Wie geht es Ihnen ?

Go on, babelfish it.

Its my second day in zurich and I am regretting not buying books I was interested in when I was in London. London is MY city for books. Its good that its only 50 quid and 90 minutes away, unlike Toronto which is a good eight hours in the air.

It takes me travelling to realise whether a country has made an impact on me. Uk and the midlands certainly has, and though it was not really according to plan, I think I did ok. Certainly I am now again floating around and unsure of what to do with myself, but lets hope the job gives me some concrete reason to settle properly here in Zurich.

Today I am hanging around Limmenplatz, the shopping district of Zurich (i think) and I intend to get totally lost on the public transport system, which of course is fantastic. Above ground, its trams ... kind of like Toronto's tram system, but smoother, quieter, cleaner, PUNCTUAL and very similar to singaporean buses internally. West Midlands Train Commission, eat your heart out.

Last few thoughts on the UK.... on the last day I was staying at IBIS Exel hotel, which is next to the london flood barrier and the exel marina. It felt vey much like home in Toronto. I had a view of the big monstrosity, the millennium dome, similar to the giant lollipop of TO.

But back to it, water does calm me, and if I ever get home to SG i think I am going to be a bit of a brat and head into watersports. G saw me off at the city airport and there is nothing like being sent off. It gives one a reason to go back.

Now, all I have to figure out tonight is where to go to party.

Spricht hier jemand Englisch?

xx
g

Hallo from Zürich

Day 1 from Zürich

Hallo folks. I have finally gotten some sleep after my flight to zurich. This is a beautiful city, what more can i say? I have to admit though, in the first hour I panicked because I do not speak a word of german. My french helped but just barely made it to this travel bookstore, where I promptly bought a map and a stack of travel language cards.

I do not think I will be out clubbing tonight, had a small tea of babybel cheese, sausage and baguette washed down with some good old coffee. Very spartan yes ? I have also noticed that I have taken to franglish, ie speaking english but with french grammar and tense. People understand me better somehow.

It looks like German is the new language to learn, which is a shame because I cannot study two languages in one so Russian will have to wait.

4 Hours Later ..............

Just came back from LeCasa, this live jazz joint. Its very comforting to hear Hendrix, Steve Miller and such after a day of Lost in Translation. The standard of live jazz gigs here is amazing. Technically superior to anything I have heard so far, and I have seen my fair share of crooners and cats. Ah, also, men here are hawks! I appreciate the attention, but they don't seem to take a hint that I am not interested. Its been a couple of hours and I have had to run into shops twice just to get away.

Also, news on my current insomnia...... this time I slept plenty well at night. It could be my nostalgie for gin and tonic, but thats brilliant.

Auf Weidersehen !
g

Confirmation

News !

I will be placed in Zurich. So its now Zurich, Zurich, Zurich. No Middle East for me yet. I am very happy. Right now I am down with the sniffles but this has made my day. I am still cautious and not really confident about this move, but hey, its just a lapse. Once I am there I will be the same as always.

Now to repack and shove all my shirts in the case.

One sad thing is, I had a talk with the director he asked me why Middle East. Besides the obvious $, I had to note I wasn't keen on going back to Singapore. I miss my folks and relatives, chap chye, crab, kuay teow, curry, laksa..... damn what do you call that pack of lemongrass rice with the fried egg, ikan bilis and chicken wing...

This topic has come up a lot of late : Why don't I go home. Honestly, its because I am afraid I will never leave. Its not easy leaving. Sure, I have had a fancy life eating out in restos, going to the coolest clubs and flying wherever I want to. But it doesn't beat having a sit down dinner with the folks.

Headed off in aaaaaaaaa jet plane.

Courtesy of Amy, Amy, Amy

More bloody lists.

