Aftermath of Typhoon Utor

August 18, 2013 Leave a comment

The delta cities were still blanketed by thick thunderstorm clouds 2 days after Typhoon Utor hit Hong Kong. The heavy downpour flooded many small towns in Guangdong and crippled the railway network. I was on my way to meet my friends in Dongguan when I found myself stranded at the Shenzhen Railway Station. It was chaotic and my train was delayed by 1.5 hours. To make things worst, passengers who were delayed hijacked the coaches. Patience ran thin and I witnessed ugly squabbles inside the cabin.  A group of angry Chinese travelers took their frustrations on a helpless waitress, demanding her to start the train. How absurd I thought, but this is China – when big bullies abuse the weaker ones. Just when I was about to play “hero” to defend the poor waitress, the train started.

When I arrived in Dongguan, I got a shock of my life. The main road outside the railway station was flooded. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Lionnel, Joey and I were just here last week! One car was half-submerged in the murky water. The water was at least a meter deep. The tunnel was completely shut down. There were a couple of damaged cars and tow-truck by the side of the road. I saw the frustrations of the drivers. I guess their cars were completely damaged.

The return trip to Hong Kong was just as bad. Trains were delayed by up to 2 hours. It was chaotic at the train station. People were yelling and pushing around. In the end, I booked a private car to Shenzhen instead. (A normal trip takes about 90 minutes. Yesterday, it took me 4 hours!) This was just a small flood and it crippled the network. The infrastructures and local authorities aren’t prepared at all. Worst of all, the local people – some are just selfish, vicious and ungraceful. I can imagine how chaotic it can be when a big crisis hit town the next time.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

What’s my job?

August 11, 2013 Leave a comment

My family and friends don’t really know what I am doing. They probably thought I am doing designing and drawing. My titles and the new company name (the world’s biggest activation company, Geometry Global) will definitely confused them.

It is really not so difficult to understand the essence of my job. I build relationships. In a simpler illustration, my job is like a match-maker and a marriage consultant. Helping 2 entities to connect in this messy world of distraction. No one likes being left on the shelf and that is my job to sell them so they get picked up by the right onlookers. Many connections ended up loyally for a long time while some were simply short-term affairs.

It is such a colourful job of image building and seduction. It is all about creating desirability, sensorial experience and ultimately, the big satisfaction. I get to dress my subjects, teach them how to communicate and even change their personalities to hook the right suitors. It is about creating the right impression and maintaining visibility. The formula is simple: Out of sight = out of mind. I have to teach my subjects how to extend dialogue and draw their suitors closer. Now, with the help of social media, I am able to fix appointments and create more opportunities for them to connect online. Strange but true, many relationships were successfully hooked up due to the recommendations and acceptance of their trusted friends.

To do all these successfully, I have to be culturally sensitive and to be able to speak in multi-languages. I have to understand the traits of different nationalities – what tingle the Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Koreans, Singaporeans and the Hongkies? What triggers them and what’s not. Trust me, these customers are demanding and come with different expectations. I have matched and hooked up different nationalities – the English to the Chinese, the Scottish to the Koreans and more. Some customers like it cheap while some like it pure and authentic. Many prefer the popular-cum-pretty-looking ones while a few would ask for the very old ones. Best of all, most of my subjects offer 30-day money back guarantee and full replacement for strained relationship.

Man, now I start to think I am a mamasan papasan. A very important one indeed. In fact, I am more important than the “Mad Men” as I am there to ensure Mr and Miss Right meet and to fall in love. This job can be tough, desperate and sticky and I do get complaints for unsuccessful consummations.

So, if you are having any relationship troubles and are left on the shelves, you know who to look for. It is my job to make you shine! I can sell anything as long as you aren’t empty or rotten inside. Spilt-personality freak. Don’t worry, I can fix that too. I have a good team of award-winning papasans and mamasans.

Well, what’s my job? I am a Precision Activation Expert in shopper-trade-experiential-digital-promotional-channel-retail-marketing. Still confused? Stick with Papasan then.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

Thanks For Your Presence!

June 17, 2013 1 Comment

The ladies in my family love giving me surprises. Being a prankster myself, I should have known and seen it coming. It is in our blood. The problem is their acts are getting so good that it is getting more and more difficult to detect anything amiss. I can’t blame them, me too – loves giving them surprises. Afterall, who doesn’t love a good surprise?

