A Simple Valentines Celebration

Jon would take me out for a dinner date tonight. I wanted to look beautiful and mezmerized him. A nice dress, perfect hair and a sexy lingerie for later perhaps?

I spent hours getting ready as if it was a first date. I was too worried to do my hair do and my choice of clothes could not perfectly fit in my mood. Either I look overdressed or too casual. Until I saw my white salwar kameez blouse that I got from thrift store. Simple, clean, delicately embroidered and adorned with few sparkling sequences. Elegant enough for a romantic date. I didn’t do much with my hair as well. I tied it up on a pony tail and that’s it. That evening, I looked the same as he fell in love with 6 years ago (exept I put on a little weight).

Valentines day 2011

And as my gift, I got a generic greeting card with a printed painting of a coastal view (French Riviera) that would always remind us of the most important place in our heart. I chose a card without a text so that I could write a love letter to him instead of a short greeting.  (I can’t show what is inside. Only between me and JOn )

card for Jon A love letter is like a prayer. It is expressed and verbalized with genuine sincerity

A Box of Belgian chocolates with a love letter and silver heart keychainJon surprised me with a Box of Belgian Chocolates

Not Too Old for Group Date

After exchanges of gifts, we went to an Italian restaurant to meet our other married friends for a group date . We reminisced funny, memorable and some embarrasing moments as married couples.  were shared. The night was filled with love, laughters and secrets for a strong foundation of marriage were shared while we stuffed our bellies with good food.

ONE MORE! :On our way home, he presented me a red heart shaped box. One more chocolate!

It was a great Valentines day indeed.

Ventimiglia Market

My muscle sores are still fresh from shopping at one of the biggest market in Riviera. We finally went to see what’s what in Ventimiglia. It is more laid-back at this time of the year (Fall), perfect to buy Christmas gifts. Ventimiglia is 45 minutes trip away from Nice Centre. We decided to leave early morning, assuming a c. I never thought we would shop all drowded market and traffic. But it was a fine day today. Everything went smoothly and we were on time.

"I'll have Tiramisu for dessert"

There were less people and most likely to find a parking spot. Unlike divisoria of Pinas, there is a beautiful view of the beach along the leather scented market where you can relax and enjoy Italian coffee experience and canneloni. mmm. Oh, my husband and I were so happy. Hence the pictures.

Gelato Later.. No time

The market reminded me of a St. Ouen market in Paris where you can get good deals. This is Italy so good buys from fur coats to 100% cashmere shirts to Italian leathers. But of course, I am too deprived for those. If you are a good buyer, you won’t take a risk of getting fake products or else, you will end up paying a fine 10 times more than you purchased. I suggest that you learned some basic knowledge in hunting original leathers. Some leather products are so cheap, they are too good to be true. But if you are not picky, then you’re fine. I would not brag about the quality though.

soft, delicate death

There are also boutiques around the city. I noticed the products are a euro or two less than the market. The difference is, you can huggle in the market, however in boutiques you can’t (I didn’t try). With charm and good negotiation skills, market stalls along the market is better. However, we don’t both don’t have those skills. Only goofy Italian accents and little French. It wasn’t that much of a problem anyway because most vendors speaks basic French and English.

Matisse and I on our matching black and brown colors

**Special thanks to Billie and Filip who lent us means of transportation.

**Matisse is the mini pinsher puppy I was dog sitting. He just melts my heart with his cute tiny paws and those puppy eyes. ..awww

A Toast to the Unexpected

Jon and I celebrated my birthday in one of the restaurants along the streets of the old town. Nice is one of the most visited tourist place in France, so eating out is mostly reserved for special occasions.

Le Curie (The stables)

The ambience was romantic and the food is served. We started our meal with  a toast. For a toast, French would say, “à votre santé (to your health). We toasted for the celebration of the unexpected.

Romantic table but not ours.

The Baguette

I recieved an unexpected gift for my birthday. A photography book that contains pictures of French Riviera dated way back 1800′s by a French Photographer Jean Gilleta. I saw it first when we went to a photography museum. I thought that would be the first and last time I would see the book until voila! I am holding as my own. The book summed both my interest. History and Photography. Looking through the old photos and comparing them from the pictures I took is quite amusing.

Photography book given by my husband and his parents. It takes power of two to get it

As seen on my facebook page, I posted photos of places in France we had been to. Jon had the opportunity to give a his research presentation in Orsay for a week. We took chance to visit the famous landmarks in the city of Paris.

The highlight of my visit there was the Louvre Museum. A day is not enough to explore the largest museum in the world. I saw famous paintings I thought I’d only see in art appreciation books. The painting of  ”Monalisa” was a hit. We had to fight elbow to elbow to take a good look of the famous painting. I had to take a picture of it as quick as possible as like a paparazzi would or else, or else my photos would end up with tourists blocking my shot.

