a day in toronto and how to get very emotional...

hey everyone!

i'm back from Toronto where I've gone for the 

last ever spice girls concert!!!

on monday night, after work, i've gone to buy the marc jacobs t-shirt on which victoria poses for skin cancer, and it looks great, doesn't it?

then i've made my way to the station to buy a bus ticket for toronto, even if i didn't have a ticket for the concert. after 9 hours in a fucking bus i couldn't even sleep well in and not more than 5 hours sleep, i was in toronto. the city's not great, lots of construction everywhere and not a clean city. plus it was so cold and snowing! i had met mengfan, who's also a spice girls fan from new york on the internet and we had agreed on meeting in toronto and drive back in the night. i went to her hotel to meet her, grab a shower and we made our way to holt renfrew, a posh store in toronto (a bit like selfridges or harrod's) in which victoria was doing a signing. we had to buy something from her collection though. so i decided to get the cheapest thing: a pair of tiny shorts for $175.00 ($180 something after tax, because in america, all the prices written are before tax, even in the supermarket... so annoying -_-) and i then got a refund. there was two lines, one for the people who had bought something from her range (you needed to show the ticket) and one for the ones who didn't buy anything. i don't need to explain that there was enough people in our line, so that the other ones never got to get anything signed. i joined my friends emma and dave in the line, and then jumped the queue which was not a bad thing. they were taking polaroid pictures of everyone but a bit before us they ran out. how annoying! so when my turn came, i shouted at the crowd to take pictures of me and her. she signed my t shirt and i went to the crowd to look for someone with my picture. there were a couple but i've lost a fucking email address because my phone is getting stupid and won't open my drafts anymore!!! i got this one though:

then we went to air canada centre where the concert took place. we went to the box office straight away and found some fucking great floor seats for the normal price. they always do that, we've noticed, releasing great seats at the last minute! i actually didn't know that i could get emotional over that tour. the spice girls themselves were teary, but on goodbye, my friends emma and mengfan and i just burst into tears! geri saw us (well we had been shouting her name since the beginning and we were next to the catwalk, so she really couldn't miss us!) and she started crying also! that was so sad! i've dreamt about that reunion for 10 years, i've always told myself that this tour would be a way to pass onto something else, forget the girls and think about myself a bit more, but when you've been a fan for 12 years, talking about them, listening to their music, and having an interest in everything they do every single day for that period of time, they take a big part of your life. i know this is a one-way thing, that they don't even remember my name, but i can't help but loving them and when i realized on tuesday that that was the end, that i would never see them again like that, the five of them, that just made me totally sad. it was like losing your best friend. i love those girls to pieces!

mengfan and i drove back to new york (yes i've driven a car in america and on the snow!) and i managed to catch a couple of hours sleep in the car. back in new york, i went home, rested a bit, took a shower and it was time to go back to work!

once again thanks to those who commented:

nina: how did the interview go? can't believe you never saw fan de!!! and my room costs $200 a week, which is roughly €150, which is nothing! everyone's jealous!!!

flo: you have to watch what's going on in atwt, it's so freeky!!! and especially the little video i sent you the link for, it's so sweet!!!

fred: i'm so sorry i miscalled you!!! i miss you so much too!!!

mwah!

moving in the snow... + link to fan de

hi guys!

i have moved into my new room yesterday!!! so i've moved from this:

to that:

it's been quite difficult to move my big suitcase in the snow, so i had to call a cab at the end, but it was worth it! the room is much bigger, i can even do my yoga in it, so i need to buy a new yoga mat now! i had to go and buy sheets and pillows and comforter and they're not cheap in here i found! but i'm happy!

i've started my job tonight and it went well, but i just can't wait to get my money now! and i need to be off on tuesday for the last ever spice girls show in toronto! i've talked to a fan who's renting a car and he's going on monday, but we've decided that after the concert we would go back to nyc together splitting the driving and turning up the volume of the spice girls songs we would listen to!!! that'd be real fun!

