Sing your Song

It's awesome to meet like-minded and easy to talk to friends. And it's even more amazing that we found so much in common last night when we were drunk, and realize there's even more differences between us today when we're sober. 

What more, you're so similar to a brother I've had for so many years. I've always believed that he'll do great things in future, and I'm sure you will too. Rock on, dude. But for now, let us enjoy the next 4.5 months together peacefully. Hahahah

And I'm back here at the sun deck again

Watching the dark sky and counting shooting stars. 

5 last night, 2 so far. And with every one of them I wish for only one thing. 

Yes, we'll become stronger and so will the two of us as individuals. 

Cos tax free

It's been awhile since I've been this drunk. 

But everyone else is dead drunk in the room and I'm here watching the stars. And there's absolutely no other people at the deck. So I got that going for me. Which is good, I guess. PAnd I'm not regretting this impromptu trip. 

Helsinki bound!

Even before school start. With people I've met for less than a week. And not from my Uni. Haha

Bye, temporary home!

First dinner alone

At least it's in the room 

And it's BACON! 

新加坡人 in 斯德哥尔摩

So we met Lihong who's a fellow government scholar and 1991-er on exchange to SU but has been studying on France for the past 5 years, and decided to chill out at some cafe! So first cafe hunting, checked. And it's also a pretty awesome one; nice decoration and stuff. 

And NOOO, it's bad angle; I'm sitting on the sofa unglamly with my legs on the armrest and Lihong is just standing behind the sofa. Lol. 

Then at night was Bak Kut Teh session!!! 

It's actually an improvised steamboat session with BKT base and using our (my) newly-brought rice cooker! Steamboat session, checked. 

And the next day was a surprisingly cheap (relatively, since they are priced about the same as Singapore's outlets) meal at TGIF (and it's really Friday!) after our guided bus tour. Everyone's tired and so we retired back to our room. Haha. 

Tomorrow's my first Excapade to Helsinki with the SSE peeps! Though I really feel bad for pangseh-ing the SU people... Tsk. All Song En's fault. Haha

Just rice cooker

Yimei says she "wanna cry" after eating the meal k. How powerful, the porridge. 

First time cooking with the Singaporeans!

A disaster for Huihan's kitchen but it was a really nice meal. Thanks for hosting us, Huihan and Jiahan! 

Maybe it's a Gemini thing

Solomangarephobia - The fear of eating alone

A fear I have to face daily for the next 5 months. Maybe at the end of this I will grow out of this fear, and anyway, there's no one here to judge except my own lonely heart Hah! 

(Temporary) Home

Sio, after running around for a month, I have settled down. 

And I thought I was strong

Cried a bucket in the toilet before we left the apartment and I told myself I have to be strong or you will start pouring. 

But nope. I wasn't strong back there when we had our farewell hug. So when I came back, I thought about everything positive... Even when the sky started to change with dark clouds, I made fun of how it reflected my feelings now and how it's gonna be a cold lonely night. 

But I couldn't hold out anymore when I saw that you left a letter for me. I haven't read it yet. But I know I'll lose myself after I do. 

The past month was one of the happiest time of my life. You were literally the guide, and I was sheltered by your care. Now you're gone, and the true challenge begins. I keep telling you to be strong and independent and have fun... I'm actually just telling myself all these. 

Really, thanks for whatever you have done to make this trip such a success and it is the best farewell gift. I sometimes think I'm kind of an insufficient boyfriend... Didn't buy anything for our anniversary or your 21st and only a small parting gift before my absence of 4.5 months. 

But really, I know this absence will only make us stronger... And we will survive this!!! 

Amsterdam 20/8/14-22/8/14

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Antwerp 19/8/14-20/8/14

ANTWERP! Yet another beautiful city; it's like a smaller version of Brussels but quieter. Same old weather as well. But we arrived as the rain subsided so poncho was not employed through the drizzle. Central station here is the top attraction (as in the top attraction on TripAdvisor) it's funny but not hard to see why; the moment we step out of the train, I thought we were gonna look for Platform 9 and 3/4. It's also regularly voted as one of the most beautiful train station in the world as well.

Reached our hostel before the check-in and thought we'll just leave our luggages in storage as suggested by them but we were lucky and the rooms were ready! So we checked in and wow, it's really like a hotel room (the lobby actually already gave it away cos it looked wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better than the previous private ensuite we had in Milan, yeah... Milan again; it's kinda like the benchmark, or perhaps the threshold). Settled down, washed some clothes and off we go! 

