The West Coast

My holiday continued to the UK. Met up with Ian in Uxbridge and he drove us to the west coast of England to his flat in Newquay, "The Surfing Capital of Britain." Coming from the West Coast myself, I was so excited about going to another West Coast. Yes! Sea, Sun, Sand!

Ian took the M3 route so we could make a short stop to Stonehenge as I've never been before (oh, what a sweetheart). The audio guide was the best thing about it; super corny but très educational. I learned that Stonehenge is a calendar.

Just b e a u t i f u l. I bought the California sunshine to Cornwall... in fact, my entire trip was sunny which was a rare thing my friends were telling me.

The downtown part of Newquay reminds me of my old hometown, Huntington Beach (before it got developed and became what it is now). It still has that small beach town feel, a bit bedraggled from the sea air which kinda just enchants you to want to stay for a little while.

Just g o r g e o u s. Fistral Beach. Sadly no waves.

Met up with some lovely folk at a proper local bar. They are living the life; breathing the sea air, surfing, just enjoying life. Al showed me how to prepare the Newquay cocktail mix. Yum yum, piggy's bum.

The next morning, Ian drove us to St. Ives (or Stives as some may call it) to see the Brian Wilson exhibit, "If Everybody had an Ocean," at the Tate. Again, the weather was insanely perfect. I was truly blessed.

On the rooftop of the Tate. This was probably my favorite part of the visit. Just having a snack with a friend and looking out at the clear blue ocean.

And within 15 minutes, the fog rolled in. But it gloriously cleared again as I made my way to Broadwoodwidger, the main reason why I traveled to Europe in the first place.

As I took the Western Greyhound to where I needed to go to, I listened to Ian's band, a warm adieu to the Wild West Country. I'm definitely coming back.

The Loose Salute's "The Mutineer.mp3"

Sous La Plage (Pt. 4)

On my last day in Paris, I went to Parc André Citröen to catch my DubLab friends perform at the Sous La Plage festival. Located next to the Seine in the 15th Arrondissement, this futurist park was probably the coolest thing I've yet to see in Paris. Geometric landscaping with post-modern construction, this park contains two huge glasshouses in which one holds an orangery of various Australian shrubs. Concurrently, I think there must have been a festival for children as there were so many precious Tintin kids playing about.

I wanted to go on this hot air balloon ride but the wait was like 2 hours!

One of the glasshouses. So cool.

Nobody and friends performing.

It's so rad to see your friends in another country.

The walk from the metro to the park... Who would of thought this kind of shop exists in the middle of Paris?

biologique = organic
The secret to delicious French food has always been the use of fresh, locally produced and in-season ingredients. The marketing devils have caught on; at most restaurants I dined this time in Paris, I noticed "bio" on most au courant menus.

Tourist, Traveler or Explorer? (Pt. 3)

I think I'm all these things. Yes, I love to buy gifts for myself, friends and family (esp. the sis) and lug scads of knickknacky souvenirs back home. Yes, I love to take a ridiculous amount of photo's of famous sight-seeing destinations (they look different from each angle, y'all know). And yes indeed, one of the best parts when traveling is not necessarily bringing back those material momentos but relishing in the spirit of adventure and the unknown. To explore other people's cultures/lifestyles and fantasizing if you too could live there is what I always think about. It's a fun game to play. It's all about making it your own experience.

The brilliant sparkles of Le Tour Eiffel

Looking up from below

The Rive Gauche and Rive Droite connect at Pont Neuf.

The French really know how to live well. On a nice warm night, you and your friends bring a baguette, some fromage et jambon, and a bottle of vin and just hang out here... Or make-out... Your preference.

Les Carrières de Paris
Super dank, super spooky. Kinda blows your mind how colossal this is... (a bone collection of 6 million Parisians!)

One of my all-time heros, the adorned grave of Serge Gainsbourg, who is buried with his parents.

Also buried at Montparnasse Cemetery are the combined graves of Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Simple, no inscription, so them.

Musée de l'Orangerie where Monet's awe-inspiring "Les Nymphéas" resides.

(Notice that I'm wearing my white Repettos as a tribute to Gainsbourg!)

The Arrondissement (Pt. 2)

I love my hotel, Hotel du Petit Moulin. This 17th century building, once a boulangerie where Victor Hugo used to patronize, was recently redesigned by fellow Marais neighbor, Christian Lacroix. It was just perfect; so whimsical, over the top and still refined.

View from my room.

View of the street.

