The road there

Lunar bunnies

2011-02-03T21:29:00.003+01:00

Despite flying solo in Paris, I thought I would theme up this Thursday given it is New Year in all those far Eastern countries who follow the lunar calendar. Every self-respecting Western city has itself an Asian quarter so a couple of google hits later and I had chosen the lucky venue that would be my host to toast in the year of the rabbit.

When I first arrived 2 weeks back, I was really amazed by how well connected the city was and how there were so many Metro stations - you can easily walk 3 stops in heels no problems. Now I have fully embraced the French culture and took the Metro a short distance to get to Rue Sainte Anne. The evening looked promising as the entrance to the street is presided over by a large Asian supermarket generating a good quantity of local trade.

At 7pm, it was still pretty early by French eating standards but these canteens open all day and I walked past a few which looked quite busy to get to Higuma - a well reviewed Japanese noodle bar. On entry, there is a large open kitchen bar where the noodles are made where there was one Japanese business man having a glass of beer - waiting for his food, still dressed in his camel coat but with his trilby hat on the bar top. The waiters and the chef were however Chinese and there were distinct Chinese influences around the restaurant. The food arrived in Chinese blue willow decorate bowls and there was a greasy jar of chilly oil on the table. There are days I crave Chinese food but today I had wanted something Japanese - simple and clear. 2 more couples came in whilst I was there but really, it was fusion in the worst sense and I have no intention of going back there.

However, I am still excited about the year ahead. I like that the year of the rabbit follows that of the tiger - 2 such complete opposites. Hopefully we will be able to notice the change in pace of life as we apply gentle persuasion to mould this year's destiny as opposed to the fierce force we had to apply last year.

Pourquoi...?

2011-02-01T20:50:00.004+01:00

It's bitingly cold in Paris at the moment - to the extent that I seriously have to much a deliberate effort to make myself leave the office to buy lunch or even go home! Suffice to say, I haven't packed the appropriate clothes for this kind of weather...

There are some amazing restaurants here but they are absurdly overbooked. Largely helped by restaurant owners manipulating demand by only opening from Tuesday to Saturday and only for dinner. Many websites will not give tight opening windows but actually state a time you can call to make reservations and even then you have to be sufficiently understandable in French to a waitress who also has to serve the people who have managed to get into the restaurant! Where do all these people come from? It's not tourist season and I'm pretty sure it's not fashion week...

Another quaint French crazy is their Metro system. The signs are beautiful and point you to another era when Paris was full of music and feather boas but they have also kept an archaic ticketing system. Weekly tickets last for the week beginning Monday so if you are coming for a week starting on Wednesday you pay the full weekly price for a ticket that is valid only until Sunday. Similar thing for monthly tickets which only run from the 1st of each month and are the same price no matter how many days there are left in the month. This is ridiculous in itself, but even more amusing are the queues of French people on the first day of the month queuing to buy their new monthly Metro ticket when you can pre-buy it up to 10 days before the start of the month. Were they taken by surprise by the sudden arrival of month end or is there a silent protest against this crazy and inefficient system which we foreigners are not privvy to?

Anyway, I had a pretty smug smile this morning going to work with my pre-paid ticket...

Lundi Lundi...

2011-01-31T22:16:00.003+01:00

It's Lundi in Paris and there was a sprinkling of snow in the early morning. I know this as my friend left on the first Eurostar back to London. The time difference means he can take the 7am train from Paris and be at his desk in London City by 8:30am. All very impressive although it meant I was left in no man's land - tired but awake and waiting for my alarm...

Not that I am complaining. The weekend was glorious and despite the chill, we managed to pack in everything I wanted. It is amazing how many English blogs there are devoted to eating and going out in Paris. The wine tasting lived up to expectation and we stopped by the Maison Europeeane de la Photographie to see the latest photo exhibition which covered topical subjects such as the meaning of war as well as the big fashion names and famous landscapes from new angles. Much more manageable than a trip to the Louvre which I feel can be quite draining after all the queuing you do to take a look at a picture of a smiling woman which you have seen a million copies of.....

The food was unsurprisingly very good. One of the best things we did was to have brunch (which here seems to cover more the lunch-dinner slot so maybe we should call it lunner...?) at Rose Bakery which is run by apparently run by an English lady (blog-pedia-style knowledge) with student waiters who were more than happy to serve you in English which I think takes the charm out of coming to Paris - half the fun is seeing whether you can ask for what you want and trying to look like nothing is wrong when something completely unexpected arrives! Then we went to a chocolate boutique run by the much coveted Jacques Genin. I believe this is the first time he has sold direct to the public (his chocolate usually only sells to the top restaurants & caterers) and it was truly worth visiting. If anyone visits Paris, I can really recommend it. The shop is deliciously clean and spotless, all the staff are wearing clinical white overalls and the hot chocolate (proper thick molten smooth chocolate....) is served in classic white tea sets. The whole experience makes you feel very special.

We walked out of the City Centre past busy Republique towards Bellevue and ended up at a beautiful hilly park with fir trees and a lake feature with a suspension bridge which takes you up to a little stone gazebo-type structure. I would say it's much prettier than the Luxembourg gardens on the left bank which are crowded and surrounded by the sounds and fumes of busy roads and tour buses.

Am determined not to fall into the trap of finding something I love on the first weekend and re-visiting it with different friends. For my next victim/friend who is coming next week, I am only going to do new things. The google trawling through the memoirs of past Parisian travellers starts again in earnest!

Allons-y!

2011-01-27T20:26:00.002+01:00

My rate of cash consumption has been nothing short of amazing since I arrived in Paris. So much so that I had to resort to a dinner of bread and nutella tonight - which thinking about it was quite a treat... In the line at the little bakery, I was wondering how I would get through a whole baguette and whether it would still taste good tomorrow when the woman infront of me asked for a "demi-baguette". Genius - these people have thought of everything!

Part of the eating light is because my friend is coming over to visit me for the weekend tomorrow. He probably doesn't appreciate just how bored I've been but basically the last week I have been planning the weekend to fit in all the things I have not had the balls to do on my own. Also have scheduled in a trip to Notre Dame and the Ile from which the whole City originally began and have chucked in a tour of the pere-lachaise cemetary where Jim Morrison is famously buried (along with other alumni including Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust...etc etc) as a bit of a weirder treat.

And of course, what trip would be complete without a good French wine tasting.... I came here for a friend's hen night a few years back and did this really fun tasting so have looked up the guy and booked us in. As it happens, he has done quite well for himself during this time and now runs a wine bar and tasting rooms close to the Louvre. Can you imagine being good at something like wine which is something everyone enjoys and likes to learn about and which can be quite good money? If I were to have a strike of entrepreneurialism, I'd like to think there is something I could put my all into which I would actually also enjoy doing.

Something to ponder over the weekend but I'm not sure if I'll have time to schedule it in!

One sleep to go!

City of lights

2011-01-26T20:21:00.004+01:00

I'm starting a stint in Paris - somehow I have been able to convince my work that this is integral to the process and it has all happened fairly quick. Having said that, nothing in Paris happens quickly at all and it has taken the month of January to get internet access in my new flat.

Even the French are supposed to dislike Parisians but so far they have been very tolerant of my distinct lack of language skills and I seem to have arrived in the middle of the grand soldes so all the shops have -50% plastered on their windows which has really helped to make me feel welcome too...

The one downside is that I am out here on my own and I can't help thinking the whole journey would be all the better for being shared. I am, however, making amazing progress at eating out alone. I refrained from putting myself in that embarassing situation to begin with but there are so many bistrots and bars that look so good that I was quick to develop a thicker skin. I've found if you go mega early (6:30pm ish) then the restaurants are still empty, you get served quick, waiters are more tolerant of you umm-ing and ahh-ing through basic French and I don't have to pretend to be reading a book to look as if I am not listening in to all the conversations around me. It's quite liberating actually, each meal is like an extra boost of confidence (as well as completely delicious!). I think I may even try it when I am back home.

WTF Wednesdays

2009-12-16T07:29:00.001+01:00

The UK has recently been graced with the pre-budget report which details the economic policies the government will enforce next year. Not satisfied with the banks they already own and the mess that is looming over everyone's Christmas, they have decided to put further tax burdens on the whole banking industry. In spirit, I am fully behind taxing bankers but the measures proposed simply hurts the graduates and middle-earners who really have had very little to with bringing on the crisis and who are already suffering from the wage cuts, redundancy, over-leveraged mortgages, unemployment etc etc. It's like all these politicians just spout out headlines that will be short term crowd pleasers. This is not a stand up comedy act - I wish they would think about what they are doing. Completely randomly, they have also decided to reduce tax on bingo winnings - WHAT??!!

What is up with the Chancellor's eyebrows? Thunderbirds was so eighties...

Do we have a right to judge Tiger Woods? Should I care about what he has done in his personal life? Morally, he does not have a leg to stand on and I am not here to condone adultery. However, he's a professional sportsman and that is what he is known for. Why is it that he is having to take time off from the golf circuit because of the public backlash when politicians, movie stars, singers and even religious leaders can get on with their professional lives after their skeletons are unleashed? Surely some of them have more responsibility as moral examples than Tiger Woods? Then there are the celebrities who make immoral decisions in their field of profession - the multitude of politicians who lie and also sports personalities who cheat in their game. Even this year, there was the Renault scandal with a driver trying to throw a race, the rugby player who faked a bleeding face injury and France's controversial entry into the World Cup. I think we should give Tiger a break - glass houses, throwing stones and all that.

Time of excess

2009-12-13T23:13:00.002+01:00

Goodwill and cheer - it is all around. As we repent our ways through another Christmas season where our insatiable desire to borrow and spend is keeping the newspaper headlines well padded - all I see is more evidence of excess. There's an automatic reflex switch in our brains which means that as we turn the calendar to December, as we hear the year's first outing of our favourite carol on the radio, as we admire the bright lights flashing santa scenes on our neighbour's house (there's always one who goes overboard...) - we all turn into eternal optimists and every year we think this year will be the best Christmas yet. I even caught myself smiling at a horrendously hungover man on the tube journey to work the other morning - good on him for braving his way into work, he clearly enjoyed some excess the night before! It's almost certain that the O family will be in feud by 10am on Christmas Day but right now today, I am still hopeful that this year will be different...

Man flu

2009-11-15T21:17:00.002+01:00

Man down, man down.

Instead of working through the pain like any good female of the species, I decided to succumb to the more basic instinct of staying in bed and protecting myself from the dangerous elements.

In fairness, as much as I always dream of pulling a sickie, I can't face making the embarassing call to my boss. So man flu remains an as yet unachieved goal for me. However, I did manage to have a week off work as my doctor wrote me a sick note. He's my hero.

