Mussels, fries @ Clichy's Tavern, Paris

THis is the first parisian restaurant that my dearie took me to when I arrived in Paris 2 years ago. Since the first time I tried their mussels, don't remember exactly in which sauce I took the first time, I fell in love in this Belgian dish.

We then became the regular customers in this restaurant as they offer a wide variety of foods,: Belgian, German, Italian, French etc....Never get bored with the menu and it is very valuable for the price.



THis time, it was my x-th time going there. Started off with a belgian beer: La Loubécoise, which is a maple sirop brewed beer. Good for my adventurous taste buds. I like its mild taste and a very fragrant smell.


I wanted to order a set a mussels in Roquefort cheese sauce, but as my dearie wanted the same thing, I took the one in curry sauce instead. But not spicy one la!



Of course, it will not be complete without the fries!



The meal was very good and satisfying. As I was a Tiramisu maniac, we went on having a piece of it as we were quite full already.



Clichy's Tavern Brasserie
128 bis Boulevard Clichy, 75018 Paris
Tel: 0142949965

Important papers in France

Today is a day that I spent on 2 important papers.

Early morning, reluctant to wake up at 6.50am, I prepared to go to the Immigration Service for medical visit, a routine to do in order to get my work permit and resident card. It was done by around 10.30am, with the company of the agent who is in-charge of the application process. Honestly, without their help, I would have spent much longer time on this tedious and frustrating process. I am so grateful that my company provided this assistance to a lost foreign worker like me.

Without further delay, I went on to collect my second important paper: my Master degree in Health Physics. I am very delighted that I finally received a Master degree with European recognition, and with a good result, which is like a cherry on the cake. Que je suis contente!

Ca y est. Two extra documents in my files. As I know myself, it is not the end of the end, but the beginning of the next challenge.

What a greedy lass I am!

Seasonal Greetings

Send this eCard !


Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year 2009!!

speechless moments

Sometimes, I come across some questions from people who do not know Malaysia well, but implied the less developped image of Malaysia.

For example, a guy once asked me, what kind of anaesthetic techniques do the Malaysian doctors use? I said, the same inhalational agents and ventilators. Then he stopped asking. I was thinking, did he expect me to say: we use chloroform and no patients monitoring in an unhygiene condition, like many would think how a developing country should be?

Perhaps people who are sceptical about Malaysian healthcare system, should make a short trip to observe for their own eyes. I have to admit that lots to be improved, but certainly it is more than sufficient to ensure the safety of the patients.

Malaysian restaurant in Vevey, Switzerland

Since today is my dearie's birthday, we decided to go to a Malaysian restaurant in Vevey, a city about 15 mins away from Lausanne.

This resto is opened by Chinese Malaysian from Malacca, not sure how long they have been there but certainly worth a try.

Le Noix de Coco
av. du Gén.-Guisan 50
Vevey
Vaud
Switzerland
Tel: 021 922 70 11

I had a malaisian fried noodles, which taste more like fried mee in chinese shops back home, without the pork fat. Then we had chicken curry, mixed vegetables, wantan soup and rice. Lastly, we shared a fried ice cream and tea infusion.

It was surprisingly crowded in the restaurant, but remains quite cozy. The staffs are extremely friendly and smiling all the time. Guess the business is going well.

Heard that the owner of the resto will eventually sell it off and return to Malaysia. This is what chinese have in their mind: return home with prosperity. If they will live better this way, it is a wise choice.

We are doing well

How is the health care status of Malaysia since 2000 compared to other developing and developed countries?



Source: Unicef

As we can see, the perinatal mortality rate of Malaysia in 2000 is 5 per 1000 live birth, and it's not very different from developed countries, eg France, Germany, USA and Australia (3 to 5 per 1000 live birth). It is an outstanding achievement if we compared this figure with China (21 per 1000 live birth), India (43 per 1000 live birth), and Vietnam (15 per 1000 live birth).

Similarly, the under 1 year-old infant mortality rate of Malaysia in 2006 (10 per 1000 live birth) is far lower compared to China (20 per 1000 live birth), India (57 per 1000 live birth) and Vietnam (15 per 1000 live birth). However, it is slightly higher if compared to developed countries which have a rate of between 4 to 6 per 1000 live birth.

