Somewhere out there ...Perfect life

This time the job interview in Lyon.

It's a great that i got a few job interviews in a month.

I paid the train tickets via polemploi for 10€ instead of 50€ return. The result was ... yes i've been offerred a good post which seems interesting but it involves a major relocation to a village in the middle of snowy mountains!

For the train ticket supply, looks like there's an annual limit you can use this benefit. It could be the number of time or amount you use but i don't know.  I say this as the consultant checked my account when i asked for second time and said something like 'that's ok you are still eligible'.

If you are mobile within the country, i'd suggest to make most out of this service.

Build a good relationship with the consultant. It's best if you meet the same person at the monthly meeting and show that you are seriously looking. Then they'd give you lots more information. They chose who should benefit as obviously there are many who take advantage of this.

Now, we knew it'd involve a major relocation when i applied in the first place but the question is where to? I need to consider the convenience of my hubby who makes monthly trip to paris and/or nice.

Choice a) a Fairly big city with high speed internet connection but me 1 hour +  trip (2hrs plus return) by car for work.

Choice b) a remote village with extra car to buy as each of us need a car and slow internet connection which may affect my hubby's work. Resulting more expence and the effort  for my hubby's trip. In return i have less time and cost to my commute..

Wonder if there's something in between?

Or something we both feel happy. i'm a bit confused as to what's best for our lives as a couple. Interesting job or good and happy life - can't we get both?

Joyeux Noël!

We're with my mum-in law for x'mas. We'll be going further north for a few days at gran.

We've had a great year as we were healthy and met many lovely people who inspire us alot.

Wish everyone a merry x'mas and a happy new year.

M&S's back in paris!

As I made a brief visit in Paris, I had to go and check the new Marks & Spencer shop on Champs Elyses.

It was smaller than i expected. Apparently the French liked their woman's clothes and food. If you know the UK shops, you'd be surprised to see the strange layout of the shop. All three levels are in woman's clothes and a small section on the ground floor there is a food corner they don't have much selection on food which i was very dissappointed.

But just to enjoy what i missed for ages, i picked a few things which shown on the photo. The scotch eggs! I haven't thought about this could be made at home! Luckly i didn't get caught at the airport security because of the strikes. It was yummy. My hubby who never ate one and seemed like it. All the packagings are in English and there will be more shops in the coming year. Hope they'll open one around cote d'azur.

Pole emploi - if you are prepared to relocate elsewhere...

Job hunting has been even more difficult in certain region if there're not enough posts available. I have discovered that the pole emploi provides the discounted tickets for trains (SNCF) or flights (Air France) for travels for job interviews.

All you have to do, is to bring the job interview confirmation (in French of course) to your registered pole emploi office at earliest time.  They will give you the form and you take it to the local SNCF and ask for the train tickets. 

I've got the TGV tickets return to Paris. I paid surprise surprise 3 euro for the reservation charge only. The special deal for pole emploi for this trip was 55 euro return, that's really low compared to the normal fare, this is charged directly to pole emploi and all I had to pay was the reservation charge for 3 euro! 

That would make everyone to travel for cheap rate, but you must make sure you bring the [proof document ] signed by the job interviewer (or agency) and return to pole emploi after the job interview.

They also have the access to the cheaper accommodation if you ask for it.
This time I didn't but I am interested to find out what's like....
It's a great support to increase your chance to get a job you want.  

Temp work and Ticket Resto

It's been a month since I worked at a local lux boutique and it was my last day on Sunday.  It's a replacement for someone who went on holiday for 3 weeks and I worked as a multilingual sales person.

The job involves liaise with customers, checking and sorting the delivery.  It's my first experience working as a sales but I must say it was a great opportunity for gaining skills like presentation and direct contact with customers.

The great thing about the lux boutique was that their collections are limited and as I personally love things like that, I managed to remember most of the collections by the end of 2day.  When you know what to explain to the clients, then you need to know HOW to explain so I'd copy how my colleagues are doing. If it was high street shops, the volume of the collections are so large, that I wouldn't have remembered.

