I forgot what it’s like being in a place where I have difficulty reading the menus
Giving long blank stares to anyone that attempts to speak to me
And that feeling of hearing something but not being able to process it at all

That almost sums up my whole trip to Europe.

Confused, lost, bewildered but also unbelievably giddy, happy and being in constant awe.

Taking advantage of the 9-day Chinese New Year break, I took this rare opportunity to finally pay a visit to my parents. My parents moved to Brussels about half a year ago and I’ve been dying to go explore and frolick around the old world. The fast-paced and stressful lifestyle of Asia made me crave for the laid-back European lifestyle. It sounded like heaven; a place where people take the time to taste their food and enjoy the company of others. When getting off at five and having dinner with family is the norm and not a rare occasion. Well dressed and groomed gentlemen.

And don’t even get me started on the food.

I fell in love with macarons (Pierre Marcolini macarons!)

It always amazes me that the time it takes me to watch four movies, gobble up two meals and take a short nap is enough time to be magically be transplanted into another world.
And it’s amazing how different that world is!

As I got off the plane, I took a deep breathe and was immediately shocked by the sharp daggers of cold air punctuating my lungs. It wasn’t the coldest day in Brussels but it felt like Antarctica to me. It took a few breaths before I got the hang of breathing again.

Koninginne Galerij

Brussels is beautiful in a subtle and low-key way, unlike flashy Paris. I loved walking through the streets, where the air was often permeated with the scent of chocolate and waffles.

the famous Manneken Pis

Any city that is famous for chocolates, waffles, beer, fries and mussels can do no one any wrong.

Giant chocolate Manneken Pis eating a waffle. Doesn't get any better than this

Grande Place

The Grande Place was voted the most beautiful square in Europe and it was easy to see why. The plaza isn’t as big as I imagined but once you step foot in the space, you were surrounded by these magnificent gold-gilded buildings; it felt like you stepped back in time, where people gathered to share news and gossip, and merchants selling their prized produce. It’s amazing to see how well everything was restored and preserved.

Tintin, one of the most beloved fictional comic character was illustrated by Belgian artist Herge. If you didn’t know that The adventures of Tintin had Belgium roots, you would have been able to pick it up by walking around Brussels for 5 mins. The shear amount of Tintin merchandise and street art was mind boggling. But in a good way.

Street art was especially prevalent not only in Brussels but throughout most of the European cities I traveled to, something I didn’t really anticipate. When I thought about Europe, my mind is immediately filled with old buildings and cathedrals but I came across some fantastic street art as well. The juxtaposition between the old and new art forms were quite interesting.

giant tintin street art

One of the place that stood out the most during my Belgium leg of my European adventures was simply the food market. My mom makes this trip every week with her friend to pick out the freshest fruits, vegetables and meats, which she magically whips into an amazing feast every day. The touristy sights are grand but visiting places like a market or a grocery store is where you get the real glimpse of that culture. Everyone loves eating and food is such an important part of our lives!

Anderlecht Market

I was impressed with the variety of fruits and vegetables I saw at the market that day.
In fact, there was so much variety of everything! I saw a fantastic mix of people, old and young, of different races and backgrounds. I couldn’t identify most of the languages that were being spoken but it was fascinating watching people interacting and communicating without speaking a common tongue. My mom is the perfect example of this phenomenon. She doesn’t speak any French/Dutch and her English isn’t her primary language but it didn’t even matter because most of the sellers don’t speak English. Yet, somehow everyone finds a way of understanding each other, through gestures or body language. Mostly lots of pointing, which is a rather simple and effective way of getting your point across.

communicating

It’s comforting that most gestures (ex. pointing, giving the middle finger) and facial expressions (ex. smiling, frowning) are universal. Can you imagine how confusing and difficult it would be if smiling was actually offensive in other cultures?

I loved how characteristics of Taiwanese society and culture is so prominently displayed during large social events such as NYE. People are very polite and courteous to one another, even though we’re all squished together on the streets. Large groups of friends and family gather together for BBQ/cook-out. Though there is trash on the streets, it seems that people at least make an effort to toss all the trash in a distinctive pile. Just some observations I made while I was semi-intoxicated and being distracted by the number of food stalls that have sprung up from nowhere.

