Yeaaaah, I know, every year at the end of March this blog is invaded by white and pink cherry blossoms. And I tell you again and again how beautiful it looks, how poetic it is, how painful too - because of this Japanese syndrome of contemplation that breaks your heart when you think of it. And I describe again the sea of blue sheets under the trees, where more or less drunk people are getting drunker, while the falling blossoms mixes in their dark hair. And I complain because the best sakura spots are so packed, you can't even approach them during the week-end. And the weather, strangely, is always warm and kind in the week-days, and turns cold then - and THAT's pretty unfair. Always the same comments, I know. Not very original, I know.

But guess what, I just do what I want, he he he. And if I want to show you AGAIN the shape of cherry blossoms in Tokyo, well, nothing is going to stop me, right. So let's go sakura again!

Wise Sakura in Gaien-mae

Lazy Sakura in Meguro

Show-off Sakura at Roppongi

Drunk Sakura at Yoyogi

Romantic Sakura at Yokohama

Peaceful Sakura at Aoyama

Yummy Sakura in my plate

How can I resist?... Spring has come.

Happy ohanami!

Intrepid Model Adventure (IMA) is two years old! As we never miss an opportunity to invade the Pink Cow party space at Roppongi, to eat delicious veggie meals, to sing powerful songs and to raise money for Tohoku, well, we decided to do it all again.

In case you are a newcomer on my little blog (welcome, my friend), so you don't know yet about IMA's moto: be the change you want to see in the world. The concept is not new, but its implementation seems to be still confidential in our societies. So IMA people are trying to make it real. We want solidarity, we want passion, we want health and we want team-spirit: let's be all this, let's inspire the society. And so we go volunteering, and so we raise money to help people as far as we can, and so we share movies and songs, and so we light candles in the night to support the pro-clean energies movement. That's it. That's not going to change the world at once, but that's going to change it eventually.

(Picture credits: Yumi Nakayama, Yoshie Nakamura, Isao Kimura)

Chris, Natsu and Noemi on stage for "Man in the Mirror" (Mickael Jackson)

IMA team for our original hymn, "Beautiful Energy" by Mr. Chris Trigger

Just give me a microphone, man

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror / I'm asking him to change his ways

And no message could have been any clearer / If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change!"

By the way: we are still there every Friday, in front of the Japanese Parliament, to support the protesters against the nukes. We light candles, and we perform our favorite songs. Feel free to come and have a look, and light a candle at your place to join the Beautiful Energy movement!

The Beautiful Energy Band

 LOVE!

Before I open the last chapter of my wonderful stay in Thailand with stunning pictures of Koh Samui island, let me share with you a bit of my impressions about the relations between the Thai population and the foreigners.

