Autumn day in Hampstead

There has been a lot of sunny weekends since autunm arrived in London. Sports wise, it was a disappointing last weekend, as England's dream was shattered in rugby first and then in the Grand Prix. Pubs and park were all busy though, people were out enjoying the lovely autumn. Leaves are changing colors, painting a very romantic picture of the city, giving it a bit golden and warm orange glow. We went to Hampstead for a walk on Sunday afernoon. The big oak trees are turning yellow and brown, covered the ground with fallend leaves.

Amalfi Coast

We had been looking forward to this holiday for a long time. I was quite fond of Rome when I visited there last year, and heard Amalfi coast is beautiful and there were some great walks. It is in south Italy, where it is sunny and warm – well, could be a bit too hot sometimes!

It was busy in Heathrow on a Saturday morning, there was a long queue for the Alitalia counter, I guess there are a lot of people who want to get away for a real hot summer.
I was reading Graham Greene’s “Quiet American” on the plane. I saw the film a few years ago and like it very much since it unveils both good and bad sides of human beings and it makes you ponder and think. Reading and travelling are the two things I enjoy a lot in life.

The landscape gradually changed from dry plains to green hills on the route from Rome to Naples, when the plane started to descend, we caught a glimpse of blue ocean, shimmering spectacularly in the bright afternoon sun.

Coming out of Naples airport, the air was hot but quite pleasant; we got on the coach taking us to a village in Sorrento. After about half hour, we were driven into a mountainous area with narrow and winding roads built along the mountain ridge. The sun started going down, painting the mountains in orange and red, giving them a bit mysterious appeal. Then I heard someone pointed out to a hill and said in an excited voice, “that is volcano Vesuvius.” There, not far away from us, there is a rocky mountain and its top is rather flat, looks like part of it has fallen off. The sunset casted a warm glow on its greyish rocky face, making it look like a burnt ancient monument. This famous volcano is well recorded in history book for its eruption in AD79 which buried the whole Pompei city.

When we came out for dinner in the evening, the air felt cooler, maybe because we stayed at the hotel in the village Bomerano about six hundred metres above sea level. The hotel treated us with a wonderful Italian dinner, all made from fresh local produce, in fact most of the vegetables are just from their small field behind the hotel. We had a stroll to the village centre, which is just a small square with a few shops around. People were sitting around and having a chat, kids riding their bicycles around.

We did some walks around the coast to Amalfi and Pacitano in the following few days. In our day 5, we walked through the Valle de Ferriero National park, which is a dense woodland up in the mountain range just above Amalfi coast. The walk was very pleasant, going through the woods, savouring the tranquillity and beauty of the nature. We actually spot a snake on a tree, but obviously he was more scared than us, crawling away from the scene as fast as he could. And it is certainly a very rewarding walk. At the end of walk, we started to hear the sound of stream running down, we looked up, there are several stream flowing down from the green hills down to a small pond. We followed the leader, who led us into the upstream of the pond, after a few turns around the rocks, a big water fall came right in front of us. Then we looked around we saw multiple streams dripping through the grass from different directions, all feeding into a big pond. The water is clear but rather chilly, we can see small frogs clinging onto the pebbles. We decided to stay around the rock pond area for a while. We put our feet in the water, it was freezing cold. We sat by the pond, feeling the hotness of sunlight on our back. It was nice to be in a secluded spot away from the crowd for a while. When we carried on, the afternoon heat started to kick in, we passed the old roman channel systems, it was built to divert the streams from mountains to irrigate the fields on the terraces around. Quite an achievement for ancient Romans.

On the way down following the stream, we saw a family doing barbecue, they waved to us and said something in Italian, judging from the body language, we knew they were inviting us to join them. The smell of barbecue chicken was quite tempting, but we had plans for the afternoon in Amalfi, so we thanked them and moved on. We passed by a lot of lemon fields down the hill, obviously benefiting from the streams flowing down from the hill. Most of the fields have water pipes on the side. There are green curtains covering some lemon trees in the heat.

The Amafi coast has a very unique picturesque scenery, with steep cliffs dropping to the oceans from very high up, and the narrow roads winding up and down the mountain ridge to connect the dotted towns around the coast. Most of the days it was hazy along the coast, making it like a true beauty unwilling to unveil her lovely body curves. On a day with good visibility, we could see Capri which is an island within a short ferry ride distance. The last walk was called “the walk of the gods”, it was a lovely trekking through the bushes and exposed rugged trails along the coast. It was an extremely hot day, we arrived at Pacitano feeling a bit too hot. It was certainly baking on the beach. Mark went for a swim in the sea when I was wondering in the shops absent-mindedly. As if we thought the day had not been a good challenge for us, we made a decision to walk back to the village we were staying. It is a walk about three and half hours each way. But we were motivated by the idea that this is our last day walking here so we had to make the best out of it. It turned out to be a rather difficult walk. The first fifteen minutes were steep stairs that look almost vertical, we were a bit out of breath when we got on the top. We carried on for a while, drinking lots of water to keep off the heat. It was only thirty minutes after we started we realized our bottled water was running low. The next shop along the way was still about thirty minutes, I began to get quite worried. Then following a pavement in the narrow alley, I saw a sign in front of a house that looks like a small restaurant/bar. I went in only to find out it is a farmer’s house, well quite a big one actually. An old couple sitting by a table in the courtyard. The man was cutting some vegetables on the cutting board. I gathered my courage and asked them if they have any drinking. The man looked at me, confused first, then said “ah, Aqua, si.” And then turned to the woman and said something in Italian. The woman went into the kitchen and started some work. I waited there, rather nervously looking around. It is a big house with a nice view of the ocean. It must have been 10 minutes also the woman came out with a big jar of fresh lemon juice. I was delightfully surprised as I was only expecting some water. We thanked them and left a few euros and moved on with our journey.

