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September 30, 2004
london with robert part 3
okay, quite late story, but here goes.
it was so nice to be in london again with robert. we spent four days in london and we managed to do quite a lot, yet stay relaxed and happy and unrushed.
we went last year for a weekend, where we stayed at the gran melia hotel in regent's park, and we spent a lot of time at the onedotzero festival, so we didn't really get to see a lot of london then. just the ICA, the tate modern and roast duck with rice at wong kei's where i used to eat during my university times.
on my london
robert really wanted to see my london, where i spent my time, where i liked to eat, what i liked to do. went to market thai on portobello road, a family-run thai restaurant, with relatively cheap eats and the most amazing tom ka soup and delicious pad thai.
took robert for mojitos at freud's, dinner at belgo's, coffee at starbucks (which robert likes, but i prefer the frescatos at costa actually), cakes and tea at cafe libre, which wasn't there when i lived in london, but i discovered it on a trip last year and i always return ever since.
i made robert eat a cornish pasty. before you accuse me of giving my boyfriend BSE or madcow disease, i'll say that robert had the cheese and bacon pasty whereas i had the genuine traditional cornish pasty, beef steak and onions and all.
on missing london
i miss it, i do, i do, and i asked robert whether he'd consider moving with me to london one of these days. if we both got a job in london. and he says he'll think about it. :-)
Posted by Yasmina at 07:07 PM
london with robert part 2
on the londondesignfestival
friday we went to the design museum in shad thames. we had a nice walk through the new morelondon complex and southbank. the exhibitions we saw were the saul bass exhibit, the e-type jaguar display, the permanent collection of decade home furniture, constance spry exhibit and the design mart, showcasing new design talent.
the saul bass exhibit was the best, i really enjoyed it. if you're in the london area, i highly recommend that you go and see this exhibition.
sunday we covered the 100% Design show at earl's court. it was absolutely huge, yet fortunately not that packed. we saw a lot, although i didn't think there was anything specially cutting-edge or revolutionary. mulya and dian were at the show, too, working for tom dixon, so we caught up with them, had a nice chat.
robert was really inspired by the things he saw and the people he talked to. i'm happy for him. maybe now we can really get something going, doing some interior/furniture/interaction project in indo next year.
Posted by Yasmina at 06:57 PM
london with robert part 1
on richard's wedding on saturday sept 25th
omg, he's really really married. also at the wedding were alan, natasha, and her brother sacha, and adam, who was best man. i haven't seen these guys in years, either since we graduated from highschool or at university when we all went to school in different places in the country.
it was so good to catch up with them! everyone's doing great, been travelling or working abroad, and alan's even bought his own house and a car! omg, how grown up!
about 400 people turned up at the wedding. omg. i guess asian weddings can never be small. i did not know about the filipino tradition of pinning the money on the bride and groom though; a funny twist of pin the tail on the donkey, i guess. alan and i went and pinned on richard quick, before most people did, otherwise we'd be left with only richard's awkward spots.
Posted by Yasmina at 06:52 PM
September 24, 2004
pre-trip panic (excitement)
omg. my flight is in 5 hours.
omg. i can check in online.
omg. but i still need to drop off any checked in luggage 40 mins before departure.
omg. i need to pack my stuff.
omg. i need to do my dishes before i leave.
yay! robert and i are going to london for a nice long weekend. plus, it's the <a href="http://www.londondesignfestival.com" target=_blank">londondesignfestival</a> weekend.
see you next week!
Posted by Yasmina at 01:28 AM
September 22, 2004
one-legged man on bike
i see him most mornings on my walk to work, going in my same direction into town, on the other side of the street, on the bike path. he cycles rhythmically, waiting for the right-side pedal to come up and he'd bring his right foot down forcefully on it, and it makes another round, and he stamps it down again.
his crutches are attached to his bike, underneath his saddle, lying lengthways parallel to the bike's body. i wonder if he ever gets in a mood to put his crutches perpendicular to his bike, just to drive everyone else off the bike path.
monday i was walking to work and he cycled past me on the opposite side of the street. ahead, the traffic light turned red for cyclists. i could see him slowing down. just as he came to rest, he tittered, unbalanced.
if he fell to the left side, he'd be screwed, as he only has a four or six inch stump on that side. unless he put out his arm to brace his fall.
my heart pumped wildly for the split second that he lost his balance. my mind thought fleetingly about plasticman, the comic character with extendable limbs, wishing that somehow i could reach my hand out from this distance to provide somewhat softer landing than the pavement.
at the last moment, he regained his balance, tilting to his right side and leaning on his right leg as he waited for the traffic light to turn green again.
phewwww!
