A personal alphabet for 2005

A - AICHI, Japan: visited Expo 2005 (March); Ecole d'AQUARELLE: attended Jan-June; ALLERGIES, multiple : discovered following blood-test (November); ALI: my Turkish teacher.

B - BULLET TRAIN (Shinkansen): travelled Kyoto-Nara/Nara-Nagoya (March); Le BOSS: this year, also le Birthday Boy (October); BODY BALANCE: weightloss/health improvement programme I started this year (October); BLOG: started this one (December) ; BOUNCING CZECH, coffee companion.

C - COMPUTER: died (May), replaced (June), seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time in front of it all year; LA CANEVA: best restaurant discovered this year (July); CLEARWIRE: my new ISP (September); LA CARIOCA: Anglo-Brazilian friend; CAT-LADY: French friend; CARPE DIEM: restaurant I frequent weekly with P.

D - DIGITAL photography: converted to it, with purchase of Nikon Coolpix 5200 (Feb); DAUNT BOOKS: favourite London bookshop (March); DIAMONDS exhibition at London's Natural History Museum: they closed it 3 months early, before I got there, the b*****s!; DOG-LADY: Italian friend and former Japanese classmate.

E - EXPO 2005, spent 2 days there, based in Nagoya (March); EUROPALIA Russia (September -December); ELLINIKON: probably my favourite restaurant in Brussels.

F - FUJISAN: I saw it ! (March) ; FIREFOX: I installed it (July); FABERGE exhibition: I enjoyed it (September); 43 THINGS website: I discovered it (December).

G - GUBBIO: visited the day before the Corsa dei Ceri (May); la GLOBETROTTEUSE: Swedish friend currently based in Seoul; GALERIE DU CINQUANTENAIRE: I must pass through it about 1000 times a year.

H - HANAMI: cherry-blossom viewing (March); HAKONE: went on pirate boat and cable car (March); HORLICKS: had to give it up (August); HELSINKI, Finland: travelled there by catamaran from Tallinn, Estonia (September); HERSEL', Scottish friend.

I - INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTS: sat exams (January), received Spanish-English translation diploma (April); ILMH: where I study Turkish (since September); L'ITALIANO café aka "my office".

J - JAPAN: this was the year I finally got there (March); JAPANESE: gave up - again - for now (May); JEWELLERY: still a passion, though not the obsession it used to be (even if I still lust after a blue diamond, and have not forgotten a black one I once saw ...).

K - KYOTO, KAMAKURA, KIMONO : among highlights of Japan trip (March); KOREA: visited LG in Seoul (April); KARINE D.: my favourite art historian, accompanied trip to Umbria (May); KEYCARDS: new electronic locks fitted in my building (September) - already lost one of the cards and had to be let in by concierge.

L - LATVIA and LITHUANIA: completed visits to 25 current EU Member States (September); LEGO-LADY: Danish friend and former colleague; LUNCH COMPANY: birthday treat from the Wiz - with LEMON TART (October).

M - MAR ADENTRO: best film I saw this year (Feb); MANGOES: bought the biggest ones I have ever seen in my life at Shinsegae department store, Seoul (April); Alexander McCALL SMITH, novelist: gave a hilarious talk for St. Andrew's Day at Scotland House (November); MADEIRA: where I will be spending Christmas (December); MOELLEUX AU CHOCOLAT: yum!

N - NARA: took some lovely photos (March); NAGOYA: lost camera containing lovely photos, including of the Expo (March); NIKON COOLPIX 5900: bought new camera in Tokyo (March); NaNoWriMo: couldn't hack it! (November); Les NANAS: café where I often meet M.

O - ORVIETO: fine town, fantastic Duomo (May); OZ aka the Wizard: another good friend, not to be confused with the OZZIE, aka Cerise, in Sydney.

P - PHONE-CHARMS: accumulated a bunch of these (March/April); PERUGIA, capital of Umbria and - though not while I was there - of Eurochocolate (May); (Au) PALAIS DES INDES: another favourite restaurant and venue for dinner with LC and family (June); PROXIS: keeps me supplied with books; PANNACOTTA: my favourite dessert, enjoyed this year at Mezzanine, La Caneva, La Fattoria del Chianti and Multi-Culti.

Q - QI GONG, went to classes (Jan-March); Q&A, by Vikas Swarup : best book read this year; QAMINARI, QAMINANTE: my internet aliases.

R - RAINBOW seen in RIGA, Latvia (September); ROUGE-CLOITRE: Brussels park/nature reserve within the Forêt de Soignes, starting point for several walks I got around to exploring this year.

S - SEOUL, S. Korea: visited LG at plum-blossom time (April); SCHLEIPER: art supplies store where I regularly spend a fortune to no good purpose; SMALL ROCKETS MAH JONG, SPONGEBOB COLLAPSE: terrible timewasters; SUZI-WAFFLES my oldest friend (not chronologically), in London.

T - TURKS - A Journey of 1000 Years: exhibition at Royal Academy, London (March); TAI CHI: went to classes with M. (Jan-March); TOKYO: Tokyo Tower, Ginza, Asakusa, Kaminari-mon (my gate, see Q!), Akihabara, ... loved every minute of it except the Tsukiji fish market! (March/April); TEA FOR TWO: tea-room with excellent scones and Nilgiri tea - now off limits! (last visited in June); TURKISH: started evening classes (September); TRANSSIBERIAN exhibition, Musée du Cinquantenaire (October).

U - UMBRIA: trip to "il cuor verde d'Italia" (May); URBINO : visited this beautiful Renaissance town in Le Marche (May).

V - VIDEO-entryphone: installed (March), still not working properly! VILNIUS, Lithuania: last stop on Baltic trip (September); Cercle des VOYAGEURS: one of my favourite haunts.

W - WATERCOLOUR-PAINTING : did hardly anything outside classes (Jan-June); WRITING: didn't do enough of that either; WOLUWE PARK: venue for WALKING, yet another thing I didn't do enough of.

X - XP, Windows: finally installed it (June); XPATS: website I waste a lot of time on.

Y - YAMAMOTO-SAN: my Japanese teacher, organiser of wonderful trip to Japan (Mar-April); YONGSAN: area of Seoul where I stayed with LG (April)

Z - ZAO: one of my favourite shops in Brussels; ZORBA: dining companion.