What have I learnt during my time off? Not a lot except that you feel most alone when you're sick. If I had died, how long would it have taken for someone to find me? Thank goodness I have no pets as that removes the possibility of my parents having to identify my half gnawed remains. The new year's resolution is going to have to be getting married or making friends with my neighbours. Tough.

Zombie

2009-11-03T23:09:00.004+01:00

What a glorious weekend. The trip to Oviedo was great - I was re-tracing the movie Vicky Christina Barcelona, just with no Javier Bardem! It was the beginning of November but the weather was glorious and the town is just too cute. The town is big on cider which is slightly less pleasant in the mornings as there's always a faint whiff of dried fermenting apples in the air. I toddled over to the town auditorium to watch the final grand prix with all the die hard Fernando Alonso fans, seeing as it is his home town. Turns out, he is less popular than I thought, or the fans are not really die hard at all, as the place was sparsely filled. The positive side was that I was interviewed by a national radio station who were very excited that someone from Button-land had travelled there to support the national hero. Er... hello? Have you seen the man's jaw line? Mmmm.

Anyway, I completely forgot that I had set my alarm clock at home for 3am to catch a silly-hour flight on Friday and this morning when the alarm went off, I got up, washed and did my hair before I realised it was only 3:30am!! Needless to say, I have been a complete zombie all day. There was this big conference today, it was me and 20 or so finance people sat around a circular table. The room was warm and the chat was dull. My eyes were getting heavy - I was trying everything in my power to keep the tiredness away. I could sense that my writing was falling down the page but even though I could see it on the page, I couldn't wake myself up. Am really worried about how I looked - for all I know, I may even have been snoring!

Some excitement in the UK today as there may be some retribution on the horizon for those banks that have had free access to national funds. Chance would be a fine thing - I 'll believe it when I see it.

Facial conundrum

2009-10-27T19:44:00.000+01:00

The head honcho - as in the man who is in charge of investments and sits like the fairy at the top of the tree - has requested to be my friend on facebook. For those of you who have skim read that first sentance, I'm going to wait here for you to read it again to fully comprehend the gravitas of the forked road that lies before me.

What should I do? If I accept, then I will constantly live in fear that someone will write something or put up weird pictures that he will associate with my behaviour. Plus why should I accept it? He's not the boss of me (outside of work...) but I can't help thinking it's some sort of test. But what's the right answer? I'm so sure I wouldn't be like this if we weren't in a job security-less recession! Also, I'm not sure I want to see personal photos of him. I mean, it's bad enough to see him in his best pressed suit but do I really want to see him chilling in his jeans or worse, beach holiday snaps?

Predictably, I'm just hoping it will go away if I ignore it long enough. Although that strategy doesn't seem to work too well with him in the office...

Witching hour

2009-10-25T19:45:00.005+01:00

Today is one of my favourite days in the year - the end of daylight saving time! My annual ritual is to not change my clock all day until I am doing something I really enjoy. Then I turn back my clocks and it feels like I get an extra hour just at the right moment! And this year, you'll be glad to hear, I have saved it for blogging. It's such a good feeling - you can definitely see why the Doc (Emmett Brown) was so obsessed with his time machine.

The last week of summer time was a gluttonous one for me - I've managed to go to 3 restaurants I have wanted to visit in the space of a week. To my immense relief, all 3 were delicious and well worth the wait and anticipation. I may have to find a new sporty goal though, as I've not lifted a finger (or toe) since the half marathon in mid-October so all these nights out and the upcoming holiday season is probably going to take it's toll! It's weird because I've never really been bothered about it before, but I think I've enjoyed my new toned-ness and it's sad to watch it disappear before my eyes.

It doesn't take much to excite me - which probably goes a long way to explaining why I work in finance and how I can read the financial newspapers and the Economist without falling asleep - but there was a scandal this week in the business community which read like the content of OK! magazine. The head of the UK's biggest insurance company has left his wife (they have 4 kids together) to consumate his affair with his HR director who is also married - to another senior manager who works at the same company! The Aviva triangle - it's like a little bit of Hollywood amongst the pink pages..

Went on a date with the greek guy (the one who challenged me to 'impress him'). Anyway, as most of you rightly predicted but I needed to learn for myself (...!!), he turned out to be a bit of a jerk. Back to the drawing board for me!

This Friday, I am off to Asturias - the home of my hero Fernando Alonso - to watch the last Grand Prix of the year with all his local homies. Slightly less exciting given the Champion was decided last week (Button - ick!) but still, it will be more of a looking-forward celebration as he will be driving for Ferrari next year. Vamos vamos!

Duck duck goose..!

2009-10-18T17:31:00.005+02:00

Went to the cinema to see Disney Pixar's Up in 3D. It's their latest animated movie and it was completely lovely. A grump of an old man setting off to live his unfulfilled dreams in memory of his childhood sweetheart - with a chubby little oriental kid to test his patience but who ultimately brings out the best in the old man. It's sort of like Gran Torino - but less violent and with helium balloons. Apart from crying my eyes out (it is very moving), the biggest surprise was how much 3D has evolved since I was 8, following Blue Peter to cut out glasses from cereal boxes and using green and red Quality Street sweet wrappers. I looked like an idiot and the TV screen was largely the same. Now, the plastic goggles still make me look like an idiot but the 3D element really works. Definitely go check it out.

It has been 10 years since I went to University - the first week of October 1999 was when I turned up at Oxford as a fresher to learn the ways of adulthood. To celebrate this joyous occasion, I organised a reunion (kudos to facebook as it made everyone very easy to find) and 50 of us gathered in a gentlemen's club in London on Friday. These types of official reunions are not as 'de rigeur' as they are in the US, and it was really nice to see everyone and for them to make an effort. The variety of different paths we had the choice to follow is really inspiring. Along with several hardened academics who continue to labour on their post docs for intellectual acclaim, there was a mix of lawyers, media moguls and art gallery socialites. Strangely, no one seems to have gone into banking but me - they obviously had better career advisors than I did! Anyway, it was warming to see everyone and to hear of their successes. It still makes me wonder though, whether we follow a predetermined destiny or whether we have the will to write our own futures.

Talking of ugly ducks turning into swans, you have to read about the Belgian Miss Homeless contest. As a social experiment, they ran this contest and the winner receives housing for a year... Aside of being a headline grabber, is it really any worse or better than an actual Miss World contest? The prize may seem more meaningful (in that it satisfies our desires to be do-gooders) but are we not taking exploitation to new levels?

Then the big goose of the week - my work has banned all web based emails and facebook! I spend 12 hours a day in the office and usually more than 5 days a week! It is apparently to protect information security - I still feel like I'm being violated...

Interlagos is underway - my Fernando is out on the first lap following repercussions of another crash. All my eggs are in the red bull basket now. Come on Vettel!!

Peace out

2009-10-11T19:38:00.006+02:00

As we reel in the aftershock-slash-glory of President Obama's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy", it's hard to decipher whether the Norwegians have been drinking the same water as their crazeee Icelandic neighbours or whether this is a genius way of giving the busy new President a chance to pause for thought and consider the repercussions his actions can have. There's a man who must get shivers thinking of the butterfly effect!

Closer to home (mine at least!), the nation's hero Silvio Berlusconi (yes, the one who keeps refering to Obama as having a good suntan) has had his self-imposed immunity from all rules removed by the State. Some crazy Italians stopped eating pasta for long enough to see that Berlusconi, who control's the country's media already, should not have the privilege of dodging the hand of the law. Apparently this clip is really him..

A little more frivolous, but on X-factor yesterday, one of the judges made a comment about a contes tant's sexual preference - it was completely unprovoked as well. I'm not sure what made her do it (it was glorious as an example of carcrash TV) but she repeated it to make sure everyone had heard her. In this day and age when everything you say is uber-scrutinised, why would she bring this bag of bricks down on herself?

And then most frivolous of all, I have bought my first grown up, significantly-pay-denting hand bag. After months and months of should-I-could-I, the deed has been done. In a most frivolous crushed raspberry. Yum...

Knowledge is power

2009-10-11T15:36:00.002+02:00

Turns out the posh boys I work with actually are part of the English aristocracy. All this time, I thought they were just overpaid idiots with their false airs and graces and public school humour but turns out, the jokes on me! They have titles and signet rings and when their fathers die, they will inherit land and maybe even peasants... Isn't this hilarious, who even knew this stuff still existed? Anyway, ever the opportunist, I have profited from the situation as one of them is dating a girl at Jimmy Choo and she is getting me 70% off some new shoes!

The half marathon was today - there were 15,000 people running through the royal parks. Predictably, I under-trained so it was less exciting for me, but it was vaguely amusing to be running with so many people. It was nice weather at least and the views were lovely. Even London is pretty in the Autumn - lovely golden reds and browns on all the trees.

This run means I have spent a good chunk of this weekend with my colleagues. I'm already worried I spend too much time with them and this just confirms it! My work day starts at 7:30am and then don't leave until at least 7pm - and then usually only to have a drink in the bar with co-workers before coming home. That's a disturbing amount of time, but it keeps getting compounded because they naturally become my friends and we organise to do things like marathons at the weekend. Talk about having all your eggs in one basket. I need to get out more - any non-solitary hobby suggestions would be gratefully received!

Oktoberfest

2009-10-04T21:47:00.001+02:00

Imagine the utter horror – you’re young and carefree and your boss tells you he’s sending you to Munich for a work conference in the middle of Oktoberfest... So it’s not my usual Mediterranean haunt but it’s definitely something worth visiting Germany for. We had an area booked in the Windl tent – it’s big enough to sit 8.5k people inside and a further 5k people outside. As you can see from the picture, it was fairly packed. The atmosphere is great – you order your huge steins of beer or radlers (beer with a lemonade top for those less hardcore beer guzzlers like me) and these women dressed in dirndl carry them 8-10 at a time to your table. This is no small feat – I struggled with even one, having to use both hands everytime I wanted a sip. The food was great – not a single wurst in sight – and there’s a live band in the middle who play a medley of Bavarian classics, old school pop and every other song is a Bavarian drinking song. Pretty early on, everyone as far as the eye could see was on the table, singing, toasting, dancing and generally being merry. It was really good fun and I even managed to turn up to my 9am meeting the following day in a vaguely coherent state!

The town itself is beautiful too – a real chocolate box setting. Cute little houses in pastel colours with climbing ivy and wooden window frames. One of the first things to strike you is how tidy the streets are, which just adds to the pleasantness of the city. In the same town, there is the ultra modern BMW World which showcases the latest in luxury cars in an amazing torque-defying glass structure that looks like a twisted cone and then you see the Siemens building which looks more like an Austrian stately home – I half expected the Von Trapp kids to come running down the stairs singing about their favourite things! It was election weekend, so every street corner had photos of Angela Merkel and her peers which was possibly the only scary thing I saw the whole week...

