I am in love with France
How can one country get everything so totally right!!!??? Ok I am sure they are just as in debate and conflict about their politics, their breakdown in social values, their immigration policy, their economy and their environmental record and blah blah, and from my brief and voyeuristic point of view, these people are sooooooooo lucky to live like this.
Never before have i witnessed a town and a culture that I think has got it soooooo right....
For one, it is so beautiful. the architecture is so gorgeous, consistent, old, full of character, no doubt steeped in a rich history of which i have little desire to fathom. The cobbled windy narrow little streets have surprises and eateries and little boutique shops at every turn. There are hardly any cars!!! everyone walks and they have a city sponsored bike scheme, with lots of bike depots so you get a card, take a bike, ride it across town, then leave it at another station. I mean, how evolved is that??
the bread, pastries, cakes oh my god and I haven't even tried the yet ... the presentation is done with such beauty and flair ... The freaking cheese section in the supermarket was almost as big as our whole cold section!!!
Wine and beer is enjoyed with gay abandon and is so cheap .. Long social lunches are the norm. People dress with such style and finesse, they speak with such finesse I mean .... For goodness sakes!!! MUsic is in abundance, there is a teeming night life... So much going on, yet with flair. Beautiful romantic, seductive and downright juicy and passionate french flair.
So as for me, when i turned up two days ago, I was sooooo Tired i walked around half starving too scared to attempt french with anyone. .... I felt deeply embarrassed that i couldn't speak any French .... And the couple of people i parlesvou anglais-Ed, did not!!! I couldn't even say anything to that, quite awkward really .... That day i was finding it hard to muster up a smile or any friendly body language either .... Although i finally after two hours of pathetic and wishful wandering finally plucked the courage to venture in to a little eatery. she took a while to warm up after i said 'bonjour ... Par les vous anglais'? And she said 'a little', then said 'hmm I think the english menu is good for you, yes?'. thank god thinks me.
I sit down in this little bustling and rustic restaurant ... Full to the brim. then after perusing the menu, the guy comes over with his note pad presumably asking me what i want, to which i respond sheepishly, par les vous anglais ? to which he eyeballs me with a straight 'no'!!
big sigh ... Right then um, so i get my finger out and point, probably looking dazed, confused, tired and um, embarrassed .... So then he softened and had a go with some english,
I ended up settling on the fish with white sauce, ordered vin rouge, and waited for my beautiful piece of fish to arrive.
In about sixty seconds flat, a plate piled high with mashed potato and a piece of bread arrived.... Ooooh, that is not what i imagined at all! I taste it and it is like a big pile of fishy mashed potato .... Sooooooooo Heavy. Tasty , but, a whole plate of the stuff with nothing to break the monotony either, i decided i needed a salad to go with it but wasn't game !!! .... I made it through half of it ,,,, it was quite tasty.
I then ventured on to the chocolate mouse and un cafe au lait. the mousse was also so heavy and rich i could eat only a third which is saying something for me.
The whole time i sat at the table with my nose in my phrase book trying to figure out what to say next!! When I asked for l'adittion, the female waitress said with a beaming smile 'trae bien' he he ... I had managed to woo the guy over too by the end and he taught me a bit of French,
I walked past the same restaurant again last night and yelled 'bonjour' feeling all excited that i had a friend in there to say hello to to which he happily responded, and then a little later realized i should have said bonsoir. Man couldn't even get that right and there i was feeling all savvy for one moment,
so after my nine hours sleep then another whole night sleep just two hours after waking from that, I awoke ready for a toulousian morning. Off to get a bike and go riding along the canal .... And on the way i found a patisserie.
feeling a bit more game with my finger to point.,,,, I go in to see a little sign 'pain au chocolate' ,.... And there are none there
the smiling shop assistant says 'bonjour', I say 'bonjour', confidently.... I say with a questioning look 'oh, no pain au chocolat', she replies 'no'' I go 'oh', with a look of dismay..... He he, so far she doesn't suspect a thing how exciting i can ask for chocolate croissant fluently in French what a revelation.
well next i move across to the baguettes, and say 'un jamon au frommage silvous plait' and she corrects my pronunciation of jamon .... Nicely ... I pay and leave with an 'aurevoir', and I'm off,
He he ... That wasn't't so bad. Never ceases to amaze how a good night sleep can make the ability to function happily so much more available to me.
there is Not that much more to say really, I love this place and I wish our culture was more Ike this. I don't go there very often, down the wish path for things that are clearly not possible, and I really do wish australian culture had more flair and more music and more, community.
anyway i met up with most of the group who will be on the retreat last night, and they were sooooo lovely. In procuring ourselves a reservation i asked the girl on reception if she could recommend something.... She went over to the wall of office of tourism sponsored brochures and plucked one out reading from the back why I would like it so much. there was no connection there,
so next i ask her 'if you were going to take a best friend out for dinner where would you go?'. A little smile crept over her face and her eyes lit up .... She Told me of a little crazy spanish. French tapas bar that had bench style seating and could get quite loud and fun later in the night .....
