Taking a break

Yeah, sorry but I'm probably not going to update the blog for some time. I'll try to update it in the near future when I have more time on my hands.

In the meantime, gimme a call or e-mail if you'd like to get in touch with me. Those of you who know me know my MSN or Skype contact info.

Take care :)

Mexican Martini

A pretty interesting drink, available in some places close to the border (like Austin and San Diego). Kind of like tequila and orange juice :)

I was in San Diego earlier this week, where I stayed in the downtown area next to the Gaslamp Quarter. It was quite an interesting place - a little like Sixth Street in Austin, but with better weather :)


Overall San Diego is a pretty nice place - close to the Pacific, which makes the weather cool, close to the border (I've never been to Mexico before, though), and a nice, laidback feeling. I can't believe I've only been here once before this. Maybe next time I go to San Diego I'll check out Lahoya Beach, which is supposedly one of the main attractions of San Diego. This time round I didn't really have time for that though. I did get my caricature drawn by a very talented gentleman hired by one of the exhibitors at the conference, though :) Check out his website at www.dougshannon.com



Now all I have to do is find a place that makes a decent Mexican Martini here in the bay area ;)

Decisions, decisions, decisions

So much to do, so little time... between a 60-hour per week job and business school, my life is really falling apart. I think it might be time to make some adjustments. I can either:

(1) Continue taking 2 classes per quarter in B-school, while maintaining my 60 hour per week workload, and graduate in another 2 yrs
(2) Reduce my workload to 1 class per quarter, maintain same workload, graduate in 4 more yrs
(3) Continue taking 2 classes per quarter, but reduce my workload to accomodate my studies
(4) Quit my job and go for a 1-yr MBA

Obviously choice #1 would be the best choice, but unfortunately I might not survive another 2 yrs if I do that... I'm leaning towards choice #2. Choice #3 is not an option in my workplace (you know, you snooze, you lose).

We'll see.

Edit: Hah, that was just a rant. Well, the final exam's over now (yes!!), and so is my rant. I'm sticking to my original plan... it'll be fun to see how long I last ;)

*&#$^ing Priceless

Air Tickets to Las Vegas - $322.40
O-Show Tickets at Las Vegas - $108.90
Grand Canyon "Skywalk" Ticket - $75
Having to cancel my Memorial Day weekend trip due to work and study commitments -
@#%*ING PRICELESS

(Well at least I got about $220 of my air tickets refunded)

It's good to be back (part II)

Penang, Malaysia - wow it's been a year and a half since I was last in Penang. Got to meet a lot of friends I haven't seen in ages, and indulge in one of my favorite activities (eating). This picture was taken from Penang bridge, an approximately 14km bridge where an semi-marathon is held annually. It's an event attended by people all over, going across the bridge and back to the starting point. I remember participating in this event a few years back (okay, 10 years back ><). It was fun, especially the part of almost passing out halfway through the run.

Saint Anne's Church - one of the oldest churches in the region, also a site of an annual event where people light candles and place them in or near the church.

Last stop: Taiwan

This picture shows Taipei 101, the tallest (or was the tallest - it's hard to keep track nowadays; everyone wants to build the next tower of babel) building in the world. Since this was taken around mother's day, the chinese words for "mom" were displayed ont he building. At the top of the building is a revolving restaurant which I heard requires a reservation made several months in advance to eat at.
















A live street performer at Dan Shuei (淡水), about 1 hour from Taipei via subway. Dan Shuei was probably the highlight of my trip, for reasons I won't disclose here ;)

Anyway this particular live performer was extremely good - I bought a CD of his for NT 100(about 3 USD). I'd say he's at least as good as the majority of taiwanese pop singers that are of "superstar" status. Yes, he's that good. It's a pity my crappy cellphone camera couldn't zoom in enough to show his face - this photo would be really $$$$ when this guy becomes famous in the future :D




Sunset at Dan Shuei...

"Lover's bridge" (情人桥) at Dan Shuei - the bridge really is skewed (it's not the camera). Nice atmosphere, live music, waterfront - now I know why this place is one of the more popular... dating (ahem) locations near Taipei.