As a health care professional, I certainly agree that there are still a lot of health care aspects in Malaysia need to be improved: lack of sufficient medical staffs and public hospitals; long waiting time; less sophisticated medical technologies (but certainly not less reliable or efficient) etc, but over half a century post colonised era, we are doing absolutely well and should keep it going.

Autumn Dream in Lausanne

Hari Raya ponder

Went to Hari Raya open house today, and something puzzled me: When I saw an ex-Malaysian who is now a famous fashion designer in France, with whom I had taken photo with, denied immediately that he is the celebrity I knew. He answered: You're mistaken.

Perhaps I do not have excellent memory, but this person, has spoken for a long time during the dinner with the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister at Hilton HOtel in Paris last year, and he told a group of us at the end of dinner that he was going to have a fashion show, and we were welcome to help to dress up his models etc.... well, I wasn't interested to do that so I didn't contact him after that.

Moreover, he came with the same wife who was also in our photos taken at the same occasion.

I tried to imagine myself in his place after his deny to his identity: He comes across hundreds of young ladies who are "models wannabe" daily from all over the world, his mail box is always full of pretty posing photos of these ladies and that he is overwhelmed. Or, wherever he goes, girls would come up to him to ask for opportunities to be models, or to get free tickets to his fashion shows etc...

Being famous, sometimes we trade off our honesty and courage to tell others who we really are.

JE T'AIME

Just finished my master viva last monday, and things were going well. I am now officially graduated as a Biomedical Engineer, besides my MD obtained 6 years ago.

Even though I was extremely stressed out to rush the reports and powerpoint, but I had a focus and was at maximum productivity. Now, I give myself some breaks and will reorientate myself for more challenges.

While busy preparing the homeworks, there was something completely slipped out of my (our) minds: first PACS anniversary! Even though I have not heard people celebrating it, but it remains a special occasion to cherish it with my love one. Mimi, JE T'AIME!!

Will plan something to celebrate this meaningful day!

Interlaken, Switzerland 2008

 

Heidi cartoon and Japanese tourists in Switzerland

While we were at the train station Lauterbrunnen, on our way going up to Jungfraujoch, there was a reserved train with about 50 Japanese tourists, and around half of the tourists around us were speaking in Japanese. One of them was lifting up a yellow umbrella all the way from the departure station at Wilderswil to Lauterbrunnen, I supposed he is the tour guide. When our train was moving up, we noticed that the Japanese tourists were all over the mountains! At that point of time, we did not know why Jungfrau is so popular for them.

As we expected, the Jungfraujoch mountain is full of Japanese tourists, and sign boards in Japanese. Then the biggest surprise came along: all of them were eating the same type of instant noodles. I was thinking that it was probbaly the tour guide who brought the cup noodles and arranged with the restaurant at the top of Jungfraujoch to prepare the hot water. The answer is: No. THis restaurant offers cup noodles of hot and spicy flavour at 7 swiss francs (about 5 € or 22 RM)! We also got ourselves a cup noodle each to join the fun and we drew attention from them throughout the meal.

When we reached the village Wilderswil after the day trip to Jungfraujoch, Francois told me that Jungfrau and Interlaken look very similar to the sceneries in a cartoon called "Heidi". We soon looked through the internet to find some video clips about Heidi, and true enough, a flag very similar to the flag of interlaken appeared in the Introduction part of this cartoon.

As Francois said, Heidi was living in her granddad's house in a swiss mountain, with goats, cows and nature around her. Lucky little girl! They have a St Bernard dog named "Joseph"(Japanese version; its name is "Hercule" in the French one) .


You might be surprised, the productor of this cartoon was a Japanese! Even though this cartoon was originated from a novel "Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning", usually abbreviated "Heidi", written by a swiss author, Johanna Spyri in 1880, the cooperation between the Japanese and German producer had made it a success all over the world. Besides the Japanese, there were quite a number of Middle East tourists as well, and could it be also the popularity of Heidi in Arabic version?

Switzerland is apparently a dream-like destination for the Japanese tourists: Swiss Alps, fresh air, stunning lakes etc..... It has been reported that Heidi has drawn them to Switzerland to see her village called Maienfeld, as well as other destinations with similar sceneries.


