Grandma's thermos

C'est en nous promenant à l'Emmaeus de Bastille (sorte de Village des Valeurs parisien, en + classe lol) que je suis tombée sur un article de maison de mon enfance lointain en Chine. Bien sûr, il était posé beaucoup trop haut sur l'étagère pour que je puisse le saisir toute seule. D'où l'importance d'avoir un grand chum. Bref, à la vue de cet objet, pleins de souvenirs ont refait surface dans ma tête, des souvenirs inséparables de mes grandmères et de leur cuisine. 

Des thermos DEER BRAND avec de grosses pivoines ou des fleurs de pruniers, toutes les familles en Chine en avaient un!  Il suffisait de faire bouillir une grosse chaudière d'eau le matin et on avait de l'eau chaude pour toute la journée avec ces thermos. Pas seulement pour se faire du thé mais également pour faire la vaisselle, se laver les cheveux, etc. 

Pour la plupart des gens ces thermos deer brand représenteront des objets vintages très déco au charme vieillot, mais de mon côté, cette grosse bouteille est totalement indissociable de mon enfance année 80 :)

Cheap thrill: bought for 4.50 euros!!

A little update on my drinking ability

STILL CAN'T DRINK IF MY LIFE DEPENDED ON IT.
Seriously, it's like the main defining characteristic about me. 

This girl came to Paris for 4 days, perks of being a doctor and being able to use 'attend medical conferences' all around the world as an excuse to travel more. Miss you already Yang!!

Ti-Punch créole. I barely touched it with my lips, that's how weak I am.

Nice waiters are as rare as peanut butter in France. Basically non existent.  Why is that? Maybe it's part of the charm in a twisted way, but I'll never get used to it.

By the way, this picture is not for racist purposes Huilong, I know what you're thinking -_-  She was one of the only smily waitresses in entire Paris.

sous la pluie

-It's so hard to make friends. Meeting people, not so much, but making a real connection seems impossible. Just makes me miss even more the goofballs back in Montreal. But it seems like no one wants to add me on Skype, AGAIN MY USERNAME IS yilizhuzhu  add me or don't complain that I never give any news >:O   Don't forget, it goes both ways, you know who you are -_-

-I know the rue du Cherche-Midi like the back of my pocket now, but have yet to bump into M. Gerard Depardieu
-During my first week in Paris I went to buy a flat iron and met in the store my crush  Louis Garrel, but I was too stunned by his evengreaterlooksinreallife and just stared at my feet/hiding behind Axel  WHILE MY DOG FRIGGIN WENT UP TO HIM AND SMELLED HIS FEET AND STOLE A SMILE FROM HIM.
-Haven't eaten a croissant yet since I got here. NOT ONE. And I live above a bakery, shame on me.
-UHT milk isn't so bad after all. I still prefer fresh milk, but one of the perks of UHT milk is that you can keep tons of it outside of your tiny French fridge.
-Explored a lot of cours intérieures by playing around with the digicodes/stalking people living inside
-Watched  Les amants du Pont Neuf, it confirmed my thoughts on being a hobo in Paris; sad yet glamorous.

A true Parisian balcony. Not mine ;)

merci

Thankful for all that life has brought my way.


Original song by Brandi Carlile

LONDON CALLING

I took the Eurostar train for the first time.  Leaving for London with the early train and being back to Paris at night feels like teleport, I keep forgetting how small Europe is :p

The corners of our new home

So happy about our homegrown basil and coriander

 huh?

Il y a tellement de lumière dans cet appart qu'on est obligé de fermer les volets et rideaux pour ne pas être aveuglés. J'ADORE.

Avoir une fenêtre dans ma cuisine en plus d'un grand four = tous mes désirs de housewife sont comblés.

la cour intérieure. We saw a neighbour in the front building completely naked with her windows wide open. Yes Andrew, we could see her bush.

 It's covered in beige 70s cement but we have our own (functional) fireplace!

I made this peephole raccoon.

 Don't know whether you're able to see the painting that the artist who used to live here has left us, those are 4 baby doll heads painted in white. Very special indeed.

Mon coin à moi!!  

To be honest, this first week in the new apartment has been tough for me. I guess only you people who read my blog will know about this unglamorous side of my move to Paris. The idyllic first month in this country is over and I'm not saying Paris' charm is starting to wear off; it's still as beautiful as always, but I cannot go out with the increasing guilt of being unemployed.  (Yes I haven't tried applying at Galeries Lafayette to sell Chanel bags to rich chinese yet, but I think I'll do that if in a month there is still no job for me)  The moose works from 8 to 8 everyday this week so it's just beibei and I at home.  I know what you're thinking. It's a good experience but I don't think I'm meant to be a housewife -_-.  Really enjoying the cooking though (did I mention that I also have an OVEN??!!), I wish I could have my friends here and make good use of my FOLDING TABLE FOR 8 !

Again, add me on skype : yilizhuzhu

new home

The past few days really tested our muscles and endurance, as we moved from the 5e to the 13e (chinatown hahaha) by bus/metro and the help of a friend with a tiny car. Our new apartment is on the 5th floor of this pink building WITHOUT ELEVATOR. As you can see there is a cute bakery right downstairs and we share the inner court with them, so it smells like bread all day (and sometimes like yeast).  I think the hundreds of stairs will compensate enough for the pains aux chocolats I will be indulging in.

Photos coming up in my next post, don't start imagining some grandiose hausmanian apartment with the complete balcony overlooking the river ;)  I've come to accept my destiny, carpet always seem to cross my path, so be it. It makes our little nest even cozier.