Thailand is the second place I visit in Asia after Hong-Kong. Japan doesn't count, because I live there: I flatter myself that I have (I hope) a more accurate knowledge of this country than any other foreign country in the world, but in a certain extend, my vision is also biaised by everything I know and acknowledge about Japapn. I am used to Japan, which is not the case for the other Asian countries. In September, I was telling you how strange it was to be in Hong-Kong City and not to see many exchanges between the local people and the Westerners - except financial and commercial ones, of course. Obviously there must be higher levels of communication - exchange students, I guess; artists, free minds, and a few original individuals who had a crush on the other side's culture and mindset - but the majority of the people I have seen and met during my stay were just not interested in meeting new people and getting familiar with their world. The Chinese were there to sell. Sell, sell, sell. The white guys were there to make as much money as possible. Finance, finance, finance. Some of them were learning the basics of communication (including linguistics), but this was not for fun : it was for business. In Thailand, of course, because the level of developement is radically lower than in HK, the atmosphere is quite different. Still, I have been stricken by the common point between the two places: in Thailand also, people don't really mix with the others. I haven't seen groups of Thai and Westerners chatting together, hanging out together, talking together. I haven't seen mixed couples, except when it comes to prostitutes. I am terribly sorry that it sounds so cliche but trust me, the picture was kind of cliche too. Imagine a successions of noisy bars with big pink neons, largely opened on the street. Imagine young and less young girls wearing mini-mini dress (black, most of the time) and super high heels, crossing legs on plastic chairs in front of the shop. Imagine big-old-fat white guys, holding a long-haired lolita on their knees. According to the guidebooks, the prostitution for foreigners represents "only" 20% of the whole prostitution in Thailand, but obviously the Thai guys are more discreet, because I have seen only white-guy/Asian-girl "couples". Fortunately, no kids around, for this vision would have been fare more difficult to bear than the one of adult prostitutes - even if some of them seemed to be pretty young. Anyway, except that, almost no mixed groups, so it was very weird again. It is certainly due to the level of developement, but still. For me who is living in Japan, it's embarrassing to contemplate this wall between the shop-attendants/hotel-staff/cleaning-lady/tuk-tuk-drivers/massage-professionals on one hand; and tourists/clubbers/players on the other hand. I admire Asian people too much to spend my time bargaining on the price of their stuff and giving them tips all day long. I've heard almost no Westerners speaking Thai, even the easy sawatdiikha (hello) and kopkhunkha (thank you). Once again, there must be more sophisticated contexts where people have a genuine interest in each other, but not on the street. As a result, you can not really feel equal with the local population. In Japan, as a foreigner, you are (forever) different from the Japanese, but thanks god we are all equals. In Tokyo, you never feel like a kind of late colonist, while you sometimes really do in Thailand. As a result, despite the sun, the beach, the delicious food and the tigers, I'm not sure that I would feel great in spending a long time in Thailand. That's another reason to fully enjoy the holidays there...

And for holidays, it rocks.

Life is hard

 Varinda Garden (our hotel on the hill)

And here I realize that I didn't tell you about the food. The Food. THE FOOD.

I am not a fan of spicy food, but the thai meals are so tasteful, so rich, so delicate that even if they make me cry and sweat I just can't get enough of it. Let me give you a sample of the endless thai menu:

Coconut milk chicken soup

Fried vegetables with cashew nuts

Thai curry

Pad thai noodles

Noodle soup

Fresh fruits & muesli breakfast, with guava shake

Mango with sticky rice

Spring rolls and fried fish

Dragon fruit shake

That's all, folks! I will be back soon to share with you some new experiences, so keep in touch, and thank you for reading!

xoxo

They say that there are 300 temples in Chiang-Mai. Obviously, we have visited only a few of them, and this is a city that you can explore endlessly.

I fall in love with this old town, with its square-shaped historic center, its old walls, its palm trees, its monks walking everywhere in their orange dresses. Chiang-Mai is infinitely cleaner than Bangkok (the weather is not so wet, also), and it was a delight to get some rest after the busy capital.

The Three Kings who contributed to the creation of the city. Hot guys !

We stayed at Awana House, a charming and cheap guest house with a very sweet decoration, and a pool! The staff was helpful and charming – finally, the land of smiles!

Ok, friends, the following adventure has been the top of our trip, the most exciting moment ever. Have you ever hugged a tiger?? I mean, a REAL, BIG, ROARING TIGER?? Well, I did. And it’s so moving, so special that after this experience, you just love nature, people, yourself, and everything. You just love the whole world.

Aaaaaaw. I know.

It’s not over yet! “Absolute trip to Thailand – Part 3: Koh Samui” will be following! Thank you for reading!

Sawatdii kaa!

I am back from Thailand! God, it was amazing. The temples, the beach, the animals (just wait for it), the sun and the warmth in early February, the delicious food and fruits shakes and above all, my two absolute(e) friends from France who I joined in Bangkok. Unforgettable trip to the “land of smiles” (to be discussed then)!

Part 1 : BANGKOK.

Bangkok : a messy, noisy, dirty developing city, with bunches of loud tourists looking for an Asian Ibiza-style party place and loud local people looking for money, money, money. Unsmiling taxi drivers. Unsmiling shop attendants. Unsmiling hotel staff. Garbage on the streets. Cars, motorbikes, taxi and tuk-tuk driving madly. Rats. And… fun, fun fun! Fun everywhere! Desert streets when you avoid the touristic places, real deals when you talk to the right people, and temples shining like jewels in the sun… Check it out!