Antwerp gave me the impression that's it's a work-in-progress cos there was this one whole stretch of tram line that was undergoing upgrading. But as I read it's concised history on some of the many free guides/maps available, it's actually quite an interesting city that borders the Netherlands (Belgium used to be South Netherlands, so it's kind of where the divide is; think 38th Parallel!). But perhaps also because of the quietness that gave it the laid-back feel; even tourists are sparse, and that's a rarity this whole trip (maybe something to do with the climate; maybe people here are the ones going out to places like Florence and Paris). In any case, I appreciate the cool weather and quietness. 

Lunch place was, unfortunately, closed, once again. So we decided to go visit the city centre instead (and unintentionally skipped the whole lunch thingy which made Ms Blur pretty "tired" -- as she puts it). We did found some nice(r) frites (than the Brussels' famous one surprisingly) at some road side to appease her tummy. Covered the Museum Plantin-Moretus (first industrial printing factory and a UNESCO cultural heritage site; but we didn't enter as usual, also because it looked/sounded boring); the Stadhius (also UNESCO heritage; with lots of flags hanging on it's facade and we tried looking for Singapore's; found two that has red-top white-bottom so we decided one is Indonesia and the other us, cos all of them were twisted by the strong wind so pole-side half of the flag can't be seen); the Grote Markt (seems like every where has one, but this one appears a lot nicer in the tranquil sense); Cathedral of our Lady (yes, it's called Cathedral Notre-Dame, no surprise... But it was surprisingly tall; in fact, once the tallest in Europe long long time ago apparently); some oldest Antwerpen structure called Steen (which is a nice looking castle that was once a fort guarding the city by the river bank); Museum ann de Stroom (didn't go in as well, looks like a boring tourist trap; but it's also kind of Antwerp's rare few iconic stuff); M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp; wanted to go in but we were late! But guess Ms Blur is right: contemporary art are just abstract and lame *self-consoling*); also crossed the St Anna Tunnel (which is really cool, it's a tunnel under the river that goes -31m with wooden escalator! And it's 500+ meter long but not a problem for the locals since everyone seems to own a bike, otherwise there're also bike spots every other street where they can just pick up a bike and park them elsewhere; not sure if they pay. In fact, quite common everywhere in Europe) to the left bank of the Schelde River where we found the supposedly everyone-in-the-trade-agrees-they-make-the-best-frites frites shop which made the best frites we/I have had so far (though we had a bad choice of sauce this time round; Do NOT try American!) and also a super nice currywurst (again!), and it's just an inconspicuous small little shop isolated from the rest sprouting from the middle of no where at the other side of the river!!! (Lucky Ms Blur read the free guide) in any case, we enjoyed our nice food by the river bank looking at the city scape from afar. 

Returned to the happening side of the river and went to find our dinner place (after some shopping that ended with 1kg of Caramelized biscuit, or Speculoos as they call it) which was open!!! And we were lucky cos they were fully reserved... Except for one table that just saw the two customers leave! So there we go. Beef stew and, wait for it, HORSE STEW (which tasted like the beef stew, but guess they had a stronger taste thus the need to add beer into the stew though I really couldn't taste it and the meat was nice and tender!); one more exotic food checked (which ain't that exotic, really don't get the big hoo-ha about the ikea meatball incident previously; people should taste some horse meat before they comment on how gross it is in their beef balls -.-). 

Back to the hostel, aka wifi time, before we did some abs and had the nicest bath in quite a while. Turned in for the night and the next morning was just packing up. Had Chinese food (again!) for lunch and some mad rush to send out my postcard to myself before we went to wait for our bus (yup, no more train for this trip!) to Amsterdam. Also, brought 1kg worth of Speculoos (or Caramelized biscuit as we call it) 

Brussels 17/8/14-19/8/14

BRUSSELS. Arrived to the end of some party (flower festival, as we later come to know) but the fun fair was still on and all the rides looked so fun! On another note, the weather's getting colder and colder after the nice cities by the coast; and it even threatened to rain with looming dark clouds! It did eventually drizzled before we reach the hostel but it was all minor, and Meininger hotel!!! The rooms are basically hotel rooms but you share it with 4 other people (6-bed dorms) so it's pretty awesome; and green hotel concept yo! It's 22 degrees Celsius in the room no matter in 30 degree summer hear or 0 degree winter cold (or so they say)

So, settled in and decided to go out since the sky looks friendly enough at this point in time (but one thing I've learnt through my days in Brussels: don't talk about the weather). We took the train to our destination and boom, heavy rain. So we can't do our itinerary as planned and headed for lunch-dinner instead and had western food (half chicken!) which was pretty good. Best thing: the rain stopped (yea, fickle minded; worse than Singapore). Took a photo with Atomium then toured around Mini Europe (which was more of a propaganda for EU but quite pretty). Weather seemed fine so we took the metro again to see the Cinquantenaire (looked like Brandenburg Gate and the one in Paris again) and European Quarters (kinda lame). Walked a few metro stations down before we took the metro (illegally) back to our hostel. 