Last Tuesday, I received a mystery “call from a hotel booking agency”. It was a Hong Kong number. A lady who claimed she was calling from Beijing asked me to confirm my hotel booking for Shenzhen this weekend. For a couple of seconds, I was dumbstruck, confused and frightened. It wasn’t the fact that she knew my name or my weekend plan. She sounded like a crazy lunatic and I could not recognise her voice. I wondered who in Hong Kong would play such a sick joke on me. After a few terrifying minutes, the mystery lady finally disclosed her true identity. It was my sister, Jovel. She was here in Hong Kong with her hubby James, children Jovin & Jorance  and care-taker “Ice” (145th & 146th HK visitor). Best of all, my mum and Auntie Amy (the 2 infamous Rain-Makers who also brought rain and surprise to Cousin Leon in Xiamen a couple of days ago) were here too to surprise me! My wife knew about this beforehand and she kept it so well despite I told her my weekend birthday plans. Who says women can’t keep secrets?

Despite the long gloomy, rainy weekend, I had a very blessed and special birthday. Their presence brighten up my days with so much joys and warmth in Hong Kong. For a rare moment, my house was completely bombarded with flying rubber bullets and darts. It was amazing how the children and adults could co-existed in such a small tight space. That’s the feeling of home – noisy, messy and very heart-warming.

Big special thanks to Harshad, Tracy, Cousin Mike, Desmond, Scott, Chowpo & Ansel and Calvin from Shanghai (147th HK visitor) for your lovely great company on my special day. I am deeply grateful to Harshad, Tracy and Calvin who accompanied my family till the final second they left for Singapore. Tracy played Mongkok Tour Guide while Harshad played SuperNanny to Jorance! Special thanks to my dear wife of 13 years for making me another very “special birthday cake”! Your creativity never fails to surprise me year after year. I love it! And not forgetting my beloved Wahbiang Clan, cousins, clients, colleagues, ex-classmates and friends for your cheeky, naughty and heartfelt greetings on WeChat and Facebook. I am one year older, happier and richer with all your blessings, loves and hugs! Yes indeed, I am one lucky and blessed man! No gift is more valuable than your presence! Thank you very very much!

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

The Iconic Minis, Legendary Giant Dreamers of the 60s

June 9, 2013 Leave a comment

The 1960s produced many legends. Mini icons that left giant legacies. This was the era of the birth of the Mini Cooper, the Mini Skirt, the new colour tube, the baby bloomers, the man who floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, the Beatles who crossed Abbey Road, the Chinese farmer who grew new seeds of ideology and rallied the entire nation to march, a new King named Junior who had a dream and a spaceman’s small step that became the biggest leap for mankind.

This is what I love about the 60s – the era when the minis overcome big odds and achieved the impossible big dreams and ambitions. Their legacies, marvels and voices echo to this very day.

Singapore is one of these legendary minis of the 60s. Perhaps being small is one of the key success factors of Singapore. Psychologically, this disadvantage propelled our forefathers to pursue excellence. It made us more hungry, desperate to succeed, stronger sense of unity and more ambitious to prove ourselves that we can’t be easily taken. We were after all a small nation with big dreams.

This is exactly what we need today. No matter how small we are, we must be bold and daring to weave big impossible dreams. Dream like Martin Luther King, leap off like Neil Armstrong, punch like Muhammad Ali and brave tears like Lee Kuan Yew. It takes big passion and deep faith of these mini individuals to achieve big legacies of tomorrow. Let the spirits of the 60s live on today.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts

Eat Play Work Thailand – Bangkok Trip

May 29, 2013 10 Comments

Many are not going to believe this. The truth is I have never been to Bangkok –  I finally broke this curse and made my maiden trip to this vibrant city on 24th May. Over the past 7 years, there were at least 6 times when I planned for the trip but cancelled them due to all sort of reasons (the Thailand Coup in 2006, the riot of 2009-2010, the Thailand Flood of 2011 etc). It is almost impossible for a Singaporean like me who loves traveling and shopping and never make it to Bangkok. My clients were in disbelief when I told them I am heading to Bangkok for the first time in my life. I was so paranoid about this trip that I was so worried that something bad may hinder my journey. Thankfully, I had an experienced guide (my colleague Chowpo) with me, I landed with ease and spent 2 fulfilling days at Bangkok.

