TRAVELLING, PART 4

Another year went by since my last blog entry. Time to update where I have travelled this past year:

2015/09 (P) - Austria
2015/06 (B) - Stuttgart, Germany
2015/05 (P) - Northern Kyushu, Japan
2015/04 (B) - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2014/11 (B) - Singapore
2014/09 (P) - Greece

Just have to share two photos from the trips to Greece and Austria. I don't mind visiting those two countries again in the future.

I love the "Blue" in Greece!

Paradise on Earth in Hallstatt, Austria

 

P.S. Very excited about the upcoming trip in February 2016 to Israel + Jordan.

TRAVELLING, PART 3

Can't believe my blog entry for "TRAVELLING, PART 2" was posted in December 2010. Maybe it's about time to think back where I have visited during the past three and half years:

2014/07 (B) - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2013/11 (B) - Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam
2013/09 (P) - England + Scotland, UK
2013/06 (B) - Stuttgart, Germany
2013/05 (P) - Hokkaido, Japan
2012/06 (P) - Kyoto + Osaka + Kobe, Japan
2012/03 (B) - Beijing, China (that time I actually landed)
2011/12 (B) - Beijing, China (didn't land but flew back in the same plane!)
2011/09 (B) - Singapore

A photo taken from the boat ride at the Lake District in UK. During the ride, "C" and I met two very interesting and energetic ladies (already in their 80s) from San Diego, USA. We had such a blast just chatting about anything. It makes you think how everything works in a mysterious way.

Less than one month away from my next trip~

GREECE  - here I come!!!

A DAY OUT - GAUGUIN & OTHERS

Paul Gauguin, "Conversation in the Pasture, Pont Aven"

Cecilia and I bought the tickets for the "Gauguin - Elsewhere" exhibition (11.27.2010 - 02.20-2011) back in November 2010, but only managed to go, finally, on Feb. 7, 2011 (yup, two weeks before it ends). It was the last day of the Chinese New Year holidays, and we decided to take the MRT because we know it would be extremely difficult to find parking spaces. To be honest, I don't remember much about the exhibition, so that's when postcards/cards come in handy, haha!

Paul Gauguin, "Landscapes from Arles"

Claude Monet, "Woman in the Garden. Sainte-Adresse"

The highlight of this exhibition is that we bought a bottle of red wine. Well, big deal...It is, actually. One side of the bottle is carved with Vincent Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night", limited to 1,000 bottles, and we bought bottle No. 1!



Left Taipie Fine Art Museum around 3:30pm, happy with our trophies, we did another "crazy" thing that afternoon - we waited in line for 90 mins to take a sweet bite of waffles which came highly recommended on the internet at Melange Cafe. When we arrived at 4pm, the number counter was at 351, and the ticket we got was 439! At the end, because it was just two of us and we were willing to sit outdoors, we got the seat quicker than expected and were not charged 10% service fee. Well, as nice the waffles were, I will probably not do this again! BUT...it was a fun day - a perfect note to end the holidays!

CAME AND GONE - CHRISTMAS 2010

Can't believe it's already 2011.

X'mas 2010 was just here, and I have evidence to show for... Cecilia and I totally redo the X'mas display this year (okay okay, she did the renovation) - with some we bought ourselves and some given to us by friends:

• the Nativity set is from Alessi
• the paper church is actually a X'mas card
• the cup set is from Rudi and Dave
• the Starbucks cookie jar is from Juliana

Our new favorite is Wallace and Gromit - Gromit is forever loyal to his master/friend Wallace and helping him throughout the year! Just look at the mugs, so cute! And we ordered them directly from the UK Royal Mail - it's part of their 2010 X'mas stamp collection.

We also tried something different this time - we grew our own X'mas tree. Yes! The X'mas tree leaves grow from paper tree trunk with help from magic potion. I documented the process with the camera... Isn't it amazing?

Yes, it came and gone, but there is always the next X'mas to look forward to. Before it comes again, wish you all a great 2011!

TRAVELLING, PART 2

In my very first blog entry in June 2008 (gosh, that's two and half years ago!), I mentioned that I love to travel, and I have the good fortune to continue doing so when my schedule allowed.

Update on places I have been during the past 2+ years -

2010/11 - Beijing, China
2009/09 - Northern France
2008/11 - Beijing, China
2008/10 - Southern Germany

One of my favorite photos from the Northern France trip - that of Mont St. Michel. Simply breathtaking!


Looking very much forward to the next trip, to wherever it may be...

FINALLY...A NEW TELEVISION

It has been forever since Cecilia and I talked about getting a new TV, and we told ourselves that we will as soon as the old one breaks down. So we waited, waited, and waited... Friends around us all said, "how could you keep staring at that tiny 21" television when you like watching TV so much?" We often wonder too...But we thought, why the need to buy a new one if the old one is working fine - except I almost have to lean forward every time I sat on the sofa watching TV.

But still we persisted...then the remote control started to fail us, but still we managed to "survive" by using my obsolete PDA (creative thinking on my part!) as an alternative to the remote control - except we have to recharge it every two days! This lasted for another few months...

Until one day, we finally said, "enough is enough!" After enduring 10 years of that tiny TV in our "huge" living room, we bought a 40" LCD TV about two months ago. To document this historical event, I posted the before and after photos.

Watching TV is never the same again...

YOU ARE GOING WHERE?

My very close friend "C" has been making annual business trip every May with a group of about ten colleagues for the past five years to various places around the world. She always agonizes herself with the thought of travelling not for pleasure. Who can blame her - always the most junior person in the group (meaning she has to "take care" of her boss) and the only person to fly economy no matter how long the flight is.

