Ah, San Francisco. I sent my Dad a postcard from SF saying I was in the most beautiful city in the world. Beauty for me is beyond what I can see, it includes the vibe, minimal stress (phsyical as well as emotional) and convenience. Unlike bigger cities, the people of SF are not the angry type. They don’t have the need to be nasty to others to get their way or prove to themselves that they’re more powerful. It’s just a place where I can live and breathe. I feel the same way for only two other cities: Edinburgh and Melbourne.

Monocle Magazine publishes annually a list of liveable cities. Important criteria in this non-scientific survey are safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transportation, tolerance, Environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, pro active policy developments and medical care. Think the city you live in has good points in all those areas?

Like any big city, I have a love-hate relationship with London. It is unforgiving, everyone is on the move and when you’re lost, you’re lost.  Before I went to London, I thought it was full of white people but to my shock, Caucasians are a minority there. It was as dirty as Manila and also had a lot of rude people.  The baristas in Starbucks probably were the nastiest. The gate where Thai airways was looked like a barn. I had to look around and wouldn’t be surprised if I’d see hay.  I was so disappointed, I had this image of London which was filled only with good things. I thought it was a bigger better version of Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Or Sydney. After all, London is their mother city. Les Miserables in the West End was low budget. Other shows were on really old theatres with very uncomfortable and non-ergonomic seats. However, the country side was a different story. Stunningly beautiful. Will try to rummage through my other photos.

This time I left Chicago when fall has just started. After a week of too much sunshine, it was cold again. Cold, not cool. Not San Francisco cool but walk-in meat freezer cold. But that’s nothing compared to last winter. We see pretty pictures of winter and to those who haven’t experienced snow think that experiencing a white Christmas is a dream come true. Ladies and gentlemen, look at the picture above and that’s fresh snow. Soon it melts and gets mushy. And muddy. If you don’t have waterproof shoes (who has one, anyway?), it gets into your socks making your toes feel the squish every step you make. And the fun part: when the temperature drops again, it turns the melted snow into ice.

I love Louis Vuitton shops, they hold so much promise.