This past year’s global situation has allowed me to fully revisit the tennis world and coach regularly again.

It has been a decade since I have worked with such an expansive pool of students. At the time, I taught and trained both children and adults ranging from the ages of 5-60, levels ranging from novice to advanced, but mostly children and teenagers.

However, a couple of years ago I did take a hiatus from showbiz and acting in China as I had the opportunity to work and travel with a professional tennis player. It was a very rewarding, yet challenging experience, to say the least.

Many people have asked me why I do not just coach and train players completely full time. I usually just smile and and brush it off with a tactful “I don’t know.”

The truth is, I have had an extreme love-hate relationship with the game.

Growing up, the time spent on court not only acted as a healthy environment where I can progress as a player and a person, but it also acted as an escape from the difficult emotional and psychological roller coaster on the home front (I will not go into this now).

Looking back, I am so grateful to have been surrounded by coaches, from places such as India and Eastern Europe, whom understood the value of teaching and mentoring with a “school of hard knocks’ approach. They continuously reminded me that:

“There will always be people in situations worse off than you. Back home, players were playing on courts made from cow dung and with holes in their shoes, not to mention wondering when their next full meal would be.”

Though I don’t think I can honestly say that I fully understood them at the time, but these reminders and perspectives acted as the rock that kept me from drifting away.

So, this is where I am coming from in terms of my relationship with tennis. 2020 has been a blessing in disguise, as I have had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people, both on and off the court.

Thanks to all my students. I hope you are learning as much as I am learning from you. Cheers.

不好意思，不翻成中文了，文有點太長😆.

#tennistraining #tenniscoaching #tennis #tennisplayer #tennisplaying #tennislove #tennisinstruction #tennislife #網球 #網球教學 #網球教練

[Books / 書訊] Yann Brys 與 François Perret 主廚出版新書、 Fou de Pâtisserie 食譜書將出中文版 / Chef Yann Brys and François Perret publish their first books, Fou de Pâtisserie book launch traditional Chinese version soon (for English, please click “see more”)

我想法國主廚們跟書商完全沒有要讓消費者喘口氣的意思，11 月好書連發，最近輪到陀飛輪（tourbillon）創始人、擁有法國最佳工藝職人（MOF）頭銜的 Yann Brys 主廚和巴黎麗池酒店 Ritz Paris 的主廚 François Perret 出新書；甜點雜誌 Fou de Pâtisserie 去年出版的同名食譜書也確認即將推出中文版。

Yann Brys 主廚過去的資歷顯赫，他師承 MOF Philippe Urraca、在 FAUCHON 時在有「甜點小王子」之稱的主廚 Sébastien Gaudard Pâtissier 底下工作，接著經歷巴黎數個豪華酒店，包括宮殿級酒店（palace）的 Hotel Le Bristol Paris，然後前往 DALLOYAU。他在 2009 年發展了現在聞名世界的「陀飛輪」擠花手法，2011 年通過一系列的嚴格比賽與鑑定、獲得法國最佳工藝職人的頭銜，並在同年被任命為 Dalloyau 的創意總監。Yann Brys 主廚在這本即將在 11/27 上市的書中分享了以陀飛輪手法裝飾的多種蛋糕、還有其他或經典或創新的精彩作品。

