Updates on life, Hong Kong and Beijing

As always, I will lapse into periods where I stop blogging. I can't say that I am short of time, because to be honest I have quite a good work-life balance unless I am on field work. I guess it is more a matter that I am trying to figure out why I blog and what do I want to write here, and who do I want to be reading this, especially in this day and age of Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook and Twitter have no doubt changed the way we communicate and share things, but it is something I am growing weary of, especially now that everything I want to read requires them to access my details and then tell everyone what I read on their site. I am so sick of it that most of the time I don't even allow them to do it. And while Twitter is good for quick and dirty updates and news feed, it is hardly a forum to express deep thinking and ideas. Oh yes, Facebook is terribly bad at allowing us to search for our old posts, so things do get lost in the mess that is our timeline

I started blogging in 2001 (on this other old platform) because I wanted a space to write and document my thoughts and emotions. Somewhere along the line, I switched to a pen and paper diary where (surprise, surprise) I write everything down in Chinese. However this habit of introspection of mine kinda stopped previously because life really got too busy - work, family, friends; hardly have time left for myself!

So who I am writing for now that I am sitting here and writing this post? I guess I am primarily writing for myself, as a diary. But at the same time, I don't want to share 100% of how I feel exactly, because we know that is just a nasty place don't we? I kid. I guess it is more so because the internet is so open, that anyone can stumble upon this place. But the truth is also that I do want people to stumble here and see what I have to say. It is one of those contradictions that I can't resolve in my head right now.

What has been up with me?

1. Hong Kong Work Trip

Just a while, I went to Hong Kong for a work trip, and it definitely is the highlight of my career so far because it was one the best project that I have ever done. I went with a colleague to Hong Kong as the 2nd leg of a study of the silver segment and their attitudes toward health and health supplements. It was a very exciting and interesting study made even better because we entered the respondents homes to understand them even more, and also because of the great company I had in Hong Kong!

I had an excellent time exploring Hong Kong, and it made me realize that you do need to know at least some locals to tell you where to go and what to see. Had an amazing time weaving through the small streets and eating extremely local street-side food.

Took this along Central where the old ladies sit and gather to chat

I really love this shot because to me, this is the quintessential shot of Hong Kong

And that's Mo and I

2. Beijing Trip with mom

And just a couple of weeks before this, over the Good Friday long weekend, I took a couple of days leave and brought mommy to Beijing. Its my first time going on a long holiday with mom and this is something that I have been meaning to do for quite a while. I mean when I was young, my parents worked very hard to make sure that I got an education, they scrimped and they saved, and now that I am finally working, I think it is only right that I make sure they can get to enjoy themselves.

Stayed with my friend who is working in Beijing and we basically just went exploring. It was really lovely to just go around a place without the pressure of a time table. We went to many places and was really awed at how hugeass these places were. However, we were quite disappointed at how badly preserved the monuments and artifacts were. It was dusty and dirty, the artifacts were encased by glass which no one bothered to clean, the wood was old and dry, the colours were coming off. It certainly looked its age though.

The requisite photo of the Great Wall. This was the MuTianYu section

That's me doing the 'walking' shot!

And that's mom and I!

So that was a quick highlight of what's been going on. What might life be in the next week? Some cycling and some dates and I don't know, but I will be sure to update!

XOXO!

J'adore Paris! (Part 2)

I know that I am usually very slow at things, but now that I have some time, I guess its high time I continue on my Paris posts, and then after that get down to writing the Melbourne post that I took with Fabby =D


History

One of the many things I love about Paris is the rich history and the deep heritage that only so many nations in the world can boast about. I mean compare to Singapore, where our history is a brief 6 lines, the thousands of years of history there, is just amazing. Of course the first thought that came to me was that: "It must be VERY difficult to be a student studying the history of their own country". I mean just the name of the Kings alone must be confusing enough.

With a place so steeped in History, there are so many places to go and visit. And honestly, one trip to Paris is definitely not enough to see them all. We picked a few choice places and set out on our journey.

