things that make you go hmm...

I was going through my music library the other night to put together a mix cd for melon who's FINALLY investing in an ipod. While sifting through all of the music I've acquired completely legally, I came across some really old stuff that I haven't listened to in ages.

Have you ever listened to a song and been taken right back to a certain moment in your life or been reminded about a certain person? Music does that me all the time, a song comes on and memories just flood.

For instance:

- Keane's 'somewhere only we know' reminds me of trekking to the bar in Guyana in the pitch black, with only our headlights to guide our way down the dusty red dirt road, slight drunk off of rum and cokes, we would stumble down the road towards the dance music booming in the distance - and for some reason, at one point I remember singing this song

- David Gray's This year's love, when we were driving on the highway one night, he wordlessly reached over and took my hand in his and held it so tight, I thought it meant something

- Hawksley Workman 'Don't be crushed' - standing right at the front and watching Hawksley put a cough drop in his mouth every so often because he had a cold, then watching him belt out those notes, thinking that his vocal cords might break from the strain of it all

- David Usher 'black black heart' - singing along with the cd in my car, driving to timmies with R. and laughing so hard I wanted to cry when he would imitate the falsetto background vocals

- Fiona Apple 'never is a promise' - having my heart broken for the first time in high school, listening to this during my self-indulgent, angst-filled walks down to the lake and thinking, as I gazed poetically down at the crashing waves, that I would never get over him. (I did)

New object of desire

This is why I need a digital SLR

My good friend Fraulein came to visit this weekend, so we did the obligatory London sightseeing, despite the severe wind and rain (typical London weather really).

One of the many places we hit up was the stunning St Paul's Cathedral. Ever since I stumbled upon the choir rehearsing one sunday evening, it's become one of my favourite spots in London. Whenever I look at it in the skyline, I always think that it's a backdrop to a movie set - it's just unreal.

You're not supposed to take photos inside, but everyone does. Every so often one of the security guards will admonish you for using a camera. Like a guilty child stuck with their hand in the cookie jar, you apologize and lower your camera, then quickly take another photo when they look away.

I have my lovely point and shoot Sony camera that my parents bought me a few years ago. The great thing about this camera is that it's pink and small, so it easily fits into any evening bag, or in my pocket. But when taking any photo when the lighting is crap, like let's say...the inside of a church, the camera fails miserably. Just compare the below...

Here's my sad attempt...



And now Fraulein's with her fancy SLR...(note this was taken at the exact same time, and relatively at the same location in the cathedral)



Poor Sony camera, you may be pink and cute, but that SLR totally just kicked your ass

D-Day tomorrow

Tomorrow is the start of World Travel Market - the biggest tourism/travel trade show in the UK. Four days which I have heard dubbed as the 'anti-Christmas', 'hell on earth', 'exciting', 'the reason I started drinking', just to name a few.

Pretty well all of the clients I work on will be there, so it'll also be the first time I get to meet them. If I wasn't so tired from the long hours at work, I'm sure I'd be a lot more nervous. I always feel self-conscious when I meet clients for the first time. No matter how professional I try to appear, I always end up feeling like they aren't going to take me seriously based on how young I look. To make matters worse, I'll be running around the convention centre like a mad woman, so heels are out of the question.

I heard once that the most successful men in business tend to be at least 6 feet and caucasian. Does that mean that being asian and 5'1 I'm just screwed?

Wearing a pair of kick ass black heels into any meeting or function does wonders for my confidence. I mean, just look at these...



When I wear shoes like that, it doesn't matter how young I look, how short I am, how little experience I have... with shoes like that I can conquer the world and the tall people who rule it.

PS. Huge points for whoever can correctly name the designer of the above pumps!

Happy Guy Fawkes!

Leave it to the brits to celebrate some guy who failed in trying to blow up the House of Parliaments. I'm sitting in bed, toasty warm under my covers right now and I can hear the sounds of fireworks going off outside.

