A wonderful reunion

Seb and I were invited to a wedding last saturday. This was my first time attending a wedding in France and boy was I excited. The bride was my great friend, Anca and the civil marriage took place at the city hall of Asnieres. The couple had a small guest list and we were able to interact easily with everyone. It was really an international event. There were people from Marocco, England, Czech Republic, Germany and of course many Romanians. Children who did not speak a common language were able to play with each other. That was amazing.

Seb et moi étions invités à un mariage samedi dernier. C'était la première fois que j'assistais à un mariage en france et j'étais tellement excité. La mariée étais mon amie Anca et le mariage civile s'est déroulé à la mairie d'Asnières. Le couple avait une petite liste d'invités et nous avons pu communiquer facilement avec toute le monde. C'était une événement international. Il y avait des invités en provenance du Maroc, d'Angleterre, de République Tchèque, d'Allemagne et bien sûr, de Roumanie. Même les enfants qui ne parlaient pas la même langue jouaient ensemble. Inside the city hall, the couple took their vows in a magnificent hall. The whole event with saying 'Oui' and exchanging of rings took about 15 minutes. Our next destination was Malesherbes about 100km from Asnières.

Dans la mairie, le couple ont prononcés leurs voeux dans une salle magnifique. La cérémonie a durée 15 minutes. Notre destination suivante fut Malesherbes situé à environ 100km d'Asnières.In accordance to French tradition, the wine of honnour was next in the programme. We drank champagne until it was time for dinner. Dinner started around 8.30pm and was accompanied with speeches, games and dancing. Everything spoken had to be translated from french to english and romanian.

Selon la tradition française, la suite du programme consiste à assister au vin d'honneur. Nous avons bu du champagne jusqu'au dinner. Le dinner commença vers 20h30 and fut accompagner de discours, de jeux et de danse. Tout les discours durent être traduis en français, anglais et roumain.
At midnight, the wedding cake was brought out. We ate and drank too much. Luckily, upon Anca's advise, we had booked in advance a hotel nearby. Anca told us that in Romania, people would be dancing until 6am. The romanian gang was dancing their traditional dance and I even joined in. We left the wedding place at around 3am.

A minuit, la pièce montée a été apporté. Nous avons trop bu et trop mangé. Heureusement, suite au conseil d'Anca, nous avions réservé une chambre d'hôtel proche. Anca nous a dit qu'en Roumanie, les gens dansent jusqu'à 6 heures du matin. Le gang de roumain dansa leur danse traditionnelle et je les rejoignis. Nous avons quitté la salle vers 3 heures du matin.
The following day, we were invited for brunch.

Le lendemain, nous avons été invité au "brunch".

Normally, in a french wedding, people could be invited to different events. Usually, there are a larger number of people invited to the ceremony. After that, some are invited for the wine of honour (vin d’honneur). And after that, only close friends and family are further invited for the dinner.

Normalement, pendant un mariage français, les gens peuvent être invités à des évènements différents. Traditionnellement, beaucoup de gens sont invités à la cérémonie. Ensuite, certains sont invités au vin d'honneur. Puis, seul les amis proches et la famille sont invités pour le diner.

I really enjoyed myself and I wish Anca and Régis happiness in their journey togather as a married couple.

J'ai vraiment apprécié ce moment et je souhaite à Anca et Régis, plein de bonheur dans leur voyage de vie de couple.

Thanks to Seb for the translation in Franch. I was too lazy to make an effort.
Merci à Seb pour la traduction. Je suis trop fainéante.

Sam's visit

Sam came visiting last week for several days. I showed him around Paris and we walked alot. We also ate a lot. Like my other friends, he is into pastry and we tried different macarons. He tried lots of different flavours like rose, lavendar, strawberry with balsamic vinegar among others.

Sam m’a rendu visite pendant quelques jours. Je lui ai montré Paris et nous avons beaucoup marché. Nous avons beaucoup mangé également. Comme mes amies, il aime les pâtisseries et nous avons essayé les macarons. Sam a essayé macarons en rose, lavande, fraise balsamique . . . .

During his stay, we visited Chartes. While Seb was doing grocery shopping with his grandmother, I made Sam discover the uptown of Chartres. After that, the four of us had a good lunch togather. Sam took a lot of photos of Chartres. Though I visit Chartres so often, I realised I had not taken many photos there. So, it was good that Sam downloaded his photos on my computer.

