Happy Anniversary Blogger!

Today I am celebrating for being a blogger for one year! Last year on the same day, I started my blog with the first journal "break away", it was an emotional piece in a lot of ways, by then I already knew I would be moving to London in three months. Now I have been a proud Londoner (if I can claim that) for ten months.

When I was walking down the street in Notting hill this afternoon, the sun just started to come down, painting the clouds in lovely pink and orange colours, I suddently realize why the sunset is more beautiful when there are clouds in the sky. It is the same in life, when everyday is as peaceful as a sunny day with clear sky, it might be too boring. We all need something to inspire us. The thunders and storms in life just make us appreciate the sunshine and peace more.

I actually feel quite settled here, the feeling I never had during the three years in the USA. Don't really know why, maybe partly because I grew up reading English literature, so somehow I find connection here. So far it has been quite an interesting experience, and I love the diversity and dynamics here. And in terms of blogging, this is probably one of the most liberal places to be.

Another Wave of Takeover Race

This week Nasdaq has launched another attempt to acquire London Stock Exchange, and again has been rejected by LSE, as no surprise even to outsiders. As much as a lover of globalization and enthusiast of cross-Atlantic marriages, I am not sure I quite like the idea. This is not new headline story anymore, the new economy rejuvenlized after the Internet bubble, has been gaining more momentum and launching a full scale contest with old, traditional industry. We live in a dynamic world, Google's share price has hit new high -$500 a share, forget about old texbooks on valuation, this is the new generation!

And yet, I have some reluctance to have all American companies rule the world economy, although like it or not, that is what is happening. Airbus, is losing the game to Boeing. And I used to work for Reuters, still a big name in journalist world, but has already lost its edge to Bloomberg, a firm started by Michael Bloomberg only in the 1970s.

Maybe I am just nostalgic, there is a Chinese saying that the new wave will push the old waves, it is a given I guess. But if both the world military, political and economic power is centred in one country, I am not convinced it is a good thing. To overturn this trend is not an easy task though, our beloved European fellows (or maybe China) has some serious catch up job to do.

Journey via Euro Tunnel

It was 2 o’clock on Saturday morning, we started driving to Folkstone where we would take the Euro tunnel to France. The country road was a bit dark, but there were many bright stars shining in the sky. We arrived in Euro tunnel terminal starry eyed. It was only 4 O’clock, the terminal was empty, with only one coffee shop open. While having our morning coffee in the rather cold building, I was getting quite excited about the journey. We drove onto the train carriage, inside which there are several divisions. The loading and uploading or the drive on and drive off process were rather smooth, and it is only 35 minutes through the tunnel. And when we drove off from the carriage, voila - we were already in Calais, France.

At the crack of dawn, we stopped at a small town Arras on our way to Paris. The morning light shed warm glow on the old buildings in the big square at the city centre. The square and lots of buildings were rebuilt as they were destroyed during the 1st war. The Saturday morning market was in full swing, offering great variety of vegetables, meat, fish and cheese. I was especially intrigued by the green sausages covered with herbal ingredients, very exotic looks! There were plenty of cheap clothes, toys and plastic utensils sourced from China, apparently global economy has reached the farming community in France. And for a town of forty thousand residents, this Saturday market is quite impressive.

It was still drizzling on the way to Paris, but the autumn scenery was very appealing with trees changing colours and green fields stretching miles after miles. French countryside has its own charms.

The hotel in Paris is on a tree lined street in Latin Quarter, very close to Montparnasse. Rain had stopped and we were greeted by the clear sky and beautiful afternoon sun. We took a stroll at the Cemetery in Montparnasse, very quiet and peaceful. A bit chilly in the air, but the sun was casting nice shadows on the pavement. Some of the tombs were quite old, with rather broken and shaky sculptures on the top. A lot of artists and painters were buried there, which is not a surprise given the popularity of Paris as an inspiring place for art.

Luxemburg park is a small park in the city centre with nice trees splashed by lush autumn colors, sculptures and fountains scattered around. We walked along the trails covered with falling leaves in the park and it was just the time they were about to close, there were policemen whistling to get people out of the park.

The metro system in Paris is still as good as how I remember it from last time in Paris three years ago, and fare seems to be staying on the same level, much cheaper compared with London. The trains are lighter, running on rubber wheels and they are quite frequent with no strange delays caused by the rather cumbersome signal system in London underground.

The Corneille concert was in a development area at the north of the city, with modern new complex consisting of cinemas, theatres and opera/concert halls. Obviously it was a very popular show and security was high at the entrance. But the queue moved fairly quickly, we just got in on time. Music is really the centre of young people’s life these days, I also spot my company’s ad on the big screen outside the concert hall. Well, I guess this is our target audience and that goes together with our music proposition.
One and a half hour later, after two bands warming up the stage, the long awaited Corneille emerged on the stage. Sitting in the back row (it is free seating, we didn’t get in early enough to get the good seats), I can’t really see his face very well. But his songs, seamlessly go together with his unique style, dark, enchanting smile and warm character. The crowd went crazy for him, especially the young girls in the inner circle, all stretching out to give roses to him.

When we walked out of the concert hall, rain unexpectedly poured down. Catching the last subway back to hotel, I literally fell asleep several times on the train, I think the lack of sleep just caught up on me.