現任 Ritz 酒店甜點主廚的 François Perret 的經歷也不遑多讓，他幾乎在巴黎所有宮殿級酒店都工作過，一開始在 Le Meurice、接著在 Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris，然後在 Hotel Lancaster Paris 擔任甜點主廚。2010 年他協助巴黎香格里拉飯店 Shangri-La Hotel, Paris 開幕，並很快幫後者的 L’Abeille 餐廳取得米其林二星。接著他加入 Ritz，這個歷經四年整修的巴黎傳奇宮殿級酒店在他與主廚 Nicolas Sale Officiel 的協力合作下，一年之後便分別為酒店內的兩個餐廳取得米其林二星（La Table d'Espadon）與一星（Les Jardins d'Espadon），他和 Nicolas Sale 也分別奪下 2017 年由《Le Chef》雜誌頒發的年度甜點主廚與年度主廚獎項。上月 François Perret 主廚再獲肯定，被 Les Grandes Tables du Monde 協會選為「meilluer pâtissier de restaurant du monde」（「全球最佳餐廳甜點主廚」）。如同書名「Instants sucrés au Ritz Paris」指明的，本書是以「Rtiz 的甜點時光」規劃，從早餐、午餐、下午茶、晚餐等都有相應的作品。François 主廚的的知名創作如瑪德蓮蛋糕、蜂蜜等都收錄其中。另外有一個好消息要跟台灣讀者分享，本書的繁體中文版已經被 大境文化&出版菊文化(生活美食地圖) 簽下，大家再稍等一下就能看到囉！

最後則是甜點雜誌 Fou de Pâtisserie 去年十月出版的同名食譜書，近日剛剛發表了德文版，同時也宣布簡體和繁體中文版即將推出。這是一本想要認識法式甜點經典、同時一覽法國主廚們各種精彩重新詮釋版本的讀者們必定要收藏的作品。書中精選了 17 種最經典的法式甜點，如 Baba 巴巴、Opéra 歌劇院蛋糕、Saint-Honoré 聖多諾黑泡芙、Tarte au citron 檸檬塔等，每個主題前先解釋該甜點的起源、並以詳細的步驟圖介紹一個最具代表性的作品，接著介紹該甜點的重要組成元素、然後呈現四五個不同的變化版本（全部由知名主廚提供），最後提供一個能夠使用市售商品與簡便方法，在家快速重現經典的食譜。能夠一次飽覽當代最知名的40 位甜點主廚們的作品、領略法式甜點不斷推陳出新的活力，大概也只有 Fou de Pâtisserie 可以辦到。

以下就請大家點開照片、也開始存錢準備囉😆👇🏻

🔖 延伸閱讀：

甜點食譜書推薦與介紹：#yingsbookreviews

法式甜點經典重生、歷久彌新的秘訣——「重新詮釋」：https://tinyurl.com/y5xenfqz

如何鑑賞 François Perret 主廚的瑪德蓮蛋糕？https://tinyurl.com/y54dacbu

巴黎麗池酒店下午茶體驗：https://tinyurl.com/v4hqj5g

深度專訪 Fou de Pâtisserie 創辦人與總編輯 Julie Mathieu：https://tinyurl.com/vss89b3

*****
This November is marked by beautiful pastry recipe books. If you still remember that we’ve talked about the books of the chef Yann Couvreur, Angelo Musa, and Michelin Guide, now there’re some more! The MOF chef Yann Brys and François Perret, head pastry chef of Ritz Paris are publishing their books this week as well. Moreover, Fou de Pâtisserie has just announced that their great recipe book is going to have its traditional and simplified Chinese versions soon.

Even if you don’t know the chef Yann Brys, you must recognise his world-renowned gesture “tourbillon” still, a technique to pipe cream on a turntable to create a whirl effect. He learnt a wide range of skills from another MOF chef Philippe Urraca, and then worked with Sébastien Gaudard, the “petit prince de la pâtisserie” when he was at Fauchon. He then went through several luxury hotels such as Concorde Lafayette (current Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile) and Hotel Bristol Paris. After that he joined Dalloyau and was named the Creative Director in 2011. He passed through a series of competitions and got his MOF title the same year. In this book “Tourbillon”, the chef shares with us lots of beautiful cakes employing the technique and his other creations as well as the know-how as a Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