Pendant son séjour, nous avons visité Chartres. Pendant que Seb faisait les course avec sa grand-mère, j’ai montré à Sam la centre ville de Chartres. Ensuite, nous avons pris un bon déjeuner. Sam a pris beaucoup de photos de Chartres. Malgré mes nombreuses visites, je n’ai jamais vraiment pris des photos de Chartres. Je suis contente que Sam ait copié ses photos sur mon ordinateur.

On Sunday, we went up Montmarte at night and spotted many fireworks set off in the various suburbs of Paris. It was National Day eve. The fireworks were really far away but at a moment, we saw 5 fireworks across our panoramic view.

Le dimanche soir, nous sommes allés à Montmarte et nous avons vu plusieurs feux d’artifices dans les banlieues de Paris. C’était la veille du 14 Juillet. Les feux d’artifices étaient loins et en un moment, nous avons vu 5 feux d’artifices grâce à cette vue panoramique.

On National Day itself, we went to Champ Mars to see the fireworks. Since last year, there had been a rock concert at Champ Mars before the fireworks started. The last time I came for the fireworks was a few years ago. This time, we were met with tight security. There were a lot of people and we did not had a good view of the fireworks. Still, it was always nice to see fireworks light up Eiffel Tower.

Le jour de la fête nationale, nous sommes allés aux Champs Mars le soir. Depuis l’an dernier, il y a un concert de rock aux Champs Mars avant le commencement du feu d’artifices. Il y a quelques années que je n'était pas allée voir le feu d’artifices. Cette fois ci, il y avait beaucoup de contrôle de sécurité. Il y avait beaucoup de monde et nous n’avons pas eu une belle vue. Néanmoins, c’est toujours quelque choses de voir le feu d’artifices à coté le Tour Eiffel.

On Wednesday, I met up Sam during my lunch time and baded him farewell before he headed to the airport. But alas, he missed his flight by 5 mins. His luggage was already checked in. It was at the security control that held him up. So, he stayed another night and cooked Seb and I a sumptuous dinner.

Mercredi, j’ai déjeuné avec Sam pendant ma pause déjeuner et on s'est dit au revoir avant qu'il parte pour l’aéroport. Mais il a manqué son avion de 5 mins. Sa valise était déjà enregistrée. C’était le contrôle de sécurité qui l'a ralenti. Donc, il est resté encore une nuit et il a préparé un dîner superbe pour Seb et moi.

Sam will be in London for the next 2 years. We are sure that we would have a chance to meet up again soon. After all, he had only visited Paris and France offers so many gastronomy opportunities for him.

Sam est à Londres pour les prochains deux ans. Je suis sûre que nous nous verrons bientôt. Il a visité seulement Paris et la France offre tellement d'opportunités gastronomiques.

Note: Photos courtesy of Sam.

Random reads

I read an article about an interview given by Lee Kuan Yew on the Middle East Times.

One of the questions was : "So how do you see the future of capitalism?" Mr Lee replied : "As chairman of the equivalent of our Sovereign Wealth Fund, we examine and decide where to invest our money, in equities or bonds or what have you. Our fund managers are paid five times what I get. Why? Because they have had good track records in growing our fund and we know what they could command in the private sector. They are dealing with billions of dollars every day and must be compensated accordingly. "

He also added; "So here we also stay with the losers, make sure they have enough to live on, with healthcare, equal education opportunities for their children whose parents can no longer afford it. It's very important they not feel abandoned. So we have workfare and ingenuous ways to keep them working as we don't want layabouts doing nothing. We also subsidize homes which they would not be able to buy. A society can only survive if there is a sense of equity and fair play."

After this article, I read another article about sovereign wealth funds. Temasek was heavily referenced.

Extracted from the article "Barclays is expected to add two new sovereign wealth funds to its existing duo of China Development Bank and Singapore's Temasek, which came on board last July to help the British bank raise its - unsuccessful - bid for ABN Amro. That is in addition to its negotiations with Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, which is expected to invest around £500m as part of a new business relationship with Barclays.

Yet both have already lost more than half their investment, paying 720p a share for their combined 5 per cent stake compared with last week's price of around 320p.

It is not Temasek's only loss: last December, it paid $4.4bn (£2.2bn) for a stake in US banking giant Merrill Lynch; last week, that holding was worth just $3.4bn. "

Are you thinking what I am thinking? Fund managers paid five times more than Mr Lee Kuan Yew while they were losing billions of Singaporean's hard earn money?

