WARSZAWA! Started off with a good start (since I have a broad definition of what is good). Woke up at 2.30am to get an early bus to t centralen cos the metro doesn't operate early enough for us to check in on time. Girls stayed over in Joshua's place so we set off altogether from Lappis. Supposed to change to a second bus after the first but the bus stop was shifted due to some construction and we couldn't locate it in time! So we fast marched (the girls ran) all the way to the bus terminal, and reached 4min before time to find a long queue (we were lucky cos the underpass security just nice opened the gate as we were going down the escalator). Jiahan actually reached few minutes before us so we got to cut abit of queue but that wasn't enough... We missed the first bus cos it was too full! Luckily they called for a second one that came in 15min time. Got to the airport, took a plane (Wizzair was normal, nothing spectacular), and reached Warsaw Chopin Airport early in the morning.
First thing we did was to withdraw money and really got a "culture shock" cos everything is just so cheap (after figuring out and getting use to the new conversion rate)! We were too early to check in so we decided to look for lunch in the city centre and guess what we found: KFC! Well, they are really rare in Europe I must say. So we brought two large bucket (cos we can) and they were not super cheap but cheap enough when compared to Stockholm's prices (or maybe even Singapore's). Used the free wifi and got the directions to our hostel so off we go...
When reached, we realize we were still too early so we deposited our bags and headed out once again. Brought the gang to the old industrial part of the town, Praga (not to be confused with Prague's name in Czech, Praha), and they weren't exactly very impressed (so was I): the flea market, Vodka refinery, and all the old factories were either closed or not impressive at all... We did managed to get a nice view of when crossing the bridges and also got some nice polish pastries on the way though. Crossing back to the main city centre via another bridge brought us to the Old Town Square which I was genuinely impressed with (though Jiahan begs to differ). In fact, I thought the large space was much more fitting of my expectation of a square than what I would eventually see in Prague (maybe I was just having too high an expectation for the "bu la ge guang chang").
Explored the Old Town abit and headed back towards the hostel via the main street of Warsaw; took a detour to visit the Warsaw School of Economics but there weren't anything worth mentioning. One of the main aim for the guys during this trip was to get a haircut, and so one we found, just minutes away from our hostel. When we entered, the barbers were all busy so we had to wait. But while waiting, one of the customer struck a conversation with us and said that he visited Singapore back in the 1970s. The conversation went on for quite a while and we even asked him to introduce us some nice Polish restaurants and food in Warsaw, which he obliged. When he was finally done with he haircut, he left; only to return again with some nice Polish pastry as a welcome gift for us. Awesome uncle.
Mission accomplished in an hour's time and we all left with a sleek short hair (okay, maybe just Josh and me... Jiahan basically just had his sideburns cut off). Checked in and off we go to hunt for the restaurant that the uncle recommended and indeed a good recommendation! Friends from the Scandinavian countries always say to go Eastern/Central Europe to "eat like a king," and so we did. $17 for some traditional Beef Goulash; Roast Duck Legs; and many other nice food that I don't really remember. "Cheap fine dining" doesn't sound like an oxymoron anymore.
Rested early to compensate for the early morning adventure and headed to the train station the next day after breakfast and checking out. Oh, passed by their iconic Palace of Culture on the way (and we did missed some stuff on the itinerary but it doesn't matter since the main attraction is the food and its price tag)
