Nice, Ville French, Eze

Arrived in Nice, France.  When we disembarked from the plane, what struck me was how the people were all dressed casually in resort wear while I was still strutting in my boots from the Paris flight. I felt really out of place in the bright sunshine walking among tanned tourists, so I decided to fit in. We rested for a while, then I changed into sometime casual and walked out....into a light drizzle! Wahhhhhh! *beat chest* It was getting cold but I decided that my pashmina shawl would do the job. Bad idea.

Anyway, above are pictures of the square in the shopping street, right outside Nespresso boutique. (If you made any purchase, you stand to savor a nice hot expresso and a choc.) Anyway, I thought the sculptures of the bald men on tall poles were cool. Bizarre, but cool.

We took one of these electric cars equipped with a pre-programmed GPS. It was a cool tour at a good price. Was only 50 euros for an hour's tour. We could choose the routes and it was fun to zip about in a ultra small car. I felt quite vulnerable among all the regular cars, and the top speed was only about 60km/h. So it was a little frustrating and stressful trying to change lanes. We had fun though.

Anyway, here's sunset at the famous beach.

And here's me missing my Tiger. The westies here are so super-cute with their round heads and short snouts. I need to find Tiger a European wife.

 At Ville-French Sur-la-Mer. This little town just 15mins off Nice is really quaint and has the nicest photo spots and a small beach for tanning. The only thing is that I was really melting under the hot sun, even with sunnies, hat and umbrella.

 There is a castle here....

...with a free exhibition of medieval figurines.

Souvenir shop at Eze Village. I like the turtle on the right with the cheesy smile.

It was a small village, but I love this place the most from among the places in Provence...

....and here's why....

One of the loveliest hotels on the French Riveria owned by an old lady who lived upstairs on the top floor. I know this because a friend who has cash to burn has stayed here before. Inside, be prepared to be awed by the awesome art collection.

Anyway, am tired. Will continue another day. This blogspot photos uploader is giving me such a headache.

Paris & Versailles

This is turning into some sort of travel blog since I am out of topics to blog about. Anyway, here are 

some snippets of my recent 2 weeks in Europe. Weather was just about right. Not too cold and still 

sunny. First day was in Paris. I was so tired after 13 hours in the plane but well, yup I still do need to 

wear heels.

Here is the necessary and cliche Eiffel Tower shot that everyone takes. I didn't go up this time round. Already went up once ten years ago and didn't have the heart to brave the queue.

This place is a stone's throw from the Tower (also depends on how far u can throw a stone LOL)

Love the fountains in this area. 

Walk up farther ahead up the structure near the fountains. This is a great spot to catch pics of the Eiffel Tower, if you can get past the Moroccans selling fake designer bags. Anyway we were pretty much spent for the day, especially navigating back to the hotel. The hotel has a view of the Tower, but when we tried to walk back, it took FOREVER!!!

The next day we went to Versailles, palace of the Sun King Louis XIV. It was huge! If you're going there, take a short cut by buying entrance tickets from the Bleu Roi Cafe on the right of the palace. We didn't have to queue.

Here I am, at the recently restored golden gates with a snaking queue for the security check.

Phew made it inside. It was going to rain so we decided to visit the Jardins (gardens) first.

Nice right...and this is autumn. Imagine how it looks in spring...mmm..*breathe*

All sorts of kooky little bushes in the gardens.

The lovely thing about the gardens is also that there are cafes to lounge around in and enjoy the scenery. They are hidden in nooks and corners.

Love the beauuuutifulll gardens. Can imagine why the aristocrats get caught up in the pleasures of courtly life now. The story goes that it was King's Louis sneaky ploy to prevent them from meddling in his ruling process.

Wondering what this is about? Me too, until I went into the palace itself...

Here's the small version.

We were lucky enough to bump into the artist for the exhibit. The Japanese man with long hair and goatee is Takashi Murakami. He is the man responsible for putting those cherry blossoms and colours (and I suspect the cherries) on the LV bags.

Love this hall..all the lovely chandeliers! We walked till our legs were sore. Too many rooms. I wonder how the queens coped with all their heavy gowns? Just being at 'home' is so tiring.

Anyway, last pic for today...I tried a Segway for the first time ever...in a drizzle. I took to it naturally, just like everyone else I suppose. You just kinda have to think and look where you want to go and it follows! Amazing! Had quite a bit of fun on the "trial" session.

Quirky Stuff

Here's what I saw in a novelty shop in Paris:

For fans of gore, this is the ideal gift. Imagine a big red bloody O+ pack hanging in the bath and all the 'blood' trickling down as you shower.

Tongue-in-cheek toilet paper for those "emergencies". Just put one of these in a corner for those fateful moments when your paper runs out just as you are having a "moment".

