Yes you're in the middle (right place)!

Sorry for the change. I'm just messing around with the new Blogger template designer. I was a bit tired of my old template so I decided to change. But now I feel more like sleeping than trying things out, so I'll leave it as it is, and will back to it later. =)

And this is an amazing chance to put this image in my blog:



A good old "under construction" image! How lovely is that? Taken from here. Oh the 90's! =)

PS: Obviously if you're using a feed reader you probably won't even notice any change. =) Good for you!

Taste of London

Last saturday I went with Mariana and Edward, a friend of ours to a food festival in London, called "Taste of London".

The event took place in Regent's Park and consisted of different stands from some of the best restaurants in London, where they sold or, in some cases, offered their specialities.

There were different types of food, from japanese to argentinian and everything that I tasted (and that I can remember) was very good. =)

Unfortunately there wasn't any portuguese restaurant in the event. But there ware Portuguese wines in a wine testing stand, unfortunately that was on Friday, and we went on Saturday.

The best things I had was some japanese noodles, a lamb hamburger and an amazing beef steak from an argentinian restaurant called "Gaucho". I have to go to this last restaurant to have a complete steak. Some friends' of mine have told me that is one of the best steaks they ever ate. So I need to check it. =)

It was a really nice and yummy saturday evening. Thanks Edward for the idea. =)

And now I'm hungry!

Go Portugal!

The FIFA World Cup 2010 has started in the 11th of June and it has been full of emotion and surprises.

Portugal played their first match today and they got an amazing victory by 7-0 against North Korea. It was an amazing match and very different from our first match against Ivory Coast which finished with a 0-0 draw.

The only sad thing about today's match was the place where I watched it. Since it was at 12.30h I ended up watching it in my computer at work, unlike the first match which I watched in the pub with a bunch of portuguese people that live here in Cambridge. And so you might imagine how annoying it is to see your team scoring for 7 times and you not being able to scream even once. I've all these goal screams packed for the next opportunity now. Hopefully Portugal will have score more goals for me to unleash them.

Anyway it was cool enough to bug my co-workers everytime Portugal scored a goal. =)

And mind you I know the match was against North Korea, but at least until Friday no one can stop me from celebrating this amazing victory! =)

And next Friday I hope to be in the pub to watch Portugal against Brasil!=)

Enjoy the World Cup! And if by any chance you feel like buying me a world cup official ball (the real thing) just do it, because I'd be more than glad to have one! =D

Go Portugal!! =D

British spirit

Doing a barbecue even if it's raining! Because this is the English Spring/Summer!

This was a fine weekend. Thanks to João for welcoming me in Coventry and to Matt to rescuing us from Coventry and inviting us to a barbecue in Oxford! :)

Nice city Oxford, but I still like Cambridge more! :p

Cambridge by bike

A few weeks ago a friend of Mariana gave me a bicycle that had been stopped at his door for one year. After a lot of oil and some new pieces the bike is almost as good as new! :) And now I arrive faster everywhere! Still when I'm not in a hurry or feeling lazy I like to walk. :)

Powerful songs

Just read a blog post about this song. I think I've heard it for the first time in some TV Series and it always touched me. First the tone and Jeff Buckley's voice and then the lyrics, and finally everything together.

Everytime I hear or see something as beatufil as this music I'm amazed how Man with all its faults is capable of creating something so beatiful.

Benfica Champion of the Portuguese League 2009/2010

YAY! \o/ =D

Thank you

Um cantinho, um violão,
Esse amor numa canção,
P'ra fazer feliz a quem se ama,
Muita calma p'ra pensar e ter tempo p'ra sonhar,
Da janela vê-se o Corcovado,
O Redentor que lindo.

Quero a vida sempre assim,
Com você perto de mim,
Até o apagar da velha chama,
E eu que era triste,
Descrente de cinismo,
Ao encontrar você eu conheci,
O que é Felicidade, Meu Amor.

O que é Felicidade, Meu Amor

de Tom Jobim

Ageing

Today for the first time in my life I went to a Doctor, in this case a Dentist, that is younger than me... one or two years younger.

You know what this means, don't you? Yes, time hasn't stopped for me...

At least the Dentist told me that my teeth are awesome! \o/ And I believe that he didn't say it because he's my friend, but maybe that helped. ;)


PS: At least it was cheap... (you see... there's the sign of ageing again... =P)

Spring

I think that today is the second consecutive day of Spring here in Cambridge! And this is now the view from my bedroom window! :)

Hope it lasts!

Easter gifts!

