Some vids for the weekend (updated)

Sorry for the long delay in posting new entries here. Besides the fact that it has been a little crazy at work, I can't actually find the motivation to write in my blog anymore. I know there's still a lot of you (haha, how pretentious) who want to know my whereabouts here in the land of expensive so I'll try to push myself to write something, even though its really crappy.

Scanning by my blog entries, I kinda noticed that I haven't actually updated you guys of my new luxurious "castle". Yes, at least I am no longer the guy who sleeps in a sofa and at long last, after more than 3 weeks, I was able to pull out all of my stuffs from my luggage. Also, if some of you may remember, I bought a bunch of Canadian maple syrup to give-away as my welcome gifts aka 'Canadian bribes' for my superiors or <> as they call it here . Well, oh well I changed my mind and felt that they do not deserve such gifts as they don't really care about my well-being here... They did not even realized that it is also their fault that's why I was not able to find a room for myself. And besides, they already earn a minimum of Fr. 6,000 which they get as net pay as well as they don't pay any taxes. And all these are being splurged in their latest ski holiday in Chamonix or Klosters, their cognac-tasting exploits, purchasing the newest Rado model and of course, their never-ending ILO office fashion shows. I even saw our British secretary in her attention-grabbing attire yesterday, being adorned by the latest peacock attire in Geneva's haut couture scene. So in other words, my bunch of Canadian maple syrup is rotting in my luggages. Who will be the lucky ones who will have them??? Stay tuned!

Ok, yeah I haven't been focussing on my topic that needs to be discussed here. So going back, I actually moved to my new place in the beginning of February. I just realized that it is already March and why did it take such a long time to inform you this? I don't know, I don't feel like motivated talking about my very 'posh and diplomatic living quarters.' Ok, so I moved into a place outside the Geneva city proper called Grand Lancy. The place is actually just right outside the second to the last tram stop and is 5 minutes walk to the nearest Migros (aka Safeway, I haven't seen a store as big as Superstore here). It takes me two bus transfers and 40-55 minutes of precious time to get into the office... It's fun though as I get to listen to tram musicians and of course people-watch on the fashion show happening on tram everyday.

My neighbours are an interesting bunch of people as well. Living in a 'foyer', I kinda thought that the place will be alloted for students and interns who are short of funds to find a place to stay in Geneva's sky-rocketing rent prices. I was wrong! I was surprised to see that both of my neighbours are retired folks, one carrying crutches and the other one could well be considered a 'chimney' with his tar-stained teeth and the amount of cigarrettes he is smoking per day. Even though I am allergic to cigarette smoke as I have rhinitis, I still prefer the guy on my left as I can't really understand the guy on my right. I tried greeting him once (with the best of my French abilities) but to no success at all! And he tried complaining to me that my door makes a lot of noise banging. I said (in English) that it is not my fault as the wind is strong blowing my door causing it to bang but all I got was a frown. Next day, my landlord talked to me and this really pissed me off! Sometimes there's actually a lot of things happening in this country that I do not understand.

Anyhow, lets continue with the tour of my castle. Of course my place would not be a place without a bed.

Sorry for the crap, got no time to clean as I have transformed into a busy working professional nowadays


And heres the view outside the window




And the kitchen that is shared by 25 residents

I would really like to post pictures of the unguarded fridge that we have but luck hasn't been kind on me as my camers ran out of battery. Aww!

After taking these photographs, I went to Migros to had my groceries. Migros is the Swiss counterpart of Safeway in Canada. Shopping in Migros is somewhat a linguistic challenge for me as I really feel handicapped by my lack of French language ability. So what I did is that whenever I go to Migros, you would see me with my half-a-kilo French-English dictionary. At the end of the day, I was still frustrated as I was not able to find what I was looking for such as a an extra shower towel, hotcake mix, and graham crackers. If somebody has a Canadian pancake mix, could you please send me the French entry on the label? And by any chance if you have graham crackers, send the french name to me as well (via comment box, email etc.).

Shopping for my groceries in Migros, I was actually tempted to taste the Thai culinary offering by one of its staff. They are offering free tastes of their product, tried it and it turned out to be delicious. Succumbing to such marketing ploy, I relented and finally agreed to buy the Fr. 20 Thai curry ingredient set.

Walking from Migros to my place only takes like 5-10 minutes. I actually like it more walking from my place to the grocery store than coming back from it. Why? Because I need to carry a load of grocery stuff. Sometimes I am considering having my wheel-operated luggage with me but people might think that its weird that you are going to a grocery store with your international luggages with you.

So I tried my luck with the Thai curry thing. Cooking itself is another linguistic nightmare in itself. Besides the fact that its the first time for me to cook Thai curry, the product instructions only come in this country's 3 official languages - Deutsch, francais and italiano..... imagine your one hand wet chopping the vegetables with your eyes trying to read the instruction in french and your other hand flipping through the pages of my half-a-kilo dictionary! Stressful indeed!

Besides that fuzz, I was able to finally have the final product with me. Since I don't buy pork, beef, or chicken here as they are crazily expensive, I tried combining my vegetarian Thai curry with a humble 2 -piece vienna sausage and a piece of chinese springroll, which aparently is the only mainstream Asian food available in Migros. The end result.... I promise I'll do better with English instructions...

Later that day, I went somewhere downtown to have my second Genevoise haircut. Haircuts here are really crazy and they are worth a fortune. A haircut in a middle-class non-highend salon costs 45 CHF (approx. $ 44 CAD) but as I soon find out from my intensive research, you could actually have one for a meagre Fr. 15 (by meagre I mean by Swiss standards). However, by doing so, you agree to be a guinea pig of those hairstyling students as they try to perfect their craft in Geneva's Ecole superieur de coiffure. I have had my haircut here before and willing to try my luck again. Fortunately, she was also the one who did the haircut to me but unfortunately, she cannot remember me anymore. And again, its another linguistic nightmare for me as I felt it akward to bring my half-a-kilo French-English dictionary.

My Second Geneva Haircut

She accidentally murdered my hair! Now I look like a chipmuck. I actually hesitated going to the interns party later that night because first I don't feel comfortable with my crappy hairstyle, next is that I find it a little bit intimidating interacting with the American rich kids who always talk about their upcoming trip to Klosters and their ostentatious binge-drinking sprees. Finally, I relented and instead decided to go than to lock myself inside my room, roll my eyeballs over the ceiling and be misserably depressed.

US Ping-pong party game

Inters from Quebec, Ireland, Germany, and Ottawa


Two American interns

Irish girl singing Brazilian song in the American Party