I love red doors. Especially ones that are slightly opened. Makes you just curious as to what's behind them.

A digestif of absinthe after a delicious meal at Chez Janou. You can almost never have a bad meal in Paris. Almost Never.

An absolute gem. You have old records, very old manuscripts, very very old posters, ancient periodicals, books and books and books... I usually get "mental" hives in a place this dusty but I didn't mind it here... So many precious treasures. It's major.

Delicious petit déjeuner each morning. I tend to drink just tea but since I was in Paris (when in Rome, ya'll know), I was downing coffee like it was water (avec gas s'il vous plaît), and then I had to stop cuz' I endured a bad case of insomnia/jet lag for a night and that is never a good thing at all.

I go here every time I'm in Paris. Somehow, the queue was too much of a bore for my appetite this time around. I opted for tea at Mariage Frères instead!

I want to eat this. I want to know what this tastes like. Anyone who knows, please invite me over for dinner and I'll bring dessert!

There were like 7 different types of pâté, 30 kinds of cheeses, 20 kinds of cuts, 10 kinds of desserts. This is heaven to me.

Et mais oui, the perfect French shop, APC, which was just right around the corner from the hotel.

The oldest square in Paris, Place des Vosges.

Conkers.

On my last night, I dined at Robert et Louise. Let's just say this made my trip magical when it was already perfect.

The First Night (Pt. 1)

Mike took me on his velo to Chez Omar for some delicious couscous. The lamb and beef were super juicy and tasty. Just super.

We rode by Café La Perle but I couldn't deal with how many fashionistas there were on the sidewalk. I guess when the weather's this good, you gotta enjoy it while you still can.

We ended up at Café Pop In and met these nice and friendly young French boys who took a liking to us as we spoke English; well I speak American which is an entirely different language but I had them fooled!

*I know they may look like they are fashionistas (see second pic) but they're more like indie kids which is why I spoke to them. When they heard CSS playing downstairs, they and their friends freaked out and ran downstairs to dance. That was a sign for us to make our exit...

La Ville Lumière

Je suis à Paname en vacances. Plus à venir...

La Seine la nuit...

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

C'est ma chambre d'hôtel. C'est jolie, non?

Indo Board Guitar Hero

Indo Board and Guitar Hero. Who knew that this would be the perfect combination to amuse oneself? It's about getting low, hanging ten, hanging heels, goofy footing it, bouncing and spinning while playing Guitar Hero. It's about using all of your mental and physical coordination and balancing abilities, you know, those "core" muscles, while maintaining your style and grace. And a bottle of rosé brings out that joie de vivre.

shaka bra...

Juggling grapefruit with the cat on board.

Star Power!

"I've got my own work to do..."

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm in the midst of moving (it happens this weekend) and am just overwhelmed with just e v e r y t h i n g . . . Packing, working, packing, BB8, sleeping, then packing again... and all sorts of friends visiting from around the world, it's all a bit too much at once... Hi Maria, Hi Amy, Hi Mike... It was lovely but brief.

But the one thing that never gets old (surprisingly still!) is last year's Television Personalities' "My Dark Places." Sad but it makes me feel good... misery has its merits, yes indeed... Here are my two faves:

"No More I Hate You's.mp3"
"There's No Beautiful Way To Say Goodbye.mp3"

The Deathly Hallows

Last weekend I went to New York again. I took the red-eye. It helped though the 4-hour delay due to mechanical error was the main bore this time around. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as hot and humid as I thought it would be for this time of the year. It was actually lovely. Stayed in UWS again and did what UWS residents usually do: hung out in Central Park, shopped at Balducci's, dined at various neighboring bistros, read the new Harry Potter, etc...

An evening stroll through Central Park.

Met up with Amy at the Andrew Kreps Gallery in Chelsea. Can I just say how rad her shit is? It's pretty ultimate.

This is David Sherry's work who is also in this group show. Another awesome artist and person.

You know, I was really into doing UWS things. This is what you do. You walk 40 blocks uptown and catch a friendly game of baseball in the park.

Had a yummy dinner with one of my oldest bestest friend from high school at some Japanese joint on Houston. Yum yum, piggy's bum...

I took the subway all the way to Brooklyn (which is a big feat for me!) to see Susie's new baby boy, Max. He's wearing the onesie I got for him. Babies are precious.

On my last night, I made it downtown to Sway to see my old friends. Kuo introduced me to Dan, Abby and Pascal (who was there in spirit); they are all in his new band... Here's the first look at Clams Casino, the super duper new band that will soon blow your mind!