For me, Paris means Eiffel tower. A visit in Paris is not complete without seeing the famous tower. I saw it while I was still on the plane. This is really it. I am in Europe! I never imagined the day would come that I would gaze upon it’s grandeur. It strikes me only as a massive rusty iron tower, but turns into a very romantic sight at night where lovers can stroll and enjoy the city scape. You can end the day with a goodnight kiss along the Pont Neuf bridge.

Going around the city was not easy. Most French do not speak or choose not to speak English at all. For this dilemma, they offered me an unexpected solution.

The French immigration required me to complete 280 hours of French language training, (excluding 2 days of civic training). This mean taking going to school 7 hours a day, four times a week. The good things about it was, it is free of charge. Oftentimes I complain about the stress it brings, but eventually turned out for my advantage.

I am thankful for my newly gained skill. Now I could experience France more. I can now construct and comprehend few sentences. But my phoenitics needs a lot of improvement, or else, I would end up calling somebody “a dog” or “I want to cut my horse” instead of “I want to get a haircut”.

France is undoubtedly  the most romantic place lovers can go. But romance is not always the case in relationships. Despite of France’s romatic reputation, we have had fights and misunderstandings.We are at the beggining of understanding differences as a man and a woman living under the same roof. Both of us are still learning the duties of husband and wife and the pain of sacrifice through compromises to meet each other’s needs. There will always be conflicts that can start in the tiniest pet peeves.

However, I learned that these are not signs of a relationship is headeding towards destruction. As more experienced married couple advised us that in every issue, we have to consider which makes each other happy and which causes to hurt the other. In dealing with these issues, we have to meet in the middle and compromise I learned to consider our misunderstandings as a tool to understand God’s unexpected deed to compromise with us and redeed a broken relationship to His beloved people.

In the bible, marriage is often taught in pararell in describing God’s love to His brides (his people). He made an unexpected sacrifice to send His only Son to the world to die for our sin to restore a broken relationship between God and man. He met us in the middle through Jesus. We meet His through acceptance and believing.  And with this love, we are given victory over our struggles in sins that keeps us away from having a peaceful realationship with the One who trully loves us. Our marriage with God becomes unbreakable, as He promised in John 10:28 “No one can snatch them away from me”.

It is impossible to love my husband without understanding love from Christ. Also, we are thankful for the great cloud of Christ’s witnesses that strenghtens and inspires us to continue a purpose driven marriage.

Speculous makes it Spectaculous

I am not much of a fan of French cuisine, but I am crazy about their desserts!

After a meal of buttered chicken curry for dinner, I made a flan dessert.  It is not very much the same as our own Filipino leche flan.

Although i used flan in the box, but of course I believe nothing beats flan made from the scratch.

I found this biscuit in the supermarket called “speculoos”. It has more distinct taste of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and sometimes ginger. Great munching by itself, and spectacular in desserts.

After my flan mixture was cold, I layered crushed (grated to make it finer) speculoos (or graham) on top of the flan and put slices of leftover peaches  (strawberry would do as well). The put a little caramel on top, and voila! Flan with a twist.

Isang Araw Sa Cannes Festival

Umiwi kaming bigo mula sa Cannes Festival 2010. Siguro nga, wala lang talaga kaming tiyaga para maghintay at makipagsiksikan sa mga taong naghihintay na makakita ng artista o sadya yatang, hindi kami pang “Fan’s club” type.

Public waiting since I dont know when.

Naalala ko nung grade 6 ako, nag guest ang limang “That’s Entertainment” starlets sa school namin. Pagkatapo ng show, nagpa-autograph kami sa mga artistang yun. Isa lang sa kanila ang kilala ko. Si apple. Hindi ko pa alam ang pagkakaiba nuon ni Apple kay Abbi Viduya. And the rest hindi sikat at hindi na sumikat. Pero dahil nga sa ‘artista” sila, nagpa autograph na rin ako gamit ang isang punit na pilas ng notebook ko at isang ballpen na hindi halos makasulat. Dati akala ko, ang tawag ko dun ay pag hanga, pero ngayun, tawag ko dun… peer pressure. Ewan ko dahil nagpa-autograph yung kaklase ko, feeling ko dapat magpa autograph na rin ako para hindi ako mapag-iwanan.

There's an interview behind me. I don't know who that was.

Kung tatanungin mo ako, kung bakit ako nagpunta…wala lang… parang lang… “to see what the fuss is about”. Tulad ng sabi ng dalawang English ladies sa likod ko, “just to experience”.