Places "C" had travelled to for the previous four years:

2006 - Bariloche, Argentina
50-hour door-to-door travel for her return trip to Taiwan, ouch!

2007 - Kyoto, Japan
Got sick staying up really late to write business report

2008 - Madrid, Spain
Got many chances to practice her Spanish with the taxi drivers - "El recibo, por favor!"

2009 - Bali, Indonisia
Had her very first full-body massage, and very cheap too - 2 hours for US$18, tips included!

I myself have been to Kyoto and Madrid; never been to Bali yet (by choice) or Argentina, which might be "exotic" enough but at least I know someones (else) who have been there. HOWEVER... Are you ready???

Anyone who has been to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, please raise your hand!

For this trip, lots of money already spent before "C" left Taiwan - the single-entry visa to costs NT$9,900 (about US$300), and the economy round-trip plane ticket fare is NT$130K (or US$4,000). Ouch, feels like the Uzbekistan government is trying to discourage visitors... Of course, "C" did not return empty-handed. She brought back some very beautiful artworks:

Until her next trip, Uzbekistan will remain as No. 1 on the list of "You are going WHERE?".

THE WORLD OF ROMERO BRITTO

Article by Cecilia

Photos by Sue

It happened so fast that Sue and I can only blame the October’s dusk of the evening in Germany, which highlighted Romero Britto’s art works under the bright illuminating rays of the Mensing Gallery, Baden Baden, enchanting us with this artist’s world glowing with childlike essence and sincereness in our first met.

And we had no one to blame but blame on our extremely good luck that our tour leader just asked us to meet in front of the luxury Mensing Gallery after the two-hour free time for random stroll, as well as the perfect timing that we arrived at the meeting place 10 minutes earlier than expected, which was used as the excuse to “take a quick look” at the gallery’s display for killing time. Therefore, when the “take a quick look” turned out to be 40 minutes lingering upon Britto’s brilliant creations, especially the adorable silver based “Good Girl” in the gallery, then what happened next - throwing lots of fortune, delay for dinner, and carrying a cumbersome yellow carton encased with “Good girl” for the rest of the itinerary - were not surprising to us. Now, the “Good Girl” has safely flown with us from Germany to our house, standing on the side table in the living room to watch over the two stray sheep occupied the single-person sofa for eight years.

To laypersons of art like Sue and me, it is the feeling of the first sight to an art work determines that we like it or not, and those with vivid colors and simple strokes can always catch our eyes most. That’s why we were so addicted to the “Good Girl”. In addition to the extraordinary features of colors and strokes, the reason Britto’s works engrossing audience is the ingenuous significance implied in his works, which seems all the flows and troubles in the world have been sifted, only hopes and happiness left.

Through appreciating Britto’s simple and unadorned portrait of daily life, it is like walking into a Utopia without any disturbance, experiencing Britto’s wonderful caring for socio-cultural environment, and all the restraint deeply hidden inside subconscious can easily get its way out. Still don’t believe in it? Go around Britto’s official website: http://www.britto.com/ for a visual and spiritual tour and then, verify.

BLING BLING

"Wow! What's that shining little thing on her neck/finger/wrist?"

It's... jewelry, of course. I am also guilty of indulging myself in purchasing way too much unnecessary accessories. BLOOM from Japan; GEORG JENSEN & DYRBERG/KERN from Denmark; FOLLI FOLLIE from Greece... The list goes on and on...

However, I just want to talk about two brands in particular.

The first one is JUSTIN DAVIS from Japan, a brand which I discovered last October (through a close FRIEND whose first name starts with "C") and has spent XXX knows how much money on it. The photo shows my very first JUSTIN DAVIS ring (called "Lionkeeper"). I like it very much because of its detailed design and it reminds me of the Mouth of Truth that appears in the movie "Roman Holiday".

Another one is TIFFANY. I don't yet own anything of this brand (but I have a feeling soon it will be on my wishlist). The photo shows the bangle and the ring in sterling silver from its newest series called "Tiffany Notes" (again, this comes from my knowledgeable FRIEND with first name that starts with "C"). They are engraved with the store address of Tiffany's headquarter in New York. Charming...

"Life is too short. Just get what you want when you can." I tell myself, as I continue to spend money on the Bling Bling...

TRAVELLING

I love to travel

Let me count the places so far...

2008/03 (P) - Jeju, South Korea (photo)
2007/10 (P) - The Czech Republic
2007/05 (P) - Tokyo, Japan
2006/09 (P) - Northern Italy
2006/09 (B) - Tokyo, Japan
2006/07 (B) - Detroit, USA
2005/10 (P) - Southern France
2005/06 (B) - Beijing, China
2002/09 (P) - Switzerland
2001/09 (P) - New Zealand
2000/10 (P) - Las Vegas, USA + Izu Peninsula, Japan
2000/08/30 - 09/02 (B?) -
2000/06 (B) - Seoul, South Korea
2000/03/28-31 (B?) -
1999/07 (P) - Singapore
1999/06 (P) - California, USA
1999/04/19-22 (B?) -
1998/10 (B/P) - Detroit/Mountain View, USA
1998/09 (P) - Kyushu, Japan
1998/03 (P) - Hong Kong
1997/06 (P) - Hannover, Germany
1996/07 (P) - Rome + Napoli + Ischia, Italy
1995/12 (P) - Spain
1995/09 ~ 1997/07 - London, UK


May the list grows a thousand times longer...