Overall I had a great time there, and I hope to return soon ^^

It's good to be back

Ahhh... not to say I didn't enjoy my free time during my business trip (I really, really did :) but after 2 weeks of not being at home, I'm glad to be back ^^ So, just like every other trip return - my apartment is in a mess (bummer), the fridge is empty (damn), and I'm behind in my studies again (#^&*%#$)

I didn't bring my new camera on my trip this time - in fact most of the time I just used my cellphone (which has a crappy 1.3 megapixel camera) to take shots I found interesting. Surprisingly, the pictures turned out better than I expected. So here are some interesting shots, in chronological order:

"GyroDrop" at Lotte World Seoul, Korea - this still holds the record on the second most scary ride I've been on (the first one being a ride at San Antonio's Six Flags). I didn't go on the ride this time, but when I was in Seoul last year I went on it - twice - because someone said she accidentally closed her eyes on the first time ;)

Here's the experience in a nutshell - it's a vertical drop from about 30 stories high. So basically you start from the ground, the ride slowly elevates you in a revolving manner ,which is when you get flooded with the screams of terror (or is it joy? hmm) from all the nearby Korean girls all the way to the top of the ride, then you wait at the top for a couple of minutes. Then without warning, the ride drops you 30 stories to almost ground level. Interestingly, the entire ride is silent almost throughout the drop. Fun, fun experience :D

Another thing I always enjoy about Korea is the food - oh man, it's a pity I didn't take a pic of the "spicy beef soup" I had with some customers and colleagues. I rarely sweat during meals, but almost evey meal I had in Korea was a cardio workout.

Boredom pic at the airport...

This is the Raffles Hotel at Singapore - a $6000 SGD (approx. 4000 USD) per night hotel - the most expensive hotel in Singapore. Disclaimer: No, I did NOT stay at this hotel.

Cosafe Maid Cafe in Singapore - a little piece of Akihabara in the heart of Singapore. Akihabara in Tokyo has quite a few of these "maid cafes" where the waitresses dress up in cute french maid costumes (guys, y'all can stop drooling on your keyboards now, thx). A friend of mine which I hadn't seen for quite some time took me out for supper at this place in Singapore which was quite a good replica of such a maid cafe. The waitress was even kind enough to oblige me with a photo of her in front of the cafe! :) Needless to say she got a big tip (I thought it was a big tip, anyway)

Chili-sauteed crab from "Jumbo Seafood" at the east side of Singapore... The picture doesn't show it that well, but the crab was HUGE - just lifting one of its pinchers was like lifting a turkey drumstick. It was pretty spicy, but extremely good too. I must have gained 3 pounds from that meal, which isn't really a bad thing for me actually :D

家捷 - 恭喜恭喜 ^^

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my friend 家捷 who's getting married today. Congratulations! I'm sorry I'm going to have to miss your wedding since it's today already, but I'll catch up with you later. Again, Congratulations!

Edit: I made it to the wedding! ^^ Got to meet his lovely wife as well as some friends that I had not met for ... 10 years running (why do I feel old all of the sudden)

Since we have quite a bit of blog coverage on 家捷's wedding, I'm only going to refer to blogs by the others covering the wedding:

威正篇——《男人的故事》
锡辉篇——《一念，一首歌， 一些故事》（一）、（二）
盈盈篇——《Ah Ying eh Blog》（一）、（二）

Babel

Wow, I had such high hopes for this movie... a movie based on multiple interwined storylines, each story taking place in a different part of the world. I was expecting a rich, suspenseful story with twists and turns at every corner.

I'm sorry, despite all the rave reviews the movie has received, I can't give it more than a big *yawn*. At one point (okay, many points) I was kind of hoping the movie would hurry up and just end.

The whole story revolves around an american that gets shot during a bus ride in Morocco. The other stories are all related to the first one - trust me, when you get to see how they're related, your reaction will be "DUHHH". I've seen better storyline interweaving in an average episode of Seinfield.

Overall a very disappointing movie, and a total waste of 2.5 hours (seemed more like 5 hours to me) of my time. I'm so glad that a few months ago my friends had decided to go watch Pan's Labyrinth at the theater instead of Babel.