Wat Phra Kaew

Stunning Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha and he most sacred temple in Thailand! I didn’t know exactly what to expect of the Thai architecture, and then, this… I suddenly felt so small. The buildings were so huge, the decoration so precise and rich and colorful… I have really been punched in the stomach by this pure gold on the violently blue sky. My pictures are fare below the reality. It was just like a proud and confident cathedral. I thought: “That’s a powerful country”. And I remembered these promotional posters at the airport, showing a Muay-thai box fighter, with the pitch: “Unbeatable Thailand”. Here I am…

(NB: you are supposed to dress “neatly” when you visit a thai temple. Short pants and skirts, slim jeans and light tops are forbidden – they check visitors one by one, and you have to rent a long dress if your outfit doesn’t match the criteria. Always bring a long skirt with you in Bangkok, and a sweater to cover your shoulders. Even if the weather is super warm. Just bear it!)

Palace

Wat Po

From the outside, Wat Po is more understated than Wat Phra Kaew, with its white-based walls and natural stones decorated with colorful tiles. But inside… the giant reclining Buddha is watching you between two pillars, and you feel just like an insect again. And these golden statues exhaling peace and meditation… Visual shock number 2, check!

Wat Arun

Wat Arun, the Temple of Daw, is made of darker stone. You have to cross the Chao Phraya river to the Eastern part of the city. The atmosphere is more peaceful, less busy than in the Palace area. You can hear the sound of wind around the pagodas…

Wat Saket

The main interest of climbing Wat Saket, the Golden Mount, is to embrace the 360° view on Bangkok. And to ask yourself what the hell is a “chedi”, for you can’t find any explanation in your guidebook. After a look at Wikipedia, I learned that a chedi is the thai word for the mount-shape pagoda protecting holly relics. Now I can sleep peacefully.

Khao San Road

Thanon Khao San is known to be the busiest, most touristic and noisy street of Bangkok. And we had the fantastic idea to stay there, is a casual guest-house called D&d Inn (casual, but with a roof-top pool). If your room is on the street side, no way you can sleep at night. The bars and club are spitting heavy electro-pop sound all night long, people are drunk, taxi get mad and generally speaking, everyone is as loud as possible. Walking in Khao San at midnight, with our backpacks, freshly debarked from the airport will remain one of the greatest moments of our stay. I though “Bangkok is not kidding”. After two days, we were totally addicted with this impossible street. Especially when the discovered an unexpected Absolut Bar... When you think that we have been the Absolut team since our marketing study about Absolut Vodka (Country of Sweden) at school... like, there is no coincidence, isn't it.

 Siam

The area of Siam gives a very different glimpse of Bangkok. This is a modern, commercial district with many shopping centers and public transportation. Still, I wouldn’t have traded Khao San’s crazy mess for Siam’s cleanness if I had had the choice.

Rama IX

There is something you have to be careful with in Thailand: Thai people just LOVE their King. Genuinely. The crime of “lese-majeste” still exists in Thailand: if you offence the king’s dignity, you can be legally punished. Like, they’re not joking with that. At first, the huge portraits of His Majesty Bhumibol (and sometimes his wife) just made me think of a thai-style stalinian cult of the personality, and I was feeling sorry for the Thai to worship this old guy just a bit less than Buddha itself. Then, I read a few stuff about the king, and I understand better. Thai has been politically unstable for long years, with a lot of political violence, riots, coups d’etat and so on. The politicians tend to exacerbate the latent nationalism and xenophobia because it is (everywhere) the easiest way to win elections. But Bhumibol (also known as Rama IX) is an enlightened king who has been studying in the USA and Europe, and who is especially opened to the world. He preaches cooperation with the foreign powers, democracy (yes), and tolerance in general. He’s also a big donator for the little farmers (of course, as one of the richest kings in the world, yes he can). For the Thai, he is the only stable and reasonable voice in the political field, and this is why they revere him so much. (It’s not an excuse for hanging ugly portraits everywhere, but anyway.)

And the royal palace. That we couldn't visit because you can't enter if you don't wear a skirt. Between the temples and the palace, one needs to visit Bangkok with her full wardrobe in her bag...