The fresh cold lemon juice did give us a magic boost that we need. We carried on with the walks in the heat for another three hours, when we were finally descending to the village we were staying, the sun started to go down behind the hills, and there was little breeze coming from the ocean as well. It was definitely cooling down quite a bit. When we walked in the hotel, a group of guests sitting in the terrace greeted us and one of them said to us “you guys are mad, do you know it was 42 degree this afternoon?!” well, we didn’t know that, we would not have done it if we knew. But we made it, that is a victory and worth celebrating. Later on in the evening, our guide told us that we were the very few people who ever walked back the trail on the same day.

The hotel kitchen did a pizza making show on one night, Naples is the hometown of pizza, one of the great Italian inventions still loved by millions around the world. To this day, they still use the traditional stone oven invented by the ancient Napleans, and the temperature in the oven is around 400 to 500 degree, so the pizza gets cooked in a mere three to four minutes.

The evenings in the village were generally quite uneventful, we sometimes had a stroll down to the square and had a Gelado (Italian ice cream) treat. We found a place to play table tennis at a local bar, that was a good past time in the early evening. On our last day, we went to the town centre, while having a cold beer at the table outside the shop, an Italian guy came to our table, he is a short man with sun tanned skin and hard wrinkles on his face. We looked up at him, he was smiling, and then he tried to say something but hesitated from a second, then it seemed that he gathered his courage and said to me, “Are you from Japan or China?” I was confused but then understood, I said “China”. Then he was trying to say something about his house I thought, which I could not quite understand, I looked Mark, half confused half embarrassed. After the man was gone, we looked at each other and laughed. That was a strange encounter, “I guess he think I look very unusual, since they don’t see many oriental people here.”, I said to Mark.

It was certainly a memorable trip, when we came back in London, English summer seemed to be in its last leg. I start to miss the sun baked tomato fields, the breath taking coastal line in the mist, the orange tiled houses dotted in the hills and terraced lemon and grape fields. South Italy is certainly an enchanting place that makes beautiful dreams.

War, love and literature

I have always been a fan of Hemingway, I am intrigued by his courage, adventures and drive for a sense of self fulfilment and his unique contribution to the 20th century literature. “For whom the bell tolls”, is one of his finest works and I finished the book last night. Closing the book, I cried in the dark, not only moved by the dramatic sad ending but also by the stark reality it unveiled about war, love, life and death.

As in most of his other novels, his main character is usually a vivid reflection of himself in a lot of ways, not only the events he has been through but also his inner world – his thoughts, his belief and his struggle to find true meanings in life. They are generally strong and self driven characters but they also have a very sensitive heart. Slightly glorified by the heroism, deep down they might be confused, questioning the purpose of his act from time to time; they are also ultimately romantics, they believe in true love and self sacrifice for love.

The book is centred around one big mission carried out by the American volunteer Robert Jordan and his interaction and observation with the guerrilla group and other parties involved in the civil war. Roberto, he believed in fight for the cause, but still he was troubled by what people have to go through in a war which he thinks justifying for his cause. He believes winning the war is important and there is a price to pay, however he is not convinced that being ruthless and brutal is the way to defeat your enemies. He was not so afraid of death as such as he believed his act was the best way to fulfil his vision. But he challenged the notion when he met the love of his life, because spending time with someone he loves gives his life a new meaning that he didn’t realize before.

I have to admit that I was not so excited about the book when I started, it was a rather slow pace in the first 100 pages. However, as a good writer, Hemingway knew how to raise the interests of the story by slowly adding more twists into it. Little by little, we were brought into the whirlpool of conflicts, confrontations, intensive love affair, loyalty, betrayal and climax of the events. The ending, with its subtleness, is sad, however, from heroin point of view, he had accomplished his mission, and as he was lying there waiting for his death, he was content in a way he has had a full life, even that means only three days and nights.

Hemingway was a passionate supporter of republic in the civil war, yet he witnessed the bureaucracy, ignorance and lack of discipline in the army that he had high hopes for. This was very well portrayed in this novel, it is hard to believe, an army and government under the threat of the fascists could be so complacent and laidback. Sad, but it is the truth. He is an idealist, as he could die for his belief but he doesn’t regret this kind of choice. In this novel, we can see the shift in Hemingway from a pure enthusiastic young man (when he wrote farewell to arms) to a mature warrior. Having experienced first world war and Spanish civil war, he started to question the cause for the war, is it ok to fight for its cause when the process itself might be utterly painful and brutal? This is a rather profound question, which I believe we still could not answer today.

War, hunting and bull fight, are Hemingway’s favourite subjects, partly because that when he presents the characters confronting life and death and in the fight to become a heroine like human being. Just recently, I learned, in contrary to my assumption before, He was not particularly strong physically even he liked to be a strong man. But he certainly had a full life given what he was born with. Not many writers in the world could compare with him in terms of the variety of things he had done in life. And that certainly gave him a ubiquitous edge that others find hard to imitate.

Live to the full and express it to the full in writing, which is what he had done, when he realized it was all over for him, he had only one choice. Death is not something he was particularly afraid of, as he is a man with strong desires to explore, when he can’t do that anymore, death is the only exit.

I do believe your best writing come from things and people that you are most close to, that is an inspiration as well as a strong bond and connection. But do people have the same interest on the ordinary drama in a everyday life as compared with the dramatic setting such as war, I am not sure. I think sometimes we are all looking for something more exciting, challenging and fulfilling than our own small world, and literature could be on way to explore it.

Gone are the glorious days of independent journalism?

It has been a rather sad year for proud, independent news agencies who have been around for more than a century. Reuters and Dow Jones, the two well respected companies in the editorial world, have fallen into the hand of media conglomerate, namely Thomason financials and News Group. Both Reuters and Dow Jones used to be an icon in their industry, and they partly formed and revolutionized the modern journalism and news industry.

