Lazy blogger

First post since August. I don't know how other people are able to post new stuff almost everyday.

It's been now a year since I've moved to France. I’ve pretty much settled down and life has become extremely ordinary by now. It takes an overjoyed tourist to remind me that I’m in Paris. Or the fact that I haven’t driven a car in a year.

Some recent pics of the city.

여름이다!!! Summer's here!!!

Summer is in full swing in Paris. The weather has been exceptionally good lately, enough to almost let me forget LA weather. As droves of tourists invade the city, most Parisians are fleeing on vacation. Most of the office is on vacation too. Right now, as I’m writing, there’s only one other person on the entire floor. And a lot of stores in the city are actually closing for the entire month. The three French bakeries around my place – all closed! No croissants for a month!

Here are some recent pictures I took:


Call me crazy but, as I was taking these pictures, I was thinking how much I would love to be back home so I could get in my car, go to an In-N-Out drive thru, and get myself a juicy Double-Double combo and a strawberry shake…

Everyone go get a burger on your way home today!
Maybe I can somehow cosmically project myself so I can enjoy it from over here... :)

Urban art in Paris

Walking around the city, I came across some pretty interesting artwork. It won't get featured at the Louvre anytime soon, but it's interesting nonetheless.

First, the graffiti. I'm used to seeing four letter words and unmentionable body parts plastered all over walls, or maybe some elaborated design of a name that reminds you of those letter puzzles they make you solve when trying to open an email account. Parisians apparently have a more tasteful approach.




Now this one you won't really get unless you're an engineer. I'm gonna have to ask my coworkers if ASME actually means something horribly obscene in French.

Some of the art seems to be so out of this world that it gives you pause.
Apparently it's a mythical character called "le géant Isoré" who would terrorize pilgrims on their way to San Juan de Compostela. The statue was based on drawings done by little kids (that building is a preschool) who imagined the giant as being shy and timid. More on that here if you're interested: PARIS14 (you can do google translate)

Lastly, I found this mural while walking home from work one day. When so many buildings are being wallpapered with ads, it's nice to see something like this once in a while.

Parisian Architecture

Some examples of Parisian Architecture are so well known that they hardly need any introduction


The whole city feels like an architectural dig, and each area of the city has an air of its own. For example, the ornate bridges along the Seine river remind you of the golden age of a once mighty empire.


Some might as well be the ancient equivalent of today's Hummer. Pont Alexandre, for instance, is lined with huge marble columns topped with golden statues. As you cross the bridge, you can just imagine the giant egos of these past monarchs.


It wasn't just the royalty who got to show off. The more posh Parisian neighborhoods like the XVI district are like the Upper East Side and Beverly Hills of today.


These would be the skyscrapers of the past centuries. Some of them are so ornate that it wouldn't do them justice to call them apartments. They're more like mini palaces for the upper class.

Le Musée du Louvre

The one and only. A place so huge that it takes two whole days to see most of it. Its most famous pieces are the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

The Mona Lisa is a lot smaller than I'd expected, probably the size of a bathroom mirror. You had to wait in line to see it.

Venus de Milo is just as famous and the crowds are just as big.

And here is the back side of the statue, which you rarely get to see.

We only spent a few hours at the Louvre, so we just ran from exhibit to exhibit and took shots of anything that looked interesting along the way.

This one got my attention because it wasn't like any of the other statues. It's gold and silver plated from head to toe. The camera doesn't do it any justice.

Paris: Architecture

Some interesting buildings I've seen while running errands around town. They're not monuments or landmarks, just normal everyday buildings that have some interesting features.

A decorated arch leading into a courtyard.


This one is actually an elementary school. The walls have protruding fingers, hands, and feet.I found it to be an interesting way to decorate something that's meant to keep the children from sneaking out.

Eiffel Tower Lightshow

A better view of the sparkling Eiffel Tower from across the Seine river.

Springtime in Paris

The whole city has been blooming for a few weeks now. The most noteworthy are the sakura trees in the city.

They come nowhere close to the sakura trees in DC, but it's still a good show.

The State of Paris

Paris is a city, but it is also a department (sort of like a state). There are mini-cities inside it, twenty of them to be specific, each of them with its own mayor and city hall. This is the city hall for the 15th arrondissement where I live (the biggest in area).

Buenos Aires: Street Shows

Buenos Aires has had a tourist boom ever since the peso got devalued 3 to 1. Now there are tourists all over the city (mainly from Brazil) and people put up shows with whatever talent they might have to make a buck. I've seen magicians, hip hop dancers, even a guy who would walk on broken glass and nails for money.

Here's a street party in San Telmo. I'm pretty sure they were smoking something to act this weird.


La murga, a Argentine style of music. Fast paced with lots of drums and percussion.



The best show I saw was a street stand-up comic called El Chileno. It was like two in the morning but there were at least two hundred people in the crowd. It was one of the most memorable things I did during my trip, and it didn't cost a dime.

Buenos Aires: Demonstrations

Demonstrations and marches are an everyday event in the city. There's always a "paro" (strike) by some group protesting about something on any given day, be it teachers, retirees, unions, you name it.

The two main places where people go make some noise are Congreso and Plaza de Mayo (where the Casa Rosada is, the equivalent to the White House).

A march in front of Congreso:


Protests have become part of the population's human nature, and it's no surprise given how bad the country is doing. And it starts very young, even as early as middle school.

Buenos Aires

I found some photos from my trip to Buenos Aires last year. It had been almost ten years since we had left Argentina. Parts of the city were hardly recognizable.

El Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge), by Santiago Calatrava (famous Spanish Architect). It's in Puerto Madero, the old port of the city.

Puerto Madero used to be nothing but crumbling old buildings when I left ten years ago. It's now the richest area in the city. They have soldiers patrolling the area all the time, so it's one of the few places places in the city with no crime.

Congreso. I used to live a few blocks from this place.


Most people in Argentina are of Spanish or Italian ancestry, but there is a huge Jewish community as well. Here's a McKosher in the Abasto neighborhood.

Buenos Aires: Parks

Modeled after the great cities of Europe like Paris and Madrid, Buenos Aires has some truly beautiful parks spread out here and there.






They are the relics from the glory days of the country. It was once said that Argentina had a head of cow for every brick on the road.