New Year - New Hope

2008 is coming. Usually, it is good to look forward for a new year because for many people, new year means new hope for them. For me, there is nothing special about new year because I don’t have any wish/hope for it.

However, today I have a unique thought; if possible, I wish I can train myself physically and mentally to be a person without feeling. The idea is from my fervor Buddhist Scripture – 般 若 心 经 THE HEART OF PRAJNA. The scripture is about everything in the universe is unreal and emptiness included sense from the body (no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch).

I used to practice this scripture everyday and used it to release stress. However, because of something unexpected, I am not able to concentrate to do anything and do give up this practice.

Today when think about the scripture, I hope I can reach the level which is no sense of pain, joy, anger, sad and happy. It is going to be very interesting if I can be a moving human being with no feeling.

This is my unique wish for year 2008.

THE HEART OF PRAJNA
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness.


Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining.

Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva through reliance on Prajna Paramita is unimpeded in his mind. Because there is no impediment, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana! All Buddhas of the three periods of time attain Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi through reliance on Prajna Paramita. Therefore know that Prajna Paramita is a Great Spiritual Mantra, a Great Bright Mantra, a Supreme Mantra, an Unequalled Mantra. It can remove all suffering; it is genuine and not false. That is why the Mantra of Prajna Paramita was spoken. Recite it like this: Gaté Gaté Paragaté Parasamgaté

<般 若 心 经>
观自在菩萨，行深般若波罗蜜多时，照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄。舍利子，色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色。受想行识，亦复如是。舍利子，是诸法空相，不生不灭，不垢不净，不增不减，是故空中无色，无受想行识，无眼耳鼻舌身意，无色身想味触法，无眼界，乃至无意识界，无无明，亦无无明尽，乃至无老死，亦无老死尽。无苦集灭道，无智亦无得，以无所得故。菩提萨陀，依般若波罗蜜多故，心无挂碍。无挂碍故，无有恐怖，远离颠倒梦想，究竟涅槃。三世诸佛，依般若波罗蜜多故，得阿褥多罗三藐三菩提。故知般若波罗蜜多，是大神咒，是大明咒，是无上咒，是无等等咒。能除一切苦，真实不虚。故说般若波罗蜜多咒。即说咒曰: 揭谛揭谛，波罗揭谛，波罗僧揭谛，菩提萨婆诃。

The City of Love - Paris (9)

Merry Christmas
My planed on 25th Dec was going to the 2 famous churches in Paris – Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. The reason was it is always a good idea to go to church on Christmas.

Notre Dame
Yes, it is a huge and beautiful church with all the statues outside. Nothing much to talk about it because it is just a church.

People lighted up the candles and made a Christmas wish. I did too (I’m a Buddhist and did that was not because of religion). My wish on Christmas was very simple – World Peace (no human and nature disaster). I didn’t make a wish for myself because I considered myself is a fortunate person. What I have is much more than a billion people (according to statistic, millions of people died every year because without food or clear water and billions of people not able to afford to go to colleague) in the world. Therefore, I made wish for everyone in the world.

Beautiful glasses on both sides of the church.
Scare Coeur
For Parisian, the church which must visit is not Notre Dame (it is just because the book and movie made it famous), it is Scare Coeur. This is a huge white church which built on the top of a hill. Honestly, it really looks like Taj Mahal. When reached the top of the hill, able to see the city view of Paris. I am sure at night it is beautiful.

When reached the church, people were doing Mass. I was so attracted by those wonderful and peaceful songs. Sat on the hall and listed to those beautiful songs which made me felt that my Christmas in Paris was meaningful. Those lovely songs helped me to have a good ending with my trip in Paris.

Conclusion of the Trip
Paris is a beautiful city and because of this, millions of people from all over the world are going to visit her every year. I do appreciate the beauty of Eiffel Tower (day view and night view), Seine River and the art pieces in Musuee De Lourve. If you ask me whether I will visit Paris again, for sure my answer is yes but not alone.Backed to Where I'm
After traveled for more than 20 thousand KM (around trip to Paris), I am backed to Singapore. Found that no matter how long I travel or how far I travel, in the end I still have to come back. Life needs to carry on, work needs to do and issue needs to face with. This is life.

Live in the Way You Want To
Did spend about 27 hours in the airplanes (round trip) and able to finish 7 movies. 2 of the movies did mention about: be yourself and live in the way you want to.

This is what I used to encourage L2. L2 is a smart and strong girl, I am sure she is able to make it. Me too, I am sure I am able to make it. Just be myself and live in the way I want to.

