My First Night Out with Germans

SS invited me to her b'day party on Tuesday last week. She said, it's a small party amongst close friends only. I suspected that her other friends are Germans and true enough when I got to the apartment I was greeted by Germans. It was pretty entertaining listening to them speak in their language (yes, they do translate and fill me in between their conversations) - while I don't understand their language, looking at their animated faces and picking up several English words in their conversation, I could tell what they were saying. Interestingly, while watching their mouth and listening to their conversations, I could not help but noticed that their language sounded a little like Dutch language - the "heute" and the "der" are similar... heh, not that I can speak Dutch language in the first place. I had an interesting and entertaining evening. I went back to the apartment that night wanting to know more about Germans and their culture and I hope to go to Germany one day for a vacation.

Creme Brulee

I am not a dessert person but I will never resist Creme Brulee while in France. I had Creme Brulee almost every evening while in Cannes last week. I just love the way the custard and the hard caramel feels in my mouth. I have tried making this dessert on my own several years ago but could not get the caramel toping right. Practice makes perfect... I must consider making it again.

CB & SS

These 2 ladies offered me a position at Nick 8 years ago. SS decided to leave and I came in to replace her. CB informed me that my first business trip was to Mumbai and that was 2 days after I joined Nick. 2 months later, CB told me she wanted to resign and I hated her to leaving me in the deep end of the pool. I had no choice but to struggle and stay afloat. Fast forward 8 years later, I join them for cheese and drinks in one of the nicest apartments on Rue de Antibes in Cannes. Who would have thought I would one day tell them I did not appreciate what they did to me before but am lucky that they had given me an opportunity to work for a great brand. And most importantly, today we are all friends.

OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - that's what my friends tell me whenever I tell them I did housework in the middle of the night. I did the same again last night - I could not sleep when I see dust on the floor, clothes to be ironed and toilets to be cleaned. You see, I am leaving this evening for Cannes and will be gone for 10 days. I know hubby will clean the house while I'm gone, but I don't think he can manage looking after the small one and doing housework at the same time. Hence I decide to help. While at it, I thought I'll just do ironing as well and got so hooked doing house chores that I did not realize it was past 1am when I'm done. I felt really satisfied after and slept peacefully, hoping to get up early and pack my luggage. Alas, I have to do that later this afternoon.

Ramadan, will I get to see you next year?

How time flies... Ramadan come and go. As I sit listening to Mufti's khutbah on radio on Syawal morning, I could not help but wonder if I have done enough during Ramadan. Will I get to see the next Ramadan? Will I get to see the same faces next Ramadan? This few months I lost an aunt, I have visited my mom's good friend in hospital twice and she is still unconscious, I have followed my mom to visit another one of her friend whose husband's health has deteriorated and is now very ill. I wonder will I get to hear some good news in the next few months, will I get to see the same faces today, tomorrow?