Back to the cold - and loving it...

I am back home, since Tuesday night. Our flight had a 12hr delay, which makes come back to my Mom's apartment for some hours before going to the airport again. And we did not depart directly from Rio, but took a charter to São Paulo and from there, the BA flight to London, at around 2:30 am. A pain, really. But I managed to sleep this time. At least.

Well, it seems I am still jet-lagged. I was suposed to go to the office today, but could not. I am not well, quite congested and very fatigued. I also had a strong headache again. In the left hand-side of my head and back of the neck. Really sore. Hopefully, I have an appointment on Monday with my new consultants in the St. Vincent's Neuroinflammation Clinic. I am anxious because I am changing consultants since I was diagnosed in 2002. It will be better now, I am sure.

One quick message here for fellow blogger Treebob, btw...

Hi Treebob, the cockroaches did not attack me anymore! I thought that one had a funny shape because it was already dying, since all the apartment block has been sanitised two weeks before! The problem is, they fly. Leave the windows open and they may come in to haunt you. But I did not se a single one after that episode, thanks to the Gods above! I also like your extra faves. Of course you don't use makeup, he he, but just in case one of my girl friends read that, who knows! Hope your wife and kids are doing great, say hello to them for me. I will read your blog later, to keep myself up-to-date with the news. I am still floating on a limbo between Ireland and Brasil.

Yes, Ireland and Brasil... Temperature here at the mo must be between 3 and 5 Celsius. In Brasil... God knows. But most certainly obscenely hot. Irish weather is great. I love it. Although I must admit that I feel better (healthwise) in Brasil. One says hot weather is better for one's health and I must agree. Although the cold makes me feel much more comfortable and "light".

I was looking at some of my old drawings in Rio. My Father used to collect my drawings in albums, that he would classify by age: "Andrea 3-4 yrs old", and so on. Some of them are quite funny. I had a bit of an obsession with Rabbits, Mice and Astronauts, it seems. Also Beauty Pageants (Miss Universe and so on). And my astronauts and beauty queens were most frequently rabbits and mice as well! Weird!

I found the drawing below, that I made when I was 8-9 years old. It shows a bit of my obsession with manga. I based it in something else, a magazine, or God knows what. I still remember my Japanese cases and notebooks, with cute characters and the usual manga-girls: at that time, huge and long curly hair, and those bigger-than-life eyes! But this one seems like an odd character, something between manga and The Simpsons, no?Anyway, I have decided to call him "Captain Manga". In those times I did not worry much about the media used. This was done with hydrographic pens over a pencil sketch, and I used some old diary pages - you can still see the lines on the sheet. Later on, that would be replaced by Fabriano paper and watercolours and Caran d'Ache pencils, among others. Much nicer, must say!

Yes, the Oscars! I need to add a quick note on it! I am SO happy with Ang Lee's winning! So well deserved! I knew it would be him. I did not see the new film, but I am a big fan of his work and was sure he would get it! As for the Animation oscar, I was cheering for "Howl's Moving Castle", of course, but was sure "Curse of the Wererabbit" would win this time. Anyway, I also love "Curse", and am quite happy about it. It is a cute, well-done animation, with also lots of work involved and the result was excellent. The humour is superb too, very subtle and well-spotted. If you did not see it yet, please go. It's lovely!

Well, that's my report for today. Tomorrow I am back to work, hopefully. Tonight, we will have dinner with Mark's brother, Kevin, who's back from the Emirates. They are both out now, running in the cold! Now, that's some courage!

Later then!
XXX,

a.

In Rio!

I am in Rio now! The trip was fine, we arrived last Monday and everything was OK. During this time (6 days now), I was able to treat a root canal in one of my teeth. It was great. I actually enjoy going to the dentist. Well, sort of...

Anyways, it was so good that I even managed to sleep during the treatment. And it only took 4 or 5 hours (maybe less) in total.

We have been to nice restaurants as well. The one I liked the most so far was the Quadrucci, here in Leblon. It's a fancy Italian restaurant. The highlights were the Oz cocktail (Absolut vodka + strawberries + passion fruit + grapes) and also Mark's brownie with curry and chocolate sauce! That's an unexpected combination, but so adorable! Who could tell curry would go so well with chocolate?! It's amazing, very aromatic and exceptionally tasty. The Oz cocktail was my choice. I had only one drink and a bit of a hangover the next day. But it was worth it. Thing is I am not a drinker. So, only one meagre 1/2 pint will already make me a bit dizzy. But it was nice.