Now that sounds more Ike it... So she booked. I wasn't quite sure how my Our party of American and. Swiss scanners.would go as i hadnt met them yet, and it was great. We all squished in to a table, hardly able to open our elbows. It was so packed! and full of noisy happy people, and it was just good fun,,,, they are all so lovely.
today we get picked up for our next six days in our nearby medieval French village and inn, for our retreat with Barbara so you may not hear much from me this week,,,, my room mate I hear will be Gloria, and if the beautiful, full of life and interesting buddies I met last night are anything to go by, it is going to be an awesome week.
Stay well.
Love
J9
Ps thank you for your kind comments. Part of me feels indulgent writing these!!! The act of writing them is dusting off a lost desire, recovered by Barbara when we had my coaching session...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
To Barbara Sher's French Retreat: London calling
Day 8
OMG I am in love again. I remember why I loved london so much for all those years.
Last night i landed at heathrow and got myself on the Picadilly line, late, thanks to signal failure, to meet margie at covent garden at the end of the opera. I had been hoping to join her at intermission but alas, i was too late ... So i ask the english dudes along the way 'where is The Globe pub?' ... And the old guy walks me over all the while in his broad english accent, talking about Tasmania an how he hasn't been yet ... Wants to.
i am already in heaven at being in central london with the cobbled streets and the beautiful old buildings, REAL pubs and interesting and varied little shops .... I open the door to the pub, huge red suitcase in toe, and the beaming barman greets me in his very sexy italian accent 'so you must have just arrived from Australia!' ... 'is it that obvious?' says me, wondering if the trademark freckles and sun damaged skin, which usually make an Aussie stick out like dogs balls on the tube (against all the pristine sun deprived english or glowing olive skins on the Europeans) .
He he, no your friend Margie asked me to call her when you arrive ,... So he hands me his iPhone and i pluck her number out ...
That sounds like margie, quickly and charismatically wooing the barman to go out of his way to re-unite us!!
Anyway I am still standing at the bar deciding between the three real english ales he just poured me to taste when she arrives ....
I could feel her beaming smile before she even came through the door ... And next she was beside me giving me a huge and lovely hug. MArgie and i met on the back of a Turkish dolmus (bus) on the black sea coast in 1996!!! we hit it off instantly and I looked her up when i got back to London and she so kindly put myself and traveling companion Ange up in her west london flat (in the ceiling) to co-habitate with herself and her two raving vegan/swedish/canadian flatmates!!
anyway back to the globe, we shared a pint, and a chat (god, where to start?) and soon we were in a big ole double decker heading home to their little south london flat and a warm cosy and lovely welcome by her partner Dave (also now, long lost friend) and Barbarella, their 18 year old Ginger cat who drools all over me whenever he revs up a loud purrrrrr.
After more chats, pasta and some wine, 1.30 am, sleep was welcome with it 24 hours since I woke in Thailand to hop on the plane.
the new day dawned and with my hosts off to work, the only thing i wanted to do was walk over to my old home and playground, Brixton.
Brixton still rocks!!! freaking yay ,,, it has gotten better!!! I love it. A mixture of all the old greasy spoon cafes and pubs and 'offies'... Mingled now with suave little street side coffee shops ... New as I don't think coffee good and proper had hit london ten years ago ... Unless you count the infiltration of star bucks, which really darlings ... I don't think so.
so as you can imagine this is janiney heaven. I am now sitting in a little colombian restaurant in Brixton arcade ...
brixton markets generally are a mixture of the most wondrous fresh produce, fish markets, coffee shops, op shops, wigs, gadgets .... And cries of oi darlin' ....
And i walk in here, to my colombian lunch place, nearly all the punters are south american and i get to have a blast from the past with my South american trip .. South american cuisine is not exactly proliic anywhere i have seen ... So this is just gorgeous and quirky and highly authentic.,.....
FReaking delicious!!! can't believe it. Frijoles, rice, beef, scrambled egg and the thing that totally tops it off and flew me straight back to colombia ... The salsa picante and the arreppa! Did I say I am in heaven??
Love it ... With the planes flying overhead, the ambulance sirens flying by, the latin rhythms then around And about thrre is the organic fruit juice shop, free trade community shops with the 'give and take' table ... And very edgy eclectic mix of every shape, size, ethnicity and persuasion of interesting looking people!!! He he.
Next stop is the little place right around the corner that says 'best coffee in brixton' ... And now i am here, my god ... It is!!! The Anzac biscuits on the counter clued me in, and so was unsurprised (and rather proud) that the guy was an aussie. The five punters that flowed through my table all concurred that it was bloody good coffee .
