nick was here

La dream team

2012-03-22T11:19:00.000+01:00

Our MBA class at HEC Paris in France

2011 Salon de la Moto

2011-12-05T11:48:00.000+01:00

The Paris Bike Show just ended. I'm not much of a bike expert so most of it flew right over me (I only recognized a handful of brands).

People (mostly men obviously) pay 12 euros for a chance to sit on a Ducati...

...have their picture taken on a BMW...

...or drool over some of the fancier models

Once you're back down from cloud nine, it dawns on you that pretty much every model on the floor is way beyond your budget.

They had a vintage section as well with some alien-looking older models

In the end, I liked this little Honda Zoomer the best

Nothing fancy, rugged, and no chrome (I'm not gonna get a bike so I can spend every weekend polishing it). 50cc (so no need for a license) and looks nimble enough to survive Parisian traffic. And at 2,600 €, it's almost affordable.

Album:

2011 Salon de la Moto - Burnout

2011-12-05T11:00:00.000+01:00

To celebrate the end of the bike show, bikeshop Moto et Motards did a burnout on their Yamaha

Here they're giving the crowd a taste

More excitement

The big finale

The aftermath

Not much left of the tire in the end

...no sun up in the sky...♪ stormy weather ♫

2011-08-29T20:40:00.000+02:00

Nature getting mad at Paris. Stood at the window for a good hour, got only one decent shot. Never knew catching lightning on film was this hard.

By the way, I was humming Stormy Weather the entire time.

La ligne 13

2011-08-08T10:33:00.003+02:00

...can't...breathe...

Simply ridiculous

2011-07-21T11:48:00.001+02:00

Bastille Day

2011-07-15T00:22:00.004+02:00

Update: the official video of the fireworks is up now (note: reload page if the video doesn't play).

Feu d'artifice du 14 juillet 2011 : l'intégrale par mairiedeparis

This year's Bastille Day fireworks show just ended. I remembered the crowds from last year and how you had to get there hours ahead to get a decent place, so I decided to watch the show from home this time around.

Disclaimer: my dinky camera doesn't like the night so, out of 50+ shots, I only got 4 decent ones.

The show lasted a good half hour. Here's a clip of the last minute of the show:

Call me a nerd but I thought the most interesting part of the whole thing was the very end where you can really notice how it takes at least a good 3 or 4 seconds for the sound to get to you. By the way, the people hollering are my French neighbors on my street, who are normally very quiet.

There goes the neighborhood...

2011-07-13T19:00:00.006+02:00

New Starbucks in the neighborhood. As if Paris doesn't already have enough cafés. Well, at least it wasn't a McDonald's...

La Défense

2011-07-13T11:53:00.001+02:00

A rare trip to La Défense (Paris' version of Manhattan).

Springtime in Saint Denis

2011-06-20T13:38:00.007+02:00

Tomorrow's summer, so here's some pics to remember this spring by. No exotic locations this time. These were all taken within a mile from the office during my daily post-lunch stroll. Maybe that does make them unusual since Saint Denis isn't exactly the pretty of cities...

Complete album:

London

2011-03-15T17:26:00.005+01:00

Finally visited London. It was only a day trip, but I still managed to visit most of the major landmarks.

St Paul's Cathedral

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace (rather bland-looking considering it's the queen's home - no match for Versailles)

Piccadilly Circus (not nearly as big as I imagined - it's no Times Square)

London Eye (tempting but not worth the money according to some sources)

Tower of London (Beheadings "R" Us)

Tower Bridge (which I had always thought to be London Bridge)

Trafalgar Square (that place with the big lions)

The Globe Theatre (not the original one built by Shakespeare - that one burned down)

Westminster Abbey (where William and Kate will have their lovely wedding)

Covent Garden (old marketplace turned into a shopping district)

The Gherkin (my favorite building since I saw it once on an issue of Architectural Record)

By the way, my definition of visited is "stopped for a second outside to take a picture." I actually didn't have time to go into any of them.