oh and i've been working on something too! you know i met the spice girls for a french TV show back in 2000 right? so i've worked on the subtitles, and putting the real sound in english for the meeting, so that english people can actually understand, and it's now on youtube! here's the link:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PF67LHD7kTk

thanks again to those who have posted comments. nina, you're officially the most into it and the most present and i thank you for that. for those who don't know it, nina and i have known each other since we were babies, we've been to school together until we were 19!!! thanks for the picture on flickr, i like that one! you should post the ones from our wild teenager nights!!!

fatime, don't you worry, how could i forget so wonderful friends! especially when they give me news (contrarily to others! ;-))

love ya guys, mwah!

Chicago the Musical in Broadway

hello guys!

that's all news i have, i went to see chicago in broadway yesterday. chicago is actually one of my favorite movies and i wanted to see the musical in london, but never did. tim, my friend who used to be a dancer on broadway a few years back, invited me as his friend stephen got us tickets. the seats were pretty good as we were on the 5th row and right in the middle. the actresses playing roxie and velma were great, as was mama morton, and billy flinn was played by john schneider, who used to be in the dukes of hazzard. that's the blond guy on the picture:

i've decided i'm gonna push tim to go back to musicals. he wants to but i'm just gonna make sure he does. we went to a bar where they had acts singing or doing something else, that was cool. then i joined my friend william in a karaoke bar, where i sang a few songs and met the two hosts, a swiss guy called jeremy and a lovely lady called mimi, who had her own mini-mimi!!!

i didn't start work today finally because they're refurbishing the bar and they could not open today as the work is not finished. but i start tomorrow at 1pm.

ho, and tomorrow i'm moving to my new place! i've found a cheap big room. i have to buy a duvet (or a comforter as they call it in here) and some pillows and sheets, but once i'll have moved the bed to a corner, next to the wardrobe, i'll be able to do my yoga in my room!!! i'll try to take a picture of it.

thanks to fatime (i'm not sure fat's a great nickname though), celine (you're not the first person to call me alanou though), and of course the most regular on here nina for your comments! love you guys! keep reading!

mwah!

spice girls live in madison square garden

hello you lot!

like you must have read it in the title, i made it to madison square garden to see the spice girls live on monday night and that was, as victoria would say, "major!" my friend carol and i ended up standing right in front of the end of the catwalk!!! this is how close to the stage we were:

and this is how well we saw the girls when they were right at the front:

while singing mama, the girls brought their children on stage. cruz, victoria's latest son, literally stole teh show by break dancing!!! that was so sweet!

and at the end of the song, bluebell, geri's daughter took the mic and sang, a capella s'il vous plait, "mama, i 'ovyou!!!" she was adorable!!!

and as a last shot from the concert, here is victoria's solo part, a catwalk when she makes fun of herself like no tabloid will ever be able to, and i love her for that:

after the concert, we ran to a taxi to the hotel, to try and meet them when they get in. some of them had already arrived, but geri, after writing on the blog for the official website, went out and even if most pictures did not work, i managed to have a glimpse!

but the best was going back to the hotel this morning. we saw 3 spice girls in like 5 minutes!!! first one out was melanie c. i've worked on the picture, but you know my phone's camera is so bad! she was so sweet!

second out was geri. she went straight in the car to put on bluebell's seatbelt, and then she came out to sign stuff, talk a bit to us but her manager asked us not to take any pictures.

but taking too much care of geri, we almost missed melanie b who had made her way to her car already! she was about to go, her manager saying they did not have time. the car went, then stopped, and she went out, took pictures with everyone!!! thank you sofie for the picture, at least this one's much better than the one with melanie c! i showed mel my picture of me and her at fan de when we kiss and she said she remembered and "that was funny!"

i then spent a time with sofie, and we enjoyed ourselves taking silly pictures with a taxi...