Alright, here is the schedule

Sunday 24th Feb
Go to merry hill, with europe's largest carpark, and buy a suitcase that will hold a tonne of stuff AND that I can carry around the world.
Head back and pack with
x1 3-piece suit
x3 Office Skirts
x8 Shirts
x2 Trousers
x2 Jeans
x5 Basques [Essential]
x5 Pairs of shoes
x1 Pajamas
x1 Slippers
x1 Ipod [AKA Baby, Precious, Heart Support System]
x1 PSP and umds
x1 Portable hard drive
x1 Laptop [Chewbacca, 19" Brick]
x3 Bags
x2 Jeans
x1 Aviators
Assorted stationary, dictaphone, notepad and books
Assorted toiletries
Pants [undies, knickers, thongs and grannies]
And everything else goes in storage! Again! I also have the conundrum of figuring out how to pack shirts without creasing them.
Things to Buy
World travel adaptor
Locks
Portable toothbrush
Travellers cheques

Monday 25th Feb
Recover from packing
Reflect on living in the UK for 6 whole months.
Read work materials
Print travelling receipts
Goodbyes
Tuesday 26th Feb
Head to Reading in the afternoon
Hang out in Reading
Wednesday 27th Feb
Hang out in London
Thursday 28th Feb
London City airport
Fly to Zurich.
Check into hotel and twiddle thumbs.
Party
Friday 29th Feb
Recover
Party
Saturday 1st March
Panic

ARRRRRRR SHE BLOWS

Sea Legs and the Solent

I had a fun couple of days with G. He took me all the way to the solent, which is where he sails. Its the waterway inbetween the isle of wright and the mainland... and if it wasn't for the weather I would have found my sea legs again. He was planning on bringing me to Wright, which is wonderful and is something I should see before I head over to Switzerland.

If I can remember ...from Reading we went through the new forest, which is actually an old forest, saw loads of pheasant this time round.... and to Beaulieu, which is where the armada used to be built. We went to this famous little place called the Master Builder's Hotel. More little villages here and there, oh and Southampton, a medieval walled city which I insisted he drive around in and have tonnes of pictures of. In exchange I was his tech support for a day

I feel happy. Its been awhile since I could fall asleep properly and be taken care of, be shuttled around and generally be fed well. Nothing better than a guy who bothers to buy you your favorite brand of cereal.

Pictures !

Sausages.

I am watching KD Lang on the bbc iplayer right now. Its been a nice day of music browsing and packing. All my stuff fits into three luggages now, yay me. Realistically, I can leave one behind and take two to Zurich. I have been putting off signing on the dotted line till tomorrow because my head still aches and I am finally sleepy at the right time. I am taking the job though. D looked distinctly worried that I was having second thoughts. So the plan : Train in Zurich and pitch for the middle east. If things don't go well in Dubai......NO PROMISES....... they have a Singapore office. Remember how I said I'd only ever work in Singapore if I had an expats salary ? This is it.

I am now going to iron all my white shirts. I have a couple. A couple couple. Ok fine, half a dozen. I am trying to figure out how to do this. All the work clothes in one bag and casuals in another, then frivolous shoes and bags in the last.... or an equal distribution for three gwen-packs. Or maybe half and half work and pleasure and shoes and bags. Maybe I should cut it down to two. I really like this Zen thing right now, unloading and repacking and tossing away stuff that I don't need.

I was doodling today and came up with a new blog design. It would be pretty cool if I actually had a scanner now.

xx
g

Mid-Life Crisis part 2

BALLS. I am going to have a heart attack. The world is not full of doctors, lawyers and scientists. Its full of salespeople. Its full of people who actually don't do anything much but live their lives struggling along and paying a mortgage.

I should do what my friend Paul has done, said f**k it, and travel the world endlessly, drifting from one temp job to another. Its the same ball game. Whats the point of staying in a country for more than 5 years if you have to change jobs twice ? A long term job doesn't exist anymore, and even if it did, competition is too high and the cost of entering too dear. Cost of total MBA education.... in debt for a decade. Yeah. And no work experience.

How Pandora's Box got opened ? I am dating a barrister and he is incorporated, and told me the facts about law in the UK. I saw a media film guy once, same thing. Runs his own ship. Scientist ? Met one last week struggling to find funding. Banking? From the horse's mouth.

I seriously need a stress ball.

Mid-Life Crisis

Yes, I don't care that I am a decade early, I am having one. Whoop de doo da dey. I have been staying up and analysing this new job opportunity because my ego is crap and there is no way I deserve Zurich. It turns out I will be a glorified salesperson. So comes the point whether I can live with myself doing that sort of work. Sure, I can. I know it takes a certain personality to do it, not many can and those that do fit are naturals and very very good at it. At the blue chip I worked for it was a glorified sales job as well, with the dangerous sheen of being credible. None of the information produced was actually of any use you know. A lot of times, lacking in common sense.

