i was fortunate to be in athens JUST before things got nasty over there

hello, hello, hold your horses lads and lassies. i know you read the greek post like weeks ago but i really don’t owe you lot any excuse for this late post. por que i know that no matter what i say, you all love me too much to leave me. especially when i have all these lovely photos of athens yar? say it with me… mmm… athens…

at the acropolis. resting (scratching my ankle, it seems) at the open theatre. gotta love the ancient greeks. back then, ifyou were too poor to afford a ticket to enjoy the arts, they pay you to come and watch it. like i said, gotta love the ancient greeks.

a colleague caught this photo of me being a super model at the acropolis. oh the fame!

squint baby, squint. that’s the parthenon behind me. there were some construction conservation thing going on while i was there so banyak jugak scaffolding and beams about the structure. like i said, squint.

still at the acropolis. if you think there are a lot of people now, you should see this place in the summer – someone tells me.

me, taking a shot at me again. sorry la, i banyak kali kena separated from the others and had to do the praba.if you squint behind me, you will see the city of athens. squint squint.

greek guy’s underground outrageously dodgy knick knack shop.

with colleagues on bus going for a site visit to an ancient wetlands area.

with colleagues. we’re on our way to dinner, i think.

 

life after greece

… is strange. you know what’s just so weird, i had like this major jet lag when i got to paris, right – and then going backwards to athens was just surreal. if i knew i’d be hit that bad, i would have jumped off the plane just before i hit italy and cameled my way to greece. it was excruciating.

i got to the city in the early afternoon and i swear, my head felt like someone hit me with an ironing board. all i wanted to do was go to sleep but i knew that if i slept masa tu, i would just die. besides, i was in athens, man, and because my schedule is so damn tight, i just had to drag my hungover ass through the streets to see the damn olive trees. i got back a 8.30 later that evening. tido.

i woke up at 2am. completely plastered. my eyes wide wide open.

and i don’t know, the time difference is what, five hours? but i have never been this jet lag. am i getting old or something? no way. my travel mates were decades older than me. aku tak boleh kalah kat diaorang. i know i have been working like crazy these few weeks la, so it may be all that hours catching up on me. and all those pent up emotionally unstable moments. makan pun tak betul. damn, i would blame it on anything, man, but not age!

and five days later, aku baru nak comfortable with athens punya time, baru nak boleh enjoy the climate sikit-sikit – the cold i can take but the low humidity is something my south east asian body memang susah nak suka – i find myself back in the airport, back through to paris, and home to kuala lumpur.

jet lag. again. feels like someone encored an electric guitar against by skull.

and i don’t get it. balik pun boleh jet lag. aku tak pegi lama. i have been to weird places longer and was happy with nasi kandar when i got back. its been almost a week later already and i still have masalah nak tidur malam. obviously, it brings us to masalah nak bangun pagi. which is really not as funny as it sounds since i wake up so early to go to work in the morning.

but you know what? athens was worth every lost wink. nursing serious withdrawals now. must absolutely have to go back to athens. picchas coming soon.

 

Faces of Athens

 

Greek-tings from Athens!

 

the anatolian dinner

i’m in an anatolian restaurant right down the street from sintagma. i’m sure i’d figure out what anatolian means in just a sec. my best guess is, er, turkish? The music definitely has that flavour. the menu is filled with kebabs and crepe like meat wraps.

my chickpea and spinach soup just arrived. must be a greek fusion thing. i learnt that aside from olives and cheese, greeks love spinach. i had a spinach pizza the other day. super weird.

the soup is unlike anthing i’ve ever tasted. it’s green. with bits of bayam in it. and whole boiled and skinned kacang kuda. served with a wedge of lemon. it’s not bad, which does not mean its not still weird. i like bayam and i like kacang kuda. its just that i never imagined them together. in a soup.

the setup of the place is pretty funky. different tile patterns on the wall, smooth white wooden tables and loud arte decor red cushioned chairs. its nice, really.