Now, I am expecting that the Quadrucci people will, one day, release some curry truffles! That would be great, think about it... I know it sounds weird, but chocolate + curry are a heavenly mix.

What else? I do love Rio! However... There are two things I really hate about it:

1 - The heat - TOO HOT!!!! Make it 40 degrees (Celsius, of course). I cannot stand it. That's why I stay home most of the time or, when required, leave after the Sun sets. Like a vampire. After I came to live in Ireland, I got used to the cold. Even nowadays, it's less and less cold over there, unfortunately. But my ideal temperature is now 5 to 10-11 degrees. I also feel the heat more after starting my MS treatment, ie, the Beta-Interferon injections. So, it's very hard on me. But the important thing is to be at home with my Mom and Maria, really!

2 - Cockroaches - I am scared to death of them. And in Summer they go crazy here. They fly, they are big and brown and scary. Well, I've almost been attacked by one last week, here at home. Miriam, Adriano, my Mom and Maria saw it. Mark just saw when I threw myself on the floor (he was in the kitchen at the time), trying to make an escape from the abominable insect. I could swear it was staring at me, ready to make a move, and my first thought was to throw myself on the floor to somehow avoid the confrontation. It worked, they killed the monster, but also had a fright when I started screaming and was suddenly lying and crawling on the floor. Well, I hit my elbows, but I am fine now! The little monster was quite round. Adriano says it was a bit like a "hunchback" cock-roach, not your normal average mid-sized, oval-shaped beast. Ugly, ugly, scary, scary.

And the list of abominable Rio things ends here. I love all the rest! It's great being here...

We've been to Miriam and Adriano's house last night and Mark took some pictures of the local band, which was on the streets playing carnival music and dancing. Lots of kids there too, with funny costumes. Noisy, but nonetheless quite interesting and very peaceful. In spite of all problems, Rio still is a wonderful place. The restaurants, landscape, great shops, everything makes it a great city to be part of.

Well, I am going now! Mark is leaving to the shops with Maria, and my Mom and I are staying at home now. I will rest a bit and then wake up again and read some Murakami. This time, I am reading the "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World". As usual, amazing. Surreal. Beautiful. And funny. It seems this book has inspired the plot of "Haibane Renmei", an amazing anime series.

See you later!
XXX,

a.

Travelling to Rio Tomorrow

We are going to Rio tomorrow, to spend my Birthday! It will be great! I am really missing it. It's one year already, since we've been there last. I am looking forward to drink lots of coconut water - my favourite drink, which I cannot have here since there are no fresh coconuts around!

We packed today. Lots of things to bring! And tons of Hello Kitty mascots and netsuke! I have an obscene amount of them and sometimes I buy it (or win it) in duplicate. So, I am bringing these to give away as pressies. My Mother and Maria love them, although my Mom prefers the mascots because they have no little bells, so she doesn't make a noise while carrying it!

Mark says he will build myself a database so I can store pictures and descriptions of my Kitties. It's funny how I am so "old" but really enjoy these "childish" things. Maybe they make me feel younger? I don't know, but sometimes I wonder if I should really love them that much, or if I don't look silly or something! Well, everybody has a childish side, no? I cannot deny it. And I don't want to lose it either, I admit. I think it's healthy, I don't know...

Then, we'll be departing tomorrow and back on the 8th of March! We will spend Carnival there too, although for us it doesn't matter. I expect to watch some movies, mostly Spielberg's "Munich". I also hope to watch some "Desperate Housewives" episodes while there. And we are bringing Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" so we can watch it with Miriam and Adriano (and my Mom, of course).

These are the news. And, talking about "childish" things, a little memento of childhood here...

This is "meself" and "me Mom", when I was 4 or 5 years-old - something like that. I look like a brat there, but believe me, I was not.

Well, I will try and blog while in Rio - if we manage to get that damn broadband installed. Hopefully...

