Girl and City

Ah, Paris, the city of lights.

For me, Paris was the city of world-famous art museums, night-time strolls, and impeccably trimmed gardens. I wore scarves. I walked along the Seine. I ate Pierre Hermé macarons. I went to the Louvre – three times. I had wine on the Pont Neuf bridge. I made a four-course gourmet meal in our apartment. I went shopping in the Saint-Germin-des-Pres district. I dined until midnight on a street patio of a corner cafe on the Pont de L’Ile Saint Louis. I found myself in a block party. I drank wine on our balcony as I watched the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower. I bought art from street painters in the Latin Quarter. I got scouted by a French film director outside the Notre Dame. I napped in the Versailles gardens.

I fell in love, with Paris.

And I met a boy. (more…)

At the end of this month, I’m headed to Asia.

I know, I know, I just came back from Europe and I’m traveling again? Well, yes. On what money? Haven’t figured that out yet.

I’m going to Nanjing first, to see my grandma and close relatives. Then I’m going to Shanghai for a week with WAF. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know how excited I was to book our hotel in Shanghai, because it’s in a super good location and it was also super cheap – only $180 CAD for four nights! Ridiculous, I know. This is why I love traveling in China, it makes me feel rich even when I have never felt poorer¹.
WAF is excited to go clubbing in Shanghai, and frankly I am too, because I’ve never been to Shanghai without my parents/relatives. I’m sure it’ll be a very different experience to go with a friend, as adults, than my childhood visits. I’m a little anxious though, given WAF‘s track-record on going out. I tried to talk to her about some ground rules for our own protection, but I don’t think I’ll be able to control her. She told me flat out that she is looking to get laid, but what am I going to do if she leaves me alone in the club and goes home with some guy? And how am I going to make sure the guy returns her to me the next morning, alive and relatively unscathed? I am never as trusting around strangers when I’m traveling, especially when I don’t have male companions, but WAF is like a (drunken) train wreck with Daddy Issues stamped on her forehead, just asking for trouble. Luckily we’re only in Shanghai for four days so that limits the number of guys she can sleep with amount of mischief she can get up to.

From Shanghai, we’ll be flying to Hong Kong together, and I’ll be staying with FBB. FBB is the guy I am supposed to marry. My parents and his parents arranged our marriage when I was born (I know, what century are we living in, right?). I have never met him, although I’ve met his parents a few times and I like them. So maybe I will like him too, who knows?

FBB and I have exchanged emails from time to time since he’s an investment banker and I was going through recruiting and I had a lot of questions for him and his kind (before I settled on consulting). We have not talked about our parents’ ridiculous marriage arrangement though; I don’t think either of us take it seriously. And if we don’t talk about it, maybe it won’t be real. Right?

Originally, I was only going to Hong Kong because NB was getting an apartment there (he starts work there next month) and said I’d be welcome to crash at his place any time. But when I actually confirmed the dates with him to book my ticket, NB withdrew his invitation because his girlfriend would also be staying with him at that time. I was pretty bummed until… I remembered FBB had also offered, a year ago, accommodation should I ever go to Hong Kong. But it has been so long and I didn’t know if he was serious or just being polite. Well, he was surprisingly eager to host me when I mentioned I wanted to go to Hong Kong in August, and long story short, I will be spending a week in Hong Kong in the apartment of my potential future husband.

Arranged marriages can be useful after all.

1. This is the first time in four years that I don’t have an income, and my bank account has been so depleted after Europe. [↩]

With my impending move looming in the near future, and my job not far behind, I have been investigating the travel accessories market and finding it insufficient. After watching Up in the Air, I realized I, too, needed some space-saving travel accessories to make my traveling more efficient and hassle-free. But other than wrinkle-free clothing, I have found it difficult to locate quality travel accessories.

The most promising, so far, has been LL Bean’s “Packing Essentials”. I’ve never used SpacePak Bags but they look like a good idea, but will they increase wrinkles?

I definitely need a jewelry travel organizer, but theirs looks rather small and insufficient for my two dozen earrings and dozen necklaces.

I have a hanging toiletry bag but I found on my Europe trip that when it’s full, it’s hard to roll up, and is not actually very space-saving. I wonder if these will be any different?

If you have any experiences with high-quality, lightweight, space-saving travel accessories for professionals who travel a lot, please leave your comments, recommendations, experiences, or links to point me in the right direction. Thank you!

I have never studied art. I took two years of art in school, was no good at anything, and learned zero. But for some reason, I love art museums, and most of all, oil paintings. I love learning about artists and watching them grow from naive youngsters to seasoned artists through their works. But I have never been deeply moved by a piece of art before, until Van Gogh. In the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, I found myself standing in front of a landscape painting of a harvest and crying. I wasn’t even a huge fan of Van Gogh before coming to this museum, but after going through a lifetime of his works, I couldn’t help it. I just stood there and cried. (more…)

Part of 30 Days of Me.

Since I just returned from Europe, I have plenty of “favourites” from each museum that I went to. You all know I love Impressionist paintings, so here’s something a little lot different.

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)

It is one of the most memorable paintings from French Romanticism, and depicts “a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today’s Mauritania on July 5, 1816. At least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation, dehydration, cannibalism and madness. The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain acting under the authority of the recently restored French monarchy.” (Source: The Raft of the Medusa)

There is so much to say about this work, but the first thing I noticed about this work was how it reminded me of Caravaggio, who had died almost two hundred years earlier. The lighting in this painting was stunning, as was its size. And when I learned that this was an un-commissioned work, it became all the more impressive. It was one of the first paintings of its time to depict real people as opposed to mythological Gods. In addition to being based on a real piece of history, it was also considered to be a criticism of the French monarchy at the time. If you have time, the story being depicted in the painting is quite interesting to read.

What is an interesting art piece you’ve encountered recently?