A toast to the halfway point of our overseas attachment

As you can see, it's not all hostility between Linus and I. What am I saying, there's no hostility at all.

In that photo, we're drinking sauternes, a French dessert wine, and having some wonderful French pastry at the same time. I don't remember its name any more, but I sure do remember its taste. Absolutely marvellous stuff.

Alright, in case you're dying to know what exactly it is we're having, take a look at the photo below.







We actually had these on Linus's balcony, enjoying the gentle night breeze, staring out at the sky and our neighbouring blocks, observing who's asleep and who's not, admiring the architecture of the classy residential estate.

For that few hours, it seemed that the rest of the world was quite far away from us. That night was just us, and peace.

We started to contemplate the possibility of spending a night in Singapore doing the exact same thing. I immediately pointed out that it was quite difficult - the hot weather in Singapore, even at night, turns one off from any enjoyment, warms up the wine before you know it, and melt your dessert so quickly that you had to gobble it down.

Climate aside, there isn't anything to deter anyone from having such past times in Singapore. Though it's true that the buildings here are much more pleasant to look at, everything becomes boring once you've been looking at it for long.

Parisians are people who don't find it troublesome to bring a glass of wine, a couple of wine glasses, a piece of cheese wrapped in cloth, out to a beautiful spot to enjoy with their favourite company. Of course, beautiful night spots are abundant in Paris. No, I don't mean pubs or bars. I mean outdoors.

Like outside Musée du Louvre, for example.

Though most of my photos don't show much people around, it's only because I intentionally looked for angles where people couldn't be seen, or I waited for them to pass by. That place is actually rather lively at night.

Perhaps I'm trying to bring the French culture to Singapore. I felt that it might be nice if Singaporeans could sit back and appreciate whatever we have in our country, and make the most of it.

Maybe I'm too idealistic. That adjective has been used on me before. A good friend of mine once told me that it's quite impossible to slow down after having moved at a fast pace for so long. I think what he says is true, until you bring every single Singaporean out to countries like France, and let them realise that life can be experienced slowly.

Like what photography has taught me, you can walk very fast, and photograph a lot of different places, but then you'll miss out the individual details which combine together to give the place its beauty and unique quality.

What kind of life would you prefer to lead: To experience a little of everything, or to experience less, but to a greater depth?