I have nothing against Malaysia, I’ve never been there and it is definitely on my list, but God, please make this adverstising for Malaysia stop!!!! I travel a fair bit and it seems that everytime I reach the hotel and turn on the TV, I hear “Malaysiiiiiaaaaaa, truelyyyyy Asiaaaaaaa”. It’s been running for ages!!!! But recently they changed the tone… but same slogan!
Inspiration
Emirates is by far my favorite airline in the world. Service, comfort and quality! Period. They recently launched a new campaign called Hello Tomorrow, which I find quite good:
Especially the following tagline: The more of our world we see, the richer we become. This is something I truely believe in.
After a sleepless night I boarded Emirates flight EK305 bound to Dubai to catch EK57 to Dusseldorf to head finally home!
Yes Dusseldorf and not Brussels. Since I stay with my parents whenever I return to Belgium, it is the same to fly to Dusseldorf since they live in Liege. And I get to fly with Emirates, which is, together with Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways, one of my favourite airline! Anyway, Brussels airport does not offer any good connection to China, there used to be a direct flight between Shanghai and Brussels operated by Hainan Airlines but it got suspended at the end of 2011. Well, I guess it is more important for the capital of Europe to have direct connections to Yaounde and Ouagadougou (thank you Brussels Airlines…)…
On a side note, I was very tired since I did not sleep at all before flying so I did silly stuff during the flights while I normally kill time by working. So I was playing this trivia game on the flight from Dubai to Dusseldorf where you can compete with other passengers and it turned out I recorded the best score… either people flying with Emirates are abnormally dumb or I’m abnormally smart, take a guess on which solution I prefer… but look at the gap with the followers!!!
I hadn’t been back to Europe for the past 3 months and a half, so it will be great to see Laurence, my family and my friends again! I also especially look forward to seeing the little ones… My godchild Emma and my “nephew” Arry (he is not really my nephew as he is my cousin’s little boy but it does not matter to me, I love him anyways!!)! They have changed a lot in their behavior recently and I noticed on Skype that they were more and more interacting with me!
But the big event will be the wedding of two of my closest friends from the university years this Saturday! I also have the honor of being one of the groom’s best men and also master of ceremony! I’d better finish this blog post here and work a bit more on my speech then!
I spent the last weekend in what is probably one of my favourite country in the world: Japan! I just love its culture, people and the pristine beauty of its countryside. And to be honest, coming from China, a bit of quietness and order is sometimes nice to enjoy!
I came for once not in Tokyo but in Nagoya, as this time I was actually visiting a business partner for the opening of her new headquarter in her hometown of Matsusaka, in the Mie Prefecture. It is always great to visit them as I always enjoy great hospitality from them and we have become friends over time. And their new HQ if definitely nice, have a look at a few pictures:
Aqua Plannet Headquarter in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture.
A very nice interior, very bright and nicely designed!
I spoke to their architect and it turned out that he could speak perfect French: he has lived in Paris for a few years and we discussed also a very interesting project of his for the refugees shelter. Another unexpected encounter was with the chef who did the catering at the event: he greeted me in a perfect French and the reason why he could speak French was even more surprising… This will not make any sense to those of you that are not from Belgium or even Liège, but for my fellow citizen: this gentlemen had worked at “Le sanglier des Ardennes” in Belgium’s smallest town Durbuy. But what was even more surprising is that 3 days before meeting him, I had looked up this specific restaurant to book a table to take my parents to dinner during my upcoming return in Belgium! What a small world!
The hospitality of my host reached a peak by taking us to a local restaurant in Matsusaka serving the local specialty: Matsusaka beef! I felt really honored to be offered this real treat! What an experience! Those who know me can say that I’m a bit of an hedonist who enjoys the “good things in life”… but I will from now on, put matsusaka beef very high on my list! What a delicacy! I have never had a meat that was so tender (you can break it with chopsticks) and so delicious (marble score of 100000 at least)! Here are a few pictures and a video explaining why Matsusaka beef is so great:
We stayed overnight in Matsusaka as the day after, a small group of us was going to visit Japan’s holiest place: the Ise Shrine. We stopped at two different shrines, the first one being rather small, and the second one being the real attraction. I had been to temples in Japan before, mainly in Kyoto 4-5 years ago during the first of a long series of trips to Japan, but this time it was nice to get a bit more explanations from my Japanese friends. What striked me in this place was the peacefulness of the area. Even the surrounding forest seemed to have been designed in harmony!
Praying and honoring different gods
One happy man in the wild!
We then visited a snack street next to the Grand Ise Shrine. I’m a bit of “stomach traveller” meaning that I always want to sample the locals favourite… so I really was in my element there… You could find all sort of snacks and food: from fresh seafood on the BBQ, to oysters, dried fish or sweet treats… We stopped first to have something sweet: red bean paste on a rice cake. Hoichi (delicious in Japanese)! And then we went to a small joint where they were serving only 3 dishes (my experience taught me this is a good sign) of noodles! I went for the local favourite: Ise udon noodles with beef! Again Hoichiiiiiii !
After a short car ride, it was time to say thank you and good bye and hop on the train back to Nagoya where I would stay until the end of the weekend.
Ise Udon Noodles! Hoichiiii !
Even nicer than all the temples and surrounding forest was the Sakura! The cherry trees were blossoming, which happens during a very short period every year. During that period, Japanese families gather in parks and picnic together under cherry trees. An activity called Hanami. I must say it was quite amazing to witness this. The parks are full of people and I was even more lucky as we enjoyed a nice and sunny spring day! A few pictures to finish:
but look at the gap with the followers!!!