I sit Down at one of the few tables. Which get shared because there are more people than table space and instantly get chatting to the punters ,,,, after a couple of mad english men asking if you have to have an iPad to be allowed to sit at this table cheekily engage ,,,, we have a laugh and then the canadian girl and i strike up a conversation. She's been living here for Three years and just finished her art degree ,,, and lo and behold she is a yoga teacher!!! by the end of our chat I have the address of the best yoga place in Camden and her phone and email!!! so sweet . funny how these things work hey?
The canadian girl said 'what is it about you aussies ... Are you just good at everything???' (referring to the great coffee) He he thinks me... Then the english guy said 'yeah .. I heard the kiwis and aussies are getting so obsessed with coffee ...they even have barista competitions that are Full on ( like der ... That's meant to be newsworthy??) I told him my local coffee place in hobart has a coffee menu and tasting notes to help me choose the blend i want for the day!
Sigh ... I miss this stuff i realize sydney had nothing Ike this either ... I have a sneaking suspicion that melbourne might though :)
alright ... I thought i had heard it all ,.. And from my last time here in Brixton ,,, being asked for money at many a turn by the abundance of homeless bods... I am reminded again whilst sitting at my coffee table, by this beat up looking woman that 'I need to get a bus ticket please mam' ,,, 'please help me', she had a scar on her nose, a red face and eye ... She sounded desperate and continued ... 'he just hit me i am leaving, I need to get home, I live in middlesex, you are the only one who has listened to me, please help....' when I look her in the eye and pause she continues .... "I will give you my name and address mam, please...."
I looked Her straight in to the eye for a long time, and thought 'con?' ,,, give her money or not? of course she's faking it, she's a great salesperson, yet, I had so totally engaged with this woman, I thought, ok, here you go, 2 quid .... She said thank you it is four forty . I said well, here is 2 and all the best i hope that Helps .... I got to be generous anyway... Bless her ...,
She probably saw my camera an thought, ahhh here we go then!!!
So I found my bus home eventually after the aussie guy told me i was the friendliest customer they had ever had, he he, must be the hick Tasmanian not yet bruised out of me by the nonchalance and solitary nature of normal too-busy-to-engage Londoner mentality .....
margie and dave take me to their local pub with their mates and we chat about factoral combinations of three letter urls, And god knows what else, then wash that down with a good ole English indian curry. bloody brilliant
By the time i fall in to bed after 12 with my alarm set for 4.20 am, I am beginning to feel my travels, my time zones, my jet lag and my lack of sleep creep up ...
so little wonder i managed it out in to toulouse today for lunch, then fell asleep at 2 pm ..... To awake at 11pm .... Now i am here in the lobby of my hotel, listening to the abundant night life of toulousians, ready to go back up for more sleep,.... I will then be refreshed hopefully for the next week's adventures.
Loads of love
J
Ps i saw my little spunk muppet out and about on facebook!! Thanks so much sonja for looking after him.
Pps i am iPad keyboardily challenged so thats why the capitalization and punctuation sucks on these blogs .... You get the picture anyway i hope :)
OMG I am in love again. I remember why I loved london so much for all those years.
Last night i landed at heathrow and got myself on the Picadilly line, late, thanks to signal failure, to meet margie at covent garden at the end of the opera. I had been hoping to join her at intermission but alas, i was too late ... So i ask the english dudes along the way 'where is The Globe pub?' ... And the old guy walks me over all the while in his broad english accent, talking about Tasmania an how he hasn't been yet ... Wants to.
i am already in heaven at being in central london with the cobbled streets and the beautiful old buildings, REAL pubs and interesting and varied little shops .... I open the door to the pub, huge red suitcase in toe, and the beaming barman greets me in his very sexy italian accent 'so you must have just arrived from Australia!' ... 'is it that obvious?' says me, wondering if the trademark freckles and sun damaged skin, which usually make an Aussie stick out like dogs balls on the tube (against all the pristine sun deprived english or glowing olive skins on the Europeans) .
He he, no your friend Margie asked me to call her when you arrive ,... So he hands me his iPhone and i pluck her number out ...
That sounds like margie, quickly and charismatically wooing the barman to go out of his way to re-unite us!!
Anyway I am still standing at the bar deciding between the three real english ales he just poured me to taste when she arrives ....
I could feel her beaming smile before she even came through the door ... And next she was beside me giving me a huge and lovely hug. MArgie and i met on the back of a Turkish dolmus (bus) on the black sea coast in 1996!!! we hit it off instantly and I looked her up when i got back to London and she so kindly put myself and traveling companion Ange up in her west london flat (in the ceiling) to co-habitate with herself and her two raving vegan/swedish/canadian flatmates!!
anyway back to the globe, we shared a pint, and a chat (god, where to start?) and soon we were in a big ole double decker heading home to their little south london flat and a warm cosy and lovely welcome by her partner Dave (also now, long lost friend) and Barbarella, their 18 year old Ginger cat who drools all over me whenever he revs up a loud purrrrrr.