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2nd Visit to Musuee De Lourve
On 24th Dec morning I went to Musuee De Lourve again. Reason was only because I found that the photos I took in my 1st visit were not good. So, I went back and took photo again. Looks familiar? Maybe you saw it from the movie Da Vinci Code
Had a cup of hot coffee in Musuee De Lourve’s garden. Even though it was -1C but I felt very comfortable and very much enjoyed the winter sun light. Take a break and just look at people from around the world who walk here and there also an enjoyable experience.
Day trip to Eiffel Tower
1st time went to Eiffel Tower on day time and it was my 3rd trip to it. Day time Eiffel Tower does looked a bit difference when compared with night time. It looks “real” without lights on.
Did you see Eiffel Tower’s butt before? Here you are.
Boat Bus Trip
A boat bus trip in Seine River is highly recommended by everyone. This is another “must do” activity in Paris. Most people recommended me to go for the night trip because the river view is more beautiful when the buildings surrounding it are lighting up at night. They said it is very romantic. Hmmm…. romantic? Are they trying to make a joke with me? Be alone and take a boat bus at night with the freezing air, how can it be romantic?

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Shopping
Went to the 2 famous department stores Printemps and Galaries Lafayette. I was disappointed after found out they are just a normal shopping malls and nothing special at all. The shopping mall Ngee Ann city in Singapore is much better than Printemps and Galaries Lafayette.

As usual, after walked out from the shopping malls in Paris, I did carrying a few shopping bags from LV and Prada. They were the order from my friends. I just realized that I spent a lot of shopping time in Paris but 95% of the things I bought are for my friends.

These are the 3 LV I helped my friend to buy. Did throw away all the boxes because it was impossible for me to bring them back to Singapore.

The beautiful glass roof on Printemps
Very cute window display in Printemps. The breakfast I had in Printemps which was very heavy.

A Christmas Dinner
On 23rd Dec, I went to Alice’s sister house for a Christmas dinner with her family. It is always good to meet new friends. They prepared a French style Christmas dinner with is without honey ham, turkey and BBQ pork or beef (these are UK or American style Christmas dinner).

The starter was fresh oyster, then follow with goose liver (I never seen a whole goose liver before. It was BIG). The main disk was fried scallop with salad and steam prawn. Last part was cheese and then ice cream cake. Spent so much time to list down all the foods is because this was the 1st time I tried a French style Christmas dinner. All the foods were wonderful. Alice’s sister in law really knows how to cook.
All difficult kinds of cheese. However, I don’t like them because the taste is too strong, especially the Blue Cheese.

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Musuee De Lourve

Finally one of my dreams has came true; I went to Musuee De Lourve. Since I was a kid, always heard, read or saw pictures, news or article about Musuee De Lourve. Of course, the most well known is Monna Lisa painting and her famous enigmatic smile.

The museum is huge. I was trying my best to rush here and there for more than 5 hours but I still not able to finish visit all the halls. In the end, I decided not to continue my trip in Musuee De Lourve because I was so tired and got bored already. No wondered my colleagues in Paris told me I need at least 1 week to visit the museum.
The ugly painting: Monna Lisa
Met a family from Singapore. Did go with them to the museum.

From the frozen ice, can tell the weather is very cold.
The Art Piece I Love

For me, the most beautiful painting in Musuee De Lourve is not Monna Lisa (actually I do think it is ugly). The one that I love is the painting about the dead of an angel. When look at the painting, I feel the world is quiet, peace and even the time is stopped running. The angel’s face is so placid and like she is sleeping and having a nice sweet dream but not dead.

La Seine

After left Musuee De Lourve, the sky was getting dark. Decided to take a walk by Seine River and the reason is that Seine Rive is another one of must visit in Paris. People always talk about the beauty of the river. Of course, sit on the café beside the river and have a cup of coffee also a “must do” activity in Paris.

Took a 30 minutes walk by the river, I did appreciate the beauty of the river view. However, walking alone in Paris and only had the freezing air accompany with me which did make me feel a bit down,especially when listened to the songs I have from my MP3 which made me felt even worst.

Seine River is very beautiful at sunset.

A Unique Area in Paris

My friends bought me to a unique area in Paris. The fun part is something what people do on the street for sure is illegal in Singapore. However, this is Paris and everything can be possible. It is always good to have this kind of exposure and understand about Paris. Did go for a drink there. Maybe the environment was nice and relaxing which made me drank a little bit too much. I was a bit drunk.

A Missing Part in Paris
Honestly, almost everyday I have difference exposure and adventure in Paris which are what I am looking for. However, don’t know why I do feel that something is missing in this trip. There is a missing part for my trip in Paris.