Having worked at most of the Parisian palace hotels, François Perret, current chef pâtissier of Ritz Paris also boasts impressive experiences at Le Meurice, George V before he was appointed as the head pastry chef at Hotel Lancaster Paris. He joined Shangri-La Paris in 2010, assisting its opening and contributing to the Michelin two stars gained in two years for L’Abeille, the fine-dining restaurant at the hotel. He then joined Ritz and has been collaborating with the chef Nicolas Sale ever since. The legendary hotel situated on Place Vendôme reopened in 2016 after 4 years of renovation, but the duo has gained the hotel 3 Michelin stars in total in just a year - La Table d’Espadon got two stars and Les Jardin d’Espadon got 1 star in 2017. The both were further awarded as “Pastry chef of the year” and “Chef of the year” by the magazine “Le Chef” in the same year. François was elected as “Best restaurant pastry chef of the world 2019” last month by Grandes Tables du Monde. The book “Instant sucrés au Ritz Paris” presents those sweet moments offered by the hotel, starting from breakfast, wonderful pastries and desserts served in lunch time, tea time, and on dinner tables are all included. The chef’s signature desserts like the entremets Madeleine, Miel, Île flottante are also covered. Good news is that both the English and traditional Chinese version of the book are on their way. English and Chinese-speaking readers will only need to be patient for little while to learn more about the sweet universe of the chef.

Last but not least, the Fou de Pâtisserie book published last October is now having its German version. The traditional and simplified Chinese versions will be available soon, too. Collaborating with 40 great French pastry chefs, this book offers pastry passionates a wonderful opportunity to learn about those great French classics as well as their creative variations. 17 classic like baba au rhum, Opera, Saint-Honoré cakes, etc are presented. Their origins and legends are well explained, followed by a signature recipe illustrated step-by-step and presented by one famous chef, followed by four to five variations with real recipes provided by influential chefs. Then finally an express version using existing products sold in shops or supermarkets is featured. This is a fantastic book to glance through some of the best creations of our time and to learn the spirit of creation.

Click on the following photos to have a closer look!

🔖 You might also be interested:

More book reviews: #yingsbookreviews

Revisiting classics, the fountain-of-youth secret of French pastries: https://tinyurl.com/y5xenfqz

How to appreciate French pastries (with an example of the “Madeleine” of the chef François Perret): https://tinyurl.com/y54dacbu

Tea time at Ritz Paris: https://tinyurl.com/v4hqj5g

Interview with Julie Mathieu, founder and editor in chief of Fou de Pâtisserie: https://tinyurl.com/vss89b3

#yingc #françoisperret #yannbrys #foudepâtisserie

媽呀超精彩的故事！矽谷新創的超級騙局 （有中文版）。據說已經找到珍妮佛勞倫斯來詮釋電影版的女主角。"Bad Blood" 字面上是“惡血”，但它的意思是人與人之間交惡那種互相“苦毒”的感覺。

人，常常只看見自己想要相信的那一面。金光黨與白領詐欺，都脫離不了貪婪與一廂情願

This book almost reads like a fiction, hard to put down! I remember those magazine covers that calls her "The Next Steve Jobs" and wondering exactly how it works? As a female business executive, I hope that when people are impressed with us, don't add the word "female" in front of these titles, because it almost indicates that we aren't so wonderful otherwise and it also means that we're being projected with certain (unrealistic) expectations.

“As much as she courted the attention, Elizabeth’s sudden fame wasn’t entirely her doing. Her emergence tapped into the public’s hunger to see a female entrepreneur break through in a technology world dominated by men. Women like Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg had achieved a measure of renown in Silicon Valley, but they hadn’t created their own companies from scratch. In Elizabeth Holmes, the Valley had its first female billionaire tech founder.”

