Lausanne

Lausanne is the closest "big"city to Geneva yet I've never had a chance to go there so what better a time than during Spring Break? Lausanne resident and ex-classmate Sarah gladly volunteered to show Amir and I around. Thank you for the great guide :)

Lausanne central station

Beautiful lake.. different view of the Lake Leman from the other side!

Olympic Committee HQ & Museum

Possibly the best tapioca place in Switzerland...I missed this so much!

Finishing the tour with beer of course!

Le Kraken Bar

It's Easter break and since prices sky rocket, my schedule has been wide open. In fact it's been quite a stressful semester already so it's a good time to rest up and catch up on studying and watching movies & tv shows. Of course, our classmates and I can't go without going out drinking. From the first day of grad school, Le Kraken Bar on Rue de Medicin has been our sacred place where we can let out our academic stress, have fun , and make lots of memories. This time goes without saying with me losing my memory for about a good 10min hehe. No worries, no harm done. It was a fantastic night. My grad school major is only 11 people (down from 12 with one of us deciding to opt out!) but because of that our friendship and bond has become stronger than ever through these months. I definitely wouldn't of had this had I decided to go to another school!

March 11, 2015

For those that know me, March 11 holds a special meaning.
It's the day that I've lost my parent's roots and  my childhood home
It's the day that I've lost family
It's the day that I've lost close family freinds and classmates.
It's the 4th anniversary of the Tohoku Tsunami that occured in Northeastern Japan.
It's the day that breaks me the most. Every year I do something special (this is what I did last year) to try to commemorate all the lives that were lost and those who still continue to live in temporary housing including my 2 aunts.

This year I decided to go to a place to clear my mind in a beautiful place and also pray in a place that's high up. I've decided to go to Mürren because I heard that you're able to see the three famous mountains of  Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn which are considered "holy"mountains of Swiss after Matterhorn. It's also a car-free zone in which you're only allowed to enter the village through electric car or mountain cables.

You can imagine it's not easy getting there. First you take the train to Bern (1), then transfer to go to Interlarken (2). From interlarken you take the cable car to Lauterbrunnen (3), then the mountain train to Mürren (4). Whew 4 transfers! All in all, it took close to 4 hours to get there!

早くも5回忌となった今年の3月11日。色々考えた末、少しでもお空に近いところで空気が澄んだところに行きたいな、思ってたところ見つけたのがミューレンという小さな村。なんでもスイス三大山のJungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhornが見える唯一の村なんだとか。ここに決ーめたという感覚で出発。が、長かった・・・
①電車でジュネーブ→ベルン
②スキー列車でベルン→インターラーケン
③ロープウェーでローターブルーネンまで
④登山電車でミューレンまで

と国内でもかなり時間がかかる　汗。でも綺麗な空気とパワーをもらうため、いざ！

View of Lake Leman from the train

Bern Station

Transferring to get on the "ski express" to Interlarken

Change of scenery from lake to mountain

During ski season, the trains fill up!

Cutest dog ever　スイスの列車で犬はしょっちゅう見かける。このおばさま達はローカルなのでワンちゃんも慣れている様子。

And now in snow territory

Off to high up on the cable car!　これからロープウェーに乗ります♪

View from cable car, stunning

高いな～まるでディズニーランドのアトラクション並み。他の乗車客はローカルの方かスキー愛好者のみ。やはりここまえ観光に来る人は少ないよう　；＾＾

Last transfer!

登山電車に乗ってやっとミューレンが近づいてきた！

Love the old school design of the train　内装はかなりレトロで気に入りました

Not even there but the view from the train is beyond beautiful already!　もうすっかり雪国

Ça y est!　そして乗り継ぎ３回、計４時間近く。やっと着きました！

First thing is first: had some fantastic rösti and Swiss beer after a long ride. Being in the mountains in March, of course there's still heavy snow all around but the snow is soft and fluffy. I decided to take a walk around the village to take a good view of the mountains. And the scenes were breathless. I just walked around meditating and clearing my mind as memories of 3.11 once again rushed through my mind.

This view with great beer　とりあえずビールでしょ

There's lots of different röstis but my favorite one is with egg and tomato :)　スイス名物ロスティー。お味はハッシュポテトのベースにチーズや卵のトッピングを載せてオーブンで焼いたもの。間違いなくおいしい。寒い冬に暖まる一品

これぞスイス！って感じの村　笑　すごい風情

hehe love this philosophy

夏はハイキング、冬はスキーで賑わうそうだけど、今はオフシーズンなので村自体は静か。
閑静な村をぐるっとお散歩した後、見晴らしのいい場所を見つけたのでそこで静かに東北大震災で亡くなった方々、家族の冥福を祈りました。やっぱり車禁止ゾーンだけあって空気はものすごーく澄んでいます。寒いけどすごく清清しい気分で村を後にしました。今度は夏のハイキングシーズンに来たいな～・・・

Following the dog on my walk

I found a quiet place with a great view of the mountains and I must've stayed for half an hour, just closing my eyes and offering my prayers. I was only there for a few hours as I had to head back but the cold and clear air brought solace and comfort. I hope to come back again, next time when it's warm!