This week we are moving office. Only across the courtyard so that now we face the church. It’s very odd how many churches there are in the City of London. I work less than 5 minutes walk from St Paul’s cathedral but my office shares a courtyard with another church and from our top floor, there are plenty more church spires dotted all over the place. There’s even a masonic temple hidden in the inner bowls of one of the older hotels. Anyhow, I’ve got 4 years of paper to sort through this week. Fun fun fun!

Blessed be

2009-09-13T21:54:00.002+02:00

My parents have been together for a handsome 29 years - during that time they have remained faithful to each other and unquestioningly loyal to me and my younger brother. I have always had somewhere safe to call home and even now, if I were to ring them and say I was sick they would drive straight over in the middle of the night with hot chicken soup. I feel very blessed and hope that they have been successful at subconsciously implanting a picture of domestic bliss in my head which I shall be able to recreate for my own. It's natural for me to think of my future as I get ever closer to 30, but it saddens me to see my parents age. My mother is talking about knee pains and my daddy is getting forgetful. I just kind of assumed they would be around forever to look after me but the balance is definitely shifting and I can feel them becoming more reliant on me. It makes me happy to give something back but still, it saddens me...

On Friday night, I was out with some work colleagues (all male) when a guy came over, told me he had noticed me and was going to give me a chance to impress him. Takes some balls to do that - the line in itself is pretty special but infront of all those banker guys.. He's given me a time and place to meet him this Friday - says he'll wait for me for 15 minutes otherwise it's game over. I like arrogance but I think this guy watches too many movies or something. But my only Friday night plans so far are Otin/Hit40's Happy Hour #3... It will be a busy weekend for me though, am taking James Bond to the big Chelsea game on Sunday.

Tomorrow I am travelling into the English countryside to present to the pension board of a regional corporate. They are hosting a sort of 'beauty parade' for people to pitch for their £50m fund. Let's hope my baton twirling is up to scratch!

WTF Wednesday

2009-09-09T20:41:00.003+02:00

WTF! Far be it for me to pass judgement (yes, the irony is not lost on me don't worry!) but the joker Derren Brown is taking over English TV at 10:30 as he reckons he can predict what the winning lottery numbers will be tonight. It would be just that little bit more interesting for me if he were to use his magical powers in time for me to buy a lottery ticket. As it is, I don't see how he'll do it - if he gets it wrong he'll look ridiculous but if he gets it right, that may be an even bigger problem for the lottery organisers.

WTF! This is pretty disgusting so start jiggling your facial muscles in preparation of pulling your best disgusted face. On my daily commute to work this morning at a time when people are maybe tired but generally sober, a couple got on and sat on the same side as me. It was too early for the free newspaper so I was doing the usual gazing round the carriage to pass the time. In the window opposite me, I saw the couple's reflection and the girl had her hands on either side of her boyfriend's head and I assumed they were kissing and thought it was a bit early in the day for that kind of public affection. Anyhow, then I began to notice that other people were also looking at them and in a pretty disgusted way. I chuckled to myself thinking how conservative the British really are and took a look at them direct. Turns out they were not locked in a passionate embrace but the girl was using her grubby fingers to squeeze the puss out of they boy's acne-riddled face. A quick wipe on her shirt then it was back for the next one...

WTF! In the world of football (soccer, whatever...), the regulators have imposed a year long transfer ban on my Chelsea for allegedly encouraging a young player to come to the team when he already had a contract elsewhere. It's a pretty dangerous precedent they are setting as they'll have a tough time enforcing their own rules across all the football teams in Europe.

WTF! Had drinks with a girl last night who falls into the work-colleague-slash-friend category - always a tricky one with blurry lines... Anyway, she got really drunk and ended up knocking her full glass of red wine across the bar and all down my pale turquoise cardigan (it's nicer than it sounds). Not only did she not get me any napkins as I stood there with her red wine dripping down my neck but she offered no support as this strange Venezuelan man-slash-stranger kept hassling me to take my top off as he could remove it with tonic water. When I had got rid of the pest, she returned from the bar with only a new drink for herself!

WTF! South African gold medal winning sprinter Castor Semenya has been told she will not lose her medal no matter what the outcome of her gender test. Why did they make all that fuss in the first place then?

C'est la vie

2009-09-09T11:10:00.002+02:00

Working for a publicly listed company has both good and bad points. A definite bad point is that we are not just focused on the bottom-line but also on the way we spin it for the sake of shareholders. As we have a August year end, we have received a memo from our CEO to manage our pay expectations. After talking about the redundancies that have been made and the savings that have been delivered, he goes on to say:

The direct effect of the sudden and substantial fall in markets has been to reduce the company’s income during the last financial year and these will inevitably have to be reflected in bonus payments and salary reviews in respect of last financial year to the end of September 2009. We are aware that our staff around the group have worked extremely hard over the last 12 months and may be disappointed that their bonus will fall year on year.

Not what you want to hear, especially as they already used this little trick last year and I ended up with a sackload of depressed shares. Not so clever when you were hoping for cash but hopefully when I am 50, they will be worth millions.. Anyway, like a good business school graduate, having slapped us down and warned us of how insecure our jobs are, he goes on to say:

I am therefore extremely confident that next year should show a strong recovery in both overall income and, more importantly, margin, which we would anticipate would be reflected in next year’s salary and bonus review.

I shall be keeping my eyes peeled to see what remuneration he gets when our annual report come out!

Strike!

2009-08-31T22:30:00.003+02:00

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a point in every day when you decide you will no longer do any more work.

Usually, I can hold it off til after lunch at least but it's been getting earlier and earlier until it pretty much culminated on Friday by striking at 9am! I'd only been at work long enough to buy myself a coffee and flick through some overnight emails. Anyway, I felt so guilty that I stayed until 9pm - I actually got pretty productive after 6. The weirdest thing is, there is this man who works in fixed income who I only know by name and he was there even when I left. Thinking about it on my wonderfully lonely tube ride home, he is always there when I leave and always there before I arrive in the morning. Does he go home at all? Does he not get on with his wife? Do they have nothing to talk about now that the kids have flown the nest? Is he still living with his mother? Honestly, I was having a random Tuesday thoughts rant in my head and it kept me entertained all the way home.

So, hopefully this slackness was a Summer thing and I shall be good to go tomorrow. Although I keep looking at the clock willing the moment not to come. The guilt is simply unbearable.

Goody goody gumdrops

2009-08-23T22:12:00.005+02:00

The whole blog journey began for me as I was procrastinating my way towards some financial exams. Results were out last week and I have passed! Hooray! After the initial relief, the whole thing is somewhat anticlimatic (don't you just hate that word?) because my reward is to sit the next level next Summer - although that one is the last one after which I can stick 3 extra letters after my name. Oh goody...

My 3 summer weddings are also over. Through some cunning facebook de-tagging, I have managed to go to all three wearing the same outfit without anyone knowing. The recession has got nothing on me - although my larger European neighbours have called an end to this depressing period by reporting the return of economic growth. Not only do I not trust their statisticians, but overall it's fairly meaningless to me as the UK still has a long way to go. But to cheer us all up, Simon Cowell is back on our screens with the latest series of the X factor. Oh goody....

At one of the summer weddings, I was reunited with James Bond - no, not the international man of mystery but the guy I was sort of dating before he decided to stop calling me back. To cut a long story short, during our first date, he found out his dad had been diagnosed with cancer (this was almost a year ago now). His dad passed away in June and we hadn't seen each other since. At the wedding, he was very open and chatted about his dad and how he is now looking after his mother, his parent's house and his dad's outstanding affairs - all pretty heavy burdens for a guy who should also be grieving. He was also coming on to me pretty strong but as much as I like him, I had to hold him back. He is very vulnerable right now and I don't really want to get involved with someone who doesn't return my calls. I felt really moral and superior at the time, but I regret letting the opportunity go now. Oh goody...

The news is smothered by 2 stories. Firstly, the UK is divided over al-Megrahi, the alleged Lockerbie bomber. The Americans are outraged by his compassionate release but the British news is reporting it at arms length as it falls into Scottish jurisdiction - they wanted their own parliament so let the Scots lie in the bed they have made. Even worse, the Libyan news thinks that al-Megrahi's release is a reflection of their country's growth in power - the Libyans believe he was set free because the Western world wants to be their friends. He was not set free as an innocent man, he was sent home to die as a guilty man as an act of compassion which will forever be argued as something he does not deserve. Secondly, we are all wasting time arguing over whether Caster Semenya is a woman or not. Leave her alone. What a horrible trauma for an 18 year old girl. Very publicly, the world is debating her gender and she has taken 'tests' (I really can't even begin to imagine how they test her) which will say whether it is appropriate for her to race as a woman.

Sometimes, I am so grateful to be a nobody.

Question of the day

2009-08-16T22:35:00.005+02:00

What is your first response to this question?

Back when I was in school, I was in fact fourteen, I received a letter through the post. This in itself was exciting because post is a joyous affair when you're young as you haven't yet learnt the dread of those monthly bills... Anyway, this letter was addressed to me and simply had 'Who are you?' typed on a blank sheet of paper. Sadly, this was during the scary nineties and I was so worried that someone was out to get me and that I would find a horse's head in my bed that my dad had to come clean and say it was from him. He had read an article about a book called 'Sophie's World' in which a fourteen year old girl receives the same anonymous letter and it begins a journey through philosophy and self discovery. I don't think he ever got over the disappointment of me not being able to think outside of the box but such are the risks when you set such high goals...

I was reminded of this today as I was chatting to my friend over a coffee, having dragged her round Nike town as I tried on every pair of running shorts going. She is probably the most religious person I know and we were killing time until she had to go to church for evening service. She was telling me how last week, the sermon had been about identity and how we choose to identify ourselves. How do I answer the question 'who are you?'? I am a daughter, a sister, a banker, a European, a female, an athlete...etc etc. The sermon was saying that some identities are not forever - ie your parents will pass away, you may change jobs - but if you identify yourself as a Christian then this is an everlasting relationship.

I'm vaguely aware that I have written 2 consecutive posts that are loosely based on religion but I think this is interesting for everybody. Given my track record, I probably wouldn't define myself first as a blogger (although I am trying!) but I really couldn't decide what to choose first. If I was a believer of mantras then I guess I could make myself into anything as long as I say it out loud enough times! Although it makes you think about all those AA meetings where they make you say 'I am an alcoholic' before you say anything else which seems to be a somewhat negative form of self-branding. However, I'm off to polish up my positive outlook on life - I am afterall an optimist!

NB. Usain Bolt has just run 100m in 9.58s - it seriously takes me longer to get out of bed. Immense.

