TRAVEL THROWBACK: UNPREDICTABLE PARIS #01

Once upon a block, many blockchain versions away, prior to COVID-19 hitting every corner on planet Earth. A time before looking like a Permanent Residence of China becomes a crime and receiving blackbelts in mixed martial arts increasingly a necessity, PARIS used to be awesome. I'm sure the city of love is still magical but in a different sort of way.

PAHREE is one of the those unpredictable cities I had the pleasure of visiting a while ago. When I was sort of expecting and mentally prepared for nasty name calling, pickpockets, physical assaults and rude waiters or waitresses, Paris actually welcomed me with open arms. Their magnanimity baffled me. I experienced three seasons; spring, summer and winter within the first week there. By the way, I took a taxi from the airport. It saved me a lot of trouble because it was simply not worth losing a luggage over saving a few Euros.

My short stay nearby Metro Villiers enriched my inner world tremendously. I learned something about myself that I never consciously paid much attention to previously such as remembering metro stations like the back of my hand rather effortlessly. I'm also grateful to be blessed with adequate common sense through observations to stand on the right side of escalators or staircases during rush hours and to be cautious even when utilizing zebra crossings.

Unlike Astrid in Crazy Rich Asian who could afford to visit Paris for casual shopping spree on a whim whenever she wanted, the life of average Malaysians were far from fairytale descriptions. Although Malaysia is known as an oil rich country, every household owning a petrol kiosk or an oil rig is the most absurd baseless assumption one can make. The year I turned 17, while most of my classmates had considerate and capable parents paying for their overseas trips, I was unfortunately one of those marginalized kids due to my undesirable gender at home as well as undesirable race in my country. If I was born a boy, families would sell land or anything of value to send me to the best schools possible.

The reason I am sharing my story is because I do not wish young readers to misconstrue the true value of money. Maybe it's a piece of cake for others but I endured countless insults and hardships to arrive at my current lifestyle choices. It's a miracle I am still walking and breathing freely on the streets instead of committing crime out of resentment. I grew smarter partly thanks to those hurting me in the past. Yup, life is sometimes weird like that. A fine balance between learning from the best and the worse while trying to avoid condoning wickedness as much as possible.

Anyway, Metro Villiers is located on the border of 8th and 17th arrondissement of Paris. This area is teeming with so much life. Just walking down from the residential apartments and I'm surrounded by marts, restaurants, boulangerie, patisserie, fromagerie, wine shops, pharmacy, flower shop, post office and more. The Saturday market was very interesting too.

Parisians were surprisingly polite. "Bonjour" is the most common greeting when they bumped into one another at the lobby of apartment buildings. If one wants to have a great time there, remember to greet the shop owner the moment you step into any shop. At times the shopkeeper will not be visible still you need to remember to greet the air. Else, they will think you have bad manners then the rest of your day will be ruin as you won't be on the receiving end of best service.

I must have fitted in very well as an elderly lady asked me for direction. That happened often in Seoul too. People have difficulty determining whether I'm a Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai or Nepalese.😅 I always had to apologize then explained that I wasn't a local. The problem of having a universal face.

A kind stranger showed me the way to the post office as I had to get some first day covers for my mentor in Sweden. Fortunately in my case, I was treated very courteously by postal workers. I had a wonderful time in Paris!