The score? Hmmmm.....3.5/10 (maybe a notch above the skull-on-fire skeleton, but not by much)

I'm back at the blog :D

Sorry for not updating my blog, folks. I was too busy during the past few weeks, that I couldn't do anything except eat, work, study and sleep (my priorities were in that order too). Well... I did take one or two weekend days off now and then :) But in essence, my Monday - Saturdays were all work and no play and 5 hours of sleep every day :(

I was discussing this with a colleague that other day - balance in work and life. More and more so, I feel like my work is becoming my life. Just now, at 11:30pm, I finished replying to all the e-mails I had to reply to, and then didn't know what else to do, so I started looking for other e-mails to see if I could reply to them too. It's a sad, sad state of things.

Anyway, I'm in Singapore now, so tomorrow I'm meeting with CK and CH - hahah CH was pretty surprised when I called him out of the blue... it's been about 10 years since we met. Who knows, maybe I'm taller than him now :P

I did bring my camera, but did not bring my USB cable or memory card reader, so photos will have to wait until I'm back in Cali (unless I find the time to buy one over here).

Cheers, and for those of you in Penang, I gave CL a call, so maybe we can set something up for this coming Wednesday night - late night supper most probably, since I'm going out for dinner with my parents that night :)

A tribute to the greatest PC game ever made

Starcraft Brood War - a game that is more than 8 years old, yet still used in international tournaments today. In Korea, top Starcraft players are icons with fan clubs bigger than people in the movie industry, and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing in tournaments.

For those of you unacquainted with Starcraft - Starcraft is a game belonging to the RTS genre (Real-Time strategy). The basic concept is: you start off with a base, where you build either (1) worker units to gather resources, (2) combat units to hurt your opponent. The basic trade-off is, the more worker units you build, the more rapidly resources come in, which in turns leads to more combat units you're able to produce. However, if you don't build enough combat units, your opponent can send in his combat units, kill your worker units, and pretty much win the game. Sounds simple, right? Well, this in real-time - which means each second you're spending thinking of what to do next works against you, since your opponent is building his army and planning his attack to you at the very same time.

Actually, Starcraft (and later on, it's expansion set: Brood War) is one of the most balanced games in the industry. Why? Well, in Starcraft, there are 3 races:

Terran - your basic human, with an overdose of redneck-ness








Protoss - a highly advanced (and equally geeky) alien civilazation









Zerg - think of the zerg as the aliens in the movie Aliens.

Each race has a unique set of strategies.

Let's start with the Protoss. Their units are strong, powerful, but are the most expensive to produce. You really have to focus on building only the units you really need, and counter your opponent strategically.

Zerg: these guys are a dime a dozen, but they're weak too. Your strategy as a zerg player is to basically get as much resource spots you can, and just overrun the opponent with your sheer numbers (today, the word zerg has become a verb in video games meaning exactly the same thing - overrunning your opponent with sheer numbers of inferior units).

Terran is kind of tricky - they're in the middle between the Protoss and Zerg, but due to the way Terran units are set up, they require the most micromanagement - you have to control individual groups of units separately and skillfully in order to make them effective. But in the end, they're the most flexible of the races, so you can craft your strategy according to your opponent's.

The beauty of this game is: as vastly different as these 3 races are, there really is no absolute advantage in choosing either race. For those of you in game design, you can appreciate that this is a quality in games that is extremely hard to achieve. This is the single most important quality that has made Starcraft one of the most popular games on the planet, up to today.

There are literally hundreds of strategies you can pit against your opponent, but every single one of them has counters. It's kind of like playing speed chess x 1000. Starcraft games typically last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. Yes, it is possible to win or lose before the 5 minute mark.

Anyway, today, more than 8 years after the game was introduced, the bulk of the good players are in Korea, where the game is played on a professional level constantly (the games are actually shown on TV). Here in the U.S. the major craze has died down a little - however tournaments are still held on a regular basis. In addition, the world cyber games annually features Starcraft as one of its tournament items. It really is a game that other RTS games developers look to as a "standard" for their upcoming games.

Long live Starcraft!!

