Last day of the year

I am quite happy to spend the last day of the year in that buzzing and fascinating city. I'll certainly be out with the crowds to watch the fireworks tonight even though I already had a good crowd immersion all day taking the tram up to The Peak. It was a beautiful and sunny day with perfect cool temperatures. As expected the sky is always a bit hazy over Hong Kong therefore it is rare to get a clear view from the top. But once more, it is such a relief from hot and sticky Singapore.

Enjoy your last day of 2007 and see you in 2008.

Qing Ping Market

We crossed the border and reached Guangzhou (Canton) this morning. While walking we passed the Qing Ping market and we could not resist. It has to be the most interesting sight in Guangzhou. Stall after stall filled with 'exotic' products, live and dead animals of all sorts. All for the human consumption. From frogs to scorpions, from bugs to snakes, 'everything with legs except a table can be eaten'. That's anyway what the cantonese are famous for.

Tai O Fishing Village

Far from the busy and and modern city of Hong Kong you can step back in time on the remote village of Tai O perched on the far south-western coast of Lantau. Do not go there for the architecture but lose your senses in the local market which can only surprise you with all those fishy dry products. On the above picture, you can witness oysters drying under the sun!

City Gate

Here we are in Hong Kong. As we were not arriving particularly early I had booked an hotel not far from the airport at City Gate which is literally composed of walls of tower apartments that give a real sense of... a city gate. I wish I could recreate the view (or may be I will if I happen to see this place from a distance) but in the meantime here is a close-up at what is on offer (just multiply this by 100 and you will get an idea of what it looks like.

Bear Tree

Christmas is officially over but as I did not post any Christmas tree on Christmas day even though I could have been spoilt for choices the picture of the day will be this cute and original composition as exposed in the lobby of the Conrad hotel in Singapore. It is actually a pile of bears monted as a tree. Hope you all enjoyed your holidays in a festive way.

Tsunami

Flashback. On the 26th of December 2004 the world woke up in shock to the horror of the devastating Tsunami that took place in that part of the world. The most affected areas happened to be Phuket and Phi Phi which I just left. 3 years onward most traces of the tsunami have disappeared but the damage it created is still obvious in a few places like the headless palm trees you can see in the above right picture.

Seaplane

If we had some amazing views from the seaplane on our way to Phi Phi it was pretty amazing to land today, on Christmas day, on Patong beach in Phuket. For whatever reason the pilot did not dock at the Jetty but dropped us right on the beach meters away from all the holiday makers enjoying their Christmas sunbath.

Sunset

Definitely not the best sunset I have witnessed (I remember my most amazing sunset to be at Makassar on Sulawesi Island and Dubai also had some pretty amazing skies) but a very special one as it is Christmas Eve. Far away from the crowds. Far away from the cold European weather. Far away from everything except the beauty of the nature.

Phi Phi Island

After Phuket we took a seaplane to the more relaxed island of Ko Phi Phi Don. We are staying in a resort on the North of the island but trekked all the way down to Tonsai Bay which really was another world. Very surprised to see these very young bare-chested and party animal. It could have been Ibiza! On the way we had a swim in amazing waters on the deserted beach you can see on the left hand side of today’s picture. Paradise.

Phang Nga

Apart from an incredibly long wait to clear immigration at Phuket Airport, the area does not seem to be overcrowded as much as I feared by hordes of tourists. I chartered a small boat from Tha Dan and off we went cruising along the wonderful rock formations doting the Phang Nga bay. The picture above is the famous Ko Phing Kan known as the James Bond island (The Man with the Golden Gun).

Christmas Buzz

Yesterday being a (Muslim) public holiday many people have taken their Friday off as well as their Monday to have a long week-end. This results in heavily congested shopping areas. Walking down Orchard is a nightmare unless you enjoy being surrounded by thousands of people and moving no faster than 500 meters an hour!

Yum Cha

Yesterday we had a beautiful Yum Cha at Fortunate. Steamed Dim Sums come in lovely baskets and reveal delicate delicacies. Our Dim Sum was composed of 叉燒包 (Char Siu Baau) which is a fluffy bun filled with Cantonese roasted pork and onions and an assortment of exquisite 餃 (Gau) made of garlic chives, pork, seafood wrapped in a translucent rice flour. That was, as you can imagine, a pure delight.

Purvis Street

I have started to look for a place to live and I certainly want to be Central. Unfortunately the prices went crazy over the past months and I have seen ridiculously tiny apartments (30 M2) going for well above 2000 Eur! My dream place would be a shop top like these old buildings in Purvis Street, Unfortunately, they are not for rent and if they were it would be still be a bit difficult as they usually do not come with A/C. Oh well...

Karimun Island

Today I went by Ferry to the Island of Karimun in Indonesia (above picture is the Ferry Arrival facility at the main city, Tanjung Balai). There is definitely not much on that Island but the contrast between Singapore and Karimun is pretty amazing. This place used to be a gambling and prostitution paradise for Singaporeans before the Indonesian government decided to put a halt to the gambling... but ironically not the prostitution.

Haji Lane

Singapore is not all glam, glitz and order as people want you to believe it is. Some parts of Chinatown or Little India can even be a bit grungy. But the area that possibly epitomises the hip-grunge-arty spirit with an asian twist of the place is Haji Lane. Do not go too early as it is a lane that wakes up quite late in the day. Far from the opulence of Orchard Road, the Arab Quarter shelters what is possibly one of the most interesting and creative corner of Singapore.