Continental breakfast was good, sleep wasn't. Walked a few metro stations again to the Grote Markt where the City Hall is to meet the Free Tour group; they were busy clearing up the flowers from the flower festival! Brought some Godiva chocolate-coated strawberries before we started the tour. Comic strip was interestingly cool and even more so, the history of Belgium/Brussels (especially the part it played in WWI); Manneken Pis was the most disappointing attraction (voted so) in the world as it was really tiny (and contrary to popular myths, its actual existence was due to the urine trade that took place in the market by the leather makers who brought urine there to treat their raw leathers). One of the most beautiful city to tour about so far! 

Tour ended in the early afternoon and we headed to the lunch place Ms Blur had researched but was unfortunately closed, so... Asian food again! Wanted to be half-full for other Belgian food but the serving was so huge we ended up over-eating. But that didn't stop our foodie excursion! Frites (fries, in which they double fry it at two different temperatures) with samurai sauce (nothing Japanese; mayo with chili); hot chocolate (super rich!); Belgium waffles (Brussels one was the fluffy rectangular kind that goes well with just sugar; and Liege one was the harder sweetened rounder version that's good on its own but we had ice cream with it!); and of course, Belgium bier (Belle Vue was good; apparently they made this beer before people knew how to make beer, by allowing natural fermenting using the yeast in the air from the stinky river... Hmmm. But the cherry/classique version was the nicer version, not the original non-flavored one). 

Ms Blur calls Belgium the Taiwan of Europe, cos they had so many varieties of snacks that are really good!0

Paris 15/8/14-17/8/14

PARIS! Contrary to what many have said, this place is actually pretty beautiful and I don't find it overrated. "Paris Syndrome" didn't happen to us, or me at least. Arrived and settled in to our private apartment (smaller one this time round; like a studio apartment without bedroom). Headed out to the Grand Palace, Eiffel Tower (and "love bridge" which wasn't the original one but a nicer one in my opinion cos it has the tower on its background; we also locked our love there!), and Arc de Triomphe, and also found a nice Chinese restaurant to have dinner in between (didn't wanna get discriminated so we decided to eat with something we are familiar with the first night). Oh, and Churros... That weren't very nice. One thing I don't like about Paris: there's no English anywhere!

Next morning was grocery time! Wanted to nua till 12pm for our sushi buffet but we woke up too early and had too much time to idle around so we headed out to the Louvre and saw some fun fare nearby! Got scammed by a lousy gelato but oh wells. Decided to not see yet another Notre Dame and also driven by our hunger, we headed back for a very worth it (Europe sense) sushi buffet just at the alley of bars under our apartment! Haven't had so much food in quite a while (one week actually, cos self-cooked dinner in Florence was awesome too). 

Headed out again to the St Ouen Flea Market that turned out to be a gathering point for the homeless (and the African community). The streets were chaotic (especially the "slums" under the bridge) but the alleys of Marche's were pretty interesting, selling antiques and old stuff; even got my postcard of an old Eiffel Tower there! (Didn't manage to send it out cos Le Poste are all closed during the weekend and the Tobac shops seem to all have sold out their stamps). Since the day was early, we went over to the Love Wall and played spot-your-languages since they have all sorts of different languages' version of "I love you" on the wall. Streets around this area was also nice and we even found the flower petal gelato cone! 

Headed back home to cook our dinner and yep, it was awesome again thanks to master chef Tey. Haha! Two good meals in a row; kinda not what real backpackers can afford (and that's if you exclude next morning's breakfast, otherwise, 3!)

Bars underneath plus long weekend (oh Friday was some public holiday) meant noisy and sleepless night. On the train to Brussels now so Bon voyage et bonne nuit! (Rare few French terms that I still remember)

Marseille 13/8/14-15/8/14

MARSEILLE! Once again,

France never failed to impress. Thought it's gonna be another ulu city but it turned out to be pretty popular with tourists yet again. And the train station: more modern than Milan also. Weather was surprisingly cold (mostly due to the chilly wind) as we arrived in the night. Took the metro to Vieux Port thinking it's gonna be a dead town but what in the world! It's super lively! Changed to bus and alighted at the right stop but nope, finding our accommodation wasn't smooth at all! Walked into a small park where there were homeless people and drunkard arguing and looks like they are drug dealing, before we met two non-English French to asked for directions but they weren't sure as well. Guided us to a wrong direction! We went all the way to yet another sleezy alley with a pub (but it had a really nice view of some castle-ly place) and this time round met 3 young French who, once again, didn't have a very good command of English and they kindly called our host to inform her that we are lost/gonna be very late and showed us the way! (Back to the small drug-dealing garden and further up). On our way, we saw this enthusiastic lady who waved at us: that was our host and the savior for the night. Also, I had my first experience of European greetings, *muack muack*! 

