because of her eyerows. She didnt know anyone who could draw her eyebrows the way she wanted it. She has barely there/to none eyebrows as its very thin and the colour is so fair. I had to literally draw eyebrows over and above the original one, to lift out her eyes. Yes, ladies, age is not kind to us..No matter how beautiful our features are, gravity gets to us, and it sucks..Thank you Lord for make-up.
The photo was done hours before the wedding as i had a prior engagement on the same day.
***
and then on friday, a late lunch with Bing. a filipina friend, my first ever filipina friend, when i moved to england, and who is just like my second mother. we had to squeeze a lunch meet-up because she was turning a year older this Thursday (12th) but i wont be able to see her.
We had lunch at Las Iguanas..we ordered the same exact food Ana and i ordered when the sis was here to visit me. I didnt take a photo of Bings and mine's lunch, but here's a phonecam photo of Ana and mine's lunch in May at Las Iguanas..
it was my birthday treat to a friend who is much like family to me. and we hardly see one another considering were just a few blocks away from eachother. we had to schedule meeting one another..
(iphone)
here's Bing during the ice cream dessert. This was her treat for me, and who am i to say No to ice cream?
(iphone)
***
And last night, a birthday party for Glen and Lionel at the local TGIF.
Lionel who's office is in Brussels likes TGIF for some reason (there must be no TGIF in Brussels,haha), requested to have the dinner there.
So off we went last night.
(Nikon coolpix)
(Nikon coolpix)
Heres the two..
both had birthdays together..one was the day before, one was the same exact date we celebrated. both are South Africans..and gosh theyre like family to us..
after desserts we proceeded to more drinking and karaoke at Cheryl's house.
this is a photo of Cheryl, Pamela, and Glen, saying goodbye to us.. it was around 3AM. they were about to sing (and dance) the song Pamela Wan to me as a goodbye song. (i know theyre the craziest and funniest bunch..South Africans are the best party animals there are).
At the karaoke:
They asked me to sing the song Pamela Wan. They love it even if they cant read the lyrics nor sing it. They just loved that song because it has the name Pamela on it, which is Pam's complete name.
The whole night of the karaoke, they kept asking me to sing Filipino songs, but most Filipino songs i know are in english which they felt cheated about,haha. (it made me realise, for a Filipino, im so bad, not knowing Tagalog songs much. note to self: learn more tagalog songs).
History of the Pamela Wan song: when my sister Ana visited last time, they also invited us to a karaoke party. (their karaoke machine was a gift from adrian and I from the Phils,haha). As we have turns to sing, their daughter Yentl chose to sing the Pamela Wan song to all the South African guests delight..Ana and i laughed because the daughter couldn't sing it properly,and it was weird why she was singing a filipino song.
When Ana helped her/Yentl to sing it, they asked to repeat the song for Ana to sing properly. Ana became the hero in their eyes at that instant, as they all wanted to learn the song, because everytime their whole family are together, they try to sing the song, but they dont know how.
So Ana taught them the tune, and how to pronounce the words.
How easy to make these people happy.
***
Last night they kept wishing Ana was there to sing it properly for them..I wished that too,LOL.
**
i tried singing it last night, they all loved it..even if i half guessed the tune as when that song came out in the Philippines, i was already living in the UK. i only (barely) learned the tune from Ana.
i wanted to post the video of them singing the song as a goodbye, but im so embarassed as my voice was trying to coach in the background as well. its a sound for distress i must say,haha.
**
In exchange, these South African friends of ours are also happy that we love the song we heard played on Pam's ipod one barbeque evening we attended at their house.
we loved it too much that we decided to learn the lyrics from them, and sing and dance to it.
their faces laughing but beaming with happiness that we love a SA song.
its a song called "Los Lappie"
here's the clip..
Ana and i loved it..but obviously, they were laughing because apparently it has a rude meaning. it means loose women/men,hahaha..
who knew South African-Filipino music exchange will be between rude, or crappy music, yet end up satisfying to both parties?
friday night, adrian and i were too lazy to do anything after overhauling the loft (attic) as our ''day-off" chore. decluttering is one major planned activity if you live in a small space like we do here in the UK. most of our junk is in the loft, and most of my seasonal junk is in the second/guest bedroom.
after having takeaways for the night, we decided to just have takeaways and plunk in the front room and watch mindnumbing television (like you do in hot summer nights like we have been having).
we decided wake up early the next day to go to the boot fayre (fela market) and see if we fancy anything worth getting (ironic, we just took out some junk from upstairs to buy someone else's junk,haha). [you might be happy to know,we only had donuts and coffee at the fayre as it was too hot, and we went home for lunch and a looong nap].
Adrian woke me up at almost 5 pm in the afternoon and told me that we should get ready for dinner. I was feeling tired. It was still screaming hot outside. Plus, i didnt want to leave the coolness of our airconditioned bedroom.
In true chivalric Adrian style, he said, its too hot to even cook and said, he would take me out to the mall for some cooling down and have dinner at one of the restaurants. I was happy as i was craving for pasta the entire week.