I have just watched 2 episodes of Heidi cartoon, it seems to be an extremely "touching" cartoon describing a life of an Orphanline girl in the Alpes. I might get myself the book to discover more about this famous little girl.

Vevey's Charm

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Happy National Day Switzerland!

Today, 1st August, is the National Day of Switzerland, since I am now in Switzerland, I share their joy to celebrate it together!

How did this event come about? In fact, it was a result of an agreement called "Federal Charter of 1291" signed by 3 patriots from 3 cantons: Uri , Schwytz, Nidwald, in August 1291 in a place called Rütli, situated in Brunnen, and the exact date is not clear. So this year it is the 717th anniversary!

Despite that this date was first celebrated in 1891 in Berne in commemeration with the 600th anniversary, it had not been an official holiday until 1994, following a public vote (In Switzerland, in order to implement a new rule, the swiss people have first to vote directly) on the 26 September 1993.

So what do the swiss do on their National Day? according to some sources on the internet, they will have bonfire, fireworks, lantern cortege etc after the nightfall. For example, here in Lausanne, there will be a official festival at Ouchy, a place near the lake side. We will check it out if it is not raining!

Soon 2 years in Europe!!

I started my European discovery in August 2006, and soon it s gonna be the anniversary.

I want to summarise my 2 years' life here..... but, where to start?

Given up my MD job, came here to start new life. My adjustment has been quite smooth, for this, I have to thank thousand times my other half, and also my buddy who stays here for nearly 20 years. It was their explanations and advices that I got to enter the French world. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I am still far from being integrated. To me, I don't have to live like a French, but I should at least make an effort to really know the French.

Too much to say and it's getting late... I will do my best to continue my stories and updates from time to time.

Bonne nuit!!

1st August 2008:

To live in a foreign country, I find that the hardest is to make friends with the locals.

Sometimes, I try to strike a conversation with people: lining up to pay at the counter is the best occasion. Somehow it never works out well for me, the conversation comes very soon to an end. Perhaps I still do not express myself well enough in French and thus they feel tiring to continue a conversation after a while as I speak slower and probably not clear enough:p C'est loin d'etre gangé (still a long way to go)!

So, I have not made any new French friends here. My french friends remain those I had met in Malaysia, or friends of my boyfriend. I don't know if I should see this as a "failure", but I don't think that friendship should come along after a hard try..... That's not friendship anyway.

So, I make friends with foreigners in France. It works out extremely well! I hang out quite often with friends from Germany, Canada, USA, Malaysia, Vietnam, China etc... From a relational point of view, I am a fairly opened and easy going person, and try to make the person to whom I speak to at ease. Just a little hard to go about with the locals. It's a shame, I admit it. I would really treasure if I could have a couple of good local friends to exchange our viewpoints nad chill out from time to time.. but well, see what luck will bring me then!

What about colleagues? Oh French colleagues will remain "colleagues". A drink after work, well.... not in their tradition.... unless we change the working company. A different culture certainly.

Work wise.

The European work attitudes are generally: stand on your own feet. Whenever a task is being delivered to me, they would expect me to figure it out on my own. They welcome intelligent questions, that's clear. Well, I think that I was not used to search for answers myself as most of the time, those more experienced colleagues in Malaysia would come to my rescue when I get doubts. Here, I see no one to back me up. Moreover, due to my foreign worker status, I have to proof really hard that I am capable to deliver twice the work quality. Such a drastic change put me at times a great deal stress.

I guess I should talk about other experiences in separate posts, eg: travels, foods.....

Till then, happy reading!

What is P.Q in French?

This is awesome! I just got to know about this today!

Someone was talking about PQ today and I didn't know what it meant. Apparently, it stands for toilet paper! So why PQ? It is: papier(P) cul (Q) ==> arse paper in translation. I found this extremely hilarious, just impressed by the French humour :))

Concerts "pas chers" in Paris

YEsterday my colleague invited a few colleagues for a dinner at his place, and followed by a small concert in the area. I didn't expect that the French singer to sing english songs so well, without any accent! from 60's to 90's, she sang around 12 songs in 2 hrs! I enjoyed the concert and as I was sitting next to a lady from New York who moved her body all the time, I just let my hair down and went along with the songs...