This is a working-cum-recreational trip for me. For years, due to my job nature, I always wanted to visit its new airport and downtown duty free shop. This trip, I managed to do some site recce at some of Bangkok’s top and most popular shopping malls. I must say I was very impressed by some of the local’s retailing standards. Within our first day, we managed to comb 4-5 shopping malls (Siam Center, Terminal 21, Siam Paragon). It was a very hectic exercise but a very rewarding one. In the end,  I took hundreds of photographs for future work reference.

Just before the sun set, we managed to rush over to Chatuchak Weekend Market for a quick tour. It is the most popular shopping destination for many Singaporeans and Hongkies. I was pre-warned by Chowpo that I may not have enough time for browsing. She was right. This market was massive! The stalls were closely packed and there were just too many lanes to comb. It was very hot and humid and too congested to navigate around the market. Too many things to see, so little time to shop. The sky was turning dark and I decided to cut short my trip and headed back to my hotel.

We parked ourselves at one of the top and finest boutique hotels in Bangkok – The Hotel Muse at Langsuan. The stylish and top-notch hotel brings together the essence of Eastern and Western cultures, French and Thai design through its posh interiors and settings. Great underground bars, roof-top terrace and infinity pool! I strongly recommend this hotel to holiday-makers who want to experience something different. Do visit the Starbucks next door. Uniquely designed, this is Starbucks’ first “Community Concept Store” in Asia Pacific.

On my last night, I managed to sneak out and visited Bangkok’s most famous red light district – the Soi Cowboy at Sukhumvit. Flashing neon lights, scantily dressed hot bods and beautiful faces lined up along the narrow street. Quite a temptation for me to pop in to check out the joints and the ladies. However, I encountered too many beautiful transvestites at the malls earlier that day. I simply didn’t have any appetite to explore further. After a couple of quick shots, I took a cab to Chinatown at Yaowarat for late-night supper.

The next morning – on my last day in Bangkok, I decided to visit 2 other “must-visit” attractions – the Damnoen Daduak Floating Market and the Maeklong Railway Market. Chowpo and I woke up at 6am for this short morning tour. We took a 90-minute car ride (70km outside Bangkok City) to visit these 2 unique markets. The Damnoen Daduak Floating Market is the pioneer and  largest floating markets outside Bangkok City. We hired a “motorised shopping boat” for 90 minutes. There were lots of floating shops and stalls offering touristic souvenirs and fresh cooked food. The crowd were mainly tourists and I did not see a lot of locals shopping there. Somehow, the authenticity of this floating markets was long gone due to the influx of tourism. Nevertheless, it was still an awesome first-time experience for me.

The Maeklong Railway Market is legendary. Stalls are lined up centimeters along the railway tracks. 4 times a day, these make-shift stalls (on rollers) make way for the passing trains. When there is no train, shoppers walk along the narrow train tracks to shop. I didn’t see many tourists around.  These stalls are mainly catered for local customers. I wished I have more time to observe the locals and explore the markets. By noon, we made our way to the airport (for one last work assignment recce).

My first taste of Bangkok isn’t that bad after all. I was very lucky to avoid the notorious traffic jams. I love the diversity, the richness and the buzz of this city. Messy, disruptive and colourful, Bangkok has so much to offer. It left me with such a strong sense of desirability and curiosity that lures me to return, to explore and to discover this magical kingdom.

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

Never judge a building by its facade – Marina Bay Sands

May 20, 2013 Leave a comment

Marina Bay Sands Hotel is one of the most iconic buildings in Singapore. It’s unique shaped roof makes it one of the most recognizable casino-hotels in the world.

Despite having such fame locally and internationally, Marina Bay Sands fails to bring its 5 stars appeal into its service. I have stayed there 3 times and the experience was just disappointing. I wish the management put in more efforts in its hotel services. Here are my top Hates about Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

3pm Check-In
This is the most inconvenient and unfriendly policy, creating massive bottleneck and extremely long waiting time for guests checking in. For tourists who have just landed in Singapore, they find themselves stranded at the lobby. Queuing time takes up to 30 minutes. It is just unacceptable.