***
in related news, i got these photos using my brand new Nikon Coolpix camera..a tiny pink coloured one.it still had a warranty and all. in our clearing up of boxes, Adrian said,he still has a brandnew camera he bought for me two christmasses ago but realised its not what i wanted (coz he heard me oohh-aahh-ing over a CanonG10 and was recommended by the Jessops seller what a great cam a G10 was), so he bought me the G10 instead (but he already bought the Coolpix one). So he planned to return the Coolpix after the new year..and forgot about it--so in short, it was never returned within its allowable period of 28 days.
another christmas has passed, its still sitting in one of his filing cabinet.
so who am i to say no to a camera??? its a dinky little 8megapixel one, but it works like magic. great for those restaurant moments, where i dont get self conscious taking pics.
photos from saturday night..using my Dinky Niki
at 830pm..the sun was shining and had no plans of leaving
in true world cup fever..
we stayed inside the airconditioned restaurant..the outside was very humid
'love long days like these
i cant be bothered putting on make up when its humid..i feel sticky and lazy..and i sweat alot..so just sunblock, first coat of mascara and a lipbalm, voila! looking like a fresh lola..(PS> ok,ok, a little erasure of my zits via Photoshop..but shush, its our secret)
my lovely husband...no photoshop required.haha
can you tell, i had a big nap? i was still feeling dazed at this time..
best paired with the italian pasta
our favourite starter.the classico..i swear, i wish they serve rice to pair off with my calamari's=)
my fave everywhere i go, i always have pasta gamberi..medium spicy too=)
**
we went home to our dessert: we had red wine and cheeses (brie, camembert ,stilton and mature cheddar) and bannofee pie paired with vanilla ice cream...and watched Alice in Wonderland DVD..
these are the best things that no money could account for.
but really, if he/she was infront of me, he/she would be getting more than just a slap on the wrist.
***
on other news, i have been extremely busy. this is my most stressful week.
my family is leaving on sunday (13th) and this week is assignment handing-in week. to put those two together is crazy.
not to mention having guests who are here for only a period of time, meant having parties every week (at least). or being invited to parties in honor of them, apart from touring them around (during the days), and me slaving at the computer (at nights where were not partying or going out).
i also have been foolish to book myself for a photographic photoshop/printing course months ago, thinking that my family would have been here and gone for their planned July trip. but the July trip was never to become and became a November-December affair. i went to the course on Saturday (5th of december) for a whole day, when i/we didnt get home til 2 am from a party the night before that was done in honor for my Mama and sibs done by my close friends the Donns(Cheryl and Glenn).
upon arriving home,after the course, i went home to a full house, as we had Adrian's son Paul and his girlfriend with us for the night to celebrate a christmas meal for the next day (with Adrian's entire family). the next day Sunday (6th) was just as exhausting as we had to be up early and do a 10 kilo organic turkey for the christmas meal (and other christmassy traditional food that came with it: gammon, mince pies, pudding, etc)we were making.
that day was a christmas party for the family as Adrian and i were not celebrating christmas in England this year. So Adrian's sons and Adrian's siblings/my inlaws were around for that. My Mama, Ana and Roi, had their first English christmas lunch and how authentic can one have it but have it in England and sharing it with the new extended family.
That day ended really late, and most late esp for me because i was buying time to do my assignments too.
Needless to say, I am so looking forward to my (well deserved) vacation in Cebu with a big grin and no worries on my mind (please God).
You know what they say, whatever doesnt kill you, makes you stronger. If i survive essays and research with christmas parties all around, and family visiting, and still enjoy it, im sure, id be enjoying my vacation even more, sans assignment deadlines, and it will be me who's being given the tour.
too many things happened the last few days, and commitments were up to my neck, i didnt have time to upload these photos.
after a long nap, i am revved up to reading some more research before waking up early for university tomorrow.
but before then, let me share these photos.
***
Friday, 25th of September
me,the bday girl,and my king
expectant grandparents (as of taking this photo, they were anticipating a phone call regarding their daughter-in-law who was expecting on the 26th..she gave birth on the 28th)
i loved the place's ambience,quiet and subdued...il bertorelli italian restaurant
my starter...kingprawn sumthing,lol...the prawn was best paired with that sourdough bread
mushroom starter again for A
i could do with some of these now
Mark had penne pasta (marinara), and adrian had big slice of lasagna
Alan's dessert
peach melba for Anne
Adrian's lemon sorbet
mine...chocolate cheesecake
***
september 26
iwas craving for thai food since the start of september. i knew i wanted to eat in a thai resto for my birthday so i opted to wait.
this day, everyone made sure they didnt have a big lunch so they could make the most of our dining out,LOL.
in the end, we were so gutom, i didnt have the urge to take photos when we were eating.
can you imagine this was good for 3 persons only starter? but still, we ate all of it..this set was for me, adrian and glen
cheryl's and eve's starter(they didnt finish it, so we helped them,LOL)
the waitress,LOL
after dinner..having coffee
***
27th of september
regent's park, breast cancer research pink aerobics...
calming down...
the hubby, where i deposited him before the aerobics,LOL.
there are stories behind silences, pregnant pauses and thwarted thoughts.
what goes behind the curtains, is written.
this is evidence of a life lived, thoughts evoked and emotions stoked, when the time comes for goodbyes.
