Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

Family

Our favourite TV shows (series)

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We tend to spend quite a lot of time every week watching TV shows (series), especially American series. Here are our some of our favourites new TV shows:

  • Fargo — Our rating: 10/10 — Ok then. When everything can go wrong. And goes wrong.
  • The Americans — Our rating: 9/10 — Married Soviet spies in America with a lot of problems to solve…
  • Halt and Catch Fire — Our rating: 9/10 — Young geeks and the beginning of the Silicon Valley (re: Silicon Valley).
  • Mr. Robot — Our rating: 9/10 — Still trying to make sense of it: computers + mental disorder.
  • Castle — Our rating: 8/10 — Book-writer cum private investigator married to a police detective.
  • Sherlock — Our rating: 8/10 — Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson but with a new twist.
  • Silicon Valley — Our rating: 8/10 — Young geeks and the current Silicon Valley (re: Halt and Catch Fire).
  • The Big Bang Theory — Our rating: 7/10 — The (caricatural) lives of scientists.
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine — Our rating: 7/10 — A hilarious police precinct.
  • Modern Family — Our rating: 7/10 — Modern families in the US.

Here are a few additional (old) ones that we keep around because, well, we love them:

  • Firefly — Our rating: 10/10 — The best sci-fi TV show ever.
  • Fawlty Towers — Our rating: 10/10 — Monty Python in a hotel.
  • Yes Minister — Our rating: 10/10 — What politicians really are.
  • 30 Rock — Our rating: 9/10 — A dysfunctional and hilarious TV network.
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — Our rating: 9/10 — Souvenirs of when I was a kid.
  • Lie to Me — Our rating: 9/10 — Genius microexpression interpretation.
  • Love Thy Neighbour — Our rating: 9/10 — When racism was fashionable. Wait. This is still the case.
  • That ’70s Show — Our rating: 9/10 — Young people in the 70s. With Mila Kunis.
  • The IT Crowd — Our rating: 8/10 — Have you switched if off and on again?
  • Spy — Our rating: 8/10 — When someone becomes a MI5 spy by mistake.
  • Scully — Our rating: 7/10 — Scouser’s dream to become a Liverpool FC player.
  • Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace — Our rating: 7/10 — Absolutely nonsensical.
  • One Piece — Our rating: 7/10 — Kyan’s favourite.

What about you?

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Happy birthday to all of us

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One interesting aspect of the Noulakaz family is that our four birthdays are celebrated over a period of exactly one month: between 25 August and 25 September.

It all started on 25 August when we celebrated Christina’s 40th birthday at home. A few days later, we had a small party at Flic-en-Flac, first on the beach, then at my parents’ bungalow.

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Ten days later, on 4 September, Anya became a teenager and we had a nice party at home. Interestingly, we asked Anya what she wanted as a gift and she asked for a radio-controlled car. To tease her, we told her that we were going to get her a nice Barbie doll instead but she resolutely refused…

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Two weeks later, we celebrated Kyan’s 11th birthday at my parents’ place with all members of the Meetoo family (except Cherina and Stéphane who are in France). Kyan got a nice Darth Vador figurine and a football and he was extatic. It’s easy to please an eleven year old boy.

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Finally, on 25 September, we celebrated Avinash’s 42nd birthday at home. He now has the answer but, of course, he has not yet figured out what the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is.

Phew. Four birthdays over one month is quite hectic. But we had a lot of fun. Bring on 2016!

PS: Happy birthday to Khemil who is 24 today.

Our holiday in France (Part 2)

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We had a very nice three-week holiday in France in May and the beginning of June. The main reason why we had to go in France was to participate in my sister’s wedding celebrations in Toulouse but we also travelled extensively in the south east of France towards Narbonne, Carcassone and Perpignan. Driving to Perpignan from Toulouse was a fantastic experience for all of us.

Wedding of Juju and Stéphane

The wedding took place on 30 May. After lunch, we went to the official ceremony at the Municipality of Castanet-Tolosan where the friendly Deputy Mayor made a nice speech on the importance of marriage. Then we went to Fiac to participate in the wedding celebrations. The setting was fantastic, the food was great and we had a lot of fun till the next morning.

Relaxing after the wedding

The next day, as you can easily imagine, we were all a bit knackered. Of course, the obvious remedy was some more beer and a very nice brunch à la française. By coincidence, Mother’s day was also being celebrated and the kids had some very nice and elaborate surprise gifts which they had prepared in Mauritius.

Les Grands Buffets, Carcassonne and at the newly married

On 1st June, we travelled to Narbonne, about 100 km from Toulouse, for lunch at Les Grands Buffets, a French gastronomic restaurant. After an excellent meal, we visited Carcassonne, a medieval town with beautiful castles and historical features. On returning to Toulouse, we promptly went to have dinner at the newly weds’ place.

Discovering beautiful Toulouse

We really discovered the beautiful centre of Toulouse, la ville rose, on 2nd June, when we explored la Place Wilson, the Capitolium or Place du Capitole, la Basilique Saint Sernin and ended the evening with a nice picnic on the banks of the Garonne in a warm feisty ambiance.

Aeroscopia, Airbus and relaxing at Castanet-Tolosan

A visit to Airbus is a must in Toulouse and this is what we did the next day. We had a guided tour of the factory where we saw the insides of an A380 (no photos allowed though). Before that, we visited the new museum called Aeroscopia, where we walked through the historic supersonic Concorde, the more recent A380 as well as some older planes, including fighters. Back to Castanet-Tolosan, we chilled out in the very warm swimming pool until dinner.

Driving to and discovering Perpignan

On 4th and 5th June, we had planned a trip to Perpignan, where Christina had to present a paper at a university conference. After a 2-hour trip, we reached la ville fleurie, settled in a nice little hotel and wandered through the colourful streets and parks of the town. We were able to enjoy the sights at the Castillet, visited the Palais des Rois de Majorque and sampled the tasty Catalan cuisine.

Going to Albi and having a Mauritian dinner at Castanet

On our last day in the south of France, we visited the bustling market of Albi and its Cathédrale Sainte Cécile before yet another nice meal in a typical French restaurant. To top it all, back in Castanet-Tolosan, we prepared a Mauritian dinner as a special thank you for the whole family.

Back to Paris by train

On 7th June, we bid good-bye to Chérina, Stéphane, Yves and Ghislaine and took the Intercités train for Paris. We enjoyed the bucolic landscapes and the names of the towns and villages such as Cahors, Souillac, Brive-la-Gaillarde, etc. We reached Paris in time for a barbecue dinner party organised by a friend of our uncle.

Last day in Paris and back to Mauritius

We took some time to wander again through the streets of Paris on our last day, completed some last-minute shopping and had a nice spicy lunch in Matchuk’s favourite Thai restaurant. We hugged Angela and Maya before heading for Paris CDG to catch our Emirates flight through Dubai. This three-week trip was truly memorable for us!