[Throwback] Luxembourg

During my short assignment in Brussels many years ago, I decided to take a day trip to Luxembourg, which was only about a 2-hour drive away. This was the first - and so far only - time I drove from one country to another. My friend Brian was also on a business trip to Brussels at that time so he joined me.

As we had only one day, we spent our time at Ville Haute, which is the historic center of Luxembourg City. I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and we used that to help us figure out what sights to see and how to get around.

We visited the Monument of Remembrance (Monument du souvenir) which is located in Place de la Constitution. At the top of the obelisk is the statue called Gëlle Fra or the Golden Lady.

Monument of Remembrance, more popularly known as Gëlle Fra

From there, we headed down into the Pétrusse Valley, a beautiful park through which the Petrusse River flows. We spent a lot of time just leisurely walking around and taking photos. It was winter when we were there so it was pretty cold but I can imagine spending the day here during warmer weather, sitting on the grass or one of the many benches and reading a book while enjoying some coffee.

Pétrusse Valley

The park is bound on one side by the Passerelle, which is the Luxembourg City viaduct. It was built in the mid 1800s and is also known as the Old Bridge.

The Passerrelle as seen from the Bock Casemates

A short distance away is Pont Adolphe or the Adolphe Bridge. It was named after Grand Duke Adolphe who ruled the country in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Since it was build half a century after the Passerelle, it is also known as the New Bridge.

Pont Adolphe

From there, we walked to Casemates du Bock or the Bock Casemates. It is known for its multitude of tunnels and passageways (I don't know if visitors can explore them but we didn't). It also served as a fortress, holding guns and cannons. Apparently, Luxembourg was known for its impressive defense against invaders, and the Casemates du Bock were instrumental in repelling enemy forces.

Casemates du Bock

We then made our way to Place Guillaume II, which is the town square in Ville Haute. It is named after Grand Duke William II and an equestrian statue of the Grand Duke stands prominently in the square.

Place Guillaume II

Almost right next to the square is Cathédrale Notre-Dame. I realized I didn't take  a photo of the church from the outside but I did have my photo taken right next to this bell that is on display on the cathedral grounds.

We did go inside the church and the interior is pretty outstanding. Aside from what I think are tapestries adorning the walls and beautiful paintings on the ceiling, I really loved the stunning stained glass windows.

Interior of Cathédrale Notre-Dame

It was late afternoon when we left Luxembourg. As I look back at this trip, I realize I don't remember where we had lunch but I do know that we had dinner at a pit stop along the road back to Brussels. I'm not particularly sure why we chose to eat on the road rather than in Luxembourg where it would be more comfortable but maybe I wanted to get home early because it was winter and it got dark quite early.

That might not make a lot of sense but this trip happened a really long time ago and my car didn't have any GPS system so I relied mainly on road signs to find my way. I didn't even have a map with me! Unfortunately for us, I made the mistake of taking the wrong exit heading back into Brussels and we ended up getting massively lost. If I recall correctly, it took maybe an hour or more of driving and asking around for me to finally get back home. Still, I'm glad we got lost on the way home rather than on our way to Luxembourg.

Despite that bad end, it was still a really good experience. Luxembourg - or at least the Ville Haute or historic centre - is quite compact, making it easy to get around. It is very charming, which historic buildings set amidst the beautiful Petrusse valley.

I don't know if I will have a chance to visit this beautiful country again, but I hope I will.

Travel Alone Idea on YouTube

I recently discovered a YouTube channel whose videos I really enjoy watching: Travel Alone Idea. It shows videos of a Japanese man who, at least for now, travels around Japan and shows the different travel options such as overnight trains,buses, and ferries as well as varying accommodation options such as capsule hotels. I learned about this channel because his video of the Cheapest Private Room on Japan's Overnight Sleeper Train was recommended to me. I watched it and found it really interesting, well-made, and even relaxing to watch. Check out the video here:

  

video uploaded by Travel Alone Idea

What I love about his videos is that he really shares a lot of informative details through English captions, such as needing to buy a shower card or suggesting to buy food before you get on the train. I also realized that the sound of the train in the background is strangely relaxing. In this particular video (which has almost 50 million views as of this writing), I also love how he enjoys some of the local Wariko Soba, which apparently is a specialty of Izumo City. Watching this video really makes me want to revisit Japan!