Lovely city, but extremely confusing. Its layout is a mess and the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road doesn't help at all.

Handy tip for the tourist: "Look Right" "Look Left"

Amazing city overall with tons of stuff to do. Very different from Paris (and much bigger too). I will definitely have to make another trip since one day isn't nearly enough to see everything. Besides, I was sore for days after busting myself biking around the city all day. But if you're crazy like me, you can still have a go at it: Frommer's One Day in London (note: 10 Downing Street is kind of a letdown since they don't let you get close and you can't really see anything from the gates).

Album:

Winter in Paris - Champs Élysées

2010-12-13T11:41:00.004+01:00

The city dresses up Champs Élysées every winter. I didn't get to see it last year, so I made sure to check it out this time around. It feels so different from LA this time of the year.

A Christmas market was set up along the boulevard as well. It happens every year but somehow I didn't find out until recently. I was captivated by the Russian nesting dolls...

...as well as the abundant food.

Another novelty item: hot wine...

...I didn't dare to try it though. I chickened out and went with vodka instead.

The highlight of the evening was when I came home and discovered this gem:

Isn't she giving me some major evil eye?

Link to the album:

Scale of the Universe

2010-12-01T17:25:00.000+01:00

...to put things into perspective:

Scale of the Universe

Leonardo da Vinci in Venice

2010-11-30T15:39:00.005+01:00

I was roaming the streets of Venice and somehow found myself in Campo San Barnaba, where the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit was happening.

A lot of his inventions were about flying, like this giant glider and helicopter.

But it turns out that da Vinci came out with a lot of other stuff too, from weapons like machine guns and warships...

...to musical instruments like this dragonhead citar.

Link to the album:

Weekend in Venice

2010-11-23T18:42:00.003+01:00

Just came back from a 3 day weekend in Venice. It took six hours door-to-door each way, but it was well worth the trouble. This was actually the first time I've been out of the country since I landed in France two years ago. Here are some of my best shots from the trip. Blogger can't handle all my pictures, so I put links to each of the albums below.

My favorite part of Venice were the masks. There are Chinese copies everywhere, so it was real tough to find authentic ones at first. But after looking at a dozen or more stores, I got to the point that I could tell them apart. Take these gold leaf plated ones for instance. The big one at the top goes for over 500€.

After combing through the entire city, I finally found this little store in Dorsoduro that had exactly what I was looking for. All the masks were hand made right on site out the workshop across the backyard. Take a look at the showroom:

Link to the album:

Venice is, of course, best known for its canals. You literally can't take a bad picture in Venice. Just point anywhere, shoot, and Presto! There's your desktop background.

Link to the album:

Next are probably Venice's gondolas. They're about as romantic as things get (right after proposing at the Eiffel Tower). Great way to light up your romance, if you can afford it (they're like a hundred bucks a ride).

Link to the album:

Venice was apparently and empire that ruled the seas once upon a time, and Piazza San Marco was the heart of it. The whole place just reeks of power and money.

The Piazza was kind of a bummer since they were doing renovations and there was scaffolding all over the place. Completely ruined the view. I might have to go back just so I can get a decent shot.

Link to the album:

Other than the boats on the canals, Venetians get around the city entirely on foot. I thought living in Paris would have trained me for all that walking, but I was so wrong. My feet still hurt.

The city is truly a labyrinth of tiny passages. Some streets are barely wide enough for a person to pass thru. You could probably shake hands with your neighbor across the street from your window. There are some parks here and there that are a bit bigger and give you some much needed breathing room.

A fair was going on in one of the neighborhoods when I was in town. I tried a Fritelle for the first time (it's like a churro, but round). Delicious, but I had to skip lunch to compensate.

Link to the album:

Venice has been known for its glass for centuries. The guidebook said that a long time ago they moved all the factories and the glass blowers to the island of Murano to keep their trade secrets safe. Authentic Venetian glass still comes from this island (and it's super expensive).