Posted by Yasmina at 08:43 AM
September 19, 2004
gift ideas, anyone?
so next weekend, robert and i are flying over to london to attend richard's wedding. we don't have a wedding present yet. richard and len don't have a wedding list or anything because as the invitations stated, "As we are planning to buy our first home together, monetary contributions would be greatly appreciated (although <b>not</b> compulsory)."
i much prefer giving gifts rather than cash certificates or cheques. i like putting together gift packages, so it's a combination of something i made myself like a photograph, and something purchased, like the frame. anyway, i want to get richard and len a really special personal gift, since richard and i have been good friends since A-Levels. however, i have never met len (richard didn't bring her when he visited me last year) and i have no idea what she is like, other than friendly on the telephone.
so far the ideas we had was:
1. a handsome, leather-bound photo book, with their initials engraved on the cover (robert says i could put my dodgy photos of richard in the album)
2. initialised jewelry box (bit too girly?)
3. dutch cookbook, dutch photography book, and a pair of clogs with their initials on them (robert's idea of getting something dutch, i think it's neat)
4. a painting we made together (omg, we better make something quick)
5. a set of beautiful painted chinese ceramic serving plates and bowls
6. a pair of beautifully-glazed noodle bowls, chopstick rest and chopsticks with silver connecting chains
omg, i think i'm going to call alan and adam in UK to ask what they're doing for presents.
Posted by Yasmina at 11:35 AM
September 18, 2004
wind-up toy part 4
Posted by Yasmina at 10:15 PM
September 17, 2004
wind-up toy part 3
Posted by Yasmina at 10:14 PM
September 16, 2004
wind-up toy part 2
Posted by Yasmina at 01:13 PM
September 15, 2004
faint
often, in the evenings when i am in the living room or the balcony working on my powerbook and listening to music and enjoying a glass of wine, a faint sound will distract me from whatever i am doing, and i have to close my eyes and try to recognise the notes and it's robert somewhere in the apartment playing a jazz tune on his trumpet, and when he plays a song particularly well, i fell like i fall on love all over again.
Posted by Yasmina at 11:54 PM
blah
nothing much happening.
although robert and i did go to rotterdam and we had dinner at lulu, which was very delicious. the waiter turned out to be indonesian; he asked me shyly when i was indonesian and whether i still spoke bahasa indonesia. haha.
*iya lah bisa bahasa indonesia, masa sih ngga bisa*
on the walk from train station to lulu, we saw a really cool second-hand shop with all these old wind-up toys that i totally fell in love with. unfortunately, it was shut, so we could only look through the window at all the treasures inside. :(
i have a couple of wind-up toys (a robot and a dog) which are collector's items, and i totally love them. i think this shop is definitely worth a look next time i'm in rotterdam.
Posted by Yasmina at 10:38 PM
wind-up toy part 1
Posted by Yasmina at 10:11 PM
September 13, 2004
sunday windsurf
today, the netherlands was amazingly beautiful, so robert and i packed the car up and went to aalsmere so he could windsurf in the lakes there. i'm hardly the sporty type, so i packed a paperback by isabel allende, a copy of wallpaper magazine and colors magazine, as well as my bikini and beach towel so i could lounge around the beach while he surfed.
turned out i was a bit too optimistic as it was windy as hell on the lakeside.
after watching robert sail off, i walked down the road to a nearby cafe and enjoyed cups of warm tea and snacks as i read my book.
walked up the road an hour or so later, back into the wind and cold. back just in time to see robert take a break.
this is robert in his orange towel to keep himself warm. we sat together for a bit, had a bit of a cuddle before he went into the water again, and i sat in the sun on the beach, desperately trying to keep my hair look like it was naturally attached to my head.
here is robert making his final entry into the bay.
on our way home, we got stranded on the dutch highway because it seems that the water pump in the car engine was leaking so all the cooling liquid was gone and we were scared the engine might blow up if we continued driving.
the car got loaded on the tow truck and we got to ride in the tow truck. wheeee! anyway that was the story of our day. tomorrow maybe we go to koln or antwerp, so more adventures for us and more stories and pictures for you.
