Saviez-vous Que.. /Did You Know That.. ?

Oriente train station and Vasco de Gama Brige in Lisbon. 

Mais Sintra..

The perspective that wasn't mine yesterday

Somewhat continues from the post below..

But anyways news for those who haven't heard that I changed a job. Still in a video game industry but found  a better deal in a different company where I started  as a Linguistic tester a month ago. As much as I loved working at Babel, they couldn’t offer me anything else but functionality testing on call contract with evening shifts. Now with Enzyme Testing Labs I’ll actually get to do the linguistic stuff and have better pay, better working hours (no more evening shifts!) and the location is slightly closer to home too. 

This is actually the first time when my employer is making a contract of any fixed hours with me. I’ve always been on call and luckily the shifts, often more than I could actually do, have always come in. So I do feel like I’m being tied down a bit. Can’t do any big or (at least long term) travelling plans or anything cause the summer is high season for video game industry and naturally employees aren’t encouraged to take much time off then. And not that I would have money for travels anyway...But so far I’ve been more than happy to explore and discover the city of Mtl and that’s why haven’t traveled much in Québec/Canada so if this is the furthest I can go I’ll be fine with it. 

However, I did some travelling in April. 

Made a Easter voyage to the Québec’s capital, also named Québec which is over 200km from Montréal to north. It’s been one of my “must go” destinations for years and it was truly a fascinating and charming journey to see all those places where the history of not only Québec’s but also of Canada and North America took place. This is where it all began. The place where they established hospitals, schools, newspapers, museums and churches among others earlier than anywhere else in North America. The city was a battle ground for wars and battles that later came to define Canada and Québec.

Moi, en Québec finalement!

Today the city is known mostly for the most photographed hotel in the world Château Frontenac and for Vieux Québec, the old part of the city which is partly 400 years old and obviously a Unesco World Heritage Site. If my trip to Ottawa last fall was an eye opening experience in Canadian culture and history, this trip was exactly the same in la culture et l’histoire québécoise. I could seriously go on forever about history of this city... #historyfreak #quebecoise

I ain't wearing my winterboots in April anymore damnit!

But what we actually did in Québec: stroll around in the still empty streets of vieux Québec (no masses of tourists yet), did some shopping, ate well and visited the musée de la civilisation where the First Nations were represented respectively too. The more northern location was easily noticed in the chilly weather and the amounts of snow they had in the parks and the streets. The three days were seriously a good exercise too cause the city’s been built on hills and it seemed like there was nothing else but a staircase after another. Oh boy did my feet hurt on Monday after the trip! But it was vraiment québecois and there is no place where you could feel the political atmosphere (anglos against the francos) clearer than in Québec in my opinion. This is not a criticism just an observation. 

Moi sur les Plaines d'Abraham.

Weatherlike...Summer has finally kicked in! Had a few days of tropical +30 temperatures but otherwise it's been comfortably warm even thou spring was clearly late. In the beginning of May it was still quite grey and bald in naturelike but now everything has catched up. J'aime ça!

However, there is a one big down side in my life and year in Mtl. Room mates.. who I've had 15 in total by now and this doesn't include the new changes coming up at the flat within a few weeks. As much I love this appartment, the room and the location, it truly sucks that we don't have any saying about who's gonna move in. My landlord is great but he doesn't really care how we get along with each other as long as everybody pays their rents and don't seriously destroy anything...

Nothing major issues I guess but just stuff that truly bugs me. Having soirées late in the night during the week and not participating of the expences that we share together. Nobody cleans. It's also hard to have any kind of system with room mates that keep on changing this frequently. But oh well.. less than two months and these problems will be far away cause I'll be living with my mom again! And how much fun is that gonna be - NOT! 

Allrighty then, I think that was it for now.. thanks again for reading! :)

Typical Lisboa! 

Mid-tempo tracks in ESC 2018

This year, besides the up-beat tracks and ballads we’ve got group of mid-tempo entries which all happen to have a bit dark, soul, jazz sounds in them. I love them all but I know some will go down in the semifinals. Especially when they’re almost all in the 1st semifinal...Which one is your favourite? 

They appear in the alphabetical order: 

AUSTRIA - CESÁR SAMPSON - NOBODY BUT YOU (1st semifinal)

I’ve warmed up to this slowly but gotta admit that there’s something in this. Nice beat, stands out with gospel/soul sound, he sings well - quite like his voice! I see this qualifying if only the live show goes well. 

BELGIUM - SENNEK - A MATTER OF TIME (1st semifinal)

I’m one of the rare ones who don’t get this nor the hype around Belgium’s entry this year. I see that Sennek is talented, she has a vision, this is arty instead of “fast food” music. This is lyrically heavy but it’s balanced with the light melody. It’s interesting, sophisticated but I’m still waiting for my wow moment with this. I see this qualifying.

BULGARIA - EQUINOX - BONES (1st semifinal)

I kind of ignored Bulgaria this year due to the similarity other entries. But been watching some reaction and fan favorite videos and I quite like it as well! This has a very nice sound with multiple layers including the different vocals that makes it to stand out. It’s heavy, haunting and dark. I’m really looking forward to see this live. I believe strongly that this will qualify. 

CROATIA - FRANKA - CRAZY (1st semi)

Croatia took a hit recently it was revealed that Crazy existed before sung by another artist. Franka enlightened that the two songs had same producers and that “Crazy” is the original one. Not sure where allegations stand at the moment though. This is jazzy - I like its beat. I like this a lot but I’m afraid this will fall being too generetic unless they really nail it with the live show. Which they might be able to do because the music video is stunning! However Croatia will perform just before Austria which I found better - I’m worried.

LATVIA - LAURA RIZZOTTO - FUNNY GIRL (2nd semifinal)

I fell in love with this for the first time I heard it. I know it’s not a winning song or even qualifying one but I’m liking it. It’s sexy, playful - there’s this 007 sound in it. But I think as much as I love it I don’t see it standing out enough to qualify. Only being in the second semifinal might save Latvia since Thursday live show is missing almost all mid-tempo tracks. 

Photos from my visit to Coimbra, 4th biggest city in Portugal. It’s famous for its university which is one of the oldest in the world and especially the beautiful library Joanina (no photographing allowed!). Such a lively student city. Easy to reach from Lisbon and the city can be covered in one day easily. The city has more medieval feel than other portuguese cities I’ve been to. Here’s the first part of the photos I captured. 

Randomly Lisboa! 

Xmas at home was so white, quiet and cold but in a good way. 

Last summer in Suomenlinna, the sea fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site.