OH AND I HAVE A WASHING MACHINE, c'est du grand luxe ^___^

For the curious ones, the new home is on Avenue d'Italie near Metro Tolbiac.

S'envoyer en l'air

I've never thought my first hot balloon ride would happen in the middle of Paris. Well we didn't fly as high and far as the old man in UP, but this city always offers a view ;)

A side of Paris I've never seen.

The moose works in one of the skyscrapers afar.

We were not placed in a woven basket but more of a metallic donut.

For you cinéphiles   (here's looking at you HUILONG), can you recognize this scenery?

That's right, Pont Bir-Hakeim and the apartment in which the sulfurous Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando had an anonymous affair in Last Tango in Paris. (Forever traumatized by the butter scene to be honest.) 

If you have favorite movies filmed in Paris, I'd be more than happy to research the film locations and take photos for you. 

Last bits of my summer

Here's my attempt at returning to the blogging world, which requires from me far more discipline than I've expected... I wonder how many people still read this blog (silently!!) ?  The time I spend on internet has significantly decreased since I've made the big move, as there's no more need for me to escape in the virtual world when I can just walk out to the house and live the dream!  Okay that made me sound like a World of Warcraft freak who never sees the sunlight.  wahaha.

My first two weeks in France were spent in the countryside, soaking up the August sun, babysitting and making sure kids and dogs don't devour each other, laughing over the afternoon goûter ritual on the kitchen table...

I no longer want to embody the asian + female driver stereotype

So I've been practicing parallel parking quite a bit.  And watching youtube tutorials (yes I know, SHUUUSH)

Not being able to park parallel has made me a cripple in the city and this is why all these years I have been so scared to drive into town, along with the excuse that I'm horrible at orienting myself and remembering the streets.  A hobo once laughed at me while I was trying to do some parallel parking, I thought I really made his day but he definitely ruined mine with his uncontrollable laughter.  Bitch.

But I'm working on this handicap and I will learn to park like a normal person, so just watch!

Flying with Beibei...stay posted

After talking over the phone with different agents at Air France, I have bought a soft carrier bag for beibei (yes he will be joining me in this adventure, no one leaves beibei behind!!).  But now I'm really starting to doubt the dimensions...the agents have given me different numbers and after measuring each side I have become paranoid at the idea that my bag is too tall to be put under the cabin seat.  Luckily Air France has already been great on customer service, unlike Air Canada (worst food, large stewardesses who blocked the  aisles and can't help you with the overhead compartment.) (Outside of the plane I don't give a **** about your waist size, but come on, how can you be a stewardess if you can barely pass in the aisle?  What if there's an emergency? Or are you going to be my cushion?  I'm going to hell for this but it simply  makes no sense to me)

I now have to get my dog to familiarize with his new carrier...  he is no longer a sweet apartment pet because he's tasted too much of the freedom the countryside has to offer. It will be a hard task, so wish me luck!

xx

You know you're old when

You realize this classic summer jam is 8 years old.   I wish there were a radio station playing old school jams all day!




Gwen Stefani is FLAWLESS :D

vente de garage coline de bine

I'm going crazy, how the heck will I be able to find someone to buy my piano , SELL MY CAR IN 3 WEEKS, find someone to take over my cell phone plan, ....FIT AN ENTIRE YEAR OF CLOTHES & SHOES in 23 kg???

Should I just throw my cellphone into my piano, place the piano in my spacious car and just make it a package deal??  

65m2 de merveille

Il arrive que je trouve les espaces minimalistes trop froids et intimidants, mais ma dernière trouvaille sur l'architecte Tadao Ando m'a inspiré l'envie de vivre dans une maison de béton au lignes épurées (en bord de mer).

Cette maison de 65m2 se trouve à Kobe, au Japon, près d'un ancien site qui a connu un terrible tremblement de terre 1995.  

Je rêve de pouvoir acheter un abonnement de membre me permettant de plier bagages chaque semaine et habiter dans une maison différente... Oui je sais, ça serait comme être un itinérant hobo qui vit dans différents hôtels toute l'année. 

et une église conçue par Tadao Ando.  Vraiment un type brillant.  Dans ma prochaine vie je souhaiterai être architecte. Peut-être que je devrais commencer à me pratiquer sur Minecraft.

Togetherness

As I'm getting ready to embark on a new journey, I want to share with you today my biggest fear (relationship wise):  When Love Becomes A Draining Routine....   I don't care if you call my fears gay, it's friggin scary okay??

Obviously when you're in a long distance relationship routine is practically non-existent, but what if you jump from a 6000km LDR to living together 24/7 ?!! This is exactly what I wish for, yet, the idea of it causes me anxiety.  So I came up with a list of things that could help us never letting routine chords dull the melody of our romance(feel free to throw up), and instead seek variety in life together.
I suppose there is the good type of comforting routine (preparing breakfast together on weekends, or watching Game of Thrones every night)....

-Live in adjacent houses connected by underground tunnel. Tim Burton & Helena Bonham style.  Or if you're not rich enough to afford two houses, have 2 separate bedrooms and reconquer your sweetheart every night before inviting him/her to your bedroom.

-Meet at the restaurant, go separately instead of together! feels more like a date :)

-Have your own hobby/alone time 2-3 nights a week

-Never let the door open when you go to the bathroom. Put on some Star Wars music when you go #2

-Learn a new language together.

-Build a tree house together, or wood cabin somewhere. DIY love nest.  Non je vais jamais vous laisser tranquille avec mon obsession des cabanes dans les arbres.

See how short my list is, help me add to it!