And a few glimpses of Bangkok…

 Fresh fruits at every corner

A temple in Chinatown

Tuk-tuk, the crazy taxi that can slalom between the cars

Bangkok, green city

Blue sky, white elephants

Karaoke in the taxi!! Even the Japanese taxis don't have it...

Wanna see more?? “Absolute trip to Thailand – Part 2 :Chiang-Mai” is coming soon! Just wait for it !

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, a huge tree is waiting for me in the living room.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, my sister comes to live at my parents' place to spend more time with me.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, I go to Mariage Freres with my friends and we pretend to be chic parisienne ladies.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, there is a ton of delicious food.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, the weather is beautiful.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, I wonder if I should definitely get back one day soon.

When I get back to Paris for Christmas, I experience many kinds of mixed emotions and sensations. I tell myself that life is complex. That I'm full of contradictions. That "the truth is out there". That time and space matter a lot, and mean nothing at the same time. That I should focus on beauty and love and try to forget all the rest. Fortunately, beauty and love are there for me.

BEAUTIFUL HOME

LOVELY FAMILY & FRIENDS

BREAKFAST

TEA TIME

FINGERFOOD

DINER

TARTINES

SUNNY PARIS

2012 in ending soon... thanks God. May 2013 be sweeter for everyone.

See you in 2013 !

Ok, Chrismas in Japan can not compare to Chrismas in France.

Ok, for some reasons, the Japanese have decided that Chrismas is not Chrismas without nauseating creamy cakes with a few lonely strawberries on the top, instead of fine buches-de-noel.

Ok, I can't stand the sound of "Last Chrismas I gave you my heart" every time I enter a shop anymore.

Ok, the Japanese Chrismas is a kind of winter-style Valentine, and people dream to spend it at Disneyland with their lover. Which is a bit poor-taste, you'll admit.

Ok, whatever they do, the simple fact that my family is NOT in Japan makes the Japanese Chrismas look sad and artificial.

Still... come one, have you seen the lights ?? Chrismas lights in Tokyo are enchanting. They mix with trees just like dew, and it is so beautiful I could cry.

Ebisu

Akasaka

Roppongi

But these little treasures won't prevent me to spend Chrismas in France, with REAL chocolate, REAL Chrismas trees, and TRUE love.

Joyeux Noel à tous !

Energy. They say that universe is nothing but energy. The huge and the small, air, earth, water, you, me - energy. On the human scale, energy means food, heat, light and communication. It means music, humour, art. It means love.

And it means danger. Because the needs of the so-called modern society in energy are insane, we have let our cars, our planes, our factories and our poor cattle spit so much CO2 in the atmosphere that we have messed up the world climate in no time. The ice flow will never be back. And we have let our leaders sell us the nuclear miracle as the only possible alternative to fossil fuels. As a result : dangerous aging nuclear plants which are too expensive to be dismantled. Radioactive garbage that nobody wants to manage, and which is leaking in our undergrounds, contaminating our soils, our water, endangering our health and the ecosystem. And, of course, increased probabilities of terrible accidents, because of the nature of this industry itself and because the corporations which are supposed to manage it are more driven by cutting their costs than insuring the safety of the community. Hey, man, what did you expect, it's business after all.

They say: after fossil fuels, the nuclear industry is the only one able to provide us all the energy that we need. Solar, wind, water, geothermy power can only represent peripherical options. According to them, we are bounded to the nuclear power and there is no other way for us in the coming centuries.

I am not a scientist. I'm not a big businesswoman. I'm not a specialist. But I am a citizen, and a human being, and as far as I know, I have the right to question what "people" say to me. Especially when the information comes from the stakeholders of the industry I am watching.

Einstein himself said: "Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water". Yes, the source that actually "makes" the energy in most of the nuclear plants is water, not uranium, plutonium and so on. Hot water that makes helix turn very fast and very strongly : nothing else. The truth is : all we need to create electric power is movement. Don't tell me that nature itself is not full of superpowerful, gigantic movements. Bottom waters. Tidal currents. Rivers. Waterfall. Hot springs. Wind. Volcanos. Come on!