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2nd Visit to Eiffel Tower
Last night after I done with my shopping (yes, shopping again) in Champs Elysees, did go to visit the beautiful Eiffel Tower again. It is very beautiful when at night with yellow right on. Every one hour, it lights up with white flashing light for 10 minutes. For me, it is the most exciting part for Eiffel Tower.
My New Friends
Last night in the train station, I did meet Jeremiah and Jason. They are from Florida, USA and come to Paris for they long winter vacation.

When I met them, they were on their way to Eiffel Tower. Since I didn’t have any program, so I decided to join them for my 2nd visit to Eiffel Tower. 1st When I saw Jeremiah, I was I bit shocked because he did give me a feeling that he is very much likes one of my friends. I can say their age and their look are about 70% the same. After I told to him, I can confirm that Jeremiah and the friend I know are 90% similar in personality and character. So strange, one is American and another one is Chinese but they have so many things in common. After said goodbye to Jason and Jeremiah, did meet Chernayshova in the train station. We wanted to go to Versailles. She is from Russia and study Chemical Engenering in Paris. We had a nice chat on the way from Paris to Versailles. She did teach me French and Russian. We found that I have problem to learn French because I have difficulty to pronounce R sound. Since she is going to graduate on Jan 2008 and go back to Russia, I did tell her one day I am going to visit her there.

An Adventure Night
Chernayshova wanted to meet someone who stays somewhere near my hotel (from the map it is but actually not). Since it was11:00pm at night, I felt it was safe for her to walk on the dark street and searched for the place. So, I offered to go with her. One the way I found out she didn’t know the person and she needed to get something for the guy. Hmm…... it was middle of the night and a young girl went to a city her never been and looked for someone she never met. A question immediately came across my mind: “What the hell is going on here?”

Just imagine, in the middle of the night and the temperature was -6C. A guy who was carrying 2 large shopping bags, walked on the street with a young girl who he just met 1 hour ago. They were searching for the address and looking for someone they never met,. What they were doing? For sure, many of you are thinking I am stupid. Why put myself into risk to help someone I don’t know. Maybe Chermyshova and the guy are criminals. I totally agree with that. However, when I found out all the truth, it was too late for me to leave her on the street and I walked back to the hotel.

It was a blessing, after 40 minutes lost on the street and we finally found the address and met the guy. They kept talking in French and I had not idea what they were talking about. I just saw the guy passed an envelope to Chermyshova. I did see there are some cash inside when Chernayshova opened it.

Before Chernayshova was going back to Paris, I kept mention to her that never even done this kind of thing again. It is really dangerous for a girl to meet someone she never met in the middle of night. Somehow the place is where she never been. From her face, I knew that she was scared too.

Thank God for blessing and I was safe last night. However, I am hungry now because I haven’ have my dinner yesterday. It is because I am being too nice sometime and keep helping people. End out I am starving but no one can helps me.

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French Food
In Paris, besides sightseeing, shopping, bar/club, the only thing which I interested is food. Last night went to a restaurant with a French friend. This restaurant only services CREPES which is like a pan cake. This was my 1st time tried this kind of French food. Totally didn’t how it tasted when order.

An old designed menu which make me feel like I am backed to 1950.

Can’t remember the name of the wine. Taste likes apple juice but actually contains quite strong alcohol. Never known that French people do drink wine without using glasses.

Ordered a sea food CREPES. The taste is nice.
Dessert was dark chocolate CREPES. It looks ugly but the taste is not bad. I love dark chocolate but not with 99% cocoa.
2 couples were singing in the restaurant. My friend told me that they were singing old French love songs and he likes the songs very much. For me, I found they were making a lot of noise. Sorry, I’m just telling the truth.

A True Laugh
The French friend who I had dinner with last night is really a fun guy. Seriously he talks a lot and has good sense of humor. Compare with him, I consider myself is a very quiet person. Anyway, it is so nice to know him. He made me laugh for the whole night.

I can’t remember for how long I didn’t have a good laugh liked last night. It was a true laugh and I was really happy or at least I tried to be happy. Honestly, I am a bit tired to have a fake laugh or a fake smile on my face.

Last night was very tired night because of stayed out till after midnight but I felt relaxed and happy. However, after backed to the hotel, I couldn’t sleep again. Maybe this is the price I have to pay for my short term happiness. This is what people call “A Fair Trade”.

French People Are Friendly
Before came to Paris, some friends did tell me that French people are elegant. They are not easily being friendly to others. Even thought the French taxi driver I met also told me the same. However, since day one I arrived in Paris until now, almost every French people I meet are very friendly.

Everytime when I meet anyone in the company, train station, restaurant, club/bar and shop, I just keep a smile on my face and say 'Hi' to them. Everyone does say 'Hi' or talk to me. Even though I went to club/bar alone and I had not issue to find someone to chat with.