Went into the apartment with our (overly-) friendly host and it was a really really nice place with all the mini-lights, fairy-lamps, and an open-air garden! A narrow windy-staircase leads us to our small cozy room (like really small: once we extended the sofa bed, there was no room for walking. But it was really cozy and I loved it). Showered and rest for the night thereafter. 

Night was chilly cos it rained the day before apparently and so we had a pretty good night sleep (other than the fact that Ms Blur couldn't count properly in the morning and woke up at 8.30 thinking it's 10.30). Breakfast was self-service; simple and nice. Went up to pack our bags and off we go to explore the nice city! Visited the oldest Marseille bakery and brought some biscuits before we went on to visit the Palais de Pharo which Napolesn III once stayed and it offered us a really nice view of the port and mouth of the river. Walked along Vieux Port to the other end where we visited the MuCEM which once again offered a nice(r) view of the town. Found a (cheap) place to have (the cheapest) pasta before we continued our walk. Checked out the ferry to Chateau d'If but it was cancelled for the whole day due to the wind!! This remains the greatest/only regret to the trip thus far. I couldn't step on the (fictional) island that Edmond Dante was imprisoned and Count of Monte Cristo is my favourite classic to date! And apparently there's also a hole (made up, of course) where "fiction meets reality"! Oh wells. With much disappointment, we decided to head to the Notre Dame de la Garde which is this cathedral on a really really tall hill/mountain (and the only one in the whole city) and thus presented a panorama view of the whole city (which, after some research, we realize is much smaller than Singapore). Le Corbusier was sacrificed for nua-ing time as we decided against finding the building in a far off place and headed back to the hostel for some rest. Had beer (yay!) and chips before we decided to see the port at night and headed out again. Found this secluded (read: cheap) Vietnamese place for pho!!! Then walked down the markets along the port at dawn and caught nice photos before we go back to rest for the night. 

Wrap and bagel was amazing this morning! Though the macaroon that her friend suggested was closed. And now we are here at the station waiting for the train to Paris to come! Ciao!

Monaco/Nice 12/8/14-13/8/14

MONACO. Stopped over at Monte Carlo, thanks to the flexibility that Eurail offered. The station is really grand and it takes just one look to know it's a rich city-state (apparently one of the three existing city-states: Singapore being another, and Vatican City). A really nice but small place. Expensive cars that zoomed the cities were not the highest status of wealth when there's a few rows of private yacht docked at the berths. Even the houses looked like a higher-class cinque terre. Casino was up the steep slope (why is there so many slope in Europe?!!) and with all the barang barangs with us, we decided against going to the front door. Got a nice photo and off we go in one hour. Oh, and we ate tissue paper with their gelato. 

NICE! Omg just unexpected; it's really just as its name suggests: nice (English pronunciation)! Train stopped at the station and I was impressed by how modern it is (Milan was the direct opposite). Stepped out of the station and I was impressed by how clean and safe-looking the city is (once again, Milan was the direct opposite; there was dog poop everywhere though, damn the French dogs). Hostel was a 2 minutes walk away and reaching its front door, I was impressed by how the name Hotel Antare reflected the place to really looks like a hotel (in fact, every other hostel looks equally impressive along this street). Entering the room, I was impressed by the aircon: our first one in Europe. Though it was supposed to be a six bed mixed dorm yet turned out to be a eight bed one, but there weren't much of a difference for us. Most importantly, we met another nice German "couple" (they are siblings! Older sister who's entering university and younger brother who's only 17! And whuttt, travelling all by themselves!). Went out for a walk with them and had a nice chat before we head back to the hostel cos everyone was tired. 

