Google Goody Bag!

4 x 45 min technical interviews with 4 x Google engineers gets you this:

- Google pen
- Google headfones for GTalk
- Google notebook
- Google tshirt with "I'm feeling lucky" on the back (also 10 times too big for me)
- Google thank you letter written in hex :)

I signed an NDA, so can't really say much apart from, "My brain melted" and "Wow, they have natural light in the building!"

What now? Wait for the feedback...

Nee-ce is Noi-ce

It's called the Cote d'Azur for a good reason. Nice was warm, sunny and oooh soooo beautiful to look at.

If you're wondering about the rocks, so am I *grin* From what everyone's been telling me, finding a sandy beach in Europe is a rarity. There's just rocks. Lots of them. Who ever heard of bringing cushions to a beach? o_O I was too cheap to fork out for cushions, deck chairs or umbrellas. So I bought a straw mat for EU$2 instead. It wasn't very comfortable, but who cares? I was sunny, warm and working on a tan! :D

What I loved most about Nice, was getting lost in its many alleyways. I spent the evenings discovering a multitude of stalls selling everything from spices, olive oils and french biscuits to fresh oysters, brandies and liquors. Link to the rest of my pix from Marseille and Nice here.

I have a tan! :D

Bidet and Bouillabaisse

It's been 6 years since I was last in France, and I'd forgotten how quirky the French are. So when I saw this in my hotel bathroom:

My immediate thoughts were:
- Okay, it's a bit wide, but I can still pee in it.
- Hrm, there's a plug. How does one _poo_ in it?
- OH! It's a BIDET! Okay, so where's the toilet?

So, Marseille. To be fair, I probably didn't give it much of a chance. It's a port town, and the city itself is on the seedy side. It's not a pretty town. I at least tried the bouillabaisse at Le Miramar:

It cost me a bomb! Usually, I don't mind splurging on food, but it has to be good. This was... well, I'm sure it's authentic enough with its six different varieties of fish, but it's just not my thing. There's only soo much fishy soupiness I can take, and the fish doesn't come out till you've finished a whole bowl of just soup first. All I can say is, don't take your restaurant tips from easyJet's inflight magazine :P

Dining Solo 101

La Pierre Bise
5 Rue Barillerie, Nice

It's too nice to sit inside, so I opted for the outdoor table. Be prepared to feel totally ostracized. I'm sure nobody cares, but on your own you feel like the entire world is watching you. When your food comes out, expect an audience from the sidewalk. I think the hardest decision is entering a restaurant on your own. The place looks trendy, very hip. It's a place I would frequent in Sydney. However, the place is empty. Eat here, and you're truly on your own. It's not that the food is bad. In fact, the food was *fantastic* - freshest seafood I've eaten since I arrived in Europe. It's just a slow Wednesday night, and all the other tourists are hanging out at the main square. My solution - get drunk enough not to care anymore *grin* 2 strawberry Mojitos and a peach Kir later, I didn't have a care in the world.

Cook your own seafood on a salted hot tile. It was sooo good. B & T, I missed you both.

Airport Security 1 : Reenie 0

The bounce has definitely gone out of my bungee...

3 D's - Defeated, Disgusted, Disastrous. That sums up how I feel about the time spent dealing with airport security at Gatwick and Marseille. It all seems so pointless. I'm actually starting to think, "if I was a terrorist, what could I do to get myself past security?"

On Tuesday morning, I left the apartment bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for my French ad-ven-tooor (pretend I have a really sexy French accent). I had read up on airport security and knew what to expect. I hate checking in. I never check in on European breaks. I had stuffed 4 days worth of clothing and undies, a mini towel, no toiletries, my swimwear, a sarong, chargers, and jandals into a laptop bag fitting the required dimensions of 35cm x 45cm x 16cm. At the counter, the lines for easyJet were insanely long, and everyone was required to prove the size of their carry-on by shoving it inside a wooden box. If it didn't fit, it had to be checked in. No problems there.