One of the glass factories was open even though it was Sunday, so I had a chance to see their work. The glass blower took a glob of molten glass at almost 3000°F and made a little vase out of it. No PPE like gloves or goggles or anything by the way. Safety Violation! Where's my SOR form?

Link to the album:

My last stop was the island of Burano, which is known for its lace making and its colorful houses. It reminded me of La Boca in Buenos Aires (but way classier).

Here's another famous site of Burano: its leaning bell tower. Google says it leans 5 degrees, just like the world renowned tower of Pisa.

Link to the album:

It was a great trip overall. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen so far (although I still think Paris is better).

Here's a link to all of the pictures:

The Engineer's Guide to Drinks

2010-09-30T17:48:00.000+02:00

Some assembly required

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38478434

purdy

2010-09-20T11:00:00.000+02:00

...near the Louvre on a lazy Saturday

Pont des Arts - Cadenas d'amour

2010-07-15T16:30:00.003+02:00

Dropped by the Pond des Arts while looking around the Louvre. This is where lovers chain their locks on to the bridge and throw away the key into the Seine. So romantastic~♥

Diabetics beware! These pictures are ultra sweet...

14 juillet fireworks

2010-07-15T15:45:00.000+02:00

Went to see the Bastille Day fireworks last night.

Here's the finale:

300000 showed up to watch the show. Take a look at these crowds:

They completely flooded Champs de Mars. Great show.

La petite cour

2010-06-16T11:52:00.000+02:00

dans le 3eme arr hier

Mexico

2010-06-03T16:23:00.001+02:00

The flea market comes to the lazy tourist

2010-03-22T20:00:00.044+01:00

I had been too lazy to go out sightseeing as of late, my camera slowly collecting dust. But then the flea market ("la brocante" in French) came to my neighborhood this weekend. Two blocks on foot seemed reasonable, so I went out to check it out.

I take this street everyday to go to work, and it's usually remarkably boring. It was a nice change to see all these people buzzing around.

They had some pretty neat (and expensive) stuff, like silverware and rare antiques. Leave it to the French to give even flea markets a touch of class.

By the way, the guy on the left isn't mad at me. It's just that Parisians set their face on mean/frozen when they're out. I think it's a self-defense mechanism they came up with in order to fend off potential smalltalk or questions from tourists. Needless to say, it's highly effective.

A Russian encounter... in Paris

2010-03-22T19:50:00.021+01:00

The Cold War between the US and the USSR ended back when I was in kindergarten, so the little I know about the Soviet world comes mostly from textbooks. Imagine my surprise when I found a stand dedicated exclusively to Soviet memorabilia.

The lady at the stand said everything was original 100% made in Russia. That rarely works as a sales pitch where I'm from.

I don't recall ever seeing anything even remotely related to the USSR back in LA, so I felt a bit awkward and out of place being surround by all these things that are supposedly "evil".

This guy seems to be having the time of his life however.

Most of the stuff seemed to have Lenin in it, from little portraits to statues to huge canvases.

Suddenly the fact that they've preserved his body for all these years doesn't sound too crazy.

Chinese stuff at "la brocante"

2010-03-22T19:40:00.010+01:00

French people seem to be fascinated by Asian stuff. In Paris, you're rarely more than a block or two away from a Japanese or a Chinese restaurant.

The Asian stuff I found fell anywhere between the stereotypically Chinese...

...to what I can only assume to be anti-communist Chinese modern art.

Some of the stuff (like these laughing soldiers) appeared to be slightly veiled political satire.

And then there was flat out communist propaganda. I wonder who would put something like this on their coffee table...

Can anyone tell what the sign on the poor guy's neck says?

Decor

2010-03-22T19:30:00.022+01:00

A style to suit every personality:

the classy executive

the creep

the brainiac

the aristocrat

bookworms

the slightly unbalanced

the eccentric

barbie fans

trekkies

...and my personal favorite:

the passive-aggressive

(perfect for the office)