Just a month working at the boutique, but I feel like I gained alot.
On top of that I've got Ticket Resto from them.  It's a voucher you can use at a restaurant.  Usually employers sibsidise some percentages and employee also contributes a small portion.  The amount per ticket is depending on the company you work for.  Mine is 8.50 euro.  When using it, it's best to buy / eat a bit more to the amount shown, as you don't get change back. 
There're no such system in England. When I worked in London, I used at the canteen most of time, you pay credits in your ID card to pay for drinks and food which are slightly cheaper than eating elsewhere.  Also there were times where I took my lunch box with me. Even when I worked at Sophia two years ago, the agency didn't provide this system. 
Well, to celebrate my first ticket resto, I invited my hubby to go to Wazakura for sushi!

 

pole emploi - regular meeting

Just had a phone call from a friend of mine who has just signed up for the ememployement benefit (chomage) and is due to have the first meeting (convocation) with them. She was asking me what to do, so for those who don't know how to do it, here is what I did over the year.

The monthly meeting with pole emploi is a mandatory.  While you receive your benefit, you either attend a training (formation professionnel) acknowledged by the pole emploi or you have a monthly meeting with them. 
The meeting is to find out what kind of job hunting activities you do and what can you do until the next meeting.  I'd advise you to list all the companies you applied (with dates applied and receive reply) so that way they know what you do.



Within the extend of your existing professional experience, you can ask for a training if it's available. It's worth asking, as they are more reactive, they don't suggest you otherwise.

I've asked for two trainings ; French language and reviewing CV to apply French culture - it was worth it, as they contacted them straight away and I got registered immediately. 


While you receive your benefit or not, you must log in to pole emploi website to declare your current status(L'Actualisation) -(period varies each month).  If you want to take time off (summer / X'mas holiday), you must tell them that you are away from job hunting and ask for the approval from the pole emploi. If you can't attend the regular meeting, you must let them know to reschedule it. 

The facility at the pole emploi is great, there are computers dedicated to pole emploi search website and print if necessary,  the photo copy machine, telephones.

I found they are very supportive as long as you show that you are seriously looking. Indeed, I have come across a few issues (mostly the paper got losts..) with them, but that's a problem in process. I've seen some people shouting at them at the pole emploi office, but that won't solve anything.. 


For foreigners who have to renew their carte de sejour every year, you need to send them a copy of the renewed card to avoid being cancelled of your registration.  If the valid date is expired while on benefit, they'll stop it - mine did and I had to send the copy several times until they re-activate my ID. That also happened after I finished my training, assuming that I got a job - not as easy as they think.

Any questions, please drop me a comment.

G20 preparation - latest info

Here's the latest info after the local meeting with Cannes mayor office.

There are two controled zones around the palais des festivals. For people who live or work within the zones require the special access badges. (this can be applied at the Cannes mayor office)


Zone 1 (Blue) : Access restricted from 23:59 31/10/2011 to 16:00 - 18:00 4/11/2011 
The palais des festivals and sourrounding areas - only the residents and the people works in the area and G20 people will have the access - with the ID.  No cars are allowed.


Zone 2 (Red) : Access restricted from 23:59 01/11/2011 to 16:00 - 18:00 4/11/2011
Other sourrounding areas - only the Zone 1 / 2 badge holders, G20 people will have the access - with the ID. Access with Cars with the relevant security authorisation - apply with the badges, same applies with taxis.  No public access into Zone 2 unless relevant badges with ID.


The Cannes station is open to public during this period - however, the bus route may be different to normal working days.


Approx. 40,000 people from over 25 countries, 7 official organisations and medias, journalists are expected to gather in small town of Cannes during this period.  The businesses within these areas are expected to be open as usual for those visitors.

