My name is Bond

Mike and I went to watch Casino Royale today. It was great. The opening credits were amazing. Whoever did the artwork did a spectacular job. It was wow. This is definitely one of the best Bond films I've seen in a long time. It puts a new perspective especially since Daniel Craig doesn't really look the part. He does a really good job of it though. All that hype about him not being the typical James Bond look is so unfounded. Sure there are times in the movie where I actually thought *ugh...he's trying too hard to look good* but that's just me. He's actually made this role more three dimensional, not just about looks and gadgets. Bond actually has a bit of personality in this movie, which is good and bad at the same time. There are some lovey dovey scenes that made me *whathefu$*%?!* It's James Bond, I'm not used to emotional.

The movie is devoid of gadgets and it stuck to pure physical grit so all the action packed scenes were actually done by Bond himself. His scenes were just with guns and fists (and a lot of grunting) The chase scene was the best part. No...I can't name the best part. All the action scenes in this movie were really amazing. This movie is cool. I think I squeezed my husband's hand too hard a few times. The storyline is great too, a bit predictable in the end but it didn't take away the enjoyment for me.

The only thing a bit disconcerting about the movie was the mega branding. Sony...sony....sony. He shouldv'e just had a tatoo of sony on his ass (he had nice ass...) Range rover probably didn't pay as much as sony, only half of their logo on the screen at a time. Jaguar probably paid less, it was in a blurred shot...still recognizable though. Ford mondeo...that was a bit of an *eh?* moment. James Bond drives a FORD MONDEO??? Riiiiggghhhhht. Omega probably paid the most. It was actually in one of his lines. *Omeeega*. Pffft. Another weird thing...Richard Branson was in the movie. He was one of the extras going through airport security. Virgin branding to the max!

All in all it was a great movie. A must see definitely.

It's all blank

I've been staring at this for hours trying to jumpstart my fingers to put into words how I'm feeling. It's blank although my mind's swirling with a lot of things that I can't really seem to resolve right now. Things are all up in the air right now. I don't know where I'm going to end up. It's scary to be me at this moment.

Hic...hic...hic...

I'm at home...on a Friday...it's noon. Why you ask? I got sacked (f£*$!)...no I was given the option to go. I was let go. Is that a better term? Well it makes me feel better than sacked. This has been hell to go through. I've never been sacked (who has???) And this has really zapped my confidence level (level...zero). Ok it might be the beer talking here. No not really.

I'm turning 30 this month and I'm jobless. Wow...that scares me. I didn't think I'd be jobless at 30. True, I did relocate to the UK less than 3 years ago. I went back to school to pursue a hobby and become a chef. I can make a mean 3 course meal (heh...you'd die for it I promise). Still, no income really puts things into perspective.

I've been scared a lot lately. My future is up in the air. I don't know how life is going to turn out but I also know it's in my hands. I just didn't think I'd still be dependent on my mom (mommy!) in my 30's (ok not officially yet...and the guy at the supermarket didn't want to sell me beer cause he thought I was 19...ahhhh....vanity) Makes me think it would have been better for me to have continued med school. At least I'd have a good reason to cling on financially to my mom if I were a doctor. Heheh.

On the bright side of things...I keep on thinking...if I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have met my wonderfully kooky husband. I wouldn't have gotten married, and we wouldn't be sharing a life together right now. So that erases the bad stuff that's been happening lately (he lost his wedding ring...again...but that's another story)

Hmm...this has been highly therapeutic. Log on to see how it goes for me...oh yea...pray for me will yah? I need all the strength I can get.

Back from the land of...

Mike and I are back from trip to Tunisia (oh my...I've been married for one whole year!) I had fun but when somebody asked me if I would go back there...uhm... hmm...I'll think about it. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful...but I can't help feel that it was a bit of a letdown. Armed with the guidebook that Ray lent us I knew which places we were going to see.

Let me digress...when we got to the airport I had to wee really bad so I went to the toilet (of course where else). Now there was a cleaning lady standing by the door shaking her hand full of one pound coins (ominous no?) Then when I was about to wash my hands she started pointing to my bead bracelets. *She (pointing to another cleaning lady who came out of nowhere) likes your bracelet...give give* Then started tugging at them. OK! Welcome to our country! So I gave her a couple since I made them anyway...what's a couple of bracelets. BIG mistake...*I want one too give give* Well, I didn't give so she blocked my way until I gave her a coin. 20p to be exact and she got upset and started pointing at the one pound coins. I walked out. Hmmm...I hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come.

We didn't book a cab to the hotel so...*excuse me...* NO ENGLISH! *pardon moi* Oh my my husband speaks french! So fast forward a few minutes later I found ourselves following this stranger leading us to a cab and negotiating a price. Not the way I wanted but it got us to the hotel. *What if they just drop us off somewhere and leave us for dead?* Yes...my paranoia was really starting to kick in. Anyway we got to the hotel in one piece.

The three days we had to roam around was well spent. I saw everything that I wanted to see in the book. Everytime we saw a place in the book I'd whip it out and point *see see? it's in the book!* Annoying I know. We went to the Bardo museum (a must for roman history buffs). The oldest medina in Tunis. The Roman bath and amphitheater. We were surprised at how rich the culture and history was in Tunisia. You could spend days in one place and find something to explore everyday.

Tunis medina


Carthage ruins


Roman amphitheater


Sidi Bou Said - The town of blue


Pottery...loads of them!


Roman baths


On our last full day, we went to a mosque (my first time obviously). It was interesting, only dampened by the annoying souvenier guy who kept on stuffing my hands with *a gift for the nice lady* and proceeding to charge Mike for whatever gift it was he gave me. So now we're stuck with 2 wooden flutes. Darn. Well at least my husband is enjoying the flute...he feels like peter pan I think.

My husband trying so hard to understand french. And the garb? We thought it was mandatory for tourists but as we walked in whatdya know everyone else wasn't wearing one.


The mosque with it's amazingly beautiful interior.


On our last night we decided to take a stroll in the nice part of Yasmine Hammamet. We ended up having a few drinks in a hotel. I was too drunk to pack my bags when we got back the hotel. *Naaah I'll do it tomorrow.* Next morning...we were woken up by the phone ringing *The taxi is waiting* AAAAAAAA we're late! We were out in 30 minutes. Our cab driver did his best to get us to the airport in time, and we did.

AND... your obligatory tourist pose lambasting the ancient ruins

I'm back!

I just came home from a trip to Tunisia for our 1 year (!) wedding anniversary. Pictures and stories to follow (oh I have a lot of them believe me)