What I didn't count on, was my handbag counting as an extra bag. Only one carry-on per passenger, and that includes handbags *sigh* So, with lots of shoving, I managed to add my three-inch thick France Lonely Planet, Nintendo DS, camera, mobile, travel documents, two wallets and sunnies into the laptop bag as well. You can't carry anything in your pockets. Everything has to be in the ONE BAG. Even though everything gets scanned the same way. I don't really see what the one bag rule is trying to accomplish here. If anything, lines are longer, security chews up more time, and the end result is the same.

I don't get it. There was a security man shouting, "No lipsticks! No cosmetics!" What exactly are women terrorists going to do? Threaten the captain with a makeover? Or a la James Bond style, apply lethal lipstick and give the captain a seductive kiss of death? Once through security, you can purchase anything you want. Cosmetics, toothpaste, water, anything, and take it onto the plane with you (except if you're flying to the US - sucks to be American).

Coming home today, was even more insane. At Marseille, I thought it would be breezy. WRONG. It's even worse than Gatwick. At security, I was pulled over for having shampoo, toothpaste, bottle of water, sunscreen and moisturising cream. Things I would have gladly tossed to get through. BUT, I had also bought an EU$8 100ml bottle of cassis, blackcurrant liquor, from Nice. I couldn't bear to see it go to waste, so had to go back out and check in my luggage. To cheer myself up, I was going to get some more alkyhol from duty free. BUT, because I was flying to Rondon, I wasn't allowed to! That's right, I couldn't buy any duty free alcohol even though I was past security! What on earth? And just to make sure, my bag was checked AGAIN before I was allowed to board the plane! Talk about French overkill. The flight was of course delayed.

And let's not even delve into how I had to wait aboard the plane for 40 minutes before someone bothered to bring the steps and let us out when we arrived... Did I mention I barely made the last train out from Gatwick at 135am?

Pavlova - Without the passionfruit or custard

I've discovered a new breakfast place! Le Pain Quotidien on Marylebone High St. I love finding breakfast places, my only issue with this one is that it doesn't serve eggs of any kind :( Great range of bread, no eggs. So I settled for a tartine of salami, rocket and ricotta on organic bread, complimented with a GREAT coffee (it's soo hard to find good coffee in Rondon), and then this:

Yum yum!

When pigging out unnecessarily, always bring a boy along. Ed kindly finished off the remains of the pavlova for me :)

Democracy

I once had a debate with a foreign cabbie driver in Sydney (don't we all?) about democracy.

Cabbie: "Who did you vote for in the last election?"
Me: "I didn't vote. I didn't want to vote for either of the parties."
Cabbie: "Where I'm from, anyone who wanted to stand for election could. We had 100 people in the last election. In this country, you can only vote for 2 people. Tell me, which country has democracy?"

More recently, I've been watching presentations from last year's TED conference. This conference charges US$4,400 for a ticket! Every year, TED presents a prize of $100,000 to three people to make their wish come true. One of last year's winners, is the film director Jehane Noujaim. She made a documentary called "Control Room" on how the war on Iraq was reported by the Arabs on the Al Jazeera channel, and by the usual Western news channels. I never heard Dubbya's address to the Americans until I watched this documentary. Here it is:

"My fellow citizens, the United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities so we will rise to ours. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors, should leave Iraq immediately. Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated broadcast, and I have a message for them: If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country, and not against you. Your fate will depend on your actions, and it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders". It is too late for Saddam Hussein to remain in power. We will tear down the apparatus of terror, and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free."

That was the American President's vision of bringing democracy to Iraq. Iraqis watched the broadcast in disbelief and anger, "The problem is not Saddam, the problem is what the people will go through". Democracy through bombs. Terrorize a population into subjugation, and it suddenly becomes democracy. It's disheartening to see a supernation being ruled by such a dumbass.

