Books, books and oh, look! BOOKS..!

Amazingly enough, the last couple of years have seen me drive through the most books I've read in a very long time... and I love it! As I tweeted the other day, I've begun my literary year with Salinger and Hemingway (and Shelley) and I could not have hoped for better companions to accompany me into a new year of story dwelling. Steinback, I'm sure, will only prove to be a worthy and beautiful follow up from that.

It would be funny to list my particular recommendations from this pile, considering the answer would be almost all of them... however some definite call outs would have to include the following:

• Stasiland - Anna Funder's incredible delving into the Stasi and the world of East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall is a genuinely eye opening read that only further solidified that which I've learnt from both my trips to Europe and the Philippines - that I am a ridiculously fortunate human being, living on the back of freedoms fought for by generations I will never be able to thank. 
• Circle of Friends - I've read this so many times and, soapy though it may seem, Maeve Binchy's writing forever feels like home in the midst of a still foreign, but beautiful Irish wit. 
• The Truth and Other Lies - Sascha Arango's entertainingly truth-twisting tale of a man and his moral dilemma.
• Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an introduction - for the sheer beauty and brilliance that is Salinger.
• Reasons To Stay Alive - Matt Haig's wonderfully honest insights built from a life battling depression.
• and last, but hardly least, A Moveable Feast - where Hemingway recounts simple yet so vibrantly written encounters of living in Paris as a young writer amongst other writers of his generation. 

All these books have made the journey through the latter part of 2015 to these early 2016 months immensely more pleasurable alongside the awesomeness of the life continuing to roll along outside of them. 

About to begin:

Finished (since last entry):

2015

(most happy re-read)

2016

Recently acquired (in addition to the already huge piles I've yet to conquer!):

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So here's to the the upcoming journeys to still uncharted worlds, the as yet unmet characters and their lives and histories - I look forward to encountering you all!

Bring it on, 2016!

Paris, je T'aime... indeed. Indeed I do.

Paris je T'aime - 14e arrondissement 

Though I bought the movie quite a while ago, I only finally watched it today and I adored it. Such an immersive and beautiful film that further delighted me personally as a lover of Paris who hopes to one day return and see all that I didn't see (the first short by Bruno Podalydès reminded me right off the bat that I have yet to visit Montmartre). Each story was touching and well executed (yes, even the oddball vampire love story between Elijah Wood and Olga Kurylenko, certainly the most bizarre of the lot, though I daresay it still fit) and I was pretty well entranced from start to finish.

This, however, is particularly due to my absolute favourite out of all the segments - 14e arrondissement (linked above). I love this one. Alexander Payne, what a lovely and simple way to bring the movie to its close. Beautifully shot, as were all the rest, and Margo Martindale, superbly bad French accent and all, was absolutely perfect in it.

I loved every little bit - from the notion of this sweet mail carrier from Denver taking French classes so she can go and have an adventure in Paris, to her relishing in her independence and thus skipping on a tour group, to her elegantly insightful ruminations about dictators, love and Paris itself - all exquisitely tied up by her poorly accented but nevertheless moving narration as she reads about her love affair with Paris to her French class. In fact, that touch only made her and her story just that much more adorable. Bravo to whosoever decided to go with it.

The rest of the stories are also quietly compelling in their swift simplicity and I particularly enjoyed Quais de Seine (lovely job, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges), Loin du 16e (a quiet gut puncher about a mother who for income's sake has to sacrifice her time with her own child in order to take care of another), Tour Eiffel (entertaining as hell mime love story) and Quartier des Enfants Rouges (excellent tale twist and Maggie Gyllenhaal, yet another reason to love her).

Honestly, cheers to all the directors for such a lovely piece of cinema. C'était vraiment incroyable.

Germany/Europe 2015 - In Selected Pictures (4 months late)

This trip came about so unexpectedly that a part of me still can't entirely believe I got to see the places I got to see so, that said, the photos below are kind of there to allow me to relive and re-believe. I'm happy to leave these un-captioned for now what with all that stuff about pictures painting thousands of words on their own, but I may return for a fun few hours of my usual brand of 'witty' pictorial commentary.

Enjoy (as I very much did)!

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Bad Homburg - Frankfurt

Thanks to my wonderful friends, Col and George, this place was my home away from home while I got to traipse about more of Germany and Europe. Frankfurt is a great city and Bad Homburg is a beautiful little town which is honestly so amazingly representative of just how beautiful Germany is as a whole. So very pleased to have gotten the chance to stay there!