The Streak Is Over

Bad news for Rafa Nadal fans: Taylor Fritz defeated Rafa in the final of Indian Wells to snap Rafa's 20-match winning streak in 2022. Rafa had to survive an incredibly tough 3-set match against Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinal and he needed to dig deep again in the semifinals, where he nudged past Carlos Alcaraz in another tight 3-set match. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to summon his best tennis against an inspired Fritz and he lost for the first time this year.

And while we're on the subject of streaks that have ended, Daniil Medvedev dropped back to world #2 after losing to Gael Monfils in Indian Wells. Daniil lost enough points to enable Novak Djokovic to take back the top ranking despite not playing. Daniil's stint at #1 lasted for only 1 week. It remains to be seen whether he will still be able to climb back up to the pinnacle of men's tennis.

The Loggia by Margarita Forés

My friend Anna wanted to have dinner with us face-to-face to celebrate her birthday and she suggested that we have dinner at The Loggia by Margarita Fores, which is located in Palacio de Memoria along Roxas Boulevard. None of us had eaten there before so we were all quite interested and excited to try it.

The Loggia by Margarita Fores

The Loggia is pretty much an al fresco restaurant. While it does have a roofed area, it isn't enclosed. This made for an ideal place for us to meet up since open-air dining still felt safer.

Palacio de Memoria is a museum complex that also serves as an event venue. There are a couple of airplanes in the garden and based on the official website, I think this one that I took a photo of also serves as a lounge.

Mosphil Lounge in the Palacio de Memoria grounds

We decided to order several items that everyone could share; that way, we could try many different items on the menu. We ordered a dip appetizer, a couple of pizzas, a couple of pastas including this Linguine, Prawn, Capiz Scallops, and Tomatoes dish,...

Linguine, Prawn, Capiz Scallops, and Tomatoes Pasta

...and the Dry-Aged Ribeye.

Dry-Aged Ribeye

Since Anna was celebrating her birthday, the staff gave her a complimentary Lemon-Olive Oil Torta as they sang happy birthday. We decided to order the other two desserts on the menu - the Valrhona Chocolate Torte and this Mango-Proseco Tiramisu.

Mango-Proseco Tiramisu

Everything we ordered was really good, which isn't surprising because Margarita Fores was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2016. This restaurant is priced similarly to Cibo so it's on the expensive side but I do think it's worth a visit. I'm actually thinking of taking my family here so we can visit the museum, take photos in the museum complex, and enjoy the food.

Quarantine Stories Part 17

Recently, while working from home, I noticed some movement outside my window along with a fluttering noise. I took a quick look and saw that there was a pigeon in my balcony. After it landed, it seemed to walk with a limp, leading me to think it was injured. I thought of feeding it with some bread but I was afraid that if I opened my balcony door, I would scare it off and it might aggravate its injury if it flew off. I kept looking at it every so often and each time I did, the pigeon would look back at me. I hoped that maybe I was establishing some level of trust with it so that when I did try to feed it, it wouldn't perceive me as a threat. After about 4 hours, I noticed fluttering movement outside my window again and when I looked, the pigeon was gone. Sadly, it left before I could feed it. Hopefully, it wasn't badly injured and that it would heal quickly.

I also replaced the tires of my car. I noticed that there one of my tires had what is called a sidewall bubble and when this happens, you need to replace it because if you don't, you run the risk of the tire exploding while you are driving your car. The best practice is that when you replace one tire, you replace all of them which is quite costly. But since I've had this car for many years now, it was just about the right time to get new tires. A friend of mine recommended Wheelhaus Marketing in Bangkal. I decided to take a leave and go on a Monday, hoping that there wouldn't be too many people there (when I arrived, I was the only customer so I got served immediately but another person arrived after I did). I normally get Yokohama tires but Wheelhaus didn't have the size that I needed for my car. I instead got Westlake, which another friend recommended. Once all my tires had been replaced, the service crew performed wheel alignment. Wheelhaus offers free follow-up checks for 6 months so maybe one of these days, I will go back for a tire and alignment check-up.

