Thank God Its Friday - More Like ..Yummy Its Friday !!!

In Norway they seem to have this fantastic work tradition of 'honouring' the last day of a working week. Each company has their own way of doing it ..In a friends company on a friday a fresh oven baked batch of Pain au chocolat arrive at the office as a mass email is sent out and everyone gathers to devour them. In my husbands company they have 'Friday Beers' the canteen fridge is stocked on a friday and post work whoever wants gathers for well ... some beers, another friends company also has beers and sometimes a games night AND in our company friday means one thing .. YUMMY HOT WAFFLES .. at about 11:15 the smell starts wafting through the office and the call for lunch comes must faster :) We also on most Fridays have a wine lottery which I've won once .. ah the joy of taking home a bottle of wine on a friday.

The weekend here is sacred and everyone knows and appreciates that. Emails from friday morning onwards all end with a customary have a great weekend attached to it, there is no sense of guilt or apology that the weekend is here - that its time for you to take a break (sometimes in India i felt that .. hence the comparison). I love that together as a company with your colleagues you welcome the weekend and have something to look forward too after a week of work ..

I normally work from home on a friday, but for  fridays i come into work like today - i can always be sure that there will be fresh waffles to greet me, make my friday happier and welcome the weekend in all its glory !!!

Have a Great Weekend :) 

For me the 'Romance In Paris' is.....

I've now been to Paris twice and 2 drastically different experiences were what i have been met with. Pre- Paris one has always heard of how romantic it is, and you step in there and you feel it blah blah blah .. well when i went there first (with my husband) both of us, well more me of course was waiting for this 'Romantic' feeling to come over us and well it never came. Yes, the city had its charm, it rained most of the time we were there, the tiny cafes were awesome but i guess i expected to be hit like a rock hitting my forehead & to be swooning in the 'Romantics that is Paris' ..(probably my first mistake)

Dont get me wrong -the holiday was fantastic - we were true tourists did all the must do's and must see's took the tour bus around, ate and drank and went to Lido and was all in all a great trip - and one that broke all the 'pre-conceived' notions. The only downside was we went when all the Parisians had actually left the city .. making it a tourists city.

My second trip with the ladies (now don't get any ideas) :) was just relaxed we had all done the must do's and see's of Paris and the idea was to well just drift with the city. In retrospect the best way to experience Paris. The holiday revolved around eating, drinking, ice cream and yes some shopping. Perfect !! It was on this trip i experienced Paris's 'Romantic' side .. Finally right :) But what I experienced for me was a far cry from my 'pre -conceived ideas of romance'...

Paris's romantic side for me lies in its peoples passion - the city was in the throws of amazing weather. The passion that i saw over conversations, or a simple glass of wine. The passion over eating a meal or indulging in ice creams after battling Que's that went all around the block or doing their weekly shopping at the farmers market, the passion they displayed when kissing in a subway absolutely oblivious of the world around them - even more simplified their passion for life in its most basic form..

                                                 

So simply put the Romance is Paris is all around living life to the fullest, eat, drink and be merry and you could see they did exactly that ..

And for me that's how Paris will always be romantic :)

The Big Apple and its Tiny Nuances

My first trip to the US was absolutely fabulous, as much as i always said the US would be one of the last places I'd visit I actually found the change from Europe refreshing in a way. NY is everything a Big City should be and just being part of the Buzz and in a city that literally doesn't sleep is just amazing !! I did come away with a few interesting observations or so I think .. quirky little things that will always remind me of NY .. so here goes the list

1. There are 3 standard signs you see everywhere you go - they amused me because 2 of 3 were so obvious...
- Above the bar - 'Pregnant Women Should Not drink' (followed by the Hazards of Drinking During Pregnancy)
- In the Restrooms - 'All Employees must wash their hands before returning to work'
- At the Entrance of an Establishment - 'The Cpr Kit is Located Above the Bar'

2. New York is ALL about BRUNCH - yes every restaurant has a brunch menu, brunch specials, peoples lives revolve around Weekend Brunch Plans

3. There is a Minimum of a 1 hour wait for ANYTHING in New York be it to Enter the Abercrombie & Fitch store, Get an Apple Ipad 2 (this can go into many hours)or to get into a restaurant

4. Every Address in New York has a way of sounding Posh be 84th on Fifth or 192 on 17th (second one is made up .. but get my point !)

5. For the visitor, Address in New York are just difficult & unfathomable - Period !

6. You Can Never be Overdressed in New York ..

7. Women in NY seemed to have a certain belly dance style or step .. saw it everywhere .. maybe a fad ?!

8. Yellow Cabs and their In-Cab Entertainment Tv's (Note Kiran Managed to mess every tv in every cab we got into)

9. New York is ALL about Niche Specializations - A Pancakes Restaurant, A Crepe's restaurant, A Ramen restaurant not to forget the pediatric dentist and the salon that Only does and specializes in short haircuts for women

10. Clearance Sales are very Dramatic with Store Windows plastered with big signs reading ' EVERYTHING MUST GO'

11. THE TIP - they have a set of permutations and combinations that arrive at the right amount you should tip .. double the tax, 10% , 20%, amount of the tax etc even a week later i was never sure how much was right !

12. Every 'chatty' cab driver we encountered turned out to be Egyptian .. Hmmm :)

13. To qualify being a New Yorker you need to live in Manhanttan .. anywhere else is well up for debate

14. Cupcakes are the NY thing, with a cupcake van almost everywhere !

15. You Can be sure to find 2 things on every street corner - A Nail Bar & A Psychic

And that's my two cents on the subject ;)

** some of these could be generic to the US but i experienced them first in the NY ..