#i cant express how much i miss Pizza Hut Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[angelmichelangelo]

bro dominos pizza really tastes like ass huh

[emotionsfeelings]

Reflection, france

After being back for a couple of days, I realise I miss being away. There were so much to learn and discover being away and i look forward to foing it again. Meanwhile, I decide to write about my relatively short trip in south of France.

Wherever I go, I like to take in what my senses tell me and observe the everyday activities and practices (even beliefs). From what people have for breakfast to the way they walk and how they hold up their bodies, from the cars they drive to how they do it, from train/tram/bus routes to how people behave in them, from the amplitude and rhythm of speech to what expressions mean, amongst others. There were new and exciting, and at times frustrating because I cant find the words to communicate well. Plus what was special about this trip was I was: ill for most of it. My cold developed to ear bacterial infection causing me to lose hearing on my right ear (I still cant hear well on my right ear but it's getting better). So all the sounds were taken in by one ear and that created a lot of stress for my brain and in turn manifested into my behaviour. I wasnt really pleasant throughout but I had a talk with my partner and we got over it. Albeit it was late into the trip, it did make the last couple of weeks wonderful. I also discover more about myself but I'll talk about that later.

Among the first thing that I noticed when I was in France was the warm hospitality by service stuff and strangers alike. Almost every store I went in - whether a restaurant or a departmental store and whether I bought anything or not - I'm greeted with "bonjour" (hello). And when I left, I'm greeted with "merci, au revoir" (thank you, goodbye) or "au revoir, borne journée " (goodbye, have a nice day). The really welcomed their guests and then sent them a parting prayer. This only happens in France (didnt really happened when I was in Barcelona) and/or when the staff is French. Other nationalities do not openly greet strangers. When I was in Nice, my partner and I were looking for our room and a housemaid saw us. She greeted us and showed us to our rooms, and left saying "borne journée". That afternoon we walked past another housemaid and she didn't say anything. She carried on with her tasks as if we weren't there. When I saw her, I realise she was not French. Probably Spanish or from other European countries. This warm hospitality does make the brief visit very pleasant. It also affects - positively - the experience of eating or buying items - at that place.

On the note on food, there are a lot to mention. Firstly, food portions are huge! And they're relatively affordable. Just to give an idea: a large pizza at Pizza Hut is a single serving for one person. And it cost €12-€15 ($18-$32). Most restaurants have a 3 course meal for €19.50 onwards so it really was worth eating there. The portion was huge too for a pasta or steak too. And customers wait patiently to be attended even if the place was crowded and they saw the waiter scrambling from table to table serving food and taking orders. How long do we usually wait for at a restaurant to be attended to before being terribly annoyed? 5 mins? 10 mins? Most customers usually had to wait for 10 mins longest and everyone was calm when the waiter attended to them. And the different courses will arrive accordingly in a span of at most 30 mins. That's 3 course in 30 mins. Meal times were also somewhat set and this was a practice by everyone - whether they eat at home or at a restaurant (usually tourist places opened earlier and throughout the day). Breakfast was by 9am. Lunch was between 12-2pm. Dinner was from 7pm. No meals or snacks in between. And no supper. Imagine my horror when my food intake cycle was forced to a certain rhythm! It took a long while for my body and mind to settle in. However, the downside was my body held water and sugar more readily than usually. So I became fatter and more round. During meals, people engage with one another in person. Phones are away, even for children. I saw this in France and Spain, and among every Europeans. Only the PRCs were constantly with their phones. The respect the French has for their food was quite synonymous with their everyday greeting gesture (I think in most cultures we can see the correlation too).

I notice most French have good body and walking posture too. Their backs muscles are not tighten and their weight nicely balanced whenever they walk. You can see their spine was engaged and alive. And a lot of elderly, those above 65, walk with nice balance. Not too crouched forward or leaned back, their back muscles are present along with their walk. I mentioned before, Francois mum is 74 and his dad is 81. And they are still strong. They're not on crunches. His mum walked around to the groceries, travel with us, trek calanques. His dad could trek too but he's much slower than before and he took tests at shaded area most of the time. He couldn't travel long distant anymore too because of his age but he was up until he was 79. It made me wonder how they do it. Was it the terrain of the ground? The facts that bus/tram stations are within walking distance (100m-200m instead of 20m from one another)? They lead well balance work-social lives? Could be these reasons. Could be more. But there was something to learn from the south of France.

An aside. I refer it to south of France instead of French/France because things are a little different in Paris. Mostly, the cosmopolitan city are filled with homeless, it's busier and slightly more bustling, people work slightly longer hours because of tourism. Also, I didnt spend a lot of time in Paris so I dont wanna generalise. Back to my entry.

A lot of people drove in France because a car was the most convenient mode of transport, especially for far distance for holidays. And most of the cars were hatchback instead of one with boot. I wondered about that for awhile and thought maybe because people travel a lot and a hatchback can fit more luggage. This was evident on our way back. 3 big luggage fit into a car boot. And also because people parallel park and the roads are relatively small, a hatchback saves a few centimetres so everyone can have a space to park. Oh the French (at least) are experts at parallel parking and driving in small spaces even if their cars are quite big! So it was more a practical demand and supply. Fascinating nonetheless.

And the sounds. From speech to city's rhythm, there were a lot! This was more obvious in Barcelona because Spanish talk really loudly and really fast in an almost staccato rhythm. It sounds "hard" and I had headaches. After 5 days I was very happy to hear French. The liaisons really made hearing more pleasurable although I have to figure out the words at times. But it was alright.

Oh, just wanna say that I disliked Barcelona because I felt it's too noisy and smelly. Smelly because the smell of marijuana was everywhere on the streets! Couple with occasional sewage smell. But things were quite cheap there, from food to clothes. And Gaudi's work and inspiration could be seen throughout the city's modern architecture.

And LGBTQIA persons didnt get stares from the public when couples went out. That was almost surreal for me.

There. There were definitely more moments but I'll keep them for now. I want them to grow and be part of me, like vines in a forest. This trip has definitely taught me a lot. But what's more valuable was what I uncover about myself; my beliefs and biases, preferences and prejudices, what to throw away and what to over/rewrite. And to choose the relationship - personal, romantic, familial - over my own feared ego.