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A wonderful reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:19:00 +0000

Armando, Jackie and I were all good friends in New World high School. We've all managed to keep in touch through the years, but haven't hung out together since those days. Just about 8 years later we managed to meet again and spend a great few days in the south of Germany.

My brother/best friend and I in Munich, at Alexanderplatz

above and below: a great afternoon wandering the many beautiful parks in Munich with two people very special to me

Left to right; Armando, his great girlfriend Christine, Jackie and I enjoying coffee in the main square in Augsburg, where Armando and Christine currently call home.

Friends in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Myself with some of the Martha Graham dancers (left to right) James, Jackie and Lloyd along with the one rented bicycle we all had to share

The guys

James and I after a long, long, long day at the Louvre

above and below: Jackie and I and beautiful, beautiful Paris

Parisian streets

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:37:00 +0000

Walking around Paris is a wonder. There's so much city and detail to discover at every single corner . This all sounds tacky, but you really have to be there to understand fully.

That's the island where Notre Dame Cathedral and a million other famous things are located or nearby.

Jackie and I wandering near the theater she performed at before the show.

This is one of my favorite store window display in Paris, it's a an extermination supply store and taxidermist? I think... anyway, it made me laugh a whole lot.

More of my favorite art, The Musee d'Orsay

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:40:00 +0000

The Musee d'Orsay has the best collection of major French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting anywhere in the world. It also has a few other great period pieces. A visit there was a nice and peaceful way to spend an afternoon, exactly what I feel Impressionism was made for.

I saw this Manet a few years ago at the Met in New York, still looks the same I reckon.

Above and below: The museum has a great collection of Art Nouveau furniture and decorations, this section was my personal favorite despite the plethora of famous Manets, Monets, Degas, Tolousse-Lautrecs, and other rediculously famous paintings.

These are from a wall display I loved featuring the props from a famous shadow puppet theater from in Paris during the late 19th century. Other figures include soldiers, armies, bourgoise figures, farmers, animals and more.

A great painting I remember nothing about :(

Chinese Tombs in Pere Lachaise Cemetery

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Something I never expected to see in the Pere Lachaise Cemetery was a bunch of tombs for Chinese people and families. Some of them also Christians. Here are just some of the Chinese tombs I found.

Cemetery Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:19:00 +0000

In doing research before I came to Paris, I came across a few websites about increasing tourism in Paris' cemeteries. Two particularly popular stops are the Pere Lachaise Cemetery and the Montparnasse Cemetery. I made my way to both on my last full day in Paris, in the cold and under light rain. Still, it was probably the best new thing I did on my trip. I saw the tombstones of people like Edith Piaf, Charles Baudelaire, Jim Morrison, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Man Ray, Serge Gainsbourg, Susan Sontag, Rossini, Oscar Wilde... and a million rich and ornate family tombs some dating back hundreds of years.

Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvior

A personal highlight, the tomb of Serge Gainsbourg

Edith Piaf

Oscar Wilde's tomb, something really amazing and unlike anything else I've ever seen

Pere Lachaise is the older cemetery and seems endless. It feels like miles and miles of tombstones and family plots fighting each other for space and attention. I highly recomend these excursions for a break from museums and other more formal and established tourist sites in Paris. All cemeteries provide a map with the names of noteable people buried there and an approximate location of their tomb.

My favorite art in Paris, some of it anyway

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:15:00 +0000

I spent most of my time in Paris wandering (lost is the more accurate word) the halls of "the great museums". Here are some of my favorite pieces.

Above: A great show at the Centre Pompidou on Alexander Calder's Parisian years in the late 20's and early 30's, where he created a toy circus and started the wire scultptures and mobiles that would make him tremendously famous years later in America. This show was my favorite art thing I saw in Paris.

Below: Also at the Pompidou, a giant and complete retrospective on Kandinsky's paintings, prints and drawings.

Above and below: More important stuff (above), and things i really liked (below) from the Pompidou

Above is a Hawaiian funerary mask made of shells. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. It was at the Musée du Louvre.

Above and below: Also at the Louvre, Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. Two of my favorite ancient cultures, it was quite amazing to make my way through the vast and well presented collections this museum has.

Figure Drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Silvia, Ross and I started hiring models to come to the apartment and host our own figure drawing sessions. We invite friends over for a few hours and turn the upstairs into an open studio of sorts. We've been at it for about 2 months now. These drawings are a few of my favorites from these sessions. The first four were all 5-20 minute poses, the last one is a 2 minute gesture.

The Drum and Bell Towers

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:37:00 +0000

All the ancient Chinese capitals have a Ceremonial Drum and Bell Tower near the town center. Both Xi'an and Beijing's are really impressive. Above is the Drum Tower, below is the Bell Tower, below is the Bell Tower.

The travelers. Silvia, Ross, Andy and I in front of the Drum Tower at night.

The Spring Festival City Wall Spectacular!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:24:00 +0000

These great, great things were on the Xi'an city wall during Spring Festival. They're a little craptacular and at night they light up! The colors are really intense, even in the desert-y grey of Xi'an's afternoon skies.