My favorite was the motivational messages/new year blessings that appeared on the scrolling text on Taipei 101. I think it’s a pretty great reflection of Taiwanese society and culture:

"Happy 快樂"

"Taiwan 台灣 Like 讚"

I almost pissed my pants when this text scrolled out. This is the most iconic building in Taiwan, and the scrolling text has a “like” and a thumbs up, just like on facebook. Whoever was planning these messages had a sense of humor for sure.

DOUBLE 讚 LIKE!!

Then this one came out after that last one and I think I did piss my pants a bit from laughing (just kidding, only almost). One like isn’t enough, gotta have two thumbs up.

As a collective society, we love the whole thumbs up “like” button/action. I didn’t realize how serious it was until I notice the thumbs on the print ad for the presidential campaign:

This is our current president FYI

I absolutely cannot stop laughing whenever I see this print. Clearly they wanted to reach out to the younger demographic with the social media references and the QR code, but I’m not exactly confident with the creative execution. This is not something my ad agency would put out (snob)! The elections this year will be pretty exciting I’m sure! It’ll also be my first year voting, so I’m feeling rather powerful these days.
I love my country, I think we have a lot of character as a whole We may not be all the refined but at least we have a sense of humor!

So happy to be here and looking forward for the rest of 2012. Happy New Year’s everyone!

Simple.

I’m not sure why both Teddy and I had the urge to fly a kite but it came up in conversation so frequently that we added it to the list of things to do. Finally, about two weeks ago, preparation (buying kite) and timing (beautiful afternoon) met and gave us the perfect kite flying opportunity.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial hall is known to be the kite flying hot spot ever since I was young. It’s close to Taipei 101 and is a rather beautiful, low-key location. I’m not sure what the story is behind kite flying at the memorial hall but given any weekend, it is packed with kite flyers.

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall on a beautiful sunny day

The kite we bought had awesome Transformers on it, for a grand total of NT99 (US$3).

trying to figure out how to put this thing together

The beautiful weather drew a large crowd to the memorial. There were little children, tiny dogs and sounds of laughter as far as the eye can see.

laid back sunday afternoon

Setting up...

go go go!

Though there was plenty of sun, the day was rather lacking in the wind department. We quickly learned that flying kites is no picnic. Both of us got some pretty good cardio time in just by running back and forth trying to get the kite up.

some other kite flyers

There were tons of families around and it was rather endearing watching little kids attempting to fly a kite. Mostly they give up and the daddies end up with the task of launching the kite in the air. I think most of the dads were secretly thrilled that they were given an excuse to run around like a little kid again. A lot of them looked reluctant to give the kites back to their kids when they were asked.

more kites in the air

I got my fair share of adorable kids and puppies that afternoon as well. Kids are so awesome, all they want to do is play, have a good time and laugh a lot; definitely what I’m about :]

one of the adorable kids that was smiling at me

I spotted a few kids running around with a plastic bag attached to a string; quick makeshift kite. They didn’t exactly fly, but she didn’t seem to mind very much.

girl and plastic bag kite

Teddy finally getting the kite up

panoramic shot of the plaza

Thus, I have gotten more outdoor time, hiking trips and images of beautiful scenery in the past few weeks than I have in the first 5 months since moving back. I’ve discovered a delicious little French restaurant that serves amazing brunch 2 blocks away, a large traditional market with every type of fresh produce, lots of small parks and a handful of narrow alleys with a lot of character.

I completely forgot that there was a river fairly close to my apartment. There is a nice path and a lot of open space around the river banks for people to walk on.

the bridge near my apartment

The river itself isn’t very impressive. Like any other river running through a city, the water was rather murky and unpleasant. I was rather impressed to see fishes leaping out of the water at periodic intervals. Though we couldn’t figure out what type of the fish would lurk in such dire waters, we somehow came to the conclusion that it was probably mating season.