XXX,
a.

Susumu Hirasawa CD's

He is certainly one of my favourites composers/musicians nowadays. Susumu Hirasawa. Today, I have received 3 of his CD's that I've ordered from CDJapan:

- Kenja No Propeller (aka "Philosopher's Propeller");
- Blue Limbo;
- Millenium Actress original soundtrack.

He was born in 1954 in Tokyo, and is a master in electronic music, widely known in the West by his anime and game soundtracks mostly. He is the founder of the techno-band P-Model, with whom he's been working through the 80's until he finally decided to fly solo in 1989, but still keeping his work with the band albeit less frequently.

His first CD in my collection was the soundtrack for Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent, which is superb, with moments alternating between peaceful melancholy and absolute frenzy. Not to be missed. His work seems like a mix of brilliantly orchestrated world music and techno, his songs infused with a supranatural, ethereal quality, which brings them to an almost-"anthem" category. As an example of this, we could mention Paranoia Agent's track "Dream Island Obsessional Park", a joy to listen to.

He can also be sadly romantic and beautifully melodic, solemn, and literally bring tears to one's eyes, as in Millenium Actress's "Chiyoko's Theme". It's just too beautiful. The film also is a gem, unmissable. Hirasawa-san is an activist as well, and also a researcher (and user) of solar energy in his work.

It's really worth visiting his webpage. There you can find free MP3's (never saw such a generous artist, truth to be told!), samples of his released works and also his (also free) Songs Against Carnage - a humanitarian/political statement above all, but also a vivid example of his fantastic work.

Finally - and I only found that today - we can also buy directly from his webpage (CD's and DVD's). It seems he was a pioneer of selling MP3's via web in Japan. At any rate, I am very happy with my purchases! Will listen to some of it now!

Good night!

a.

The 4 Faves (or the "Bag Tag" Poll!)

Inspired by the post by fellow blogger Treebob, I have decided to make the list of my 4 Favourites as well. I put the original Treebob's categories in pink headers, but also added some extras (these are in blue!). Could not resist!

This was fun and I am crazy for compiling lists! So, here we go then...

4 Things for Andrea

4 jobs I've had in my life
- Worked as a freelancer designer after I graduated;
- Pan American World Airways for 2 years;
- American Express for 9.5 years;
- SITA INC (formerly Eland Technologies) for 6 years (current).

4 movies I can watch over and over
- "Central do Brasil";
- "Schindler's List";
- "Princess Mononoke";
- "Spirited Away".

4 places I've lived
- Rio de Janeiro and...
- Dublin (only these!)

4 shows I love (or loved) to watch
- "Desperate Housewives";
- "Shin-chan";
- "Frasier";
- "Dead Like Me".

4 places I've been on vacations
- Paris;
- Madrid;
- Lisbon;
- London.

4 of my favourite dishes
- Mark's home-cooked chicken breast;
- La Strada's medium-well fillet steak;
- Chicken tikka masala;
- Any coffee-flavoured desserts!

4 websites I visit daily
- Ebay;
- Amazon UK;
- Play;
- Web Japan.

4 places I would tather be right now
- Shopping with Mark in Grafton Street;
- My Mom's house in Rio;
- Touring in Tokyo;
- Browsing Forbidden Planet.

4 bloggers I'm tagging
- Mark;
- Treebob;
- Koneko;
- Cute Overload.

4 composers/groups I am listening to these days
- Joe Hisaishi;
- Susumu Hirasawa;
- DAI (Do As Infinity);
- Keane.

4 authors I revere
- Haruki Murakami;
- Amos Oz;
- J.R.R. Tolkien;
- Isaac B. Singer.
4 favourite manga
- "Ranma 1/2";
- "Inu-Yasha";
- "Love Hina";
- "Chobits".

4 lovely fragrances I wear these days
- Guerlain's Vétiver;
- Frédéric Malle's Editions de Parfums Musc Ravageur layered with L'Occitane Ambre;
- Shiseido's Feminité du Bois;
- Kenzo's Flower Oriental.

4 favourite makeup/skincare brands
- Shiseido;
- Shu Uemura;
- Kosé;
- Guerlain.

And you? What would your 4 faves be?
XXX,

a.