Summer camp

2009-07-28T23:33:00.004+02:00

This is not something I personally have to worry about but it's that time of year and the great American summer tradition has made it across the pond to little ol' England. The camp in question is called Camp Quest. Set up in the US in 1996, this is a camp for children who don't believe in God. Now, I am a Roman Catholic but I never bring this up in normal conversation and I make a point of not discussing my views with people I meet during everyday life (this is probably some suppressed catholic guilt but that is a whole other story which we can tackle another day!). My point today is why on earth make a camp for children that is specifically made to promote atheism, which is in itself a choice to not believe in God and a choice to not have faith. Can a 7 year old child really decide that they don't want to believe in a higher power, any more than they can choose to believe that they do?

The founders of Camp Quest allege that atheists are not allowed to join Scouts or Guides. Is this true? Apart from usual camp activities, they teach the scientific beginnings of the earth and attempt to dis-prove the existence of things like unicorns to nullify the existence of God by association. Come on, throw me a bone - this is the most ridiculous thing I have seen in a long time (even more so than the green shoots of recovery!!). What is the world coming to? Just send your kids to the same camp their friends are going to. Let them sit round a fire and sing ging-gang-goolie after a day kayaking on the lake. They have plenty of time to sit round their fraternity common room arguing over existentialism and heaven/hell whilst smoking banned substances as they come of age. In the meantime, let them believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. The race is not to have the freakiest kids who know the truth about everything, it's to enjoy the fact that they are KIDS and to protect their innocence as long as you can. I find the idea of Camp Quest about as appealing as Bible Camp. Shades of grey people, shades of grey!!!

Time is like a waterfall

2009-07-27T23:17:00.003+02:00

always flowing down,

we have but one moment,

to swim and not to drown

In response to dear Otin who always knows what is at the forefront of my thoughts, I am going to respond to his comment through this post. This weekend was the last of the Formula One races before the summer break in Hungary. It's very popular as its central location means it is easily accessible to all European fans and thus attracts a variety of F1 fans. On Saturday, the man Alonso managed to get his car on pole, thanks to a few car improvements but also a light fuel strategy. This however was marred by the tragic accident which saw a 1kg spring off a formula one car go bouncing down the track to hit Felipe Massa on the head when he was driving at racing speed. He lost consciousness and drove straight into a barrier. He was air-lifted to hospital and is now in intensive care - the latest is that he can move his arms and legs but can not speak. He is not expected to race again this season. Spookily, a week earlier, Henry Surtees (son of former F1 champion John) died after being hit in the head at racing speed by the loose wheel of a fellow F2 racer. To add to the general bad karma of the weekend, Alonso had to withdraw from the race on Sunday after a bad pit stop saw his wheel fly off in the middle of a lap.

As an Alonso fan, I am devastated that he is being suspended from the next race (which incidentally is his home race in Spain) but as an F1 fan, I am truly devastated by what has happened to Massa and hope for his speedy and full recovery. Everyone knows the sport is dangerous but so far we have been lucky with a good run without any serious accidents.

And because I can't end on something sad, here's a quick journey into the ridiculous. A group of children were made to walk backwards into the sea, arms linked and singing a song as part of a confidence building exercise. It all went rather pear shaped as the tide pulled out the sandbank from beneath their feet and the whole group of 40 were only just rescued by coast guards. The camp organiser's reponse: "Obviously we've pulled that exercise and it will never be done again"

Riddle's diary

2009-07-26T21:58:00.003+02:00

Harry Potter mania is alive and well here in London - everyone is crazy about Ron's swine flu episode, Hermione's latest dress and the sexual preferences of Professor Dumbledore. The longer I live, the more impressed I am at the commercial machine that is JK Rowling. Not only are the Potter chronicles an amazing work of fantasy fiction but she really knows how to keep the media interested. Those tales from Beedle the bard (?) which were sold at auction for some crazy price - a stroke of genius. Even more so now that they have been released to the general public (I'd be pretty peeved if I was one of the 6 original owners who thought the tales would not be made available to the general public!). And now, JK is telling everyone that Dumbledore is gay which of course is like a magic word to generate publicity (yes I know, amazing that it still has that effect..). Anyway, to quote from the original JK "if there must be madness, something may be said for having it on a heroic scale". Amen to that.

There's a Potter story which is based around an enchanted diary that belonged to a boy called Tom Riddle. This diary gets into the hand of an innocent child who finds solace in the responses that appear to her diary entries. As it turns out, Riddle is on the 'evil' side of the war and uses the diary to influence lonely teenagers. As I was reading it, I thought thank goodness for internet blogs! Don't think Riddle's diary would have gotten far if left unattended in a school today as everyone can blog, tweet, facebook (is this a verb now?) etc. Having said that, I honestly think I haven't heard of a chatroom grooming case for a while - not sure if this is so common now that it is no longer news-worthy or if children are becoming more savvy about information on the internet. I like to think it's the latter - knowledge is a great argument to fight the 'nanny state'.

Holiday!

2009-07-19T22:30:00.007+02:00

If we took a holiday

Took some time to celebrate

Just one day out of life

It would be, it would be so nice!

I have had a most relaxing week in a mountain top villa in the Sierra Nevada - some may say it's the traditional British summer escape, but it was truly lovely. All the wonderful sea views without having to face the crowds. There's something very calming about being so close to the sky - I think I am definitely a mountain (as opposed to sea) person. Whilst I was mildly excited by the sliver thin resurgence of the British Pound, it didn't really matter because the cost of food was so cheap. The Spanish wine that I buy in my local supermarket in London (Tesco for those that are interested) is 60% cheaper - I can infact buy the Reserva for less than I pay for the Crianza here. Between the wine, gazpacho and sea views, it's been a very liquid week!

On the Sunday, I went to a Spanish bar to watch the German Grand Prix and experienced something I never get in London - the warm embrace of fellow Fernando Alonso fans. All the warmer for its rarity. Apart from this one indulgence, I was pretty sure I would relish the isolation but I discovered I have one further addiciton. I am addicted to news. Every morning, no matter how hard I tried to distract myself, and much to the amusement of my addiction-free friends, I had to get to a newsagent and buy an English newspaper. The only newspaper that makes the daily journey to Spain is The Sun (this is the most widely circulated tabloid in the UK, read by the masses, often based on hypotheses, with dubious journalism quality but with a fair chunk of sarcasm and some genius headlines - incidently my brother works there). So, mostly I read about how swine flu is inflitrating the nation, how Jennifer Anniston has found herself another man and how Cheryl Cole is prettier than Dannii Minogue. There were little snippets that covered the Indonesia bombings which I could use to piece together the pictures on Spanish TV. What language barrier I say...

Thankfully, the heat has broken here as you all predicted. I have come back to a much milder climate complete with drizzly showers - everyone is still walking round dressed as though it is 10 degrees hotter though, which is probably adding to the swine flu statistics that The Sun continues to churn out. When I was young, I had a Korean nanny who swore on my many dead ancestors' lives that if you went to sleep with a fan on, you would not wake up in the morning. I used to think she was crazy, but I've never been able to go to sleep with the fan on. You may laugh, but this is serious folklore in Korea - like the Bogeyman, or throwing spilt salt over your shoulder, or not walking under ladders. It's known as fan death - read the wiki-link.

As an aside, an American won the British Open today at Turnberry. It was a day of despair and disappointment - firstly for Ross Fisher, the local lad, who managed a double par when he was 2 shots in the lead to rule himself out of play. However, the real tear-jerker was 59 year old Tom Watson, an old school hero, who had been leading the competition and threw it away on the final hole to lose to another American during the play off. Sport can be so cruel.

Humid

2009-07-04T00:39:00.000+02:00

It's hot, like horrible Far-Eastern-just-before-massive-monsoon hot.

Sticky, wet, overcast hot.

No-tan hot.

I've been working 14 hour days and I come home and it's roasting. Top floor flats with closed windows are not what one should have to come home to. Plus I can't sleep with the windows open because of a phobia I have harboured since watching To Catch A Thief - who knows what/who will climb in through your top floor window!

Anyway, all I have to eat is low fat chocolate mousse - I really don't know why I bought this. It's clearly indulgent so I may as well have gone all out. This low fat version is really hideous and completely doesn't satisfy on any level. Who drank all the emergency wine? If only my mum could see me now...

Zen...

2009-07-01T23:34:00.004+02:00

...the only thing keeping me going is the photo of Alonso and me which I have taken to carrying around in my handbag! Every stranger I meet gets the full story. I'm sure I will get bored of it one day... haha

Work is super busy. After graduation, as I stepped into the warm embrace of the financial Centre of Europe, I deliberately steered away from investment banking where my friends commonly stay at work until 2am and then boast that they get to take a company-paid cab home. Instead I chose to be a fund manager - something equally important sounding at all important high school reunions yet with friendlier hours. But somewhere, I think I've been conned!

We're doing a big acquisition - taking over a company that is far bigger in size than we are. Don't even get me started on the politics involved of integrating 2 separate teams - one of which is significantly higher profile and better paid. You know what they say: Change is good. But not in my back yard!!

Lots of news over the past week but it's all just passing me by without giving me a chance to make sarcastic quips. Michael Jackson, Bernard Madoff, Air France... But the one I've chosen to highlight is the story of James Amburn, a fund manager much like myself. He was tortured and held hostage by a gang of pensioners for 4 days for losing their pension money.

"The men, dubbed the "Geritol Gang" by police after an arthritis drug, face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of subjecting German-American James Amburn to the alleged four-day ordeal.
Two of his kidnappers are said to have hit him with a Zimmer frame outside his home in Speyer, western Germany, before he was bound up with duct tape, bundled into the boot of a car and driven 300 miles to the home of two of the abductors on the shores of Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria."

His excuse? "Due to market conditions, unfortunately [the money is] gone"

Damn it, that's my line!!

Silverstone!

2009-06-21T23:44:00.008+02:00

I can't find the words to describe what I experienced yesterday. I am in search of a new life dream - let's just leave it at that! Come follow me down the Grid Walk!!

Pole sitter and eventual winner Vettel arriving at the coveted front spot.
Former Champion Kimi doing his pre-race preparations:

Fellow Ferrari driver and very close runner up last year, Massa:

And a final treat - Double world champion Fernando Alonso. Can't wait for his talent to be released on a half decent car!

So many men...

2009-06-14T22:02:00.002+02:00

...so little time...

Having spent the last 3 weeks of May planning my post-exam social calendar, I am now completely exhausted. I'm not complaining, but I wish I had had the foresight to pencil in some time to sleep!