Money talks these days, and if someone got a deep pocket, that certainly wins a smile and nod from profit hunger shareholders. It was only a matter of time really for these companies to be acquired by bigger media companies. Their operating performance in the past ten years haven’t been satisfying to the shareholders, and both struggling to compete with new rivals. They made themselves a natural and easy target for the conglomerate looking to expand their business and presence.

Big fish gets all, and their ambition and interest will be the commercial value of the business. Editorial independence will probably be kept as long as they are not in conflict with their commercial interest and profit goals. News group is well known for its rather cosy relationships with governments so that they get green lights to run business in countries with strict media censorship.

The truth is though, there are many journalists out there filming and reporting from the disaster hit area and battle fields and money is the last thing they want to think of – who would if you had to risk your lives? The devotion comes from a strong belief and faith in the integrity and independence of journalism.

I see shadows start to emerge under the two bright stars in the news industry, they will still shine but the magic glow around them is fading. There is something money can’t buy.

Canary wharf and Greenwich village

If you really want to get a good feel of a metropolitan city feel in London, then canary wharf is the place. After 17 months since I moved here, I paid a rather belated visit to the area on a fine summer day. And right after I came out of the tube station, I saw the Reuters Square, where they have their logo on top of a high rise office building and the bill board screen showing the stock prices. Such a familiar look, that is the company I worked for three and a half years and it was literally my first job, certainly the first one with a multinational company. So much has changed since 1995 when I joined the company. And Reuters will soon be the Thomason-Reuters, a Canadian-British company. And here I am, standing in front of the building, contemplating life is a mysterious spinning wheel that you never know where you would end up in ten or twenty years. One thing I do know though, I am not back to where I started, I am just passing by my old memory in the unexpected way.

Greenwich village is an interesting place, now with cutty sark being renovated (burnt down with severe damage two months ago), it is a quieter than expected on the street. But it is school holiday time, when I reached the top of the hill in the park where the maritime museum is, I saw the groups of school kids packing out right in front of the entrance. It is a good viewing point on the top of the hill, you get to see the panorama view of the canary wharf.

Enchanted by the Spanish charm

Second month into summer, the rain and clouds are still lingering in England and it feels rather like early autumn. Even it is nice to see “the green and pleasant land” every day we decided that some warm sunshine from Mediterranean could give us a bit taste of real summer. I packed the Hemingway book “For whom the bell tolls” into my bag hoping to finish this book during the holiday there, coincidentally the book is about Spanish civil war. We embarked on the charter flight from London to Palma in Majorca, a small island in the Mediterranean close to Spain.

It was an early morning flight, the security check at terminal 1 heathrow was quite smooth. When we were getting our breakfast at Café Nero, Mark spot Alan Titchmarsh with his wife, obviously going somewhere for holiday as well. He was wearing a pinstripe suite and looked fairly relaxed. I have seen some of his programmes about British natural history and found them very informative and interesting.

The BMI flight to Palma landed on time, and when we were going through the passport control area at Palma airport, the guy studied my passport with great interest and curiosity, flipping the pages and looking at the 30something stamps I got on my passport. He finally stamped on my rather busy looking passport and let me through. Mark was just behind me and passed through within a second, he said “that guy must have found your passport very unusual, he probably rarely came across a Chinese passport”. I looked around, well, it is fair to say that you don’t see many Chinese tourists around here.

We were lucky to get on Palma-Soller train (boasting one of the oldest railways in Europe) just before it departed. The train has a wooden framed body, and in the first two miles it was running on the trail which is laid in the middle of the road with cars driving on the side. I have to admit I haven’t seen any train like this before. And the warm air started blowing in through window, and the mountains dotted with olive trees on the lower slopes came into sight. They have built a lot of terrace fields along the ridges of the mountains, mainly to grow olives, must be hard work in the old days to build them. Under the slightly hazy blue sky, the land looked dry and baked by the sun. This is certainly a very different summer feel compared with the washed out wet English summer we had so far.

After going through a few long dark tunnels, the train finally pulled into the station Soller. We were delighted to find the fresh lemon juice at the booth by the train station, that is what we needed on a hot Spanish summer day. After a quick lunch, we got a cab to Deia, a small town (or rather a village) where we would be staying. We arrived at our hotel, a smart and cozy four storey house built on the hill.

In the early evening, we had a stroll around the main street in the village. The 500 metre long street is obviously the centre of the actions. Restaurants, cafes and shops have a warm and laidback style which suits the taste of holiday makers here. We had a few cold beers in Bar de fonda, the most popular (well, they have a few bars in the village anyway) there. Mark told me this was a lively place in summer nights, and he had been here during his previous visits. While we were having some cold Spanish beer, he said “I think I know that guy over there, his name is Paul, I met him five years ago when I was here, but I think he doesn’t recognize me anymore.” Following his eyes, I found a 70someting man having a conversation with a lady in the table just around the corner. Mark then told me the story of this man and what his friends told him. He had met Paul a few times in this bar, and had to buy him drinks every time they met. First he thought Paul was a unsuccessful artist so he couldn’t afford any drinks even he likes to hang out in bars in the evenings. But later on he got to know Paul’s friends who told him that Paul is basically very mean but he is a rich man. He has a big house with swimming pool in Paris, and a nice house in New York (where he is from). He had a beautiful wife who gave up her career to be with him but he was so tight with money that they had to eat very poorly and he never wanted to buy her any clothes. They finally got divorced. And his friends told Mark “you are not alone, he doesn’t want to buy any drinks when he goes out, he always expects someone to buy drinks for him.” After I heard the story, I said to Mark, “let’s see if he will be successful tonight to get any free drinks.”