I expected Nice to be a quiet place, but I was utterly wrong; it's the direct opposite: lively even late in the night (and there was supposed to be some international party at midnight by the beach! Of course, we didn't go) 

Next morning was super nice to sleep cos it actually rained!! We didn't have a choice but to check out and went out in the drizzle. It then turned into rain and we decided to have some McWrap and use their wifi (for a good 1.5 hour) before we decided that the rain is light enough for us to go. Walked down main shopping street and the promenade before we reach the beach. Took photos with a sad face and cloudy sky before we decided to walk to the old town. Brought our postcards and roamed the flower market before the sky decided to take pity on us and brightened up. So off we went to the beach!!! Swam in beautiful Côte d'Azur and gulped one mouth of their salty water. Some sun tanning before we pack up for lunch. Must be the sea salt or the sun but suddenly had the cravings for oyster/seafood so... Mixed platter and 1kg worth of mussels! Really the best pot of mussels I've ever eaten by any standard (since I normally don't really like them). There was prawn, scallop, some other mussels and even raw escargot (not very nice though), but most importantly, oyster cravings satisfied. 

Rushed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and went to the station. Waited for our train's platform to appear and it came on late! Went to the platform and waited for another half an hour before a train arrive. We checked and the number was wrong, but decided to ask a guy on the train whether it goes to Marseilles and he said yes. But nope, not the case when I checked my Eurail app but it was too late. We got scammed. And got on the wrong train. And we weren't using Eurail pass this time round cos we've already brought the  tickets. So no choice, we wasted that ticket, and used our rail pass (luckily, some error meant we have one extra day to spare! Minimized the loss, in a sense). So we alighted at Antibes (nicer than Cannes I think, but only from the station) and waited for the next train that goes to Marseille to come. And here I am typing on the train. Was supposed to reach at 7.30, but now it's gonna be 8.30 with a dark sky and we're unsure of the directions to the next accommodation. Good luck to us! 

Ps: we're here after much hiatus! 

Cinque Terre 11/8/14-12/8/14

RIOMAGGIORE/MONTEROSSO/VERNAZZA/CORNIGLIA/MANAROLA! Transferred at Milan to have our first fast food (McBacon!) for the trip before taking the 3 hour ride down to this place. As usual, crowded. But the towns were really nice! Checked into the hostel in Riomaggiore after climbing up the steep slope to the office; hostel was near the train station and beach; and got to meet Robert - a graduate Music student who does singing! Via Delle Amore was closed so took a train and started off the town-hop from the other end. Monterosso was FULL of people (ahem, tourists, which we kinda contributed); could hardly find a place to stand on the beach (there were naked women too lol). Vernazza was a nice little town and so is Corniglia, just that the latter takes 365 steps up to reach (well trained for this shit after Zermatt). Manarola is where all the classic Cinque Terre photos are taken and yep, we took them. And even caught the sunset! Headed back to the hostel to meet up with Robert for a drink/dinner before we ended a very tiring day.

Next morning was beach day! Albeit the sun chose to take an off day when we wanna swim so the water was too cold and we headed back to the hostel after some "cloud tanning" session (not complaining cos it didn't rain and the weather was good). Checked out and went on to find breakfast. Saw Robert once again who was "kite flew" by the bus to go to his next hostel so we had breakfast together again! Before we left, we tried out the calamari (and other seafood) that's strongly recommended! Of course, our last gelato, but this time in the form of milk shakes. 

No wifi in the hostel so am typing this on the train to Monaco and the view of this whole train ride is just awesome cos we're going by the shoreline of Côte d'Azur (though the train is kinda run down). Ciao! 

Florence/Pisa 8/8/14-11/8/14

FIRENZE! Come to Florence, they say; it will be fun, they say. It is a really nice city and it feels really amazing to be walking amongst the Renaissance structures/buildings. I even found Machiavelli's statue! (Consider that I did Modern philosophers and not Renaissance/Ancient, he is one of the rare few Renaissance men that I know of).

Let's not talk about the weather cos everywhere in Italy is excruciatingly hot now, I figured (heading to Cinque Terre after this, but I guess it's gonna be the same). But the crowd is insane; and the queue to every single attraction is even more crazy: the lines can/must be calculated in kilometers. As we had no intention of going into any of them (not even sure if I can see anything with the pool of tourists; we wanted to climb the Giotto bell tower, but we have up), we literally just watch everyone else burn (cos the sun is really punishing). Still, everything was (is, I'm still here) nice even from the outside; the river especially. 

Cooking our own dinner for two nights straight (and breakfast in the mornings) is definitely one of the major highlights (they were edible! Though the pork kinda turned bad; blame it on the lousy fridge). 

Oh and Renate, our host, was really nice! She even made sure we had breakfast the first morning when we check in (we had the whole apartment by the way). Other than the mosquitoes and daring houseflies, everything was perfect. 