It's interesting. When captured American soldiers were questioned, "Why did you come to Iraq?", the soldiers answered, "I was just following orders".

1KG of Pork

Makes a LOT of wontons for dinner. Gaze upon the beauty of our homemade wontons!

Guess which one B made?
(I'll give you a hint, it's the FAT EVIL LOOKING one)

The cute happy looking wonton is, of course, an example of my effort :) Hrm, interesting, I didn't realise the literal translation for a wonton is, "Swallowing Cloud". Here's what went into our's:
- 1kg pork mince
- Chives
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 can chopped water chestnuts
- Sesame oil
- Soya sauce
- Fish sauce
- Salt and pepper

What's in my inbox?

It started with this:


And then this:

And this is a chronology of how I reacted:
Aug 5: "Man! That's soo cool! I'm going to keep this email forever!" (Proceed to forward the email to the nerdy friends I have)
Aug 8: "Errr, why is an Engineering Manager interviewing me? Logic problems? Algorithms? CODING EXERCISES? But I'm a BA! What is this role?"
Aug 10: I get forwarded this link from a friend. "OMG, I can't answer questions like those!!!"
Aug 11-13: Busy setting up Ruby on Rails on my Mac.
Aug 14
10.00hrs: "Hrm, I can't remember anything about Java. Better refresh my memory."
18.00hrs: "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG"
(rock back and forth on chair)
18.30hrs: Flatmate closes doors to living room to give me privacy.
"FCKFCKFCKFCKFCKFCK"
19.01hrs: "WHY HAVEN'T THEY CALLED?!?"
"MAYBE MY DODGY GENERIC BLUETOOTH HEADSET ISN'T WORKING?!?"
19.02hrs: Google calls :)

The guy who interviewed me was really nice. He made the phone interview really easy for me. To be honest, I was a wreck. I stumbled through my questions and I'm not really sure now what I said :P So, another week till I hear back... It's funny how there are some companies out there that I will just worship. I don't remember being this freaked out about an interview before. It doesn't matter if I don't get the job, it's just cool that Google was a part of my life for 31 minutes and 40 seconds :) For those in Rondon, you can check out Google jobs here.

Bad service really bothers me

A part of me thinks, "I'm too much of a grumpy old cynic these days, let it go". Another part of me thinks, "You know what? Why should I let it go? People who give crap service shouldn't be in the service industry!!" Why are the most unhelpful and reluctant bastards always the ones in the shop selling? Why are they the ones slamming down your coffees in cafes, and rudely interrupting you mid-conversation demanding you to pay the bill because their shift is over in a few minutes? When were they allowed to tell the customer, "You're wrong," after they made the mistake?

Carphone Warehouse on Baker St is a 5 min walk from my place. Having to deal with the unfriendly bastard there, I refused to buy anything from him in the end. He looked surprised, "You don't want it?!?" (like he had done me a biiiig favour finding me the product, which only moments ago he kept insisting didn't exist in the shop). To which I felt like replying, "No you ass, your service is shit and I refuse to give you my money even if that was the last handsfree kit in this city". So I walked another 10 mins to the shop on Marylebone High St instead. They were a lot friendlier there, and gawd forbid, helpful. Purchase made, a much happier customer I am. I hope that guy in the Baker St shop works on commission :P

Pulling power

You know, I've figured out the age range of guys I attract.

Judging by the guys who approach me in clubs, it's 18 year olds. Kindergarten boys who are still attached to their glowsticks. For the record, the only time I've ever bought a glowstick, was when I had to walk from a rave in the middle of nowhere, in pitch black darkness, to a bus stop in a village an hour's walk away.

Judging by the guy who rode past me on his bicycle today, it's 80 year olds. Yes, cute grandpa in tilted red beret and giant sunglasses, took the risk of falling over and breaking his fragile bones to let go of the handle bars and wave at me with a large smile, "HELLOOOOO!"