Today, I bumped onto another concert by a "freelancer" in front of Sacré Coeur. What made me stayed was again the songs that were too familiar to me, yea, english ones again. This chap truly knows how to entertain his crowd, till that he received cheek kiss, love letter and volunteer singer from the audience! Wow this is just like a real concert, just that we were not obliged to pay. Facing the view of Paris, cool songs and crowds, well, yea, Paris could be so beautiful!

Was I too stressed over my intergration in Paris?

I had a moment of realizing that I found myself again in those songs, which I used to listen to when I was back home, in the car, in my room or in the clubs.

Shouldn't get myself too drown into my hectic life. From time to time, get something to carry myself away, just get carefree a little, no harm done!

I still love Paris!

Dalida-Salma ya Salama (arabic version)

Eternal Star: Dalida

2 weeks ago, my buddy Janice told me that my new studio is near the memorial of a late French singer, Dalida, an Egyptian-born singer of Italian origins who lived most of her life in France, and in fact her former apartment is not far from where I stay now in the 18th urban district, which is just within "climbing distance" to Sacré Coeur, Montmartre.

I just realized that I knew a couple of her songs eg besame mucho, pour te dire je t'aime etc. Out of curiosity, I visited her memorial which is 10 mins walk away, then walk down along rue Caulaincourt to see her tomb at the Montmarte Cemetery, but unfortunately couldn't get access to enter.

Her stories being a mixture Egytian and Italian in France made me extremely interested to know more about her life. Mon minou bought her DVDs for me which included some of her interviews and marvellous video clips. I adore Egyptian and Italian musics and she just gathered all these elements in her! I wished that I had known her much earlier.

Even though her life is pretty tragic, but she really had lived a glittering life, like a meteor across the dark sky. Her songs still nourish many souls around the world. I admire her perseverance and hardwork, which had given her successful career. She once said: Her career is no doubt great, but it might be gone just overnight if she doesn't keep herself up to date. In fact, her songs did evolve over 25 years of her career, that explained how she stayed the music queen for such a long time! Despite a strong Italian accent and character!

She is forever!!

Clip Tokio Hotel- Monsoon

Chinese NY song

boomp3.com

Grateful to have a nice boss

My future boss is a lovely leader. To my surprise, she arranges everything in such a way that I will arrive in a well-equiped work environment: my own office and computer. It's the first time in my life that I will have my own office. I used to envy people who work from their offices and now I will soon have one! How Amazing!

Even at this moment, I start to feel the excitement to go to work already!

My first job in France!

10th January 2008: A new milestone in my life!
Rainy morning, I missed the transit bus from the train station Versailles-Chantiers. I kept my head clear, went back to the train station and took the train to the next station: Le Petit Jouy. Chilling in the rain and didn't know which way to go, I stopped a teenager to ask for direction, he told me: 15 minutes walk from here!
After 25 mins walking, I was still walking.
Handphone rang, from the company; I told the interviewer that I would arrive soon as am not far (still cool even though I was kinda lost). Fortunately a kind man from the townhall lent me a hand and dropped me to the destination in no time!!
My interviewer is a very very elegant respiratory physician. After mutual introduction, she led me to her office and warmly invited me to sit down. She has expressed pretty good remarks on my previous experiences and the interview went really well. 20 mins later, I met the manager of the group, whom I was very impressed of. A foreigner holding a leader post, she must be of extraordinary capability. Likewise, our conversation went smoothly and she proposed to pay the taxi to send me to the train station with the company voucher. I was overwhelmed by the generousity and happily accepted!

Reached home; exhausted.
NO idea if they would take me or not. I am bad at judging interviews owing to previous traumatic experiences.
:)
Around 5.30PM, my phone rang: It was from the company.
"After interviewing all the candidates, we feel that you are the most suitable candidate for our mission. Are you still interested to accept this offer?" The respiratory physician asked me.
"YES YES YES!" I was jumping literally that I got the internship offer!
THere I go, a new journey will begin soon.
All my sacrifices, my partner's undivided support and my family's understanding finally paid off!! My plans go accordingly, despite sweats, tears etc... I have no regret to come here for my new life, pursuing what I dreamed of with perseverance.
Thank you my future company for turning a new page in my life!