Thus far, including the 5 scoopes we had in Milan, we have had 12 scoopes in total. Of course, it's gelato I'm talking bout. BUT, I've regretted them now (not cos of the fats, we worked out! So kinda neutralized the intake -- "kinda"), cos I just had the best tiramisu right at the shop in front of our apartment! (Less my sister's version, but since it's without alcohol, no count! So yep, the best yet!). Well, the two famous/recommended gelato place did sell really awesome ice creams (Melones! We had 3 scoopes of melon out of the 12) so for non-tiramisu lovers it's a must try. But damn me for only remembering tiramisu to be an Italian cuisine at my second last day here. But it did "lifted me up"! 

Caricature! It was really impressive and for only €10!!! Everyone should get them and support the local artists along the streets; it seems like everyone here on Florence is artistically-inclined (so many painters who look like students painting the river and the surrounding when we visited, and every single one is impressive). Some of the old men there does look intimidating but they are really nice guys! 

PISA. Day trip on the 10th and "Everybody was Kungfu fighting!" Was more amazed by the tourist (cue: 9gag coming alive!) than anything else with the classic support-the-tower pose. Laughed for more than I should but really hilarious LOL. The leaning tower was quite magnificent as well (only knew from Ms Blur today that it happened as a mistake cos the architect miscalculated and the foundation was too weak that it collapsed, halfway). Otherwise, as what friends have said, 2 hours is sufficient for this place. But contrary to their stance that the nicest place to eat there is Macdonalds, we did find nice and cheap lasagne and pizza along the street of restaurants; in fact, there's a whole row of nice pizzeria restaurant there (inferred from the amount of Italians in them)!

We have officially hit the halfway-mark for our trip and will post the other cities either as I go or after the end of everything. Also, Happy belated Birthday, Singapore!!! 3 years ago I was marching on as a proud soldier and 3 years on I'm exploring a totally different side of myself! 

For now, ciao everyone! 

Milan 7/8/14-8/8/14

MILAN. A very commercialized place (read: boring). Disappointing train station that looks sleezy and run-down, homeless people gallivanting didn't help. Had Turkish kebabs, Taiwanese bubble tea, and Indian Briyani; that's how interesting the place is. Then again, awesome gelato (5 scoops in total!) and risotto that's authentically Italian. Yea, Duomo was magnificent and shopping streets were aplenty. What amazed me most is their water "cooler" which I initially thought is some fountain feature that homeless people use to wash themselves but no, block the water flow and it becomes a water source and they were drinkable! So yay to quenching thirst in hot summer sun! (Drastic change from Zermatt where we chased the sun)

Oh hostel was on a sleezy street with another small manual lift but room was decent to our relieve! 

Zermatt 5/8/14-7/8/14

ZERMATT! Scenic train ride was scenic (once again; never fail to impress. Or maybe just us equatorians having too many rainforest that any coniferous forest looks impressive: Christmas trees!), cool weather was indeed very cool (so much that people only walk on the side with sunlight), and snow-capped mountains were snow-capped (and I got a chance to play with them!!! Last time I touched snow I still haven't pass PSLE)

Hostel was hostel: cramp and run-down but it was all expected. Then we took the cable cars (gondolas) up to Klein Matterhorn (no open air legs dangling like what bro said though). The way up was definitely more scenic than the actual peak, but we get to walk on ice and even tried the tube (tyre) slide down an ice slope; TH slide suddenly felt less impressive (of course, this is the goddam Alps!). Talking bout it, Alpine water is tasty, really. Came back down after some freezing experience and next came a challenge I weren't sure if Ms Blur were capable of completing. Spoilers were posted days ago: we eventually did and reached Sunnega and the legendary Lake Leisee, AND we hiked back down. Kudos to Ms Blur and commando training for the successful mission (and nice climate!), with insufficient water (like 100ml?) and first aid equipment (nothing at all); not even knowing what the emergency number was! 

Gornergrat the next day and once again, hiking! This time only decend (took the scenic bahn up), but it did took its toll on ours knees... 

All in all, impressive place to be in and definitely worth the money. Tip: hike more and the money will be even more worth it: took the CHF42 train up and hiked down instead of paying double for the return trip, and getting double the fun/experience/sense of accomplishment in return! Really the way to go (in summer only, of course); and the hikes aren't that tough. If Ms Blur can do it, so can you (but she's really impressive actually, no joke) 

Best takeaway from this trip: awesome hiking culture! 

Bern 4/8/14-5/8/14

BERN!! One word: beautiful.

