Hard Water

So the water supply in Paris (at least in my area) is very hard, as I discovered as soon I took a peak inside the kettle in our apartment (it resembled the inside of a limestone cave). I had also noticed that it is much more difficult for my shampoo to foam up here, meaning that I have to use much more shampoo and still my hair doesnt get as clean as I would like it. In addition, I had noticed white build-up on my scalp. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was all related to the water here and a little google search in the wee hours of this morning confirmed this. Apparently, hard water does make it very difficult to lather with shampoo or toothpaste and it also leaves calcium deposits in one's hair. I had seen some ladies buying demineralised (distilled) water in the supermarket and had wondered what they used it for. Now it looks like I have found my answer. I may have found a better solution, however. Apparently rinsing with some very dilute vinegar water does the trick. I will try it next time and see how we go.

Yup.

A Single Man

Just saw this and was rather impressed. The film was obviously gorgeous to look at and Tom Ford dealt with the story in a subtle but still affecting way. I've finally seen the light on Nicholas Hoult, I never found him attractive before. Aging has definitely done him well. He got super tall and thin and he lost his round face. The jury is still out on his acting, though.

The pretty and the pretty ugly

Saw this communal bin on the way to Sacré Cœur. At least they had some nutella (see top left of pile)...you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach!

Another not-so-pretty, and little seen sight in Paris. There are quite a lot of these downtrodden rail pits in Paris, they just don't advertise them in tourism brochures.

A view from the street up to the Sacré Cœur.

A man balancing a water bottle on top of a basketball on top of his head and other snaps taken in Montmartre:

And it looks like they're advertising my blog outside Palais Garnier:

Attempt at Poutine

Was really wanting to try Poutine but my being in France rather than Canada, it's not easy to come by here. So, I decided to make it myself. A couple of little hurdles, I couldn't find any gravy powder so I had to make gravy by reducing stock and adding flour and butter. I also couldn't get cheese curds so I used a soft, mild cheese instead (unripe Emmental). Had to roast the chips since I don't have a deep fryer. I added some onions to give the stock more flavour and add interest to the poutine. All in all, it definitely wasn't a bad effort and it tasted pretty damn good!

Was sad, now hopeful

I was possibly planning a trip to Turin, Italy to go to the Figure Skating World Championships but then found out that Stéphane Lambiel isn't planning to go. In fact, he's not sure if he'll continue competitive skating :( I know he's retired before but I was never really fan of his back when he retired for the first time so I was rather sad when I found out the news. However, it seems that he'll do the rounds to quite a few skating exhibitions and I hopefully going to attend the one in Lausanne, Switzerland (his home town!). That's if I can get my act together and plan something in time. Was thinking of killing a few birds with one stone and visiting Lyon, and the area around Thollon-les-Bains to go to ski and Evian-les-Bains (yes, home to the famous water!). But planning trips is such a pain, especially when, like me, you don't know what you're doing. Hours ploughing through travel guide books and internet pages will surely ensue.

really, judges, really?!?

So the Olympic men's figure skating is over for another four years. Brian Joubert tanked pretty badly but I'm glad that he's since admitted that he has problems with his attitude and is willing to change it. Fingers crossed for him for the rest of his career. I lost count of how many ONTD'ers offered to "comfort" him. Patrick Chan looked pathetic as usual and didn't deserve the score he got. Stéphane seemed rather nervous and his skate wasn't as natural and smooth as I've seen it but I still really it and the spins were still amazing, mindblowing etc. Evan Lysacek won the gold even though his skate was boring as hale. I don't wanna he's offering sexual favours to the judges, but I'm gonna. Plushy skated well and definitely deserved the gold, this coming from somebody who doesn't like Plushy. I repeat: Evan Lysacek, sexual favours, judges. IDGAF, I loved Stéphane's costumes and both his routines and the newer, floppier hair!

[images via lambielnews on twitter]

FML :(

The Men's Short Programme was tonight and I stayed up all morning to watch it, despite my having an exposé for uni the same day. Stéphane looked so fucking good with his hair and I didn't mind his William Tell music. His skate was pretty damn perfect apart from the fact that he didn't cleanly land his quad :(. He didn't have too many jumps in his programme which is probably because he is carrying a niggling injury. All in all, I was pretty damn enraptured. Those fucking spins get me every time:

As for Brian Joubert, well, he fucked it up big time. Didn't land his quad or his triple lutz, and no completed combo jumps (although he had planned one). It was rather amusing seeing all the horny and undersexed girls (and guys) on ontd jizzing themselves over how attractive he is especially when he was ~speaking French. From what I caught, he was basically just saying "FML, fuck the olympics" and dropping a whole lot of 'p bombs'' after he knew he blew it. Whoever choreographed his short programme seriously needs to be shot and burned along with Plushy's choreographer.

