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!

Stop kidding: that's winter after all. Oh yes, we spend a sunny December under the gingko leaves and we almost forgot that winter was coming for good... Today, there are 15 centimeters of  thick snow on the streets. Hopefully this monday was a holiday and I could cuddle at home with good food and get out only to have fun like kids with my roomate. Snow is so great when you can stay at home!

Give us a bit of snow and two grown-up adults get back to the spirit of a 5-years-old.

And to warm up : home-made pumpkin and bacon cream spaghetti ! Life is beautiful !

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...

I have two homes: France and Japan. As I live in the second one, all my holidays are generally used to get back to the first. As a result, since I move to Tokyo three years ago, I had never put a toe on another Asian shore. But friendship is a powerful decision-maker, and I decided to experiment the rest of Asia visiting Miss E. in her "Fragrant Harbour". Noisy, busy, quirky, yummy Hong-Kong!

Hong-Kong is only 4 hours away from Tokyo by plane, but it's difficult to find a Tokyo-HK-Tokyo flight for less than 40 000yen (400 euros). The HK-Tokyo-HK flight is much more affordable, which is very unfair if you want my opinion, but I guess that as long as the Japanese will be OK to pay ridiculously expensive air-tickets, the companies won't slow down their prices. Low-cost airlines are flourishing, though. Maybe there is hope. Anyway.

Hong-Kong is, indeed, smelling incense, but also stinking money. The mix between the Chinese population, with its inner sense of business and its unlimited apetite for growth, and the Western wolfs ruling the global financial system, is explosive. People there don't loose their time with subtle concepts such as the cultural differences or the local mindset. First, Hong-Kong is not a "special" Chinese region, but the "Asia's Global City", as written everywhere around. If a Westerner comes to study Chinese, it's really for business - and most of the time they don't, and if they do they focus on the spoken language. Not a lot of foreign businessmen seem very attracted by the inner poetry of the Chinese characters, or personnally challenged by the complexity of the language and/or thinking. Learning Chinese, for the HK golden boys, is just a painful and boring must-do for their career. I've been there only five days, but I have met no one who is genuinely interested in the Chinese languages or the Chinese culture; and people don't take a special pride in mixing with the Chinese or in making Chinese friends, whereas in Japan, most of the foreigners are dreaming of an inaccessible integration. Having Japanese friends (not only lovers), speaking/reading/writing Japanese, knowing a bit of Japanese history and culture are highly appreciated and valued. In Japan, only a (very pitiful) tiny part of the expats don't make efforts to adapt themselves; most of the foreigners I know in Tokyo are living there by their own decision and do their utmost to reach a kind of understanding of the local mindset. But in Hong-Kong, I have experienced a strange lack of mutual fascination between the East and the West. No one there is special for no one. And everything is about money. Fortunately, Hong-Kong is also a major land for cinema, and this allows me to keep a glimpse of hope about the ability of its population to enjoy poetry.

Because Hong-Kong is poetic indeed! Check it out!

Hong-Kong by day

Hong-Kong skyscrappers are tall, thin, and ugly. There is a perpetual rumor of mixed voices and car noises on the streets. The city is alive, roaring and frantic. Parks and terrace let the citizen have a breath from the fast-pace atmosphere around.

Hong-Kong by night

Darkness let us shine.

More pictures to come!

Summer happens only once in the year! Tokyo has no beach, but you just need to take a train and you're set.

Two-hours ride from Tokyo by local train : Atami Beach

Not the best beach landscape ever, but there are wonderful fireworks at night on the waterfront ! Easy access from Shinjuku by Odakyu-line util Odawara, then Tokaido-line to Atami.

(credit photo: C. Mathon)

One needs to get back to her roots sometimes ! Catch-up with family and old friends, eat a lot of bread and fruits... perform administrative tasks... whatever. My mother-country welcomed me with the brightest sun ever, which is almost a miracle according to my Paris-stuck friends - rain had been falling on their heads for weeks. At least, noone can call me ame-onna, as I just brought the summer wind with me !

 FRANCE !

FAMILY !

FRIENDS !

FOOD !

Fabulous French holidays.

Thank you dear everyone, and see you soon under the French sun ! Love from Japan !

A sunny Saturday, finally ! I jumped on the Chuo-line (from Shinjuku station, 45 minutes by express train to Takaosanguchi station) and had the best walk ever to the top of Takaosan !

To reach the trail, I just had to sit in a nice "lift" chair and fly above the trees ! Soooo great and relaxing !

Takao-san nature : green, sculptural roots, and amazing flowers that even don't look real...

Pont suspenduuuu

Takao Top !

And on the way back...

I feel rejuvenated ! Go and have a walk before the rainy season...

Hiroshima: my second home in Japan. I hadn't visited Miyajima since 2007, and I found the place as majestuous and peaceful as I remembered.

Deers, pine trees, stones and red wood reflecting in the water.

The Floating World

Mysteries of the Forest

Miyajima Aquarium immersion

Japanese fish discipline...

Nemo Time !

Always a lot of emotion getting close to Hiroshima Dome, the ruin kept in memory of August 1945's bombing. I wish no country had the power to do that again, but looking at the shadows of Hiroshima, we know that it could happen again.

Hiroshima Dome

Before closing the post, I have to share about the night bus. Cheaper than shinkansen (13 000yen go and back), it only requires to be in good shape and mood because it takes alsmot 10 hours from Tokyo to Hiroshima. But after Tohoku, I'm not afraid of the night bus experience anymore, especially with these amazing Willer Bus Relax Seat :

So great !! A large reclining seat, with an adaptable pillow (can position it exactly behind your head), a blanket and a hood !! And a plug for your mobile phone ! And it's pink !! I like !!

Atmosphere...

March 20th : Spring, Sprang, Sprung !

The sky is blue, the trees are blossoming, we are in holidays, life is beautiful.

Little walk to the park around the corner : surprise ! The earlier and pinkest sakura are already in flowers !

And that's only a beginning...

Pink, pink, pink on me !