Deia is not new for artists, in the 1930s and post war period, the English Robert Graves lived here, which largely expanded its fame as a beautiful and charming village tucked in a picturesque valley surrounded by mountains. Most of houses are built along the slopes of the mountains, with lavish sub tropical trees and flowers running up and down the hill, and ocean on one side, no wonder artists found their muse here.

The next morning, we woke up to the roosters's crow, it was only 5 clock in the morning, I was a bit annoyed, and realized it's been a long long time since I heard the rooster crow. I guess the people in the village used to this and they are not bothered at all. The nearest beach Cala de Deia is only 20 minutes walk from our hotel, and it is a enjoyable walk, in which you walk through the fairly dry ground (no green grass as you would find everywhere in England), you can see a variety of trees here on the side of the trail. It seems there is an oversupply of lemons here, we saw a lot of lemons rotting in the trees or on the ground. I guess there are too many of them here they can’t even bother to pick and sell them since the price is probably quite low.

The beach itself is not fantastic, it is not a sandy beach but the rocky cove looks nice in a fine day. There is a small beach café/restaurant nearby, serving very good fresh fish from their daily catch. We had two superb lunches and enjoyed our lazy time on the beach. It was a local/tourist mixed crowd on the beach, and surprisingly I saw quite a few attractive women going topless on the beach. Europeans are generally quite liberal and have no problem with nudity. Although I remember last time in Phuket the only topless women I saw were some old Nordic women (Sorry to say but I don’t think sagging and loose skin is particularly nice to show off). Maybe I am just being too conscious of image.

In our second evening, while we were having dinner at the most popular restaurant, we saw Paul again, this with another lady and they seemed to get along well. During the course of our dinner, they had two glasses of wine. Guess who is paying? Well, we wouldn’t know, would we? Anyway, stop being so nossy!

Most of the tourists here are British, but there are quite many Germans now as well in Majorca. During our last night there, we were hanging out in Café Fonda again as we heard some live music coming from there. The lead vocal in the band is a short and slim girl with a nice voice, she sung a few police and Sting song with a big pop flavour in them. She definitely got the crowd going, who were genuinely happy to be engaged in music and the moves. We were dancing with the crowd, a mix of local and tourists/expats, we noticed a few Germans around us were not participating in the dancing/singing scene. Well, maybe some of them are a bit square minded, but for us, it is all good fun and who cares if we behaved a bit silly?!

It was almost midnight when we left the bar Fonda, we decided to have a walk around village. It was our last night there and we wanted to make the best out of this trip. In the travel book it says under moonlight Deia looks at its best, and I found it is not just a self boasting statement. It is mostly quiet on the street except the noises from the drinking crowd in bar Fonda, we walked up and down on the pavement through the village, occasionally seeing one or two people strolling by. There were many stars in the sky, some of them are very bright and blinking from time to time. The night scene were outlined by dark mountains and shades of the trees and houses dotted on the hills. A cat came out of some’s house while we were sitting on a small panel by the water. Listening to the streams quietly running behind us, I said to myself this is definitely tranquil place compared with ever bustling London, and compared with Barcelona, this is a more a coutryside feel than a city.

It was a wonderful trip, we enjoyed the sun, the ocean, the picturesque village Deia and certainly the lovely Spanish food that spice up your appetite.

Royal Ascot - the drink and show time

Horse race is one of the favourite pasttime in this country, well, maybe not so much anymore, but it is certainly a big drink and show event. Drink for guys, show time for girls. Our parent company is one of the founders of Royal Ascot, and we had a big employee+guests party of around five thousand people there on a sunny Saturday. We were very lucky with the weather. It had been a wet wet summer.

We were hanging out in those white tents they set up for this party, free booze of the whole day and people were really taking advantage of it. Drinking seems to be a national phenomenon, you find some popular pubs always busy regardless if it is raining or sunny. Of course, gambling is the theme at Ascot, even most people seem to know very little about the horses or the races. We put our bet in three races, and take home profit of around fifty pounds, deducting the loss and tickets for train journey. well, I lost all the bets, completely hopeless. Not bad overall I guess. But luck always has its flip side, Mark's old watch stopped working and the travel agent taking care of our holiday booking managed to mess up our flight booking and we had to pay 130 pound extra for the trip. See, there is no pure luck in this world.

Show time for women. Even these days not many wear those fancy hats anymore. I had a big white hat from Accessorize, nothing fancy but practical for a sunny day staying outdoors. I was pleased with my new dress, and didn't see anyone wearing the same one!

It was an interesting day, and it was fun to watch the horse race. It is a strange arrangement, you can't see much during most part of the course, it was only the last 30 seconds you got to see the horses with the jockeys racing through to the finishing line, but they are so fast so you just get a quick glance. They are beautiful horses, big muscles on the upper legs, all trimmed shinny and smooth.

We are not really into the drinking scene, a few nice summer drinks is fine, but getting drunk is nothing we are interested in at all. But it seems that drinking tends to be in the center of a lot of social activities here.

Live update from Hammersmith

It started as a normal working day, I got in office around 8:45 am, getting ready for the busy day - had been told that we might need to work overnight today to have the material ready for an important meeting tomorrow.

Then I was told that Hammersmith broadway station and shopping center was sealed off by police due to some bomb suspect. Several people came in office reporting the big chaos in rush hour traffic around this area.

Later on it was reported that police has carried out a controlled explosion on the suspect package, and it was not an explosive device.

It might have been a hoax, but in light of failed bomb attacks in Glasgow airport, I understand the police took this seriouly. This reminds me of the anthrax attacks in the USA after 911, people reported seeing all kind of suspicious white powders from baby powders to flour.

One thing has really impressed me is that British people seem to take all the potential terrorist attack in a very calm way, partly I guess it is the fact they have been through similar threats before, the IRA bombs, and London was bombed for months during the war, and people certainly estalished the resilience.