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Leipzig

Such a beautiful city and I had no idea of the history it held - in fact, I learned some of that history a little too late, particularly in relation to the Stasi and Leipzig's place in the revolution that finally tore down the Berlin Wall. I didn't read Stasiland until after I'd returned and now I wish I had been able to make it to the Stasi Museum. Saying that, while I was there, I was amazed to learn of Johann Sebastian Bach's time spent working there. We also ate at a cellar restaurant that dates back to the fifteenth century - Auerbachs Keller and it was genuinely amazing. Thanks to a Mass Mishap, I missed out on visiting the Monument to the Battle of the Nations with Col and George, but hey, another excuse to go back, right?

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Mainz

One of our day/photo trips, this time to George's dad's alma mater's town. They had their camera stolen not long before I got up there and I was able to get them a replacement, but it still meant that George lost weeks worth of photos which was a real shame so Col and I did a couple of trips for him to regain some of his lost memories and maybe get a present or two for his dad from good ol' Johannes Gutenberg University (my envy at Mr. Tan's German fluency knows no bounds!). I didn't create an album for Mainz so have included more choice pics below.

Berlin

I got to go back! I am so, so pleased and so in awe of the good fortune that got me back there! I am genuinely very much in love with this city. It is just bursting with history and character and even after two visits, I have still nowhere near seen enough. I even climbed Fernsehturm and the views were worth my patronising that shocker of a tower (yes, still equal parts disgusted and fascinated by the structure). I got to revisit some places (happily!) and then Col and I wandered out to some of the neighbourhoods and enjoyed some great strolls and some lovely little finds. Honestly, what an amazing city. Whether or not the comparison seems due, Berlin is my NYC of Europe. I would happily spend a year there because I know that would at least begin to let me soak in as much of the city as I so badly want to.

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Lourdes

I don't even know what to say other than I can't believe I made it Lourdes. Repetitive though I am beginning to sound, I just never knew if it would ever happen, despite my desire to finally see it and that I did leaves me in awe and full of joy. As I mentioned on my FB album, I took very few pictures because I was there to do much more than that. Seeing the Grotto where Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette with my own eyes and touching the water... praying with thousands of other faithful... it was overwhelming and I could not be more thankful. Seriously, so very genuinely blessed.

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Copenhagen

This was a sort of last minute trip decision once I got up to Frankfurt and Col and I started thinking of places to see. I'm so glad she was happy to go back because Copenhagen is such a beautiful city and so interesting! Seeing Nyhavn in real life was surreal and drifting about on the water was such a great way to get around. The Tivoli Gardens was beautifully abandoned because of the rain and at night, that place is insane with lights. Christiania was certainly a funky experience, as well as hitting the street food hall next to the Experimentarium (which we went to and almost immediately regretted considering we were the only lone adults there! We felt so creepy..!). I also came across one of the coolest r&b mixes I'd heard while getting my magnet and the shop owner was far too kind while I went about prying through his songlist trying to get its name.

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Cologne

Another day/photo trip though this one was slightly more eventful than Mainz - freaky tandem walking couples, unfortunately lost tourists, cool and random bits and pieces of art all over the street, including one that acted as a hilariously weird reminder of someone I know. One of the most magnificent cathedrals or doms I have ever seen stands proud in Cologne and, oh, I also had the best pork knuckle and potatoes I've ever had served by one of the best servers ever. Love, love, love the German wit. As per Mainz, no album for this lovely city (I started feeling how much I was over-inundating my poor FB friends' feeds so I decided not to include day trips), so choice shots below.

Stockholm

I've been to Sweden! Never ever expected to be able to say that, but I have! Stockholm is just one of the most interestingly laid out cities I have ever seen and its harbour is one of the few I could say begins to stand up against my home harbour in Sydney. The sun also rivals ours, being the brightest I've ever seen in my life. From strolling around Gamla Stan, which is the old town, to sailing around the islands to seeing the Vasa in real life and then rocking out on a Yamaha at Abba the Museum, that seriously still only felt like the beginning and honestly, I would love to go back and then of course visit more of the Nordic countries. That's right, Norway, I'm coming for you!

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And... done! Funnily enough, it just occurred to me that something I didn't get to capture much with my camera? A whole lotta handsome. Seriously. Germany and Sweden represent.

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Alright, now I'm only one lot of photos behind! Next insane photographic influx will be of my first ever trip back home to the Philippines to spend Christmas and New Years with my family, as well as celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Cheers to my cousin Taki for this, but mas masaya talaga sa Pilipinas!