After the Omicron surge and my own bout with Covid, I got my booster shot. With less people contracting the virus and the hospitals finally reporting significantly less cases, my confidence to go out and meet up with people increased. So recently, I joined my friends for dinner at The Loggia by Margarita Fores to celebrate Anna's birthday. (I will write in more detail about this in my next post.) Our dinner slot was from 5pm to 7pm but I guess there weren't too many guests that night for the second seating so we actually stayed on until around 8pm. We then moved to Mitch's house so we could catch up more. After all, we all hadn't seen each other face to face in a really long time. It was maybe past 1am when I called it a night and left, making it the first time since the pandemic started that I got home at past midnight. It was a really amazing evening.

Shortly after that, I met up again with the same people, but this time under more unfortunate circumstances. Joyce's mom passed away so we all went to her mom's wake. While I had planned to stay there for only a short while, I ended up staying a lot longer because more of our high school friends arrived later in the evening and t turned into a bit of a mini high school reunion. This was actually the largest gathering I had been to since the pandemic started. I was unable to join my friends for their pagpag meal because I had a long day filled with errands and by the late evening, I was feeling really tired. (I was also a bit hungry so I passed by a Burger King on my way home. I tried their Plant-based Whopper and it was pretty good.) 

I started meeting up with people in late 2021 and I stopped doing it after the Omicron surge in January. Hopefully, Covid becomes a lot less dangerous and that it becomes more like the regular flu soon. I'm looking forward to getting to see more of my family and friends face-to-face in the near future.

Tennis Talk

What an amazing start to the year for the Rafa Nadal! Last week, he won Mexican Open in Acapulco. This is now Nadal's third title of the year, giving him a 15-0 record in 2022 so far. At 35 years old, Rafa has never had a better start to a year than this. What's more, he didn't drop a set en route to his title in Mexico. He beat 6th seed Cameron Norrie in the final and top seed Daniil Medvedev in the semis. Amazing! Congratulations, Rafa!

Y con ustedes… 🥁

EL CAMPEÓN DEL #AMT2022 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nCuWCaBakH

— Abierto Mexicano (@AbiertoTelcel) February 27, 2022

Speaking of Medvedev, a big congratulations to him too for ataking the ATP #1 ranking. It is the first time since 2004 that someone outside of the Big Four - Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray - is ranked #1. Congratulations, Daniil!

Medvedev took over from Noval Djokovic, who has occupied the top spot for a whopping 361 weeks throughout his entire career. Novak actually played in Dubai that same week, but was upset in the quarterfinals. This relatively early loss meant that his streak at #1 was finally snapped. Will Novak be able to get the top ranking back? Will Daniil manage to keep his top ranking and win more more majors? Will Nadal be able to win more titles (and maybe even another French Open), especially once the clay season starts? It will be really interesting to see what happens in men's tennis this year.

[Throwback] Final Thoughts on My Return Trip to Paris

Here's a summary of my return trip to Paris: 

• Return Trip to Paris
• The Louvre
• Paris Sights and Landmarks
• Final Thoughts on my Return Trip to Paris
  

The Louvre Palace

I revisited Paris towards the tail end of my assignment in Belgium. Both of my trips to French capital were in winter but while the skies were dark and muggy during my first visit, the sun shone brightly and the skies were clear during my second. That said, it was colder in my return trip. I think it was averaging zero degrees Celsius every day!

Sacre-Coeur

Despite it being really cold, I still spent most of my time outdoors. It was only at the Louvre where I spent a lot of time indoors. (I did go inside both Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur but I wasn't there for very long.) Thankfully, I do quite decently in cold weather for someone who comes from a tropical country so I survived.

A photo while walking along the streets of Montmartre

I do remember walking a whole lot that weekend. Which isn't a surprise since I spent most of my time outdoors. I actually walked so much that my feet hurt at the end of my first day there. (Maybe the weather had something to do with that as well.)

Île de la Cité where you can find Notre Dame Cathedral

In my first blog post about this trip, I mentioned that I might have taken a day off so I could spend more time in Paris. After looking through my photos and checking the dates and times they were taken, I realized that I was really just there for the weekend. The first pic I took was at around noon on Saturday and the last pic was at around 3pm on Sunday. That must have meant I took the early morning train from Brussels to Paris on Saturday and the late afternoon/evening train on Sunday. Considering how little time I had there, I do feel I actually got to see and do quite a lot.