After a week of university reunions, tube strikes and wine tastings, Friday night was my night out with the short Ribero del Duero man. To put the height thing to bed, I wore my usual heels just to see how odd we would look and arrived fashionably late to our rendez-vous. He had been really excited about taking me to a bar he knew, and being a man in the wine industry, I naturally had high hopes. He showed up even later than me wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the first time we met. We walked round for ages as he wasn't quite sure where we were going. He finally found his bar and my heart sank - it was Waxy O'Connors. I had lost the will to argue by then so just went in and asked for a house white. He then proceeded to talk me through the noses and bouquets in my glass of house wine from Waxy O'Connors. The whole while I was looking down on him thinking my life had reached new lows. The last time I had been here was 12 years ago for my first under-age alcoholic drink. It's a funny old life...

After this car crash of a foray into dating, my friends and I were out for someone's birthday on Saturday night in South Kensington at one of those nouveau bars where you hope someone else is picking up the tabs. As usual with these places, the heating was up high to encourage alcohol consumption so I was driven to stand outside for a while with the smokers. There was quite a commotion as an American banker had refused to pay his bill and the waiter had taken him outside to get the money. Now, the waiters at this place are known for their guns - the house special is a watermelon martini where the fresh watermelon is put in a shaker with ice and broken down into liquid from vigorous shaking alone. There were punches thrown and the police were called. There was quite a crowd gathering and an American man started chatting to me about what was going on. The incident was resolved, the banker's friend paid his tab and his friends started to drag him down the road. He then turned round and yelled out for Brad. Turns out that whilst the banker was being hit by the waiter, his best friend, who is a lawyer and could no doubt have been quite helpful to his cause, was hitting on me! What a great guy - I have all the luck!

Fort Frick

2009-06-12T01:07:00.004+02:00

Once upon a time there was a young man called Henry Clay Frick who vehemently opposed all organised labour unions. Dubbed the worst CEO in American history, Frick was so unimpressed by the steel unions that he went face to face with the rioting masses back in the 1890s leading to several employee deaths and an assasination attempt. I don't know if this led to him lending his surname to grade 2 insults but he's generally regarded as an unpleasant being.

Well, I wish he were here now to sort out the sorry state of London Underground. For 2 days now we have had no underground metro system. Doesn't sound very scary I know, but it took me 2.5 hours to get to work this morning because I ended up walking the whole way! I don't mind a spot of exercise but not at 6:30am and certainly not if there is a whole day of work awaiting me. The journey back has been no less enjoyable.

What is making the underground workers so miserable I hear all you labour-friendly people ask? Well, in the middle of a global recession which has left most stones thoroughly turned, the underground union is demanding a 5% pay increase and a guarantee for no redundancies. I never make out like I am anything but a heartless capitalist but this is too much even for me. I would rather walk 5 hours a day than see them get job security ahead of the rest of the economy. The underground union have replaced Gordon Brown on my dartboard. Long live Henry Frick!

Completely unrelated but check out the amount of moolah being moved around in Spain - a so called bust economy. Now that's a dream team!

Dongle mania

2009-06-09T00:48:00.005+02:00

Better late than never - I am a child of the noughties!

I have bought myself a laptop and a dongle - it seems to make everyone laugh but they really named it that! Apparently it is because the brains behind it didn't have quite enough creativity to give it a geeky name so just named it dongle. Anyway, it gives me mobile broadband which can only be good.

Just a quick one today but here is my keepsake story. This summer I am funding the O's first holiday abroad. Both my parents worked very hard to send me to [what they thought were] the best schools so I am very happy to be able to do this. It's not that we haven't all travelled separately but we have never had the time or money to all go at once. Our annual summer holiday used to be a Sunday trip to the seaside setting off at 4am but we always had to be back in time for them to go to work at 6pm. Then my brother and I became teenagers... This is a big milestone for me, but obviously I am not yet mature enough to let it go as an unsung act of greatness. Maybe next year I will be big enough to do a good deed and keep it to myself - although I wouldn't put money on it!

The Fear

2009-06-01T16:56:00.006+02:00

... is here

400 hours and 40 minutes til exam day - calculated using my overqualified Texas BA II plus which can apparently do much more useful things such as tell me the time value of a dividend today relative to a capital gain tomorrow. The joys...

As an aside, during my week off, it has come to my attention that the greatest slacker film of all time is selling a little bit of real estate. Sub prime spares no one - click on the photo if you have a spare $2.4m and want to be Ferris Bueller

Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

2009-05-30T12:07:00.006+02:00

Isn't it ironic?

I started getting outrageous calls from EDF Energy (my electricity provider) last week saying I was seriously over due on my bills and if I didn't pay within 5 days they would take me to court. When I got home there was indeed a bill dated 28th April saying I had to make my payment before May 12th. How am I supposed to meet this deadline if I receive the letter 2 weeks too late? Inside was also a leaflet outlining the huge benefits of paying by direct debit - the day I trust utility companies to take money out of my account automatically is the day I start wearing Burberry baseball caps. Backwards. With a matching Chihuahua.

The Government expenses scandal has reached fever pitch and we are on the brink of seeing the 13th casualty (I still like it when something reaches the number 13) - and I, the good apathetic citizen that I am, am getting bored. It was funny to see them squirm at first but it's just unbelievable what they've been getting away with. The Labour MP who claimed expenses for a house with no remaining mortgage, then the Liberal MP who claimed for a house for his daughter, then the Conservative MP who claimed for a house for his ducks! Look to your left to see what £1645 will get for your feathered friends these days. All this while they are trying to make Bank CEOs take less pay.

There is a man in Texas called T. Boone Pickens. One of the big wildcatters of yore, Pickens made a small fortune in the oil industry taking him onto Forbes' Rich List but is now campaigning for renewables of all things - investing his own wealth into wind farms across Texas which has seen the US recently overtake nuclear Germany as the highest renewables generator in the world. But this is still peanuts if you consider the US uses 25% of the World's daily oil production for 4% of the World's population. I am no environmentalist - my green credentials stop at separating out wine bottles and newspapers from my household garbage. I don't understand Boone Pickens - maybe he is trying to make up for his past carbon footprint or maybe he is laughing at us all - but I can't argue with Pickens' Plan. So what if he makes money out of it too? It's a whole lot better than financing the likes of Paris Hilton.

Cogs

2009-05-25T11:07:00.004+02:00

This is what I would rather be doing today - can you imagine the satisfaction of having it all come together?

Blue skies

2009-05-23T15:47:00.006+02:00

When you're waiting for the kettle to boil, mail to arrive or other inspiration to strike - do you ever wonder what other people are doing at that exact moment? If I am having a really lazy day - you know the kind, when you're still in your pyjamas after lunch - I can normally shame myself into getting dressed and out the door by thinking of how I am wasting a day compared to the likes of Warren Buffett, Tiger Woods or Anna Wintour.

The Formula 1 Grand prix this weekend is being held in Monaco. Whilst it's not my favourite track of the F1 calendar, there's still something special about Monaco with its F1 history, the annual drivers dinner hosted by the King and the decadent buildings all round the track. I also love that it is a street course so everyone drives on it for the remaining 51 weeks of the year. There's something pleasing in thinking that they are the same roads that Maxmillian de Winter drove in Rebecca - I inted one day to drive round them myself - hopefully in a Bugatti Veron!

Watching it on TV, all you can see in the background are these fabulous yachts docked in the harbour full of people wearing Ray Ban Clubmasters sipping champagne.

How come our Saturday mornings are so different?

Thou shalt not covet...

2009-05-21T15:14:00.005+02:00

So pretty....

Summer wedding season is fast approaching and the powers of facebook mean that one dress will not suffice for 3 weddings on consecutive weekends!

Obivously I am busy studying, but on my well deserved breaks I was looking at dresses and I love this pale pink one from the Miss Dior perfume advert. The dress is beautiful in itself but I'm also sold on the Miss Dior lifestyle as she flits through the cobbled streets in her dress enjoying all things Parisian. The full length gown you can see a snippet of is completely stunning too. For those interested, the ad was directed by Sofia Coppola and the song is a Brigitte Bardot classic - moi je joue. So happy!

I know you can't wear white to weddings but are there any other rules? I've heard no black and no red too - is this true? So many rules...

This is no ordinary promotion...

2009-05-20T11:02:00.006+02:00

I guess this joke will be lost on all non-British TV watching folk but it's the tagline for Marks & Spencers, one of the UK's biggest retailers. 125 years ago, a Jewish man in Manchester set up a penny stall to sell household bits and bobs. From this, M&S grew to become the darling of the British high street providing good quality basics in clothes, homeware and food. They even dabbled in the US when they bought Brooks Brothers, but they've since let that one go. Their international dreams cost them their domestic focus and they lost share in their customers' wallets to the likes of Tesco, Topshop etc.

But now, M&S are on a charm offensive headed up by Sir Stuart Rose - who has quite the illustrious history himself. He's not been very popular, but he always wears an M&S suit when he does public and shareholder appearances - I know that's pretty trivial but you would be surprised by how many CEOs preach about the quality of their products but don't choose to invest in the lifestyle they're trying to sell (a bit like Wagoner, Nardelli and Mulally choosing private jets!). Do what you want on your own time, but don't think that you're better than your consumers and they will keep coming to your store if you look down on your own products!

Now, TV adverts show Twiggy and Erin O'Connor prancing about in meadows wearing and eating M&S. To top it off, they are celebrating their 125th birthday by going back to their Penny Bazaar roots and offering a selection of 20 items for the princely sum of 1p (about 1.5c). I think this is a great marketing idea and ties in well to the current frugal lifestyle we are all trying to adopt. But take a look at these comments to a newspaper article - there's just no pleasing some people. As for me, I'm off to do my Christmas shopping for the next 20 years!

Slick thinking

2009-05-19T10:38:00.004+02:00

Although there's nothing like a good fiction novel, I've been reading a fair chunk of non-fiction of late - mostly biographies of people who inspire me but also the history of large corporations. Have you ever wondered how Exxon started life? A man in Ohio called Rockefeller sowed the seeds for what is now the largest public company in the world. Over a hundred years of history seeped with family feuds, public humiliation, Government intervention, forced break up... could almost be the storyline for the next Dallas series.

It's particularly interesting within the context of OPEC and the controlled regime with which we produce oil and gas globally now. Although having said this, we like to think there are regulations in place to protect us but really the balance of power is shifting to the emerging markets who still have reserves of oil to drill. In the US, imports of oil are now more than double what is produced nationally.

Which brings me on to Peak Oil - probably most famously associated with Hubbert's theory that predicts the point at which any given oil field hits peak production after which, it goes into decline. People have tried to apply this on a global level to see when World oil fields will go into terminal decline with varying predictions from the pessimist "it's already happened" to the optimist "won't be til after I'm dead". Answers on a postcard please!

