On The Bund 相逢在上海，灘

2013 is coming to an end with the final farewell to my beloved grandma.  In the midst of consuming grief, I am reminded by my favorite character from Harry Potter, Professor Dumbledore:

“Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

向來欣賞格友V文筆影像, 讀她網誌Measurement會心微笑, 緣起緣滅自有定數, 我也是個不執著的人.  有心有緣, 人生往往何處不相逢.

My first christmas present this year, an Alex And Ani phoenix wrap.  Thank you, Dr. C!

十月底在香港和大學同學A相聚, A剛卸任某知名品牌設計總監, 品牌復古東方揉合現代歐風洋溢奢華.  老朋友高䠷白皙如昔, 歲月未曾留下痕跡, 倒是舉手投足多了幾分所屬名牌的精緻嫵媚.  A侃侃而談多年高低起伏, 爽朗一如學生時代的她, 然風光亮麗的背後我聽得出她吃了不少苦頭, 聊至夜深我們舉杯互祝下個十年平安如意！

Light does come from many sources:  loving family, heart warming friendship, wonderful art and great books.

I finally got to check out Lean In:  Women,Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg.  It was a quick and impactful read.  I respect her forthcoming, evidence filled, and matter of fact approach laced with humor.  Nodding as I read, I could not agree more with Sandberg that people should respect different choices and stop judging one another.  Having played many roles myself from a career woman, a stay home mom, and a working parent…  I not only empathize the challenges involved, I am living and breathing them all!

The spectacular pre-war architecture on the Bund.

六月於香港機場突接到少時玩伴S從臉書傳來訊息, 因緣際會我這次出差囊括他與妻子僑居地-上海！約S見面的那天剛巧是此行末塲重頭戲: 與公司大廠, 多金倜儻卻強悍如鯊的H老闆協商來年合約.  因外婆去世團隊都擔心我會否缺席, 當清晨我現身四季飯店大廳, 物流總監亞曼達和採購總監艾利明顯鬆了囗氣, 三人商量好戰略便浩浩蕩蕩朝昆山出發. 早上十點的會開到晚上九點才結束, 一時雙方對峙, H老闆手下強將涙灑談判桌, 中場休戰到H老闆頗有安藤忠雄建築風的貴賓室用泰國菜, 筷箸間仍暗中較勁, 最後亞曼達軟硬兼施的策略奏効歊定合約, H老闆瀟灑設宴, 請我們到上海半島飯店頂樓可將外灘全景盡收眼底的Sir Elly's晚饍, 席間H老闆百般揶揄亞曼達, 我見義勇為以美食話題分散老饕H老闆的注意力, 終於皆大歡喜, H老闆相邀LK替他於台北市新開的餐廳設計菜單(我可沒那麼不自量力...), 金髪藍眼的亜曼達貌似妮可基曼, 我們的在地經理人美琪亦嫻雅美麗, 嗓音磁性的H老闆最後引吭高歌, 清唱Desperado向美女們致意 :) 這場諜對諜下來我累得睜不開眼, 然回到四季飯店大廳見著老朋友S忍不住尖叫連連, 當年高瘦文弱的學院派書生如今世故精明, 很有幾分練達的男人味.  S十分紳士的驚嘆: You look the same after all these years!!! 想是四季大廳燈火昏暗, 不然就是我那幅Dorian Gray不知遺失到哪兒去, 畫中人在某個角落悄悄衰敗凋零.  笑談小時候LK弟和我臉龐如孿生, 我們的母親都美麗驕傲生不逢辰且時不我予, 多年來家庭事業波瀾沖擊… S對世事分析獨到精闢, 某個層面仍是當年那位迷The Catcher in the Rye的敏銳少年 :)

A beautiful model poised for a photo shoot outside the Bank of China.

Sad as having to face the departures in my life for the past few years, I was also fortunate enough to be reunited with many old friends while trotting the globe :)  It was magical to see these inspiring men and women in foreign cities like Tokyo, Cebu, Hong Kong, Shanghai… miles away from where we originally came from after all these years.  Luckily my BFF also settled down in the San Francisco Bay Area and we held our year-end ‘girls night out’ at the Central Kitchen.  Great food pairing with great conversations, I felt a heart full of warmth despite the cold, cold winter outside.