The Last Snowboard Trip for the Season :*(

It's been a really bad snow season for Tahoe this year. Unlike last year, warm temperatures and lack of snowfall this year has kept accumulation to a minimum; on the bright side, it has also kept the crowd to a minimum :)

Today is probably my last snowboarding trip for this season. It's a pity though - I feel like I'm on the verge improving my snowboarding by leaps and bounds (that's what I tell myself everytime, anyway). My friend had acquired free lift tickets for the Diamond Peak ski resort this time, so we all decided to go there.

To tell the truth, after a whole week of working late hours, the thought of just lazing around the apartment and not doing anything was quite tempting. However it was too late to back out of this trip, so I finally decided to go. I was quite pleasantly surprised - nice warm sunshine, minimal crowd and absolutely no traffic awaited us. The snow felt a bit slushy, but was still better than the ice-like snow we had been boarding on for the last few times I was there.

As you can see in the picture above, certain trails at Diamond Peak offer a quite scenic view of Lake Tahoe. You can also see from this picture that spring is practically here already - the trails were quite narrow, and the greenery around the trails were very, very obvious. Diamond Peak is not that well known amongst the Tahoe ski resorts - the main ski resorts around Lake Tahoe include Squaw Valley, where one of the winter olympics was held, and Heavenly, located on the Nevada side of the Tahoe area. However, going to a less popular one usually has its perks - less people, less time wasted waiting for lifts, and overall less hassle in getting around. I still remember a snowboarding trip last year during President's Day weekend (or was it Columbus Day? hmmm) where we had to spend 3 hours just driving 10 miles from the motel to the ski resort. Not something I would want to experience again.

Anyway, with this trip, I bid farewell to Lake Tahoe until November this year. Hopefully next year we'll get more snow ^^

Taste this!

I didn't know there was a vineyard in Cupertino, California. A couple of weeks ago a good friend of mine introduced me to a a vineyard called "Ridge" at Cupertino.

The "Premier" (read: most visited by tourists) place for wine making in California is actually Napa Valley, where the more well-known winemakers there include Robert Mondavi, V. Sattui and Sterling. Not many people know that there are vineyards in Cupertino (me included until two weeks ago).

Now I am definitely not even close to knowledgeable about wines. However, I do consume quite a bit of red wine, enough to know just a little about the general taste of red wines. To me here is the breakdown of different wines:

Merlot:

Probably the "softest" of wines - has a pleasant, soft taste. If you've just started drinking red wine, Merlot is probably what you'd go for. It's like driving a Honda Accord - you know it's reliable and consistent, but there's no vroom to it at all. Worst of all, if you bought a really cheap bottle of merlot, it probably tastes like pink soda lemonade. Solution: Don't buy a really cheap bottle of merlot.

Cabernet Sauvignon:

You know how in the movie The Matrix they described how chicken tastes? Well, same for Cabernet Sauvignon, in my opinion. Cabernet Sauvignon is the "chicken" of red wines. It tastes like everything. Heck, sometimes I mistake pork for chicken, just because chicken tastes like, you know, everything.

Syrah/Shiraz:

A pretty dry wine - tastes a little like dirt (I think the wine lingo is "it has an earthy taste", i.e., it tastes like dirt). If you've bought a good bottle of Syrah, it tastes really good though. Seriously, I think Cabernet mixed with Syrah is quickly becoming my favorite wine :) Syrah and Merlot are probably on the opposite ends of the niceness/excitement scale of wines. Single guys and gals, it's kind of like dating - would you prefer a nice, polite date who will open doors for you and laugh at your jokes, or would you prefer a ..ahem... anyway, I think I'm getting sidetracked.

Zinfandel:

Hmmm... I don't really drink a lot of Zinfandel (and that is why I bought a bottle at the Ridge vineyard). I do know two things about Zinfandel, though. (1) The name sounds cool (hey, how many wines start with a "Z" eh?) , and (2) Sometimes that kind of grape is also made into "White Zinfandel", which is a sweet table wine that wine connesseurs avoid like a plague.

