let's get out of here! (day 1)

hours after arrival, we dined in a restuarant that was highly recommended in the magazine we found in the seat pocket on the plane. it was situated by the old harbour of reykjavik... sounds very promising. when we were seated, we found that its huge glass windows were facing the main road. how disappointing! the food was fantastic, nonetheless, and that was comfort enough. halfway through the meal, i made my way to the little girls' room which, to my surprise, offered a grand view of the harbour.

"let's get out of here! quick!"

i wanted to be outside. who could blame me? have a look at the old harbour basking in the blue dusk at midnight.

old harbour in reykjavik

endless days (day 7)

sunset over hindisvik

the arctic circle (66°N latitude) enjoys 24 hours of daylight in the peak of summer. if you had paid attention in geography class all those years ago, you will know that it is due to the rotation of the earth along its skewed axis. i was always daydreaming in geog class, so i had to read all that up when i started travelling around. iceland, however, is not within the arctic circle but due to the defraction of light (were you paying attention in physics class?), you can see the midnight sun. theorectically, anyway, if it's not foggy, overcast or pouring with rain.

as luck would have it, on 21st june, otherwise known as the summer solstice (longest day of the year), it was indeed foggy, overcast and pouring with rain. no chance of catching the much fabled midnight sun looping its way back up the sky. hmph.

2 days (or should i say 2 nights) later, the skies miraculously cleared and we staked out in the bone numbing cold by the sea to catch this phenomenon. the sun swept leisurely down towards the line of mountains across the bay, throwing brillant red colours across the sky and the reflecting sea. sunset - my fav time of the day! bathed in the exceptionally beautiful golden light, the grass on which i sat on glowed iridescent and the sea sparkled with a million diamond fishes dancing on its receding tide. even with the freezing arctic winds whipping mercilessly, i felt an inner sense of calm in the golden evening light.

and then the sun seemed to stop moving. did it go back up? or to the left? no, it looped over to the right in a slow graceful u-turn and then - sunrise!

sunrise over hindisvik
notice that it had moved to the right of the mountain range

surreal!!! absolutely surreal!!! if not for the cold, i would be jumping up and down whopping with jubilation at this sight. instead, i wriggled my toes to keep them from going numb and sat there with a contented smile and a heart brimming over with joy and wonder.

endless days with the midnight sun. breathlessly beautiful.

ice iceland baby

jokulsarlon glacier lake

i'd spent a total of 8 days in iceland, of which 6 days were spent on the road. we did a loop along the ring road that goes around the peripherial of the island, starting from reykjavik, the capital city. on the morning of the start of our road trip, we checked the weather forecast which advised us to head towards the southern part of the island first. thus proceeding in the anti-clockwise direction, we headed off to the unknown.

distance covered: 2027km in total.

now the background of my little trip is set. be patient, i have lots of stories to share but first i need to get a little organised with life, work and dirty muddy laundry.

more to come...

dog

i was walking home from work yesterday, feeling released from madness that can only be called : crazy week at work. phew, the toughest part of the week done with.

as i turned into my street, a huge black dog trotted towards me and stopped about 3 metres away. it then proceeded to take a dump. right there in front of me. needless to say, i was rather offended by this total lack of courtesy and consideration. there was not even a tailwag to acknowledge my presence. yes, true, it was just a dog going about its normal business. but why right there in front of me? i wrinkled my nose in disgust.

following some distance behind was the owner, decked out in over-the-top designer rags that only the parisians can get away with. she sauntered leisurely towards the creature in question. perfect timing, it had just finished its business and both owner and dog continued their stroll in the lovely spring evening. leaving behind a fresh pile of excrement right smack in the middle of the pavement.

amazing.

anyhow, i wouldn't let that unfaze me too much. the weekend is here - and i'm travelling again. this time, it's a proper holiday in iceland! counting down to the seconds until i get on to the plane. hopefully the icelandic dogs are better mannered.

i thought of you today

... and that thought made me smile...

call me: verdict

so the verdict is... NO CALL.

i'm somewhat relieved. yeah, it was clear that i didn't really find the guy interesting but as faaabio insisted, we have to reward the guy for having an innovative approach. i just thought that it would encourage him to continue his bad behaviour. as ei pointed out, why go through this televoting at all? well, it's fun! and i just wanted to see what you guys out there think...

i received this email from the birthday girl after she read call me.