I don't really get this one.

The Terracotta Army

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:07:00 +0000

Xi'an's biggest tourist attraction is undoubtedly the Terracotta Warriors. This 3000 year old, completely lifesize ceramic army was only discovered about 30 years ago by a local farmer digging a well. Today the site is still an active archeaological site with thousands of broken and standing soldiers of all ranks, life-size horses, and a full array of ancient weapons spread over half a mile in 3 plots.

Some of the best restored figures are on display on site with real weapons found alongside the soldiers. There were thousands of actual spears, bows and arrows, swords and knives, and crossbows as well as fully equipped chariots.

The sheer number of warriors (over 8,000) is impressive enough, but what really shocked me is the amount of detail in each and every soldier and weapon. Every figure's face and hair is completely unique and retains traces of a once vividly colorful past. Their uniforms, armor, and vestments all have a surprising amount of detail and movement. All weapons are ready for use against any potential enemy, all armed and ready to protect the tomb of Emperor Qin, the first emperor of unified China.

More Fireworks!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:54:00 +0000

We received the new year nearby at our friend Emelie's house. She and her roommates live in the hutong; the old, disappearing Beijing neighborhoods. Her home has a rooftop balcony which allowed us a great view of the night's fireworks.

These are the rooftops and lanterns typical of the hutong (胡同)

Ross

Silvia

Fireworks!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:19:00 +0000

Chinese New Year, called 春节 ( pronounced CHOO-en jiE, means Spring Festival) is in my opinion the best time of year in China. Chinese people go crazy with fireworks for days and days. Here are some pictures of the pre-midnight fireworks we saw from home.

from Silvia's room

upstairs from the open balcony, a bunch of fireworks going off right inside our complex

A Nice Taxi Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Beijing is a city with great public transportation. Subways and buses get you anywhere you need quickly, cheaply and reliably. However taxis are a whole lot more fun! They're the most expensive form of public transportation, but sometimes the views are well worth the price. Here are some pictures from a particularly nice taxi ride Ross and I took from a friend's house in the Guomao (国贸) area to our home in BeiXinQiao (北新桥).

This is GuoMao. One of the major commercial areas of Beijing, it's known for it's tall buildings, lights, shops and lots of other things every hyper-consumer and tourist needs.

The three pictures above show the new CCTV (Chinese Central Television, the ONLY major source of tv in China) Tower. It's one of the buildings the Chinese use as a symbol of their prosperity, acheivement, and giant strides into modernity. It was completed in time for the Olympics along with the JinMao building (in the last picture, the tapered building on the right), the tallest building in Beijing.

Spring Festival!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:50:00 +0000

We have some time off coming up for Chinese New Years this weekend. New Year's Eve is on Sunday the 25th, and on the 26th we're all flying to Xi'an ( 西安, pronounced SHE-AN in a high tone) . It's the ancient capital of China, and most famous for the Terracotta Army. Our friend Ruby is originally from Xi'an, so she's going home for the holiday and we're all tagging along. SHe'll be showing us around, so we have a great tour guide with us. Will post photos as soon as I can...

A garden in Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:42:00 +0000

I've claimed the downstairs balcony as my own and made it into the apartment's garden. Right next to the living room, it's quickly become the object of my affection during these increasingly cold and dry Winter months. With the exception of evergreens, the city is pretty much depleted of all green things. From high up, looking down at the city often resembles a sea of sharp brown tree branches. In just a few weeks the season's brown/grey colors will start to be replaced with with the colorful explosions from plum and cherry blossoms like the pink plant centered in the picture above. Their blooming coincides with Chinese New Year and seem to brighten up daytime the same way fireworks light up nighttime's skies.

The succulents

I have mostly tropical plants because they remind me of home. My favorite is the one pictured above near the top left corner. It's a tropical vine of sorts with a kind of cup trap at the tip of each leaf it uses to catch bugs for nutrients.

There are a ton of plants around the house, not just in the blacony. The plants in the foreground are inside the house, and there are also plants upstairs and in my bedroom.
On the wall on the top left corner of the picture above is a sign that these days is a common sight all over China. It's a red and gold sign with the character 福 (read fu, in a rising tone as if you're asking a question) hung upside down in celebration of the Chinese New Year, it simply says good fortune. It's hung upside down to confuse evil spirits and generally keep them away. The one we have on our front door was a giveaway from KFC, with a giant 福 and tiny little KFC logos all over the background.

Ice skating

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:01:00 +0000

Being the proper Florida boy I am, I've only ice skated about twice in my life. Near my home in Beijing there is a huge ancient artificial lake that freezes over from December to February. Said lake is called Houhai (后海), and while just 15 years ago a typical neighborhood, today it's a big bar and restaurant center complete with ancient ceremonial towers...and in Winter ice skating. Silvia, some friends and I went the other afternoon, and I learned to ice skate!