Inferior Reception Lobby
The lobby is an interior insult to its iconic exterior. The main hotel reception at Tower 1 is a plain, boring, uninspiring, institutional, flat design.

Waiting Time Music Performance
These are good respected musicians. Give them a proper stage and central space to indulge the waiting guests. Now, they are almost invisible and inaudible.

Shower Hot/Cold Knob
This is the most ridiculous feature in the hotel room. To adjust water temperature, one has to press the red button down and turn the knob. The knob was so tight that it took me massive strength to turn it. I don’t get it. What’s so special about this design that it creates so much inconvenience for the user.

Auto-Billing In-Room Mini Fridge
I was told by my colleagues that I should avoid opening the mini fridge. Cos there is a 10-sec auto-billing mechanic. Any item that is removed for more than 10 seconds will be considered as consumed and billed. Sneaky and very unthoughtful.

Outdoor Taxi Stand / Valet Parking Sofas
This is a posh hotel. Why are the guests waiting in the hot humid weather outdoor when the hotel can simply build an air-con waiting lobby. The valet parking sofas look like discarded old furniture in the middle of the road. It is just too odd looking for me.

Massive Jams at Tower 1
Somehow, this happened at every night during peak hours. There should be something the traffic controllers can do to smoother the flow. It is just ridiculous to wait 15 mins in the cab when we are just 100m away.

Many of my friends who stayed at Marina Bay Sands shared similar disappointment. It is just apathy that such a grand and iconic landmark holds little substance and style in its offerings. Never judge a building by its facade.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Singapore, Travel

The Walks of Love

December 26, 2012 Leave a comment

I missed those days when we spent time strolling in the park. This afternoon, we went to Victoria Park to play football with Elkan. There were many people at the park – couples, maids, young family with their toddlers.

I was enjoying a peaceful and quiet time at the park when an old man broke the silence, he yelled rudely, “Try harder. Take a step out. Stop telling yourself you can’t do it. Being here in the outdoor is good for you!” He was trying to get his wheel-chaired wife to step out of the chair. Step by step, he was pushing her, shouting at her to move on. I can see the strain on her face. She struggled at every step. Not once, she replied him. She just kept trying.

At times, love comes in the most unexpected form at different steps of our lives. The old man didn’t sound lovely but I guessed this was the way he cared for his wife. Perhaps, he was trying very hard to keep her strong by using those harsh words. When she almost slipped, he gave her a hug and helped her back to the chair. His stern look instantly became gentle. For that one moment, I saw the love in his eyes for his wife. That expression was unforgettable. He broke into laughter and held her hand… “See, you can do it.”  A heart-warming love story just played right in front of our eyes. And it was a very touching moment.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

Missing All of You This Christmas

December 26, 2012 Leave a comment

Maybe we have been away for a long time. Christmas is so different without the company of friends and family. It is so much quieter this year without the presence of my wahbiang buddies, Singapore family and that noisy HK indian buddy. So many of them are away on holidays (Joanne in Phuket, Cousin Yei & Echo in Shanghai, Chester in Japan, Leon and family in Xiamen, Harshad and Tracy in Bhutan, Yifu & Family in Hong Kong) with their friends and families. I guess this is a pretty lonely and quiet Christmas season for many. I received more “I miss you” messages than “Merry Christmas”. Just finished my late wee-hour greeting chats with Echo and Aunty Amy, we certainly need to organise a big gathering next year. For them, too, it has been a very quiet Christmas.

On Christmas’ Eve, I tried to connect everyone to gather some noise and “festive moods” on mobile through WeChat. Not ideal but this helps to connect the whole clan together. Thankfully, I managed to gather all my family and a handful of my friends. (I shouldn’t have deleted my Whatsapp but I won’t bow down to intrusion of privacy! So, Chester, Kalinda, Karen and Juliana – please install WeChat!). I asked everyone to send me their Christmas moments (be it a card, photo or even a voice memo!) Thanks to all, I managed to receive lots of amusing voice memos and many beautiful happy photos. It is always a great joy to see Wahbiang’s Annual Christmas Gathering (since 1992!). While the adults are away and mellowing down, our kids are making the gathering bigger and filling the void with their laughters and noise. Like what Felicia said “Someday when the kids are going for their own Christmas parties, will leave us the same old Wahbiang gang.”