What can I say?! Since it was my party, and I witnessed this whole cat and mouse chase I can say it was truely amusing. What you didn't tell was the point where he kind of danced with you and grabbed your ass!! Big time!! And the business card, wow! Maybe it's fate :-)!! x x

and my reply?

he grabbed my ass? the bastard! good thing i was too drunk to remember that!!!

thank you for all your votes!!!

time management

friend: why is your blog like "sex and the city" but without all the sex?
ananas: because there isn't any! i spend too much time blogging!

friend: and what's up with all these brief encounters with different guys?
ananas: (tongue-in-cheek) it's just fodder for my blog, i'm a blog slut!

friend: (nagging tone) but aren't you interested in any of them at all?
ananas: not really, they only last as long as they can inspire my thoughts. besides i have no time for a real relationship.

i gave it some serious thought. i hadn't realised it but this situation is serious if i have no time for a real relationship. did i actually say that? what activities am i doing that is sucking up all my time and energy, exactly? are they noble and grand things that justifies my time?

no time for a real relationship? am i really blogging / reading blogs / commenting on other blogs so much that real life fades and cyber reality takes over?

i did a quick analysis of my time spent over an average work week:

sleep: 35% of time
7 hours per weekday (including that 40 winks on the bus to work, dozing off during presentations and meetings,...) and 12 hours on weekends. sometimes more, usually less but always never enough. i do sound like i sleep an awful lot!

work: 33% of time
i do regular office hour plus a regular dose of overtime. take away 2 hours of lunch (i'm in france afterall)... and it adds up to 33% of my life. wow, i'm more hardworking than i thought. or is it because i'm simply too inefficient?

internet: 23% of time
blogging, emails, random surfing, not so random surfing, blogging... did i mention blogging? it all adds up anyhow.

basic survival stuff: 10% of time
supermarket, cooking, cleaning, laundry. but not ironing. never ironing. i'm still waiting for my pile of crumbled clothes to magically turn into wrinkle-free shirts hanging neatly in my closet. basic chores but essential for a decent living.

real human interaction: 5% of time
this includes calling my mum, chatting with colleagues on the way to the bus stop after work, weekend nights out, weekday beer sessions,...

right, i just realised that all that adds up to 106%. no wonder i have no time for anything beyond random meetings with different guys. so i guess it's going to be "sex and the city" without all the sex for now. hmph!

call me

i was at a birthday party the week before last.

this guy started chatting with me. the party was pretty cool with lots of cute and friendly guys, so needless to say, i didn't want to be stuck with the same guy all night. i mingled and talked to some other people. there was quite a good mix of people from all over europe (and singapore if you count me in) which meant that english was the dominent conversation language. fantastic!

this same (now tipsy) guy started following me around the party. we chatted a little more, and he passed me his card. by that time i was sure that i had zero interest in the guy. well, since he was a friend of the birthday girl, i took his card and then slinked off as fast as i could. he proceeded to hound me throughout the rest of the party. when i was dancing with a friend, he cut in and insisted on dancing with me. when i was talking to another friend, he stood right behind me and tried to put his arm over my shoulders. a game of hide and seek ensued. it didn't help that i was wearing a bright orange dress that glowed neon bright in the dim lights.

when he finally managed to corner me, he accused me of leading him on (what???) and that i would never call him (at least he got that right). he asked for his namecard back and then, right there and then, he set it on fire. pretty drunk by then, i watched in amazement at the little blazing card. the flames were dancing in slo-mo. wow, that baby can burn! urmm... hope he doesn't burn my dress!

