the game

have you ever had such an experience where after you had crossed all hurdles you run straight into an invisible wall?

it happened like this... we just had dinner. nobody has got any plans for the night. so one bright german girl suggested earnestly that we should all play a game after dinner. all in the name of 'family' bonding she said. everyone readily agreed as nobody wants to be seen as an antisocial housemate. we thought finding a game that everyone knows would be a problem, but it wasn't. we thought that language would be a problem as not everyone can speak french fluently. but eventually it turned out that it wasn't a problem either.

so after dinner, we gather eagerly around the dining table to play a game that everyone knows. it doesn't matter whether you come from japan, singapore, germany,mexico, brazil or russia. cos name of the game is - Monopoly. the streets are different but the idea is the same.

Voila! we have decided upon a game. just when we are about to start on the game, the bright german girl exclaimed,"the board is in Dutch. the chance cards and the community chest cards are in german. the title deeds are in french.the french title deeds dun tally with the dutch board."

and so our night ended abruptly.


"usually the problems that you anticipated aren't really problems, its those that you can't anticipate that will become real problems."

City of Love

Im so in the mood for love these days, everyday is like valentine's day in france. with beautiful romantic sunsets like these who wont fall into the mood?

notice the sunrays?
i like the following photo a lot. love is so blissful. too bad i cant sneak up closer to them to take a better photo.

and what a suprise when i reached home...

damn that is indeed one sneaky chipmunk.

random pics. vichy.

"let me be your eyes." i going give a different definition to that phase. i shall be your eyes, let you see the world through my amateur photography. vichy is a small city so dont expect too much. i do the walking and you enjoy the photos.


above - some assembly grounds for the french. those things you see on the ceiling, they are not lights. they are frosted windows.

above - a house with a beautiful garden.
Eglise Jeanne D'Arc.
France has their own Big Walk too. hahaha "Le Grand Marché" loosely and inaccuately tanslate into "The Big Walk".

Eglise Saint Blaise.

i apologise if more pictures of churches turns up. cos i have this tendency to go hunting for NorteDame, eglises and cathedrales whenever i am in France.

i have known some of them for many years. i have been putting in effort to meet up with them ever so often. i think of them whenever i see something that they might need. between us, we prob have shared hundreds of stories. but when they stand before me i felt like as if i do not really know them. there seems to be a wall between us. nonetheless, i still think of us as friends.

"boundaries not only keeps people out, it keeps in as well."

a historical moment in a historical momument

my landload is a music professeur and my landlady is a wedding planner. they are a really nice couple. so earnestly trying to make my stay here comfortable. sharing the house with this french family are a german, a brazilian, a russian, a japanese, an indian, a mexican and a singaporean. wow. you must be thinking that they must have a really big house. that is an understatement.
here is it.

see how many rounds this staircase turns? hope it gives you and idea how big the house is.
voila. my big, cool and comfortable room. this photo is taken at 8pm but see how bright the sky is. even though its summer, my room is constantly cool. in fact, the stone walls help to keep the room so cool that i have to wear a jacket in my own room. leeching did you spot the thing that i want you to see? look carefully.

let me narrow the seach for you. spot it?

a little bit of history about the mansion that i am staying in. it's a histoical momument in vichy and it is already more than 100 years old. some random shots around the house.

my 'family' in vichy

yesterday, we went for our first 'family' outing - to watch horse racing. whenever we come together, we end up talking in every other language other than french. so purpose defeating huh. we pooled out money and betted on a horse but so unfortunately that horse turns out to be the last in its race. maybe the horse needs you to do a prep talk chelvam.





sayo is japanese, hector is mexican, me , elisa is geman, jacques is french. we are waiting for a boat to cross the river. over here in vichy, taxi is not the prefered mode of transport .

finally familiar faces form nus.
the diverse nationality in Cavilam.
i need a camera with a faster shutter speed. and a better night mode.

a peek into my house in vichy

the door bell buzzed.

and i went out of my room to answer the door. when i opened the door, i froze. standing outside the door was my german roommate. it was painfully cold and the wind was biting. but there she was standing outside the house drenched and in a bikini...

what is she doing out there in the streets and in a bikini at 6pm? what is wrong with her?

at dinner, she explained herself. so its is because she wished to go for a swim and there's a swimming pool 2 streets away from our house. so she decided to run across 2 streets in public in just her bikini to the swimming pool.

damn. blonds have so much more fun.