Summer & Autumn Cuteness...

This is adorable! I have received these sets yesterday, from The Japanese Shop, UK. Autumn and Summer scenes, with only manekineko! Yes! Lucky cats playing instruments (flute, taiko), going to a Summer fair, smoking (woooohhh, how shocking!!!), playing with the koi (carps) etc, etc... The sceneries are typical of these seasons: all the trees and shrubs that blossom at those times of the year (maple, chestnuts and a variety of flowers), and the activities people engage in.

Here is the cute Summer scene:

Guess who my favourite neko is? The one at the right hand side, eating some candy floss. Mark got it right. He guessed he was my favourite, because he is eating candy floss and has a sweet expression, big wet eyes, looking very huggable and vulnerable.

At any rate, these are a wonderful addition to my manekineko collection, I am super-happy with them. The Japanese Shop always has wonderful things and the service is excellent. One of my faves for all things Japanese (ou of Japan, that is!).

And here's the lovely Autumn display:

Now I just need to find space in my cabinet to display them, along with the other neko and my kimono Kitties. That's going to be hard, but I'm sure I can manage... Ah well, I hope so... But they do deserve a place of honour, no?

Nintendogs!

Mark gave me the Nintendogs Dachsund and Friends! That game includes several breeds I like: Siberian Husky of course, Beagle, Pug, Golden Retriever and so on. The only one I don't really fancy is the Shih Tzu. I think they are quite annoying and noisy but, to be frank, I am not a big fan of lap dogs. I prefer medium to large sized dogs. And I love a mutt!

I "bought" a Husky then. There were three Huskies in the Pet Shop, 2 females and one male. This time I opted for the male. He was described as a shy, tender dog, while the females were more stubborn and independent (a bit like my Cookie used to be!). His name is Kiko. When I call him, he barks and comes running. In real life Huskies don't actually bark. They howl mostly. They can bark alright, but it's not frequent and doesn't seem very natural to them.

I used to "communicate" a lot with Cookie this way! Sounds silly, but yes, it's true. She did not like having baths. I used to carry her (literally) to my bath-shower box, stuff some cotton balls in her ears and give her a good scrub under the shower. Then, a blow-dry! After it was all over I used to tell her, in a rewarding tone: "Acabou o banho, Cookie!" ("The bath is over, Cookie!"). Then, she would rest on one of the armchairs in the living room, sigh, and start howling: "wooooooooo...". Every time I said the magic words "Acabou o banho..." she would start howling. Then, I would howl as well and she would look very pleased! And relieved, of course. She liked a lot when I behaved like a dog myself. As I tell Mark, for her the Master was my Mom. I was just a peer, a sister, pretty much like another dog for her.

But my virtual Kiko doesn't howl. He barks. And he is very, very realistic for a virtual pet! I started playing the game yesterday, and only taught him one trick: to sit. It is not that easy to train them though (real or virtual, I should add). I think it's an amazing game, and very addictive. I cannot say it replaces a real, warm puppy (of course not), but it makes you closer to have a real dog again somehow. You need to pet it, play with it, give it water and food. It's really cool and cute. I am looking forward to teach him more tricks and buy him little treats. It's superb, highly recommended indeed.

Cookie

Cookie was my little Siberian Husky, back in 1991. She stayed with us for 10 years. I miss her a lot and still today, dream about her - all the time. She is somehow always in my dreams. I am not sure I want another dog these days, because you just get atoo attached to them and, when they are gone, it looks like the world is no longer the same.

Anyway, here she is, biting a finger, when she was 2 months old. She was a funny dog, who especially loved cookies (thus the name) and all sweet things (including fruits, like bananas and oranges). She once dragged a Christmas ham all the way from the top of the table (climbed a chair for that) to the sofa! Yeah, when we woke up the remains of the once Christmas ham were just lying on the sofa... I keep thinking about her, laying on the sofa in the middle of the night and munching on a ham that was bigger and heavier than herself! Sneaky little thing! And call that "will power"...

She never ceased to amaze me. It seems to me that these huskies are quite an independent breed. She was not the type of letting herself sit on your lap and stay quiet. No. She was sweet, but never liked to have her movements restrained by hugs and excessive "dog-love".

