Michelangelo is not only considered one of the premiere artists of the Renaissance, but one of the greatest artists to have ever lived. His work across a variety of mediums, but especially…
from Italy Travel Blog – The Roman Guy
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
The 2020 Olympic Games have officially been postponed
As sports and athletics organizations around the world cancel competitions and events in light of COVID-19, officials with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Tokyo 2020 Games had resisted calls to delay this summer’s opening ceremony. However, the decision has finally been made to postpone.
On Monday, one IOC member stated in an interview that he did not think the Games would go ahead as planned. “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Canadian IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today in an interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Pound’s statements came one day after the IOC announced that a decision would be made regarding the fate of the Olympics within the next four weeks, and just hours after Canada and Australia announced that they wouldn’t be sending athletes to compete if the Games went ahead as planned. However, on Tuesday, the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and the IOC agreed to a one-year postponement of the Games.
The prime minister’s office then tweeted that the decision to postpone had been agreed upon with IOC President Thomas Bach. The IOC said in a statement: “In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community”.
As Lonely Planet reported earlier this month, the decision to cancel or postpone would be a costly one for Japan – the country has already spent an estimated $26bn in the ramp-up to the Games. But it wouldn’t be an unprecedented move. The Summer Games were called off in 1916, during World War I, and during World War II, both the Summer and Winter games were called off in 1940 and 1944, respectively.
In lieu of total cancellation or postponement, the idea of proceeding behind closed doors had also been bandied about, but the loss of revenue from ticket sales and the atmosphere thousands of cheering fans provide, would be sorely missed – not to mention the health risks involved, and the fact that athletes are struggling to properly prepare for the competition, given the current directive in many places to practice social distancing.
This article was first published on www.lonelyplanet.com.
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via Lonely Planet India
哥本哈根: 暖阳下的咖啡香
1. Lille Bakery
曾是哥本哈根的造船重地的 Refshaleøen半岛充满新气象，从有机美食市集、前卫的哥本哈根现代美术馆到迁址重新开张的Noma餐厅，新店如雨后春笋般崛起。Lille是该区的优质匠人面包坊，坐落于大窗户装点的旧工业大楼内， 是一家由创始人发起众筹活动而诞生的面包店。店名Lille在丹麦语中是“小”的意思，但与店名形成反差的是，跳脱规范的店家凭着以面包为主的午餐，在城中暂据重要地位。到此不妨品尝其牛角面包，配意大利香肠或咸鳕鱼、鹰嘴豆以及蛋吐司。
2. Central Café
位于Vesterbro一带，隐身于两栋大楼之间，这家迷你精巧的社区咖啡馆比起其自家炮制的告尔多咖啡（Cortados） 更别致可爱。想一品咖啡香，前提要有足够运气，因为店内仅设5人座位。店址前身是制鞋店，历史可追溯至1897年，赤陶土墙面、串灯、暗沉色木吧台、黑白老照片和复古旅游标志，无不让人沉浸于美好的旧日时光。不仅是城中最迷你的咖啡馆，它也是世界上最小的酒店之一，咖啡馆楼上仅设一间双人房。想喝冷饮的话，这里也提供有机冰淇淋和奶昔。
3. Hart Bageri
英国厨师兼烘培师Richard Hart 在三藩市的Tartine（以面包享誉全球）取得成功后，将店面迁至丹麦首府，在绿意青葱的民宅区Frederiksberg开设邻里面包店。面包店的高人气是必然，这有赖于 René Redzepi（Noma主理人）的支持，Noma便是从这里采购其完美无懈可击的酵母面包。除了口感厚实的面包，此处也售卖各类丹麦面包、酥脆小豆蔻面包和烤芝士蛋糕。北欧式灰色和浅木色内饰装潢，伴随着新鲜烘焙出炉的面包香气，让人难以抗拒，忍不住停驻脚步。
4. Kafeteria
不仅是一家美术馆附设的咖啡厅，位于丹麦国家美术馆的Kafeteria也是料理与艺术激荡出美丽火花的空间，访客可在此静心品赏艺术之美。由丹麦设计师Danh Vo构思设计，装潢融合了北欧、日本与意大利设计美学。Enzo Mari的手作轻木椅，摆放在经典的丹麦家具旁；日本艺术师野口勇的纸灯笼，悬挂于狭长高耸的天花板之上。主打的是现代丹麦料理，有自家制酵母面包和蛋糕、浓郁的咖啡，以及配搭不同涂酱和切肉冷盘、采用新鲜季节性食材制作的Smørrebrød (开放式黑麦面包三明治)。5. Paludan Bogcafé
想要找个地方，读一本好书，沉浸在悠扬的爵士乐中消磨时光？这里是好去处。馆内高书柜上书籍陈列，让访客沉浸在书香氛围之中，一边享受早午餐。位于Fiolstræde街区，邻近哥本哈根大学，曾是犹太人区的一条窄巷，Paludan Bogcafé过去近20年来成为文人雅士聚集地。访客不但能在此购买多不胜数的精美皮革装订书册，也能找到丹麦文、英文和其他语文的新书。这里提供了多元的美食选择（包括汉堡、美式松饼和丰盛早餐精选），咖啡也毫不逊色。
6. The Corner at 108
匠人面包烘焙风潮在哥本哈根吹袭已有一段时日，但这家咖啡馆以充满实验性的创意手法，带来米其林等级的美味糕点，将这股风潮提升至全新高度。各式美食如形状非典型的扭结牛角面包涂抹上康普茶咖啡、黑加仑子与发酵牛肉，风味独特，再配以沙拉以及烟熏蛋羊肉鞑靼等，让食客得以用平民价品尝毗邻的姐妹餐厅——米其林名店Restaurant 108的料理风味，同时享受天然葡萄酒和酸啤酒，度过细雨纷飞的周末午后。
7. The Coffee Collective Godthåbsvej
需要咖啡因醒脑？到Frederiksberg这家气氛悠闲的咖啡馆，享受迷人咖啡香吧。以优质咖啡闻名，简洁的白墙、木质餐桌和摆设巧妙的绿植，以及结合了咖啡豆烘焙和咖啡馆的开放式空间，装潢走极简风。店里使用的咖啡豆都是以公平交易价格直接向当地农民采购，咖啡馆也举办工作坊，如咖啡品鉴课，探索包括品种、生产方式、烘焙和冲泡过程等影响咖啡风味的关键因素 。
8. Next Door Café