After more chats, pasta and some wine, 1.30 am, sleep was welcome with it 24 hours since I woke in Thailand to hop on the plane.
the new day dawned and with my hosts off to work, the only thing i wanted to do was walk over to my old home and playground, Brixton.
Brixton still rocks!!! freaking yay ,,, it has gotten better!!! I love it. A mixture of all the old greasy spoon cafes and pubs and 'offies'... Mingled now with suave little street side coffee shops ... New as I don't think coffee good and proper had hit london ten years ago ... Unless you count the infiltration of star bucks, which really darlings ... I don't think so.
so as you can imagine this is janiney heaven. I am now sitting in a little colombian restaurant in Brixton arcade ...
brixton markets generally are a mixture of the most wondrous fresh produce, fish markets, coffee shops, op shops, wigs, gadgets .... And cries of oi darlin' ....
And i walk in here, to my colombian lunch place, nearly all the punters are south american and i get to have a blast from the past with my South american trip .. South american cuisine is not exactly proliic anywhere i have seen ... So this is just gorgeous and quirky and highly authentic.,.....
FReaking delicious!!! can't believe it. Frijoles, rice, beef, scrambled egg and the thing that totally tops it off and flew me straight back to colombia ... The salsa picante and the arreppa! Did I say I am in heaven??
Love it ... With the planes flying overhead, the ambulance sirens flying by, the latin rhythms then around And about thrre is the organic fruit juice shop, free trade community shops with the 'give and take' table ... And very edgy eclectic mix of every shape, size, ethnicity and persuasion of interesting looking people!!! He he.
Next stop is the little place right around the corner that says 'best coffee in brixton' ... And now i am here, my god ... It is!!! The Anzac biscuits on the counter clued me in, and so was unsurprised (and rather proud) that the guy was an aussie. The five punters that flowed through my table all concurred that it was bloody good coffee .
I sit Down at one of the few tables. Which get shared because there are more people than table space and instantly get chatting to the punters ,,,, after a couple of mad english men asking if you have to have an iPad to be allowed to sit at this table cheekily engage ,,,, we have a laugh and then the canadian girl and i strike up a conversation. She's been living here for Three years and just finished her art degree ,,, and lo and behold she is a yoga teacher!!! by the end of our chat I have the address of the best yoga place in Camden and her phone and email!!! so sweet . funny how these things work hey?
The canadian girl said 'what is it about you aussies ... Are you just good at everything???' (referring to the great coffee) He he thinks me... Then the english guy said 'yeah .. I heard the kiwis and aussies are getting so obsessed with coffee ...they even have barista competitions that are Full on ( like der ... That's meant to be newsworthy??) I told him my local coffee place in hobart has a coffee menu and tasting notes to help me choose the blend i want for the day!
Sigh ... I miss this stuff i realize sydney had nothing Ike this either ... I have a sneaking suspicion that melbourne might though :)
alright ... I thought i had heard it all ,.. And from my last time here in Brixton ,,, being asked for money at many a turn by the abundance of homeless bods... I am reminded again whilst sitting at my coffee table, by this beat up looking woman that 'I need to get a bus ticket please mam' ,,, 'please help me', she had a scar on her nose, a red face and eye ... She sounded desperate and continued ... 'he just hit me i am leaving, I need to get home, I live in middlesex, you are the only one who has listened to me, please help....' when I look her in the eye and pause she continues .... "I will give you my name and address mam, please...."
I looked Her straight in to the eye for a long time, and thought 'con?' ,,, give her money or not? of course she's faking it, she's a great salesperson, yet, I had so totally engaged with this woman, I thought, ok, here you go, 2 quid .... She said thank you it is four forty . I said well, here is 2 and all the best i hope that Helps .... I got to be generous anyway... Bless her ...,
She probably saw my camera an thought, ahhh here we go then!!!
So I found my bus home eventually after the aussie guy told me i was the friendliest customer they had ever had, he he, must be the hick Tasmanian not yet bruised out of me by the nonchalance and solitary nature of normal too-busy-to-engage Londoner mentality .....
margie and dave take me to their local pub with their mates and we chat about factoral combinations of three letter urls, And god knows what else, then wash that down with a good ole English indian curry. bloody brilliant
By the time i fall in to bed after 12 with my alarm set for 4.20 am, I am beginning to feel my travels, my time zones, my jet lag and my lack of sleep creep up ...
so little wonder i managed it out in to toulouse today for lunch, then fell asleep at 2 pm ..... To awake at 11pm .... Now i am here in the lobby of my hotel, listening to the abundant night life of toulousians, ready to go back up for more sleep,.... I will then be refreshed hopefully for the next week's adventures.