Therefore, next time I am going to tell my friends that actually most of the French people are friendly. You just need to be friendly to them and they will treat you nicely.

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Hibernation
I am not sure whether is because of jetlag; my sleeping time is changed. I feel sleepy from 5:00PM to 3:00PM (Singapore time) which is 22 hours. Sounds like going into hibernation.

Because of almost feel sleepy most of the time, everyday I feel that to have a French dinner is torturing me. It really takes too long to finish it. It usually takes 2-3 hours and everyday I am about to sleep on the dinning table. Don’t know why French people have this kind of luxury time to spend for only a dinner. For me, I’m only willing to spend about 20 minutes for a dinner and quickly go back to hotel, take a shower, listen to songs and sleep.

The International Team
Today my team went to a nice French restaurant for team dinner which was paid by the CIO (Chief Information Officer). So, we had big budget on hand for the dinner. What I like most is the dessert in the restaurant which is excellent.
I am in Global Data Warehouse (GDW) team and each of the team members is from difference countries: Vietnam, Belgium, France, Africa, USA, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Too bad the members from India and Singapore not able to join us in Paris.
From your left: Florence (born in Africa and now is French), Debra (born in Italy and now is American), Alice (born in Vietnam and now is French), Alfie (born in Malaysia and now is Singapore Permanent Resident), Herman (born in Belgium and now is French), Cyril (born in France but parents are not French and from 2 difference countries). Wonderful snails I even had.The very beautiful and attractive restaurant owner who serviced a traditional French dessert – ile flottante a la louche. The taste is nice. A French dessert I ordered – profiterole. Tell you, it is really great.

Christmas Present
Today received a Christmas present from my GDW team colleagues. My colleagues told me that this kind of combination is traditional French Christmas present. I guess it is because it has goose liver and wine which are traditional French products. I like the present but I have a big problem now which is how am I going to bring the present back to Singapore especially with a big wood basket.

The City of Love – Paris (2)

Versailles
After reached Paris, I took a 30 minutes taxi to go to Versailles where is my company HQ located. Couldn't believe the taxi fee was Euro$90.90 which is SG$200++. So expensive.

After checked in to the hotel, I immediately go to visit the Palace Of Versailles which is just behind my hotel. This palace used to belong to King Louis XIII and Louis XIV. This is a huge palace with a lot of well known paintings.

So nice to meet a cute Korean girl in the palace. We did exchange contact and I invite her to visit Singapore for her next trip.

Champs Elysees
Actually did look forward to visit Paris since I was a kid. So frustrated about this trip might because recently have so many things to handle. The main reason is I strongly disagree to visit Paris alone. What a stupid idea. Visit the City Of Love alone? You must be kidding me. Anyway, today I am here, in Paris and alone. That’s why I feel so lousy and stupid. My 1st visit in Paris was Champs Elysees. The reason is simple; LV HQ is just beside Arc De Triomphe. For a lot of people, they don’t need to visit Eiffel Tower or Musee du Louver but must go LV. I swear, I am not a LV fan. However, unfortunately most of my friends are. Therefore, I have a lot of “order” on hand for LV bags.

After took few shots with Champs Elysees and Arc De Triomphe, I immediately ran into LV shop. Didn’t think much, just passed the shopping list and my credit card to the staff and hoped everything could be settled in one second. Again, I didn’t get anything for myself from LV even though I did try to force myself to get one. However, I failed again today.

Eiffel Tower
Something I really wondering whether I am blur or blind. This afternoon I did walk out from the train station where Eiffel Tower located. Such a huge tower which just beside me when I walked out from the station but I didn’t see it. Tonight, when I went back to the same station and finally I found it. So excited because it is really beautiful when the light is on.

Met 4 Japanese girls and I had problem when communicate with them with English. Anyway, we were managed to communicate by using body language. It was fun to “chat” with them because we needed to spend sometime to guess what we were trying to tell others. I really met quite a few interesting people in Paris today. One of them is the sale person from LV. He just likes me who can talk non-stop. We chatted until almost wanted to invite each other out for a drink.

Food in Paris
No wonder I heard some people said good food is in France. Today I understand what it means. What I tried today for lunch and dinner were seriously good. Tried a slice duck as my lunch in the restaurant Pont De Seine which just next to Eiffel Tower. It was really yummy. I had not complaint for it. For dinner, I had it at Chez Clement which is in Champs Elysees. The main course was a combination with pork rid, beer and duck. The taste was really good. I don’t mind to try again. Miracle
Today I see miracle which is a blur king like me didn’t lose in Paris. I was travel alone but I did manage to get to the places I wanted to go and able to find my way back to Versailles. It was unbelievable.