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My 10 (+1) favorite Asian restaurants in London
I kicked off this year with my recommendations for 5 (+1) Japanese novels to read in 2020, followed by my suggestions for 5 more books from, or about, Japan. Then, earlier this month, the South Korean film ‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joon-ho, not only won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but also the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. So, last week, I embarked on a cinematic journey to South Korea. Today, I am going back to London, but at the same time I’m staying in Asia. This sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Well… being a foodie and a Londoner, I love…
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A cinematic journey to South Korea
A few days ago, the South Korean film ‘Parasite’, directed by Bong Joon-ho, not only won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, but also the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This was a historical moment: ‘Parasite’ is the first South Korean film to have been nominated in these categories, as well as the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It had also won the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. These remarkable achievements have unsurprisingly rekindled my interest in South Korean cinema. For this reason, today I am embarking on a cinematic journey to South…
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Top 7 tips for an unforgettable weekend in Nantes
I recently visited my friend Marie, who lives in Nantes, a vibrant city in west France (not exactly on the coast, but not too far either). Although Marie has been living there for over ten years now, this was my first ever time in Nantes. It definitely won’t be the last though. I flew there from London on a Friday evening, and came back exactly 48 hours later, on Sunday evening. Based on this brief trip, I’m now sharing my top 7 tips for an unforgettable weekend in Nantes, the 6th most populous city in France (in case you’re wondering the largest one is Paris, followed by Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse,…
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A classical music journey to Great Britain
I recently came across ‘The Classical Music Map of Britain’ written by Richard Fawkes and originally published in 2010. In this book, Fawkes takes the reader on a classical music journey to Great Britain, visiting places with connections to classical music composers, both British and from abroad. The book is divided into five sections: England, London, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Within each of these five sections, the author visits a great number of places (houses, churches, museums) in alphabetical order. This makes it rather difficult for the reader to follow in Fawkes’s footsteps. I would have personally preferred it if the journey followed a geographical, or even thematic, order…
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A musical journey to France
Bonjour! I am currently in Nantes, the sixth-largest city in France. I am here to attend a classical music festival known as La Folle Journée. Held annually since 1995, this year it is dedicated to Beethoven and celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth. It takes place over five days between the 29th of January and the 2nd of February 2020, and the program features around 250 classical music concerts. I would now like to take the opportunity to take you on a musical journey to France, a country with a rich musical tradition, and the birthplace of some of my favorite composers: Hector Berlioz (born in the Isère department in southeastern France; 11…