As for the subsidize homes, that is another interesting point. I remembered I read a while ago about this subject. However, I could not find back the article. I did however found a similar opinion in Dairy of a Singaporean Mind.

Below is just an extraction:
Understanding the Market in Market Subsidy

Have you ever wondered what will HDB flats costs if the PAP did not change the rules and allow CPF to be used to pay for them? Have you ever wondered what they will cost if only 12 year housing loans are allowed instead of 25 yr loans?

Since the HDB supplies 70-80% of property market, it is a virtual monopoly. Given that HDB is part of the govt, it also has control of the property market in terms of policy. So Singaporeans are subsidised against a market that is created by the HDB and govt.

Note: If you are interested to read more, click on the hyperlinks. Happy reading.

Samaria National Park

When we were in Crete, Seb and I went on a day trip to the national park of Samaria. The gorge of Samaria is situated in the National park of Samaria, in the White Mountains in West Crete.

Pendant notre vacances en Crête, Seb et moi avons fait une excursion au national parc de Samaria. La Gorge de Samaria est situé dans le parc, parmi les montagnes blancs en Crête de l'ouest.

The trekking from the starting point of the National Park down to the end was about 13km. We had to walk an extra 3km to reach the sea at Agia Roumeli. Over there,we would take a boat to have a view of the white mountains from the sea.

La randonnée compte 13km. Il faut marcher encore 3km pour arriver sur la mer dans le village Agia Roumeli. Là bas, nous avons pris un bateau afin d'avoir la vue de la mer sur les montagnes blanches.

The entry to the park cost 5€ and it started at an altitude of 1250m. For the first few kilometers, it was steep slopes all the way down. As I was not prepared for this trip, I did not have adequate shoes. My knees were killing me after a few hours of walk.

L'entrée du parc coûte 5€ et la marche commence à une altitude du 1250m. Pendant les premiers kilomètres, il n'y avait que des pentes abruptes. Comme je n'étais pas préparé pour cette randonnée, je n'avais pas les chaussures adéquate. Mes genoux m'ont tués après quelque heures de marche.

This walk is greatly discourage for elderly people and people with health problems. On our first kilometer, we saw an elderly man sitting on the ground panting for air. His companion was trying to help him. I had seen donkeys at the park entry. I assumed that these donkeys would be used to carry people in difficulties out of the park.

Samaria n'est pas une promenade facile. Elle est fortement déconseillée aux personnes âgées et aux personnes avec des problèmes de santé. Pendant notre premier kilomètre, nous avons vu une personne âgée par terre et il avait des difficultés pour respirer. Son compagnon essayait de l'aider. J'ai vu des ânes à l'entrée du parc et j'ai pensé que ces ânes transportent les gens en difficulté hors du parc.

There are many resting points in the parc. As a natural park, there are no vendors. However, there are fresh water points and we could always refill our bottles from the fresh cooling spring water.

Il y a beaucoup d'endroits pour faire une pause dans le parc. Il n'y a pas de vendeur mais il y a toujours une source d'eau potable. Nous avons rempli nos bouteilles avec de l'eau fraiche.

At the base of the mountains, part of the valley was narrow. We felt so small walking between the mountains. The view was beautiful.

Dans la gorge, il y a des parties qui sont très étroites. Nous nous sentions petits entre les montagnes. La vue était magnifique.

There were a few small streams to cross. The villages around drink from this source. So we were told not to touch the water.

Il y avait des ruisseaux à traverser. L'eau potable est utilisée par les villages aux alentours. Donc, il est interdit de toucher l'eau.

At the end of the trail is the sea. We set off at 8am and reached the seaside around 2.30pm. We were really hot and sweaty. Most of us changed into our swimwear and went into the sea for a cool dip.

A la fin de la randonnée, nous sommes arrivés à la mer. Nous avons commencé à 8h et nous sommes arrivés vers 14h30. Nous avions très chaud. La plupart des gens ont mis leurs maillots de bain et ont profité de la mer.

We took the boat at 3.30pm and rode along the southern coast until a few villages away where our bus was waiting for us to bring us back to the hotel. It was a great excursion and I have no regrets doing it though Seb and I had muscles aches the next day.

Nous avons pris le bateau vers 15h30 et nous sommes remontés de la côte sud jusqu'à un village plus loin. Nous avons ensuite pris le car pour l'hôtel. C'était une formidable excursion et je l'ai beaucoup aimé malgré les courbatures le lendemain.