So while we skated, on this one opening in the ice some old Chinese people thought it would be perfect to jump in. I've only seen things like this on television, and now feeling how cold days like that one really are I remain more confused than ever on why Chinese people will only drink hot water all year long, then jump into a frozen lake in Winter for health purposes.

Christmas Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 09:49:00 +0000

I taught a special Christmas class early Christmas week. All the kids loved it because they got to make ornaments and cut out snowflakes. Here are some of my favorite students and their artwork.

A visitor

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:08:00 +0000

A good friend of mine from high school, Jackie, came to Beijing last week. She's a dancer at the
Martha Graham Dance Company and made it here on tour. I saw her perform last Friday night at the Egg, here next to Tian'anmen Square. It had been a really long time since we'd last seen each other, but everything was just like high school. In fact better, because we're both pretty damn happy where we find ourselves in our lives. We caught up and laughed a bunch, and I took her and her company friends out when they weren't performing.

My favorite breakfast place in Beijing, Cafe Zarah. We met up early one morning and had a fantastic breakfast. My coffee (on the left) is a café au lait served in a bowl, something Jackie found funny.

雍和宫 (YongHeGong) is a temple just half a kilometer north of my apartment. It's one of the most famous sites to see here in Beijing, and embarrassingly, I'd never been it. So Jackie and I went together.

We had so much fun. I miss her so much already :(

Her swank hotel in the financial hub of the city set up a n awesome gingerbread town with lights and all kinds of delicious looking stuff. The first sign of Christmas...

Thanksgiving Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 16:01:00 +0000

Early in the week, I made traditional Thanksgiving hand turkeys with my kids. I think they get it, but I'm not too sure. Thanksgiving's symbols are mostly alien to Chinese people so trying to tell them why they should care about pies and Pilgrims sometimes gets muddy.
FUN FACT: the Chinese word for turkey is 火鸡 [huǒjī] which is literally "fire chicken"

Thanksgiving happened at our local Friday's. It was a fairly trashy choice I guess, but we enjoyed it. A bunch of appetizers and a bunch of long island iced teas helped make this Thanksgiving memorable. It was a dream come true of sorts to have a fancy cheeseburger Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday morning we saw a sheep get killed just down the block. I think Ross noticed it first just outside my bedroom window. Some of our neighbors (I figure) brought the sheep into our complex, laid it onto the ground near a sewer drain, and slit away. I must tell you this is the first time I see anything like this by here. I must be lucky.

downstairs balcony garden

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:10:00 +0000

I made it a point when I first came back to China to buy a bunch of plants in anticipation of Winter. Beijing is a surprisingly green city, there are many public parks and tree lined streets. However, this looming Winter will quickly wipe out nearly all the green in the coming weeks. There are plants pretty much all over the house, but most are in the living room balcony.

above and below: the plant balcony with all kinds of tropical plants, cacti, and spice plants.

just inside: a newly flowering jasmine just like one from a house I grew up in in Miami. It makes the whole apartment smell good and strangely like my early teenage years. The smaller plant is something called a money tree. It's some Feng Shui (风水) thing that's supposed to bring money. Hope it works!

the downstairs...

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:06:00 +0000

a look into our new apartment...

The stuff above the couch; some of our paintings and some of our cool stuff, and me.

It's clearest I think to show a panoramic of the balcony (on the right), living room, stairs and entrance (on the left). The downstairs also has the kitchen, a bathroom with a washing machine, and two bedrooms one with a wide balcony we use to hang dry clothing.

upstairs...

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:20:00 +0000

The second floor is a big open space we use as the dining room. It has a large and comfortable common area, an enclosed balcony, an open balcony, and Silvia's bedroom room and bathroom

The open balcony with two giant David heads that came with the apartment. The one on the right broke somehow, I suspect it was some cats I've seen around. This balcony is at the top of our building and gives us a view of our whole complex and, on very clear days, a view of the mountains.

recently...

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Halloween was fun. We went out to a party and a foreigner bar all dressed up. Our Friend Ruby (above) from Xi'an joined Ross and Silvia in a "dead 80's" theme

I went dressed as a XinJiang chef. This Muslim minority group from far out in the west of China are a fairly common sight all over Beijing. They have restaurants all over the city where they sell their closer to Turkish than Chinese style dishes. They also sell barbecued meat on a stick called 串 (pron. CHwar in Beijing accent Mandarin). The Chinese character represents two peices of meat skewered on a stick. I made my own 串 out sponges, I think they made my costume a success.

a memory of warmer days... just a few weeks ago it was easy to go out in a T-shirt. These last few weeks have been significantly cooler, and this weekend it's been down in the 50's midday and the 30's at night :(

I VOTED!

noreply@blogger.com (Arielísimo) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Even all the way from Beijing I managed to do it, so there's no excuse for anyone who didn't. I'm listening to an NPR stream of the results as they come in, eating breakfast and freaking out just a little bit :)
All of us on this side of the world should know the winner by early or mid-afternoon. We're all really excited around here, I had a pretty rough night's sleep as all the voting was going on in America. Let's hope there's big cause for celebration tonight!