Posted by Yasmina at 12:08 AM
| Comments (1)
... you scream we all scream for ice cream
Posted by Yasmina at 08:39 AM
Posted by Yasmina at 11:18 PM
oh, <a href="http://www.liputan6.com/fullnews/85779.html">kasian</a>. iya, hati kita disini juga nangis.
Posted by Yasmina at 06:11 PM
it's like an optical illusion, isn't it? like, you think you're heading to new frontiers, and that you're getting closer and closer to it, but what does it do? it just recedes, further and further away from you, it's like magnets repelling each other.
Posted by Yasmina at 11:16 PM
yay! hooray! my eyebrows grew back after my "accident" with the tweezers. hooray! market day today so i got some fresh mango, avocado, melon which i will eat for breakfast every day this week. hooray! threadless accepted my images for their gallery! more street teams credits = more tshirts for me! hooray! another day to love you.
Posted by Yasmina at 10:51 PM
| Comments (2)
Posted by Yasmina at 05:07 PM
thank you robert for the lovely roses!
Posted by Yasmina at 06:20 PM
my dad is a man with several emails, 2 home phone numbers, 2 mobile numbers, a man who has live-in servants to answer his phone at home, and a driver who also has a mobile phone with him, and yet, sometimes, i cannot <b>reach</b> him. he just, completely disappears.
Posted by Yasmina at 06:17 PM
robert and i have a blanket ritual. i can't sleep without a blanket, and often robert tugs at the blanket unconsciously during the night and i just gravitate closer and closer towards his side of the bed to get under the blanket. in the morning, we wake up snuggled up under the blanket together and it's the best thing ever.
Posted by Yasmina at 11:05 PM
Posted by Yasmina at 10:52 PM
well, today the apartment feels less like a motel and more like a home. alex left this morning after staying a few days, and my sister left on friday to lisbon. it's a weird kind of silence around here and i have to get used to not having so many bodies and so many pairs of shoes lining up in the entrance hallway. alex came over wednesday night after spending 2 days in amsterdam wandering around on his own. he couldn't handle another night in a youth hostel with 15 other people sleeping in rows and rows of bunk beds. the weather has been gorgeous these past few days and i think it'll last until tuesday or so. yesterday i had a pretty bad day. i really wanted to take alex to rotterdam, where we can take a water taxi across the river to the kop van zuid, sit in the sun at hotel new york or cafe rotterdam and enjoy cold Hoegaarden white beers and have some bitterballen or some dutch snacks. didn't happen. we were stuck in traffic because they'd shut one of the highways. so we ended up at the dunes near den bosch, where i wanted to sit in the sand, in the sun, but alex didn't want to because he found it hard to walk through the sand. we drove around the countryside for a bit, taking the scenic route and then we went home. robert cheered me up by making dinner. he made his handrolled pizzas, one with tuna and sweetcorn, one with mushrooms, peppers and pepperoni. pizza is alex's favorite food. the three of us sat in front of TV playing tekken 4 on PS2, eating pizza, drinking beer (not me, i had iced tea) and watching futurama episodes. so it was not such a bad day after all. :)
Posted by Yasmina at 11:42 AM
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Posted by Yasmina at 12:10 AM
Posted by Yasmina at 09:27 AM
Posted by Yasmina at 05:35 PM
September 10, 2004
i scream ...
September 09, 2004
water bottle
bombing in jakarta (again)
September 07, 2004
frontier
:)
oranges at the market
September 06, 2004
roses are red
reach
September 05, 2004
blanket
fucking' hell!
home alone
September 03, 2004
phallic mushroom
September 02, 2004
potato smilies
September 01, 2004
betamaxxx