my main has arrived. anatolian chicken chop. i had asked the waiter if they had aything spicy and he said he could make this spicy. chicken came with mashed potato, crushed rice and wrap base thing which name escapes me now.

tastes like ayam percik! or at least, a version that tries la. its like an ayam percik with the wrong doses of almost the right spices. mashed potato is so so and i never did and still don’t have a lot of good to say about rice in europe.

at 6.49pm, the sun is still high and bright and its considered early to eat dinner. in fact, i’m the only one eating here. orang lain ada tapi tengah minum. i think it is memang a european thing to makan lamba la.

i’ll leave you for now to finish my dinner. if you’re in athens and want to come say yo, i’ll be at the sintagma after this eating strawberries yang dibeli dari roman market tengahari tadi. manis. come share. i got plenty.

 

the big fat greek sense of humour

A tells me that bulgarians, have an unconscious sense of humour. well the greeks, if you must know, what a wonderfully conscious and deliberate sense of humour. which i must say if a delicious surprise. see, in a place jammed with all the athenians versus spartans versus the ottomans – well, those kinda stories, just about all the greeks i’ve met offer a light hearted view of the stories. don’t get me wrong, they’re damn rightfully proud of every word in the books. but you know, kalau ade je chance to make fun of things, they’re there.

like all the marble statues of naked men. he he.

 

berkerja di athens

meeting went well. the usual drama by the usual suspects, but if you ask me, tak lah as dramatic as the ones in KL last year, which is actually a nice thing. it was great to meet up with all the other delegates and we are all getting along great together. all the exchange of stories and all are great. nice to know that we got friends from all over the world :)

 

greek – tings!

greece is gorgeous. it is windy and chilly and hot and spring and there is something to see everywhere. shops are starting to open again post the easter weekend and dah mula ada people on the streets again.

went to see the changing of the guards at the parliament building here in athens yesterday. the guards wear the traditional greek guard punya costume with this fluffy sorta skirt thing and tights and what i think i kasut kayu, macam clogs, but shoes, and with a ball thing at the tip. men hor, mind you. and bila they change shift, they march in ceremony with this high kick action. very cool. quirky as hell. but very cool.

went to the national park again. very cool. cool as in sejuk because all the nature and all. cool also because cantik. very very lush. and ada taman haiwan mini there also. mostly birds.

hari ni i had the morning off, so sempat go to the olympian temple of zeus and hadrian’s arch which is just magnificent, walaupun hanya tinggal some columns. the rest are in ruins but if what is left behind is anything to go by, it had to be just amazing when it was all standing. the structure is massive!

the only thing is makan is a bit weird. macam tak cukup rempah. or maybe its just me. but seriously, spinach pizza is just far out for me.

 

At the Temple of Zeus

 

out of the frying pan and into the fire

and the biggest irony is that this is the F1 weekend. yes folks, i have so many things to do this weekend that i think the only time i will be able to get any kinda rest would be… let’s see, probably when i’m finally on the damn plane.

oh its way more chronic than you think, darling. while i was making my mental to do list while driving home tonight, it actually struck me that i have not packed yet! and packing for business is bukan macam nak packing for holiday. kalau holiday, it does not matter kalau baju dengan seluar tak match but business – and the kind that i am in pulak tu – its all in the details and if you ever meet me on one of these power trips, its all about the details, dah-link.

i got at least three people who i absolutely must meet this weekend and we (notice that i did not use the pronoun reference ‘they’) all got schedules yang boleh mengalahkan diva. then there’s my kids at the ice rink in competition this weekend. shopping for a jacket. preparing work papers.

aku belum sempat research pun about greece :(

J pun agak busy jugak this weekend :_ (

oh well… this is where all the sifus preach about seizing the opportunity. live your life. eye on the prize. go gor gold. gaya mutu keunggulan.

i think i’d make an awesome movie / drama film director.