It is becoming a tradition in our household. Thanks to Felicia, she put up a new “Christmas Tree-Wall” at my tiny apartment this year. It reminded me of our wonderful Europe trip – a Eiffel Tower Christmas Tree! It blinks every night. Another special mention – I got her to design this year’s OgilvyAction’s DIY 3D Christmas Card (and big thanks to an old friend Timmy for sponsoring the production!). Thanks to all my lovely clients and friends for taking the effort to make the cards and sent me those photos! (I am so glad that my friends received the cards on time – sorry, we have been away for our tour.. we sent them out late!). 

While this is the season to get together with your loved ones and spread laughters, joys and love, it is also the time of the year when we reflect on what we accomplished and learnt for the past year. While we are celebrating this special day, do remember there are so many more unfortunate people out there who need our constant attention and help. Do spend some time and teach our children the origins of this special day. It is more than “gifting”. It is all above giving. That is the best gift we gave as parents. It is a tradition and values we must build in our children. Be thoughtful, be kind, be selfless and be good.

Now, we are looking forward to the return of Aunty Bay and Uncle Harshad. It is no fun celebrating and unwrapping our Christmas gifts without them. For the least, Elkan can wait till their return. After all, there are 12 days of Christmas and we have a brand new world to celebrate! It will be a happier 2013. I can hear wedding bells and birthday songs.

Merry Christmas to all of you. I miss you guys so much.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts, Life in Singapore, Wahbiang

On the road back home (Updated)

December 18, 2012 Leave a comment

I am writing this travel blog on our last 12-hour flight back to Hong Kong. It is going to take me at least 1-2 days to recover from the jet lag. There are so much to unpack and so many gifts to distribute. There are also a lot of travel photos and videos to sort out and edit. Not forgetting the piles of works waiting for me back in the office.

This is one of those rare moments when I get to spend quality time on the road with my just Felicia and Elkan. We were on the road for 12 days. 5 cities, 23,000km – We spent a total of 27 hour on the planes, 23 hours on the trains, 70km on foot towing 50kg of clothes / gadgets / souvenirs / maps / food supplies. Sounds like a pretty fun adventure. It is!

Looking back all the photos and videos I have taken throughout our 12-day tour, it has been an amazing trip for 3 of us. We have discovered and experienced so much (the snobbish Parisans, the warm Italian and the chatty English and the custom-free border crossings within Eurozone, the complicated tax refunds etc). I guess it helps to travel in a different time zone. Amazingly, I didn’t receive any phone calls from work. I guess my colleagues and clients have been very nice this time.

Our world revolved around Elkan. It was both hassle and fun to travel with him. I guess it will take him many years to fully appreciate all these trips that we have been taking him. Afterall, he has just turned 8. Elkan and us see things in very different perspective. Felicia and I awed at the great marvels, what he saw were just old buildings. He was picking up histories and stories as we moved from one destination to another. Often, he surprised us with the questions / imaginations that went on in his head. It was good to have him on the road with us though he can be a very restless, lazy and untidy traveler. But again, he was just a little boy.

Our health took a heavy toll on us. We fell ill on our first night in London. It took me 3 days to recover from the jet lag. I was down with fever and backache for many days. Felicia had sore throat and was coughing throughout the trip. Elkan suffered severe rashes around his lips due to the dry cold climate. Nonetheless, our spirits were high. We didn’t even let the unpleasant pickpocket incident affects our moods. Our deepest heart-felt gratitude to all the encouragements and good-wishes we received from our family and friends on social media – it is always good to know your friends and loved ones are constantly around us digitally and spiritually.

The only thing we missed badly is our usual travel companion (Kalinda, Tracy, Lionnel and Harshad). We wished someone can babysit our hyperactive boy when we were enjoying our peaceful stroll in Rome. And we wished we had more family photos taken at all the landmarks. I have deleted so many blurred and poorly composed photos that were taken by strangers. We miss the noise and fun with our friends. They made quite a difference.

This is going to be a pretty busy week before the world supposed to end on 21st Dec. Anyway, the spokesperson at the Vatican City put up an official press release that the world will not end this year and ask its devotees to celebrate Christmas. It is not up to the Mayan to call the shot. Not yet, He said.