First of all Mariana and I just want to thank Carlos and Mara for their visit last week! :) It was really good to have them! I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did, and that they've liked Cambridge enough to come back! Even though I'm not the most organised tourist guide I think we managed to see most interesting things here in Cambridge!! Thank you very much :D!

This Easter we are staying in Cambridge enjoying the Holidays, resting and doing nothing. Putting into practice what the Italians define as the 'dolce fare niente' (not entirely sure about the spelling).

Since staying at home is cheaper than going anywhere else Mariana and I thought about buying something for ourselves. And so we went to HMV, which always has nice promotions, and bought a bunch of DVD's. We bought some classics that we had never watched and some others we felt like watching again, and which we thought it is nice to have. And we also bought some new ones!

What do you think about these movies?

This is turning to be a very cultural long weekend!

Happy Easter to you all! :)

Upgrade

Today my keyboard at work has been upgraded!

Actually it was upgraded last week with a similar to this one, but whose keys weren't working properly. But now I got a new one and it works!

So I thought this was worth posting, specially because I haven't wrote anything in a while. And I do have things to write about, but I've been lazy!

Maybe I'll write about those things, maybe not!

But I can share that today I'm going to a musical in London. This will be my second musical in London, and my third in the last three weeks! Today I'm gonna watch "We Will Rock You", about the band Queen (I guess:p)

Gotta go now!

The end of probation

Last week I finished my three months of probation at UNEP -WCMC, I'm happy to announce that I've passed my probation and that now I have a permanent contract with them! =) \o/ (me enjoying the moment!)

This means that I didn't do too bad there at my job and that they are willing to bare with me for a while. And it also means that I'll be staying in Cambridge for that while, so buy your tickets and come and visit me! =)

Today Carlos, a friend of mine, told me that he and his girlfriend will be coming here on the end of the month! It is an awesome feeling to know that! =) And I'm even starting to know the city better now! =P

It's all so white...

Even though this is not the first time it snow this heavily since I'm in Cambridge, it is much faster and easier to post pictures from my mobile phone.

And so I felt like sharing a bit of snow with you! :)

Pictures from my bedroom window, view to my backyard, my work and my workplace window!

It is a shame that in loco the scenario is not as pleasant as it might look in the pictures. In fact it makes it a bit of a pain to walk.. And it will be worst when the snow is replaced by ice. But oh well it is better to enjoy it while it is white and looks fluffy. :p

Sunday Muddy Sunday

Having plenty of parks where one can play football is one of the great things that Cambridge has to offer. This is also something that I saw in Denmark and The Netherlands and that, sadly, is missing in Portugal.

Another nice thing is to see people playing all sort of sports, like lacrosse, frisbee and even cricket. And this is Cambridge that I'm talking about, not a big city of England.

Sunny days

Sunny day in Cambridge is still a cold day, as one can see by the people in the punts wearing coats and chequered throws.

I am still waiting for warmer days to go punting. Nevertheless it is still a wonderful day!

Walking home

Note to self: don't go shopping after the gymn and before dinner.

Second note to self: keep writing and the resist the urge to stuff your face with chocolates and cookies.

Walking Home

When Bentleys and Jaguars pass by, I think and hope that their owners have started as Web Developers.

Visits

One of the best things about being abroad is to have the opportunity to have visits.

If I was in Portugal I would be with my family and friends more often, and I could even have some people that did not live in Porto to pop in and say hello. But I would hardly have people coming just solely to meet me (and Mariana, and London, and Cambridge, and England, and everything else.. But this is my post, so let's pretend that it is solely to meet me). And having visitors is really awesome!

I've already had two visits in Cambridge, since I've moved here.

The first was João a friend from my Faculty in Porto who is doing is internship in Coventry. And the second was Miguel, also a friend from my Faculty, who lives in Porto, or maybe in Lisbon he was not sure yet.

It was really cool to show them around the city and show them where I live. I can imagine that since they were here they know as much about Cambridge as they did before they came. But the truth is that I haven't had the chance to get to know everything or memorise much. But I tried to make their stay pleasant. And this way they have still much to see here, and a purpose to come back here.

Nevertheless it was a real pleasure to have them here! :) I hope they also enjoyed their stay!

PS: this post is also a call for new guinea pigs, I mean visitors, to come to Cambridge. I need to perfect my tourist guide skills! And I'd love to have you test them!

A new way

In an effort to make more posts I am now using a feature from blogspot that allows me to easily make posts from my mobile phone.

Probably not big posts, but it some activity is better than no activity. :)