從小就立志當億萬富翁的聰明女孩 Elizabeth Holmes，來自良好家庭還會說流利的中文。進入史丹福大學，她認為要賺大錢又要展現人道精神，最好的途徑就是在醫療領域。在史丹福不久後，她向知名的指導教授闡述她的理念，用最不痛最少量血，能測出多種疾病。在教授的鼓勵下她創立了新創公司Theranos。

史丹福輟學
年輕美麗
有著深沉的嗓音
極度聰明
穿著黑色高領毛衣
名校博士員工
公司董事會有知名前美國政府官員

整個創業過程中，一切都符合了市場的想像。這讓她快速成名，吸引急於找尋出路的Walgreen （藥妝店）和 Safeway (量販店）爭相想透過與Theranos合作，成為領導科技診斷潮流的先鋒。而一個接著一個知名VC也競相投錢，讓Theranos成為矽谷的獨角獸之一。

書本中每一段都是和之前員工採訪的，精彩和驚悚程度完全像是宮廷劇與紙牌屋的合體。辦公室drama, 利用人心恐懼的管理模式，創辦人與第二號人物見不尋常的同居關係，員工被炒被威脅，資深員工發現詐欺時的恐懼，老闆找保鏢，員工自殺，等等。這些發生的同時媒體開始炒作Elizabeth的光環，讓投資人和合作夥伴更加深信這個公司描繪的願景。

當中Elizabeth父母的一位朋友申請了相關專利，Elizabeth知道後，找了全美最厲害的律師事務所，花了幾年的時間威脅他們到散盡官司費而只好投降。

有一位員工是董事成員的孫子 Tyler，這位董事是美國勞務部和財政部長。在見到Elizabeth後深深的被這位年輕創業家感動。Tyler 從大學時代開始在公司實習，然後工作一陣子。他發現公司諸多行為讓他感到良心不安，因此辭職。在他辭職後他的爺爺選擇相信Elizabeth竟開始疏離自己的孫子。在Tyler開始跟本書作者 （華爾街日報）透露時，爺爺竟與公司找的律師一同逼他簽保密協議書。Tyler一方面希望爺爺能看到真相，一邊希望能戳破謊言而站立。同時，開始有其他前員工和一些醫師雖然飽受威脅但也願意出面指出問題。

當中還有一招是在華爾街日報醞釀這則故事時，Theranos找上了了報社母公司的老闆Rupert Murdoch 成為下一輪融資最大投資人，也請Murdoch 停止報社調查，還好Murdoch堅持不干涉報社的中立性而拒絕。

在2015年底新聞出來後，就是一連串爆料的開始。目前Theranos 差不多破產了，創始人也仍面對美國司法的檢調。

市場太期望有女性領導人，特別是在以男性為主的科技業。雖然我也相信科技會顛覆各行各業，但我認為矽谷總是把它的模式套用在其他行業，是一種驕傲。如果科技真要轉變非科技業，科技人必須明白科技只是工具不是目的，而各行各業在安全的規範是不容忽視的。

這個故事，和更多獨角獸的故事，似乎也提醒著，生意最終還是要看基本面。

照片與中文版鏈接在文章中
https://dushuyizhi.net/bad-blood-惡血/

改編自作家郭敬明同名小說的電影「小時代」上映後引起媒體和網友們熱烈討論，在本集的《老外看中國》裡，英國主持人郝毅博也分享了他對這部電影的有趣觀察。

按讚加入主持人郝毅博Facebook，一起討論中港台時事新聞！
https://www.facebook.com/benhedgesntd

訂閱《老外看中國》頻道，觀賞最新精采有趣影片！
http://www.youtube.com/Laowaikanzhongguo

首先，這部電影從一開始就引起了我的注意，大家看看，片頭在台灣的製作群或演員後面都標了「中國台灣」，為什麼會這樣標我不清楚，不過只標了台灣，可能就沒有考慮到旁邊這個人的想法了，雖然我不認識他，不過說不定他很驕傲他來自中國的「釣魚台」啊！

接著這個畢典的表演也很有意思，她們的團名是「Generation Sisters」，有點像韓國的「Girls' Generation」，不過跳的舞差得有點多。等一下！這首歌不是無間道裡3叔在埋屍體時候吹的歌嗎？開玩笑的，其實這首歌是非常有名的蘇格蘭民謠「Auld Lang Syne」，除了在「Waterloo Bridge」和「It's a Wonderful Life」都出現過外，其實「Sex and the City」也用過這首歌。