Loads of love
J
Ps i saw my little spunk muppet out and about on facebook!! Thanks so much sonja for looking after him.
Pps i am iPad keyboardily challenged so thats why the capitalization and punctuation sucks on these blogs .... You get the picture anyway i hope :)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
To Barbara Sher's French Retreat: Does sun cure everything? Quite possibly!!!
Day 7
I cant believe i am on the plane back to bangkok then London already! What a whirlwind. planes make great enforced focussed places to write.....
I just inadvertently deleted my draft blog entry here in note pad so I will skip detailed accounts of the last four days activities. Essentially there has been many many cocktails, lots of swims in the sea and in Luke's resort pool ... A gorgeous long tail boat ride to a nearby island for snorkelling and kayaking (which being hotel mgr he managed go get us on for free as an 'inspection' for future guest referrals!!!).... Running with the local, hash house harriers in the jungle, followed by sculling beer from coconut shells in the circle... And eating bucket loads of fresh delicious out of this world thai food.
LUke has hooned me around on the back of his bike and whisked me to jungle salas with cocktails and and more yummarama food and I have blown my own hair right back with copius amounts of my own hooning around the island on my own little scooter. I love it!!!!
Just to top it all off, a thai massage most days just to keep the body in good shape!!! :)
Which now brings me to my present state sitting now at bangkok airport.... I think I cried the whole way from koh samui. Somehow i have managed to finally let loose a fair bit of pent up emotion ... And I can still feel a lot of it inside waiting to come out. Finally i am hardly thinking or stressing about work and am in the flow....
Which brings me to another noteworthy event yesterday ..... going to say hello to a hugely significant man in my life called Ole. If you are reading this blog you will either have been to or heard about the Experience seminar that has had such a deep and significant impact in my life and Ole is the man who wrote it over thirty years ago. He was just in the throes if retiring from facilitating it when I showed up just over ten years ago in England and had the rare opportunity to have him partly facilitating my GIT.
My overall experience of him is this is a man with eyes who see straight in to and through me with a knowing that is disconcerting yet incredibly loving and kind.
to cut a long story short (yes, I just wrote a bucket load about this and will save it :) ... we met, and spent a lovely hour together... He was so very very kind and what really got me was just how present he was with me. LIke, he was totally intent, interested, leaning in listening completely, and that in itself I got emotional about ... The gift of really listening. It still makes me tear up for some reason just writing about it now and I have no idea why. Perhaps it may seem apparent to those outside of me?
In parting my biggest thank you and love to Luke for taking such amazing care of me this week, for your unconditional love, and the long, lovely honest and accepting chats.
Loads of love to you all
J
Ps i just woke up on the floor of my long lost friend margie's south london flat to send this on ... Ooooh I love London More soon. Xxxx
Pps feel free to comment here.
I cant believe i am on the plane back to bangkok then London already! What a whirlwind. planes make great enforced focussed places to write.....
I just inadvertently deleted my draft blog entry here in note pad so I will skip detailed accounts of the last four days activities. Essentially there has been many many cocktails, lots of swims in the sea and in Luke's resort pool ... A gorgeous long tail boat ride to a nearby island for snorkelling and kayaking (which being hotel mgr he managed go get us on for free as an 'inspection' for future guest referrals!!!).... Running with the local, hash house harriers in the jungle, followed by sculling beer from coconut shells in the circle... And eating bucket loads of fresh delicious out of this world thai food.
LUke has hooned me around on the back of his bike and whisked me to jungle salas with cocktails and and more yummarama food and I have blown my own hair right back with copius amounts of my own hooning around the island on my own little scooter. I love it!!!!
Just to top it all off, a thai massage most days just to keep the body in good shape!!! :)
Which now brings me to my present state sitting now at bangkok airport.... I think I cried the whole way from koh samui. Somehow i have managed to finally let loose a fair bit of pent up emotion ... And I can still feel a lot of it inside waiting to come out. Finally i am hardly thinking or stressing about work and am in the flow....
Which brings me to another noteworthy event yesterday ..... going to say hello to a hugely significant man in my life called Ole. If you are reading this blog you will either have been to or heard about the Experience seminar that has had such a deep and significant impact in my life and Ole is the man who wrote it over thirty years ago. He was just in the throes if retiring from facilitating it when I showed up just over ten years ago in England and had the rare opportunity to have him partly facilitating my GIT.
My overall experience of him is this is a man with eyes who see straight in to and through me with a knowing that is disconcerting yet incredibly loving and kind.
to cut a long story short (yes, I just wrote a bucket load about this and will save it :) ... we met, and spent a lovely hour together... He was so very very kind and what really got me was just how present he was with me. LIke, he was totally intent, interested, leaning in listening completely, and that in itself I got emotional about ... The gift of really listening. It still makes me tear up for some reason just writing about it now and I have no idea why. Perhaps it may seem apparent to those outside of me?
