Friday, February 29, 2008

Photography


A friend of mine recently told me that she's interested in photography. I feel very pleased that she's keen to take up a new hobby especially in a creative area. I have always enjoyed some of my friends'photos which they have started taking since college days. Many of them are passionate, dedicated and ardent (in my own words, "crazy" or "totally in love") about photography.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

ASIAN FOOD IN PARIS (bonnes addresses)

As this article is mainly for our friends in France, I have writte it in French.

Pour satisfaire nos envies d’authentique cuisine asiatique, autre que celle que nous cuisinons à la maison, nous avons recherché des restaurants de divers horizons et spécialités de toute l’Asie à travers Paris.
C’est le résultat de nos expériences que je vous livre ici.

Vietnamien :
Suave – 20 rue Providence – 75013 – 01 45 89 99 27.
Petit restau, plein de charme, à la Butte aux cailles, pour une authentique cuisine vietnamienne originale et inventive. Il est préférable de réserver car c’est petit et assez peuplé.

Malaisien :
Chez fung – 32 rue Fremicourt – 75015 – 01 45 67 36 99.

Le seul restaurant Malaisien de Paris, à notre connaissance !
La aussi, c’est petit et il est sage de réserver, surtout le week-end.
Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, c’est l’occasion de découvrir une cuisine riche en saveur, épicée, inventive. Ca change des standards de cuisine asiatique que l’on connaît le plus en France.

Indonésien :
Indonesia – 12 rue de Vaugirard – 75006 – 01 43 25 70 22.
Quelques similitudes avec la cuisine Malaisienne, au niveau de l’utilisation des épices, notamment. De nombreuses formules de « rijstaffel » (ou table de riz), qui vous permettront de découvrir plusieurs spécialités pour un prix raisonnable.
C’est assez fréquenté et il est donc, la aussi, souhaitable de réserver.


Cambodgien :
La Mousson – 45 av Emile Zola – 75015 – 01 45 79 98 52.
Petit restaurant très agréable pour découvrir les richesses de la cuisine Khmer, à mi-chemin entre Vietnam et Thaïlande. Des épices, du lait de coco pour adoucir, un mariage réussi et original.

Nouilles japonaises :
Sapporo ramen – 276 rue Saint Honoré – 75001 – 01 40 15 98 66.
C’est tout petit, c’est à mi-chemin entre une cantine et un fast food, mais ces soupes de nouilles japonaises sont à découvrir car il n’y a pas que les sushis au Japon !

Nouilles vietnamiennes :
Pho Banh Cuon 14 – 129 av de Choisy – 75013 – 01 45 83 61 15.
La aussi, c’est tout petit et ça ne ressemble pas au dernier endroit à la mode, mais, d’une part, les soupes de nouilles (« pho ») y sont excellentes et, d’autre part, si on se laisse un peu emporter par l’endroit, on se sent vite transporté au fin fond de Saigon.


BON APPETIT !

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

What a view, what a joy!


It's not good to leave the blog silent for too long. It is just like leaving your house empty for too long. The air becomes stale and dust shows up at every square centimeter of its surface.

Even a short post is good. So I just put up a picture of what happened during the one-month long silence.

In the picture : Here I was sitting by the infinity pool overlooking a river and a jungle in its background, gulping down iced water with a hint of fresh lime while absorbing heat from the 30 degrees tropical climate. Thinking about how jealous our comrades in France got.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Not a grumpy persian!


Compared to the grown-up persian cat of our gardienne this kitten certainly looks a lot friendlier. Like all persians, it has an owl-like face. But what I like about persian kittens is that they have a very cute and innocent look. But once they grow up, they somehow turn grumpy.....

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Less for More


I know that's not usually the case when it comes to the price of quality cashmere. But in terms of warmth, a cashmere pullover keeps me well from the cold and yet I don't feel suffocated by its volume and weight.

My favourite is Les Ateliers de la Maille. This shop specialises in knitwear and I love their light cashmere pulls and its prices are reasonable.

Monday, January 21, 2008

What would you do with a million?

Frankly speaking, a million euros is not much if you live in Paris. Hypothetically, if you have won a million euros by way of lottery or bonus, what would you do?

For many Parisians, it would be to purchase a bigger or more comfortable apartments. Some would even have spare to upgrade their car or to get a second car. Most would take a long vacation in some exotic faraway places. In reality, after taking care of the basic needs, there isn't enough left for you to quit your job and have an early retirement. So the very real situation is that you would now have a nice place to live in but you would still have to continue with whatever you are doing.

Further hypothesis. What if the amount is 5 times more?

I would want to do something different. I would perhaps stop working for 3 years to pursue a course in the creative field, such as textile designing and fabrication.

You can hypothesise further and logically, the more the merrier. But I don't want to imagine that far because a sudden influx of money in your life will cause a great change of lifestyle. I'd like to have a comfortable life but I prefer it to be normal so to keep my feet firm on the ground.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Movie!






We both like to go to the cinema, mainly on week-end and we appreciate to watch different kind of movies.
We are lucky to have a big cinema within five minutes walk from our apartment, and we both have a card that gave us unlimited access for only 18€ per month.
It offers a choice of 16 different movies every week, and always in the original language, with French subtitles.
Over the last two months, we have seen a lot of interesting movies.
My favorite is the last we’ve seen, last Monday, “Into the wild”, directed by Sean Penn.
It’s based on a true story and it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s a quest of a young American man, who left everything behind him after his graduation, to travel across the USA and go to Alaska. The scenery is majestic and adds beauty to the film.
I also liked some others, such as “We own the night” (la nuit nous appartient), with Robert Duval, Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, a family story around the NYPD,
“Gone baby gone”, directed by Ben Affleck, with his brother Casey and Morgan Freeman, “American gangster”, by Ridley Scott, with Denzel Washington, “My blueberry nights”, by Wong Kar Wai, with Norah Jones and Judd Law, “Atonement” (reviens moi), a sad love story with Keira Knightley, “It’s a free world”, by Ken Loach, a very political movie, “Rendition” (detention secrete), with Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Whitherspoon and Meryl Streep, a critics against the dark face of the American foreign policy, and “Bee movie”, a very funny animated movie, written by Jerry Seinfeld.

This coming week-end, we plan to go watch “Lust, caution”, by Ang Lee, and “Charlie Wilson’s war”, with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.
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