那對我來說，我覺得從這部電影裡可以學到很多比較高級的中文，特別是這群女孩子吵架的時候。那這位很會教訓人的小姐顧里，其實是來自台灣的演員郭采潔，她在戲裡的北京腔還滿自然的，不過看到一位生長在自由土地的姑娘在戲裡竟然引用了毛澤東的話，感覺起來還是挺突兀的。

而且大家不要看顧里在戲裡很容易失神，這個角色還發明了「史上最強悍的搶婚法」，就是要像她一樣穿著比這個蝙蝠俠披風還長的禮服，同時必須可以隨時拆掉，這樣要和新郎尬舞的時候，就方便多了！大家看看Julia Roberts當年就是因為只穿著這套不太厲害的禮服，外加拿著這個大手機，才沒有搶婚成功。

那其他主角像是這位吵架功夫沒顧里那麼好的林蕭，我覺得比較好玩的是，她好像特別喜歡躺在別人身上。還有這位宛如，她可能是繼星爺以後，最愛護小動物的演員了！

既然要打造中國版的「慾望城市」，各種華麗、炫富的場景肯定是不能少的，包括比Spider Man裡Harry Osborn家還要豪華的公寓、超長的試衣間、各種名牌衣服等等，等一下！這件衣服怎麼這麼像Sesame Street裡的那隻大鳥阿！

記得之前新聞報導中國有的大學生夏天住宿舍沒有冷氣吹，為了降溫，有人抱冬瓜睡覺，有人集體跑到頂樓睡。所以大家看到這幾個大學生竟然可以住在這麼豪華的宿舍時，應該都滿吃驚的。不過她們也會到屋頂吹風啦！可是可以蓋著這種看起來不太環保的棉被。

從這邊大家也可以發現，類似這樣有錢人的生活，除了一定會有豪華的屋頂pa以外。最重要的是，一定要把應該放在室內的東西搬到室外。同時，小時代除了和一般時尚電影一樣，會反覆出現喝咖啡和幫老闆買咖啡的場景外。我覺得比較特別的是，他們在裡面喝非常多酒，甚至連準備搬家了，都要先喝一杯。

那當然，這麼多酒出現在電影裡，偶爾有人拿來當武器攻擊別人也是很正常的，大家看看這段非常有戲劇效果的淋酒畫面。不過最經典的潑東西場面可能還是台灣的這齣連續劇。

我也發現這部電影裡的年輕人，除了不太尊重他們的媽媽外，也都非常喜歡跑步，跑步在這部電影占的比重，可能快和好萊塢的僵屍電影差不多了。同時，這部電影和J J Abrams的電影一樣，都非常喜歡使用這種科幻風格的光暈。當然，做為一個中國出產的電影，適當的反應中國的飲食文化也是必要的，大家看看，一般外國女生下午茶可能喜歡吃Macaron，小時代呢？他們喜歡包子！

那小時代除了炫富引起爭議外，還有一點也被媒體指出，就是儘管電影的主角是女性，但這部電影卻不能算是一部「女性電影」。我自己是發現電影裡的男生經常有不尊重女性的行為，但是因為這些男生都會有非常迷人的微笑，還有經常打赤膊或淋浴的習慣，所以這些戲裡的女孩子，好像就沒有這麼在意了。

以上就是我對小時代的一點觀察，剛剛開的一些玩笑希望喜歡這部片的影迷們不要介意，其實小時代想要表達的那種女生情誼，我相信很多女生看起來是很有感覺的。不過對於這樣一部以美色和財富堆積出來的電影，或許很多人是抱著更高期待的，比如像是「紅樓夢」或是「The Great Gatsby」那樣，在浮華背後有作者想要探討或傳達的想法。好的，今天就到這裡，我們下次再見！