Stained glass window at Notre Dame

Since I was close to the end of my stint in Europe, I decided to splurge on this trip as some sort of celebration of my first ever international assignment. I booked a room at the very expensive Hotel du Louvre and if I recall correctly, it cost about USD300++ back then (I took a quick look now and a room here costs double that the amount I spent all those years ago).  I stayed at this hotel because it had high ratings and it was close to the Louvre which was my primary reason for visiting.

Me at the Louvre

So that's it for my return trip to Paris. I actually went to one other country - Luxembourg - during my 3-month assignment in Belgium that I still haven't written about so I will try to write about that soon.

[Throwback] Paris Sights and Landmarks

My return trip to Paris allowed me to see a bit more of the same sights that I had seen before as well as some new ones. I mentioned in my throwback post about my first trip to Paris that I got to see Les Invalides from afar. This time around, I got to see it up close.

Les Invalides

Formally known as Hôtel National des Invalides, this complex was built in the 17th century as a retirement home and a hospital for war veterans. Later on, some sections of Invalides were converted into museums. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb can be found under the Dome of the Invalides.

Statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in Invalides

I didn't go into the museums but I did walk around the grounds to soak in the atmosphere...

...and to take a few photos.

Another new place I visited was the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, or simply Sacré-Coeur (which means Sacred Heart).

Sacré-Coeur

It was built atop Montmartre, a large hill in the French capital. As such, when you are here, you can see beautiful views of the city.

View of Paris from Sacré-Coeur

I also wanted to visit Moulin Rouge because I had seen the film. This cabaret is just a short walk from Sacré-Coeur. Naturally, I had to take a photo when I was there.

Moulin Rouge

The rest of my time in Paris was spent revisiting places I had seen before. In my first trip to Notre Dame, I only got to enjoy it from the outside. This time around, I went inside to admire the cathedral's beautiful interior.

Inside Notre Dame

I also saw a statue of King Charlemagne on the cathedral grounds and I decided to have a photo taken here. (I also don't what possessed me to unfashionably pop the collar of my leather jacket; I guess maybe I kinda wanted a different look in my photos.)

Charlemagne et ses Leudes

I also revisited the River Seine,

River Seine

the Arc de Triomphe,

Arc de Triomphe

...and the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

Next post: Final thoughts on my Return Trip to Paris

[Throwback] The Louvre

The Louvre is one of the most popular museums in the world. It houses Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and its glass pyramid, which was built in 1988, is a globally recognizable landmark. I was told that the art and artifact collection here is massive and that visitors can easily spend hours inside the museum. Since I didn't have much time in Paris, I spent only half a day inside the Louvre. Despite my short visit, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Louvre Pyramid

I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and it recommended going to the Louvre early since the lines can tend to get quite long but I didn't wake up early enough. I vaguely remember the queue being pretty sizeable when I arrived but I don't think it took too long before I got in.

The Louvre Palace

There are several collections or departments inside the museum, and I spent a good portion of it in the paintings department. Visitors are allowed to take photos inside the museum except for the Mona Lisa. The paintings ranged in size, from smaller frames such as La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr) by Paul Delaroche...

La Jeune Martyre (or The Young Martyr)

...and The Virgin of the Annunciation by Pompeo Batoni...

The Virgin of the Annunciation

...to much larger paintings that could completely fill your wall, such as Ancient Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini, which is 2.31 meters high and 3.03 meters wide...

Ancient Rome

...and Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa) by Théodore Géricault which is 4.9 meters high and 7.16 meters wide.

Le Radeau de la Méduse (The Raft of The Medusa)

Towering over them all, however, is The Wedding at Cana. This painting by Paolo Veronese is 6.77 meters high and 9.94 meters wide. It's the largest painting at the Louvre!

The Wedding at Cana

I also spent some time at the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman department, where I saw the The Winged Victory of Samothrace...

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

...and the famous Venus de Milo.

Venus de Milo

I also took went to the Egyptian Antiquities department, where I saw many ancient artifacts, including the Great Sphinx of Tanis.

The Great Sphinx of Tanis

By then, I had spent a few hours inside the museum and while there was a lot more to see, I felt it was time for me to leave so I could see more of Paris.

View of the pyramid from inside the Louvre

Once I left, I took some time to appreciate the area around the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel can be found in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I then walked through the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries and exited at Place de la Concorde, where I saw the Luxor Obelisk. This obelisk is actually one of two that stood in front of the Luxor Temple in Egypt (the other some still remains at the temple).