Its been a tough week for the new Prime Minister, but I think there will be more people asking questions on why the british troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place. Of course we should not yield to terrorist threats but question needs to be answered - does Iraq war make the world a more peaceful place? Maybe not.

And in the meantime, we will continue to celebrate life, after all we have to focus on the positives in life. It has not been a great summer weather wise, but we will make the best out of it. Let the rain wash away the dust but not our spirits.

The history not forgotten

China has always been a country with a sense of mystery, covered by its own glory past as the easter empire, the troubled 19th and 20th century tangled between civil war and foreign invasions, and now more importantly an emerging power of the 21st century. There are certainly a lot of interests in china, and the British media certainly has chosen China as one of their favourite subject.

Channel four has a correspondeant in China who obviouslly loves to report all the dark corners of the society which looks to be poised for fastest economy growth ever. While they are dragging on the human rights issues, Channel five has taken a more historical view on things that have shaped China over the past century and also try to find the links between the past and today. Variety is always a positive thing, for viewers you get a more fully rounded picture and you can make your own judgement based on the input from various angels.

There has been a series of programmes on Channel five covering the red army's long march, the cultural revolution and also the Paul Merton in China - which is showing the life in today's China. I was impressed by the very objective and neutural view from the commentators in these programmes, it shows a good sense of maturity, understanding and putting things into the perspective and circumstances in which the events occured.

In the programmes about cultural revoluation, it shows the historical moment when Nixon was visiting Beijing and his meeting with Mao, whose health at the time was deteriorting. But both looked exicted about the occasion, and then Nixon was taken to the entertainment in the evening, where they were watching the red guards (in their very distinctive uniform) dancing and chanting the long live Mao songs. I can imagine he must have been feeling a bit disturbed watching a performance like that, not really the sort of entertainment he expected, but nevertheless he had to look interested. And then it was when Henry Kissinger was visiting Beijing, Mao was obviously amused when he saw Kissinger's very tall wife (who was probably a former volleyball player!). He was a whimsical man, who had a side of artist.

I was only very little when the gang of four was sentensed (the trial was broadcasted throughout China). But I certainly remember the atmosphere in the room where the crowd was watching TV. It was a momemnt never to be forgotten for a lot of Chinese. But how much do the new generation know about this history and its impact on China, probably very little. I guess sometimes the baggage from the past could be too heavy to carry along the way, and maybe it is too much to ask the young people today to make a connection with a past they never experienced.

Peak District

We had a laidback day in Buxton, a sleepy town on the west edge of peak district national park. It is a small town known for its spa and obviously had flourished during Victorian time when many people came here for a spa leisure holiday. There are quite many hotels for a relatively small town, and the spa water is still running and we saw a few people waiting in queue to fill up their bottles. And the legendary swimming pool is still there, although looking a bit outdated. I was surprised when someone told me that the Beatles once played at the pavilion gardens in the town centre in the 60s, I guess that was before their fame took off across the Atlantic. We went to see the Opera in the evening, which was in this opera house built in the Victorian period, certainly you can find traces of the past glory there.

I joined the guided walk “Secret Kinder” taking place in the moorland part of the national park. It was a sunny day, a bit hazy, but very windy, especially when you are walking on the ridges of the hills. Several times the wind was strong that I felt I was going to be blown away any minute. There was one difficult up and slightly difficult down during the whole walk, which I enjoyed the most.

Kinder Scout is an interesting area for environmental and some historical reasons. The ranger from National trust elaborated on the stories around its past, and he is a good story teller knowing how to get the audience attention and intrigue them. He told us about the story of George King, a guy started a sect many years ago and according to his sect, the stones could be charged with prayers, and the charged stones can release their energies from within to save the world from disasters. At the end of the story, he said in a joking way, “maybe we should try to ask the charged stones to release the energy to save the world from George Bush.” We all laughed, obviously this was a popular political joke that most people find funny. Some of the area we walked past has massive exposed soil not covered by any grass or trees. We learned from the ranger that this area was swept through by ice sheets during the last ice age five thousands years ago, and the trees got slammed down and decomposed into the soil. The remains we see today in the soil are those trees from ice age and this soil is very poor and it takes long time for grass or any kind of plants to grow back on this soil.

A few letter boxes were found during our walk, I think the two rangers know where they are hidden approximately. I flipped through some pages in a notepad in one of the letter boxes, and one comment said “When is the end of summer? It is 25 degree but I want -5 degree.” Well, there are certainly some people with the opposite minds.

Sunny days in London

Amazingly, it hasn't rained in London for three weeks, must be a new record here. I have to admit I am not used to this, and almost start to miss the rain. With lots of sunshine and warm temperature, the gardens are looking really good.

An Easter holiday by the seaside

The sea is shimmering under the sunlight, seagulls hovering around the rocky coast and making occasional dives into the water. The water is in greenish blue, with waves hitting the rocks and there are patchy sandy beaches along the coastal line. It is an enchanting landscape, something very beautiful but something also raw and compelling.

Our hotel is located on a cliff overlooking the sea, and there is a small island within1 km from the coast. The current is quite strong in this cove area, so swimming to the island is not recommended. We had a relatively smooth drive coming to this coastal town, which is a village compared with bustling London. After a short stop at the hotel, we put on our hiking boots and set out to the town centre. The town centre is quite small, with a few restaurants, pubs and stores scattered around the crossings of two main streets. “Look, there is a gallery, let’s go in and have a look.” The gallery owner is a fifty years old bald guy who warmly greeted us and started introducing his work. “I draw and print on this particular Japanese paper, if you like I can show you my workshop and how I paint on those papers.” We looked at each other and thanked him and told him we were on our way going out of town, maybe we will come back and visit him another time. “This kind of place is a bit cut off from the outside world,” My boyfriend said, neither of us liked the extreme purple, red and blue colours he used in his painting. But I guess it is not a bad thing people find some thing to indulge themselves to.

It was a lovely and romantic evening, had a three course dinner in the hotel while watching the spectacular sunset in the sea. We were both looking forward to the coastal walk the next morning. This is a well deserved break as I had an extremely busy week at work.

The second day turned out to be a serious walking day. With a map on our hands, we felt the urge to explore the wild coast from Mullion cove to Lizard Point, which is the most southern point in Britain. We walked two miles east of Lizard Point and then back to Lizard Point for a lunch break. There is a café on a cliff of Lizard Point, with a sign said the most southern café in Britain. Quite a nice place, a bit breezy and chilly since it is high up without any shelters, but the food was better than we thought. We only ordered some sandwiches, but they were freshly made and came with nice side salads. The bread tasted quite nice as well. Walking had made our appetite extremely good. It was another eight miles walk back to Mullion cove, with more dark coloured rocks shaping the coastal line and small beaches sheltered in between. Walking on the soft grassy path is a pleasant experience and seeing so much green made my eyes feel much better.

On the second evening while having dinner in the hotel, we noticed the three people at the table around the front corner had changed their seats. That was a rather amusing crowd, one old man with two old women, judging from the way they talked, we concluded that they are brother and sisters. The funny part is we saw them in the first evening, they were sitting at the same table with the man in the middle and two women on each side side. The two women were about same body type and dressed up in similar style, the three of them almost formed a perfect symmetrical picture. We joked about in the first evening if they would change the combinations, and they did on the second night. We giggled over this coincidence when we came back in our hotel room.

The second walking day was a relatively easy one, although both of us were feeling a bit tired. We walked from Mullion Cove to the Porthleven harbour, seeing a few smooth, long and wide sandy beaches along the way. While walking on a hill overlooking the sea, we saw a nude man wondering on a rather deserted beach, it was bright sunlight, and he seemed to be enjoying his own company. He probably noticed that he was being watched, because he turned back his head and looked around to the hill we walked on. “I think he saw us.” I said, feeling a bit embarrassed. We walked on, didn’t get much distracted by the unusual scene. Then the real distraction came when I almost stepped on an adder. I noticed it when it running fast into the grass just two inches from my feet. I was glad I was wearing hiking boots. I screamed and quickly retreated from the spot. To comfort me, my boyfriend said it was actually lucky to see an adder since it is not something you will see in the city and they are totally harmless. I was not totally convinced, but decided to carry on anyway.

We stopped at a place called beach cafe, the owner who is a dutch lady runs this café in their front yard. She brought some very nice muffins, cream, jam and tea. We sat in the sun, watching the waves and seagulls and enjoyed our refreshment. The tea pot had a funny woollen tea cosy that looked like black sheep. It looked quite amusing and made us laugh.

Coming back to London turned out to be a difficult journey, when we finally managed to get to Bath, which is about 80 miles away from London, we were quite happy to have a big stroll in the city. Stopped in a café for a quick tea and some paninis, obviously it was a lively afternoon in the city centre, people coming and going and all seemed to enjoy the sunny weather and the holiday. For us, we were simply very happy to be back in a city again, where there are more life and actions. Nature and simple small town life is nice, but for city kids like us, we already started to miss all the liveliness and chaos in London.

From Mr. Chip to Bustling Stockholm

“You are such a jetsetter.” My friend said to me, well, I guess I am in the past three months. Two trips to China with just three weeks in between, and now here I am at Heathrow again, the third trip in this year. Standing in the queue for security check, I was feeling quite tired, I think frequent travel plus long hours in the office certainly put some mental drain on me, and the post 9/11 and 7/7 don’t make things easier for any of us. Surprisingly though, people don’t seem to be discouraged from travelling despite all the hassles and environmentalist’s far cry for cutting carbon emissions. It is amazing how the horizon for individuals has expanded over the 20th century and this momentum seems to continue in the new century. I have always liked HSBC’s ad, well, not so much “the world’s local bank”, but the posters on different people and different views. The world could be a much better place if we could accept and appreciate the differences.

I had a relaxing stroll in the duty free shops and went to the juice bar to have a fancy smoothie “groovy muesli mango”. Organic is a concept that could sell these days, sometimes I wonder if it is a mental thing than anything with substance. But I certainly felt quite good after this vitamin shot. Just when my spirits got boosted, the first sign of delayed boarding showed up on the screen. 18:40, still no sign of boarding, I started to get a big grumpy – I should be home having a glass of wine and enjoying my supper!

Finally the gate numbers showed up on the screen, with a much relieved sign, I gathered my bags and started walking toward the gate. And strangely enough, we were led to another security check. A bit ridiculous really, do they think we could make a dirty bomb out of some perfume bought at the duty free shops? I knew I was definitely at the right gate when I was soon surrounded by tall blonde guys and girls. Well, I was almost already in Sweden!

Early next morning, when it was still chilly in the air, I walked from hotel to the office. It shows 0C on the big illuminated board, bare trees and no sign of spring flowers,
Spring is a bit late in a Scandinavian country. I had to walk as fast as I can as my legs were freezing in the cold.

I have been to Stockholm a few times now during the past four year, this is where the action is for the one million residents, and it is actually a beautiful city especially in summer. But in the suburb where we have an office, it is more like the silicon valley of Sweden, with many chip companies research and development centres. And ironically the hotel I was staying is called Mr. Chip, a bit too explicit I thought, but much to the point anyway.

I had a dinner plan with a friend in the city so I took the Ubann (the subway system in Stockholm) to the city centre in the evening. As usual, people are very disciplined and quiet on the train, and the sun just came down and shed golden glow on the pine trees outside the window, for a minute, I can’t help to appreciate the secluded beauty of Scandinavians. It is something not pretentious and showy, and gives you comfort and peace.
the world could be a much better place if we could accept and appreciate the differences.

It was really nice to see her, my Swedish friend I met in China. And the best part is, we could have girls talk in the restaurant where nobody else understood us. I was amused when she used Chinese word "appetite" but what she really meant was "sexuality" or in Chinese sex appetite not the appetite as for food. Again we were both amazed by the subtlties of languages and cultures.

The Early Sign of Spring in London

One day after I got back from China, to my delightful surprise, spring is already here in London. On the way to work today, I noticed that Daffodils are blooming at the side of the green, and cherry trees and magnolia trees are in full blossom. It feels so good with those bright colors in the gardens along the street. There is a beautiful magnolia tree in my next door neighbor's garden, it looks so lovely and alive.

We had a very mild winter, now spring is in the air. And Easter holiday is only a month away. I feel the crave for some sightseeing travel again. But first, I will have a short trip to Stockholm and Munich in a few weeks, a good time to explore the spring there!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

The year of the golden pig, and Chinese New Year seems to be a popular scene around the world. And Chinese new year greeting "Gong Xi Fa Cai" is the quote of the week on the street. It literally means good luck and prosperity, and it originates from Catonese, as people there have a strong drive for getting rich. Well, in a fast moving society swept to the ground by material values, this is hardly a surprise. And today is the 10th anniversary since Deng passed away, who was a paramount leader in the late 21st century in China, and who imported the idea of market economy to China which led us now into one of the most enviable fast growing economies in the world.

His famous quote "Black cat or white cat, as long as they can catch rats, they are good cats. " on his south tour is probably still resonating in a lot of people's mind, and most of them, thankfully, since they have seen real difference in their lives between now and 30 years ago. The quote itself does sound a bit promatic, you would argue, but it was a big motive and encouragement e that is desparately in need after the chaos and depression of cultural revolution. It serves its purpose perfectly well, and almost in a miraculous way.

However, when part of the nation and people are going in full speed to catch up the western world, I am very glad to see that that this year we have a new focus on the crowd we have long forgotten - the less fortunate ones who need to share the benefits of the thirty years of economic development and make the same progress as we have made.

This is indeed a very positive note captured also in the widely watched new year party hosted by CCTV (China Central TV, not the security camera!). The immigrant workers (the group of people who come from countryside to big cities for work), their hard work, their tough life on the edge of the city, and their strong determination to fight for a better life for themselves and their children had not been recognized, appreciated and admired by the rather spoiled people in the big cities. Some of us used to despise them because they look dirty and eat crap food and live in poor conditions.

When in one of the programmes during the new year party covered by national TV, the children of the immigrant workers living in Beijing said in a clear and determined voice, "when other children compare their parents with mine, I compare my future with them instead." Everyone in my family was touched to tears, and obviously one of the hosts on TV as well. We are not born to be equal, but we should all strive for a more harmonized society, a place where everybody has a future to dream and we should help those, the less fortuntate ones to realize their dreams as well. This should really be the theme of the year, and maybe we could all be happier when we make other people happy.

Snow in London

Thursday morning, 8 Feb - when I got up in the morning, there was this snow covered wonderland waiting for me outside the window. When I crossed the green to work, there were some kids playing football in the lawn covered with light snow. They must have found really fun! A unusual event got them quite excited despite the chilly weather. I took a few quick shots, before the snow scene vanished in a few hours!

An old but still dynamic city

After a few rainy months, it seems the weather finally decided to take a positive turn here in London. Since I came back from Beijing, I have been embraced by sunshine and blue sky, which certainly has made the old city more attractive. Yesterday evening, when I was walking around with a friend in leicester square area, I asked him how long those old buildings will be around, "do people get worried that those buildings will be knocked down one day and replaced by some new modern but less stylish high rise buildings?" he said "I guess people just assume they will last forever, or at least in your life time. " Well, I certainly hope they will, since they are part of the appeal of the city.

The view of London from a plane is quite different from New York, for the most part, London feels like an old city, but once you are inside the city, you feel the vibre, the ever moving spirits in the air. The European immigrants in recently years certainly contributed to this dynamic scene, and makes it more well positioned to claim the title as the capital of Europe - although I am sure the French would argue that Paris is the real cultural capital of Europe.

Going, going, going, gone...this is an ad I saw at London underground, quite an eye catching ad, a quick snapshot of the pace of life here. The musicians in the tube (especially the ones in Picadilly circus and leicester square) are one of my favourites in the city, I got a mental boost when I heard the music when walking in the crowd coming out the tube. And then I often think of the movie "Notting Hill", and what Julia Roberts said at the end of the movie (during a press conference when someone asked her how long she would stay in London), "Indefinitely", she said.

Having been moving around between three continents in the past 8 years, I started to think maybe it is time to settle down in one place, it is fun to be able to experience different cultures in your twenties and early thirties but maybe it is not such a bad idea to set your foot in one place when desire for thrill and adventure has slowly been replaced by the desire for a relatively easy and stress free life style. Maybe I am getting old? An reality still find it hard to accept!

A short winter break in Beijing

Almost one year has gone by since I moved to London, and here I am, back in Beijing on a short business trip. It was a sunny and a bit chilly morning when the plane touched down at the airport. The plane was unusually empty in the premium economy cabin, but I still didn’t get much sleep – my back hurt after sitting in the same position for too long. The young guy sitting next to me is Chinese, who has spent eight years in UK, and got his masters degree last year and now waiting to get his immigration visa. I asked him if he will be looking for a job, he shrugged and said he might take the PHD degree if the university offers him. I thought to myself, another rich kid from a well off family who doesn’t have to be worried about tuition and living expenses.