But she liked to lay down on my bed and rest her head on my pillow. Of course, when my Mother was not at home. The moment Mum arrived and turned the keys on the door, she would jump and lay on the floor - as if nothing had happened. I miss these little "dog things" a lot, to be frank! I now think she saw me as a "sister" and not her master. If anyone was the Master in the house for her, that was my Mum. Not me! She treated me like an equal almost.

The above picture I took after she attacked the banana cake that was on the kitchen table, cooling after baking. We could never imagine she would be able to get it, of course. She was so tiny. But she used the chair (for the 1st time; this was before the ham episode) and reached the cake. She ate it all. Her belly was huge and she could hardly move, with those short and fluffy legs. She's got a bit of a "guilty" air in the picture of course. She could not run away (as she usually did) when we tried to educate her about stealing food! There she stood, with a cute, guilty expression and those eyes (that actually had lashes, thick black lashes, believe it or not!). I could not resist and decided to immortalise that moment!

That's it for today. Just missing her... Tomorrow I will be going to the doctor to, among other things, show him my tummy that did not heal from the burning. Then I will have a coffee at Kelly's and head to the office. My plans for tonight are to have some vegetarian lasagna and watch the 2nd chapter of "Desperate Housewives" (2nd Season). I just love that sitcom. Those actors are amazing and the situations quite quirky, bordering the surreal... Cannot wait!

XXX,

a.

My Studio Ghibli New Toys!

These are the super-kawaii Ghibli dolls that Mark gave to me for Christmas. From left to right: Totoro, BuroBuro (both from "My Neighbour Totoro") and the adorable Jiji (from "Kiki's Delivery Service"). I did no remove the tags, because even the tags are cute! He got them in Tokyo last month and was hiding it so he could give it to me at Christmas. I am always so "away with the fairies" that never noticed anything, of course!

(Jiji must be one of my favourite characters. He is sensible, wise, cute. I love those huge eyes and huge, rabbit ears! Aaawwww...)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I still have a cold and still cough a lot, so yesterday we did not do much. Well, we did nothing at all to be more precise, just stayed at home, had a lovely M&S steak, some chocolate roll and mulled wine, and watched a bit of TV. I also spent some time updating my agenda for 2006, with lots of Sanrio stickers and all possible birthdays and engagements for next year. So far, so good.

Tonight, we were watching (well, Mark more or less - he was half-watching and half-playing a game on his Nintendo DS) "The Exorcist" on TV, the director's cut. It is quite a good film, very good acting, especially Ellen Burstyn. And I love the Mike Oldfield tracks. I must add it is not quite "appropriate" for this time of the year maybe (if I may say that?), but still a horror classic nonetheless, right?

On the bright side, we also watched part of my "Howl's Moving castle" DVD. Not the film itself though, because we just watched in the theatre, but the extra DVD with some Studio Ghibli short animations, a real gem for any Miyazaki fan. This DVD is a 4 disc edition that I got in CDJapan. I did not want to wait for DVD to be released in our region, so I bought it as soon as it was released in Japan. What I loved as well was the interview with Diana Wynne Jones, the lady who wrote the book on which Miyazaki based the script. Very interesting. I ordered the book last week, for I did not have it. Mrs Wynne Jones was Prof. Tolkien's pupil in Oxford, by the way. I did not know that before, so, I will probably love to read her books too! I got the "Art of Howl's Moving Castle" book as well some time ago, and it's brilliant. Beautiful hardcover editions with plenty of wonderful artwork, interviews with the staff, conceptual art and other tidbits. A joy to read and swoon about!

Well, these are the news so far. Not much I'm afraid! And no New Year resolutions for me either. Believe it or not, I did not think about it. Actually, I never do. The closest I get to something like that is organising my agenda, and that's done already, ha ha!

Well, enough for tonight. I'm too tired and need to rest now. Good night,

a.The above is the art poster for Studio Ghibli's next animation film, "Tales from Earthsea" (Gedo Senki) to be released in July in Japan! More information to be found in the Studio Ghibli website (in Japanese, though). The film is based on the Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea fantasy series - which I did not read yet! And must, of course.
(Would that count as a new Year resolution, by the bye?...)