Swedish Bakery

I first saw the Merisi-esque elegant cakes in the window last week. This used to be Betty's cake decorating shop, where I once bought a bikini birthday cake for Ben and brought it to work to his great embarrassment.

And you must see these cakes close up!

*****

Zsolt tagged me. You all know how it works, so I'm doing an abridged version. I liked the format Zsolt used, so I'm copying that. Jenny, Curly, you'll have to settle with my lame answers!

1. Zsolt: I was born in Budapest but I don't remember anything:)

Meg: Yokohama, Japan. Mom wrote on that day: "Dad said, 'Oh, no, a girl she'll leave us one day.'" Though I live about 16 hours away from the parents, they are better-informed about my life than they are of my sister (90 min away) or brother (60 min away)!

2. Zsolt: When I was 4 I wanted to eat only bread with butter and honey. My mom was so worried that she took me to the doctor. The doctor said: “Don't worry! He will stop it one day”….and I did:)

Meg: On my 5th birthday, in our green house in Tucson, Arizona, I got up really early, and ran to the loo all excited, and promptly fell in the toilet because Dad left the seat up. Ever since that day, birthdays have been more contemplative than celebratory.

3. Zsolt: I am so lazy that I rather paid for a cleaner lady to visit regularly and clean my home. After Zannnie arrived she kicked out the cleaner lady….but I am still lazy to do housework:)

Meg: I am lazy perfectionist - not a good combination for good housekeeping or gardening, as I can't seem to work incrementally, but I can't trust anyone else to do it for me.

4. Zsolt: Once (I was like 17) I was sitting beside a beautiful blonde girl on a bench. I didn’t have the courage to initiate a conversation with her, so we were just sitting there like two dead fishes…(does anyone have a time-machine?):)

Meg: It took me two-and-a-half years, ladies and gentlemen, to convince Ben we were right for each other, a truly surprising feat considering I have the patience of a... burned out fuse.

5. Zsolt: In 1988 at the Czech-German border a very fat Eastern-German boarder guard stopped us and while his colleague was investigating our car he requested me to follow him to an office. Being there alone he removed his belt. I thought he was going to rape me or something… but he just changed it to an other one…

Meg: I used to work in an embassy in Tokyo. One time a student from that country was caught shoplifting, and I and the First Secretary had to go rescue him from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police HQ. Only I, as the interpreter, was allowed to go to the cell and speak to him, but before that, I was fingerprinted (all 10, not just thumbs), and then go behind three sets of electronic gates/doors, the kind where you walk passed, stop at the line, wait for it to close, then proceed to the next line, and wait for it to open, etc. I bet they still have my prints. The kid stayed in a luxury hotel before getting deported the next day; I just went home.

6. Zsolt: I used to play on guitar in a music group.

Meg: I learned to play the piano, alto sax, and took jazz singing lessons; I enjoyed all of them immensely, but I hate to practice, so never got anywhere with any of them.

7. Zsolt: Isabella is a freak!:) I have an uncanny (a word I never heard before):) ability, too. Anytime I leave my car in a mall’s parking house…I hardly can find it:)

Meg: On some days I have super good instincts about directions; on other days I'm totally off. I used to be able to remember people's names and significant dates instantly; now I have to use my fingers to count how old my nephews are.

8. Zsolt: I never learned English at school. Just by myself…so better not to hear my pronunciation.:)

Meg: I learned good English at school; then I went to the US and learned real American English, and now I use Kiwi English every day. No wonder I have language crisis about six time a day!!

If you laughed at more than three of the above, you have been tagged!