Last weekend of June

I have decided to write in two languages. I guess most readers are english speaking but I would like to improve my french.Maybe you would be interested to learn some french too. But I can't promise that my french writing will be perfect.
J'ai décidé d'écrire en deux langages. Je crois que mes lecteurs sont anglophones mais je voudrais améliorer mon français. Peut-être que les anglophones seront intéressés pour apprendre le français. Mais mon français n'est pas parfait.
We spent our weekend at my in-law's place in Chartres to celebrate my birthday.I received a lot of gifts. Seb gave me two books about balcony gardening, a wallet and a MP3.I also got a beautiful umbrella, a binoculars and a chinese wok. With the strong winter winds, I broke one umbrella each year. I do hope my new umbrella would last me longer.While Seb and I were trekking in the National Park of Samaria, I wished I had a pair of binoculars for bird sightings.And of course, a chinese wok would come in handy when I need to stir fry vegetables.Seb had helped me to upload songs into my IPod Nano. This little thing weighed less than 6 grams and seemed so fragile. I used it this morning on the way to work. It would be most helpful for my work travelling on planes and trains.

Nous avons passés notre weekend chez mes beaux parents à Chartres afin de fêter mon anniversaire.J'ai reçu beaucoup des cadeaux. Seb m'a donné deux beaux livres à propos du jardinage sur le balcon, une portefeuille et un lecteur MP3.J'ai aussi un jolie parapluie, une paire de jumelles et un wok chinois. Chaque année, je casse un parapluie avec le vent d'hiver. J'espère que ce nouveau parapluie va avoir une durée de vie plus longue.Pendant notre randonnée dans le parc national de Samaria, j'ai souhaité avoir des jumelles pour regarder les oiseaux.Et bien sûr, je pourrais utiliser le wok chinois pour sauter des légumes. Seb m'a aidé à copier de la musique dans mon IPOD Nano. Ce petit machin pèse moins de 6 grammes et il a l'air très fragile. Je l'ai utilisé ce matin sur le trajet de travail. Il va être très utile pour mes déplacements dans les avions et les trains.
We had BBQ for my birthday celebration. It was great to dine outdoors in the garden. The cherry tree had lots of cherries and I helped to pick cherries. They were really sweet.Back home, my cherry tomatoes were starting to get bigger each day. Granny-in-law gave me an extra gift. A long pot of flowers. They were beautiful.

Nous avons fait un BBQ pour ma fête. C'était génial de manger dans le jardin. Le cerisier a plein de cerises et j'en ai cueilli beaucoup. Il sont très bons.





Chez moi, mes tomates cerises sont plus en plus grosses. Ma belle-mamie m'a offert en plus de mes cadeaux un bac de fleurs. Elles sont magnifiques.

Our balcony is starting to look like a jungle. Soon, we would be running out of space.

Notre balcon ressemble à une jungle. Bientôt, nous n'aurons plus d'espace.

Heraklion

We visited the biggest city in Crete for half a day. I was tempted to call Heraklion the capital of Crete but Crete was not a country.


There was a public bus that stopped by the hotel to bring tourists to Heraklion, also known as Iraklion. For the return trip, we were restricted to take the bus at 2.30pm as that was the only bus heading back to hotel.

We spent our 4 hours walking towards the old port and the old fortress. After that, we walked up the main street and visited the cathedrals before having lunch in the central square dominated by the fountain of the Lions.

After lunch, we headed towards the Archaelogical Museum of Iraklion that housed most of the Minoan findings in Crete. When we arrived, we were told that the museum was under renovation and only one room with the most precious artifacts was under exhibition.

The room was indeed small but impressive. I spent 30mins viewing every item with attention. Most were discovered at Knossos and created between 1000 to 2000 years before Christ.

I just loved the vase below. Its description said "libation vase (rhyton) of rock crytal with glided ivory discs on the neck ring". It was made around 1500 to 1450 BC. I find it really delicate and exquisite.

When we reached our hotel at 3.30pm, it was back to the sea deck. :)

Peninsula Hotel in Crete

Seb and I had a good week of rest at Peninsula Hotel in Crete, Greece. The weather was sunny and the sea was really blue and clear. Apart from an afternoon visit to Iraklion; the biggest city in Crete, a day trip to the National Park of Samaria and a day of driving around visiting other cities, we spent our days lazing around the pool and sea deck.