My thoughts: Hi lecherous grandpa... I'd like to think I'm out of your league, but thanks for the compliment.

What does this look like to you?

A foodcourt? No, there's no such thing as a foodcourt in Rondon... It's IKEA! I've never seen an IKEA caferia this big before!

And these are apparently Swedish meatballs, with cranberry glob and mystery gravy. Err, I can only say that the Dutch do much better meatballs than the Swedish. But these were still pretty addictive. Omg, I just realised we've been ripped off, there's meant to be 20 meatballs there. I count only 19 *humph*

For more info on the man behind IKEA (Ingvar Kamprad), there's an extract about him from 100 Great Businesses & The Minds Behind Them about here.

Happy Birthday Fathead!

Even though you're probably in Denmark, I think it's probably the closest proximity I've been to you on your birthday for the past few years!

May your life be brilliantly brighter with every passing year *grin* I also need a real photo of you :)

Mrs Juan (Dom)!

My first visitor from Sydney!

Unfortunately, Dom was only on a two day stopover on her way home to Sydney :( Fortunately, we had time to meet up, have dinner, get lost in Camden, get drunk and discuss life, before she headed to the airport :D Was great catching up Dom! *muah*

Rainbow snot

I had this conversation with Babsy the other day.

// declare variables
reenie = new Rondoner();
snot = new Mucous();
// blow nose
snot = reenie.nose.blow();

// check colour
IF(snot.colour == "ffff00")
{ // colour is a lovely yellow
reenie.ailment = "fever"; }

IF(snot.colour == "7fff00")
{ // colour is chartreuse (exotic name for "green")
reenie.ailment = "flu"; }

IF(snot.colour == "000000")
{ // colour is black
reenie.ailment = "living in Rondon"; }

It's really gross, my snot is black most of the time! I'm not quite sure what causes it, but everyone points the finger at the badly ventilated tube system.

Fast internet + torrents = late nites

13 Tzameti:

Winner of the 2005 Venice Festival Best First Feature Film and, the 2006 Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize World Cinema. This film had soo much potential. But, don't you hate it when you watch the trailer for a movie, get sucked in, watch the entire movie, and find that the trailer is the best bit? *Argh* Don't bother watching the movie, just watch the trailer here. I'd give it points for having an original concept, but that's about it for the movie. This one thing, that gets repeated over and over again.
Overall rating: 1.5 stars

District B13:

You know, it's actually a lot better than I expected from a French action film! Unfortunately, I got the dubbed version, but it wasn't too bad. Unlike most action films these days which do far-fetched stunts with loads of flying around, water-walking and bullet dodging, this one has really believable moves. The storyline's a bit weak, but it's still enjoyable to watch. I think the lead actor, David Belle, has to be a human-monkey hybrid in order to pull off his stunts.
Overall rating: 3.0 stars

Legend of Drunken Master:

Oh Jackie Chan, what on EARTH were you thinking? Did you really need the money soo badly you were willing to milk all the fun out of Drunken Master? Gawd, it's the most terrible JC movie I've ever seen. I couldn't even finish watching it.
Overall rating: 0.0 stars

The Twilight Samurai:

This is a Samurai movie gently filmed with surprisingly little blood or violence. Then again, the last Samurai movie I watched was probably Takeshi Kitano's Zaitochi. Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd recommend watching this movie, it really depends on what you're after. If you're looking for something with an easy pace, then yeah, go for it.
Overall rating: 3.0 stars

What's wrong with my pussy?

No, this post isn't about chlamydia (not that I have it), or thrush (I don't have that either). This is about why I can't have live pets when flatting with B. I give you...

Exhibit A!

My darling stuffed pussy has its tail maliciously wrapped tight around its neck!!! B was the only one in my room last night. Hrm, I wonder if I said something to upset B last night *grin* Whisper: Never leave B alone with a live animal is all I can say. Here's my pussy looking happier: