Twenty years ago, this was the historical moment. The Berlin wall came down after more than twenty years of isolation and persistent fight for freedom. It was not widenly reported in China, as it was post 4th June period,and it was politically sensitive time.
I visited Berlin five years ago, thoroughly instrigued by the history. The small museum at check point de Charlie tells many heartfelt stories, most of them with tears and blood.
It set a landmark closure to the cold war, and once again, history proves that nothing could stop people from communicating and connecting with each other, however difficult it might be.
It was the time East Germany said Goodbye to Lenin and embrace the unity of Germany.
And for the domino effect on Easter Europe and the rest of the world, a big party for the 20th anniversary sounds like a great idea, especially now Germany has officially come out of recession.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Windy city suffers the defeat
Chicago lost its bid for 2016 Olympics, I was disappointed, but not too surprised. I only lived in the city for one year, arrived in steamy hot summer and survived the long harsh winter. The weather is not the best, but it is quite a vibrant city and has its own charm, especially the lake front and jazz festivals in the summer. I also enjoyed the shops along Michigan Ave, almost as good as the shops in London, with the exception of course I think London is a more trendy place than Chicago. I probably won’t put Chicago on my favourite cities list, but as a city in the mid west in America, Chicago is as good as it could get, and in a lot of ways it deserves an Olympics.
I admire the fact Obama and his wife made a personal push for their city, the city they still see as home. They did their best, the first lady speech showed class, integrity, and strong, determined character. The message was personal, intimate but utterly convincing at the same time.
America was voted out, almost humiliatingly in the first round. It was political vote in many ways, it shows an united front of countries that are anti America, using this as a perfect forum to stage their protest. And Chicago became the victim of this.
It seems to me there is a bit taste of “sour grape” in the world arena, when one country has been super power for too long, especially if the country who has adopted an aggressive foreign policy, it causes resentment and hatred. I start to wonder when China becomes the next super power, if the same fate could also happen to us. Being the biggest, strongest are not necessarily a blessing, it could be a curse sometimes as well.
I admire the fact Obama and his wife made a personal push for their city, the city they still see as home. They did their best, the first lady speech showed class, integrity, and strong, determined character. The message was personal, intimate but utterly convincing at the same time.
America was voted out, almost humiliatingly in the first round. It was political vote in many ways, it shows an united front of countries that are anti America, using this as a perfect forum to stage their protest. And Chicago became the victim of this.
It seems to me there is a bit taste of “sour grape” in the world arena, when one country has been super power for too long, especially if the country who has adopted an aggressive foreign policy, it causes resentment and hatred. I start to wonder when China becomes the next super power, if the same fate could also happen to us. Being the biggest, strongest are not necessarily a blessing, it could be a curse sometimes as well.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Property Mad
I must have gone property mad, or at least I am obsessed with property search at the moment. No success so far, we have decided to expand our search to Chiswick area in a desparate bid to get a house.
According the article today on BBC, the house price has gone back to Sep 2008 level, which is not far from the peak price. Strange phenomenon, where does all the money come from? I was at the westfield shopping centre last weekend,the popular shops are packed,Recession, what recession??!!
Anyway, the sun is still shining, so there is still hope! It's been lovely weather in the past four weeks, no rain for nearly two weeks, must be setting some new record...
I guess it is like everything else in life, you have to be open minded, flexible and understand there is no such as perfect house, just how much you could compromise...
Three viewings tomorrow, fingers crossed!
According the article today on BBC, the house price has gone back to Sep 2008 level, which is not far from the peak price. Strange phenomenon, where does all the money come from? I was at the westfield shopping centre last weekend,the popular shops are packed,Recession, what recession??!!
Anyway, the sun is still shining, so there is still hope! It's been lovely weather in the past four weeks, no rain for nearly two weeks, must be setting some new record...
I guess it is like everything else in life, you have to be open minded, flexible and understand there is no such as perfect house, just how much you could compromise...
Three viewings tomorrow, fingers crossed!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
I Love London, just not the property prices.
I was on central line from Holland Park heading into city, it was eight in the morning, it was packed of people dressed up for work, quiet in their morning journey to work. I realized how lucky I am to be able to walk to work every day. I have to admit I quite enjoy this occasional visit to the city on a workday morning, a change of usual routine and atmosphere.
And it was such a lovely morning, it has been a good September, like this morning, dry and mild, the early morning sunshine beaming on the concrete buildings and casting its glow in the water of river Thames. I was going to the IBM building on south bank for a seminar. Walking on the pavement by the river, I started to wonder if I would enjoy more working in the city.
Back on tube at mid day, when I was on the stairs going up to the station, some quite mellow singing with guitar drifted from the walkway of the tunnel. I realized that this is the London I love, always on the move, always vibrant, diverse and dynamic.
We will have another busy weekend doing house hunting. We were a bit shocked yesterday when we learned one of the houses we planned to view again this weekend has gone under offer. Even we think it is massively over priced, but apparently they still get snatched up in this desirable area. We have expanded research from Brackenbury village in Hammersmith to Fulham/Parson’s Green area, so hopefully some success.
And it was such a lovely morning, it has been a good September, like this morning, dry and mild, the early morning sunshine beaming on the concrete buildings and casting its glow in the water of river Thames. I was going to the IBM building on south bank for a seminar. Walking on the pavement by the river, I started to wonder if I would enjoy more working in the city.
Back on tube at mid day, when I was on the stairs going up to the station, some quite mellow singing with guitar drifted from the walkway of the tunnel. I realized that this is the London I love, always on the move, always vibrant, diverse and dynamic.
We will have another busy weekend doing house hunting. We were a bit shocked yesterday when we learned one of the houses we planned to view again this weekend has gone under offer. Even we think it is massively over priced, but apparently they still get snatched up in this desirable area. We have expanded research from Brackenbury village in Hammersmith to Fulham/Parson’s Green area, so hopefully some success.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Eight Years On
I woked up to the fresh Autumn air this morning, here in London, the sky was a bit cloudy but it looked promising that the sun could break through soon. Then all of sudden it hit me that it's been eight years since the world was devastated by the tragic event in 9'11.
Eight years on, most of us seem to have put the horror, sorrow and anger behind us (at least for those who were directly affected by the event). But are we livinig in a better world now vs. eight years ago?
Afghanistan is still in a mess with no basic security and a flawed election does not help the democratic progress. Too many young soldiers from US and Britain died, but the real question is if this is a war that could be won in the traditional way. Terrorism could be subdued but never eradicated by war, unless the underlying conflicts in the ideology and long running Israeli and Palestine issue is being addressed and resolved, we could not win this war. We need more dialogue and the will to make compromises to build a brighter future.
Iraq war is a costly mistake that America made, acknowledging it doesn’t necessarily grant the solution. In the eight year post 9’11, sadly the Middle East conflict has not been mitigated or resolved, in fact it has been intensified, and now spreading to other countries as a consequence.
There has been interesting development in the world political and economic stage, China, as the wise men predicted in the 1990s, is becoming a new economic powerhouse. It goes with the Chinese saying “20 years on the east of the river and 20 years on the west of the river”. The world is round, the economic development is going around in circles as well, and it will be interesting to see where the next super star will be born. And it seems that the Economy is still going in boom and bust cycles, and we learned that in the past twelve months that history or glory of an institution could be created but could disappear without a trace, lessons learnt is that if things sound too good to be true, they are probably not true.
Ten years ago, I decided to go and explore a new world. I am still glad I spent three years of my very prime time in America. I learnt a lot there, mostly not in the classrooms. I guess the most important thing I learnt is to live on my own through difficult, challenging time; you get emotionally resilient by holding faith on yourself. I found America is quite an easy country to live, provided you have a good professional job. But except New York and San Francisco, where I do find the diversity and variety, I found most other places a bit boring for me.
The day eight years ago, I will always remember. I was working in an office building in downtown Chicago just across street from Sears Tower when the plane crashed into the first twin tower in NYC. I was reading news on Bloomberg website, thinking it was just another aviation accident. But when we were sent home an hour later, it became very clear something had gone very wrong there. I remember calling my close friend – it was turning chilly in the autumn air in Chicago and I was wandering on the empty ground outside my apartment building. Friends, in turbulent times, are the best assets in the world.
I always wanted to explore Europe, although I never thought I would be working and living in London, life is full of surprises, and this is one of the best ones. I guess in some way I could say I am living in my dreams. In the past eight years, I have been fortunate enough to meet some wonderful people, explore the Europe continent and progress my career, now living in my dream city with someone I love, what more could you ask? Well, we want our dream house, this would be the goal for the next six months. And some day, I will start writing again. It is never good to be too indulged in your own nutshell. It might not be a perfect world out there, but I am still glad to be part of it.
Eight years on, most of us seem to have put the horror, sorrow and anger behind us (at least for those who were directly affected by the event). But are we livinig in a better world now vs. eight years ago?
Afghanistan is still in a mess with no basic security and a flawed election does not help the democratic progress. Too many young soldiers from US and Britain died, but the real question is if this is a war that could be won in the traditional way. Terrorism could be subdued but never eradicated by war, unless the underlying conflicts in the ideology and long running Israeli and Palestine issue is being addressed and resolved, we could not win this war. We need more dialogue and the will to make compromises to build a brighter future.
Iraq war is a costly mistake that America made, acknowledging it doesn’t necessarily grant the solution. In the eight year post 9’11, sadly the Middle East conflict has not been mitigated or resolved, in fact it has been intensified, and now spreading to other countries as a consequence.
There has been interesting development in the world political and economic stage, China, as the wise men predicted in the 1990s, is becoming a new economic powerhouse. It goes with the Chinese saying “20 years on the east of the river and 20 years on the west of the river”. The world is round, the economic development is going around in circles as well, and it will be interesting to see where the next super star will be born. And it seems that the Economy is still going in boom and bust cycles, and we learned that in the past twelve months that history or glory of an institution could be created but could disappear without a trace, lessons learnt is that if things sound too good to be true, they are probably not true.
Ten years ago, I decided to go and explore a new world. I am still glad I spent three years of my very prime time in America. I learnt a lot there, mostly not in the classrooms. I guess the most important thing I learnt is to live on my own through difficult, challenging time; you get emotionally resilient by holding faith on yourself. I found America is quite an easy country to live, provided you have a good professional job. But except New York and San Francisco, where I do find the diversity and variety, I found most other places a bit boring for me.
The day eight years ago, I will always remember. I was working in an office building in downtown Chicago just across street from Sears Tower when the plane crashed into the first twin tower in NYC. I was reading news on Bloomberg website, thinking it was just another aviation accident. But when we were sent home an hour later, it became very clear something had gone very wrong there. I remember calling my close friend – it was turning chilly in the autumn air in Chicago and I was wandering on the empty ground outside my apartment building. Friends, in turbulent times, are the best assets in the world.
I always wanted to explore Europe, although I never thought I would be working and living in London, life is full of surprises, and this is one of the best ones. I guess in some way I could say I am living in my dreams. In the past eight years, I have been fortunate enough to meet some wonderful people, explore the Europe continent and progress my career, now living in my dream city with someone I love, what more could you ask? Well, we want our dream house, this would be the goal for the next six months. And some day, I will start writing again. It is never good to be too indulged in your own nutshell. It might not be a perfect world out there, but I am still glad to be part of it.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Ciao, Sicily!
After a couple of sunny weeks and warm weather in June, summer seemed to reverse to the usual English summer: rainy and cold. Showers every day in the first three weeks in July in London made us really look forward to this holiday in the sun.
And Surely there was plenty of sunshine and heat waiting for us in Sicily.
Before we arrived in Catania, a city in the east coast of Sicily, I had pictured Sicily as an island of a rural and rusty landscape, lemon and olive farms on the hills, wild flowers in bright colours, quiet seaside towns with miles of sandy beaches. But I was to be disappointed to find out that nearly all seaside towns/villages have been overdeveloped, and even in the recession year, the beaches are packed out with hundreds of umbrellas and sunbeds. There is really nothing secluded about it at all, it is just a big commercial scheme to serve thousands of sun seekers, mostly from Italy but also from UK, Germany, France and else where.
Taormina is a charming town, located at top of a hill overlooking the sea, it was built by Greeks and then Romans and others. On a not so hot evening (although it is a rare thing in mid July to mid Aug), it is nice to have a stroll through the narrow streets with fashionable shops on the side. But it was a bit too bustling with tourists, making it lack of any original Sicilian appeal. The beach near Iso Bella is crowded, but the sea near the rocky beach has very clear water, you can see lots of fish swimming there.
Letajanni is a fishing village (as they call it but it is a small town really) that we are quite fond of, the beaches are a little bit quieter than Taormina or Gidiarni Naxos, and the sea was lovely and relatively calm. We ran into a French guy name Nino near the train station there, he turned out to be a Sicilian origin but brought up in France and works near the border of France and Germany. He is an interesting character, who loves traveling in South East Asia. He talked about Thailand, Indonesia so affectionately and said he would love to retire in one of those countries. I started to wonder if he is still single and thinks of finding a wife/girlfriend there as well.
It was extremely hot most of the time during our stay in Sicily, so we spent most of the time dipping in the sea and sitting under the shade of the umbrella on the beach. We did one walking trip from Gidiarni to Taormina and Castelmola, which was quite interesting. You get wonderful view on the hills looking out to the sea and Mt. Etna not so far away. There are a lot of wild Cactus, and some have grown into big trees with trunks looking like a real tree. In Castelmola,a little sleepy village on top of a hill, you get nice breeze from the sea, and it was a real treat on a hot day.
The excursion to Mt. Etna was not as exciting as we expected, the bus took us to 2000 meters above sea level, then it is a combination of cable car and land rovers taking us to 3000 meters, where you can see the top (3300 meters) up close. It is a very active volcano, with smokes coming out in several places near the top. At 3000 meters, looking down you will find a lot of lava trails from past eruptions. Some of the villages at the bottom of the hill were rebuilt after the eruptions in the last thirty years. You can also see wild flowers in red and yellow blooming on the lava sand, a strange landscape you don't come across very often. They have a few ski runs from 3000 meters to 2000 meters, so the same cable cars will take the skiers up hill during winter time.
We enjoyed a rather lazy holiday in the sun, but by the end of the two weeks, we were worn out by the hot weather. When we were back in London, on the bus going from Gatwick to central London, the familiar green landscape under cloudy sky greeted us and we both felt relieved to cool down a bit in this English summer weather, after all, 40 degree was a bit too much for our bodies. So it is home sweet home for us in London and back to work next day.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Long road to a brighter future
One week on, the rest of the world still hold their breath watching the biggest movement in thirty years in Iran. The truth of the election vote count, none of us know and we are probably not in the position to judge, but the high participation of the protest says something for itself, the courage and enthusiasm of the people reflect a nation waking up from its past, and ready to take in control of its future. This reminds me of the event twenty years ago in China, there are astonishing similarities, the fearlessness and naiveness of the youth and sometimes rather disturbing and brutal reality they have to face.
They might not get what they want, the road to freedom and democracy is never easy. It is a rare opportunity, given the power of the opposition party led by Mousavi, but today's speech by the supreme leader is a clear signal that this movement might be just another brave attempt in vain.
I like the speech Obama gave in Cairo, he is inspirational yet he is realistic and taking a progmatic approach towards complex issues. The issue between Israel and Palestine is not just political or religious, it is an economic conflict essentially for the people. When people start to believe they will have a more comfortable and secure life, they will choose to live rather than becoming a martyr. There has to be hope for them in the future. And compromises have to be made on both sides.
The west wants to see a more liberal and open Iran, however, they must be prepared the progress there could take long time and the process could be quite painful, and there will be set backs as history does not evolve like one straight line. Obama is right about letting Iranian people choose their own destiny, and history has proved the internal force within the country is ultimately the driving and determining force in the development. In the meantime, regardless how worried we are about the situation, we have to let the nation take its own course. They will get there, but it will be a long bumpy road.. .
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Beijing and Guilin
It's been more than a year since I went back to China last time. Now it is spring time, the change of season is usually very swift in Beijing during this time of the year. I had been looking forward to this trip back home for a long time, a lot has happened during the last year. The Beijing Olympics was a great success, but then the world recession is hitting the world's factory China very hard as well. I was very keen to find out how things are going in China and I also organized to meet my close friends (one of which was a long lost friend from University time).
Arrived in Beijing on an unexpected rainy day. It was great to see my parents, my sister and her husband. They were joking that we have brought the rain from wet England, as it had not rained in Beijing for nearly two months.
It was nice to be in my flat again, it seems to be quite spacious compared with our flat in Holland Park in London. now there is new subway station within 5 minutes walk. The area has gone through so much new development with upmarket shopping malls and coffee shops spiraling along the third ring road.
We had a lazy lay in the next morning, and then we had a stroll to the French cafe "Le Tout les Jours". It is a new cafe chain, with modern decor and furniture. The staff were very young and friendly, as you would expect in a upmarket place like this in the city. The coffee tastes surprisingly very good, while we sat down by the window table and looking out, we both thought of Paul, the French coffee shop in London. The Paul in Holland park is very nice, but it is more on the rusty side of the old French style. This cafe has more young and chic flavour, equipped with wireless network. Can you see yourself spending lazy mornings here with your laptop, I asked Mark, oh, yes, I can. Mark said, with a smile on this face.
Still jetlagged, we embarked on the train to Guilin. It was Marks' idea to take the 22 hour train down to Guilin. I warned him before we came, "The Chinese trains are not as advanced and modern as these in Europe". Equipped with the idea of expecting the worst, we found the long journey quite bearable. We had an interesting family in our so called “soft sleeper” carriage. The Chinese man was with his mom and 11 year old daughter. He actually works and lives in UK for more than 10 years, the girl speaks perfect native English. They were back in China visiting family and taking his mom for an operation in Beijing and now on their way to their hometown in south China. The girl is very cute and a lively character. We had a chat with them from time to time. Most of the time during the day, we sat by the window and watched the landscapes passing by. At one stop in a small station, we saw a small old man from local village made a swift dive through the bottom of the train, before we moved to the other side of the train to check if he made through safely, he was already through the rail, and climbed up to the road by the side. We smiled, and I said, “that was impressive, wasn’t it?” Mark looked at the little figure disappearing in the narrow country road, said “Yes, he probably had done it hundreds of times, practice makes it perfect.” The food on the train was just as bad as I could remember from 20 years ago on the train, probably worse as the food standard in China has improved significantly in these years. And the dining carriage is still managed very much like as communist canteen although they charge you a hefty price (by Chinese standard) for some terrible meals. But we survived, the train passed the Yangzi River at night, I was drifting in and out of sleep while the train made a few stops in some major cities on the river.
Our spirits were quite high when we got off the train, it was early afternoon, the warm and humid air embraced us. We were very glad to have had this train journey, it was more fun than taking the plane except the tiredness from the long hours. On the way in the taxi to Sheraton, we got a glimpse of the city. Lots of bicycles and motobikes, a green and fresh looking city with a few small lakes and rivers running through. Sheraton is just located by the famous River Li, it started to drizzle a bit when we went out to have a walk along the river bank. It is the “Plum Rainy season” right now in the south, so we expect to get rain here.
The next day we did the usual tourist thing, a group tour on the boat cruising down the river. It was a bit unusual experience for Mark. We were sitting with some people from Northeast region in China, which are known for their rather outgoing characters. They were really enjoying themselves during the trip, laughing and talking quite loud. Fun crowd, we thought although slightly on the noisy side. The scenery we passed is beautiful, with green limestone hills in various shapes. And we were being blasted nearly all the time with broadcasting from tour guide on the different attractions and legendary stories in this region. The view on the 2nd level of the boat was fantastic, you feel as if you were travelling in a giant refined Chinese painting. One highlight of the trip was the “pig haggling”. While we were sitting on the boat, there are a few bamboo rafts coming close to our boat, and after hooking their rafts on our boat, they started selling various art objects to the passengers on board. The objects are some crafted stones looking like cabbage, Buddha and some animals. One thing caught our eye was a pig, it has a cute looking around face and body with an innocent smile. We waved to the vendor who was holding the pig in his hand, he came close to us and showed us the pig, it was a lovely silly creature, we asked the price and within a few minutes, the deal is done, we got it for 50 yuan (5 pounds). Pleased with our purchase, we put it on the table and play around with it. This pig drew some huge attention, soon everybody at our table asked for a pig, they started bargaining with the vendor as a group, within 10 minutes, all the pigs on the bamboo rafts were sold out. We had a real good laugh about it and gave the pig to my parents when we came back to Beijing. Both of them and my sister love it. Well, it is a very small price to pay for a simple pleasure.
After the big boat cruise on the river, we decided to take a less commercialized scheme to see more of the countryside. We got a small bamboo raft the next day. Most of these bamboo rafts are run as a family business. We met a woman on the river bank, who turns out to be the sister of the guy who owns the raft. We had a brief chat with her while she walked us to the other side of the river to meet her brother. She told us he couldn’t pick us up on this side of the river because the local police patrol are in operation around here and they are prohibited from taking customers here. She and her husband have a boat as well, and they have a son who is finishing University this summer but fears there is no jobs for him due to the Economy downturn in China. In the past, these new graduates usually go to Canton, a more prosperous region driven by the export business in the south coast, but now even there the jobs are drying up. I feel bad for her and her son, they have worked very hard to send him to University but now there is no job for him.
We got on a bamboo raft and started our second day of cruising down the river. This turns out to be a more interesting trip. It started raining very heavily, so it became very quiet and peaceful on the river. All the tourist boat seemed to have gone and only us the mad ones were still on the boat enjoying the tranquillity and beauty of nature. We were actually sheltered from the rain as there is a roof on the raft. The water is very clear, with reflections of green hills. We stopped from time to time to visit local fishing villages and have a look around. It must be tough life to be a fisherman here compared with more lucrative jobs these days in the city. There is one ancient town called Da Xu is the most intriguing one. There is one narrow alley running through the town, with wooden houses by the side which are 300 years old. Some of the houses are in quite distressed condition. We saw one young woman making a bamboo basket in her yard, and we tentatively stepped in when an old granny looking woman waved at us. She must have seen us looking very curious, she smiled us and asked us to come in and have a look. We walked into the house, she started showing us around – the interesting small hollow yard in the middle of the house, where the rain water drops through to the ground. I guess it is designed to get more light inside the house. She pointed out some well-crafted old wooden furniture on the side and said it is 200 years old. “this is where my grandchildren live”, she said it pointing to the small loft on the top. We can see the whole house is in a very bad shape, needing some major renovation work. While we were at the back garden, she proudly showed us the potted plants she has, “aren’t they beautiful”, she said to us. Out of curiosity, I asked where the toilet is, she must have misunderstood me and said “just here”, pointing to the back where there was a small brick walled shed, “do you want to use it” she asked me. I felt a bit embarrassed. “No, actually no”, I replied. We left her with 20 yuan, she thanked us graciously and we said goodbye. Walking back on the alley running by the side of the river, we noticed there were some new houses being built along side the houses on the street. It is really like seeing new China clashing with old China in one miniature version here. Obviously the villagers who decide to stay in this old town have not had the equal fortune as the ones ventured out to the cities, but on the other hand, who is to say the city life style is necessarily better and they might be more happy here where their ancesters have lived for centuries.
Our last day in Guilin, we went to see the terraced mountains in a county with 2 hours drive from Guilin. We got a taxi outside the hotel. The driver is an outgoing character and very keen to learn English. He surprised us with the English words he knows. It is not easy to learn a foreign language for an adult if you haven’t studied the basics, but he managed to learn a lot of words from his customers from English, America, etc, just little by little. I admire his drive for learning, I wish we have more taxi drivers like him in China, that would make the foreign tourists life much easier in China! The terraced fields were very impressive, they are rice fields built on hills, there are so many of them in that county. There are two minority ethnic groups living there. Their hard work from 500 years has created a very unique and breathtaking landscape that thousands of people admire today. Now this place has become a tourist attraction as well, there is a village in the centre of the terraced hills where there are guest houses and restaurants for the city people to “experience the farm life”. We walked all the way up to the highest fields, it was a nice walk with terraced fields running up and down the hills around this. We noticed there were some road work going on the other side of the mountain. Later on we learned from the driver this is another road being build which will take tourists to other villages as well. We feel a bit sad about this, soon the unique landscape here will be cut to pieces by the big roads crossing through. In a developing country, it is not easy to get the right balance between development and environmental reservation. A typical example is in Yang Shuo, a beautiful small town with a lot of limestone mountains along the River Li, there is a big motorway going through the town, with very little traffic on it. This was a very controversial project when it started, a lot of scientists and geologists objected to the idea, but it still got built partly due to the ambitious local government.
When we came back to Beijing in a week later, spring has leaped into the summer, it was sunny and very warm. We went to the art district 798 factory, where the Chinese modern art is really thriving. Since our last visit a year ago, some of the Chinese artists have become well known in the International arena. We also went to see a contemporary art exhibition called “Art Beijing”, which was apparently a commercial scheme to push the sales of modern art. On the way out, we saw a few guys selling the exhibition catalogue. The official price is 180 Yuan but we got bargain from them for 35 yuan. It is not fake, judging from the fine paper and good print quality. We suspect they got them very cheap from people who got them free, so this is China – you should always look around and shop for a bargain!
We spent a day at my parents townhouse in the countryside, there has been new additions to this huge luxious development. Apart from the existing town houses and detached houses, they have built a lot courtyard houses mocking the southeast China style, with grey brick walls, bamboo by the pond, and some rock sculptures in the garden. The new rick in China is definitely still growing at impressive speed everyday. We played Ping Pong with my parents, my dad is still very good at it, we had a few double games and a few mixed double games, of course most of the time the Chinese team beat the English team...
Before we arrived in Beijing, I booked us for two hiking trips in the mountains around Beijing with my favourite hiking group “Beijing Hikers”. They have been doing very well, now the founder’s sister is getting married with a New Zealander. They certainly don’t have to worry about lacking of customers, since I left China, they have bumped price by 80% but they are still fully booked in every trip. I was just so happy to be back hiking again, walking on the old wall, looking at the broken towers on the rolling hills, enjoying the perfect combination of nature and culture. The second hike was quite hard-core, Mark and I had to take turns to carry our rucksack as there was some very steep path going up. But the view was fantastic on the top and we enjoyed the climbing as well. Lunch was arranged in a village after the hard climb, the food was surprisingly good, a lot of fresh vegetables and some barbecued fish. As usual, the crowd was friendly and quite sociable.
When we were in Beijing, most of the evenings we were busy meeting up my friends. A few of them had babies in the last two years, and I can see the focus of the family certainly have changed a lot. One of the evenings we went to have a drink in a swanky bar on top of the tallest building (so far) in Beijing, it is part of Hyatt hotel. The view was nice, but the cocktails don’t come cheap, actually they almost charge you London price. We ordered two cocktails and one non alcohol cocktail, it came 400 yuan including service charge.
One of our favourite places in Beijing is still the Hu Tongs, we had a good day out going around the Hu Tongs, this is where you still get a glimpse of “old Beijing” which is moving over for the big modern developments. One evening we went to the Vienamese restaurant Nuage for dinner, excellent food wand great view, just as I remembered.
Our spirits were quite high when we got off the train, it was early afternoon, the warm and humid air embraced us. We were very glad to have had this train journey, it was more fun than taking the plane except the tiredness from the long hours. On the way in the taxi to Sheraton, we got a glimpse of the city. Lots of bicycles and motobikes, a green and fresh looking city with a few small lakes and rivers running through. Sheraton is just located by the famous River Li, it started to drizzle a bit when we went out to have a walk along the river bank. It is the “Plum Rainy season” right now in the south, so we expect to get rain here.
The next day we did the usual tourist thing, a group tour on the boat cruising down the river. It was a bit unusual experience for Mark. We were sitting with some people from Northeast region in China, which are known for their rather outgoing characters. They were really enjoying themselves during the trip, laughing and talking quite loud. Fun crowd, we thought although slightly on the noisy side. The scenery we passed is beautiful, with green limestone hills in various shapes. And we were being blasted nearly all the time with broadcasting from tour guide on the different attractions and legendary stories in this region. The view on the 2nd level of the boat was fantastic, you feel as if you were travelling in a giant refined Chinese painting. One highlight of the trip was the “pig haggling”. While we were sitting on the boat, there are a few bamboo rafts coming close to our boat, and after hooking their rafts on our boat, they started selling various art objects to the passengers on board. The objects are some crafted stones looking like cabbage, Buddha and some animals. One thing caught our eye was a pig, it has a cute looking around face and body with an innocent smile. We waved to the vendor who was holding the pig in his hand, he came close to us and showed us the pig, it was a lovely silly creature, we asked the price and within a few minutes, the deal is done, we got it for 50 yuan (5 pounds). Pleased with our purchase, we put it on the table and play around with it. This pig drew some huge attention, soon everybody at our table asked for a pig, they started bargaining with the vendor as a group, within 10 minutes, all the pigs on the bamboo rafts were sold out. We had a real good laugh about it and gave the pig to my parents when we came back to Beijing. Both of them and my sister love it. Well, it is a very small price to pay for a simple pleasure.
After the big boat cruise on the river, we decided to take a less commercialized scheme to see more of the countryside. We got a small bamboo raft the next day. Most of these bamboo rafts are run as a family business. We met a woman on the river bank, who turns out to be the sister of the guy who owns the raft. We had a brief chat with her while she walked us to the other side of the river to meet her brother. She told us he couldn’t pick us up on this side of the river because the local police patrol are in operation around here and they are prohibited from taking customers here. She and her husband have a boat as well, and they have a son who is finishing University this summer but fears there is no jobs for him due to the Economy downturn in China. In the past, these new graduates usually go to Canton, a more prosperous region driven by the export business in the south coast, but now even there the jobs are drying up. I feel bad for her and her son, they have worked very hard to send him to University but now there is no job for him.
We got on a bamboo raft and started our second day of cruising down the river. This turns out to be a more interesting trip. It started raining very heavily, so it became very quiet and peaceful on the river. All the tourist boat seemed to have gone and only us the mad ones were still on the boat enjoying the tranquillity and beauty of nature. We were actually sheltered from the rain as there is a roof on the raft. The water is very clear, with reflections of green hills. We stopped from time to time to visit local fishing villages and have a look around. It must be tough life to be a fisherman here compared with more lucrative jobs these days in the city. There is one ancient town called Da Xu is the most intriguing one. There is one narrow alley running through the town, with wooden houses by the side which are 300 years old. Some of the houses are in quite distressed condition. We saw one young woman making a bamboo basket in her yard, and we tentatively stepped in when an old granny looking woman waved at us. She must have seen us looking very curious, she smiled us and asked us to come in and have a look. We walked into the house, she started showing us around – the interesting small hollow yard in the middle of the house, where the rain water drops through to the ground. I guess it is designed to get more light inside the house. She pointed out some well-crafted old wooden furniture on the side and said it is 200 years old. “this is where my grandchildren live”, she said it pointing to the small loft on the top. We can see the whole house is in a very bad shape, needing some major renovation work. While we were at the back garden, she proudly showed us the potted plants she has, “aren’t they beautiful”, she said to us. Out of curiosity, I asked where the toilet is, she must have misunderstood me and said “just here”, pointing to the back where there was a small brick walled shed, “do you want to use it” she asked me. I felt a bit embarrassed. “No, actually no”, I replied. We left her with 20 yuan, she thanked us graciously and we said goodbye. Walking back on the alley running by the side of the river, we noticed there were some new houses being built along side the houses on the street. It is really like seeing new China clashing with old China in one miniature version here. Obviously the villagers who decide to stay in this old town have not had the equal fortune as the ones ventured out to the cities, but on the other hand, who is to say the city life style is necessarily better and they might be more happy here where their ancesters have lived for centuries.
Our last day in Guilin, we went to see the terraced mountains in a county with 2 hours drive from Guilin. We got a taxi outside the hotel. The driver is an outgoing character and very keen to learn English. He surprised us with the English words he knows. It is not easy to learn a foreign language for an adult if you haven’t studied the basics, but he managed to learn a lot of words from his customers from English, America, etc, just little by little. I admire his drive for learning, I wish we have more taxi drivers like him in China, that would make the foreign tourists life much easier in China! The terraced fields were very impressive, they are rice fields built on hills, there are so many of them in that county. There are two minority ethnic groups living there. Their hard work from 500 years has created a very unique and breathtaking landscape that thousands of people admire today. Now this place has become a tourist attraction as well, there is a village in the centre of the terraced hills where there are guest houses and restaurants for the city people to “experience the farm life”. We walked all the way up to the highest fields, it was a nice walk with terraced fields running up and down the hills around this. We noticed there were some road work going on the other side of the mountain. Later on we learned from the driver this is another road being build which will take tourists to other villages as well. We feel a bit sad about this, soon the unique landscape here will be cut to pieces by the big roads crossing through. In a developing country, it is not easy to get the right balance between development and environmental reservation. A typical example is in Yang Shuo, a beautiful small town with a lot of limestone mountains along the River Li, there is a big motorway going through the town, with very little traffic on it. This was a very controversial project when it started, a lot of scientists and geologists objected to the idea, but it still got built partly due to the ambitious local government.
When we came back to Beijing in a week later, spring has leaped into the summer, it was sunny and very warm. We went to the art district 798 factory, where the Chinese modern art is really thriving. Since our last visit a year ago, some of the Chinese artists have become well known in the International arena. We also went to see a contemporary art exhibition called “Art Beijing”, which was apparently a commercial scheme to push the sales of modern art. On the way out, we saw a few guys selling the exhibition catalogue. The official price is 180 Yuan but we got bargain from them for 35 yuan. It is not fake, judging from the fine paper and good print quality. We suspect they got them very cheap from people who got them free, so this is China – you should always look around and shop for a bargain!
We spent a day at my parents townhouse in the countryside, there has been new additions to this huge luxious development. Apart from the existing town houses and detached houses, they have built a lot courtyard houses mocking the southeast China style, with grey brick walls, bamboo by the pond, and some rock sculptures in the garden. The new rick in China is definitely still growing at impressive speed everyday. We played Ping Pong with my parents, my dad is still very good at it, we had a few double games and a few mixed double games, of course most of the time the Chinese team beat the English team...
Before we arrived in Beijing, I booked us for two hiking trips in the mountains around Beijing with my favourite hiking group “Beijing Hikers”. They have been doing very well, now the founder’s sister is getting married with a New Zealander. They certainly don’t have to worry about lacking of customers, since I left China, they have bumped price by 80% but they are still fully booked in every trip. I was just so happy to be back hiking again, walking on the old wall, looking at the broken towers on the rolling hills, enjoying the perfect combination of nature and culture. The second hike was quite hard-core, Mark and I had to take turns to carry our rucksack as there was some very steep path going up. But the view was fantastic on the top and we enjoyed the climbing as well. Lunch was arranged in a village after the hard climb, the food was surprisingly good, a lot of fresh vegetables and some barbecued fish. As usual, the crowd was friendly and quite sociable.
When we were in Beijing, most of the evenings we were busy meeting up my friends. A few of them had babies in the last two years, and I can see the focus of the family certainly have changed a lot. One of the evenings we went to have a drink in a swanky bar on top of the tallest building (so far) in Beijing, it is part of Hyatt hotel. The view was nice, but the cocktails don’t come cheap, actually they almost charge you London price. We ordered two cocktails and one non alcohol cocktail, it came 400 yuan including service charge.
One of our favourite places in Beijing is still the Hu Tongs, we had a good day out going around the Hu Tongs, this is where you still get a glimpse of “old Beijing” which is moving over for the big modern developments. One evening we went to the Vienamese restaurant Nuage for dinner, excellent food wand great view, just as I remembered.
On the day leaving Beijing, I realized how much I enjoyed being back in my home town and home country. It is an exciting place to be in, and we are planning to come back for a holiday next year as well. Who knows, we might decide to relocate to China one day, not a bad idea, uh!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Weekends by the seaside near Bournemouth
We went down to the seaside near Bournemouth a couple of times on the weekend, first in the middle of March and second time during Easter weekend. We were very lucky with the weather, and I have changed my view on the British seaside, actually when the sun is shining, it is really lovely. It has its own charm, not so flashy, not so steaming hot, but mild, clean and peaceful.
We had a few cricket games on the beach (only plastic bat and ball) and I really enjoyed it. I am actualy not a bad batman - thanks to the practice from tennis and pingpong!
We stopped by a stately home for afternoon, there was a wedding reception going on, pity we were not invited for a glass of bubbly!
Thursday, April 02, 2009
London - the focus of attention
London is definitely a happening place in the past two days, although it seems quite business uausal in our small corner of west London office.
The Obama couple has enjoyed a warm welcome in London, you can't get any more high profile and British than a day like this in London - started with breakfast in Downing street, meeting selected elite of world leaders, meeting the queen (she got a ipod, but I wonder if she would ever use it) and Mrs Obama finished off the day dining with J.K Rowling and Mrs. Brown, cooked by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
They are the style icon, with his trademark smile and relexed yet influential manner, and her ever impressive wardrobe, they are the media favourite but they also have a magnetic appeal to general public around the world.
And they are very very lucky with the weather!
I almost wished Mr. and Mrs. Brown were a bit more glamourous, as the guests are certainly stealing the show here. But they have done a wonderful job being the host of a event watched by billions.
The scale and impact of the protests are not as serious as expected, and seem to be limited to specific groups at the moment.
The hype around the G20 and the rally in the stock market reminds me of the Obama campaign slogan "Hope", indeed in this deep crisis, hope and confidence is the key to lead us through the storm and come out strong. But hope does have to materialize but promises have to be fulfilled and delivered with concrete actions.
The sun is shining, and it also seems there is a fair share of optimism in the market!
The Obama couple has enjoyed a warm welcome in London, you can't get any more high profile and British than a day like this in London - started with breakfast in Downing street, meeting selected elite of world leaders, meeting the queen (she got a ipod, but I wonder if she would ever use it) and Mrs Obama finished off the day dining with J.K Rowling and Mrs. Brown, cooked by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
They are the style icon, with his trademark smile and relexed yet influential manner, and her ever impressive wardrobe, they are the media favourite but they also have a magnetic appeal to general public around the world.
And they are very very lucky with the weather!
I almost wished Mr. and Mrs. Brown were a bit more glamourous, as the guests are certainly stealing the show here. But they have done a wonderful job being the host of a event watched by billions.
The scale and impact of the protests are not as serious as expected, and seem to be limited to specific groups at the moment.
The hype around the G20 and the rally in the stock market reminds me of the Obama campaign slogan "Hope", indeed in this deep crisis, hope and confidence is the key to lead us through the storm and come out strong. But hope does have to materialize but promises have to be fulfilled and delivered with concrete actions.
The sun is shining, and it also seems there is a fair share of optimism in the market!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Spring London
It's been lovely weather this week, almost feel like we are living in a miracle - sunny and warm ( a bit chilly in the air still) and the gardens are in full blossom. It is the London we all love, but we don't get so much.
Talking about miracle, that is what we need for the economy really. So far I still have a job, although the golden days in our industry are long gone. Now it is neck breaking competition.
I am going to the seaside in the south coast this weekend, Mark is already down there with his dad. His sister and I will join them tomorrow. Boscombe has attracted quite some attention in the recent year since they started the artificial surf reef a few years ago. Things are taking in shape. We were there in July last year, while the seafront flats were selling as "hot cakes" (according to the sales lady). I am quite interested to see the progress in the past 9 months.
What I am really looking forward is the home visit in mid April. We will go to Beijing and then off to Guilin for a few days sightseeing. It would be great to see my old friends, one of them I haven't seen for eight years. The recession in the west has hit China quite badly as well, and it is quite a difficult job to manage a economy with such a vast population and still largely unskilled workers. I don't agree with the government on a lot of issues, but I would like to give them some credit on the management of economy.
It is a rather interesting new phenomenon. I remember 20 years when China was just opening up, everybody in China looked at the west with full admiration. And not surprisingly in a lot of industries, the benchmark has been the western companies/banks. My sister works for one of the biggest commercial bank in risk management in the head office. They used to have RBS as their strategic partners and there are some "RBS experts" stationed in their bank for years doing training and lectures. She recalls last year in one of the seminars they were shocked the loose lending policy RBS had taken, but when they questioned this kind of very risky practice, the answer is that they "understand the risks and they have a system to manage the risks." Well, maybe not! Thinking back, she is glad that their bank didn't adopt the "expert practice".
Friday evening, I am home alone, a bit usual, but in a way it is kind of nice to have some time for myself.
And in this lovely spring sunny day, I can't really complain. On the way back from work today, I walked through Holland park, and I can't help to think how lucky I am to have a wonderful park just in the door steps!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Auction - Legitimating Looting?
This week the auction of two bronze sculptures in Christie’s have made headline news on the Internet. This is a typical story that reflects the conflict of values between the west and China that media loves. Although as a Chinese, this is a bitter tale that I find it hard to tell.
I think patriotic motive of the Chinese bidder is very obvious, which I totally understand although I am not convinced this is the best idea. But maybe given the state of the relationship between French and Chinese government, a more diplomatic resolution to return the treasurer to China was probably considered quite unlikely.
To understand why we are here today, it is important to understand the historical context. I believe we actually have the same facts – more or less anyway. Maybe I could borrow Victor Hugo’s words in his letter to the French capital regarding the “China Expedition”.
“It was a kind of tremendous unknown masterpiece, glimpsed from the distance in a kind of twilight, like a silhouette of the civilization of Asia on the horizon of the civilization of Europe.
This wonder has disappeared.One day two bandits entered the Summer Palace. One plundered, the other burned.
……
And back they came to Europe, arm in arm, laughing away. Such is the story of the two bandits.
We Europeans are the civilized ones, and for us the Chinese are the barbarians. This is what civilization has done to barbarism.
Before history, one of the two bandits will be called France; the other will be called England.
……
I hope that a day will come when France, delivered and cleansed, will return this booty to despoiled China.”
So this pair of sculptures were looted from China! As much as I respect the interest of its private collector, in this case, it is the legendary Yves St Laurent, I don’t support the auction. To me, it is one thing these national treasurers are held in Louvre or British Museum, but it is completely different matter if they go on auction. To me, or to whoever has a respect for culture, auctioning them is a process of legitimating the looting.
Time may have passed, history may have evolved, but it doesn’t change the nature of theft. So in theory, these national treasurers should be returned to China unconditionally. But in reality this is a much complex and delicate matter. Today the treasurers are held by private collectors who had paid a handsome price to get them in the first place. In my opinion, the more practical solution is to use diplomatic means if possible, otherwise buying them at the original price the collector paid for is not a bad idea. And for the looted treasurers now displayed in Louvre or elsewhere in museums, if we can’t get them home back to China, at least we should demand lending them on short term basis for free for exhibitions in China.
I was a teenager when I learned this tragedy of the imperial gardens, and I remember standing in the middle of its ruin site in Beijing, trying to imagine its splendid past – a silhouette of the civilization of Asia on the horizon of the civilization of Europe. The ruins, even after these years are still impressive, especially during the sunset when the warm glow casting on its finely carved white surface. Strange enough, the feeling of anger didn’t last, after a while, it is pure sadness, over the colossal loss of intractable beauty.
I think we have to respect history, and respect the achievement of all civilizations. And personally I think the culture should be shared across borders, so I have no problem with having our stolen national treasurers displayed in foreign museums. But to be also fair and practical, we should have the right to borrow any stolen treasurers for exhibitions in China, not for the sheer national pride, but for education of our own children. All nations need to learn their past and art is one of the best ways to learn their culture and history.
I think patriotic motive of the Chinese bidder is very obvious, which I totally understand although I am not convinced this is the best idea. But maybe given the state of the relationship between French and Chinese government, a more diplomatic resolution to return the treasurer to China was probably considered quite unlikely.
To understand why we are here today, it is important to understand the historical context. I believe we actually have the same facts – more or less anyway. Maybe I could borrow Victor Hugo’s words in his letter to the French capital regarding the “China Expedition”.
“It was a kind of tremendous unknown masterpiece, glimpsed from the distance in a kind of twilight, like a silhouette of the civilization of Asia on the horizon of the civilization of Europe.
This wonder has disappeared.One day two bandits entered the Summer Palace. One plundered, the other burned.
……
And back they came to Europe, arm in arm, laughing away. Such is the story of the two bandits.
We Europeans are the civilized ones, and for us the Chinese are the barbarians. This is what civilization has done to barbarism.
Before history, one of the two bandits will be called France; the other will be called England.
……
I hope that a day will come when France, delivered and cleansed, will return this booty to despoiled China.”
So this pair of sculptures were looted from China! As much as I respect the interest of its private collector, in this case, it is the legendary Yves St Laurent, I don’t support the auction. To me, it is one thing these national treasurers are held in Louvre or British Museum, but it is completely different matter if they go on auction. To me, or to whoever has a respect for culture, auctioning them is a process of legitimating the looting.
Time may have passed, history may have evolved, but it doesn’t change the nature of theft. So in theory, these national treasurers should be returned to China unconditionally. But in reality this is a much complex and delicate matter. Today the treasurers are held by private collectors who had paid a handsome price to get them in the first place. In my opinion, the more practical solution is to use diplomatic means if possible, otherwise buying them at the original price the collector paid for is not a bad idea. And for the looted treasurers now displayed in Louvre or elsewhere in museums, if we can’t get them home back to China, at least we should demand lending them on short term basis for free for exhibitions in China.
I was a teenager when I learned this tragedy of the imperial gardens, and I remember standing in the middle of its ruin site in Beijing, trying to imagine its splendid past – a silhouette of the civilization of Asia on the horizon of the civilization of Europe. The ruins, even after these years are still impressive, especially during the sunset when the warm glow casting on its finely carved white surface. Strange enough, the feeling of anger didn’t last, after a while, it is pure sadness, over the colossal loss of intractable beauty.
I think we have to respect history, and respect the achievement of all civilizations. And personally I think the culture should be shared across borders, so I have no problem with having our stolen national treasurers displayed in foreign museums. But to be also fair and practical, we should have the right to borrow any stolen treasurers for exhibitions in China, not for the sheer national pride, but for education of our own children. All nations need to learn their past and art is one of the best ways to learn their culture and history.
****** Updates *******
Some more development during the week:
The Chinese bidder is a successful business man who made his wealth from clothing business and in the past he has set up a fund helping channeling the return of Chinese stolen treasurers from overseas and he is on the VIP list in Christie's (OF COURSE NOW HE WILL BE ON THE BLACK LIST). And apparently he never intended to buy these two items, as this is against the principle laid out by Chinese government. In this particular case, Christie's revealed that they had secretly approached Chinese government before the auction, offering a relative low price but turned down by the Chinese government.
The main purpose of the intentional bid with no payment is to make this auction a miscarriage, which seemed to be a success so far. According to the current owner of the sculptures, he has told the press that if the Chinese bidder doesn't pay within a month, he will keep the items. I guess this is probably wise given it will be bad publicity for him and Yves Saint Laurent family if this goes to auction again and would certainly also put French government in tremendous pressure trying to amend the relationship with China. Also according to the online survey done by La Monde, more than 70% of the French public think these sculptures should be returned to China.
Interestingly, the forum on the Chinese website offers mixed reactions from the Chinese public. Not surprisingly, there are hails to support his patriotic act, but there are also criticism of his bold move, citing concerns of the negative impact on Chinese's credibility and trustworthiness overseas. One blogger says, this kind of act is naive, and could jeopardize the goodwill and faith we have endeavoured to establish in the eyes of the west.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Back in the social scene
Spring is arriving in London, at least for this week anyway. As part of my new year resolution, I have decided to get out and socialize more this year. Now looks like at least weather has kicked off a good start.
I was in the city earlier this week for a seminar at IBM office in southbank. It is one of those ugly, characterless buildings, but southbank area always gives me a nice feel about London. The river, theatres and buzz ling crowd makes a good dynamic city that enchants many hearts. Sometimes I think Hammersmith is a bit isolated, it is a buy place during work hours as there are quite a few big companies here (Coco cola, universal studio) but somehow it just doesn’t have the viber that the city offers.
I was talking to H, one of my Swedish friends on the phone last week, she is moving to San Francisco. Nice place. I think it is a good time to be in America – they have got a charismatic leader who hopefully will revitalize the country.
I have not been going out to social events since Mark and I started dating about two years ago. I guess it is partly because we get too comfortable and lazy and work gets quite stressful sometimes, but now it is time to get out of our shell and interact with the big world.
“Why don’t you try oriented?” H reminded me that was where we met in Beijing. I checked out their website, seems like they have been expanding to more cities around the world since three years ago.
So here I was, standing in the middle of this Italian restaurant/bar called Vapiano just off oxford street. I realized I am no longer “savvy” at socializing anymore, of course I blame it for lack of practice. But I quickly gathered my guts and hid away my shyness. Within a few minutes I was in the mingling crowd.
It turned out to be an interesting night, and I even bumped into someone I know in London, whom I haven’t seen for at least two years. It was quite civilized crowd, a mixture of British Chinese, other nationalities who have China links, and Taiwanese and people like me from mainland China. The only disappointment is that I was hoping to speak a bit Chinese but it seems everybody is keen on speaking in English.
I was in the city earlier this week for a seminar at IBM office in southbank. It is one of those ugly, characterless buildings, but southbank area always gives me a nice feel about London. The river, theatres and buzz ling crowd makes a good dynamic city that enchants many hearts. Sometimes I think Hammersmith is a bit isolated, it is a buy place during work hours as there are quite a few big companies here (Coco cola, universal studio) but somehow it just doesn’t have the viber that the city offers.
I was talking to H, one of my Swedish friends on the phone last week, she is moving to San Francisco. Nice place. I think it is a good time to be in America – they have got a charismatic leader who hopefully will revitalize the country.
I have not been going out to social events since Mark and I started dating about two years ago. I guess it is partly because we get too comfortable and lazy and work gets quite stressful sometimes, but now it is time to get out of our shell and interact with the big world.
“Why don’t you try oriented?” H reminded me that was where we met in Beijing. I checked out their website, seems like they have been expanding to more cities around the world since three years ago.
So here I was, standing in the middle of this Italian restaurant/bar called Vapiano just off oxford street. I realized I am no longer “savvy” at socializing anymore, of course I blame it for lack of practice. But I quickly gathered my guts and hid away my shyness. Within a few minutes I was in the mingling crowd.
It turned out to be an interesting night, and I even bumped into someone I know in London, whom I haven’t seen for at least two years. It was quite civilized crowd, a mixture of British Chinese, other nationalities who have China links, and Taiwanese and people like me from mainland China. The only disappointment is that I was hoping to speak a bit Chinese but it seems everybody is keen on speaking in English.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Winter Wonderland in London
When I got up this morning, it was a delightful surprise that outside it has turned a winter wonderland. The snow started in the evening yesterday, apparently had been snowing all night long, and it was still snowing when I left for work. The snow on the untouched streets was deep to my ankles.
When I got to the office after 40 minutes (usually it is a 30 minutes) walk, it turned out I was one of the few people who made to the office as most public transportation had stopped running. I enjoyed a quiet day in the office and went home at 15:00. A nice change really compared with normal working days!
In the last ray of sunlight, we made a snowman in our communal garden. It was wonderful to have a day like back in the childhood.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)