As we were on half-board, we had breakfast and dinner at the hotel. There was always a wide variety food and the food quality was not too bad. We had read in Tripadvisor good comments about this hotel and I was not disappointed. One negative point had to be our room. Though we had a sea view, the room was really basic. Only two bars of soaps were provided. No shampoo, shower cap etc...
The hotel was built along a cliff and everyday we had to descend many flight of stairs to get to the seaside. I preferred to swim in the salt-water swimming pool while Seb preferred the big blue sea. I am not a strong swimmer and felt more comfortable in a confined parameter. I feel safe being a gold-fish in its fish bowl. Seb, however, is like a dolphin who loves the caresse of the gentle waves and the depth of the sea. He could swim for hours in the sea. Well, I did manage to find distractions while lazing around on the deck chair.There were these two middle-age couples who were at the sea deck everyday. The men would snokler around the rocks and corals and picked up sea urchins. They showed the curious sun-bathers how sea urchins could be consumed. I joined in the conversation and had a taste of the sea urchins. They said that sea urchins tasted better than caviar.

Only the female sea urchins were harvested and once opened up, we could see five custard-like, golden sections. These were what we ate. They tasted really fishy and salty. Yeah, what would one expect? Still, it was an interesting discovery for me.

There were many french and retired couples in this hotel. In the evening, there were activities organised like Bingo, Karaoke, Disco, Dance lesson and a Greek Folklore evening. We attended the karaoke night and went back to our room to watch TV after listening to only three songs. It was terrible. Claire and gang could sing much better.

I do not mind coming back here as the staff were helpful and friendly. They seemed to be working round the clock. I was told that the hotel closed during winter. So the staff members only work about 8 months a year. The standard of living in Crete is lower than in France and I dare say lower than Singapore's as well.

Another interesting thing I saw was this sign in every toilet. What did "any paper" mean? Toilet paper as well? My curiousity got the better of me and I finally asked the receptionist after four days. She confirmed that toilet paper should not be thrown into the toilet bowl as the latter would clog up easily. I tried to respect this sign but some habits were just too hard to kick off.

Daylight robbery

When Claire was here visiting me a few weeks ago, she had her bag robbed in my car. I was driving and stopped at a traffic light. Suddenly, I heard Claire screamed and as I turned my attention to her, I saw that the passenger's window had been smashed and a person was grabbing Claire's bag. My first reflex was to switch off the car's engine and gave chase. Claire joined me but the two boys were much faster than us. As I ran, I shouted hoping to get help. However, there was not many people in the streets and I remembered an old man just watching us passed by.

We lost sight of the 2 boys after they turned into an open air parking. A lady who was on her way to work saw us and helped to call the police while we tried to catch our breath. A delivery man who was leaving the parking offered to try to catch up with the boys. Claire and I had some minor cuts from the broken glass and my lips were bleeding. As I had left my car right in the middle of the road, I decided to park it properly while the kind lady waited for the police to arrive. The incident happened so fast that I wonder if any cars noticed it. If so, why didn't anyone help?

After parking the car at the nearby gas station, we went back to the parking to wait for the police. A middle-aged lady who heard the commotion from her office came down to offer us help. She herself had been a victim of such incident. When the police car arrived, we described Claire's bag and its content. We then headed to the nearest police station to make a police report. We waited to file our complaints and in the end, we spent 3 hours there.

After the police station, we went to the nearby car wash to vacuum and clear up the broken glasses. When we came home, we were tired and shaken out. As Claire had my key in her bag, we were scared that my apartment would be the next target. To make matters worse, Seb was away in Sweden. He did help me find a locksmith to change our lock in the evening. Still, I was not able to sleep the whole night.

We were suppose to go Chartres to have lunch with my granny-in-law but that was cancelled. Normally, I do not take this road but on that day, I needed to drop by the post office. I already know that such incidents happened as I had friends, a neighbour and ex-colleagues (all females) who had their car windows smashed. These robbers usually ride in scooters so that they could get away easier. They target single women who left their bags on the passenger seat. Once the car stopped, the robber would strike. I did remind my friends to be careful with their bags and to keep it out of sight. So long as the bag could not be seen, we would not attract attention. What I did not know then was that these robbers could be on foot as well.

I felt bad for Claire as this incident spoils her holidays. Claire felt bad for me as we had to change the door lock and the car window. In the police station, the policeman confirmed that there was about 10 such cases each day. They were committed by youth gangs and even though half of them were caught, they would be let off easily by the judge since they were minors.