... and a police car that i tried to rob... lol

oh and the french people will understand the joke with the last two letters of nypd! lol

to finish, talking about my friends who i am not going to see for a while now, here's a picture of all of us in front of a mini statue of the liberty:

i have also changed all the pictures on last friday's post "a day at the beach" with better quality ones! thanks again to sofie, carol and emma for those!

now, thank you guys again for your comments.

flo: i have not gotten any news back from my job, i hope they still want me to work for them! but there's a chance i might still be in new york in may! but will you come?? only kidding!

and stop stealing my magv's words!

nina: thanks for making the effort to write in english! kiss everyone for that! missing you here!

celine: about gurvan, good luck! lol and yes i get a free drink after my shift, so i can try the wines i'm selling!

love you guys!

young professional...

hi everyone!

you are reading the blog from someone who works in new york!!! hehe, yeh, i got the job at that wine bar, i just got an email about it! so who's gonna be fired then? that sounds like big brother! but they're doing refurbishment at the moment and i will not start before thursday, and i really need the money now, but we'll see.

going out on friday i've met that guy who told me he lived in the area and had a room available that i might be able to take. the room is $200 per week, cheaper that what i pay here! but he emailed to day saying that i would have to stay at least 6 months, and that's not possible as i have a 3 months visa! unless i go on holiday for a week just before 3 months, come back and, hop, that's another 3 months starting! hehe.

and another good news: i have found a great ticket for the spice girls for tomorrow on ticketmaster, that means it's face value and it's sure it's a real ticket! but they asked me for the US address my credit card was registered on, and i gave the address from my hotel, but it's registered in the uk, so i'm not really sure it's gonna work. so tomorrow early in the morning, i'll go to madison square garden and see if i can take the ticket. if not, i know that guy who's selling good tickets.

by the way, i was telling you about my spice girls fans friends who i meet with a lot at the moment. angie went back to canada and she 

put a few pictures on facebook. so let me introduce you to, from left to right, sofie, a random lady, carol, a poser, emma (who i know from london) and angie (a star on denden, the official spice girls forum):

and here's a little picture of me going crazy in the subway (see, i am still that mad even so many

 miles away!):

yesterday night, emma, carol, their friend marcelo and i went to a corean karaoke bar. you know you have to pay $2.00 per song in those, but that didn't stop us! so we started singing lots of songs, from spice girls (of course) to britney spears, stacie orrico, etc. it was a big fun until the girl at the bar said we could not sing anymore because those customers were fed up with our singing. i don't know if it's me and marcelo's version of "i'm a slave for you" they didn't like but we decided to leave then. we explained that we were just having fun, that we had had drinks, that we had paid $28.00 only for the songs and that if they don't want to hear us, they'd better either sing their own songs, or leave. well we had a blast anyways!

response to the comments now:

thanks guys for your comments, that is always good to read. now, to fatime (and fred who agreed): i never said some people read it more or whatever, i just thanked nina and flo because they were the ones who commented on the last post! this way i can now thank nina, celine, and you fatime and fred for your comments! love you guys!

by the way, instead of posting with "anonymous", you can choose "name/url" and you can enter just a name and no url. that should work.

mwah!

a day at the beach!!!

hi guys!!!

ok yesterday was kind of a special day for a citizen as i met with 

my friends i was telling you about on weds and 

we took a train to... the beach!!!

first of all here's a picture from the subway of the brooklyn bridge:

arriving at conley island, which is south of brooklyn, we went to this place called nathan's famous, which is supposed to be famous for its hot dogs, but they had nothing special at all, and the place was dirty!!! here's an picture from the outside:

then, when emma arrived (because she didn't wake up on time), we went on to the beach!!!

how fun is that to be in new york and on the beach!!! here's me and emma, and a little movie i've made with my phone:

so we then went back to manhattan to grab something to eat. little picture of me next the american subway:

gosh, you guys wanted pictures? here you have a bunch!!! well the bad thing is my camera is shit on my phone, but my friends should send me pictures soon, so i'll swap those ones with new better ones.