Maybe its because I have always thought a proper job was like my dad's. Always hired, what he did was actually useful, keeping the same position and getting promoted every 3-4 years. MY DAD IS ACTUALLY A MINORITY. He is one of the few guys who can keep a job, and thats not easy. Since I am now exposed to the nasty adult world, it turns out that even a good degree with a Masters is not enough to guarantee a job. OK, I knew that, but not the extent of it. Just think about it and follow my train of thought.

SO.... you have a degree and expect a high starting salary, pension, medical and possibly a free blackberry. Now consider how many blue chip companies are out there, and the proportion of those to smaller firms. 1 out of .... 4000 maybe. I am being kind. Now consider how many places are open a year at university. In Singapore alone, its 50 000 students a year assuming it follows birth rate provided by the CIA. Now, 20% of them progressing to degrees. So 10 000 new graduates come out each year. What are the odds that you get a job in a blue chip? Also, I have worked in one. People come and go all the time, it doesn't matter where the hell you work, people come as fast as they leave. 6 new hires, maybe 7 per department a year.

Assume 10 departments, also being kind... so 70 new jobs a year per blue chip company. How many does SG have ? 60. So where the heck does everyone else go ? Why, they go to the forces, become teachers, go into arts, or sales, or become a reasonably paid clerk. All those mentioned save an average of $100 sgd a month, some even go into debt. It would take one of them 35 years to have a million, also assuming they are savvy investors. That means only at 60 will SOME people have enough for retirement if they start saving at 25.

Daytripper

I am now slightly more sober than I have been in the last 3 days. Yes, this time I stayed more than a day in London and had a blast actually acting my age.

I spoke to a german neurobiologist on the train and its fascinating to know the life of academics. Apparently for tenure you are usually interviewed by a dozen people. Its a small world. He was asking about both Singapore and Toronto and asked me about the standard of living etc because both have unis with good biotech arms, though I did point out that in Singapore, he'd have a higher chance of getting money thrown at him.

I picked up a picturebook of Toronto 2008 and realised I was trembling because.. [i don't know].. I wonder if I will have such fond memories of the UK. I don't think I do that for Singapore. Strange. SO, It is official, I am packing my bags and upping to Zurich. Birmingham is alright, its just too difficult to travel around in. Plus my personality clashes with the corporate culture here. Go figure. I have now approximately 10 days to get settled and to be honest it still hasn't hit me. The panic anyway.

More on London; I had a bouquet of flowers thrown at me from the stage at the indie Idle Lovers show, so I repeat ; 14th Feb was not a bust up. I like the idea that I was the best groupie at the gig. I spent the most of my time in London sightseeing and trying to find the perfect pair of jeans. Also visited St Pancras and cannot see what all the fuss is about. Its just a glorified mall/train station with inflated prices and frenchified store fronts. Like Le Brasserie , Le Toiletries , Panache , etc. I have taken photos though, so you can decide.

Onto still having a hangover. This is saturday and my crazy party night was on Thursday. I am definitely getting too old. I have also been thinking about Rick, since he is in my age bracket and looks good on paper. I'd date him if I was staying and wasn't just out of a relationship. There is talk about him seeing me in Zurich but we shall see.

One thing he noted ; I have a nice body. Now that is always nice to hear. This is what european and north american men say, s'pore men can go to hell, marry twiggy, see if i care. I am wondering if local women are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to clothes and men. Clothes back home just don't fit curvy women and are always too small. I ought to open a store called 'Proper Sizes' and source from here.

I just feel so much better about myself these last 2 days. My body rocks. My head hurts . My ego is recovering. My liver is bitchin.

Feb 14th, 2008

I had a great time in London, simply because........... I got the job offer.

So now I have to sign it. More info soon. And my luggages have arrived, which is really a pain in the arse because I am moving again, this time, temporarily to Zurich and then to the middle east, somewhere.

Feb 14 was actually lovely for me. I got the news after a comfort-food breakfast and was on my way to blow some megawatt cash because of all the sticky factors preceding. I had G with me , which is great and will be seeing him next week in London to teach him how to do some solid dim sum.

