German Grand Prix Analysis

I think this was one of the more interesting races of the season. Yes, the Ferraris had a commanding win, but it was all good as the lead of Alonso over Schumacher is down to 11 points with 6 races still remaining.

Raikonnen and Button were third and fourth respectively. I wished Kimi could have held on to first place, but after the first pit stop, it was obvious that he started the race on an empty tank. That being said, I also wished Button held on to third. At least he finished the race in the same position he started in.

The Renaults came in fifth and sixth. Clearly struggling in race form, the R26 doesn't look as strong a package as before. Could it be because of the mass damper system that was removed in the last couple of races? I doubt such a small part would play such a significant role, but you never know with the amount of technology and development going on in Formula 1 these days.

Trulli in the Toyota came in 7th, and Klien in the Red Bull Ferrari rounded out the last points finish. No luck to BMW and Williams as both teams suffered mechanical failures and/or accidents on track. Williams should do better next year as they will be supplied with Toyota engines. But for now, they will be struggling in the middle of the pack.

Next stop... Hungary!

Life is Beautiful!

Tastes of Home

One of the advantages of working for a Filipino owned company is that every once in awhile, someone from the Philippines comes over to wherever I am. And whenever that happens, I always prepare a wish list of things that I want from the Philippines. More often than not, that list is populated with nothing but food items. When my boss arrived last week (as part of the business trips), I was delighted as he brought me my bag of goodies.

This is what I received:
- 2 boxes of ensaymada... not just any ensaymada but Mary Grace ensaymada!
- Ladies Choice guava jelly
- several cans of Purefood sisig

I normally request for sisig and ensaymada, but this is the first time I asked for guava jelly. I searched high and low for guava jelly here in England but could not find any. Not in the filipino stores and not on the high street supermarkets. So imagine my delight when I saw that jar of sweet stuff. I immediately got my knife and started spreading.

Sky flakes and guava jelly... a match made in heaven!

What are the things that you crave for?

Life is Beautiful!

Business Trips

I forgot how tiring it is to be out on the road meeting customers and suppliers for work. Granted, most of the time is spent sitting down in the car or train, but when the weather here is hotter than Manila, it is really hard to stay awake and alert.

Next week will be back to normal, but with some good changes to my life!

La Vie est Belle!

All Growing Up

This is me and my cousin Gabby; I mean, Gabe (ever since he went to university, he's been known as Gabe... but to the family, he will always be Gabby). He just recently finished taking a solo backpacking trip around Europe, and I was able to meet him the day before he flew back to the United States. I also met up with him when he started his trip but decided to write about it only now. The background is Piccadilly Circus in London.

It's nice to grow up with cousins. However, when we are all young and growing up, it can be hard sometimes to bond with them, especially when they live far away in another country. Meetings ever other year can be ackward as relationships are rebuilt and common topics are hard to come by. It also doesn't help that our parents herd us all into one room and expect us to instantly bond together. There is an instant pressure that can be more detrimental than anything else. And by the time we start talking and getting comfortable with each other, it is time to part ways again.

But as we mature, those invisible walls slowly crumble. As we become more aware of the world around us, we realize that we have more in common than we originally thought. This is incredibly apparent after we all graduate from school. All of a sudden, we are all on a level playing field... not in high school or college, but out in the real world.

It was a cool thing to have a beer with Gabby. I saw him not just as a cousin, but a friend. Someone to share travel tips with and to trade adventure stories. All of a sudden, we weren't kids, we were adults having good conversation. Now I know why it is so easy for my titos and titas to talk to each other even after years of not seeing each other.

The barriers have been broken; we are all equal in each others eyes.

Life is Beautiful!

Berimbau & Batizado

Last week was a special week in my Capoeira training. I finally got my own berimbau, and more importantly, I got my first cordao in capoeira!

The berimbau is that bow looking thing on the left. It is the primary musical instrument in capoeira music. One of the capoeiristas in my group was leaving for another country, he did not want to bring his berimbau with him. Wanting one for so long, I jumped at the chance to purchase it from him. It is a simple instrument, with only 2 basic notes, made by tapping the metal string with the stick and using the stone as tension. The tempo in which the berimbau is played dictates the pace of the capoeira being played. No 'roda' (capoeira circle) is complete without a berimbau at the head.

The green cord on the right is my first belt in capoeira. Finally, my months of training paid off in a mini batizado. A batizado is a capoeira grading ceremony. To earn my belt, I had to 'fight' 3 capoeiristas of significantly higher grade than me, including my mestre (master) without any rest in between. Normally when we play capoeira during practices, it is fun and we have a chance to show the moves we had just learned. However, in a batizado, the people you fight try to catch you off-guard and are generally aggressive, so if you do not perform the correct escape or counter-attack, you will be hit and/or taken off balance. It was difficult, but I passed, and the reward was the green cord that I can now wear with my abada (capoeira uniform). I am not sure how many belts there are, but I do know that it takes many years to earn the highest belt, which is white in color.

