I had the best day!! Woke up early but rested and had a cappuccino and a chocolate muffin for breakfast... so indeed, the day started on the right foot! Then, took my shower and got out of the house heading for Amsterdam... knowing that today's holiday would make the shops packed with people buying last minute's presents (today's holiday: Sinterklaas... a strange dutch holiday where a white rich grandpa who brings presents to kids -and is therefore hugely loved- is followed by a black servant/beggar/slave/devil who most kids are afraid of like the boogie man... have to love this so not racist society... but, ok, don't get me started with social matters or I won't be writing about anything better than shoes...) Anyway, got there early, before the masses, and enjoyed a great day of shopping!!
Great shopping means for me two things: Getting what you want (and in your size and everything...) and getting it in a good price! Now, as for service, it is essential too, no doubt about it, however living here all these years has lowered my standards... but today was a lovely exception in this domain too! I did get great service! Is it the crisis? I wonder... No matter the reason, I was pleasantly surprised! And the sales were fantastic! Got everything I needed with 30-50% off! I know, I know, you all share my excitement!
And on top of it, I got to escape the rain! Let me explain something for those reading this from afar (oh, lucky ones!)... In The Netherlands, it rains... a lot... sometimes it forgets to stop... for days... and because of that we have all become weather experts! Applications for the mobile phones and web sites showing the rain showers come and go with remarkable accuracy have become our best friends... needless to say, my best friends too as I, coming from the south, have a certain intolerance to water falling down to my head unless it is in the shower... and not even there every time!! So today, I consulted every bit of online information I could get my hands on and made it to Amsterdam and back dry! Though it has been raining before I got out of the house and right after I got back in! Now, isn't this wonderful??
And to complete this perfect day, I had a very late lunch with a glass of champagne (so many reasons to celebrate :) and a nap on the sofa while watching a film... Bliss!! So, after all this I believe that I'm entitled to say that days like today, days that we girls enjoy our discounted shopping sprees, remain dry and have some home-y relaxation afterward ARE better than shoes!!! Especially because they combine so well with a new pair of Zanotti light glitter ballerinas I got ;)
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
as promised...
... a photo of my Christmas tree :) Now, a photo, they say, is like a thousand words so this should cover this post and surely this time it is up to you to judge if it is better than shoes... but remember, it is the feeling of the holidays that matters ;)
sushi!!!
I came to The Netherlands 9 years and 6 days ago... I was carrying two bags that managed to contain my whole previous life (and veeeeeery few pairs of shoes...) and that was everything I needed for my new start here... I had decided that this would be indeed a new start and I wanted to be free from the past, free from previously acquired burdens... There was one more thing I brought, one thing that could not fit in those two bags because it was enormous: My desire to try new things and to gather as many experiences I could!!
I still remember the first time I tried raw fish... I was in Paris, of all places and about 9 years back... I also remember (as I'm not thaaaaaat old yet...) my preconceptions on the matter: "you know, in Japan, they eat raw fish!!!! yuk!!!" So that night that I was taken, as part of a big group of people, to a Japanese restaurant somewhere in the French capital (for the life of me I have no idea where it was... only that there was a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night!!) it was only my timidity that made me try the food as I was too embarrassed to say "sorry, I'm too disgusted to put it in my mouth!!"... so, I did try it... It was a revelation! Ever so fresh salmon sashimi, melting in my mouth, delicate sushi rolls of rice filled with tuna and crispy seaweed (took me quite a while to know it's called "nori" but, hey, now I know :) and all that accompanied by warm sake that put a smile, a big smile, on my face! So, that was it! I was hooked!
The other night I went out to a Japanese restaurant with a dear friend and neighbor who also likes the raw delicacy as much as I do! And in between our lovely conversation, we were both exclaiming "mmmmmmm, delicious" as we were savoring the food! I have to say that I have the same feeling of delight whenever I eat sushi or sashimi as that first time in Paris! And, needless to say, when I was in Japan a couple of years ago, I was one of the happiest people on the earth for eating it every day!
Now, can I prove to you that sushi is better than shoes? Better than that pair of round-tow Prada pumps with the embroidery on the leather that I spotted the other day? Hmmmm... Perhaps not... And perhaps one does not have to choose...The fact of the matter is that I did not bring any shoes back from Japan (and neither from Paris on that visit...) and that to me, a mouth full of fresh, raw salmon is one of the pleasures in life I could not live without!
PS. What?! Don't like it?! Pleeeeease, try it once more and let your tongue do the tasting not your preconceptions ;)
I still remember the first time I tried raw fish... I was in Paris, of all places and about 9 years back... I also remember (as I'm not thaaaaaat old yet...) my preconceptions on the matter: "you know, in Japan, they eat raw fish!!!! yuk!!!" So that night that I was taken, as part of a big group of people, to a Japanese restaurant somewhere in the French capital (for the life of me I have no idea where it was... only that there was a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the night!!) it was only my timidity that made me try the food as I was too embarrassed to say "sorry, I'm too disgusted to put it in my mouth!!"... so, I did try it... It was a revelation! Ever so fresh salmon sashimi, melting in my mouth, delicate sushi rolls of rice filled with tuna and crispy seaweed (took me quite a while to know it's called "nori" but, hey, now I know :) and all that accompanied by warm sake that put a smile, a big smile, on my face! So, that was it! I was hooked!
The other night I went out to a Japanese restaurant with a dear friend and neighbor who also likes the raw delicacy as much as I do! And in between our lovely conversation, we were both exclaiming "mmmmmmm, delicious" as we were savoring the food! I have to say that I have the same feeling of delight whenever I eat sushi or sashimi as that first time in Paris! And, needless to say, when I was in Japan a couple of years ago, I was one of the happiest people on the earth for eating it every day!
Now, can I prove to you that sushi is better than shoes? Better than that pair of round-tow Prada pumps with the embroidery on the leather that I spotted the other day? Hmmmm... Perhaps not... And perhaps one does not have to choose...The fact of the matter is that I did not bring any shoes back from Japan (and neither from Paris on that visit...) and that to me, a mouth full of fresh, raw salmon is one of the pleasures in life I could not live without!
PS. What?! Don't like it?! Pleeeeease, try it once more and let your tongue do the tasting not your preconceptions ;)
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