It's been manic at work lately as we all frantically prep for this massive trade show next week. I haven't been home before 10 every night and actually would still be at the office now had my manager not ordered me home at around 7pm, with the words

'Poppet, you'll be here late tomorrow night anyways, so go home'

I love that she calls me Poppet

I hate that I'll be a the office late on a Friday night.

Anyway, time for some down time.... had a yummy pizza dinner, red wine supplied by my kiwi flatmate S. and now episodes of Mad Men await.

Happy Bonfire night all

with glowing hearts...

Melon came back (finally) from her travels, which included hopping from Taiwan to Houston and a short stop in her hometown of Vancouver. I was so excited to see her again, as she's the first close friend I made here in London - and she's just that awesome and can always be counted on when I have a craving for parma ham. But when I saw her, I was even more excited when I saw her recent purchase from Canada.





These are THE BEST MITTENS EVER. Period. I am totally lusting over them right now and can't wait to pick up a pair for myself when I fly back to Canada in December. I can't imagine a better way to keep my hands toasty warm during those cold London winter days AND show a little patriotic pride..especially when I'm watching Team Canada kick ass during the olympic hockey games.

Sad news is that when I went online to check them out, they're temporarily out of stock - I might have to put an order in with Santa (aka my mother) soon to avoid disappointment this holiday season.

Incidentally if any of you are feeling particularly generous, my size is adult S-M....C'mon, I'm sure I've made someone's nice list this year....anyone?

I miss my violin

My good friend and former quartet/jam sessions cellist, Cz, sent me this link the other day

The Impossible Duet - Handel Halvorsen Passacaglia

Even if you don't play a musical instrument, it's clear that this guy is amazing. I recognize the piece as well. My brother (who's an infinitely better violinist than I ever was) used to play it. I can't remember whether he ever successfully tackled it, or whether he just attempted to play it, because as you'll hear and see - it's a freaking difficult piece.

I haven't touched my violin since moving here. I miss it. Even though I was never very good, I still love playing music. Some of my happiest memories involve music...whether it was late night jam sessions with my Kameleon crew (who said you can't play Aerosmith on violin??), or the traditional Harvey's dinner with my orchestra friends before our MYO concerts.

Like every other Chinese kid on the block, my parents put me in violin lessons at a pretty young age. And like every snot-nosed, spoiled kid, I hated it. I never practiced, I practically threw up every time I had to go on stage, and I won't even get into how I was before auditions and exams.

As the years went on though, I grew a newfound respect for my violin. Sure, I wasn't really good at all - but I was good enough to play with other people and appreciate the music we made together. I learned to practice - and took pleasure in the end result from hours of practicing the same passage over and over again. I loved performing in ensembles. I loved rehearsing even more, the sense of camaraderie and sheer fun that comes from spending hours together, working as a team. When I play violin, I don't worry about my job, my failed relationships, where I'm going in life... I am 100% focused on reading the music and translating that onto my violin.

I may not be good, hell - I'm actually pretty awful for someone who's had over 15 years of private lessons - but I'm glad I stuck with it. Because so much of what I've experienced in my short 27 years has come about because of that wooden contraption of gut strings and horsehair.

frank had it wrong

I read that Sinatra once said 'the great thing about unrequited love is that it's the only kind that lasts'.

At the time, I thought that line was quite poetic and romantic, kind of a moment when the audience goes 'awww' and everyone gets a warm fuzzy feeling in their stomach.

Right now it just makes me want to throw something against the wall and stomp my feet. Unrequited love sucks. It is the bane of my existence and I spit on Sinatra and anyone who agrees with what he says.

Wankers.

.....


On an entirely different note - I think I have spent WAY too much money putting together my Halloween costume this year. Unfortunately for me, I neglected to read my invitation for the party I'm attending carefully (or really at all) and somehow missed the fact that it's an 'Alice in Wonderland' themed party.

Therefore, my flapper 1920s girl costume might stand out from the Alices and Queen of Hearts in the crowd.

But that's nothing a few glasses of white wine won't solve right?

Besides, when I wandered into the new Anthropologie that just opened up on Regents Street, I couldn't help but buy this gorgeous headband that I will no doubt use again...