Pre-G20 Cannes

 

This is just a headsup, for anyone around the world who are planning to make a visit to Cannes or surrounding area in early November, please note that the G20 is due to take place 3 -4 November that the heavy security control and restrictions are to be expected.  I've heard that many local shops within the security zone are considering to close their businesses during this period. 

As a local resident, we had to apply for some kind of ID to enter the zone.  I've never come across this but it looks like a big preparation for the host country.

I would advise you to check the tourist board info prior to your departure or avoid to come here during this period.

Chicken Kievs - missing food from England??

When I was in England, I used to be far too lazy to cook myself so I often eat out or buy ready made food.....particularly this "Chicken Kievs".  Yes, as the name tells, It's origin must be from Eastern Europe but I've seen this Kiev with different versions every major supermarkets in England(Usually buy1 get 1 free deal). I often took this classic version - garlic butter.

It's a deep fried checken breasts rolled with garlic butter. There're other versions like tomato sauce etc, I tried almosts everything but ended up buying the classic one.

There's similar one in France, called Cordon blue - with ham and cheese. I hardly eat this, as I don't get the same yummy excitement. 


My hubby says that the garlic butter in the chicken kievs taste just like the butter used in the escargot. I don't eat escargot, but I suppose the escargots need loads of garlic butter so that it doesn't taste escargot - has anyone seen any other flavour in escargot cuisine?  While with chicken kievs, I found the combination is just perfect....even better with Soya sauce!


Oh... I must make one for myself.. perhaps not so healthy food but it's yummy. 

Let's check the recipe from BBC Food

Pole emploi

While I was taking the accounting training, I was supposed to receive some daily allowance - the guy at the pole emploi told me at the beginning but nothing had happened until towards the end of the training, I found an electronic message on the official website. 

Had I not checked my page on their website, I wouldn't have known that all documents was about to be verified and the amount of money that's expected to be received. However, the end of training means that you SHOULD find a job somewhere, so they automatically disabled my account.

I then had to re-activate my account, saying that I am still looking. Meanwhile, the money that I was supposed to receive, hadn't reached me yet.  I contacted the Pole emploi what to do. They told me to send the relevant papers so I did. They said all papers have been verified so they should send my allowance shortly.............

Two months later, still nothing happened. I hesitated to ask for the money as I didn't want to sound too often or desparate, though it's always nice to have something extra which I would have received 4 months ago so eventually I did contact them.  They said no papers received. But you said it on the last email.....well but never mind.

Yet again, I said no problem, I will drop you the copy. 
Finally, the documents reached the relevant personnel and he rang me and said it should be dealt shortly.  Let's wait and see...

un petit tour du musée de Louvre

Click here for TF1 site video (only valid for 7 days)

I saw a very interesting reportage yesterday about Paris' musee Louvre - the world's most visited museum of 8.5 million visitors per year.  Just over 15 mins reportage shows some hindsights about the back of the Louvre, only 10% of its collections are on display, the restoration of paintings, rare film when the Mona lisa came back to France after its stolen, the dedicated firemen who are on daily training and checking.

I visited there once long time ago and it was indeed pack with people (including me of course) who wanted to see the most famous painting in the world and I was also thrilled to see the beautiful statue- the Wingled victory of Samothrace.  There are still many areas I didn't see and I would like to spend more time to visit again.....it'll be worth taking a long queue.

Auto entrepreneur

Since Feburary, my unemployement benefit has been terminated. I'm still registered on pole emploi and have regular meetings with them, also took 2 months paid training on French accounting.

Meanwhile, I take on some odd translation jobs but this industry is very grey and don't get paid well. Thanks to the internet and electronic settlement like paypals, you can do this kind of job, literally anywhere in the world which means the company can select translators at a cheap rate.


I've got some experiences working on translation in the past - finance, IT, automobile and cultural domains and I also do some volunteering job in health and medical domains however, quality, translation skills and the amount of hours spend on the project don't seem to reflect on the rate.  As I am dubious about this work, I still can't invest myself on the translation software which converts repetitive words and memorise the translated words and phrases to save time and eventuarlly allow you to work more.