So far, nothing had been recovered except for Claire's red pull. She lost her digital camera which contained many photos of her trip. The good thing was that she did not bring out all her cash, her handphone and passport. We decided to brush this incident away by heading to Paris right after cleaning up the car. To lift up our spirits, Anca invited us out for dinner. We did have a good time. And of course when Seb was back and the car window repaired, we made it for lunch with my granny-in-law.

What a start for our vacation

Normally, Seb and I should be on the plane heading towards Crete, Greece for a week of sun and beach. But here we were in our impersonal living room with the shutters shut. We had placed all our plants in one room without closing the shutter to ensure that sunlight got in while we were away. Without our plants, the living room seemed cold.

Seb and I left home in the early evening for our 8 pm flight. While checking in, we were informed that the plane would be delayed by about 6 hours. That meant that the plane was to take off at 2.30 am. I was pretty disappointed as that meant 7 days, 7 nights instead of 8 days, 7 nights. We would be tired when arriving (just in time for sunrise??) and would probably waste a good morning sleeping.

But it was a blessing in disguise. At the check in counter, the officer asked for my french ID card. He told me that my passport was not enough to get me into Greece as I did not have any visa. That really surprised me as I had checked in the website of the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry and no visa was needed for visiting Greece within a period of 60 days. The officer told me that he had previous experiences with two other singaporeans who left without a visa and upon arriving at the Greece airport, was told to turn back to France. They had to pay for their air tickets back to Paris. With my french ID card, I could go to Greece without a visa thanks to the Schengen agreement. I did not have my french ID card as I always travel with my passport. So far, I never had any problem travelling to other european countries with my red passport.

With the flight delayed, Seb and I had enough time to come home to get my french ID card. The officer was kind enough to give us his phone number so that we could call to confirm about the flight timing. So here we were, playing Mario Kart on WII. I just called Ronan who was catsitting Bao Bei for the week to make sure that everything was alright.

This was just the beginning of our holidays and I really hope that the rest of it would be smooth. I hope to be back in a week's time with a nice tan and a memory card full of beautiful photos.

Note: I would really like to check if my french ID card is necessary at the airport.

Nicole and Balcony updates

I came back from Luxembourg on Friday evening and Nicole arrived at the same train station as me but 2 hours later. As I was too tired from my work trip, I did not waited for her.

It had been a year and a half since I last met her. Gosh. Time flies. I met her up yesterday with Alexandra and we had a good catch up. We first had sushi dinner in the Opera area, followed by a Ben and Jerry ice cream at St Germaine des Pres. Our last stop was of course at the Irish pub Coolin's. Nicole made me discovered this place four years ago and each time she visited Paris, we would have a drink there. It's tradition!

Nicole will be heading back to Frankfurt this evening. I promised her that we would visit her like the last time we did in Munich. We had so much fun then. I am just amazed at our long distance friendship. I am glad that Germany and France are not that far away.

Other than recounting my constant visits of the month, I would also like to update about my balcony. Below are some lovely photos I took this morning. My lavendar plant had survived the winter and is again producing lavendar flowers.

About a month ago, I went to buy more pots to line up my long balcony with flowers. Here are some of the blooming flowers.

I am also glad that my geranium had survived the winter too. Last winter was not that harsh and cold. They are blooming really well.

Being ambitious, I tried to grow cherry tomatoes and chillis. I also bought a small coriander plant. With the good weather, they are growing so well that my flower pot is getting too small for them. I guess I would need to transfer a few to an individual big pot.

On the table, I also grow mint leaves. I was advised to put them in an individual pot as mint plants grow very fast and can invade all space given destroying other plants around them.

Now, when I cook chinese soup, I could have fresh coriander leaves and when I make tea, I could have mint leaves to go with it.

By september, I hope to have some cherry tomatoes from my "garden" to add to my salad.

Luxembourg again

After a long break of not travelling for work, I started my first work trip of the year to Helsinki in the middle of May followed by Luxembourg. This was my second time to Luxembourg and this time, I took the TGV train. I would prefer taking the train as there was less hussle. No need to be 30mins in advance at the airport, no check-in, train stations location are right in town.

For lunch, my client brought us to this little italian restaurant. The deco was very 1920s and it was a charming, cozy place with beams along the ceiling.



As it was the season of asperagus, we could find meals with this vegetables being offered. I love asperagus and naturally ordered the baked pasta with asperagus. It was indeed good but too big a portion for me.