So much that Ms Blur suggested us to head there after retirement (not recommended though, too hilly and gets kind of boring after awhile but yes, beautiful). Reached in the evening and found our accommodation. It says "6 bed mixed dorm" but turns out they partitioned every 2 beds so it kinda turned into a very cramped private room which was nice cos we had the privacy while getting affordable accommodation. (Was supposed to CS but the host didn't reply after awhile) This Hotel Landhaus, 8.75/10. Right smack in the heart of Bern's city centre (at the bend of the river's meander) by the banks and just beside the bear park. Went out for a night walk and ended the night. Bear park and clock tower was okayyyyy, Parliament House plan was abandoned cos we didn't wanna note ourselves out after the Berlin one, but once again, we got ourselves lost in the old town (UNESCO heritage site)! Not once, not twice, but countless time so many we lost count of the number of times we pass by the clock. (Hostel gave free transport pass so we just took service 12 back to a recognizable place and restart the wander.   

Zurich 3/8/14-4/8/14

ZURICH. And yet again, rain upon arrival. But not too bad cos we didn't get lost and it's in the day. But rain heavily dampened the mood, not cos of us, but cos the free tour got cancelled even though we rushed down in time!! So we conducted our own free tour, walked around the expensive city, along Limmatquai and found this weird looking crane that I told Ms Blur to take a photo of before she lamented me as "lame" for taking this random photo. But lo and behold, my exquisite eyes saw it at first sight to know it's an art piece (though controversial) installed by artists recently.

Happy birthday to dad, and happy second anniversary to us. Happy kids who got lost in the old town and decided to splurge abit in celebration of our anniversary (3rd August 6pm in Zurich meant 4th August 12mn back at home, so yeah... kind of to the minutes we celebrated it). Rosti was awesome as expected, but cheese fondue was a little too alcoholic and less cheesy for Ms Blur's liking (in fact, I didn't really enjoyed it as well; had to buy a beer for the night to flush the wine taste HAH). 

Next day was Zoo day!! They had this whole place for elephants which was... yea.. kinda cool... But maybe not so for us Asians. In any case, the best part was their farm animals!! We can just go in and comb the goat's goatie right by his side. How awesome. Otherwise, it was boring enough that we left early and continued out wanderlust getting lost in the old town (we kinda fell in love with doing this; just getting lost walking aimlessly, partly because we always had time to spare, which I think is a better thing than having to rush)

Black Forest 2/8/14-3/8/14

OFFENBERG. Officially the most boring place we have visited, though it's just for transit.

TRIBERG. Cuckoo clocks were expensive. Tallest waterfall in Germany is probably not that tall. And Black Forest cake in Black Forest cake was... normal, except for the extra alcohol on it. But scenic train ride was pretty scenic! 

KONSTANZ! Reaching late at night was added pressure on Ms Blur. But that was nothing compared to getting lost in the town, not knowing how to use the public phone, and wait-for-it, heavy rain! And the rest, as they say, is history....

(Not really; just that I've already had a post for this part previously cos it is just too amazing a surprise) 

Berlin 31/7/14-2/8/14

BERLIN. Arrived safely by airBerlin on an early flight (met this retired Chinese lady who doesn't look retired and looked only half as brave as she really is, travelling Europe not knowing any English!) but the airport was less satisfying (weather too). Wifi was no where to be found when they were supposed to be and it was a little too small, not helped by the crowd. But heck, thanks to the crowd, we got a free airport transfer bus ride cos the uncle didn't have change for us!

Headed straight to Alexanderplatz which was the nearest station to our accommodation but deposited our stuff in the lockers (everywhere in Europe you can find these cool thing; maybe Singapore as well, just that I haven't notice since I haven't needed it but yea, everywhere should have these!) cos we were too early.

CURRY WURST!!! I had a grand total of THREE in my first day in Berlin. It instantly became my favourite food until I left Berlin and decided I had enough. 

Free tour again, around Berlin which is really rich in history, particularly the contemporary part. Brandenburg Gate itself is really impressive but for the whole platz, that's about it, everything else is so made-up you can laugh at how out of place the gate really is just by looking around (or go to 9gag, they show the satelite view which is really quite joke). In fact, many of the places we have visited is also the case. "Tourism hypocrisy" I call it. 

But one thing was a good "made-up": Topography of Terror. It's a really meaningful place that everyone should visit in Berlin (nice place to take profile pictures as well) 

Parliament building was... meh. But the audio guide's really cool as the "guide" talks as you move according to which checkpoint you have just passed (would have been cooler if they can stop me from crossing the checkpoint before they finish that portion of explanation) 