Yet,I got myself the auto entrepreneur title, hoping to get the opportunity. You can select types of declarations: simple or detailed.  I declare every 3 months which only declare intakes. Depending on the type of the job, the contribution rate for the social security differs.  My title is for the service provider, so 18.3% of intake would go towards social security and then 0.2% goes to the training. 


When I told the guy at the pole emploi that I got the auto entrepreneur title, he warned me to check the regularation from time to time, as they could impact the amount of contributions and exemption. And if you have the title while you receive the benefit and got the actual business, that impacts the amount of benefit you receive.....you'll have to deduct the days you worked.

want a chewing gum?

Well, that's great, but only if you didn't throw me an empty chewing gum paper....

Yes, it's the end of German occupation in France after the second world war. The dates are different depending on the region and here in cote d'azur, it's around 24th August. You'd see this kind of parades pretty much everywhere in France.

I didn't see the person(woman) who did this, but I'd appreciate whoever got on the jeep with a right attitude.  They might have been a hero at THAT time, but you are nobody!

Do you get headaches with frozen drink?

Frozen drinks give me headaches... around my temples. Does this occur to anyone?

Thought this is quite normal in Japan, but apparently my hubby and mom in law don't get it.

REALLY HOT HERE.....................................

Ideal for funny gift from France - les coucougnettes du vert galant

My hubby got a packet of this 'coucougnettes du vert galant' when we had a short outings to a beautiful village called 'Gourdon'.  We've found this by chance, but my hubby and my mother in law were laughing, as they saw the package title.  It means the balls of Henri IV (Vert Galant = Henri IV).  This is about the Henry IV who is perhaps famous for wearing a pair of green tights and apparently had 54 mistresses and 24 children!

It's got an almond in the centre and chocolate and almond cream with rasberries and a touch of armagnac. I'm sure the name attracts many customers.....
I've checked the maker's website, and ohh lala, there're some more interestings names like Les Tétons de La Reine Margot, Les Prunes de Monsieur,Les Galipettes etc..(Sorry, please check the meaning by yourselves)... I think they have pretty good sense of humour.

Phishing - beware

I've applied a job over the local website targeted to English community and I seem to get caught by a doggy phishing.

I discovered it because the website I checked prior to the application was somewhat removed....


That is the risk you'd have to take when you applied a job via communities like this though there are genuin adverts too.  But I'd suggest to be extra careful when using the local community website.


The offer was indeed, too good to be true....gutted

London's burning

We had a nice long weekend in a lake and came back last night only to discover that London's burning! What the heck is going on in this world?.... this is not an organised protest, they're the bunch on youths only to destroy the local businesses.  Nothing could change by the violence.

Cine Tuesday by Orange

Recently, French Orange has just launched the CineDay! - Every Tuesday, buy 1 and get 1 free offer.

This is how it works, if your mobile network is by orange, you send a SMS saying 'cine' to 20000 and you'll receive a code straight away- you need this code to present at the ticket booth at your local cinema.  There's same offer in England and Lucy, my then flatmate and I used to have a cinema night sometimes which was a great idea.

So I went to see Harry Potter last Tuesday with this. It's great, as we are cinema lovers, we can go whenever there's a new film.  - In France, the new film tends to start from Wednesday, so if you want to see the latest film with this Orange cineday, you'd have to wait for a week - but it's better than nothing!

And also, 3D glasses is not part of the deal, so you have to pay for it.


To find out whether your local cinema is partnering the orange deal, you can go to their website.

3 months of not aaaam

updating my blog..

Think keeping a blog is like keeping a diary.  On a day to day life, there are so many things happening but if you missed out that moment, your memory and freshness of the feeling is drifted away.

I should be more displined myself, yes indeed. 