Dear God, thanks for this wonderful road trip. It is everything. (Enjoy the video)

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

The Darkness and Brightness of Paris (Updated)

December 12, 2012 3 Comments

Paris, Paris. This is one destination where all girls want to visit with their love ones at some point of their life. The city of lights / art / cuisine / romance / love / dream / liberty / passion / fashion – whatever the city portrays itself, in my opinion, is nothing but an overrated destination. Yes, it houses some of the world’s most remarkable landmarks and international brands but the city is losing its shine. Sadly, it is rotting from within with its petty crimes, ruggedness, vandalism and snobbishness.

We had high expectations of this city. Afterall, it is Paris – we read so much about this city. This is where Chanel lives, Mona Lisa smiles and Eiffel Tower sparkles. When I alighted from the Eurostar train at the Paris’ Gare Du Nord station, I was disappointed with its messy state. What a big difference compared with London’s St Pancras station, I thought. There were lots of conmen stalking out at the station offering “cheap rides” to unfamiliar tourists. It felt like 3rd-tier Chinese cities and this is the capital of France! I asked the information counter for direction to the toilet but the assistant simply gave me direction in French! That wasn’t very useful. In the end, it was a Chinese retail staff who politely pointed me to the right direction. I wasn’t surprised – afterall, the French is notorious for their indifference and impatience towards the English-speaking tourists.

Our hotel is just a 5-minute walk to the world’s famous Eiffel Tower. The sandy path leading to the tower was littered with fresh dogs’ poos and uneven pot holes. It wasn’t pretty at all. We were also approached by a group of young Gypsies girls asking us to sign up for fake donation. These are the same old cliche tactics that were practiced in other poorer Asian cities. We ignored them but this bad experience dampen the good impression we had of Paris. Nevertheless, we were so mesmerised by the tower’s beauty that we soon overlooked these minor flaws. The Eiffel Tower is indeed a charmer. It didn’t disappoint at all! We spent 45 minutes walking up 669 steps to the 2nd deck of the tower. It was an exhilarating climb for Felicia and me. The view at the top was simply breath-taking!

Despite all our “not-so-nice” first encounters with the French hospitality, Felicia, Elkan and I had a wonderful time exploring the city. We enjoyed the bright and dark sides of Paris. We spent the next 2 days exploring the city’s rich past – Musée du Louvre, Notre Dame, The Centre Georges Pompidou etc where I shot many nice photos. Seeing Paris at day and Paris at night was 2 completely different experience. It is a beautiful city to explore on foot – every turn’s a surprise. We saw a beautiful double-decker carousel along Avenue Victoria outside Place de l’Hôtel-de-Ville and Elkan jumped right onto it! The boutiques were decorated with stunning window displays.

On our last day, my worst fear happened. Felicia was robbed at Galeries Lafayette (one of the hot spots for pick-pockets) less than 5m away from a mobile Police Station! The robbers were quite physical – they pulled her arms and pushed her around. In the state of confusion, her purse was stolen and she lost all her money and cards. While she was making her statement, 2 Japanese men walked into the station and cited the same crime story. Incredible, there is nothing the Police can do to make any difference. These crimes happened right under their noses in broad daylight!

Overall, we left the French’s capital with very mixed feelings. It is like the Mona Lisa Experience. Many came to see the painting – only to find out that it is so small and you can’t go close to see her in details. We love the old gems and charms of Paris – the museums, the historic landmarks and the big brands. We were unimpressed with its people, their indifference and snobbishness. One positive thing that came out of that negative pick-pocket incident – It taught Elkan a priceless “real life-encounter street lesson” that we need to stay vigilant at all time, how we faced & dealt with the crisis and moved on.  In my opinion, Paris is still very much living on its past architectural marvels / glories, fashion brands and rich heritage. With such snobbish attitude towards its visitors, Paris is certainly not ready to welcome its new wave of Chinese travellers. To be fair, it will take me many more visits (and French classes) to fully understand and appreciate its diversity. Perhaps I am having the Eiffel Tower Effect – Parisans found it an eye-sore when it was first built and it took them a while to discover its beauty. At the first glance, Paris is not romantic at all. To me, it is merely cosmetic for now. 

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong, Travel

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