Favourite things project

So I decided to jump on the band wagon and participate in Tazim's favourite things project. I'll try to update every Friday although for this time, I am condensing 3 posts in one! Yay. So here you go:

1. Iconic things about my country

Although I'm a Canadian landed immigrant, I'll write about Mauritius since I've been in Canada for only 4 months-excluding my uni years. (I'm being nice, if you don't know about my island, just click on the link).

I'll say that the iconic things about Mauritius are the beaches and sugarcane:

Taken during my stay at Le Tousserok Hotel

Mark Twain even described Mauritius as "paradise on earth" although I wonder if it's still the case now. Unfortunately I'll be honest and say that the sandy beaches are enjoyed more by the tourists than us locals :/

Sugar cane is also something very representative of the country. Whether you go North, South, East or West, once you leave the populated urban areas, you'll find yourself surrounded by sugar cane fields on both sides of the road. Once the main foreign revenue for the country, sugar cane has become secondary in generating money due to competition from other countries. Currently (if I remember well), we're exporting mainly special sugar than white sugar. The recent years have seen the closing down of several sugar cane factories and even of the Bulk Sugar Terminal.

I love sugar cane blooming and harvest seasons. During harvesting, the fields are burned and the air will be loaded with black flakes of soot (a nuisance when drying clothes outside) you'll also smell sugar in the air which is quite nice. I have fond memories of chewing sugar cane in my childhood as they grew next to my grand parents' house (before everything was cleared for apartments). I'm sad when I see so many fields being cleared to build malls and condos. I guess that's evolution?

image from this site Travel Tourism Mauritius

2. Modes of communication

I guess my favourite mode of communication is writing. I am more comfortable writing down my thoughts although nothing can beat talking to someone face to face. It's just I'm shy and when I've nothing to say I ramble and when I do have something to say, I'm quiet (with people I don't know well). I'm proud to say that I've known some of my penpals for over ten years and I do hope that the friendship will go on even when we'll be old and wrinkly.

photo credit: AmoraSong

3. Things to drink

Bubble tea!! That's the asian in me. I LOVE taro bubble tea with tapioca pearls. So yummy. The BEST bubble tea I had so far is from this food court in Dixie: Taro, ice cream, litchi jelly and tapioca pearls. One large size for 4 bucks I think. Pure Bliss. Picture below is not from teh Dixie food court.

photo from http://fruitealicious.com

I'm also a green tea junky and have 4 boxes in Canada. When I came back from China, I brought like 2 kilos of tea. Chinese tea are so yummy and I love oolong, green, sencha, meccha and jasmine pearls. I also love bottled teas especially honey green tea and chrysantenum (spelling?).

Taken during my trip- 7 eleven in Hong-Kong

Coffee is another weakness of mine I used to be a fan of Starbucks but since they swapped their yummy frappucinos for this stupid "However you want it", well frappucinos have become less fun. Maybe some people do bother about their skimmed/soy or what not milk but even in the choices they have, you no longer get those yummy brownie chocolate frappucinos. It's like frappucinos on a diet. Else I need my daily dose of caffeine!!

I do need to organize my photo folders. Seeing pictures from my trips in Asia makes me long to go there and live. Sometimes I do miss being surrounded by Asian stuffs and food, maybe move to vacouver??? I do wonder where I belong: I want to live in France, Asia and then what next? Maybe I need to try each country until I find somewhere I can call home? But time is running out baby like Muse would sing.

Coming next: Shoes I own and people in my life :)

missing things

Sometimes I can't help thinking of the things I am missing back home like family gatherings (I'm not a fan of all my relatives but it's still good to get together for dinner and chit chat), the birth of my puppies (first time mom Lulu), my dogs (do they even know that I am no longer there?), the market smell, the sugar cane blooming seasons, trips to Asia and the sea. Next time I'll go home, I'm sure the country will have changed beyond recognition as they were already changing the landscapes with malls and such. Last week, I was reading a description of the sugar cane blooms and an author described it as feathery. For me it has always looked like a silver lining, soft, and beautiful under the morning sun. Unfortunately I never took any pictures as it was on my way to work that I saw this beautiful scene. Imagine the same picture below but with a silvery feathery tapestry that extends to the horizon.

photo credit Khoi Huynh-Dinh

I guess missing home is something normal just as missing Toronto when I came back to Mauritius 4 years ago. I do feel like I've been living in Canada for years though..as if there has been no gap from 2005 to now and I am learning to like Mississauga. On Thursday, I was craving samoussas, and walked for some 45 mins or so to Britannia street as my aunt told me there was an Indian store there. Ok first I missed the store and went to a different one: the Curry Hill (samoussas and bhajees are not so great but their bryani is YUMMY: nuts mixed with spices, chicken and raisin-give me another portion anytime! yes sir!), then I decided to be "smart" and instead of walking down Queen St again, I wanted to find the street Vista which goes straight to the corner of the street where I live. Instead I ended getting lost.

It was a strange adventure as I thought the streets were parallel but some were not, so swearing at the heat, I went on walking, ended in a street called Brah..something, passed by a park and ended in a very Canadian area (white). This area is definitely older than where I live and so much nicer with trees on both sides of the streets (The street I live has trees but young ones and not tall enough to give shade), lots of green/gardens and feel more comfy/homely than the new neighbourhood although the houses are smaller. It felt like this movie big fish when the main actor stumbled in this village where the shoes are hanging on the electricity lines. I don't know this area felt different, then I ended in a "cul en sac". I went back on my steps, and took another street which led to a newer area. From far away I could spot a police car and was like:hurray now I can ask for directions and the traffic indicated clearly that there was a main road ahead. Arrived to the police car level to discover than I was right in front of the street leading to my aunt's house. Hahahaha the whole thing felt so weird and I definitely want to go back to this street to explore more. Well sure there are only houses there but I love looking at people's gardens and if I could I would have loved to own a house there. Newer residential areas feels too sterile and the vegetation will look good only in 20 years or so as the trees grow very slowly.

Hmm I succumbed and bought the moomin mugs. Also discovered this shop in Toronto: The Finish place and they sell moomin mugs but it's more expensive than from ebay (shipping included). Heh what can't you get in Toronto..

My folks are in Asia and I so want to go! I guess next time they'll go, I will as well but this time with a plane ticket paid by me!