So, what types of wines go with which types of food? Well, the general rule is: the heavier the food, the stronger the wine. So, if you're having a vegetarian fare, or maybe fish , you would probably go for white wine. But, if you're like some people that can't stand white wine, you can go for a softer, girly red wine - like a merlot! On the other hand, if, in a showcase of manliness, you're eating a 25 ounce ribeye steak, then you should probably go for something 'harsher' - maybe a cabernet, or syrah. Rawr!

Anyway that's my understanding of red wines. It's probably 50% accurate, at most. It also only covers mainly the wines made in California. So if you go to France for example, where wines are labelled by where the grapes come from, you won't see any hint of these names on the front stickers. That's another story, though. Anyway, wine always tastes good with a meal, and is something I occasionally (okay, frequently) indulge in. Have fun!

300!

Yes, one of the more anticipated movies of 2007 for me. I finally got to watch it this past weekend. I can't help but notice the similarities between this movie and "hero" in terms of cinematography - except in 300, the background scenery is actually computer generated.

Wow, what can I say. The action scenes are just awesome. I'll definitely buy the DVD when it comes out, just to see the action scenes again. Story-wise, there's nothing much to say. It's pretty predictable anyway. But that's not the main point of the movie. Did I mention that the action scenes are awesome?

One thing that was a little wierd was that the people from Sparta were portrayed as highly sophisticated, enlightened and wise, as well as valued freedom above everything else. Gimme a break. Sparta was just as bad as Persia in terms having slave labor during that time. When they kept referring to "free men", "freedom doesn't come free" etc, perhaps they were referring to their freedom to own slaves. Who knows.

There are a lot of people who are pretty pissed off with this movie, due to it's dehumanizing of the Persian empire. Wow. Everyone in Sparta is looks like a supermodel, while almost everyone in the Persian empire looks, well, deformed. Oh well - one reasoning is because the story is supposedly told by a Spartan warrior to his fellow comrades, in the Spartan warrior's eyes, the opponents ARE monsters. I don't feel like delving into this controversy in my blog, so just look up google and you'll easily find hundreds of topics on this.

Anyway, I recommend you see this movie, if just for the action scenes. They're as good as they get. Seriously. 6/10 (due to the fact that it had absolutely no plotline).

Additional comment by a friend of mine who didn't like the 6/10 score I gave this movie:

"...you just put yourself in that moment. That's how you watch these kinds of movies. Just pretend you're there.... You think those guys fighting those Persians were thinking.... "should i stab him? I don't want to offend the Persians"

If you put yourself in that moment, you'll just want to kill with them"

Well I guess he has a point. But still, I'm sticking to my guns. The score of 6/10 remains ^^

hah!


In Sparta, everyone walks around sporting briefs, a cloak and an 8-pack.

My All-time Favorite Movie

"What is the Matrix?"

This movie has got to be the best movie EVER. Call me a shallow person with shallow taste in movies, but this movie has it all. Unbelievable action scenes? Check. Amazing plot twists? Check. Intriguing sci-fi setting? Check. End-of-the-world predicament for humankind? Bad guys in cool suits and shades? Bullet-dodging kung-fu? Check, check and CHECK.

Was that a great movie or what. Man I wish they made more movies like that.

说中文．．．

这次来中国出差, 跟客户用中文交谈, 才发现自己的中文有多烂 :( WELL, 其实不是最近发现的; 一向来早以知道这个事实, 只不过这一次的TRIP让我再次觉悟，须要下点努力学中文．　ＤＡＭＮ

China: The art of getting more expensive by the minute

Shanghai

After approximately one year since my last trip to China, here I am in China again. This time I'm visiting Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Much has changed since my last visit to China infrastructure-wise, but even more obvious (to me, at least) was the $ka-ching$ factor. With the weakening of the U.S. dollar, the booming Chinese economy, and the steady rise of the Chinese yuan, China really has become much less of a "bargain" place to go, especially in the big cities.

Shanghai definitely is overflowing with money today. I heard that mutual funds are being snapped up until they're sold out the day they come out. We're talking about mutual funds here, not stock IPOs. That's ridiculous in my book, but then again probably not in China. There are billions of yuan looking for a place to call home, provided you have an idea that will make money. Going around town, it is obvious that the people of Shanghai are adjusting to their new-found wealth - nice suits, nice cars, nice condos - you get the picture.