What I can easily believe is that at least at the beginning, all these clean energies, as a business, may make less money than the nuclear industry. I accept the comment. And so what ? Less profit for the people who have been used to pay themselves too much? I am not going to cry on this.

They pretend to be more social-oriented than us and they say : think about the jobs!... But we still need the smart guys to boil the water, you know. We will still need the ingeeners, the scientists, the builders, the maintainance technicians, we need everyone. We will need them to keep doing what they, and only they, can do: create, capture, transform, distribute power to the society. We need all the brains and all the hands to safely close the nuclear plants, and to build the green energies' ones. We need to keep all the jobs, and to create new ones. Look at IBM: if they had kept doing what they were doing at the start, they would be dead. But they knew that they were not only doing tabulation equipments, but technology-based business solutions, and they moved on. From machines, to software, to services. Let's do the same. Our energy providers will stay our energy poviders. But they will provide clean, safe, and beautiful energy.

They say: green businesses will never be enough. We now have massive needs. To this, we reply : there are some ways to save energy. There are ways to make every single home independant, each house being its own energy-providers. Fridges working without power, devices under the wooden floor  capturing the vibrations of our steps, materials stocking the warmth in summer delivering it in winter, solar power boats and planes... So many prototypes that are just waiting to be developped on a wide scale. Come on, if we can think about a space elevator for 2050, so we can save energy here and now. So be afraid, nuclear gurus, because very soon nobody will believe you anymore.

Every Friday night this season, the loyal followers of Intrepid Model Adventure (IMA) run by Dean Newcombe added their voices to the ones of the Japanese protesters shouting : "原発やめろう！原発いらない" (let's stop the nuclear plants, we don't need it) around the National Diet of Japan. They have lit candles, exhibited "No nukes" signs and simply talked to the people walking on the street. It's peaceful, quiet, it doesn't make harm to anyone and it is certainly too small to worry the nuclear industry, but it counts. Let's spread beautiful energy. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Light up the world with Beautiful Energy

Chris (from the group WORD), me and the drum-team

The red momiji (Japanese maples) are used to be the stars of the fall season in the archipelago, with their violently flaming tones attracting the visitors in the mountains, the forests and the parks; but for me, in autumn, there's nothing like the Tokyo golden gingko trees shining on the perfect blue sky. Pure beauty. Pure energy. And God knows that I need it these days.

Yellow vegetal torches

Gingko biloba (銀杏, "ichou" in Japanese : silver apricot) is also called the "maidenhair tree": this is probably the reason why I feel so close to them! Hey, soul sisters! Furthermore, according to the specialists, ginkgos are remarkably easy to care for and will grow in most conditions from sun through to shade. And this type of tree is sexualized: there are male and female gingkos. In Japan, kids learn to identify them according to the shape of the leaves : a skirt shape for a female tree, a trouser shape for a male tree.

Ichou trees are very familiar vegetals in Tokyo, and they are part of the daily landscape of millions of Japanese, but actually, they are very special, because we don't know any "relatives" to this specy. It makes it amazingly unique. The scientist call it a "living fossile", because it belongs to this range of species that were born 270 millions years ago. Gingkos are wise, very wise trees.

Let's get inspired

Whisper words of wisdom: let it be.

I didn't know that Hong-Kong is the country for orchids. There are more than 120 species in the region, and you can find it for insanely cheap on the flower markets (from 2 euros the sing orchid and 4 euros the "orchid branch"). The flower market has been, itself, a great surprise - I didn't expect such a creativity in the presentation and colors! Hong-Kong really deserves its name of "fragrant harbour"!

Another Hong-Kong treasure: jade stones. From green to blue, purple, grey and white. They are everywhere on the market for cheap, and cheaper when you pretend not to be interested.

Antiques are also everywhere in the area of Sheung-wan, offering a wide range of one of my obsessions: boxes. boxes, boxes, boxes.

Of course, China is a major land for tea. Colourful teapots are the stars of the night market.

And now, UFOs. Unidentified Food-related Objects. The shops in Hong-Kong are full of dried - what ? Dried mushrooms? plants? seafood? animals' horns? And what is the proper way to eat this stuff? So many mysteries...