July 20, 2020- Day 9 out of 66 for habit change- dream of Japan

Hello July,

it feels like summer with the temperature rising slightly. How is it going for you? Enjoy yourself while here with us.

I am trying the same thing. Waking up early, taking a walk and had a latte and some almonds.

Hmm, I feel very excited, but there are some things which need to be done as marking for example, and my head is refusing to obey and concentrate.

I am not going to force.

I will start by following my wildest imagination. And write a couple of pages for my new book, an adventure, taking place in different parts of the world.

Especially now that our movements are restricted with the pandemic, taking a virtual trip and seeing all the details of it is somehow the best thing!

Next step, looking at pictures of beaches.

Right now I am in Japan, a place I have not visited yet, but my imaginary self is having sushi by the seaside right now 🙂

Guntu – a floating Hotel In Japan on the Seto Inland Sea

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February 14, 2019- Celebrating or not St-Valentin at the Manchester Cat Café

Happy St Valentine February!

And just in case you don’t feel like celebrating, there is the option of the Cat Café where you can be in love or out, grumpy or happy, but you will find a cat to fit with your special mood of the day!

And to share feelings while admiring it of course!

The Cat Café, a must in Manchester and not only, where if you respect the rights of cats, such as not to be disturbed while sleeping, not to hold them in your arms and not to feed them milk or human food, but you are also allowed to share their company.

And for 12 pounds an hour, you have free drinks and cakes.

Cat café, cat tree, cat love 🙂

https://catcafe.co.uk

October 26, 2017- How to become oneself and live with others while having morning coffee

Hello October,

yesterday I had a discussion on what it is to be oneself and to live with others. I don’t like conforming, this is boring and the opposite of life to me. But we also live with others, how does this coincide?

I put up an artistic project where I try a compromise: do something I love, but give to the Establishment something they will like, so that everyone can feel happy about it.

Now let’s see how it will go.

If making others happy doesn’t cost me my quintessential values, I can do that.

Oh, and coffee is good at Beany Green near Paddington Central.

http://www.daisygreenfood.com/venues/little-venice

 

September 30, 2017-In the mood for Mexican Food

Hello September,

as a treat, I went with a friend to a super Mexican place in London, “La Taqueria”, and I still think of the wonderful dishes!

So leaving September with a taste of tacos… and thinking of all the Mexican friends!

http://www.thelondoner.me/2013/01/taqueria-notting-hill.html

February 19, 2017-A place to write on a Sunday afternoon in London

Hello February,

I thought it would be ok to take my computer and go work at a Soho café on Sunday. Well, it was nice to change neighborhood and to see new people, but as for working, I should probably forget it.

It was small and crowded, with great coffee, though.

I even tried two or three others in the area, packed with people having the same idea.

What do I exactly look for?

A comfortable café with a lot of space, half filled customers. So that you can amuse yourself with other people but they aren’t too many and noisy to completely distract you from whatever you are doing.

A place which is not a well-known chain but something more personalised.

So I went to the Foyle’s café on the 5th floor of the homonymous bookstore.

 

 

February 17, 2016: day 20 of 60 day challenge- afternoon tea at Covent Garden

Dear February,

after having worked for hours on my project with a Roumanian and a French artist, I only want to share my afternoon tea-time. The Roumanian artist, who is a 40 something year old, has lived for a while in London and she suggested a place for tea. She is working part-time in a cosmetics company and the rest of the time she writes.

In any case, she took us to BB bakery for our afternoon tea, and we looked a little bit like these three characters in the photo. I would be the one in the middle holding a macaron, only that I chose a macaron “pistache” and I had a lot of fun: “Amidst the hustle and bustle of busy Covent Garden is the relaxing sanctuary of BB Bakery. Come here to relax with a coffee and cupcake before you hit the shops or stop for high tea or even a bite to eat before your evening out”.