Habang nakabilad ako sa init at pinapanood ang mga guards na nilalatag ang red carpet, nagtatalo sa isip ko, e ano ngayon kung makita ko si Woody Allen, o kaya naman si Russel Crowe? So what kung may picture ako ni Mathieu Amalric, Eh ininis lang niya ako dahil tinangka niya ang buhay nig crush kong si Craig Daniel sa palabas na “James Bond”. Pero in fairness, cute siya and its cool to know na French film director din siya.

Medyo bago ang next screening. So nag-intay kami sa beach. Pero pagating naming sa beach reminds me of public resort during Mahal na araw sa Pinas. Ang difference lang, naka bikinis ang mga babae at hindi naka maong shorts at malaking white t-shirt. Medyo Masikip at maninit pero, it’s cool to think, na ito ang isa sa mga locations ng Mr. Bean’s Holiday film.

Sinubukan kong mag-artista hunt sa harap ng Majestic Barriere Hotel. Pero hindi ako magaling mag artista spotting, kasi, sanay na akong makakakita ng mga puti, eh, magkakamuka na lang sila para sa akin. Mas naeenjoy ko sila sa movies.

Una kong nalaman ang tungkol sa Cannes Film Festival ay nung nag reresearch ako tungkol kay Kidlat tahimik at nung mga panahong gumagawa kami short films nung college pa ako. Mula noon, pinangarap kong magkaroon ng pribelehiyong maging isa sa mga nominado o kaya naman bilang isang accredited attendee.

Pero naisip ko na kung magpupunta ako sa cannes festival, eh mas mainam na may invitation ako at kasama ko mismong manunuod ang mga hinahangaan kong mga international celebrities. Walang kwenta kung titingnan mo lang sila sa layong mahigit sa 30 feet. Hindi naman sa minamaliit ko ang Fans club nila Dingdong Dantes at Marian Rivera, na handang mag-bilad sa araw at umamoy ng sari-saring pawis ng other fans. Sabi nga “walang basagan ng trip”. Pero para sa akin, mas cool ang maging isa ka sa mga guest kasama nina Tim Burton at Benicio Del Toro o kaya naman ka beso beso ni Kate Beckinsale.

Pasimula na ang pag-latag ng red carpet. Konting oras na lang ay maglalabasan na ang mga celebrities, at konting oras na lang din, naisip kong, mag-gagabi na at isang oras ang biyahe pabalik ng bahay. Naisip ko, “The hell with this… Hindi worth it”, dahil may asawa akong nagugutom.(Siguro, mas recommended ang activity na ito to the single)

In fairness, very supportive siya na samahan ako sa kahibangan ko. Sa huli, hindi ko na hinintay na makakita ng mga pristehiyosing mga personaliad. Mas okay siguro kung maka chit chat ko sila sa halip na sulyapan lang. Mas pinili ko na lang na ienjoy ang company ng asawa ko at nag Fanta Orange na lang kami sa suking tindahan. At okay na rin na mag-papiktyur sa harap ng camera sculpture at sa red carpet ng Grand Lumiere Theater, para lang masabi ko sa sarili ko “nakatungtong ako sa red carpet ng Cannes Festival”. May mga napiktyuran din naman ako, yun nga lang, kung sikat man sila.. hindi ko sila kilala.

red Carpet at Grand Lumiere Theater

Kaya ngayon, ang goal ko ay kung paano magkaroon ng invitation sa Cannes Festival.

Ben Stiller?

A Marathon Experience

by Myric Memije Andreasen

Jon and I joined a photo marathon event last month where amateur photographers were given a chance to show their talent in creative photography. Each brought their choice of equipment from point-and-shoot to DSLR cameras. I am not a skilled photographer but this was a great opportunity to experiment and practice using my new  camera.  Jon, my dear husband,  agreed  to be my model  and caddy for a day.
The  event  started  in orientating participants with  rules  and instructions on the mechanics of the game. Each team was given a free unlimited pass to the public transportation system and a yellow envelope with a written concept. The goal was to execute the given photo-assignment as creatively as possible under time pressure. The team must then submit two entries of their choice and will receive another yellow envelope where the next theme is written.