What I came across driving in Singapore....See the poster on the back of this car? I thot it was some Bollywood star posing for a movie. Until I drove past and saw the driver! Lo and behold...this guy has an ego the size of his wheel. Super funny that someone would put his face on his car in this manner!

Dog cruelty in Singapore

I am so appalled that the person who killed this little dog has not been caught yet. Here's the low down on what happened:

Dog believed to have been bashed to death

By Sia Ling Xin A DOG found dead in Sengkang on Wednesday evening is believed to have been beaten to death, said the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Click on thumbnail to view For more photos, click here. A preliminary examination of the Pomeranian by a vet showed injuries to its head consistent with trauma, said the SPCA's executive officer, Ms Deidre Moss. Police said they received a call at about 7.40pm informing them that an animal carcass had been found at Block 267B, Compassvale Link. The SPCA was notified later and its staff collected the carcass. The dog was found with a leash on. Ms Moss believes that the incident might have been witnessed by people at a nearby coffeeshop. A hawker from the coffeeshop told Shin Min Daily News that a man in his 40s had earlier approached him, asking to borrow a knife. The man had been leading the dog. When the hawker turned him down, the man led the dog to the void deck and bashed it repeatedly against a wall. SPCA's examination of the dog found that it had been microchipped. Microchipping - the implanting of a tiny electronic device between the animal's shoulder blades - can help link a dog back to its owner. The carcass was handed over to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for further investigations yesterday. An AVA spokesman told my paper that the dog's microchip number was not registered with them and a post-mortem is underway. Ms Moss said: "This is an outrageous, violent act. We hope the person who did it can be apprehended soon, as he or she might be a danger to both people and more animals." » Neighbour films woman beating dog » Dog hit repeatedly with wooden sticks Sengkang resident Sarah Koh, 32, said she was shocked to hear about the act, as it was carried out so close to her home. She said: "I keep thinking of how helpless the dog must have felt and who could have done such a terrible thing." The maximum penalty for animal abuse is a $10,000 fine and a one-year jail term.

Firstly it is sickening that the abuser is so depraved that he is impervious to the pain and torture he is inflicting on his very own pet. This is the dog that has been loyally with him all this while, trusting its owner to protect and care for it! It is akin to killing your own family member. 

I can't even imagine what would happen if the hawker lent him a knife. How can he throw the dog against the wall, the floor, and hear the shrieks, yelps, whines, howls of pain but yet not stop? Apparently, after the act, he was remorseful. But WHAT IS THE DAMN POINT?! 

Obviously he has an anger problem and took it out on his dog. An innocent animal paid with its life for being in the wrong hands.

Secondly, WHAT ARE THE BLOODY PEOPLE STANDING AROUND FOR!? Why didn't anyone stop the man? 

Some speculated that the man could be crazy and one called the police, "HOPING" that they will turn up before the dog dies. 

Come on, the abuser is ONLY ONE man, and there are so many spectators. All it takes is for one person to take courage, and stand up for what is right. To protect a helpless animal against its to-be murderer. Defending the defenseless. 

I can't say what I would do in that situation, but I would NEVER stand by and watch while such cruelty is taking place. Even if it would put myself at risk, I think it would be better than watching the dog die, going home to wish I DID something, and losing sleep over it. 

The hawker says he is getting nightmares over it. He SHOULD! He is a strong young man, with a knife, no less. And the victim is a small, pathetic creature 10% of his size! 

Why are Singaporeans so apathetic? Why are there so many cowards? What will it take for someone to just shout out at the man to stop whatever he is doing? Justice needs to be done. The killer has to be identified and arrested and prosecuted and fined and jailed. Just so that people can recognize that animal cruelty is wrong.

I urge everyone who has information about the case to contact the SPCA so that we can identify the culprit. Sign the online petition by clicking here .

For every one case that gets reported, countless others suffer in silence. There was a recent incident where a dog was beaten with a baseball stick by a woman. The dog was chained to a corner in the kitchen and could not escape. All for the "crime" of bitting the owner's cushion. When will people start to value life over objects?




Frustration with your dog is not ample reason to beat it up. People need to get educated on how to train their dogs. Simply beating it up when it barks too much is not the solution. The dog does not get the idea. It doesn't associate the beating with its barking. Instead, it becomes fearful and angry, and eventually aggressive.




One way to deal with noisy dogs is to approach it quickly when it howls or barks, find its adam's apple just along the throat, put your fingers on it and give a hard jerk. This will choke the dog and it associates this discomfort with the noisy barking. Consistency is the key!


Your dog will probably give a sharp yelp of pain. It may seem cruel, but it beats (pun intended) beating up your pet regularly. You probably need a few days or weeks to get the message across to your dog. But it is worth it in the long run and you will be a much happier dog owner for it.


For a fulfilling and rewarding relationship with your dog, I urge you to go for dog obedience classes where you can get professional help on how to correct problems. If not, at least bother to go online to search for tips on dog training. It's the least you can do.