One of the first few places that we went to was the Sacré Coeur Basilica. 

On the steps outside the Sacré-Coeur Basilica

It took us a while to find it, because all we had was a little city map, and we used the general direction, and some road signs to help us find our way. Its not too difficult to get there really, and it is really worth the walk up. Inside the Basilica was just the most amazing interior, with all the glass windows and beautiful and grand design. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside (or that my iPhone was just not good enough to capture good enough shots), so there are no photos of the insides. One thought that was constantly buzzing in my head was: "How did they do this so many years ago". These buildings were at least half a millennia old, and they do not have any form of modern technology. 

At the Château de Versailles, this sense of awe continued. 

The Château de Versailles

The garden view

This place was the palace where many of the Kings used to stay, and it was also where the infamous French Revolution March on Versailles took place, and drove the monarchs back to Paris. But that's history lesson which I shall not touch on. Stepping into this building, is no mean feat - you first need to get past the throng of tourists, which comes by the busloads. But if you put aside these annoying tourists (Yes I am talking about the majority of the Chinese tourist), and rent the audio-guide, it will be an unforgettable experience, and an exercise in the art of "Zen".

The interior is just so opulent, and so gorgeous. And the paintings on the ceilings left me breathless. I mean, how do they paint these things? It is literally on the roof, look at the pictures. The pictures are breathtaking, and detailed. With the ancient techniques, they make it look almost life-like.

One of the many grand halls

Painting ON the roof

Look at how they 3-dimensional and real they look

Of course no trip to Paris is complete without a visit to Musée de Louvre. 

The requisite shot

The tunnel leading to the Louvre

As expected, it was swarming with tourists, and to be very honest, I am more annoyed with them than the Parisians. In fact, like I said earlier, the Parisians are far friendlier than I expected. It is the tourists, armed with the digital cameras who go around taking a snap of EVERYTHING that really upsets me. I mean we are there to soak in the atmosphere and understand the paintings and the history. What is the point of going to place, not knowing anything about it, but leaving with 2,000 photos that one will never look through again?

The Mona Lisa was one such painting that EVERYONE was trying to get a million shots of. And frankly, it was underwhelming. However the painting right opposite Mona Lisa, which was such a great work from Paolo Veronese. It was The Wedding at Cana, just about the largest piece of art in the Louvre. But of course no one paid attention.

Of course I had to get a shot of the Mona Lisa 

The interior of the Louvre

Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to spend there, one need weeks and months to finish everything, and if you have the time, try to allocate at least one full day there. Don't get the audio-guide though, it is useless.

Well of course along the way we passed by other historical monuments, it is Paris after all.

Cathedral de Notre Dame

The Concorde

The Pantheon

That concludes my 2nd post on Paris. There's really a lot to share ain't it? Well let's hope I find time to blog soon. A bientot.

J'adore Paris! (Part 1)

[Disclaimer: When talking about Paris, or any country for the very matter, it is easy to generalize because its a one snapshot view of the country, so here's my perspective of the lovely city]

There are many things to love about Paris, and Europe in general. Well I haven't been to the entire Europe but in the few places that I visited (Paris, Maastricht and Amsterdam), I can tell you that I liked what I saw. Or it could also be that I went there with little expectations, especially after hearing all the horror stories of how "unsafe" Europe is! C'est vrai! At one point in time, I was almost convinced that India, or god forbid, Johor and Kuala Lumpur would be safer than going to Paris!

You know with all the pickpockets, thiefs, scammers and big burly men who will do the unimaginable to you. But I am happy to report that I'm safe and to my surprise, Parisians are generally more friendly that I thought!

People:

The Parisians are Parisians (yes I know I sound like Prime Minister Lee). Most of them really live up to their stereotype of being tall and blonde and good looking. But surprisingly, it was the guys who are really the stunners. The cute to normal ratio is very high. Everywhere you go, you're bound to see at least a couple of really cute French boys. The nice floppy hair, in a lovely shirt and pants, with a scarf sometimes (because it was spring).

