Rain rain go away, come again another day

Why it's been pouring heavily of late..

A woman in Taipei rides a bicycle in heavy rain on Friday.

Image courtesy of AFP/GettyImages

How I spent my summer holiday - part 2

More sights from gay Paree..

How I spent my summer holiday

It's almost 1.30 in the morning..bloody jetlag still affecting my sleep pattern..decided to post more snaps from my recent holiday. Our journey to Paris started quite early largely due to cheaper fares. It's been awhile since my last trip there..4 years ago if I'm not mistaken..so I was both excited and nervous about going there again. Excited cos I've had fond memories of my previous trips..plus I couldn't wait to check out the shops! The nerves were mostly due to worries about our accommodation - how far away is it from the nearest station? or shops? did I remember to reconfirm our hotel reservation?

Paris turned out to be a good ol' friend despite the occasional downpour particularly on the first day. As with Singapore, Malaysia and England, most of the shops were having their summer sales - so imagine my bliss..I mean after all I am/was in one of my top five shopping meccas and no rain was going to dampen my spirit! And let's not forget the cuisine. Though I'm not a huge fan of French food, there were still plenty of choices to pick..oh say, like McDonalds or even the odd kebab. Ok so maybe that's hardly blogworthy but I must add that if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, be sure to pay a visit to La Duree. Like Chanel, Dior, Pierre Herme this infamous tea salon is a French institution not to be missed. Famed for its mouthwatering Macaroons (Harrods has its own La Duree branch but the cakes selection are not as extensive and the macaroons don't have the same taste/feeling as those French made ones), I had to make sure my brother dearest sampled a taste of La Duree and sure enough he was spellbound, not to mention undecisive about what to eat..though he ended up being boring settling for strawberry tart!

Oh and did I mention how good-looking the men were in comparison to the English?? I remember telling a friend, though can't remember who, that if I was given a choice to have a toyboy I'd pick someone French!?!

My only peeve about the country? How frustrating and difficult it was to find a taxi particularly in times of rain..but my kudos goes out to the public service transportation especially the Metro (known for its reliability and it's so easy to use too!) So merci beaucoup et au revoir Paris..tho it was a short stay nonetheless we had a good time plus I'm still loving my YSL Uptown bag!!!!

Climate crisis?

After last night's big storm and the current weather situation back in England, it got me thinking about global warming. Is this what Al Gore and the many scientists have been trying to tell us? Sure it's not unusual for us back here to get the occasional rain and thunderstorm around this time of the year..and even if other countries such as the Philippines are going through the typhoon season during this period, the aftermath of the typhoons that rage through those countries aren't as horrific as what we have experienced over the past couple of days. As I made my way to work this morning, I was shocked to see trees that have probably been around longer than my existence uprooted, banners strewn away, arches collapsing amongst others. Even my room was affected by the storm when rain seeped through the windows, resulting in ugly brown stains on my wall linings. Perhaps also a sign for me to renovate my room - something which I've resisted doing, but let's leave that for another day.

So what is it with global warming then? Are the recent global climatic changes caused by global warming? If, that is, we are to believe or at least consider what Al Gore said on last Sunday's Hallmark Oprah Primetime Special, I suppose there is some grain of truth in all this global warming hoo-ha. However, whether the rest of the global population, let alone our own people here, actually believe or give a cr*p about it is another issue.

Take the recent Live Earth concert which took place earlier this month. Co-organised by, again, Al Gore, the 24-hour, 7-continent concert series was aimed to use music to 2 billion people worldwide as a means to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis. As with previous global events (Live 8 anyone?), Live Earth was broadcast through all forms of media platforms namely, TV (yes I was one of those sad lonely people who actually caught most of the show..), radio, Internet and wireless channels. The event was not without its sceptics - hardly surprising there as I was one of them - who point out the relevance of using singers or artists as a means of communication with regards to a global issue which is harder to convey compared to, say, AIDS. Let's take Madonna for example. When I first heard that she'd be participating and had written a song (uncharacteristically titled "Hey You" and is all about learning to love oneself before loving others blah blah blah...hardly memorable and so un-Madonnalike), my first thought seemed to be "What has Madonna done to champion this issue that she's been invited to sing?" I mean with her Confessions tour and her travels to and from London/New York/LA/Malawi/Paris, she'd probably donated at least 10% carbon footprints last year!

True enough when she came on stage, global warming/climate crisis was far from my mind - how could anyone forget that crazy-yet-kickass version of La Isla Bonita she did with those gypsies??

Alright so maybe I am being overtly cynical about this whole climate crisis/global warming issue. As I'd said earlier on, perhaps - just perhaps - global warming does contribute to the changes in our climate and that it's not too late for us to do something about it..cos, after last night, the experience (though probably not as bad on the Richter scale!) was something I'd remember for a long time.

p/s: I profess to not being an expert in photography (I'll leave that to people like Ber thank you very much) but these snaps were taken from my office this morning.

Gloom

Another miserable day..and what a way to start the week! This doesn't feel like summer at all. More like autumn. The only difference being the leaves aren't turning brown yet. An article in one of the papers here reported that summer had turned up earlier than expected in April and that the prospects for a drier/sunnier weather for the rest of this month aren't looking any better. *Gloom*

Let's hope Paris fares better within the next few days..

Rain rain go away, come again another day

I think I must've brought the rain with me cos it's been nothing but rain from the moment I stepped out of Heathrow Airport. Ok perhaps that was a slight over-exaggeration as up until today Mother Nature had been kind enough to spare us with the heavy downpour that has besieged the upper northern part of England. Some are 'blaming' it on global warming whereas others are saying this is typical English weather, in other words, unpredictable.

The forecast for Sunday doesn't look good either.I'm guessing both Princes William and harry must be conjuring up some let's-stop-the-rain-for-the-next-few-hours dance for today's Concert for Diana whereas over at SW19 aka Wimbledon, the organisers must also be hoping the rain will hold up til the evening.

That aside, as the saying goes - rain or shine, the show/party must go on...