Seems pretty easy, but little did we know that a photo marathon is more than just run, click, and shoot. Our excitement was on-fire during the first few hours. Things changed after a few hours of running and shooting. There were also temptations during the marathon. I became weighed down looking at the advantages my competitors had. I was tempted to prove that I am better than others in order to win. But by doing so, I was missing the point of becoming an efficient player. However, we managed to finish the first and second tasks and were ready for our last challenge. The third task put our strength to the test. The theme was too difficult for us and our muscles were screaming “time-out!” Our minds just kept on coming up with silly ideas. We gave up and decided to go back to the venue with nothing to submit but hoped for more freebies. For me, it didn’t matter if we finished our last task or not. It seemed winning was an impossible pursuit. What’s the point of finishing? We would not get anything anyway. But I was wrong. I learned a consolation prize was prepared for those who completed all three sets of entries. I wanted my reward so badly that ended up submitting photos I took three weeks ago (whistling and rolling my eyes as the crew looked at me with a puzzled suspicious look). I got my red reward containing two discount coupons and two free movie tickets. Somehow, my experience during the marathon showed similarity to the race I’m running called life. The only difference is that there are no shortcuts like I took in the photo competition. At the end of life, we will face the great Judge who knows every detail of our deeds. We all have our own course to finish and it is important to understand how to play it, who is in our team, and who is our opponent. Proving yourself better  than others  is  seemingly unnecessary and pointless for we do not compete with others but the works of the enemy. Paul said, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” We opt to stay under the cloud of testimonies of God’s goodness to finish our course without any hindrances. Our faith will be tested by trials and temptations. There are no exemptions to this test; even the most mature Christians we know have fallen to the point of no return. Jesus experienced temptations in his most vulnerable state. He was faithful even to the point of death. His fleshly body almost died in hunger that it took a supernatural rescue team (angels) to aid him in the midst of the desert.
The photo marathon event ended with a slide show of all  the photographs on a big screen. All of us were gathered in the room, anxiously waiting to see the photographs we took. Judging from what I saw, none of my pictures stood a chance compared to the others. I tried to convince myself not to expect to win. We came to finish a race. None of us  looked at each other as competitors but as people who shared the same desire to create art. The true reward I received that day was the fulfillment of seeing my hard work flashed on the big screen with other tremendous works of art. The prize didn’t matter  anymore. The  experience  and  the  lessons  I  learned were quite rewarding. A marathon can be tiring and possibly fatal. Sometimes we may grow tired and the temptations along the way can take us to the point of no return. Sometimes it would cross our minds that righteousness has become nothing but pointless ambition and the promise of gold reward in heaven doesn’t matter anymore. But someday we will all receive our inexplicable reward prepared for each of us if we focus on what is eternal. The end of the photo marathon was a glimpse of heaven for me.
Someday, we will gather together in front of our Judges’ seat like a slide-show of life flashed on a big screen. He will determine the clarity of the message and how creatively we present a  life made with purpose.

The Ambassador of Faith April 2010 Newsletter.

A 40 euro experience

Public Tramway is the usual means of transportation in Nice Centre. It’s like our MRT or LRT of the Philippines, but on the streets. There are no metal barriers, no guard or ticket booths. You just get the ticket from a machine, step into the train, insert or scan the card to a device that validator placed inside the the train.

Le Tram

 

At first, I thought it’s easy to get a free ride and get away with it! I wonder what would happen. I asked some people but I couldn’t clearly grasp how. I wish I know.

(more helpful infos)

10 trip ticket: The same ticket used to access buses also. Solo ticket costs 1 euro.

One time, I was on my to our French class when I realized I forgot my ticket in our apartment. I didn’t have any money with me so I can’t buy a card.

I called my husband on his cellphone who was going to meet me at a certain station. I told him I forgot my card and it was too late to go back since we are late for the class. I said I’d take the tram without ticket. I thought I’d just use his a card or just hope to get away with it one more time.

Everything was fine and smooth. I was only a station away from my husband when I saw tough looking men in leather black jackets collecting tickets. There was a surprise inspection! I tried to look as an innocent foreigner as I could. He started asking questions in French when he got to me. I couldn’t understand him. I just said my “My ticket is with my husband. He is on the next stop.”.I spoke English,  wishing he’d give me the benefit of a doubt that I lack of understanding of my violation. He said “Ah okay next stop”.I assumed he didn’t understand me. He stood by my seat till we reach the next stop. I’ve never perspired inside a train in my life. I prepared myself to be handcuffed any minute.

We came to the next stop and the collector gestured that I step down from the train. I ran hurriedly to my husband who was my only salvation. The Men in Black (as I address the authorities ) confronted us about the violation that I made. The other guy was very understanding and polite. He tried to speak in  English after he realized he was dealing with couple of foreigners who don’t know what they are doing.He made us pay 40 euro penalty and gave us a yellow ticket which admits us both for a free unlimited pass for a day. He warned us never to do it again.

I managed to pulled myself back together from all embarrassment. Me and Jon used our 42 euro yellow ticket to run all our errands and rode the train as many times as we could.

It was a scary experience, but somehow I convinced myself it was worth the adventure.

Bon voyage!