Forget Dream. Love Paris

It was a cloudy morning in Paris. The magnificent tower stood still, overlooking the excited tourists, the hopeless romantics, and some of the local Parisians who did not give a damn of the metal structure anymore.
Many camera stands were set up, waiting for the right moment to take a snapshot of the beautiful city. You were holding a book, flipping over a few pages during the wait. At the same time, you were scrolling through a few chapters of your own memory too. Nothing went into your mind, totally nothing. Soon, you realised the moment has gone by. You then took out the illustrated map given by the lady in your hostel, somewhere near Montmarte. It was a beautiful map, but it didn't lead you to the place you wanted to go so badly. You found yourself got lost in the streets. Strolling along Boulevard Saint-Germain, you tried to trace back the conversations you once had with some of the strangers, who were interested in Hemingway and Fitzgerald. It reminded you of the scenes in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris". There was a downpour, in the evening. The drizzle, after the short downpour, gave the city a misty feeling. Every step you took is a step back in the classy, elegant Jazz Age in the '20s. While you were forgoing the dream of having a romantic encounter with your destined lady in this majestic city, you found out that you were lost in time. And at that instant, you fell in love with Paris.

伦敦男孩：追逐纽约

那是一个需要越过北大西洋（North Atlantic Ocean) 的梦想。

就像在1912年启航的铁达尼号，一个希望能够去探索纽约市的儿时梦。因为，人人告知他，纽约是个成就任何理想的梦幻城市。

而靠着政府奖学金和暑假工所存到的储蓄，伦敦男孩，就这样独自飞往北美洲去了。

到了那里，看见人类战胜环境的毅力。处处都可看见高楼大厦，是个名副其实的钢骨森林。其实，也是到了那里才发现到，纽约不仅是个让你实现任何理想的地方，也是个让你梦想破灭的地方。

奇迹，在那里，就算你相信了，也依旧是个奇迹。那是个很奇妙的感觉。在纽约里，你突然会觉得你变得很渺小。可以是被压力逼迫着，也可以是被伟大的梦想吓唬着。坦白说，一时之间，也说不清楚。

很多时候，坐在纽约地铁 (Subway) ，由于要回去86街 (West 86th St) 的路途遥远，都会习惯性地观察四周的乘客。在地铁车厢里，觉得能够装着的梦想是多么的脆弱，在人挤人、人比人的社会里，很多梦想都会像泡沫般破掉。

这种感觉，在纽约42街的中央车站(Grand Central Terminal)里，特别深刻。

到了晚上，纽约特别热闹，就是所谓的 “the city that never sleeps”。可是，那些热闹，与许多在黑夜里默默为理想耕耘的灵魂，形成强烈的对比。站在第5大道(5th Avenue)上，看见的，满是绚丽和繁华的象征，但是当你爬到帝国大厦(Empire State Building)，黑夜笼罩时，俯瞰着纽约城，你会看见满街都是疲惫、落寞的市井小民。

走上Harlem，遇到了些年过六旬的黑人老伯。十几年前，这里是非常出名的爵士(jazz)社区，现在，也只有往事只能回味。有些望着关闭了的爵士会所，喃喃自语，不断地叙说着当年的场景是如何的华丽。一个过气社区，在岁月的流逝中，慢慢接受着被世人遗忘的悲惨命运。

然后，从112街搭地铁到Brooklyn。在河岸边，也看见了一个社区在迎接新时代的诞生。说真的，在那里观赏黄昏，会觉得非常浪漫。金黄色的夕晖，徐徐地照射着Brooklyn 桥和曼哈顿 (Manhattan)的大厦。或许这是纽约市，唯一拒绝变得现实的地段；而纽约，也认同了现实的紧迫，需要美好的夕阳来调剂一下。

这城市，让伦敦男孩见证了成就梦想的辛酸和代价。很多时候，梦想就像一个来自小市镇的舞蹈者，拼搏多时来到百老汇(Broadway)，却因为竞争异常激烈，所以被丢弃到时代广场的路旁。为了实现一个梦想，就注定了毁灭成千上万的梦想。

这是纽约。一个全世界都围绕着她的城市，资本和现实的代号。

The Curious Case of Coffee Shops- Conjuring Spaces and Imaginations

A year ago, a friend introduced me to some of the arguably best coffee shops in London,  like Prufrock Coffee, Monmouth etc. The coffee was pretty good, but what really struck me over there was- neither the single origin filter coffee, nor the amazing flat white or latte brewed behind the elegant Lavazza coffee machine.

