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

Happy Chinese New Year!

Yep, it's that time of the year again. It's time to start afresh, work on your resolutions for this year, renew resolutions that you kept for maybe two weeks last year (come on, you know it's the truth). This year, in more ways than one, it feels like I am starting afresh.

I'm actually not a big fan of new year resolutions, because I usually throw them out of the window within a month or so. This year, maybe I'll make an exception by keeping in touch with friends through a blog. So if you're reading this, welcome to my blog, and feel free to drop by once in a while - I hope to be able to update the contents often.

Happy Chinese New Year!