The next day's lunch was recommended by a user. It was at La table du pain. Initially, I wanted to do a take-away but the decoration was so nicely done up that I decided to eat there. It had this really country-home atmosphere with big farm tables. Don't you agree that the place looks nice?

Musée des Arts Décoratifs

I had been waiting to visit the Museum of Decorative Arts since a while back. But I waited for Claire to be here as I know that she would appreciate it as much or even more than me. I thought that we could at the same time visit the Musée de la Mode et du Textile since they were housed in the same building. However, I was not aware that the fashion museum only held temporary exhibitions. When we were there, the museum was closed and undergoing preparation for the coming exhibition; Valentino - Thèmes et variations. Claire was pretty disappointed as she was so much into fashion.

Still, we did enjoy the decorative arts museum. It brought us through the early stages of religious arts from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Above were statues representing the four seasons. Can you figure out who is spring, summer, fall and winter?

The above picture shows an 18th century furniture in the rococo style.

Alessandro Mendini from Italy designed this arm chair. It was an amazing piece of art with great fabric and colours. I would love to own one though I doubt Seb would accept it in our living room. The vases around the armchair were painted by various artists.

On the last floor of the exhibition, we were greeted with various chairs. Some were familiar to us and others were unique. On decorative arts, I figure that chairs are the most flexible and common object to design. Tables can only take limited shapes as table top with legs as support. But with chairs, designers can vary the forms so long as one can sit on them. If you have a fetish for chairs, this is the place for you.

MIA

I know that I have been writing less. I have been so so busy these past weeks.

I am right now in Helsinki. My fourth trip in less than a year and come to think of it, I actually know more resturants here than in Paris.

This was the month that I had been doing 'aller-retour' at the airport. We sent Ivan and Belinda to the airport after dinner at our place on 30 April. The next day, we went to the airport to fetch Claire and Jill Wong. A week later, we sent Jill off at the airport. Last Sunday, we sent Claire off at the airport. The next day, I went to the airport to take my plane to Helsinki.

While Claire and Jill were here, we three had fun. Claire's holiday was hugely spoilt over a mishap when she was robbed in my car. Details will come in a later entry.

On Sunday, after sending Claire off, I met up with my blog friend from Daily Affairs. She was visiting Paris with her family. I got to know her recently and it was the first time we met. It was a quick meet up but we hit it off right away. Singaporean girls are amazing. We can warm up to each other so easily. Other recent experiences include Sharon, Sandra and Jill.

With such a busy month of meeting various singaporeans, I thought I could have a good rest in Helsinki. But the 4.30am sunrise wakes me up each morning. Even with the curtains pulled, sunlight managed to peep through. It is really werid to have daylight even at 10pm.

For this weekend, Sam, the globe trotter may be dropping by for a visit. I will be hosting him and cooking dinner for him. However, I won't be his tour guide. I had enough for this month.

Ladurée

I have been busy keeping company my 2 guests from Singapore. Claire is still in Paris while Jillian has left on Sat. As usual, with each new visitor, I discovered new areas of Paris.

One of those new discoveries is Ladurée. I had heard of Ladurée famous pastries; especially its macarons. But I had never tried it. I am not a pastry person unlike the Misses Wong. So, a pilgrimage to Ladurée is a must for them.


Each of us ordered our beverages and our lovely piece of cake. The cakes were indeed heavenly. The taste was exquisite and we enjoyed our "tai-tai" style of afternoon tea. I said "tai-tai" because a tea cost around 6.50€ and a piece of cake 7.70€. That was really an expensive tea break.

If time allows, Claire and I would drop by again at Ladurée. With one of my best friends in town, Ladurée just seems to be the right place for a priceless afternoon chit-chat.

On a side note, the weather here has been really warm this past week. When Misses Wong arrived, it was still cold but now, the temperature stayed at 25 degrees in the afternoon. We spot a tan already.

Ticket restaurant

In France, most companies give “ticket restaurant”(lunch tickets) to their workers. However, if a canteen is available in the workplace, the workers will have subsidised lunch. Hence, they won’t have the benefits of ticket restaurant.

Seb’s workplace has a canteen so he does not have the lunch tickets. Depending on luck, it can be a good or bad affair. In his case, the canteen serves lousy food so it is better to have lunch tickets instead of being confined to the canteen for subsidised lunch.

For me, I always have lunch tickets. The lunch ticket is allocated for each working day in the office. If we are on customer’s site or on leave, we would receive a ticket less. Normally, we received a pack of about 20 lunch tickets a month.