The price of oil spiked at $160/barrel last year which had people stocking up at petrol stations and saw our electricity bills and transport costs go through the roof. And yet we pay $3 for a litre of bottled water which is equivalent to $475/barrel. I don't even pretend to understand the complexity behind setting oil prices (one would like to think it is just a by product of a free market) but it's scary to think there are people out there who do this for a living and can have such a big impact on our daily lives.

Make it a Blue day!

2009-05-18T22:06:00.002+02:00

Jubilations!

Although my dear football team have finished third in the league, today is a momentous day in my life as I have FINALLY made it to the top of the list! The credit crunch obviously serves a purpose as enough people have gone bankrupt for me to get a season ticket - I've only been on the waiting list since 2002. I have been saving to buy my dream Miu Miu handbag but I figure it is already almost out of fashion and I can't really turn down this ticket - who knows when I'll be offered it next. I'm going to keep it forever and create a legacy. My future children will fight to be the one to inherit it...

In a haze of blue glory, I'm going to dedicate this post to all things sporty in my life. I'm an avid golfer (yes, don't worry, I already know it spoils a good walk) but it started as the only way I could spend 4 straight hours with my dad without threatening to disown each other, and for some reason, the game comes very easy to me. To balance out the cardiovascular side of life, I shall be running the London half marathon this October - I'm glad to have found marathoner81 as I'm now relying on her to shame me into training through her own rigorous regime!

I also love watching Formula One races - it's just something about the speed, the cars, the slight smell of petrol you can smell through the TV screen... It's been tarnished of late by several 'scandals' involving fraud, dishonesty and general confusion . Even worse, a few teams including Ferrari are threatening to pull out on the back of spending restrictions - it's all turned into a political off-track nightmare. It doesn't help that ungrateful drivers are comparing it to being in prison. What a complete idiot thing to say - he earns more than I know how to count up to, he drives a car worth more than my life insurance, he's dating a pussycat doll, he's giving his family the life they always wanted and he's living his dream of being a Champion driver. The boy needs to learn some perspective on life. My loyalties remain firmly with the great eyebrow-ed one...

Anyhow, here's hoping for a great season for Chelsea next year!

More Vino?

2009-05-17T00:00:00.000+02:00

On Friday, a few colleagues and I were invited down to the International Wine fair (held in the same location that my exams will be in a few weeks!) for 'business' and we carefully selected a 4pm slot so as to have some time afterwards to enjoy the rest of the fair. There were wine producers galore from all over the world, and we were more than happy to sample their wares.

As a big supporter of European trade, I hit the old world stalls with a vengeance and found a small Spanish producer of Ribera del Duero - Rioja's lesser known sibling - which I absolutely love. Even better, the guy on the stall was gorgeous - deeply tanned with dark hair and these amazing long eyelashes that were tinted blonde at the tips (no doubt from all those hours spent under the sun tending the vineyards...). In his broken English with a beautiful thick Spanish accent, he was telling me the history of the 'terroir' in Valladolid but he could have been saying anything to be honest because all I was thinking was... how short is too short? Granted my sense of perspective may not have been 100% at the time, but I'm pretty sure eye-contact involved no head tilting.

He's offered to take me out next week but I'm not sure I want to date a guy who affects my choice of shoes. On the plus side, and this is a big plus, I will probably never be short of wine!

Someone say Cupcakes?

2009-05-16T13:40:00.008+02:00

Is this not the cutest picture? Who can say no to a cupcake, let alone one that is covered in frosting and being lusted after by Bambi?

Thanks to Otin for sending me his deer cupcake award - rules (since when have awards come with rules? Although I guess the silent rule to any award is maintain the status quo, be it for Nadal to continue beating Federer or for the beauty queen to continue facilitating world peace...) are to respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention, and add one additional question.

1).What is your current obsession? Broadening my horizons - I think I am having a recession-driven epiphany.

2).Where are you right now? A strangely sunny London

3).Coffee or tea? Coffeeeee!!

4).What's one of your favorite movies? Roman Holiday

5).What's one thing you're looking forward to? June 8th (day after my exams) and the start of the summer - rock on!

6).Who was your childhood crush? The enduring crush is Jensen Ackles (he's now looking mighty hot in Supernatural) but with age has come a desire for substance. I like high achievers now.

7).What is your current favorite Song? The man who can't be moved by the Script. Trends find me slow...

8).What would you like to get rid of? Self-doubt. I am woman - hear me roar!

9).What in life are you waiting on? An early retirement with an intelligent man (who will also happen to be a mediterannean millionaire) in a Tuscan villa surrounded by cypress trees. We will drink wine from our land and I would blog every day - haha

10). Why did you start your blog? It was one of many tactics to delay revising! It's strangely captivating though - I can see how people get addicted.

11).If money was not an issue, what is one thing you would purchase for yourself? A Formula One team.

12).If you could live in a foreign country, which one would you choose? Italy - I want la dolce vita!

13).What is one trait about yourself that you wish you could change? Probably a little too probing for the morning after the night before...

14). Tipple of choice? I love cold and dry white wine. I like my cocktails fruity although on a first date I would probably go for a martini to be less girly and my best holiday ever was drenched in limoncello!

And now, for the nicest part of all. You don't have to do the questions, but your blogs are deer to me!

Otin - I offer you the option of answering the new questions and I love Otins Chat

Cris - In the bleak days when I was a blogging newbie, you gave me much joy by leaving me comments. You know what they say, you never forget your first.. haha

Hit 40 - I think you already receive every award going - but here's another just because teachers shape our futures.
Madeline - I don't know where you've gone, but I really enjoy your snapshots.

Marathoner81 - Like Hit40 on the awards front but keep up the training - I want us both to finish come October!

Friday Funny

2009-05-16T13:13:00.003+02:00

Can I pretend it's still Friday somewhere in the world?

I was reminded of this because someone was having frozen pizza for dinner last night.

Bad Vs Evil

2009-05-10T11:47:00.003+02:00

Welcome to the House of Shame.

The war between the bankers and the politicians continues, and as biased as I may be, the bankers seem to be winning by default. The government have shot themselves in the foot once again this week as their frivolous past manipulation of allowable expenses has been brought into the scathing eyes of the general public. Hot on the heels of their intention to raise taxes to 50% next April, we find that our taxes have been used to pay for politicans' late night pay-TV, home improvements (someone even had a new wet-room installation paid for!) and fine dining experiences. Even our Great Leader has been paying his brother £3k per year to clean his house.

Words that spring to mind are rocks and glass houses. Pretty poor form to be advocating national belt-tightening and quantatative easing when the Government are using our taxes to pay for their second, third, fourth homes. Some politicians are exploiting some pretty dubious loopholes to try and justify the £15k kitchen they've had put in, but it all sounds a bit Enron-esque which I'm fairly sure they all deemed morally corrupt at the time...

I've got nothing against rewarding people who are doing a good job but I don't think any one in politics is deserving of that accolade just now.

It's as easy as A - B - C

2009-05-09T10:37:00.002+02:00

I have finely honed revision skills that involve leaving everything til the last minute whilst accumulating a growing level of stress (inversely proportional to the number of days left) and then working through the night on d-day whilst my pencil races against the dawn - it takes a week after the exam period to rebuild my sanity!

It all started in high school when exams used to stretch over 3 weeks. It was a time I used to look forward to because for those 3 weeks of the year, we were allowed to come to school in our own clothes. It was supposed to help us feel comfortable, but going to an all girls school, this was an open invitation for us to wake up an hour earlier to match our belts to our pencil case, straighten our hair and showcase our newest jeans. One time I was so exhausted and sleep-deprived, something had to give. There's still an urban legend at the school now of a crazy, one-eyed, hunch backed girl who suffered a mental breakdown and came to school in uniform on own-clothes-day. *shudder*...

It all switched at university as the only time I was told what to wear was during exam time. I kid you not, I had to wear a black skirt, white shirt and a black ribbon round my neck whilst the boys had a wear a full black suit and a white bow tie. Can you imagine anything more stressful on the morning of your exam than trying to tie a bow-tie? We also had to carry our graduation hat to every exam - even though we're not allowed to put them on until graduation day. This proved quite useful as it turned into my pencil case - as an engineer I had rulers, calculators, protractors, compasses and as a hypochondriac I had 10 super sharp pencils, just in case... If we weren't dressed properly, we were turned away from exam schools! Those sleepless nights ironing shirts to be granted exam entry - best days of my life...

Now I'm sitting for a professional qualification that is supposed to make me a better financial analyst and give me three more letters after my name. As a US corporation, they charge us $1000 for the pleasure of sitting a 6 hour exam on a Saturday (my company is paying, for those of you thinking I really am a crazy, one-eyed hunch-back) and you have to pass 3 levels to get the qualification. So whether I pass or fail, I will still be taking another exam next June! The same crazy long exam is sat across the world on the same weekend and in London alone, there are 40,000 people who turn up at this huge warehouse where all you can see are rows of desks stretching back to infinity. As zero hour approaches, the shutters start to roll down and desparate candidates roll under the gap (very Indiana Jones) and I begin to frantically re-sharpen all my pencils. Only a month to go - wish me luck!

Is it too soon...?

2009-05-08T20:25:00.003+02:00

Got an email from the exam regulators this week saying they are taking into account the recent flu epidemic and they are working hard to ensure there will be no disruptions on exam day (a 6 hour exam on a Saturday that takes place simultaneously all over the world - I'm sure there's an arbitrage opportunity there somewhere with the time differences but I haven't quite figured it out yet...)

Cow Economics

2009-05-04T17:04:00.007+02:00

Something funny just because it's Monday. I tried to google an original source for these jokes but all I got were many many many variations. Think I need to relocate to France or Italy. Have fun adding your own

SOCIALISM

You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM

You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away…

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies. You then employ someone else to do the work and you graball future profits to fund your indolent lifestyle.

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION

You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows. You break for lunch. Life is good

A JAPANESE CORPORATION

You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You re-eng ineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. A beautiful woman walks past. You decide to have lunch. Life is good

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION

You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION

You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION

You have two cows. Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION

Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy….

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers and a barbeque to celebrate and ponder why none of the cows have pouches for their young

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

Let it be me

2009-05-03T11:41:00.004+02:00

This week involved interviewing interns. Those who have made it through the rigorous screening process, which every year sees my colleagues hanging about after work one day with a few bottles of wine as we sift through the many CVs. My team is young, with the majority of us being under 30, so it’s not that long since we ourselves were the interviewee. Life is tough – there are slim margins between applicants on the academic side as they all seem to be excelling at top notch universities – so more often than not, it comes down to that special chance that one word somewhere on the CV makes a connection with the interviewer – be it a shared interest or the same home town. At the end of the day, they are all plenty smart but you want them to fit in with the existing team but also to bring something new.