In parting my biggest thank you and love to Luke for taking such amazing care of me this week, for your unconditional love, and the long, lovely honest and accepting chats.
Loads of love to you all
J
Ps i just woke up on the floor of my long lost friend margie's south london flat to send this on ... Ooooh I love London More soon. Xxxx
Pps feel free to comment here.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
To Barbara Sher's French Retreat: Samui is working it's magic ...
Day 2
Oh my god i am in love with this place!!! so many things to share or talk about because it's soooo lovely and so Thai!!!
my second day here began beautifully after an intensely deep sleep. I hit a wall about ten pm our time which is one am oz time. I was just beyond it ... I was asleep before i hit the pillow.
i awoke before seven, and Luke suggested we meditate together on the balcony... He knows i have my ten minute daily agreement. It is so still, cool and peaceful out there in the morning with the view of the water.
as for my day, Luke fixed me up with wheels! Whoo hoo I have been hooning around thenisland all day!!! whilst i am aghast and highly amused at the lack of road rules and the chaos everywhere when driving ... I could absolutely not care less for my safety ... I feel free, and random, and in the flow of chaos. I love the randomness of it. Mind you i did buck the local trend and take a helmet. Six years of working in road safety has given me some common sense in this area thank goodness (mind you i discovered today another purposes for the helmet .. I was riding along and nearly got hit by a flying coconut ... Jeese those things are heavy ... Then the toothless And very old Thai guy laughed at my look of horror as his cheeky monkey descended from the tree! They were harvesting coconuts)!!
...have I mentioned I love this place yet?
I have no idea what else to say really except, i have a nice sunburn, i have now consumed in the space of two days .... Two margaritas, one caprioska and two mojitos ... Numerous glasses of wine and a singha beer .... Two of the above beachside. The wines on luke's balcony before he whisked me away to dine in his resort restaurant by full moonlight, and others at the club we went to for hjs Aussie friend's birthday last night .... Complete with head banging local thai band thrashing out Acca dacca side by side with Robbie Williams angels! We had a little boogie ... And lots of fun . the thai people are sooooooooo warm and lovely and full of fun... It's nice to have days to myself to chat with everyone and then have Luke in the evenings to share long chats with and dinner.
he is taking his two days off tomorrow and Monday and I hear he has booked us in for massage and also a boat trip around samui ... Have i mentioned yet that i am in heaven?? He he he he he he he he he.
oh and oh my god. Thai food is already my favorite food in the whole. Wide world... And so this is just Ike being gastronomically exgravaganzad at every whiffy street corner and every bite from my plate. i chose a little out-of-the way open air eatery local place yesterday. only five things on the menu .. A sweet woman emerged from behind her wok .... To prepare chicken chilli basil. i watched her mince the chicken on her chopping board, expertly grind the chillis basil garlic in her mortar and pessle (which was about half as tall as she was!) then plucking other fresh ingredients from her leafy outdoor kitchen, it was delicious and all for eighty baht which is 2.50 aud. Then gave me the most divine bowl of garlic chicken broth to wash it down as a gift. She was so sweet. I am filled with joy actually just smiling and playing charades in very Thai sounding English with the people here. they are so happy, with so little. Humbling and wonderful and fun. "Good sanuk" It's contagious, although I feel a lot more like the real version of Janine right now. able to be spontaneous and in the flow. feels good.
love to you all, especially my little spunk muppet :)
J
Oh my god i am in love with this place!!! so many things to share or talk about because it's soooo lovely and so Thai!!!
my second day here began beautifully after an intensely deep sleep. I hit a wall about ten pm our time which is one am oz time. I was just beyond it ... I was asleep before i hit the pillow.
i awoke before seven, and Luke suggested we meditate together on the balcony... He knows i have my ten minute daily agreement. It is so still, cool and peaceful out there in the morning with the view of the water.
as for my day, Luke fixed me up with wheels! Whoo hoo I have been hooning around thenisland all day!!! whilst i am aghast and highly amused at the lack of road rules and the chaos everywhere when driving ... I could absolutely not care less for my safety ... I feel free, and random, and in the flow of chaos. I love the randomness of it. Mind you i did buck the local trend and take a helmet. Six years of working in road safety has given me some common sense in this area thank goodness (mind you i discovered today another purposes for the helmet .. I was riding along and nearly got hit by a flying coconut ... Jeese those things are heavy ... Then the toothless And very old Thai guy laughed at my look of horror as his cheeky monkey descended from the tree! They were harvesting coconuts)!!
...have I mentioned I love this place yet?