I guess I'm hard on him, but because he's my favourite (along with Stéphane) and I expect a lot from him. Despite my being pissed that he tanked, I do feel sorry for him, because an athlete has to commit a lot physically and emotionally to an olympic campaign. The next time he's in Paris he can come over and I'll comfort him... Either that or in Turin because I *may* be heading over for the figure skating worlds.

Oh, and Patrick Chan tanked his triple axle so that made me grin. He's all talk and immaturity. Looks like Plushy will head into the free skate in the lead. I feel like must be sucking major dick to get the scores he does with those boring, robotic routines. I must admit, he's a clutch jumper and he handles the pressure well but If he wins again, I'm going to throw something. Sorely wishing Alexei was still around to pwn his ass. I really really hope Stéphane can take hope the gold, he really is such a fantastic all-round skater and he deserves to have been olympic champion.

[images via ontd]

Nostalgia

Alexei Yagudin's gold model-winning Olympic skates (short and long programmes). I still vividly remember watching when I was younger and at the time, I was genuinely emotional, it was so beautiful. To this day I still get chills when I watch it. He was the complete package; he a great jumper, but his transitions, footwork and artistry were absolutely sublime.

One guy who definitely comes close is Stephane Lambiel, who is known for his spins. He's made a comeback recently for the 2010 Vancouver games. He's had a lot of bad luck with injuries and I would be ecstatic if he were to triumph.


As for Monsieur Joubert? He's more of a technical skater with great jumps but weaker in the artistry (although he has improved that throughout his career), but I he's so damn adorable and attractive that I can't help but love him. Plus, he's French! Yes, I'm shallow like that. No, that's undermining's his skating ability. He's been a world championa and consistently up there with the best for a number of years now. His skating is athletic, strong and masculine, quite unique amongst his peers who nowadays are often weak, effeminate things (see Patrick Chan).

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

It's the year of the tiger! My favourite of them all, the Siberian/Amur/North China/Manchurian tiger FYT:

[image via wikipedia]

Insomnia, my old friend

The Winter Olympics have started and I'm super excited! I can tell I will be up for some late nights watching. The figure skating starts today and I'm excited to see my bb Brian Joubert! Am also glad that Stephane Lambiel is back. As usual, there is a whole lot of wank and disagreement over the judging system. I, for one, don't like the current system, which basically encourages triple jumps rather than quads. I am all for artistry, but I feel that doing triple axles over and over does not help the progression of the sport. I so miss Alexei Yagudin (I'm not afraid to admit it, his skate in Salt Lake City to win gold made me cry like a baby), he was the master of artistry and footwork whilst still more than able to nail the quads. I've never liked Evgeny Plushenko but at least his presence adds to the pro-quad brigade.

Will attempt to make poutine tomorrow in honour of the gracious Olympic hosts, which could be interesting/dangerous.

It's still very much winter here in Paris. It's been snowing quite steadily the last few days and the melting snow has made the temperature drop. I believe the technical term is 'fucking freezing'.

Retail Therapy

After a particularly stressful day, went and bought a gratuitous amount of junk food from the supermarket. France actually has a surprisingly good variety of junk food available.

Also bought the following from asos:

Eley Kishimoto x Linda Farrow sunglasses

French Connection linen parka

Asos brand suede turquoise ballet flats

DV Dolce Vita 'Blake' flat suede ankle boots

It was a small splurge but its a quasi-birthday present to myself

[images via asos and BarefootTess]

RIP Alexander McQueen

I'm truly shocked...

Well look what fell out of the sky...

The first snow (that wasn't super fine and practically invisible) since I have been in Paris. This is a view of the courtyard in our apartment complex.

OTP

They're even wearing matching hats. I used to like Rob before all the Twilight hooplah but now he is just overrated and overexposed. Tom, on the other hand, is super adorable and really talented. He got great reviews for his turn on stage in Punk Rock and I thought he was really good in The Boat That Rocked (US title: Pirate Radio). Tom and Ike being adorable FYT:

[images via ONTD]

So is this where the Pharoahs lived?

Outside the Louvre today, on a less than spectacular day for photography.

Brunch

Was craving pancakes, and since I'm in France, I decided to make crepes. Previous experiments with crepes in Australia had not turned out too flash but this time it was surprisingly undisastrous, to the point of, well, success! One of the most popular ways to have crepes over here is with nutella and banana so I thought I'd give it a try. It was rather delicious, but my favourite way to have pancakes/crepes is still with ice cream.


Also bought a baguette yesterday, and it was pretty damn good. I can definitely understand what all the fuss is about. Tomorrow we're probably going to go visit the Louvre, which I am very much looking forward to; will try to take lots of pictures.