There is something very girlish and playful about this place which is just what I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of my serious every day life 🙂

Afternoon Tea

February 19- Happy Chinese New Year’s Eve!

Hello February,

happy -Chinese- New Year’s Eve! I have extremely enjoyed New Year’s Eve with Chinese friends in Belleville, the Parisian Chinatown in previous years! So great! Watching the dragon dance and tasting excellent food at a traditional restaurant, is something to remember!

Friendship is probably the best way to get in touch with another culture, that is, if you don’t travel there yourself!

Discussions, and participation in different festivities, food, is an entrance to other people’s hearts 🙂

This good friend of mine is now back to China and I really miss him!

Xie Xie dear friend for introducing me to a new way of thinking!

 

November 17- Wine tasting in Paris

Hello November,

how was your day? I tell you how I finished mine: with a wine-tasting experience! A good friend of mine, invited me to a wine cellar, or to a restaurant that organized a wine tasting experience, with different varieties from … Greece!

You might say, wait a second here, with all this French wine of excellent quality, why bother?

Because we always look for new experiences in life! Isn’t this enough?

So I accepted the invitation to the “cave Mavromatis“, at the 5th arrondissement, and found myself tasting red and white wine from different regions, as well as some interesting “petit fours salés”, or “meze” with cheese, olives and spinach 🙂

My favorite, wines from Nemea, from the Skouras wine house (http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/skouras+grand+cuvee+peloponnese+nemea+greece); why? because there was something I found original, compared to French wines and easy to drink; but I am far from being an expert; but there was an expert around who also liked it and could say everything about the way it was made and all the flavors you could find…

Probably the best wine is the one we drink in good company, reminding us of gathering around the table with dear ones 🙂

http://www.tripadvisor.fr/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d4582810-Reviews-La_cave_Mavrommatis-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

October 22- Life with some flavor

Dear October,

Einstein seemed to have given some important incentives about the way to live our lives, and not have been ‘just” a scientific genius. Well, I have fallen into this one

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”.

–Albert Einstein

Now, would success mean something that is valued by society, the media, the people and groups who are powerful? And I would take value as something that is meaningful to us?

What if it is meaningful to me to spent all my time at the Parisian cafés and observing people? (I might get bored in doing but this, but let’s say, what if…). How would I make sure I live from this? Because you have to order something to eat after a certain time, it’s a costly pass time. The solution would be to make something out of it, probably, something that would interest other people.

Because I feel that despite our differences, we have a lot in common. So maybe, finding something meaningful for us, and trying to communicate it, is adding value for everybody else also. And it becomes a success.

Whereas, if we start with what everybody considers a success, it is like boiling a chicken for the fourth time, expecting to find some flavor in the soup 🙂

July 12-Enjoying my neigborhood

Dear July,

the rhythm of my last days was intensive enough to make me wake up at 11.00 today. I was supposed to get to the art exhibition, but found out the debriefing was not going to take place, so I could skip it.

The day started with coffee with my neighbour next door, one of my dearest friends. We had to catch up for the last few days: a lot of things have happened for both of us.

Just after, I went for lunch at my usual Saturday café. There is something about this place that reminds me of a family’s living room. Probably because it is owned by a real family. Perfect for relaxing 🙂

I thought I should wear something colourful and flowery to give me energy, but was sleepy and all I did was to follow from time to time the conversation of a mother and daughter who were having lunch beside me. They were to participate to a baby’s baptism. There would be a dinner party after. Should the adolescent girl be seated with the children or the adults?

The next step was a meeting with another friend at another café of the same street. We sat outside, observing the passers-by. The new generation of toddlers was present, parading with their parents and their tiny scooters.

And just because it is good to get up and exercise from time to time, we went to yet a third café of the neighborhood and a found a new spot to continue the conversation.

Just by sitting there and talking, we participate to the life of the street, we remake the world, in our conversation and imagination!

http://www.123rf.com/photo_948075_silhouette-girls-and-boys-with-bicycle-illustration.html