my friends went on the top of the rockefeller center to watch the whole city from there, but i couldn't as i had to go to work for my second training. the training went well, i'll receive an email on sunday to know if i have the job or not. either i have it, and i should because i'm brilliant (!), or i won't and they've just taken me on a training just to get an extra waiter for free for two days. which is actually silly because they hardly pay anyway.

today i went to hand some more resumes, i then went on the internet, looking for a good deal for the spice girls concert at madison square garden on monday and for the very last gig in toronto on the 16th. we'll see how it goes, i can't find one ticket on its own!

i don't know yet what i'm gonna do tonight but hey. it's friday and i feel like going out a bit.

finally, to flo and nina: thanks a million for your comments, they're not here to fill the page, it just means that you are interested in what i write and that you think about me! love you guys!

a day with some spice girls fans

hey bitches!

first of all how do you like the title image??? not very well done ok but i don't have paint or photoshop so...

i'm not sure i'm going to continue posting on my french blog, as i think most people who read my blogs can read in english, so we'll see...

today i've spent the day with my friend emma from london and her friends from denden, a spice girls forum. we had fun and now i have someone to visit the city with! we got crazy singing spice girls song, i'm sure you didn't wanna be here! lol. i'll see the girls again tomorrow and we'll even go up the rockefeller center to have a view of the whole city at the end of the afternoon. then i'll have to go to work for my second non-paid training day!

here are a few picture of me with a replica of the statue of liberty and in front of the empire state building:

                         

i'll also post pictures of the whole group of us soon, as soon as i get them, because i can't take good pictures as i've lost my good camera phone :(

to nina: thanks for your comment. things are getting fine now in new york indeed. i don't know was that job thing will work out but it'd better or i will have to leave soon. yep, money goes very quickly even if everything is so cheap in here! and i really miss london, but i don't want to leave just yet! 

have a good day guys and we talk soon! love ya!

alan a. x

It's snowing A LOT!!!

hey guys!!!

it's been snowing a lot today! here is a picture of the all-white-by-the-snow new york, when i went out of my hotel this afternoon! and it hasn't stopped all afternoon! so when I said on my french blog that new york is a too big and warm city for the snow to stay i guess i was wrong. but unfortunately it's not snowing anymore now and they say it's gonna be raining tomorrow :( but that made me really feel happy.

i was out yesterday with caitlen, a resident here at the hotel, and it was so cold! like -10˚c!!! we went to that bar 10 minutes walk from here and we had a good time. lots of pop corn, lots of vodka and coke as usual and even one round offered by the (very cute) bartender. caitlen told me she got this double room on the 4th floor with tv for the same price as my tiny single room with no socket! she's so nice, she even said she would talk to the guys at the reception for me!

i had a trial today in a wine bar. trial here means 6 hours unpaid, times 2. i'm also working on thursday from 6 and i can't even get my share of the tips, because it's only a training! they expect you to know your wines well, and there are about 60 different sorts!!!! and if i get the job, that means they're gonna fire someone!!! nice way to get respect from your colleagues! lol but i kinda made friends with that spanish guy who might have a room for me, for cheap, but it's in harlem... we'll see!

i'm gonna say something i have said on my french blog already (sorry for those who read both on here.) you know about americans being being fatter than the rest of the world usually (they say it so themselves, i'm not just being mean!) but it's actually the case for lots of things. for example, i went to mcdonald's and a medium meal had bigger fries than a large meal in europe, the drinks are huge too, and they don't know any meal called "cheeseburger meal", they only have the "2 cheeseburgers meal" (and it's the cheaper deal)!!! and their special burgers are not quarter pounders or half pounders but... pounders!!! same for the huge pizza we had last weekend (i posted a picture in the last post, even if it doesn't look that big on the photo) same for a cheese and bacon bagel i had, they cut it in too and put 4 slices of cheese on each half!!! that was too much! but there's something i like in mcdonald's though: they have dr pepper as a drink!!!!!!