The unexpected garden

Along the banks, we stumbled across a very large and well attended garden. I’m assuming the Taiwanese government owns the land around the river but this garden was very clearing tended by private individuals that just wanted a space for themselves to grow  something. Having a yard or a garden in Taipei is unheard of since everyone lives in apartment buildings. Seeing green and having some space is a rare commodity in Asia, so it isn’t too hard to understand why someone would be tending a garden far from their own homes. There were a few middle aged women watering the flowers and being chatty. The flowers were beautiful and were as tall, if not taller than me, forming a slightly isolated flower wall.

lots of these flowers

The weather has been very cloudy and misty for the past 2 weeks and has no signs of changing. Apparently this is the type of weather I should be anticipating for the next 2 months.

staring at something

I miss the sun but the overcast makes for interesting tones and colors in my pictures.

same bridge but with garden

These pictures were actually taken from my camera phone! I’m pleasantly surprised with the quality but I’ll make sure I snap more pictures with my real camera next time I go on a walk.

the corner

You never know what unexpected surprise may be lurking in the corner…

Of course, it wasn’t before long that I started to enjoy observing the different play styles and techniques of different pianists (cause I’m nerdy like that). For classical pianists, I developed a spectrum. On one end, you have Lang Lang, who is known for grandiose gestures and flourishes. On the other end, you have Horowitz, who is stoic and a minimalist in terms of movements. Most pianists fall somewhere in between on that spectrum.

Movie Poster for "The Pianist", the ultimate piano movie for Chopin lovers

The point of this written assignment for this class was for the student to be exposed to a wide range of pianists and examine the different techniques they applied. Some students that may have less movement (like myself) might find it beneficial to add more gestures to express the notes more, like raising your hand higher and let gravity help create a fortissimo sound (it helps a lot). 21 concert reports later, you kind of realize all the great pianists have more or less tailored a unique style of playing. There’s no “correct” or “incorrect” way of playing, there are just different ways that suit different people.

The Taipei Jazz Summer Festival was an awesome event and I was so fortunate to snag a few of the cheap tickets early. The Jazz in the Garden series in Washington DC was one of my favorite summer events, because it was essentially a big party with lots of wine, sangria and cheese+crackers. Unfortunately, the focus was more on the drinking and less so on the Jazz. In fact, all I can remember was the awesome sangria you can get at the Sculpture Garden. The Taipei Jazz Festival is completely different, less drinking and more listening since it was held at the National Concert Hall. Actually, I found the venue too rigid cause in my mind, jazz music should be listened to at an intimate setting, not in a grand concert hall.

the brochure

I feel like the ‘live’ aspect of Jazz is so much more important than it is for Classical music. Jazz is all about improvising and playing what you feel like at that moment in time. It’s not succumbed by the rigid forms that Classical music is built on.

I have so much respect for Jazz pianists, probably because I was Classically trained. The thought of not having sheet music in front of me and improvising blows my mind. That’s why it feels like magic when Jazz pianists play, I feel like they are channeling something else into their playing and not just what they’ve been told to play.

Just some random thoughts.

my grandpa was a stud!

I love seeing the vintage photos on The Sartorialist. It’s nice to remember that old people weren’t always just old people, but they were young and ballin’ at one time as well.

My awesome cousin started scanning a lot of old family pictures and it’s great to be able to see what my grandparents were like back in the day. My grandfather was in the army and actually traveled to Virginia to receive training. He is a very laid-back guy but puts effort to look good, even now at the ripe old age of 85. When I was young, I remember he would take long walks and go swimming. Now that he isn’t doing well physically, he stopped going to the gym but he still wears lots of Ralph Lauren!

Love you grandpa, I hope you get better soon.

This is an absolutely beautiful short film that is bounded together by the amazing English language. The beautiful images may seem sporadic and disconnected at first, but then you’re quick to realize how the word ‘light’ or ‘fly’ can be depicted in so many different ways. A quick 3 minute video that will leave you with a smile on your face

right place, right time = perfect lighting

Where did July go? It’s already the end of the month