I have no idea what else to say really except, i have a nice sunburn, i have now consumed in the space of two days .... Two margaritas, one caprioska and two mojitos ... Numerous glasses of wine and a singha beer .... Two of the above beachside. The wines on luke's balcony before he whisked me away to dine in his resort restaurant by full moonlight, and others at the club we went to for hjs Aussie friend's birthday last night .... Complete with head banging local thai band thrashing out Acca dacca side by side with Robbie Williams angels! We had a little boogie ... And lots of fun . the thai people are sooooooooo warm and lovely and full of fun... It's nice to have days to myself to chat with everyone and then have Luke in the evenings to share long chats with and dinner.
he is taking his two days off tomorrow and Monday and I hear he has booked us in for massage and also a boat trip around samui ... Have i mentioned yet that i am in heaven?? He he he he he he he he he.
oh and oh my god. Thai food is already my favorite food in the whole. Wide world... And so this is just Ike being gastronomically exgravaganzad at every whiffy street corner and every bite from my plate. i chose a little out-of-the way open air eatery local place yesterday. only five things on the menu .. A sweet woman emerged from behind her wok .... To prepare chicken chilli basil. i watched her mince the chicken on her chopping board, expertly grind the chillis basil garlic in her mortar and pessle (which was about half as tall as she was!) then plucking other fresh ingredients from her leafy outdoor kitchen, it was delicious and all for eighty baht which is 2.50 aud. Then gave me the most divine bowl of garlic chicken broth to wash it down as a gift. She was so sweet. I am filled with joy actually just smiling and playing charades in very Thai sounding English with the people here. they are so happy, with so little. Humbling and wonderful and fun. "Good sanuk" It's contagious, although I feel a lot more like the real version of Janine right now. able to be spontaneous and in the flow. feels good.
love to you all, especially my little spunk muppet :)
J
Friday, September 24, 2010
To Barbara Sher's French Retreat: Getting there ... The j9 has landed
Blog entry 1
Will i Ever get out of here?
I was still sitting with a to do list item remaining in the lounge just prior to boarding ... Emails. The effort it took to get this sim in to my iPad was inordinate, with treks across the airport in an attempt to find one, then insert one then, activate one. I think by the end the universe was telling me to "enough with the technology already!!" . i do feel that i have become umbilically attached to the Internet ... Although I'm deciding that is ok in balance .. I love writing and I love sharing!!
I'm feeling at this point tired and exhausted and wondering why on earth i am doing this!!
flight to bangkok is boarding ....
At Bangkok ...
I have had very high hopes for this trip for some time ... And the initial excitement of it quickly became replaced with a to do list the size of texas, and the stimulation of throwing myself into two substantial isa events ... The september edition if the newsletter and organising a Weekend social adventure in December for up to 100.
so now I have found myself here in bangkok airport transit waiting samui flight hoping the excitement will hit me soon. I very much hope six days is enough for the island life to permeate my bones and enliven my spirit, with a catch up with a dear friend and sunshine.
And ready for the delights awaiting me at barbara's retreat. I have a book to read!!!
Ok ok now I'm on the plane to samui....
Flying to koh samui I am now feeling intimidated by the intensely good looking people on this plane. So well groomed stylish Slim tanned and gorgeous, I feel under dressed and blobby ... Mind you my ankles look like huge round beads threaded over my legs with nothing other than my feet to stop them falling off ... Ugly man!!!
They have fed so much food fo me in a very short space of time and I have not refused any of it.
Sigh.
the coffee club coffee at the airport was damned fine.
I watched Mother and Child last night, my own personal movie screen on thai airways,and it really was so well done, and I cried and cried... Annette bening was brilliant. I still have a lot of emotion around mum. Even a conversation I had. With a guy on the dog beach brougt up a big ball of emotion the other day.
Bfn bout to land.
LANDED!!!
Wow this place is beautiful. Hatched wooden open air airport was gorgeous.
Luke took time from his job as resort manager for what I later discover is a stunningly beautiful resort, and picked me up. Such a kind soul.
I am now officially excited!!!! Yeeeeee harrrrrrr, that took about 5 nano seconds after stepping off the plane in to this tropical sunny island air, to get in to the groove ,,, and Luke tells me that, motorcycling, kayaking and a boat trip are all kn the agrnda .... he he he very happy.
so we are driving from the airport when he takes a work call ...
"Paul .. Yah mate ... Be back at my computer in about thirty minutes ... Yeep ... Well essentially we can do everything you have asked us for, with one exception. we just can't do the elephant on the beach I'm afraid, (he turns to me and smiles as he realises how funny that probAbly sounds) ... Yeah i mean id like to. One day, and Its just a bit hard to organize with 8 days notice."
I am definitely i n thailand now!!!!