As you can see, there are not many pictures taken this time - I was so swamped with work that I hardly had time to sleep, let alone go sightseeing. Nevertheless, since I had recently bought a Canon Powershot S3, it would have been unforgivable if I didn't try to at least take a few good pictures. The picture above was taken near 人民广场 (People's Shopping Center is probably the best translation I can think of), where my hotel is located. Looks like a red-light district, doesn't it? Well, it's not :D

The best part of Shanghai is the food - the dish that I remember the most is "水煮鱼" (water-cooked fish is the literal translation). Don't let the name fool you - it's actually served in a huge bowl of pure cooking oil, plus spices and peppers inside.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has always been, and still is to some extent, the bastion of chinese economy, although it definitely is getting a lot of competition from Shanghai. In many ways, Hong Kong is where the "old money" is. It feels a bit more sophisticated than Shanghai; Shanghai feels more energetic, although a bit rough around the edges. Kind of like comparing an Audi TT to a Subaru STI, if you know what I mean.

This photo is a photo of downtown Hong Kong taken across the channel from Kowloon, where my hotel is (I love my new camera ^^).

I'm off to Beijing tomorrow, then I'm heading back to California. Not a moment too soon, too. I need a vacation...

Ghost Rider. Avoid it. Like a curse.

Please, please give me back the two hours of my life I spent watching a skeleton ride around wearing a leather jacket.

Well, maybe the redeeming factor of the movie is the cool effect when Nicholas Cage becomes Ghost Rider. Yup, it's just like lighting up your BBQ grill.

I give it a 3/10.

The company I had was great, it's just that the movie... sucked :P

Spring is here! (hello allergies)

We might have another month of winter left, then it's spring. Then summer. Then fall. Then winter. Then spring again. Time really flies - I don't like how years pass by like months now. We just started the new year and now it's March already?? Crap!

Come to think about it, sometimes we spend all our time working and investing in the future so we can retire happily one day, that we forget about enjoying the moment today, now.

So, work hard, work smart, invest in the future etc - but don't forget to live for the day. Call up a friend, have dinner with him or her, chill out, do what you like.

Don't be like the sucker who builds nothing but SCVs and then dies to a 4-pool rush (if you don't understand what this means, you're probably not a Starcraft fan) Hah!

Midterm :(

That sinking feeling that I have less than 10 hours to digest another 250 pages of textbook material, plus "supplementary material" is getting pretty irritating.

This week's #1 enemy ------->

@#%$@!!

Fasching!

I'm here in Munich (called München in German) for a couple of days before I return to California tomorrow. It's a lively city with a mix of old and new architecture. I wasn't expecting anything other than an ordinary Sunday when I arrived, so I was quite surprised to see this scene when getting out of the subway station...

Yep, the city was definitely in a party mood... there were a lot of people dressed up in different costumes - jailbirds, cows (yes, cows), noblemen etc. There was even one guy who looked pretty similar to Captain Jack Sparrow (not this guy below)

Apparently the Carnival is celebrated in most of the western world, called by different names in different places. In New Orleans, it's called Mardi Gras; in Nice, it's called Carnaval; here in Munich, Germany, it's called Fasching. My colleagues in Munich tell me that Munich is actually not the "wildest" place in terms of Fasching. Due west of Munich, near the French-German border in the city of Cologne (Koln), the entire city becomes a week long PARTY-ZONE.

Bicycles on the streets of Munich.

Finally, a quick note about bottled water in Munich - sparkling (carbonated) water is overwhelmingly more popular than still (non-carbonated) water. I asked a colleague about this, and he said that when he was a kid, they drank sparkling water all the time. When he travelled overseas as a kid and drank non-carbonated water for the first time, he was like "What's this?? I'm not drinking this ****"

Today there is definitely an availability of non-carbonated water everywhere, although sparkling water seems to be a lot more popular. In addition, according to studies, Munich tap water comes straight from the alps and is of better quality than anything you can find in bottles - Evian, Volvic, Crystal Geyser or whatever. I took a big gulp of tap water from the hotel tap when I learned about this; I'll let you know if I turn out okay or not.

