I had an unforgettable date with my favourite boys in sailor uniforms last night,
who delivered each song with rosy cheeks and unadulterated innocence;
Johann Strauss’ polkas and Emperor Waltz,
Queen’s masterpieces and crowd favourites from ABBA.

One boy could not stop yawning
(he must’ve been jetlagged),
while another spent what must have been a full minute,
finding the correct lyrics page,
but those cherubic faces
definitely knew how to blow us away with their angelic voices.

And when four of the boys appeared in Lederhosen,
dancing their way to Austrian folksong “Und wanns amal schen aper wird”,
while the rest of the boys yodelled,
I totally flipped.

I miss Vienna so terribly :(((

Wie geht’s? Wie steht’s?
Schon lange nicht geseh’n!
Nicht schlecht! Nicht recht!
Es muss halt weiter geh’n.

Woher? Wohin?
Ich hab’ jetzt keine Zeit.
Daher! Dahin! Es hat mich sehr gefreut.

So rast die Zeit mit Geschwindigkeit.
Hier und dort, immerfort,
und keiner hat für den andern Zeit
weil die Hast keine Zeit lasst.

Wetter ziehen, Wolken fliehen,
Blitze brennen, Menschen rennen,
ja, da schlägt das Ungewitter mitten in die Hast hinein.
Und die Uhr bleibt nicht stehen
Und die Zeit muss vergehen,
weil die andern weiterwandern.

Emsig wie die Bienen, summ summ,
flirren, summ summ,
schwirren, summ, summ,
hin und her im Grünen, summ summ,
muss man muss man fleissig Zeit gewinnen, summ summ summ.

Doch einmal wird es ohne Eile gehen
Dann bleibt die Uhr für jeden einmal stehen
Wird auch die Erde lange sich noch drehen.
Es hat mich sehr gefreut! Gute Nacht!
Die Augen zu, nun gute Ruh’, gute Nacht!

Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka was composed by Johann Strauss Jr in 1858 and was first performed in a public house in Vienna in November. Rosl Hujer’s text for the Vienna Boys’ Choir describes a meeting of two acquaintances who have nothing to say to each other and fill the void with polite and meaningless phrases. (source: http://www.spencerconcerts.com/)

Notlügen sind in einer Beziehung manchmal notwendig. Wenn eine Frau fragt, „Sehe ich in dieser Kleidung dick aus?“, antwortet ihr Partner natürlich, „Überhaupt nicht!“

Auf diese Frage redet der Mann zum größten Teil doppelzüngig, aber er meint es nicht böse. Offenbar möchte die Frau auf keinen Fall hören, was der Mann eigentlich denkt. Ehrlich gesagt, sie fischt nach Komplimenten! Also, „Nein, du siehst super aus!“ ist immer die richtige Antwort. Sonst musst du auf dem Sofa übernachten…

Zusammenfassend bin ich der Ansicht, dass kleine, harmlose Lügen in einer Beziehung erlaubt sind. Wir können die gelegentliche Komplimente nützen, um uns aufzuheitern. So heißt es bei dem amerikanischen Schriftsteller und Satiriker Mark Twain, „Von einem guten Kompliment kann ich zwei Monaten leben.“

Lily asked Marshall to do his dishes and he obliged -to avoid a fight. Barney found this ludicrous and explained to Marshall what he would say about the dishes, if he were Lily’s husband.

Fantasy Lily: Sweetie, are you gonna wash that?

Fantasy Barney: I’m glad you bring that up. No. And here’s why – Lily, I know you don’t like a dirty sink, but does that make it my job to keep it clean? I mean, if one day I look up at the living room ceiling and think, “Hey, I’d like a replica of the Sistine Chapel up there,” would it be your job to paint it?

Fantasy Lily: Oh, no! Of course not.

Fantasy Barney: Exactly. So baby, by the same logic, if you don’t like living with a sink full of dishes, shouldn’t it be your job to clean it?

A flawed argument, but I love Barney’s attempt to kick some Id into Marshall :D

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.” – Bo Derek

Everything’s so heartbreakingly pretty!

From: http://www.modcloth.com/

So I turned 25 on Saturday.  There were neither fanciful presents nor whimsical celebrations.  Instead, I resolved to take on a small challenge - I pledged to become a part-time vegetarian.

By that I mean I’m going meat-free a couple of days a week.

You see, people have different motives for turning vegetarian, part-time or otherwise.  Here are some of them:

1. Weight loss

Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down one’s fat consumption.

That said, weight loss is hardly my motivation. I’m contented as long as my weight hovers around 48kg, and it has been like that for quite a while now.

2. Health

By eating a vegetarian diet, one consumes considerably less saturated fat than by eating a conventional meat-based diet. As a result, vegetarians are at a lower risk of contracting heart disease and high blood pressure, among others.

Now, sure, I have been the most unhealthy person you could imagine. Why, I haven’t exercised regularly since the ‘A’ Levels! That said, health reasons alone wouldn’t have been enough to push me, since a low-protein diet associated with vegetarians may also have its downsides (likely due to a lack of knowledge of nutritions).

3. A love for animals

Some people think that eating meat is barbaric.

Well, I’m sorry to say that I’m not one of those people. I really have nothing against animal slaughter, as long as it is done in the least painful way possible.

The truth is, I’d been thinking of reducing my meat consumption for some time, because I’m dead frightened by how our future potentially looks like, holding the current rate of human activities constant. I figured that if I have children one day, I would not want them to live in an ill-fated world caused by our insatiable appetite for meat with little regard for the environment. Rainforests are constantly cleared for grazing, methane from livestock causes global warming, the meat industry puts a strain on water and energy supplies, and the seas are depleted by overfishing.

I’m not gonna bore you with details on how cattle rearing contributes to global warming yada yada and how overfishing endangers the coastal communities, food security and marine habitat. There are plenty of resources out there for you to read and think through critically.

Poster credit: Jonna Mayer

I’m not ready to turn into a full-time vegetarian and I don’t even know whether I’ll ever become one. I have the greatest respect for vegans who don’t even take dairy products but I still can’t imagine swearing off my pepperoni pizza and seafood marinara for good. I prefer to take this pledge as a steady little step towards a more environmentally responsible lifestyle. So while the impact of my turning part-time vegetarian maybe insignificant on an individual basis, what better ways to start something good than with ourselves, right?

I’m starting with the man in the mirror

I’m asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer

If you wanna make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself, and make a change

- Michael Jackson

P.S. Today is my second day going meat-free. So far so good!

Didn’t know that this song from Michael Learns to Rock’s Played on Pepper album is about the Cold War, till Jascha Richter mentioned it last night.

Mothers giving birth to a little son
Crying in the rain of falling bombs
Father he is young but deep and wise
You see the fighter inside his eyes

Hold me cover my sight
This is no paradise
Don’t show me
The evil sides of the world

How many hours and how many days
Love is just slipping away
How many seasons and how many years
In tears
How many centuries and how many lives
In fear

People selling flowers like nothing’s going on
Turning their backs on a world gone wrong
Children play around I guess they found some wheels
You see them running down the naked fields

Hold me cover my sight
This is no paradise
Don’t show me
The evil sides of the world

Love the band. I actually sang my heart out last night louder than in any other concert I’ve been to.

Next up are the Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé on 26 September!

… of this kind, mais oui.

Did you ever wonder why McDonald’s hamburgers are dirt cheap?

If you haven’t seen or read Food, Inc., please do. You’ll be surprised at how much (or how little) you know about the food you buy at supermarkets and eat with your family or friends.