J是我研究所同學, 閒雲野鶴, 以週遊列國為人生主旨. 每次回臺北只要J沒出門旅行都會邀約, 是無論心情好壞皆可為伴的良友. 她喜歡吃也懂吃, 豁達且善傾聽. 原來J外婆的告別式在我外婆的告別式前ㄧ個禮拜舉行, 享年ㄧ百零五, 比我外婆更長壽.  那天我們在三井日本料理午宴(算是解穢酒), 聊著聊著突有感數十年後當J和我都成了老太太(希望我倆都繼承了外婆們的長壽基因), 應該還會結伴談心旅行喫美食吧!

知我憂外婆逝世消沈, 幾個各有各忙的老朋友紛紛浮出水面問候: M找我時我正在Las Vegas過另類感恩節, 等兩人都'喬'好空檔暢談竟是我下班後在車裏commute的那小時(!) 哇啦哇啦隔空互喊交換近況.  雖然地產事務忙碌, M可是盡責的奶爸, 和藝術家太太分擔育兒重擔, 我益發興起陶醉的訴說吾兒小V多麼聰明可愛… 說著心頭驚駭:  我怎麼婆媽大嬸似的對帥哥發表媽媽經?! M畢竟是M, 不管話題是當代藝術或是孩子potty training, 他低沈的聲音泛著笑意, 成熟包容, 讓人但覺溫暖.  好學不倦的M將回哈佛進修, 相約他舉家東遷前再聚!

Among the cities that I visited in 2013, Shanghai surely stood out.  Its history charmed and its potential seduced.  The metropolis is a firework extravaganza with ever changing sceneries… each crackling bouquet more exuberant than the one comes before.

Dinner at the Sir Elly’s… the table setting screamed Dracula(Oh, Mina my love :P)

Caviar adorned oyster on a bed of floral scented salt – sinful texture in delicate gesture.  Kind of like the Ruth Brown quote - 'A fox is a wolf who sends flowers.'

On my own, I very much prefer fresh and steamy local fare.

歡慶歲末, Dr. C和我選新派加州料理Central Kitchen為2013年最後ㄧ次Girls' Night Out, 也算是提早替魔羯座的Dr. C慶生.  冬蟹沙拉口感跳躍, 奶油瓜蜂蜜控肉香腴, 鹽燒各式各樣芋薯菇蕈意想不到鮮甜!  酒醉飯飽之際Dr. C遞上黑色燙金的小小禮盒, 送我環保意識分明Alex And Ani設計的浴火鳳凰手鐲… 老朋友就是這樣, 某種心情唯你能懂, 只因她風雅他風流.

‘On the Road’ clippings from various trips - this sums up my 2013.  Happy Holidays to you all!!!

2013年公私皆驛馬星動, 擁抱新挑戰也開啟新契機, 部落格多少荒廢了很慚愧. 集結大大小小旅途剪影, 代替聖誕卡向格友們問候, 希望大家2014開開心心!!!

ps. V提到的Manresa:  An Edible Reflection亦是有緣, LK先生和我當年約會驚艷其美味的餐廳便是大廚David Kinch出師的Sent Sovi, 婚後某年慶生我們又循著主廚足蹟來到Manresa飽口福 :) David Kinch的料理精準詩意, 真實坦誠的美感非爐火純青的功夫是做不到的.

ps.  Just came across this New York Times article on ‘selfie’: 

'The Documented Life' resonates with my old post in September.  Some comments on the article cracked me up like “Why reading too much into it?  People take selfie because they think they look good and want to show it off…”  In the end, whatever works for each person is different and as long as it pleases him or her, why not?  The rest of us can always turn the news feed off to spare ourselves from turning green with envy(people tend to 'selfie' more when traveling to exotic destinations and if free wifi is available) or in most cases, save your eyes from the permanent damage of fashion faux pas :P  After quitting a couple social network, I actually enjoy my new found freedom very much and love more face to face conversations with uninterrupted moment to reflect.  This is, to live in the present and to be grateful with every present coming my way :)