I can’t help to compare the generations of Chinese students going overseas for study, which is a vivid reflection of how China has developed from a poor nation to an emerging economic power and how the globalization has brought the world closer than ever. In the late 70s and 80s, most Chinese students studying overseas had to do work ten hours a day to pay their tuition and living expense and they lived in cramped apartments . From mid 90s, some relatively affluent Chinese joined this wave, but with more savings in the bank so they don’t have to work while studying and can even afford to buy cars and live in nice apartments. I went to USA in the late 90s, with five years saving and a scholarship, I managed to live a fairly comfortable life while studying. It was during the first two months looking for a job in Chicago after graduation that I had experienced some real hardship. Now the new generations in China (at least the ones who have benefited from the economic reforms) have enjoyed enormous opportunities that my parents, even me could never think of.

I looked out of the window while waiting to get off the plane, blue sky (by Beijing standard anyway) and the city was covered in a thin layer of smog. This is how a good day looks like, I said to myself. Compared with UK’s green land with lots of tree and well kept gardens and parks, my hometown Beijing looked like a beauty covered with dust.

Getting to the hotel is a relatively smooth ride, we passed by numerous construction sites along the airport express way, and trees with bare branches hanging in the air. The sun shines through the car window, right in my eyes, I could not see very well but feel the warmth flowing through my body. Despite lack of sleep, I was in good mood. The cab driver was not too happy when he heard I was only going to the hotel quite close to the airport, but he didn’t complain too much. I left him with some tips when I got off the car, I believe empathy could only be shared with people who are not complainers.

The following nights were spent with whirl of friends dining out, it was nice to catch up with them. The food was wonderful, I might have put on a few pounds by eating a bit too much every night. But it is authentic Chinese food, something the Chinese restaurants in London can’t compare. On one evening, I was out with two friends in a restaurant near workers stadium. One of the guys has recently become a general manager for a small but quite profitable western company based in Beijing. At age of thirty two, he apparently takes price in his achievements, but what he said surprised me. He said, “it seems that the more money I make, the more unhappy I become, he feels tired and stressed everyday and doesn’t have much time for anything.” “Do you still go out a lot?” I asked him. We used to go clubbing a lot with other friends on the weekend. “Not very often , only once or twice a month. On the weekend, I just want to catch up some sleep.” He said.
That is quite a change of life style, I thought. He used to be the clubbing king, and always out and about. Then I mentioned the pollution problem in China which has been widely covered in the UK media recently. “You know, a lot of people in Europe and around the world think China is an environmental disaster, with new coal firing power plants opening everyday, offsetting a lot of efforts that have been put into tackling global warming and environmental issues by western countries.” I said with a rather worrying voice. He sat back, looking at me, struck by my words clearly, but didn’t say much. I guess he is simply too busy with his work and travel. We switched topics to his family. His wife will move to Beijing quite soon and they plan to focus on baby making as part of 2007 new year resolution. I wished them good luck. It is not easy to fit the babies into the picture when you are fully engaged at work. Somehow I can see the picture of overworked middle class in China trying to reach the higher position in the social ladder. The hunger and drive are certainly here, I thought. But is this all good for the mental health, I am not quite sure. I guess it is true when someone said money can’t give you happiness, but you can’t be happy without money. And we Chinese are probably just as pragmatic as anyone else, if not more. But how do you define the quality of life? For me, being able to breath clean air, walking around in a park and knowing the generations after us could still enjoy the beauty of unpolluted nature, makes me happy.

I was working in the new office on the following day, which is in a newly developed telecom park, with big multinational companies moving in and expanding their offices at stunning speed. Everyone looks quite busy in the office, and I guess that is in line with company’s goal of gearing up for growth in 2007. I walked around the building in the afternoon, took a deep breath and smelled a bit coal in the air – I am not quite sure if I am just being too sensitive or it is purely mental. However, one thing for sure, the environmental issues will take its tolls, and that is going to be an expensive price to pay.

New Year in London

It was my first Xmas and New Year in London, and I think the festive atmosphere is quite good. I paid my first visit to Tate modern, which is really nice, the style and layout of the building match perfectly with the paintings/works exhibited there. The spiral slides in the main hall are quite impressive, there are three of them, I will definitely come back and try them. I had lunch in the coffee/restaurant area on the first floor, with high glass windows offering good view of the south bank.

Had a walk around in Oxford Street before Xmas, the lights and the crowd really lighten up the city. And inside the club tiger, the pre Xmas party was already in full swing. I had a redbull Vodka and quite enjoyed the music, although I have to admit I don’t feel I belong to the crazy party world anymore. Having done all the late night out on the weekends in Beijing for two years, I feel I want something different that stimulate me, other than the loud music and heavy drinking.

New Years eve climaxed at London eye, I was with some friends watching the fireworks. We were very wise to get there early enough that we got a good spot where we can see the whole London eye. It was windy and a bit chilly (compared with Beijing it is still quite mild for winter) We were standing next to two boys and girls in their late teens, and the girls in mini skirts were trembling in the wind. For some reason I still don’t understand, some girls here seem to think the less they dress in winter, the sexier they are.

The crowd was cheering and screaming when the big illuminated numbers came up in the high rise building just behind us. The countdown started and the crowd was in good spirits and it was a good feeling to be there when the first fireworks broke up in the sky behind the big wheel (London eye). It was spectacular display and the whole sky on south bank was lit up with beautiful fireworks cracking on and off. Champagne was sprayed and people started hugging/kissing their friends, I got a kiss on the cheek from a friend and four of us hugged together. This was certainly a new year celebration I will remember.

It was a long journey coming home (long not in terms of distance but the time spent on walking back to waterloo tube station which was only five minutes away). After losing my friends in the first three minutes, I decided to fight my way through the crowd. There are some advantages of being alone sometimes, it is easier for manoeuvre. Fortyfive minutes later, I found myself in the waterloo station and from there it was an easy way home. Got home around 2 am, and woke up at 8:30 to the sun shining through my window, looks like a beautiful start of the new year!