i'll finish with a little thing for fatime and for those who don't have a google account and who have tried to post comments: now everyone is able to do it. just click on where it says how many comments have been posted underneath and choose to post with a nickname that you enter. and i will reply to every post! come on you have no excuse now!

love you guys, take care and don't do anything i wouldn't do! (that leaves a marge!)

alan a. x

one week!

hi my friends!

well it's been a week already i've been in new york!

it's hard to find a job, especially on the weekend so i've had a break for the weekend and i'll start again tomorrow. 

but yesterday i was out with my friend tim, a guy i've met in a bar in the week, and we went to a friend of his, jessica, for a video-pizza house party (tim with the HUGE american pizza on the

 picture!) then with his other friend stephen we went to a neighborhood bar, as they call them here, where tim and steve knew the bartenders and got me an appointment for monday, when i'll have to bring my resume and have a chat with them. as well, a wine bar where i have given my resume has just called me and wants to see me on

 tuesday and be trained on thursday! cool! of course, i will let you know about everything!

thanks for you guys who posted your comments.

the link is about that singer i discovered in a movie in london and he's performing in new york next saturday, and i'm listening a lot to his music at the moment, because it's very easy to listen to.

ok, i'm now joining my friend jason in a bar, he's from california but in new york for the weekend. i'll ask the manager of the bar if they're hiring! lol

special message:

FLO: been everywhere, i can't find your t-shirt about Heath so try to find me addresses of shops where they have it!

love you guys!

after a few days...

hey everyone!!!

just a quick drop to let you know that everything is fine here, but I need a job!

i got a sim card so i now have cell number and i was able to print my cvs. the thing is to leave them and i wish florence was there to push me!

i had taken pictures yesterday but i have lost my phone in a bar :) well my phone i used in france with my english sim card in, but it's annoying.

will write again soon, don't have much to say today...

In New York!!!

hello everyone!!!!

i've arrived yesterday in New York!!! at last!

well actually i arrived quite early but it didn't show as we then had to queue for 2 hrs for the customs. So annoying.

i found it difficult then to find my way to manhattan as the only train I found was going to jamaica station... how on earth am I supposed to know where the hell is Jamaica Station?

anyway, I found a bus which took me to grand central station, yes THE grand central station from the films!!!! lol. and before the bus got in the bridge (because we didn't drive ON the bridge, but in a tunnel IN the bridge) I could see the empire state building!!!

i then took a cab to my hostel, which is alright, yet quite crap, so I'm gonna try to find something else today. and i need to try to find a job also! and i wanna find a sim card so that i can receive texts and calls!

i went to eat something at a place called "ray's pizza" yesterday, but they put too much fat and cheese in my bagel for me! 4 slices of cheese, i'm not kidding! but the name made me think of my former manager in metro restaurant!

i then went to a gay bar in the neighborhood.  i talked to that guy who was really sweet and after 3 vodka and coke (each double at $3!!!), i went to bed. but in gay bars you find free gay magazines and i have a map of manhattan with all the gay bars here! lol.

i came in starbucks to check my emails and to write this, but as silly i am, i forgot my adapter and i cannot plug in my computer and i have to be quick because i have only 4 min remaining on my battery!

funny story: i asked for a large skinny latte, but apparently there's a whole variety of skinny lattes, so the guy told me to order a large non fat skinny latte next time! lol

i'm now going to go back to the hostel, to leave my laptop, then i'm gonna go see that place in chelsea (the new yorker soho!) with room advertised as "$130 weekely." i need to find out if it's $130 a night, but pay weekly, or $130 a week and it's crap, but i might still have a look at the room!

and i need a sim card!

do not hesitate to comment!

love you guys!

alan x.