How I have been doing the past three months. Helped France - Japan association's activities which related to charity. I also took on a training course on the French accounting held by the pole emploi - it's a free training and at the end of the course, you'll get a lump sum of the allowance which, I believe, separate to your enemployement benefit. Since my benefit runs out early February, that would be really helpful.

As for the registration of the pole emploi, once you finish your training, they'd assume you get a job, so it automatically exclude from the membership, so be aware.... you need to re-register yourself. 

The training went well, I already had a basic knowledge of accounting, so it was easy, I thought that French accounting can be surprisingly logical - though there are many exceptions.

I also did 2 weeks of internship at a local bookstore - although there were hardly much things for accounting but loads of paper works that's been neglected for years. I was quite pleased with my sorting skills - it's nice to feel useful.

Most of May and June were spent on the courses and internship - in July, the weather's not been so hot that I caught nasty cold. I should be more focus and keep on trying for what I would like to do in life. 

Thank you all to the rescue team across the world!

Many rescue teams have been in Japan or are on the way. 

According to the BBC, the British rescue team are departing only a few days after they came back from New Zealand rescue service.

I appreciate your efforts, I sincerely hope that they will save as many precious lives as they can. 

Hang in there Japan !

As you might have seen loads of media coverages of the disaster in Japan.

I only found that out around 7:30 am in France, over BBC website. I turn the TV on and watched the horrible scenes that I thought that was the war scenes from Arab countries.

I would like to say thank you for all my friends and families all over the world, concerning my country. To be honest, living so far away, I felt powerless.

I knew my family won't be at home and realised I don't have their mobile numbers,  Then I tried to send them emails.  I send several emails to my friends too. In the late afternoon that day, I managed to receive replies from my sister, brother, some of my friends. Apparently mobile networks were down in many areas that it was no use.

Tokyo got hit by the largest ever earthquake since 1923. That time, it was hit at noon that hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives by fire. You just never know when it hit you.

Even my 70yrs old dad told me that he never had any big shakes in his life.

You'd think that mobile is supposed to be useful it's urgent but in this case, noooo use. The road gets stuck, the tubes were suspended.  Some of my friends even using Skypes and Twitters to get some advices on the tube information.

In Urayasu city in Chiba, the city created by the artificial land where my uncle live,there are power cuts and no water supply since the earthquake. 

Heard on the japanese radio programs over the internet, they were very calm and some listeners sending many messages like

"I'm working on the electricity company, we're working hard to get back the electricity as quickly as possible, tomorrow when my shift comes, I will do my best for people in Japan."

"To avoid any other accidents, please avoid using mobile phone when driving, switch off the main electricity if you leave home"

Now there's a big threat of nuclear leakage. It's been confirmed that there are three patients out of 90 from nearby hospital were already exposed when evacuated. 

I am praying for my country.  

Sincerely hope that the japanese government and the related authorities will be fair and open to the information they have regarding this for the sake of all people. The government is very famous for not getting their credibility, by loads of reasons. 

Thanks to the internet, there was still a way to communicate with people.  Japan had developped sophisticated buildings against earthquakes, however, they have more problems to tackle - Transportation and Mobile networks. 

Hang in there people!!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Dentist

Just been to a nearby dentist earlier. This is my first dentist experience in France alone - i wasn't sure if I could explain my problem so tempted ask my hubby to come along but i must be independent so i thought I'd try. Originally one of my friends at the french class had recommended me her dentist but they never answered my call. When i finally reached them, the doctor's on holiday -typical.
So the secretary gave me another number to try who was apparently just around the corner from my place. I had to chose either wait till my friend's dentist came back from holiday or go someone new. After checking on the net and thinking, i gave in and decided to make an appointment with the new one. 3 days of waiting wasn't too bad. Things like the dentist, I leant that you shouldn't really wait till it's too late. So the day came I was half nervous but happy that my troubled tooth would be sorted at last.
The smell of the dentist brought me back lots of memories of me having my braces done in London as well as childhood.
Anyway, the doctor seemed ok : explaining what to be done. It finished fairy quickly - with of course a help of local anaesthetic. The next appointment is a week's time. I'll ask for the cleaning.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Dentist

Not proud of myself but it's been ages since last time I saw dentist. 
I had a briliant dentist in London - on Wimpole Street - famous for beauty clinics.
He put me loads of pain killers that I never had any problems.
I've been having a bad feeling about one particular tooth for the past week, the one my London dentist treated the last time.