They were actually the spaces, the interior designs, and the people over there.

I noticed the creative usage of space- not just to attract more customers, but to display the imaginations of a barista. He is the 'Architect of Spaces', constructing what he wishes to see in his own shop, eg: the interaction and the flow of the customers, and whether there's enough privacy for everyone in the public space, but at the same time, doesn't stop everyone from talking to anyone if he/she wishes to.

The unique design has created an intriguing meeting point for those who genuinely enjoy coffees, those who are there to be pretentious ; those who are there to escape from the real world; or those who are there to simply embrace the spaces.

Although it's a place which tends to move on a slower pace than the outside world, many ideas, emotions, and conversations appear more frequent to inspire the people in the coffee shops. It's like a microcosm of the entire dynamism of a big metropolitan city, but in a contradictory manner.

A little cup of flat white and a relaxing ambience in a quaint surrounding are pacing themselves towards forming an idea that was once scattered pieces of fragments, or brewing a casual yet meaningful conversation that you never thought you would have in the midst of a bustling city life.

Therefore, during my trips to some of the most vibrant cities in the world, I have taken some time out to visit some cafes and photograph some of the sights and scenes which I personally feel, have inspired me to appreciate life from a more beautiful perspective, in one way or another.

Prufrock Coffee, London

Workshop Coffee, London

Association Coffee, London 

Monmouth Coffee & Co, London

Sight Glass, San Francisco

Market Lane Coffee, Melbourne

Stumptown Roaster, New York

Monocle Cafe, London

Sight Glass, San Francisco

Thinking Cup, Boston

Fazil Bey, Istanbul

Prufrock Coffee, London

Flat White, London

Monocle Cafe, London

Approaching quarter-life, where are the dots and how to connect them?

Seriously, I have no idea. 

There are so many articles out there, circulating around telling you what you ought to do in your 20s, what you should not do in your early 20s, what you wished to know in your 20s, and bla bla bla... and it gets repetitious after some time.

I came across this line a while ago. 'The best way to get life experience is to go out there and live'. The best advice to build your own future has to come from yourself. You have to observe how to observe, to learn how to learn, and to fail how to fail, in order to succeed. 

Then I started to find the dots and tried to connect them by travelling.  (p/s: But then again, this is not the only way, or the best way as implied by those articles on the internet. )

There was a time in my university life when I suddenly realised that I haven't seen the world enough. London is the only big city I have lived in throughout my life. Being a metropolitan city, London has provided me many great opportunities and occasions to see things from various perspectives, as well as amazing experiences that I have never come across before. 

From then onwards, I chased after big cities. From London to Paris, to Berlin, to Amsterdam, to New York, to San Francisco, to Istanbul and to Melbourne. Some of them carry a baggage from the past, some of them carry a mission for the future, while some of them carry a lifestyle of the present. So, I thought I would be able to find some extraordinary dots to connect. 

Truth to be told, those cities were really captivating, offering many answers, yet giving more questions at the same time. However I couldn't connect the dots that I found along the way. The journey is akin to looking into a very unique kaleidoscope- beautiful, yet so perplexing.

When I was in San Francisco, I had the chance to get down to some of the tech clusters in Palo Alto and Mountain View. The dynamism is off the chart, and the contradictory traits are so profoundly true. I tried to emulate parts of them, but to no avail. It gets so unreal and psychologically difficult to maintain. 

I took some time out after graduation, so that I will have the time to understand those dots that I found along the journey, before starting a new chapter in life. The observations, feelings, and thoughts which appeared serendipitously in the quest for connecting the dots were thrown out to see the connections between them.  

Few months later, nothing came out of it. Many lines were drawn, many shapes were formed, and even more were erased and remained as dots, as they were before.

So, sometimes I wonder, where are the dots and how to connect them? (blame Steve for this. oh maybe Apple gonna patent this up too! )