Luxor Obelisk in Paris

If I have a chance to go to Paris again in the future, I would love to revisit the Louvre.

Next: Paris Sights and Landmarks

[Throwback] Return Trip to Paris

Last December, I wrote about my Europe Trip that included a visit to Paris. Since I didn't get to see enough of Paris during that trip (read this post to know why), I made sure to revisit the French capital while I was still working in Belgium. I think I may have even taken a day off at work so I could spend just a bit more time in Paris to see some sights I hadn't seen before, such as the Sacre Coeur...

Sacre Coeur

...and the Louvre.

The Louvre

I also revisited some places I had seen before, such as the Eiffel Tower...

Eiffel Tower

...and Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

I will be writing in greater detail about my weekend in Paris in the next few blog posts.

Next: The Louvre

Sunday from Tick, Tick... Boom!

This is one of my favorite songs from Tick, Tick... Boom! Check it out here:

video uploaded in YouTube by Netflix Film Club

Apart from the fact that it has a beautiful, almost haunting melody and is exquisitely sung with amazing harmonies, it is apparently performed by a who's who of Broadway. I will admit that I don't know many of them but I did recognize enough of them such as Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Adam Pascal, and Bebe Neuwirth to realize that the entire ensemble must have been Broadway greats. I searched online and found this article from cbr.com: Tick, Tick… Boom!: Every Broadway Cameo in ‘Sunday’. After reading this, my appreciation for Sunday grew even more. Everyone in this performance has at least one Tony nomination, with many of them being nominated and winning multiple times (and yes, that includes Andrew Garfield himself who won a Tony for Lead Actor in a Play for Angels in America). Lin Manuel Miranda and the creators of Tick, Tick... Boom! really did a fantastic job in casting this number.

Catching up on Netflix

I've been able to watch more shows than I usually do on Netflix. Of everything I've seen on this streaming service so far, my favorite is Lupin. This is a French Netflix series that a friend of mine recommended. It's about professional thief Assane Diop who takes inspiration from Arsène Lupin, a fictional French gentleman thief created in the early 1900s and who is featured in dozens of novels and novellas. I don't normally binge watch shows that I hadn't seen yet because it requires me to pay full attention and I often find it hard to stay focused for several hours at a time but this was an exception. Lupin was really right up my alley. It was so smart, slick, and inventive and I enjoyed it tremendously, so much so that I recommended it to my other friends too. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do. (Netflix says that Lupin will be back for Part 3; I am surely looking forward to that.)

I also recently saw Tick, Tick... Boom! This has been advertised quite a bit so as a fan of musicals, I felt I had to see it. Thankfully, it lived up to the hype. Andrew Garfield has already gotten his fair share of awards and nominations for his performance as Jonathan Larson in this film and I do believe he deserves all the accolades. Prior to watching, I didn't know any of the music from Tick, Tick.. Boom! but I found myself immediately liking a lot of the songs. My favorites have to be Louder Than Words, Therapy, and Sunday. Lin-Manuel Miranda really did a great job directing this movie. If you haven't seen Tick, Tick... Boom! yet, I also recommend it.

One of the films that I had been really interested to see for a while now is Weathering With You (Tenki no Ko). I wanted to see it because it was created by the same people that made Your Name (Kimi no Na wa), which I absolutely love. I finally took the time to watch it. I thought it was good but I prefer Your Name a lot more.

I got to watch another animated film, The Breadwinner. This popped up as a recommendation to me as I was building my initial Netflix list. The description caught my attention: A courageous 11-year-old Afghan girl disguises herself as a boy and takes on odd jobs to provide for her family when her father is arrested. It was a really captivating premise. What I didn't realize was this film was actually quite depressing. It shows the plight of women under Taliban rule where women are forbidden to do a lot of things, including study and go out of their house without a male relative. Despite the heavy theme of the film, it is powerful, evocative, and beautiful.

I've also watched a lot of other shows on Netflix, including Joanna Lumley's Silk Road Adventure (I've wanted to visit Cappadocia in Turkey for a really long time now and this show just made me want to visit it sooner), 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America, 72 Dangerous Animals: Asia, Wheel of Fortune (there are a few episodes from seasons 35 to 37), and Nailed It!

My List is still really long but it's great that I've gotten to use my Netflix subscription a lot more.