I have to admit I was schlogging the gin and tonic a lot before and after the news about the offer. I ended up in metro club, on tottenham court road, and had the powerful red lipstick on in force. IT WORKS. I thought it was good for the occasional flip off, but wearing red lipstick seems to scare the weirdos and attract the bankers. I got thrown a bouquet of flowers by the lead of Idle Lovers, which cd I will actually buy [record out in april] and ended up hanging out till the next afternoon with this guy called R who works in -anonymous icelandic bank-.

It was a strange meeting of sorts. My best friend was stuck at work, so gin was the poison of choice and I was alone through the whole set. I thought I'd go finish my 30 quid worth of spare change and fall asleep. Turns out 14th feb is a pretty good day to let down inhibitions. Think how depressing it is to see masses of expensive roses that you don't either need to buy or receive. You are not involved in the big scamper. Was on the tenth g&t [they cost £2 each at this indie dive joint] and somehow we started talking, one of the first things said being 'where are you from' . It kicked off and I am now exhausted because we were very very inebriated and up talking all night. We only managed to catch lunch at 3pm the next day.

Turns out R wears a suit all day but rebels by wearing jewellery under his cuffs, collects books, doesn't play video games, is a motorhead and hoards champagne.

Hmm.

On Tenterhooks

Yes, the interview is set for Wednesday. I will try my best to get out of this country right bloody fast. This is possibly one of the fastest turn-arounds for an engagement breakup ever.

For the immediate week, I am headed down to see C in london come feb 14th as well, so looking for some good times, I am. I shall now go pig out on skinny sausages. I will miss the UK, who knows, one day I might return.

The ego is back by the way. Oh how I have missed her. Back on track to make money and break some hearts. Or boil lots of bunnies.

Theology

Yes, the talk about god. This post is either really brave or very very stupid and my mom is going to chew off my ear.... but I am depressed and yet enlightened, so I shall make my statement and this is the last of it. No more evangelists!

I DO NOT BELIEVE IN RELIGION.

To be more specific, I don't believe in christianity, judiasm, [insert all institutionalised religions here]. Why ?

TODAY I SAW GOD.

And how ? I saw god in the emails of concern that friends sent me. I felt god on my mobile phone when I messaged my mom. I heard god on the handset that rang at 3am in the morning, because someone in Canada panicked and thought I was going to 'do myself in'.

Now thats god for you. This eureka moment came as I huddled in bed reciting the anglican lord's prayer . Not because I was actually repenting of anything. It just reminded me of home and a simpler time in my life where you can forget about everything since a higher power can push a big red button and everything will be fine.

I was taught that renouncing my faith and its exact tenets of not liking the name JESUS would put me immediately in hell. Swearing 'Holy Cow' is another thing that would install me in the fiery pits.

OHHHH IF YOU DONT CALL IT THE SAME AS WE DO, YOU ARE A SINNER.
What happens if I decided to call god a nickname ? Say, Eugene ? Who is to say that god doesn't like being called Euge ? Why is my mental imprint of institutionalised 'god' white when he really should be brown?

Bollocks. It is possible that this feeling of submission to the fates is called contrition by a portion of the world. Who has the right to call it that though ? Not that its wrong. In my case my writing on a blog, is described by religion as confession.

Stop getting pissed. Take for example, the theory that we all see colours uniquely. No one can prove green in a specific shade looks the same for everyone else. This is simply because of the infinite ways each one of us processes stimuli. So we all agree to call it green as a ballpark estimate, but really, it could be greener for me and less green for you. Depends on your spectrum.

What is 'god' . For me its a noun for the feeling you get when you have a random call at 3am in the morning telling you everything is going to be fine.

So it takes a Week

For me to get back into shape and come up with a new plan. I can't bear being here any longer, I hurt too much. So next week is a big interview and if I don't get the job in Zurich, I shall throw my hands up in the air and admit defeat to this European lag of the journey. I will go travelling with an europass, since the weather is turning brilliant, and will wear my trusty travelling coat, the first one I got three years ago and the very same that I intend to wear.

I have approximately £5000 , and so £2000 of that will be put aside for plan B, where I go back to Canada, grab a job. Which is rather generous considering I started out there with SG 1500. I kid you not. Without bumming at chun's for awhile, I would never have made it.