A friend of mine referred me a good dentist and I've been callling him since last week - but noone answered.

I must try him again, or I'll have to find elsewhere....

Ma carte de séjour est finalement arrivée!

Received a letter yesterday and I went to the local mayor office for collection!
yes, 10 years! 

We can now forget about all these hustles of going to the prefecture almost forever!
Can you imagin my hubby and I have a big smile on our face?

Because after this, the renewals will be handled at the local mayor office and we don't need to go to the prefecture. And we can apply 3 months prior to the expire date.
No queuing, no waiting!

What will I do, what will I be.. by the year 2020?

Soldes Soldes Soldes

The Winter sales have just started on Wednesday. More or less every shops cut their prices for up to 50% - each week there'll be a further reduction, so whether you buy at 50% or wait for another reduction is up to you - but the stuff you liked may not be there anymore in a week's time. 

soldes soldes soldes

 

rue d'Antibe

I strolled down the rud d'Antibes in Cannes on the first day, just to see how many people are there - I didn't see that many people. I didn't mean to do any shopping... but yes, indeed, it is tempting so I ended up coming home with two cashmere jumpers from Massimo Dutti - two for the price of one!
I have been looking for a pair of boots in black - I'll wait for another reduction, as I am not really a fuss about how they look - they'd look more or less the same.  If I find something nice, I'd buy two pairs, so that they'd last longer.


There're a few marchandisers at the marche gambetta, you can find some famous brands for cheap price - Jones, JCrew etc. - I must compare.

pole emploi - problem...

I might have mentioned this before that I've been on the benefit. If your contract is fixed duration (CDD - contrat durée déterminée), you can claim your beneft by presenting your job certificate (attestation de travail) to pole emploi after working more than 6 months.  

The earlier in the year, I had to have my title de séjour renewed(it's my 2nd récépissée) at the Nice prefecture. On the same day in the afternoon, I had a regular meeting with pole emploi so I left them a copy to update my status.

only Friday morning, I had a call from the pole emploi saying that they have not received that they'd cut my benefit as of 11 January. They love papers but they'd lost my very important document - so typical. Within an hour, I was at the pole emploi office nearby, with a copy again - to ensure that they'd sort that out.


Yesterday, I received a letter saying that i didn't act according to our notice therefore they are closing my benefit account as of 11 january.
Can't believe it - I thought I was being organised but for nothing!!! With a help of my hubby, I had written a letter with sufficient evidents so hopefully they'll put my account back in.

My last vin chaud?

sorry mon amour, can you hold the glass for a sec?

Here in Cannes, we have X'mas market perhaps like any other villages in France - wished they'd sell more X'mas stuff, rather than soaps and souveniers - but never mind.  
We made a quick visit to the final day of X'mas market after we went for a walk to the Suquet. The market is usually located by the port and this year, there's a little skate link for kids - but not with the real ice! (shame on you!!)

This winter, I enjoyed having a glass or two with some friends there - vin chaud! 

Perhaps this drink would be much more appreciated in the cold places - the day we were there, it was quite mild temprature - I could've done with a normal glass of wine - nope, I enjoy the atomosphere too.

my muppet experience - English 1

Learning language is a never ending challenge - I still don't feel like I've perfected English and I have French to worry about at the moment.  But I do enjoy learning languages.  I am fine at work and I love reading - daily papers, paperbags magazines and watching films and TVs. I used to make loads of mistakes in English, it still makes people laugh.


Let me tell you what my Scotish colleage did to me, in a winter 1997.