I am so ready to get back home tomorrow.

Parlez-Vous English?

Sadly, that's my most-used phrase in France. I'm spending Chinese New Year's day in Nice as part of a business trip, and today's my last day in France for this trip.

It has been raining almost wherever I've been to in France, but that still cannot hide the fact that France is a beautiful country - from the architecture in the cities, the mountain ranges in the French alps, to the beach front promenades of southern France, the country's natural and man-made structures are definitely breathtaking. With my (ahem) rudimentary photography skills, I've attempted to capture some of the scenery of France, but the photos hardly do justice to the real deal.

Paris

Paris is ... Paris. No introduction needed here for the city many people consider to be the art and fashion capitol of the (western) world. I arrived at Paris on Sunday morning - since I had the entire day free, I decided to take a look at a few of the sights in Paris. Getting around in Paris is actually quite simple - the local subway (called the Metro I think) charges a flat rate of 1.40 Euros for a single trip, regardless of how many train changes you need to make.

This particular photo was taken from the second level of the Eiffel Tower on a very, very windy day.

The Musée du Louvre: This museum houses such great pieces of art such as Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Virgin of the Rocks. Unfortunately almost all of the written explanation was in French. There was an option to rent an English audio commentary device, but being the impatient person that I am, I decided against it :P

The glass pyramid shown in the photo is the main entrance - much of the museum is actually situated underground. Most of my time was spent looking at the paintings, although there was a pretty big section dedicated to sculptures too.

The Arc de Triomphe (on the left), and the Grande Arche de la Defense (on the right). The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous structures in Paris, commissioned by Napoléon Bonaparte. The Grande Arche de la Défense, situated in the La Défense commercial zone, is an office building structure that echos the architecture of the Arc de Triomphe. In fact, you can see the Arc de Triomphe from the Grande Arche de la Défense. As you can see, La Défense isn't exactly a tourist spot, but fortunately I passed along that way on the way to work.

Some other random photos:

In France, even the horses have flowing, curly mane.

There must be some meaning behind this mannequin display, but apparently it's out of my grasp.




Some of the sculptures on the outer wall of the Notre Dame Cathedral. In fact, a lot of buildings in France have sculptures of some sort on them.

















Grenoble
Grenoble, known as the "gateway to the French Alps", is about a 3 hour TGV (France's high-speed rail system) ride from France. The Grenoble city center is about 20 minutes from the ski slopes by car - when my colleague came to pick us up, he had a pair of still-wet skis in the trunk of his car. Oh, the envy...

















Nice
Nice, pronounced nēs (kinda like saying "niece"), is a medium-sized city in southern France, known for its beaches, mountains and mild mediterranean weather. Guys and gals, if you ever end up visiting Nice, here is the single most important piece of information you will need:

If you take a taxi anywhere in or around Nice, before you step in the taxi, do either:
a. Insist that the taxi driver uses his meter (this is still not fool-proof since most of them will manipulate the meter while driving)
b. Ask the taxi driver how much he is charging to get to your destination, then insist on paying half that price.
c. If you already know the metered rate, tell the taxi driver that you will pay that price and insist that it's non-negotiable.

Suffice to say, taxi drivers in Nice are not the most honest folk you will meet :)

Taxi drivers aside, the really nice thing about Nice is that the Promenade des Anglais (beachfront) reminds me of Gurney Drive. Oh, and I was fortunate to be in town for Mardi Gras, or the "Carnaval". Unlike Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which has been reduced (or elevated, depending on your taste) to a rowdy, flashing-to-get-beads occasion, Mardi Gras in Nice still seems civilized enough.


Beachfront scene at the rear of the hotel I'm staying at.




View from the Promenade in Nice


I'm not sure what this section of the city is called, but there were literally hundreds of restaurants, plus shops selling anything and everything you don't need, crammed into a small corner of the city.





Some kind of Mardi Gras (Carnaval) prop.

All in all, aside from the weather, I had a great time in France. Contrary to what it seems from my blog, I did spend most of my time at work ^^; I'm just posting the fun parts to make it seem more fun than it was :D