An hour later ... I am now settled in to lukes little apartment, with my bed in the lounge and a view past the balcony to the bay just a minutes walk down the hill ,,, the beach apparently beckons with a forty minute walk to lanai the local town and many a beach bed cocktail and massage on offer in case the walk is a bit long.
so I am now showered and off to walk the beach, h ave a swiim and maybe buy some clothes.... In my effort to pack light i realized when looking for something to wear in this intense heat, that I havent got anything to wear!!!!
Ok off to explore it is 11 am.
Xx
Will i Ever get out of here?
I was still sitting with a to do list item remaining in the lounge just prior to boarding ... Emails. The effort it took to get this sim in to my iPad was inordinate, with treks across the airport in an attempt to find one, then insert one then, activate one. I think by the end the universe was telling me to "enough with the technology already!!" . i do feel that i have become umbilically attached to the Internet ... Although I'm deciding that is ok in balance .. I love writing and I love sharing!!
I'm feeling at this point tired and exhausted and wondering why on earth i am doing this!!
flight to bangkok is boarding ....
At Bangkok ...
I have had very high hopes for this trip for some time ... And the initial excitement of it quickly became replaced with a to do list the size of texas, and the stimulation of throwing myself into two substantial isa events ... The september edition if the newsletter and organising a Weekend social adventure in December for up to 100.
so now I have found myself here in bangkok airport transit waiting samui flight hoping the excitement will hit me soon. I very much hope six days is enough for the island life to permeate my bones and enliven my spirit, with a catch up with a dear friend and sunshine.
And ready for the delights awaiting me at barbara's retreat. I have a book to read!!!
Ok ok now I'm on the plane to samui....
Flying to koh samui I am now feeling intimidated by the intensely good looking people on this plane. So well groomed stylish Slim tanned and gorgeous, I feel under dressed and blobby ... Mind you my ankles look like huge round beads threaded over my legs with nothing other than my feet to stop them falling off ... Ugly man!!!
They have fed so much food fo me in a very short space of time and I have not refused any of it.
Sigh.
the coffee club coffee at the airport was damned fine.
I watched Mother and Child last night, my own personal movie screen on thai airways,and it really was so well done, and I cried and cried... Annette bening was brilliant. I still have a lot of emotion around mum. Even a conversation I had. With a guy on the dog beach brougt up a big ball of emotion the other day.
Bfn bout to land.
LANDED!!!
Wow this place is beautiful. Hatched wooden open air airport was gorgeous.
Luke took time from his job as resort manager for what I later discover is a stunningly beautiful resort, and picked me up. Such a kind soul.
I am now officially excited!!!! Yeeeeee harrrrrrr, that took about 5 nano seconds after stepping off the plane in to this tropical sunny island air, to get in to the groove ,,, and Luke tells me that, motorcycling, kayaking and a boat trip are all kn the agrnda .... he he he very happy.
so we are driving from the airport when he takes a work call ...
"Paul .. Yah mate ... Be back at my computer in about thirty minutes ... Yeep ... Well essentially we can do everything you have asked us for, with one exception. we just can't do the elephant on the beach I'm afraid, (he turns to me and smiles as he realises how funny that probAbly sounds) ... Yeah i mean id like to. One day, and Its just a bit hard to organize with 8 days notice."
I am definitely i n thailand now!!!!
An hour later ... I am now settled in to lukes little apartment, with my bed in the lounge and a view past the balcony to the bay just a minutes walk down the hill ,,, the beach apparently beckons with a forty minute walk to lanai the local town and many a beach bed cocktail and massage on offer in case the walk is a bit long.
so I am now showered and off to walk the beach, h ave a swiim and maybe buy some clothes.... In my effort to pack light i realized when looking for something to wear in this intense heat, that I havent got anything to wear!!!!
Ok off to explore it is 11 am.
Xx
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I wrote poetry!!! I just found this ... googled it and it didn't come up anywhere, I must have written it!!!
The word document I found this on, said it was created 16 March 2010!!
Like a leaf quivering in the wind,
So too a puppy dog’s fur
Quivering as he teaters on the edge
Of his first swim
Maybe more violent?
Violence? What is violence?
It is all those ugly things
In the world, like war
And abuse, and starvation …
And it is the idle, crappy
Thought about one’s thighs, or one’s stomach
About not being good enough…
What is non-violence?
The absence of these things?
Or something more?
A loving thoughts
A caring smile,
A generous act.
We are such simple beings
When it all boils down
I love you
Like a leaf quivering in the wind,
So too a puppy dog’s fur
Quivering as he teaters on the edge
Of his first swim
Maybe more violent?
Violence? What is violence?
It is all those ugly things
In the world, like war
And abuse, and starvation …
And it is the idle, crappy
Thought about one’s thighs, or one’s stomach
About not being good enough…
What is non-violence?
The absence of these things?
Or something more?
A loving thoughts
A caring smile,
A generous act.
We are such simple beings
When it all boils down
I love you
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