Warning

Singapore is not taking its smoking warnings lightly. If in Europe and most of the world the rule is to apply a big written warning, the problem of having 4 official languages was quickly and efficiently overcome with those strong visual warnings gracing all packets of cigarettes. It is quite ironic that it developped a parrallel business with tobacco sellers. They now also sell stickers to hide those shocking pictures!

Sushi

Singapore being such an international place it is very easy to find food from all around the world. I ate Indian for lunch yesterday, modern asian for dinner and Japanese for lunch today. Supermarkerts also have great displays of sushis you can buy by the unit. And on top of all this food is so cheap here! I can't believe I usually have generous lunches for anything between 2 to 3 Euro! It's even cheaper than Portugal ;-)

Fruit of the dragon!

Mmmm! I love all those tropical fruits. It is not always easy when you do not know anything about them at first... You look at them... Touch them... And experiment with them as most of the time you have no clue on the way they should be preserved or consumed. Are they ripe enough? How do you slice them? Do you swallow them? Do you only extract the juice out of them? Fortunately, dragon fruits are pretty easy to figure out compared to some other strange nature's creations and they also taste quite familiar (very kiwi-like). I love them!

Changi T3

Yesterday I mistakingly took the wrong exit and found myself in T3 at Changi Airport. It is quite amazing that there is nothing preventing you from entering the Terminal considering it is not in operation. It was very strange to find myself in a brand new airport that is not yet open to the public and as result was absolutely deserted. Once it opens next year, the scene in the picture above does not have much chance to be repeated again. As it will operate on a 24 hours basis it is difficult to imagine seeing this place completely empty ever again.

Value Life!

If people jumping under the train are an occurence in Paris it does not seem to be the case in Singapore. I just wondered while seeing the above sign in the MRT this morning if it had something to do with the message displayed in the four official languages here. Nevertheless as Singapore, to make things easier, usually also like to use ideograms I was also trying to figure out how this message could be transcribed as one...

Containers

I know it is quite a common sight for many but today I happened to drive past the Port and there was this big container vessel loading its shipment so i could not resist. I have always enjoyed the sight of all those colourful boxes stacked on top of each other.

Milk

Everyone who knows me also knows how much I love milk. But not only cow’s milk. Any kind of milk. Soy milk, rice milk, camel milk, you name it. As a result, Singapore is a small paradise for me with hundreds of different kind of milk available. Even cow milk itself can be imported from Japan, Malaysia or Australia. Yummy!

First full day in Singapore

This picture was taken just after the rain today. This is why it is not very luminous. The subject is not so photogenic neither but I happened to walk through this walkway on my way to Suntec and I remembered the building whose profile you see in the middle (Ritz-Carlton hotel) as being the place I stayed at the very first day I visited Singapore a few years back. I did not suspect by then I would later happen to live there!

Room with a view

While I was sleeping in the air (I travelled all night) I was thinking about that amazing temporary hotel room I saw on top of the Palais de Tokyo while in Paris. For 300 Eur a night it really is worth the view. I find the idea very interesting and I would love to be able to enjoy the same, let’s say, overlooking Oldham Street in Manchester to be original... On top of the Affleck’s Palace would be a nice setting!

Nigeria: Kingdom of Benin

Maybe it is the fact I spent a good share of my life in Nigeria but I really was delighted by the exhibition that is currently showing at the Quai Branly in Paris. It really spoke to me as all the Art on display was pretty familiar and was bringing back memories of a long time gone. If you happen to be in Paris before the first week of January you should rush there as it is a rare opportunity to witness such an extensive, rich but comprehensive display of this very important period in the history of Africa.

Good Canary

It was absolutely not planned and I knew nothing at all about the play so it all came as a good surprise when I discovered the blinding décor and clever production. A story about the creative spirit, self destruction and love brilliantly played by touching actors. The acting of the main actress, Cristiana Reali, gives you disturbing feelings all along the first half. This quickly transforms into understanding and pity. John Malkovich definitely is a very clever Director. Respect!

Christmas Lights

The Christmas lights are on. It is starting to feel like Christmas even though it is not that cold yet. I quite like the idea that they could use 70 per cent less energy this year using LEDs instead of bulbs. And the burning stars effect is quite nice too (even though it can't be seen on a still picture). I saw the Singapore ones a couple of weeks back. It was much flashier. I find the Champs Elysees installation much more subtle.

Moving supermarket

There is something quite extraordinary in my countryside that is called the 'moving supermarket'. I have not seen it anywhere else in the world. It has existed as long as I can remember and is quite a convenient way, I must admit, to enable people isolated in remote villages to get access to their basic food needs. The convenience store coming at your door. Anything similar in your place?

Winter in the Countryside

After the Choucroute party yesterday the weather just got worse and worse by the minute with lots of rain and some gusting winds. Today it has all cleared up and as a result I could enjoy a nice walk through the neighbourhood. I quite like winter colours and atmosphere in this central part of France at this time of the year. Parasitic misletoes have also started to appear on otherwise baren trees.

La Choucroute

Ah! Winter... And its winter dish! La Choucroute. It really is something I would not eat during another season. Today has been all cold, windy and grey in France. Just the perfect time for a hearty saurkraut.

Home Sweet Home

The discipline of posting is already proving difficult because of my travels but here I am in my home village. I have so many records that I cannnot move them around with me therefore I have decided (or I have been forced) to make this room my permanent record storage. This is where a 160GB iPod comes handy. It certainly takes less room but when you happen to lose it (as I did when I forgot it in the seat pocket in front of me when I took the A380) it is an instant and bigger loss.