I doubt that I will ever earn a white belt, but this green belt is a good start... hopefully after a year I will be ready for the next batizado, when I will be graded for my next belt (green/yellow combination)!

Life is Beautiful!

Monaco Track Walk

I finally posted pictures of my Monaco Track Walk. If you watch and follow Formula 1, you will be able to relate to the pictures. But if you don't, take a look anyway, as it's another chance to see more of Monaco (just don't mind the captions)!

La Vie est Belle!

French Grand Prix Analysis

Isn't this a nice flow... first, the France pictures, and then the French Grand Prix the week after!

I can't believe I was actually rooting for Michael Schumacher to win. I normally cheer on Alonso, but the season has been looking increasingly boring lately so I wanted some action. It is clear these guys are competitive... they did more overtaking maneouvers during qualifying than they did in the race! Massa slowed Alonso down just enough to give Schumacher and insurmountable lead. Team tactics all they way, though I must admit Massa did hold his own.

That Toyota is looking better and better with each race. Too bad for Trulli as he could have challenged for third place if not for his mechanical failure. Ralf Schumacher drove a quiet but respectable fourth place.

The two McLarens were off the pace, outshone by the Toyotas, with Fisichella in the Renault sandwiched in the middle. They seem to be dropping off. Now that Montoya is out of F1 and into NASCAR, Dela Rosa is the McLaren driver. I like his driving style, aggressive and always looking to overtake. Mark Webber may have blamed mechanical problems for his blown tire, but I think it was because he was pressured by Dela Rosa to drive over the limit.

Heidfeld in the strange BMW took the eighth and final point spot. What a radical design... but if it works...

What happened to Honda? From a promising 2nd place constructors finish 2 years ago, cheating allegations last year, and now slower than the teams not called Super Aguri and Midland F1. I am sure lots more heads will roll before the end of the year!

Hockenheim next!

La Vie est Belle!

Paris

Where My trip began and ended. This is actually the third time I've been to Paris, and its beauty never ceases to amaze me. Granted, I was only here for a couple of hours total, but that didn't stop me from adding to my collection of Paris pictures.

The Opera Garnier. Note to travellers: If you take the Roissybus from Charles de Gaulle Airport into Paris (instead of taking the RER), this is where it drops you off. It's convenient as it is in the relative center of Paris and very close to the Metropolitan station.

Gare de Lyon. From this train station, you can take the train to the south of France... cities such as Marseilles, Lyon (I think), and Nice.

This picture is the reason I almost missed my flight back to England! I just had to have a picture with the Eiffel Tower in the background (previous attempts on my own resulted in really bad shots), so we went here before going to the airport. We alloted one hour to do it, but ended up taking two hours! Paeng and I ended up having an Amazing Race moment, catching trains in the Metropolitan and RER train system of Paris, complete with 'Detours' (we had to get our luggage in Gare de Lyon before heading towards CDG airport!). Fortunately, I was able to check in with time to spare.

A nice wallpaper picture.


And so ends my france trip... hopefully Italy or Spain is next!

La Vie est Belle!

Nice

Nice was where Paeng and I stayed for three days. We chose Nice because it is in between Cannes and Monaco (each is about a 25 minute train ride away to the west and to the east, respectively). We stayed in a pleasant hotel very close to the train station and it turned out to be a convenient home base.

The beach in Nice. I know it looks crowded in these pictures, but trust me, there is more public beach here than in Cannes. And it stretches for miles. Paeng and I were able to walk along the beachfront and back in Cannes. In Nice, this might take the whole day. And look at that water... incredibly blue and clear. The only catch is that it is not a very sandy beach; in fact its quite a pebbly one. But that didn't stop the people from lying (topless!) on their beach towels and getting their tan.


Vieux Nice (The Old Town)



Out of the three cities we visited in the Cote d'Azur, Nice was my favourite. It was a perfect mix of everything; bustling city, excellent beach, and historic quarters. You want to shop? It has the traditional retail stores in the city plus market stalls in old Nice. You want to see riches? Go to the Hotel Negresco along the beachfront. History and culture? Check out the opera or simply walk through the narrow streets of old Nice. And if you simply want to work on your tan, there are miles of beach available.

La Vie est Belle!

Cannes

Famous for its annual film festival, Cannes is also on the Cote d'Azur.

Greetings from Cannes! This is such a postcard picture.

The beach.

Along that stretch with the hotels are beach chairs and umbrellas that you have to rent for about €20. Aside from the hotels, designer boutiques also dot the La Croisette (the street running parallel with the beach).

The Palais des Festivals. This is where the film festival is held. They also hold other exhibitions throughout the year. It's such an old looking building, I was expecting something a little more extravagant. It looks like the PICC in Manila.