These lunch tickets are not free. The government set some guidelines and depending on the company policy, between 40 to 60% of the value of each ticket is absorbed by the company. The value of the ticket varies as well. It can range from 6.10€ to 8.40€. The above figures are based on my experiences and may not be the exact figures. Example: a ticket of 8€. The company contributes 60% and pays 4.80€ for each ticket while the employee pays 3.20€.

In general, we use these lunch tickets during lunch time. We can also use them for dinner. Almost all eateries and restaurants accept lunch tickets. It helps their business as almost every workers eating out are given lunch tickets. At some supermarkets with offices nearby, we can also use lunch tickets to buy microwave food, sandwiches or salads.

Depending on which area of the city you work in, the value of a lunch ticket is usually equivalent to the price of a lunch meal. So, we can always use up the total value of our ticket. Employers are smart enough to give us “just enough” for lunch. However, if we do eat less than the value of our ticket, we can get back credit note. Seldom do eateries give change in cash. This is to ensure that we return to use the credit note and eat at their place. There are of course times when our bill is more than the lunch ticket.

The lunch tickets are transferable. I can give it to a homeless guy along the street or pass it to Seb for his coffee kick at Starbucks. Note: Starbucks do give change instead of credit note.

I hope the above explanation is clear on this little guide about France’s lunch ticket. Any questions?

A person’s a person, no matter how small.

Last week, I watched Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who!.
I enjoyed the movie. Horton the elephant was sincere and faithful. I wish more people could be like him. When I was young, I read A Cat in the Hat and remembered that I enjoyed the poems that rythmes. Here, just leaving you with what Horton taught us:

A person’s a person, no matter how small.
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I meant what I said,
and I said what I meant
An elephant's faithful,
One hundred percent.
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Vélib' - free service bicycles

It has been about a year since the city hall of Paris launched an innovative project, Vélib'. Dotted all over Paris, you will find a row of identical bicycles with a kiosk.

This is how it works. You register yourself at the kiosk. It cost 1€ a day or 29€ for a whole year usage. After that, you choose the bicycle you want; detach it from its stand and ride. The first 30 mins of usage is free. For every extra 30 mins used, an euro or more is charged. The whole idea is not to hog onto the bicycle to visit around Paris on two wheels. The mayor of Paris is encouraging people to cycle in Paris to get from one place to another. If your destination takes more than 30mins, you can dispose the bicycle half way at a station; wait for 15 minutes before getting the bicycle and continue your journey. It is free. For a day usage, you just pay 1€ for as many 30mins ride as you like.

Seb and I finally tried it yesterday. After church, we were supposed to meet Anton at Saint Paul's station for lunch. We decided to walk from Concorde to Saint Paul as we were 45minutes in advance. Taking Metro would take us only 10mins. After 15mins of walk, we realised at the pace we were going, we would be late. It was further than I thought. We passed by a Vélib' station and I suggested to Seb to give it a go. The weather was sunny and it beats taking the underground. We went to the kiosk and using our transport cards, booked ourselves each a bicycle. If you have no transport card, you could use your credit card. This is in case you do not return the bicycle, 150€ will be withdrew.

As it was a Sunday, there were not many cars and it was really nice to cycle in Paris. In 25mins time, we reached Saint Paul's station but we could not parked our bicycles as there was no free stand available. As time was running out, we checked at the kiosk the next nearest Vélib' station and cycled to Pont Marie which was 2 minutes away. Fortunately, there were free stands at that station and we were able to park back our bicycles before the 30 mins run out.

Seb and I agreed that the bicycles were too heavy. Seb found the bicycle too small for him and he was not comfortable on it. But we enjoyed the ride in Paris so much that Seb was thinking of getting a bicycle now. When I spoke with my colleague this morning, he explained to me that we could have registered ourselves at the Saint Paul's station for 15 mins of grace. We could then wait for someone to pick up two bicycles and liberate two stands for us.

The cycling culture in Paris can never be compared with that of Delft, Netherlans. Still, I find that it is a good start to a healthier living and less polluting environment. I leave you with this amazing bicycles park at Delft train station.

Bao Bei

Time flies. There are so many cute photos of Bao Bei.
Here, she was 2 months old.
This was the second day she lived with us.

At the age of 7 months, she was sterilised as required in her adoption paper.

Here she was on Seb's leg.
Her favorite position during weekend's afternoons.
Age of four.