It was when I was planning a trip to Edinburgh with a friend who's from Japan.  I've heard that it's a great place to be and luckly, I have an expert in the pub crawing - so he told me to make sure we'd cover all the pubs on Rose Street. 

New Year's Eve Diner - à la Japonais

Clockwise : Soba noodle maki, Roast beef with japanese sauce, Namasu salad, Hidjiki and Dried Tofu in sauce

Agedashi Tofu

This new year's eve, we spent just ourselves in Cannes, it's a first time in three years.  I usually woke up at very early in the morning on the new year's day to call mum on the webcam, where our family and relatives in Japan are getting together. It's really funny whispering to them over the camera as the rest of our family in France are still in bed!
This year, I only talked to mum and dad on their new years time, and we made excuses not seeing them over the webcam but tell everyone Bonne Annee!

As we are at home, I kind of missed some Japanese comfort food...(my hubby had his comfort food up in North) so I decided to cook something nice to celebrate the coming year.  Usually you'd eat this special meal on the new years day, but I mixed Japanese custom and the western custome together to eat them on the new years' eve. Some food has it's meaning in our culture - I think it's really sweet.

For example, 
Namasu salad - it's a grated white radish and carots (put some salt and leave them for 5-10mins and squeeze off any excess water) in sugarly rice vinegar (you can use Sushi vinegar). We consider "red" and "white" as happy colours, so this salad symbolise the happiness for the new year. 


Soba noodle - we traditionally eat it on the new year's eve.  As the noodle is long, it represents as "Live Long". You have a number of ways to eat soba noodle - hot / cold, with tempra etc.  I made a simple maki with sushi seaweed, after cook them according to the instruction and cool them with water. Cut in pieces. Eat with the same sauce (1 cup dashi stock, 2tbs soya sauce, 2tbs mirin)used in the Agedashi Tofu.


There are many other things to add on this box (usually it's three stockable boxes), but I served 1 box per person, like a bento box).
Roast beef with japanese sauce: make the roast as you prefer with garlic, salt and pepper.
For the sauce (meat for 800g) - prepare a zippable plastic bag, in it, put 1 large grated garlic and same portion of grated ginger, 1/2 cup red wine, 1 cup soya sauce, 1 onion sliced, 1/4 cup of lemon juice (or less, depending on your preference)
Soak the roasted beef in the bag for at least 3-4 hours or 1 day max in the fridge. Serve cold. If you prefer it hot, omit the lemon juice and cook the sauce with low heat (don't boil it), add corn flour to thiken.

The colour of eyes - not important to me

I watched [L'amour dans les pres] on M6 last night.  It's one of my few faviourites French TV program. It's a reality TV to help people working in the agriculture/ farming industry to find their love of their lives.

Carte de séjour - still continue

I've got my récépissé renewed for another 3 months this morning. It only took us a half an hour waiting in the office. (15 mins outside)  It went very smoothly.

The lady at the desk told me about the current status of my carte de séjour - I should receive the letter for collection very soon. That's a great news. 
As I am currently on the benefit, I have to hand over the copy to the French version of job centre(pole emploi). 


I can now relax a little bit.... once I get the 10 year card, I should feel much better!

Carte de séjour - continue

As I went to prefecture for renewing my carte de séjour in mid-October, I've got a receipt that's valid for 3 months. You usually keep it together with the old carte de séjour until your new one arrives.

McDo's Hot Apple Pie

Look!! A friend of mine sent me these before Xmas! These are mini size object of McDonald's products. Apparently you'd get one, when you buy the menu at the restaurant in Japan.  (Thank you K-san!)


In France, they'd call it McDo (pronounce it like Mac Doo), rather than Mac.. it's funny, as it's same in western Japan, like Osaka. In Tokyo, it's called Mac.

Happy new year 2011!

Wishing you all a happy new year! 
Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope to keep on writing my blog whatever cropped up my mind as often as possible.

I hope whoever read this blog enjoys reading as much as I enjoy writing to you.