Can you spot the hang glider guy?

Snow snow snow

Oh my, it's been snowing so much these days! Welcome to Switzerland

パリ：お土産偏

今や恒例のこのコーナー　笑

いつもながらメインは食材と生活用品　笑。食べ物系はもっと持ってきたかったけど自分の荷物があったのでこれが限界。チーズ、コーヒー、キッシュ、りんご、有機豆腐（！）まで生活観丸出し　笑。 ちなみにタッパに入っているのはタブレといってクスクスのサラダ。今やフランス料理化してるけどもともとは北アフリカ移民の伝統食。

年末に帰省したときいろいろ買い忘れたアジア系食材があったのでRに頼んでアジア系スーパーに連れて行ってもらうことに。中華街にあるTang Freresはフランスでは一番有名なアジア系食材店で種類は豊富で激安。魚醤、ごま油、厚揚げ豆腐、麺系などさまざま。パリに住んでいたころはアジアと は全く無縁だったのでこういうところには来た事がなかったのだそうだけど、今やアジア在住歴1年半、興味深々に品物定めをしていたR。最終的に彼が買った ものは冷凍餃子、キムチ、海苔、お米　笑。こってこってのアジア人化になってる堀の深いフランス人　プププ。滞在中も大半はお米を炊いて二人で食べてました。どんだけだ　笑。

約100円で買ったスーパーMonoprixのエコバッグ。毎日二人の買い物に多いに役立ちました。
Monoprixチェーンはパリ市内には至るところにあってかなり便利。店舗によっては夜遅くまで空いているのでパリ市民の強い見方。値段は他のスーパーに比べると若干高いといわれてるようだけど、質はいいし、種類も豊富で観光客向けにもいろいろ商品が置いてあるのでおすすめ。

こ れは多きめのエコバッグだけど、折りたたみの小さいサイズもあって、これは日本の観光客にバラマキお土産として人気なんだとか？現地では50～75円ぐら いなのにネットでは日本で700円ぐらいで売ってました；－－　バッグの人気の秘密は季節ごとにデザインが変わるので限定式で、しかもバッグのメッセー ジがかわいいので地元の人もついつい買ってしまうんだとか。ちなみにあたしのは「人生は一杯になる（満ち足りる）ことがない」、とバッグが（商品で）一杯に なることと人生をかけていてなかなかシュール

美容系もいろいろ揃えてきました。さすが美容の本場パリだけあって、ドラッグストアは種類豊富!　しかもオーガニックや敏感肌に対応しているものが多いのでヨーロッパに来て肌がカッサカッサで赤くなるほどのあたしの肌質によく合う。

な かでもセレブや美容マニアが通うRue du Four にあるドラッグストアのアウトレットへ。ここでは所狭しにさまざまな美容グッズがお得サイズで売ってる。日本でも人気のBiodermaのふき取りクレンジングは2本で約1800円！（日本では一本2000円以上　涙）。他にも美容オイルやクリームなど。マウスウォッシュまで買ってもうたけど　どれを とってもスイスでは激高なのでかなり助かりました～

ちなみに手前のBiafineはRからの頂き物。乾燥で肌が荒れていたのでこれ一本頂きました。主に火傷や日焼けに効くのだけど、肌の炎症や赤みに塗ってもいいんだそう。「どこのフランスの家庭でも必ず一本はあるんだからね！」と念を押されていただきました　笑。うーん・・あたしはフランス人じゃないし敷いて言えばスイス住民なんですけど 汗　;^^。でもこれが本当によく効く。時々肌が乾燥すると無意識のうちにかいて赤くなることが多いので重宝してます♪

 

1･2月は日本同様、パリは大バーゲンシーズン。今回は低予算だったので残念ながら あまり買い物はできなかったもののこの皮ブーツは一目惚れでしかも半額の8500円でゲット！日本で買ったら多分2-3万は軽くいきそう・・・来シーズンに履かせてもらいます☆

今回の買い物はRには場所を探してもらったり、お勧め物を聞いたり本当にお世話になりました　m(_ _)m 

Paris (Jan/Feb 2015) XI - Day 7 Last Day

The last day was just a blur. I think I spent most of the time crying until the time that waved off R at the platform of his train, then to my station and arriving back in Geneva. It's been a nice peaceful few days together. It wasn't what the flashy Paris life style or tourist style that most people would imagine but it felt very natural and just ourselves. Since we lived in an apartment, we almost felt as if we were living in Paris just doing the normal things like go grocery shopping and taking walks around the city. But in any case it was a good time with good memories.

One thing I must mention is that on Day 3, the water heater broke down in the apartment. After many phone calls with the guy that lives there (he has a place in Quebec so he goes back and forth) whom was very helpful but we just couldn't get the thing to work. We spent the last 3 days without any hot water which was quite hard during the winter in Paris when it was snowing outside. We helped each other wash our hair and boil hot water to take showers. Sounds really sexy right? ;) But we survived and got through all of it with a good laugh for the most part. Looking forward to the next time we travel together!

Gare de Lyon

Beautiful sunset I saw on the TGV

Until next time!!!