CDG has two separate lounges for frequent travelers with United Airlines: the Red Carpet lounge, and the Star Alliance lounge. The former is open from 8am to 12pm, during which time a Global Service customer with United Airlines cannot access the Star Alliance lounge, even though she has Gold status with Star Alliance. This makes no sense at all…
Neige is 28 months old, and speaks four languages: Cantonese, English, French, and Spanish. She can now make full sentences with 3 or 4 words in all four languages, and has a vocabulary of hundreds of words in both English, French, and Spanish. As her mom and I found out, the key is in always associating one tongue to one person: her mom will only speak English to her, I will stick to French, she speaks Spanish at daycare, and her grand-mother on the mother side only speaks Cantonese to her. Overall, she does not seem to be confused, and developed a good understanding that different people speak different languages in order to say similar things. Last week, she was watching Dora in Spanish with her mom and did the translation in English for her. Quite amazing…
Over the past couple of weeks, I have started to use Twitter to push some updates on Intalio, my traveling, and some elements of my personal life. My Twitter feed is available at @ghalimi, and syndicates feeds for both IT|Redux (professional blog) and ghalimi.name (personal blog). Moving forward, I will use ghalimi.name for any article longer than 140 characters.
Since Intalio is growing very rapidly on a worldwide basis, I find myself on the road more often than I would like to. In 2008 alone, I stayed in hotels 102 nights out of 365 days. 2009 should bring as many out-of-home nights, or even more. For example, I am now living one week a month in Tokyo. As a result, I am trying to optimize my hotel stays as much as possible. So far, I used Starwood properties almost exclusively, and retained Platinum status (25 stays or 50 nights a year) for three years in a row. Nevertheless, I usually get enough stays to renew my status by July or August, making any subsequent stays useless from a status standpoint. As a result, I have decided to use two chains in parallel: Starwood and Hyatt. While Starwood offers a much wider range of properties (from the low-cost Four Points to the luxury St. Regis), Hyatt delivers more consistency and gives members access to some truly exceptional properties, such as the beloved Park Hyatt Tokyo where I have elected residence. My goal this year will be to maintain Platinum status with Starwood, while reaching Diamond status with Hyatt. I’ll try to get the former with over 25 stays (irregular travel pattern with short stays), and the later with over 50 nights (monthly travel pattern with week-long stays).
France is the country attracting the most tourists in the World, with well over 80 million visiting every year (81.9 million in 2007). Spain comes second, with less than 60 million. The French tourism industry has enjoyed this leadership position for many years, and became fairly complacent as a result. This is particularly obvious when looking at the hospitality industry. The quality of services offered by French hotels is no match to what can found in most European countries (except in the United Kingdom), in the United States, or in Asia. The situation is changing though, and some hotel chains have started to upgrade their rooms and amenities in order to match international standards. After many years of research, I finally found a good hotel in Paris: the Hyatt Regency Paris Madeleine. It’s a bit off center, but definitely up there in terms of overall quality. Strongly recommended!
Two years ago, I attended my first traditional tea ceremony (sadō) as a guest. Today, I received my very first lesson as a student. My sensei is Nagura San, and she gave me all the artifacts I need to practice, including fukusa (silk cloth), kobukusa (silk mat), kaishi (paper), and purse. The lesson took two hours, and while sitting on my knees for so long was quite painful, I actually felt rested afterward. Apparently, being left handed allowed me to fold the fukusa relatively well for a beginner. Since I am planning to spend a week a month in Tokyo for the next few years, I will get a lesson every month, which means that I should be able to master the art in a dozen years or so. Patience is the mother of all virtues…
If I was a flower growing wild and free,
All I’d want is you to be my sweet honey bee,
And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen,
All I’d want is you to shade me and be my leaves.
If I was a flower growing wild and free,
All I’d want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and greeen,
All I’d want is you to shade me and be my leaves.
All I want is you, will you be my bride.
Take me by the hand and stand by my side.
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.
If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I’d be the snow.
Just as long as you were with me, when the cold winds blow.
All I want is you, will you be my bride,
Take me by the hand and stand by my side.
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.
If you were a wink, I’d be a nod.
If you were a seed, well I’d be a pod.
If you were the floor, I’d wanna be the rug,
And if you were a kiss, I know I’d be a hug.
All I want is you, will you be my bride?
Take me by the hand and stand by my side.
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.
If you were the wood, I’d be the fire.
If you were the love, I’d be the desire.
If you were a castle, I’d be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I’d learn to float.
All I want is you, will you be my bride?
Take me by the hand and stand by my side.
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.
Barry Louis Polisar — All I Want Is You
© Ismael Chang Ghalimi. Powered by WordPress using the DePo Clean Theme.