At university, I was much like any other student, with that subtle arrogance from the belief that I was en route to something big. The place was full of high achievers who spent their free time perfecting their tennis serve, protesting for human rights or running for university president – all things I believed I could achieve too if I chose to. Then comes graduation, which for many is the final curtain on their childhood, and we are released to once again, become the smallest fish in a very large pond. My self belief is eroded away with every unsuccessful job application and I’m left with regrets. I had a unique four year window of opportunity where I was free to chase after any dream but was too lazy to take advantage of it.

And now it gives me great pleasure to meet these hopeful interns, who are trying to plan their summer vacation to include experiences that will help them on their road forward. Their new suits, straight postures and eager eyes takes me back to a happy time – although with every passing year, the edges become a little more frayed with thoughts of what could have been.

What is life...

2009-04-25T14:11:00.004+02:00

"What is life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare"

Just hearing the first 2 lines of this poem slows down my breathing and brings me a sense of peace. I can't describe it any other way but I often recite it to myself when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed - easily done in these inpatient times we live in. I'm back at my parents' house this weekend and my dad came down to the canal with me this morning on my run. I hadn't even noticed that he wasn't following me but I jogged back to find him chatting with a canal boat owner at one of the locks. He was like a child - completely enthralled by how the lock was controlling the water levels to allow the boat to pass. I was jogging on the spot, stretching, shuffling my feet and generally acting like a spoilt child when he asked if I had ever seen this before and understood how it worked. I only just stopped myself from answering yes, because on reflection, I don't think I have. I just think I have because I've obviously seen it on TV at some point - maybe in a geography class in school when I was much younger. Don't get me wrong, I am and will forever remain a huge TV addict and it lets me into worlds that I would never otherwise see. But it's also de-sensitized me to the real world - I could really do with some standing and staring...

In case I'm coming over all zen, I'm going to end with a mini-rant. Our great leader has pushed through an incredible 50% tax rate to begin next year on any income over £150k. This comes after having made every £1 in my pocket worth substantially less than it ever has been at a time when all food and commodities are priced much higher. Sure, copy the Italians with their Robin Hood tax and placate the masses but how many high earners does he think will remain UK domiciled if they have to pay 50% tax? Discourage the high earners and high spenders, and all he will be left with is a huge deficit created by his own over spending and his sell off of the UK manufacturing industry (currently one of the only countries without their own steel production which is arguably a national defense issue). I don't know, it all seems very complicated and vicious-circle-esque. I think I'm just bitter because despite my best efforts, I don't make it anywhere near the £150k line! My lack of career progression has been effective tax planning all along...

Recession dating

2009-04-19T13:49:00.006+02:00

Another effect of the financial crisis has been the change in the dating scene. Gone are the days when 2 girls out at a wine bar in the City could almost guarantee being offered a drink by some well heeled banker - they are much more calculating over their discretionary incomes now. Also, there's probably a lot less of them around. Bankers are either moving on to pastures new - the cheese shop they've dreamt of running, the new start in a new country or even moving into teaching where bankers are being offered a fast track option to lessen the shortage of science/maths teachers - or they are even more tied to their desks as the fight for survival gets tougher and tougher.

I've always been a big believer in opposites attract so have generally tried to avoid dating anyone in finance. Can you imagine how dull life as a couple would be if your common interest was limited to work - especially if you work in an industry that encourages high competition and high stress. Plus now there's the added risk of both of you being unemployed. No no, the best piece of advice now would be diversify your assets and spread away those risks...

The man I am currently pretending not to like is a government employee (safe as houses!) - and this is the first time I have dipped my toe in Her Majesty's pool (so to speak). I always say I am far too mature and sensible to be dealing with boys who play games, but secretly I love all this will-he-won't-he-call-me angst. The James Bond affair has been one hell of a long game, I think we've met up all of 6 times in the last 8 months but he's incredibly witty and very confident. He came to meet me after work one time, to have a drink I thought, but he took me to this small museum which has recreated a London house in the 18th Century (sight, sounds, smell - the lot). You walk from the servants quarters in the basement all the way up past the kitchens, living room to the top floor bedrooms and you're not allowed to talk. I never even knew it was there - I love that he is so different.

Chicken Licken

2009-04-18T13:12:00.003+02:00

It's amazing how much of a difference a four day week can have on your general well-being and goodwill towards men. After several months of chicken licken mania when all the media were running round telling the world that the sky was falling down, there seems to be a sort of reprieve at the moment. Maybe the markets are still sleepy after gorging on too many eggs but there is a definite calm and sense of peace. I think people are ready for some good news and willing it to happen. If we collectively wish for it hard enough - then maybe it can happen.

Sadly, fairytales don't cut it with me - I blame the years at an all girls high school where being the first to denounce santa claus and my little ponies was vital for survival. Moments of calm like these just make me worry about the impending storm. Whilst everyone else is enjoying the sun, I'm scrambling about buttoning down the hatches. You should have seen me entering the new millenium when Y2K was allegedly going to cause a global meltdown as all the sophisticated technology we rely on wouldn't be able to cope with a change of year... It was not pretty to say the least.

I've found a journalist who shares my view - have a read of his piece on how big corporations are still able to get away with accounting shenanigans. Have we learnt nothing from Lehmans, Enron, Northern Rock etc? Our ability to forget pain is often bandied about as a blessing in reference to child birth but it would probably be wise to keep a rubber band around our wrists to remind us to be more vigilant.

Gold Digger

2009-04-13T11:14:00.000+02:00

As a budding young capitalist, whilst my school friends were dreaming of being doctors and lawyers, I dreamt of the day I would marry rich and live the content life of a kept woman. I must have done something bad in my life time as this is not what fate had in store for me at all. Not only am I nowhere near married but I am a fully signed up member of the rat race - working crazy hours to fund my non-designer lifestyle.

So it amuses (actually more irks) me that this week the Financial Times is carrying a piece on how women are paid substantially less than their male peers. I don't know why they do this same piece year in year out like it's some cutting edge piece of journalism but it grates me every time. I can't help but look at the rest of my otherwise all male team and wonder whether they earn more than I do simply by being male. This little seed of doubt is enough to drive my ambitious self crazy - good thing I am also blessed with the memory of a goldfish so will not think about this now until they write about it again.

Even more amusing, my new found hero is the Swedish Marie Douglas-David. Not happy with divorcing her much older husband for an arranged settlement of $43m, she is taking him to court to bump this up to $100m as currently it is not enough to finance her weekly spend which "include $4,500 for clothes, $1,000 for hair and skin treatments, $1,500 for restaurants and entertainment, $8,000 for travel, $700 for limousine services, $2,209 for an assistant, $1,570 for horse care and $600 for flowers".

Adios Madrileños...

2009-04-12T11:36:00.008+02:00

Having crawled into bed at some outrageous time close to 5am, I dragged myself out of the hotel at 9am as this was already my last day in Madrid and there was much to see. Weekend breaks can be so stressful...

I walked along Gran Via down to Sol to wake myself up and had a quick stopover at the completely huge El Corte Ingles complex which covered three prime sites in this busy retail centre of town. I always like to look at Supermarkets when I'm abroad to see how people's daily food needs differ (weird I know) and given I had no time to track down a Mercadona, was thrilled to see huge Iberian jamon and cheese counters in the basement food store at the nation's favourite department store. The wines took up 4 aisles and was incredibly good value - we have the same brand wines in London supermarkets which sell at almost 2.5x the price.

My walk took me past all the fabulous old buildings on the way to Banco de Espana - theatres, national banks and the Spanish stock exchange. There was already a queue of budding art enthusiasts when I arrived at the Prado museum but the wait was to be proved worthwhile. I'm not a big art fan by any means but this gallery is so huge and packed with a variety of works that even I managed to recognise some of the paintings and artisits. Whilst as one of the most famous art collections it is obviously home to the Spanish greats such as Velazquez and Goya but the Prado also showcases some of the big names from Holland and Italy including Rubens and Titian's Venus.

After that draining cultural stop, I briefly paused for a cool beer at the Terrace of the Ritz hotel. You can walk straight in to this beautiful patio, where white wicker furniture with plump cushions allows you to rest your weary feet. The beer was served in tall stemmed glasses accompanied by a selection of nibbles (included in the price) and you can sit back in the Madrid sun and listen to the live pianist.

Feeling pretty mellow, the question now was whether I wanted to spend this gloriously sunny afternoon in the next gallery. Being somewhat sun starved, I figured I would return another time for Picasso and opted instead to stroll round the botanical gardens. Again, I'm no big gardening enthusiast, but for the sum of €2, I was able to roam this huge garden which had plenty of postcard-perfect landscapes and a greenhouse full of the more exotic plants.

Only then did I realise that I hadn't eaten all day. I started walking through the back streets towards Plaza de Santa Ana - where I stopped for some tapas at Lateral. I opted to sit at the bar indoors as the outside terrace was largely unshaded and relatively full whilst the inside was cool and empty. Along with a glass of red house rioja which was beautifully drinkable and well priced, I enjoyed a taste of tortilla, sardines and pimientos. I chose this particulare tapas bar out of many on the square, as the restaurant was modern and clean and they use the cutest crockery - but the food turned out to be delicious too. Just a little further down past Plaza de Angel and on the way to Plaza Mayor is a little square with an open market selling various bric-a-brac. Not that I needed to after the tapas, but I bought a little bag of dry roasted sunflower seeds (toasty and sweet) from a man who was applying the same dry roast to everything imaginable!

A trip to Plaza Mayor saw a suspiciously Mexican looking group of street entainters who were pleasing the amassed tourists. The square is huge and amazingly, despite its scale, was completely packed with people - some sat in the outdoor terraces of the many bars and restaurants, some looking at the collection of stores under the grand arches and others, like me, just enjoying the sunset and watching the world go by. Tired, full and aware of the inhuman hour of my flight back home, this is where I bid adios to the City and its people.

Hola Madrid!

2009-04-10T12:31:00.011+02:00

What a beautiful City.

On some sound advice from a fellow blogger, I did some homework and found that the Prado museum is free from 6pm on Fridays which was perfect as I was due to land at 2pm. However, as is often the case, even the best laid plans are thwarted by exogenous circumstances and I was delayed a massive 4 hours at the airport because of fog (the perils of being a Londoner).