Itinerary said: pub at night! But brought beer back at Alexanderplatz instead and packet some food with us as we headed for our accommodation. Only problem: we weren't sure if he said he will come down to pick us as we didn't have a phone to call; we took the risk and went all the way down to his flat's location. And yep, we were trapped outside the main door, together with this guy that looked a little shady with all his barang barangs. In any case, we interacted and realize he speaks English though he's Spanish (he said his name is "Kuan" but I'm not sure how it's spelt); he's renting a room for 6 months and is waiting for his landlord as well. After awhile we realize we should probably call our host, Sylvain, so we asked Kuan if we can borrow his phone. He agreed. And while we were typing in the number, he asked about the host's name, we told him and... "Oh I know him! In fact, I'm waiting for him. I can talk to him if you want. I'm gonna scold him" so turns out Kuan has been waiting for Sylvain to pick him up for the past hour but didn't have his number. We had it, just no phone. Perfect. And we got in safely by pure coincidence. We didn't get the room we were supposed to get (not that we remembered how it looked like) but was given one that was equally nice, with a S$60 discount. Wonderful start to our trip!!! 

The next day was planned for East Berlin, but we (I, actually) decided that going to the concentration camp was more important (recommended by Siying!) and it was really insightful (though I didn't really get the chills that I thought I'll get) and it really puts into perspective the current peace we are enjoying. 

Eventually made it in time for some Berlin Wall to immerse ourselves into the most important landmark of contemporary Germany. 

Day ended off with some Thai/Indian food, beer (again), and of course, CURRYWURST for the last time. Chit chatted with the flat mates before we turn in in preparation for the early train next morning! 

Stockholm 29/7/14-31/7/14

Should have posted this days ago but thought I'll do the first part of the trip altogether when we reach the halfway mark.

Firstly, thanks Marcus for the room and Claire for the hassle! 

HELSINKI. Transit was smooth, and no luggage was misplaced by Finnair! Big news alright. 

STOCKHOLM. Had a good feel of how Lappis is like since I got to stay in Marcus' room, courtesy of Dian for distracting him away to London. Wasn't easy getting from airport to the hostel but was aided by Claire's (and concierge in the airport and Stockholm centrale) directions to find it in reasonable time. 

Unloaded our stuff and went out for the free tour that showed us around the old town and told us its history, but most importantly, the place to get the "best" ice cream in town (inverted commas cos it really isn't very impressive now on hindsight). Nice way to past time but the tour was... normal. Highlight of the day: potato salad and cherry tomato (also sets the "mood" for more tomato in the first half of the trip, and more to come I suppose). Back to topic, the potato salad was really impressive though simple (relative to price) and I'm guessing it'll be my go-to during exchange when I need to save up on dinners. 

VAXHOLM! Awesome island amongst the archipelago but only because we found this near-perfect sanctuary by the waters that not many people visited though it's along the path recommended by the tourist centre (near perfect cos, well, everything's pricier in Sweden). 

Back to civilization, had some time to chill in the city's park before we left for the airport. Flight at 6 in the morning meant sleeping on airport couches, which was quite an experience but I guess it's also one that Ms Blur didn't particularly enjoy, haha! 

You freaking did it!

How awesome. I'm guessing more than half of my female friends would have given up halfway. 

I'll never say these kind of things personally but really, I'm proud of you!

Good job, babe

--

Also, Happy 2nd Anniversary! ^^

7-billion

Only when you travel do you know how minute you really are

Change is the only Konstanz

What more can a traveller wish for than being at the right place right time. 

So it was a cold night that started to pour as we got lost in the town, supposedly a quiet one. We were once again saved by strangers, this time a lovely couple from Munich, lending us their phone to call our host. Then, our amazing host Kevin appeared superman-style, in red pants and armed with two foldable umbrellas; we were led to our accommodation. One more problem: we were hungry, and Saturday night was supposed to be quiet, everything closed before 6pm and won't be opened until Monday. Bad timing... Until he told us about the wine party that's going on!!! So we tried three different traditional German dishes that tasted like heaven (not sure if the hunger played a part but they were really delicious by any standard; how else to be traditional?!) and met one of his female friends. 

As the rain subsided, we went on a night town tour that continued the next morning. Took a trip to Switzerland by foot, standing in between the EU/non-EU before we left for the "real" Switzerland. If there's a place that's underrated, it's Konstanz in Germany. Or maybe, we're just there at the right time. But it is, quoting Ms Blur, "a museum" on the outside, with nice facades and medieval-like cobblestone paths. 

And did I mention that Kevin is fluent in 4 languages and understands many others, a well-travelled dude that started his wanderlust at the age of 16, living in 4 different countries the past 7 years, and quoting the mesmerized Ms Blur again, "he's handsome!"

Konstanz was a 7.5/10; surf on Kevin's couch and it'll make your trip there a 8.5/10; add in the wine party and traditional food: 9.5/10

So I saw this post...

And I raise you this! 

And one up: we're in Europe!!