the next day, i found his namecard in my purse. i didn't recall keeping it and my pounding headache prevented me from remembering why. all i could see in my mind was that blazing namecard. pretty awesome, i must confess that i was rather impressed. i took a closer look at the charred card and shook my head. i conceded defeat. this guy, drunk or sober, was a real expert. he had burned a corner of the card that had his company logo, leaving intact his name and mobile phone number. now i call that finesse!

but i didn't call him. do you think i should?

the week i went through the looking glass

i'd left paris for the week. i put my cat under the care of my intern and i packed up and i left. no looking back! i ate, i didn't sleep very much, and i drank cup after cup of rich black coffee. during the brief hours of sleep, i dreamt unsettling dreams that i forget as soon as i wake. i imagined the cat curled up next to me in bed, in the safety of the crock of my legs. i didn't go on the internet though i did miss it from time to time - my fingers ached for the familiar feel of the french azerty keyboard. i didn't want to be in contact with anyone. i called my mum twice and both times i had the urge to hang up as soon as i heard mum's "hello?".

i have swung back to life again. i am glad to be back.

flight or fight

are you someone who stands his ground and fights for his rights with both fists?
are you someone who runs away when startled?
me? i'm flight.
like this week...
i've flown off again.
june is my month of emotional rollercoaster.
perhaps the double pisces sign is no match for the twin gemini sign.
maybe its the cheeky cancer crab that is chasing me around.
i figured its a good time to fly away.
don't look back!

fav time of the day

my fav time of the day has always been in the evening. you know the short time just before the sun dips under the horizon until the skies melt into true black. because singapore is so near the equator, the sun travels directly overhead and so this period of semi-dimness only lasts about half an hour.

when i was still in university, this was the time when i would be chilling out outside my hostel room, legs propped up against the corridor balcony that overlooks the little garden square by the building. there is an old tree, spreading its arm protectively over the square. i can still see it clearly in my mind, the leaves and their shadows dancing in the setting sun. it was my little precious period of peace after my last class of the day.

in europe, due to the distance from the equator and the resulting seasons, this "evening" can start as early as 3 in the afternoon with the sun hastily escaping the winter cold, or like now, it lasts for 3 hours until 11pm. what luxury! i take walks along the river, basking in this magical twilight. there aren't any little garden squares that i can overlook now, but the giant trees along the seine is dancing to the same joyous tune with their shadows.

hate

today is my day of hate. i'm not talking about the mushroom cloud explosion of emotion. my hatred, today, is a laser beam of intense pure hate.

which poor souls had the ill-fortune of stirring up such extreme negative energy from me? i got one word for you: taxi drivers.

this morning i had to bring the cat to the vet, which is located right next to my office. i have 3 options as modes of transport.

1. bus - noisy, crowded. it takes about 20 minutes but i have to walk quite a distance to the vet's clinic. trauma level for the cat: high.

2. taxi - easy lazy way out. the taxi stand is just outside my apartment and i get to alight glamourously right at the front of the vet's. trauma level for the cat: negligible.

3. by foot - a walk along the calm side streets. it is a rather pleasant walk , but lugging the cat carrier for 40 minutes is hard work. trauma level for the cat: medium.

obviously being the lazy bum that i am, i chose to take the easy way out. no taxis at the stand. i waited with the cat. one arrived. he said no, he doesn't carry animals. i tried to convince him that i'm only going a short distance and anyway the cat is safely kept in the carrier. non, he said firmly. pas d'animal.

the next taxi that arrived had an asian driver. non, he said. i tried to use my "hey we're asians, let's help each other out" card. he didn't bulge. was there some conspiracy to ban animals from taxis today?

third one came. i planted myself comfortably on the backseat and refused to move. he started shouting. i said no, i would not get off and he had to take me, besides it was only just down the road. he continued shouting at me to get off. my cat got scared and started yowling. he got even more upset. i got out, swore at him in english and slammed the door really hard. the taxi queue watched the drama with detached amusement. what's this crazy girl doing?

i took the bus in the end. cat was agitated. i was upset. the vet was displeased that i was late. trauma level for cat: extreme. trauma level for cat owner: out of scale.

hate. intense hate.