Sigh. I wouldn't do it again. We all grow more scared with age. I am a lot wiser when it comes to work permits now as well, so it won't be easy but neither will it be impossible.

Breakdown of Costs to travel Europe extensively.

6 Weeks
Hostel Accomodation : High estimate of 15 a night, 42x15 = 630
Europass 374
Food : High Estimate of 20 a day, 42x20 = 840
Daily Transport : High Estimate of 15 a day, 42 x 15 = 630
Boozing : 20 quid a week on a bottle of whisky = 120

Looks about right. £2600 approximately, if I choose to eat very well and take cabs. That is also a maximum initiary. I assume 22 days will not be enough to heal this sore soul of mine, but if it is, take 2600/2 = 1300 which leaves plenty for muck-ups and skullduggery.

The lovely thing is that I can always come back to the UK within 2 years of Sept last year. Maybe it takes practice.


Lets hope I get the job. I can't keep travelling whenever my heart gets broken.

Tweaking.

As you all can see, this blog is going through a bit of frame tweaking. Its not rocket science, but will probably take awhile. Who knows, I might change the blog itself.

I might even get myself a whole new address.

Aha.

Trompe-l'œil

My current definition ; elements above the viewer are rendered as if viewed from true vanishing point perspective. This is intentionally left to be interpreted by my intrepid readers who haven't themselves gone depressed over my postings. There you go, artistic license.

One* can say you should always look on the bright side of life. I am not in a bad situation, not somewhere in kabul, working a mine-shaft, or fishing for crabs. But hey, its all relative and life sucks for this very second. Maturity is a factitious word, along with all its associations of stability and turning the other cheek. No one is all-together 100% of the time.

So now, I shall wallow in self pity and eat a lot of very nice truffles provided by a good friend-beau-solicitor in London. Also, an explanation at my own mental gymnastics to pull an emotional trompe-l'œil. I can bloody see the end, it doesn't seem far away, but vanishing point is just another starting line to another bloody vanishing point. Ergo, this will go on forever.

The Galaxy Song

Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And things seem hard or tough,
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough...

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That's orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars
It's a hundred thousand light years side to side
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide
We're thirty thousand light years from galactic central point
We go 'round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.

Comfortably Numb

Yes, Pink Floyd is in vogue. I just painted my nails flourescent pink, got myself a rimmel lipstick shade in 192 called Maneater, and am throwing an anti valentines day party. Its not because I am ranting, noooooooooo .

To be fair, I have never had a good Valentines day with any man. Well, except Syl who made me a tape of all things, Bread's 'Other side', which is really nice. I am digging out a lot of old songs, another one recommended to me by Su, 'Don't Cry' by Guns N Roses.

This sounds like a depressing post, but it isn't I swear. People always go through stages in times of shock or stress, and I have reached my final stage of music therapy. I will let janis joplin do my moaning and think of the wonderful nicknames my best friends give my exes, a notable example; tom yam b**tard.

The ballots are open for the newest addition to the list of strike-offs.

Future Tense

Alright, so after looking though an enourmous amount of job listings and going to many many interviews this week, I have come to a conclusion, or a lump sum of what I can do in the immediate period of one month.

Return to Toronto
Job Offer : Independant Brokerage
Perks; 80k starting in brokerage , a LOT of hard work and probably a regression into the shallow but fun city lifestyle. Living back at 1 King West. Will probably sit for the ACA this time round.
Detriments; Been there, done that. Heartbreak central.

Bahrain
Job Offer : Bahrain ! Independant investment house , salary in negotiation.
Perks; Never been there before, no expectations on what is going to happen there. Maybe a good thing for the resume.
Detriments; NO IDEA of living standards, though apparently very high, possibly a bad move if finances don't fit well. Job progression might be tough, as independant firms are teeny and I might not have time to pursue the ACA.

Kathmandu
Job Offer : UN humanitarian officer, 4 month stint.
Perks ; None money-wise.
Detriments ; Will be in the same position as now but possibly more jaded and cynical, or maybe the confidence will be back.

UK
Job Offer ; Still lookin. The prospects are dim. Its a good place if you're already in the door.
Perks ; A good resume point. Pay is peanuts and standard of living depends. But, I have friends in the city.
Detriments ; Still is a lonely city.

SO thats it for me. What would you do, if you had all the freedom in the world and a decent cushion of money to do ONE thing?