And here's a picture of a cute french boy who was our intern! Fabien! We met up with him in Paris and it was lovely to catch up!

At Shakespeare & Co. with Fabien

What surprised me most about the Parisians is that they are surprisingly very friendly. There was one lady who saw that @alexischeong and I looked lost and offered to help, in French first of course. When we told her that we don't speak good French, she immediately conversed with us in English. She was such a lovely lady and showed us the way to our destination, walking with us a for big part of the way as she was heading in the same direction.

There was another gentleman who asked Alexis and I where we were from, as we were pretty tall for Asians, and he just wanted to let us know that we looked really good. Such a pleasant surprise isn't it?

Food:

As the introduction of Ratatouille says: "While other countries may dispute this, we French know that the best cuisine in the world comes from France, and the best food in France comes from Paris..." And to be honest, I suspect they are not lying. The best food I ever had in my entire was in Paris, and I'll let you know that my favourite cuisine in the world, is still good old Chinese food, so that says A LOT.

Without a doubt, Chez l'ami Jean was the biggest highlight of our trip, and in terms of gastronomy experience, the highlight of my life thus far

queuing for food despite reserving 3 months in advance

This is a quaint little restaurant located in the heart of Paris, but not in the famous stretches. The chef is what you imagine to be a grumpy chef who will clap his hands loudly to get his waiter's attention and will bark loudly. But all this was because he wants to serve excellent food to the customers. And boy we were delighted with the really excellent food. We ordered 2 carte blanche, something like degustation menu where we get to try many different dishes, and a normal set dinner for 4 of us to share. The thoughtful staff knew that we were sharing and made sure that the food was divided into 4 portions and we were all served at the same time!

The highlight of the night has got to to be the lamb rack, the scallops and the rice pudding. They are simply heavenly and done to perfection. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The scallops that was finger licking good

Lamb rack! The most heavenly thus far

This is the rice pudding

close up of rice pudding

For breakfast, there's nothing much to shout about as it is not a big thing for the Parisian, most of them don't even eat breakfast, but if they do, it will be the usual pain au chocolat (chocolate bread), pain aux raisins (raisins bread), croissant, tartine (baguette with butter and jam) and that will come with a cup of espresso and orange juice. Simple but it was very lovely to be able to just sit, facing the road I must add, and just sip the coffee and have breakfast.

A typical French Breakfast

Tartine

I also read a while ago on New York Times about this ice cream place called Berthillon, and it is as legendary as people make it out to be. Its located on one of the little isle on the Seine, so pop over there for an awesomely creamy ice cream. This is the original shop, so come to this one instead of the many other little modern places that serves Berthillon ice cream.

Berthillon

I suspect it was Dark Chocolate ice cream

And yes Paris is all about desserts, so who can forget Laduree and Pierre Hermé. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of Pierre Hermé. But having tried both their macaroons, I declare Pierre Hermé as being the better one of the two. The taste integrates so well and it is so much softer and elegant. It is also a lot more expensive. I had this floral one which was light but very yummy! Not to say that Laduree is not good, it is really really good too! And the queue is long and all, but it is not at the same level as Pierre Hermé

Rows and rows of sweets!

List of places you need to to try:

Chez L'ami Jean

27 Rue Malar,

75007, Paris France

Tel: 01 47 05 86 89

Le Fumoir (for their awesome risotto) 

6 Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny
75001 Paris, FranceTel: 01 42 92 00 24

Pierre Hermé

72 Rue Bonaparte, Paris

Tel: 01 43 54 47 77

Laduree

21 Rue Bonaparte, Paris

Tel: 01 44 07 64 87

Berthillon

31 Rue St Louis en l'ile

75004 Paris

Tel: 01 43 54 31 61

That concludes post 1 out of a few different posts I will write about Paris! Stay tune!

Paris Trip - A preview

Hello! So I've been back from Paris for more than a week now, and its back to the daily grind. Sorry for the lack of updates but they will be coming, this weekend when I have the time to blog. But for those of you who are reading this, here's a lovely picture of the Eiffel Tower!