这是一家以人为本的咖啡馆，业主Skyler和Klaus就住在当地社区，两人也是邻居关系（店名因此而来）。Skyler曾在当地嬉皮士社区——克里斯蒂安尼亚自由城的一家咖啡馆工作，其后决定往外发展。开业之初，该社区的朋友们协助装饰咖啡馆，因此装潢融合了不同的风格，既像是地下酒吧，又似温馨的家居客厅——紫色墙面、迪斯科灯球、错落有致的镜子、新鲜摘剪的花朵，以及客人在桌面玻璃层塞入的留言纸条和照片。而这里所贩售的美味蛋糕，包括经典的巧克力布朗尼，皆是手工自家制。Singapore Airlines flies to Copenhagen six times weekly. To book a flight, visit singaporeair.com
SEE ALSO: Top eco-friendly restaurants in Copenhagen
This article was originally published in the March 2020 issue of SilverKris magazine
The post 哥本哈根: 暖阳下的咖啡香 appeared first on SilverKris.
from SilverKris
Opinion: We need to have more open conversations about mental health
According to the Singapore Mental Health Study, young adults (aged 18 to 34) are most at risk of suffering from mental health issues. On the other hand, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that Singapore has among the highest percentages of students – 78% – who fear failure. Social media, by inducing comparisons and facilitating cyberbullying, is another cause of stress.
The World Health Organization estimates that the global economy loses about US$1 trillion yearly due to mental health issues. Within Southeast Asia, Singapore is leading in terms of anti-stigmatisation campaigns and support resources.
36%: Percentage of people in low-income countries covered by mental health legislationWe’re increasingly having open conversations about mental health and, thanks to incubators and accelerators, we’re seeing more youth-led initiatives. But starting is easy; we need more mentors to help sustain their efforts.
We also need to work further on normalising help-seeking behaviour. In the United States and United Kingdom, seeing a therapist for mental illness is just like seeing a doctor for a cold. Tweaking manpower and healthcare policies – such as mandating insurance companies to cover mental health treatments, or preventing schools, employers and scholarship boards from requiring mental health declarations – would be instrumental in helping to encourage this. Continuous dialogue between youths and policymakers is key to the latter understanding and responding to concerns and challenges that youths face.
Friends are the first group of people whom most youths turn to for help, so it makes sense to train them to be the first line of defence. Youths make up about one million of Singapore’s total population – imagine how many we can help if just one-fifth of them are trained?Campus PSY was started in 2016 to equip young people with mental health literacy and peer-helping skills. We try to build an ecosystem: We work with tertiary institutes to scale up peer-support networks, and we collaborate with social service agencies to impart essential skills such as risk identification and active listening. Making mental health education part of the curriculum is one of the best preventive measures we can undertake.
“It’s crucial to shift cultural attitudes to be accepting of people with mental health conditions.”It’s also crucial to shift cultural attitudes to be accepting of people with mental health conditions. We try to make public education fun and relatable – in 2018, we did an escape room where participants learned to put themselves into the shoes of those with mental health issues. While Campus PSY mainly focuses on young people, we also try to reach out to family members and educators. To shift cultural attitudes, we need buy-in from all generations.
Illustrations by Kouzou Sakai
SEE ALSO: Opinion: Connecting with nature encourages respect for plant life, reduces food wastage
This article was originally published in the March 2020 issue of SilverKris magazine
The post Opinion: We need to have more open conversations about mental health appeared first on SilverKris.This article was originally published in the March 2020 issue of SilverKris magazine
from SilverKris
Pluie à Paris
My phone weather app is still set on Paris. I opened it today, and see that there will be sunny skies for the next 10 days. We weren't that lucky but as I think of all those in lockdown in Paris right now, I"m glad they have sunny skies to lift their spirits. This view of the rooftops from our apartment made the rain seem worth it. As someone told me long ago, "You don't go to Paris for the weather." Indeed.
If you would like the rental contact for our apartment, please email me.
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