Timing.....

Today was all about time for me. The trains were backed up this morning on the way to london, so I ended up 2 hours late, which is a shame because I was planning on meeting up with c&g for lunch and it totally screwed my plans.

Original Plan
1030 - Arrival , lovely slow breakfast , train to angel station
1130 - Interview with WL , train to monument
1300 - Meet with c&g

And then possibly spend the afternoon lunching with g

INSTEAD, I arrived at 1230, spent most of my time rearranging the interview and staring at dismay at the only available timeslot. Then I spend half an hour rotting in the back of a black cab to and from.

FEH.

Also, more on timing. D got admitted to A&E today because his left lung collapsed. On Friday, we decided to call the whole engagement thing off, but his chest pains started soon after. So, I know its selfish of me, but I did feel slightly betrayed and it didn't seem that serious over the weekend, so he didn't get much in the way of sympathy. Not as much as he would have in 'normal' circumstances anyway.

Monday passes with him in bed, snappy .. and today he went for a xray and was checked into the hospital this morning while I am away in London, lo and behold, to reinflate his lungs. Apparently its a painful procedure, and it doesn't help that he has been smoking for a decade.

I don't know how to feel about him and me right now. I'd like to be more mature and be truly concerned, I would have followed him to the doctors if I could, but I think my emotions are too clouded now to be of much use.

And I don't like the smell of tobacco.

Dire Straits

Bear the saxophones, bad hair, dramatic interlude and white jeans. On the strength of the lyrics though, its probably the best 'cest la vie - life goes on' song ever.

Juliet, the dice were loaded from the start
And I bet, and you exploded in my heart
And I forget the movie song
When you wanna realise it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet ?

Father and Son

And the song goes....

Its not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
Youre still young, thats your fault,
Theres so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that its not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Yes, and so the engagement is called off. Talk about timing. Many standard reasons for it, so go wild, too tired of the subject to explain it all, but most of them apply along the lines of 'We're too young, he's immature, I am too demanding, we both need to dominate' . Bollocks !

But anyway, I am fine as usual. I calculated this happening. Why do you think I wanted to try it out ? Every relationship is probably a gamble, and I decided to do it while I am still young and can bounce back quick. If it works, then its wonderful and I am set for life. If it doesn't, it means I need to do more travelling, or should become a rich recluse. Not much of a loss really. Now its living together until I can confirm my job in London and get out of the midlands.

Fonking Predicament

Thats a fantastic phrase courtesy of an unspecified source. But its incredibly funny in its original confidential context.

Anyway, today was slow but my trip to London was great. I spent 5 minutes in Marylebone, then I officially got bored of the city, had lunch in a nice little place near Fleet street, and went to Surrey instead. Saw one roadkill badger, Jane Austen's house, 3 deer, Waltham's Ruins [ruins in the middle of a hill] , molehills, the queens royal academy at aldershot where harry and william are, many little hamlets, and a poky antiques shop which was MY highlight. The shop itself was an antique, and it was room upon room of bits, originally a working barnhouse. My charming tourguide had his watch stop, mysteriously in the poky shop, and we ended up in a timelock of sorts because he thought we were 2 hours forward and we ended up going for lunch when it was 10AM. I cannot illustrate to its credit, the english breakfast fry-up. Brillance with a latte before, during and after.

Randomly; How to tell a real diamond from CZ. Place a diamond face down on print. If the print shows through, its fake. If it all converges to one black point at the tip/end of the said diamond, then its probably real. It could be an artificial pressurised diamond, but not even a lab could tell the difference unless it had no impurities. In that case it is a pressurized diamond. This is the most fullproof way, due to technology advancing cosmetic jewellery, also known in victorian times as paste jewellery. Ok fine. It is obvious I did buy something to warrant this discussion.

Which leads me to conclude the cheesy clinker that diamonds are a girl's best friend, and in instances where there is doubt, imperfections weed them out from the fakes.

I had a great time in Surrey. We did spend an awful lot of time looking for pheasants, but the intelligent creatures apparently stay in the bush when it pours. With tourists.

News : New job, moving to london. Also applying for non resident status in Singapore at the end of june this year. I just finished creating an excel spreadsheet for probable expenses and might post it soon just to show everyone how I have regressed into evil.