When I finally arrived at Madrid, the airport itself was stunning. Terminal 4 was recently added in 2006 and has won several design awards for its straight lines, open plan structure, floor to ceiling windows and bamboo panelled ceilings (keeps it cool apparently). Using my google print outs, I bought a Metro ticket for 10 journeys (a bargain €7.40 although I didn't use it 10 times) and made my way to my hotel. I had to change lines twice but the Metro system is amazingly simple to follow, the platforms are well labelled and the trains are wide, modern and air conditioned. I was staying at the Melia Princesa, just North of the Plaza Espana. As a tip, if anyone is also looking to go to Madrid, I recommend looking at the Sol Melia or NH Hoteles websites - as publicly traded Spanish hotel companies, they have suffered the brunt of the Spanish real estate related sell-off and are now offering attractive rates to ensure hotel room occupancy at even their luxury hotels. The Melia Princesa is just 20 metres from the Metro stop and an easy walk to the Royal Palace, the stores of Gran Via and I even walked to the Prado Museum without much difficulty as there's so much to see, you forget how much you've walked. Plus it means you can work off those delicious churros dipped in thick chocolate you've indulged in for breakfast and be ready for the first round of tapas of the day!

Once settled in the hotel, I still had 2 hours before I was due to meet some friends for dinner - they had kindly decided to convene early for dinner as I was a heathen from London but still, at 9:30pm this was rather late for me! The sun was just setting, so I strolled down to the Palacio via the plaza Espana and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the Palace gardens. The young Madrileños were out in force, dipping their toes in the fountain and enjoying the hazy sun. I took a seat at a terrace bar in the Plaza de Oriente to drink a quick aperitif before jumping on the Metro to get to dinner.

We met at a lovely restaurant called La Trainera in the affluent Salamanca region, which is home to most of the International banks and other corporates as well as boutique design stores and private galleries. They serve wonderfully fresh seafood from the Bay of Biscay - the restaurant is named after their fishing boat. I left the menu in the capable hands of my friend Jaime and his wife who had invited me here to meet their friends. I met Jaime a few years back through work as he works at a Spanish bank. His wife is training to become a nurse and his friends were artists of various sorts. After a hearty meal of almejas (clams) - so fresh they are served raw with a squirt of lemon and centollo (king crab) - again so fresh and tasty it was served on its own, I was ready to call it a day but this was only the beginning.

After much kissing and hugging with the restaurant staff at the door, we walked down to Momo's for a drink - something that was necessary as we had met so early for dinner (!) and could therefore not go straight on to a club. Our final destination was Pacha. I couldn't help but groan when I saw it - as a chain of clubs across Europe, it had been a long time since I had been to the one in London and I stay away for a reason! But the one in Madrid was much more relaxed, there was a huge mix of people from the very young to the more mature and it was genuinely good fun. The drinks are much more potent - a vodka tonic here is basically 50:50.

It was almost sunrise when we left and I got a lift home on a Vespa - first time for everything - from one of the artists who had drunk nothing but red bull all night which resulted in an interesting journey to say the least! We stopped over at the Chocolateria San Gines, named after the church in whose shadow the cafe stands. I'm not exaggerating here at all, but the place was completely packed and it was close to 4am. We ordered 2 cups of intensely thick, rich chocolate and the waitress cut off sticks (churros) from a huge long roll of freshly baked doughnut. I could seriously get used to this...

Facebook stalker

2009-04-09T20:28:00.004+02:00

My revision schedule has allowed me to re-discover facebook in a big way and I've found 20 old friends this week alone.

More disturbingly, I've done that which I swore never to do and looked up the first guy I ever dated from when I was 17. His picture is one of those group photos so I can't make him out at all.

I was just about to hit 'add as friend' when something made me stop. Something in me wanted to make me think twice and normally you should follow your gut instinct. But I am weak - and I want to see if he has changed and what he is doing now.

It's funny he still has this effect on me.

Vamonos de Fiesta!

2009-04-09T17:01:00.003+02:00

Tomorrow I set off for Madrid!

Sadly it looks like I am taking the London weather with me. But it is not a big deal as I don't believe a spot of rain will take away from the cultural experience - it will probably give me more incentive to spend longer in the galleries if anything! I can't wait to sip a crisp white rioja with my tapas in a cosy bar...

I'm most looking forward to going to a religious country during a religious holiday. Spain was once considered one of the most catholic countries, having been under the Roman Empire and fought off the Muslims and the Moors during various periods of its history. The religion really came into its own under Franco when catholicism was the State religion but since then, the Spanish constitution has severed this link with the State and religion is now a much more secular affair with a marked decrease in catholicism - as seen across the rest of Europe. Interestingly, the Opus Dei faction, popularised most recently by Brown's Da Vinci code, originated in Spain.

Visiting these once bastions of Roman Catholicism, you can't fail to be impressed by the architecture of the glorious churches and there's still a sanctity about holidays like Easter and Christmas - unlike here where we swap chocolate eggs and think about using the free time for some home rennovations.

Vicky, Cristina and an old war veteran called Walt

2009-04-09T15:34:00.004+02:00

Yesterday I met up with a university friend and we relived our glory days by going to the cinema to do a movie double - something we have not found time to do since graduating but which we were able to do now because I am supposed to be revising and he has been made redundant. It was tough times for a while as he was let go just before Christmas, which adds to the horribleness of having to break the news to your family. However, he is back on his feet now and enjoying the last few days before he starts somewhere else. I did suggest however that we could take some tips from the French workers, famous for their uber-strong labour unions, and try some boss-napping but it all seemed a bit too strenuous so we stuck with our movies agenda.

The cinema we chose was in affluent Chelsea - a relatively small screen but the only one that was still showing the 2 movies we chose to watch. Movie tickets in my opinion are hugely overpriced (€13 a pop!) in London but we did get some cushioning on the chairs and the place was completely empty.

We kicked off with Vicky Cristina Barcelona - a vague nod to my impending Spanish adventure and also something I thought my friend would enjoy given the much hyped kissing scene between Penelope Cruz and Scarlet Johansson. To be honest, I think it was much more of a chic flick - 2 American girls come to Barcelona who are polar opposites in terms of what they want from love and relationships. Throw in some smouldering Mediterranean charm in the form of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz and watch how many ways you can combine the 4. Rather than a defined story with a beginning and an end, this is more like a snapshot in time when their lives happen to intersect - the 2 American girls have their views on love challenged and they explore new experiences but ultimately they stay the same - if that makes sense. An added bonus is that a chunk of the movie is filmed in Oviedo, in Asturias (North East Spain)which is the home town of my hero Fernando Alonso.

We moved straight on to an altogether darker, more sombre movie about a mean old war veteran who gets involved in the lives of his Hmong neighbours. There's no denying the racism that underlies the whole being of Gran Torino but I thought Clint Eastwood was great and he even managed to make me laugh out loud in what is a sad tale about the last white man and his prize Ford Gran Torino in a US neighbourhood that has been overtaken by Hmongs, refugees of the Vietnam war. Stern, racist and ostracised by his materialistic family, Clint Eastwood's character finds redemption through his relationship with the 15 year old boy next door. It's definitely one I would recommend to see.

Roll on the summer...

2009-04-08T11:40:00.000+02:00

Definitely the most played song on my list at the moment

It's funny because it's sad...

2009-04-08T11:25:00.000+02:00

...and it's sad because it's true.

There's a whole collection of Pon and Zi cartoons by Jeff Thomas - click on the picture to link to his site

No credit but plenty of crunch

2009-04-07T17:40:00.000+02:00

There are actually polls and surveys saying that lending to households and small businesses is increasing and that house prices were up in March - I don't know what or who these surveys are based on but as a consumer of the great economy I would have to disagree. Since the big blow out in 2008 - much accelerated post the Lehmans bankruptcy - there has been much press coverage of the financial turmoil and the various world leaders trying to find the best 'global' solution to help themselves.

But how has this effected you and me? I see increasing mortgage renewal costs - a sore subject I closely follow given I am due to renew this Summer; paltry interest rates on my savings - yes I worked hard to pay off my student debts but that is clearly not valued although allegedly all the banks are supposed to be fighting for my money; and most alarmingly of all perhaps, ever growing job insecurity.

I think this was perfectly encapsulated today with the news that RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), one of the big lenders in the UK, is making another round of redundanices. This is of particular note because it is one of the banks who had the most aggressive lending policies and because they are in a very public battle with their recently fired Chief Executive, Fred Goodwin (known to his friends as Fred the Shred), over his £17m pension pot. Now that the bank has reached a sufficiently small size on the stock market for the Government to be able to take full control, this pre-agreed pension is being aired in public with the full knowledge that it will pull on people's emotions and make Sir Fred Goodwin face a tough moral dilemma.

Whilst I am not a fan of the media manipulating people's emotions (the casualties are far ranging encompassing all sectors - George Bush, Britney Spears etc), I would hate to be in Sir Fred's shoes right now. The 9,000 extra people who are up to be redundant this time are the support function staff who earn a decent but not excessive salary (about $30k a year). One fat cat's pension or 9,000 separate individuals having to uproot their lives and those of their children?

No credit, but plenty of crunch...

Sweet tooth

2009-04-07T11:54:00.000+02:00

My parents are coming up to town for dinner. My dad has a wicked sweet tooth so my mission for today is to make these beautiful looking meringues, from a recipe by Rachel Allen .

No pain, no gain...

2009-04-07T11:34:00.000+02:00

Who came up with this ridiculous phrase?

I have never felt so sore and the pain today does not seem to be a fair trade for the delayed gain. What's even more outrageous, is that this delayed gain is also subject to me keeping up the painful fitness regime for a sustained period of time. I'm only 2 days in and I'm already moaning! The silver lining though is that I get to indulge in some retail therapy for some running shoes. I've been very frugal of late in my spending habits given the general economic uncertainty but I guess it' s time now to take one for the country and support the retail community - any excuse I know...

The morning before

2009-04-06T13:24:00.000+02:00

I don't have the quickest of reactions, so it comes as no surprise that I've finally got the 'new year resolution' bug - in April. Maybe it's the longer days or maybe I'm feeling inspired by what the humble Honda F1 team have achieved over the Winter - but there's definitely something in the air.

I've taken some time off work and am trying to make a wish list of things I want to do - there's no timeline and it's certainly not a race to the end - but it's something to mull. Professionally I am very happy and my list so far reflects that. It's mostly places I want to visit (I've always half regretted not taking a gap year) as well as some lifestyle changes.

The aim of course is not for the list to be a passive wish list of things I will never achieve. So, this morning, I have run my first 2 miles (quite the achievement in itself for me!) as part of the build up towards the marathon I have signed up for in September (eek!) and next weekend I am off to Madrid to see the famous triangle of art galleries that the City has to offer.

For now though, I have discovered some great recipe blogs which have inspired me for lunch. When I figure out how to upload links and photos, I'll be sure to share my finds - and cooking efforts...

The first step

2009-03-29T17:31:00.000+02:00

I'm almost done

I'm almost finished

I'm almost there...

Maybe looking back I'll appreciate the road there was more important than the outcome.