Not all of Cannes tries to be flashy. Behind the hotels and fancy restaurants lies a quaint and historic city. I enjoyed this area more than the stretch of beach.


I honestly don't know what makes Cannes great. I think its just the glamour of the film festival that makes this city famous. Other than that, it is just another stretch of (overcrowded) beach. As I mentioned above, I liked the rural part of Cannes more. Paeng and I were glad we didn't allot too much time to go around Cannes, because there really isn't much to see. I'm sure its different when the film festival comes over, but I can also imagine it to be so crowded as well, full of starstruck fans and tourists alike.

La Vita e Bella!

Principilite de Monaco

It's nice to have friends in different places. One of my good friends, Paeng, is currently in France studying, and when he was planning for his summer holiday, he invited me to come over and go somewhere. How could I pass up the opportunity to travel to a new place? After looking at the map and our options, we concluded that the south of France was a good place to go. And after a night of planning (booking hotels, train tickets, coordinating schedules), our trip was all set. I flew into Paris, met Paeng at the Gare de Lyon train station, and took the 6 hour journey towards the Cote d'Azur.

The first city on the Cote d'Azur trip that Paeng and I visited was not actually a city, but a principality... Monaco. Held by the Grimaldi family for hundreds of years, this tax haven is the home of the rich and famous, and it shows. Exotic cars, designer boutiques, yachts, and beautiful people abound. I haven't seen so many Rolls Royces and Bentleys before in my life. It is also home of the annual Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious race on the Formula 1 circuit and what puts this tiny principality in the spotlight every year.

The famous Monte-Carlo Casino. Take note of all the expensive cars parked outside. We didn't enter the casino because there was an entrance fee (€10) just to get in!

The port of Monaco and the yachts... you have to be truly rich to buy and maintain one of these things.

This is basically the whole of Monaco. Some say it is only occupies 2 square kilometers, and I don't think thats further from the truth. You can see the port of course, and the casino, boutiques, and hotels are on the hill. Formula 1 fanatics will also spot other famous straights and chicanes (and I will delve into that in a future entry).

Casino Square at Night


Monaco struck me as a city of contrasts. On one hand, there is no doubt that this is a rich place, with money being thrown around left and right. But at the same time, Paeng and I noticed that it was not the prettiest place around. Sure, the Casino and Hotel de Paris were as grand and opulent as what we expected, but the rest of Monaco consisted of greyish condos showing their age. The architecture is reminiscent of the 60s and 70s (at least in my view). In fact, it reminded us of a cheap resort. It then dawned on us that the cheap resorts all modelled their appearances on Monaco and not the other way around. All the other places were trying to capture the magic of Monaco. Well, they may look the part, but they won't ever have the backdrop of a grand prix and the yachts to prove that, despite its looks, Monaco is one of the richest places in the world.

Life is Beautiful!

To the Provence

No, that's not a typo. I'm taking a trip to the Provence, Cote d'Azur and beyond!

See you in a few days!

Life is beautiful!

Creature of Habit

Just the other day, I was buying a newspaper at my local newsagent (convenience store in american speak). As usual, I lifted the newspaper at the top of the pile and took the one just below it. The clerk noticed this and as I was paying for my paper, she told me her observation.

"I don't know why people never take the top newspaper. They are all the same you know."
I just shrugged and replied, "I guess its become an instinct!"
She then told me that alot of people do that too, and we had a laugh about it in the end.

Come to think of it, I don't know how long I have been doing this. I know why I do it; it's because I always associate the top magazine or newspaper as the one everyone picks up to flip through to see if it is worth buying. But even when the top newspaper or magazine is perfectly fine, I still go for the second or third below it.

What are some other human actions that have almost become instinctive?

La Vita e Bella!

US Grand Prix Analysis

I'm going to make this short and sweet since I was only able to watch the highlights.

That was a spectacular crash at the start of the race, with the two McLarens hitting each other, Button, and Heidfeld, with Heidfeld spinning around in the air. No one was seriously hurt, although almost half of the grid was wiped out in that crash and another one involving the cars in the back.

The rest of the race was routine, with various mechanical failures, nothing to write home about. Kudos to Trulli and Coulthard who both drove from bad grid positions to points finishes, Trulli most especially.

I feel sorry for Felipe Massa having to play second fiddle to Michael Schumacher. He was definitely quicker and it was obvious that he was told to slow down during his pit lap to make Schumacher pass. Otherwise, it could have been his first win.

At least Alonso's lead has been cut by 6 points. It makes the second half of the season more interesting as his lead over Schumacher is down to 19 points.

With only 9 cars finishing, it was almost the total of cars that finished in the farcical race last year! I do hope they continue the USGP; I plan to go there next year.

Next stop... France!

La Vita e Bella