After breakfast at a local brassery, we decided to go for a walk along the river. This was part of the river bank I didn’t walk on last time, quite different landscapes compared with more touristy part. There are quite a few high rise buildings on the side of the river, which reminds me of the south bank area on the river Thames in London. Some new development is still on going, with big signs that said “Nouveau Magasin” (new shops) open soon, that actually reminds me of Beijing, so many constructions are going on right now, I might hardly recognize my city when I am back there in January.

In the afternoon we rushed ourselves to Galleria Lafayette, to our big surprise all the shops were closed, and that was only 2 o’clock on Sunday afternoon. Well, I guess French enjoy a much laid back life style. Coming from Asia, this is still a cultural shock to me once in a while since the shops in Asian open 7 days a week and 12 hours everyday. I was spoiled in that sense.

After just 24 hours in Paris, we started driving back to Calais again. It was quite beautiful landscape all the way back, with clouds hanging in the sky like Chinese painting colours. Not much traffic on the road, we were driving at 100 miles an hour most of the time, and French police didn’t seem to be interested in stopping the English tourists. After all, they are the ones buying loads of French wine, cheese and chocolate.

Real Heroes vs. Action movie stars

Yesterday I saw the “Casino Royale”, just as every blockbuster movie I have seen, it’s always been a rather disappointing experience. Don’t get me wrong, I do think it was quite entertaining, but I do have to admit that my mind drifted away when there was the endless car chasing, car crashing and gun shooting. This is the kind of stuff never grip me or make me engaged in any way. And to be honest, I am still puzzled why people haven’t got tired of movies like this – don’t they just tend to tell very similar stories and the “heroes” in those movies are so homogeneous that in a while they become very blur and I always mix them up when I think about those action movies I have seen.

Without a doubt, these movies still generate the hype, boosted by the huge marketing campaigns, and yes, admit it or not, it is probably a vanity thing, but don’t we all like stars for its sheer glamour.

Maybe I am simply too old to be attracted to a hype like this, however, I can’t recall I have ever been attracted or remotely inspired by those action movies. I have long thought it is a big waste of time and money to make movies that don’t reflect the realities in life. But maybe sometimes because reality tends to be bleak and imperfect, so seeing a hero fulfilling his mission in a action movie helps a lot of people mentally. I am not sure.

I found myself more touched and inspired by reading stories of real heroes in our life. The other day I was reading an article on Reuters, it was about a young journalist who had been covering the civil war in Sri Lanka. His neck was broken during a roadside ambush, and he has been paralyzed since. He is still in hospital, but he is determined to go back there to cover the stories in the battle field whenever it is possible for him. “I will go back, in any form I can. “ he said. There is no regret about going there – he was aware of the danger, and he is only 25 years old, he could enjoy what life has to offer, but he picked one of the most dangerous profession in the world, and he is still passionate about it.

Sometimes I think maybe most of us are cowards in a way we don’t dare to live a life that might be short and fulfilling. We get so carried away by the comfort of modern life and the thought of sacrifice of all these make us scared. But is it really better to have a long but ordinary and most of time boring life or to live life to the full even just for one day, because on that day we feel so much alive.

Still not sure I know the answer yet. But I guess I am not alone.

Should we give nature a helping hand

In the BBC programme “planet earth” this week, there is an interesting story which triggered some debate around the topic “should we give nature a helping hand”. When the TV crew was shooting the penguins in South Pole, they spot this new born baby penguin stuck in an ice pole and couldn’t get out. Her parents were helplessly watching their baby trembling in the hole trying to get out but couldn’t help. The TV crew, who have been there for months in that cold winter filming these penguins, first thought they should stick with their rules – don’t interfere, let the nature rule, but later on decided to help the poor little thing to get out of the hole. The baby penguin joined her family, though the question remains for the TV crew and the audience, should we give month nature a helping hand?

Personally I think it is very difficult not to, when it is such an easy job for us to help out the vulnerable, why not. After all, we all have sympathy for the vulnerable and less fortunate ones. And consciously or subconsciously, we always have been interfering or trying to influence what is happening in the nature. Admit it or not, we human beings, is the biggest enemy of nature. We have done so many terrible destructions to the forest, and endless poaching has driven a lot of animals into extinction. Needless to say, global warming is testing the limits of how far this could go before we have to fight for our own survival.

On the other hand, we have been gearing up efforts to help the beloved animals. Panda presents a classic example of an animal which is very vulnerable to climate change, destruction of the certain forest, but let’s face it, this is not an animal equipped to deal with the change. And its poor ability of breeding contributes partly to its rapidly decreasing number. Yet, we decided since all children and adults love this cute bear, so we have to help them to survive. And how far we have gone, well, we have forced the panda couples to watch panda porns so that they would be more interested in getting intimate with each other so that they could make more baby pandas for us. I am sure there are a lot of other animals out there on the verge of extinction but we choose not to “interfere” that much because the nature of the law has to rule. Well, in Panda’s case, we are very reluctant to let the nature rule. But other less fortunately animals, such as crocodiles, even they are being killed by human being for their skin and meat, we don’t seem to worry that much, after all, they look quite scary and they are aggressive animals and they might attack human beings.